Inflammation and Inflammasomes: Pros and Cons in Tumorigenesis

Vitamin D: What role in obesity-related cancer?

Obesity is an important risk factor for incidence and death for many types of cancer. Vitamin D reduces risk of incidence and death for many types of cancer. This review outlines the mechanisms by which obesity increases risk of cancer, how vitamin D reduces risk of cancer, and the extent to which vitamin D counters the effects of obesity in cancer. Vitamin D is a partial ally against some of obesity's pro-carcinogenic effects, notably by reducing inflammation and regulating sex hormone receptors, leptin resistance, cellular energy metabolism, the microbiome, and hypoxia. However, it can act stronger in against the renin-angiotensin system, insulin resistance, and oxidative stress in cancer. Additionally, excess fat tissue sequesters vitamin D and, along with its dilution in increased body volume, further reduces its bioavailability and serum concentration, limiting its protective effects against cancer. In conclusion, while vitamin D cannot reverse obesity, it plays a significant role in mitigating its pro-carcinogenic effects by targeting several mechanisms.

ROS induced pyroptosis in inflammatory disease and cancer

Pyroptosis, a form of caspase-1-dependent cell death, also known as inflammation-dependent death, plays a crucial role in diseases such as stroke, heart disease, or tumors. Since its elucidation, pyroptosis has attracted widespread attention from various sectors. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can regulate numerous cellular signaling pathways. Through further research on ROS and pyroptosis, the level of ROS has been revealed to be pivotal for the occurrence of pyroptosis, establishing a close relationship between the two. This review primarily focuses on the molecular mechanisms of ROS and pyroptosis in tumors and inflammatory diseases, exploring key proteins that may serve as drug targets linking ROS and pyroptosis and emerging fields targeting pyroptosis. Additionally, the potential future development of compounds and proteins that influence ROS-regulated cell pyroptosis is anticipated, aiming to provide insights for the development of anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Prognostic Assessment of Colorectal Cancer Patients after Laparoscopic Surgery: A Comprehensive Evaluation of the Glasgow Prognostic Score and Fibrinogen-to-Prealbumin Ratio

BACKGROUND Previous studies have shown that systemic inflammation and suboptimal nutritional status are associated with poor cancer prognosis. This study aims to investigate the prognostic value of preoperative Glasgow prognostic score (GPS) and fibrinogen-to-prealbumin ratio (FPR) in patients with CRC (colorectal cancer) after laparoscopic surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this study, the clinical data of 112 patients with CRC who underwent laparoscopic surgery were retrospectively analyzed, and the 3-year and 5-year survival rates of these patients were evaluated. In addition, the prognostic role of preoperative FPR and GPS in CRC patients was assessed using X-tile software, Kaplan-Meier analysis, and Cox regression analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to assess the predictive value of FPR, GPS, and FPR-GPS for the survival of these patients. RESULTS The results revealed a significant negative correlation between high FPR, elevated GPS, and overall survival (OS) in patients with CRC. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses identified GPS (HR=3.207, 95% CI: 1.746~6.126), FPR (HR=2.669, 95% CI: 1.052~6.772), and lymph node metastasis (HR=2.222, 95% CI: 1.199~4.115) as independent prognostic indicators for overall survival. The ROC analysis demonstrated that the prediction based on FPR and GPS outperformed a single indicator in accurately predicting the prognosis of CRC patients. CONCLUSIONS Combining the preoperative FPR with the GPS contributes to accurate prognosis assessment for CRC patients after laparoscopic surgery. Patients exhibiting high FPR and GPS values are associated with a worse prognosis.

Divergent functions of NLRP3 inflammasomes in cancer: a review

The cancer is a serious health problem, which is The cancer death rate (cancer mortality) is 158.3 per 100,000 men and women per year (based on 2013-2017 deaths). Both clinical and translational studies have demonstrated that chronic inflammation is associated with Cancer progression. However, the precise mechanisms of inflammasome, and the pathways that mediate this phenomenon are not fully characterized. One of the most recently identified signaling pathways, whose activation seems to affect many metabolic disorders, is the "inflammasome" a multiprotein complex composed of NLRP3 (nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat protein 3), ASC (apoptosis associated speck-like protein containing a CARD), and procaspase-1. NLRP3 inflammasome activation leads to the processing and secretion of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-18. The goal of this paper is to review new insights on the effects of the NLRP3 inflammasome activation in the complex mechanisms of crosstalk between different organs, for a better understanding of the role of chronic inflammation in cancer pathogenesis. We will provide here a perspective on the current research on NLRP3 inflammasome, which may represent an innovative therapeutic target to reverse the malignancy condition consequences of the inflammation. Video Abstract.

