Inhibition of PLK4 remodels histone methylation and activates the immune response via the cGAS-STING pathway in TP53-mutated AML.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with TP53 mutation is one of the most lethal cancers and portends an extremely poor prognosis. Based on in silico analyses of druggable genes and differential gene expression in TP53-mutated AML, we identified pololike kinase 4 (PLK4) as a novel therapeutic target and examined its expression, regulation, pathogenetic mechanisms, and therapeutic potential in TP53-mutated AML. PLK4 expression was suppressed by activated p53 signaling in TP53 wild-type AML and was increased in TP53-mutated AML cell lines and primary samples. Short-term PLK4 inhibition induced DNA damage and apoptosis in TP53 wild-type AML. Prolonged PLK4 inhibition suppressed the growth of TP53-mutated AML and was associated with DNA damage, apoptosis, senescence, polyploidy, and defective cytokinesis. A hitherto undescribed PLK4/PRMT5/EZH2/H3K27me3 axis was demonstrated in both TP53 wild-type and mutated AML, resulting in histone modification through PLK4-induced PRMT5 phosphorylation. In TP53-mutated AML, combined effects of histone modification and polyploidy activated the cGAS-STING pathway, leading to secretion of cytokines and chemokines and activation of macrophages and T cells upon coculture with AML cells. In vivo, PLK4 inhibition also induced cytokine and chemokine expression in mouse recipients, and its combination with anti-CD47 antibody, which inhibited the "don't-eat-me" signal in macrophages, synergistically reduced leukemic burden and prolonged animal survival. The study shed important light on the pathogenetic role of PLK4 and might lead to novel therapeutic strategies in TP53-mutated AML.

Transcriptomic features of systemic lupus erythematosus patients in flare and changes during acute in-hospital treatment.

OBJECTIVES: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease with varying symptoms and multi-organ damage. Relapse-remission cycles often persist for many patients for years with the current treatment. Improved understanding of molecular changes caused by SLE flare and intensive treatment may result in more targeted therapies. METHODS: RNA sequencing was performed on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 65 SLE patients in flare, collected both before (SLE1) and after (SLE2) in-hospital treatment, along with 15 healthy controls (HC). Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified among the three groups. Enriched functions and key molecular signatures of the DEGs were analysed and scored to elucidate the transcriptomic changes during treatment. RESULTS: Few upregulated genes in SLE1 vs HC were affected by treatment (SLE2 vs SLE1), mostly functional in interferon signalling (IFN), plasmablasts and neutrophils. IFN and plasmablast signatures were repressed, but the neutrophil signature remained unchanged or enhanced by treatment. The IFN and neutrophil scores together stratified the SLE samples. IFN scores correlated well with leukopenia, while neutrophil scores reflected relative cell compositions but not cell counts. CONCLUSIONS: In-hospital treatment significantly relieved SLE symptoms with expression changes of a small subset of genes. Notably, IFN signature changes matched SLE flare and improvement, while enhanced neutrophil signature upon treatment suggested the involvement of low-density granulocytes (LDG) in disease development.

[Mechanism of HOXC6 promoting the progression of prostate cancer by activating the SFRP1/Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway].

