Advancing the Management of Skull Base Chondrosarcomas: A Systematic Review of Targeted Therapies

Background: Chondrosarcomas rank as the second most common primary bone malignancy. Characterized by the production of a cartilaginous matrix, these tumors typically exhibit resistance to both radiotherapy (RT) and chemotherapy (CT), resulting in overall poor outcomes: a high rate of mortality, especially among children and adolescents. Due to the considerable resistance to current conventional therapies such as surgery, CT, and RT, there is an urgent need to identify factors contributing to resistance and discover new strategies for optimal treatment. Over the past decade, researchers have delved into the dysregulation of genes associated with tumor development and therapy resistance to identify potential therapeutic targets for overcoming resistance. Recent studies have suggested several promising biomarkers and therapeutic targets for chondrosarcoma, including isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH1/2) and COL2A1. Molecule-targeting agents and immunotherapies have demonstrated favorable antitumor activity in clinical studies involving patients with advanced chondrosarcomas. In this systematic review, we delineate the clinical features of chondrosarcoma and provide a summary of gene dysregulation and mutation associated with tumor development, as well as targeted therapies as a promising molecular approach. Finally, we analyze the probable role of the tumor microenvironment in chondrosarcoma drug resistance. Methods: A systematic search was conducted across major medical databases (PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library) up to 10 November 2023. The search strategy utilized relevant Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms and keywords related to “chondrosarcomas”, “target therapies”, “immunotherapies”, and “outcomes”. The studies included in this review consist of randomized controlled trials, non-randomized controlled trials, and cohort studies reporting on the use of target therapies for the treatment of chondrosarcoma in human subjects. Results: Of the initial 279 articles identified, 40 articles were included in the article. The exclusion of 140 articles was due to reasons such as irrelevance, non-reporting of selected results, systematic literature review or meta-analysis, and lack of details on the method/results. Three tables highlighted clinical studies, preclinical studies, and ongoing clinical trials, encompassing 13, 7, and 20 studies, respectively. For the clinical study, a range of molecular targets, such as death receptors 4/5 (DR4 and DR5) (15%), platelet-derived growth factor receptor-alpha or -beta (PDGFR-α, PDGFR-β) (31%), were investigated. Adverse events were mainly constitutional symptoms emphasizing that to improve therapy tolerance, careful observation and tailored management are essential. Preclinical studies analyzed various molecular targets such as DR4/5 (28.6%) and COX-2 (28.6%). The prevalent indicator of antitumoral activity was the apoptotic rate of both a single agent (tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand: TRAIL) and double agents (TRAIL-DOX, TRAIL-MG132). Ongoing clinical trials, the majority in Phase II (53.9%), highlighted possible therapeutic strategies such as IDH1 inhibitors and PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors (30.8%). Conclusions: The present review offers a comprehensive analysis of targeted therapeutics for skull base chondrosarcomas, highlighting a complex landscape characterized by a range of treatment approaches and new opportunities for tailored interventions. The combination of results from molecular research and clinical trials emphasizes the necessity for specialized treatment strategies and the complexity of chondrosarcoma biology.

Advancing Craniopharyngioma Management: A Systematic Review of Current Targeted Therapies and Future Perspectives

Craniopharyngiomas present unique challenges in surgical management due to their proximity to critical neurovascular structures. This systematic review investigates genetic and immunological markers as potential targets for therapy in craniopharyngiomas, assessing their involvement in tumorigenesis, and their influence on prognosis and treatment strategies. The systematic review adhered to PRISMA guidelines, with a thorough literature search conducted on PubMed, Ovid MED-LINE, and Ovid EMBASE. Employing MeSH terms and Boolean operators, the search focused on craniopharyngiomas, targeted or molecular therapy, and clinical outcomes or adverse events. Inclusion criteria encompassed English language studies, clinical trials (randomized or non-randomized), and investigations into adamantinomatous or papillary craniopharyngiomas. Targeted therapies, either standalone or combined with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, were examined if they included clinical outcomes or adverse event analysis. Primary outcomes assessed disease response through follow-up MRI scans, categorizing responses as follows: complete response (CR), near-complete response (NCR), partial response, and stable or progressive disease based on lesion regression percentages. Secondary outcomes included treatment type and duration, as well as adverse events. A total of 891 papers were initially identified, of which 26 studies spanning from 2000 to 2023 were finally included in the review. Two tables highlighted adamantinomatous and papillary craniopharyngiomas, encompassing 7 and 19 studies, respectively. For adamantinomatous craniopharyngiomas, Interferon-2α was the predominant targeted therapy (29%), whereas dabrafenib took precedence (70%) for papillary craniopharyngiomas. Treatment durations varied, ranging from 1.7 to 28 months. Positive responses, including CR or NCR, were observed in both types of craniopharyngiomas (29% CR for adamantinomatous; 32% CR for papillary). Adverse events, such as constitutional symptoms and skin changes, were reported, emphasizing the need for vigilant monitoring and personalized management to enhance treatment tolerability. Overall, the data highlighted a diverse landscape of targeted therapies with encouraging responses and manageable adverse events, underscoring the importance of ongoing research and individualized patient care in the exploration of treatment options for craniopharyngiomas. In the realm of targeted therapies for craniopharyngiomas, tocilizumab and dabrafenib emerged as prominent choices for adamantinomatous and papillary cases, respectively. While adverse events were common, their manageable nature underscored the importance of vigilant monitoring and personalized management. Acknowledging limitations, future research should prioritize larger, well-designed clinical trials and standardized treatment protocols to enhance our understanding of the impact of targeted therapies on craniopharyngioma patients.

