Serum OPN expression for identification of gastric cancer and atrophic gastritis and its influencing factors

Combined proteomics and metabolomics analysis reveal the effect of a training course on the immune function of Chinese elite short-track speed skaters

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this study was to combine proteomics and metabolomics to evaluate the immune system of short-track speed skaters (STSS) before and after a training course. Our research focused on changes in urinary proteins and metabolites that have the potential to serve as indicators for training load.

METHODS

Urine samples were collected from 21 elite STSS (13 male and 8 female) of the China National Team before and immediately after one training course. First-beat sports sensor was used to monitor the training load. Proteomic detection was performed using a Thermo UltiMate 3000 ultra high performence chromatography nano liquid chromatograph and an Orbitrap Exploris 480 mass spectrometer. MSstats (R package) was used for the statistical evaluation of significant differences in proteins from the samples. Two filtration criteria (fold change [FC] > 2 and p < 0.05) were used to identify the differential expressed proteins. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis for differential proteins was performed to identify the pathways involved. Nontargeted metabolomic detection was performed using ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS_) with an ACQUITY 2D UPLC plus Q Exactive (QE) hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometer. Differential metabolites were identified using non-parametric statistical methods (Wilcox's rank test). Two filtration criteria (FC > 1.2 and p < 0.05) were used to identify differential metabolites. Combined analysis of proteomic and metabolomics were performed on the "Wu Kong" platform. Correlation analysis was performed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient.

RESULTS

(1) The most upregulated proteins were immune-related proteins, including complement proteins (C9, C4-B, and C9) and immunoglobulins (IgA, IgM, and IgG). The most downregulated proteins were osteopontin (OPN) and CD44 in urine. The correlation analysis showed that the content of OPN and CD44 (the receptor for OPN) in urine were significantly negatively correlated with the upregulated immune-related proteins. The content of OPN and CD44 is sex-dependent and negatively correlated with the training load. (2) The most upregulated metabolites included lactate, cortisol, inosine, glutamine, argininosuccinate (the precursor for arginine synthesis), 3-methyl-2-oxobutyrate (the catabolite of valine), 3-methyl-2-oxovalerate (the catabolite of isoleucine), and 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate (the catabolite of leucine), which is sex-dependent and negatively correlated with OPN and CD44. (3) The joint analysis revealed five main related pathways, including the immune and innate immune systems. The enriched immune-related proteins included complements, immunoglobulins, and protein catabolism-related proteins. The enriched immune-related metabolites included cAMP, N-acetylgalactosamine, and glutamate. (4) There is a significant negative correlation between the content of OPN and CD44 in urine and the training load.

CONCLUSION

One training course can lead to the activation of the immune system and a sex-dependent decrease in the content of OPN and CD44. Training load has a significant and negative correlation with the content of OPN and CD44, suggesting that OPN and CD44 could be potential indicators for training load.

Pathways and molecules for overcoming immunotolerance in metastatic gastrointestinal tumors

Worldwide, gastrointestinal (GI) cancer is recognized as one of the leading malignancies diagnosed in both genders, with mortality largely attributed to metastatic dissemination. It has been identified that in GI cancer, a variety of signaling pathways and key molecules are modified, leading to the emergence of an immunotolerance phenotype. Such modifications are pivotal in the malignancy's evasion of immune detection. Thus, a thorough analysis of the pathways and molecules contributing to GI cancer's immunotolerance is vital for advancing our comprehension and propelling the creation of efficacious pharmacological treatments. In response to this necessity, our review illuminates a selection of groundbreaking cellular signaling pathways associated with immunotolerance in GI cancer, including the Phosphoinositide 3-kinases/Akt, Janus kinase/Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3, Nuclear Factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells, Transforming Growth Factor-beta/Smad, Notch, Programmed Death-1/Programmed Death-Ligand 1, and Wingless and INT-1/beta-catenin-Interleukin 10. Additionally, we examine an array of pertinent molecules like Indoleamine-pyrrole 2,3-dioxygenase, Human Leukocyte Antigen G/E, Glycoprotein A Repetitions Predominant, Clever-1, Interferon regulatory factor 8/Osteopontin, T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing-3, Carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1, Cell division control protein 42 homolog, and caspases-1 and -12.

