Losses of cytokines and chemokines are common genetic features of human cancers: the somatic copy number alterations are correlated with patient prognoses and therapeutic resistance

The Role of Cytokinome in the HNSCC Tumor Microenvironment: A Narrative Review and Our Experience

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer. In locally advanced (LA) HNSCC, a multidisciplinary approach consisting of surgery followed by chemoradiation (CRT) or definitive CRT is the mainstay of treatment. In recurrent metastatic (R/M), HNSCC immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) with or without chemotherapy represent the new first-line option. However, cancer will recur in about two out of five patients with LA HNSCC. If progression occurs within six months from platin-radiotherapy treatment, anti-programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) may be prescribed. Otherwise, immunotherapy with or without chemotherapy might be considered if PD-L1 is expressed. Despite several improvements in the outcome of patients with R/M HNSCC, overall survival (OS) remains dismal, equaling a median of 14 months. In-depth knowledge of the tumor microenvironment (TME) would be required to change the course of this complex disease. In recent years, many predictive and prognostic biomarkers have been studied in the HNSCC TME, but none of them alone can select the best candidates for response to ICIs or targeted therapy (e.g., Cetuximab). The presence of cytokines indicates an immune response that might occur, among other things, after tumor antigen recognition, viral and bacterial infection, and physic damage. An immune response against HNSCC results in the production of some cytokines that induce a pro-inflammatory response and attract cells, such as neutrophils, macrophages, and T cell effectors, to enhance the innate and adaptive anti-tumor response. We revised the role of a group of cytokines as biomarkers for treatment response in HNSCC.

GNAI2 Is a Risk Factor for Gastric Cancer: Study of Tumor Microenvironment (TME) and Establishment of Immune Risk Score (IRS)

Purpose

Although the G protein subunit α i2 (GNAI2) is upregulated in multiple cancers, its prognostic value and exact role in the development of gastric cancer (GC) remain largely unknown.

Methods

This study evaluated the effect of GNAI2 on the tumor microenvironment (TME) in GC, constructed an immune risk score (IRS) model based on differentially-expressed immune genes, and systematically correlated GNAI2 and epigenetic factor expression patterns with TME and IRS. Also, RT-qPCR, flow cytometry, Western blotting (WB), and transwell assays were carried out to explore the regulatory mechanism of GNAI2 in GC.

Results

High GNAI2 expression was associated with poor prognosis. Cytokine activation, an increase in tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIIC), and the accumulation of regulatory T cells in the tumor immune cycle were all promoted by the TME, which was significantly associated with GNAI2 expression. Two different differentially expressed mRNA (DER) modification patterns were determined. These two DERs-clusters had significantly different TME cell infiltrations and were classified as either noninflamed or immune-inflamed phenotypes. The IRS model constructed using differentially expressed genes (DEGs) had great potential in predicting GC prognosis. The IRS model was also used in assessing clinicopathological features, such as microsatellite instability (MSI) status, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) status, clinical stages, tumor mutational burden (TMB), and tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) scores. Low IRS scores were associated with high immune checkpoint gene expression. Cell and animal studies confirmed that GNAI2 activated PI3K/AKT pathway and promoted the growth and migration of GC cells.

Conclusion

The IRS model can be used for survival prediction and GNAI2 serves as a candidate therapeutic target for GC patients.

Single-cell melanoma transcriptomes depicting functional versatility and clinical implications of STIM1 in the tumor microenvironment

Rationale: Previous studies have implicated the functions of stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1) in immunity and malignancy, however, the specificity and effects of STIM1 expression in malignant and non-malignant cells in the tumor microenvironment are unclear.

Methods: In the current study, we posed two central questions: (1) does STIM1 expression elicit different cellular programs in cell types within the melanoma tumor microenvironment (2) whether the expression of STIM1 and STIM1-coexpressed genes (SCGs) serve as prognostic indicators of patient's outcomes? To answer these questions, we dissected cell-specific STIM1-associated cellular programs in diverse cell types within the melanoma tumor microenvironment by measuring cell-type specificity of STIM1 expression and SCGs.

Results: A distinct set of SCGs was highly affected in malignant melanoma cells, but not in the other cell types, suggesting the existence of malignant-cell-specific cellular programs reflected by STIM1 expression. In contrast to malignant cells, STIM1 expression appeared to trigger universal and non-specific biological functions in non-malignant cell types, as exemplified by the transcriptomes of macrophages and CD4⁺ T regulatory cells. Results from bioinformatic analyses indicated that SCGs in malignant cells may alter cell-cell interactions through cytokine/chemokine signaling and/or orchestrate immune infiltration into the tumor. Moreover, a prognostic association between SCGs in CD4⁺ T regulatory cells and patient's outcomes was identified. However, we didn't find any correlation between SCGs and responsiveness of immunotherapy.

Conclusions: Overall, our results provide an integrated biological framework for understanding the functional and clinical consequences of cell-specific STIM1 expression in melanoma.