Expression patterns and immunological characterization of PANoptosis -related genes in gastric cancer

Background

Accumulative studies have demonstrated the close relationship between tumor immunity and pyroptosis, apoptosis, and necroptosis. However, the role of PANoptosis in gastric cancer (GC) is yet to be fully understood.

Methods

This research attempted to identify the expression patterns of PANoptosis regulators and the immune landscape in GC by integrating the GSE54129 and GSE65801 datasets. We analyzed GC specimens and established molecular clusters associated with PANoptosis-related genes (PRGs) and corresponding immune characteristics. The differentially expressed genes were determined with the WGCNA method. Afterward, we employed four machine learning algorithms (Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, Generalized linear Model, and eXtreme Gradient Boosting) to select the optimal model, which was validated using nomogram, calibration curve, decision curve analysis (DCA), and two validation cohorts. Additionally, this study discussed the relationship between infiltrating immune cells and variables in the selected model.

Results

This study identified dysregulated PRGs and differential immune activities between GC and normal samples, and further identified two PANoptosis-related molecular clusters in GC. These clusters demonstrated remarkable immunological heterogeneity, with Cluster1 exhibiting abundant immune infiltration. The Support Vector Machine signature was found to have the best discriminative ability, and a 5-gene-based SVM signature was established. This model showed excellent performance in the external validation cohorts, and the nomogram, calibration curve, and DCA indicated its reliability in predicting GC patterns. Further analysis confirmed that the 5 selected variables were remarkably related to infiltrating immune cells and immune-related pathways.

Conclusion

Taken together, this work demonstrates that the PANoptosis pattern has the potential as a stratification tool for patient risk assessment and a reflection of the immune microenvironment in GC.

Understanding the immunological interactions of engineered nanomaterials: Role of the bio-corona

Engineered nanomaterials are a broad class of materials with the potential for breakthrough applications in many sectors of society not least in medicine. Consequently, safety assessment of nanomaterials and nano-enabled products with respect to human health and the environment is of key importance. To this end, the biological interactions of nanoscale materials must be understood. Here, the dual "identities" of nanomaterials, namely, the material-intrinsic properties or synthetic identity and the acquired, context-dependent properties or biological identity, are discussed in relation to nanomaterial interactions with the immune system, our main defense against foreign intrusion. Specifically, we address whether macrophages and other innate immune cells respond to the synthetic identity or the biological identity of nanomaterials, that is, the surface adsorbed proteins and/or other biomolecules known as the bio-corona, or both? This article is categorized under: Toxicology and Regulatory Issues in Nanomedicine > Toxicology of Nanomaterials.

Comprehensive analysis of the m6A-related molecular patterns and diagnostic biomarkers in osteoporosis

BACKGROUND

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification is a critical epigenetic modification in eukaryotes and involves several biological processes and occurrences of diseases. However, the roles and regulatory mechanisms of m6A regulators in osteoporosis (OP) remain unclear. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore the roles and mechanisms of m6A regulators in OP.

METHODS

The mRNA and microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles were respectively obtained from GSE56815, GSE7158, and GSE93883 datasets in Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). The differential expression of 21 m6A regulators between high-bone mineral density (BMD) and low-BMD women was identified. Then, a consensus clustering of low-BMD women was performed based on differentially expressed (DE)-m6A regulators. The m6A-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs), the differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs), and biological functions were investigated. Moreover, a weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was constructed to identify the OP-related hub modules, hub genes, and the functional pathways. Then, an m6A regulator-target-pathway network and the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network in key modules were constructed. A least absolute shrinkage and selection operation (LASSO) Cox regression model and a Support Vector Machine-Recursive Feature Elimination (SVM-RFE) model were constructed to identify the candidate genes for OP prediction. The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves were used to validate the performances of predictive models and candidate genes.

