High WNT6 expression indicates unfavorable survival outcome for patients with colorectal liver metastasis after liver resection

Anti-liver cancer therapeutic targets and safety of usenamine A in experimental liver cancer

BACKGROUND

Liver cancer is highly heterogeneous with poor drug response. Usenamine A has anticancer activity. Usnic acid has hepatocytotoxicity.

OBJECTIVES

As a derivative of usnic acid, if usenamine A can be safely used in treatment for liver cancer is unknown.

METHODS

MTT and clone formation assays assessed cell viability and proliferation. Tumor growth was determined using a xenograft model. Flow cytometry was used to detect the cell cycle. mRNA transcriptome sequencing investigated differential gene expression. Safety was evaluated in mice.

KEY FINDINGS

Usenamine A inhibited proliferation and clone formation of HepG2 cells and xenograft tumor growth through cell cycle arrest at G0/G1. Usenamine A altered gene expression in a direction supporting anticancer activity. IL24, JUN, DUSP4, and DUSP5 were upregulated while PRKACA, PRKCB, TP53, WNT6, E2F3, LGR4, GPR78, and MAPK4 were downregulated. Ten of above genes overlapped in the KEGG enriched non-small cell lung cancer/glioma/cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction/Wnt/MAPK pathway network. Usenamine A has a strong binding affinity for PRKACA and PRKCB proteins. Usenamine A showed minimal toxicity in mice.

CONCLUSIONS

Usenamine A is a safe anticancer agent against hepatocellular carcinoma. Regulation of 12 cancer-associated genes and the correlated pathway network are its therapeutic targets.

Emerging roles and biomarker potential of WNT6 in human cancers

The WNT6 ligand is a well-known activator of the WNT signaling pathway, considered a vital player in several important physiologic processes during embryonic development and maintaining homeostasis throughout life, regulating the proliferation and differentiation of multiple stem/progenitor cell types. More recently, as it is the case for many key molecular regulators of embryonic development, dysregulation of WNT6 has been implicated in cancer development and progression in multiple studies. In this review, we overview the most significant recent findings regarding WNT6 in the context of human malignancies, exploring its influence on multiple dimensions of tumor pathophysiology and highlighting the putative underlying WNT6-associated molecular mechanisms. We also discuss the potential clinical implications of WNT6 as a prognostic and therapeutic biomarker. This critical review highlights the emerging relevance of WNT6 in multiple human cancers, and its potential as a clinically-useful biomarker, addressing key unanswered questions that could lead to new opportunities in patient diagnosis, stratification, and the development of rationally-designed precision therapies.

Bcl-2 and Noxa are potential prognostic indicators for patients with gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms

PURPOSE

Bcl-2 family proteins are of great significance in the pathogenesis and development of tumors. In this study, the correlations between the expression of Bcl-2 family proteins and clinicopathological features and prognosis of neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) were further investigated.

METHODS

105 Patients diagnosed with gastroenteropancreatic NENs (GEP-NENs) with the paraffin specimen of the tumor available were retrospectively included. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed to detect the expression of Bcl-2 family proteins in paraffin-embedded samples. Student's t-test and Chi-square test were applied to compare the difference of quantitative and categorical variables, respectively. Survival analysis was conducted according to Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariate cox regression analysis were used to identify the independent prognostic factors.

RESULTS

The IHC score of Bcl-2 was significantly higher in neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) patients (65.6%), while a higher IHC score of Noxa was more common in neuroendocrine tumor (NET) patients (49.3%). Survival analysis indicated that patients with higher Bcl-2 expression and lower Noxa expression had worse 5-year survival (39.3% vs. 75.6%, p < 0.001; 40.6% vs. 84.9%, p < 0.001). Multivariate cox analysis indicated that high Bcl-2 expression was an independent factor associated with inferior DFS (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.092; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.106-3.955; p = 0.023) and OS (HR: 2.784; 95% CI: 1.326-5.846; p = 0.007), while higher Noxa expression was associated with superior DFS (HR:0.398; 95% CI: 0.175-0.907; p = 0.028) and OS (HR: 0.274; 95% CI: 0.110-0.686; p = 0.006).

CONCLUSIONS

Higher expression of Bcl-2 and lower expression of Noxa were associated with unfavorable prognosis of GEP-NENs patients.

