Cell-permeable transgelin-2 as a potent therapeutic for dendritic cell-based cancer immunotherapy

Multifaceted role of transgelin isoforms in cancer hallmarks

Transgelins (TAGLNs) are actin-binding proteins within the calponin family, playing a crucial role in modulating actin-myosin interactions and maintaining actin filament stability. These proteins are expressed in both smooth and non-smooth muscle cells, contributing to the regulation of muscle contractility and cell migration. TAGLNs family has three isoforms that differ in their isoelectric point, namely: TAGLN1, TAGLN2, and TAGLN3. TAGLNs regulation is involved in the development of many diseases, such as pulmonary arterial hypertension, asthma, atherosclerosis, obstructive nephropathy, diabetes, and cancer. Recent research indicates TAGLNs involvement in carcinogenesis and chemoresistance. This review investigates TAGLNs as potential cancer biomarkers, exploring their versatile tissue-specific impact on patient outcomes. We also highlight their roles as, tumor suppressor agents and tumor progression oncogenes depending on the tumor type, tumor genetic variations, and TAGLNs expression profiles. Furthermore, emerging evidence suggests that the interplay between TAGLN2 and chemoresistance to anticancer drugs is mediated by its interaction with the chemoresistance double agent MT-2, with possible bidirectional implications. TAGLNs present a promising avenue for novel therapeutic strategies against cancer, owing to their tissue-specific duality in promoting/suppressing tumor growth and cell migration in cancer cells. Thus, they can serve as a potential prognostic/diagnostic biomarker. The focus should be on leveraging, in future therapeutics, the interplay between TAGLNs and MTs to reverse tumor progression and chemoresistance, transforming them into tumor suppression.

RhoA/ROCK/GSK3β Signaling: A Keystone in Understanding Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive cognitive decline and loss of neuronal integrity. Emerging evidence suggests that RhoA, Rho-associated coiled-coil kinase (ROCK), and their downstream effector molecule glycogen synthase 3β (GSK3β) interact within a complex signaling pathway (RhoA/ROCK/GSK3β) that plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of AD. RhoA, a small GTPase, along with its downstream effector, ROCK, regulates various cellular processes, including actin cytoskeleton dynamics, apoptosis, and synaptic plasticity. GSK3β, a serine/threonine kinase, plays a key role in neuronal function and AD pathology, including the regulation of tau phosphorylation and amyloid-beta cleavage. Overactive GSK3β has been closely linked to tau hyperphosphorylation, neurodegeneration, and the progression of AD. Thus, GSK3β has been considered as a promising therapeutic target for treating AD and mitigating cognitive impairment. However, clinical trials of GSK3β in AD have faced considerable challenges due to the complexity of the specific neuronal inhibition of GSK3β. In this review, we summarize the literature regarding the relationship of RhoA/ROCK and GSK3β signaling pathways in AD pathogenesis. We further discuss recent findings of the sTREM2-transgelin-2 (TG2) axis as a potential mediator of this complex pathway and provide our review on a novel targeting strategy for AD.

Emerging insights into intravital imaging, unraveling its role in cancer immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy has attracted great attention as a potential therapeutic approach for advanced malignancies due to its promising survival benefits. Comprehension of intricate interactions between the tumor microenvironment (TME) and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is crucial for optimizing and improving immunotherapies. Currently, several experimental strategies are available to monitor this complexity but most of them fail to facilitate real-time monitoring of the immune response such as cellular phagocytosis and cytolysis. Consequently, the application of intravital imaging has been extensively studied in the domain of cancer immunotherapy. Intravital imaging has been proven to be a powerful real-time imaging modality that provides insights into intratumoral immune responses, cellular metabolic signatures, tumor vasculature, and cellular functions. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the latest research on intravital imaging in cancer immunotherapy, especially addressing how intravital imaging sheds light on essential features of tumor immunity, immune infiltrations, tumor angiogenesis, and aids in the clarification of underlying immunotherapeutic mechanisms. Moreover, a variety of labeling tools, imaging windows and models for real-time visualizations of TME are also summarized. We will also investigate the full potential of using intravital imaging to circumvent the limitations of currently available imaging modalities, which hold promise to advent efficient immunotherapy for cancer patients.

Down-regulation of TAGLN2 associated with the development of preeclampsia by effecting the Rap1 signaling pathway

INTRODUCTION

Preeclampsia (PE) poses significant global challenges to pregnancy health, being a leading cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, effective treatment options remain limited, necessitating the urgent development of novel therapeutic strategies. This study is to investigate down-regulation of Transgelin-2 (TAGLN2) contributes to the development of PE through suppression of the Rap1 signaling pathway.

