APOC1 predicts a worse prognosis for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and is associated with tumor immune infiltration during tumorigenesis

Background: Esophageal carcinoma (ESCA), a common malignant tumor of the digestive tract with insidious onset, is a serious threat to human health. Despite multiple treatment modalities for patients with ESCA, the overall prognosis remains poor. Apolipoprotein C1 (APOC1) is involved in tumorigenesis as an inflammation-related molecule, and its role in esophageal cancer is still unknown. Methods: We downloaded documents and clinical data using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. We also conducted bioinformatics studies on the diagnostic value, prognostic value, and correlation between APOC1 and immune infiltrating cells in ESCA through STRING (https://cn.string-db.org/), the TISIDB (http://cis.hku.hk/TISIDB/) website, and various other analysis tools. Results: In patients with ESCA, APOC1 was significantly more highly expressed in tumor tissues than in normal tissues (p < 0.001). APOC1 could diagnose ESCA more accurately and determine the TNM stage and disease classification with high accuracy (area under the curve, AUC≥0.807). The results of the Kaplan-Meier curve analysis showed that APOC1 has prognostic value for esophageal squamous carcinoma (ESCC) (p = 0.043). Univariate analysis showed that high APOC1 expression in ESCC was significantly associated with worse overall survival (OS) (p = 0.043), and multivariate analysis shows that high APOC1 expression was an independent risk factor for the OS of patients with ESCC (p = 0.030). In addition, the GO (gene ontology)/KEGG (Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes) analysis showed a concentration of gene enrichment in the regulation of T-cell activation, cornification, cytolysis, external side of the plasma membrane, MHC protein complex, MHC class II protein complex, serine-type peptidase activity, serine-type endopeptidase activity, Staphylococcus aureus infection, antigen processing and presentation, and graft-versus-host disease (all p < 0.001). GSEA (gene set enrichment analysis) showed that enrichment pathways such as immunoregulatory-interactions between a lymphoid and non-lymphoid cell (NES = 1.493, p. adj = 0.023, FDR = 0.017) and FCERI-mediated NF-KB activation (NES = 1.437, p. adj = 0.023, FDR = 0.017) were significantly enriched in APOC1-related phenotypes. In addition, APOC1 was significantly associated with tumor immune infiltrating cells and immune chemokines. Conclusion: APOC1 can be used as a prognostic biomarker for esophageal cancer. Furthermore, as a novel prognostic marker for patients with ESCC, it may have potential value for further investigation regarding the diagnosis and treatment of this group of patients.

Decreased APOC1 expression inhibited cancer progression and was associated with better prognosis and immune microenvironment in esophageal cancer

Several studies have demonstrated the involvement of apolipoprotein C1 (APOC1) in multiple cancers. However, the role of APOC1 in esophageal cancer (ESCA) has not been elucidated. Hence, we examined the expression of APOC1 in ESCA tissues acquired from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and clinical samples from our hospital. An investigation of the association of APOC1 with the clinicopathological characteristics, prognosis, and diagnosis of ESCA was carried out on the basis of survival, receiver operating characteristics, and correlation analyses. Gene ontology, KEGG analysis, and protein-protein interaction network showed that co-expressed APOC1 genes were involved in the functions, mechanisms, and action network. The effects of APOC1 expression on ESCA cells were explored using CCK-8, migration and invasion assays. The relationship between APOC1 expression and ESCA immune-infiltrating cells and cell markers were examined using correlation analysis. We found that APOC1 was overexpressed in TCGA ESCA tissues and the same was validated in clinical ESCA tissues, with the area under the curve for APOC1 being 0.887. Overexpression of APOC1 was associated with short overall survival, disease-specific survival, progression-free interval, T stage, pathological stage, body mass index, and histological grade. Inhibition of APOC1 expression significantly reduced the proliferation, migration, and invasion of ESCA cells. Furthermore, APOC1 expression positively correlated with the ESTIMATE, immune, and stromal scores in ESCA. Overexpression of APOC1 correlated with the tumor purity, B cells, T helper cells, natural killer cells, cytotoxic cells, and other immune cells. Moreover, APOC1 was involved in ESCA progression via T cell receptor, B cell receptor, and other immune signaling pathways. Thus, APOC1 overexpression is expected to be a biomarker for dismal prognosis and diagnosis of ESCA. Inhibition of APOC1 expression significantly reduced the proliferation, migration, and invasion of ESCA cells. Overexpression of APOC1 was associated with the immune microenvironment in ESCA. Thus, APOC1 may be an efficient biomarker for proper prognosis and diagnosis of ESCA.

The role of autophagy in initiation, progression, TME modification, diagnosis, and treatment of esophageal cancers

Autophagy is a highly conserved metabolic process with a cytoprotective function. Autophagy is involved in cancer, infection, immunity, and inflammation and may be a potential therapeutic target. Increasing evidence has revealed that autophagy has primary implications for esophageal cancer, including its initiation, progression, tumor microenvironment (TME) modification, diagnosis, and treatment. Notably, autophagy displayed excellent application potential in radiotherapy combined with immunotherapy. Radiotherapy combined with immunotherapy is a new potential therapeutic strategy for cancers, including esophageal cancer. Autophagy modulators can work as adjuvant enhancers in radiotherapy or immunotherapy of cancers. This review highlights the most recent data related to the role of autophagy regulation in esophageal cancer.

