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PIP5K1? has emerged as a promising drug target for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), as it acts upstream of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway to promote prostate cancer (PCa) growth, survival and invasion. However, little is known of the molecular actions of PIP5K1? in this process. Here, we show that siRNA-mediated knockdown of PIP5K1? and blockade of PIP5K1? action using its small molecule inhibitor ISA-2011B suppress growth and invasion of CRPC cells. We demonstrate that targeted deletion of the N-terminal domain of PIP5K1? in CRPC cells results in reduced growth and migratory ability of cancer cells. Further, the xenograft tumors lacking the N-terminal domain of PIP5K1? exhibited reduced tumor growth and aggressiveness in xenograft mice as compared to that of controls. The N-terminal domain of PIP5K1? is required for regulation of mRNA expression and protein stability of PIP5K1?. This suggests that the expression and oncogenic activity of PIP5K1? are in part dependent on its N-terminal domain. We further show that PIP5K1? acts as an upstream regulator of the androgen receptor (AR) and AR target genes including CDK1 and MMP9 that are key factors promoting growth, survival and invasion of PCa cells. ISA-2011B exhibited a significant inhibitory effect on AR target genes including CDK1 and MMP9 in CRPC cells with wild-type PIP5K1? and in CRPC cells lacking the N-terminal domain of PIP5K1?. These results indicate that the growth of PIP5K1?-dependent tumors is in part dependent on the integrity of the N-terminal sequence of this kinase. Our study identifies a novel functional mechanism involving PIP5K1?, confirming that PIP5K1? is an intriguing target for cancer treatment, especially for treatment of CRPC.

Sialic acid (SA) is a monosaccharide usually linked to the terminus of glycan chains on the cell surface. It plays a crucial role in many biological processes, and hypersialylation is a common feature in cancer. Lectins are widely used to analyze the cell surface expression of SA. However, these protein molecules are usually expensive and easily denatured, which calls for the development of alternative glycan-specific receptors and cell imaging technologies. In this study, SA-imprinted fluorescent core-shell molecularly imprinted polymer particles (SA-MIPs) were employed to recognize SA on the cell surface of cancer cell lines. The SA-MIPs improved suspensibility and scattering properties compared with previously used core-shell SA-MIPs. Although SA-imprinting was performed using SA without preference for the α2,3- and α2,6-SA forms, we screened the cancer cell lines analyzed using the lectins Maackia Amurensis Lectin I (MAL I, α2,3-SA) and Sambucus Nigra Lectin (SNA, α2,6-SA). Our results show that the selected cancer cell lines in this study presented a varied binding behavior with the SA-MIPs. The binding pattern of the lectins was also demonstrated. Moreover, two different pentavalent SA conjugates were used to inhibit the binding of the SA-MIPs to breast, skin, and lung cancer cell lines, demonstrating the specificity of the SA-MIPs in both flow cytometry and confocal fluorescence microscopy. We concluded that the synthesized SA-MIPs might be a powerful future tool in the diagnostic analysis of various cancer cells.

Sialylations are post-translational modifications of proteins and lipids that play important roles in many cellular events, including cell-cell interactions, proliferation, and migration. Tumor cells express high levels of sialic acid (SA), which are often associated with the increased invasive potential in clinical tumors, correlating with poor prognosis. To overcome the lack of natural SA-receptors, such as antibodies and lectins with high enough specificity and sensitivity, we have used molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), or “plastic antibodies”, as nanoprobes. Because high expression of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) in primary tumors is often associated with proliferation and a more aggressive phenotype, the expression of EpCAM and CD44 was initially analyzed. The SA-MIPs were used for the detection of SA on the cell surface of breast cancer cells. Lectins that specifically bind to the a-2,3 SA and a-2,6 SA variants were used for analysis of SA expression, with both flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. Here we show a correlation of EpCAM and SA expression when using the SA-MIPs for detection of SA. We also demonstrate the binding pattern of the SA-MIPs on the breast cancer cell lines using confocal microscopy. Pre-incubation of the SA-MIPs with SA-derivatives as inhibitors could reduce the binding of the SA-MIPs to the tumor cells, indicating the specificity of the SA-MIPs. In conclusion, the SA-MIPs may be a new powerful tool in the diagnostic analysis of breast cancer cells.

Additional file 2: Supplementary tables, including comparison of Ct values of three genes with and without preamplification before real time qRT-PCR (Table S1), comparison of CtS values of five genes in the urine samples collected with and without digital rectal examination (DRE) (Table S2), genes in the 25-Gene Panel for prostate cancer diagnosis (Table S3), diagnostic performance of the 25-Gene Panel in GSE17951 prostate tissue specimen cohort (n = 154) (Table S4).

