Osteohematology: To be or Notch to be

Osteohematology is an emerging research field that studies the crosstalk between hematopoietic and bone stromal cells, to elucidate the mechanisms of hematological and skeletal malignancies and diseases. The Notch is an evolutionary conserved developmental signaling pathway, with critical roles in embryonic development by controlling cell proliferation and differentiation. However, the Notch pathway is also critically involved in cancer initiation and progression, such as osteosarcoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma. The Notch-mediated malignant cells dysregulate bone and bone marrow cells in the tumour microenvironment, resulting in disorders ranging from osteoporosis to bone marrow dysfunction. To date, the complex interplay of Notch signaling molecules in hematopoietic and bone stromal cells is still poorly understood. In this mini-review, we summarize the crosstalk between cells in bone and bone marrow and their influence under the Notch signaling pathway in physiological conditions and in tumour microenvironment.

ADR3, a next generation i-body to human RANKL, inhibits osteoclast formation and bone resorption

Osteoporosis is a chronic skeletal condition characterized by low bone mass and deteriorated microarchitecture of bone tissue and puts tens of millions of people at high risk of fractures. New therapeutic agents like i-bodies, a class of next-generation single-domain antibodies, are needed to overcome some limitations of conventional treatments. An i-body is a human immunoglobulin scaffold with two long binding loops that mimic the shape and position of those found in shark antibodies, the variable new antigen receptors of sharks. Its small size (∼12 kDa) and long binding loops provide access to drug targets, which are considered undruggable by traditional monoclonal antibodies. Here, we have successfully identified a human receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) i-body, ADR3, which demonstrates a high binding affinity to human RANKL (hRANKL) with no adverse effect on the survival or proliferation of bone marrow-derived macrophages. Differential scanning fluorimetry suggested that ADR3 is stable and able to tolerate a wide range of physical environments (including both temperature and pH). In addition, in vitro studies showed a dose-dependent inhibitory effect of ADR3 on osteoclast differentiation, podosome belt formation, and bone resorption activity. Further investigation on the mechanism of action of ADR3 revealed that it can inhibit hRANKL-mediated signaling pathways, supporting the in vitro functional observations. These clues collectively indicate that hRANKL antagonist ADR3 attenuates osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption, with the potential to serve as a novel therapeutic to protect against bone loss.

RNA-seq and Single-Cell Transcriptome Analyses of TRAIL Receptors Gene Expression in Human Osteosarcoma Cells and Tissues

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary cancer in the skeletal system, characterized by a high incidence of lung metastasis, local recurrence and death. Systemic treatment of this aggressive cancer has not improved significantly since the introduction of chemotherapy regimens, underscoring a critical need for new treatment strategies. TRAIL receptors have long been proposed to be therapeutic targets for cancer treatment, but their role in osteosarcoma remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the expression profile of four TRAIL receptors in human OS cells using total RNA-seq and single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq). The results revealed that TNFRSF10B and TNFRSF10D but not TNFRSF10A and TNFRSF10C are differentially expressed in human OS cells as compared to normal cells. At the single cell level by scRNA-seq analyses, TNFRSF10B, TNFRSF10D, TNFRSF10A and TNFRSF10C are most abundantly expressed in endothelial cells of OS tissues among nine distinct cell clusters. Notably, in osteoblastic OS cells, TNFRSF10B is most abundantly expressed, followed by TNFRSF10D, TNFRSF10A and TNFRSF10C. Similarly, in an OS cell line U2-OS using RNA-seq, TNFRSF10B is most abundantly expressed, followed by TNFRSF10D, TNFRSF10A and TNFRSF10C. According to the TARGET online database, poor patient outcomes were associated with low expression of TNFRSF10C. These results could provide a new perspective to design novel therapeutic targets of TRAIL receptors for the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of OS and other cancers.

