Epistatic SNP interaction of ERCC6 with ERCC8 and their joint protein expression contribute to gastric cancer/atrophic gastritis risk

Serum LINC01133 combined with CEA and CA19-9 contributes to the diagnosis and survival prognosis of gastric cancer

BACKGROUND

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) are currently 2 major diagnostic biomarkers for gastric cancer (GC). The aims of study were to detect the expression of long intergenic nonprotein coding RNA 1133 (LINC01133), and to evaluate its diagnostic and prognostic value in GC. Furthermore, the clinical performance of the joint detection of LINC01133, CEA and CA19-9 was also evaluate in GC.

METHODS

The data were collected from 156 GC, 96 chronic superficial gastritis, 77 chronic atrophic gastritis patients and 89 healthy controls. LINC01133 expression was determined by quantitative real-time PCR. Receiver operating characteristics analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of LINC01133, CEA, CA19-9 individually and jointly. Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used to conduct survival comparison analysis. Cox regression was used to screen the independent prognostic factors for GC.

RESULTS

Serum LINC01133 expression was decreased in GC patients compared with chronic superficial gastritis, chronic atrophic gastritis and healthy controls, and had considerable diagnostic potential, and notably, the joint detection of LINC01133, CEA, and CA19-9 showed the highest diagnostic accuracy in distinguishing GC patients from healthy or gastritis patients. LINC01133 expression was associated with GC patients' CEA and CA19-9 levels, tumor size, differentiation, lymph node metastasis and tumor node metastasis stage. Low LINC01133 was associated with poor GC survival, and was an independent prognostic factor for GC.

CONCLUSION

Decreased serum LINC01133 had considerable diagnostic potential, and the joint detection of LINC01133, CEA, and CA19-9 might be a more efficient diagnostic strategy for GC patients. Reduced LINC01133 served as a prognostic biomarker to predict poor GC survival.

Multi-ancestry genome-wide association study of cannabis use disorder yields insight into disease biology and public health implications

As recreational use of cannabis is being decriminalized in many places and medical use widely sanctioned, there are growing concerns about increases in cannabis use disorder (CanUD), which is associated with numerous medical comorbidities. Here we performed a genome-wide association study of CanUD in the Million Veteran Program (MVP), followed by meta-analysis in 1,054,365 individuals (ncases = 64,314) from four broad ancestries designated by the reference panel used for assignment (European n = 886,025, African n = 123,208, admixed American n = 38,289 and East Asian n = 6,843). Population-specific methods were applied to calculate single nucleotide polymorphism-based heritability within each ancestry. Statistically significant single nucleotide polymorphism-based heritability for CanUD was observed in all but the smallest population (East Asian). We discovered genome-wide significant loci unique to each ancestry: 22 in European, 2 each in African and East Asian, and 1 in admixed American ancestries. A genetically informed causal relationship analysis indicated a possible effect of genetic liability for CanUD on lung cancer risk, suggesting potential unanticipated future medical and psychiatric public health consequences that require further study to disentangle from other known risk factors such as cigarette smoking.

The elevated expression of TLR4 and MMP9 in human abdominal aortic aneurysm tissues and its implication

Background

Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) have been investigated to play significant roles in the formation of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). But the reports on the expression pattern of TLR4 and MMP9 in human AAA specimens were relatively scant. The aim of this study was to make a detailed analysis of TLR4 and MMP9 expression in situ and their association with clinical parameters involved in human AAA.

Methods

40 AAA specimens were obtained from full-thickness aneurysmal tissues at the maximal dilation area during the open surgical repair, and 8 non-aneurysmal abdominal aortas from transplant donors served as controls. Expression of TLR4 and MMP9 protein was determined by immunohistochemistry.

Results

There were increased levels of TLR4 and MMP9 expression in human AAA tissues. Compared with macrophages or SMCs, lymphocytes showed a higher positive rate of TLR4 and MMP9 staining, and an elevated ratio of high MMP9 expression (all P < 0.05). There existed a significant association between TLR4 and MMP9 expression (r = 0.767, P < 0.001), and both TLR4 and MMP9 levels were statistically related to circulating CRP. Moreover, TLR4 expression in situ indicated a positive correlation with its serum level (r = 0.654, P = 0.006). Multiple analysis revealed that high TLR4 expression in situ was associated with the risk of large AAA (OR = 6.211, 95%CI = 1.226–31.480, P = 0.027), while high MMP9 expression was correlated to the presence of thrombus within AAA (OR = 5.494, 95%CI = 1.181–25.562, P = 0.030), separately compared with their low expression.

Conclusions

This study confirmed the overexpression of TLR4 and MMP9 in human AAA tissues, and their close relationship implying in the pathogenesis of AAA. We further provided evidence that TLR4 had a potential effect on AAA size and MMP9 could influence the occurrence of thrombus within AAA.

Associations of individual and joint expressions of ERCC6 and ERCC8 with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis of gastric cancer

Background

Excision repair cross-complementing group 6 and 8 (ERCC6 and ERCC8) have been implicated in ailments such as genetic diseases and cancers. However, the relationship between individual and joint expressions of ERCC6/ERCC8 and clinicopathological parameters as well as prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) still remains unclear.

