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Lei H, Fang F, Yang C, Chen X, Li Q, Shen X. Lifting the veils on transmembrane proteins: Potential anticancer targets. Eur J Pharmacol 2024; 963:176225. [PMID: 38040080 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2023.176225] [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: 09/04/2023] [Revised: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023]
Abstract
Cancer, as a prevalent cause of mortality, poses a substantial global health burden and hinders efforts to enhance life expectancy. Nevertheless, the prognosis of patients with malignant tumors remains discouraging, owing to the lack of specific diagnostic and therapeutic targets. Therefore, the development of early diagnostic indicators and novel therapeutic drugs for the prevention and treatment of cancer is essential. Transmembrane proteins (TMEMs) are a class of proteins that can span the phospholipid bilayer and are stably anchored. They are associated with fibrotic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, autoimmune diseases, developmental disorders, and cancer. It has been found that the expression levels of TMEMs were elevated or reduced in cancer cells, exerting pro/anticancer effects. These aberrant expression levels have also been linked to the prognostic and clinicopathological features of diverse tumors. In this review, the structures, functions, and roles of TMEMs in cancer were discussed, and the scientific perspectives were described. This review also explored the potential of TMEMs as tumor drug candidates from the perspective of targeted therapies, and the challenges that need to be overcome in a wide range of preclinical and clinical anticancer research were summarized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huan Lei
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Fujin Fang
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Chuanli Yang
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xiaowei Chen
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Qiong Li
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xiaobing Shen
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
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Brassard J, Hughes MR, Dean P, Hernaez DC, Thornton S, Banville AC, Smazynski J, Warren M, Zhang K, Milne K, Gilks CB, Mes-Masson AM, Huntsman DG, Nelson BH, Roskelley CD, McNagny KM. A tumor-restricted glycoform of podocalyxin is a highly selective marker of immunologically cold high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1286754. [PMID: 38188285 PMCID: PMC10771318 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1286754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Targeted-immunotherapies such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells or bispecific T-cell engagers (eg, BiTE®) all aim to improve cancer treatment by directly targeting cancer cells while sparing healthy tissues. Success of these therapies requires tumor antigens that are abundantly expressed and, ideally, tumor specific. The CD34-related stem cell sialomucin, podocalyxin (PODXL), is a promising target as it is overexpressed on a variety of tumor types and its expression is consistently linked to poor prognosis. However, PODXL is also expressed in healthy tissues including kidney podocytes and endothelia. To circumvent this potential pitfall, we developed an antibody, named PODO447, that selectively targets a tumor-associated glycoform of PODXL. This tumor glycoepitope is expressed by 65% of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) tumors. Methods In this study we characterize these PODO447-expressing tumors as a distinct subset of HGSOC using four different patient cohorts that include pre-chemotherapy, post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) and relapsing tumors as well as tumors from various peritoneal locations. Results We find that the PODO447 epitope expression is similar across tumor locations and negligibly impacted by chemotherapy. Invariably, tumors with high levels of the PODO447 epitope lack infiltrating CD8+ T cells and CD20+ B cells/plasma cells, an immune phenotype consistently associated with poor outcome. Discussion We conclude that the PODO447 glycoepitope is an excellent biomarker of immune "cold" tumors and a candidate for the development of targeted-therapies for these hard-to-treat cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julyanne Brassard
- School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Michael R. Hughes
- School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Pamela Dean
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Diana Canals Hernaez
- School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Shelby Thornton
- Molecular and Advanced Pathology Core (MAPcore), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | | | | | - Mary Warren
- British Columbia Cancer Agency, Victoria, BC, Canada
| | - Kevin Zhang
- British Columbia Cancer Agency, Victoria, BC, Canada
| | - Katy Milne
- British Columbia Cancer Agency, Victoria, BC, Canada
| | - C. Blake Gilks
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Anne-Marie Mes-Masson
- Centre de Recherche du Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - David G. Huntsman
- Molecular and Advanced Pathology Core (MAPcore), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Molecular Oncology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | | | - Calvin D. Roskelley
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Kelly M. McNagny
- School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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