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Cheung AHK, Wong KY, Chau SL, Xie F, Mui Z, Li GYH, Li MSC, Tong J, Ng CSH, Mok TS, Kang W, To KF. SMARCA4 deficiency and mutations are frequent in large cell lung carcinoma and are prognostically significant. Pathology 2024; 56:504-515. [PMID: 38413251 DOI: 10.1016/j.pathol.2023.12.414] [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] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Revised: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/29/2024]
Abstract
SMARCA4 mutation has emerged as a marker of poor prognosis in lung cancer and has potential predictive value in cancer treatment, but recommendations for which patients require its investigation are lacking. We comprehensively studied SMARCA4 alterations and the clinicopathological significance in a large cohort of immunohistochemically-subtyped non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A total of 1416 patients was studied for the presence of SMARCA4 deficiency by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Thereafter, comprehensive sequencing of tumours was performed for 397 of these patients to study the mutational spectrum of SWI/SNF and SMARCA4 aberrations. IHC evidence of SMARCA4 deficiency was found in 2.9% of NSCLC. Of the sequenced tumours, 38.3% showed aberration in SWI/SNF complex, and 9.3% had SMARCA4 mutations. Strikingly, SMARCA4 aberrations were much more prevalent in large cell carcinoma (LCC) than other histological tumour subtypes. SMARCA4-deficient and SMARCA4-mutated tumours accounted for 40.5% and 51.4% of all LCC, respectively. Multivariable analyses confirmed SMARCA4 mutation was an independent prognostic factor in lung cancer. The immunophenotype of a subset of these tumours frequently showed TTF1 negativity and HepPAR1 positivity. SMARCA4 mutation or its deficiency was associated with positive smoking history and poor prognosis. It also demonstrated mutual exclusion with EGFR mutation. Taken together, the high incidence of SMARCA4 aberrations in LCC may indicate its diagnostic and prognostic value. Our study established the necessity of SMARCA4 IHC in the identification of SMARCA4-aberrant tumours, and this may be of particular importance in LCC and tumours without known driver events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alvin Ho-Kwan Cheung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Kit-Yee Wong
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Shuk-Ling Chau
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Fuda Xie
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Institute of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Zeta Mui
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Gordon Yuan-Ho Li
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Molly Siu Ching Li
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Joanna Tong
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Calvin Sze-Hang Ng
- Department of Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Tony S Mok
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Wei Kang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Institute of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Institute of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
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Li JSF, Tang PCT, Choi CKK, Chan ASW, Ng CSH, To KF, Tang PMK. Protocol to study immunodynamics in the tumor microenvironment using a tyramide signal amplification-based immunofluorescent multiplex panel. STAR Protoc 2024; 5:102823. [PMID: 38194342 PMCID: PMC10820311 DOI: 10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102823] [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] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Revised: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Immunodynamics in the tumor microenvironment can be precisely examined by using multiple antigen identification approaches. Here, we present a protocol for capturing expression levels of multiple target proteins in the same specimen at single-cell resolution using a tyramide signal amplification-based immunofluorescent multiplexing system. We describe steps for tumor tissue microarray preparation, multiplex immunohistochemistry staining, image acquisition, and quantification. This protocol can quantify immune cells in tissues from patients or experimental disease models at a protein level. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Chung et al. (2023),1 Tang et al. (2022),2 and Tang et al. (2022).3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jane Siu-Fan Li
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Philip Chiu-Tsun Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Chun Kit K Choi
- Department of Chemical Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Alex Siu-Wing Chan
- Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Calvin Sze-Hang Ng
- Department of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
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3
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Fisher Y, Lacambra MD, Almohsen SS, Chow C, Hornick JL, To KF, Dickson BC. Expanding the spectrum of tyrosine kinase fusions in calcified chondroid mesenchymal neoplasms: Identification of a novel PDGFRA::USP8 gene fusion. Genes Chromosomes Cancer 2024; 63:e23197. [PMID: 37642440 DOI: 10.1002/gcc.23197] [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] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Revised: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/12/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Calcified chondroid mesenchymal neoplasms represent a distinct, and recently recognized, spectrum of tumors. To date most cases have been reported to be characterized by FN1 gene fusions involving multiple potential tyrosine kinase partners. Following incidental identification of a tumor morphologically corresponding to calcified chondroid mesenchymal neoplasm, but with a PDGFRA::USP8 gene fusion, we undertook a retrospective review to identify and characterize additional such cases. A total of four tumors were identified. Each was multilobulated and composed of polygonal-epithelioid-stellate cells with a background of chondroid matrix containing distinctive patterns of calcification. Targeted RNA sequencing revealed an identical PDGFRA (exon 22)::USP8 (exon 5) gene fusion in each case. Subsequent immunohistochemical staining confirmed the presence of PDGFRα overexpression. In summary, we report a series of four tumors within the morphologic spectrum of calcified chondroid mesenchymal neoplasms. In contrast to prior reports, these tumors harbored a novel PDGFRA::USP8 gene fusion, rather than FN1 rearrangement. Our findings expand the molecular diversity of these neoplasms, and suggest they are united through activation of protein kinases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yael Fisher
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Maribel D Lacambra
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Shahd S Almohsen
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Chit Chow
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Jason L Hornick
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Brendan C Dickson
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Wing YK, Zhang J, To KF, Mok CTV, Ng SMS, Wong HS, Li XS. Gut microbiota across early stages of synucleinopathy: abridged secondary publication. Hong Kong Med J 2023; 29 Suppl 7:24-30. [PMID: 38148652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Y K Wing
- Department of Psychiatry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - J Zhang
- Department of Psychiatry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - K F To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - C T V Mok
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - S M S Ng
- Department of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - H S Wong
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - X S Li
- Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
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Ji ZZ, Chan MKK, Chan ASW, Leung KT, Jiang X, To KF, Wu Y, Tang PMK. Tumour-associated macrophages: versatile players in the tumour microenvironment. Front Cell Dev Biol 2023; 11:1261749. [PMID: 37965573 PMCID: PMC10641386 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1261749] [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: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Tumour-Associated Macrophages (TAMs) are one of the pivotal components of the tumour microenvironment. Their roles in the cancer immunity are complicated, both pro-tumour and anti-cancer activities are reported, including not only angiogenesis, extracellular matrix remodeling, immunosuppression, drug resistance but also phagocytosis and tumour regression. Interestingly, TAMs are highly dynamic and versatile in solid tumours. They show anti-cancer or pro-tumour activities, and interplay between the tumour microenvironment and cancer stem cells and under specific conditions. In addition to the classic M1/M2 phenotypes, a number of novel dedifferentiation phenomena of TAMs are discovered due to the advanced single-cell technology, e.g., macrophage-myofibroblast transition (MMT) and macrophage-neuron transition (MNT). More importantly, emerging information demonstrated the potential of TAMs on cancer immunotherapy, suggesting by the therapeutic efficiency of the checkpoint inhibitors and chimeric antigen receptor engineered cells based on macrophages. Here, we summarized the latest discoveries of TAMs from basic and translational research and discussed their clinical relevance and therapeutic potential for solid cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoey Zeyuan Ji
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Max Kam-Kwan Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Alex Siu-Wing Chan
- Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Kam-Tong Leung
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Xiaohua Jiang
- Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine of the Ministry of Education of China, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Yi Wu
- MOE Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
| | - Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China
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6
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Xiong Z, Chan SL, Zhou J, Vong JSL, Kwong TT, Zeng X, Wu H, Cao J, Tu Y, Feng Y, Yang W, Wong PPC, Si-Tou WWY, Liu X, Wang J, Tang W, Liang Z, Lu J, Li KM, Low JT, Chan MWY, Leung HHW, Chan AWH, To KF, Yip KYL, Lo YMD, Sung JJY, Cheng ASL. Targeting PPAR-gamma counteracts tumour adaptation to immune-checkpoint blockade in hepatocellular carcinoma. Gut 2023; 72:1758-1773. [PMID: 37019619 PMCID: PMC10423534 DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2022-328364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 04/07/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Therapy-induced tumour microenvironment (TME) remodelling poses a major hurdle for cancer cure. As the majority of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) exhibits primary or acquired resistance to antiprogrammed cell death (ligand)-1 (anti-PD-[L]1) therapies, we aimed to investigate the mechanisms underlying tumour adaptation to immune-checkpoint targeting. DESIGN Two immunotherapy-resistant HCC models were generated by serial orthotopic implantation of HCC cells through anti-PD-L1-treated syngeneic, immunocompetent mice and interrogated by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), genomic and immune profiling. Key signalling pathway was investigated by lentiviral-mediated knockdown and pharmacological inhibition, and further verified by scRNA-seq analysis of HCC tumour biopsies from a phase II trial of pembrolizumab (NCT03419481). RESULTS Anti-PD-L1-resistant tumours grew >10-fold larger than parental tumours in immunocompetent but not immunocompromised mice without overt genetic changes, which were accompanied by intratumoral accumulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC), cytotoxic to exhausted CD8+ T cell conversion and exclusion. Mechanistically, tumour cell-intrinsic upregulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARγ) transcriptionally activated vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) production to drive MDSC expansion and CD8+ T cell dysfunction. A selective PPARγ antagonist triggered an immune suppressive-to-stimulatory TME conversion and resensitised tumours to anti-PD-L1 therapy in orthotopic and spontaneous HCC models. Importantly, 40% (6/15) of patients with HCC resistant to pembrolizumab exhibited tumorous PPARγ induction. Moreover, higher baseline PPARγ expression was associated with poorer survival of anti-PD-(L)1-treated patients in multiple cancer types. CONCLUSION We uncover an adaptive transcriptional programme by which tumour cells evade immune-checkpoint targeting via PPARγ/VEGF-A-mediated TME immunosuppression, thus providing a strategy for counteracting immunotherapeutic resistance in HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhewen Xiong
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Stephen Lam Chan
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jingying Zhou
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Joaquim S L Vong
- Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
- Department of Chemical Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Tsz Tung Kwong
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Xuezhen Zeng
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Haoran Wu
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jianquan Cao
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yalin Tu
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yu Feng
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Weiqin Yang
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Patrick Pak-Chun Wong
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Willis Wai-Yiu Si-Tou
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Xiaoyu Liu
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jing Wang
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Wenshu Tang
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Zhixian Liang
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jiahuan Lu
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Ka Man Li
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jie-Ting Low
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Min-Hsiung, Chia-Yi, Taiwan
| | - Michael Wing-Yan Chan
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Min-Hsiung, Chia-Yi, Taiwan
| | - Howard H W Leung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Anthony W H Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Kevin Yuk-Lap Yip
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
- Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Yuk Ming Dennis Lo
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
- Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
- Department of Chemical Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Joseph Jao-Yiu Sung
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
- State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Alfred Sze-Lok Cheng
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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Cheung AHK, Wong KY, Liu X, Ji F, Hui CHL, Zhang Y, Kwan JSH, Chen B, Dong Y, Lung RWM, Yu J, Lo KW, Wong CC, Kang W, To KF. MLK4 promotes glucose metabolism in lung adenocarcinoma through CREB-mediated activation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and is regulated by KLF5. Oncogenesis 2023; 12:35. [PMID: 37407566 DOI: 10.1038/s41389-023-00478-y] [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: 01/03/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023] Open
Abstract
MLK4, a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAP3K) family, has been implicated in cancer progression. However, its role in lung adenocarcinoma has not been characterized. Here, we showed that MLK4 was overexpressed in a significant subset of lung adenocarcinoma, associated with a worse prognosis, and exerted an oncogenic function in vitro and in vivo. Bioinformatics analyses of clinical datasets identified phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1 (PCK1) as a novel target of MLK4. We validated that MLK4 regulated PCK1 expression at transcriptional level, by phosphorylating the transcription factor CREB, which in turn mediated PCK1 expression. We further demonstrated that PCK1 is an oncogenic factor in lung adenocarcinoma. Given the importance of PCK1 in the regulation of cellular metabolism, we next deciphered the metabolic effects of MLK4. Metabolic and mass spectrometry analyses showed that MLK4 knockdown led to significant reduction of glycolysis and decreased levels of glycolytic pathway metabolites including phosphoenolpyruvate and lactate. Finally, the promoter analysis of MLK4 unravelled a binding site of transcription factor KLF5, which in turn, positively regulated MLK4 expression in lung adenocarcinoma. In summary, we have revealed a KLF5-MLK4-PCK1 signalling pathway involved in lung tumorigenesis and established an unusual link between MAP3K signalling and cancer metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alvin Ho-Kwan Cheung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Kit-Yee Wong
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Xiaoli Liu
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Fenfen Ji
- Institute of Digestive Disease, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Chris Ho-Lam Hui
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Yihan Zhang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Johnny Sheung-Him Kwan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Bonan Chen
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Yujuan Dong
- Institute of Digestive Disease, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Raymond Wai-Ming Lung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Jun Yu
- Institute of Digestive Disease, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Kwok Wai Lo
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Chi Chun Wong
- Institute of Digestive Disease, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Wei Kang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
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8
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Chung JYF, Tang PCT, Chan MKK, Xue VW, Huang XR, Ng CSH, Zhang D, Leung KT, Wong CK, Lee TL, Lam EWF, Nikolic-Paterson DJ, To KF, Lan HY, Tang PMK. Smad3 is essential for polarization of tumor-associated neutrophils in non-small cell lung carcinoma. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1794. [PMID: 37002229 PMCID: PMC10066366 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37515-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [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: 10/05/2020] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Neutrophils are dynamic with their phenotype and function shaped by the microenvironment, such as the N1 antitumor and N2 pro-tumor states within the tumor microenvironment (TME), but its regulation remains undefined. Here we examine TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling in tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patients. Smad3 activation in N2 TANs is negatively correlate with the N1 population and patient survival. In experimental lung carcinoma, TANs switch from a predominant N2 state in wild-type mice to an N1 state in Smad3-KO mice which associate with enhanced neutrophil infiltration and tumor regression. Neutrophil depletion abrogates the N1 anticancer phenotype in Smad3-KO mice, while adoptive transfer of Smad3-KO neutrophils reproduces this protective effect in wild-type mice. Single-cell analysis uncovers a TAN subset showing a mature N1 phenotype in Smad3-KO TME, whereas wild-type TANs mainly retain an immature N2 state due to Smad3. Mechanistically, TME-induced Smad3 target genes related to cell fate determination to preserve the N2 state of TAN. Importantly, genetic deletion and pharmaceutical inhibition of Smad3 enhance the anticancer capacity of neutrophils against NSCLC via promoting their N1 maturation. Thus, our work suggests that Smad3 signaling in neutrophils may represent a therapeutic target for cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeff Yat-Fai Chung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Philip Chiu-Tsun Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Max Kam-Kwan Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Vivian Weiwen Xue
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Regional Immunity and Diseases, Carson International Cancer Center, Department of Pharmacology, Shenzhen University Health Science Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Xiao-Ru Huang
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Calvin Sze-Hang Ng
- Department of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Dongmei Zhang
- College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Kam-Tong Leung
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Chun-Kwok Wong
- Department of Chemical Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Tin-Lap Lee
- Reproduction, Development and Endocrinology Program, School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Eric W-F Lam
- Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangdong, 510060, China
| | - David J Nikolic-Paterson
- Department of Nephrology and Monash University Department of Medicine, Monash Medical Centre, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Hui-Yao Lan
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
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9
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Yu SH, Kan ANC, To KF, Lam YL, Yan CLS, Liu APY, Ku DTL. Durable disease control with apatinib, irinotecan and temozolomide in a case of metastatic primitive myxoid mesenchymal tumour of infancy. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2023; 70:e30026. [PMID: 36441598 DOI: 10.1002/pbc.30026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2022] [Revised: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 09/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- S H Yu
- Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Amanda N C Kan
- Department of Pathology, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
| | - K F To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Y L Lam
- Department of Orthopaediacs and Traumatology, Queen Mary Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Carol L S Yan
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Anthony P Y Liu
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR.,Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Dennis T L Ku
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
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10
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Cheung AHK, Wong KY, Chiang CH, Liu X, Zhang Y, Hui CHL, Chen B, Wang Y, Chow C, Kang W, To KF. Interpretation of Lung Cancer Plasma EGFR Mutation Tests in the Clinical Setting. Am J Clin Pathol 2023; 159:181-191. [PMID: 36573768 DOI: 10.1093/ajcp/aqac149] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Comprehensive data synthesis of the clinical parameters that affect plasma EGFR mutation test results in non-small cell lung carcinoma is lacking. Although individual studies have suggested a variety of patient characteristics that can affect diagnostic accuracy, no unified conclusion has been reached. METHODS We analyzed 170 plasma EGFR mutation tests performed between 2015 and 2021 at our institution and carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify clinical and imaging features that correlate with plasma EGFR mutation test sensitivity. RESULTS Data synthesis from 14 studies of 2,576 patients revealed that patients with stage IV disease had a significantly lower false-negative rate than those with stage I through III disease. For our institutional cohort, which consisted of 75 paired plasma and tissue tests that were assessable for diagnostic accuracy, the overall sensitivity was 70.59% (95% confidence interval, 56.17%-82.51%). Patients who had distant metastases and more suspicious lymph nodes on imaging findings correlated with a low false-negative rate. CONCLUSIONS While interpreting plasma EGFR mutation results, extra caution should be exercised for patients with early-stage, localized disease to accommodate the possibility of false-negative results. These meta-analyses and clinical data may enable clinicians to make evidence-based judgments for individual patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alvin Ho-Kwan Cheung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Kit-Yee Wong
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | | | - Xiaoli Liu
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Yihan Zhang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Chris Ho-Lam Hui
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Bonan Chen
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Yifei Wang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Chit Chow
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Wei Kang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
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11
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Chan MKK, Chan ELY, Ji ZZ, Chan ASW, Li C, Leung KT, To KF, Tang PMK. Transforming growth factor-β signaling: from tumor microenvironment to anticancer therapy. Explor Target Antitumor Ther 2023; 4:316-343. [PMID: 37205317 PMCID: PMC10185444 DOI: 10.37349/etat.2023.00137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [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: 10/29/2022] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling is an important pathway for promoting the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases, including cancer. The roles of TGF-β signaling are heterogeneous and versatile in cancer development and progression, both anticancer and protumoral actions are reported. Interestingly, increasing evidence suggests that TGF-β enhances disease progression and drug resistance via immune-modulatory actions in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of solid tumors. A better understanding of its regulatory mechanisms in the TME at the molecular level can facilitate the development of precision medicine to block the protumoral actions of TGF-β in the TME. Here, the latest information about the regulatory mechanisms and translational research of TGF-β signaling in the TME for therapeutic development had been summarized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max Kam-Kwan Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Emily Lok-Yiu Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Zoey Zeyuan Ji
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Alex Siu-Wing Chan
- Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Chunjie Li
- Department of Head and Neck Oncology, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China
| | - Kam-Tong Leung
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
- Correspondence: Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang, Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China.
