Advanced-stage mycosis fungoides: role of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, nuclear factor-κB and nuclear factor of activated T cells pathways.

BACKGROUND: The malignant mechanisms that control the development of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) are beginning to be identified. Recent evidence suggests that disturbances in specific intracellular signalling pathways, such as RAS-mitogen-activated protein kinase, T-cell receptor (TCR)-phospholipase C gamma 1 (PLCG1)-nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) and Janus kinase (JAK)-signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT), may play an essential role in the pathogenesis of CTCL. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the mechanisms controlling disease development and progression in mycosis fungoides (MF), the most common form of CTCL. METHODS: We collected 100 samples that were submitted for diagnosis of, or a second opinion regarding, MF between 2001 and 2018, 80% of which were in the early clinical stages of the disease. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues were used for histological review and to measure the expression by immunohistochemistry of surrogate markers of activation of the TCR-PLCG1-NFAT, JAK-STAT and NF-κB pathways. Folliculotropism and large-cell transformation were also examined. RESULTS: NFAT and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) markers showed a comparable activation status in early and advanced stages, while STAT3 activation was more frequent in advanced stages and was associated with large-cell transformation. Consistently with this observation, STAT3 activation occurred in parallel with MF progression in two initially MF-negative cases. A significant association of NFAT with NF-κB markers was also found, reflecting a common mechanism of activation in the two pathways. Genomic studies identified nine mutations in seven genes known to play a potential role in tumorigenesis in T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma, including PLCG1, JAK3 and STAT3, which underlies the activation of these key cell-survival pathways. A higher mutational allele frequency was detected in advanced stages. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that STAT3 is activated in advanced cases and is associated with large-cell transformation, while the activation of NFAT and NF-κB is maintained throughout the disease. These findings could have important diagnostic and therapeutic implications. What's already known about this topic? Mycosis fungoides is characterized by a clonal expansion of T cells in the skin. The mechanisms controlling disease development and progression are not fully understood. What does this study add? An association of the nuclear factor of activated T cells and nuclear factor kappa B pathways was found, which could reflect a common mechanism of activation. These pathways were activated in early and advanced stages at the same level. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 activation was associated with large-cell transformation and was more frequent in advanced stages. A genomic analysis of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma-associated genes was performed. Nine mutations were detected. What is the translational message? These results could have important implications for the treatment of MF in the near future.

High prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease among hidradenitis suppurativa patients independent of classic metabolic risk factors.

BACKGROUND: Some chronic inflammatory skin diseases, such as psoriasis, have been associated with an increased prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Nevertheless, this prevalence in hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) has not been assessed to date. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of NAFLD in patients with HS and the risk factors associated with this disorder. METHODS: This case-control study enrolled 70 HS patients and 150 age- and gender-matched controls who were evaluated by hepatic ultrasonography (US) and transient elastography (TE) after excluding other secondary causes of chronic liver disease. The diagnosis of NAFLD was established if US and/or TE were altered. RESULTS: The prevalence of NAFLD was significantly increased in patients with HS compared to controls (72.9% vs. 24.7%: P < 0.001). In the multivariable regression model adjusted for age, sex and classic metabolic risk factors for NAFLD, HS was significantly and independently associated with the presence of NAFLD [OR 7.75 confidence interval (CI) 2.54-23.64; P < 0.001]. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show a high prevalence of NAFLD in HS patients independent of classic metabolic risk factors. Therefore, we suggest HS patients to be evaluated for NAFLD and managed accordingly.

MAP kinases and the control of nuclear events.

The mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are a family of serine/threonine kinases that play an essential role in signal transduction by modulating gene transcription in the nucleus in response to changes in the cellular environment. They include the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases (ERK1 and ERK2); c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK1, JNK2, JNK3); p38s (p38alpha, p38beta, p38gamma, p38delta) and ERK5. The molecular events in which MAPKs function can be separated in discrete and yet interrelated steps: activation of the MAPK by their upstream kinases, changes in the subcellular localization of MAPKs, and recognition, binding and phosphorylation of MAPK downstream targets. The resulting pattern of gene expression will ultimately depend on the integration of the combinatorial signals provided by the temporal activation of each group of MAPKs. This review will focus on how the specificity of signal transmission by MAPKs is achieved by scaffolding molecules and by the presence of structural motifs in MAPKs that are dynamically regulated by phosphorylation and protein-protein interactions. We discuss also how MAPKs recognize and phosphorylate their target nuclear proteins, including transcription factors, co-activators and repressors and chromatin-remodeling molecules, thereby affecting an intricate balance of nuclear regulatory molecules that ultimately control gene expression in response to environmental cues.

p73 cooperates with Ras in the activation of MAP kinase signaling cascade.

