The Downregulation of LSAMP Expression Promotes Lung Cancer Progression and Is Associated with Poor Survival Prognosis

Systematic proteome-wide Mendelian randomization using the human plasma proteome to identify therapeutic targets for lung adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is the predominant histological subtype of lung cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related mortality. Identifying effective drug targets is crucial for advancing LUAD treatment strategies.

METHODS

This study employed proteome-wide Mendelian randomization (MR) and colocalization analyses. We collected data on 1394 plasma proteins from a protein quantitative trait loci (pQTL) study involving 4907 individuals. Genetic associations with LUAD were derived from the Transdisciplinary Research in Cancer of the Lung (TRICL) study, including 11,245 cases and 54,619 controls. We integrated pQTL and LUAD genome-wide association studies (GWASs) data to identify candidate proteins. MR utilizes single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as genetic instruments to estimate the causal effect of exposure on outcome, while Bayesian colocalization analysis determines the probability of shared causal genetic variants between traits. Our study applied these methods to assess causality between plasma proteins and LUAD. Furthermore, we employed a two-step MR to quantify the proportion of risk factors mediated by proteins on LUAD. Finally, protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis elucidated potential links between proteins and current LUAD medications.

RESULTS

We identified nine plasma proteins significantly associated with LUAD. Increased levels of ALAD, FLT1, ICAM5, and VWC2 exhibited protective effects, with odds ratios of 0.79 (95% CI 0.72-0.87), 0.39 (95% CI 0.28-0.55), 0.91 (95% CI 0.72-0.87), and 0.85 (95% CI 0.79-0.92), respectively. Conversely, MDGA2 (OR, 1.13; 95% CI 1.08-1.19), NTM (OR, 1.12; 95% CI 1.09-1.16), PMM2 (OR, 1.35; 95% CI 1.18-1.53), RNASET2 (OR, 1.15; 95% CI 1.08-1.21), and TFPI (OR, 4.58; 95% CI 3.02-6.94) increased LUAD risk. Notably, none of the nine proteins showed evidence of reverse causality. Bayesian colocalization indicated that RNASET2, TFPI, and VWC2 shared the same variant with LUAD. Furthermore, NTM and FLT1 demonstrated interactions with targets of current LUAD medications. Additionally, FLT1 and TFPI are currently under evaluation as therapeutic targets, while NTM, RNASET2, and VWC2 are potentially druggable. These findings shed light on LUAD pathogenesis, highlighting the tumor-promoting effects of RNASET2, TFPI, and NTM, along with the protective effects of VWC2 and FLT1, providing a significant biological foundation for future LUAD therapeutic targets.

CONCLUSIONS

Our proteome-wide MR analysis highlighted RNASET2, TFPI, VWC2, NTM, and FLT1 as potential drug targets for further clinical investigation in LUAD. However, the specific mechanisms by which these proteins influence LUAD remain elusive. Targeting these proteins in drug development holds the potential for successful clinical trials, providing a pathway to prioritize and reduce costs in LUAD therapeutics.

Negr1-Derived Peptides Trigger ALK Degradation and Halt Neuroblastoma Progression In Vitro and In Vivo

Neuroblastoma is among the most common childhood cancers. Neuroblastoma in advanced stages is one of the most intractable pediatric cancers, notwithstanding the recent therapeutic advances. ALK mutations are among the leading cause of hereditary neuroblastoma and account for more than 14% of the somatically acquired alterations. ALK kinase activity is currently one of the main targets for pharmacological strategies. However, evidence from ALK fusion-positive lung cancer studies has shown that resistance to ALK inhibition arises during the therapy, causing a relapse within several years. IgLONs are membrane-bound proteins involved in cell-to-cell adhesion. The expression of the IgLON family results altered in different cancers. We found that the IgLON member Negr1 is downregulated in neuroblastoma. The ectopic overexpression of Negr1 impairs neuroblastoma growth in vitro and in vivo. Negr1 exists as a GPI-anchored membrane-bound protein and as a soluble protein released upon metalloprotease cleavage. We generated and characterized a panel of Negr1-derived peptides. The treatment with Negr1 protein and derived peptides induce ALK downregulation and halt neuroblastoma progression in vitro and in vivo.

Development of cancer-associated fibroblast-related gene signature for predicting the survival and immunotherapy response in lung adenocarcinoma

The present study aims to construct a predictive model for prognosis and immunotherapy response in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Transcriptome data were extracted from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), GSE41271, and IMvigor210. The weighted gene correlation network analysis was utilized to identify the hub modules related to immune/stromal cells. Then, univariate, LASSO, and multivariate Cox regression analyses were employed to develop a predictive signature based on genes of the hub module. Moreover, the association between the predictive signature and immunotherapy response was also investigated. As a result, seven genes (FGF10, SERINE2, LSAMP, STXBP5, PDE5A, GLI2, FRMD6) were screened to develop the cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs)-related risk signature (CAFRS). LUAD patients with high-risk score underwent shortened Overall survival (OS). A strong correlation was found between CAFRS and immune infiltrations/functions. The gene set variation analysis showed that G2/M checkpoint, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, hypoxia, glycolysis, and PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathways were greatly enriched in the high-risk subgroup. Moreover, patients with higher risk score were less likely to respond to immunotherapy. A nomogram based on CAFRS and Stage presented a stronger predictive performance for OS than the single indicator. In conclusion, the CAFRS exhibited a potent predictive value for OS and immunotherapy response in LUAD.