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12
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Man Ng JK, Chow C, Kin Chan RC, Pang Chan K, Xi Li JJ, Ching Li MS, To KF. EGFR testing in paraffin-embedded cell block cytology material is reliable with increased detection for effusion fluid. Lung Cancer 2022; 174:97-103. [PMID: 36356494 DOI: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2022.10.013] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Cytology is integral to lung cancer diagnosis. Aspiration and exfoliative fluid specimens represent valuable tumor material for molecular testing. In this study, a large retrospective cohort of EGFR tests was reviewed to address the adequacy, detection and discrepancy rate in tests performed with cytology material. METHODS EGFR tests performed from 2013 to 2022 were reviewed and classified by the modality of obtaining tissue and by tissue type. EGFR tests for tissue specimens were performed on unstained sections of paraffin-embedded material on glass slides. Adequacy and types of mutation(s) detected were analysed. Cases where multiple EGFR testing was performed on the same patient were reviewed for discordance. RESULTS There were 5,504 tests retrieved, with 1,855, 3,607 and 42 performed on cytology, surgical and blood specimens. Lung and excision specimens were more often adequate (p < 0.001). Cytology material showed lower adequacy rates (p < 0.01). EGFR detection (positive) rate was higher in pleural fluid compared to biopsy (59.8 % vs 50.7 %, p = 0.022), but similar between lung and lymph node cytology and non-cytology specimens. Effusion fluid specimens had the highest adequacy (81.5 %) and detection rate (59.3 %) among cytology specimens (p < 0.001). Four (4.4 %) cases showed discordant results in cytology specimens. Two were false negatives in the non-cytology material. Only in one case was cytology material genuinely discrepant. The remaining discordance was attributed to the interval treatment effect. CONCLUSION The findings support that EGFR testing in cell block is reliable and complements tissue material. In addition, pleural fluid appears to be superior to pleural biopsies for molecular testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Ka Man Ng
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Chit Chow
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Ronald Cheong Kin Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Ka Pang Chan
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Joshua Jing Xi Li
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
| | - Molly Siu Ching Li
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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13
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Wang H, Chan KYY, Cheng CK, Ng MH, Lee PY, Cheng FWT, Lam GKS, Chow TW, Ha SY, Chiang AK, Leung WH, Leung AY, Wang CC, Zhang T, Zhang XB, So CC, Yuen YP, Sun Q, Zhang C, Xu Y, Cheung JTK, Ng WH, Tang PMK, Kang W, To KF, Lee WYW, Wong RS, Poon ENY, Zhao Q, Huang J, Chen C, Yuen PMP, Li CK, Leung AWK, Leung KT. Pharmacogenomic Profiling of Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia to Identify Therapeutic Vulnerabilities and Inform Functional Precision Medicine. Blood Cancer Discov 2022; 3:516-535. [PMID: 35960210 PMCID: PMC9894568 DOI: 10.1158/2643-3230.bcd-22-0011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2022] [Revised: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the expanding portfolio of targeted therapies for adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), direct implementation in children is challenging due to inherent differences in underlying genetics. Here we established the pharmacologic profile of pediatric AML by screening myeloblast sensitivity to approved and investigational agents, revealing candidates of immediate clinical relevance. Drug responses ex vivo correlated with patient characteristics, exhibited age-specific alterations, and concorded with activities in xenograft models. Integration with genomic data uncovered new gene-drug associations, suggesting actionable therapeutic vulnerabilities. Transcriptome profiling further identified gene-expression signatures associated with on- and off-target drug responses. We also demonstrated the feasibility of drug screening-guided treatment for children with high-risk AML, with two evaluable cases achieving remission. Collectively, this study offers a high-dimensional gene-drug clinical data set that could be leveraged to research the unique biology of pediatric AML and sets the stage for realizing functional precision medicine for the clinical management of the disease. SIGNIFICANCE We conducted integrated drug and genomic profiling of patient biopsies to build the functional genomic landscape of pediatric AML. Age-specific differences in drug response and new gene-drug interactions were identified. The feasibility of functional precision medicine-guided management of children with high-risk AML was successfully demonstrated in two evaluable clinical cases. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 476.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han Wang
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Kathy Yuen Yee Chan
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Chi Keung Cheng
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Margaret H.L. Ng
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Po Yi Lee
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Frankie Wai Tsoi Cheng
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Grace Kee See Lam
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Tin Wai Chow
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Shau Yin Ha
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
| | - Alan K.S. Chiang
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
| | - Wing Hang Leung
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
| | - Anskar Y.H. Leung
- Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
| | - Chi Chiu Wang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Tao Zhang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Xiao-Bing Zhang
- Department of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California
| | - Chi Chiu So
- Department of Pathology, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Yuet Ping Yuen
- Department of Pathology, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Qiwei Sun
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Chi Zhang
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Yaqun Xu
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - John Tak Kit Cheung
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Wing Hei Ng
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Wei Kang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Wayne Yuk Wai Lee
- Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Raymond S.M. Wong
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Ellen Ngar Yun Poon
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Qi Zhao
- Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Taipa, Macau
| | - Junbin Huang
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Chun Chen
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Patrick Man Pan Yuen
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Chi-kong Li
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.,Hong Kong Hub of Paediatric Excellence, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.,Corresponding Authors: Kam Tong Leung, E-mail: ; Chi-kong Li, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, 1 Shing Cheong Road, Kowloon Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Phone: 852-3513-3176; Fax: 852-2636-0020; E-mail: ; and Alex Wing Kwan Leung, E-mail:
| | - Alex Wing Kwan Leung
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.,Hong Kong Hub of Paediatric Excellence, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.,Corresponding Authors: Kam Tong Leung, E-mail: ; Chi-kong Li, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, 1 Shing Cheong Road, Kowloon Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Phone: 852-3513-3176; Fax: 852-2636-0020; E-mail: ; and Alex Wing Kwan Leung, E-mail:
| | - Kam Tong Leung
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.,Hong Kong Hub of Paediatric Excellence, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.,Corresponding Authors: Kam Tong Leung, E-mail: ; Chi-kong Li, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, 1 Shing Cheong Road, Kowloon Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Phone: 852-3513-3176; Fax: 852-2636-0020; E-mail: ; and Alex Wing Kwan Leung, E-mail:
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14
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Tang PCT, Chung JYF, Liao J, Chan MKK, Chan ASW, Cheng G, Li C, Huang XR, Ng CSH, Lam EWF, Zhang D, Ho YP, To KF, Leung KT, Jiang X, Ko H, Lee TL, Lan HY, Tang PMK. Single-cell RNA sequencing uncovers a neuron-like macrophage subset associated with cancer pain. Sci Adv 2022; 8:eabn5535. [PMID: 36206343 PMCID: PMC9544324 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abn5535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Tumor innervation is a common phenomenon with unknown mechanism. Here, we discovered a direct mechanism of tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) for promoting de novo neurogenesis via a subset showing neuronal phenotypes and pain receptor expression associated with cancer-driven nocifensive behaviors. This subset is rich in lung adenocarcinoma associated with poorer prognosis. By elucidating the transcriptome dynamics of TAM with single-cell resolution, we discovered a phenomenon "macrophage to neuron-like cell transition" (MNT) for directly promoting tumoral neurogenesis, evidenced by macrophage depletion and fate-mapping study in lung carcinoma models. Encouragingly, we detected neuronal phenotypes and activities of the bone marrow-derived MNT cells (MNTs) in vitro. Adoptive transfer of MNTs into NOD/SCID mice markedly enhanced their cancer-associated nocifensive behaviors. We identified macrophage-specific Smad3 as a pivotal regulator for promoting MNT at the genomic level; its disruption effectively blocked the tumor innervation and cancer-dependent nocifensive behaviors in vivo. Thus, MNT may represent a precision therapeutic target for cancer pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Chiu-Tsun Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Jeff Yat-Fai Chung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Jinyue Liao
- Department of Chemical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Max Kam-Kwan Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Alex Siu-Wing Chan
- Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Guangyao Cheng
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Chunjie Li
- Department of Head and Neck Oncology, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Xiao-Ru Huang
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Calvin Sze-Hang Ng
- Department of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Eric W-F Lam
- State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, 651 Dongfeng East Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510060, China
| | - Dongmei Zhang
- College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yi-Ping Ho
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Kam-Tong Leung
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Xiaohua Jiang
- Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine of the Ministry of Education of China, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Ho Ko
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Tin-Lap Lee
- Reproduction, Development and Endocrinology Program, School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Hui-Yao Lan
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
- Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory on Immunological and Genetic Kidney Diseases, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 999077 Hong Kong SAR
| | - Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
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15
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Chung JYF, Tang PMK, Chan MKK, Wang L, Huang XR, To KF, Ma RC, Lan HY. AANG Prevents Smad3-dependent Diabetic Nephropathy by Restoring Pancreatic β-Cell Development in db/db Mice. Int J Biol Sci 2022; 18:5489-5502. [PMID: 36147472 PMCID: PMC9461652 DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.72977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a major cause of end-stage kidney disease, where TGF-β1/Smad signaling plays an important role in the disease progression. Our previous studies demonstrated a combination of Traditional Chinese Medicine derived Smad7 agonist Asiatic Acid (AA) and Smad3 inhibitor Naringenin (NG), AANG, effectively suppressed the progression of renal fibrosis in vivo. However, its implication in type-2 diabetic nephropathy (T2DN) is still unexplored. Here, we detected progressive activation of Smad3 but reduction of Smad7 in db/db mice during T2DN development. Therefore, we optimized the dosage and the combination ratio of AANG to achieve a better rebalancing Smad3/Smad7 signaling for treatment of T2DN. Unexpectedly, preventive treatment with combined AANG from week 4 before the development of diabetes and T2DN effectively protected against the onset of T2DN. In contract, these inhibitory effects were lost when db/db mice received the late AANG treatment from 12-24 weeks. Surprisingly, preventive treatment with AANG ameliorated not only T2DN but also the primary disease type-2 diabetes (T2D) with relative normal levels of fasting blood glucose and HbA1c, and largely improving metabolic abnormalities especially on insulin insensitivity and glucose tolerance in db/db mice. Mechanistically, AANG effectively prevented both Smad3-mediated renal fibrosis and NF-κB-driven renal inflammation in the diabetic kidney in vivo and advanced glycation end-products (AGE) stimulated tubular epithelial mTEC cells in vitro. More importantly, we uncovered that preventive treatment with AANG effectively protected against diabetic-associated islet injury via restoring the β cell development in db/db mice. Taken together, we discovered that the early treatment with combined AANG can effectively protect against the development of T2D and T2DN via mechanism associated with protection against Smad3-depenedent islet injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeff Yat-Fai Chung
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.,Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
| | - Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.,Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
| | - Max Kam-Kwan Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
| | - Li Wang
- Research Center for Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, and Department of Cardiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China
| | - Xiao-Ru Huang
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.,Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory on Immunological and Genetic Kidney Diseases, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
| | - Ronald Cw Ma
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
| | - Hui-Yao Lan
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.,Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory on Immunological and Genetic Kidney Diseases, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangzhou, China
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16
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Chan MKK, Chung JYF, Tang PCT, Chan ASW, Ho JYY, Lin TPT, Chen J, Leung KT, To KF, Lan HY, Tang PMK. TGF-β signaling networks in the tumor microenvironment. Cancer Lett 2022; 550:215925. [DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2022.215925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2022] [Revised: 09/05/2022] [Accepted: 09/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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17
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Ho SSK, Hon SSF, Hung E, Lee JFY, Mo F, Tong M, So C, Chu S, Ng DCK, Lam D, Cho C, Mak TWC, Ng SSM, Futaba K, Suen J, To KF, Chan AWH, Yeung WWK, Ma BBY. Prognostic implication of the neoadjuvant rectal score and other biomarkers of clinical outcome in Hong Kong Chinese patients with locally advanced rectal cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Hong Kong Med J 2022; 28:230-238. [PMID: 35667869 DOI: 10.12809/hkmj208969] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy is a standard treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer, for which pathological complete response is typically used as a surrogate survival endpoint. Neoadjuvant rectal score is a new biomarker that has been shown to correlate with survival. The main objectives of this study were to investigate factors contributing to pathological complete response, to validate the prognostic significance of neoadjuvant rectal score, and to investigate factors associated with a lower neoadjuvant rectal score in a cohort of Hong Kong Chinese. METHODS Data of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy from August 2006 to October 2018 were retrieved from hospital records and retrospectively analysed. RESULTS Of 193 patients who had optimal response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgery, tumour down-staging was the only independent prognostic factor that predicted pathological complete response (P<0.0001). Neoadjuvant rectal score was associated with overall survival (hazard ratio [HR]=1.042, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.021-1.064; P<0.0001), disease-free survival (HR=1.042, 95% CI=1.022-1.062; P<0.0001), locoregional recurrence-free survival (HR=1.070, 95% CI=1.039-1.102; P<0.0001) and distant recurrence-free survival (HR=1.034, 95% CI=1.012-1.056; P=0.002). Patients who had pathological complete response were associated with a lower neoadjuvant rectal score (P<0.0001), but pathological complete response was not associated with survival. For patients with intermediate neoadjuvant rectal scores, late recurrences beyond 72 months from diagnosis were observed. CONCLUSION Neoadjuvant rectal score is an independent prognostic marker of survival and disease recurrence in a cohort of Hong Kong Chinese patients who received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced rectal cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- S S K Ho
