GLIS1 intervention enhances anti-PD1 therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting SGK1-STAT3-PD1 pathway

Application of combined ablation and immunotherapy in NSCLC and liver cancer: Current status and future prospects

This review examines combining tumor ablation therapy with immunotherapy for respiratory and digestive system tumors, particularly NSCLC and liver cancer. Despite advancements in traditional methods, they face limitations in advanced-stage tumors. Ablation techniques like RFA, MWA, and cryoablation offer minimally invasive options, while immune checkpoint inhibitors enhance the immune system's tumor-fighting ability. This review highlights their synergistic effects, clinical outcomes, and future research directions, including optimizing protocols, exploring new combinations, uncovering molecular mechanisms, advancing precision medicine, and improving accessibility. Combined therapy is expected to improve efficacy and patient outcomes significantly.

Molecular insight into T cell exhaustion in hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality globally. The emergence of immunotherapy has been shown to be a promising therapeutic approach for hepatocellular carcinoma in recent years. It has been well known that T cell plays a key role in current immunotherapy. However, sustained exposure to antigenic stimulation within the tumor microenvironment may lead to T cell exhaustion, which may cause treatment ineffectiveness. Therefore, reversing T cell exhaustion has been an important issue for the clinical application of immunotherapy, and a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies surrounding T cell exhaustion and its underlying mechanisms is imperative for devising strategies to overcome the T cell exhaustion during treatment. In this review, we summarized the reported drivers of T cell exhaustion in hepatocellular carcinoma and delineate potential ways to reverse it. Additionally, we discussed the interplay among metabolic plasticity, epigenetic regulation, and transcriptional factors in exhausted T cells in hepatocellular carcinoma, and their implication for future clinical applications.

Modeling of senescence-related chemoresistance in ovarian cancer using data analysis and patient-derived organoids

Background

Ovarian cancer (OC) is a malignant tumor associated with poor prognosis owing to its susceptibility to chemoresistance. Cellular senescence, an irreversible biological state, is intricately linked to chemoresistance in cancer treatment. We developed a senescence-related gene signature for prognostic prediction and evaluated personalized treatment in patients with OC.

Methods

We acquired the clinical and RNA-seq data of OC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas and identified a senescence-related prognostic gene set through differential and cox regression analysis in distinct chemotherapy response groups. A prognostic senescence-related signature was developed and validated by OC patient-derived-organoids (PDOs). We leveraged gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and ESTIMATE to unravel the potential functions and immune landscape of the model. Moreover, we explored the correlation between risk scores and potential chemotherapeutic agents. After confirming the congruence between organoids and tumor tissues through immunohistochemistry, we measured the IC50 of cisplatin in PDOs using the ATP activity assay, categorized by resistance and sensitivity to the drug. We also investigated the expression patterns of model genes across different groups.

Results

We got 2740 differentially expressed genes between two chemotherapy response groups including 43 senescence-related genes. Model prognostic genes were yielded through univariate cox analysis, and multifactorial cox analysis. Our work culminated in a senescence-related prognostic model based on the expression of SGK1 and VEGFA. Simultaneously, we successfully constructed and propagated three OC PDOs for drug screening. PCR and WB from PDOs affirmed consistent expression trends as those of our model genes derived from comprehensive data analysis. Specifically, SGK1 exhibited heightened expression in cisplatin-resistant OC organoids, while VEGFA manifested elevated expression in the sensitive group (P<0.05). Intriguingly, GSEA results unveiled the enrichment of model genes in the PPAR signaling pathway, pivotal regulator in chemoresistance and tumorigenesis. This revelation prompted the identification of potential beneficial drugs for patients with a high-risk score, including gemcitabine, dabrafenib, epirubicin, oxaliplatin, olaparib, teniposide, ribociclib, topotecan, venetoclax.

Conclusion

Through the formulation of a senescence-related signature comprising SGK1 and VEGFA, we established a promising tool for prognosticating chemotherapy reactions, predicting outcomes, and steering therapeutic strategies. Patients with high VEGFA and low SGK1 expression levels exhibit heightened sensitivity to chemotherapy.

