Metabolomic Reprogramming Detected by 1H-NMR Spectroscopy in Human Thyroid Cancer Tissues

Plasma metabolites analysis of patients with papillary thyroid cancer: A preliminary untargeted 1H NMR-based metabolomics

Metabolomics plays a crucial role in identifying molecular biomarkers that can differentiate pathological conditions. In the case of thyroid cancer, it is essential to accurately diagnose malignancy from benignity to avoid unnecessary surgeries. The objective of this research was to apply untargeted NMR-based metabolomics in order to identify metabolic biomarkers that can distinguish between plasma samples of patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) and multinodular goiter (MNG), as well as PTC and healthy individuals. The study included a cohort of 55 patients who were divided into three groups: PTC (n=20), MNG (n=16), and healthy (n=19). Plasma samples were collected from all participants and subjected to 1H NMR spectroscopy. Differential metabolites were identified using chemometric pattern recognition algorithms. The obtained metabolic profile had the potential to differentiate PTC from healthy plasma, but not from MNG. In patients diagnosed with PTC, a total of 18 compounds were discovered, revealing elevated levels of leucine, lysine, and 4-acetamidobutyric acid, while acetate, proline, acetoacetate, 3-hydroxybutyrate, glutamate, pyruvate, cystine, glutathione, asparagine, ethanolamine, histidine, tyrosine, myo-inositol, and glycerol along with a lipid compound were found to be lower in comparison to those of healthy individuals. According to the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic curve, this particular profile exhibited an impressive capability of 85% to discern PTC from healthy subjects (AUC=0.853, sensitivity=78.95, specificity=84.21). The utilization of the 1H NMR-based metabolomics approach revealed considerable promise in the identification of PTC from healthy plasma specimens. The modifications noticed in the plasma metabolites have the potential to act as practical biomarkers that are non-invasive and could suggest transformations in the metabolic profile of thyroid tumors.

Metabolite signature of human malignant thyroid tissue: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Thyroid cancer (TC) is the predominant malignancy within the endocrine system. However, the standard method for TC diagnosis lacks the capability to identify the pathological condition of all thyroid lesions. The metabolomics approach has the potential to manage this problem by identifying differential metabolites.

AIMS

This study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the NMR-based metabolomics studies in order to identify significant altered metabolites associated with TC.

METHODS

A systematic search of published literature in any language in three databases including Embase, PubMed, and Scopus was conducted. Out of 353 primary articles, 12 studies met the criteria for inclusion in the systematic review. Among these, five reports belonging to three articles were eligible for meta-analysis. The correlation coefficient of the orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis, a popular model in the multivariate statistical analysis of metabolomic data, was chosen for meta-analysis. The altered metabolites were chosen based on the fact that they had been found in at least three studies.

RESULTS

In total, 49 compounds were identified, 40 of which were metabolites. The increased metabolites in thyroid lesions compared normal samples included lactate, taurine, alanine, glutamic acid, glutamine, leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, serine, tyrosine, valine, choline, glycine, and isoleucine. Lipids were the decreased compounds in thyroid lesions. Lactate and alanine were increased in malignant versus benign thyroid lesions, while, myo-inositol, scyllo-inositol, citrate, choline, and phosphocholine were found to be decreased. The meta-analysis yielded significant results for three metabolites of lactate, alanine, and citrate in malignant versus benign specimens.

DISCUSSION

In this study, we provided a concise summary of 12 included metabolomic studies, making it easier for future researchers to compare their results with the prior findings.

CONCLUSION

It appears that the field of TC metabolomics will experience notable advancement, leading to the discovery of trustworthy diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers.

Nanomaterials-Induced Redox Imbalance: Challenged and Opportunities for Nanomaterials in Cancer Therapy

Cancer cells typically display redox imbalance compared with normal cells due to increased metabolic rate, accumulated mitochondrial dysfunction, elevated cell signaling, and accelerated peroxisomal activities. This redox imbalance may regulate gene expression, alter protein stability, and modulate existing cellular programs, resulting in inefficient treatment modalities. Therapeutic strategies targeting intra- or extracellular redox states of cancer cells at varying state of progression may trigger programmed cell death if exceeded a certain threshold, enabling therapeutic selectivity and overcoming cancer resistance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Nanotechnology provides new opportunities for modulating redox state in cancer cells due to their excellent designability and high reactivity. Various nanomaterials are widely researched to enhance highly reactive substances (free radicals) production, disrupt the endogenous antioxidant defense systems, or both. Here, the physiological features of redox imbalance in cancer cells are described and the challenges in modulating redox state in cancer cells are illustrated. Then, nanomaterials that regulate redox imbalance are classified and elaborated upon based on their ability to target redox regulations. Finally, the future perspectives in this field are proposed. It is hoped this review provides guidance for the design of nanomaterials-based approaches involving modulating intra- or extracellular redox states for cancer therapy, especially for cancers resistant to radiotherapy or chemotherapy, etc.

