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Kim CW, Kim HJ, Kang I, Ku KB, Kim Y, Park JH, Lim J, Kang BH, Park WH, La J, Chang S, Hwang I, Kim M, Ahn S, Lee HK. Gut dysbiosis from high-salt diet promotes glioma via propionate-mediated TGF-β activation. J Exp Med 2025; 222:e20241135. [PMID: 40402148 PMCID: PMC12097148 DOI: 10.1084/jem.20241135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2024] [Revised: 03/08/2025] [Accepted: 05/05/2025] [Indexed: 05/23/2025] Open
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of a high-salt diet (HSD), which is commonly found in Western countries, on the progression of glioma. Our research shows that the alterations in gut microbiota caused by an HSD facilitated the development of glioma. Mice fed an HSD have elevated levels of intestinal propionate, which accelerated the growth of glioma cells. We also find that propionate supplementation enhanced the response of glioma cells to low oxygen levels. Moreover, we identify a link between TGF-β signaling, response to low oxygen levels, and invasion-related pathways. Propionate treatment increases the expression of HIF-1α, leading to an increase in TGF-β1 production. Additionally, propionate treatment promotes glioma cell invasion through TGF-β signaling. Our findings suggest that an HSD-induced increase in propionate plays a crucial role in glioma progression by facilitating invasion through the hypoxic response and TGF-β signaling pathways, thereby establishing a significant connection between gut microbiota and the progression of glioma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chae Won Kim
- Laboratory of Host Defenses, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
- KAIST Life Science Institute, KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyun-Jin Kim
- Laboratory of Host Defenses, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
- KAIST Life Science Institute, KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - In Kang
- Laboratory of Host Defenses, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
- Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Keun Bon Ku
- Laboratory of Host Defenses, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
- Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
- Department of Convergent Research of Emerging Virus Infection, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Yumin Kim
- Laboratory of Host Defenses, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Jang Hyun Park
- Laboratory of Host Defenses, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
- KAIST Life Science Institute, KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Juhee Lim
- Laboratory of Host Defenses, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
- Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Byeong Hoon Kang
- Laboratory of Host Defenses, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
- Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Won Hyung Park
- Laboratory of Host Defenses, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
- Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Jeongwoo La
- Laboratory of Host Defenses, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
- Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Sungwoo Chang
- Laboratory of Host Defenses, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Inju Hwang
- Laboratory of Host Defenses, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
- Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Minji Kim
- Laboratory of Host Defenses, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
- Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Stephen Ahn
- Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Heung Kyu Lee
- Laboratory of Host Defenses, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
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Karimian-Jazi K, Enbergs N, Golubtsov E, Schregel K, Ungermann J, Fels-Palesandro H, Schwarz D, Sturm V, Kernbach JM, Batra D, Ippen FM, Pflüger I, von Knebel Doeberitz N, Heiland S, Bunse L, Platten M, Winkler F, Wick W, Paech D, Bendszus M, Breckwoldt MO. Differentiating Glioma Recurrence and Pseudoprogression by APTw CEST MRI. Invest Radiol 2025; 60:414-422. [PMID: 39644107 DOI: 10.1097/rli.0000000000001145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/09/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Recurrent glioma is highly treatment resistant due to its metabolic, cellular, and molecular heterogeneity and invasiveness. Tumor monitoring by conventional MRI has shortcomings to assess these key glioma characteristics. Recent studies introduced chemical exchange saturation transfer for metabolic imaging in oncology and assessed its diagnostic value for newly diagnosed glioma. This prospective study investigates amide proton transfer-weighted (APTw) MRI at 3 T as an imaging biomarker to elucidate the molecular heterogeneity and invasion patterns of recurrent glioma in comparison to pseudoprogression (PsPD). MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed a monocenter, prospective trial and screened 371 glioma patients who received tumor monitoring between August 2021 and March 2024 at our institution. The study included IDH wildtype astrocytoma and IDH mutant astrocytoma and oligodendroglioma, graded according to the WHO 2021 classification. Patients had received clinical standard of care treatment including surgical resection and radiochemotherapy prior to study inclusion. Patients were monitored by 3 monthly MRI follow-up imaging, and response assessment was performed according to the RANO criteria. Within this cohort, we identified 30 patients who presented with recurrent glioma and 12 patients with PsPD. In addition to standard anatomical sequences (FLAIR and T1-w Gd-enhanced sequences), MRI included APTw imaging. After sequence co-registration, semiautomated segmentation was performed of the FLAIR lesion, CE lesion, resection cavity, and the contralateral normal-appearing white matter, and APTw signals were quantified in these regions of interest. RESULTS APTw values were highest in solid, Gd-enhancing tumor parts as compared with the nonenhancing FLAIR lesion (APTw: 1.99% vs 1.36%, P = 0.001), whereas there were no detectable APTw alterations in the normal-appearing white matter (APTw: 0.005%, P < 0.001 compared with FLAIR). Patients with progressive disease had higher APTw levels compared with patients with PsPD (APTw: 1.99% vs 1.26%, P = 0.008). Chemical exchange saturation transfer identified heterogeneity within the FLAIR lesion that was not detectable by conventional sequences. There were also focal APTw signal peaks within contrast enhancing lesions as putative metabolic hotspots within recurrent glioma. The resection cavity developed an APTw increase at recurrence that was not detectable prior to recurrence nor in patients with PsPD (APTw before recurrence: 0.6% vs 2.68% at recurrence, P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS Our study shows that APTw imaging can differentiate PD and PsPD. We identify previously undetectable imaging patterns during glioma recurrence, which include alterations within resection cavity associated with disease progression. Our work highlights the clinical potential of APTw imaging for glioma monitoring and further establishes it as an imaging biomarker in neuro-oncology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kianush Karimian-Jazi
- From the Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany (K.K.-J., N.E., E.G., K.S., J.U., H.F.-P., D.S., V.S., J.M.K., I.P., S.H., M.B., M.O.B.); Clinical Cooperation Unit Neurooncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) within the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany (K.K.-J., F.W., W.W.); Department of Neurology, Heidelberg University Hospital and National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg, Germany (D.B., F.M.I., F.W., W.W.); DKTK, DKFZ, Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology, Heidelberg, Germany (F.M.I.); Division of Radiology, DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany (N.V., D.P.); Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumor Immunology, DKTK, DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany (L.B., M.P., M.O.B.); Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Mannheim Center for Translational Neurosciences, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany (L.B., M.P.); Division of Neuroradiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (D.P.); and Clinic for Neuroradiology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany (D.P.)
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Yang Y, Wen J, Lou S, Han Y, Pan Y, Zhong Y, He Q, Zhang Y, Mo X, Ma J, Shen N. DNAJC12 downregulation induces neuroblastoma progression via increased histone H4K5 lactylation. J Mol Cell Biol 2025; 16:mjae056. [PMID: 39716470 PMCID: PMC12096081 DOI: 10.1093/jmcb/mjae056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2024] [Revised: 12/09/2024] [Accepted: 12/22/2024] [Indexed: 12/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common extracranial solid tumor in children. Despite treatment advances, the survival rates of high-risk NB patients remain low. This highlights the urgent need for a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms driving NB progression to support the development of new therapeutic strategies. In this study, we demonstrated that the reduced levels of DNAJC12, a protein involved in metabolic regulation, are associated with poor prognosis in NB patients. Our data indicate that low DNAJC12 expression activates glycolysis in NB cells, leading to increased lactic acid production and histone H4 lysine 5 lactylation (H4K5la). Elevated H4K5la upregulates the transcription of COL1A1, a gene implicated in cell metastasis. Immunohistochemistry staining of NB patient samples confirmed that high H4K5la levels correlate with poor clinical outcomes. Furthermore, we showed that inhibiting glycolysis, reducing H4K5la, or targeting COL1A1 can mitigate the invasive behavior of NB cells. These findings reveal a critical link between metabolic reprogramming and epigenetic modifications in the context of NB progression, suggesting that H4K5la could serve as a novel diagnostic and prognostic marker, and shed light on identifying new therapeutic targets within metabolic pathways for the treatment of this aggressive pediatric cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaqi Yang
- Pediatric Translational Medicine Institute, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China
| | - Jiejun Wen
- Pediatric Translational Medicine Institute, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China
| | - Susu Lou
- Pediatric Translational Medicine Institute, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China
- Pediatric Department, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310000, China
| | - Yali Han
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China
| | - Yi Pan
- Pediatric Translational Medicine Institute, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China
| | - Ying Zhong
- Pediatric Translational Medicine Institute, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China
| | - Qiao He
- Department of Pathology, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China
| | - Yinfeng Zhang
- Pediatric Translational Medicine Institute, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China
| | - Xi Mo
- Pediatric Translational Medicine Institute, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China
| | - Jing Ma
- Department of Pathology, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China
| | - Nan Shen
- Pediatric Translational Medicine Institute, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China
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Li X, Luo X, Zhang X, Guo Y, Cheng L, Cheng M, Tang S, Gong Y. COL1A1 promotes cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, and anoikis resistance in granulosa cells of chicken pre-ovulatory follicles. Int J Biol Macromol 2025; 306:141524. [PMID: 40020834 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.141524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2024] [Revised: 02/25/2025] [Accepted: 02/25/2025] [Indexed: 03/03/2025]
Abstract
Chicken follicular granulosa cells (GCs) are the earliest differentiated follicular somatic cells, which play a crucial role throughout follicular growth and development. The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a key role in maintaining cell-cell interactions and communication during follicular development. This study investigated the effects of the COL1A1 gene, a major component of ECM, on chicken pre-ovulatory follicular granulosa cells (PO-GCs) and the related regulatory mechanism. Transcriptomic analysis results showed that silencing COL1A1 significantly inhibited GCs proliferation, cell cycle, and anoikis-related biological functions and pathways. The overexpression of endogenous COL1A1 promoted the GCs proliferation through the ERK1/2 signaling pathway, increased the number of GCs in the S/G2 phase of the cell cycle, and enhanced anoikis resistance of GCs. The exogenous addition of collagen Ι (Col Ι) promoted GCs proliferation but did not affect the cell cycle progression and anoikis resistance of GCs. In addition, we identified multiple genes involved in COL1A1 knockdown-induced anoikis in GCs, of which 7 genes including PIK3CA, DAPK2, TSC2, BMF, SRC, NTRK2, and NOTCH1 were identified as the core anoikis genes. Our findings provide new perspectives for exploring the role of ECM in chicken follicle development and lay the foundation for further revealing the regulatory network of follicular development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuelian Li
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China; College of Animal Science and Technology and College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Xuliang Luo
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China; College of Animal Science and Technology and College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Xiaxia Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China; College of Animal Science and Technology and College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Yan Guo
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China; College of Animal Science and Technology and College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Lu Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China; College of Animal Science and Technology and College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Manman Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China; College of Animal Science and Technology and College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Shuixin Tang
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China; College of Animal Science and Technology and College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China
| | - Yanzhang Gong
- Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China; College of Animal Science and Technology and College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China.
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5
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Hui T, Zhou J, Yao M, Xie Y, Zeng H. Advances in Spatial Omics Technologies. SMALL METHODS 2025; 9:e2401171. [PMID: 40099571 DOI: 10.1002/smtd.202401171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2024] [Revised: 03/03/2025] [Indexed: 03/20/2025]
Abstract
Rapidly developing spatial omics technologies provide us with new approaches to deeply understanding the diversity and functions of cell types within organisms. Unlike traditional approaches, spatial omics technologies enable researchers to dissect the complex relationships between tissue structure and function at the cellular or even subcellular level. The application of spatial omics technologies provides new perspectives on key biological processes such as nervous system development, organ development, and tumor microenvironment. This review focuses on the advancements and strategies of spatial omics technologies, summarizes their applications in biomedical research, and highlights the power of spatial omics technologies in advancing the understanding of life sciences related to development and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianxiao Hui
- State Key Laboratory of Gene Function and Modulation Research, College of Future Technology, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Jian Zhou
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
| | - Muchen Yao
- College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Yige Xie
- School of Nursing, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Hu Zeng
- State Key Laboratory of Gene Function and Modulation Research, College of Future Technology, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
- Beijing Advanced Center of RNA Biology (BEACON), Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
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6
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Zhang X, Ou N, Liu C, Zhuo Z, Matthews PM, Liu Y, Ye C, Bai W. Unsupervised brain MRI tumour segmentation via two-stage image synthesis. Med Image Anal 2025; 102:103568. [PMID: 40199108 DOI: 10.1016/j.media.2025.103568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2024] [Revised: 03/24/2025] [Accepted: 03/25/2025] [Indexed: 04/10/2025]
Abstract
Deep learning shows promise in automated brain tumour segmentation, but it depends on costly expert annotations. Recent advances in unsupervised learning offer an alternative by using synthetic data for training. However, the discrepancy between real and synthetic data limits the accuracy of the unsupervised approaches. In this paper, we propose an approach for unsupervised brain tumour segmentation on magnetic resonance (MR) images via a two-stage image synthesis strategy. This approach accounts for the domain gap between real and synthetic data and aims to generate realistic synthetic data for model training. In the first stage, we train a junior segmentation model using synthetic brain tumour images generated by hand-crafted tumour shape and intensity models, and employs a validation set with distribution shift for model selection. The trained junior model is applied to segment unlabelled real tumour images, generating pseudo labels that capture realistic tumour shape, intensity, and texture. In the second stage, realistic synthetic tumour images are generated by mixing brain images with tumour pseudo labels, closing the domain gap between real and synthetic images. The generated synthetic data is then used to train a senior model for final segmentation. In experiments on five brain imaging datasets, the proposed approach, named as SynthTumour, surpasses existing unsupervised methods and demonstrates high performance for both brain tumour segmentation and ischemic stroke lesion segmentation tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinru Zhang
- School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China; Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ni Ou
- School of Automation, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Chenghao Liu
- School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Zhizheng Zhuo
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Paul M Matthews
- Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom; UK Dementia Research Institute, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Yaou Liu
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
| | - Chuyang Ye
- School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China.
| | - Wenjia Bai
- Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom; Department of Computing, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
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7
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Xu X, Su J, Zhu R, Li K, Zhao X, Fan J, Mao F. From morphology to single-cell molecules: high-resolution 3D histology in biomedicine. Mol Cancer 2025; 24:63. [PMID: 40033282 PMCID: PMC11874780 DOI: 10.1186/s12943-025-02240-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2024] [Accepted: 01/18/2025] [Indexed: 03/05/2025] Open
Abstract
High-resolution three-dimensional (3D) tissue analysis has emerged as a transformative innovation in the life sciences, providing detailed insights into the spatial organization and molecular composition of biological tissues. This review begins by tracing the historical milestones that have shaped the development of high-resolution 3D histology, highlighting key breakthroughs that have facilitated the advancement of current technologies. We then systematically categorize the various families of high-resolution 3D histology techniques, discussing their core principles, capabilities, and inherent limitations. These 3D histology techniques include microscopy imaging, tomographic approaches, single-cell and spatial omics, computational methods and 3D tissue reconstruction (e.g. 3D cultures and spheroids). Additionally, we explore a wide range of applications for single-cell 3D histology, demonstrating how single-cell and spatial technologies are being utilized in the fields such as oncology, cardiology, neuroscience, immunology, developmental biology and regenerative medicine. Despite the remarkable progress made in recent years, the field still faces significant challenges, including high barriers to entry, issues with data robustness, ambiguous best practices for experimental design, and a lack of standardization across methodologies. This review offers a thorough analysis of these challenges and presents recommendations to surmount them, with the overarching goal of nurturing ongoing innovation and broader integration of cellular 3D tissue analysis in both biology research and clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xintian Xu
- Institute of Medical Innovation and Research, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China
- Cancer Center, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Beijing, Key Laboratory of Protein Posttranslational Modifications and Cell Function, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China
| | - Jimeng Su
- Institute of Medical Innovation and Research, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China
- Cancer Center, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China
| | - Rongyi Zhu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Beijing, Key Laboratory of Protein Posttranslational Modifications and Cell Function, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China
| | - Kailong Li
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Beijing, Key Laboratory of Protein Posttranslational Modifications and Cell Function, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaolu Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Female Fertility Promotion, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and GynecologyNational Clinical Research Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology (Peking University Third Hospital)Key Laboratory of Assisted Reproduction (Peking University), Ministry of EducationBeijing Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology and Assisted Reproductive Technology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
| | - Jibiao Fan
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China.
| | - Fengbiao Mao
- Institute of Medical Innovation and Research, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
- Cancer Center, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Research in Gastrointestinal Oncology (BLGO), Beijing, China.