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide. Metastasis is the main reason for death in breast cancer, and today, there is a lack of methods to detect and isolate circulating tumor cells (CTCs), mainly due to their heterogeneity and rarity. There are some systems that are designed to detect rare epithelial cancer cells in whole blood based on the most common marker used today, the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM). It has been shown that aggressive breast cancer metastases are of non-epithelial origin and are therefore not always detected using EpCAM as a marker. In the present study, we used an in vitro-based circulating tumor cell model comprising a collection of six breast cancer cell lines and white blood cell lines. We used digital holographic cytometry (DHC) to characterize and distinguish between the different cell types by area, volume and thickness. Here, we present significant differences in cell size-related parameters observed when comparing white blood cells and breast cancer cells by using DHC. In conclusion, DHC can be a powerful diagnostic tool for the characterization of CTCs in the blood.

Additional file 1. Supplementary methods, including quantification of mRNA expression, validation of urine test without DRE, Algorithm for identification of clinically significant cancer, and statistical analysis.

Additional file 3. Supplementary figures, including box plots of biomarkers with increased gene expression levels in prostate tissue specimens from patients with prostate cancer as compared to patients with benign prostate in the GSE17951 cohort (n = 154) (Fig. S1), box plots of biomarkers with decreased gene expression levels in prostate tissue specimens from patients with prostate cancer as compared to patients with benign prostate in the GSE17951 cohort (n = 154) (Fig. S2), box plot of discriminant score F1 of the 25-Gene Panel in prostate tissue specimens from patients with prostate cancer as compared to patients with benign prostate in the GSE17951 cohort (n = 154) (Fig. S3), and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of the 25-Gene Panel for PCa diagnosis in GSE17951 prostate tissue specimen cohort (n = 154) (Fig. S4).

© 2018, The Author(s). Despite recent improvement in adjuvant therapies, triple-negative, and ER + subtypes of breast cancer (BC) with metastatic potentials remain the leading cause of BC-related deaths. We investigated the role of phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate 5-kinase alpha (PIP5Kα), a key upstream factor of PI3K/AKT, and the therapeutic effect of PIP5Kα inhibitor on subtypes of BC. The clinical importance of PIP5K1α and its association with survivals were analyzed using three BC cohorts from Nottingham (n = 913), KM plotter (n = 112) and TCGA (n = 817). Targeted overexpression or knockdown of PIP5K1α were introduced into BC cell lines. The effects of PIP5K1α and its inhibitor on growth and invasion of BC were confirmed by using in vitro assays including proliferation, migration, apoptosis and luciferase reporter assays and in vivo xenograft mouse models. All statistical tests were two-sided. PIP5K1α was associated with poor patient outcome in triple-negative BC (for PIP5K1α protein, p = 0.011 and for mRNA expression, p = 0.028, log-rank test). 29% of triple-negative BC had PIP5K1A gene amplification. Elevated level of PIP5K1α increased expression of pSer-473 AKT (p < 0.001) and invasiveness of triple-negative MDA-MB-231 cells (p < 0.001). Conversely, inhibition of PIP5K1α using its inhibitor ISA-2011B, or via knockdown suppressed growth and invasiveness of MDA-MB-231 xenografts (mean vehicle-treated controls = 2160 mm 3 , and mean ISA-2011B-treated = 600 mm 3 , p < 0.001). ISA-2011B-treatment reduced expression of pSer-473 AKT (p < 0.001) and its downstream effectors including cyclin D1, VEGF and its receptors, VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 (p < 0.001) in xenograft tumors. In ER + cancer cells, PIP5K1α acted on pSer-473 AKT, and was in complexes with VEGFR2, serving as co-factor of ER-alpha to regulate activities of target genes including cyclin D1 and CDK1. Our study suggests that our developed PIP5K1α inhibitor has a great potential on refining targeted therapeutics for treatment of triple-negative and ER + BC with abnormal PI3K/AKT pathways.

