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Background Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) are organized aggregates of immune cells that develop postnatally in non-lymphoid tissues and are associated with pathological conditions. TLS typically comprise B-cell follicles containing and are encompassed by T- cell zones and dendritic cells. The prognostic and predictive value of TLS in the tumor microenvironment (TME) as potential mediators of antitumor immunity have gained interest. However, the precise relationship between localization and maturation of TLS and the clinical outcome of their presence in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is yet to be elucidated.Methods Immunohistochemistry and multispectral fluorescence were used to evaluate the TLS heterogeneity along with TME cell-infiltrating characterizations. A thorough investigation of the prognostic implications of the TLS heterogeneity in 395 patients with ccRCC from two independent cohorts was conducted. Associations between TLS heterogeneity and immunologic activity were assessed by quantifying the immune cell infiltration.Results Infiltrated TLS were identified in 34.2% of the ccRCC samples (N=395). These TLS were found to be tumor-proximal, tumor-distal, or both in 37.8%, 74.1%, and 11.9% of the TLS-positive cases, respectively. A higher proportion of early TLS was found in tumor-distal TLS (p=0.016), while tumor-proximal TLS primarily comprised secondary follicle-like structures (p=0.004). In the main study cohort (Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, N=290), Kaplan-Meier analyses revealed a significant correlation between the presence of tumor-proximal TLS and improved progression-free survival (PFS, p0.80). Additionally, ccRCC samples with tumor-distal TLS enriched with primary follicle-like TLS exhibited higher programmed death-ligand 1 tumor-associated macrophages levels and regulatory T cells infiltration in the tumor-distal region, indicative of a suppressive TME.Conclusion This study for the first time elucidates the impact of TLS localization and maturation heterogeneities on the divergent clinical outcomes of ccRCC. The findings reveal that most TLS in ccRCC are located in the tumor-distal area and are associated with immature, immunosuppressive characterizations. Furthermore, our findings corroborate previous research demonstrating that tumor-proximal TLS were associated with favorable clinical outcomes.

Abstract Background Papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC) can be divided into type 1 (PRCC1) and type 2 (PRCC2) and PRCC2 share a more invasive phenotype and worse prognosis. This study aims to identify potential prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers in PRCC2. Methods A cohort from The Cancer Genome Atlas and two datasets from Gene Expression Omnibus were examined. Common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened and potential biomarkers were explored by using Kaplan–Meier method and cox regression analysis. Functional enrichment analysis was utilized to evaluate the potential biological functions. Tumor infiltrating immune cells were estimated by CIBERSORT algorithm. Ninety-two PRCC2 samples from Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center were obtained, and immunostaining was performed to validate prognostic and therapeutic significance of the potential biomarker. Results PRCC2 has worse overall survival and shares distinct molecular characteristics from PRCC1. There was significant higher expression level of Targeting protein for Xklp2 (TPX2) in PRCC2 compared with normal tissues. Higher expression level of TPX2 was significantly associated with worse overall survival in PRCC2 and kinesin family genes expression were found significantly elevated in high risk PRCC2. Abundance of tumor infiltrating M1 macrophage was significantly higher in PRCC2 and it was also associated with worse overall survival. In the FUSCC cohort, higher TPX2 expression was significantly correlated with worse overall and progression-free survival. Retrospective analysis indicated that mTOR inhibitor (everolimus) had greater efficacy in the high-risk group than in the low-risk group (overall response rate: 28.6% vs. 16.7%) and that everolimus had greater efficacy than sunitinib in the high-risk group (overall response rate: 28.6% vs. 20%). Conclusions TPX2 was a prognostic and therapeutic biomarker in PRCC2. Higher abundance of tumor infiltrating M1 macrophage was significantly associated with worse overall survival in PRCC2. mTOR inhibitors may have good efficacy in patients with high-risk PRCC2.