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8
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Olmedo-Moreno L, Panadero-Morón C, Sierra-Párraga JM, Bueno-Fernández R, Norton ES, Aguilera Y, Mellado-Damas N, García-Tárraga P, Morales-Gallel R, Antequera-Martínez M, Durán RV, Ferrer-Lozano J, Escames G, García-Verdugo JM, Martin-Montalvo A, Guerrero-Cázares H, Capilla-González V. Glioblastoma progression is hindered by melatonin-primed mesenchymal stromal cells through dynamic intracellular and extracellular reorganizations. Theranostics 2025; 15:3076-3097. [PMID: 40083939 PMCID: PMC11898303 DOI: 10.7150/thno.104143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2024] [Accepted: 01/14/2025] [Indexed: 03/16/2025] Open
Abstract
Rationale: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most fatal form of brain cancer and its treatment represents a persistent challenge. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been explored as therapeutic tools in cancer management owing to their tumor-homing abilities. However, their clinical application is limited due to the controversial role of MSCs in carcinogenesis. This study investigates how MSCs influence tumor behavior and explores the synergistic anticancer effects in combination with melatonin (Mel). Methods: Orthotopic and subcutaneous GBM xenograft mouse models were used to assess the antitumor effect of Mel pre-treated MSCs (MSCMel). Histological, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural analyses were conducted to identify phenotypic changes in tumors. Through a set of in vitro assays, including direct and indirect co-cultures, dynamic single-cell tracking and tumorsphere assay, we explored the impact of MSCMel on primary and non-primary GBM cells. Transcriptomic profiling was used to identify genes and pathways modulated by this synergistic therapy. Results: MSCMel delayed tumor growth in mice and increased collagen deposition. Additionally, MSCMel showed enhanced capacity to prevent GBM cell migration compared to untreated MSCs. Molecular analysis identified genes and proteins related to cell migration, cytoskeletal dynamics and extracellular matrix remodeling in GBM cells exposed to MSCMel, including reduced vimentin expression. Finally, a genetic signature associated with the clinical outcomes of GBM patients was identified. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that melatonin enhances the anticancer properties of MSCs, providing new insights into their interaction with GBM cells and tumor environment. These findings offer valuable guidance for advancing MSC-based therapies in clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Olmedo-Moreno
- Andalusian Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine Centre (CABIMER), CSIC-US-UPO-FPS, Seville, Spain
| | - Concepción Panadero-Morón
- Andalusian Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine Centre (CABIMER), CSIC-US-UPO-FPS, Seville, Spain
| | - Jesús María Sierra-Párraga
- Andalusian Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine Centre (CABIMER), CSIC-US-UPO-FPS, Seville, Spain
| | - Rubén Bueno-Fernández
- Andalusian Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine Centre (CABIMER), CSIC-US-UPO-FPS, Seville, Spain
| | | | - Yolanda Aguilera
- Andalusian Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine Centre (CABIMER), CSIC-US-UPO-FPS, Seville, Spain
| | - Nuria Mellado-Damas
- Andalusian Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine Centre (CABIMER), CSIC-US-UPO-FPS, Seville, Spain
| | - Patricia García-Tárraga
- Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Raquel Morales-Gallel
- Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Madrid, Spain
| | - María Antequera-Martínez
- Andalusian Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine Centre (CABIMER), CSIC-US-UPO-FPS, Seville, Spain
| | - Raúl V. Durán
- Andalusian Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine Centre (CABIMER), CSIC-US-UPO-FPS, Seville, Spain
| | - Jaime Ferrer-Lozano
- Department of Pathology, Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe, Valencia, Spain
| | - Germaine Escames
- Biomedical Research Center, Health Sciences Technology Park, University of Granada, 18016 Granada, Spain
| | - José Manuel García-Verdugo
- Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Madrid, Spain
| | - Alejandro Martin-Montalvo
- Andalusian Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine Centre (CABIMER), CSIC-US-UPO-FPS, Seville, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Diabetes y Enfermedades Metabólicas Asociadas (CIBERDEM), Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Vivian Capilla-González
- Andalusian Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine Centre (CABIMER), CSIC-US-UPO-FPS, Seville, Spain
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9
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Yang S, Zheng Y, Zhou C, Yao J, Yan G, Shen C, Kong S, Xiong Y, Sun Q, Sun Y, Shen H, Bian L, Qian K, Liu X. Multidimensional Proteomic Landscape Reveals Distinct Activated Pathways Between Human Brain Tumors. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2025; 12:e2410142. [PMID: 39716938 PMCID: PMC11831486 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202410142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2024] [Revised: 11/11/2024] [Indexed: 12/25/2024]
Abstract
Brain metastases (BrMs) and gliomas are two typical human brain tumors with high incidence of mortalities and distinct clinical challenges, yet the understanding of these two types of tumors remains incomplete. Here, a multidimensional proteomic landscape of BrMs and gliomas to infer tumor-specific molecular pathophysiology at both tissue and plasma levels is presented. Tissue sample analysis reveals both shared and distinct characteristics of brain tumors, highlighting significant disparities between BrMs and gliomas with differentially activated upstream pathways of the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway that have been scarcely discussed previously. Novel proteins and phosphosites such as NSUN2, TM9SF3, and PRKCG_S330 are also detected, exhibiting a high correlation with reported clinical traits, which may serve as potential immunohistochemistry (IHC) biomarkers. Moreover, tumor-specific altered phosphosites and glycosites on FN1 are highlighted as potential therapeutic targets. Further validation of 110 potential noninvasive biomarkers yields three biomarker panels comprising a total of 19 biomarkers (including DES, VWF, and COL1A1) for accurate discrimination of two types of brain tumors and normal controls. In summary, this is a full-scale dataset of two typical human brain tumors, which serves as a valuable resource for advancing precision medicine in cancer patients through targeted therapy and immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuang Yang
- Institute of Translational MedicineShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai200241P. R. China
- Institutes of Biomedical SciencesFudan UniversityShanghai200032P. R. China
| | - Yongtao Zheng
- Institute of Translational MedicineShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai200241P. R. China
- Department of NeurosurgeryRuijin HospitalSchool of MedicineShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai200025P. R. China
| | - Chengbin Zhou
- Department of NeurosurgeryRuijin HospitalSchool of MedicineShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai200025P. R. China
| | - Jun Yao
- Institutes of Biomedical SciencesFudan UniversityShanghai200032P. R. China
| | - Guoquan Yan
- Institutes of Biomedical SciencesFudan UniversityShanghai200032P. R. China
| | - Chengpin Shen
- Shanghai Omicsolution Co., Ltd.Shanghai200000P. R. China
| | - Siyuan Kong
- Institutes of Biomedical SciencesFudan UniversityShanghai200032P. R. China
| | - Yueting Xiong
- Institutes of Biomedical SciencesFudan UniversityShanghai200032P. R. China
| | - Qingfang Sun
- Department of NeurosurgeryRuijin HospitalSchool of MedicineShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai200025P. R. China
| | - Yuhao Sun
- Institute of Translational MedicineShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai200241P. R. China
- Department of NeurosurgeryRuijin HospitalSchool of MedicineShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai200025P. R. China
| | - Huali Shen
- Institutes of Biomedical SciencesFudan UniversityShanghai200032P. R. China
| | - Liuguan Bian
- Institute of Translational MedicineShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai200241P. R. China
- Department of NeurosurgeryRuijin HospitalSchool of MedicineShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai200025P. R. China
| | - Kun Qian
- Institute of Translational MedicineShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai200241P. R. China
| | - Xiaohui Liu
- Institute of Translational MedicineShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghai200241P. R. China
- Institutes of Biomedical SciencesFudan UniversityShanghai200032P. R. China
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10
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Licón-Muñoz Y, Avalos V, Subramanian S, Granger B, Martinez F, García-Montaño LA, Varela S, Moore D, Perkins E, Kogan M, Berto S, Chohan MO, Bowers CA, Piccirillo SGM. Single-nucleus and spatial landscape of the sub-ventricular zone in human glioblastoma. Cell Rep 2025; 44:115149. [PMID: 39752252 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.115149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2024] [Revised: 10/22/2024] [Accepted: 12/12/2024] [Indexed: 01/11/2025] Open
Abstract
The sub-ventricular zone (SVZ) is the most well-characterized neurogenic area in the mammalian brain. We previously showed that in 65% of patients with glioblastoma (GBM), the SVZ is a reservoir of cancer stem-like cells that contribute to treatment resistance and the emergence of recurrence. Here, we build a single-nucleus RNA-sequencing-based microenvironment landscape of the tumor mass and the SVZ of 15 patients and two histologically normal SVZ samples as controls. We identify a ZEB1-centered mesenchymal signature in the tumor cells of the SVZ. Moreover, the SVZ microenvironment is characterized by tumor-supportive microglia, which spatially coexist and establish crosstalks with tumor cells. Last, differential gene expression analyses, predictions of ligand-receptor and incoming/outgoing interactions, and functional assays reveal that the interleukin (IL)-1β/IL-1RAcP and Wnt-5a/Frizzled-3 pathways represent potential therapeutic targets in the SVZ. Our data provide insights into the biology of the SVZ in patients with GBM and identify potential targets of this microenvironment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yamhilette Licón-Muñoz
- The Brain Tumor Translational Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA; University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
| | - Vanessa Avalos
- The Brain Tumor Translational Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA; University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
| | - Suganya Subramanian
- Bioinformatics Core, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA; Neurogenomics Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
| | - Bryan Granger
- Bioinformatics Core, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA; Neurogenomics Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
| | - Frank Martinez
- The Brain Tumor Translational Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA; University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
| | - Leopoldo A García-Montaño
- The Brain Tumor Translational Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA; University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
| | - Samantha Varela
- University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
| | - Drew Moore
- Bioinformatics Core, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA; Neurogenomics Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
| | - Eddie Perkins
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS 39216, USA
| | - Michael Kogan
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of New Mexico Hospital, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
| | - Stefano Berto
- Bioinformatics Core, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA; Neurogenomics Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
| | - Muhammad O Chohan
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS 39216, USA
| | - Christian A Bowers
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of New Mexico Hospital, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
| | - Sara G M Piccirillo
- The Brain Tumor Translational Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA; University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
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11
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Hu M, Weldy A, Lovalvo I, Akins E, Jain S, Chang A, Sati A, Lad M, Lui A, Rajidi A, Kothekar A, Ding E, Kumar S, Aghi MK. Druggable genome CRISPRi screen in 3D hydrogels reveals regulators of cortactin-driven actin remodeling in invading glioblastoma cells. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2025:2025.01.20.633978. [PMID: 39896608 PMCID: PMC11785026 DOI: 10.1101/2025.01.20.633978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2025]
Abstract
To identify new therapeutic targets that limit glioblastoma (GBM) invasion, we applied druggable-genome CRISPR screens to patient-derived GBM cells in micro-dissectible biomimetic 3D hydrogel platforms that permit separation and independent analysis of core vs. invasive fractions. We identified 12 targets whose suppression limited invasion, of which ACP1 (LMW-PTP) and Aurora Kinase B (AURKB) were validated in neurosphere assays. Proximity labeling analysis identified cortactin as an ACP1-AURKB link, as cortactin undergoes serine phosphorylation by AURKB and tyrosine dephosphorylation by ACP1. Suppression of ACP1 or AURKB in culture and in vivo shifted the balance of cortactin phosphorylation in GBM and reduced actin polymerization and actin-cortactin co-localization. Additional biophysical analysis implicated AURKB in GBM cell adhesion and cortical stiffness, and ACP1 in resistance to mechanical stress and shape plasticity needed for 3D migration. These findings reveal a novel targetable axis that balances kinase and phosphatase activities to regulate actin polymerization during GBM invasion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mufeng Hu
- University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Neurosurgery
| | - Anna Weldy
- UC Berkeley Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
| | | | - Erin Akins
- University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) Bioengineering
- UC Berkeley-UCSF Graduate Program in Bioengineering
| | - Saket Jain
- University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Neurosurgery
| | | | - Ankita Sati
- University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Neurosurgery
| | - Meeki Lad
- University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Neurosurgery
| | - Austin Lui
- University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Neurosurgery
| | - Akhil Rajidi
- University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Neurosurgery
| | - Ameya Kothekar
- University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Neurosurgery
| | - Erika Ding
- UC Berkeley Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
| | - Sanjay Kumar
- UC Berkeley Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) Bioengineering
- UC Berkeley-UCSF Graduate Program in Bioengineering
- California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences at UC Berkeley (QB3-Berkeley)
- UCSF Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences
| | - Manish K. Aghi
- University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Neurosurgery
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12
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Zhang M, Bi B, Liu G, Fan X. PYCR1 expresses in cancer-associated fibroblasts and accelerates the progression of C6 glioblastoma. Histol Histopathol 2025; 40:89-100. [PMID: 38826151 DOI: 10.14670/hh-18-762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play important roles in tumor microenvironments. Pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase 1 (PYCR1) is a potential cancer therapy target. This study aimed to explore the expression of PYCR1 in glioma-associated CAFs and analyze the effects of PYCR1 expression in CAFs on the proliferation of C6 glioma. METHODS A rat glioma model was induced by injecting C6 cells in the right caudate putamen via a microliter syringe. After 14 days, tumor tissues were collected, and the levels of COL1A1 and PYCR1 were measured by immunohistochemistry. The colocalization of fibroblast activation protein α (FAP) and PYCR1 in tissues was measured by double-immunofluorescence. The CAFs were labeled by FAP and isolated from the tumor tissues using a fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) machine. The isolated CAFs were further separated into CAFs with different PYCR1 expressions using the FACS machine. CAFs with different PYCR1 expressions were respectively cocultured with C6 cells or MUVECs for 48h using a Transwell permeable support. The invasion and proliferation of C6 cells were measured using a Transwell assay and colony formation assay, and the angiogenesis of MUVECs was measured using a Tube formation assay. The expression of COL1A1 and PYCR1 proteins in C6 cells and VEGF-A and EGF proteins in MUVECs was measured by western blotting. PYCR1 silencing in C6 cells was induced by PYCR1 siRNA transfection, the effects of which on the proliferation of C6 cells were measured using a wound healing assay, a Transwell assay, and western blotting. RESULTS The PYCR1 and COL1A1 upregulation co-occurred in the rat glioma, and PYCR1 was expressed in CAFs. The CAF coculture enhanced the invasion and proliferation of C6 cells and the angiogenesis of MUVECs. Meanwhile, the levels of COL1A1 protein in C6 cells, and the levels of VEGF-A and EGF proteins in MUVECs were increased after CAF coculture. Moreover, the effects of CAF coculture were increased with PYCR1 expression in the CAF. Silencing PYCR1 suppressed the migration and invasion of C6 cells, and decreased the levels of COL1A1 and VEGF-A proteins in C6 cells. CONCLUSIONS PYCR1 is expressed in glioma-associated CAFs, and promotes the proliferation of C6 cells and angiogenesis of MUVECs, suggesting that targeting PYCR1 may be a therapeutic strategy for glioma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingkun Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Shandong Medicine and Health Key Laboratory of Neurosurgery, Jinan, PR China
| | - Baibin Bi
- Department of Neurosurgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Shandong Medicine and Health Key Laboratory of Neurosurgery, Jinan, PR China
| | - Guangcun Liu
- Department of Neurosurgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Shandong Medicine and Health Key Laboratory of Neurosurgery, Jinan, PR China
| | - Xiaoyong Fan
- Department of Neurosurgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Shandong Medicine and Health Key Laboratory of Neurosurgery, Jinan, PR China.
