Association of high expression of Groβ with clinical and pathological characteristics of unfavorable prognosis in gastrointestinal stromal tumors

MicroRNA‑27a‑3p regulates the proliferation and chemotaxis of pulmonary macrophages in non‑small cell lung carcinoma tissues through CXCL2

The present study aimed to investigate microRNA (miRNA)-27a-3p expression in the pulmonary macrophages and peripheral blood of patients with early non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) and its regulatory effect on the infiltration of pulmonary macrophages into cancer tissues and invasion of NSCLC cells. Blood specimens were withdrawn from 36 patients with NSCLC and 29 healthy subjects. NSCLC tissues and cancer-adjacent tissues were both obtained from patients with NSCLC; furthermore, certain tissue samples were used to extract macrophages. The levels of miRNA-27a-3p and C-X-C motif ligand chemokine 2 (CXCL2) mRNA were detected by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and the levels of CXCL2 protein were measured by ELISA and western blot analysis. A dual-luciferase reporter assay was performed to determine the interactions between miRNA and mRNA. An MTT assay was employed to examine the viability of transfected cells and macrophages and a Transwell assay was performed to assess chemotaxis. The differential expression of miRNA-27a-3p in NSCLC tissues, pulmonary macrophages and peripheral blood indicated that miRNA-27a-3p exerted different roles in these specimens. CXCL2 was upregulated in NSCLC tissues at both transcriptional and translational levels. In addition, the untranslated region of CXCL2 was confirmed to be directly targeted by miRNA-27a-3p prior to its transcriptional activation. Furthermore, miRNA-27a-3p regulated CXCL2 expression, thereby affecting the proliferation of human pulmonary macrophages. The present study highlights that miRNA-27a-3p expression in the pulmonary macrophages and peripheral blood of patients with NSCLC is downregulated, while its target gene CXCL2 is upregulated. miRNA-27a-3p may regulate the viability and chemotaxis of macrophages in tumor tissues of patients with NSCLC through CXCL2 and is expected to become a genetic marker of this disease.

Tumor-associated macrophages mediate gastrointestinal stromal tumor cell metastasis through CXCL2/CXCR2

BACKGROUND

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are linked with the progression and poor prognosis of multifarious solid tumors, but the regulatory mechanisms involved in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) remain indistinct. This study intended to delve into the job of TAM-derived chemokines in promoting metastasis in GIST microenvironment.

METHODS

Expression levels of M2-TAM markers and CXCL2 in primary and metastatic tissues of GIST were analyzed by bioinformatics methods, and we analyzed the correlation between CXCL2 and M2-TAM markers. Immunofluorescence was applied to assay CXCL2 and M2-TAM marker protein (CD68 and CD206) expression in tumor tissues. Serum CXCL2 concentration in metastatic and non-metastatic patients was assayed by ELISA. The differentiation of THP-1 cells was tested by flow cytometry. Cell function test was utilized to analyze the viability, invasion and migration of GIST cells. Western blot was used to examine the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins. The mouse liver metastasis model was established, and the effects of CXCL2 and EMT-related genes on metastasis were confirmed by hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunohistochemistry experiments.

RESULTS

Bioinformatics analysis ascertained that M2-TAM marker proteins and chemokine CXCL2 were highly expressed in GIST metastatic tissues, and CXCL2 and TAM were co-located in tumor tissues. Results of in vitro cell function experiments displayed that CXCL2 secreted by M2-TAM promoted the invasion, migration and EMT of GIST tumor cells, and the anti-CXCL2 antibody could block the metastasis promoting effect of CXCL2. Additionally, the silencing of CXCR2 in GIST cells inhibited the metastasis promoting effect of CXCL2. Animal studies further confirmed that CXCL2 promoted liver metastasis of GIST in vivo.

CONCLUSION

This study preliminarily revealed the mechanism of M2-TAM promoting tumor metastasis by secreting CXCL2 in GIST tumor microenvironment, and proffered theoretical reference for the development of immunotherapy strategies targeting M2-TAM.

LAMP3 (CD208) Expression in Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Epithelial Dysplasia of the Oral Cavity and Clinicopathological Characteristics of Unfavorable Prognosis

Background

This study aimed to evaluate LAMP3 (CD208) gene expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and dysplastic oral epithelium by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and compare LAMP3 expression in different disease grades and stages.

Methods

In this study, 60 OSCC and dysplastic oral epithelium samples were obtained from the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences together with their demographic and clinicopathological documents. LAMP3 expression was measured by qPCR.