- Department of Medicine and Geriatrics, Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong
| | - S S F Hon
- Department of Surgery, Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital, Hong Kong
| | - E Hung
- Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong
| | - J F Y Lee
- Department of Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong
| | - F Mo
- State Key Laboratory in Translational Oncology in South China, Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer, Department of Clinical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - M Tong
- State Key Laboratory in Translational Oncology in South China, Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer, Department of Clinical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - C So
- State Key Laboratory in Translational Oncology in South China, Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer, Department of Clinical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - S Chu
- Department of Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong
| | - D C K Ng
- Department of Surgery, North District Hospital, Hong Kong
| | - D Lam
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong
| | - C Cho
- Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong
| | - T W C Mak
- Department of Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong
| | - S S M Ng
- Department of Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong
| | - K Futaba
- Department of Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong
| | - J Suen
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong
| | - K F To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - A W H Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | | | - B B Y Ma
- State Key Laboratory in Translational Oncology in South China, Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer, Department of Clinical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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18
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Pak-Yin Liu A, Li KKW, Chow C, Chan S, Leung AWK, Shing MMK, To KF, Chan DTM, Chan GCF, Ng HK. RARE-06. Expanding the clinical and molecular spectrum of pituitary blastoma. Neuro Oncol 2022. [PMCID: PMC9165194 DOI: 10.1093/neuonc/noac079.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Pituitary blastomas (PitB) are rare DICER1-associated tumors that occur exclusively in children < 2 years of age. They are locally aggressive tumors that are driven by a combination of germline and somatic alterations involving DICER1. Here, we report two patients with pituitary neoplasms that expand the clinical and molecular spectrum of PitB. Patient 1 presented at 10 months with diabetes insipidus and was initially diagnosed with pituitary ependymoblastoma. She received debulking, chemotherapy and focal radiation with complete response achieved, but unfortunately died at the age of 8 years due to cerebral edema. Patient 2 was a survivor of infant leukemia who was treated with chemotherapy and then further chemotherapy with cranial irradiation at relapse. The patient was then diagnosed at the age of 8 years with pituitary CNS-PNET, which was treated with craniospinal irradiation and chemotherapy, and had remained in remission for 6 years. Review of histology in both cases indicates presence of neuroendocrine lobules, primitive cells, and Rathke pouch-like glandular structures, with high Ki67, ACTH and PRAME positivity compatible with PitB. Next-generation sequencing revealed presence of two DICER1 mutations (germline frameshifting and somatic missense) in Patient 1, and one somatic missense DICER1 mutation plus loss of heterozygosity in Patient 2 (no germline alteration). Surprisingly, C19MC amplification was also detected in Patient 1. Methylation profiling confirms clustering among our samples and PitB references, but not ETMR references. MicroRNA array revealed decrease in mature microRNA expression and preferential down-regulation of 5p/3p species in tumor compared to control pituitary tissue. In all, PitBs may present with clinical and molecular characteristics not conforming with the classical descriptions. It might be prudent to consider sequencing for DICER1 alteration in pediatric pituitary tumors to facilitate diagnosis of this increasingly heterogeneous rare entity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony Pak-Yin Liu
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, The University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , Hong Kong
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Hong Kong Children's Hospital , Hong Kong , Hong Kong
| | - Kay Ka-Wai Li
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , Hong Kong
| | - Chit Chow
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , Hong Kong
| | - Shing Chan
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, The University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , Hong Kong
| | - Alex Wing-Kwan Leung
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , Hong Kong
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Hong Kong Children's Hospital , Hong Kong , Hong Kong
| | - Matthew Ming-Kong Shing
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Hong Kong Children's Hospital , Hong Kong , Hong Kong
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , Hong Kong
| | | | - Godfrey Chi-Fung Chan
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, The University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , Hong Kong
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Hong Kong Children's Hospital , Hong Kong , Hong Kong
| | - Ho-Keung Ng
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , Hong Kong
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19
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Tang PCT, Zhang YY, Li JSF, Chan MKK, Chen J, Tang Y, Zhou Y, Zhang D, Leung KT, To KF, Tang SCW, Lan HY, Tang PMK. LncRNA-Dependent Mechanisms of Transforming Growth Factor-β: From Tissue Fibrosis to Cancer Progression. Noncoding RNA 2022; 8:ncrna8030036. [PMID: 35736633 PMCID: PMC9227532 DOI: 10.3390/ncrna8030036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2022] [Revised: 05/19/2022] [Accepted: 05/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is a crucial pathogenic mediator of inflammatory diseases. In tissue fibrosis, TGF-β regulates the pathogenic activity of infiltrated immunocytes and promotes extracellular matrix production via de novo myofibroblast generation and kidney cell activation. In cancer, TGF-β promotes cancer invasion and metastasis by enhancing the stemness and epithelial mesenchymal transition of cancer cells. However, TGF-β is highly pleiotropic in both tissue fibrosis and cancers, and thus, direct targeting of TGF-β may also block its protective anti-inflammatory and tumor-suppressive effects, resulting in undesirable outcomes. Increasing evidence suggests the involvement of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in TGF-β-driven tissue fibrosis and cancer progression with a high cell-type and disease specificity, serving as an ideal target for therapeutic development. In this review, the mechanism and translational potential of TGF-β-associated lncRNAs in tissue fibrosis and cancer will be discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Chiu-Tsun Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China; (P.C.-T.T.); (J.S.-F.L.); (M.K.-K.C.); (K.-F.T.)
| | - Ying-Ying Zhang
- Department of Nephrology, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200065, China;
| | - Jane Siu-Fan Li
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China; (P.C.-T.T.); (J.S.-F.L.); (M.K.-K.C.); (K.-F.T.)
| | - Max Kam-Kwan Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China; (P.C.-T.T.); (J.S.-F.L.); (M.K.-K.C.); (K.-F.T.)
| | - Jiaoyi Chen
- Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China; (J.C.); (S.C.-W.T.)
| | - Ying Tang
- Department of Nephrology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510080, China;
| | - Yiming Zhou
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation, Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory for RNA Medicine, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China;
| | - Dongmei Zhang
- College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China;
| | - Kam-Tong Leung
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China;
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China; (P.C.-T.T.); (J.S.-F.L.); (M.K.-K.C.); (K.-F.T.)
| | - Sydney Chi-Wai Tang
- Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China; (J.C.); (S.C.-W.T.)
| | - Hui-Yao Lan
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China;
| | - Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China; (P.C.-T.T.); (J.S.-F.L.); (M.K.-K.C.); (K.-F.T.)
- Correspondence:
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20
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Wang X, Hu W, Li X, Huang D, Li Q, Chan H, Zeng J, Xie C, Chen H, Liu X, Gin T, Wang MH, Cheng ASL, Kang W, To KF, Plewczynski D, Zhang Q, Chen X, Chan DCW, Ko H, Wong SH, Yu J, Chan MTV, Zhang L, Wu WKK. Single-Hit Inactivation Drove Tumor Suppressor Genes Out of the X Chromosome during Evolution. Cancer Res 2022; 82:1482-1491. [PMID: 35247889 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-21-3458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Revised: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 03/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Cancer-related genes are under intense evolutionary pressure. In this study, we conjecture that X-linked tumor suppressor genes (TSG) are not protected by the Knudson's two-hit mechanism and are therefore subject to negative selection. Accordingly, nearly all mammalian species exhibited lower TSG-to-noncancer gene ratios on their X chromosomes compared with nonmammalian species. Synteny analysis revealed that mammalian X-linked TSGs were depleted shortly after the emergence of the XY sex-determination system. A phylogeny-based model unveiled a higher X chromosome-to-autosome relocation flux for human TSGs. This was verified in other mammals by assessing the concordance/discordance of chromosomal locations of mammalian TSGs and their orthologs in Xenopus tropicalis. In humans, X-linked TSGs are younger or larger in size. Consistently, pan-cancer analysis revealed more frequent nonsynonymous somatic mutations of X-linked TSGs. These findings suggest that relocation of TSGs out of the X chromosome could confer a survival advantage by facilitating evasion of single-hit inactivation. SIGNIFICANCE This work unveils extensive trafficking of TSGs from the X chromosome to autosomes during evolution, thus identifying X-linked TSGs as a genetic Achilles' heel in tumor suppression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiansong Wang
- Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People's Republic of China
| | - Wei Hu
- Department of Gastroenterology, Shenzhen Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiangchun Li
- Public Laboratory, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, People's Republic of China
| | - Dan Huang
- Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Qing Li
- Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Hung Chan
- Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Judeng Zeng
- Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Chuan Xie
- Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Peter Hung Pain Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Huarong Chen
- Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Peter Hung Pain Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaodong Liu
- Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Peter Hung Pain Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Tony Gin
- Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Maggie Haitian Wang
- CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.,Division of Biostatistics, Center for Clinical Research and Biostatistics, JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | | | - Wei Kang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Dariusz Plewczynski
- Center of New Technologies, University of Warsaw, Banacha 2c, Warsaw, Poland.,Faculty of Mathematics and Information Science, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Qingpeng Zhang
- School of Data Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaoting Chen
- Department of Oncology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Danny Cheuk Wing Chan
- Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Peter Hung Pain Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Gerald Choa Neuroscience Center, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Ho Ko
- Peter Hung Pain Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Gerald Choa Neuroscience Center, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Margaret K. L. Cheung Research Center for Management of Parkinsonism, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Sunny Hei Wong
- CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.,Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
| | - Jun Yu
- CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.,Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,State Key Laboratory of Digestive Diseases, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Matthew Tak Vai Chan
- Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.,Peter Hung Pain Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Lin Zhang
- Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.,Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - William Ka Kei Wu
- Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.,Peter Hung Pain Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.,State Key Laboratory of Digestive Diseases, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
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21
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Liu APY, Li KKW, Chow C, Chan S, Leung AWK, Shing MMK, To KF, Chan DTM, Chan GCF, Ng HK. Expanding the clinical and molecular spectrum of pituitary blastoma. Acta Neuropathol 2022; 143:415-417. [PMID: 35129635 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-022-02407-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Revised: 02/04/2022] [Accepted: 02/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
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22
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Fung CK, Chow C, Chan WK, Choi EWK, To KF, Chan JKC, Cheuk W. Spindle cell/sclerosing rhabdomyosarcoma with DCTN1::ALK fusion: broadening the molecular spectrum with potential therapeutic implications. Virchows Arch 2022; 480:927-932. [PMID: 35229187 DOI: 10.1007/s00428-022-03305-8] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 02/17/2022] [Accepted: 02/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Spindle cell/sclerosing rbabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a recently characterized variant of RMS with several distinct molecular subtypes. We describe an example occurring in the tongue of a 10-year-old boy with a novel DCTN1::ALK fusion. The tumor exhibited infiltrative growth and was comprised of fascicles and focally whorls of spindle cells with eosinophilic cytoplasm, in a collagenous or myxoid stroma. Moderate cytologic atypia, mitotic activity (2/10 HPFs), and perineural invasion were identified. The tumor cells expressed actin, desmin, MyoD1, myogenin, and ALK. An in-frame fusion between DCTN1 exon 26 and ALK exon 20 was detected by RNA sequencing, which was confirmed by split reads and supported by FISH studies. The tumor showed an indolent behavior with local recurrence 3 years after excision. This study broadens the molecular spectrum of spindle cell/sclerosing RMS and this molecular aberration may represent a potential therapeutic target for unresectable or disseminated disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- C K Fung
- Department of Pathology, United Christian Hospital, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong
| | - Chit Chow
- Department of Cellular and Anatomical Pathology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - W K Chan
- Department of Pathology, Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital, Happy Valley, Hong Kong
| | - Eric W K Choi
- Department of Pathology, Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital, Happy Valley, Hong Kong
| | - K F To
- Department of Cellular and Anatomical Pathology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - John K C Chan
- Department of Pathology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, SAR, China
| | - Wah Cheuk
- Department of Pathology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, SAR, China.
