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Matsumoto S, Kikuchi A. Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in liver biology and tumorigenesis. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Anim 2024:10.1007/s11626-024-00858-7. [PMID: 38379098 DOI: 10.1007/s11626-024-00858-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
The Wnt/β-catenin pathway is an evolutionarily conserved signaling pathway that controls fundamental physiological and pathological processes by regulating cell proliferation and differentiation. The Wnt/β-catenin pathway enables liver homeostasis by inducing differentiation and contributes to liver-specific features such as metabolic zonation and regeneration. In contrast, abnormalities in the Wnt/β-catenin pathway promote the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Similarly, hepatoblastoma, the most common childhood liver cancer, is frequently associated with β-catenin mutations, which activate Wnt/β-catenin signaling. HCCs with activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway have unique gene expression patterns and pathological and clinical features. Accordingly, they are highly differentiated with retaining hepatocyte-like characteristics and tumorigenic. Activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in HCC also alters the state of immune cells, causing "immune evasion" with inducing resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors, which have recently become widely used to treat HCC. Activated Wnt/β-catenin signaling exhibits these phenomena in liver tumorigenesis through the expression of downstream target genes, and the molecular basis is still poorly understood. In this review, we describe the physiological roles of Wnt/b-catenin signaling and then discuss their characteristic changes by the abnormal activation of Wnt/b-catenin signaling. Clarification of the mechanism would contribute to the development of therapeutic agents in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shinji Matsumoto
- Departments of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-2 Yamada-Oka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
- Integrated Frontier Research for Medical Science Division, Institute for Open and Transdisciplinary Research Initiatives (OTRI), 2-2 Yamada-Oka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
| | - Akira Kikuchi
- Departments of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-2 Yamada-Oka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
- Center of Infectious Disease Education and Research (CiDER), Osaka University, 2-8 Yamada-Oka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
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Shimada Y, Yoshioka Y, Kudo Y, Mimae T, Miyata Y, Adachi H, Ito H, Okada M, Ohira T, Matsubayashi J, Ochiya T, Ikeda N. Extracellular vesicle-associated microRNA signatures related to lymphovascular invasion in early-stage lung adenocarcinoma. Sci Rep 2023; 13:4823. [PMID: 36964242 PMCID: PMC10038982 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-32041-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 03/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Lymphovascular invasion (LVI) is a fundamental step toward the spread of cancer. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) promote cellular communication by shuttling cargo, such as microRNAs (miRNAs). However, whether EV-associated miRNAs serve as biomarkers for LVI remains unclear. This study aimed to identify EV-associated miRNAs related to LVI and validate the miRNA levels from patients with early-stage lung adenocarcinoma (LADC). Blood samples were collected from patients undergoing pulmonary resection for stage I LADC before surgery. The patients were classified into three groups according to the presence of LVI and postoperative recurrence. Serum-derived EVs in the derivation cohort were used for small RNA sequencing, while the selected LVI miRNA candidates were validated via real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction using 44 patient and 16 healthy donor samples as the validation cohorts. Five miRNAs (miR-99b-3p, miR-26a-5p, miR-93-5p, miR-30d-5p, and miR-365b-3p) were assessed, and miR-30d-5p (p = 0.036) levels were significantly downregulated in the LVI-positive group. miR-30d-5p levels in healthy donors were lower than those in LADC patients. Patients with high miR-30d-5p levels had favorable survival compared to those with low miR-30d-5p levels. miR-30d-5p level in EVs may serve as a promising biomarker for detecting LVI in patients with early-stage LADC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoshihisa Shimada
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tokyo Medical University, 6-7-1 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-0023, Japan.
| | - Yusuke Yoshioka
- Department of molecular and cellular medicine, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yujin Kudo
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tokyo Medical University, 6-7-1 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-0023, Japan
| | - Takahiro Mimae
- Department of Surgical Oncology, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
| | - Yoshihiro Miyata
- Department of Surgical Oncology, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
| | - Hiroyuki Adachi
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Kanagawa Cancer Center, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Hiroyuki Ito
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Kanagawa Cancer Center, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Morihito Okada
- Department of Surgical Oncology, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
| | - Tatsuo Ohira
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tokyo Medical University, 6-7-1 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-0023, Japan
| | - Jun Matsubayashi
- Department of Anatomic Pathology, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Takahiro Ochiya
- Department of molecular and cellular medicine, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Norihiko Ikeda
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tokyo Medical University, 6-7-1 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-0023, Japan
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