Fundamental insights and molecular interactions in pancreatic cancer: Pathways to therapeutic approaches

The gastrointestinal tract can be affected by a number of diseases that pancreatic cancer (PC) is a malignant manifestation of them. The prognosis of PC patients is unfavorable and because of their diagnosis at advanced stage, the treatment of this tumor is problematic. Owing to low survival rate, there is much interest towards understanding the molecular profile of PC in an attempt in developing more effective therapeutics. The conventional therapeutics for PC include surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy as well as emerging immunotherapy. However, PC is still incurable and more effort should be performed. The molecular landscape of PC is an underlying factor involved in increase in progression of tumor cells. In the presence review, the newest advances in understanding the molecular and biological events in PC are discussed. The dysregulation of molecular pathways including AMPK, MAPK, STAT3, Wnt/β-catenin and non-coding RNA transcripts has been suggested as a factor in development of tumorigenesis in PC. Moreover, cell death mechanisms such as apoptosis, autophagy, ferroptosis and necroptosis demonstrate abnormal levels. The EMT and glycolysis in PC cells enhance to ensure their metastasis and proliferation. Furthermore, such abnormal changes have been used to develop corresponding pharmacological and nanotechnological therapeutics for PC.

Identification of prognostic coagulation-related signatures in clear cell renal cell carcinoma through integrated multi-omics analysis and machine learning

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma is a threat to public health with high morbidity and mortality. Clinical evidence has shown that cancer-associated thrombosis poses significant challenges to treatments, including drug resistance and difficulties in surgical decision-making in ccRCC. However, the coagulation pathway, one of the core mechanisms of cancer-associated thrombosis, recently found closely related to the tumor microenvironment and immune-related pathway, is rarely researched in ccRCC. Therefore, we integrated bulk RNA-seq data, DNA mutation and methylation data, single-cell data, and proteomic data to perform a comprehensive analysis of coagulation-related genes in ccRCC. First, we demonstrated the importance of the coagulation-related gene set by consensus clustering. Based on machine learning, we identified 5 coagulation signature genes and verified their clinical value in TCGA, ICGC, and E-MTAB-1980 databases. It's also demonstrated that the specific expression patterns of coagulation signature genes driven by CNV and methylation were closely correlated with pathways including apoptosis, immune infiltration, angiogenesis, and the construction of extracellular matrix. Moreover, we identified two types of tumor cells in single-cell data by machine learning, and the coagulation signature genes were differentially expressed in two types of tumor cells. Besides, the signature genes were proven to influence immune cells especially the differentiation of T cells. And their protein level was also validated.

PIK3R3, a regulatory subunit of PI3K, modulates ovarian cancer stem cells and ovarian cancer development and progression by integrative analysis

Background

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic disease and is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers among women worldwide. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) family plays an important regulatory role in various cancer signaling pathways, including those involved in ovarian cancer development; however, its exact function remains to be fully understood. We conducted this study to understand the role of P13K in the molecular mechanisms underlying ovarian cancer development.

Methods

To determine the differential gene expression of phosphoinositide-3-kinase regulatory subunit 3 (PIK3R3), a regulatory subunit of PI3K, in normal, tumor, and metastatic ovary tissues, TNM plotter analysis was performed. The microarray dataset GSE53759 was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus. ROC plotter analysis was conducted to understand the potential of PIK3R3 as a predictive marker for effectiveness of therapy in ovarian cancer. muTarget was used to identify mutations that alter PIK3R3 expression in ovarian cancer. To determine the interacting partners for PIK3R3 in ovarian tissues, the interactome-atlas tool was used. The Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) analysis was conducted to identify the pathways in which these interacting partners were primarily enriched.