METHODS

Placentas from PE patients were collected for a transcriptome analysis. Down-regulation experiments of TAGLN2 were performed in mouse and HTR-8/SVneo cells to generate PE models. The mechanism by which down-regulation of TAGLN2 induces PE was explored based on these PE model through transcriptome and proteome analysis and molecular tests.

RESULTS

Our findings revealed that the expression levels of Rap1A was significantly reduced in the placenta of PE patients. The expression level of Rap1A in the placental tissue of sh_Tagln2 PE model mice is down-regulated. In addition, TAGLN2 down-regulation impede the proliferation and migration of HTR8/SVneo cells and lead to the decreased expression of Rap1A. Meanwhile, Rap1A down-regulation impede both the proliferation and migration of HTR8/SVneo cells. Both transcriptomic and proteomic levels of sh-TG2 HTR8/SVneo cells demonstrated Rap1 signaling pathway and related key genes was inhibited after TAGLN2 down-regulation.

CONCLUSION

Our results confirm that down-regulation of TAGLN2 in HTR-8/SVneo cells leads to the decreased Rap1A expression and suppresses trophoblast cell proliferation and migration by inhibiting Rap1 signaling pathway. Meanwhile, Rap1A down-regulation impede both the proliferation and migration of HTR8/SVneo cells. These findings concluded that down-regulation of TAGLN2 may be implicated in the development of preeclampsia through its effect on the Rap1 signaling pathway.

A Novel Tumor-Associated Neutrophil-Related Risk Signature Based on Single-Cell and Bulk RNA-Sequencing Analyses Predicts the Prognosis and Immune Landscape of Breast Cancer

Tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) are increasingly recognized as contributors to cancer prognosis and therapeutics. However, TAN-related targets of breast cancer (BRCA) remain scarce. This study aimed to develop a novel TAN-associated risk signature (TANRS) of BRCA using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and bulk RNA sequencing data. Eighty-six TAN-related genes (TANRGs) were derived from the intersection of TAN marker genes identified from scRNA-seq with modular genes identified by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). The TANRS consisting of nine TANRGs (TAGLN2, IGF2R, LAMP2, TBL1X, ASAP1, DENND5A, SNRK, BCL3, and CEBPD) was constructed using Cox regression and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression. The TANRS efficiently predicted the survival prognosis and clinicopathological progression of patients across multiple cohorts. Significant differences in immune infiltration landscapes between TANRS groups were observed. Additionally, patients with high TANRS exhibited tumor immunosuppression, enhanced cancer hallmarks, and unfavorable therapeutic effects. Four promising compounds for treating high-TANRS BRCA were also presented. SNRK was identified as a key prognostic TANRG, and its expression profile and correlation with TANs were validated using immunohistochemical assays of BRCA samples and spatial transcriptomic sections. This novel TAN-based signature exhibited promising predictive capabilities, with the potential to contribute to personalized medicine for BRCA patients.

Dendritic Cell-Hitchhiking In Vivo for Vaccine Delivery to Lymph Nodes

Therapeutic cancer vaccines are among the first FDA-approved cancer immunotherapies. Among them, it remains a major challenge to achieve robust lymph-node (LN) accumulation. However, delivering cargo into LN is difficult owing to the unique structure of the lymphatics, and clinical responses have been largely disappointing. Herein, inspired by the Migrated-DCs homing from the periphery to the LNs, an injectable hydrogel-based polypeptide vaccine system is described for enhancing immunostimulatory efficacy, which could form a local niche of vaccine "hitchhiking" on DCs. The OVA peptide modified by lipophilic DSPE domains in the hydrogel is spontaneously inserted into the cell membrane to achieve "antigen anchoring" on DCs in vivo. Overall, OVA peptide achieves active access LNs through recruiting and "hitchhiking" subcutaneous Migrated-DCs. Remarkably, it is demonstrated that the composite hydrogel enhances LNs targeting efficacy by approximately six-fold compared to free OVA peptide. Then, OVA peptide can be removed from the cell surface under a typical acidic microenvironment within the LNs, further share them with LN-resident APCs via the "One-to-Many" strategy (One Migrated-DC corresponding to Many LN-resident APCs), thereby activating powerful immune stimulation. Moreover, the hydrogel vaccine exhibits significant tumor growth inhibition in melanoma and inhibits pulmonary metastatic nodule formation.

