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Tuominen S, Nissi L, Kukkula A, Routila J, Huusko T, Leivo I, Minn H, Irjala H, Löyttyniemi E, Ventelä S, Sundvall M, Grönroos TJ. TSPO is a potential independent prognostic factor associated with cellular respiration and p16 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1298333. [PMID: 38162485 PMCID: PMC10755888 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1298333] [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] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Treatment resistance and relapse are common problems in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Except for p16, no clinically accepted prognostic biomarkers are available for HNSCC. New biomarkers predictive of recurrence and survival are crucial for optimal treatment planning and patient outcome. High translocator protein (TSPO) levels have been associated with poor survival in cancer, but the role of TSPO has not been extensively evaluated in HNSCC. Materials and methods TSPO expression was determined in a large population-based tissue microarray cohort including 611 patients with HNSCC and evaluated for survival in several clinicopathological subgroups. A TCGA HNSCC cohort was used to further analyze the role of TSPO in HNSCC. Results TSPO expression was downregulated in more aggressive tumors. Low TSPO expression associated with worse 5-year survival and was an independent prognostic factor for disease-specific survival. Subgroup analyses showed that low TSPO expression associated with worse survival particularly in p16-positive oropharyngeal cancer. In silico analyses supported the prognostic role of TSPO. Cellular respiration had the highest significance in pathway analyses for genes expressed positively with TSPO. Conclusion Decreased TSPO expression associates with poor prognosis in HNSCC. TSPO is a prognostic biomarker in HNSCC to potentially guide treatment stratification especially in p16-positive oropharyngeal cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanni Tuominen
- Preclinical Imaging Laboratory, Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Cancer Research Unit, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- FICAN West Cancer Research Laboratory, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Medicity Research Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Linda Nissi
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Antti Kukkula
- Cancer Research Unit, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- FICAN West Cancer Research Laboratory, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Johannes Routila
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Teemu Huusko
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Ilmo Leivo
- Department of Pathology, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Heikki Minn
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Heikki Irjala
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Eliisa Löyttyniemi
- Department of Biostatistics, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Sami Ventelä
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Maria Sundvall
- Cancer Research Unit, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- FICAN West Cancer Research Laboratory, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Tove J. Grönroos
- Preclinical Imaging Laboratory, Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Medicity Research Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
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Isotalo T, Rotenbiller L, Candolin U. The importance of considering the duration of extreme temperatures when investigating responses to climate change. Glob Chang Biol 2022; 28:6577-6585. [PMID: 36053986 PMCID: PMC9805119 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2022] [Revised: 05/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The frequency and duration of heatwaves are increasing because of human activities. To cope with the changes, species with longer generation times may have to rely on plastic responses. The probability that their responses are adaptive is higher if the species have experienced temperature fluctuations also in their evolutionary past. However, experimental studies investigating responses to heatwaves often use exposure times that are significantly shorter than recent heatwaves. We show that this can lead to faulty conclusions and that the duration of higher temperature has to be considered in experimental designs. We recorded the response of threespine stickleback to prolonged duration of higher temperature during the breeding season, using a population that has experienced large fluctuations in temperature in its past and, hence, is expected to endure temperature changes well. We found males to adaptively adjust their reproductive behaviours to short periods of higher temperature, but not to longer periods that extended across two breeding cycles. Males initially increased their reproductive activities-nest building, courtship and parental care-which ensured high reproductive success during the first breeding cycle, but decreased their reproductive activities during the second breeding cycle when exposed to sustained high temperature. This reduced their courtship success and resulted in fewer offspring. Thus, a species expected to cope well with higher temperature suffers fitness reductions when the duration of high temperature is prolonged. The results stress the importance of considering the duration of extreme environmental conditions when investigating the impact that human activities have on species. Responses to short-term exposures cannot be extrapolated to assess responses to longer periods of extreme conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teija Isotalo
- Organismal and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
| | - Lilla Rotenbiller
- Organismal and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
| | - Ulrika Candolin
- Organismal and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
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Granroth‐Wilding HMV, Candolin U. No strong associations between temperature and the host-parasite interaction in wild stickleback. J Fish Biol 2022; 101:453-463. [PMID: 35598110 PMCID: PMC9545309 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/15/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
As climate change progresses, thermal stress is expected to alter the way that host organisms respond to infections by pathogens and parasites, with consequences for the fitness and therefore population processes of both host and parasite. The authors used a correlational natural experiment to examine how temperature differences shape the impact of the cestode parasite Schistocephalus solidus on its host, the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Previous laboratory work has found that high temperatures benefit S. solidus while being detrimental to the stickleback. The present study sought to emulate this design in the wild, repeatedly sampling naturally infected and uninfected fish at matched warmer and cooler locations in the Baltic Sea. In this wild study, the authors found little evidence that temperature was associated with the host-parasite interaction. Although infection reduced host condition and reproductive status overall, these effects did not vary with temperature. Host fitness indicators correlated to some extent with temperature, with cooler capture sites associated with larger size but warmer sites with improved reproductive potential. Parasite fitness (prevalence or size) was not correlated with temperature at the capture site. These mismatches between laboratory and field outcomes illustrate how findings from well-controlled laboratory experiments may not fully reflect processes in more variable natural settings. Nonetheless, the findings of this study indicate that temperature can influence host fitness regardless of infection, with potential consequences for both host demography and parasite transmission dynamics in this complex system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanna M. V. Granroth‐Wilding
