Molecular Oncology最新文献

Receptor-interacting protein kinase 4 (RIPK4) has been implicated in the progression of numerous tumours. In nonmelanoma skin cancer, RIPK4 plays a suppressor role, whereas in melanoma, it functions as an oncogene that modulates key signalling pathways involved in melanoma cell survival and expansion. Increased RIPK4 levels in metastatic melanoma biopsies prompted us to investigate the consequences of RIPK4 loss for the invasive and metastatic phenotype of melanoma cells. Using an integrated approach involving clinical samples, in vivo xenograft models, transcriptomic analysis and 3D functional assays, we show that RIPK4 deletion significantly reduces pulmonary metastasis formation. This reflects its role in late-stage metastatic events, such as extravasation and colonization, particularly since this phenotype correlates with extensive transcriptional reprogramming of adhesion- and motility-related genes in melanoma cells, as evidenced by next-generation sequencing and functional validation in spheroid and collagen-based models. Despite exhibiting features of a partial shift towards an amoeboid phenotype such as membrane blebbing and increased MLC2 phosphorylation, RIPK4 knockout cells display impaired motility and invasion. Re-expression of RIPK4 restores mesenchymal morphology and migratory capacity. Together, our results establish RIPK4 as a critical regulator of melanoma invasion and metastasis. Nonetheless, they also demonstrate that the loss of RIPK4 function activates compensatory phenotypic shifts in melanoma cells that fail to fully rescue their invasive potential.

Targeted drug therapy is very important for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), and the development of carrier systems to deliver apoptosis-inducing proteins such as TRAIL to cells is important in cancer therapy. In this study, a nanosystem formulation (TRAIL-PEG-Apt-PLGA) encapsulating TNBC-targeted aptamer-bound-TRAIL protein was performed and the efficacy of this system was evaluated in a mouse tumor model. The characterization of TRAIL-PEG-Apt-PLGA was confirmed by FTIR, NTA and SEM microscopy. The efficacy of TRAIL-PEG-Apt-PLGA was evaluated by in vitro release assays and interactions with TNBC cells (MDA-MB-231) and healthy breast cells (MCF-10A). TRAIL-PEG-Apt-PLGA was administered intravenously to NOD/SCID gamma mouse breast tumors and evaluated in vivo. Pharmacokinetics, bioavailability testing, histological staining (DR4/DR5, TUNEL, HE staining) and molecular alterations with PCR array were evaluated in tumor tissues. TRAIL-PEG-Apt-PLGA induced apoptosis in both in vivo and in vitro studies. It was found that it regulated cellular responses along with apoptotic mechanisms in cells without developing resistance in suppressing tumor growth by making changes on Atf2, Casp8, Bcl2 and Irf5 genes and proteins. As a result, the biotechnological drug potential of TRAIL was discovered in an aptamer-bound nanosystem for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer and innovative applications for clinical use.

Cervical cancer remains a leading cause of mortality among women, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Despite distinct prognoses and clinical outcomes between its main histological subtypes, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (ADC), current treatment regimens remain largely similar, creating an urgent need for targeted therapeutic strategies based on molecular distinctions. To address this gap, the long noncoding RNA IGFL2-AS1 was investigated as a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in cervical adenocarcinoma. A translational approach was employed that integrated patient transcriptome data, in silico analysis from public databases, and in vitro validation. Using CRISPR/dCas9 technology, IGFL2-AS1 expression was modulated in HeLa (ADC) and SiHa (SCC) cell lines to assess its impact on cellular characteristics associated with tumorigenesis. In silico analysis revealed that IGFL2-AS1 expression was significantly reduced in ADC compared to SCC, and its low expression was consistently linked to poorer ADC prognosis and decreased patient survival. Notably, overexpression of IGFL2-AS1 in HeLa cells significantly reduced cell proliferation, migration, clonogenic survival, and enhanced sensitivity to cisplatin and doxorubicin. Conversely, IGFL2-AS1 repression in SiHa cells yielded no significant phenotypic changes, suggesting a context-dependent mechanism. IGFL2-AS1 is identified as a histological subtype-specific prognostic biomarker and promising therapeutic target for cervical adenocarcinoma.

