Prolyl 4-hydroxylase 2 promotes B-cell lymphoma progression via hydroxylation of Carabin.

B-cell lymphomas are heterogeneous blood disorders with limited therapeutic options, largely because of their propensity to relapse and become refractory to treatments. Carabin, a key suppressor of B-cell receptor signaling and proliferation, is inactivated in B-cell lymphoma by unknown mechanisms. Here, we identify prolyl 4-hydroxylase 2 (P4HA2) as a specific proline hydroxylase of Carabin. Carabin hydroxylation leads to its proteasomal degradation, thereby activating the Ras/extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway and increasing B-cell lymphoma proliferation. P4HA2 is undetectable in normal B cells but upregulated in the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), driving Carabin inactivation and lymphoma proliferation. Our results indicate that P4HA2 is a potential prognosis marker for DLBCL and a promising pharmacological target for developing treatment of molecularly stratified B-cell lymphomas.

The tumor suppressor proteins ASPP1 and ASPP2 interact with C-Nap1 and regulate centrosome linker reassembly.

Centrosome linker tethers interphase centrosomes together allowing them to function as a single microtubule organization center. The centrosome linker is disrupted at the onset of mitosis to ensure timely centrosome disjunction and bipolar spindle formation and is reassembled at the end of mitosis. While the mechanism controlling centrosome linker disassembly at early mitosis has been well explored, little is known about how the linker is subsequently reassembled before mitotic exit. Here we report that ASPP1 and ASPP2, two members of the apoptosis stimulating proteins of p53 (ASPP) family, are involved in centrosome linker reassembly. We showed that ASPP1/2 interacted with centrosome linker protein C-Nap1. Co-depletion of ASPP1 and ASPP2 inhibited re-association of C-Nap1 with centrosome at the end of mitosis. Moreover, ASPP1/2 facilitated the interaction between C-Nap1 and PP1α, and this interaction was significantly reduced by co-depletion of ASPP1/2. ASPP1/2 antagonized the NEK2A-mediated C-Nap1 Ser2417/2421 phosphorylation in a PP1-dependent manner. Co-depletion of ASPP1 and ASPP2 inhibited dephosphorylation of C-Nap1 (Ser2417/2421) at the end of mitosis. Based on these findings, we propose that ASPP1/2 act as PP1-targeting subunits to facilitate C-Nap1 dephosphorylation and centrosome linker reassembly at the end of mitosis.

ARRDC3 regulates the targeted therapy sensitivity of clear cell renal cell carcinoma by promoting AXL degradation.

AXL plays crucial roles in the tumorigenesis, progression, and drug resistance of neoplasms; however, the mechanisms associated with AXL overexpression in tumors remain largely unknown. In this study, to investigate these molecular mechanisms, wildtype and mutant proteins of arrestin domain-containing protein 3 (ARRDC3) and AXL were expressed, and co-immunoprecipitation analyses were performed. ARRDC3-deficient cells generated using the CRISPR-Cas9 system were treated with different concentrations of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib and subjected to cell biological, molecular, and pharmacological experiments. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry was used to analyze the correlation between ARRDC3 and AXL protein expressions in renal cancer tissue specimens. The experimental results demonstrated that ARRDC3 interacts with AXL to promote AXL ubiquitination and degradation, followed by the negative regulation of downstream signaling mechanisms, including the phosphorylation of protein kinase B and extracellular signal-regulated kinase. Notably, ARRDC3 deficiency decreased the sunitinib sensitivity of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) cells in a manner dependent on the regulation of AXL stability. Overall, our results suggest that ARRDC3 is a negative regulator of AXL and can serve as a novel predictor of sunitinib therapeutic response in patients with ccRCC.

Zinc finger transcription factor 191, directly binding to ß-catenin promoter, promotes cell proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma.