Genetic estimation of correlations between circulating glutamine and cancer

The controversy regarding the causal relationship between circulating glutamine and cancer risk remains unresolved. Here, we aim to assess the causal impact of glutamine on the risk of six prevalent cancer types and their respective subtypes including breast, lung, ovarian, thyroid, prostate, and endometrial cancers. A Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was conducted to evaluate the causal effect of circulating glutamine on cancers risk. Data on circulating glutamine were extracted from the UK Biobank (UKB), comprising 114,750 European patients. To ensure the validity of our findings, we employed several analytical approaches, such as inverse variance weighting, weighted median, weighted mode test, MR-Egger regression, and MR-PRESSO method. Both univariable and multivariable MR analyses were conducted. Additionally, we employed a large-scale summary-level study on circulating glutamine involving 24,925 European participants for validation purposes. Our MR analysis reveals a causal association between circulating glutamine and thyroid cancer in both the UKB cohort (IVW: OR = 0.667, 95% CI [0.541-0.822], P = 1.52×10-4) and the validated cohort (IVW: OR = 0.577, 95% CI [0.421-0.790], P = 6.14×10-4). Sensitivity analysis, including multivariable MR analyses, consistently supports this finding (P < 0.05), affirming the reliability and robustness of our study. Our findings indicate an inverse correlation between circulating glutamine and the incidence of thyroid cancer in European populations. However, further research encompassing diverse ancestries is necessary to validate this causal relationship.

Toward Systems-Level Metabolic Analysis in Endocrine Disorders and Cancer

Metabolism is a dynamic network of biochemical reactions that support systemic homeostasis amidst changing nutritional, environmental, and physical activity factors. The circulatory system facilitates metabolite exchange among organs, while the endocrine system finely tunes metabolism through hormone release. Endocrine disorders like obesity, diabetes, and Cushing's syndrome disrupt this balance, contributing to systemic inflammation and global health burdens. They accompany metabolic changes on multiple levels from molecular interactions to individual organs to the whole body. Understanding how metabolic fluxes relate to endocrine disorders illuminates the underlying dysregulation. Cancer is increasingly considered a systemic disorder because it not only affects cells in localized tumors but also the whole body, especially in metastasis. In tumorigenesis, cancer-specific mutations and nutrient availability in the tumor microenvironment reprogram cellular metabolism to meet increased energy and biosynthesis needs. Cancer cachexia results in metabolic changes to other organs like muscle, adipose tissue, and liver. This review explores the interplay between the endocrine system and systems-level metabolism in health and disease. We highlight metabolic fluxes in conditions like obesity, diabetes, Cushing's syndrome, and cancers. Recent advances in metabolomics, fluxomics, and systems biology promise new insights into dynamic metabolism, offering potential biomarkers, therapeutic targets, and personalized medicine.

Experimental study on changes in metabolic mechanism of papillary thyroid carcinoma complicated with Hashimoto's thyroiditis

Background

Whether the mechanism of thyroid papillary carcinoma (PTC) is the same in patients with a Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) background as compared with patients with a normal background remains a highly debated and controversial issue. In this study, we aimed to analyze the differences and similarities of the metabolic mechanism of PTC in normal and HT background, and to explore the relationship between HT and PTC.

Methods

The ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) technology was used to analyze 61 PTC patient tissues (31 HT background and 30 normal tissue (NC) background). Potential biomarkers were screened from principal component analysis (PCA) to orthogonal partial least square (OPLS) discriminant analysis. HMDB was searched to identify potential differential metabolites and final metabolic pathway analysis was performed by MetaboAnalyst 5.0. We analyzed the differential metabolites diagnostic accuracy through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves analysis.

Results

Seven different metabolites were screened from HT group and NC group, including arginine, glutamic acid, cysteine, citric acid, malic acid, uracil and taurine. Logistic regression model combined with ROC analysis of these 7 biomarkers had good discriminability for PTC (area under operating characteristic curve of HT group and NC group were 0.867 and 0.973, respectively). The HT group had specific metabolic pathways, including aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, glycine, serine and threonine metabolism.

