Highly expressed carbohydrate sulfotransferase 11 correlates with unfavorable prognosis and immune evasion of hepatocellular carcinoma

Effect of CHST11, a novel biomarker, on the biological functionalities of clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a common malignant tumor, and the role of carbohydrate sulfotransferase 11 (CHST11) in this cancer remains unclear. Here, by using bioinformatics methods, we comprehensively analyzed the relationship between CHST11 and clinical significance, immune infiltration, functional enrichment, m6A methylation, and protein-protein interaction networks. We found that CHST11 expression was significantly higher in ccRCC samples than in normal tissues. Additionally, CHST11 levels correlated with the clinicopathological features of ccRCC patients and functioned as a prognostic factor for patient survival. Functional analysis revealed the involvement of CHST11 in metabolic pathways. Immune infiltration and m6A methylation analysis suggested the association of CHST11 with immune cell abundance in the tumor microenvironment and specific methylation patterns in ccRCC. The in vitro analysis of the clinical samples and ccRCC cell lines demonstrated that the overexpression of CHST11 promotes ccRCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, while its suppression has the opposite effect. Thus, CHST11 may play a remarkable role in the occurrence and progression of ccRCC. Functionally, CHST11 promotes the aggressiveness of ccRCC cells. These findings provide insights into the role of CHST11 in ccRCC progression.Registry and the Registration No. of the study/trial: No. 2021K034.

Carbohydrate sulfotransferases: a review of emerging diagnostic and prognostic applications

Carbohydrate sulfotransferases (CHST) catalyse the biosynthesis of proteoglycans that enable physical interactions and signalling between different neighbouring cells in physiological and pathological states. The study aim was to provide an overview of emerging diagnostic and prognostic applications of CHST. PubMed database search was conducted using the keywords "carbohydrate sulfotransferase" together with appropriate inclusion and exclusion criteria, whereby 41 publications were selected. Additionally, 40 records on CHST genetic and biochemical properties were hand-picked from UniProt, GeneCards, InterPro, and neXtProt databases. Carbohydrate sulfotransferases have been applied mainly in diagnostics of connective tissue disorders, cancer and inflammations. The lack of CHST activity was found in congenital connective tissue disorders while CHST overexpression was detected in different malignancies. Mutations of CHST3 gene cause skeletal dysplasia, chondrodysplasia, and autosomal recessive multiple joint dislocations while increased tissue expression of CHST11, CHST12 and CHST15 is an unfavourable prognostic factor in ovarian cancer, glioblastoma and pancreatic cancer, respectively. Recently, CHST11 and CHST15 overexpression in the vascular smooth muscle cells was linked to the severe lung pathology in COVID-19 patients. Promising CHST diagnostic and prognostic applications have been described but larger clinical studies and robust analytical procedures are required for the more reliable diagnostic performance estimations.

Recent progress in molecular mechanisms of postoperative recurrence and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatectomy is currently considered the most effective option for treating patients with early and intermediate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Unfortunately, the postoperative prognosis of patients with HCC remains unsatisfactory, predominantly because of high postoperative metastasis and recurrence rates. Therefore, research on the molecular mechanisms of postoperative HCC metastasis and recurrence will help develop effective intervention measures to prevent or delay HCC metastasis and recurrence and to improve the long-term survival of HCC patients. Herein, we review the latest research progress on the molecular mechanisms underlying postoperative HCC metastasis and recurrence to lay a foundation for improving the understanding of HCC metastasis and recurrence and for developing more precise prevention and intervention strategies.

Upregulated Immunogenic Cell-Death-Associated Gene Signature Predicts Reduced Responsiveness to Immune-Checkpoint-Blockade Therapy and Poor Prognosis in High-Grade Gliomas

Background: Immunogenic cell death (ICD) has emerged as a potential mechanism mediating adaptive immune response and tumor immunity in anti-cancer treatment. However, the signature of ICD in high-grade gliomas (HGGs) remains largely unknown, and its relevance to immunotherapies is still undetermined. The purpose of this study is to identify ICD-associated genotypes in order to explore their relevance to tumor immunity, patient prognosis and therapeutic efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy in HGGs. Methods: Bulk RNA-seq data and clinical information on 169 and 297 patients were obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and China Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA), respectively. The functional enrichment and characterization of ICD genotyping were detected, and the ICD prognostic signature prediction model was constructed using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression. The responsiveness to immunotherapy was predicted according to the scoring of the ICD prognostic signature. Results: The HGG patients with high ICD gene signature (C1) showed poor outcomes, increased activity of immune modulation and immune escape, high levels of immune-checkpoint markers, and HLA-related genes, which may explain their reduced response to ICB immunotherapy. A gene set of the ICD signature, composing FOXP3, IL6 LY96, MYD88 and PDIA3, showed an independent prognostic value in both the TCGA and the CGGA HGG cohort. Conclusions: Our in silico analyses identified the ICD gene signature in HGGs with potential implications for predicting the responsiveness to ICB immune therapy and patient outcomes.