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental SciencesUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
| | - Ulrika Candolin
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental SciencesUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
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Ollila H, Mäyränpää MI, Paavolainen L, Paajanen J, Välimäki K, Sutinen E, Wolff H, Räsänen J, Kallioniemi O, Myllärniemi M, Ilonen I, Pellinen T. Prognostic Role of Tumor Immune Microenvironment in Pleural Epithelioid Mesothelioma. Front Oncol 2022; 12:870352. [PMID: 35795056 PMCID: PMC9251441 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.870352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BackgroundPleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive malignancy with an average patient survival of only 10 months. Interestingly, about 5%–10% of the patients survive remarkably longer. Prior studies have suggested that the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) has potential prognostic value in MPM. We hypothesized that high-resolution single-cell spatial profiling of the TIME would make it possible to identify subpopulations of patients with long survival and identify immunophenotypes for the development of novel treatment strategies.MethodsWe used multiplexed fluorescence immunohistochemistry (mfIHC) and cell-based image analysis to define spatial TIME immunophenotypes in 69 patients with epithelioid MPM (20 patients surviving ≥ 36 months). Five mfIHC panels (altogether 21 antibodies) were used to classify tumor-associated stromal cells and different immune cell populations. Prognostic associations were evaluated using univariate and multivariable Cox regression, as well as combination risk models with area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) analyses.ResultsWe observed that type M2 pro-tumorigenic macrophages (CD163+pSTAT1−HLA-DRA1−) were independently associated with shorter survival, whereas granzyme B+ cells and CD11c+ cells were independently associated with longer survival. CD11c+ cells were the only immunophenotype increasing the AUROC (from 0.67 to 0.84) when added to clinical factors (age, gender, clinical stage, and grade).ConclusionHigh-resolution, deep profiling of TIME in MPM defined subgroups associated with both poor (M2 macrophages) and favorable (granzyme B/CD11c positivity) patient survival. CD11c positivity stood out as the most potential prognostic cell subtype adding prediction power to the clinical factors. These findings help to understand the critical determinants of TIME for risk and therapeutic stratification purposes in MPM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hely Ollila
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Individualized Drug Therapy Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Heart and Lung Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
- *Correspondence: Hely Ollila,
| | - Mikko I. Mäyränpää
- Department of Pathology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Lassi Paavolainen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Juuso Paajanen
- Individualized Drug Therapy Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Heart and Lung Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Katja Välimäki
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Eva Sutinen
- Individualized Drug Therapy Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Heart and Lung Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Henrik Wolff
- Department of Pathology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
- Laboratory of Pathology, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jari Räsänen
- Department of General Thoracic and Esophageal Surgery, Heart and Lung Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Olli Kallioniemi
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Marjukka Myllärniemi
- Individualized Drug Therapy Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Heart and Lung Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Ilkka Ilonen
- Individualized Drug Therapy Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Department of General Thoracic and Esophageal Surgery, Heart and Lung Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Teijo Pellinen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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Candolin U, Jensen I. Phenotypic plasticity in courtship exposed to selection in a human-disturbed environment. Evol Appl 2021; 14:2392-2401. [PMID: 34745333 PMCID: PMC8549619 DOI: 10.1111/eva.13225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2020] [Revised: 03/08/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
When environments change rapidly, evolutionary processes may be too slow to rescue populations from decline. Persistence then hinges on plastic adjustments of critical traits to the altered conditions. However, the degree to which species harbour the necessary plasticity and the degree to which the plasticity is exposed to selection in human-disturbed environments are poorly known. We show that a population of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) harbours variation in plasticity in male courtship behaviour, which is exposed to selection when visibility deteriorates because of enhanced algal growth. Females in clear water show no preference for plastic males, while females in algal-rich, turbid water switch their mate preference towards males with adaptive plasticity. Thus, while the plasticity is not selected for in the original clear water environment, it comes under selection in turbid water. However, much maladaptive plasticity is present in the population, probably because larger turbidity fluctuations have been rare in the past. Thus, the probability that the plasticity will improve the ability of the population to cope with human-induced increases in turbidity-and possibly facilitate genetic adaptation-depends on its prevalence and genetic basis. In conclusion, our results show that rapid human-induced environmental change can expose phenotypic plasticity to selection, but that much of the plasticity can be maladaptive, also when the altered conditions represent extremes of earlier encountered conditions. Thus, whether the plasticity will improve population viability remains questionable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulrika Candolin
- Organismal and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
| | - Irene Jensen
- Organismal and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
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