RESULTS

A total of 10,520 DEGs, 13 DE-m6A regulators, and 506 DE-miRNAs between high-BMD and low-BMD women were identified. Two m6A-related subclusters with 13 DE-m6A regulators were classified for OP. There were 5,260 m6A-related DEGs identified between two m6A-related subclusters, the PI3K-Akt, MAPK, and immune-related pathways, and bone metabolism was mainly enriched in cluster 2. Cell cycle-related pathways, RNA methylation, and cell death-related pathways were significantly involved in cluster 1. Five modules were identified as key modules based on WGCNA, and an m6A regulator-target gene-pathway network and the ceRNA network were constructed in module brown. Moreover, three m6A regulators (FTO, YTHDF2, and CBLL1) were selected as the candidate genes for OP.

CONCLUSION

M6A regulators play an important role in the occurrences and diagnosis of OP.

Abscopal Effects in Metastatic Cancer: Is a Predictive Approach Possible to Improve Individual Outcomes?

Patients with metastatic cancers often require radiotherapy (RT) as a palliative therapy for cancer pain. RT can, however, also induce systemic antitumor effects outside of the irradiated field (abscopal effects) in various cancer entities. The occurrence of the abscopal effect is associated with a specific immunological activation in response to RT-induced cell death, which is mainly seen under concomitant immune checkpoint blockade. Even if the number of reported apscopal effects has increased since the introduction of immune checkpoint inhibition, its occurrence is still considered rare and unpredictable. The cases reported so far may nevertheless allow for identifying first biomarkers and clinical patterns. We here review biomarkers that may be helpful to predict the occurrence of abscopal effects and hence to optimize therapy for patients with metastatic cancers.

Variability in molecular characteristics of Hepatitis E virus quasispecies could modify viral surface properties and transmission

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) usually causes self-limited liver diseases but can also result in severe cases. Genotypes 1 (G1) and 2 circulate in developing countries are human-restricted and waterborne, while zoonotic G3 and G4 circulating in industrialized countries preferentially infect human through consumption of contaminated meat. Our aims were to identify amino acid patterns in HEV variants that could be involved in pathogenicity or in transmission modes, related to their impact on antigenicity and viral surface hydrophobicity. HEV sequences from human (n = 37) and environmental origins (wild boar [n = 3], pig slaughterhouse effluent [n = 6] and urban wastewater [n = 2]) were collected for the characterization of quasispecies using ultra-deep sequencing (ORF2/ORF3 overlap). Predictive and functional assays were carried out to investigate viral particle antigenicity and hydrophobicity. Most quasispecies showed a major variant while a mixture was observed in urban wastewater and in one chronically infected patient. Amino acid signatures were identified, as a rabbit-linked HEV pattern in two infected patients, or the S68L (ORF2) / H81C (ORF3) residue mostly identified in wild boars. By comparison with environmental strains, molecular patterns less likely represented in humans were identified. Patterns impacting viral hydrophobicity and/or antigenicity were also observed, and the higher hydrophobicity of HEV naked particles compared with the enveloped forms was demonstrated. HEV variants isolated from human and environment present molecular patterns that could impact their surface properties as well as their transmission. These molecular patterns may concern only one minor variant of a quasispecies and could emerge under selective pressure.

Mining the Biomarker Potential of the Urine Peptidome: From Amino Acids Properties to Proteases

Native biofluid peptides offer important information about diseases, holding promise as biomarkers. Particularly, the non-invasive nature of urine sampling, and its high peptide concentration, make urine peptidomics a useful strategy to study the pathogenesis of renal conditions. Moreover, the high number of detectable peptides as well as their specificity set the ground for the expansion of urine peptidomics to the identification of surrogate biomarkers for extra-renal diseases. Peptidomics further allows the prediction of proteases (degradomics), frequently dysregulated in disease, providing a complimentary source of information on disease pathogenesis and biomarkers. Then, what does urine peptidomics tell us so far? In this paper, we appraise the value of urine peptidomics in biomarker research through a comprehensive analysis of all datasets available to date. We have mined > 50 papers, addressing > 30 different conditions, comprising > 4700 unique peptides. Bioinformatic tools were used to reanalyze peptide profiles aiming at identifying disease fingerprints, to uncover hidden disease-specific peptides physicochemical properties and to predict the most active proteases associated with their generation. The molecular patterns found in this study may be further validated in the future as disease biomarker not only for kidney diseases but also for extra-renal conditions, as a step forward towards the implementation of a paradigm of predictive, preventive and personalized (3P) medicine.