Identification of Differentially Expressed Genes Reveals BGN Predicting Overall Survival and Tumor Immune Infiltration of Gastric Cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most widely occurring malignancies worldwide. Although the diagnosis and treatment strategies of GC have been greatly improved in the past few decades, the morbidity and lethality rates of GC are still rising due to lacking early diagnosis strategies and powerful treatments. In this study, a total of 37 differentially expressed genes were identified in GC by analyzing TCGA, GSE118897, GSE19826, and GSE54129. Using the PPI database, we identified 17 hub genes in GC. By analyzing the expression of hub genes and OS, MFAP2, BGN, and TREM1 were related to the prognosis of GC. In addition, our results showed that higher levels of BGN exhibited a significant correlation with shorter OS time in GC. Nomogram analysis showed that the dysregulation of BGN could predict the prognosis of GC. Moreover, we revealed that BGN had a markedly negative correlation with B cells but had positive correlations with CD8⁺ T cells, CD4⁺ T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and dendritic cells in GC samples. The pan-cancer analysis demonstrated that BGN was differentially expressed and related to tumor-infiltrating immune cells across human cancers. This study for the first time comprehensively revealed that BGN was a potential biomarker for the prediction of GC prognosis and tumor immune infiltration.

Identifying Novel Biomarkers Ready for Evaluation in Low-Prevalence Populations for the Early Detection of Upper Gastrointestinal Cancers: A Systematic Review

INTRODUCTION

Detecting upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancers in primary care is challenging, as cancer symptoms are common, often non-specific, and most patients presenting with these symptoms will not have cancer. Substantial investment has been made to develop biomarkers for cancer detection, but few have reached routine clinical practice. We aimed to identify novel biomarkers for upper GI cancers which have been sufficiently validated to be ready for evaluation in low-prevalence populations.

METHODS

We systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, Emcare, and Web of Science for studies published in English from January 2000 to October 2019 (PROSPERO registration CRD42020165005). Reference lists of included studies were assessed. Studies had to report on second measures of diagnostic performance (beyond discovery phase) for biomarkers (single or in panels) used to detect pancreatic, oesophageal, gastric, and biliary tract cancers. We included all designs and excluded studies with less than 50 cases/controls. Data were extracted on types of biomarkers, populations and outcomes. Heterogeneity prevented pooling of outcomes.

RESULTS

We identified 149 eligible studies, involving 22,264 cancer cases and 49,474 controls. A total of 431 biomarkers were identified (183 microRNAs and other RNAs, 79 autoantibodies and other immunological markers, 119 other proteins, 36 metabolic markers, 6 circulating tumour DNA and 8 other). Over half (n = 231) were reported in pancreatic cancer studies. Only 35 biomarkers had been investigated in at least two studies, with reported outcomes for that individual marker for the same tumour type. Apolipoproteins (apoAII-AT and apoAII-ATQ), and pepsinogens (PGI and PGII) were the most promising biomarkers for pancreatic and gastric cancer, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Most novel biomarkers for the early detection of upper GI cancers are still at an early stage of matureness. Further evidence is needed on biomarker performance in low-prevalence populations, in addition to implementation and health economic studies, before extensive adoption into clinical practice can be recommended.

Identification of Key Genes in Gastric Cancer by Bioinformatics Analysis

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies of the digestive system with few genetic markers for its early detection and prevention. In this study, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed using GEO2R from GSE54129 and GSE13911 of the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Then, gene enrichment analysis, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction, and topological analysis were performed on the DEGs by the Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway, STRING, and Cytoscape. Finally, we performed survival analysis of key genes through the Kaplan-Meier plotter. A total of 1034 DEGs were identified in GC. GO and KEGG results showed that DEGs mainly enriched in plasma membrane, cell adhesion, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Subsequently, the PPI network with 44 nodes and 333 edges was constructed, and 18 candidate genes in the network were focused on by centrality analysis and module analysis. Furthermore, data showed that high expressions of fibronectin 1(FN1), the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP1), secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1), apolipoprotein E (APOE), and versican (VCAN) were related to poor overall survivals in GC patients. In summary, this study suggests that FN1, TIMP1, SPP1, APOE, and VCAN may act as the key genes in GC.