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23
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Wong CH, Li CH, Man Tong JH, Zheng D, He Q, Luo Z, Lou UK, Wang J, To KF, Chen Y. The Establishment of CDK9/ RNA PolII/H3K4me3/DNA Methylation Feedback Promotes HOTAIR Expression by RNA Elongation Enhancement in Cancer. Mol Ther 2022; 30:1597-1609. [PMID: 35121112 PMCID: PMC9077372 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2022.01.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2021] [Revised: 12/07/2021] [Accepted: 01/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Long non-coding RNA HOX Transcript Antisense RNA (HOTAIR) is overexpressed in multiple cancers with diverse genetic profiles. Importantly, since HOTAIR heavily contributes to cancer progression by promoting tumor growth and metastasis, HOTAIR becomes a potential target for cancer therapy. However, the underlying mechanism leading to HOTAIR deregulation is largely unexplored. Here, we performed a pan-cancer analysis using more than 4,200 samples and found that intragenic exon CpG island (Ex-CGI) was hypermethylated and was positively correlated to HOTAIR expression. Also, we revealed that Ex-CGI methylation promotes HOTAIR expression through enhancing the transcription elongation process. Furthermore, we linked up the aberrant intragenic tri-methylation on H3 at lysine 4 (H3K4me3) and Ex-CGI DNA methylation in promoting transcription elongation of HOTAIR. Targeting the oncogenic CDK7-CDK9-H3K4me3 axis downregulated HOTAIR expression and inhibited cell growth in many cancers. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a positive feedback loop that involved CDK9-mediated phosphorylation of RNA Polymerase II Serine 2 (RNA PolII Ser2), H3K4me3, and intragenic DNA methylation, which induced robust transcriptional elongation and heavily contributed to the upregulation of oncogenic lncRNA in cancer has been demonstrated. Targeting the oncogenic CDK7-CDK9-H3K4me3 axis could be a novel therapy in many cancers through inhibiting the HOTAIR expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chi Hin Wong
- A School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Chi Han Li
- A School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Joanna Hung Man Tong
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Duo Zheng
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Regional Immunity and Diseases, Shenzhen University International Cancer Center, Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, School of Medicine, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Qifang He
- A School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Zhiyuan Luo
- A School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Ut Kei Lou
- A School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Jiatong Wang
- A School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Yangchao Chen
- A School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong; Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518087, China.
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24
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Tse RTH, Zhao H, Wong CYP, Kong AWY, Chan RCK, To KF, Ng CF, Teoh JYC. In vitro assessment of intra-operative and post-operative environment in reducing bladder cancer recurrence. Sci Rep 2022; 12:22. [PMID: 34997063 PMCID: PMC8741939 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-04035-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Urinary bladder cancer is a common cancer worldwide. Currently, the modality of treating and monitoring bladder cancer is wide. Nonetheless, the high recurrence rate of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer after surgical resection is still unsatisfactory. Hereby, our study demonstrated whether the intra-operative and post-operative environments will affect bladder cancer recurrence utilizing in vitro cell line model. Bladder cancer cell lines were submerged in four different irrigating fluids for assessing their tumorigenic properties. Our results showed that sterile water performed the best in terms of the magnitude of cytotoxicity to cell lines. Besides, we also investigated cytotoxic effects of the four irrigating agents as well as mitomycin C (MMC) in normothermic and hyperthermic conditions. We observed that sterile water and MMC had an increased cytotoxic effect to bladder cancer cell lines in hyperthermic conditions. Altogether, our results could be translated into clinical practice in the future by manipulating the intra-operative and post-operative conditions in order to lower the chance of residual cancer cells reimplant onto the bladder, which in turns, reducing the recurrence rate of bladder cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan Tsz-Hei Tse
- grid.10784.3a0000 0004 1937 0482Department of Surgery, S.H. Ho Urology Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 4/F LCW Clinical Sciences Building, 30-32 Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China
| | - Hongda Zhao
- grid.10784.3a0000 0004 1937 0482Department of Surgery, S.H. Ho Urology Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 4/F LCW Clinical Sciences Building, 30-32 Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China
| | - Christine Yim-Ping Wong
- grid.10784.3a0000 0004 1937 0482Department of Surgery, S.H. Ho Urology Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 4/F LCW Clinical Sciences Building, 30-32 Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China
| | - Angel Wing-Yan Kong
- grid.10784.3a0000 0004 1937 0482Department of Surgery, S.H. Ho Urology Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 4/F LCW Clinical Sciences Building, 30-32 Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China
| | - Ronald Cheong-Kin Chan
- grid.10784.3a0000 0004 1937 0482Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- grid.10784.3a0000 0004 1937 0482Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Chi-Fai Ng
- grid.10784.3a0000 0004 1937 0482Department of Surgery, S.H. Ho Urology Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 4/F LCW Clinical Sciences Building, 30-32 Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jeremy Yuen-Chun Teoh
- grid.10784.3a0000 0004 1937 0482Department of Surgery, S.H. Ho Urology Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 4/F LCW Clinical Sciences Building, 30-32 Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China ,European Association of Urology-Young Academic Urologists (EAU-YAU) Urothelial Cancer Working Group, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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25
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Wong CH, Lou UK, Fung FKC, Tong JHM, Zhang CH, To KF, Chan SL, Chen Y. CircRTN4 promotes pancreatic cancer progression through a novel CircRNA-miRNA-lncRNA pathway and stabilizing epithelial-mesenchymal transition protein. Mol Cancer 2022; 21:10. [PMID: 34983537 PMCID: PMC8725379 DOI: 10.1186/s12943-021-01481-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play important roles in many biological processes. However, the detailed mechanism underlying the critical roles of circRNAs in cancer remains largely unexplored. We aim to explore the molecular mechanisms of circRTN4 with critical roles in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). METHODS CircRTN4 expression level was examined in PDAC primary tumors. The oncogenic roles of circRTN4 in PDAC tumor growth and metastasis were studied in mouse tumor models. Bioinformatics analysis, luciferase assay and miRNA pulldown assay were performed to study the novel circRTN4-miRNA-lncRNA pathway. To identify circRTN4-interacting proteins, we performed circRNA-pulldown and mass spectrometry in PDAC cells. Protein stability assay and 3-Dimensional structure modeling were performed to reveal the role of circRTN4 in stabilizing RAB11FIP1. RESULTS CircRTN4 was significantly upregulated in primary tumors from PDAC patients. In vitro and in vivo functional studies revealed that circRTN4 promoted PDAC tumor growth and liver metastasis. Mechanistically, circRTN4 interacted with tumor suppressor miR-497-5p in PDAC cells. CircRTN4 knockdown upregulated miR-497-5p to inhibit the oncogenic lncRNA HOTTIP expression. Furthermore, we identified critical circRTN4-intercting proteins by circRNA-pulldown in PDAC cells. CircRTN4 interacted with important epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)- driver RAB11FIP1 to block its ubiquitination site. We found that circRTN4 knockdown promoted the degradation of RAB11FIP1 by increasing its ubiquitination. Also, circRTN4 knockdown inhibited the expression of RAB11FIP1-regulating EMT-markers Slug, Snai1, Twist, Zeb1 and N-cadherin in PDAC. CONCLUSION The upregulated circRTN4 promotes tumor growth and liver metastasis in PDAC through the novel circRTN4-miR-497-5p-HOTTIP pathway. Also, circRTN4 stabilizes RAB11FIP1 to contribute EMT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chi Hin Wong
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Ut Kei Lou
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Frederic Khe-Cheong Fung
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Joanna H M Tong
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Chang-Hua Zhang
- Digestive Medicine Center, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Shenzhen, 518107, Guangdong, China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Stephen Lam Chan
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Yangchao Chen
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong.
- Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, 518087, China.
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26
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Xue VW, Chung JYF, Tang PCT, Chan ASW, To THW, Chung JSY, Mussal F, Lam EWF, Li C, To KF, Leung KT, Lan HY, Tang PMK. USMB-shMincle: a virus-free gene therapy for blocking M1/M2 polarization of tumor-associated macrophages. Mol Ther Oncolytics 2021; 23:26-37. [PMID: 34589582 PMCID: PMC8463747 DOI: 10.1016/j.omto.2021.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Mincle is essential for tumor-associated macrophage (TAM)-driven cancer progression and represents a potential immunotherapeutic target for cancer. Nevertheless, the lack of a specific inhibitor has largely limited its clinical translation. Here, we successfully developed a gene therapeutic strategy for silencing Mincle in a virus-free and tumor-specific manner by combining RNA interference technology with an ultrasound-microbubble-mediated gene transfer system (USMB). We identified a small hairpin RNA (shRNA) sequence shMincle that can silence not only Mincle expression but also the protumoral effector production in mouse bone marrow- and human THP-1-derived macrophages in the cancer setting in vitro. By using our well-established USMB system (USMB-shMincle), the shMincle-expressing plasmids were delivered in a tissue-specific manner into xenografts of human lung carcinoma A549 and melanoma A375 in vivo. Encouragingly, we found that USMB-shMincle effectively inhibited the protumoral phenotypes of TAMs as well as the progression of both A549 and A375 xenografts in a dose-dependent manner in mice without significant side effects. Mechanistically, we identified that USMB-shMincle markedly enhanced the anticancer M1 phenotype of TAMs in the A549 and A375 xenografts by blocking the protumoral Mincle/Syk/nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling axis. Thus, USMB-shMincle may represent a clinically translatable novel and safe gene therapeutic approach for cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vivian Weiwen Xue
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin 999077, Hong Kong
| | - Jeff Yat-Fai Chung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin 999077, Hong Kong
| | - Philip Chiu-Tsun Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin 999077, Hong Kong
| | - Alex Siu-Wing Chan
- Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Shatin 999077, Hong Kong
| | - Travis Hoi-Wai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin 999077, Hong Kong
| | - Justin Shing-Yin Chung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin 999077, Hong Kong
| | - Francis Mussal
- Paediatric Oncology, Birmingham Children's Hospital, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Eric W-F Lam
- Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangdong 510060, China
| | - Chunjie Li
- Department of Head and Neck Oncology, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin 999077, Hong Kong
| | - Kam-Tong Leung
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin 999077, Hong Kong
| | - Hui-Yao Lan
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin 999077, Hong Kong
| | - Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin 999077, Hong Kong
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27
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Wong CH, Lou UK, Fung FKC, Tong JHM, To KF, Chan SL, Chen Y. Abstract PO-006: CircRTN4 promotes pancreatic cancer progression through a novel circRNA-miRNA-lncRNA pathway and stabilizing epithelial-mesenchymal transition protein. Cancer Res 2021. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.panca21-po-006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Background & Aims: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play important roles in many biological processes. However, the detailed mechanism underlying the critical roles of circRNAs in cancer remains largely unexplored. We aim to explore the molecular mechanisms of circRTN4 with critical roles in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Methods: CircRTN4 expression level was examined in PDAC primary tumors. The oncogenic roles of circRTN4 in PDAC tumor growth and metastasis were studied in mouse tumor models. Bioinformatics analysis, luciferase assay and miRNA pulldown assay were performed to study the novel circRTN4-miRNA-lncRNA pathway. To identify circRTN4-interacting proteins, we performed circRNA-pulldown and mass spectrometry in PDAC cells. Protein stability assay and 3-Dimensional structure modeling were performed to reveal the role of circRTN4 in stabilizing RAB11FIP1. Results: circRTN4 was significantly upregulated in primary tumors from PDAC patients. In vitro and in vivo functional studies revealed that circRTN4 promoted PDAC tumor growth and liver metastasis. Mechanistically, circRTN4 interacted with tumor suppressor miR-497-5p in PDAC cells. CircRTN4 knockdown upregulated miR-497-5p to inhibit the oncogenic lncRNA HOTTIP expression. Furthermore, we identified critical circRTN4-intercting proteins by circRNA-pulldown in PDAC cells. CircRTN4 interacted with important epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)- driver RAB11FIP1 to block its ubiquitination site. We found that circRTN4 knockdown promoted the degradation of RAB11FIP1 by increasing its ubiquitination. Also, circRTN4 knockdown inhibited the expression of RAB11FIP1-regulating EMT-markers Slug, Snai1, Twist, Zeb1 and N-cadherin in PDAC. Conclusion: The upregulated circRTN4 promotes tumor growth and liver metastasis in PDAC through the novel circRTN4-miR-497-5p-HOTTIP pathway. Also, circRTN4 stabilizes RAB11FIP1 to contribute EMT.
