High expression of cellular retinol binding protein-1 in lung adenocarcinoma is associated with poor prognosis

Retinol-binding protein type 1 expression predicts poor prognosis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most prevalent malignancy worldwide, with high incidence and poor survival rates. RBP1 is highly expressed in several kinds of cancer and plays a potential prognostic factor. However, the relationship between RBP1 and HNSCC were analyzed based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

RBP1 expression and clinical information were obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Tumor tissue and adjacent normal tissue of 6 HNSCC patients were collected to analyze the RBP1 mRNA expression level by quantitative PCR. Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate the prognostic values of RBP1 and clinical data in HNSCC. A nomogram was also established to predict the impact of RBP1 on prognosis based on Cox multivariate results. The methylation level of RBP1 in HNSC and its prognosis were analyzed in UALACN and MethSurv. Finally, the potential biological functions of RBP1 were investigated using gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and single sample GSEA (ssGSEA).

RESULTS

The mRNA expression levels of RBP1 were highly expressed in HNSCC tissue. The Cox analyses demonstrate that highly-expressed RBP1 is an independent prognosis marker(P < 0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that performances of RBP1 (area under the ROC curve: 0.887, sensitivity: 84.1%, specificity: 79.9%). The methylation was increased in HNSCC patients compared with normal subjects(P < 0.05) and was associated with better prognosis at sites cg06208339, cg12298268, cg12497564, cg15288618, cg20532370, cg23448348. Additionally, RBP1 expression is mildly associated with immune cell infiltration and immunological checkpoints.

CONCLUSION

RBP1 is overexpressed and associated with poor patient prognosis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Efficacy and Tolerability of Brevilin-A, a Natural JAK Inhibitor, in Pediatric Alopecia Areata: A Case Series

Alopecia areata represents an autoimmune disease that specifically damages growing hair follicles on the scalp and/or around the body. Janus kinase inhibitors have been identified as an effective therapy in adult patients and topical formulations, such as Brevilin-A, might represent a well-tolerated treatment for mild-moderate disease in children and adolescents. The mechanism of action of Brevilin-A, a sesquiterpene lactone isolated from Centipeda minima, could consist in blocking STAT3 and STAT1 signaling as well as the JAKs activity by inhibiting the JAKs tyrosine kinase domain JH1. We report our cases of successful application of Brevilin-A in pediatric patients, suggesting this treatment as a safe and effective therapeutic option also for recalcitrant alopecia areata in pediatric population.

Increased Occurrence of Cutaneous Leiomyomas and Dermatofibromas in Patients with Uterine Leiomyomas without Fumarate Hydratase Gene Mutations

Leiomyomas are smooth muscle-derived benign neoplasms that can affect all organs, most frequently in the uterus. Fumarate hydratase gene (FH) mutation is characterised by an autosomal dominant disease with increased occurrence of renal tumours, but also by cutaneous (CLs) and uterine leiomyomas (ULs). So far, an increased occurrence of skin tumours in non-mutated patients with ULs has not been verified. To this aim, a case-group of women who were FH non-mutated patients surgically treated for ULs (n = 34) was compared with a control-group (n = 37) of consecutive age-matched healthy women. The occurrence of skin neoplasms, including CLs and dermatofibromas (DFs), was evaluated. Moreover, the microscopic features of FH non-mutated skin tumours were compared with those of an age-matched population group (n = 70) who presented, in their clinical history, only one type of skin tumour and no ULs. Immunohistochemical and in vitro studies analysed TGFβ and vitamin D receptor expression. FH non-mutated patients with ULs displayed a higher occurrence of CLs and DFs (p < 0.03 and p < 0.001), but not of other types of skin tumours. Immunohistochemistry revealed a lower vitamin D receptor (VDR) expression in CLs and DFs from the ULs group compared with those from the population group (p < 0.01), but a similar distribution of TGFβ-receptors and SMAD3. In vitro studies documented that TGFβ-1 treatment and vitamin D3 have opposite effects on α-SMA, TGFβR2 and VDR expression on dermal fibroblast and leiomyoma cell cultures. This unreported increased occurrence of CLs and DFs in FH non-mutated patients with symptomatic ULs with vitamin D deficiency suggests a potential pathogenetic role of vitamin D bioavailability also for CLs and DFs.

Coronary artery disease-associated immune gene RBP1 and its pan-cancer analysis

Purpose

To identify immune-related biomarkers in coronary artery disease (CAD), investigate their possible function in the immunological milieu of tumors, and initially investigate the mechanisms and therapeutic targets shared by CAD and cancer.