Tumor Microenvironment Heterogeneity, Potential Therapeutic Avenues, and Emerging Therapies

OBJECTIVE

This review describes the comprehensive portrait of tumor microenvironment (TME). Additionally, we provided a panoramic perspective on the transformation and functions of the diverse constituents in TME, and the underlying mechanisms of drug resistance, beginning with the immune cells and metabolic dynamics within TME. Lastly, we summarized the most auspicious potential therapeutic strategies.

RESULTS

TME is a unique realm crafted by malignant cells to withstand the onslaught of endogenous and exogenous therapies. Recent research has revealed many small-molecule immunotherapies exhibiting auspicious outcomes in preclinical investigations. Furthermore, some pro-immune mechanisms have emerged as a potential avenue. With the advent of nanosystems and precision targeting, targeted therapy has now transcended the "comfort zone" erected by cancer cells within TME.

CONCLUSION

The ceaseless metamorphosis of TME fosters the intransigent resilience and proliferation of tumors. However, existing therapies have yet to surmount the formidable obstacles posed by TME. Therefore, scientists should investigate potential avenues for therapeutic intervention and design innovative pharmacological and clinical technologies.

GLIS1, Correlated with Immune Infiltrates, Is a Potential Prognostic Biomarker in Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a prevalent malignant disease and the primary reason for cancer-related mortality among men globally. GLIS1 (GLIS family zinc finger 1) is a key regulator in various pathologies. However, the expression pattern, clinical relevance, and immunomodulatory function of GLIS1 in PCa remain unclear. In this study, GLIS1 was discovered to serve as a key gene in PCa by integrating mRNA and miRNA expression profiles from GEO database. We systematically explored the expression and prognostic values of GLIS1 in cancers using multiple databases. Additionally, we examined the functions of GLIS1 and the relationship between GLIS1 expression levels and immune infiltration in PCa. Results showed that GLIS1 was differentially expressed between normal and tumor tissues in various cancer types and was significantly low-expressed in PCa. Low GLIS1 expression was associated with poor PCa prognosis. GLIS1 was also involved in the activation, proliferation, differentiation, and migration of immune cells, and its expression showed a positive correlation with the infiltration of various immune cells. Moreover, GLIS1 expression was positively associated with various chemokines/chemokine receptors, indicating the involvement in regulating immune cell migration. In summary, GLIS1 is a potential prognostic biomarker and a therapeutic target to modulate anti-tumor immune response in PCa.

A novel immunogenic cell death-related genes signature for predicting prognosis, immune landscape and immunotherapy effect in hepatocellular carcinoma

OBJECTIVE

Immunogenic cell death (ICD) has emerged as a promising strategy to activate the adaptive immune response, modulate the tumor microenvironment (TME) and enhance the efficacy of immune therapy. However, the relationship between ICD and TME reprogramming in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains poorly understood.

METHODS

Transcriptional profiles and clinical spectrum of 486 HCC patients were obtained from TCGA and GEO databases. We utilized consensus clustering analysis to construct two distinct molecular subtypes and established an ICD-based scoring system (named ICD score) via WGCNA and LASSO Cox regression to predict the prognosis of the HCC cohort. Then we employed CIBERSORT and ESTIMATE methods to analyze the immune landscape of ICD score in HCC. Subsequently, the immunophenoscore (IPS) and tumor immune dysfunction and rejection (TIDE) analyses were performed to determine whether the ICD score could influence the immune therapeutic effect. Based on the ICD scoring system, a novel nomogram was generated to provide a numerical probability of HCC patients' overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

We identified two independent ICD clusters (cluster A/B), and cluster B possessed a worse prognosis and higher immune cell infiltration. Using ICD scoring system, the HCC patients were divided into high- and low-ICD-score groups. Through integrative analyses, the high-ICD cohort owned advanced TNM stage, high pathologic grade and increased suppressive immune cell enrichment. We developed a nomogram containing the ICD score, demonstrating a high predictive accuracy with a C-index of 0.703. We further discovered that PSMD2 and PSMD14 could serve as ICD-associated prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets in HCC.