Results

LAMP3 expression was significantly greater in OSCC than in dysplasia samples (P=0.001), in grade III OSCC than in grades I and II, and also greater in advanced than in early OSCC disease stage (P=0.001).

Conclusion

The significantly greater LAMP3 expression in OSCC than in dysplastic epithelium indicates a role for LAMP3 in carcinogenesis in oral mucosa. Our results suggest LAMP3 may be useful as an anticancer target and/or to predict disease pathogenesis in OSCC patient's cells.

The prognostic implications of growth-related gene product β in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Growth-related gene product β (GROβ) is an angiogenic chemokine that belongs to the CXC chemokine family, and a number of studies have suggested that GROβ is associated with tumor development and progression. However, a number of studies have investigated the association between GROβ expression and the clinical attributes of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). In the present study, one-step quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry analysis were used to detect GROβ expression and evaluate the association between its expression and the clinicopathological characteristics of LSCC. The results demonstrated that the GROβ mRNA and protein expression levels were significantly increased in LSCC compared with the corresponding non-cancerous tissues. GROβ protein expression in LSCC was associated with tumor-node-metastasis stage, lymph node metastasis and histopathological grade. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox multi-factor analysis indicated that high GROβ expression, lymph node metastasis and histopathological grade were significantly associated with poor survival of patients with LSCC. These data indicated that GROβ may be a novel prognostic biomarker of LSCC.

Collaboration of cancer-associated fibroblasts and tumour-associated macrophages for neuroblastoma development

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumour in children and is histologically classified by its Schwannian stromal cells. Although having fewer Schwannian stromal cells is generally associated with more aggressive phenotypes, the exact roles of other stromal cells (mainly macrophages and fibroblasts) are unclear. Here, we examined 41 cases of neuroblastoma using immunohistochemistry for the tumour-associated macrophage (TAM) markers CD68, CD163, and CD204, and a cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) marker, alpha smooth muscle actin (αSMA). Each case was assigned to low/high groups on the basis of the number of TAMs or three groups on the basis of the αSMA-staining area for CAFs. Both the number of TAMs and the area of CAFs were significantly correlated with clinical stage, MYCN amplification, bone marrow metastasis, histological classification, histological type, and risk classification. Furthermore, TAM settled in the vicinity of the CAF area, suggesting their close interaction within the tumour microenvironment. We next determined the effects of conditioned medium of a neuroblastoma cell line (NBCM) on bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC)-derived macrophages in vitro. The TAM markers CD163 and CD204 were significantly up-regulated in PBMC-derived macrophages treated with NBCM. The expression of αSMA by BM-MSCs was increased in NBCM-treated cells. Co-culturing with CAF-like BM-MSCs did not enhance the invasive ability but supported the proliferation of tumour cells, whereas tumour cells co-cultured with TAM-like macrophages had the opposite effect. Intriguingly, TAM-like macrophages enhanced not only the invasive abilities of tumour cells and BM-MSCs but also the proliferation of BM-MSCs. CXCL2 secreted from TAM-like macrophages plays an important role in tumour invasiveness. Taken together, these results indicate that PBMC-derived macrophages and BM-MSCs are recruited to a tumour site and activated into TAMs and CAFs, respectively, followed by the formation of favourable environments for neuroblastoma progression. © 2016 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

Nicotinamide N-methyltransferase: a potential biomarker for worse prognosis in gastric carcinoma

In clinical practice, cancer stage (or grade) and some biomarkers, such as carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and CA199, are widely used to predict the prognosis of gastric carcinoma patients. Due to the limited role of prognostic indicators for gastric carcinoma, this condition remains one of the most fatal human malignancies with a dismal prognosis. Nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT, EC.2.1.1.1), a metabolizing enzyme, is involved in the development and progression of various carcinomas. However, the prognostic and biological functions of NNMT in gastric carcinoma are not yet clear. In the present study, NNMT was found to be overexpressed at the mRNA and protein levels in gastric carcinoma tissues compared with adjacent tissues. Importantly, the survival analysis verified that NNMT expression is an independent prognostic factor for overall survival of gastric cancer patients. Moreover, NNMT expression was related to primary tumor size, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, and TNM (tumor, node, and metastasis) stage. We also demonstrated that knockdown of NNMT inhibits cellular proliferation, invasion and migration in vitro and in vivo. Overall, the results of this study suggest that NNMT is a promising prognostic predictor for gastric cancer patients and could be used as a new target for gastric cancer therapy.