Methods

Download the CAD-related dataset GSE60681 from the GEO database. GSVA and WGCNA analyses were performed based on the GSE60681 dataset to identify the modules most pertinent to CAD, identify candidate hub genes and finally intersect the genes associated with immunity downloaded from the import database to find the hub genes. The GTEx, CCLE, and TCGA database were used to examine the expression of the hub gene in normal tissues, tumor cell lines, tumor tissues, and different tumor STAGES. One-factor cox and Kaplan-Meier analyses were performed to explore the prognosis of hub genes. Hub gene methylation levels in CAD and cancer were analyzed in the diseaseMeth 3.0 and ualcan databases, respectively. R package CiberSort processed the GSE60681 dataset to assess immune infiltration in CAD. TIMER2.0 evaluated hub genes with pan-cancer immune infiltration. The hub genes were analyzed for drug sensitivity and correlation with TMB, MSI, MMR, cancer-related functional status, and immune checkpoints in different tumors. Finally, GSEA was carried out on the crucial genes.

Results

WGCNA were used to pinpoint the green modules that were most closely related to CAD and intersections with immune-related genes were taken to remember the pivotal gene RBP1. RBP1 is hypermethylated in CAD and multiple cancers. Its expression levels in different cancers were associated with poor prognosis of cancer, with significant expression levels at higher stages of cancer staging. The immune infiltration results showed that RBP1 was closely associated with CAD and tumor-associated immune infiltration. The results indicated that RBP1 was strongly correlated with TMB, MSI, MMR, cancer-associated functional status, and immune checkpoints in various cancers. RBP1 was related to the sensitivity of six anticancer drugs. GSEA showed RBP1 was associated with immune cell activation, immune response, and cancer development.

Conclusion

RBP1 is a pivotal gene associated with immunity in CAD and pan-cancer and may mediate the development of CAD and cancer through immunity, making it a common therapeutic target for both.

Cellular retinol-binding protein 1: a therapeutic and diagnostic tumor marker

Cellular Retinol Binding Protein 1 (CRBP1) gene is a protein coding gene located on human chromosome 3q21, which codifies a protein named CRBP1. CRBP1 is widely expressed in many tissues as a chaperone protein to regulate the uptake, subsequent esterification and bioavailability of retinol. CRBP1 combines retinol and retinaldehyde with high affinity to protect retinoids from non-specific oxidation, and transports retinoids to specific enzymes to promote the biosynthesis of retinoic acid. The vital role of CRBP1 in retinoids metabolism has been gradually discovered, which has been implicated in tumorigenesis. However, the precise functions of CRBP1 in different diseases are still poorly understood. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the role of CRBP1 in various diseases, especially in both the promotion and inhibition of cancers, which may also offer a novel biomarker and potential therapeutic target for human diseases.

Retinol binding protein 1-dependent activation of NF- κB signaling enhances the malignancy of non-glioblastomatous diffuse gliomas

Nonglioblastomatous diffuse glioma (non‐GDG) is a heterogeneous neuroepithelial tumor that exhibits a varied survival range from 4 to 13 years based on the diverse subtypes. Recent studies demonstrated novel molecular markers can predict prognosis for non‐GDG patients; however, these findings as well as pathological classification strategies show obvious limitations on malignant transition due to the heterogeneity among non‐GDGs. Therefore, developing reliable prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets have become an urgent need for precisely distinguishing non‐GDG subtypes, illuminating the underlying mechanism. Nuclear factor κβ (NF‐κB) has been proved to be a significant nuclear transcriptional regulator with specific DNA‐binding sequences to participate in multiple pathophysiological processes. However, the underlying mechanism of NF‐κB activation still needs to be further investigated. Herein, our results indicated retinol‐binding protein 1 (RBP1) was significantly upregulated in the IDH^WT and 1p19q^{Non co‐del} non‐GDG subtypes and enriched RBP1 expression was markedly correlated with more severe outcomes. Additionally, malignant signatures of the non‐GDG cells including proliferation, migration, invasion, and self‐renewal were significantly suppressed by lentiviral knockdown of RBP1. To further explore the underlying molecular mechanism, bioinformatics analysis was performed using databases, and the results demonstrated RBP1 was strongly correlated with tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα)–NF‐κB signaling. Moreover, exogenous silencing of RBP1 reduced phosphorylation of IkB‐kinase α (IKKα) and thus decreased NF‐κB expression via decreasing the degradation of the IκBα protein. Altogether, these data suggested RBP1‐dependent activation of NF‐κB signaling promoted malignancy of non‐GDG, indicating that RBP1 could be a reliable prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for non‐GDG.