Citation Format: Chi Hin Wong, Ut Kei Lou, Frederic Khe-Cheong Fung, Joanna H. M. Tong, Ka-Fai To, Stephen Lam Chan, Yangchao Chen. CircRTN4 promotes pancreatic cancer progression through a novel circRNA-miRNA-lncRNA pathway and stabilizing epithelial-mesenchymal transition protein [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Special Conference on Pancreatic Cancer; 2021 Sep 29-30. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(22 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-006.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chi Hin Wong
- 1School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China-Hong Kong,
| | - Ut Kei Lou
- 1School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China-Hong Kong,
| | - Frederic Khe-Cheong Fung
- 1School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China-Hong Kong,
| | - Joanna H. M. Tong
- 2Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China-Hong Kong,
| | - Ka-Fai To
- 2Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China-Hong Kong,
| | - Stephen Lam Chan
- 3Department of Clinical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China-Hong Kong,
| | - Yangchao Chen
- 4School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, and Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China-Hong Kong
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28
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Wong KCW, Hui EP, Lo KW, Lam WKJ, Johnson D, Li L, Tao Q, Chan KCA, To KF, King AD, Ma BBY, Chan ATC. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma: an evolving paradigm. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 2021; 18:679-695. [PMID: 34194007 DOI: 10.1038/s41571-021-00524-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 157] [Impact Index Per Article: 52.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/18/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The past three decades have borne witness to many advances in the understanding of the molecular biology and treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated cancer endemic to southern China, southeast Asia and north Africa. In this Review, we provide a comprehensive, interdisciplinary overview of key research findings regarding NPC pathogenesis, treatment, screening and biomarker development. We describe how technological advances have led to the advent of proton therapy and other contemporary radiotherapy approaches, and emphasize the relentless efforts to identify the optimal sequencing of chemotherapy with radiotherapy through decades of clinical trials. Basic research into the pathogenic role of EBV and the genomic, epigenomic and immune landscape of NPC has laid the foundations of translational research. The latter, in turn, has led to the development of new biomarkers and therapeutic targets and of improved approaches for individualizing immunotherapy and targeted therapies for patients with NPC. We provide historical context to illustrate the effect of these advances on treatment outcomes at present. We describe current preclinical and clinical challenges and controversies in the hope of providing insights for future investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth C W Wong
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer, Department of Clinical Oncology, Hong Kong Cancer Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Edwin P Hui
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer, Department of Clinical Oncology, Hong Kong Cancer Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Kwok-Wai Lo
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Wai Kei Jacky Lam
- Department of Chemical Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - David Johnson
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer, Department of Clinical Oncology, Hong Kong Cancer Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Lili Li
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer, Department of Clinical Oncology, Hong Kong Cancer Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Qian Tao
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer, Department of Clinical Oncology, Hong Kong Cancer Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Kwan Chee Allen Chan
- Department of Chemical Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Ann D King
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Interventional Radiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Brigette B Y Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer, Department of Clinical Oncology, Hong Kong Cancer Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
| | - Anthony T C Chan
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer, Department of Clinical Oncology, Hong Kong Cancer Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
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29
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Chung JYF, Chan MKK, Tang PCT, Chan ASW, Chung JSY, Meng XM, To KF, Lan HY, Leung KT, Tang PMK. AANG: A natural compound formula for overcoming multidrug resistance via synergistic rebalancing the TGF-β/Smad signalling in hepatocellular carcinoma. J Cell Mol Med 2021; 25:9805-9813. [PMID: 34514726 PMCID: PMC8505848 DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.16928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Revised: 08/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer cells are high in heterogeneity and versatility, which can easily adapt to the external stresses via both primary and secondary resistance. Targeting of tumour microenvironment (TME) is a new approach and an ideal therapeutic strategy especially for the multidrug resistant cancer. Recently, we invented AANG, a natural compound formula containing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) derived Smad3 inhibitor Naringenin (NG) and Smad7 activator Asiatic Acid (AA), for rebalancing TGF‐β/Smad signalling in the TME, and its implication on the multidrug resistance is still unexplored. Here, we observed that an equilibrium shift of the Smad signalling in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which was dramatically enhanced in the recurrent cases showing p‐glycoprotein overexpression. We optimized the formula ratio and dosage of AANG that effectively inhibit the proliferation of our unique human multidrug resistant subclone R‐HepG2. Mechanistically, we found that AANG not only inhibits Smad3 at post‐transcriptional level, but also upregulates Smad7 at transcriptional level in a synergistic manner in vitro. More importantly, AANG markedly suppressed the growth and p‐glycoprotein expression of R‐HepG2 xenografts in vivo. Thus, AANG may represent a novel and safe TCM‐derived natural compound formula for overcoming HCC with p‐glycoprotein‐mediated multidrug resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeff Yat-Fai Chung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Max Kam-Kwan Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Philip Chiu-Tsun Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Alex Siu-Wing Chan
- Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Justin Shing-Yin Chung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Xiao-Ming Meng
- School of Pharmacy, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Hui-Yao Lan
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Kam-Tong Leung
- Department of Paediatrics, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
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30
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Yang W, Feng Y, Zhou J, Cheung OKW, Cao J, Wang J, Tang W, Tu Y, Xu L, Wu F, Tan Z, Sun H, Tian Y, Wong J, Lai PBS, Chan SL, Chan AWH, Tan PBO, Chen Z, Sung JJY, Yip KYL, To KF, Cheng ASL. A selective HDAC8 inhibitor potentiates antitumor immunity and efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade in hepatocellular carcinoma. Sci Transl Med 2021; 13:13/588/eaaz6804. [PMID: 33827976 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaz6804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2019] [Revised: 09/26/2020] [Accepted: 03/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Insufficient T cell infiltration into noninflamed tumors, such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), restricts the effectiveness of immune-checkpoint blockade (ICB) for a subset of patients. Epigenetic therapy provides further opportunities to rewire cancer-associated transcriptional programs, but whether and how selective epigenetic inhibition counteracts the immune-excluded phenotype remain incompletely defined. Here, we showed that pharmacological inhibition of histone deacetylase 8 (HDAC8), a histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27)-specific isozyme overexpressed in a variety of human cancers, thwarts HCC tumorigenicity in a T cell-dependent manner. The tumor-suppressive effect of selective HDAC8 inhibition was abrogated by CD8+ T cell depletion or regulatory T cell adoptive transfer. Chromatin profiling of human HDAC8-expressing HCCs revealed genome-wide H3K27 deacetylation in 1251 silenced enhancer-target gene pairs that are enriched in metabolic and immune regulators. Mechanistically, down-regulation of HDAC8 increased global and enhancer acetylation of H3K27 to reactivate production of T cell-trafficking chemokines by HCC cells, thus relieving T cell exclusion in both immunodeficient and humanized mouse models. In an HCC preclinical model, selective HDAC8 inhibition increased tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells and potentiated eradication of established hepatomas by anti-PD-L1 therapy without evidence of toxicity. Mice treated with HDAC8 and PD-L1 coblockade were protected against subsequent tumor rechallenge as a result of the induction of memory T cells and remained tumor-free for greater than 15 months. Collectively, our study demonstrates that selective HDAC8 inhibition elicits effective and durable responses to ICB by co-opting adaptive immunity through enhancer reprogramming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weiqin Yang
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Yu Feng
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Jingying Zhou
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China.,Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Otto Ka-Wing Cheung
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Jianquan Cao
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Jing Wang
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Wenshu Tang
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Yalin Tu
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Liangliang Xu
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Feng Wu
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Zhiwu Tan
- AIDS Institute, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China.,Department of Microbiology and Research Center for Infection and Immunity, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Hanyong Sun
- Department of Liver Surgery, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China
| | - Yuan Tian
- Guangdong Key Laboratory for Genome Stability and Human Disease Prevention, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shenzhen University Health Science Center, Shenzhen 518061, China
| | - John Wong
- Department of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Paul Bo-San Lai
- Department of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Stephen Lam Chan
- Department of Clinical Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China.,State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Anthony Wing-Hung Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Patrick Boon-Ooi Tan
- Program in Cancer and Stem Cell Biology, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore 169857, Singapore.,Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117599, Singapore.,Cancer Therapeutics and Stratified Oncology, Genome Institute of Singapore, Singapore 138672, Singapore.,SingHealth/Duke-NUS Institute of Precision Medicine, National Heart Centre Singapore, Singapore 169857, Singapore.,Cellular and Molecular Research, National Cancer Centre, Singapore 169610, Singapore.,Singapore Gastric Cancer Consortium, Singapore 119228, Singapore
| | - Zhiwei Chen
- AIDS Institute, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China.,Department of Microbiology and Research Center for Infection and Immunity, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Joseph Jao-Yiu Sung
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore.,State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China.,Institute of Precision Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
| | - Kevin Yuk-Lap Yip
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China.,State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Alfred Sze-Lok Cheng
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China.
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31
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Bruce JP, To KF, Lui VWY, Chung GTY, Chan YY, Tsang CM, Yip KY, Ma BBY, Woo JKS, Hui EP, Mak MKF, Lee SD, Chow C, Velapasamy S, Or YYY, Siu PK, El Ghamrasni S, Prokopec S, Wu M, Kwan JSH, Liu Y, Chan JYK, van Hasselt CA, Young LS, Dawson CW, Paterson IC, Yap LF, Tsao SW, Liu FF, Chan ATC, Pugh TJ, Lo KW. Whole-genome profiling of nasopharyngeal carcinoma reveals viral-host co-operation in inflammatory NF-κB activation and immune escape. Nat Commun 2021; 12:4193. [PMID: 34234122 PMCID: PMC8263564 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24348-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2020] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Interplay between EBV infection and acquired genetic alterations during nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) development remains vague. Here we report a comprehensive genomic analysis of 70 NPCs, combining whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of microdissected tumor cells with EBV oncogene expression to reveal multiple aspects of cellular-viral co-operation in tumorigenesis. Genomic aberrations along with EBV-encoded LMP1 expression underpin constitutive NF-κB activation in 90% of NPCs. A similar spectrum of somatic aberrations and viral gene expression undermine innate immunity in 79% of cases and adaptive immunity in 47% of cases; mechanisms by which NPC may evade immune surveillance despite its pro-inflammatory phenotype. Additionally, genomic changes impairing TGFBR2 promote oncogenesis and stabilize EBV infection in tumor cells. Fine-mapping of CDKN2A/CDKN2B deletion breakpoints reveals homozygous MTAP deletions in 32-34% of NPCs that confer marked sensitivity to MAT2A inhibition. Our work concludes that NPC is a homogeneously NF-κB-driven and immune-protected, yet potentially druggable, cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeff P Bruce
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.,State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Vivian W Y Lui
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Grace T Y Chung
- Department of Anatomical and cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Yuk-Yu Chan
- Department of Anatomical and cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Chi Man Tsang
- Department of Anatomical and cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Kevin Y Yip
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Brigette B Y Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.,Sir Y.K. Pao Centre for Cancer, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.,Department of Clinical Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - John K S Woo
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Edwin P Hui
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.,Sir Y.K. Pao Centre for Cancer, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.,Department of Clinical Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Michael K F Mak
- Department of Anatomical and cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Sau-Dan Lee
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Chit Chow
- Department of Anatomical and cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Sharmila Velapasamy
- Department of Anatomical and cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Yvonne Y Y Or
- Department of Anatomical and cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Pui Kei Siu
- Department of Anatomical and cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Samah El Ghamrasni
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Stephenie Prokopec
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Man Wu
- Department of Anatomical and cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Johnny S H Kwan
- Department of Anatomical and cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Yuchen Liu
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Jason Y K Chan
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - C Andrew van Hasselt
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | | | | | - Ian C Paterson
- Department of Oral & Craniofacial Sciences and Oral Cancer Research and Coordinating Centre, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Lee-Fah Yap
- Department of Oral & Craniofacial Sciences and Oral Cancer Research and Coordinating Centre, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Sai-Wah Tsao
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Fei-Fei Liu
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Anthony T C Chan
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Trevor J Pugh
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada. .,Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. .,Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, ON, Canada.
| | - Kwok-Wai Lo
- Department of Anatomical and cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. .,State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
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32
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Chan YY, Bruce JP, Lui VW, Chung GTY, Tsao SW, To KF, Pugh TJ, Lo KW. Abstract LB098: Vulnerability of MTAP-deleted nasopharyngeal carcinoma to MAT2A inhibition. Cancer Res 2021. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.am2021-lb098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an EBV-associated cancer prevalent in Southern China and Southeast Asia. We have generated a comprehensive genomic profile of NPC using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and established a catalogue of somatic alterations of this EBV-associated cancer. In addition to the significantly mutated genes reported in previous WES studies, our WGS study revealed recurrent structural variants (SVs) and copy number variants (CNVs) driving key oncogenic pathways, including cell cycle, NF-kappaB and TGF-beta signaling. While immediately druggable gene aberrations (e.g. PIK3CA mutations and FGFR3-TACC3 fusions) are found in only ~3-5% of NPC, a synthetic lethality-based target, homozygous deletion of MTAP defined by fine-mapping of CDKN2A/CDKN2B deletion breakpoints at chromosome 9p21.3 was frequently detected (34%). Notably, the study has also revealed mutual exclusivity among tumors with MTAP deletion and TP53 alterations (p=0.022). Loss of MTAP has further been validated in a cohort of advanced and recurrent tumors (16/50, 32%) by FISH analysis and immunohistochemistry staining. The high prevalence and clonal nature of MTAP deletion in NPC implicate synthetic lethal targeting of MTAP-deleted tumors as a potential precision treatment for NPC patients. Using a CRISPR-based MTAP-knockout cell line and MTAP-deleted patient derived xenograft (PDX), we revealed that MAT2A and PRMT5 inhibition selectively suppressed growth of MTAP-deleted NPC. Treatment with MAT2A inhibitor, FIADS-5, led to depleted PRMT5 activity and reduced symmetric arginine methylation (SAMe) in these in vitro and in vivo NPC models. In addition to selective growth inhibition, MAT2A inhibition also targeted various unique oncogenic properties in NPC. The FIADS-5 treatment was shown to induce TP53 and BAX expression, cellular differentiation and keratinization in these MTAP-deleted NPC. Our findings demonstrated the translational potential of targeting MTAP-deletion in this EBV-associated epithelial cancer.
