Over-expression of lysyl oxidase is associated with poor prognosis and response to therapy of patients with lower grade gliomas.

Lower grade gliomas (LGGs) have highly diverse clinical phenotypes. The histological grade and type are insufficient to accurately predict the clinical outcomes of patients with LGGs. Therefore, identification of biomarkers that can facilitate the prediction of clinical outcomes in LGGs is urgently needed. Gene expression of LOX has been identified as a biomarker for various cancers. However, the clinical significance of LOX expression in LGGs has not been investigated. In this study, we analyzed the glioma RNA-seq dataset from TCGA (The Cancer Genome atlas) and identified lysyl oxidase (LOX) as a potential biomarker for LGGs. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that high LOX expression is associated with worse overall survival and recurrence free survival in LGG patients. Besides, high LOX expression is associated with poor response to primary therapy, follow-up treatment, targeted molecular therapy, and radiation therapy. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses further confirmed LOX expression as an independent prognostic factor for LGG patients. Finally, we observed that LOX expression is significantly correlated with EMT (epithelial to mesenchymal transition) and IDH1 status in LGGs. In conclusion, our analyses suggest that LOX expression is a potential biomarker for prognosis and therapeutic response in LGGs.

BICD Cargo Adaptor 1 (BICD1) Downregulation Correlates with a Decreased Level of PD-L1 and Predicts a Favorable Prognosis in Patients with IDH1-Mutant Lower-Grade Gliomas.

Although several biomarkers have been identified to predict the prognosis of lower-grade (Grade II/III) gliomas (LGGs), we still need to identify new markers to facilitate those well-known markers to obtain more accurate prognosis prediction in LGGs. Bioinformatics data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA), and the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) datasets were used as the research materials. In total, 34 genes associated with the HIF1A pathway were analyzed using the hierarchical method to search for the most compatible gene. The BICD cargo adaptor 1 (BICD1) gene (BICD1) was shown to be significantly correlated with The hypoxic inducible factor 1A (HIF1A) expression, the World Health Organization (WHO) grade, and IDH1 mutation status. In addition, BICD1 downregulation was significantly correlated with a higher Karnofsky performance score (KPS), IDH1/TP53/ATRX mutations, wild-type EGFR, and younger patient age in the enrolled LGG cohort. Moreover, BICD1 expression was significantly upregulated in wild-type IDH1 LGGs with EGFR mutations. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that BICD1 downregulation predicts a favorable overall survival (OS) in LGG patients, especially in those with IDH1 mutations. Intriguingly, we found a significant correlation between BICD1 downregulation and a decreased level of CD274, GSK3B, HGF, or STAT3 in LGGs. Our findings suggest that BICD1 downregulation could be a potential biomarker for a favorable prognosis of LGGs.

Overexpression of PSAT1 Gene is a Favorable Prognostic Marker in Lower-Grade Gliomas and Predicts a Favorable Outcome in Patients with IDH1 Mutations and Chromosome 1p19q Codeletion.

Patients with lower-grade gliomas (LGGs) have highly diverse clinical outcomes. Although histological features and molecular markers have been used to predict prognosis, the identification of new biomarkers for the accurate prediction of patient outcomes is still needed. The serine synthesis pathway (SSP) is important in cancer metabolism. There are three key regulators, including phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH), phosphoserine phosphatase (PSPH), and phosphoserine aminotransferase 1 (PSAT1), in SSP. However, their clinical importance in LGGs is still unknown. In this study, we used the bioinformatics tool in the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) website to examine the prognostic significance of PHGDH, PSPH, and PSAT1 genes in LGGs. PSAT1 gene expression was then identified as a potential biomarker candidate for LGGs. Datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) were further used to explore the prognostic role of PSAT1 gene. Our results demonstrated that PSAT1 overexpression is a favorable prognostic marker of LGGs and significantly correlated with patient age ≤40, and a lower WHO histological grade, as well as mutations in IDH1, TP53 and ATRX, but not with chromosome 1p19q codeletions. More importantly, LGG patients with isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutations, chromosome 1p19q codeletions, and PSAT1 overexpression may have the best overall survival (five-year survival rate: 100%). Finally, we observed a coordinated biological reaction between IDH1 mutations and PSAT1 overexpression, and suggested overexpression of PSAT1 might enhance the function of mutant IDH1 to promote a favorable outcome in LGG patients. In conclusion, our study confirmed the importance of identifying the overexpression of PSAT1 as a favorable prognostic marker of LGGs, which may compensate for the limitation of IDH1 mutations and chromosome 1p19q codeletion in the prognostication of LGGs.

Enrichment of Aldolase C Correlates with Low Non-Mutated IDH1 Expression and Predicts a Favorable Prognosis in Glioblastomas.

The aldolases family is one of the main enzymes involved in the process of glycolysis. Aldolase C (ALDOC), which belongs to the aldolase family, is found in normal brain tissue and is responsible for the repair of injured tissue. However, the role of ALDOC in glioblastoma remains unclear. In this study, we data-mined in silico databases to evaluate aldolase family members' mRNA expression in glioblastoma patient cohorts for determining its prognostic values. After that, we also performed immunohistochemical stain (IHC) analysis to evaluate protein expression levels of ALDOC in glioblastoma tissues. From The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database analyses, higher mRNA expression levels in normal brain tissue compared to glioblastoma was observed. In addition, compared to low-grade glioma, ALDOC expression was significantly downregulated in high-grade glioblastoma. Besides, the expression level of ALDOC was associated with molecular subtypes of glioblastomas and recurrent status in several data sets. In contrast, aldolase A (ALDOA) and aldolase B (ALDOB) revealed no significant prognostic impacts in the glioblastoma cohorts. Furthermore, we also proved that ALDOC mRNA and protein expression inversely correlated with non-mutated IDH1 expressions in glioblastoma patient cohorts. Additionally, the concordance of low ALDOC and high non-mutated IDH1 expressions predicted a stronger poor prognosis in glioblastoma patients compared to each of above tests presented alone. The plausible ALDOC and IDH1 regulatory mechanism was further elucidated. Our results support high ALDOC expression in glioblastomas that might imply the mutated status of IDH1, less possibility of mesenchymal subtype, and predict a favorable prognosis.