The p73 gene is capable of inducing cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, senescence, differentiation and to cooperate with oncogenic Ras in cellular transformation. Ras can be considered as a branch point in signal transduction, where diverse extracellular stimuli converge. The intensity of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade activation influences the cellular response to Ras. Despite the fundamental role of p53 in Ras-induced growth arrest and senescence, it remains unclear how the Ras/MEK/ERK pathway induces growth arrest in the absence of p53. We report here that oncogenic Ras stabilizes p73 resulting in p73 accumulation and enhancement of its activity. p73, in turn, induces a sustained activation of the MAP kinase cascade synergizing with oncogenic Ras. We also found that inhibition of p73 function modifies the cellular outcome to Ras activation inhibiting Ras-dependent differentiation. Here, we show for the first time that there is a signaling loop between Ras-dependent MAPK cascade activation and p73 function.

H-, K- and N-Ras inhibit myeloid leukemia cell proliferation by a p21WAF1-dependent mechanism.

Mutated ras genes are frequently found in human cancer. However, it has been shown that oncogenic ras inhibits growth of primary cells, through pathways involving p53 and the cell cycle inhibitors p16INK4a and p19ARF. We have analysed the effect of the ectopic expression of the three mammalian ras genes on the proliferation of K562 leukemia cells, which are deficient for p53, p16INK4a, p15INK4b and p19ARF genes. We have found that high expression levels of both wild-type and oncogenic H-, K- and N-ras inhibit the clonogenic growth of K562 cells. Induction of H-rasV12 expression in K562 transfectants retards growth and this effect is accompanied with an increase of p21WAF1 mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, p21WAF1 promoter is activated potently by oncogenic ras and less pronounced by wild-type ras. This induction is p53-independent since a p21WAF1 promoter devoid of the p53 responsive elements is still activated by Ras. Finally, inhibition of p21WAF1 expression by an antisense construct partially overcomes the growth inhibitory action of oncogenic H-ras. Altogether, these results indicate that the antiproliferative effect of ras in myeloid leukemia cells is associated to the induction of p21WAF1 expression and suggest the existence of p19ARF and p16INK4a-independent pathways for ras-mediated growth inhibition.

Whole-exome sequencing in splenic marginal zone lymphoma reveals mutations in genes involved in marginal zone differentiation.

Splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL) is a B-cell neoplasm whose molecular pathogenesis remains fundamentally unexplained, requiring more precise diagnostic markers. Previous molecular studies have revealed 7q loss and mutations of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), B-cell receptor (BCR) and Notch signalling genes. We performed whole-exome sequencing in a series of SMZL cases. Results confirmed that SMZL is an entity distinct from other low-grade B-cell lymphomas, and identified mutations in multiple genes involved in marginal zone development, and others involved in NF-κB, BCR, chromatin remodelling and the cytoskeleton.

MYC antagonizes the differentiation induced by imatinib in chronic myeloid leukemia cells through downregulation of p27(KIP1.).

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) progresses from a chronic to a blastic phase where the leukemic cells are proliferative and undifferentiated. The CML is nowadays successfully treated with BCR-ABL kinase inhibitors as imatinib and dasatinib. In the CML-derived K562 cell line, low concentrations of imatinib induce proliferative arrest and erythroid differentiation. We found that imatinib upregulated the cell cycle inhibitor p27(KIP1) (p27) in a time- and -concentration dependent manner, and that the extent of imatinib-mediated differentiation was severely decreased in cells with depleted p27. MYC (c-Myc) is a transcription factor frequently deregulated in human cancer. MYC is overexpressed in untreated CML and is associated to poor response to imatinib. Using K562 sublines with conditional MYC expression (induced by Zn(2+) or activated by 4-hydroxy-tamoxifen) we show that MYC prevented the erythroid differentiation induced by imatinib and dasatinib. The differentiation inhibition is not due to increased proliferation of MYC-expressing clones or enhanced apoptosis of differentiated cells. As p27 overexpression is reported to induce erythroid differentiation in K562, we explored the effect of MYC on imatinib-dependent induction of p27. We show that MYC abrogated the imatinib-induced upregulation of p27 concomitantly with the differentiation inhibition, suggesting that MYC inhibits differentiation by antagonizing the imatinib-mediated upregulation of p27. This effect occurs mainly by p27 protein destabilization. This was in part due to MYC-dependent induction of SKP2, a component of the ubiquitin ligase complex that targets p27 for degradation. The results suggest that, although MYC deregulation does not directly confer resistance to imatinib, it might be a factor that contributes to progression of CML through the inhibition of differentiation.