Ubiquitin modification in the regulation of tumor immunotherapy resistance mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets

Although immune checkpoint-based cancer immunotherapy has shown significant efficacy in various cancers, resistance still limits its therapeutic effects. Ubiquitination modification is a mechanism that adds different types of ubiquitin chains to proteins, mediating protein degradation or altering their function, thereby affecting cellular signal transduction. Increasing evidence suggests that ubiquitination modification plays a crucial role in regulating the mechanisms of resistance to cancer immunotherapy. Drugs targeting ubiquitination modification pathways have been shown to inhibit tumor progression or enhance the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. This review elaborates on the mechanisms by which tumor cells, immune cells, and the tumor microenvironment mediate resistance to cancer immunotherapy and the details of how ubiquitination modification regulates these mechanisms, providing a foundation for enhancing the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy by intervening in ubiquitination modification.

Applications of Intravital Imaging in Cancer Immunotherapy

Currently, immunotherapy is one of the most effective treatment strategies for cancer. However, the efficacy of any specific anti-tumor immunotherapy can vary based on the dynamic characteristics of immune cells, such as their rate of migration and cell-to-cell interactions. Therefore, understanding the dynamics among cells involved in the immune response can inform the optimization and improvement of existing immunotherapy strategies. In vivo imaging technologies use optical microscopy techniques to visualize the movement and behavior of cells in vivo, including cells involved in the immune response, thereby showing great potential for application in the field of cancer immunotherapy. In this review, we briefly introduce the technical aspects required for in vivo imaging, such as fluorescent protein labeling, the construction of transgenic mice, and various window chamber models. Then, we discuss the elucidation of new phenomena and mechanisms relating to tumor immunotherapy that has been made possible by the application of in vivo imaging technology. Specifically, in vivo imaging has supported the characterization of the movement of T cells during immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy and the kinetic analysis of dendritic cell migration in tumor vaccine therapy. Finally, we provide a perspective on the challenges and future research directions for the use of in vivo imaging technology in cancer immunotherapy.

The quest for nanoparticle-powered vaccines in cancer immunotherapy

Despite recent advancements in cancer treatment, this disease still poses a serious threat to public health. Vaccines play an important role in preventing illness by preparing the body's adaptive and innate immune responses to combat diseases. As our understanding of malignancies and their connection to the immune system improves, there has been a growing interest in priming the immune system to fight malignancies more effectively and comprehensively. One promising approach involves utilizing nanoparticle systems for antigen delivery, which has been shown to potentiate immune responses as vaccines and/or adjuvants. In this review, we comprehensively summarized the immunological mechanisms of cancer vaccines while focusing specifically on the recent applications of various types of nanoparticles in the field of cancer immunotherapy. By exploring these recent breakthroughs, we hope to identify significant challenges and obstacles in making nanoparticle-based vaccines and adjuvants feasible for clinical application. This review serves to assess recent breakthroughs in nanoparticle-based cancer vaccinations and shed light on their prospects and potential barriers. By doing so, we aim to inspire future immunotherapies for cancer that harness the potential of nanotechnology to deliver more effective and targeted treatments.

Effects of heterozygous deletion of autism-related gene Cullin-3 in mice

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder in which children display repetitive behavior, restricted range of interests, and atypical social interaction and communication. CUL3, coding for a Cullin family scaffold protein mediating assembly of ubiquitin ligase complexes through BTB domain substrate-recruiting adaptors, has been identified as a high-risk gene for autism. Although complete knockout of Cul3 results in embryonic lethality, Cul3 heterozygous mice have reduced CUL3 protein, demonstrate comparable body weight, and display minimal behavioral differences including decreased spatial object recognition memory. In measures of reciprocal social interaction, Cul3 heterozygous mice behaved similarly to their wild-type littermates. In area CA1 of hippocampus, reduction of Cul3 significantly increased mEPSC frequency but not amplitude nor baseline evoked synaptic transmission or paired-pulse ratio. Sholl and spine analysis data suggest there is a small yet significant difference in CA1 pyramidal neuron dendritic branching and stubby spine density. Unbiased proteomic analysis of Cul3 heterozygous brain tissue revealed dysregulation of various cytoskeletal organization proteins, among others. Overall, our results suggest that Cul3 heterozygous deletion impairs spatial object recognition memory, alters cytoskeletal organization proteins, but does not cause major hippocampal neuronal morphology, functional, or behavioral abnormalities in adult global Cul3 heterozygous mice.