Results

PIK3R3 was overexpressed in ovarian and metastatic tumors. Elevated PIK3R3 levels were observed in ovarian cancer stem cells, wherein inhibiting PIK3R3 expression significantly reduced the size of ovarian cancer spheroids. Treatment of ovarian cancer stem cells with PF-04691502 (10 μM), an inhibitor of both PI3K and mTOR kinases, also reduced the size of spheroids and the level of OCT4. PIK3R3 was highly expressed in ovarian cancer with several somatic mutations and was predicted better outcomes in patients undergoing Avastin® chemotherapy using bioinformatic tool. Protein interaction analysis showed that PIK3R3 interacts with 157 genes, including GRB2, EGFR, ERBB3, PTK2, HCK, IGF1R, YES1, and PIK3CA, in the ovary. KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that the interacting partners of PIK3R3 are involved in the ErbB signaling pathway, proteoglycans in cancer, FoxO, prolactin, chemokine, and insulin signaling pathways.

Conclusions

PIK3R3 plays a pivotal role in ovarian cancer development and is therefore a potential candidate for developing novel therapeutic approaches.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-022-09807-7.

Subtyping for pancreatic cancer precision therapy

The cases of pancreatic cancer and associated deaths are increasing consistently and have become a global health concern. Prevalent intratumoral and intertumoral heterogeneity in pancreatic cancer has been revealed as an important cause of its poor prognosis. However, few precision management strategies have been formulated to treat this complex disease. There is growing evidence supporting the significance of subtyping pancreatic tumors on the basis of their molecular characteristics for improving the accuracy of clinical decision-making on treatment. Here, we summarize the current approaches to classification of pancreatic cancer, and highlight the feasibility and potential defects of their application in precision therapy.

Analysis of the early response to spinal cord injury identified a key role for mTORC1 signaling in the activation of neural stem progenitor cells

Xenopus laevis are able to regenerate the spinal cord during larvae stages through the activation of neural stem progenitor cells (NSPCs). Here we use high-resolution expression profiling to characterize the early transcriptome changes induced after spinal cord injury, aiming to identify the signals that trigger NSPC proliferation. The analysis delineates a pathway that starts with a rapid and transitory activation of immediate early genes, followed by migration processes and immune response genes, the pervasive increase of NSPC-specific ribosome biogenesis factors, and genes involved in stem cell proliferation. Western blot and immunofluorescence analysis showed that mTORC1 is rapidly and transiently activated after SCI, and its pharmacological inhibition impairs spinal cord regeneration and proliferation of NSPC through the downregulation of genes involved in the G1/S transition of cell cycle, with a strong effect on PCNA. We propose that the mTOR signaling pathway is a key player in the activation of NPSCs during the early steps of spinal cord regeneration.

Neutrophil extracellular DNA traps promote pancreatic cancer cells migration and invasion by activating EGFR/ERK pathway

Neutrophil extracellular DNA traps (NETs) are newly discovered forms of activated neutrophils. Increasing researches have shown that NETs play important roles in cancer progression. Our previous study has proved that tumour-infiltrating NETs could predict postsurgical survival in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, the roles of NETs on the progression of pancreatic cancer are unknown. Here, we investigated the effects of NETs on pancreatic cancer cells. Results showed that both PDAC patients' and normal individuals' neutrophils-derived NETs could promote migration and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells with epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Further, study confirmed that EGFR/ERK pathway played an important role in this progression. The addition of neutralizing antibodies for IL-1β could effectively block the activation of EGFR/ERK companied with reduction of EMT, migration and invasion. Taken together, NETs facilitated EMT, migration and invasion via IL-1β/EGFR/ERK pathway in pancreatic cancer cells. Our study suggests that NETs may provide promising therapeutic targets for pancreatic cancer.