Citation Format: Yuk Yu Chan, Jeff P. Bruce, Vivian W.Y. Lui, Grace T. Y. Chung, Sai-Wah Tsao, Ka-Fai To, Trevor J. Pugh, Kwok-Wai Lo. Vulnerability of MTAP-deleted nasopharyngeal carcinoma to MAT2A inhibition [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr LB098.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuk Yu Chan
- 1The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jeff P. Bruce
- 2Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | | | | | | | - Ka-Fai To
- 1The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Trevor J. Pugh
- 4Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Kwok-Wai Lo
- 1The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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33
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Tang PCT, Chan ASW, Zhang CB, García Córdoba CA, Zhang YY, To KF, Leung KT, Lan HY, Tang PMK. TGF-β1 Signaling: Immune Dynamics of Chronic Kidney Diseases. Front Med (Lausanne) 2021; 8:628519. [PMID: 33718407 PMCID: PMC7948440 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2021.628519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2020] [Accepted: 01/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, imposing a great burden on the healthcare system. Regrettably, effective CKD therapeutic strategies are yet available due to their elusive pathogenic mechanisms. CKD is featured by progressive inflammation and fibrosis associated with immune cell dysfunction, leading to the formation of an inflammatory microenvironment, which ultimately exacerbating renal fibrosis. Transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) is an indispensable immunoregulator promoting CKD progression by controlling the activation, proliferation, and apoptosis of immunocytes via both canonical and non-canonical pathways. More importantly, recent studies have uncovered a new mechanism of TGF-β1 for de novo generation of myofibroblast via macrophage-myofibroblast transition (MMT). This review will update the versatile roles of TGF-β signaling in the dynamics of renal immunity, a better understanding may facilitate the discovery of novel therapeutic strategies against CKD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Chiu-Tsun Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Alex Siu-Wing Chan
- Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong
| | - Cai-Bin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Cristina Alexandra García Córdoba
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Ying-Ying Zhang
- Department of Nephrology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Kam-Tong Leung
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Hui-Yao Lan
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.,Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory on Immunological and Genetic Kidney Diseases, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
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34
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Lechner M, Schartinger VH, Steele CD, Nei WL, Ooft ML, Schreiber LM, Pipinikas CP, Chung GTY, Chan YY, Wu F, To KF, Tsang CM, Pearce W, Morelli D, Philpott M, Masterson L, Nibhani R, Wells G, Bell CG, Koller J, Delecluse S, Yip YL, Liu J, Forde CT, Forster MD, Jay A, Dudás J, Krapp A, Wan S, Uprimny C, Sprung S, Haybaeck J, Fenton TR, Chester K, Thirlwell C, Royle G, Marafioti T, Gupta R, Indrasari SR, Herdini C, Slim MAM, Indrawati I, Sutton L, Fles R, Tan B, Yeong J, Jain A, Han S, Wang H, Loke KSH, He W, Xu R, Jin H, Cheng Z, Howard D, Hwang PH, Le QT, Tay JK, West RB, Tsao SW, Meyer T, Riechelmann H, Oppermann U, Delecluse HJ, Willems SM, Chua MLK, Busson P, Lo KW, Wollmann G, Pillay N, Vanhaesebroeck B, Lund VJ. Somatostatin receptor 2 expression in nasopharyngeal cancer is induced by Epstein Barr virus infection: impact on prognosis, imaging and therapy. Nat Commun 2021; 12:117. [PMID: 33402692 PMCID: PMC7785735 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20308-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2020] [Accepted: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC), endemic in Southeast Asia, lacks effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Even in high-income countries the 5-year survival rate for stage IV NPC is less than 40%. Here we report high somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR2) expression in multiple clinical cohorts comprising 402 primary, locally recurrent and metastatic NPCs. We show that SSTR2 expression is induced by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) via the NF-κB pathway. Using cell-based and preclinical rodent models, we demonstrate the therapeutic potential of SSTR2 targeting using a cytotoxic drug conjugate, PEN-221, which is found to be superior to FDA-approved SSTR2-binding cytostatic agents. Furthermore, we reveal significant correlation of SSTR expression with increased rates of survival and report in vivo uptake of the SSTR2-binding 68Ga-DOTA-peptide radioconjugate in PET-CT scanning in a clinical trial of NPC patients (NCT03670342). These findings reveal a key role in EBV-associated NPC for SSTR2 in infection, imaging, targeted therapy and survival.
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MESH Headings
- Animals
- Female
- Humans
- Male
- Mice
- Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology
- Cell Line, Tumor
- Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/drug therapy
- Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/genetics
- Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/mortality
- Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/virology
- Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
- Herpesvirus 4, Human/drug effects
- Herpesvirus 4, Human/growth & development
- Herpesvirus 4, Human/pathogenicity
- Host-Pathogen Interactions/genetics
- Lymphatic Metastasis
- Mice, Nude
- Molecular Targeted Therapy
- Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma/drug therapy
- Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma/genetics
- Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma/mortality
- Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma/virology
- Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms/drug therapy
- Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms/genetics
- Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms/mortality
- Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms/virology
- Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/drug therapy
- Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/genetics
- Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/mortality
- Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/virology
- NF-kappa B/genetics
- NF-kappa B/metabolism
- Octreotide/pharmacology
- Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography
- Receptors, Somatostatin/antagonists & inhibitors
- Receptors, Somatostatin/genetics
- Receptors, Somatostatin/metabolism
- Signal Transduction
- Survival Analysis
- Viral Matrix Proteins/antagonists & inhibitors
- Viral Matrix Proteins/genetics
- Viral Matrix Proteins/metabolism
- Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
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Affiliation(s)
- Matt Lechner
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK.
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
- Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK.
- Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital and Head and Neck Centre, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust, London, UK.
| | - Volker H Schartinger
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | | | - Wen Long Nei
- Divisions of Radiation Oncology and Medical Sciences, National Cancer Centre, Singapore, Singapore
- Oncology Academic Programme, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Marc Lucas Ooft
- King´s College Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
- Department of Pathology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Liesa-Marie Schreiber
- Institute of Virology and Christian Doppler Laboratory for Viral Immunotherapy of Cancer, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | | | - Grace Tin-Yun Chung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology and State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yuk Yu Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology and State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Feng Wu
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology and State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology and State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Chi Man Tsang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology and State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Wayne Pearce
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK
| | | | | | - Liam Masterson
- Department of Otolaryngology, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK
| | - Reshma Nibhani
- Botnar Research Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Graham Wells
- Botnar Research Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Christopher G Bell
- William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Julia Koller
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
- Botnar Research Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Susanne Delecluse
- German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) and Inserm, Unit F100/U1074, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Yim Ling Yip
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jacklyn Liu
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK
| | - Cillian T Forde
- Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital and Head and Neck Centre, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust, London, UK
| | - Martin D Forster
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK
- Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital and Head and Neck Centre, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust, London, UK
| | - Amrita Jay
- Department of Histopathology, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust, Euston Road, London, UK
| | - József Dudás
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Annika Krapp
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Simon Wan
- Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University College Hospital, Euston Road, London, UK
| | - Christian Uprimny
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Susanne Sprung
- Department of Pathology, Neuropathology and Molecular Pathology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Johannes Haybaeck
- Department of Pathology, Neuropathology and Molecular Pathology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
- Diagnostic & Research Center for Molecular Biomedicine, Institute of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Tim R Fenton
- School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Kerry Chester
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK
| | - Christina Thirlwell
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK
- University of Exeter College of Medicine and Health, Exeter, UK
| | - Gary Royle
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK
| | | | - Rajeev Gupta
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK
| | - Sagung Rai Indrasari
- ENT Head and Neck Surgery Department, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Dr. Sardjito Hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
| | - Camelia Herdini
- ENT Head and Neck Surgery Department, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Dr. Sardjito Hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
| | - Mohd Afiq Mohd Slim
- Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, University Hospital Crosshouse, Crosshouse, Kilmarnock, UK
| | - I Indrawati
- Department of Anatomical Pathology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Dr. Sardjito Hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
| | | | - Renske Fles
- Department of Head and Neck Surgery and Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Bing Tan
- ENT Head and Neck Surgery Department, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Dr. Sardjito Hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
- Department of ENT/Head and Neck Surgery, Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC), Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Joe Yeong
- Department of Anatomical Pathology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore, Singapore
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Amit Jain
- Division of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Centre, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Shuting Han
- Division of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Centre, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Haitao Wang
- Divisions of Radiation Oncology and Medical Sciences, National Cancer Centre, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Kelvin S H Loke
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Wan He
- Department of Oncology, The Second Clinical Medical College, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Jinan University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Ruilian Xu
- Department of Oncology, The Second Clinical Medical College, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Jinan University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Hongtao Jin
- Department of Pathology, The Second Clinical Medical College, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Jinan University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Zhiqiang Cheng
- Department of Pathology, The Second Clinical Medical College, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Jinan University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - David Howard
- Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital and Head and Neck Centre, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust, London, UK
- ENT Department, Charing Cross Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK
| | - Peter H Hwang
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA
| | - Quynh-Thu Le
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA
| | - Joshua K Tay
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Robert B West
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA
| | - Sai Wah Tsao
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Tim Meyer
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK
| | - Herbert Riechelmann
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Udo Oppermann
- Botnar Research Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS), University of Freiburg, 79085, Freiburg, Germany
| | | | - Stefan M Willems
- Department of Pathology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Department of Pathology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Melvin L K Chua
- Divisions of Radiation Oncology and Medical Sciences, National Cancer Centre, Singapore, Singapore
- Oncology Academic Programme, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Pierre Busson
- CNRS-UMR 9018-METSY, Gustave Roussy and Université Paris-Saclay, Villejuif, France
| | - Kwok Wai Lo
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology and State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Guido Wollmann
- Institute of Virology and Christian Doppler Laboratory for Viral Immunotherapy of Cancer, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Nischalan Pillay
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Pathology, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust, Stanmore, UK
| | | | - Valerie J Lund
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK.
- Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital and Head and Neck Centre, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust, London, UK.
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35
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Cheng ASL, Wang HT, Tsang DPF, Lee YY, Kang W, To KF. Targeting H3K27 trimethylation epigenome for liver cancer prevention: abridged secondary publication. Hong Kong Med J 2020; 26 Suppl 8:10-15. [PMID: 33504671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- A S L Cheng
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
- State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
| | - H T Wang
- School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
| | - D P F Tsang
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
| | - Y Y Lee
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
| | - W Kang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
| | - K F To
- State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
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36
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Xue VW, Chung JYF, Córdoba CAG, Cheung AHK, Kang W, Lam EWF, Leung KT, To KF, Lan HY, Tang PMK. Transforming Growth Factor-β: A Multifunctional Regulator of Cancer Immunity. Cancers (Basel) 2020. [PMID: 33114183 DOI: 10.3390/cancers12113099.pmid:33114183;pmcid:pmc7690808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) was originally identified as an anti-tumour cytokine. However, there is increasing evidence that it has important roles in the tumour microenvironment (TME) in facilitating cancer progression. TGF-β actively shapes the TME via modulating the host immunity. These actions are highly cell-type specific and complicated, involving both canonical and non-canonical pathways. In this review, we systemically update how TGF-β signalling acts as a checkpoint regulator for cancer immunomodulation. A better appreciation of the underlying pathogenic mechanisms at the molecular level can lead to the discovery of novel and more effective therapeutic strategies for cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vivian Weiwen Xue
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Jeff Yat-Fai Chung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Cristina Alexandra García Córdoba
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Alvin Ho-Kwan Cheung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Wei Kang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Eric W-F Lam
- Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London W12 0NN, UK
| | - Kam-Tong Leung
- Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Hui-Yao Lan
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
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37
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Lung RWM, Tong JHM, Ip LM, Lam KH, Chan AWH, Chak WP, Chung LY, Yeung WW, Hau PM, Chau SL, Tsao SW, Lau KM, Lo KW, To KF. EBV-encoded miRNAs can sensitize nasopharyngeal carcinoma to chemotherapeutic drugs by targeting BRCA1. J Cell Mol Med 2020; 24:13523-13535. [PMID: 33074587 PMCID: PMC7701581 DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.16007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2020] [Revised: 09/24/2020] [Accepted: 09/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV)‐associated epithelial malignancy. The high expression of BART‐miRNAs (miR‐BARTs) during latent EBV infection in NPC strongly supports their pathological importance in cancer progression. Recently, we found that several BART‐miRNAs work co‐operatively to modulate the DNA damage response (DDR) by reducing Ataxia‐telangiectasia‐mutated (ATM) activity. In this study, we further investigated the role of miR‐BARTs on DDR. The immunohistochemical study showed that the DNA repair gene, BRCA1, is consistently down‐regulated in primary NPCs. Using computer prediction programs and a series of reporter assays, we subsequently identified the negative regulatory role of BART2‐3p, BART12, BART17‐5p and BART19‐3p in BRCA1 expression. The ectopic expression of these four miR‐BARTs suppressed endogenous BRCA1 expression in EBV‐negative epithelial cell lines, whereas BRCA1 expression was enhanced by repressing endogenous miR‐BARTs activities in C666‐1 cells. More importantly, suppressing BRCA1 expression in nasopharyngeal epithelial cell lines using miR‐BART17‐5p and miR‐BART19‐3p mimics reduced the DNA repair capability and increased the cell sensitivity to the DNA‐damaging chemotherapeutic drugs, cisplatin and doxorubicin. Our findings suggest that miR‐BARTs play a novel role in DDR and may facilitate the development of effective NPC therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raymond Wai-Ming Lung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Joanna Hung-Man Tong
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Lok-Man Ip
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Ka-Hei Lam
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Anthony Wing-Hung Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Wing-Po Chak
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Lau-Ying Chung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Walter Wai Yeung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Pok-Man Hau
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Shuk-Ling Chau
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Sai-Wah Tsao
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Center of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Research, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, China
| | - Kin-Mang Lau
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Kwok-Wai Lo
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,Institute of Digestive Disease, Partner State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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Tang PMK, Zhang YY, Hung JSC, Chung JYF, Huang XR, To KF, Lan HY. DPP4/CD32b/NF-κB Circuit: A Novel Druggable Target for Inhibiting CRP-Driven Diabetic Nephropathy. Mol Ther 2020; 29:365-375. [PMID: 32956626 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2020.08.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2020] [Revised: 08/17/2020] [Accepted: 08/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a major cause of end-stage renal disease, but treatment remains ineffective. C-reactive protein (CRP) is pathogenic in DN, which significantly correlated with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) expression in diabetic patients with unknown reason. Here, using our unique CRPtg-db/db mice, we observed human CRP markedly induced renal DPP4 associated with enhanced kidney injury compared with db/db mice. Interestingly, linagliptin, a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved specific DPP4 inhibitor, effectively blocked this CRP-driven DN in the CRPtg-db/db mice. Mechanistically, CRP evoked DPP4 in cultured renal tubular epithelial cells, where CD32b/nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling markedly enriched p65 binding on the DPP4 promoter region to increase its transcription. Unexpectedly, we further discovered that CRP triggers dimerization of DPP4 with CD32b at protein level, forming a novel DPP4/CD32b/NF-κB signaling circuit for promoting CRP-mediated DN. More importantly, linagliptin effectively blocked the circuit, thereby inhibiting the CRP/CD32b/NF-κB-driven renal inflammation and fibrosis. Thus, DPP4 may represent a precise druggable target for CRP-driven DN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang
- Department of Medicine & Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Lui Che Woo Institute of Innovative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
| | - Ying-Ying Zhang
- Department of Medicine & Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Lui Che Woo Institute of Innovative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Department of Nephrology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Jessica Shuk-Chun Hung
- Department of Medicine & Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Lui Che Woo Institute of Innovative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Jeff Yat-Fai Chung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Xiao-Ru Huang
- Department of Medicine & Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Lui Che Woo Institute of Innovative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory on Immunological and Genetic Kidney Diseases, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Hui-Yao Lan
- Department of Medicine & Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Lui Che Woo Institute of Innovative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory on Immunological and Genetic Kidney Diseases, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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Aphivatanasiri C, Li J, Chan R, Jamidi SK, Tsang JY, Poon IK, Shao Y, Tong J, To KF, Chan SK, Tam F, Cheung SY, Shea KH, Tse GM. Combined SOX10 GATA3 is most sensitive in detecting primary and metastatic breast cancers: a comparative study of breast markers in multiple tumors. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2020; 184:11-21. [PMID: 32737715 DOI: 10.1007/s10549-020-05818-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2020] [Accepted: 07/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE For invasive breast cancer (IBC), high SOX10 expression was reported particularly in TNBC. This raised the possibility that SOX10 may complement other breast markers for determining cancers of breast origin. METHODS Here, we compared the expression of SOX10 with other breast markers (GATA3, mammaglobin and GCDFP15) and their combined expression in a large cohort of IBC together with nodal metastases. We have also evaluated the expression of GATA3 and SOX10 in a wide spectrum of non-breast carcinomas to assess their value as breast specific markers. RESULTS Compared with other markers, SOX10 showed lower overall sensitivity (6.5%), but higher sensitivity in TNBC (31.4%) than other breast markers including GATA3 (29.7% for TNBC). Its expression demonstrated the highest concordance between the paired IBC and nodal metastases (96.4%, κ = 0.663) among all the breast markers. More importantly, SOX10 identified many GATA3-negative TNBC, thus the SOX10/GATA3 combination was the most sensitive marker combination for IBC (86.6%). For non-breast carcinoma, a high SOX10/GATA3 expression rate was found in melanoma (77.9%, predominately expressed SOX10), urothelial carcinoma (82.0%, predominately expressed GATA3) and salivary gland tumors (69.4%). Other carcinomas, including cancers from lungs, showed very low expression for the marker combination. CONCLUSIONS The data suggested that SOX10/GATA3 combination can be used for differentiating metastases of breast and multiple non-breast origins. However, the differentiation with melanoma and urothelial tumors required more careful histologic examination, thorough clinical information and additional site-specific IHC markers. For salivary gland tumors, the overlapping tumor types with IBC renders the differentiation difficult.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Joshua Li
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Ronald Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Shirley K Jamidi
- Department of Pathology, Eka Hospital, Bumi Serpong Damai, Tangerang, Indonesia
| | - Julia Y Tsang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Ivan K Poon
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Yan Shao
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Joanna Tong
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Siu-Ki Chan
- Department of Pathology, Kwong Wah Hospital, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Fiona Tam
- Department of Pathology, Kwong Wah Hospital, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Sai-Yin Cheung
- Department of Pathology, Tuen Mun Hospital, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Ka-Ho Shea
- Department of Pathology, Tuen Mun Hospital, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Gary M Tse
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong.