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13
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Shi J, Lin Z, Zheng Z, Chen M, Huang X, Wang J, Li M, Shao J. Glutamine metabolism promotes human trophoblast cell invasion via COL1A1 mediated by PI3K-AKT pathway. J Reprod Immunol 2024; 166:104321. [PMID: 39243705 DOI: 10.1016/j.jri.2024.104321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2024] [Revised: 07/13/2024] [Accepted: 08/19/2024] [Indexed: 09/09/2024]
Abstract
Abnormal trophoblast invasion function is an important cause of recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). Recent research has revealed a connection between glutamine metabolism and RSA. However, the interplay between these three factors and their related mechanisms remains unclear. To address this issue, we collected villus tissues from 10 healthy women with induced abortion and from 10 women with RSA to detect glutamine metabolism. Then, the trophoblast cell line HTR-8/SVneo was used in vitro to explore the effect of glutamine metabolism on trophoblast cells invasion, which was tested by transwell assay. We found that the concentration of glutamine in the villi of the normal pregnancy group was significantly higher than that in the RSA group. Correspondingly, the expression levels of key enzymes involved in glutamine synthesis and catabolism, including glutamine synthetase and glutaminase, were significantly higher in the villi of the normal pregnancy group. Regarding trophoblast cells, glutamine markedly enhanced the proliferative and invasive abilities of HTR-8/SVneo cells. Additionally, collagen type I alpha 1 (COL1A1) was confirmed to be a downstream target of glutamine, and glutamine also activated the PI3K-AKT pathway in HTR-8/SVneo cells. These findings indicate that glutamine metabolism facilitates the invasion of trophoblasts by up-regulating COL1A1 expression through the activation of the PI3K-AKT pathway, but the specific mechanism of COL1A1 requires further study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jialu Shi
- Department of Gynecology, Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai 200090, China
| | - Zhi Lin
- Department of Gynecology, Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai 200090, China
| | - Zimeng Zheng
- Laboratory for Reproductive Immunology, Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai 200080, China
| | - Min Chen
- Department of Ultrasound, Women's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province 310000, China
| | - Xu Huang
- Laboratory for Reproductive Immunology, Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai 200080, China
| | - Jiarui Wang
- Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Mingqing Li
- Laboratory for Reproductive Immunology, Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai 200080, China.
| | - Jun Shao
- Department of Gynecology, Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai 200090, China.
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14
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Figg J, Chen D, Falceto Font L, Flores C, Jin D. In vivo mouse models for adult brain tumors: Exploring tumorigenesis and advancing immunotherapy development. Neuro Oncol 2024; 26:1964-1980. [PMID: 38990913 PMCID: PMC11534310 DOI: 10.1093/neuonc/noae131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Brain tumors, particularly glioblastoma (GBM), are devastating and challenging to treat, with a low 5-year survival rate of only 6.6%. Mouse models are established to understand tumorigenesis and develop new therapeutic strategies. Large-scale genomic studies have facilitated the identification of genetic alterations driving human brain tumor development and progression. Genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) with clinically relevant genetic alterations are widely used to investigate tumor origin. Additionally, syngeneic implantation models, utilizing cell lines derived from GEMMs or other sources, are popular for their consistent and relatively short latency period, addressing various brain cancer research questions. In recent years, the success of immunotherapy in specific cancer types has led to a surge in cancer immunology-related research which specifically necessitates the utilization of immunocompetent mouse models. In this review, we provide a comprehensive summary of GEMMs and syngeneic mouse models for adult brain tumors, emphasizing key features such as model origin, genetic alteration background, oncogenic mechanisms, and immune-related characteristics. Our review serves as a valuable resource for the brain tumor research community, aiding in the selection of appropriate models to study cancer immunology.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Figg
- University of Florida Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Program, Preston A. Wells, Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy, Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Dongjiang Chen
- Division of Neuro-Oncology, Department of Neurological Surgery and Neurology, USC Keck Brain Tumor Center, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Laura Falceto Font
- University of Florida Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Program, Preston A. Wells, Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy, Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Catherine Flores
- University of Florida Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Program, Preston A. Wells, Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy, Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Dan Jin
- University of Florida Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Program, Preston A. Wells, Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy, Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
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15
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Vymola P, Garcia‐Borja E, Cervenka J, Balaziova E, Vymolova B, Veprkova J, Vodicka P, Skalnikova H, Tomas R, Netuka D, Busek P, Sedo A. Fibrillar extracellular matrix produced by pericyte-like cells facilitates glioma cell dissemination. Brain Pathol 2024; 34:e13265. [PMID: 38705944 PMCID: PMC11483521 DOI: 10.1111/bpa.13265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Gliomagenesis induces profound changes in the composition of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the brain. In this study, we identified a cellular population responsible for the increased deposition of collagen I and fibronectin in glioblastoma. Elevated levels of the fibrillar proteins collagen I and fibronectin were associated with the expression of fibroblast activation protein (FAP), which is predominantly found in pericyte-like cells in glioblastoma. FAP+ pericyte-like cells were present in regions rich in collagen I and fibronectin in biopsy material and produced substantially more collagen I and fibronectin in vitro compared to other cell types found in the GBM microenvironment. Using mass spectrometry, we demonstrated that 3D matrices produced by FAP+ pericyte-like cells are rich in collagen I and fibronectin and contain several basement membrane proteins. This expression pattern differed markedly from glioma cells. Finally, we have shown that ECM produced by FAP+ pericyte-like cells enhances the migration of glioma cells including glioma stem-like cells, promotes their adhesion, and activates focal adhesion kinase (FAK) signaling. Taken together, our findings establish FAP+ pericyte-like cells as crucial producers of a complex ECM rich in collagen I and fibronectin, facilitating the dissemination of glioma cells through FAK activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petr Vymola
- Laboratory of Cancer Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Experimental Oncology, First Faculty of MedicineCharles UniversityPragueCzech Republic
| | - Elena Garcia‐Borja
- Laboratory of Cancer Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Experimental Oncology, First Faculty of MedicineCharles UniversityPragueCzech Republic
| | - Jakub Cervenka
- Laboratory of Applied Proteome Analyses, Research Center PIGMODInstitute of Animal Physiology and Genetics of the Czech Academy of SciencesLiběchovCzech Republic
- Laboratory of proteomics, Institute of Biochemistry and Experimental Oncology, First Faculty of MedicineCharles UniversityPragueCzech Republic
| | - Eva Balaziova
- Laboratory of Cancer Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Experimental Oncology, First Faculty of MedicineCharles UniversityPragueCzech Republic
| | - Barbora Vymolova
- Laboratory of Cancer Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Experimental Oncology, First Faculty of MedicineCharles UniversityPragueCzech Republic
| | - Jana Veprkova
- Laboratory of Cancer Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Experimental Oncology, First Faculty of MedicineCharles UniversityPragueCzech Republic
| | - Petr Vodicka
- Laboratory of Applied Proteome Analyses, Research Center PIGMODInstitute of Animal Physiology and Genetics of the Czech Academy of SciencesLiběchovCzech Republic
| | - Helena Skalnikova
- Laboratory of Applied Proteome Analyses, Research Center PIGMODInstitute of Animal Physiology and Genetics of the Czech Academy of SciencesLiběchovCzech Republic
- Laboratory of proteomics, Institute of Biochemistry and Experimental Oncology, First Faculty of MedicineCharles UniversityPragueCzech Republic
| | - Robert Tomas
- Department of NeurosurgeryNa Homolce HospitalPragueCzech Republic
| | - David Netuka
- Department of Neurosurgery and Neurooncology, First Faculty of MedicineCharles University and Military University HospitalPragueCzech Republic
| | - Petr Busek
- Laboratory of Cancer Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Experimental Oncology, First Faculty of MedicineCharles UniversityPragueCzech Republic
| | - Aleksi Sedo
- Laboratory of Cancer Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Experimental Oncology, First Faculty of MedicineCharles UniversityPragueCzech Republic
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16
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Barberis L, Condat CA, Faisal SM, Lowenstein PR. The self-organized structure of glioma oncostreams and the disruptive role of passive cells. Sci Rep 2024; 14:25435. [PMID: 39455622 PMCID: PMC11511870 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-74823-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2024] [Accepted: 09/30/2024] [Indexed: 10/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Oncostreams are self-organized structures formed by spindle-like, elongated, self-propelled cells recently described in glioblastomas and especially in gliosarcomas. Cells within these structures either move as large clusters in one main direction, flocks, or as linear, intermingling collections of cells advancing in opposite directions, streams. Round, passive cells are also observed, either inside or segregated from the oncostreams. Here we generalize a recently formulated particle-field approach to investigate the genesis and evolution of these structures, first showing that, in systems consisting only of identical self-propelled cells, both flocks and streams emerge as self-organized dynamic configurations. Flocks are the more stable configurations, while streams are transient and usually originate in collisions between flocks. Stream degradation is easier at low self-propulsion speeds. In systems consisting of both motile and passive cells, the latter block stream formation and accelerate their degradation and flock stabilization. Since the flock appears to be the most effective invasive structure, we thus argue that a phenotype mixture (motile and passive cells) may favor glioblastoma invasion. hlBy relating cellular properties to the observed outcome, our model shows that oncostreams are self-organized structures that result from the interplay between speed, shape, and steric repulsion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas Barberis
- Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola y Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación, CONICET, UNC, Córdoba, Argentina.
- Departments of Neurosurgery, Cell and Developmental Biology, and Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan Medical School and School of Engineering, Ann Arbor, 48109, USA.
| | - Carlos A Condat
- Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola y Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación, CONICET, UNC, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Syed M Faisal
- Laboratory of Theoretical Physics and Modelling, CY Cergy-Paris Université, CNRS, 95032, Cergy-Pontoise, France
| | - Pedro R Lowenstein
- Laboratory of Theoretical Physics and Modelling, CY Cergy-Paris Université, CNRS, 95032, Cergy-Pontoise, France
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17
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Manoharan VT, Abdelkareem A, Gill G, Brown S, Gillmor A, Hall C, Seo H, Narta K, Grewal S, Dang NH, Ahn BY, Osz K, Lun X, Mah L, Zemp F, Mahoney D, Senger DL, Chan JA, Morrissy AS. Spatiotemporal modeling reveals high-resolution invasion states in glioblastoma. Genome Biol 2024; 25:264. [PMID: 39390467 PMCID: PMC11465563 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-024-03407-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2024] [Indexed: 10/12/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Diffuse invasion of glioblastoma cells through normal brain tissue is a key contributor to tumor aggressiveness, resistance to conventional therapies, and dismal prognosis in patients. A deeper understanding of how components of the tumor microenvironment (TME) contribute to overall tumor organization and to programs of invasion may reveal opportunities for improved therapeutic strategies. RESULTS Towards this goal, we apply a novel computational workflow to a spatiotemporally profiled GBM xenograft cohort, leveraging the ability to distinguish human tumor from mouse TME to overcome previous limitations in the analysis of diffuse invasion. Our analytic approach, based on unsupervised deconvolution, performs reference-free discovery of cell types and cell activities within the complete GBM ecosystem. We present a comprehensive catalogue of 15 tumor cell programs set within the spatiotemporal context of 90 mouse brain and TME cell types, cell activities, and anatomic structures. Distinct tumor programs related to invasion align with routes of perivascular, white matter, and parenchymal invasion. Furthermore, sub-modules of genes serving as program network hubs are highly prognostic in GBM patients. CONCLUSION The compendium of programs presented here provides a basis for rational targeting of tumor and/or TME components. We anticipate that our approach will facilitate an ecosystem-level understanding of the immediate and long-term consequences of such perturbations, including the identification of compensatory programs that will inform improved combinatorial therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Varsha Thoppey Manoharan
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Aly Abdelkareem
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Gurveer Gill
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Samuel Brown
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Aaron Gillmor
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Courtney Hall
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Heewon Seo
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Kiran Narta
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Sean Grewal
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Ngoc Ha Dang
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Bo Young Ahn
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Kata Osz
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Xueqing Lun
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Laura Mah
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Franz Zemp
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Douglas Mahoney
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Donna L Senger
- Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
- Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada.
| | - Jennifer A Chan
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
| | - A Sorana Morrissy
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
- Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
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18
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Ren ZQ, Wang RD, Wang C, Ren XH, Li DG, Liu YL, Yu QH. Key Genes Involved in the Beneficial Mechanism of Hyperbaric Oxygen for Glioblastoma and Predictive Indicators of Hyperbaric Oxygen Prolonging Survival in Glioblastoma Patients. Curr Med Sci 2024; 44:1036-1046. [PMID: 39446287 DOI: 10.1007/s11596-024-2934-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 09/03/2024] [Indexed: 10/25/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The prognosis of glioblastoma is poor, and therapy-resistance is largely attributed to intratumor hypoxia. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) effectively alleviates hypoxia. However, the sole role of HBO in glioblastoma remains controversial. We previously reported that HBO can promote apoptosis, shorten protrusions, and delay growth of glioblastoma, but the molecular mechanism is unclear. We aimed to test candidate genes in HBO-exposed glioblastoma cells and to analyze their correlation with the survival of glioblastoma patients. METHODS Glioblastoma cell lines exposed to repetitive HBO or normobaric air (NBA) were collected for RNA isolation and microarray data analysis. GO analysis, KEGG pathway analysis and survival analysis of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were performed. RESULTS HBO not only inhibited hypoxia-inducing genes including CA9, FGF11, PPFIA4, TCAF2 and SLC2A12, but also regulated vascularization by downregulating the expression of COL1A1, COL8A1, COL12A1, RHOJ and FILIP1L, ultimately attenuated hypoxic microenvironment of glioblastoma. HBO attenuated inflammatory microenvironment by reducing the expression of NLRP2, CARD8, MYD88 and CD180. HBO prevented metastasis by downregulating the expression of NTM, CXCL12, CXCL13, CXCR4, CXCR5, CDC42, IGFBP3, IGFBP5, GPC6, MMP19, ADAMTS1, EFEMP1, PTBP3, NF1 and PDCD1. HBO upregulated the expression of BAK1, PPIF, DDIT3, TP53I11 and FAS, whereas downregulated the expression of MDM4 and SIVA1, thus promoting apoptosis. HBO upregulated the expression of CDC25A, MCM2, PCNA, RFC33, DSCC1 and CDC14A, whereas downregulated the expression of ASNS, CDK6, CDKN1B, PTBP3 and MAD2L1, thus inhibiting cell cycle progression. Among these DEGs, 17 indicator-genes of HBO prolonging survival were detected. CONCLUSIONS HBO is beneficial for glioblastoma. Glioblastoma patients with these predictive indicators may prolong survival with HBO therapy. These potential therapeutic targets especially COL1A1, ADAMTS1 and PTBP3 deserve further validation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zi-Qi Ren
- Department of Hyperbaric Oxygen, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100070, China
| | - Ren-Dong Wang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Fundamental Research on Biomechanics in Clinical Application, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100069, China
| | - Cong Wang
- Department of Hyperbaric Oxygen, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100070, China
| | - Xiao-Hui Ren
- Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100070, China
| | - Dong-Guo Li
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Fundamental Research on Biomechanics in Clinical Application, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100069, China
| | - Ya-Ling Liu
- Department of Hyperbaric Oxygen, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100070, China
| | - Qiu-Hong Yu
- Department of Hyperbaric Oxygen, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100070, China.