Prevention of malignant digestive system tumors should focus on the control of chronic inflammation

Chronic inflammation, through a variety of mechanisms, plays a key role in the occurrence and development of digestive system malignant tumors (DSMTs). In this study, we feature and provide a comprehensive understanding of DSMT prevention strategies based on preventing or controlling chronic inflammation. The development and evaluation of cancer prevention strategies is a longstanding process. Cancer prevention, especially in the early stage of life, should be emphasized throughout the whole life course. Issues such as the time interval for colon cancer screening, the development of direct-acting antiviral drugs for liver cancer, and the Helicobacter pylori vaccine all need to be explored in long-term, large-scale experiments in the future.

Updates on Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV)-Associated Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: Emphasis on the Latent Gene Products of EBV

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an uncommon type of malignancy/cancer worldwide. However, NPC is an endemic disease in southeast Asia and southern China and the reasons behind the underlying for such changes are unclear. Even though the Epstein-Barr infection (EBV) has been suggested as an important reason for undistinguishable NPC, the EBV itself is not adequate to source this type of cancer. The risk factors, for example, genetic susceptibility, and environmental factors might be associated with EBV to undertake a part in the NPC carcinogenesis. Normal healthy people have a memory B cell pool where the EBV persists, and any disturbance of this connection leads to virus-associated B cell malignancies. Less is known about the relationship between EBV and epithelial cell tumors, especially the EBV-associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (EBVaNPC) and EBV-associated gastric carcinoma (EBVaGC). Currently, it is believed that premalignant genetic changes in epithelial cells contribute to the aberrant establishment of viral latency in these tumors. The early and late phases of NPC patients' survival rates vary significantly. The presence of EBV in all tumor cells presents prospects for the development of innovative therapeutic and diagnostic techniques, despite the fact that the virus's exact involvement in the carcinogenic process is presently not very well known. EBV research continues to shed light on the carcinogenic process, which is important for a more comprehensive knowledge of tumor etiology and the development of targeted cancer therapeutics. In order to screen for NPC, EBV-related biomarkers have been widely used in a few high-incidence locations because of their close associations with the risks of NPC. The current review highlights the scientific importance of EBV and its possible association with NPC.

A new strategy for osteoarthritis therapy: Inhibition of glycolysis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common degenerative disease of the joints. It is primarily caused by age, obesity, mechanical damage, genetics, and other factors, leading to cartilage degradation, synovial inflammation, and subchondral sclerosis with osteophyte formation. Many recent studies have reported that glycolysis disorders are related lead to OA. There is a close relationship between glycolysis and OA. Because of their hypoxic environment, chondrocytes are highly dependent on glycolysis, their primary energy source for chondrocytes. Glycolysis plays a vital role in OA development. In this paper, we comprehensively summarized the abnormal expression of related glycolytic enzymes in OA, including Hexokinase 2 (HK2), Pyruvate kinase 2 (PKM2), Phosphofructokinase-2/fructose-2, 6-Bisphosphatase 3 (PFKFB3), lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA), and discussed the potential application of glycolysis in treating OA. Finally, the natural products that can regulate the glycolytic pathway were summarized. Targeting glucose transporters and rate-limiting enzymes to glycolysis may play an essential role in treating OA.

The pyroptosis-related gene signature predicts prognosis and reveals characterization of the tumor immune microenvironment in acute myeloid leukemia

Background: Pyroptosis is a novel inflammatory form of programmed cell death and a prospective target for cancer therapy. Nevertheless, little is known about the association between pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) prognosis. Herein, we systematically investigated the specific functions and clinical prognostic value of multiple PRGs in AML.

