Blockage of ETS homologous factor inhibits the proliferation and invasion of gastric cancer cells through the c-Met pathway

Hypoxia-associated genes as predictors of outcomes in gastric cancer: a genomic approach

Objective

To investigate the effects of hypoxia-related genes in stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) and construct an excellent prognostic model.

Methods

RNA expression data and clinical details were retrieved from the TCGA and GEO database dataset. scRNA-seq analysis was conducted on primary gastric cancer samples from GSE183904. Cellular hypoxia status was predicted using the CHPF software. WGCNA and GO-BP/KEGG enrichment of module genes analyses were performed to identify gene modules associated with hypoxia and biological pathway enrichment. A prognostic model was developed employing the LassoCox algorithm. GES-1, AGS, BGC823, and MGC803 cell lines were obtained for qRT-PCR analysis to identify the expression of model genes.

Results

Single-cell atlas within STAD delineated that most of neoplastic cells, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and myeloid cells were hypoxic. Further analysis of neoplastic cell subpopulations identified four hypoxic subpopulations (H1-H4) and four non-hypoxic subpopulations (N1-N4), with H1 subpopulation had the highest degree of hypoxia. The prognostic model constructed by five H1-specific transcription factors EHF, EIF1AD, GLA, KEAPI, and MAGED2, was demonstrated efficacy in predicting overall survival (OS), with significantly worse OS in high-risk patients. qRT-PCR analysis determined the higher expression level of five H1-specific transcription factors in gastric cancer cell lines than that in normal gastric epithelial cell line.

Conclusion

Hypoxia exerts a profound influence on STAD due to the overexpression of hypoxic cellular subpopulations-specific transcription factors EHF, EIF1AD, GLA, KEAPI, and MAGED2. The novel prognostic model developed by these hypoxia-associated genes presents a novel approach to risk stratification, exhibiting an excellent prognostic value for STAD patients.

Shared diagnostic biomarkers and underlying mechanisms between endometriosis and recurrent implantation failure

BACKGROUND

Endometriosis (EMs) is a common condition that causes dysmenorrhea, chronic pelvic pain, and infertility, affecting millions of women worldwide. Despite the use of assisted reproductive technology, EMs patients often experience lower embryo implantation rates and recurrent implantation failure (RIF) due to impaired uterine endometrial receptivity. This study aims to identify shared diagnostic genes and underlying mechanisms between EMs and RIF using integrated transcriptomic analysis and machine learning with Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets.

METHODS

We analyzed GSE11691, GSE7305, GSE111974, and GSE103465 as training datasets for EMs and RIF, and GSE25628 and GSE92324 as validation datasets. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) identified key genes specific to and shared by EMs and RIF. Machine learning algorithms were used to determine the shared diagnostic gene, whose performance was validated in both training and validation datasets. Single-gene Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) revealed shared biological processes in EMs and RIF, while CIBERSORT analysis highlighted similarities and differences in immune infiltration between the two conditions. Finally, endometrial samples from healthy controls, EMs, and RIF patients were collected, and qRT-PCR was performed to validate the diagnostic gene.

RESULTS

We identified 48 shared key genes between EMs and RIF. The diagnostic gene EHF was selected through machine learning algorithms, and its diagnostic performance was validated in both training and validation datasets. ROC curve analysis demonstrated excellent diagnostic accuracy of EHF for both diseases. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) revealed that both conditions shared biological processes, including dysregulated extracellular matrix remodeling and abnormal immune infiltration. Furthermore, we validated the expression of EHF in endometrial samples from healthy controls, EMs, and RIF patients. Additionally, we characterized the immune microenvironment in EMs and RIF, highlighting changes in immune cell components associated with EHF.

DISCUSSION

The diagnostic gene EHF identified in this study may serve as a key link between EMs and RIF. The shared pathological processes in both conditions involve alterations in the extracellular matrix and subsequent changes in the immune microenvironment. These findings provide novel insights into potential therapeutic strategies for improving infertility treatment in patients with EMs.