An Integrated Analysis Identified TAGLN2 As an Oncogene Indicator Related to Prognosis and Immunity in Pan-Cancer

Background: Transgelin-2 (TAGLN2) has long been regarded as an actin-binding protein that modulates actin gelation and controls actin cytoskeleton dynamics. However, recent studies have reported that TAGLN2 can directly or indirectly participate in multiple cancer-related processes, including cell migration, proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. To further investigate the role of TAGLN2 in carcinogenesis, a comprehensive analysis was launched to evaluate the expression status and prognostic value of TAGLN2 in pan-cancer. Methods: Herein, data was retrieved from publicly online websites and databases, including The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx), Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE), UCSC Xena, cBioPortal, Human Protein Atlas (HPA), TIMER2.0, CancerSEA, GDSC, and ImmuCellAI. Gene expression pattern and its correlation with prognosis were assessed across cancer types. Moreover, an analysis was conducted to explore the relationships between TAGLN2 and methylation, copy number values (CNVs), tumor microenvironment (TME), immune cell infiltration, immune-relevance genes, tumor mutation burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), and IC50. Additionally, R package "clusterProfiler" was utilized to perform enrichment analysis on TAGLN2. Finally, the ability of TAGLN2 as an oncogene was preliminarily verified in vitro in UCEC. Results: Our findings revealed that TAGLN2 was specifically overexpressed and related to an unfavorable prognosis in most cancers. There was a significant connection between TAGLN2 expression and methylation and CNVs. Besides, we identified TAGLN2 correlated to TME, immune cell infiltration, immune-relevant genes, TMB, and MSI, suggesting an immunoregulatory role in cancers. Notably, TAGLN2 expression showed a positive correlation with macrophages, and cancer-associated fibroblasts, whereas a negative correlation with the infiltration degree of B cells. Mechanically, the results obtained from Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and Gene Set Variation Analysis (GSVA) provided theory-supportive evidence that TAGLN2 interlinkages with immunity and programmed cell death. Overall, anti-tumor drugs were overtly associated with TAGLN2 dysregulation among diverse cancers. At last, UCEC cell lines with TAGLN2-depleting had an inhibition of the migration and invasion ability. Conclusions: These findings enriched the knowledge about the role of TAGLN2 in tumorigenesis and progression, revealing TAGLN2 may serve as a potential therapeutic strategy for various malignancies.

Radiation-induced tumor immune microenvironments and potential targets for combination therapy

As one of the four major means of cancer treatment including surgery, radiotherapy (RT), chemotherapy, immunotherapy, RT can be applied to various cancers as both a radical cancer treatment and an adjuvant treatment before or after surgery. Although RT is an important modality for cancer treatment, the consequential changes caused by RT in the tumor microenvironment (TME) have not yet been fully elucidated. RT-induced damage to cancer cells leads to different outcomes, such as survival, senescence, or death. During RT, alterations in signaling pathways result in changes in the local immune microenvironment. However, some immune cells are immunosuppressive or transform into immunosuppressive phenotypes under specific conditions, leading to the development of radioresistance. Patients who are radioresistant respond poorly to RT and may experience cancer progression. Given that the emergence of radioresistance is inevitable, new radiosensitization treatments are urgently needed. In this review, we discuss the changes in irradiated cancer cells and immune cells in the TME under different RT regimens and describe existing and potential molecules that could be targeted to improve the therapeutic effects of RT. Overall, this review highlights the possibilities of synergistic therapy by building on existing research.

Non-coding RNAs in cancer therapy-induced cardiotoxicity: Mechanisms, biomarkers, and treatments

As a result of ongoing breakthroughs in cancer therapy, cancer patients' survival rates have grown considerably. However, cardiotoxicity has emerged as the most dangerous toxic side effect of cancer treatment, negatively impacting cancer patients' prognosis. In recent years, the link between non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) and cancer therapy-induced cardiotoxicity has received much attention and investigation. NcRNAs are non-protein-coding RNAs that impact gene expression post-transcriptionally. They include microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs). In several cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted therapy-induced cardiotoxicity, ncRNAs play a significant role in the onset and progression of cardiotoxicity. This review focuses on the mechanisms of ncRNAs in cancer therapy-induced cardiotoxicity, including apoptosis, mitochondrial damage, oxidative stress, DNA damage, inflammation, autophagy, aging, calcium homeostasis, vascular homeostasis, and fibrosis. In addition, this review explores potential ncRNAs-based biomarkers and therapeutic strategies, which may help to convert ncRNAs research into clinical practice in the future for early detection and improvement of cancer therapy-induced cardiotoxicity.