Methods: Univariate and LASSO Cox regression analyses based on TCGA and GTEx databases were used to generate the PRG signature, whose predictive efficacy of survival was evaluated using survival analysis, ROC, univariate and multivariate Cox analyses as well as subgroup analysis. The BeatAML cohort was used for data validation. The association between risk score and immune cell infiltration, HLA, immune checkpoints, cancer stem cell (CSC), tumor mutation burden (TMB), and therapeutic drug sensitivity were also analyzed.

Results: Six -PRG signatures, namely, CASP3, ELANE, GSDMA, NOD1, PYCARD, and VDR were generated. The high-risk score represented a poorer prognosis and the PRG risk score was also validated as an independent predictor of prognosis. A nomogram including the cytogenetic risk, age, and risk score was constructed for accurate prediction of 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival probabilities. Meanwhile, this risk score was significantly associated with the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). A high-risk score is characterized by high immune cell infiltration, HLA, and immune checkpoints, as well as low CSC and TMB. In addition, patients with low-risk scores presented significantly lower IC50 values for ATRA, cytarabine, midostaurin, doxorubicin, and etoposide.

Conclusion: Our findings might contribute to further understanding of PRGs in the prognosis and development of AML and provide novel and reliable biomarkers for its precise prevention and treatment.

Regulatory Role of Apoptotic and Inflammasome Related Proteins and Their Possible Functional Aspect in Thiram Associated Tibial Dyschondroplasia of Poultry

Tibial dyschondroplasia debilities apoptotic and inflammasomal conditions that can further destroy chondrocytes. Inflammasomes are specialized protein complexes that process pro-inflammatory cytokines, e.g., interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-18. Moreover, there is mounting evidence that many of the signaling molecules that govern programmed cell death also affect inflammasome activation in a cell-intrinsic way. During the last decade, apoptotic functions have been described for signaling molecules involving inflammatory responses and cell death pathways. Considering these exceptional developments in the knowledge of processes, this review gives a glimpse of the significance of these two pathways and their connected proteins in tibial dyschondroplasia. The current review deeply elaborates on the elevated level of signaling mediators of mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis and the inflammasome. Although investigating these pathways’ mechanisms has made significant progress, this review identifies areas where more study is especially required. It might lead to developing innovative therapeutics for tibial dyschondroplasia and other associated bone disorders, e.g., osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, where apoptosis and inflammasome are the significant pathways.

Impact of non-coding RNAs on cancer directed immune therapies: Now then and forever

Accumulating evidence demonstrates that the host genome's epigenetic modifications are essential for living organisms to adapt to extreme conditions. DNA methylation, covalent modifications of histone, and inter-association of non-coding RNAs facilitate the cellular manifestation of epigenetic changes in the genome. Out of various factors involved in the epigenetic programming of the host, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) such as microRNA (miRNA), long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), circular RNA, snoRNA and piRNA are new generation non-coding molecules that influence a variety of cellular processes like immunity, cellular differentiation, and tumor development. During tumor development, temporal changes in miRNA/LncRNA rheostat influence sterile inflammatory responses accompanied by the changes in the carcinogenic signaling in the host. At the cellular level, this is manifested by the up-regulation of Inflammasome and inflammatory pathways, which promotes cancer-related inflammation. Given this, we discuss the potential of lncRNAs, miRNAs, circular RNA, snoRNA and piRNA in regulating inflammation and tumor development in the host. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Identification of pyroptosis-related lncRNAs for constructing a prognostic model and their correlation with immune infiltration in breast cancer

The inflammasome-dependent cell death, which is denoted as pyroptosis, might be abnormally regulated during oncogenesis and tumour progression. Long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) are pivotal orchestrators in breast cancer (BC), which have the potential to be a biomarker for BC diagnosis and therapy. The present study aims to explore the correlation between pyroptosis-related lncRNAs and BC prognosis. In this study, a profile of 8 differentially expressed lncRNAs was screened in the TCGA database and used to construct a prognostic model. The BC patients were divided into high- and low-risk groups dependent on the median cutoff of the risk score in the model. Interestingly, the risk model significantly distinguished the clinical characteristics of BC patients between high- and low-risk groups. Then, the risk score of the model was identified to be an excellent independent prognostic factor. Notably, the GO, KEGG, GSEA and ssGSEA analyses revealed the different immune statuses between the high- and low-risk groups. Particularly, the 8 lncRNAs expressed differentially in BC tissues between two risk subgroups in vitro validation. Collectively, this constructed well-validated model is of high effectiveness to predict the prognosis of BC, which will provide novel means that is applicable for BC prognosis recognition.