Cellular retinol binding protein-1 inhibits cancer stemness via upregulating WIF1 to suppress Wnt/β-catenin pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma

Background

CRBP-1, a cytosolic chaperone of vitamin A, is identified in a serious number of cancers; however, its biological role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) needs to be further explored. The aim of our present study is to explore the roles and mechanisms of CRBP-1 in regulating liver cancer by using in vitro and in vivo biology approaches.

Methods

The expression level of CRBP-1 was detected using immunohistochemistry in HCC and matching adjacent non-tumorous liver tissues. Following established stable CRBP-1 overexpressed HCC cell lines, the cell growth and tumorigenicity were investigated both in vitro and in vivo. Intracellular retinoic acid was quantified by ELISA. The relationship between CRBP-1 and WIF1 was validated by using dual luciferase and ChIP analyses.

Results

The low expression of CRBP-1 was observed in HCC tissues compared to the normal liver tissues, while high CRBP-1 expression correlated with clinicopathological characteristics and increased overall survival in HCC patients. Overexpression of CRBP-1 significantly inhibited cell growth and tumorigenicity both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, overexpression of CRBP-1 suppressed tumorsphere formation and cancer stemness related genes expression in HCC. Mechanically, CRBP-1 inhibited Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway to suppress cancer cell stemness of HCC. Furthermore, our results revealed that CRBP-1 could increase the intracellular levels of retinoic acid, which induced the activation of RARs/RXRs leading to the transcriptional expression of WIF1, a secreted antagonist of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, by physically interacting with the region on WIF1 promoter.

Conclusion

Our findings reveal that CRBP-1 is a crucial player in the initiation and progression of HCC, which provide a novel independent prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-021-08967-2.

Integrative Analysis of Identifying Methylation-Driven Genes Signature Predicts Prognosis in Colorectal Carcinoma

Background

Aberrant DNA methylation is a critical regulator of gene expression and plays a crucial role in the occurrence, progression, and prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). We aimed to identify methylation-driven genes by integrative epigenetic and transcriptomic analysis to predict the prognosis of CRC patients.

Methods

Methylation-driven genes were selected for CRC using a MethylMix algorithm and LASSO regression screening strategy, and were further used to construct a prognostic risk-assessment model. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was obtained as the training set for both the screening of methylation-driven genes and the effect of genes signature on CRC prognosis. Then, the prognostic genes signature was validated in three independent expression arrays of CRC data from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO).

Results

We identified 143 methylation-driven genes, of which the combination of BATF, PHYHIPL, RBP1, and PNPLA4 expression levels was screened as a better prognostic model with the best area under the curve (AUC) (AUC = 0.876). Compared with patients in the low-risk group, CRC patients in the high-risk group had significantly poorer overall survival in the training set (HR = 2.184, 95% CI: 1.404–3.396, P < 0.001). Similar results were observed in the validation set. Moreover, VanderWeele’s mediation analysis indicated that the effect of methylation on prognosis was mediated by the levels of their expression (HR_indirect = 1.473, P = 0.001, Proportion mediated, 69.10%).

Conclusions

We identified a four-gene prognostic signature by integrative analysis and developed a risk-assessment model that is significantly associated with patients’ survival. Methylation-driven genes might be a potential prognostic signature for CRC patients.

Identification of prognostic immune genes in laryngeal cancer

Objective

In this study, we aimed to identify prognostic immune-related genes and establish a prognostic model for laryngeal cancer based on these genes.

Methods

Transcriptome profiles and clinical data of patients with laryngeal cancer were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Integrated bioinformatics analyses were performed to identify genes associated with prognosis.

Results

Thirty prognostic immune-related genes for laryngeal cancer were identified. We constructed a regulatory network of prognosis comprising transcription factors and immune-related genes. Multivariate Cox regression analyses identified 15 immune-related genes in the network that were used to establish the prognostic model. The model exhibited excellent prognostic prediction ability with a high area under the curve value (0.916). The calculated risk score based on expression of the 15 immune-related genes was shown to be an independent prognostic factor for laryngeal cancer.

Conclusion

We identified prognostic immune-related genes and established a prognostic model for laryngeal cancer, which might help identify novel predictive biomarkers and therapeutic targets of laryngeal cancer.

Antifungal Effect of All-trans Retinoic Acid against Aspergillus fumigatus In Vitro and in a Pulmonary Aspergillosis In Vivo Model

Aspergillus fumigatus is the most common opportunistic fungal pathogen and causes invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA), with high mortality among immunosuppressed patients. The fungistatic activity of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) has been recently described in vitro.