Conclusions

The metabolic profiles of the NC and HT groups had important similarities and differences in PTC. The correlation of PTC with HT may be related to aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, serine and threonine metabolism.

Metabolomics-A Tool to Find Metabolism of Endocrine Cancer

Clinical endocrinology entails an understanding of the mechanisms involved in the regulation of tumors that occur in the endocrine system. The exact cause of endocrine cancers remains an enigma, especially when discriminating malignant lesions from benign ones and early diagnosis. In the past few years, the concepts of personalized medicine and metabolomics have gained great popularity in cancer research. In this systematic review, we discussed the clinical metabolomics studies in the diagnosis of endocrine cancers within the last 12 years. Cancer metabolomic studies were largely conducted using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS) combined with separation techniques such as gas chromatography (GC) and liquid chromatography (LC). Our findings revealed that the majority of the metabolomics studies were conducted on tissue, serum/plasma, and urine samples. Studies most frequently emphasized thyroid cancer, adrenal cancer, and pituitary cancer. Altogether, analytical hyphenated techniques and chemometrics are promising tools in unveiling biomarkers in endocrine cancer and its metabolism disorders.

Systematic Review of NMR-Based Metabolomics Practices in Human Disease Research

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is one of the principal analytical techniques for metabolomics. It has the advantages of minimal sample preparation and high reproducibility, making it an ideal technique for generating large amounts of metabolomics data for biobanks and large-scale studies. Metabolomics is a popular “omics” technology and has established itself as a comprehensive exploratory biomarker tool; however, it has yet to reach its collaborative potential in data collation due to the lack of standardisation of the metabolomics workflow seen across small-scale studies. This systematic review compiles the different NMR metabolomics methods used for serum, plasma, and urine studies, from sample collection to data analysis, that were most popularly employed over a two-year period in 2019 and 2020. It also outlines how these methods influence the raw data and the downstream interpretations, and the importance of reporting for reproducibility and result validation. This review can act as a valuable summary of NMR metabolomic workflows that are actively used in human biofluid research and will help guide the workflow choice for future research.

MALAT1 as a Regulator of the Androgen-Dependent Choline Kinase A Gene in the Metabolic Rewiring of Prostate Cancer

Simple Summary

Despite the rapid advance in cancer therapies, treatment-resistant relapse remains a significant challenge in cancer treatment. Acquired resistance arises during or after treatment administration, and is usually the main contributor to relapse. For example, prostate cancer, the most frequent type of cancer in the elderly male population, frequently develops into aggressive forms resistant to chemical and hormonal therapies. In this condition, the so-called “cholinic phenotype” that is characterized by the overexpression of choline kinase alpha (CHKA) and increased phosphocholine levels leads to aberrant lipid metabolism. Our work demonstrates that CHKA, which is necessary for membrane phospholipid synthesis, is a target of the long non-coding RNA MALAT1. This study helps to further decipher how MALAT1 affects the regulation of crucial phospholipid/sphingolipid metabolic enzymes, as well as how the androgen receptor pathway is involved in MALAT1-dependent transcriptional regulation.

Abstract

Background. Choline kinase alpha (CHKA), an essential gene in phospholipid metabolism, is among the modulated MALAT1-targeted transcripts in advanced and metastatic prostate cancer (PCa). Methods. We analyzed CHKA mRNA by qPCR upon MALAT1 targeting in PCa cells, which is characterized by high dose-responsiveness to the androgen receptor (AR) and its variants. Metabolome analysis of MALAT1-depleted cells was performed by quantitative High-resolution 1 H-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In addition, CHKA genomic regions were evaluated by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) in order to assess MALAT1-dependent histone-tail modifications and AR recruitment. Results. In MALAT1-depleted cells, the decrease of CHKA gene expression was associated with reduced total choline-containing metabolites compared to controls, particularly phosphocholine (PCho). Upon MALAT1 targeting a significant increase in repressive histone modifications was observed at the CHKA intron-2, encompassing relevant AR binding sites. Combining of MALAT1 targeting with androgen treatment prevented MALAT1-dependent CHKA silencing in androgen-responsive (LNCaP) cells, while it did not in hormone-refractory cells (22RV1 cells). Moreover, AR nuclear translocation and its activation were detected by confocal microscopy analysis and ChIP upon MALAT1 targeting or androgen treatment. Conclusions. These findings support the role of MALAT1 as a CHKA activator through putative association with the liganded or unliganded AR, unveiling its targeting as a therapeutic option from a metabolic rewiring perspective.