The Gαh-PLCδ1 signaling axis drives metastatic progression in triple-negative breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Distant metastasis of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) to other organs, e.g., the lungs, has been correlated with poor survival rates among breast cancer patients. Therefore, the identification of useful therapeutic targets to prevent metastasis or even inhibit tumor growth of TNBC is urgently needed. Gαh is a novel GTP-binding protein and known as an inactive form of calcium-dependent tissue transglutaminase. However, the functional consequences of transamidating and G-protein activities of tissue transglutaminase in promoting cancer metastasis are still controversial. METHODS: Kaplan-Meier analyses were performed to estimate the prognostic values of Gαh and PLCδ1 by utilizing public databases and performing immunohistochemical staining experiments. Cell-based invasion assays and in vivo lung colony-forming and orthotropic lung metastasis models were established to evaluate the effectiveness of interrupting the protein-protein interaction (PPI) between Gαh and PLCδ1 in inhibiting the invasive ability and metastatic potential of TNBC cells. RESULTS: Here, we showed that the increased level of cytosolic, not extracellular, Gαh is a poor prognostic marker in breast cancer patients and correlates with the metastatic evolution of TNBC cells. Moreover, clinicopathological analyses revealed that the combined signature of high Gαh/PLCδ1 levels indicates worse prognosis in patients with breast cancer and correlates with lymph node metastasis of ER-negative breast cancer. Blocking the PPI of the Gαh/PLCδ1 complex by synthetically myristoylated PLCδ1 peptide corresponding to the Gαh-binding interface appeared to significantly suppress cellular invasiveness in vitro and inhibit lung metastatic colonies of TNBC cells in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: This study establishes Gαh/PLCδ1 as a poor prognostic factor for patients with estrogen receptor-negative breast cancers, including TNBCs, and provides therapeutic value by targeting the PPI of the Gαh/PLCδ1 complex to combat the metastatic progression of TNBCs.

BICD1 expression, as a potential biomarker for prognosis and predicting response to therapy in patients with glioblastomas.

There is variation in the survival and therapeutic outcome of patients with glioblastomas (GBMs). Therapy resistance is an important challenge in the treatment of GBM patients. The aim of this study was to identify Temozolomide (TMZ) related genes and confirm their clinical relevance. The TMZ-related genes were discovered by analysis of the gene-expression profiling in our cell-based microarray. Their clinical relevance was verified by in silico meta-analysis of the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) datasets. Our results demonstrated that BICD1 expression could predict both prognosis and response to therapy in GBM patients. First, high BICD1 expression was correlated with poor prognosis in the TCGA GBM cohort (n=523) and in the CGGA glioma cohort (n=220). Second, high BICD1 expression predicted poor outcome in patients with TMZ treatment (n=301) and radiation therapy (n=405). Third, multivariable Cox regression analysis confirmed BICD1 expression as an independent factor affecting the prognosis and therapeutic response of TMZ and radiation in GBM patients. Additionally, age, MGMT and BICD1 expression were combinedly utilized to stratify GBM patients into more distinct risk groups, which may provide better outcome assessment. Finally, we observed a strong correlation between BICD1 expression and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in GBMs, and proposed a possible mechanism of BICD1-associated survival or therapeutic resistance in GBMs accordingly. In conclusion, our study suggests that high BICD1 expression may result in worse prognosis and could be a predictor of poor response to TMZ and radiation therapies in GBM patients.

Preclinical investigation of ibrutinib, a Bruton's kinase tyrosine (Btk) inhibitor, in suppressing glioma tumorigenesis and stem cell phenotypes.

Standard interventions for glioma include surgery, radiation and chemotherapies but the prognosis for malignant cases such as glioblastoma multiforme remain grim. Even with targeted therapeutic agent, bevacitumab, malignant glioma often develops resistance and recurrence. Thus, developing alternative interventions (therapeutic targets, biomarkers) is urgently required. Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) has been long implicated in B cell malignancies but surprisingly it has recently been shown to also play a tumorigenic role in solid tumors such as ovarian and prostate cancer. Bioinformatics data indicates that Btk is significantly higher in clinical glioma samples as compared to normal brain cells and Btk expression level is associated with stage progression. This prompts us to investigate the potential role of Btk as a therapeutic target for glioma. Here, we demonstrate Btk expression is associated with GBM tumorigenesis. Down-regulation of Btk in GBM cell lines showed a significantly reduced abilities in colony formation, migration and GBM sphere-forming potential. Mechanistically, Btk-silenced cells showed a concomitant reduction in the expression of CD133 and Akt/mTOR signaling. In parallel, Ibrutinib (a Btk inhibitor) treatment led to a similar anti-tumorigenic response. Using xenograft mouse model, tumorigenesis was significantly reduced in Btk-silenced or ibrutinib-treated mice as compared to control counterparts. Finally, our glioma tissue microarray analysis indicated a higher Btk staining in the malignant tumors than less malignant and normal brain tissues. Collectively, Btk may represent a novel therapeutic target for glioma and ibrunitib may be used as an adjuvant treatment for malignant GBM.