Wnt Signaling Pathway Is among the Drivers of Liver Metastasis

Liver metastasis, originating either from a primary liver or other cancer types, represent a large cancer-related burden. Therefore, studies that add to better understanding of its molecular basis are needed. Herein, the role of the Wnt signaling pathway in liver metastasis is outlined. Its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), motility, migration, metastasis formation, and other steps of the metastatic cascade are presented. Additionally, the roles of the Wnt signaling pathway in the liver metastasis formation of colorectal, breast, gastric, lung, melanoma, pancreatic, and prostate cancer are explored. The special emphasis is given to the role of the Wnt signaling pathway in the communication between the many of the components of the primary and secondary cancer microenvironment that contribute to the metastatic outgrowth in the liver. The data presented herein are a review of the most recent publications and advances in the field that add to the idea that the Wnt pathway is among the drivers of liver metastasis and that its targeting could potentially relieve liver metastasis–related complications.

Activation of WNT7b autocrine eases metastasis of colorectal cancer via epithelial to mesenchymal transition and predicts poor prognosis

BACKGROUND

Aberrant activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is one of the most frequent abnormalities in human cancer, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Previous studies revealed pivotal functions of WNT family members in colorectal cancer, as well as their prognostic values. Nevertheless, the prognostic role and mechanisms underlying WNT7b in colorectal cancer development remains unclear.

METHODS

In this study, WNT7b expression was measured by immunohistochemical staining of 100 cases of surgically resected human colorectal cancerous tissues as well as matched adjacent normal tissues constructed as tissue microarrays. In vitro studies, we attempted to substantiate the WNT7b expressional pattern previously found in immunohistochemistry staining. We used the colorectal cancer cell-line HCT116 and normal colorectal cell-line FHC for immunofluorescence staining and nuclear/cytoplasmic separated western blotting. We measured epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers and migration capacity of HCT116 in the context of WNT7b knocked-down using short interfering RNA. Finally, clinical and prognostic values of WNT7b activation levels were examined.

RESULTS

WNT7b was expressed in the nucleus in adjacent normal tissues. In CRC tissues, nuclear expression of WNT7b was similar; however, membrane and cytoplasmic expression was strikingly enhanced. Consistently, in vitro analysis confirmed the same expression pattern of WNT7b. Compared with FHC cells, HCT116 cells displayed higher levels of WNT7b membrane and cytoplasmic enrichment, as well as higher migration capacity with a sensitized EMT process. Either partial knockdown of WNT7b or blockade of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway reversed EMT process and inhibited the migration of HCT116 cells. Finally, elevated secretion levels of WNT7b were significantly associated with lymphatic and remote metastasis and predicted worse prognosis in the CRC cohort.

CONCLUSION

In summary, we demonstrated that the activation of WNT7b autocrine probably contributes to CRC metastasis by triggering EMT process through the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. High levels of WNT7b autocrine secretion predicts poor outcome in patients with CRC. This molecule is a promising candidate for clinical CRC treatments.

Regulation of Wnt Signaling Pathways at the Plasma Membrane and Their Misregulation in Cancer

Wnt signaling is one of the key signaling pathways that govern numerous physiological activities such as growth, differentiation and migration during development and homeostasis. As pathway misregulation has been extensively linked to pathological processes including malignant tumors, a thorough understanding of pathway regulation is essential for development of effective therapeutic approaches. A prominent feature of cancer cells is that they significantly differ from healthy cells with respect to their plasma membrane composition and lipid organization. Here, we review the key role of membrane composition and lipid order in activation of Wnt signaling pathway by tightly regulating formation and interactions of the Wnt-receptor complex. We also discuss in detail how plasma membrane components, in particular the ligands, (co)receptors and extracellular or membrane-bound modulators, of Wnt pathways are affected in lung, colorectal, liver and breast cancers that have been associated with abnormal activation of Wnt signaling. Wnt-receptor complex components and their modulators are frequently misexpressed in these cancers and this appears to correlate with metastasis and cancer progression. Thus, composition and organization of the plasma membrane can be exploited to develop new anticancer drugs that are targeted in a highly specific manner to the Wnt-receptor complex, rendering a more effective therapeutic outcome possible.

Expression and Function of WNT6: From Development to Disease

WNT family member 6 (WNT6) is a member of the highly conserved WNT protein family. It plays an essential role in the normal development process, not only in embryonic morphogenesis, but also in post-natal homeostasis. WNT6 functions in mice and humans. This review summarizes the current findings on the biological functions of WNT6, describing its involvement in regulating embryogenesis, decidualization, and organ development. Aberrant WNT6 signaling is related to various pathologies, such as promoting cancer development, lung tuberculosis, and kidney fibrosis and improving the symptoms of Rett syndrome (RTT). Thus, due to its various functions, WNT6 has great potential for in-depth research. This work not only describes the signaling mechanism and function of WNT6 under physiological and pathological conditions, but also provides a theoretical basis for targeted therapy.