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19
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Caverzan MD, Ibarra LE. Advancing glioblastoma treatment through iron metabolism: A focus on TfR1 and Ferroptosis innovations. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 278:134777. [PMID: 39153669 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.134777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2024] [Revised: 08/10/2024] [Accepted: 08/13/2024] [Indexed: 08/19/2024]
Abstract
Glioblastoma (GBM) represents a formidable challenge in oncology, characterized by aggressive proliferation and poor prognosis. Iron metabolism plays a critical player in GBM progression, with dysregulated iron uptake and utilization contributing to tumor growth and therapeutic resistance. Iron's pivotal role in DNA synthesis, oxidative stress, and angiogenesis underscores its significance in GBM pathogenesis. Elevated expression of iron transporters, such as transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1), highlights the tumor's reliance on iron for survival. Innovative treatment strategies targeting iron dysregulation hold promise for overcoming therapeutic challenges in GBM management. Approaches such as iron chelation therapies, induction of ferroptosis to nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems exploit iron-dependent vulnerabilities, offering avenues for enhance treatment efficacy and improve patient outcomes. As research advances, understanding the complexities of iron-mediated carcinogenesis provides a foundation for developing precision medicine approaches tailored to combat GBM effectively. This review explores the intricate relationship between iron metabolism and GBM, elucidating its multifaceted implications and therapeutic opportunities. By consolidating the latest insights into iron metabolism in GBM, this review underscores its potential as a therapeutic target for improving patient care in combination with the standard of care approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matías D Caverzan
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnologías Energéticas y Materiales Avanzados (IITEMA), Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto (UNRC) y Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Río Cuarto X5800BIA, Argentina; Departamento de Patología Animal, Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto, Rio Cuarto X5800BIA, Argentina
| | - Luis E Ibarra
- Departamento de Biología Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicoquímicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto, Rio Cuarto X5800BIA, Argentina; Instituto de Biotecnología Ambiental y Salud (INBIAS), Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto (UNRC) y Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Rio Cuarto X5800BIA, Argentina.
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20
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Renoult O, Laurent--Blond M, Awada H, Oliver L, Joalland N, Croyal M, Paris F, Gratas C, Pecqueur C. Metabolic profiling of glioblastoma stem cells reveals pyruvate carboxylase as a critical survival factor and potential therapeutic target. Neuro Oncol 2024; 26:1572-1586. [PMID: 38869884 PMCID: PMC11376449 DOI: 10.1093/neuonc/noae106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/14/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly aggressive tumor with unmet therapeutic needs, which can be explained by extensive intra-tumoral heterogeneity and plasticity. In this study, we aimed to investigate the specific metabolic features of Glioblastoma stem cells (GSC), a rare tumor subpopulation involved in tumor growth and therapy resistance. METHODS We conducted comprehensive analyses of primary patient-derived GBM cultures and GSC-enriched cultures of human GBM cell lines using state-of-the-art molecular, metabolic, and phenotypic studies. RESULTS We showed that GSC-enriched cultures display distinct glycolytic profiles compared with differentiated tumor cells. Further analysis revealed that GSC relies on pyruvate carboxylase (PC) activity for survival and self-renewal capacity. Interestingly, inhibition of PC led to GSC death, particularly when the glutamine pool was low, and increased differentiation. Finally, while GSC displayed resistance to the chemotherapy drug etoposide, genetic or pharmacological inhibition of PC restored etoposide sensitivity in GSC, both in vitro and in orthotopic murine models. CONCLUSIONS Our findings demonstrate the critical role of PC in GSC metabolism, survival, and escape to etoposide. They also highlight PC as a therapeutic target to overcome therapy resistance in GBM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ophélie Renoult
- Nantes Université, Inserm 1307, CNRS 6075, Université d’Angers, Nantes, France
| | | | - Hala Awada
- Faculty of Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon
- Nantes Université, Inserm 1307, CNRS 6075, Université d’Angers, Nantes, France
| | - Lisa Oliver
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nantes, Nantes, France
- Nantes Université, Inserm 1307, CNRS 6075, Université d’Angers, Nantes, France
| | - Noémie Joalland
- Nantes Université, Inserm 1307, CNRS 6075, Université d’Angers, Nantes, France
| | - Mikaël Croyal
- Université de Nantes, CHU Nantes, Inserm, CNRS, SFR Santé, Inserm UMS 016, CNRS UMS 3556, Nantes, France
- Université de Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, l’institut du thorax, Nantes, France
| | - François Paris
- Institut de Cancérologie de l’Ouest, Saint-Herblain, France
- Nantes Université, Inserm 1307, CNRS 6075, Université d’Angers, Nantes, France
| | - Catherine Gratas
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nantes, Nantes, France
- Nantes Université, Inserm 1307, CNRS 6075, Université d’Angers, Nantes, France
| | - Claire Pecqueur
- Nantes Université, Inserm 1307, CNRS 6075, Université d’Angers, Nantes, France
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21
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Gu J, Jin J, Ren X, Zhang X, Li J, Wang X, Zhang S, Yin X, Zhang Q, Wang Z. Single-Cell Landscape and a Macrophage Subset Enhancing Brown Adipocyte Function in Diabetes. Diabetes Metab J 2024; 48:885-900. [PMID: 38853519 PMCID: PMC11449828 DOI: 10.4093/dmj.2023.0278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/11/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGRUOUND Metabolic dysregulation is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), in which the abnormalities in brown adipose tissue (BAT) play important roles. However, the cellular composition and function of BAT as well as its pathological significance in diabetes remain incompletely understood. Our objective is to delineate the single-cell landscape of BAT-derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF) and their characteristic alterations in T2DM rats. METHODS T2DM was induced in rats by intraperitoneal injection of low-dose streptozotocin and high-fat diet feeding. Single-cell mRNA sequencing was then performed on BAT samples and compared to normal rats to characterize changes in T2DM rats. Subsequently, the importance of key cell subsets in T2DM was elucidated using various functional studies. RESULTS Almost all cell types in the BAT-derived SVF of T2DM rats exhibited enhanced inflammatory responses, increased angiogenesis, and disordered glucose and lipid metabolism. The multidirectional differentiation potential of adipose tissue-derived stem cells was also reduced. Moreover, macrophages played a pivotal role in intercellular crosstalk of BAT-derived SVF. A novel Rarres2+macrophage subset promoted the differentiation and metabolic function of brown adipocytes via adipose-immune crosstalk. CONCLUSION BAT SVF exhibited strong heterogeneity in cellular composition and function and contributed to T2DM as a significant inflammation source, in which a novel macrophage subset was identified that can promote brown adipocyte function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junfei Gu
- Department of Endocrinology & Geriatrics, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Department of Geriatrics, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China
- Department of Endocrinology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, China
| | - Jiajia Jin
- National Key Laboratory for Innovation and Transformation of Luobing Theory, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education, Chinese National Health Commission, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Department of Cardiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Xiaoyu Ren
- National Key Laboratory for Innovation and Transformation of Luobing Theory, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education, Chinese National Health Commission, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Department of Cardiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Xinjie Zhang
- Department of Biology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jiaxuan Li
- Department of Endocrinology & Geriatrics, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Department of Geriatrics, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China
- National Key Laboratory for Innovation and Transformation of Luobing Theory, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education, Chinese National Health Commission, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Department of Cardiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Xiaowei Wang
- National Key Laboratory for Innovation and Transformation of Luobing Theory, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education, Chinese National Health Commission, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Department of Cardiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Shucui Zhang
- National Key Laboratory for Innovation and Transformation of Luobing Theory, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education, Chinese National Health Commission, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Department of Cardiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Xianlun Yin
- National Key Laboratory for Innovation and Transformation of Luobing Theory, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education, Chinese National Health Commission, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Department of Cardiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Qunye Zhang
- National Key Laboratory for Innovation and Transformation of Luobing Theory, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education, Chinese National Health Commission, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Department of Cardiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Zhe Wang
- Department of Endocrinology & Geriatrics, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- Department of Geriatrics, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China
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22
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Andrew Awuah W, Shah MH, Tan JK, Ranganathan S, Sanker V, Darko K, Tenkorang PO, Adageba BB, Ahluwalia A, Shet V, Aderinto N, Kundu M, Abdul‐Rahman T, Atallah O. Immunotherapeutic advances in glioma management: The rise of vaccine-based approaches. CNS Neurosci Ther 2024; 30:e70013. [PMID: 39215399 PMCID: PMC11364516 DOI: 10.1111/cns.70013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2024] [Revised: 07/23/2024] [Accepted: 08/12/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Gliomas, particularly glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), are highly aggressive brain tumors that present significant challenges in oncology due to their rapid progression and resistance to conventional therapies. Despite advancements in treatment, the prognosis for patients with GBM remains poor, necessitating the exploration of novel therapeutic approaches. One such emerging strategy is the development of glioma vaccines, which aim to stimulate the immune system to target and destroy tumor cells. AIMS This review aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the current landscape of glioma vaccine development, analyzing the types of vaccines under investigation, the outcomes of clinical trials, and the challenges and opportunities associated with their implementation. The goal is to highlight the potential of glioma vaccines in advancing more effective and personalized treatments for glioma patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS This narrative review systematically assessed the role of glioma vaccines by including full-text articles published between 2000 and 2024 in English. Databases such as PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and Scopus were searched using key terms like "glioma," "brain tumor," "glioblastoma," "vaccine," and "immunotherapy." The review incorporated both pre-clinical and clinical studies, including descriptive studies, animal-model studies, cohort studies, and observational studies. Exclusion criteria were applied to omit abstracts, case reports, posters, and non-peer-reviewed studies, ensuring the inclusion of high-quality evidence. RESULTS Clinical trials investigating various glioma vaccines, including peptide-based, DNA/RNA-based, whole-cell, and dendritic-cell vaccines, have shown promising results. These vaccines demonstrated potential in extending survival rates and managing adverse events in glioma patients. However, significant challenges remain, such as therapeutic resistance due to tumor heterogeneity and immune evasion mechanisms. Moreover, the lack of standardized guidelines for evaluating vaccine responses and issues related to ethical considerations, regulatory hurdles, and vaccine acceptance among patients further complicate the implementation of glioma vaccines. DISCUSSION Addressing the challenges associated with glioma vaccines involves exploring combination therapies, targeted approaches, and personalized medicine. Combining vaccines with traditional therapies like radiotherapy or chemotherapy may enhance efficacy by boosting the immune system's ability to fight tumor cells. Personalized vaccines tailored to individual patient profiles present an opportunity for improved outcomes. Furthermore, global collaboration and equitable distribution are critical for ensuring access to glioma vaccines, especially in low- and middle-income countries with limited healthcare resources CONCLUSION: Glioma vaccines represent a promising avenue in the fight against gliomas, offering hope for improving patient outcomes in a disease that is notoriously difficult to treat. Despite the challenges, continued research and the development of innovative strategies, including combination therapies and personalized approaches, are essential for overcoming current barriers and transforming the treatment landscape for glioma patients.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Vivek Sanker
- Department of NeurosurgeryTrivandrum Medical CollegeTrivandrumKeralaIndia
| | - Kwadwo Darko
- Department of NeurosurgeryKorle Bu Teaching HospitalAccraGhana
| | | | - Bryan Badayelba Adageba
- Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology School of Medicine and DentistryKumasiGhana
| | | | - Vallabh Shet
- Faculty of MedicineBangalore Medical College and Research InstituteBangaloreKarnatakaIndia
| | - Nicholas Aderinto
- Department of Internal MedicineLAUTECH Teaching HospitalOgbomosoNigeria
| | - Mrinmoy Kundu
- Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM HospitalBhubaneswarOdishaIndia
| | | | - Oday Atallah
- Department of Neurosurgery, Hannover Medical SchoolHannoverGermany
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23
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Shi S, Zhu C, Hu Y, Jiang P, Zhao J, Xu Q. ENG is a Biomarker of Prognosis and Angiogenesis in Liver Cancer, and Promotes the Differentiation of Tumor Cells into Vascular ECs. FRONT BIOSCI-LANDMRK 2024; 29:315. [PMID: 39344331 DOI: 10.31083/j.fbl2909315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2024] [Revised: 08/08/2024] [Accepted: 08/16/2024] [Indexed: 10/01/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Liver cancer is a highly lethal malignancy with frequent recurrence, widespread metastasis, and low survival rates. The aim of this study was to explore the role of Endoglin (ENG) in liver cancer progression, as well as its impacts on angiogenesis, immune cell infiltration, and the therapeutic efficacy of sorafenib. METHODS A comprehensive evaluation was conducted using online databases Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), 76 pairs of clinical specimens of tumor and adjacent non-tumor liver tissue, and tissue samples from 32 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients treated with sorafenib. ENG expression levels were evaluated using quantitative Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR), Western blot, and immunohistochemical analysis. Cox regression analysis, Spearman rank correlation analysis, and survival analysis were used to assess the results. Functional experiments included Transwell migration assays and tube formation assays with Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs). RESULTS Tumor cells exhibited retro-differentiation into endothelial-like cells, with a significant increase in ENG expression in these tumor-derived endothelial cells (TDECs). High expression of ENG was associated with more aggressive cancer characteristics and worse patient prognosis. Pathway enrichment and functional analyses identified ENG as a key regulator of immune responses and angiogenesis in liver cancer. Further studies confirmed that ENG increases the expression of Collagen type Iα1 (COL1A1), thereby promoting angiogenesis in liver cancer. Additionally, HCC patients with elevated ENG levels responded well to sorafenib treatment. CONCLUSIONS This study found that ENG is an important biomarker of prognosis in liver cancer. Moreover, ENG is associated with endothelial cell differentiation in liver cancer and plays a crucial role in formation of the tumor vasculature. The assessment of ENG expression could be a promising strategy to identify liver cancer patients who might benefit from targeted immunotherapies.