CONCLUSION

The ICD score exhibits a high degree of reliability for predicting prognosis and may provide valuable guidance for the selection of immunotherapy for HCC patients. This novel scoring system enables the estimation of clinical immunotherapy response for HCC patients, offering new opportunities for personalized immunotherapy.

An Insight into the Role of GLIS1 in Embryonic Development, iPSC Generation, and Cancer

The curiosity to discover transcription factors to reprogram somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) resulted in the identification of a reprogramming factor, Gli-similar transcription factor GLIS1. This proline-rich Kruppel-like zinc finger transcription factor has a role in embryonic development, iPSC generation, and cancer. The spatial and temporal expression of GLIS1 during embryonic development implicates that it can control gene expression at specific developmental stages. Moreover, GLIS1 in combination with OCT4, SOX2, and KLF4 reprogramming factors resulted in an increase in reprogramming efficiency, giving rise to primarily bona fide iPSCs. Mutations in the GLIS1 gene are associated with several types of tumors and cancers, and it shows a tissue-specific function where it acts either as an oncogene or as a tumor suppressor gene. This review gives a comprehensive overview of GLIS1 and its important role in embryonic development, cancer, and the generation of iPSCs.

New insights into T-cell exhaustion in liver cancer: from mechanism to therapy

Liver cancer is one of the most common malignancies. T-cell exhaustion is associated with immunosuppression of tumor and chronic infection. Although immunotherapies that enhance the immune response by targeting programmed cell death-1(PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) have been applied to malignancies, these treatments have shown limited response rates. This suggested that additional inhibitory receptors (IRs) also contributed to T-cell exhaustion and tumor prognosis. Exhausted T-cells (Tex) in the tumor immune microenvironment (TME) are usually in a dysfunctional state of exhaustion, such as impaired activity and proliferative ability, increased apoptosis rate, and reduced production of effector cytokines. Tex cells participate in the negative regulation of tumor immunity mainly through IRs on the cell surface, changes in cytokines and immunomodulatory cell types, causing tumor immune escape. However, T-cell exhaustion is not irreversible and targeted immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can effectively reverse the exhaustion of T-cells and restore the anti-tumor immune response. Therefore, the research on the mechanism of T-cell exhaustion in liver cancer, aimed at maintaining or restoring the effector function of Tex cells, might provide a new method for the treatment of liver cancer. In this review, we summarized the basic characteristics of Tex cells (such as IRs and cytokines), discussed the mechanisms associated with T-cell exhaustion, and specifically discussed how these exhaustion characteristics were acquired and shaped by key factors within TME. Then new insights into the molecular mechanism of T-cell exhaustion suggested a potential way to improve the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy, namely to restore the effector function of Tex cells. In addition, we also reviewed the research progress of T-cell exhaustion in recent years and provided suggestions for further research.

Regulation of CD8+ T memory and exhaustion by the mTOR signals

CD8+ T cells are the key executioners of the adaptive immune arm, which mediates antitumor and antiviral immunity. Naïve CD8+ T cells develop in the thymus and are quickly activated in the periphery after encountering a cognate antigen, which induces these cells to proliferate and differentiate into effector cells that fight the initial infection. Simultaneously, a fraction of these cells become long-lived memory CD8+ T cells that combat future infections. Notably, the generation and maintenance of memory cells is profoundly affected by various in vivo conditions, such as the mode of primary activation (e.g., acute vs. chronic immunization) or fluctuations in host metabolic, inflammatory, or aging factors. Therefore, many T cells may be lost or become exhausted and no longer functional. Complicated intracellular signaling pathways, transcription factors, epigenetic modifications, and metabolic processes are involved in this process. Therefore, understanding the cellular and molecular basis for the generation and fate of memory and exhausted CD8+ cells is central for harnessing cellular immunity. In this review, we focus on mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), particularly signaling mediated by mTOR complex (mTORC) 2 in memory and exhausted CD8+ T cells at the molecular level.