Potential miRNA-gene interactions determining progression of various ATLL cancer subtypes after infection by HTLV-1 oncovirus

BACKGROUND

Adult T-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma (ATLL) is a rapidly progressing type of T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma that is developed after the infection by human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1). It could be categorized into four major subtypes, acute, lymphoma, chronic, and smoldering. These different subtypes have some shared clinical manifestations, and there are no trustworthy biomarkers for diagnosis of them.

METHODS

We applied weighted-gene co-expression network analysis to find the potential gene and miRNA biomarkers for various ATLL subtypes. Afterward, we found reliable miRNA-gene interactions by identifying the experimentally validated-target genes of miRNAs.

RESULTS

The outcomes disclosed the interactions of miR-29b-2-5p and miR-342-3p with LSAMP in ATLL_acute, miR-575 with UBN2, miR-342-3p with ZNF280B, and miR-342-5p with FOXRED2 in ATLL_chronic, miR-940 and miR-423-3p with C6orf141, miR-940 and miR-1225-3p with CDCP1, and miR-324-3p with COL14A1 in ATLL_smoldering. These miRNA-gene interactions determine the molecular factors involved in the pathogenesis of each ATLL subtype and the unique ones could be considered biomarkers.

CONCLUSION

The above-mentioned miRNAs-genes interactions are suggested as diagnostic biomarkers for different ATLL subtypes.

Identification of recurrent 3q13.31 chromosomal rearrangement indicates LSAMP as a tumor suppressor gene in neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma (NB) is a childhood malignancy of the sympathetic nervous system. NB is mainly driven by copy number alterations, such as MYCN amplification, large deletions of chromosome arm 11q and gain of chromosome arm 17q, which are all markers of high‑risk disease. Genes targeted by recurrent, smaller, focal alterations include CDKN2A/B, TERT, PTPRD and ATRX. Our previous study on relapsed NB detected recurrent structural alterations centered at limbic system‑associated membrane protein (LSAMP; HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee: 6705; chromosomal location 3q13.31), which is a gene frequently reported to be deleted or downregulated in other types of cancer. Notably, in cancer, LSAMP has been shown to have tumor‑suppressing functions. The present study performed an expanded investigation using whole genome sequencing of tumors from 35 patients, mainly with high‑risk NB. Focal duplications or deletions targeting LSAMP were detected in six cases (17%), whereas single nucleotide polymorphism‑microarray analysis of 16 NB cell lines detected segmental alterations at 3q13.31 in seven out of the 16 NB cell lines (44%). Furthermore, low expression of LSAMP in NB tumors was significantly associated with poor overall and event‑free survival. In vitro, knockdown of LSAMP in NB cell lines increased cell proliferation, whereas overexpression decreased proliferation and viability. These findings supported a tumor suppressor role for LSAMP in NB. However, the higher incidence of LSAMP aberrations in cell lines and in relapsed NB tumors suggested that these alterations were a late event predominantly in advanced NB with a poor prognosis, indicating a role of LSAMP in tumor progression rather than in tumor initiation. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated recurrent genomic aberrations of chromosomal region 3q13.31 that targeted the LSAMP gene, which encodes a membrane protein involved in cell adhesion, central nervous system development and neurite outgrowth. The frequent aberrations affecting LSAMP, together with functional evidence, suggested an anti‑proliferative role of LSAMP in NB.

Identification of plasma proteins associated with oesophageal cancer chemotherapeutic treatment outcomes using SWATH-MS

Oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) is an aggressive cancer with a five-year survival of <15%. Current chemotherapeutic strategies only benefit a minority (20-30%) of patients and there are no methods available to differentiate between responders and non-responders. We performed quantitative proteomics using Sequential Window Acquisition of all THeoretical fragment-ion spectra-Mass Spectrometry (SWATH-MS) on albumin/IgG-depleted and non-depleted plasma samples from 23 patients with locally advanced OAC prior to treatment. Individuals were grouped based on tumour regression (TRG) score (TRG1/2/3 vs TRG4/5) after chemotherapy, and differentially abundant proteins were compared. Protein depletion of highly abundant proteins led to the identification of around twice as many proteins. SWATH-MS revealed significant quantitative differences in the abundance of several proteins between the two groups. These included complement c1q subunit proteins, C1QA, C1QB and C1QC, which were of higher abundance in the low TRG group. Of those that were found to be of higher abundance in the high TRG group, glutathione S-transferase pi (GSTP1) exhibited the lowest p-value and highest classification accuracy and Cohen's kappa value. Concentrations of these proteins were further examined using ELISA-based assays. This study provides quantitative information relating to differences in the plasma proteome that underpin response to chemotherapeutic treatment in oesophageal cancers. SIGNIFICANCE: Oesophageal cancers, including oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) and oesophageal gastric junction cancer (OGJ), are one of the leading causes of cancer mortality worldwide. Curative therapy consists of surgery, either alone or in combination with adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy or radiation, or combination chemoradiotherapy regimens. There are currently no clinico-pathological means of predicting which patients will benefit from chemotherapeutic treatments. There is therefore an urgent need to improve oesophageal cancer disease management and treatment strategies. This work compared proteomic differences in OAC patients who responded well to chemotherapy as compared to those who did not, using quantitative proteomics prior to treatment commencement. SWATH-MS analysis of plasma (with and without albumin/IgG-depletion) from OAC patients prior to chemotherapy was performed. This approach was adopted to determine whether depletion offered a significant improvement in peptide coverage. Resultant datasets demonstrated that depletion increased peptide coverage significantly. Additionally, there was good quantitative agreement between commonly observed peptides. Data analysis was performed by adopting both univariate as well as multivariate analysis strategies. Differentially abundant proteins were identified between treatment response groups based on tumour regression grade. Such proteins included complement C1q sub-components and GSTP1. This study provides a platform for further work, utilising larger sample sets across different treatment regimens for oesophageal cancer, that will aid the development of 'treatment response prediction assays' for stratification of OAC patients prior to chemotherapy.

Long non-coding RNA LSAMP-1 is down-regulated in non-small cell lung cancer and predicts a poor prognosis

Background

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as master regulators for gene expression and thus play a vital role in human tumorigenesis and progression. But the involvement of novel lncRNAs in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains largely unelucidated.

Methods

A total of 170 NSCLC and their adjacent non-tumor tissues were enrolled to detect the expression of Lnc-LSAMP-1 by RT-qPCR. The effects of Lnc-LSAMP-1 on cell proliferation, migration, invasion and drug-sensitivity were determined by in vitro and in vivo experiments. The proteins that interact with Lnc-LSAMP-1were confirmed by RNA pull-down assay. RNA-sequencing were used to identify the potential targets of Lnc-LSAMP-1 in NSCLC.

Results

We found that Lnc-LSAMP-1 was significantly down-regulated in 170 cases of NSCLC tissues when compared to their adjacent non-cancerous tissues. Loss expression of Lnc-LSAMP-1 was notably correlated with unfavorable prognosis of NSCLC patients. The ectopic expression of Lnc-LSAMP-1 drastically inhibited lung cancer cell proliferation, viability, invasion and migration ability, arrested cell cycle and facilitated apoptosis. Chemotherapy sensitization experiments showed that over-expressed Lnc-LSAMP-1 enhanced the inhibition of cell proliferation induced by TKI. Mechanistically, Lnc-LSAMP-1-LSAMP formed a complex which could protect the degradation of LSAMP gene, and thus exerted crucial roles in NSCLC progression and TKI targeted treatment.

Conclusions

Consequently, our findings highlight the function and prognostic value of Lnc-LSAMP-1 in NSCLC and provide potential novel therapeutic targets and prognostic biomarkers for patients with NSCLC.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12935-022-02592-0.

Identification and validation of a prognostic risk-scoring model based on sphingolipid metabolism-associated cluster in colon adenocarcinoma

Colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) is the primary factor responsible for cancer-related mortalities in western countries, and its development and progression are affected by altered sphingolipid metabolism. The current study aimed at investigating the effects of sphingolipid metabolism-related (SLP) genes on multiple human cancers, especially on COAD. We obtained 1287 SLP genes from the GeneCard and MsigDb databases along with the public transcriptome data and the related clinical information. The univariate Cox regression analysis suggested that 26 SLP genes were substantially related to the prognosis of COAD, and a majority of SLP genes served as the risk genes for the tumor, insinuating a potential pathogenic effect of SLP in COAD development. Pan-cancer characterization of SLP genes summarized their expression traits, mutation traits, and methylation levels. Subsequently, we focused on the thorough research of COAD. With the help of unsupervised clustering, 1008 COAD patients were successfully divided into two distinct subtypes (C1 and C2). C1 subtype is characterized by a poor prognosis, activation of SLP pathways, high expression of SLP genes, disordered carcinogenic pathways, and immune microenvironment. Based on the clusters of SLP, we developed and validated a novel prognostic model, consisting of ANO1, C2CD4A, EEF1A2, GRP, HEYL, IGF1, LAMA2, LSAMP, RBP1, and TCEAL2, to quantitatively evaluate the clinical outcomes of COAD. The Kaplain-Meier survival curves and ROC curves highlighted the accuracy of our SLP model in both internal and external cohorts. Compared to normal colon tissues, expression of C2CD4A was detected to be significantly higher in COAD; whereas, expression levels of EEF1A2, IGF1, and TCEAL2 were detected to be significantly lower in COAD. Overall, our research emphasized the pathogenic role of SLP in COAD and found that targeting SLP might help improve the clinical outcomes of COAD. The risk model based on SLP metabolism provided a new horizon for prognosis assessment and customized patient intervention.