Hsp27 and Hsp70 Expression in Esophageal Squamous

Prognosis value of heat-shock proteins in esophageal and esophagogastric cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are molecular chaperones that play an important role in cellular protection against stress events and have been reported to be overexpressed in many cancers. The prognostic significance of HSPs and their regulatory factors, such as heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) and CHIP, are poorly understood.

AIM

To investigate the relationship between HSP expression and prognosis in esophageal and esophagogastric cancer.

METHODS

A systematic review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA recommendations (PROSPERO: CRD42022370653), on Embase, PubMed, Cochrane, and LILACS. Cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies of patients with esophagus or esophagogastric cancer were included. HSP-positive patients were compared with HSP-negative, and the endpoints analyzed were lymph node metastasis, tumor depth, distant metastasis, and overall survival (OS). HSPs were stratified according to the HSP family, and the summary risk difference (RD) was calculated using a random-effect model.

RESULTS

The final selection comprised 27 studies, including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (21), esophagogastric adenocarcinoma (5), and mixed neoplasms (1). The pooled sample size was 3465 patients. HSP40 and 60 were associated with a higher 3-year OS [HSP40: RD = 0.22; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.09-0.35; HSP60: RD = 0.33; 95%CI: 0.17-0.50], while HSF1 was associated with a poor 3-year OS (RD = -0.22; 95%CI: -0.32 to -0.12). The other HSP families were not associated with long-term survival. HSF1 was associated with a higher probability of lymph node metastasis (RD = -0.16; 95%CI: -0.29 to -0.04). HSP40 was associated with a lower probability of lymph node dissemination (RD = 0.18; 95%CI: 0.03-0.33). The expression of other HSP families was not significantly related to tumor depth and lymph node or distant metastasis.

CONCLUSION

The expression levels of certain families of HSP, such as HSP40 and 60 and HSF1, are associated with long-term survival and lymph node dissemination in patients with esophageal and esophagogastric cancer.

Revisiting the Old Data of Heat Shock Protein 27 Expression in Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Enigmatic HSP27, More Than Heat Shock

Initially discovered to be induced by heat shock, heat shock protein 27 (HSP27, also called HSPB1), a member of the small HSP family, can help cells better withstand or avoid heat shock damage. After years of studies, HSP27 was gradually found to be extensively engaged in various physiological or pathophysiological activities. Herein, revisiting the previously published data concerning HSP27, we conducted a critical review of the literature regarding its role in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) from the perspective of clinicopathological and prognostic significance, excluding studies conducted on adenocarcinoma, which is very different from SCC, to understand the enigmatic role of HSP27 in the tumorigenesis of SCC, including normal mucosa, dysplasia, intraepithelial neoplasm, carcinoma in situ and invasive SCC.

SUMOylation of HSP27 regulates PKM2 to promote esophageal squamous cell carcinoma progression

A previous proteomic screening of differentially expressed biomarkers between Kazakh patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and normal adjacent tissues demonstrated that heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) and pyruvate kinase isoenzyme M2 (PKM2) were both highly expressed in ESCC samples compared with normal controls. However, the regulatory association between HSP27 and PKM2 in ESCC remains elusive. In the present study, immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting were adopted to examine the expression of HSP27, PKM2 and other relevant biomarkers involved in epithelial‑to‑mesenchymal transition in clinical tissue samples. The interactions between proteins were detected by co‑immunoprecipitation (Co‑IP) assay and further confirmed by immunofluorescence assay. The growth and motility of ESCC cells were examined by MTT, Transwell and wound healing assays. Overexpression of HSP27 was found to be significantly associated with T‑cell classification, lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis in ESCC. In addition, HSP27 expression was significantly correlated with PKM2 expression in ESCC specimens. Functionally, knockdown of HSP27 inhibited the growth and motility of ESCC cells. Moreover, HSP27 was found to directly interact with small ubiquitin‑related modified protein 2/3 (SUMO2/3) in ESCC cell lines, as evidenced by Co‑IP and laser confocal imaging. In addition, downregulation of HSP27 was shown to decrease PKM2 and E‑cadherin expression. Knockdown of SUMO2/3 was observed to reduce the expression of HSP27, PKM2 and EMT‑related biomarkers. The results of the present study indicated that the SUMOylation of HSP27 enhances the proliferation, invasion and migration of ESCC cells via PKM2.