MicroRNA-367 directly targets PIK3R3 to inhibit proliferation and invasion of oral carcinoma cells

Recently, microRNA-367 (miR-367) has been reported to function as both tumor suppressor and oncogene in several cancer types, including gastric cancer, hepatocellular cancer and lung cancer. However, the biological function of miR-367 and its precise mechanisms in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) have not been well clarified. The aim of the present study was to study the roles of miR-367/PIK3R3 axis in OSCC. The levels of PIK3R3 and miR-367 were detected by quantitative PCR assay in OSCC tissues and cell lines. Moreover, the biological roles of miR-367 and PIK3R3 in OSCC cells were assessed by cell proliferation and invasion. The mRNA and protein levels of PIK3R3 were determined by using quantitative PCR and Western blotting assays. Luciferase assays were used to confirm that PIK3R3 was one target of miR-367. In the present study, the miR-367 level was dramatically reduced in OSCC tissues and cell lines, and the PIK3R3 expression was significantly enhanced. What’s more, the PIK3R3 expression was negatively related to the miR-367 level in OSCC tissues. Furthermore, up-regulation of miR-367 obviously restrained OSCC cells proliferation and invasion. We confirmed that miR-367 could directly target PIK3R3 by luciferase reporter assay. Besides, knockdown of PIK3R3 also could markedly inhibit the proliferation and invasion of OSCC cells. Finally, overexpression of miR-367 in OSCC cells partially reversed the promoted effects of PIK3R3 up-regulation. Overexpression of miR-367 restrained OSCC cells proliferation and invasion via regulation of PIK3R3.

miR-29a-3p suppresses hepatic fibrosis pathogenesis by modulating hepatic stellate cell proliferation via targeting PIK3R3 gene expression

OBJECTIVE

Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) activation and proliferation mediated the pathogenic development of hepatic fibrosis (HF). However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to investigate the miR-29a-3p and its effects on PIK3R3 expression in HF pathogenesis.

METHODS

LX-2 cells treated with TGF-β1 was used as the in vitro HF model. The expression of microRNAs and proteins in LX-2 cells were detected by quantitative RT-PCR and western blotting. Then, miR-29a-3p expression in LX-2 cells were altered via transfection with specific mimics or inhibitors, followed by cell proliferation measured through CCK-8, Edu staining and colony formation. The dual luciferase reporter assay was done to assess binding of miR-29a-3p with PIK3R3 gene sequences. Moreover, PIK3R3 gene overexpression in LX-2 cell was realized through transfection with recombinant pcDNA3.0-PIK3R3 plasmids.

RESULTS

Successful establishment of cellular HF model was validated through the increased Col-I and a-SMA expression in TGF-β1-treated LX-2 cells shown by qRT-PCR and Western blot. In such model, miR-29a-3p expression in LX-2 cells showed the greatest decrease among four candidate microRNAs in response to TGF-β1 treatment. Also, miR-29a-3p directly binds with the 3' UTR region of the PIK3R3 gene to suppress its expression in LX-2 cells. Furthermore, PIK3R3 gene overexpression effectively abrogated the changes of LX-2 cell proliferation, AKT phosphorylation and Col-I and a-SMA expression caused by miR-29a-3p mimics.

CONCLUSION

MiR-29a-3p regulates hepatic stellate cell proliferation and hepatic fibrosis pathogenesis by targeting PIK3R3 expression and modulating the PI-3K/AKT signaling.

The PI3K-AKT-mTOR Pathway and Prostate Cancer: At the Crossroads of AR, MAPK, and WNT Signaling

Oncogenic activation of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (PKB/AKT), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is a frequent event in prostate cancer that facilitates tumor formation, disease progression and therapeutic resistance. Recent discoveries indicate that the complex crosstalk between the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway and multiple interacting cell signaling cascades can further promote prostate cancer progression and influence the sensitivity of prostate cancer cells to PI3K-AKT-mTOR-targeted therapies being explored in the clinic, as well as standard treatment approaches such as androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT). However, the full extent of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling network during prostate tumorigenesis, invasive progression and disease recurrence remains to be determined. In this review, we outline the emerging diversity of the genetic alterations that lead to activated PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling in prostate cancer, and discuss new mechanistic insights into the interplay between the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway and several key interacting oncogenic signaling cascades that can cooperate to facilitate prostate cancer growth and drug-resistance, specifically the androgen receptor (AR), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and WNT signaling cascades. Ultimately, deepening our understanding of the broader PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling network is crucial to aid patient stratification for PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway-directed therapies, and to discover new therapeutic approaches for prostate cancer that improve patient outcome.