Functional interaction between receptor tyrosine kinase MET and ETS transcription factors promotes prostate cancer progression

Prostate cancer, the most common malignancy in men, has a relatively favourable prognosis. However, when it spreads to the bone, the survival rate drops dramatically. The development of bone metastases leaves patients with aggressive prostate cancer, the leading cause of death in men. Moreover, bone metastases are incurable and very painful. Hepatocyte growth factor receptor (MET) and fusion of genes encoding E26 transformation-specific (ETS) transcription factors are both involved in the progression of the disease. ETS gene fusions, in particular, have the ability to induce the migratory and invasive properties of prostate cancer cells, whereas MET receptor, through its signalling cascades, is able to activate transcription factor expression. MET signalling and ETS gene fusions are intimately linked to high-grade prostate cancer. However, the collaboration of these factors in prostate cancer progression has not yet been investigated. Here, we show, using cell models of advanced prostate cancer, that ETS translocation variant 1 (ETV1) and transcriptional regulator ERG (ERG) transcription factors (members of the ETS family) promote tumour properties, and that activation of MET signalling enhances these effects. By using a specific MET tyrosine kinase inhibitor in a humanised hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) mouse model, we also establish that MET activity is required for ETV1/ERG-mediated tumour growth. Finally, by performing a comparative transcriptomic analysis, we identify target genes that could play a relevant role in these cellular processes. Thus, our results demonstrate for the first time in prostate cancer models a functional interaction between ETS transcription factors (ETV1 and ERG) and MET signalling that confers more aggressive properties and highlight a molecular signature characteristic of this combined action.

Cpeb4-mediated Dclk2 promotes neuronal pyroptosis induced by chronic cerebral ischemia through phosphorylation of Ehf

Chronic cerebral ischemia (CCI) is a clinical syndrome characterised by brain dysfunction due to decreased chronic cerebral perfusion. CCI initiates several inflammatory pathways, including pyroptosis. RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play important roles in CCI. This study aimed to explore whether the interaction between RBP-Cpeb4 and Dclk2 affected Ehf phosphorylation to regulate neuronal pyroptosis. HT22 cells and mice were used to construct oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD)/CCI models. We found that Cpeb4 and Dclk2 were upregulated in OGD-treated HT22 cells and CCI-induced hippocampal CA1 tissues. Cpeb4 upregulated Dclk2 expression by increasing Dclk2 mRNA stability. Knockdown of Cpeb4 or Dclk2 inhibited neuronal pyroptosis in OGD-treated HT22 cells and CCI-induced hippocampal CA1 tissues. By binding to the promoter regions of Caspase1 and Caspase3, the transcription factor Ehf reduced their promoter activities and inhibited the transcription. Dclk2 phosphorylated Ehf and changed its nucleoplasmic distribution, resulting in the exit of p-Ehf from the nucleus and decreased Ehf levels. It promoted the expression of Caspase1 and Caspase3 and stimulated neuronal pyroptosis of HT22 cells induced by OGD. Cpeb4/Dclk2/Ehf pathway plays an important role in the regulation of cerebral ischemia-induced neuronal pyroptosis.

Research progress on the development of hepatocyte growth factor/c-Met signaling pathway in gastric cancer: A review

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor, c-Met, play important roles in the occurrence, development, and treatment of gastric cancer (GC). This review explored the function of the HGF/c-Met signaling pathway in GC and its potential targeted therapeutic mechanisms. As one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide, GC has a complex pathogenesis and limited therapeutic options. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the molecular mechanism of GC is very important for the development of new therapeutic methods. The HGF/c-Met signaling pathway plays an important role in the proliferation, migration, and invasion of GC cells and has become a new therapeutic target. This review summarizes the current research progress on the role of HGF/c-Met in GC and discusses targeted therapeutic strategies targeting this signaling pathway, providing new ideas and directions for the treatment of GC.

Ferroptosis regulating lipid peroxidation metabolism in the occurrence and development of gastric cancer

BACKGROUND

Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world, and its occurrence and development involve complex biological processes. Iron death, as a new cell death mode, has attracted wide attention in recent years. However, the regulatory mechanism of iron death in gastric cancer and its effect on lipid peroxidation metabolism remain unclear.

AIM

To explore the role of iron death in the development of gastric cancer, reveal its relationship with lipid peroxidation, and provide a new theoretical basis for revealing the molecular mechanism of the occurrence and development of gastric cancer.

METHODS

The process of iron death in gastric cancer cells was simulated by cell culture model, and the occurrence of iron death was detected by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. The changes of gene expression related to iron death and lipid peroxidation metabolism were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing technology. In addition, a mouse model of gastric cancer was established, and the role of iron death in vivo was studied by histology and immunohistochemistry, and the level of lipid peroxidation was detected. These methods comprehensively and deeply reveal the regulatory mechanism of iron death on lipid peroxidation metabolism in the occurrence and development of gastric cancer.

RESULTS

Iron death was significantly activated in gastric cancer cells, and at the same time, associated lipid peroxidation levels increased significantly. Through high-throughput sequencing analysis, it was found that iron death regulated the expression of several genes related to lipid metabolism. In vivo experiments demonstrated that increased iron death in gastric cancer mice was accompanied by a significant increase in lipid peroxidation.