Single-Cell Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Paraspeckles Expression in Osteosarcoma Tissues

Nuclear paraspeckles are subnuclear bodies contracted by nuclear-enriched abundant transcript 1 (NEAT1) long non-coding RNA, localised in the interchromatin space of mammalian cell nuclei. Paraspeckles have been critically involved in tumour progression, metastasis and chemoresistance. To this date, there are limited findings to suggest that paraspeckles, NEAT1 and heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) directly or indirectly play roles in osteosarcoma progression. Herein, we analysed NEAT1, paraspeckle proteins (SFPQ, PSPC1 and NONO) and hnRNP members (HNRNPK, HNRNPM, HNRNPR and HNRNPD) gene expression in 6 osteosarcoma tumour tissues using the single-cell RNA-sequencing method. The normalised data highlighted that the paraspeckles transcripts were highly abundant in osteoblastic OS cells, except NEAT1, which was highly expressed in myeloid cell 1 and 2 subpopulations.

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals differential expression of EGFL7 and VEGF in giant-cell tumor of bone and osteosarcoma

Dysregulation of angiogenesis is associated with tumor development and is accompanied by altered expression of pro-angiogenic factors. EGFL7 is a newly identified antigenic factor that plays a role in various cancers such as breast cancer, lung cancer, and acute myeloid leukemia. We have recently found that EGFL7 is expressed in the bone microenvironment, but its role in giant-cell tumor of bone (GCTB) and osteosarcoma (OS) is unknown. The aims of this study are to examine the gene expression profile of EGFL7 in GCTB and OS and compare with that of VEGF-A-D and TNFSF11 using single-cell RNA sequencing data. In-depth differential expression analyses were employed to characterize their expression in the constituent cell types of GCTB and OS. Notably, EGFL7 in GCTB was expressed at highest levels in the endothelial cell (EC) cluster followed by osteoblasts, myeloid cells, and chondrocytes, respectively. In OS, EGFL7 exhibited highest expression in EC cell cluster followed by osteoblastic OS cells, myeloid cells 1, and carcinoma associated fibroblasts (CAFs), respectively. In comparison, VEGF-A is expressed at highest levels in myeloid cells followed by OCs in GCTB, and in myeloid cells, and OCs in OS. VEGF-B is expressed at highest levels in chondrocytes in GCTB and in OCs in OS. VEGF-C is strongly enriched in ECs and VEGF-D is expressed at weak levels in all cell types in both GCTB and OS. TNFSF11 (or RANKL) shows high expression in CAFs and osteoblastic OS cells in OS, and osteoblasts in GCTB. This study investigates pro-angiogenic genes in GCTB and OS and suggests that these genes and their expression patterns are cell-type specific and could provide potential prognostic biomarkers and cell type target treatment for GCTB and OS.

Single-cell RNA-seq identification of four differentially expressed survival-related genes by a TARGET: Osteosarcoma database analysis

Osteosarcoma (OS) differentially expressed genes (DEGs) have been predicted using the data portal of the Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET). In this study, we sought to identify cell types that specially express key DEGs (MUC1, COL13A1, JAG2, and KAZALD1) in each of the nine identified cell populations derived from tissues of OS tumors with single-cell RNA-sequencing data. Gene expression levels were pairwise compared between cell clusters and a p value < 0.05 was considered differentially expressed. It was revealed that MUC1 is expressed at high levels in osteoblastic OS cells followed by carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and plasmocytes, respectively. COL13A1 is highly expressed in osteoblastic OS cells, CAFs, and endothelial cells (ECs), respectively. The KAZALD1 gene is expressed in CAFs and osteoblastic OS cells at high levels, but at very low levels in plasmocytes, osteoclasts, NK/T, myeloid cells 1, myeloid cells 2, ECs, and B cells. JAG2 is expressed at significantly high levels in ECs and osteoblastic OS cells, and at relatively lower levels in all other cell types. Interestingly, LSAMP, as an established gene in the development of OS shows high expression in osteoblastic OS cells and CAFs but low in other cells such as osteoclasts. Our findings here highlight the heterogeneity of OS cells and cell-type-dependent DEGs which have potential as therapeutic targets in OS.

