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De Herdt MJ, van der Steen B, Baatenburg de Jong RJ, Looijenga LHJ, Koljenović S, Hardillo JA. The Occurrence of MET Ectodomain Shedding in Oral Cancer and Its Potential Impact on the Use of Targeted Therapies. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14061491. [PMID: 35326642 PMCID: PMC8946088 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14061491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2021] [Revised: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer type worldwide, comprising tumors of the upper aero/digestive tract. Approximately 50% of these cancers originate in the oral cavity. Depending on disease stage, oral cancer patients are treated with single-modality surgery, or in combination with radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy. Despite advances in these modalities, the 5-year survival rate is merely 50%. Therefore, implementation of targeted therapies, directed against signaling molecules, has gained attention. One potential target is the MET protein, which can be present on the surface of cancer cells, orchestrating aggressive behavior. As cancer cells can shed the extracellular part of MET from their surface, it is important to identify for MET positive patients whether they possess the entire and/or only the intracellular part of the receptor to assess whether targeted therapies directed against the extracellular, intracellular, or both parts of MET need to be implemented. Abstract The receptor tyrosine kinase MET has gained attention as a therapeutic target. Although MET immunoreactivity is associated with progressive disease, use of targeted therapies has not yet led to major survival benefits. A possible explanation is the lack of companion diagnostics (CDx) that account for proteolytic processing. During presenilin-regulated intramembrane proteolysis, MET’s ectodomain is shed into the extracellular space, which is followed by γ-secretase-mediated cleavage of the residual membranous C-terminal fragment. The resulting intracellular fragment is degraded by the proteasome, leading to downregulation of MET signaling. Conversely, a membrane-bound MET fragment lacking the ectodomain (MET-EC-) can confer malignant potential. Use of C- and N-terminal MET monoclonal antibodies (moAbs) has illustrated that MET-EC- occurs in transmembranous C-terminal MET-positive oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Here, we propose that ectodomain shedding, resulting from G-protein-coupled receptor transactivation of epidermal growth factor receptor signaling, and/or overexpression of ADAM10/17 and/or MET, stabilizes and possibly activates MET-EC- in OSCC. As MET-EC- is associated with poor prognosis in OSCC, it potentially has impact on the use of targeted therapies. Therefore, MET-EC- should be incorporated in the design of CDx to improve patient stratification and ultimately prolong survival. Hence, MET-EC- requires further investigation seen its oncogenic and predictive properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria J. De Herdt
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Erasmus MC, Cancer Institute, University Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands; (B.v.d.S.); (R.J.B.d.J.); (J.A.H.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +31-10-7044490
| | - Berdine van der Steen
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Erasmus MC, Cancer Institute, University Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands; (B.v.d.S.); (R.J.B.d.J.); (J.A.H.)
| | - Robert J. Baatenburg de Jong
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Erasmus MC, Cancer Institute, University Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands; (B.v.d.S.); (R.J.B.d.J.); (J.A.H.)
| | - Leendert H. J. Looijenga
- Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands;
- Department of Pathology, Erasmus MC, Cancer Institute, University Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Senada Koljenović
- Department of Pathology, Antwerp University Hospital, 2650 Edegem, Belgium;
| | - Jose A. Hardillo
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Erasmus MC, Cancer Institute, University Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands; (B.v.d.S.); (R.J.B.d.J.); (J.A.H.)