OBJECTIVE: To study the expression of the Homeobox C6 (HOXC6) gene in the homeobox family in PCa, its effect on the biological behavior of PCa cells and its action mechanism. METHODS: Based on the studies of HOXC6 retrieved from the database of Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA), we analyzed the expression of HOXC6 in PCa and the relationship of its expression level with the survival prognosis of the patients. We detected the expression of the HOXC6 protein in PCa tissues and cells by Western blot, stably interfered with the expression of the HOXC6 gene in human PCa DU145 and PC-3 cells and normal prostatic epithelial RWPE-1 cells using the siRNA plasmid, and determined the effects of HOXC6 on the proliferation, migration and invasiveness of PCa cells by CCK8, plate cloning and scratch healing and Transwell invasion assays. Using the GEPIA database, we analyzed the correlation of the Wnt tumor inhibitory factor-secreted frizzled-related protein 1 (SFRP1) gene with HOXC6, and detected the expressions of HOXC6, SFRP1, Wnt and ß-catenin in PC-3 cells after siRNA-HOXC6 transfection by Western blot. RESULTS: The expression of HOXC6 was dramatically higher in the PCa than in the normal prostate tissue (P< 0.01), and in the PCa cells than in the normal prostatic epithelial cells (P< 0.01). Bioinformatics analysis indicated a lower survival rate of the PCa patients with a high than those with a low HOXC6 expression (P = 0.011). The relative expression of the HOXC6 protein, absorbance value, number of clones formed and number of invaded cells were significantly lower in the siRNA group than in the negative controls (P< 0.05). According to the GEPIA database, highly expressed SFRP1 was associated with a good prognosis of PCa, and the protein expressions of Wnt and ß-catenin were markedly increased while that of SFRP1 decreased in the PCa PC-3 cell line (P< 0.05). The expressions of the Wnt and ß-catenin proteins were decreased and that of SFRP1 increased significantly in the siRNA-HOXC6 transfection group compared with those in the siRNA negative control and PCa PC-3 groups (P< 0.05). CONCLUSION: HOXC6 is highly expressed in PCa tissues and related to the proliferation, migration and invasiveness of PCa cells. HOXC6 promotes the growth of DU145 and PC-3 cells in PCa by inhibiting the SFRP1/Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway, and may be a potential target for clinical treatment of PCa.

Genome-wide association study on Northern Chinese identifies KLF2, DOT1L and STAB2 associated with systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVES: To identify novel genetic loci associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to evaluate potential genetic differences between ethnic Chinese and European populations in SLE susceptibility. METHODS: A new genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted from Jining, North China, on 1506 individuals (512 SLE cases and 994 matched healthy controls). The association results were meta-analysed with existing data on Chinese populations from Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Central China, as well as GWAS results from four cohorts of European ancestry. A total of 26 774 individuals (9310 SLE cases and 17 464 controls) were included in this study. RESULTS: Meta-analysis on four Chinese cohorts identifies KLF2 as a novel locus associated with SLE [rs2362475; odds ratio (OR) = 0.85, P=2.00E-09]. KLF2 is likely an Asian-specific locus as no evidence of association was detected in the four European cohorts (OR = 0.98, P =0.58), with evidence of heterogeneity (P=0.0019) between the two ancestral groups. Meta-analyses of results from both Chinese and Europeans identify STAB2 (rs10082873; OR= 0.89, P=4.08E-08) and DOT1L (rs4807205; OR= 1.12, P=8.17E-09) as trans-ancestral association loci, surpassing the genome-wide significance. CONCLUSIONS: We identified three loci associated with SLE, with KLF2 a likely Chinese-specific locus, highlighting the importance of studying diverse populations in SLE genetics. We hypothesize that DOT1L and KLF2 are plausible SLE treatment targets, with inhibitors of DOT1L and inducers of KLF2 already available clinically.

Transgenic IDH2R172K and IDH2R140Q zebrafish models recapitulated features of human acute myeloid leukemia.

Isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) mutations occur in more than 15% of cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML) but comparative studies of their roles in leukemogenesis have been scarce. We generated zebrafish models of IDH2R172K and IDH2R140Q AML and reported their pathologic, functional and transcriptomic features and therapeutic responses to target therapies. Transgenic embryos co-expressing FLT3ITD and IDH2 mutations showed accentuation of myelopoiesis. As these embryos were raised to adulthood, full-blown leukemia ensued with multi-lineage dysplasia, increase in myeloblasts and marrow cellularity and splenomegaly. The leukemia cells were transplantable into primary and secondary recipients and resulted in more aggressive disease. Tg(Runx1:FLT3ITDIDH2R172K) but not Tg(Runx1:FLT3ITDIDH2R140Q) zebrafish showed an increase in T-cell development at embryonic and adult stages. Single-cell transcriptomic analysis revealed increased myeloid skewing, differentiation blockade and enrichment of leukemia-associated gene signatures in both zebrafish models. Tg(Runx1:FLT3ITDIDH2R172K) but not Tg(Runx1:FLT3ITDIDH2R140Q) zebrafish showed an increase in interferon signals at the adult stage. Leukemic phenotypes in both zebrafish could be ameliorated by quizartinib and enasidenib. In conclusion, the zebrafish models of IDH2 mutated AML recapitulated the morphologic, clinical, functional and transcriptomic characteristics of human diseases, and provided the prototype for developing zebrafish leukemia models of other genotypes that would become a platform for high throughput drug screening.