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Zhu YX, Li CH, Li G, Feng H, Xia T, Wong CH, Fung FKC, Tong JHM, To KF, Chen R, Chen Y. LLGL1 Regulates Gemcitabine Resistance by Modulating the ERK-SP1-OSMR Pathway in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol 2020; 10:811-828. [PMID: 32615164 PMCID: PMC7505810 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcmgh.2020.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2020] [Revised: 06/22/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS Gemcitabine resistance is rapidly acquired by pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. Novel approaches that predict the gemcitabine response of patients and enhance gemcitabine chemosensitivity are important to improve patient survival. We aimed to identify genes as novel biomarkers to predict the gemcitabine response and the therapeutic targets to attenuate chemoresistance in PDAC cells. METHODS Genome-wide RNA interference screening was conducted to identify genes that regulated gemcitabine chemoresistance. A cell proliferation assay and a tumor formation assay were conducted to study the role of lethal giant larvae homolog 1 (LLGL1) in gemcitabine chemoresistance. Levels of LLGL1 and its regulating targets were measured by immunohistochemical staining in tumor tissues obtained from patients who received gemcitabine as a single therapeutic agent. A gene-expression microarray was conducted to identify the targets regulated by LLGL1. RESULTS Silencing of LLGL1 markedly reduced the gemcitabine chemosensitivity in PDAC cells. Patients had significantly shorter survival (6 months) if they bore tumors expressing low LLGL1 level than tumors with high LLGL1 level (20 months) (hazard ratio, 0.1567; 95% CI, 0.05966-0.4117). Loss of LLGL1 promoted cytokine receptor oncostatin M receptor (OSMR) expression in PDAC cells that led to gemcitabine resistance, while knockdown of OSMR effectively rescued the chemoresistance phenotype. The LLGL1-OSMR regulatory pathway showed great clinical importance because low LLGL1 and high OSMR expressions were observed frequently in PDAC tissues. Silencing of LLGL1 induced phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 and specificity protein 1 (Sp1), promoted Sp1 (pThr453) binding at the OSMR promoter, and enhanced OSMR transcription. CONCLUSIONS LLGL1 possessed a tumor-suppressor role as an inhibitor of chemoresistance by regulating OSMR-extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2/Sp1 signaling. The data sets generated and analyzed during the current study are available in the Gene Expression Omnibus repository (ID: GSE64681).
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Affiliation(s)
- Yin-Xin Zhu
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Chi Han Li
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Guolin Li
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Guangzhou, China
| | - Huiyi Feng
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Tian Xia
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Chi Hin Wong
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Frederic Khe Cheong Fung
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Joanna Hung-Man Tong
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Rufu Chen
- Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
| | - Yangchao Chen
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong; Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China.
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Li C, Xue VW, Wang QM, Lian GY, Huang XR, Lee TL, To KF, Tang PMK, Lan HY. The Mincle/Syk/NF-κB Signaling Circuit Is Essential for Maintaining the Protumoral Activities of Tumor-Associated Macrophages. Cancer Immunol Res 2020; 8:1004-1017. [PMID: 32532809 DOI: 10.1158/2326-6066.cir-19-0782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2019] [Revised: 04/08/2020] [Accepted: 06/04/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) have important roles in cancer progression, but the signaling behind the formation of protumoral TAM remains understudied. Here, by single-cell RNA sequencing, we revealed that the pattern recognition receptor Mincle was highly expressed in TAM and significantly associated with mortality in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Cancer cells markedly induced Mincle expression in bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM), thus promoting cancer progression in invasive lung carcinoma LLC and melanoma B16F10 in vivo and in vitro Mincle was predominately expressed in the M2-like TAM in non-small cell lung carcinoma and LLC tumors, and silencing of Mincle unexpectedly promoted M1-like phenotypes in vitro Mechanistically, we discovered a novel Mincle/Syk/NF-κB signaling pathway in TAM needed for executing their TLR4-independent protumoral activities. Adoptive transfer of Mincle-silenced BMDM significantly suppressed TAM-driven cancer progression in the LLC-bearing NOD/SCID mice. By modifying our well-established ultrasound microbubble-mediated gene transfer protocol, we demonstrated that tumor-specific silencing of Mincle effectively blocked Mincle/Syk/NF-κB signaling, therefore inhibiting the TAM-driven cancer progression in the syngeneic mouse cancer models. Thus, our findings highlight the function of Mincle as a novel immunotherapeutic target for cancer via blocking the Mincle/Syk/NF-κB circuit in TAM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunjie Li
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.,Department of Head and Neck Oncology, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Vivian Weiwen Xue
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Qing-Ming Wang
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Guang-Yu Lian
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Xiao-Ru Huang
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.,Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory on Immunological and Genetic Kidney Diseases, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangzhou, China
| | - Tin-Lap Lee
- Reproduction, Development and Endocrinology Program, School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
| | - Hui-Yao Lan
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
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Tang PCT, Zhang YY, Chan MKK, Lam WWY, Chung JYF, Kang W, To KF, Lan HY, Tang PMK. The Emerging Role of Innate Immunity in Chronic Kidney Diseases. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21114018. [PMID: 32512831 PMCID: PMC7312694 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21114018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2020] [Revised: 05/28/2020] [Accepted: 06/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Renal fibrosis is a common fate of chronic kidney diseases. Emerging studies suggest that unsolved inflammation will progressively transit into tissue fibrosis that finally results in an irreversible end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Renal inflammation recruits and activates immunocytes, which largely promotes tissue scarring of the diseased kidney. Importantly, studies have suggested a crucial role of innate immunity in the pathologic basis of kidney diseases. This review provides an update of both clinical and experimental information, focused on how innate immune signaling contributes to renal fibrogenesis. A better understanding of the underlying mechanisms may uncover a novel therapeutic strategy for ESRD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Chiu-Tsun Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China; (P.C.-T.T.); (M.K.-K.C.); (J.Y.-F.C.); (W.W.-Y.L.); (W.K.); (K.-F.T.)
| | - Ying-Ying Zhang
- Department of Nephrology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200065, China;
| | - Max Kam-Kwan Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China; (P.C.-T.T.); (M.K.-K.C.); (J.Y.-F.C.); (W.W.-Y.L.); (W.K.); (K.-F.T.)
| | - Winson Wing-Yin Lam
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China; (P.C.-T.T.); (M.K.-K.C.); (J.Y.-F.C.); (W.W.-Y.L.); (W.K.); (K.-F.T.)
| | - Jeff Yat-Fai Chung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China; (P.C.-T.T.); (M.K.-K.C.); (J.Y.-F.C.); (W.W.-Y.L.); (W.K.); (K.-F.T.)
| | - Wei Kang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China; (P.C.-T.T.); (M.K.-K.C.); (J.Y.-F.C.); (W.W.-Y.L.); (W.K.); (K.-F.T.)
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China; (P.C.-T.T.); (M.K.-K.C.); (J.Y.-F.C.); (W.W.-Y.L.); (W.K.); (K.-F.T.)
| | - Hui-Yao Lan
- Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, and Department of Medicine & Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China;
| | - Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China; (P.C.-T.T.); (M.K.-K.C.); (J.Y.-F.C.); (W.W.-Y.L.); (W.K.); (K.-F.T.)
- Correspondence:
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Wong CH, Li CH, He Q, Chan SL, Tong JHM, To KF, Lin LZ, Chen Y. Ectopic HOTTIP expression induces noncanonical transactivation pathways to promote growth and invasiveness in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Cancer Lett 2020; 477:1-9. [PMID: 32120024 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2020.02.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2019] [Revised: 02/14/2020] [Accepted: 02/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
HOXA transcript at the distal tip (HOTTIP), a long noncoding RNA, is upregulated in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), but the HOTTIP-mediated oncogenic pathway is not fully understood. We identified canonical HOTTIP-HOXA13 targets, CYP26B1, CLIC5, CHI3L1 and UCP2-responsible for cell growth and cell invasion. Genome-wide analysis revealed that 38% of HOTTIP-regulated genes contain H3K4me3 and HOTTIP enrichment at their promoters, without HOXA13 binding. HOTTIP complexes with WDR5-MLL1 to trans-activate oncogenic proteins CYB5R2, SULT1A1, KIF26A, SLC1A4, and TSC22D1 by directly inducing H3K4me3 at their promoters. The WDR5, MLL1, and H3K4me3 levels at their promoters and their expression levels are sensitive to HOTTIP expression. These results indicate the importance of the noncanonical trans-acting HOTTIP-WDR5-MLL1 pathway in the HOTTIP regulatory mechanism by promoting oncogenic protein expression. Furthermore, HOTTIP is regulated by miR-497 in PDAC cells, but HOTTIP is negatively correlated with miR-497 levels in PDAC tissues. In conclusion, HOTTIP is upregulated in PDAC due to the loss of the inhibitory miR-497; HOTTIP promotes PDAC progression through the canonical HOTTIP-HOXA13 axis. A novel noncanonical trans-acting HOTTIP-WDR5-MLL1-H3K4me3 pathway is also delineated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chi Hin Wong
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Chi Han Li
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Qifang He
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
| | - Stephen Lam Chan
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Joanna Hung-Man Tong
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Li-Zhu Lin
- Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yangchao Chen
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong; Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, 518087, China.