Cyclooxigenase-2 and osteopontin in gastric pre-neoplastic lesions in relation to H-pylori infection and grade of inflammation

The association between Helicobacter-pylori-induced inflammation and gastric adenocarcinoma is well documented and it has been suggested that the pro-mitotic and apoptotic effect of Cyclooxygenase-2 and Osteopontin on the epithelial cells of the gastric mucosa may have a role in carcinogenesis of the gastric mucosa. The aim of this study was to determine the expression of Cyclooxygenase-2 and Osteopontin in normal gastric mucosa, mucosa with gastritis and gastric mucosa with intestinal metaplasia, in relation to Helicobacter-pylori infection and grade of inflammation. Immunohistochemistry was performed on 108 gastric biopsies in order to detect Cyclooxygenase-2 and Osteopontin expression. The intensity and percentage of staining were evaluated using the H-Score, and its association with grade of inflammation, Helicobacter pylori infection and intestinal metaplasia was determined. Expression of Cyclooxygenase-2 and Osteopontin was higher in gastric biopsies (values shown respectively) with Helicobacter-pylori infection (179.9/142.3), intestinal metaplasia (208.8/179.3) or higher grades of inflammation (190/135.7) in comparison to normal gastric mucosa (100.7/80) or mild grade of inflammation (128.4/128.4), (p<0.05).There is an overexpression of Cyclooxygenase-2 and Osteopontin in gastric mucosa with H. pylori infection, intestinal metaplasia and high grades of inflammation, suggesting a constant up-regulation of protein expression in response to the inflammatory process generated by a Helicobacter-pylori infection, leading to the development of intestinal metaplasia.

[Advances in serum biomarkers for early diagnosis of gastric cancer]

Early diagnosis is the key to improve the prognosis of gastric cancer. How to screen out high-risk subjects of gastric cancer in population is a hot spot. Serum-based early detection of gastric cancer is suitable for high-risk population screening, which is more convenient and safer. This article reviews the diagnostic value of serum biomarkers for gastric cancer, including serum DNA methylation, various RNAs, pepsinogen, gastrin, osteopontin, MG7-Ag and CA724. Until now, there is still lack of ideal biomarkers for gastric cancer, and searching for specific RNAs may be promising for early diagnosis and screening of gastric cancer.

Circulating Levels of Osteopontin Predict Patients' Outcome after Resection of Colorectal Liver Metastases

For colorectal liver metastases (CRLM), surgical resection is the only potentially curative therapy, but even successfully resected patients often face disease recurrence, leading to 5-year survival rate below 50%. Despite available preoperative stratification strategies, it is not fully elucidated which patients actually benefit from CRLM resection. Here we evaluated osteopontin, a secreted glyco-phosphoprotein, as a biomarker in the context of CRLM resection. Tissue levels of osteopontin were analysed in CRLM using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry. Pre- and postoperative osteopontin serum concentrations were analysed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 125 patients undergoing resection of CRLM as well as 65 healthy controls. Correlating with an upregulation of osteopontin tissue expression in CRLM, osteopontin serum levels were significantly elevated in patients with CRLM compared to healthy controls. Importantly, high pre- and post-operative osteopontin serum levels were associated with a poor prognosis after tumour resection. Patients with initial osteopontin serum levels above our ideal cut-off value of 264.4 ng/mL showed a significantly impaired median overall survival of 304 days compared to 1394 days for patients with low osteopontin levels. Together, our data suggest a role of osteopontin as a prognostic biomarker in patients with resectable CRLM that might help to identify patients who particularly benefit from liver resection.