PCR amplification was performed using Phusion DNA polymerae (Thermo Scientific) according to manufacture's recommendation. In-frame deletion in V. cholerae was performed as descibed. Briefly, a 500-bp 5-prime flanking sequence of the gene, including several nucleotides of the coding region, was PCR amplified. The two PCR products were annealed at their overlapping region and amplified by PCR to produce a single DNA fragment, using outer primers. The resulting PCR product, lacking most of the coding sequence of the gene, was digested with XbaI enzyme and ligated into a similarly digested pCVD442 suicide plasmid. pCVD442 containing mutant construct was introduced into E. coli SM10.lambda pir by electroporation. The donor, E. coli SM10-lambda pir containing the plasmid pCVD442 containing mutant construct, was used for conjugal transfer to rifampin-resistant V. cholerae A1552. A mixture containing equal volumes of the donor and recipient in LB was incubated for 6 h at 30C. The exconjugants were selected by plating the suspension onto LB plates supplemented with 100 microgram/ml of rifampin and 100 microgram/ml of carbenicillin (Cb) at 30C. After selection of the desired tranconjugants on rifampin-plus-Cb plates, they were streaked on LB plates with 10 percent sucrose at 30C. Several colonies were purified from the plates, tested for Cb sensitivity, and then analyzed for the deletion using colony PCR and DNA sequencing. Sequencing data are described here.

OBJECTIVE: Women with a prior history of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have an increased risk of endometrial cancer (EC).AIM: To investigate whether the endometrium of women with PCOS possess gene expression changes similar to those found in EC.DESIGN AND METHODS: Patients with EC, PCOS and control women unaffected by either PCOS or EC were recruited into a cross-sectional study at the Nottingham University Hospital, UK. For RNA sequencing, representative individual endometrial biopsies were obtained from women with EC, PCOS and a woman unaffected by PCOS or EC. Expression of a subset of differentially expressed genes identified by RNA sequencing, including NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase 1 (NQO1), were validated by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR validation (n=76) and in the cancer genome atlas UCEC (uterine corpus endometrioid carcinoma) RNA sequencing dataset (n=381). The expression of NQO1 was validated by immuno-histochemistry in EC samples from a separate cohort (n=91) comprised of consecutive patients who underwent hysterectomy at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester between 2011 and 2013. A further 6 postmenopausal women with histologically normal endometrium who underwent hysterectomy for genital prolapse were also included. Informed consent and local ethics approval was obtained for the study.RESULTS: We show for the first that that NQO1 expression is significantly increased in the endometrium of women with PCOS and EC. Immunohistochemistry confirms significantly increased NQO1 protein expression in EC relative to non-malignant endometrial tissue (p

The placenta and tumors share important characteristics, including a requirement to establish effective angiogenesis. In the case of the placenta, optimal angiogenesis is required to sustain the blood flow required to maintain a successful pregnancy, whereas in tumors establishing new blood supplies is considered a key step in supporting metastases. Therefore the development of novel angiogenesis inhibitors has been an area of active research in oncology. A subset of the molecular processes regulating angiogenesis are well understood in the context of both early placentation and tumorigenesis. In this review we focus on the well-established role of androgen regulation of angiogenesis in cancer and relate these mechanisms to placental angiogenesis. The physiological actions of androgens are mediated by the androgen receptor (AR), a ligand dependent transcription factor. Androgens and the AR are essential for normal male embryonic development, puberty and lifelong health. Defects in androgen signalling are associated with a diverse range of clinical disorders in men and women including disorders of sex development (DSD), polycystic ovary syndrome in women and many cancers. We summarize the diverse molecular mechanisms of androgen regulation of angiogenesis and infer the potential significance of these pathways to normal and pathogenic placental function. Finally, we offer potential research applications of androgen-targeting molecules developed to treat cancer as investigative tools to help further delineate the role of androgen signalling in placental function and maternal and offspring health in animal models.

Photoreceptor-specific nuclear receptor (PNR/NR2E3) and Tailless homolog (TLX/NR2E1) are human orthologs of the NR2E group, a subgroup of phylogenetically related members of the Nuclear Receptor (NR) superfamily of transcription factors. We assessed the ability of these NRs to form heterodimers with other members of the human NRs representing all major subgroups. The TLX ligand binding domain (LBD) did not appear to form homodimers or interact directly with any other NR tested. The PNR LBD was able to form homodimers, but also exhibited robust interactions with the LBDs of PPAR?/NR1C3 and TR?/NR1A2. The binding of PNR to PPAR? was specific for this paralog, as no interaction was observed with the LBDs of PPAR?NR1C1 or PPAR?NR1C2. In support of these findings, PPAR? and PNR were found to be co-expressed in human retinal tissue extracts and could be co-immunoprecipitated as a native complex. Selected sequence variants in the PNR LBD associated with human retinopathies, or a mutation in the dimerization region of PPAR? LBD associated with familial partial lipodystrophy type 3, were found to disrupt PNR/PPAR? complex formation. Wild type PNR, but not a PNR309G mutant, was able to repress PPAR?-mediated transcription in reporter assays. In summary our results reveal novel heterodimer interactions in the NR superfamily, suggesting previously unknown functional interactions of PNR with PPAR? and TR? that have potential importance in retinal development and disease.