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MESH Headings
- Humans
- Liver Neoplasms/genetics
- Liver Neoplasms/metabolism
- Liver Neoplasms/pathology
- Liver Neoplasms/blood supply
- Liver Neoplasms/drug therapy
- Neovascularization, Pathologic/genetics
- Neovascularization, Pathologic/metabolism
- Biomarkers, Tumor/genetics
- Biomarkers, Tumor/metabolism
- Prognosis
- Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/genetics
- Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/metabolism
- Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology
- Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/blood supply
- Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/drug therapy
- Sorafenib/pharmacology
- Sorafenib/therapeutic use
- Cell Differentiation
- Endoglin/metabolism
- Endoglin/genetics
- Male
- Female
- Middle Aged
- Cell Line, Tumor
- Phenylurea Compounds/pharmacology
- Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells/metabolism
- Endothelial Cells/metabolism
- Endothelial Cells/pathology
- Niacinamide/analogs & derivatives
- Niacinamide/pharmacology
- Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology
- Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use
- Angiogenesis
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Affiliation(s)
- Shangheng Shi
- Organ Transplantation Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, 266003 Qingdao, Shandong, China
- The Institute of Transplantation Science, Qingdao University, 266003 Qingdao, Shandong, China
| | - Cunle Zhu
- Organ Transplantation Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, 266003 Qingdao, Shandong, China
- The Institute of Transplantation Science, Qingdao University, 266003 Qingdao, Shandong, China
| | - Yue Hu
- Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery Department, Affiliated First Hospital of Ningbo University, 315000 Ningbo, Zhejiang, China
| | - Peng Jiang
- Organ Transplantation Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, 266003 Qingdao, Shandong, China
- The Institute of Transplantation Science, Qingdao University, 266003 Qingdao, Shandong, China
| | - Jinxin Zhao
- Organ Transplantation Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, 266003 Qingdao, Shandong, China
- The Institute of Transplantation Science, Qingdao University, 266003 Qingdao, Shandong, China
| | - Qingguo Xu
- Organ Transplantation Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, 266003 Qingdao, Shandong, China
- The Institute of Transplantation Science, Qingdao University, 266003 Qingdao, Shandong, China
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24
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Wang S, Castro BA, Katz JL, Arrieta V, Najem H, Vazquez-Cervantes GI, Wan H, Olson IE, Hou D, Dapash M, Billingham LK, Chia TY, Wei C, Rashidi A, Platanias LC, McCortney K, Horbinski CM, Stupp R, Zhang P, Ahmed AU, Sonabend AM, Heimberger AB, Lesniak MS, Riviere-Cazaux C, Burns T, Miska J, Fischietti M, Lee-Chang C. B cell-based therapy produces antibodies that inhibit glioblastoma growth. J Clin Invest 2024; 134:e177384. [PMID: 39207859 PMCID: PMC11473152 DOI: 10.1172/jci177384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/20/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly aggressive and malignant brain tumor with limited therapeutic options and a poor prognosis. Despite current treatments, the invasive nature of GBM often leads to recurrence. A promising alternative strategy is to harness the potential of the immune system against tumor cells. Our previous data showed that the BVax (B cell-based vaccine) can induce therapeutic responses in preclinical models of GBM. In this study, we aimed to characterize the antigenic reactivity of BVax-derived Abs and evaluate their therapeutic potential. We performed immunoproteomics and functional assays in murine models and samples from patients with GBM. Our investigations revealed that BVax distributed throughout the GBM tumor microenvironment and then differentiated into Ab-producing plasmablasts. Proteomics analyses indicated that the Abs produced by BVax had unique reactivity, predominantly targeting factors associated with cell motility and the extracellular matrix. Crucially, these Abs inhibited critical processes such as GBM cell migration and invasion. These findings provide valuable insights into the therapeutic potential of BVax-derived Abs for patients with GBM, pointing toward a novel direction for GBM immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Si Wang
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Brandyn A. Castro
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Joshua L. Katz
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Victor Arrieta
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Hinda Najem
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Gustavo I. Vazquez-Cervantes
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Hanxiao Wan
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Ian E. Olson
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - David Hou
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Mark Dapash
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Leah K. Billingham
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Tzu-yi Chia
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Chao Wei
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Aida Rashidi
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Leonidas C. Platanias
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Department of Medicine, Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Kathleen McCortney
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Craig M. Horbinski
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Roger Stupp
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Department of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Peng Zhang
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Atique U. Ahmed
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Adam M. Sonabend
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Amy B. Heimberger
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Maciej S. Lesniak
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | | | - Terry Burns
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesotta, USA
| | - Jason Miska
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Mariafausta Fischietti
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Catalina Lee-Chang
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
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25
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Ruan Z, Zhou W, Liu H, Wei J, Pan Y, Yan C, Wei X, Xiang W, Yan C, Chen S, Liu J. Precise detection of cell-type-specific domains in spatial transcriptomics. CELL REPORTS METHODS 2024; 4:100841. [PMID: 39127046 PMCID: PMC11384096 DOI: 10.1016/j.crmeth.2024.100841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2024] [Revised: 06/17/2024] [Accepted: 07/17/2024] [Indexed: 08/12/2024]
Abstract
Cell-type-specific domains are the anatomical domains in spatially resolved transcriptome (SRT) tissues where particular cell types are enriched coincidentally. It is challenging to use existing computational methods to detect specific domains with low-proportion cell types, which are partly overlapped with or even inside other cell-type-specific domains. Here, we propose De-spot, which synthesizes segmentation and deconvolution as an ensemble to generate cell-type patterns, detect low-proportion cell-type-specific domains, and display these domains intuitively. Experimental evaluation showed that De-spot enabled us to discover the co-localizations between cancer-associated fibroblasts and immune-related cells that indicate potential tumor microenvironment (TME) domains in given slices, which were obscured by previous computational methods. We further elucidated the identified domains and found that Srgn may be a critical TME marker in SRT slices. By deciphering T cell-specific domains in breast cancer tissues, De-spot also revealed that the proportions of exhausted T cells were significantly increased in invasive vs. ductal carcinoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhihan Ruan
- Centre for Bioinformatics and Intelligent Medicine, College of Computer Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Weijun Zhou
- Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510282, China
| | - Hong Liu
- The Second Surgical Department of Breast Cancer, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, Tianjin 300060, China
| | - Jinmao Wei
- Centre for Bioinformatics and Intelligent Medicine, College of Computer Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Yichen Pan
- Centre for Bioinformatics and Intelligent Medicine, College of Computer Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Chaoyang Yan
- Centre for Bioinformatics and Intelligent Medicine, College of Computer Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Xiaoyi Wei
- Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519000, China
| | - Wenting Xiang
- Centre for Bioinformatics and Intelligent Medicine, College of Computer Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Chengwei Yan
- Centre for Bioinformatics and Intelligent Medicine, College of Computer Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Shengquan Chen
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Jian Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, College of Computer Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China.
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26
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Shevtsov M, Bobkov D, Yudintceva N, Likhomanova R, Kim A, Fedorov E, Fedorov V, Mikhailova N, Oganesyan E, Shabelnikov S, Rozanov O, Garaev T, Aksenov N, Shatrova A, Ten A, Nechaeva A, Goncharova D, Ziganshin R, Lukacheva A, Sitovskaya D, Ulitin A, Pitkin E, Samochernykh K, Shlyakhto E, Combs SE. Membrane-bound Heat Shock Protein mHsp70 Is Required for Migration and Invasion of Brain Tumors. CANCER RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS 2024; 4:2025-2044. [PMID: 39015084 PMCID: PMC11317918 DOI: 10.1158/2767-9764.crc-24-0094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2024] [Revised: 05/13/2024] [Accepted: 07/12/2024] [Indexed: 07/18/2024]
Abstract
Molecular chaperones, especially 70 kDa heat shock protein, in addition to their intracellular localization in cancer cells, can be exposed on the surface of the plasma membrane. We report that the membrane-associated chaperone mHsp70 of malignant brain tumors is required for high migratory and invasive activity of cancer cells. Live-cell inverted confocal microscopy of tumor samples from adult (n = 23) and pediatric (n = 9) neurooncologic patients showed pronounced protein expression on the membrane, especially in the perifocal zone. Mass spectrometry analysis of lipid rafts isolated from tumor cells confirmed the presence of the protein in the chaperone cluster (including representatives of other families, such as Hsp70, Hsc70, Hsp105, and Hsp90), which in turn, during interactome analysis, was associated with proteins involved in cell migration (e.g., Rac1, RhoC, and myosin-9). The use of small-molecule inhibitors of HSP70 (PES and JG98) led to a substantial decrease in the invasive potential of cells isolated from a tumor sample of patients, which indicates the role of the chaperone in invasion. Moreover, the use of HSP70 inhibitors in animal models of orthotopic brain tumors significantly delayed tumor progression, which was accompanied by an increase in overall survival. Data demonstrate that chaperone inhibitors, particularly JG98, disrupt the function of mHsp70, thereby providing an opportunity to better understand the diverse functions of this protein and offer aid in the development of novel cancer therapies. SIGNIFICANCE Membrane-bound mHsp70 is required for brain tumor cell migration and invasion and therefore could be employed as a target for anticancer therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxim Shevtsov
- Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Personalized Medicine Centre, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), St. Petersburg, Russia
- School of Medicine and Life Sciences, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia
| | - Danila Bobkov
- Personalized Medicine Centre, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), St. Petersburg, Russia
- Smorodintsev Research Institute of Influenza, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Natalia Yudintceva
- Personalized Medicine Centre, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Ruslana Likhomanova
- Personalized Medicine Centre, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Alexander Kim
- Personalized Medicine Centre, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Evegeniy Fedorov
- Personalized Medicine Centre, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Viacheslav Fedorov
- Personalized Medicine Centre, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Natalia Mikhailova
- Personalized Medicine Centre, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Elena Oganesyan
- Personalized Medicine Centre, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Sergey Shabelnikov
- Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Oleg Rozanov
- Personalized Medicine Centre, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Timur Garaev
- Personalized Medicine Centre, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Nikolay Aksenov
- Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Alla Shatrova
- Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Artem Ten
- School of Medicine and Life Sciences, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia
| | - Anastasiya Nechaeva
- Personalized Medicine Centre, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Daria Goncharova
- Personalized Medicine Centre, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Rustam Ziganshin
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Moscow, Russia
| | - Anastasiya Lukacheva
- Personalized Medicine Centre, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Daria Sitovskaya
- Polenov Neurosurgical Institute, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Alexey Ulitin
- Polenov Neurosurgical Institute, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Emil Pitkin
- Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Konstantin Samochernykh
- Personalized Medicine Centre, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Polenov Neurosurgical Institute, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Evgeny Shlyakhto
- Personalized Medicine Centre, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Stephanie E Combs
- Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
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27
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Pan H, Hong J, Shao A, Zhao Z, Ding G, Fang Z, Chen K, Zhu J. Keratin 17 and Collagen type 1 genes: Esophageal cancer molecular marker discovery and evaluation. THE CLINICAL RESPIRATORY JOURNAL 2024; 18:e13793. [PMID: 38979664 PMCID: PMC11231643 DOI: 10.1111/crj.13793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2023] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 07/10/2024]
Abstract
One hundred eighty pairs of tissues of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) were tested by the transcriptome sequencing in order to explore etiology factors. The chi-square test and correlation analysis demonstrated that the relative expression levels of keratin 17 (KRT17) and collagen type I α1 chain (COL1A1) were significantly higher in EC with diabetes. Expression of KRT17 was correlated with blood glucose (r = 0.204, p = 0.001) and tumor size (r = -0.177, p = 0.038) in patients. COL1A1 correlated with age (r = -0.170, p = 0.029) and blood glucose levels (r = 0.190, p = 0.015). Experimental results of qRT-PCR: KRT17 and COL1A1 genes were highly expressed in ESCC (p < 0.05). When the two genes were used as a combination test, the positive detection rate of EC was 90.6%, and the ROC curve had greater power. The KRT17 and COL1A1 genes had the potential to be biomarkers for the diagnosis of ESCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huiwen Pan
- School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
- The Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Jie Hong
- The Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Aizhong Shao
- The Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Zhiguo Zhao
- The Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Guowen Ding
- The Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Zhijie Fang
- Department of Otolaryngology, The Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Gusu School, Nanjing Medical University, Suzou, China
| | - Keping Chen
- School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Jingfeng Zhu
- The Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
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28
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Faisal SM, Ravi VM, Miska JM. Editorial: Spatiotemporal heterogeneity in CNS tumors. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1430227. [PMID: 38868775 PMCID: PMC11167105 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1430227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2024] [Accepted: 05/16/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Syed M. Faisal
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children’s Mercy Research Institute, Kansas City, MO, United States
| | - Vidhya M. Ravi
- Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Jason M. Miska
- Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
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29
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Faisal SM, Clewner JE, Stack B, Varela ML, Comba A, Abbud G, Motsch S, Castro MG, Lowenstein PR. Spatiotemporal Insights into Glioma Oncostream Dynamics: Unraveling Formation, Stability, and Disassembly Pathways. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2024; 11:e2309796. [PMID: 38384234 PMCID: PMC11095212 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202309796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Revised: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
Glioblastoma (GBM) remains a challenge in Neuro-oncology, with a poor prognosis showing only a 5% survival rate beyond two years. This is primarily due to its aggressiveness and intra-tumoral heterogeneity, which limits complete surgical resection and reduces the efficacy of existing treatments. The existence of oncostreams-neuropathological structures comprising aligned spindle-like cells from both tumor and non-tumor origins- is discovered earlier. Oncostreams are closely linked to glioma aggressiveness and facilitate the spread into adjacent healthy brain tissue. A unique molecular signature intrinsic to oncostreams, with overexpression of key genes (i.e., COL1A1, ACTA2) that drive the tumor's mesenchymal transition and malignancy is also identified. Pre-clinical studies on genetically engineered mouse models demonstrated that COL1A1 inhibition disrupts oncostreams, modifies TME, reduces mesenchymal gene expression, and extends survival. An in vitro model using GFP+ NPA cells to investigate how various treatments affect oncostream dynamics is developed. Analysis showed that factors such as cell density, morphology, neurotransmitter agonists, calcium chelators, and cytoskeleton-targeting drugs influence oncostream formation. This data illuminate the patterns of glioma migration and suggest anti-invasion strategies that can improve GBM patient outcomes when combined with traditional therapies. This work highlights the potential of targeting oncostreams to control glioma invasion and enhance treatment efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Syed M. Faisal
- Department of NeurosurgeryUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Department of Cell and Developmental BiologyUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Rogel Cancer CentreUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
| | - Jarred E. Clewner
- Department of NeurosurgeryUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Department of Cell and Developmental BiologyUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Rogel Cancer CentreUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
| | - Brooklyn Stack
- Department of NeurosurgeryUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Department of Cell and Developmental BiologyUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Rogel Cancer CentreUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
| | - Maria L. Varela
- Department of NeurosurgeryUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Department of Cell and Developmental BiologyUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Rogel Cancer CentreUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
| | - Andrea Comba
- Department of NeurosurgeryUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Department of Cell and Developmental BiologyUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Rogel Cancer CentreUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
| | - Grace Abbud
- Department of NeurosurgeryUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Department of Cell and Developmental BiologyUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Rogel Cancer CentreUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
| | - Sebastien Motsch
- Department of Statistics and Mathematical SciencesArizona State UniversityTempeArizona85287USA
| | - Maria G. Castro
- Department of NeurosurgeryUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Department of Cell and Developmental BiologyUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Rogel Cancer CentreUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
| | - Pedro R. Lowenstein
- Department of NeurosurgeryUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Department of Cell and Developmental BiologyUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Rogel Cancer CentreUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