UNLABELLED: Activation of ß-catenin, the central effector of the canonical wingless-type (Wnt) pathway, has been implicated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the transcription regulation mechanism of the ß-catenin gene in HCC remains unknown. Here we report that human zinc finger protein 191 (ZNF191) is a potential regulator of ß-catenin transcription. ZNF191, a Krüppel-like protein, specifically interacts with the TCAT motif, which constitutes the HUMTH01 microsatellite in the tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) gene ex vivo. We demonstrate that ZNF191 is significantly overexpressed in human HCC specimens and is associated with growth of human HCC cells. Global profiling of gene expression in ZNF191 knockdown human hepatic L02 cells revealed that the important Wnt signal pathway genes ß-catenin and cyclin D1 messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are significantly down-regulated. In agreement with transcription level, ß-catenin and cyclin D1 proteins are also down-regulated in transient and stable ZNF191 knockdown L02 and hepatoma Hep3B cell lines. Moreover, significant correlation between ZNF191 and ß-catenin mRNA expression was detected in human HCCs. Promoter luciferase assay indicated that ZNF191 can increase transcription activity of the full-length ß-catenin (CTNNB1) promoter, and nucleotide (nt)-1407/-907 of the CTNNB1 promoter exhibited the maximum transcriptional activity. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay showed that purified ZNF191 protein can directly bind to the CTNNB1 promoter, and the binding region is located at nt-1254/-1224. Finally, we demonstrate that the key binding sequence of ZNF191 in vivo is ATTAATT. CONCLUSION: ZNF191 can directly bind to the CTNNB1 promoter and activate the expression of ß-catenin and its downstream target genes such as cyclin D1 in hepatoma cell lines. This study uncovers a new molecular mechanism of transcription regulation of the ß-catenin gene in HCC.

A Dynamic Model of Internationalization and Innovation in Emerging Market Enterprises: Knowledge Exploration, Transformation, and Exploitation.

Drawing on organizational learning theory and taking an institutional perspective, this study investigates (1) the dynamic relationship between internationalization and innovation in emerging market enterprises (EMEs), and (2) how state ownership moderates the focal relationships. Using a panel dataset of listed Chinese firms from 2007 to 2018, we find that internationalization encourages innovation input in EMEs, which in turn transforms into more innovation output. Higher innovation output leads to further international commitment, creating a dynamic upward spiral of internationalization and innovation. Interestingly, state ownership positively moderates the innovation input-innovation output link but negatively moderates the relationship between innovation output and internationalization. Our paper enriches and refines our understanding of the dynamic relationship between internationalization and innovation in EMEs by integrating the knowledge exploration, transformation, and exploitation perspectives, with the institutional perspective of state ownership.

Predicting late-onset preeclampsia by detecting ELABELA content using an immunochromatographic colloidal gold test strip: Blood ELABELA content predicts the risk of pre-eclampsia.

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy disorder that seriously affects the outcome of mothers and infants and lacks effective prediction and diagnosis methods. ELABELA is the second endogenous ligand of the apelin receptor (APJ) and is associated with the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. In a previous study, the authors found that the downregulation of ELABELA expression is closely related to late-onset preeclampsia, which may be a marker for the clinical diagnosis of late-onset preeclampsia. In this study, the authors again collected 120 maternal blood samples, including 60 pregnant women with a medical diagnosis of late-onset preeclampsia. ELISA results showed that the serum ELABELA concentration in late-onset preeclampsia pregnant women (12.57 ± 7.77 ng/mL) was significantly lower than that in normal pregnant women (36.99 ± 23.58 ng/mL), which was consistent with previously reported results. Therefore, the authors used an ELABELA monoclonal antibody to label four colloidal gold nanoparticles with different diameters (15, 30, 55, and 150 nm) and developed a transverse-flow immunochromatographic band for the rapid and accurate detection of serum ELABELA levels. The strip test shows that colloidal gold with a diameter of 30 nm can be used as a good ELABELA detection marker and had more than 90% positive detection effect. Therefore, the authors hope that the colloidal gold strip with ELABELA as the diagnostic index developed by us will be popularized and applied in clinical diagnosis.

Involvement of SEPT4_i1 in hepatocellular carcinoma: SEPT4_i1 regulates susceptibility to apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

SEPT4 belongs to the Septin family with multiple functions in cell division, cytoskeletal organization and other processes. This study aims to investigate the relationship between SEPT4_i1 isoform and human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We showed that over-expression of SEPT4_i1 in HCC cells was able to sensitize cells to serum starvation-induced apoptosis. By contrast, knockdown of SEPT4_i1 expression in HCC cells was able to rescue cells from apoptosis induced by serum deprivation and to promote cell growth. Expressional analysis of SEPT4_i1 in tumor tissues further revealed that SEPT4_i1 was significantly down-regulated in human HCC tissues. Taken together, these data suggests a tumor suppressor role of SEPT4_i1 in HCC through regulating HCC cell apoptosis.