One mechanism of resistance of prostate cancer (PCa) to enzalutamide (MDV3100) treatment is the increased expression of AR variants lacking the ligand binding-domain, the best characterized of which is AR-V7. We have previously reported that Phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate 5-kinase alpha (PIP5Ka), is a lipid kinase that links to CDK1 and AR pathways. The discovery of PIP5Ka inhibitor highlight the potential of PIP5K1? as a drug target in PCa. In this study, we show that AR-V7 expression positively correlates with PIP5K1? in tumor specimens from PCa patients. Overexpression of AR-V7 increases PIP5K1?, promotes rapid growth of PCa in xenograft mice, whereas inhibition of PIP5K1? by its inhibitor ISA-2011B suppresses the growth and invasiveness of xenograft tumors overexpressing AR-V7. PIP5K1? is a key co-factor for both AR-V7 and AR, which are present as protein-protein complexes predominantly in the nucleus of PCa cells. In addition, PIP5K1? and CDK1 influence AR-V7 expression also through AKT-associated mechanism dependent on PTEN-status. ISA-2011B disrupts protein stabilization of AR-V7 which is dependent on PIP5K1?, leading to suppression of invasive growth of AR-V7-high tumors in xenograft mice. Our study suggests that combination of enzalutamide and PIP5K1? may have a significant impact on refining therapeutic strategies to circumvent resistance to antiandrogen therapies.

In cutaneous T cell lymphomas (CTCL), miR-21 is aberrantly expressed in skin and peripheral blood and displays anti-apoptotic properties in malignant T cells. It is, however, unclear exactly which cells express miR-21 and what mechanisms regulate miR-21. Here, we demonstrate miR-21 expression in situ in both malignant and reactive lymphocytes as well as stromal cells. qRT-PCR analysis of 47 patients with mycosis fungoides (MF) and Sezary Syndrome (SS) confirmed an increased miR-21 expression that correlated with progressive disease. In cultured malignant T cells miR-21 expression was inhibited by Tofacitinib (CP-690550), a clinical-grade JAK3 inhibitor. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis showed direct binding of STAT5 to the miR-21 promoter. Cytokine starvation ex vivo triggered a decrease in miR-21 expression, whereas IL-2 induced an increased miR-21 expression in primary SS T cells and cultured cytokine-dependent SS cells (SeAx). siRNA-mediated depletion of STAT5 inhibited constitutive- and IL-2-induced miR-21 expression in cytokine-independent and dependent T cell lines, respectively. IL-15 and IL-2 were more potent than IL-21 in inducing miR-21 expression in the cytokine-dependent T cells. In conclusion, we provide first evidence that miR-21 is expressed in situ in CTCL skin lesions, induced by IL-2 and IL-15 cytokines, and is regulated by STAT5 in malignant T cells. Thus, our data provide novel evidence for a pathological role of IL-2Rg cytokines in promoting expression of the oncogenic miR-21 in CTCL.

Adult Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) is a heterogeneous form of hematopoietic cancer and difficult to treat. In order to find a better diagnostic indication for the disease, we analyzed Low Molecular Weight Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase (LMWPTP) that in humans is encoded by the ACP1 gene. LMWPTP is an enzyme shown to counteract Protein Tyrosine Kinases (PTK) and was suggested to be a negative growth factor regulator. However, the 18 kDa PTP can also have a positive effect on cell growth and proliferation, indicating a controversial role in the tumorigenic process. LMWPTP exists in different isoforms which are electrophoretically, kinetically and immunologically distinct. We have studied two subgroups of DLBCL consisting of a Germinal Center B cell like (GCB) and a non-Germinal Center B cell like (non-GCB) group. The two subgroups have been defined by gene-expressing profiling and are associated with differential outcome. The expression levels of LMWPTP protein was compared and showed significant differences between the GCB and non- GCB subgroups (p=0.012). Interestingly, when the samples were divided into survivors and non-survivors, and thereafter analyzed for LMWPTP expression, the samples from patients with a higher survival rate showed increased staining intensity, whereas the samples from patients with lower intensity of LMWPTP did not survive the disease (p=0.001). In conclusion, we have shown that DLBCL patients with worse outcome express LMWPTP with a lower intensity, suggesting a tumor suppressor role for this form of the enzyme.