'Malvasia fina' affected by ESCA complex disease

The dataset presented in this paper comprises the masses of 208 lipid species and other compounds of lipid metabolism, and their levels in leaves of vines with brown wood streaking and grapevine leaf stripe, two symptomatic expressions of Esca complex disease (ESCA). Healthy, asymptomatic and symptomatic leaves were collected from the cultivar Malvasia Fina grown in a vineyard. The lipidome of these leaves was characterized using a platform consisting of an Ultrahigh Performance Liquid Chromatography and a Gas chromatography equipment coupled to a Q-Exactive Hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap high resolution/accurate Mass Spectrometer interfaced with a heated electrospray ionization source. The analysis permitted the detection of 158 molecular species of known identity and 50 species of unknown structural identity. The area counts of these molecular species is reported in the dataset, along with fold changes (log2-ratio), P-values (Welch's two-sample t-test), and q-values (false discovery rate) from all pairwise comparisons among experimental groups. These statistical data are intended to serve as means of identification for lipid species whose levels were altered by the disease, and which could be used as biomarkers of symptom emergence and disease progression. Because of few studies on the subject, the association between modulation of lipid biosynthetic pathways and disease progression in grapevine has remained poorly understood. The analysis of the data described here has already provided new perspectives regarding the pathogenesis of ESCA leaf symptom formation. Reanalysis of these data would undoubtedly unravel some physiological roles played by lipids in the adaptation of vine plants to stressful conditions.

Down-Regulation of miR-2053 Inhibits the Development and Progression of Esophageal Carcinoma by Targeting Fyn-Related Kinase (FRK)

BACKGROUND

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play essential roles in the regulation and pathophysiology of various types of cancers including esophageal carcinoma (ESCA). Increasing numbers of miRNAs have been identified to be important regulators in the progression of ESCA by regulating gene expression. However, functional miRNAs and the underlying mechanisms involved in ESCA need sufficient elucidation.

AIMS

In the present study, the function of miR-2053 was investigated in ESCA cells.

METHODS

The expression of miR-2053 was detected in four different ESCA cell lines (Eca109, Ec9706, KYSE30, and TE-1 cells) and normal cell line (HEEC) by qRT-PCR. Cell proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities after knockdown of miR-2053 were assessed by CCK-8 assay, scratch assay, and transwell assay, respectively. Cell cycle of ESCA cells was detected by flow cytometric analysis. Expression of proteins in ESCA cells was detected by Western blot analysis.

RESULTS

The results showed that the expression of miR-2053 was remarkably up-regulated in ESCA tissues and cells lines. Down-regulation of miR-2053 markedly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and markedly induced cell cycle arrest and cell apoptosis in ESCA cell lines. Fyn-related kinase (FRK) was a target gene of miR-2053. Moreover, down-regulation of miR-2053 mediated the protein kinase B (AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin and Wnt3a/β-catenin signaling pathway in ESCA cell lines.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results together suggest the potential of regulating miR-2053 expression against development and progression of esophageal carcinoma by targeting FRK.

Impact of SNPs on CpG Islands in the MYC and HRAS oncogenes and in a wide variety of tumor suppressor genes: A multi-cancer approach

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that occur within CpG Islands may lead to increased hypermethylation if a SNP allele has the potential to form a CpG dinucleotide, as well as potentially lead to hypomethylation if a SNP allele eliminates a CpG dinucleotide. We analyzed CpG-related SNP allele frequencies in whole genome sequences (WGS) across 5 TCGA cancer datasets, thereby exploiting a more recent appreciation for signaling pathway degeneracy in cancer. The cancer data sets were analyzed for SNPs in CpG islands associated with the oncogenes, HRAS and MYC, and in the CpG islands associated with the tumor suppressor genes, APC, DCC, and RB1. We determined that one SNP allele (rs3824120) in a CpG island associated with MYC which eliminated a CpG was more common in the cancer datasets than in the 100Genomes databases (p < 0.01). For HRAS, 2 SNP alleles (rs112690925, rs7939028) that created CpG's occurred significantly less frequently in the cancer data sets than in the general SNP databases (e.g., rs7939028, p < 0.0002, in comparison with AllSNPs(142)). Also, one SNP allele (rs4940177) that created a CpG in a CpG island associated with the DCC tumor suppressor gene, was more common in the cancer datasets (p < 0.0007). To understand a broader picture of the potential of SNP alleles to create CpG's in CpG islands of tumor suppressor genes, we developed a scripted algorithm to assess the SNP alleles associated with the CpG islands of 43 tumor suppressor genes. The following tumor suppressor genes have the possibility of significant, percent increases in their CpG counts, depending on which SNP allele(s) is present: VHL, BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, PTEN and RB1.

Effect of substrate storage conditions on the stability of "Smart" films used for mammalian cell applications

When poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (pNIPAM) is tethered to a surface, it can induce the spontaneous release of a sheet of mammalian cells. The release of cells is a result of the reversible phase transition the polymer undergoes at its lower critical solution temperature (LCST). Many techniques are used for the deposition of pNIPAM onto cell culture substrates. Previously, we compared two methods of deposition (plasma polymerization, and co-deposition with a sol-gel). We proved that although both were technically appropriate for obtaining thermoresponsive pNIPAM films, the surfaces that were co-deposited with a sol-gel caused some disruption in cell activity. The variation of cell behavior could be due to the delamination of pNIPAM films leaching toxic chemicals into solution. In this work, we assessed the stability of these pNIPAM films by manipulating the storage conditions and analyzing the surface chemistry using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and contact angle measurements over the amount of time required to obtain confluent cell sheets. From XPS, we demonstrated that ppNIPAM (plasma polymerized NIPAM) films remains stable across all storage conditions while sol-gel deposition show large deviations after 48 h of storage. Cell response of the deposited films was assessed by investigating the cytotoxicity and biocompatibility. The 37°C and high humidity storage affects sol-gel deposited films, inhibiting normal cell growth and proper thermoresponse of the film. Surface chemistry, thermoresponse and cell growth remained similar for all ppNIPAM surfaces, indicating these substrates are more appropriate for mammalian cell culture applications.