Meta-analysis shows significant association of the TP53 Arg72Pro with ovarian cancer risk.

Growing bodies of studies have been conducted on the association of TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism with susceptibility to ovarian cancer and have yielded conflicting results. Thus, a meta-analysis was performed to summarize the possible association. 18 case-control studies, including 2,193 ovarian cancer cases and 5,175 controls were identified. The quality of the studies was assessed according to a predefined scale. The strength of the associations between TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and ovarian cancer was measured by crude odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Overall, no significant association was found between TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and ovarian cancer risk when all studies pooled into the meta-analysis in all genetic model. In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, still no association of this polymorphism with ovarian cancer risk was obtained for all comparison models. However, significantly decreased risks of ovarian cancer were found for Arg/Arg versus Arg/Pro+Pro/Pro (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.74-0.96) when the analysis was restricted to high quality studies. Conversely, when it was restricted to low quality studies, significantly increased risks were observed for Arg/Arg versus Pro/Pro (OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.09-2.28) and Arg/Arg+Arg/Pro versus Pro/Pro: (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.10-2.06), which might be spurious due to the poor design of these studies. In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggests that the Arg allele is at a moderately reduced risk for ovarian cancer and this polymorphism might protect against ovarian carcinogenesis.

Murine double minute 2 promoter SNP309 polymorphism and prostate cancer risk: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The murine double minute 2 gene encodes a negative regulator of the tumor protein p53. A single nucleotide polymorphism in murine double minute 2 promoter, SNP309 T>G, has been reported to alter murine double minute 2 protein expression and to accelerate tumor formation in humans. We carried out a meta-analysis to explore the association between this polymorphism and prostate cancer risk. METHODS: All eligible studies were searched in PubMed. Crude odds ratios, with 95% confidence intervals, were assessed for the association using fixed- and random-effects models. RESULTS: Overall, five case-control studies (872 cases, 1005 controls) were included in the meta-analysis. A significant association between murine double minute 2 SNP309 and prostate cancer risk was observed for homozygote genetic model GG versus TT (odds ratio 0.72, 95% confidence interval 0.55-0.95, P < 0.05, P = 0.130 for heterogeneity), and for dominant model TG + GG versus TT (odds ratio 0.79, 95% confidence interval 0.65-0.96, P < 0.05, P = 0.119 for heterogeneity). The stratified analysis based on ethnicity showed a significant effect of the polymorphism on prostate cancer risk in Caucasians for GG versus TT. CONCLUSIONS: Findings of the present meta-analysis suggest that the murine double minute 2 309 G allele might be associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. The effect of murine double minute 2 309 G allele on tumorigenesis might be influenced by sex and hormonal status.

The evolution of research on depression during COVID-19: A visual analysis using Co-Occurrence and VOSviewer.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to public health problems, including depression. There has been a significant increase in research on depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little attention has been paid to the overall trend in this field based on bibliometric analyses. Methods: Co-Occurrence (COOC) and VOSviewer bibliometric methods were utilized to analyze depression in COVID-19 literature in the core collection of the Web of Science (WOS). The overall characteristics of depression during COVID-19 were summarized by analyzing the number of published studies, keywords, institutions, and countries. Results: A total of 9,694 English original research articles and reviews on depression during COVID-19 were included in this study. The United States, China, and the United Kingdom were the countries with the largest number of publications and had close cooperation with each other. Research institutions in each country were dominated by universities, with the University of Toronto being the most productive institution in the world. The most frequently published author was Ligang Zhang. Visualization analysis showed that influencing factors, adverse effects, and coping strategies were hotspots for research. Conclusion: The results shed light on the burgeoning research on depression during COVID-19, particularly the relationship between depression and public health. In addition, future research on depression during COVID-19 should focus more on special groups and those at potential risk of depression in the general population, use more quantitative and qualitative studies combined with more attention to scale updates, and conduct longitudinal follow-ups of the outcomes of interventions. In conclusion, this study contributes to a more comprehensive view of the development of depression during COVID-19 and suggests a theoretical basis for future research on public health.

An enhancer variant at 16q22.1 predisposes to hepatocellular carcinoma via regulating PRMT7 expression.