Doxycycline Attenuates Cancer Cell Growth by Suppressing NLRP3-Mediated Inflammation

NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome formation is triggered by the damaged mitochondria releasing reactive oxygen species. Doxycycline was shown to regulate inflammation; however, its effect on NLRP3 in cancer remains largely unknown. Therefore, we sought to determine the effect of doxycycline on NLRP3 regulation in cancer using an in vitro model. NLRP3 was activated in a prostate cancer cell line (PC3) and a lung cancer cell line (A549) before treatment with doxycycline. Inflammasome activation was assessed by analyzing RNA expression of NLRP3, Pro-CASP-1, and Pro-IL1β using RT-qPCR. Additionally, NLPR3 protein expression and IL-1β secretion were analyzed using Western blot and ELISA, respectively. Tumor cell viability was determined using Annexin V staining and a cell proliferation assay. Cytokine secretion was analyzed using a 41Plex assay for human cytokines. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA model with Tukey’s post hoc tests. Doxycycline treatment decreased NLRP3 formation in PC3 and A549 cells compared to untreated and LPS only treated cells (p < 0.05). Doxycycline also decreased proliferation and caused cell death through apoptosis, a response that differed to the LPS-Nigericin mediated pyroptosis. Our findings suggest that doxycycline inhibits LPS priming of NLRP3 and reduces tumor progression through early apoptosis in cancer.

Cellulose Nanofiber-Based Hydrogels Embedding 5-FU Promote Pyroptosis Activation in Breast Cancer Cells and Support Human Adipose-Derived Stem Cell Proliferation, Opening New Perspectives for Breast Tissue Engineering

The structure and biocompatibility analysis of a hydrogel based on cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) combined with alginate/pectin (A.CNF or P.CNF) and enriched with 1% or 5% 5-FU revealed more favorable properties for the cellular component when pectin was dispersed within CNFs. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is an antimetabolite fluoropyrimidine used as antineoplastic drug for the treatment of multiple solid tumors. 5-FU activity leads to caspase-1 activation, secretion and maturation of interleukins (IL)-1, IL-18 and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Furthermore, the effects of embedding 5-FU in P.CNF were explored in order to suppress breast tumor cell growth and induce inflammasome complex activation together with extra- and intracellular ROS generation. Exposure of tumor cells to P.CNF/5-FU resulted in a strong cytotoxic effect, an increased level of caspase-1 released in the culture media and ROS production—the latter directly proportional to the concentration of anti-tumor agent embedded in the scaffolds. Simultaneously, 5-FU determined the increase of p53 and caspase-1 expressions, both at gene and protein levels. In conclusion, P.CNF/5-FU scaffolds proved to be efficient against breast tumor cells growth due to pyroptosis induction. Furthermore, biocompatibility and the potential to support human adipose-derived stem cell growth were demonstrated, suggesting that these 3D systems could be used in soft tissue reconstruction post-mastectomy.

Roles of Inflammasomes in Epstein-Barr Virus-Associated Nasopharyngeal Cancer

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is recognised as one of the causative agents in most nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cases. Expression of EBV viral antigens can induce host's antiviral immune response by activating the inflammasomes to produce pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-18. These cytokines are known to be detrimental to a wide range of virus-infected cells, in which they can activate an inflammatory cell death program, called pyroptosis. However, aberrant inflammasome activation and production of its downstream cytokines lead to chronic inflammation that may contribute to various diseases, including NPC. In this review, we summarise the roles of inflammasomes during viral infection, how EBV evades inflammasome-mediated immune response, and progress into tumourigenesis. The contrasting roles of inflammasomes in cancer, as well as the current therapeutic approaches used in targeting inflammasomes, are also discussed in this review. While the inflammasomes appear to have dual roles in carcinogenesis, there are still many questions that remain unanswered. In particular, the exact molecular mechanism responsible for the regulation of the inflammasomes during carcinogenesis of EBV-associated NPC has not been explored thoroughly. Furthermore, the current practical application of inflammasome inhibitors is limited to specific tumour types, hence, further studies are warranted to discover the potential of targeting the inflammasomes for the treatment of NPC.