Multi-genomic analysis of 260 adrenocortical cancer patient tumors identifies novel network BIRC5-hsa-miR-335-5p-PAX8-AS1 strongly associated with poor survival

Novel repurposing of sulfasalazine for the treatment of adrenocortical carcinomas, probably through the SLC7A11/xCT-hsa-miR-92a-3p-OIP5-AS1 network pathway

BACKGROUND

Recent multigenomic analysis of adrenocortical carcinomas (ACCs) identified SLC7A11/xCT as a novel biomarker. The Food and Drug Administration-approved anti-inflammatory drug, sulfasalazine (SAS), induces ferroptosis by blocking SLC7A11 expression. We hypothesize that SAS could be repurposed to target ACC cells.

METHODS

Expression of SLC7A11 and its association with ACC survival was analyzed using Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA). The validated ACC cell lines NCI-H295R, ACC1, and ACC2 were grown in 2D culture. In vitro studies included the CellTiter-Glo assay to calculate viability, Western blot (WB) analysis for apoptosis and other target protein changes, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for steroidogenic enzyme changes, C11BODIPY for lipid peroxidation, and mass spectrometry for changes in lipids.

RESULTS

The Cancer Genome Atlas Program database analysis in GEPIA showed that SLC7A11 and linked long noncoding RNA OAP5-AS1 are highly expressed in ACC tumors versus normal adrenals (n = 77 vs 128; P < .05). This was associated with poor overall and disease-free survival with hazard ratios of 4.3 and 5.2 for SLC7A11 and 4.8 and 2.7 for OAP5-AS1, respectively. ACC cell line half-inhibitory maximum concentration values after 72-hour SAS treatment ranged from 412 nM (ACC1) to 799 nM (ACC2), and all showed cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, upregulation of p-Akt and p-ERK, and downregulation of GPX4 and SLC7A11 (P < .05) by WB analysis. Sphere formation, migration, and invasion assay showed inhibition, and lipid peroxidation using C11BODIPY, increase in intracellular iron, induction of oxidative stress, and significant upregulation of oxidized polyunsaturated fatty acid phospholipids (P < .05 each) by mass spectrometry suggests induction of ferroptosis.

CONCLUSION

SAS downregulates tSLC7A11 in ACCs, targets the Akt/ERK pathway and lipid metabolism, and induces cell death in vitro, warranting additional translational studies to define its therapeutic potential in ACC.

High expression of PAX8-AS1 correlates with poor prognosis and response to fluorouracil-based chemotherapy in stage II colon cancer

Decisions regarding adjuvant therapy in patients with stage II colon cancer remains controversial and challenging. We aimed to determine novel biomarkers that help to predict relapse free survival (RFS) and identify a subset of patients with stage II colon cancer who could gain survival benefits from adjuvant chemotherapy. Public microarray datasets of stage II colon cancer samples were extracted from Gene Expression Omnibus database. Global gene expression changes were then analyzed between the paired early relapse and long-term survival group to identify the differentially expressed mRNAs and lncRNAs. Based on Lasso Cox regression modeling analysis, a total of 30 mRNAs and 2 lncRNAs were finally identified. With specific formula, stage II patients in training and validation sets were divided into low and risk groups with significantly different RFS. PAX8-AS1 is the novel lncRNA which showed the highest upregulation in early relapse group. Patients with high PAX8-AS1 expression level showed notably poorer RFS in both meta GEO cohort (P = 0.04, Figure 4B) and FUSCC cohort (P < 0.001, Figure 4C). Among the stage II patients with high PAX8-AS1 level, administration of fluorouracil-based adjuvant chemotherapy provided a substantial improvement in RFS (P = 0.002, Figure 3C). Further mechanistic study unveiled that PAX8-AS1 increases the response of CRC cells to chemotherapy in vitro and in vivo by maintaining the mRNA stability of PAX8. In conclusion, PAX8-AS1 as a novel and reliable biomarker for predicting prognosis and identification of patients with stage II disease who could gain survival benefit from fluorouracil-based adjuvant chemotherapy.

Overview of role of survivin in cancer: expression, regulation, functions, and its potential as a therapeutic target

Survivin holds significant importance as a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family due to its predominant expression in tumours rather than normal terminally differentiated adult tissues. The high expression level of survivin in tumours is closely linked to chemotherapy resistance, heightened tumour recurrence, and increased tumour aggressiveness and serves as a negative prognostic factor for cancer patients. Consequently, survivin has emerged as a promising therapeutic target for cancer treatment. In this review, we delve into the various biological characteristics of survivin in cancers and its pivotal role in maintaining immune system homeostasis. Additionally, we explore different therapeutic strategies aimed at targeting survivin.