Most cancer causal variants are found in gene regulatory elements, e.g., enhancers. However, enhancer variants predisposing to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unreported. Here we conduct a genome-wide survey of HCC-susceptible enhancer variants through a three-stage association study in 11,958 individuals and identify rs73613962 (T > G) within the intronic region of PRMT7 at 16q22.1 as a susceptibility locus of HCC (OR = 1.41, P = 6.02 × 10-10). An enhancer dual-luciferase assay indicates that the rs73613962-harboring region has allele-specific enhancer activity. CRISPR-Cas9/dCas9 experiments further support the enhancer activity of this region to regulate PRMT7 expression. Mechanistically, transcription factor HNF4A binds to this enhancer region, with preference to the risk allele G, to promote PRMT7 expression. PRMT7 upregulation contributes to in vitro, in vivo, and clinical HCC-associated phenotypes, possibly by affecting the p53 signaling pathway. This concept of HCC pathogenesis may open a promising window for HCC prevention/treatment.

Carbonyl reductase 1 as a novel target of (-)-epigallocatechin gallate against hepatocellular carcinoma.

UNLABELLED: Human carbonyl reductase 1 (CBR1) converts the antitumor drug and anthracycline daunorubicin (DNR) into the alcohol metabolite daunorubicinol (DNROL) with significantly reduced antitumor activity and cardiotoxicity, and this limits the clinical use of DNR. Inhibition of CBR1 can thus increase the efficacy and decrease the toxicity of DNR. Here we report that (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) from green tea is a promising inhibitor of CBR1. EGCG directly interacts with CBR1 and acts as a noncompetitive inhibitor with respect to the cofactor reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate and the substrate isatin. The inhibition is dependent on the pH, and the gallate moiety of EGCG is required for activity. Molecular modeling has revealed that EGCG occupies the active site of CBR1. Furthermore, EGCG specifically enhanced the antitumor activity of DNR against hepatocellular carcinoma SMMC7721 cells expressing high levels of CBR1 and corresponding xenografts. We also demonstrated that EGCG could overcome the resistance to DNR by Hep3B cells stably expressing CBR1 but not by RNA interference of CBR1-HepG2 cells. The level of the metabolite DNROL was negatively correlated with that of EGCG in the cell extracts. Finally, EGCG decreased the cardiotoxicity of DNR in a human carcinoma xenograft model with both SMMC7721 and Hep3B cells in mice. CONCLUSION: These results strongly suggest that EGCG can inhibit CBR1 activity and enhance the effectiveness and decrease the cardiotoxicity of the anticancer drug DNR. These findings also indicate that a combination of EGCG and DNR might represent a novel approach for hepatocellular carcinoma therapy or chemoprevention.

Linking the septin expression with carcinogenesis.

The septin is a conserved GTP binding protein family which is involved in multiple cellular processes. Many evidences have indicated that some septins were abnormally expressed in certain kinds of tumors and the altered expressions were related to the process of carcinogenesis. To better understand the relationship between septins and cancer, we compared the expression of 14 human septin family members in 35 kinds of tumor types with their normal counterparts using the publicly available ONCOMINE microarray database. We found altered expression of most septin members in many kinds of tumors. Significantly, SEPT2, SEPT8, SEPT9, SEPT11 were consistently up-regulated, and SEPT4, SEPT10 were down-regulated in most cancer types investigated. Furthermore, the abnormal expressions were also in accordance with the tumor malignancies or prognosis of corresponding cancer patients. These findings have contributed to the view that septins may belong to a kind of cancer critical genes. More septins might act as potential oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes in cancer development.

Autophagy promotes BCG-induced maturation of human dendritic cells.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are important for the initiation of the adaptive immune response against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Autophagy is an innate and adaptive defense mechanism and important for the control of M. tuberculosis. However, the role of autophagy in the adaptive immune response against M. tuberculosis remains to be determined. In the present study, we studied the effects of autophagy on the maturation of DCs infected with Bacillus Calmette- Guerin (BCG). The phenotype and function of the DCs were assessed by measuring the expression of CD86 and HLA-DR and the secretion of IL-10 and IL-6. Autophagy was evaluated by the change in LC3II, a molecular marker for autophagy. Following stimulation of autophagy, DCs that were matured in the presence of BCG showed enhanced expression of CD86 and HLA-DR and increased IL-6 production. The expression of LC3II was increased after the stimulation of autophagy. These results demonstrated that autophagy might result in the increased maturation of BCG-infected DCs, suggesting that autophagy could contribute to an enhanced adaptive immune response against M. tuberculosis.