Objective This study aims to identify potential prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers in papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC). Methods Two microarray datasets were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks and functional annotations of DEGs were established. Survival analysis was utilized to evaluate the prognostic significance of the DEGs and the association between the expression level of candidate biomarkers and various tumour-infiltrating immune cells was explored. The role of PTTG1 in tumour microenvironments (TME) was further explored using Single-cell RNA-seq and its prognostic and therapeutic significance was validated in Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Centre (FUSCC) cohort. Results Eight genes, including BUB1B, CCNB1, CCNB2, MAD2L1, TTK, CDC20, PTTG1, and MCM were found to be negatively associated with patients’ prognosis. The expression level of PTTG1 was found to be significantly associated with lymphocytes, immunomodulators, and chemokine in the TCGA cohort. Single-cell RNA-seq information indicated that PTTG1 was strongly associated with the proliferation of T cells. In the FUSCC cohort, the expression level of PTTG1 was also statistically significant for both progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) prediction (HR = 2.683, p

Abstract Background To identify the malignant potential and prognostic indicators of renal epithelioid angiomyolipoma (eAML), clinicopathological and molecular features as well as the drug efficacy of 67 eAML cases were analyzed. Materials and methods Sixty-seven renal eAML patients were enrolled and the immunohistochemical features of these patients were examined. FFPE slides of all patients were re-examined. 21 patients with metastasis received Everolimus 10 mg orally once daily. Responses were evaluated with RECIST criteria by three authors. A risk stratification model was constructed using the following factors: pT3 and pT4, presence of necrosis, mitotic count ≥ 2; the presence of atypical mitoses; severe nuclear atypia, SMA negative, Ki-67 ≥ 10%. Results The average percentage of the epithelioid component was 85.6% (range 80–95%). Immunohistochemically, Ki-67 ≥ 10% and negative SMA staining were significantly correlated with malignant characteristics (Ki-67: p

Transporter associated with antigen processing 1(TAP1) serves as a protein to transport antigenic peptides from the surface of the endoplasmic reticulum to the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum when the antigens are presented by major histocompatibility complex type I (MHC-I), which has been identified to play a critical role in antigen presentation in innate immunity. In tumors, the role of TAP1 seems to remain controversial. On the one hand, given the role of TAP1 in antigen presentation, it is indicated that high TAP1 expression corresponds to the emergence of more neoantigens epitopes that facilitate the recognition for phagocytes, T cells and other cells. On the other hand, the genetic ablation of transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) results in the presentation of new class I-restricted epitopes encoded in house-keeping products. Opposite result has been revealed by studies in other tumors suggest, which implies a more complex function of TAP1. Therefore, it’s significant to clarify the role of TAP1 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). In this study, we found the elevated expression levels in mRNA and protein of TAP1 in ccRCC tissues, which indicated a relatively worse prognosis. Transwell assay and Scratch assay in vitro demonstrated the promotive role of TAP1 in ccRCC migration as well as a significant role in metastasis. And the increased expression of TAP1 resulted in more immune cells infiltrated in cancer tissues. TAP1 was also demonstrated to be related to immune regulator genes, as gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) indicated its significant role in immune regulation. The results of CancerSEA indicated the positive association of the high-level TAP1 expression with epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the inverse association with Cell Cycle. The effective drugs were also predicted based on TAP1 expression, of which the high level was indeed associated with resistance to multiple drugs, but some effective drugs still identified based on high TAP1 expression. According to the analysis of various databases, the role of TAP1 in ccRCC was explored, especially in relationship of TAP1 with tumor microenvironment. These results indicate that TAP1 can serve as a potential target for treatment of ccRCC.