- Department of Biomedical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolAnn ArborMichigan48108USA
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30
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Licón-Muñoz Y, Avalos V, Subramanian S, Granger B, Martinez F, Varela S, Moore D, Perkins E, Kogan M, Berto S, Chohan M, Bowers C, Piccirillo S. Single-nucleus and spatial landscape of the sub-ventricular zone in human glioblastoma. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.24.590852. [PMID: 38712234 PMCID: PMC11071523 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.24.590852] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
The sub-ventricular zone (SVZ) is the most well-characterized neurogenic area in the mammalian brain. We previously showed that in 65% of patients with glioblastoma (GBM), the SVZ is a reservoir of cancer stem-like cells that contribute to treatment resistance and emergence of recurrence. Here, we built a single-nucleus RNA-sequencing-based microenvironment landscape of the tumor mass (T_Mass) and the SVZ (T_SVZ) of 15 GBM patients and 2 histologically normal SVZ (N_SVZ) samples as controls. We identified a mesenchymal signature in the T_SVZ of GBM patients: tumor cells from the T_SVZ relied on the ZEB1 regulatory network, whereas tumor cells in the T_Mass relied on the TEAD1 regulatory network. Moreover, the T_SVZ microenvironment was predominantly characterized by tumor-supportive microglia, which spatially co-exist and establish heterotypic interactions with tumor cells. Lastly, differential gene expression analyses, predictions of ligand-receptor and incoming/outgoing interactions, and functional assays revealed that the IL-1β/IL-1RAcP and Wnt-5a/Frizzled-3 pathways are therapeutic targets in the T_SVZ microenvironment. Our data provide insights into the biology of the SVZ in GBM patients and identify specific targets of this microenvironment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y. Licón-Muñoz
- The Brain Tumor Translational Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM
- University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albuquerque, NM
| | - V. Avalos
- The Brain Tumor Translational Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM
- University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albuquerque, NM
| | - S. Subramanian
- Bioinformatics Core, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
- Neurogenomics Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
| | - B. Granger
- Bioinformatics Core, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
- Neurogenomics Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
| | - F. Martinez
- The Brain Tumor Translational Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM
- University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albuquerque, NM
| | - S. Varela
- University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM
| | - D. Moore
- Bioinformatics Core, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
- Neurogenomics Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
| | - E. Perkins
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS
| | - M. Kogan
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of New Mexico Hospital, Albuquerque, NM
| | - S. Berto
- Bioinformatics Core, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
- Neurogenomics Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
| | - M.O. Chohan
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS
| | - C.A. Bowers
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of New Mexico Hospital, Albuquerque, NM
| | - S.G.M. Piccirillo
- The Brain Tumor Translational Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM
- University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albuquerque, NM
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31
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Bao Q, Yu X, Qi X. Integrated analysis of single-cell sequencing and weighted co-expression network identifies a novel signature based on cellular senescence-related genes to predict prognosis in glioblastoma. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY 2024; 39:643-656. [PMID: 37565732 DOI: 10.1002/tox.23921] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Revised: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly aggressive cancer with heavy mortality rates and poor prognosis. Cellular senescence exerts a pivotal influence on the development and progression of various cancers. However, the underlying effect of cellular senescence on the outcomes of patients with GBM remains to be elucidated. METHODS Transcriptome RNA sequencing data with clinical information and single-cell sequencing data of GBM cases were obtained from CGGA, TCGA, and GEO (GSE84465) databases respectively. Single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) analysis was utilized to calculate the cellular senescence score. WGCNA analysis was employed to ascertain the key gene modules and identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with the cellular senescence score in GBM. The prognostic senescence-related risk model was developed by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analyses. The immune infiltration level was calculated by microenvironment cell populations counter (MCPcounter), ssGSEA, and xCell algorithms. Potential anti-cancer small molecular compounds of GBM were estimated by "oncoPredict" R package. RESULTS A total of 150 DEGs were selected from the pink module through WGCNA analysis. The risk-scoring model was constructed based on 5 cell senescence-associated genes (CCDC151, DRC1, C2orf73, CCDC13, and WDR63). Patients in low-risk group had a better prognostic value compared to those in high-risk group. The nomogram exhibited excellent predictive performance in assessing the survival outcomes of patients with GBM. Top 30 potential anti-cancer small molecular compounds with higher drug sensitivity scores were predicted. CONCLUSION Cellular senescence-related genes and clusters in GBM have the potential to provide valuable insights in prognosis and guide clinical decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qingquan Bao
- Department of Neurosurgery, Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing, China
| | - Xuebin Yu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing, China
| | - Xuchen Qi
- Department of Neurosurgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
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32
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Lee S, Kim G, Lee J, Lee AC, Kwon S. Mapping cancer biology in space: applications and perspectives on spatial omics for oncology. Mol Cancer 2024; 23:26. [PMID: 38291400 PMCID: PMC10826015 DOI: 10.1186/s12943-024-01941-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Technologies to decipher cellular biology, such as bulk sequencing technologies and single-cell sequencing technologies, have greatly assisted novel findings in tumor biology. Recent findings in tumor biology suggest that tumors construct architectures that influence the underlying cancerous mechanisms. Increasing research has reported novel techniques to map the tissue in a spatial context or targeted sampling-based characterization and has introduced such technologies to solve oncology regarding tumor heterogeneity, tumor microenvironment, and spatially located biomarkers. In this study, we address spatial technologies that can delineate the omics profile in a spatial context, novel findings discovered via spatial technologies in oncology, and suggest perspectives regarding therapeutic approaches and further technological developments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sumin Lee
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea
- Meteor Biotech,, Co. Ltd, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Gyeongjun Kim
- Interdisciplinary Program in Bioengineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - JinYoung Lee
- Division of Engineering Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, ON, M5S 3H6, Canada
| | - Amos C Lee
- Meteor Biotech,, Co. Ltd, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea.
- Bio-MAX Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea.
| | - Sunghoon Kwon
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea.
- Interdisciplinary Program in Bioengineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea.
- Bio-MAX Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea.
- Institutes of Entrepreneurial BioConvergence, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea.
- Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea.
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33
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Zheng Y, Pizurica M, Carrillo-Perez F, Noor H, Yao W, Wohlfart C, Marchal K, Vladimirova A, Gevaert O. Digital profiling of cancer transcriptomes from histology images with grouped vision attention. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.09.28.560068. [PMID: 37808782 PMCID: PMC10557714 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.28.560068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/10/2023]
Abstract
Cancer is a heterogeneous disease that demands precise molecular profiling for better understanding and management. Recently, deep learning has demonstrated potentials for cost-efficient prediction of molecular alterations from histology images. While transformer-based deep learning architectures have enabled significant progress in non-medical domains, their application to histology images remains limited due to small dataset sizes coupled with the explosion of trainable parameters. Here, we develop SEQUOIA, a transformer model to predict cancer transcriptomes from whole-slide histology images. To enable the full potential of transformers, we first pre-train the model using data from 1,802 normal tissues. Then, we fine-tune and evaluate the model in 4,331 tumor samples across nine cancer types. The prediction performance is assessed at individual gene levels and pathway levels through Pearson correlation analysis and root mean square error. The generalization capacity is validated across two independent cohorts comprising 1,305 tumors. In predicting the expression levels of 25,749 genes, the highest performance is observed in cancers from breast, kidney and lung, where SEQUOIA accurately predicts the expression of 11,069, 10,086 and 8,759 genes, respectively. The accurately predicted genes are associated with the regulation of inflammatory response, cell cycles and metabolisms. While the model is trained at the tissue level, we showcase its potential in predicting spatial gene expression patterns using spatial transcriptomics datasets. Leveraging the prediction performance, we develop a digital gene expression signature that predicts the risk of recurrence in breast cancer. SEQUOIA deciphers clinically relevant gene expression patterns from histology images, opening avenues for improved cancer management and personalized therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanning Zheng
- Department of Medicine, Stanford Center for Biomedical Informatics Research (BMIR), Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, USA
| | - Marija Pizurica
- Department of Medicine, Stanford Center for Biomedical Informatics Research (BMIR), Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, USA
- Internet technology and Data science Lab (IDLab), Ghent University, Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 126, Ghent, 9052, Gent, Belgium
| | - Francisco Carrillo-Perez
- Department of Medicine, Stanford Center for Biomedical Informatics Research (BMIR), Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, USA
| | - Humaira Noor
- Department of Medicine, Stanford Center for Biomedical Informatics Research (BMIR), Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, USA
| | - Wei Yao
- Roche Information Solutions, Roche Diagnostics Corporation, Santa Clara, California, USA
| | | | - Kathleen Marchal
- Internet technology and Data science Lab (IDLab), Ghent University, Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 126, Ghent, 9052, Gent, Belgium
| | - Antoaneta Vladimirova
- Roche Information Solutions, Roche Diagnostics Corporation, Santa Clara, California, USA
| | - Olivier Gevaert
- Department of Medicine, Stanford Center for Biomedical Informatics Research (BMIR), Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, USA
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, USA
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34
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Mathur R, Wang Q, Schupp PG, Nikolic A, Hilz S, Hong C, Grishanina NR, Kwok D, Stevers NO, Jin Q, Youngblood MW, Stasiak LA, Hou Y, Wang J, Yamaguchi TN, Lafontaine M, Shai A, Smirnov IV, Solomon DA, Chang SM, Hervey-Jumper SL, Berger MS, Lupo JM, Okada H, Phillips JJ, Boutros PC, Gallo M, Oldham MC, Yue F, Costello JF. Glioblastoma evolution and heterogeneity from a 3D whole-tumor perspective. Cell 2024; 187:446-463.e16. [PMID: 38242087 PMCID: PMC10832360 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.12.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 34.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Revised: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2024]
Abstract
Treatment failure for the lethal brain tumor glioblastoma (GBM) is attributed to intratumoral heterogeneity and tumor evolution. We utilized 3D neuronavigation during surgical resection to acquire samples representing the whole tumor mapped by 3D spatial coordinates. Integrative tissue and single-cell analysis revealed sources of genomic, epigenomic, and microenvironmental intratumoral heterogeneity and their spatial patterning. By distinguishing tumor-wide molecular features from those with regional specificity, we inferred GBM evolutionary trajectories from neurodevelopmental lineage origins and initiating events such as chromothripsis to emergence of genetic subclones and spatially restricted activation of differential tumor and microenvironmental programs in the core, periphery, and contrast-enhancing regions. Our work depicts GBM evolution and heterogeneity from a 3D whole-tumor perspective, highlights potential therapeutic targets that might circumvent heterogeneity-related failures, and establishes an interactive platform enabling 360° visualization and analysis of 3D spatial patterns for user-selected genes, programs, and other features across whole GBM tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Radhika Mathur
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Qixuan Wang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Patrick G Schupp
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Ana Nikolic
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB
| | - Stephanie Hilz
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Chibo Hong
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Nadia R Grishanina
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Darwin Kwok
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Nicholas O Stevers
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Qiushi Jin
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Mark W Youngblood
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Lena Ann Stasiak
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Ye Hou
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Juan Wang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Takafumi N Yamaguchi
- Department of Human Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angees, CA, USA
| | - Marisa Lafontaine
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Anny Shai
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Ivan V Smirnov
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - David A Solomon
- Department of Pathology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Susan M Chang
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Shawn L Hervey-Jumper
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Mitchel S Berger
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Janine M Lupo
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Hideho Okada
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Joanna J Phillips
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Paul C Boutros
- Department of Human Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angees, CA, USA
| | - Marco Gallo
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB; Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Michael C Oldham
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Feng Yue
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
| | - Joseph F Costello
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
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Hou J, McMahon M, Jubenville T, Sarkaria JN, Chen CC, Odde DJ. Cell migration simulator-based biomarkers for glioblastoma. Neurooncol Adv 2024; 6:vdae184. [PMID: 39605317 PMCID: PMC11600334 DOI: 10.1093/noajnl/vdae184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Glioblastoma is the most aggressive malignant brain tumor with poor survival due to its invasive nature driven by cell migration, with unclear linkage to transcriptomic information. The aim of this study was to develop a physics-based framework connecting to transcriptomics to predict patient-specific glioblastoma cell migration. Methods and Results We applied a physics-based motor-clutch model, a cell migration simulator (CMS), to parameterize the migration of glioblastoma cells and define physical biomarkers on a patient-by-patient basis. We reduced the 11-dimensional parameter space of the CMS into 3 principal physical parameters that govern cell migration: motor number-describing myosin II activity, clutch number-describing adhesion level, and F-actin polymerization rate. Experimentally, we found that glioblastoma patient-derived (xenograft) cell lines across mesenchymal (MES), proneural, and classical subtypes and 2 institutions (N = 13 patients) had optimal motility and traction force on stiffnesses around 9.3 kPa, with otherwise heterogeneous and uncorrelated motility, traction, and F-actin flow. By contrast, with the CMS parameterization, we found that glioblastoma cells consistently had balanced motor/clutch ratios to enable effective migration and that MES cells had higher actin polymerization rates resulting in higher motility. The CMS also predicted differential sensitivity to cytoskeletal drugs between patients. Finally, we identified 18 genes that correlated with the physical parameters, suggesting transcriptomic data alone could potentially predict the mechanics and speed of glioblastoma cell migration. Conclusions We describe a general physics-based framework for parameterizing individual glioblastoma patients and connecting to clinical transcriptomic data that can potentially be used to develop patient-specific anti-migratory therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jay Hou
- Department of Neurosurgery, Rhode Island Hospital—Brown University Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Mariah McMahon
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Tyler Jubenville
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Jann N Sarkaria
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
| | - Clark C Chen
- Department of Neurosurgery, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | - David J Odde
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
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Sarkari A, Korenfeld S, Deniz K, Ladner K, Wong P, Padmanabhan S, Vogel RI, Sherer LA, Courtemanche N, Steer C, Wainer-Katsir K, Lou E. Treatment with tumor-treating fields (TTFields) suppresses intercellular tunneling nanotube formation in vitro and upregulates immuno-oncologic biomarkers in vivo in malignant mesothelioma. eLife 2023; 12:e85383. [PMID: 37955637 PMCID: PMC10642963 DOI: 10.7554/elife.85383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Disruption of intercellular communication within tumors is emerging as a novel potential strategy for cancer-directed therapy. Tumor-Treating Fields (TTFields) therapy is a treatment modality that has itself emerged over the past decade in active clinical use for patients with glioblastoma and malignant mesothelioma, based on the principle of using low-intensity alternating electric fields to disrupt microtubules in cancer cells undergoing mitosis. There is a need to identify other cellular and molecular effects of this treatment approach that could explain reported increased overall survival when TTFields are added to standard systemic agents. Tunneling nanotube (TNTs) are cell-contact-dependent filamentous-actin-based cellular protrusions that can connect two or more cells at long-range. They are upregulated in cancer, facilitating cell growth, differentiation, and in the case of invasive cancer phenotypes, a more chemoresistant phenotype. To determine whether TNTs present a potential therapeutic target for TTFields, we applied TTFields to malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) cells forming TNTs in vitro. TTFields at 1.0 V/cm significantly suppressed TNT formation in biphasic subtype MPM, but not sarcomatoid MPM, independent of effects on cell number. TTFields did not significantly affect function of TNTs assessed by measuring intercellular transport of mitochondrial cargo via intact TNTs. We further leveraged a spatial transcriptomic approach to characterize TTFields-induced changes to molecular profiles in vivo using an animal model of MPM. We discovered TTFields induced upregulation of immuno-oncologic biomarkers with simultaneous downregulation of pathways associated with cell hyperproliferation, invasion, and other critical regulators of oncogenic growth. Several molecular classes and pathways coincide with markers that we and others have found to be differentially expressed in cancer cell TNTs, including MPM specifically. We visualized short TNTs in the dense stromatous tumor material selected as regions of interest for spatial genomic assessment. Superimposing these regions of interest from spatial genomics over the plane of TNT clusters imaged in intact tissue is a new method that we designate Spatial Profiling of Tunneling nanoTubes (SPOTT). In sum, these results position TNTs as potential therapeutic targets for TTFields-directed cancer treatment strategies. We also identified the ability of TTFields to remodel the tumor microenvironment landscape at the molecular level, thereby presenting a potential novel strategy for converting tumors at the cellular level from 'cold' to 'hot' for potential response to immunotherapeutic drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akshat Sarkari