Assembly of tetraspanins, galectin-3, and distinct N-glycans defines the solubilization signature of seminal prostasomes from normozoospermic and oligozoospermic men

BACKGROUND

Prostasomes, extracellular vesicles (EVs) abundantly present in seminal plasma, express distinct tetraspanins (TS) and galectin-3 (gal-3), which are supposed to shape their surface by an assembly of different molecular complexes. In this study, detergent-sensitivity patterns of membrane-associated prostasomal proteins were determined aiming at the solubilization signature as an intrinsic multimolecular marker and a new parameter suitable as a reference for the comparison of EVs populations in health and disease.

METHODS

Prostasomes were disrupted by Triton X-100 and analyzed by gel filtration under conditions that maintained complete solubilization. Redistribution of TS (CD63, CD9, and CD81), gal-3, gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), and distinct N-glycans was monitored using solid-phase lectin-binding assays, transmission electron microscopy, electrophoresis, and lectin blot.

RESULTS

Comparative data on prostasomes under normal physiology and conditions of low sperm count revealed similarity regarding the redistribution of distinct N-glycans and GGT, all presumed to be mainly part of the vesicle coat. In contrast to this, a greater difference was found in the redistribution of integral membrane proteins, exemplified by TS and gal-3. Accordingly, they were grouped into two molecular patterns mainly consisting of overlapped CD9/gal-3/wheat germ agglutinin-reactive glycoproteins and CD63/GGT/concanavalin A-reactive glycoproteins.

CONCLUSIONS

Solubilization signature can be considered as an all-inclusive distinction factor regarding the surface properties of a particular vesicle since it reflects the status of the parent cell and the extracellular environment, both of which contribute to the composition of spatial membrane arrangements.

Elicitors of Plant Immunity Triggered by Beneficial Bacteria

The molecular basis of plant immunity triggered by microbial pathogens is being well-characterized as a complex sequential process leading to the activation of defense responses at the infection site, but which may also be systemically expressed in all organs, a phenomenon also known as systemic acquired resistance (SAR). Some plant-associated and beneficial bacteria are also able to stimulate their host to mount defenses against pathogen ingress via the phenotypically similar, induced systemic resistance phenomenon. Induced systemic resistance resembles SAR considering its mechanistic principle as it successively involves recognition at the plant cell surface, stimulation of early cellular immune-related events, systemic signaling via a fine-tuned hormonal cross-talk and activation of defense mechanisms. It thus represents an indirect but efficient mechanism by which beneficial bacteria with biocontrol potential improve the capacity of plants to restrict pathogen invasion. However, according to our current vision, induced systemic resistance is specific considering some molecular aspects underpinning these different steps. Here we overview the chemical diversity of compounds that have been identified as induced systemic resistance elicitors and thereby illustrating the diversity of plants species that are responsive as well as the range of pathogens that can be controlled via this phenomenon. We also point out the need for further investigations allowing better understanding how these elicitors are sensed by the host and the diversity and nature of the stimulated defense mechanisms.

Polyproline Tri-Helix Macrocycles as Nanosized Scaffolds to Control Ligand Patterns for Selective Protein Oligomer Interactions

Multivalent ligand-receptor interactions play essential roles in biological recognition and signaling. As the receptor arrangement on the cell surface can alter the outcome of cell signaling and also provide spatial specificity for ligand binding, controlling the presentation of ligands has become a promising strategy to manipulate or selectively target protein receptors. The lack of adjustable universal tools to control ligand positions at the size of a few nanometers has prompted the development of polyproline tri-helix macrocycles as scaffolds to present ligands in designated patterns. Model lectin Helix pomatia agglutinin has shown selectivity toward the matching GalNAc ligand pattern matching its binding sites arrangement. The GalNAc pattern selectivity is also observed on intact asialoglycoprotein receptor oligomer on human hepatoma cells showing the pattern-selective interaction can be achieved not only on isolated protein oligomers but also the receptors arranged on the cell surface. As the scaffold design allows convenient creation of versatile ligand patterns, it can be expected as a promising tool to probe the arrangement of receptors on the cell surface and as nanomedicine to manipulate signaling or cell recognition.