Background Dual blockade of immune checkpoint and angiogenesis is an effective strategy for multiple cancers. Camrelizumab is a monoclonal antibody against PD-1, and famitinib is a multitargeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor with antiangiogenesis and antiproliferation activities against tumor cells. We conducted an open-label, multicenter phase 2 basket study of camrelizumab and famitinib in eight cohorts of genitourinary or gynecological cancers. Here, findings in cohort of advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma with platinum-progressive disease (cohort 2) are presented.Methods Patients who had progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy for advanced or metastatic disease or had progressed within 12 months after completion of platinum-based (neo)adjuvant therapy were given camrelizumab (200 mg intravenously every 3 weeks) plus famitinib (20 mg orally once daily). Primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR) per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1.Results Totally, 36 patients were recruited. With a median duration from enrollment to data cut-off of 11.9 months (range 6.1–28.5), ORR was 30.6% (95% CI 16.3% to 48.1%). Median duration of response (DoR) was 6.3 months (95% CI 2.1 to not reached). Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 4.1 months (95% CI 2.2 to 8.2), and median overall survival (OS) was 12.9 months (95% CI 8.8 to not reached). Patients with bladder cancer (n=18) had numerically better outcomes, with an ORR of 38.9% (95% CI 17.3% to 64.3%) and a median PFS of 8.3 months (95% CI 4.1 to not reached). Median DoR and OS in this subpopulation had not been reached with lower limit of 95% CI of 4.2 months for DoR and 11.3 months for OS, respectively. Of 36 patients, 22 (61.1%) had grade 3 or 4 treatment-related adverse events, mainly decreased platelet count and hypertension.Conclusions Camrelizumab plus famitinib showed potent antitumor activity in advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma patients after platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients with bladder cancer seemed to have better response to this combination.Trial registration number NCT03827837.

Targeting at the slow convergence and the local optimum problems of particle swarm optimization (PSO), a large-scale bi-level particle swarm optimization algorithm is proposed in this paper, which enlarges the particle swarm scale and enhances the initial population diversity on the basis of multi-particle swarms. On the other hand, this algorithm also improves the running efficiency of the particle swarms by the structural advantages of bi-level particle swarms, for which, the upper-level particle swarm provides decision-making information while the lower level working particle swarms run at the same time, enhancing the operation efficiency of particle swarms. The two levels of particle swarms collaborate and work well with each other. In order to prevent population precocity and slow convergence in the later stage, an accelerated factor based on increasing exponential function is applied at the same time to control the coupling among particle swarms. And the simulation results show that the large-scale bi-level particle swarm optimization algorithm is featured in better superiority and stability.

Tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced protein 8 (TNFAIP8) is implicated in the tumor progression and prognosis of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), but the detailed regulatory mechanism of TNFAIP8 in cisplatin tolerance in TNBC has not yet been investigated. TNFAIP8 was evidently upregulated in TNBC tumor tissues and cell lines. Knocking down TNFAIP8 led to impaired proliferation and elevated apoptosis of TNBC cells upon cisplatin (DDP) treatment. Mechanistic studies revealed that TNFAIP8 repressed the expression of p53 and p53-promoted microRNA (miR)-205-5p; moreover, miR-205-5p targeted multiple genes required for the cell cycle and repressed Akt phosphorylation, which thus inhibited the proliferation of TNBC cells. In addition, silencing of TNFAIP8 led to the upregulation of miR-205-5p and the restraint of the TRAF2-NF-κB pathway, which thus enhanced the suppressive effects of DDP on tumor growth in nude mice. This study revealed that TNFAIP8 was essential in the DDP tolerance formation of TNBC cells by reducing p53-promoted miR-205-5p expression. Thus, targeting TNFAIP8 might become a promising strategy to suppress TNBC progression.