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
| | - Sophie Korenfeld
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
| | - Karina Deniz
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
| | - Katherine Ladner
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
| | - Phillip Wong
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
| | - Sanyukta Padmanabhan
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
| | - Rachel I Vogel
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
| | - Laura A Sherer
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
| | - Naomi Courtemanche
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
| | - Clifford Steer
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
- Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
| | | | - Emil Lou
- Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
- Graduate Faculty, Integrative Biology and Physiology Department, University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUnited States
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37
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Premachandran S, Haldavnekar R, Ganesh S, Das S, Venkatakrishnan K, Tan B. Self-Functionalized Superlattice Nanosensor Enables Glioblastoma Diagnosis Using Liquid Biopsy. ACS NANO 2023; 17:19832-19852. [PMID: 37824714 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c04118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
Glioblastoma (GBM), the most aggressive and lethal brain cancer, is detected only in the advanced stage, resulting in a median survival rate of 15 months. Therefore, there is an urgent need to establish GBM diagnosis tools to identify the tumor accurately. The clinical relevance of the current liquid biopsy techniques for GBM diagnosis remains mostly undetermined, owing to the challenges posed by the blood-brain barrier (BBB) that restricts biomarkers entering the circulation, resulting in the unavailability of clinically validated circulating GBM markers. GBM-specific liquid biopsy for diagnosis and prognosis of GBM has not yet been developed. Here, we introduce extracellular vesicles of GBM cancer stem cells (GBM CSC-EVs) as a previously unattempted, stand-alone GBM diagnosis modality. As GBM CSCs are fundamental building blocks of tumor initiation and recurrence, it is desirable to investigate these reliable signals of malignancy in circulation for accurate GBM diagnosis. So far, there are no clinically validated circulating biomarkers available for GBM. Therefore, a marker-free approach was essential since conventional liquid biopsy relying on isolation methodology was not viable. Additionally, a mechanism capable of trace-level detection was crucial to detecting the rare GBM CSC-EVs from the complex environment in circulation. To break these barriers, we applied an ultrasensitive superlattice sensor, self-functionalized for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), to obtain holistic molecular profiling of GBM CSC-EVs with a marker-free approach. The superlattice sensor exhibited substantial SERS enhancement and ultralow limit of detection (LOD of attomolar 10-18 M concentration) essential for trace-level detection of invisible GBM CSC-EVs directly from patient serum (without isolation). We detected as low as 5 EVs in 5 μL of solution, achieving the lowest LOD compared to existing SERS-based studies. We have experimentally demonstrated the crucial role of the signals of GBM CSC-EVs in the precise detection of glioblastoma. This was evident from the unique molecular profiles of GBM CSC-EVs demonstrating significant variation compared to noncancer EVs and EVs of GBM cancer cells, thus adding more clarity to the current understanding of GBM CSC-EVs. Preliminary validation of our approach was undertaken with a small amount of peripheral blood (5 μL) derived from GBM patients with 100% sensitivity and 97% specificity. Identification of the signals of GBM CSC-EV in clinical sera specimens demonstrated that our technology could be used for accurate GBM detection. Our technology has the potential to improve GBM liquid biopsy, including real-time surveillance of GBM evolution in patients upon clinical validation. This demonstration of liquid biopsy with GBM CSC-EV provides an opportunity to introduce a paradigm potentially impacting the current landscape of GBM diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Srilakshmi Premachandran
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (I BEST), Partnership between Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) and St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada
- Ultrashort Laser Nanomanufacturing Research Facility, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Sciences, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
- Nano Characterization Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Sciences, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
- Nano-Bio Interface facility, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Sciences, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
| | - Rupa Haldavnekar
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (I BEST), Partnership between Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) and St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada
- Ultrashort Laser Nanomanufacturing Research Facility, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Sciences, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
- Nano Characterization Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Sciences, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
- Nano-Bio Interface facility, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Sciences, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
| | - Swarna Ganesh
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (I BEST), Partnership between Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) and St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada
- Ultrashort Laser Nanomanufacturing Research Facility, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Sciences, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
- Nano Characterization Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Sciences, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
- Nano-Bio Interface facility, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Sciences, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
| | - Sunit Das
- Scientist, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada
- Institute of Medical Sciences, Neurosurgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1P5, Canada
| | - Krishnan Venkatakrishnan
- Keenan Research Center for Biomedical Science, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (I BEST), Partnership between Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) and St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada
- Ultrashort Laser Nanomanufacturing Research Facility, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Sciences, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
- Nano-Bio Interface facility, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Sciences, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
| | - Bo Tan
- Keenan Research Center for Biomedical Science, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (I BEST), Partnership between Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) and St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada
- Nano Characterization Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Sciences, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
- Nano-Bio Interface facility, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Sciences, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
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Faisal SM, Castro MG, Lowenstein PR. Combined cytotoxic and immune-stimulatory gene therapy using Ad-TK and Ad-Flt3L: Translational developments from rodents to glioma patients. Mol Ther 2023; 31:2839-2860. [PMID: 37574780 PMCID: PMC10556227 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2023.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Revised: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Gliomas are the most prevalent and devastating primary malignant brain tumors in adults. Despite substantial advances in understanding glioma biology, there have been no regulatory drug approvals in the US since bevacizumab in 2009 and tumor treating fields in 2011. Recent phase III clinical trials have failed to meet their prespecified therapeutic primary endpoints, highlighting the need for novel therapies. The poor prognosis of glioma patients, resistance to chemo-radiotherapy, and the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment underscore the need for the development of novel therapies. Gene therapy-based immunotherapeutic strategies that couple the ability of the host immune system to specifically kill glioma cells and develop immunological memory have shown remarkable progress. Two adenoviral vectors expressing Ad-HSV1-TK/GCV and Ad-Flt3L have shown promising preclinical data, leading to FDA approval of a non-randomized, phase I open-label, first in human trial to test safety, cytotoxicity, and immune-stimulatory efficiency in high-grade glioma patients (NCT01811992). This review provides a thorough overview of immune-stimulatory gene therapy highlighting recent advancements, potential drawbacks, future directions, and recommendations for future implementation of clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Syed M Faisal
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA; Rogel Cancer Centre, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA
| | - Maria G Castro
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA; Rogel Cancer Centre, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA
| | - Pedro R Lowenstein
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA; Rogel Cancer Centre, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA.
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39
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Linares CA, Varghese A, Ghose A, Shinde SD, Adeleke S, Sanchez E, Sheriff M, Chargari C, Rassy E, Boussios S. Hallmarks of the Tumour Microenvironment of Gliomas and Its Interaction with Emerging Immunotherapy Modalities. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:13215. [PMID: 37686020 PMCID: PMC10487469 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241713215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2023] [Revised: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Gliomas are aggressive, primary central nervous system tumours arising from glial cells. Glioblastomas are the most malignant. They are known for their poor prognosis or median overall survival. The current standard of care is overwhelmed by the heterogeneous, immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment promoting immune evasion and tumour proliferation. The advent of immunotherapy with its various modalities-immune checkpoint inhibitors, cancer vaccines, oncolytic viruses and chimeric antigen receptor T cells and NK cells-has shown promise. Clinical trials incorporating combination immunotherapies have overcome the microenvironment resistance and yielded promising survival and prognostic benefits. Rolling these new therapies out in the real-world scenario in a low-cost, high-throughput manner is the unmet need of the hour. These will have practice-changing implications to the glioma treatment landscape. Here, we review the immunobiological hallmarks of the TME of gliomas, how the TME evades immunotherapies and the work that is being conducted to overcome this interplay.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian A. Linares
- Guy’s Cancer Centre, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London SE1 9RT, UK; (C.A.L.); (S.A.)
| | - Anjana Varghese
- Kent Oncology Centre, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, Hermitage Lane, Maidstone, Kent ME16 9QQ, UK;
| | - Aruni Ghose
- Department of Medical Oncology, Medway NHS Foundation Trust, Gillingham ME7 5NY, UK; (A.G.); (E.S.); (M.S.)
- Barts Cancer Centre, Barts Health NHS Trust, London EC1A 7BE, UK
- Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, Northwood HA6 2RN, UK
- Immuno-Oncology Clinical Network, UK
| | - Sayali D. Shinde
- Centre for Tumour Biology, Barts Cancer Institute, Cancer Research UK Barts Centre, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, UK;
| | - Sola Adeleke
- Guy’s Cancer Centre, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London SE1 9RT, UK; (C.A.L.); (S.A.)
- Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK
| | - Elisabet Sanchez
- Department of Medical Oncology, Medway NHS Foundation Trust, Gillingham ME7 5NY, UK; (A.G.); (E.S.); (M.S.)
| | - Matin Sheriff
- Department of Medical Oncology, Medway NHS Foundation Trust, Gillingham ME7 5NY, UK; (A.G.); (E.S.); (M.S.)
| | - Cyrus Chargari
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital, 75013 Paris, France;
| | - Elie Rassy
- Department of Medical Oncology, Institut Gustave Roussy, 94805 Villejuif, France;
| | - Stergios Boussios
- Department of Medical Oncology, Medway NHS Foundation Trust, Gillingham ME7 5NY, UK; (A.G.); (E.S.); (M.S.)
- Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK
- Kent and Medway Medical School, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7LX, UK
- AELIA Organization, 9th Km Thessaloniki–Thermi, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece
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40
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García-Montaño LA, Licón-Muñoz Y, Martinez FJ, Keddari YR, Ziemke MK, Chohan MO, Piccirillo SG. Dissecting Intra-tumor Heterogeneity in the Glioblastoma Microenvironment Using Fluorescence-Guided Multiple Sampling. Mol Cancer Res 2023; 21:755-767. [PMID: 37255362 PMCID: PMC10390891 DOI: 10.1158/1541-7786.mcr-23-0048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Revised: 03/25/2023] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
The treatment of the most aggressive primary brain tumor in adults, glioblastoma (GBM), is challenging due to its heterogeneous nature, invasive potential, and poor response to chemo- and radiotherapy. As a result, GBM inevitably recurs and only a few patients survive 5 years post-diagnosis. GBM is characterized by extensive phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity, creating a diversified genetic landscape and a network of biological interactions between subclones, ultimately promoting tumor growth and therapeutic resistance. This includes spatial and temporal changes in the tumor microenvironment, which influence cellular and molecular programs in GBM and therapeutic responses. However, dissecting phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity at spatial and temporal levels is extremely challenging, and the dynamics of the GBM microenvironment cannot be captured by analysis of a single tumor sample. In this review, we discuss the current research on GBM heterogeneity, in particular, the utility and potential applications of fluorescence-guided multiple sampling to dissect phenotypic and genetic intra-tumor heterogeneity in the GBM microenvironment, identify tumor and non-tumor cell interactions and novel therapeutic targets in areas that are key for tumor growth and recurrence, and improve the molecular classification of GBM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leopoldo A. García-Montaño
- The Brain Tumor Translational Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
- University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
| | - Yamhilette Licón-Muñoz
- The Brain Tumor Translational Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
- University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
| | - Frank J. Martinez
- The Brain Tumor Translational Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
- University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
| | - Yasine R. Keddari
- The Brain Tumor Translational Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
- University of California, Merced, California
| | - Michael K. Ziemke
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi
| | - Muhammad O. Chohan
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi
| | - Sara G.M. Piccirillo
- The Brain Tumor Translational Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
- University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
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41
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Guo KS, Brodsky AS. Tumor collagens predict genetic features and patient outcomes. NPJ Genom Med 2023; 8:15. [PMID: 37414817 DOI: 10.1038/s41525-023-00358-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a critical determinant of tumor fate that reflects the output from myriad cell types in the tumor. Collagens constitute the principal components of the tumor ECM. The changing collagen composition in tumors along with their impact on patient outcomes and possible biomarkers remains largely unknown. The RNA expression of the 43 collagen genes from solid tumors in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) was clustered to classify tumors. PanCancer analysis revealed how collagens by themselves can identify the tissue of origin. Clustering by collagens in each cancer type demonstrated strong associations with survival, specific immunoenvironments, somatic gene mutations, copy number variations, and aneuploidy. We developed a machine learning classifier that predicts aneuploidy, and chromosome arm copy number alteration (CNA) status based on collagen expression alone with high accuracy in many cancer types with somatic mutations, suggesting a strong relationship between the collagen ECM context and specific molecular alterations. These findings have broad implications in defining the relationship between cancer-related genetic defects and the tumor microenvironment to improve prognosis and therapeutic targeting for patient care, opening new avenues of investigation to define tumor ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin S Guo
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Alexander S Brodsky
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
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42
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Vadla R, Miki S, Taylor B, Kawauchi D, Jones BM, Nathwani N, Pham P, Tsang J, Nathanson DA, Furnari FB. Glioblastoma Mesenchymal Transition and Invasion are Dependent on a NF-κB/BRD2 Chromatin Complex. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.07.03.546613. [PMID: 37461511 PMCID: PMC10349949 DOI: 10.1101/2023.07.03.546613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
Glioblastoma (GBM) represents the most aggressive subtype of glioma, noted for its profound invasiveness and molecular heterogeneity. The mesenchymal (MES) transcriptomic subtype is frequently associated with therapy resistance, rapid recurrence, and increased tumor-associated macrophages. Notably, activation of the NF-κB pathway and alterations in the PTEN gene are both associated with this malignant transition. Although PTEN aberrations have been shown to be associated with enhanced NF-κB signaling, the relationships between PTEN, NF-κB and MES transition are poorly understood in GBM. Here, we show that PTEN regulates the chromatin binding of bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) family proteins, BRD2 and BRD4, mediated by p65/RelA localization to the chromatin. By utilizing patient-derived glioblastoma stem cells and CRISPR gene editing of the RELA gene, we demonstrate a crucial role for RelA lysine 310 acetylation in recruiting BET proteins to chromatin for MES gene expression and GBM cell invasion upon PTEN loss. Remarkably, we found that BRD2 is dependent on chromatin associated acetylated RelA for its recruitment to MES gene promoters and their expression. Furthermore, loss of BRD2 results in the loss of MES signature, accompanied by an enrichment of proneural signature and enhanced therapy responsiveness. Finally, we demonstrate that disrupting the NFκB/BRD2 interaction with a brain penetrant BET-BD2 inhibitor reduces mesenchymal gene expression, GBM invasion, and therapy resistance in GBM models. This study uncovers the role of hitherto unexplored PTEN-NF-κB-BRD2 pathway in promoting MES transition and suggests inhibiting this complex with BET-BD2 specific inhibitors as a therapeutic approach to target the MES phenotype in GBM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raghavendra Vadla
- Division of Regenerative Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Shunichiro Miki
- Division of Regenerative Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Brett Taylor
- Division of Regenerative Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Daisuke Kawauchi
- Division of Regenerative Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Brandon M Jones
- Division of Regenerative Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Nidhi Nathwani
- Division of Regenerative Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Philip Pham
- Division of Regenerative Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Jonathan Tsang
- Departments of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
| | - David A Nathanson
- Departments of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
| | - Frank B Furnari