TCP10L negatively regulates alpha-fetoprotein expression in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is one of the most commonly used and reliable biomarkers for Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the underlying mechanism of AFP expression in HCC is poorly understood. In this study, we found that TCP10L, a gene specifically expressed in the liver, is down-regulated in HCC and that its expression inversely correlates with AFP expression. Moreover, overexpression of TCP10L suppresses AFP expression whereas knockdown of TCP10L increases AFP expression, suggesting that TCP10L might be a negative regulator of AFP. We found that TCP10L is associated with the AFP promoter and inhibits AFP promoter-driven transcriptional activity. Taken together, these results indicate that TCP10L negatively regulates AFP expression in HCC and that it could be a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target for HCC. [BMB Reports 2020; 53(8): 431-436].

RNA-binding motif protein 43 (RBM43) suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma progression through modulation of cyclin B1 expression.

RNA-binding proteins play key roles in the posttranscriptional regulation of mRNA during cancer progression. Here, we show that RNA-binding motif protein 43 (RBM43) is significantly downregulated in human tumors, and its low expression is correlated with poor prognosis in patients with HCC. Overexpression of RBM43 suppressed cell proliferation in culture and resulted in the growth arrest of tumor xenografts, whereas downregulating RBM43 played an opposite role. We have also demonstrated that overexpression or knockdown of RBM43 affects the cell-cycle progression of liver cancer cells. Mechanistically, RBM43 directly associated with the 3'UTR of Cyclin B1 mRNA and regulated its expression. Moreover, loss of Rbm43 in mice promoted liver carcinogenesis and HCC development after diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) treatment. Taken together, our data indicate that RBM43 is a tumor suppressor that controls the cell cycle through modulation of Cyclin B1 expression, providing evidence that RBM43 is particularly important in HCC.

The phosphorylation of SEPT2 on Ser218 by casein kinase 2 is important to hepatoma carcinoma cell proliferation.

SEPT2 plays an important role in cell division through its effect on cytoskeletons. It is a GTP-binding protein and can also form filament with SEPT6 and SEPT7. Knockdown of SEPT2, 6, and 7 causes stress fibers to disintegrate and then cells lose polarity and divide abnormally. Increasing evidence has shown that septins are related to the regulation of cell proliferation. In this study, the expression of SEPT2 was first identified to be up-regulated in human hepatoma carcinoma cells (HCC). In addition, SEPT2 was found to be phosphorylated on Ser218 by casein kinase 2 (CK2), which was also overexpressed in HCC. By overexpressing SEPT2 and its S218A mutant in SMMC7721 and L02 cell lines, we confirmed that the phosphorylation of SEPT2 on Ser218 by CK2 was crucial to the proliferation of HCC. These results suggest that SEPT2 might be a promising target for liver cancer therapy.

RACK1 affects the progress of G2/M by regulating Aurora-A.

Aurora-A is a serine/threonine kinase, which is overexpressed in multiple human cancers and plays a key role in tumorigenesis and tumor development. In this study, we found that the receptor of activated C-kinase1 (RACK1), an important regulator of biological functions, interacted with Aurora-A and co-localized with Aurora-A at centrosomes. Moreover, RACK1 induces the auto-phosphorylation of Aurora-A in vitro and in vivo. Depletion of RACK1 impaired the activation of Aurora-A in late G2 phase, then inhibited the mitotic entry and leaded to multi-polarity, severe chromosome alignment defects, or centrosome amplification. Taken together, these results suggest that RACK1 is a new partner of Aurora-A and play a critical role in the regulation of the Aurora-A activity during mitosis, which may provide a basis for future anticancer studies targeting Aurora-A.

Oligo-microarray analysis reveals the role of cyclophilin A in drug resistance.

Cyclophilin A (CYPA) belongs to peptidyl prolyl isomerases (PPIases), which catalyze the cis/trans isomerization of prolyl peptide bonds in cellular communication. CYPA has been implicated in several pathological processes, including cancer, inflammatory diseases, and HIV-1 infection. Up-regulation of CYPA has been found to be a common phenomenon in several tumor types, including in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the role of CYPA in tumor cells remains unknown. We generated a stable SK-Hep1 cell line and studied the CYPA regulated genes at the transcriptome level. The microarray results reveal that CYPA can up-regulate the expression of many cytokine and drug resistance related genes. Furthermore, we showed that the elevated CYPA expression contributes to drug resistance. We postulate that the over-expression of CYPA in tumors may play a role in clinical resistance to chemotherapy.