Abstract Background Long non-coding RNA H19 (lncRNA H19) has been implicated in tumorigenesis and metastasis of breast cancer through regulating epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT); however, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Methods LncRNA H19 and TNFAIP8 were identified by qRT-PCR and western blotting. CCK-8 assay, clone formation assay, transwell assay, and flow cytometry assay were performed to determine cell proliferation, migration, invasion and cell cycle of breast cancer respectively. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were utilized to evaluate the protein expression levels of p53, TNFAIP8, and marker proteins of EMT cascades in vivo. Dual luciferase reporter assay and RNA pull down assay were conducted to evaluate the interactions of lncRNA H19, p53 and TNFAIP8. Results The expression of lncRNA H19 and TNFAIP8 was up-regulated in breast cancer tissues and cell lines, especially in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Functionally, knockdown of lncRNA H19 or TNFAIP8 coused the capacities of cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were suppressed, and cell cycle arrest was induced, as well as that the EMT markers were expressed abnormal. Mechanistically, lncRNA H19 antagonized p53 and increased expression of its target gene TNFAIP8 to promote EMT process. Furthermore, silencing of lncRNA H19 or TNFAIP8 also could inhibit tumorigenesis and lymph node metastases of MDA-MB-231 cells in xenograft nude mouse models. Conclusions Our findings provide insight into a novel mechanism of lncRNA H19 in tumorigenesis and metastases of breast cancer and demonstrate H19/p53/TNFAIP8 axis as a promising therapeutic target for breast cancer, especially for TNBC.

Abstract Background Growing evidence has demonstrated immune reactivity as a confirmed important carcinogenesis and therapy efficacy for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Aquaporin 9 (AQP9) is involved in many immune-related signals; however, its role in ccRCC remains to be elucidated. This study investigated AQP9 expression in tumor tissues and defined the prognostic value in ccRCC patients. Methods A total of 913 ccRCC patients with available RNA-sequence data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (FUSCC) were consecutively recruited in analyses. Differential transcriptional and proteome expression profiles were obtained and validated using multiple datasets. A partial likelihood test from Cox regression analysis was developed to address the influence of independent factors on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The Kaplan–Meier method and log-rank test were performed to assess survival. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to describe binary classifier value of AQP9 using area under the curve (AUC) score. Functional enrichment analyses and immune infiltration analysis were used to describe significantly involved hallmark pathways of hub genes. Results Significantly elevated transcriptional and proteomic AQP9 expressions were found in ccRCC samples. Increased AQP9 mRNA expression was significantly associated with advanced clinicopathological parameters and correlated with shorter PFS and OS in TCGA and FUSCC cohorts (p

Increasing evidence indicates that DNA polymerase epsilon (POLE), which mediates DNA damage repair, is significantly associated with tumor prognosis. This study aimed to analyze POLE expression in tumor samples and its prognostic value for patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). We found significantly elevated POLE expression in ccRCC tissues compared with normal tissues of multiple independent cohorts. The POLE expression levels of 523 patients with ccRCC (The Cancer Genome Atlas RNA-seq data) and 179 patients with ccRCC with immunohistochemical data (Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center) were analyzed to investigate the prognostic implications of POLE expression. Cox regression analyses were implemented to explore the effect of POLE expression on the prognosis of pan-cancer. These findings revealed that elevated POLE expression levels significantly correlated with shorter overall survival (p < 0.001, n = 701) of patients with ccRCC. These data indicate that POLE expression may serve as a prognostic biomarker for cancers. Although POLE mutations were not significantly associated with survival benefits conferred upon patients with ccRCC, a CD4+ T cell-regulated immune microenvironment was significantly activated. Moreover, we found that POLE expression in cancers significantly correlated with an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, higher intratumoral heterogeneity, and expression of immune checkpoint genes PDCD1, CTLA4, and CD86, possibly mediated via the JAK/STAT and Notch signaling pathways. In conclusion, the present study is the first to our knowledge to indicate that elevated POLE expression is significantly associated with poor survival and an immune-suppressive tumor microenvironment in ccRCC. These findings suggest that POLE can serve as a biomarker for guiding molecular diagnosis and facilitating the development of novel individual therapeutic strategies for patients with advanced ccRCC.

