RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Infiltrating immune and stromal cells are vital components of the bladder cancer (BC) microenvironment, which can significantly affect BC progression and outcome. However, the contribution of each subset of tumour-infiltrating immune cells is unclear. The objective of this study was to perform cell phenotyping and transcriptional profiling of the tumour immune microenvironment and analyse the association of distinct cell subsets and genes with BC prognosis. METHODS: Clinical data of 412 patients with BC and 433 transcription files for normal and cancer tissues were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas. The CIBERSORT algorithm was used to determine the relative abundance of 22 immune cell types in each sample and the ESTIMATE algorithm was used to identify differentially expressed genes within the tumour microenvironment of BC, which were subjected to functional enrichment and protein-protein interaction (PPI) analyses. The association of cell subsets and differentially expressed genes with patient survival and clinical parameters was examined by Cox regression analysis and the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: Resting natural killer cells and activated memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were associated with favourable patient outcome, whereas resting memory CD4+ T cells were associated with poor outcome. Differential expression analysis revealed 1334 genes influencing both immune and stromal cell scores; of them, 97 were predictive of overall survival in patients with BC. Among the top 10 statistically significant hub genes in the PPI network, CXCL12, FN1, LCK, and CXCR4 were found to be associated with BC prognosis. CONCLUSION: Tumour-infiltrating immune cells and cancer microenvironment-related genes can affect the outcomes of patients and are likely to be important determinants of both prognosis and response to immunotherapy in BC.
Asunto(s)
Linfocitos T CD4-Positivos/inmunología , Linfocitos T CD8-positivos/inmunología , Linfocitos Infiltrantes de Tumor/inmunología , Neoplasias de la Vejiga Urinaria/metabolismo , Algoritmos , Quimiocina CXCL12/genética , Quimiocina CXCL12/metabolismo , Fibronectinas/genética , Fibronectinas/metabolismo , Perfilación de la Expresión Génica , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica , Redes Reguladoras de Genes , Humanos , Proteína Tirosina Quinasa p56(lck) Específica de Linfocito/genética , Proteína Tirosina Quinasa p56(lck) Específica de Linfocito/metabolismo , Pronóstico , Receptores CXCR4/genética , Receptores CXCR4/metabolismo , Análisis de la Célula Individual , Análisis de Supervivencia , Microambiente Tumoral , Neoplasias de la Vejiga Urinaria/mortalidad , Neoplasias de la Vejiga Urinaria/patologíaRESUMEN
The repair of injured tendons remains a formidable clinical challenge because of our limited understanding of tendon stem cells and the regulation of tenogenesis. With single-cell analysis to characterize the gene expression profiles of individual cells isolated from tendon tissue, a subpopulation of nestin+ tendon stem/progenitor cells (TSPCs) was identified within the tendon cell population. Using Gene Expression Omnibus datasets and immunofluorescence assays, we found that nestin expression was activated at specific stages of tendon development. Moreover, isolated nestin+ TSPCs exhibited superior tenogenic capacity compared to nestin- TSPCs. Knockdown of nestin expression in TSPCs suppressed their clonogenic capacity and reduced their tenogenic potential significantly both in vitro and in vivo. Hence, these findings provide new insights into the identification of subpopulations of TSPCs and illustrate the crucial roles of nestin in TSPC fate decisions and phenotype maintenance, which may assist in future therapeutic strategies to treat tendon disease.
Asunto(s)
Bases de Datos de Ácidos Nucleicos , Regulación de la Expresión Génica/fisiología , Nestina/metabolismo , Células Madre/metabolismo , Tendones/metabolismo , Animales , Ratones , Ratones Transgénicos , Nestina/genética , Células Madre/citología , Tendones/citologíaRESUMEN
The cell-cycle inhibitor flavopiridol has been shown to improve recovery from spinal cord injury in animal models. However, the systemic dose of flavopiridol has side-effects and the mechanism of action is not clear. This study aimed to develop a strategy for the local delivery of flavopiridol and investigate its mechanisms of action. Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) were used for the sustained delivery of flavopiridol. The spinal cord was right-hemisectioned and NPs were delivered into the injury site. Transparent spinal cord technology was used for the three-dimensional observation of anterograde tracing. The results showed that flavopiridol NPs had a sustained release of up to 3 days in vitro. Flavopiridol NPs significantly decreased inflammatory factor synthesis by astrocytes, including TNF-α, IL-1ß, and IL-6, while the IL-10 expression was elevated. In vivo study demonstrated that flavopiridol NPs decreased cell-cycle activation, inflammatory expression and glial scarring, and facilitated neuronal survival and regeneration. The cavitation volume was decreased by ~90%. Administration of flavopiridol NPs also improved the motor recovery of injured animals. These findings demonstrated that local delivery of flavopiridol in PLGA NPs improves recovery from spinal cord injury by inhibiting astrocyte growth and inflammatory factor synthesis.