Aspergillus fumigatus is the most common opportunistic fungal pathogen and causes invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA), with high mortality among immunosuppressed patients. The fungistatic activity of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) has been recently described in vitro. We evaluated the efficacy of ATRA in vivo and its potential synergistic interaction with other antifungal drugs. A rat model of IPA and in vitro experiments were performed to assess the efficacy of ATRA against Aspergillus in association with classical antifungal drugs and in silico studies used to clarify its mechanism of action. ATRA (0.5 and 1 mM) displayed a strong fungistatic activity in Aspergillus cultures, while at lower concentrations, synergistically potentiated fungistatic efficacy of subinhibitory concentration of amphotericin B (AmB) and posaconazole (POS). ATRA also enhanced macrophagic phagocytosis of conidia. In a rat model of IPA, ATRA reduced mortality similarly to posaconazole. Fungistatic efficacy of ATRA alone and synergistically with other antifungal drugs was documented in vitro, likely by inhibiting fungal heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) expression and Hsp90-related genes. ATRA treatment reduced mortality in a model of IPA in vivo. Those findings suggest ATRA as a suitable fungistatic agent that can also reduce dosage and adverse reactions of classical antifungal drugs and add to the development of new therapeutic strategies against IPA and systemic fungal infections.

Cellular retinol binding protein 1 transfection reduces proliferation and AKT-related gene expression in H460 non-small lung cancer cells

In recent years, new treatments with novel action mechanisms have been explored for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Retinoids promote cancer cell differentiation and death and their trafficking and action is mediated from specific cytoplasmic and nuclear receptors, respectively. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Cellular retinol binding protein-1 (CRBP-1) transfection in H460 human NSCLC cell line, normally not expressing CRBP-1. H460 cells were transfected by using a vector pTargeT Mammalian expression system carrying the whole sequence of CRBP-1 gene. For proliferation and apoptosis studies, cells were treated with different concentrations of all-trans Retinoic Acid (atRA) and retinol. AKT-related gene expression was analyzed by using western blot and Signosis array and results analysed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) or by t-student test. CRBP-1⁺ showed reduced proliferation and viability in basal condition and after atRA treatment when compared to empty-transfected H460 cells. Reduced proliferation in CRBP-1⁺ H460 cells associated to the down-regulation of pAKT/pERK/pEGFR-related genes. In particular, gene array documented the down-regulation of AKT and Stat-3-related genes, including M-Tor, Akt1, Akt2, Akt3, Foxo1, p27, Jun. Restoration of CRBP-1 expression in H460 cells reduced proliferation and viability in both basal condition and after atRA treatment, likely by down-regulating AKT-related gene level. Further studies are needed to better clarify how those CRBP-1-related intracellular pathways contribute to counteract NSCLC progression in order to suggest a potential tool to improve efficacy of retinoid anti lung cancer adjuvant therapy.

The potential of retinoids for combination therapy of lung cancer: Updates and future directions

Lung cancer is the most common cancer-related death worldwide. Natural compounds have shown high biological and pharmaceutical relevance as anticancer agents. Retinoids are natural derivatives of vitamin A having many regulatory functions in the human body, including vision, cellular proliferation and differentiation, and activation of tumour suppressor genes. Retinoic acid (RA) is a highly active retinoid isoform with promising anti-lung cancer activity. The abnormal expression of retinoid receptors is associated with loss of anticancer activities and acquired resistance to RA in lung cancer. The preclinical promise has not translated to the general clinical utility of retinoids for lung cancer patients, especially those with a history of smoking. Newer retinoid nano-formulations and the combinatorial use of retinoids has been associated with lower toxicity and more favorably efficacy in both the preclinical and clinical settings. Here, we highlight epidemiological and clinical therapeutic studies involving retinoids and lung cancer. We also discuss the biological actions of retinoids in lung cancer, which include effects on cancer stem cell differentiation, angiogenesis, metastasis, and proliferative. We suggest that the use of retinoids in combination with conventional and targeted anticancer agents will broaden the utility of these potent anticancer compounds in the lung cancer clinic.