Young transgenic hMTH1 mice are protected against dietary fat-induced metabolic stress-implications for enhanced longevity

hMTH1 protects against mutation during oxidative stress. It degrades 8‐oxodGTP to exclude potentially mutagenic oxidized guanine from DNA. hMTH1 expression is linked to ageing. Its downregulation in cultured cells accelerates RAS‐induced senescence, and its overexpression in hMTH1‐Tg mice extends lifespan. In this study, we analysed the effects of a brief (5 weeks) high‐fat diet challenge (HFD) in young (2 months old) and adult (7 months old) wild‐type (WT) and hMTH1‐Tg mice. We report that at 2 months, hMTH1 overexpression ameliorated HFD‐induced weight gain, changes in liver metabolism related to mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress. It prevented DNA damage as quantified by a comet assay. At 7 months old, these HFD‐induced effects were less severe and hMTH1‐Tg and WT mice responded similarly. hMTH1 overexpression conferred lifelong protection against micronucleus induction, however. Since the canonical activity of hMTH1 is mutation prevention, we conclude that hMTH1 protects young mice against HFD by reducing genome instability during the early period of rapid growth and maximal gene expression. hMTH1 protection is redundant in the largely non‐growing, differentiated tissues of adult mice. In hMTH1‐Tg mice, expression of a less heavily mutated genome throughout life provides a plausible explanation for their extended longevity.

The Influence of Oxidative Stress on Thyroid Diseases

Thyroid diseases, including neoplasms, autoimmune diseases and thyroid dysfunctions, are becoming a serious social problem with rapidly increasing prevalence. The latter is increasingly linked to oxidative stress. There are many methods for determining the biomarkers of oxidative stress, making it possible to evaluate the oxidative profile in patients with thyroid diseases compared to the healthy population. This opens up a new perspective for investigating the role of elevated parameters of oxidative stress and damage in people with thyroid diseases, especially of neoplastic nature. An imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants is observed at different stages and in different types of thyroid diseases. The organ, which is part of the endocrine system, uses free radicals (reactive oxygen species, ROS) to produce hormones. Thyroid cells release enzymes that catalyse ROS generation; therefore, a key role is played by the internal defence system and non-enzymatic antioxidants that counteract excess ROS not utilised to produce thyroid hormones, acting as a buffer to neutralise free radicals and ensure whole-body homeostasis. An excess of free radicals causes structural cell damage, undermining genomic stability. Looking at the negative effects of ROS accumulation, oxidative stress appears to be implicated in both the initiation and progression of carcinogenesis. The aim of this review is to investigate the oxidation background of thyroid diseases and to summarise the links between redox imbalance and thyroid dysfunction and disease.

A glance at the actual role of glutamine metabolism in thyroid tumorigenesis

Thyroid cancers (TCs) are the most prevalent malignancy of the endocrine system and the seventh most common cancer in women. According to estimates from the Global Cancer Observatory (GCO) in 2020, the incidence of thyroid cancer globally was 586,000 cases. As thyroid cancer incidences have dramatically increased, identifying the most important metabolic pathways and biochemical markers involved in thyroid tumorigenesis can be critical strategies for controlling the prevalence and ultimately treatment of this disease. Cancer cells undergo cellular metabolism and energy alteration in order to promote cell proliferation and invasion. Glutamine is one of the most abundant free amino acids in the human body that contributes to cancer metabolic remodeling as a carbon and nitrogen source to sustain cell growth and proliferation. In the present review, glutamine metabolism and its regulation in cancer cells are highlighted. Thereafter, emphasis is given to the perturbation of glutamine metabolism in thyroid cancer, focusing on metabolomics studies.

Role of Reductive versus Oxidative Stress in Tumor Progression and Anticancer Drug Resistance

Redox homeostasis is not only essential for the maintenance of normal physiological functions, but also plays an important role in the growth, survival, and therapy resistance of cancer cells. Altered redox balance and consequent disruption of redox signaling are implicated in the proliferation and progression of cancer cells and their resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy. The nuclear factor erythroid 2 p45-related factor (Nrf2) is the principal stress-responsive transcription factor that plays a pivotal role in maintaining cellular redox homeostasis. Aberrant Nrf2 overactivation has been observed in many cancerous and transformed cells. Uncontrolled amplification of Nrf2-mediated antioxidant signaling results in reductive stress. Some metabolic pathways altered due to reductive stress have been identified as major contributors to tumorigenesis. This review highlights the multifaceted role of reductive stress in cancer development and progression.