- Division of Regenerative Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
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43
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Wood KB, Comba A, Motsch S, Grigera TS, Lowenstein PR. Scale-free correlations and potential criticality in weakly ordered populations of brain cancer cells. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadf7170. [PMID: 37379380 PMCID: PMC10306295 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf7170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/30/2023]
Abstract
Collective behavior spans several orders of magnitude of biological organization, from cell colonies to flocks of birds. We used time-resolved tracking of individual glioblastoma cells to investigate collective motion in an ex vivo model of glioblastoma. At the population level, glioblastoma cells display weakly polarized motion in the (directional) velocities of single cells. Unexpectedly, fluctuations in velocities are correlated over distances many times the size of a cell. Correlation lengths scale linearly with the maximum end-to-end length of the population, indicating that they are scale-free and lack a characteristic decay scale other than the size of the system. Last, a data-driven maximum entropy model captures statistical features of the experimental data with only two free parameters: the effective length scale (nc) and strength (J) of local pairwise interactions between tumor cells. These results show that glioblastoma assemblies exhibit scale-free correlations in the absence of polarization, suggesting that they may be poised near a critical point.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin B. Wood
- Department of Biophysics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Andrea Comba
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Sebastien Motsch
- School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Tomás S. Grigera
- Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológicos (IFLySiB), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- CONICET, Godoy Cruz, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Departamento de Física, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome, Italy
| | - Pedro R. Lowenstein
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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44
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Yuile A, Wei JQ, Mohan AA, Hotchkiss KM, Khasraw M. Interdependencies of the Neuronal, Immune and Tumor Microenvironment in Gliomas. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:2856. [PMID: 37345193 PMCID: PMC10216320 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15102856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Gliomas are the most common primary brain malignancy and are universally fatal. Despite significant breakthrough in understanding tumor biology, treatment breakthroughs have been limited. There is a growing appreciation that major limitations on effective treatment are related to the unique and highly complex glioma tumor microenvironment (TME). The TME consists of multiple different cell types, broadly categorized into tumoral, immune and non-tumoral, non-immune cells. Each group provides significant influence on the others, generating a pro-tumor dynamic with significant immunosuppression. In addition, glioma cells are highly heterogenous with various molecular distinctions on the cellular level. These variations, in turn, lead to their own unique influence on the TME. To develop future treatments, an understanding of this complex TME interplay is needed. To this end, we describe the TME in adult gliomas through interactions between its various components and through various glioma molecular phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Yuile
- Department of Medical Oncology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Reserve Road, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia
- The Brain Cancer Group, North Shore Private Hospital, 3 Westbourne Street, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia
- Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Joe Q. Wei
- Department of Medical Oncology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Reserve Road, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia
- Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Aditya A. Mohan
- The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Kelly M. Hotchkiss
- The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Mustafa Khasraw
- The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA
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45
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Zarodniuk M, Steele A, Lu X, Li J, Datta M. Pan-cancer transcriptomic analysis of CNS tumor stroma identifies a population of perivascular fibroblasts that predict poor immunotherapy response in glioblastoma patients. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-2931886. [PMID: 37292803 PMCID: PMC10246264 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2931886/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Excessive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) is a hallmark of solid tumors; however, it remains poorly understood which cellular and molecular components contribute to the formation of ECM stroma in central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Here, we undertook a pan-CNS analysis of retrospective gene expression datasets to characterize inter- and intra-tumoral heterogeneity of ECM remodeling signatures in both adult and pediatric CNS disease. We found that CNS lesions - glioblastoma in particular - can be divided into two ECM-based subtypes (ECMhi and ECMlo) that are influenced by the presence of perivascular cells resembling cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). We show that perivascular fibroblasts activate chemoattractant signaling pathways to recruit tumor-associated macrophages, and promote an immune-evasive, stem-like cancer cell phenotype. Our analysis reveals that perivascular fibroblasts are correlated with unfavorable response to immune checkpoint blockade in glioblastoma and poor patient survival across a subset of CNS tumors. We provide insights into novel stroma-driven mechanisms underlying immune evasion and immunotherapy resistance in CNS tumors like glioblastoma, and discuss how targeting these perivascular fibroblasts may prove an effective approach to improving treatment response and patient survival in a variety of CNS tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maksym Zarodniuk
- Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame
| | | | - Xin Lu
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame
| | - Jun Li
- Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, University of Notre Dame
| | - Meenal Datta
- Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame
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46
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Xia M, Jiao L, Wang XH, Tong M, Yao MD, Li XM, Yao J, Li D, Zhao PQ, Yan B. Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals a unique pericyte type associated with capillary dysfunction. Theranostics 2023; 13:2515-2530. [PMID: 37215579 PMCID: PMC10196835 DOI: 10.7150/thno.83532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Capillary dysfunction has been implicated in a series of life- threatening vascular diseases characterized by pericyte and endothelial cell (EC) degeneration. However, the molecular profiles that govern the heterogeneity of pericytes have not been fully elucidated. Methods: Single-cell RNA sequencing was conducted on oxygen-induced proliferative retinopathy (OIR) model. Bioinformatics analysis was conducted to identify specific pericytes involved in capillary dysfunction. qRT-PCRs and western blots were conducted to detect Col1a1 expression pattern during capillary dysfunction. Matrigel co-culture assays, PI staining, and JC-1 staining was conducted to determine the role of Col1a1 in pericyte biology. IB4 and NG2 staining was conducted to determine the role of Col1a1 in capillary dysfunction. Results: We constructed an atlas of > 76,000 single-cell transcriptomes from 4 mouse retinas, which could be annotated to 10 distinct retinal cell types. Using the sub-clustering analysis, we further characterized retinal pericytes into 3 different subpopulations. Notably, GO and KEGG pathway analysis demonstrated that pericyte sub-population 2 was identified to be vulnerable to retinal capillary dysfunction. Based on the single-cell sequencing results, Col1a1 was identified as a marker gene of pericyte sub-population 2 and a promising therapeutic target for capillary dysfunction. Col1a1 was abundantly expressed in pericytes and its expression was obviously upregulated in OIR retinas. Col1a1 silencing could retard the recruitment of pericytes toward endothelial cells and aggravated hypoxia-induced pericyte apoptosis in vitro. Col1a1 silencing could reduce the size of neovascular area and avascular area in OIR retinas and suppressed pericyte-myofibroblast transition and endothelial-mesenchymal transition. Moreover, Col1a1 expression was up-regulated in the aqueous humor of the patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) or retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and up-regulated in the proliferative membranes of PDR patients. Conclusions: These findings enhance the understanding of the complexity and heterogeneity of retinal cells and have important implications for future treatment of capillary dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Xia
- The Fourth School of Clinical Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210000, China
- The Affiliated Eye Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210000, China
| | - Lyu Jiao
- Department of Ophthalmology, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Xiao-Han Wang
- Department of Ophthalmology, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Min Tong
- Eye Institute, Eye & ENT Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200030, China
| | - Mu-Di Yao
- Eye Institute, Eye & ENT Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200030, China
| | - Xiu-Miao Li
- The Affiliated Eye Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210000, China
| | - Jin Yao
- The Fourth School of Clinical Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210000, China
- The Affiliated Eye Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210000, China
| | - Dan Li
- Eye Institute, Eye & ENT Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200030, China
| | - Pei-Quan Zhao
- Department of Ophthalmology, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Biao Yan
- Eye Institute, Eye & ENT Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200030, China
- NHC Key Laboratory of Myopia (Fudan University), Key Laboratory of Myopia, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Visual Impairment and Restoration (Fudan University), Shanghai 200030, China
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47
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Ghannoum S, Fantini D, Zahoor M, Reiterer V, Phuyal S, Leoncio Netto W, Sørensen Ø, Iyer A, Sengupta D, Prasmickaite L, Mælandsmo GM, Köhn-Luque A, Farhan H. A combined experimental-computational approach uncovers a role for the Golgi matrix protein Giantin in breast cancer progression. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1010995. [PMID: 37068117 PMCID: PMC10159355 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Revised: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 03/04/2023] [Indexed: 04/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Our understanding of how speed and persistence of cell migration affects the growth rate and size of tumors remains incomplete. To address this, we developed a mathematical model wherein cells migrate in two-dimensional space, divide, die or intravasate into the vasculature. Exploring a wide range of speed and persistence combinations, we find that tumor growth positively correlates with increasing speed and higher persistence. As a biologically relevant example, we focused on Golgi fragmentation, a phenomenon often linked to alterations of cell migration. Golgi fragmentation was induced by depletion of Giantin, a Golgi matrix protein, the downregulation of which correlates with poor patient survival. Applying the experimentally obtained migration and invasion traits of Giantin depleted breast cancer cells to our mathematical model, we predict that loss of Giantin increases the number of intravasating cells. This prediction was validated, by showing that circulating tumor cells express significantly less Giantin than primary tumor cells. Altogether, our computational model identifies cell migration traits that regulate tumor progression and uncovers a role of Giantin in breast cancer progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salim Ghannoum
- Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Damiano Fantini
- Department of Urology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Muhammad Zahoor
- Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Veronika Reiterer
- Institute of Pathophysiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Santosh Phuyal
- Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Waldir Leoncio Netto
- Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Øystein Sørensen
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Arvind Iyer
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Debarka Sengupta
- Department of Computational Biology, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, New Delhi, India
- Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi, India
| | - Lina Prasmickaite
- Department of Tumor Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Gunhild Mari Mælandsmo
- Department of Tumor Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Medical Biology, UiT-The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Alvaro Köhn-Luque
- Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Hesso Farhan
- Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Institute of Pathophysiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
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48
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Mao XG, Xue XY, Lv R, Ji A, Shi TY, Chen XY, Jiang XF, Zhang X. CEBPD is a master transcriptional factor for hypoxia regulated proteins in glioblastoma and augments hypoxia induced invasion through extracellular matrix-integrin mediated EGFR/PI3K pathway. Cell Death Dis 2023; 14:269. [PMID: 37059730 PMCID: PMC10104878 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-023-05788-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Revised: 03/28/2023] [Accepted: 03/30/2023] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
Abstract
Hypoxia contributes to the initiation and progression of glioblastoma by regulating a cohort of genes called hypoxia-regulated genes (HRGs) which form a complex molecular interacting network (HRG-MINW). Transcription factors (TFs) often play central roles for MINW. The key TFs for hypoxia induced reactions were explored using proteomic analysis to identify a set of hypoxia-regulated proteins (HRPs) in GBM cells. Next, systematic TF analysis identified CEBPD as a top TF that regulates the greatest number of HRPs and HRGs. Clinical sample and public database analysis revealed that CEBPD is significantly up-regulated in GBM, high levels of CEBPD predict poor prognosis. In addition, CEBPD is highly expressed in hypoxic condition both in GBM tissue and cell lines. For molecular mechanisms, HIF1α and HIF2α can activate the CEBPD promotor. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that CEBPD knockdown impaired the invasion and growth capacity of GBM cells, especially in hypoxia condition. Next, proteomic analysis identified that CEBPD target proteins are mainly involved in the EGFR/PI3K pathway and extracellular matrix (ECM) functions. WB assays revealed that CEBPD significantly positively regulated EGFR/PI3K pathway. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) qPCR/Seq analysis and Luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that CEBPD binds and activates the promotor of a key ECM protein FN1 (fibronectin). In addition, the interactions of FN1 and its integrin receptors are necessary for CEBPD-induced EGFR/PI3K activation by promoting EGFR phosphorylation. Furthermore, GBM sample analysis in the database corroborated that CEBPD is positively correlated with the pathway activities of EGFR/PI3K and HIF1α, especially in highly hypoxic samples. At last, HRPs are also enriched in ECM proteins, indicating that ECM activities are important components of hypoxia induced responses in GBM. In conclusion, CEPBD plays important regulatory roles in the GBM HRG-MINW as a key TF, which activates the EGFR/PI3K pathway through ECM, especially FN1, mediated EGFR phosphorylation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xing-Gang Mao
- Department of Neurosurgery, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China.
| | - Xiao-Yan Xue
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Rui Lv
- Department of Neurosurgery, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Ang Ji
- Department of Neurosurgery, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Ting-Yu Shi
- Department of Neurosurgery, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiao-Yan Chen
- Department of Neurosurgery, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiao-Fan Jiang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China.
| | - Xiang Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China.
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49
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Comba A, Varela ML, Faisal SM, Abel CC, Argento AE, Al-Holou WN, Hollon TC, Perelman JD, Dunn PJ, Motsch S, Castro MG, Lowenstein PR. Generation of 3D ex vivo mouse- and patient-derived glioma explant slice model for integration of confocal time-lapse imaging and spatial analysis. STAR Protoc 2023; 4:102174. [PMID: 36930648 PMCID: PMC10036861 DOI: 10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Revised: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Development of spatial-integrative pre-clinical models is needed for glioblastoma, which are heterogenous tumors with poor prognosis. Here, we present an optimized protocol to generate three-dimensional ex vivo explant slice glioma model from orthotopic tumors, genetically engineered mouse models, and fresh patient-derived specimens. We describe a step-by-step workflow for tissue acquisition, dissection, and sectioning of 300-μm tumor slices maintaining cell viability. The explant slice model allows the integration of confocal time-lapse imaging with spatial analysis for studying migration, invasion, and tumor microenvironment, making it a valuable platform for testing effective treatment modalities. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Comba et al. (2022).1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Comba
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
| | - Maria Luisa Varela
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Syed M Faisal
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Clifford C Abel
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Anna E Argento
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Wajd N Al-Holou
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Todd C Hollon
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Jacqueline D Perelman
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Patrick J Dunn
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Sebastien Motsch
- School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Maria G Castro
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Pedro R Lowenstein
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
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Cell signaling activation and extracellular matrix remodeling underpin glioma tumor microenvironment heterogeneity and organization. Cell Oncol 2022; 46:589-602. [PMID: 36567397 DOI: 10.1007/s13402-022-00763-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Tumor cells thrive by adapting to the signals in their microenvironment. To adapt, cancer cells activate signaling and transcriptional programs and migrate to establish micro-niches, in response to signals from neighboring cells and non-cellular stromal factors. Understanding how the tumor microenvironment evolves during disease progression is crucial to deciphering the mechanisms underlying the functional behavior of cancer cells. METHODS Multiplex immunohistochemistry, spatial analysis and histological dyes were used to identify and measure immune cell infiltration, cell signal activation and extracellular matrix deposition in low-grade, high-grade astrocytoma and glioblastoma. RESULTS We show that lower grade astrocytoma tissue is largely devoid of infiltrating immune cells and extracellular matrix proteins, while high-grade astrocytoma exhibits abundant immune cell infiltration, activation, and extensive tissue remodeling. Spatial analysis shows that most T-cells are restricted to perivascular regions, but bone marrow-derived macrophages penetrate deep into neoplastic cell-rich regions. The tumor microenvironment is characterized by heterogeneous PI3K, MAPK and CREB signaling, with specific signaling profiles correlating with distinct pathological hallmarks, including angiogenesis, tumor cell density and regions where neoplastic cells border the extracellular matrix. Our results also show that tissue remodeling is important in regulating the architecture of the tumor microenvironment during tumor progression. CONCLUSION The tumor microenvironment in malignant astrocytoma, exhibits changes in cell composition, cell signaling activation and extracellular matrix deposition during disease development and that targeting the extracellular matrix, as well as cell signaling activation will be critical to designing personalized therapy.
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