[Plasma miRNA expression in patients with genetically confirmed multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 syndrome and its phenocopies]

BACKGROUND

MEN-1 is a rare autosomal dominant disease caused by mutations in MEN1 gene encoding the menin protein. This syndrome is characterized by the occurrence of parathyroid tumors, gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, pituitary adenomas, as well as other endocrine and non-endocrine tumors. If a patient with the MEN-1 phenotype carry no mutations in the MEN1 gene, the condition considers a phenocopy of syndrome (phMEN1). The possible cause of this changes could be changes in epigenetic regulation, particularly in microRNA expression that might affect menin signaling pathways.

AIM

to identify differently expressed circulating miRNAs in plasma in patients with genetically confirmed MEN-1 syndrome, its phenocopies and healthy controls.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

single-center, case-control study was conducted. We assessed plasma microRNA expression in patients with genetically confirmed MEN-1 (gMEN1), phMEN1 and healthy controls. Morning plasma samples were collected from fasting patients and stored at -80°C. Total RNA isolation was performed using miRNeasy Mini Kit with QIAcube. The libraries were prepared by the QIAseq miRNA Library Kit following the manufacturer. Circulating miRNA sequencing was done on Illumina NextSeq 500 (Illumina). Subsequent data processing was performed using the DESeq2 bioinformatics algorithm.

RESULTS

we enrolled 21 consecutive patients with gMEN1 and 11 patients with phMEN1, along with 12 gender matched controls. Median age of gMEN1 was 38,0 [34,0; 41,0]; in phMEN1 - 59,0 [51,0; 60,0]; control - 59,5 [51,5; 62,5]. The gMEN1 group differed in age (p<0.01) but not gender (р=0.739) or BMI (р=0.116) compared to phMEN1 and controls group, the last two groups did not differ by these parameters (p>0.05). 25 microRNA were differently expressed in groups gMEN1 and phMEN1 (21 upregulated microRNAs, 4 - downregulated). Comparison of samples from the phMEN-1 group and relatively healthy controls revealed 10 differently expressed microRNAs: 5 - upregulated; 5 - downregulated. In the gMEN-1 and control groups, 26 differently expressed microRNAs were found: 24 - upregulated; 2 - downregulated. The miRNAs most differing in expression among the groups were selected for further validation by RT-qPCR (in the groups of gMEN1 vs phMEN1 - miR-3613-5p, miR-335-5p, miR-32-5p, miR-425-3p, miR-25-5p, miR-576-5p, miR-215-5p, miR-30a-3p, miR-141-3p, miR-760, miR-501-3p; gMEN1 vs control - miR-1976, miR-144-5p miR-532-3p, miR-375; as well as in phMEN1 vs control - miR-944, miR-191-5p, miR-98-5p).

CONCLUSION

In a pilot study, we detected microRNAs that may be expressed differently between patients with gMEN-1 and phMEN-1. The results need to be validated using different measurement method with larger sample size.

The potential role of miRNAs in the pathogenesis of adrenocortical carcinoma - A focus on signaling pathways interplay

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a highly malignant infrequent tumor with a dismal prognosis. microRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) are crucial in post-transcriptional gene expression regulation. Due to their ability to regulate multiple gene networks, miRNAs are central to the hallmarks of cancer, including sustained proliferative signaling, evasion of growth suppressors, resistance to cell death, replicative immortality, induction/access to the vasculature, activation of invasion and metastasis, reprogramming of cellular metabolism, and avoidance of immune destruction. ACC represents a singular form of neoplasia associated with aberrations in the expression of evolutionarily conserved short, non-coding RNAs. Recently, the role of miRNAs in ACC has been examined extensively despite the disease's rarity. Hence, the current review is a fast-intensive track elucidating the potential role of miRNAs in the pathogenesis of ACC besides their association with the survival of ACC.

miRNAs orchestration of adrenocortical carcinoma - Particular emphasis on diagnosis, progression and drug resistance

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is an uncommon aggressive endocrine malignancy that is nonetheless associated with significant mortality and morbidity rates because of endocrine and oncological consequences. Recent genome-wide investigations of ACC have advanced our understanding of the disease, but substantial obstacles remain to overcome regarding diagnosis and prognosis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) play a crucial role in the development and metastasis of a wide range of carcinomas by regulating the expression of their target genes through various mechanisms causing translational repression or messenger RNA (mRNA) degradation. Along with miRNAs in the adrenocortical cancerous tissue, circulating miRNAs are considered barely invasive diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers of ACC. miRNAs may serve as treatment targets that expand the rather-limited therapeutic repertoire in the field of ACC. Patients with advanced ACC still have a poor prognosis when using the available treatments, despite a substantial improvement in understanding of the illness over the previous few decades. Accordingly, in this review, we provide a crucial overview of the recent studies in ACC-associated miRNAs regarding their diagnostic, prognostic, and potential therapeutic relevance.