CONCLUSION

This study confirmed the important role of iron death in regulating lipid peroxidation metabolism in the occurrence and development of gastric cancer. The activation of iron death significantly increased lipid peroxidation levels, revealing its regulatory mechanism inside the cell.

Large multi-ethnic genetic analyses of amyloid imaging identify new genes for Alzheimer disease

Amyloid PET imaging has been crucial for detecting the accumulation of amyloid beta (Aβ) deposits in the brain and to study Alzheimer's disease (AD). We performed a genome-wide association study on the largest collection of amyloid imaging data (N = 13,409) to date, across multiple ethnicities from multicenter cohorts to identify variants associated with brain amyloidosis and AD risk. We found a strong APOE signal on chr19q.13.32 (top SNP: APOE ɛ4; rs429358; β = 0.35, SE = 0.01, P = 6.2 × 10-311, MAF = 0.19), driven by APOE ɛ4, and five additional novel associations (APOE ε2/rs7412; rs73052335/rs5117, rs1081105, rs438811, and rs4420638) independent of APOE ɛ4. APOE ɛ4 and ε2 showed race specific effect with stronger association in Non-Hispanic Whites, with the lowest association in Asians. Besides the APOE, we also identified three other genome-wide loci: ABCA7 (rs12151021/chr19p.13.3; β = 0.07, SE = 0.01, P = 9.2 × 10-09, MAF = 0.32), CR1 (rs6656401/chr1q.32.2; β = 0.1, SE = 0.02, P = 2.4 × 10-10, MAF = 0.18) and FERMT2 locus (rs117834516/chr14q.22.1; β = 0.16, SE = 0.03, P = 1.1 × 10-09, MAF = 0.06) that all colocalized with AD risk. Sex-stratified analyses identified two novel female-specific signals on chr5p.14.1 (rs529007143, β = 0.79, SE = 0.14, P = 1.4 × 10-08, MAF = 0.006, sex-interaction P = 9.8 × 10-07) and chr11p.15.2 (rs192346166, β = 0.94, SE = 0.17, P = 3.7 × 10-08, MAF = 0.004, sex-interaction P = 1.3 × 10-03). We also demonstrated that the overall genetic architecture of brain amyloidosis overlaps with that of AD, Frontotemporal Dementia, stroke, and brain structure-related complex human traits. Overall, our results have important implications when estimating the individual risk to a population level, as race and sex will needed to be taken into account. This may affect participant selection for future clinical trials and therapies.

HBV preS Mutations Promote Hepatocarcinogenesis by Inducing Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Upregulating Inflammatory Signaling

Simple Summary

Viral mutations at the preS region of hepatitis B virus (HBV) significantly increase the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Compared to HBV preS deletion, the oncogenic effect of preS combo mutation has rarely been investigated. With a cohort including 2114 subjects, we demonstrated that preS combo mutations G2950A/G2951A/A2962G/C2964A and C3116T/T31C significantly increased the risk of HCC in patients without antiviral treatment, whereas preS2 deletion significantly increased the risk of HCC in patients with antiviral treatment. The prevalence of C3116T/T31C (43.61%) was higher than preS2 deletion (7.16%). By using Sleeping Beauty mouse models and in vitro experiments, we found G2950A/G2951A/A2962G/C2964A, C3116T/T31C, and preS2 deletion promoted hepatocarcinogenesis by increasing levels of inflammatory cytokines, activating STAT3 pathway, enhancing endoplasmic reticulum stress, and altering gene expression profiles in inflammation- and metabolism-related pathways. These results suggest that preS combo mutations G2950A/G2951A/A2962G/C2964A and C3116T/T31C had similar oncogenic effects of preS2 deletion and should also be monitored.

Abstract

This study aimed to elucidate the effects and underlying mechanisms of hepatitis B virus (HBV) preS mutations on hepatocarcinogenesis. The effect of the preS mutations on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) occurrence was evaluated using a prospective cohort study with 2114 HBV-infected patients, of whom 612 received antiviral treatments. The oncogenic functions of HBV preS mutations were investigated using cancer cell lines and Sleeping Beauty (SB) mouse models. RNA-sequencing and microarray were applied to identify key molecules involved in the mutant-induced carcinogenesis. Combo mutations G2950A/G2951A/A2962G/C2964A and C3116T/T31C significantly increased HCC risk in patients without antiviral treatment, whereas the preS2 deletion significantly increased HCC risk in patients with antiviral treatment. In SB mice, the preS1/preS2/S mutants induced a higher rate of tumor and higher serum levels of inflammatory cytokines than did wild-type counterpart. The preS1/preS2/S mutants induced altered gene expression profiles in the inflammation- and metabolism-related pathways, activated pathways of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, affected the response to hypoxia, and upregulated the protein level of STAT3. Inhibiting the STAT3 pathway attenuated the effects of the preS1/preS2/S mutants on cell proliferation. G2950A/G2951A/A2962G/C2964A, C3116T/T31C, and preS2 deletion promote hepatocarcinogenesis via inducing ER stress, metabolism alteration, and STAT3 pathways, which might be translated into HCC prophylaxis.