Expression and potential role of cellular retinol binding protein I in psoriasis

Psoriasis is a diffuse chronic skin disorder characterized from accelerated epidermal turnover and inflammatory cell infiltrate. Retinoids influence keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation as well as inflammatory response. Cellular retinol binding protein (CRBPI) regulates intracellular vitamin A bioavailability and contributes to maintain skin homeostasis. The aim of present study was to investigate the expression of CRBPI and its role in the pathogenesis of skin psoriasis. Immunohistochemistry revealed more diffuse and increased CRBPI expression in all epidermal layers of human psoriatic lesions except in the stratum corneum. An imiquimod-induced psoriatic-like model documented the increase of skin lesional area and severity index score as well as of the severity of microscopic features as parakeratosis, papillomatosis and spongiosis in CRBPI-knockout compared to wild-type mice, associated to the increased keratinocyte CK17 and Ki-67 expression and the reduction of CK1, CRABPII and RXRα. Gene array of imiquimod-induced psoriatic skin documented the greater up-regulation of EGF/PDGF-related genes and down-regulation of EGR1 and pro-inflammatory IL-related genes in CRBPI-knockout compared to wild-type mice. Finally, CRBPI transfection in HaCaT cells increased AKT and NF-κB-related genes and proteins and down-regulated IL-2, IL-6 and IL-8 pro-inflammatory signalling. Although not recognized as a psoriatic susceptibility gene in our cohort of patients, the present data strongly supported the potential role of CRBPI to sustain keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation and to counteract pro-inflammatory genes expression in psoriatic lesions.

CRBP-1 over-expression is associated with poor prognosis in tongue squamous cell carcinoma

Background

Tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) is one of the most common malignancies of oral squamous cell carcinomas. Cellular retinol binding protein-1 (CRBP-1) as a carrier protein transports retinol from the liver storage site to peripheral tissue. Up-regulated expression of CRBP-1 is associated with some tumor types such as prostate cancer, breast cancer and ovarian cancer as reported, but its role in TSCC remains uncertain.

Methods

In this study, an integrated bioinformatics analysis based on the multiple cancer microarray data sets available from Oncomine database was conducted to view the differential expression of CRBP-1 between TSCC and the adjacent non-tumorous tissues. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), western blotting (WB) and immunohistochemical (IHC) assays were performed to investigate CRBP-1 expression in 101 paraffin-embeded TSCC tissues and 48 pairs of freshly frozen tissues. Kaplan-Meier curve and univariate and multivariate Cox-regression analysis were used to estimate the association between CRBP-1 expression and patients’ prognosis. Then western blotting, MTT, transwell migration and invasion assays were performed in TSCC cell lines to investigate the effects of CRBP-1 on cellular proliferation and invasion.

Results

Compared with the matched adjacent non-tumorous tissues, the expression of CRBP-1 was significantly up-regulated in TSCC tissues, which correlated with the differentiation state (P = 0.003), N classification (P = 0.048), the clinical stage (P = 0.048) and death (P = 0.001). The Kaplan-Meier curve showed that TSCC patients with higher CRBP-1 expression levels had lower overall survival rates than those with lower CRBP-1 expression levels. A univariate and multivariate analysis demonstrated that CRBP-1 was an independent prognostic factor (P < 0.05). Furthermore, we knocked down CRBP-1 expression and observed that TSCC cell proliferation and invasion in vitro were significantly blocked, as determined by MTT and transwell assays.

Conclusions

Up-regulated expression of CRBP-1 is associated with poor prognosis in TSCC, so it might potentially serve as an additional prognostic marker, and the inhibition of CRBP-1 might provide new therapeutic approaches for TSCC.

Potential prognostic biomarkers identified by DNA methylation profiling analysis for patients with lung adenocarcinoma

Lung adenocarcinoma is frequently occurring type of lung cancer with high metastatic risk. We performed a DNA methylation profiling analysis to identify possible prognostic markers involved in lung adenocarcinoma. DNA methylation profiling data (GSE66386) were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Differentially methylated genes were identified using a limma package. GO enrichment analysis was performed to identify vital functions related to differential gene methylation, and pathway analysis was performed to assess the associations between different proteins with regard to regulation of cell function and metabolism. The screening results showed a total of 112,662 differentially methylated genes in lung adenocarcinoma patients compared with those of the normal controls. These CpGs were involved in 16,705 genes. The skeletal system development (P=9.46E-27) and embryonic organ morphogenesis (P=8.67E-24) were found to be involved in lung adenocarcinoma. The cancer (P=3.64E-07), Rap1 signaling (P=9.21E-05) and calcium signaling (P=9.21E-05) pathways constituted the important pathways associated with lung adenocarcinoma. In conclusion, methylated PTPRF, HOXD3, HOXD13 and CACNA1A are potential markers and may be utilized for the diagnosis and therapy of lung adenocarcinoma.