Could Glyphosate and Glyphosate-Based Herbicides Be Associated With Increased Thyroid Diseases Worldwide?

The increased incidence of thyroid diseases raises a series of questions about what the main predisposing factors are nowadays. If dietary restriction of iodine was once a major global health concern, today, the processes of industrialization of food and high exposure to a wide variety of environmental chemicals may be affecting, directly or indirectly, thyroid function. The homeostasis of hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis is finely regulated through the negative feedback mechanism exerted by thyroid hormones. Allostatic mechanisms are triggered to adjust the physiology of HPT axis in chronic conditions. Glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides are pesticides with controversial endocrine disrupting activities and only few studies have approached their effects on HPT axis and thyroid function. However, glyphosate has an electrophilic and nucleophilic zwitterion chemical structure that may affect the mechanisms involved in iodide oxidation and organification, as well as the oxidative phosphorylation in the ATP synthesis. Thus, in this review, we aimed to: (1) discuss the critical points in the regulation of HPT axis and thyroid hormones levels balance, which may be susceptible to the toxic action of glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides, correlating the molecular mechanisms involved in glyphosate toxicity described in the literature that may, directly or indirectly, be associated to the higher incidence of thyroid diseases; and (2) present the literature regarding glyphosate toxicity in HPT axis.

Targeting Lactate Metabolism by Inhibiting MCT1 or MCT4 Impairs Leukemic Cell Proliferation, Induces Two Different Related Death-Pathways and Increases Chemotherapeutic Sensitivity of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells

Metabolism in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells is dependent primarily on oxidative phosphorylation. However, in order to sustain their high proliferation rate and metabolic demand, leukemic blasts use a number of metabolic strategies, including glycolytic metabolism. Understanding whether monocarboxylate transporters MCT1 and MCT4, which remove the excess of lactate produced by cancer cells, represent new hematological targets, and whether their respective inhibitors, AR-C155858 and syrosingopine, can be useful in leukemia therapy, may reveal a novel treatment strategy for patients with AML. We analyzed MCT1 and MCT4 expression and function in hematopoietic progenitor cells from healthy cord blood, in several leukemic cell lines and in primary leukemic blasts from patients with AML, and investigated the effects of AR-C155858 and syrosingopine, used alone or in combination with arabinosylcytosine, on leukemic cell proliferation. We found an inverse correlation between MCT1 and MCT4 expression levels in leukemic cells, and showed that MCT4 overexpression is associated with poor prognosis in AML patients. We also found that AR-C155858 and syrosingopine inhibit leukemic cell proliferation by activating two different cell-death related pathways, i.e., necrosis for AR-C155858 treatment and autophagy for syrosingopine, and showed that AR-C155858 and syrosingopine exert an anti-proliferative effect, additive to chemotherapy, by enhancing leukemic cells sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents. Altogether, our study shows that inhibition of MCT1 or MCT4 impairs leukemic cell proliferation, suggesting that targeting lactate metabolism may be a new therapeutic strategy for AML, and points to MCT4 as a potential therapeutic target in AML patients and to syrosingopine as a new anti-proliferative drug and inducer of autophagy to be used in combination with conventional chemotherapeutic agents in AML treatment.

The Potential of Metabolomics in the Diagnosis of Thyroid Cancer

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine system malignancy. However, there is still a lack of reliable and specific markers for the detection and staging of this disease. Fine needle aspiration biopsy is the current gold standard for diagnosis of thyroid cancer, but drawbacks to this technique include indeterminate results or an inability to discriminate different carcinomas, thereby requiring additional surgical procedures to obtain a final diagnosis. It is, therefore, necessary to seek more reliable markers to complement and improve current methods. "Omics" approaches have gained much attention in the last decade in the field of biomarker discovery for diagnostic and prognostic characterisation of various pathophysiological conditions. Metabolomics, in particular, has the potential to identify molecular markers of thyroid cancer and identify novel metabolic profiles of the disease, which can, in turn, help in the classification of pathological conditions and lead to a more personalised therapy, assisting in the diagnosis and in the prediction of cancer behaviour. This review considers the current results in thyroid cancer biomarker research with a focus on metabolomics.