Innovative approaches for treatment of osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant bone tumor, which usually occurs in children and adolescents. It is generally a high-grade malignancy presenting with extreme metastases to the lungs or other bones. The etiology of the disease is multifaceted and still remains obscure. A combination of surgery and chemotherapy has played a major role in the treatment of OS over the past three decades, and consequently, the overall survival rates for the disease have remained unchanged. Therefore, there is an urgent need to employ new comprehensive analyses and technologies to develop significantly more informative classification systems, with the aim of developing more effective and less toxic therapies for OS patients. This review discusses the existing knowledge of OS therapy and potential methods to develop novel therapeutic agents for the disease.

Current research progress in targeted anti-angiogenesis therapy for osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant bone tumour with a peak in incidence during adolescence. Delayed patient presentation and diagnosis is common with approximately 15% of OS patients presenting with metastatic disease at initial diagnosis. With the introduction of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the 1970s, disease prognosis improved from 17% to 60%-70% 5-year survival, but outcomes have not significantly improved since then. Novel and innovative therapeutic strategies are urgently needed as an adjunct to conventional treatment modalities to improve outcomes for OS patients. Angiogenesis is crucial for tumour growth, metastasis and invasion, and its prevention will ultimately inhibit tumour growth and metastasis. Dysregulation of angiogenesis in bone microenvironment involving osteoblasts and osteoclasts might contribute to OS development. This review summarizes existing knowledge regarding pre-clinical and developmental research of targeted anti-angiogenic therapy for OS with the aim of highlighting the limitations associated with this application. Targeted anti-angiogenic therapies include monoclonal antibody to VEGF (bevacizumab), tyrosine kinase inhibitors (Sorafenib, Apatinib, Pazopanib and Regorafenib) and human recombinant endostatin (Endostar). However, considering the safety and efficacy of these targeted anti-angiogenesis therapies in clinical trials cannot be guaranteed at this point, further research is needed to completely understand and characterize targeted anti-angiogenesis therapy in OS.

Upregulation of 15 Antisense Long Non-Coding RNAs in Osteosarcoma

The human genome encodes thousands of natural antisense long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs); they play the essential role in regulation of gene expression at multiple levels, including replication, transcription and translation. Dysregulation of antisense lncRNAs plays indispensable roles in numerous biological progress, such as tumour progression, metastasis and resistance to therapeutic agents. To date, there have been several studies analysing antisense lncRNAs expression profiles in cancer, but not enough to highlight the complexity of the disease. In this study, we investigated the expression patterns of antisense lncRNAs from osteosarcoma and healthy bone samples (24 tumour-16 bone samples) using RNA sequencing. We identified 15 antisense lncRNAs (RUSC1-AS1, TBX2-AS1, PTOV1-AS1, UBE2D3-AS1, ERCC8-AS1, ZMIZ1-AS1, RNF144A-AS1, RDH10-AS1, TRG-AS1, GSN-AS1, HMGA2-AS1, ZNF528-AS1, OTUD6B-AS1, COX10-AS1 and SLC16A1-AS1) that were upregulated in tumour samples compared to bone sample controls. Further, we performed real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) to validate the expressions of the antisense lncRNAs in 8 different osteosarcoma cell lines (SaOS-2, G-292, HOS, U2-OS, 143B, SJSA-1, MG-63, and MNNG/HOS) compared to hFOB (human osteoblast cell line). These differentially expressed IncRNAs can be considered biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for osteosarcoma.