Ribose-5-phosphate (R5P) is required for DNA synthesis, but how this is regulated during cell cycle progression is unclear. Here the authors report that the cell cycle regulator APC/C-CDH1 synchronizes cell cycle progression with R5P-derived DNA synthesis by controlling TKTL1 stability

Purpose: Lipid metabolism reprogramming is a major pathway in tumor evolution. This study investigated fatty acid synthase (FASN) mRNA expression in anthropometric adipose tissue and elucidated the prognostic value and potential mechanism of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).Materials and Methods: Transcription profiles were obtained from 533 ccRCC samples in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohorts. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and immunohistochemistry were performed to detect FASN expression in 380 paired ccRCC and normal tissues from the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (FUSCC). Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue were at the level of the umbilicus as measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Non-targeted metabolomics and in vitro experiments were used to reveal the biological functions of FASN.Results: Increased FASN expression was significantly relevant to advanced T, N, and American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stages (p < 0.01) and significantly correlated to poor progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of 913 ccRCC patients in FUSCC and TCGA cohorts. Pearson's correlation coefficient indicated that FASN amplification was positively correlated to VAT% (r = 0.772, p < 0.001), which significantly correlated to poor PFS (HR = 2.066, p = 0.028) and OS (HR = 2.773, p = 0.023) in the FUSCC cohort. Transient inhibition or overexpression of FASN significantly regulated A498 and 786O cell proliferation and migration by regulating epithelial–mesenchymal transition. Inhibition of FASN led to a higher apoptotic rate and decreased lipid droplet formation compared with normal control in ccRCC cells. Non-targeted metabolomics showed that decreased de novo lipogenesis might be required to sustain an elevation of glycolytic activity in 786O cells by regulating galactinol, dl-lactate, N-acetylaspartylglutamate, and sucrose, thereby participating in carcinogenesis and progression of ccRCC.Conclusion: This study demonstrated that FASN expression is positively related to aggressive cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis, and lipid droplet formation and regulates metabolic disorders of the ccRCC microenvironment. Additionally, elevated FASN mRNA expression is significantly correlated to the abdominal obesity distribution, especially VAT%, which is a significant predictor of a poor prognosis for ccRCC patients.

Objective: To investigate the association between tumor PD-L1 expression and patient survival to determine whether PD-L1 represents an independent prognostic feature for patients with non-metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC).Patients and Methods: The tissue bank of the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center was queried to identity tissue samples of patients treated with radical nephrectomy, for non-metastatic sporadic clear cell RCC (ccRCC) between 2008 and 2015. Real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry staining was performed to detect the expression level of PD-L1 in paired cancer tissue and paracancerous tissue.Results: Three-hundred-and-thirty patients were enrolled in this study, with a mean age of 55.0 years at surgery and a mean tumor size of 5.2 cm. Two-hundred-and-forty-two (73.3%) and 88 (26.7%) patients showed a high and low expression of PD-L1 mRNA, respectively, while 254 patients had positive PD-L1 immunohistochemistry staining. Two-hundred-and-ninety-two patients had consistent results for mRNA and the PD-L1 protein based on these different detection methods. Patients with high PD-L1 expression were more likely to exhibit adverse pathologic features including an advanced T stage (P = 0.002) and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.044). The Kaplan–Meier curves of PFS and OS stratified by PD-L1 expression had a statistically significant difference. PD-L1 expression maintained a significant predictive role for PFS and OS in the multivariate cox model.Conclusions: Our data suggests that PD-L1 correlates with prognosis in RCC and targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway should be considered in the treatment of RCC patients.

Overnutrition has been linked to increased risk of cancer. Here, the authors show that exceeding nutrients suppress Enoyl-CoA hydratase-1 (ECHS1) activity by inducing its acetylation resulting in accumulation of fatty acids and branched-chain amino acids and oncogenic mTOR activation.