Cytoplasmic Increase in Hsp70 Protein: A Potential New Biomarker of Early Infiltration of Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma Arising from Actinic Keratosis

BACKGROUND

Cutaneous squamous skin cell carcinoma (SCC) is the second most frequent type of non-melanoma skin cancer and is the second leading cause of death by skin cancer in Caucasian populations. However, at present it is difficult to predict patients with poor SCC prognosis.

OBJECTIVE

To identify proteins with expression levels that could predict SCC infiltration in SCC arising from actinic keratosis (SCC-AK).

METHODS

A total of 20 biopsies from 20 different patients were studied; 10 were SCC-AK samples and 10 were taken from normal skin. Early infiltrated SCC-AK samples were selected based on histological examination, and to determine the expression of proteins, fresh skin samples were processed by two-dimensional electrophoresis.

RESULTS

The expression levels of three proteins, namely alpha hemoglobin and heat shock proteins 27 and 70 (Hsp27 and Hsp70, respectively) were significantly increased in SCC-AK samples with respect to normal control skin. However, only the expression level of Hsp70 protein positively correlated with the level of SCC-AK dermis infiltration. Immunohistological examination suggested that increased expression of Hsp70 proteins seemed to mainly occur in the cytoplasm of keratinocytes. The increased cytoplasmic Hsp70 expression in SCC-AK was confirmed by Western blot experiments.

CONCLUSION

Cytoplasmic expression of Hsp70 could be a potential biomarker of early infiltration of SCC arising from AK.

The loss of CD44 and HSP70 overexpression is related to aggressive clinicopathologic factors in prostate cancer

Prostate cancer (PC) is the most common cancer in men with biologically highly heterogeneous clinical outcomes despite early detection. Therefore, the identification of novel molecular markers that are associated with biological aggressiveness is essential for predicting clinical outcomes and deciding the treatment of PC. We examined the expression of cluster of differentiation 44 (CD44) and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) in PC cells using immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays and evaluated their clinicopathological significance. A loss of CD44 expression and HSP70 overexpression were observed in 62 (57.9%) and 54 (50.5%) out of 107 cases of PC, respectively. CD44-negative PC showed more vascular invasion, more extra-prostatic extension, more capsular invasion, higher pT stages, higher pathological tumor stages, higher prostate-specific antigen levels (> 20 ng/mL), and higher grades groups. Overexpression of HSP70 was significantly associated with PC with capsular invasion, higher pT stages, and higher pathological tumor stages. The loss of CD44 expression is correlated with tumor invasiveness and higher Gleason grades, reflecting the features of aggressive tumors. Consequently, CD44 could be an important biomarker and a potential therapeutic target.

The clinicopathological and prognostic value of HSP27 in hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

In the recent past, there is increasing evidence demonstrating that HSP27 plays a key role in tumor progression. However, the relationship between HSP27 expression and the clinicopathological features of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), as well as its prognostic value in HCC patients remain controversial. Accordingly, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess the correlation between HSP27 expression and HCC, and determine the prognostic value of HSP27 in HCC.

Methods

The data included clinicopathological features and survival information extracted from the published literature in the databases PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, and Wan Fang. The pooled odds ratios and hazard ratios with 95% CIs were calculated using Forest plot analysis.

Results

The meta-analysis results indicated that the positive HSP27 expression was significantly correlated with HCC incidence, tumor differentiation, and α-fetoprotein level in patients with HCC. However, the expression of HSP27 was not associated with metastasis, hepatitis B virus surface antigen, gender, tumor size, TNM stage, and vascular invasion. Additionally, HSP27 expression indicated a poor overall survival rate, but it was not related to disease-free survival rate.

Conclusion

This meta-analysis revealed that HSP27 may play a key role in the development of HCC and could be a reliable biomarker for the prognosis of patients with HCC. However, additional high-quality research is needed to support the results.