Methods

In this study, protein expressions of ERCC6, ERCC8 and ERCC6-ERCC8 were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in 109 paired GC and para-cancerous normal tissue samples. The mRNA expression was detected in 36 pairs of tissue samples. IHC results and RNA-seq data extracted from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were used to explore the clinical value of ERCC6 and ERCC8 expression in GC. We further conducted protein-protein interaction analysis, Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, gene set enrichment analysis, and gene-gene interaction analysis to explore the function and regulation networks of ERCC6 and ERCC8 in GC.

Results

Individual and joint ERCC6/ERCC8 expression were significantly higher in adjacent normal mucosa compared with GC tissues. ERCC6 mRNA expression showed no difference in GC and paired tissues, while ERCC8 mRNA was significantly decreased in GC tissues. Protein expression of ERCC6, ERCC8, double negative ERCC6-ERCC8 and double positive ERCC6-ERCC8 and overexpressed ERCC6 mRNA were related to better clinicopathologic parameters, while overexpressed ERCC8 mRNA suggested worse parameters. Univariate survival analysis indicated that the OS was longer when ERCC6 protein expression and ERCC8 mRNA expression increased, and double negative ERCC6-ERCC8 expression was associated with a short OS. Bioinformatics analyses showed ERCC6 and ERCC8 were associated with nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway, and six and ten gene sets were figured out to be related with ERCC6 and ERCC8, respectively. KEGG pathway showed that ERCC6/ERCC8 related gene sets were mainly involved in the regulation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. Direct physical interactions were found between ERCC6 and ERCC8.

Conclusions

Individual and joint expressions of ERCC6/ERCC8 were associated with clinical features of GC. Protein expression of ERCC6, ERCC6-ERCC8, and mRNA expression of ERCC8 were related to prognosis of GC. ERCC6 and ERCC8 primarily function in the NER pathway, and may regulate GC progression through the regulation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway.

Y-Box Binding Protein-1 Promotes Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Sorafenib-Resistant Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common cancer types worldwide. In cases of advanced-stage disease, sorafenib is considered the treatment of choice. However, resistance to sorafenib remains a major obstacle for effective clinical application. Based on integrated phosphoproteomic and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data, we identified a transcription factor, Y-box binding protein-1 (YB-1), with elevated phosphorylation of Ser102 in sorafenib-resistant HuH-7^R cells. Phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) and protein kinase B (AKT) were activated by sorafenib, which, in turn, increased the phosphorylation level of YB-1. In functional analyses, knockdown of YB-1 led to decreased cell migration and invasion in vitro. At the molecular level, inhibition of YB-1 induced suppression of zinc-finger protein SNAI1 (Snail), twist-related protein 1 (Twist1), zinc-finger E-box-binding homeobox 1 (Zeb1), matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and vimentin levels, implying a role of YB-1 in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process in HuH-7^R cells. Additionally, YB-1 contributes to morphological alterations resulting from F-actin rearrangement through Cdc42 activation. Mutation analyses revealed that phosphorylation at S102 affects the migratory and invasive potential of HuH-7^R cells. Our collective findings suggest that sorafenib promotes YB-1 phosphorylation through effect from the EGFR/PI3K/AKT pathway, leading to significant enhancement of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell metastasis. Elucidation of the specific mechanisms of action of YB-1 may aid in the development of effective strategies to suppress metastasis and overcome resistance.

[Bioinformatics analysis of expression and function of EXD3 gene in gastric cancer]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the differentially expressed genes between gastric cancer and normal gastric mucosa by bioinformatics analysis, identify the important gene participating in the occurrence and progression of gastric cancer, and predict the functions of these genes.

METHODS

The gene expression microarray data GSE100935 (including 18 gastric cancer samples and normal gastric mucosal tissues) downloaded from the GEO expression profile database were analyzed using Morpheus to obtain the differentially expressed genes in gastric cancer, and a cluster analysis heat map was constructed. The online database UALCAN was used to obtain the expression levels of these differentially expressed genes in gastric cancer and normal gastric mucosa. The prognostic value of the differentially expressed genes in gastric cancer was evaluated with Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. GO functional enrichment analysis was performed using Fun-Rich software, and the STRING database was exploited to establish a PPI network for the differentially expressed genes.

RESULTS

A total of 45119 differentially expressed genes were identified from GSE100935 microarray data. Analysis with UALCAN showed an obvious high expression of EXD3 gene in gastric cancer, and survival analysis suggested that a high expression level of EXD3 was associated with a poorer prognosis of the patients with gastric cancer. GO functional enrichment analysis found that the differentially expressed genes in gastric cancer were involved mainly in the regulation of nucleotide metabolism and the activity of transcription factors in the cancer cells.

CONCLUSIONS

EXD3 may be a potential oncogene in gastric cancer possibly in relation to DNA damage repair. The up-regulation of EXD3 plays an important role in the development and prognosis of gastric cancer, and may serve as an important indicator for prognostic evaluation of the patients.