Objective: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare but aggressive malignant cancer that has been attracting growing attention over recent decades. This study aims to integrate protein interaction networks with gene expression profiles to identify potential biomarkers with prognostic value in silico.Methods: Three microarray data sets were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) according to the normalization annotation information. Enrichment analyses were utilized to describe biological functions. A protein–protein interaction network (PPI) of the DEGs was developed, and the modules were analyzed using STRING and Cytoscape. LASSO Cox regression was used to identify independent prognostic factors. The Kaplan–Meier method for the integrated expression score was applied to analyze survival outcomes. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed with area under curve (AUC) analysis to determine the diagnostic ability of the candidate biomarkers.Results: A total of 150 DEGs and 24 significant hub genes with functional enrichment were identified as candidate prognostic biomarkers. LASSO Cox regression suggested that ZWINT, PRC1, CDKN3, CDK1 and CCNA2 were independent prognostic factors in ACC. In multivariate Cox analysis, the integrated expression scores of the modules showed statistical significance in predicting disease-free survival (DFS, P = 0.019) and overall survival (OS, P < 0.001). Meanwhile, ROC curves were generated to validate the ability of the Cox model to predict prognosis. The AUC index for the integrated genes scores was 0.861 (P < 0.0001).Conclusion: In conclusion, the present study identifies DEGs and hub genes that may be involved in poor prognosis and early recurrence of ACC. The expression levels of ZWINT, PRC1, CDKN3, CDK1 and CCNA2 are of high prognostic value, and may help us understand better the underlying carcinogenesis or progression of ACC. Further studies are required to elucidate molecular pathogenesis and alteration in signaling pathways for these genes in ACC.

Objective: The International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) has proposed a grading system to classify renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, classification using biopsy specimens remains problematic and, consequently, the accuracy of a biopsy-based diagnosis is relatively poor. This study aims to combine clinical and immunohistochemical (IHC) factors for the prediction of high ISUP grade clear cell RCC (ccRCC) in an attempt to complement and improve the accuracy of a biopsy-based diagnosis.Methods: A total of 362 ccRCC patients were enrolled in this study and used for the training set. We performed IHC analysis of 18 protein markers on standard tissue sections using an automated stainer. Multivariate logistic regression models were developed to evaluate independent predictors for high ISUP grade. We evaluated different prediction models using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the ROC curve (AUC) analysis. A nomogram for the derivation of an integrated score for predicting high ISUP grade ccRCC and a calibration curve were also plotted. Finally, an internal validation cohort was examined to evaluate the performance of our integrated scoring system and nomogram.Results: Multivariate logistic analyses revealed seven credible candidates for predicting high grade ISUP. These were age, tumor diameter, surgery, and CK7, Ki-67, PTEN, and MTOR protein expression. The ROC curves for the clinical, IHC and integrated models were compared in the training set, and the AUC for each was 0.731, 0.744, and 0.801, respectively. DeLong's test showed that the integrated model was significantly better at predicting high ISUP grade, when compared with the other models. Internal validation confirmed the good performance of the integrated score in predicting ISUP grade.Conclusion: We have developed a nomogram integrating clinical and immunohistochemical parameters to predict high ISUP grade for M0 ccRCC patients. This nomogram may offer potentially useful information during preoperative individualized patient risk assessment, and consequently may help urologists when planning personalized management regimens.

Summary: Colorectal cancer (CRC) onset is profoundly affected by Western diet. Here, we report that high-fat (HF) diet-induced, organ-specific colonic lysine homocysteinylation (K-Hcy) increase might promote CRC onset by impeding DNA damage repair. HF chow induced elevated methionyl-tRNA synthetase (MARS) expression and K-Hcy levels and DNA damage accumulation in the mouse and rat colon, resulting in a phenotype identical to that of CRC tissues. Moreover, the increased copy number of MARS, whose protein product promotes K-Hcy, correlated with increased CRC risk in humans. Mechanistically, MARS preferentially bound to and modified ataxia-telangiectasia and Rad3-related protein (ATR), inhibited ATR and its downstream effectors checkpoint kinase-1 and p53, and relieved cell-cycle arrest and decreased DNA damage-induced apoptosis by disrupting the binding of ATR-interacting protein to ATR. Inhibiting K-Hcy by targeting MARS reversed these effects and suppressed oncogenic CRC cell growth. Our study reveals a mechanism of Western-diet-associated CRC and highlights an intervention approach for reversing diet-induced oncogenic effects. : Wang et al. find that high-fat diet induces K-Hcy through elevating colonic MARS expression. They show that K-Hcy modification of ATR suppresses DNA damage repair to result in an accumulation of colonic DNA damage. Keywords: high-fat diet, lysine homocysteinylation, DNA damage repair, colorectal cancer, ataxia-telangiectasia and Rad3-related protein