Prognostic significance of stem cell/ epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers in periampullary/pancreatic cancers: FGFR1 is a promising prognostic marker

BACKGROUND

Periampullary cancers (PAC) including pancreatic, ampulla of Vater (AOV), and common bile duct (CBD) cancers are highly aggressive with a lack of useful prognostic markers beyond T stage. However, T staging can be biased due to the anatomic complexity of this region. Recently, several markers related to cancer stem cells and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) such as octamer transcription factor-4 (Oct4) and fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) respectively, have been proposed as new promising markers in other solid cancers. The aim of this study was to assess the expression and prognostic significance of stem cell/EMT markers in PACs.

METHODS

Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues of surgically excised PACs from the laboratory archives from 1998 to 2014 were evaluated by immunohistochemical staining for stem cell/EMT markers using tissue microarray. The clinicopathologic parameters were documented and statistically analyzed with the immunohistochemical findings. Survival and recurrence data were collected and analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 126 PAC cases were evaluated. The average age was 63 years, with 76 male and 50 female patient samples. Age less than 74 years, AOV cancers, lower T & N stage, lower tumor size, no lymphatic, vascular, perineural invasion and histologic well differentiation, intestinal type, no fibrosis, severe inflammation were significantly associated with the better overall survival High expression levels of FGFR1 as well as CK20, CDX2, and VEGF were significantly related to better overall survival, while other stem cell markers were not related. Similar findings were observed for tumor recurrence using disease-free survival.

CONCLUSIONS

In addition to other clinicopathologic parameters, severe fibrosis was related to frequent tumor recurrence, and high FGFR1 expression was associated with better overall survival. Histologic changes such as extensive fibrosis need to be investigated further in relation to EMT of PACs.

Epithelial V-like antigen 1 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma growth and metastasis via the ERBB-PI3K-AKT pathway

The role of epithelial V‐like antigen 1 (EVA1) has been well studied in thymic development and homostasis; however, its putative relationship with cancer remains largely unknown. Therefore, here we investigated the role of EVA1 in hepatocellular carcinoma. Interestingly, EVA1 expression was significantly increased in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and was also associated with a poor prognosis and recurrence in HCC patients. Overexpression of EVA1 promoted cell growth, invasion and migration in vitro. Consistently, knockdown of EVA1 expression inhibited proliferation and migration in vitro, while repressing metastasis of HCC cells in vivo. RNA‐seq analysis indicated that EVA1 is able to upregulate the expression of genes in the ERBB3‐PI3K pathway. Accordingly, an increased level of AKT phosphorylation was detected in HCC cells after EVA1 overexpression. LY294002, a PI3K inhibitor, inhibited AKT phosphorylation and rescued the tumor‐promoting effect of EVA1 overexpression. Altogether, the present study has revealed the oncogenic role of EVA1 during HCC progression and metastasis through the ERBB‐PI3K‐AKT signaling pathway, reiterating the potential use of EVA1 as a therapeutic target and/or prognostic marker for HCC.

HOXD-AS1 promotes the epithelial to mesenchymal transition of ovarian cancer cells by regulating miR-186-5p and PIK3R3

Background

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is one of the most malignant gynecological tumors worldwide. Deregulation of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been implicated in various oncogenic processes in multiple cancers. In this study, we aim to identify and characterize clinically relevant lncRNA deregulation in EOC.

Methods

LncRNAs, mRNAs and miRNAs were profiled using expression microarrays and validated using reverse transcription quantitative PCR in EOC cells and tissues. siRNAs targeting either HOXD-AS1 or PIK3R3 together with miR-186-5p inhibitors were used to modulate endogenous target expression in EOC cell lines in vitro. In vitro wound healing assay, trans-well assay, Western-blot assay,and Dual-luciferase reporter assay were used to explore the biological roles and molecular function underlying HOXD-AS1 in the EOC cells. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were statistically analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method test.