Androgens and the androgen receptor (AR) play crucial roles in male development and the pathogenesis and progression of prostate cancer (PCa). The AR functions as a ligand dependent transcription factor which recruits multiple enzymatically distinct epigenetic coregulators to facilitate transcriptional regulation in response to androgens. Over-expression of AR coregulators is implicated in cancer. We have shown that over-expression of KDM1A, an AR coregulator, contributes to PCa recurrence by promoting VEGFA expression. However the mechanism(s) whereby AR coregulators are increased in PCa remain poorly understood. In this study we show that the microRNA hsa-miR-137 (miR137) tumor suppressor regulates expression of an extended network of transcriptional coregulators including KDM1A/LSD1/AOF1, KDM2A/JHDM1A/FBXL11, KDM4A/JMJD2A, KDM5B JARID1B/PLU1, KDM7A/JHDM1D/PHF8, MED1/TRAP220/DRIP205 and NCoA2/SRC2/TIF2. We show that expression of miR137 is increased by androgen in LnCaP androgen PCa responsive cells and that the miR137 locus is epigenetically silenced in androgen LnCaP:C4-2 and PC3 independent PCa cells. In addition, we found that restoration of miR137 expression down-regulates expression of VEGFA, an AR target gene, which suggests a role of miR137 loss also in cancer angiogenesis. Finally we show functional inhibition of miR137 function enhanced androgen induction of PSA/KLK3 expression. Our data indicate that miR137 functions as an androgen regulated suppressor of androgen signaling by modulating expression of an extended network of transcriptional coregulators. Therefore, we propose that epigenetic silencing of miR137 is an important event in promoting androgen signaling during prostate carcinogenesis and progression.

Androgens and the androgen receptor (AR) play crucial roles in male development and the pathogenesis and progression of prostate cancer (PCa). The AR functions as a ligand dependent transcription factor which recruits multiple enzymatically distinct epigenetic coregulators to facilitate transcriptional regulation in response to androgens. Over-expression of AR coregulators is implicated in cancer. We have shown that over-expression of KDM1A, an AR coregulator, contributes to PCa recurrence by promoting VEGFA expression. However the mechanism(s) whereby AR coregulators are increased in PCa remain poorly understood. In this study we show that the microRNA hsa-miR-137 (miR137) tumor suppressor regulates expression of an extended network of transcriptional coregulators including KDM1A/LSD1/AOF1, KDM2A/JHDM1A/FBXL11, KDM4A/JMJD2A, KDM5B JARID1B/PLU1, KDM7A/JHDM1D/PHF8, MED1/TRAP220/DRIP205 and NCoA2/SRC2/TIF2. We show that expression of miR137 is increased by androgen in LnCaP androgen PCa responsive cells and that the miR137 locus is epigenetically silenced in androgen LnCaP:C4-2 and PC3 independent PCa cells. In addition, we found that restoration of miR137 expression down-regulates expression of VEGFA, an AR target gene, which suggests a role of miR137 loss also in cancer angiogenesis. Finally we show functional inhibition of miR137 function enhanced androgen induction of PSA/KLK3 expression. Our data indicate that miR137 functions as an androgen regulated suppressor of androgen signaling by modulating expression of an extended network of transcriptional coregulators. Therefore, we propose that epigenetic silencing of miR137 is an important event in promoting androgen signaling during prostate carcinogenesis and progression.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common malignancy affecting men in the western world. Although radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy can successfully treat PCa in the majority of patients, up to ?30% will experience local recurrence or metastatic disease. Prostate carcinogenesis and progression is typically an androgen-dependent process. For this reason, therapies for recurrent PCa target androgen biosynthesis and androgen receptor function. Such androgen deprivation therapies (ADT) are effective initially, but the duration of response is typically ?24 months. Although ADT and taxane-based chemotherapy have delivered survival benefits, metastatic PCa remains incurable. Therefore, it is essential to establish the cellular and molecular mechanisms that enable localized PCas to invade and disseminate. It has long been accepted that metastases require angiogenesis. In the present review, we examine the essential role for angiogenesis in PCa metastases, and we focus in particular on the current understanding of the regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in localized and metastatic PCa. We highlight recent advances in understanding the role of VEGF in regulating the interaction of cancer cells with tumor-associated immune cells during the metastatic process of PCa. We summarize the established mechanisms of transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of VEGF in PCa cells and outline the molecular insights obtained from preclinical animal models of PCa. Finally, we summarize the current state of anti-angiogenesis therapies for PCa and consider how existing therapies impact VEGF signaling.