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Core Circadian Clock Proteins as Biomarkers of Progression in Colorectal Cancer. Biomedicines 2021; 9:biomedicines9080967. [PMID: 34440171 PMCID: PMC8391187 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines9080967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Revised: 07/23/2021] [Accepted: 07/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common tumours in developed countries. Although its incidence and mortality rates have decreased, its prognosis has not changed, and a high percentage of patients with CRC develop relapse (metachronous metastasis, MM, or local recurrence, LR) during their disease. The identification of these patients is very important for their correct management, but the lack of prognostic markers makes it difficult. Given the connection between circadian disruption and cancer development and progression, we aimed to analyse the prognostic significance of core circadian proteins in CRC. We measured the expression of PER1-3, CRY1-2, BMAL1 and NR1D2 in a cohort of CRC patients by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and analysed their prognostic potential in this disease. A low expression of PER2 and BMAL1 was significantly associated with metastasis at the moment of disease diagnosis, whereas a high expression of CRY1 appeared as an independent prognostic factor of MM development. A high expression of NR1D2 appeared as an independent prognostic factor of LR development after disease diagnosis. Moreover, patients with a low expression of BMAL1 and a high expression of CRY1 showed lower OS and DFS at five years. Although these markers need to be validated in larger and different ethnic cohorts, the simplicity of IHC makes these proteins candidates for personalizing CRC treatment.
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De Herdt MJ, Koljenović S, van der Steen B, Willems SM, Wieringa MH, Nieboer D, Hardillo JA, Gruver AM, Zeng W, Liu L, Baatenburg de Jong RJ, Looijenga LHJ. A novel immunohistochemical scoring system reveals associations of C-terminal MET, ectodomain shedding, and loss of E-cadherin with poor prognosis in oral squamous cell carcinoma. Hum Pathol 2020; 104:42-53. [PMID: 32702402 DOI: 10.1016/j.humpath.2020.07.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Accepted: 07/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Using tissue microarrays, it was shown that membranous C-terminal MET immunoreactivity and ectodomain (ECD) shedding are associated with poor prognosis in oral cancer. Seen the potential diagnostic value, extrapolation of these results to whole-tissue sections was investigated. Because MET orchestrates epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), the results were benchmarked to loss of E-cadherin, a readout for EMT known to be associated with poor prognosis. C-terminal MET, N-terminal MET, and E-cadherin immunoreactivities were examined on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded parallel sections of 203 oral cancers using antibody clones D1C2, A2H2-3, and NCH-38. Interantibody and intra-antibody relations were examined using a novel scoring system, nonparametric distribution, and median tests. Survival analyses were used to examine the prognostic value of the observed immunoreactivities. Assessment of the three clones revealed MET protein status (no, decoy, transmembranous C-terminal positive), ECD shedding, and EMT. For C-terminal MET-positive cancers, D1C2 immunoreactivity is independently associated with poor overall survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.40; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.25 to 4.61; and P = 0.008) and disease-free survival (HR = 1.83; 95% CI = 1.07-3.14; P = 0.027). For both survival measures, this is also the case for ECD shedding (43.4%, with HR = 2.30; 95% CI = 1.38 to 3.83; and P = 0.001 versus HR = 1.87; 95% CI = 1.19-2.92; P = 0.006) and loss of E-cadherin (55.3%, with HR = 2.21; 95% CI = 1.30 to 3.77; and P = 0.004 versus HR = 1.90; 95% CI = 1.20-3.01; P = 0.007). The developed scoring system accounts for MET protein status, ECD shedding, and EMT and is prognostically informative. These findings may contribute to development of companion diagnostics for MET-based targeted therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria J De Herdt
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Cancer Institute, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Senada Koljenović
- Department of Pathology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Cancer Institute, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Berdine van der Steen
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Cancer Institute, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Stefan M Willems
- Department of Pathology, University Medical Center Groningen, 9713 GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands.
| | - Marjan H Wieringa
- Department of Education, Office of Science, Elisabeth TweeSteden Ziekenhuis, 5022 GC, Tilburg, the Netherlands.
| | - Daan Nieboer
- Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Jose A Hardillo
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Cancer Institute, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Aaron M Gruver
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN, 46225, USA.
| | - Wei Zeng
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN, 46225, USA.
| | - Ling Liu
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN, 46225, USA.
| | - Robert J Baatenburg de Jong
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Cancer Institute, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Leendert H J Looijenga
- Department of Pathology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Cancer Institute, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Princess Maxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, 3584 CS, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
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