12 Survival-related differentially expressed genes based on the TARGET-osteosarcoma database

The Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET) project aims to determine molecular changes that drive childhood cancers, including osteosarcoma. The main purpose of the program is to use the open-source database to develop novel, effective, and less toxic therapies. We downloaded TARGET-OS RNA-Sequencing data through R studio and merged the mRNA expression of genes with clinical information (vital status, survival time and gender). Further, we analyzed differential gene expressions between dead and alive patients based on TARGET-OS project. By this study, we found 5758 differentially expressed genes between deceased and alive patients with a false discovery rate below 0.05; 4469 genes were upregulated in deceased patients compared to alive, whereas 1289 genes were downregulated. The survival-related genes were obtained using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox univariate regression (KM < 0.05 and Cox P-value < 0.05). Out of 5758 differentially expressed genes, only 217 have been associated with overall survival. Eight survival-related downregulated genes (ERCC4, CLUAP1, CTNNBIP1, GCA, RAB40C, SIRPA, USP11, and TCN2) and four survival-related upregulated genes (MUC1, COL13A1, JAG2 and KAZALD1) were selected for further analysis as potential independent prognostic candidate genes. This study may help to discover novel prognostic markers and potential therapeutic targets for osteosarcoma.

Alternative splicing of leptin receptor overlapping transcript in osteosarcoma

IMPACT STATEMENT

Osteosarcoma (OS, also known as osteogenic sarcoma) is the most common primary malignancy of bone in children and adolescents. The molecular mechanisms of OS are extremely complicated and its molecular mediators remain to be elucidated. We sequenced total RNA from 18 OS bone samples (paired normal-tumor biopsies). We found statistically significant (FDR <0.05) 26 differentially expressed transcript variants of LEPROT gene with different expressions in normal and tumor samples. These findings contribute to the understanding of molecular mechanisms of OS development and provide encouragement to pursue further research.

The Hippo in the room: Targeting the Hippo signalling pathway for osteosarcoma therapies

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a primary malignant bone tumour which usually occurs in children and adolescents. OS is primarily a result of chromosomal aberrations, a combination of acquired genetic changes and, hereditary, resulting in the dysregulation of cellular functions. The Hippo signalling pathway regulates cell and tissue growth by modulating cell proliferation, differentiation, and migration in developing organs. Mammalian STE20-like 1/2 (MST1/2) protein kinases are activated by neurofibromatosis type 2, Ras association domain family member 2, kidney and brain protein, or other factors. Interactions between MST1/2 and salvador family WW domain-containing protein 1 activate large tumour suppressor kinase 1/2 proteins, which in turn phosphorylate the downstream Yes-associated protein 1/transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (YAP/TAZ). Moreover, dysregulation of this pathway can lead to aberrant cell growth, resulting in tumorigenesis. Interestingly, small molecules targeting the Hippo signalling pathways, through affecting YAP/TAZ cellular localisation and their interaction with members of the TEA/ATTS domain family of transcriptional enhancers are being developed and hold promise for the treatment of OS. This review discusses the existing knowledge about the involvement of the Hippo signalling cascade in OS and highlights several small molecule inhibitors as potential novel therapeutics.

Molecular structure and the role of high-temperature requirement protein 1 in skeletal disorders and cancers

Human high‐temperature requirement protein 1 (HTRA1) is a member of serine proteases and consists of four well‐defined domains—an IGFBP domain, a Kazal domain, a protease domain and a PDZ domain. HTRA1 is a secretory protein and also present intracellularly and associated with microtubules. HTRA1 regulates a broad range of physiological processes via its proteolytic activity. This review examines the role of HTRA1 in bone biology, osteoarthritis, intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration and tumorigenesis. HTRA1 mediates diverse pathological processes via a variety of signalling pathways, such as TGF‐β and NF‐κB. The expression of HTRA1 is increased in arthritis and IVD degeneration, suggesting that HTRA1 protein is attributed to cartilage degeneration and disease progression. Emerging evidence also suggests that HTRA1 has a role in tumorigenesis. Further understanding the mechanisms by which HTRA1 displays as an extrinsic and intrinsic regulator in a cell type–specific manner will be important for the development of HTRA1 as a therapeutic target.