Identification of Shared and Asian-Specific Loci for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Evidence for Roles of Type III Interferon Signaling and Lysosomal Function in the Disease: A Multi-Ancestral Genome-Wide Association Study.

OBJECTIVE: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototypical autoimmune disease with differences in prevalence and severity among ancestral groups. This study was undertaken to identify novel genetic components, either shared by or distinct between Asian and European populations. METHODS: Both trans-ancestral and ancestry-specific meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for SLE were performed, involving 30,604 participants of European, Chinese, or Thai origin. Using public epigenomic data and expression quantitative trait loci, fine-mapping analyses were conducted to identify putative causal variants and genes for the newly identified loci. Performance of polygenic risk scores for the Thai cohort was evaluated by comparing different training data. RESULTS: A 1-bp deletion upstream of IFNLR1 was found to be associated with SLE, with the risk allele correlated with increased expression of IFNLR1. This gene encodes interferon-λ (IFNλ) receptor 1, providing evidence of a role of type III IFN signaling in SLE. An intronic variant in SLC29A3 was found to be associated with SLE in Asians only. The putative risk variant may modulate SLC29A3 expression in a monocyte-specific manner. SLC29A3 encodes a lysosomal nucleoside transporter, and subsequent analyses suggested that reduced lysosomal function and phagocytosis might be the mechanism underlying this association. Ancestry-shared loci in or near TAOK3, CHD9, CAMK1D, ATXN1, and TARBP1 and Asian-specific loci close to PEX2, FCHSD2, and TMEM116 also reached the genome-wide significant association with SLE. In addition, trans-ancestral meta-analysis was shown to be valuable in risk prediction for individuals without ancestry-matched data. CONCLUSION: In this study both shared and Asian-specific loci for SLE were identified, and functional annotation provided evidence of the involvement of increased type III IFN signaling and reduced lysosomal function in SLE.

Clinical characteristics and overall survival nomogram of second primary malignancies after prostate cancer, a SEER population-based study.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most prevalent cancer among males and the survival period of PCa has been significantly extended. However, the probability of suffering from second primary malignancies (SPMs) has also increased. Therefore, we downloaded SPM samples from the SEER database and then retrospectively analyzed the general characteristics of 34,891 PCa patients diagnosed between 2000 and 2016. After excluding cases with unknown clinical information, 2203 patients were used to construct and validate the overall survival (OS) nomogram of SPM patients after PCa. We found that approximately 3.69% of PCa patients were subsequently diagnosed with SPMs. In addition, the three most prevalent sites of SPM were respiratory and intrathoracic organs, skin, and hematopoietic system. The top three histological types of SPMs were squamous cell carcinoma, adenoma and adenocarcinoma, nevi and melanoma. Through univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis, we found that the site of SPM, age, TNM stage, SPM surgery history, and PCa stage were associated with the OS of SPM. By virtue of these factors, we constructed a nomogram to predict the OS of SPM. The C-index in the training set and validation set were 0.824 (95CI, 0.806-0.842) and 0.862 (95CI, 0.840-0.884), respectively. Furthermore, we plotted the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and the area under curve (AUC) which showed that our model performed well in assessing the 3-year (0.861 and 0.887) and 5-year (0.837 and 0.842) OS of SPMs in the training and validation set. In summary, we investigated the general characteristics of SPMs and constructed a nomogram to predict the prognosis of SPM following PCa.