Prostate cancer is now becoming an emerging health priority in East Asia. Most of our current knowledge on Prostate cancer has been generated from studies conducted in Western population; however, there is considerable heterogeneity of Prostate cancer between East and West. In this article, we reviewed epidemiologic trends, risk factors, disease characteristics and management of Prostate cancer in East Asian population over the last decade. Growing evidence from East Asia suggests an important role of genetic and environmental risk factors interactions in the carcinogenesis of Prostate cancer. Exposure to westernized diet and life style and improvement in health care in combination contribute substantially to the increasing epidemic in this region. Diagnostic and treatment guidelines in East Asia are largely based on Western knowledge. Although there is a remarkable improvement in the outcome over the last decade, ample evidence suggests an inneglectable difference in diagnostic accuracy, treatment efficacy and adverse events between different populations. The knowledge from western countries should be calibrated in the Asian setting to provide a better race-based treatment approach. In this review, we intend to reveal the evolving trend of Prostate cancer in the last decade, in order to gain evidence to improve Prostate cancer prevention and control in East Asia.

The predictive factors of prognosis and treatment strategies for small-cell carcinoma (SCC) of the urinary tract are controversial. This study was aimed to investigate the clinical experience and management of patients with SCC of the urinary tract. We collected data of patients who were diagnosed with genitourinary SCC (GSCC) between 2002 and 2013 and were treated in the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center. A total of 18 patients were diagnosed with GSCC of which 10 originated from the prostate, seven from the bladder and one from the adrenal gland. The mean follow-up time was 15.5 months and progression-free survival (PFS) was 9.3 months. Primary tumor resection was attempted in 13 of 18 patients (72.2%) in whom radical surgery was performed in six of 14 (42.9%) limited disease patients. Most of the patients (13, 72.2%) received cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Patients who had normal lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) levels showed a significantly higher median PFS and overall survival (OS) compared with patients with high LDH levels (P = 0.030, P= 0.010). Patients with limited disease treated with a radical operation experienced a non-significant (P = 0.211) longer PFS compared with patients who were not treated, but this reached statistical significance after analyzing OS (P = 0.211, P= 0.039). Our patients showed a poor prognosis as reported previously. Serum LDH levels beyond the normal range indicate a poor prognosis. For GSCC patients who are diagnosed with limited disease, radical surgery is strongly recommended along with cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

The proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), remodeling of the vasculature, and the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) play important roles in the development of essential hypertension (EH), which is defined as high blood pressure (BP) in which secondary causes, such as renovascular disease, are absent. The calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) is involved in the regulation of BP. However, the underlying mechanisms by which the CaSR regulates BP are poorly understood. In the present study, the role of the CaSR in EH was investigated using male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and rat and human plasma samples. The percentages of medial wall thickness to external diameter (WT%), total vessel wall cross-sectional area to the total area (WA%) of thoracic arteries, as well as the percentage of wall area occupied by collagen to total vessel wall area (CA%) were determined. Tissue protein expression and plasma concentrations of the CaSR, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), renin, and angiotensin II (Ang II) were additionally assessed. WT%, WA%, and CA% were found to increase with increasing BP, whereas the plasma concentration of CaSR was found to decrease. With increasing BP, the levels of smooth muscle actin and calponin decreased, whereas those of osteopontin and proliferating cell nuclear antigen increased. The CaSR level negatively correlated with the levels of cAMP and Ang II, but positively correlated with those of renin. Our data suggest that reduced expression of the CaSR is correlated with activation of the RAS, which induces increased vascular remodeling and VSMC proliferation, and thereby associated with EH in the SHR model and in the Han Chinese population. Our findings provide new insights into the pathogenesis of EH.