Three-dimensional combined biomarkers assay could improve diagnostic accuracy for gastric cancer

So far, stomach-specific biomarkers, gastric cancer(GC)-related environmental factors, and cancer-associated biomarkers are three major classes of serological biomarkers with GC warning potential, joint detection of which is expected to increase the diagnosis efficiency. We investigated whether the combination of serum pepsinogens(PGs), IgG anti-Helicobacter pylori (HpAb), and osteopontin (OPN) can be used as a panel for GC diagnose. Serum was collected from 365 GC patients and 729 healthy individuals,furtherly 332 cases and 332 age- and sex-matched controls were selected for the matched analysis. Serum levels were measured by ELISA. Logistic regression and receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) were used to assess the associations of biomarkers with GC and the discriminative performance of biomarkers for GC. The area under ROC from three-dimensional combination of PGI/II-HpAb-OPN (0.826) was significantly higher than two-dimensional combination of PGI/II-HpAb (0.786, P < 0.001), PGI/II-OPN (0.787, P < 0.001), and OPN-HpAb (0.801, P = 0.006), as well as one-biomarker of PGI/II (0.735, P < 0.001), HpAb (0.737, P < 0.001) and OPN(0.713, P < 0.001), respectively. The combination of PGI/II-HpAb-OPN, yielded a sensitivity of 70.2% and specificity of 78.3% at the predicted probability of 0.493 as the optimal cutoff point. Three-dimensional combined biomarkers assay could improve diagnostic accuracy for gastric cancer.

Osteopontin polymorphism increases gastric precancerous intestinal metaplasia susceptibility in Helicobacter pylori infected male

AIM

Whether genetic polymorphisms of osteopontin (OPN) coding gene, SPP1, determine the risk of gastric precancerous intestinal metaplasia (IM) in Helicobacter pylori infected patients.

PATIENTS & METHODS

Helicobacter pylori infected patients (100 with and 210 without IM) were recruited to evaluate the associations of SPP1 promoter polymorphisms with gastric IM and adjusted for age, sex and smoking. Gastric OPN expression and inflammation were evaluated by immunohistochemistry, and haemotoxylin and eosin stain.

RESULTS

Only in males, but not females, carriage of both GG genotype at rs11730059 and C-G-C haplotype at rs6833161-rs2853744-rs11730582 significantly increased the IM risk (OR: 4.92; 95% CI: 1.65-14.65; p = 0.004). Nearly 87.5% of males with IM carried risky genotype or haplotype. Carriers of the risky genotype or haplotype also had increased gastric OPN expression (p = 0.038) and inflammation (p = 0.007).

CONCLUSION

SPP1 polymorphisms predispose to IM development in H. pylori infected males.

An Observational Study on Aberrant Methylation of Runx3 With the Prognosis in Chronic Atrophic Gastritis Patients

The aim of this study is to discuss whether the methylation levels of Runx3 could be used as the early biomarker for predicting the prognosis in chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) patients. A total of 200 subjects including 60 controls without CAG (Group 1), 70 patients with mild CAG (Group 2), and 70 patients with moderate and severe CAG (Group 3) were recruited for this cross-sectional investigation in the Department of Gastroenterology in Daqing Oilfield General Hospital from July 2013 to May 2014. The MlALDI-TOF-MS was used to measure the methylation levels of Runx3 in all of the subjects. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blotting were chosen to determine the expression levels of Runx3. The correlations between methylation levels of Runx3 among these CAG patients and their prognosis were shown by logistic regression models. The results demonstrated that the methylation levels of CpG13, CpG14, and CpG15 in Runx3 were higher in Group 3 than those in Groups 1 and 2 (P <0.05), whereas the mRNA and protein expression levels of Runx3 were lower in Group 3 than those in Groups 1 and 2 (P <0.05). There were significantly negative correlations between the methylation levels of Runx3 with its expression and the healing prognosis of CAG patients. In brief, this study proved that the hypermethylation modifications of CpG13, CpG14, and CpG15 in the promoter region of Runx3 could result in the down regulation of Runx3 expression to affect the prognosis of CAG. So the methylation levels of these CpG sites in Runx3 in the peripheral blood can be used as the biomarker for predicting the healing prognosis of CAG patients.