Results

HOXD-AS1 was found to be significantly over-expressed in EOC tumors. High HOXD-AS1 expression significantly correlated with poorer PFS and OS of EOC patients. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards modeling indicated that HOXD-AS1 was an independent risk predictor of EOC patients (HR = 1.92, p = 0.004). SiRNA inhibition of HOXD-AS1 reduced cell migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in EOC cells in vitro by preventing HOXD-AS1 directly binding to miR-186-5p, and resulting in down-regulating of PIK3R3. The novel HOXD-AS1/miR-186-5p/PIK3R3 pathway was clinically relevant as we observed a significantly inverse correlation between HOXD-AS1/miR-186-5p and between miR-186-5p/PIK3R3 in an independent cohort of 200 EOC tissues.

Conclusions

HOXD-AS1/miR-186-5p/PIK3R3 is a novel pathway to promote cell migration, invasion, and EMT in EOC.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13046-019-1103-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

miR-224-5p inhibits proliferation, migration, and invasion by targeting PIK3R3/AKT3 in uveal melanoma

Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults. Accumulating investigations have identified the aberrant expression of miRNAs (microRNAs) in UM, such as miR-181, miR-20a, miR-144, miR-146a. The purpose of this study is to investigate the biological function of miR-224-5p in UM. The expression of miR-224-5p, PIK3R3, and AKT3 in 30 tumor tissues and paired adjacent noncancerous tissues were analyzed using Western blot analysis and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assays. Cell proliferation assay, transwell assay, and wound healing assay were used to measure the effects of miR-224-5p on the motility of UM in vitro. Western blot analysis and luciferase assays were used to detect the expression of PIK3R3 and AKT3 as miR-224-5p downstream targets. The results of Western blot analysis and qRT-PCR assays indicated that the expression of miR-224-5p was lower in UM tissues compared to normal tissue, while the expression of PIK3R3 and AKT3 were simultaneously increased. Upregulation of miR-224-5p significantly inhibited capacities of proliferation, invasion, and migration of OCM-1A cells and decreased expression of PIK3R3 and AKT3. Luciferase assay demonstrated PIK3R3 and AKT3 as downstream targets of miR-224-5p. Moreover, upregulating PIK3R3 and AKT3 restrained miR-224-5p-induced inhibition of the motility of OCM-1A cells. Thus, our study proved that miR-224-5p was involved in proliferation, invasion, and migration of UM cells via regulation the expression of PIK3R3 and AKT3. And the results also established a miR-224-5p/PIK3R3/PI3K/AKT axis in the regulation of UM progression, providing an experimental basis for further exploring the miR-224-5p as a therapeutic and diagnosis target for patients with UM.

LncRNA XIST promotes the epithelial to mesenchymal transition of retinoblastoma via sponging miR-101

Accumulating evidence demonstrated that abnormal expression of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) was closely associated with cancer development including retinoblastoma (RB). LncRNA X inactive specific transcript (XIST) has been found to function as an oncogene or a tumor suppressor in several cancers. However, the role and underlying mechanism of XIST in RB have not been clarified. The expression of XIST, microRNA (miR)- 101, zinc finger E-box binding homeobox (ZEB) 1, and ZEB2 was detected in human RB tissues and cell lines. The effects of XIST on the proliferation, migration, invasion, epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), and apoptosis of RB cells were evaluated after downregulation of XIST. Furthermore, the mechanism of XIST was mainly focused on miR-101/ZEB1 or ZEB2 signaling. We found the expression of XIST, ZEB1 and ZEB2 was increased, whereas miR-101 was reduced in RB tissues and cells. Knockdown of XIST significantly suppressed the proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT, but promoted the apoptosis and caspase-3 activity. Moreover, we found that XIST functioned as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-101 to regulate the de-repression of its endogenous targets ZEB1 and ZEB2. In conclusion, these findings suggest that XIST may facilitate the progression of RB through acting as a ceRNA for miR-101 to mediate the expression of ZEB1 and ZEB2. This may provide novel therapeutic options for RB.