Lycopene cyclases cyclize the open ends of acyclic lycopene (ψ,ψ-carotene) into β- or ε-ionone rings in the crucial bifurcation step of carotenoid biosynthesis. Among all carotenoid constituents, β-carotene (β,β-carotene) is found in all photosynthetic organisms, except for purple bacteria and heliobacteria, suggesting a ubiquitous distribution of lycopene β-cyclase activity in these organisms. In this work, we isolated a gene (BfLCYB) encoding a lycopene β-cyclase from Bangia fuscopurpurea, a red alga that is considered to be one of the primitive multicellular eukaryotic photosynthetic organisms and accumulates carotenoid constituents with both β- and ε-rings, including β-carotene, zeaxanthin, α-carotene (β,ε-carotene) and lutein. Functional complementation in Escherichia coli demonstrated that BfLCYB is able to catalyze cyclization of lycopene into monocyclic γ-carotene (β,ψ-carotene) and bicyclic β-carotene, and cyclization of the open end of monocyclic δ-carotene (ε,ψ-carotene) to produce α-carotene. No ε-cyclization activity was identified for BfLCYB. Sequence comparison showed that BfLCYB shares conserved domains with other functionally characterized lycopene cyclases from different organisms and belongs to a group of ancient lycopene cyclases. Although B. fuscopurpurea also synthesizes α-carotene and lutein, its enzyme-catalyzing ε-cyclization is still unknown.

BACKGROUND:Nimotuzumab is a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody specifically targeting EGFR. In this study, we aimed to investigate the molecular mechanisms of nimotuzumab in its effects of enhancing cancer cell radiosensitivity. PRINCIPAL FINDING:Lung cancer A549 cells and breast cancer MCF-7 cells were pretreated with or without nimotuzumab for 24 h before radiation to perform the clonogenic survival assay and to analyze the cell apoptosis by flow ctyometry. γ-H2AX foci were detected by confocal microscopy to assess the effect of nimotuzumab on radiation induced DNA repair. EGFR activation was examined and the levels of DNA damage repair related proteins in A549 cells at different time point and at varying doses exposure after nimotuzumab and radiation treatment were examined by Western blot. Pretreatment with nimotuzumab reduced clonogenic survival after radiation, inhibited radiation-induced EGFR activation and increased the radiation-induced apoptosis in both A549 cells and MCF-7 cells. The foci of γ-H2AX 24 h after radiation significantly increased in nimotuzumab pretreated cells with different doses. The phosphorylation of AKT and DNA-PKcs were remarkably inhibited in the combination group at each dose point as well as time point. CONCLUSIONS:Our results revealed that the possible mechanism of nimotuzumab enhancing the cancer radiosensitivity is that nimotuzumab inhibited the radiation-induced activation of DNA-PKcs through blocking the PI3K/AKT pathway, which ultimately affected the DNA DSBs repair.

The title compound, [AlCu3W12O40(C2H8N2)6(H2O)3], was prepared under hydrothermal conditions. The Cu2+ ion displays an elongated octahedral geometry defined by one bridging O atom from the polyoxidoanion and a coordinated water molecule in axial positions and four N atoms of the two chelating ethylenediamine (en) ligands in equatorial positions. The one-electron reduced [AlW12O40]6− anion coordinates three [Cu(en)(H2O)]2+ fragments, generating a neutral tri-supported Keggin-type polyoxidometalate (POM). This tri-supported POM is located in a special position of overline{3} symmetry and therefore O atoms from the central AlO4 tetrahedron are disordered over two sets of sites. Disorder is also observed for three other bridging O atoms of the POM. In the crystal, molecules are connected via N—H...O and O—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional framework.