Colorectal cancer ranks third in global incidence and second in cancer mortality. Patient-derived models are irreplaceable for studying tumor biology. We established a human epithelial cell line from a rectal adenocarcinoma overexpressing cancer stem cell marker ALDH1A1, and we investigated the effect of ALDH1A1 knockout on tumor cell traits. The cell line and its CRISPR-Cas9 ALDH1A1 knockouts were characterized by genomic and cytogenetic methods (CNV, WES, RNAseq, karyotype), in vitro (proliferation, response to chemotherapy, migration, invasion, apoptosis), and in vivo methods. We identified the landscape of somatic mutations and copy number alterations in the original tumor and the derived cell line. Genetic attenuation of ALDH1A1 was characterized by an increase in migratory potential and extensive metastatic ability, accompanied by reduced growth of subcutaneous xenografts and alterations in gene expression associated with inhibited proliferation and promoted invasion and metastasis, ultimately resulting in dysregulation of the Wnt signaling pathway. Increased metastatic potential was also confirmed in HT-29 cells after ALDH1A1 genetic attenuation. CRISPR-Cas9-mediated editing led to functional, cellular, and molecular changes confirming the role of ALDH1A1 in colorectal cancer carcinogenesis.

Despite having excellent prognosis when detected early, colorectal cancer (CRC) remains a leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. Screening remains an important contributor to CRC survival, but the cost and invasiveness of traditional imaging methodologies can hinder patient compliance. A blood-based approach would be more convenient and accessible, but reliable serum markers are lacking. In this study, the peptide enteroendocrine hormone Fibroblast Growth Factor 19 (FGF19) was identified as an attractive marker for CRC through a meta-transcriptomic analysis. While its pro-tumor effects are documented, FGF19's utility as a blood serum marker for CRC is not well defined. Studies presented here show that FGF19 is constitutively expressed and secreted in 3 of 5 CRC cell lines, and secreted levels increase with seeding density. A subcutaneous CRC cell line-derived xenograft model revealed that FGF19 is detectable in serum of mice injected with FGF19-positive, but not negative, CRC cells at levels corresponding to tumor volume. Enteroendocrine effects of tumor-derived FGF19, including suppression of bile acid synthesis, are evident in liver samples via RNA sequencing and validated by RT-PCR. Notably, the hepatic response to CRC-secreted FGF19 has not been explored prior to this study even though FGF19 is a key regulator of hepatic cholesterol metabolism and bile acid homeostasis. Collectively, these findings support the clinical utility of FGF19 as a putative serum marker for CRC and provide important evidence that CRC-derived FGF19 can modulate liver physiology consistent with the enteroendocrine function of FGF19.

Peroxidasin (PXDN), an extracellular matrix (ECM)-associated peroxidase, has been implicated in cancer progression. However, its roles in melanoma biology and therapeutic sensitivity remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that elevated PXDN expression is associated with poor prognosis and reduced survival in melanoma patients. Functional studies revealed that PXDN depletion impairs melanoma cell proliferation, disrupts the cell cycle, and reduces melanoma cell invasive capacities. Furthermore, we found that secreted PXDN modulates anti-melanoma immunity by enhancing melanoma resistance to natural killer (NK)-cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Structural modeling identified a trimeric organization of PXDN, stabilized by disulfide-linked peroxidase domains. Molecular dynamics simulations identified a previously unknown inhibitory interaction between the PXDN N-terminal leucine-rich repeat domain and the NK cell-activating receptor NKG2-D type II integral membrane protein (NKG2D). These findings uncover a redox-independent role for PXDN in promoting immune evasion and tumor progression. Overall, our study highlights PXDN as a critical regulator of melanoma cell biology and a potential therapeutic target for NK-cell-based immunotherapy in melanoma and other solid cancers.