The Effects of a Transgelin-2 Agonist Administered at Different Times in a Mouse Model of Airway Hyperresponsiveness

Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) is one of the most important features of asthma. Our previous study showed that inhaled transgelin-2 agonist, TSG12, effectively reduced pulmonary resistance in a mouse model of asthma in a dose-dependent manner. However, the optimal administration time of TSG12 to reduce AHR and the pharmacological effects are still unclear. In this study, the effects of TSG12 inhalation before and during AHR occurrence were examined. The results showed that the pulmonary resistance was reduced by 57% and the dynamic compliance was increased by 46% in the TSG12 Mch group (atomize TSG12 10 min before methacholine, p < 0.05 vs. model). The pulmonary resistance was reduced by 61% and the dynamic compliance was increased by 47% in the TSG12 + Mch group (atomize TSG12 and methacholine together, p < 0.05 vs. model). Quantitative real-time PCR showed that the gene expression levels of transgelin-2, myosin phosphatase target subunit-1, and myosin light chain were up-regulated by 6.4-, 1.9-, and 2.8-fold, respectively, in the TSG12 Mch group. The gene expression levels of transgelin-2, myosin phosphatase target subunit-1, and myosin light chain were up-regulated by 3.2-, 1.4-, and 1.9-fold, respectively, in the TSG12 + Mch group. The results suggested that TSG12 effectively reduces pulmonary resistance when TSG12 inhalation occurred both before and during AHR occurrence. Gene expression levels of transgelin-2 and myosin light chain were significantly up-regulated when TSG12 inhalation occurred before AHR occurrence. This study may provide a basis for the administration time of TSG12 for asthma treatment in the future.

Salvianolic acid A (Sal A) suppresses malignant progression of glioma and enhances temozolomide (TMZ) sensitivity via repressing transgelin-2 (TAGLN2) mediated phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) / protein kinase B (Akt) pathway

Glioma originated from excessively proliferative and highly invaded glial cells is a common intracranial malignant tumor with poor prognosis. Resistance to temozolomide (TMZ) is a clinical challenge in glioma treatment due to the fact that chemoresistance remains a main obstacle in the improvement of drug efficacy. Salvianolic acid A (Sal A), originated from traditional Chinese herbal medicine Salvia miltiorrhiza, possesses anti-tumor effects and could facilitate the delivery of drugs to brain tumor tissues. In the present work, effects of Sal A on the viability, proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis of human glioma cell line U87 cells as well as influence of Sal A on TMZ resistance were measured, so as to identify the biological function of Sal A in the malignant behaviors and chemoresistance of glioma cells. Additionally, activation of TAGLN2/PI3K/Akt pathway in glioma cells was also detected to investigate whether Sal A could regulate TAGLN2/PI3K/Akt to manipulate the progression of glioma and TMZ resistance. Results discovered that Sal A treatment reduced the viability, repressed the proliferation, migration and invasion of glioma cells as well as promoted the apoptosis of glioma cells. Besides, Sal A treatment suppressed TAGLN2/PI3K/Akt pathway in glioma cells. Sal A treatment strengthened the suppressing effect of TMZ on glioma cell proliferation and reinforced the promoting effect of TMZ on glioma cell apoptosis, which were abolished by upregulation of TAGLN2. To conclude, Sal A treatment could suppress the malignant behaviors of glioma cells and improve TMZ sensitivity through inactivating TAGLN2/PI3K/Akt pathway.

Research progress on dendritic cell vaccines in cancer immunotherapy

Dendritic cell (DC) vaccines induce specific immune responses that can selectively eliminate target cells. In recent years, many studies have been conducted to explore DC vaccination in the treatment of hematological malignancies, including acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, as well as other nonleukemia malignancies. There are at least two different strategies that use DCs to promote antitumor immunity: in situ vaccination and canonical vaccination. Monocyte-derived DCs (mo-DCs) and leukemia-derived DCs (DCleu) are the main types of DCs used in vaccines for AML and MDS thus far. Different cancer-related molecules such as peptides, recombinant proteins, apoptotic leukemic cells, whole tumor cells or lysates and DCs/DCleu containing a vaster antigenic repertoire with RNA electroporation, have been used as antigen sources to load DCs. To enhance DC vaccine efficacy, new strategies, such as combination with conventional chemotherapy, monospecific/bispecific antibodies and immune checkpoint-targeting therapies, have been explored. After a decade of trials and tribulations, much progress has been made and much promise has emerged in the field. In this review we summarize the recent advances in DC vaccine immunotherapy for AML/MDS as well as other nonleukemia malignancies.