The ETS Homologous Factor (EHF) Represents a Useful Immunohistochemical Marker for Predicting Prostate Cancer Metastasis

The main aim of this study was to investigate the risk of prostate cancer metastasis formation associated with the expression of ETS homologous factor (EHF) in a cohort of bioptic samples. To this end, the expression of EHF was evaluated in a cohort of 152 prostate biopsies including primary prostate cancers that developed metastatic lesions, primary prostate cancers that did not develop metastasis, and benign lesions. Data here reported EHF as a candidate immunohistochemical prognostic biomarker for prostate cancer metastasis formation regardless of the Gleason scoring system. Indeed, our data clearly show that primary lesions with EHF positive cells ≥40% had a great risk of developing metastasis within five years from the first diagnosis. Patients with these lesions had about a 40-fold increased risk of developing metastasis as compared with patients with prostate lesions characterized by a percentage of EHF positive cells ≤30%. In conclusion, the immunohistochemical evaluation of EHF could significantly improve the management of prostate cancer patients by optimizing the diagnostic and therapeutic health procedures and, more important, ameliorating the patient's quality of life.

Long non-coding RNA B3GALT5-AS1 contributes to the progression of gastric cancer via interacting with CSNK2A1

Gastric cancer is a type of cancer that is characterized by high morbidity and mortality rates. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) β-1,3-galactosyltransferase 5-AS1 (B3GALT5-AS1) was previously found to be highly expressed in the serum of patients with gastric cancer. However, the regulatory effects of B3GALT5-AS1 in gastric cancer remain poorly understood. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of B3GALT5-AS1 in gastric cancer cell lines. The expression levels of B3GALT5-AS1 were determined in different gastric cancer cell lines (AGS, HGC-27 and MKN-45) using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. The potential interaction between B3GALT5-AS1 and casein kinase 2 a1 (CSNK2A1) was evaluated using an RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation and RNA pull down assays. Western blot analysis was performed to measure protein expression levels. Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was utilized to determine cell viability, whilst cell invasion and migration were assessed using Transwell and wound healing assays, respectively. Apoptotic cells were evaluated using TUNEL assays. The results showed that B3GALT5-AS1 expression was upregulated in MKN-45 cells compared with the control group. In addition, B3GALT5-AS1 could bind to CSNK2A1 to regulate its expression. B3GALT5-AS1 knockdown attenuated cell viability, invasion and migration, whilst promoting cell apoptosis. These effects were partly reversed by CSNK2A1 overexpression. Overall, results of the present study revealed that interference with B3GALT5-AS1 impeded gastric cancer cell migration and invasion whilst promoting apoptosis by regulating CSNK2A1 expression. These findings suggested that B3GALT5-AS1 and CSNK2A1 may serve a tumorigenic role in the progression of gastric cancer and serve as therapeutic targets for this type of cancer.

CXCR4 is a prognostic marker that inhibits the invasion and migration of gastric cancer by regulating VEGF expression

Metastasis is the main cause of poor prognosis of patients with gastric cancer (GC). Thus, current research is focused on identifying biomarkers that can predict the prognosis of patients with GC. C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) have been reported to play important roles in different types of malignancies; however, their role in the prognosis of GC remains unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the potential role of CXCR4 and VEGF in predicting the prognosis of patients with GC. Immunohistochemistry analysis was performed to analyze the expression levels of CXCR4 and VEGF in a GC tissue microarray containing GC tissues and adjacent normal tissues. The association between CXCR4 or VEGF expression levels and the clinicopathological characteristics or survival outcomes were assessed. Furthermore, Transwell and wound healing assays were performed to determine the cell invasive and migratory abilities in vitro. The results demonstrated that CXCR4 promoted AGS cell invasion and migration by regulating VEGF expression. In addition, CXCR4 and VEGF expression levels were significantly upregulated in GC tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues, which was associated with a poorer overall survival (OS). Cox regression analysis demonstrated that both upregulated CXCR4 and VEGF expression were independent negative biomarkers of OS. To the best of our knowledge, the present study was the first to discover that CXCR4 and VEGF exert synergistic roles as efficient prognostic indicators for patients with GC.