According to the seed and soil hypothesis, the organ specificity of metastasis is not a random process and depends on multiple tumor-intrinsic and microenvironmental factors. In this study, we characterized the mutational landscape of a large cohort of human metastatic samples to investigate whether mutational trends determine metastatic dissemination. Genomic data from nine cancer types (bladder, breast, colorectal, endometrial, melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate) including 19827 patients were obtained from a pan-cancer study. When restricting the analysis to driver mutations, no robust, recurrent mutational patterns associated with metastatic locations were identified across cancer types. However, when cancer types were analyzed separately, mutational trends associated with specific metastatic locations emerged. Considering the total tumor mutational burden (TMB), central nervous system (CNS)/brain and lung metastases harbored a higher TMB than other metastatic locations. Since higher TMB in CNS/brain metastases was also associated with improved prognosis, these findings may be pivotal in refining immunotherapy strategies. Indeed, this observation was confirmed in an independent dataset including patients treated with immunotherapy. In conclusion, our findings suggest that TMB may have greater influence on metastatic organotropism than driver mutational background.

Cervical cancer is highly prevalent in India, with most cases being diagnosed at advanced stages. Despite the standard concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT), 30-40% of patients' experience treatment failure, underscoring the need for improved therapeutic strategies. Understanding resistance mechanisms and identifying predictive biomarkers are crucial to improve treatment efficacy and enable personalized medicine. We conducted a comprehensive genomic and proteomic analysis to identify molecular signatures associated with CCRT. We identified recurrent mutations in phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha isoform (PIK3CA) and histone-lysine N-methyltransferase 2D (KMT2D), with mutation signature analysis revealing a prevalent DNA dC- > dU-editing enzyme, APOBEC mutagenesis signature. Distinct genomic alterations, including epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) amplification and serine/threonine kinase 11 (STK11) deletion, were exclusively observed in the chemoradiation-resistant cohort. Proteomic analysis identified 73 significantly dysregulated proteins, with syntaxin-3 (STX3), SERPINB7, lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP), EMILIN2, and ribosyldihydronicotinamide dehydrogenase (quinone) (NQO2) being the top five upregulated proteins. Integrative pathway analysis highlighted an active DNA repair pathway in the resistant cohort. This study presents the first proteogenomic profiling of cervical cancer in the Indian population, linking molecular alterations to CCRT response. STK11 and STX3 emerged as predictive biomarkers for poor response, whereas EGFR presents as a promising therapeutic target in the resistant group.

As the most common pediatric brain malignancy, medulloblastoma (MB) includes multiple distinct molecular subtypes characterized by clinical heterogeneity and genetic alterations. Accurate identification of MB subtypes is essential for downstream risk stratification and tailored therapeutic design. Existing MB subtyping approaches perform poorly due to limited cohorts and severe batch effects when integrating various MB data sources. To address these concerns, we propose a novel approach called RaMBat for accurate MB subtyping from diverse data sources with severe batch effects. Benchmarking tests based on 13 datasets with severe batch effects suggested that RaMBat achieved a median accuracy of 99%, significantly outperforming state-of-the-art MB subtyping approaches and conventional machine learning classifiers. RaMBat could efficiently deal with the batch effects and clearly separate subtypes of MB samples from diverse data sources. We believe RaMBat will bring direct positive impacts on downstream MB risk stratification and tailored treatment design.

Yes-associated protein (YAP) is a key oncogenic effector and a well-established driver of resistance to anticancer therapies, especially in tumors harboring KRAS mutations. Although YAP is clinically relevant, drug-development efforts that directly inhibit its activity have been limited. Here, we show that basroparib-a selective tankyrase (TNKS) inhibitor that suppresses Wnt signaling-attenuates YAP-driven oncogenic programs by stabilizing angiomotin (AMOT), an endogenous negative regulator of YAP. In colorectal cancer (CRC) cells, basroparib increased AMOT protein abundance, promoted AMOT-YAP complex formation, and enforced cytoplasmic sequestration of YAP, thereby dampening YAP-dependent transcription. Basroparib preferentially sensitized YAP-overexpressing, KRAS-mutant CRC cell lines to MEK inhibition by inhibiting YAP signaling. In MEK inhibitor-resistant CRC models, in which elevated YAP activity mediates escape, basroparib restored drug sensitivity both in vitro and in vivo. The compound also enhanced MEK inhibitor efficacy in other YAP-active tumor types, while exerting minimal effects in YAP-inactive models. Taken together, these results identify basroparib-now progressing through clinical development (Phase I, NCT04505839)-as a promising agent for dual Wnt-YAP pathway blockade and for overcoming therapeutic resistance in YAP-driven cancers.