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Chan AWH, Pan Y, Tong JHM, Lung RWM, Kwan JSH, Chow C, Tin EKY, Chung LY, Li H, Wong SSY, Chau SL, Chan YY, Mak TWC, Ng SSM, To KF. Receptor tyrosine kinase fusions act as a significant alternative driver of the serrated pathway in colorectal cancer development. J Pathol 2020; 251:74-86. [PMID: 32162306 DOI: 10.1002/path.5418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2019] [Revised: 02/18/2020] [Accepted: 03/02/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Serrated polyps are a clinically and molecularly heterogeneous group of lesions that can contribute to the development of colorectal cancers (CRCs). However, the molecular mechanism underlying the development of serrated lesions is still not well understood. Here, we combined multiple approaches to analyze the genetic alterations in 86 colorectal adenomas (including 35 sessile serrated lesions, 15 traditional adenomas, and 36 conventional adenomatous polyps). We also investigated the in vitro and in vivo oncogenic properties of a novel variant of the NCOA4-RET fusion gene. Molecular profiling revealed that sessile serrated lesions and traditional serrated adenomas have distinct clinicopathological and molecular features. Moreover, we identified receptor tyrosine kinase translocations exclusively in sessile serrated lesions (17%), and the observation was validated in a separate cohort of 34 sessile serrated lesions (15%). The kinase fusions as well as the BRAF and KRAS mutations were mutually exclusive to each other. Ectopic expression of a novel variant of the NCOA4-RET fusion gene promoted cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo, and the proliferation was significantly suppressed by RET kinase inhibitors. All of these underscored the importance of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway activation in the serrated pathway of colorectal tumorigenesis. In addition, we demonstrated that the kinase fusion may occur early in the precursor lesion and subsequent loss of TP53 may drives the transformation to carcinoma during serrated tumorigenesis. In conclusion, we identified kinase fusions as a significant alternative driver of the serrated pathway in colorectal cancer development, and detecting their presence may serve as a biomarker for the diagnosis of sessile serrated lesions. © 2020 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony W-H Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
| | - Yi Pan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China.,Institute of Digestive Disease, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China.,Department of Pathology, National Cancer Center/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China
| | - Joanna H-M Tong
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
| | - Raymond W-M Lung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
| | - Johnny S-H Kwan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
| | - Chit Chow
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
| | - Edith K-Y Tin
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
| | - Lau-Ying Chung
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
| | - Hui Li
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
| | - Shela S-Y Wong
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
| | - Shuk-Ling Chau
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
| | - Yuk Yu Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
| | - Tony W-C Mak
- Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
| | - Simon Siu-Man Ng
- Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China.,Institute of Digestive Disease, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China.,Institute of Digestive Disease, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
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45
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Chan SL, Wong LL, Chan KCA, Chow C, Tong JHM, Yip TCF, Wong GLH, Chong CCN, Liu PH, Chu CM, Wong VWS, To KF, Reeves HL, Chan AWH. Development of a Novel Inflammation-Based Index for Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Liver Cancer 2020; 9:167-181. [PMID: 32399431 PMCID: PMC7206612 DOI: 10.1159/000504252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2019] [Accepted: 10/10/2019] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The aim of current study was to (1) construct and validate a novel hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-specific inflammatory index; (2) compare the performances of the Integrated Liver Inflammatory Score (ILIS) to existing 4 inflammatory indices in HCC; (3) explore the association between the inflammatory indices and systemic/intratumoral inflammatory markers. METHODS Two cohorts from Hong Kong (HK; n = 1,315) and Newcastle (n = 574) were studied. A novel index was constructed from the HK training set (n = 627). The index was constructed from the training set by combing independent prognostic circulating parameters, followed by validating in the validation set of HK cohort (n = 688) and the Newcastle cohort. Its prognostic performance was compared to 4 inflammatory indices, namely, the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, prognostic nutrition index, and systemic immune-inflammation index, were compared in the HK cohort. Circulating cytokines and intratumoral gene expression were analyzed in a subset of patients with available samples and correlated with the inflammatory indices. RESULTS In the training set of the HK cohort, the ILIS, was generated: -0.057 × albumin (g/L) + 0.978 × log (Bilirubin, µmol/L) + 1.341 × log (alkaline phosphatase, IU/L) + 0.086 × Neutrophil (109/L) + 0.301 × log (alpha-fetoprotein, µg/L). With cutoff of 2.60 and 3.87, the ILIS could categorize patients into 3 risk groups in the both validation cohorts. ILIS outperforms other inflammatory indices and remains an independent prognosticator for overall survival after adjustment with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (hazard ratio 31.90, p < 0.001). The ILIS had the best prognostic performances as compared to other inflammatory indices. In exploratory analyses, the ILIS correlated with circulating inflammatory cytokines (e.g., IL-8) but not with any intratumoral inflammatory gene expression. CONCLUSIONS ILIS is an HCC-specific prognostic index built on 5 readily available blood parameters. Its versatility is validated both Eastern and Western population of HCC. The score is correlated with levels of circulating cytokines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Lam Chan
- Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Department of Clinical Oncology, Sir YK Pao Centre for Cancer, Institute of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Lin-Lee Wong
- Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom,The Liver Unit, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Kwan-Chee Allen Chan
- Department of Chemical Pathology, Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Chit Chow
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Joanna Hung-Man Tong
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Terry Cheuk-Fung Yip
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Institute of Digestive Disease, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Grace Lai-Hung Wong
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Institute of Digestive Disease, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | | | - Po-Hong Liu
- Department of Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA,Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Cheuk-Man Chu
- Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Vincent Wai-Sun Wong
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Institute of Digestive Disease, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Helen L. Reeves
- The Liver Unit, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom,Northern Institute for Cancer Research, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Anthony Wing-Hung Chan
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China,*Anthony Wing-Hung Chan, Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (China), E-Mail
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46
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Wong CH, Lou UK, Li Y, Chan SL, Tong JH, To KF, Chen Y. CircFOXK2 Promotes Growth and Metastasis of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma by Complexing with RNA-Binding Proteins and Sponging MiR-942. Cancer Res 2020; 80:2138-2149. [PMID: 32217695 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-19-3268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2019] [Revised: 02/04/2020] [Accepted: 03/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The detailed biological functions of circular RNA (circRNA) are largely unexplored. Using circRNA sequencing, we identified 169 differentially expressed circRNA in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells compared with nontumor human pancreatic ductal epithelial cells. Among them, circFOXK2 was validated with significant upregulation in PDAC cells and 63% of primary tumors (53 of 84). circFOXK2 promoted cell growth, migration, and invasion and was involved in cell-cycle progression and apoptosis. circFOXK2 contained multiple miRNA binding sites, functioning as a sponge for miR-942, which in turn promoted expression of ANK1, GDNF, and PAX6. A novel and highly specific circRNA-pulldown followed by mass spectrometry analysis identified 94 circFOXK2-interacting proteins, which were involved in cell adhesion, mRNA splicing, and structural molecule activity. Of these, circFOKX2 interactions with YBX1 and hnRNPK enhanced expression of oncogenes NUF2 and PDXK. Knockdown of circFOXK2 reduced binding of YBX1 and hnRNPK to NUF2 and PDXK, in turn decreasing their expression. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that circFOXK2 in complex with YBX1 and hnRNPK promotes expression of oncogenic proteins that contribute to PDAC progression. SIGNIFICANCE: This study reveals a prominent role for the circRNA circFOXK2 in PDAC progression, suggesting that circFOXK2 might be a novel diagnostic marker for PDAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chi Hin Wong
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin NT, Hong Kong
| | - Ut Kei Lou
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin NT, Hong Kong
| | - Youjia Li
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin NT, Hong Kong
| | - Stephen L Chan
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Joanna Hm Tong
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Yangchao Chen
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin NT, Hong Kong. .,Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China
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47
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Cai D, Wang J, Gao B, Li J, Wu F, Zou JX, Xu J, Jiang Y, Zou H, Huang Z, Borowsky AD, Bold RJ, Lara PN, Li JJ, Chen X, Lam KS, To KF, Kung HJ, Fiehn O, Zhao R, Evans RM, Chen HW. RORγ is a targetable master regulator of cholesterol biosynthesis in a cancer subtype. Nat Commun 2019; 10:4621. [PMID: 31604910 PMCID: PMC6789042 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12529-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2019] [Accepted: 08/12/2019] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Tumor subtype-specific metabolic reprogrammers could serve as targets of therapeutic intervention. Here we show that triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) exhibits a hyper-activated cholesterol-biosynthesis program that is strongly linked to nuclear receptor RORγ, compared to estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Genetic and pharmacological inhibition of RORγ reduces tumor cholesterol content and synthesis rate while preserving host cholesterol homeostasis. We demonstrate that RORγ functions as an essential activator of the entire cholesterol-biosynthesis program, dominating SREBP2 via its binding to cholesterol-biosynthesis genes and its facilitation of the recruitment of SREBP2. RORγ inhibition disrupts its association with SREBP2 and reduces chromatin acetylation at cholesterol-biosynthesis gene loci. RORγ antagonists cause tumor regression in patient-derived xenografts and immune-intact models. Their combination with cholesterol-lowering statins elicits superior anti-tumor synergy selectively in TNBC. Together, our study uncovers a master regulator of the cholesterol-biosynthesis program and an attractive target for TNBC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Demin Cai
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Junjian Wang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Bei Gao
- West Coast Metabolomics Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Jin Li
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Feng Wu
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - June X Zou
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Jianzhen Xu
- Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China
| | - Yuqian Jiang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Hongye Zou
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Zenghong Huang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Alexander D Borowsky
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Richard J Bold
- Department of Surgery, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Primo N Lara
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Jian Jian Li
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Xinbin Chen
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
- Comparative Oncology Laboratory, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Kit S Lam
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Hsing-Jien Kung
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Oliver Fiehn
- West Coast Metabolomics Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Ruqian Zhao
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Ronald M Evans
- Gene Expression Laboratory, Salk Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Hong-Wu Chen
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA.
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA.
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48
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Lee YY, Mok MT, Kang W, Yang W, Tang W, Wu F, Xu L, Yan M, Yu Z, Lee SD, Tong JHM, Cheung YS, Lai PBS, Yu DY, Wang Q, Wong GLH, Chan AM, Yip KY, To KF, Cheng ASL. Loss of tumor suppressor IGFBP4 drives epigenetic reprogramming in hepatic carcinogenesis. Nucleic Acids Res 2019; 46:8832-8847. [PMID: 29992318 PMCID: PMC6158508 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gky589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2017] [Accepted: 06/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Genomic sequencing of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) uncovers a paucity of actionable mutations, underscoring the necessity to exploit epigenetic vulnerabilities for therapeutics. In HCC, EZH2-mediated H3K27me3 represents a major oncogenic chromatin modification, but how it modulates the therapeutic vulnerability of signaling pathways remains unknown. Here, we show EZH2 acts antagonistically to AKT signaling in maintaining H3K27 methylome through epigenetic silencing of IGFBP4. ChIP-seq revealed enrichment of Ezh2/H3K27me3 at silenced loci in HBx-transgenic mouse-derived HCCs, including Igfbp4 whose down-regulation significantly correlated with EZH2 overexpression and poor survivals of HCC patients. Functional characterizations demonstrated potent growth- and invasion-suppressive functions of IGFBP4, which was associated with transcriptomic alterations leading to deregulation of multiple signaling pathways. Mechanistically, IGFBP4 stimulated AKT/EZH2 phosphorylation to abrogate H3K27me3-mediated silencing, forming a reciprocal feedback loop that suppressed core transcription factor networks (FOXA1/HNF1A/HNF4A/KLF9/NR1H4) for normal liver homeostasis. Consequently, the in vivo tumorigenicity of IGFBP4-silenced HCC cells was vulnerable to pharmacological inhibition of EZH2, but not AKT. Our study unveils chromatin regulation of a novel liver tumor suppressor IGFBP4, which constitutes an AKT-EZH2 reciprocal loop in driving H3K27me3-mediated epigenetic reprogramming. Defining the aberrant chromatin landscape of HCC sheds light into the mechanistic basis of effective EZH2-targeted inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying-Ying Lee
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Myth Ts Mok
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Wei Kang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Weiqin Yang
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Wenshu Tang
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Feng Wu
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Liangliang Xu
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Mingfei Yan
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Zhuo Yu
- Department of Liver Disease, Shuguang Hospital affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Sau-Dan Lee
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Joanna H M Tong
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yue-Sun Cheung
- Department of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Paul B S Lai
- Department of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Dae-Yeul Yu
- Disease Model Research Laboratory, Aging Intervention Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Korea
| | - Qianben Wang
- Department of Pathology and Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Grace L H Wong
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Andrew M Chan
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Kevin Y Yip
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Science, Sir Y.K. Pao Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory in Oncology in South China, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Alfred S L Cheng
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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49
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Tang PMK, Tang PCT, Chung JYF, Huang XR, To KF, Lan HY. Abstract 1081: Smad3 silences neutrophil anticancer activity in the tumor microenvironment. Cancer Res 2019. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.am2019-1081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Tumor microenvironment (TME) is a new therapeutic target for cancer, however it is highly heterogeneous and still largely unknown. Recently, we revealed that Smad3 is essential for TME-driven cancer progression, better understanding of the underlying mechanism may uncover novel therapeutic targets for cancer. Indeed, Smad3-dependent TME (Smad3-TME) is originated from bone marrow, where neutrophils are the most abundant leukocytes but their role in cancer is still controversial. Here, we are the first study to reveal the regulatory role of Smad3 in tumor-associated neutrophils (TAN). Interestingly, we observed that knockout of Smad3 (Smad3-KO) dramatically increased TAN population in mice bearing syngeneic melanoma B16F10 and lung carcinoma LLC, where the anticancer N1 phenotypes were significantly induced in the SMad3-KO TME-isolated TAN. Unexpectedly, adoptive transfer of Smad3-KO bone marrow-derived neutrophils markedly suppressed the progression of LLC-tumor on Smad3-WT mice in vivo, and their enhanced cancer-killing activity was confirmed by co-culture assay in vitro. Furthermore, microarray analysis identified a total of 4416 differentially expressed genes associated with Smad3-KO neutrophils under cancer condition in vitro, but the presence of Smad3 largely decreased the transcriptome diversity; especially on genes associated with virus defense response including an anticancer cytokine IL-28. Silencing of IL-28 significantly reduced the anticancer efficiency of Smad3-KO TAN on LLC-bearing mice in vivo. Mechanistically, we uncovered that IL-28A serves as a direct Smad3 target gene and specifically down-regulated in neutrophils under TGF-β1 or LLC-secretome stimulations; showing by ChIP and dual-luciferase reporter assays in vitro. Thus, targeting Smad3 precisely on TAN may represent as a novel and effective immunotherapy for cancer. Acknowledgments: This study was supported by Lui Che Woo Institute of Innovative Medicine (CARE program), Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (GRF 14117815, 14121816, 14163317, C7018-16G, TRS T12-402/13N), Health and Medical Research Fund (03140486, 14152321), Innovation and Technology Fund of Hong Kong (ITS/068/18), Direct Grant for Research CUHK (2017.002).
Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting.
Citation Format: Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang, Philip Chiu-Tsun Tang, Jeff Yat-Fai Chung, Xiao-Ru Huang, Ka-Fai To, Hui-Yao Lan. Smad3 silences neutrophil anticancer activity in the tumor microenvironment [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1081.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Xiao-Ru Huang
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Ka-Fai To
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Hui-Yao Lan
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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50
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Lacambra MD, Weinreb I, Demicco EG, Chow C, Sung YS, Swanson D, To KF, Wong KC, Antonescu CR, Dickson BC. PRRX-NCOA1/2 rearrangement characterizes a distinctive fibroblastic neoplasm. Genes Chromosomes Cancer 2019; 58:705-712. [PMID: 31008539 DOI: 10.1002/gcc.22762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2019] [Revised: 04/17/2019] [Accepted: 04/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Fibroblastic/myofibroblastic neoplasms represent a broad, and occasionally diagnostically challenging, category of soft tissue neoplasms. A subset of these tumors defy conventional classification. However, with the advent of next-generation sequencing, the identification of disease-defining molecular alterations is gradually improving their subclassification. Following identification of two index cases of a distinctive fibroblastic neoplasm with a fusion gene involving PRRX1 and NCOA1, we performed a retrospective review to further characterize this entity. We identified two additional cases, including one with a fusion between PRRX1 and NCOA2. The average patient age was 38 years, and three patients were female. Two tumors occurred on the neck, and the others involved the groin and thigh. Tumors were centered in the subcutis and ranged from 2.3 to 14.0 cm (average 5.8 cm). Morphologically, they were predominantly hypocellular, with focal hypercellularity. They were composed of monomorphic spindle-stellate cells with a vague fascicular pattern. The nuclei were bland with only rare mitotic activity, and occasional multinucleation. The intervening stroma was typically abundant and ranged from myxoid to collagenous, with frequent rope-like collagen bundles. Three of the cases had a prominent vasculature ranging from numerous small curvilinear vessels to ectatic and branching staghorn-like vessels. Immunohistochemistry was negative for desmin, smooth muscle actin, S100, CD34, keratin, and epithelial membrane antigen. Each of the patients was treated by simple excision and none of the tumors were associated with local recurrence or metastasis. Based on their unique morphological and molecular attributes, we believe this represents a novel fibroblastic tumor for which we have tentatively proposed the name "PRRX-NCOAx-rearranged fibroblastic tumor."
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Affiliation(s)
- Maribel D Lacambra
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Ilan Weinreb
- Department of Pathology, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Elizabeth G Demicco
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Chit Chow
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Yun-Shao Sung
- Department of Pathology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, USA
| | - David Swanson
- Department of Pathology, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Ka-Fai To
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Kwok-Chuen Wong
- Musculokeletal Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Cristina R Antonescu
- Department of Pathology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, USA
| | - Brendan C Dickson
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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