Identification of important genes and drug repurposing based on clinical-centered analysis across human cancers

Identification of the functional impact of mutated and altered genes in cancer is critical for implementing precision oncology and drug repurposing. In recent years, the emergence of multiomics data from large, well-characterized patient cohorts has provided us with an unprecedented opportunity to address this problem. In this study, we investigated survival-associated genes across 26 cancer types and found that these genes tended to be hub genes and had higher K-core values in biological networks. Moreover, the genes associated with adverse outcomes were mainly enriched in pathways related to genetic information processing and cellular processes, while the genes with favorable outcomes were enriched in metabolism and immune regulation pathways. We proposed using the number of survival-related neighbors to assess the impact of mutations. In addition, by integrating other databases including the Human Protein Atlas and the DrugBank database, we predicted novel targets and anticancer drugs using the drug repurposing strategy. Our results illustrated the significance of multidimensional analysis of clinical data in important gene identification and drug development.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 infection induces dysregulation of immunity: in silico gene expression analysis

Highly pathogenic coronaviruses (CoVs) induce acute respiratory distress syndrome, and the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 has caused a pandemic since late 2019. The diversity of clinical manifestations after SARS-CoV-2 infection results in great challenges to diagnose CoV disease 2019 (COVID-19). There is a growing body of published research on this topic; however, effective medications are still undergoing a long process of being assessed. In the search for potential genetic targets for this infection, we applied a holistic bioinformatics approach to study alterations of gene signatures between SARS-CoV-2-infected cells and mock-infected controls. Two different kinds of lung epithelial cells, A549 with angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) overexpression and normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells, were infected with SARS-CoV-2. We performed bioinformatics analyses of RNA-sequencing in this study. Through a Venn diagram, Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery, Gene Ontology, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis, and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis, the pathways and networks were constructed from commonly upregulated genes in SARS-CoV-2-infected lung epithelial cells. Genes associated with immune-related pathways, responses of host cells after intracellular infection, steroid hormone biosynthesis, receptor signaling, and the complement system were enriched. Dysregulation of the immune system and malfunction of interferon contribute to a failure to kill SARS-CoV-2 and exacerbate respiratory distress in severely ill patients. Current findings from this study provide a comprehensive investigation of SARS-CoV-2 infection using high-throughput technology.

Antiangiogenesis Roles of Exosomes with Fei-Liu-Ping Ointment Treatment are Involved in the Lung Carcinoma with the Lewis Xenograft Mouse Model

Exosomes display efficient biocompatibility and represent valuable vehicles for drug or effective material delivery in a tumour-therapeutic approach. Following treatment with Fei-Liu-Ping (FLP) ointment, a traditional Chinese herbal formula, which is used for treating lung cancer patients, could inhibit lung carcinoma growth in clinical and animal studies. In the present study, the values of VEGF and PDGF, which were closely related to angiogenesis, were estimated in serum and carcinoma tissue exosomes to unveil the FLP effects on angiogenesis. The common inflammatory factors of IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α, and TGF-β in serum exosomes were also detected with the Lewis xenograft model. Methods. Male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into four groups, namely, normal, model, cyclophosphamide (CTX), and FLP treatment groups. Histological structures were observed and imaged by H&E. CD31 expressions in tumour tissues were detected by immunofluorescence (IF) and western blot (WB). VEGF, PDGF, and PDGFR levels in exosomes, serum, tumour, and lung tissues were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunohistochemistry (IHC), and WB, respectively. IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α, and TGF-β levels in exosomes were measured by multiplex immunoassay panels. Results. The results showed that FLP had tumour growth inhibition rate (39.31%). CD31 protein expression was obviously decreased in tumour tissues of CTX- and FLP-treated MO mice, compared to that of MO mice (P < 0.05 or P < 0.001). VEGF, PDGF, and PDGFR expression levels with FLP treatment were downregulated in exosomes, serum, tumour, and lung tissues compared to model group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The expressions of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α were downregulated in exosomes compared to the model group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Conclusions. This study suggested that FLP had the ability of inhibiting tumourigenesis in a Lewis lung xenograft mouse model, whose therapeutic mechanisms might relate with the downregulation of angiogenesis factor and tumour inflammatory cytokines levels.

Melittin Induced G1 Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis in Chago-K1 Human Bronchogenic Carcinoma Cells and Inhibited the Differentiation of THP-1 Cells into Tumour- Associated Macrophages

Background: Bronchogenic carcinoma (lung cancer) is one of the leading causes of death. Although many compounds isolated from natural products have been used to treat it, drug resistance is a serious problem, and alternative anti-cancer drugs are required. Here, melittin from Apis mellifera venom was used, and its effects on bronchogenic carcinoma cell proliferation and tumour-associated macrophage differentiation were evaluated. Methods: The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of melittin was measured by MTT. Cell death was observed by annexin V and propidium iodide (PI) co-staining followed by flow cytometry. Cell cycle arrest was revealed by PI staining and flow cytometry. To investigate the tumour microenvironment, differentiation of circulating monocytes (THP-1) into tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs) was assayed by sandwich-ELISA and interleukin (IL)-10 levels were determined. Cell proliferation and migration was observed by flat plate colony formation. Secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was detected by ELISA. The change in expression levels of CatS, Bcl-2, and MADD was measured by quantitative RT-PCR. Results: Melittin was significantly more cytotoxic (p < 0.01) to human bronchogenic carcinoma cells (ChaGo-K1) than to the control human lung fibroblasts (Wi-38) cells. At 2.5 μM, melittin caused ChaGo-K1 cells to undergo apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase. The IL-10 levels showed that melittin significantly inhibited the differentiation of THP-1 cells into TAMs (p < 0.05) and reduced the number of colonies formed in the treated ChaGo-K1 cells compared to the untreated cells. However, melittin did not affect angiogenesis in ChaGo-K1 cells. Unlike MADD, Bcl-2 was up-regulated significantly (p < 0.05) in melittin-treated ChaGo-K1 cells. Conclusion: Melittin can be used as an alternative agent for lung cancer treatment because of its cytotoxicity against ChaGo-K1 cells and the inhibition of differentiation of THP-1 cells into TAMs.