POU2F3-positive small cell carcinoma of the bladder: A clinicopathologic analysis of 4 cases and literature review.

POU class 2 homeobox 3 (POU2F3)-positive small cell bladder carcinoma (SCBC) is an extremely rare entity, and its clinicopathologic features have not been fully described. Here, we investigated the clinicopathologic features of 4 cases of POU2F3-positive small cell bladder carcinoma (SCBC) and reviewed the literature. We collected 12 cases of SCBC from our departmental archives and detected the expression of POU2F3 by immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. Selected cases with or without POU2F3 expression were subjected to gene expression analysis between two different groups using DESeq2 software. We identified 4 POU2F3-positive SCBC patients, 2 males and 2 females, with a mean age of 77 years. Three patients had hematuria, and 1 patient had dysuria. Radiologic findings showed a bladder mass. Pathologic diagnosis showed that 3 cases were pure SCBC and 1 was mixed urothelial cancer (UC). Histopathologically, four POU2F3-positive SCBC tumors were composed of small round cells with sparse cytoplasm, the nuclei were salt-and-pepper-like or finely granular. Tumor cells showed characteristic cytoplasmic staining with punctate positive signals for cytokeratin. Syn and CD56 were diffusely positive in all the 4 patients. CgA was positive in only one patient. POU2F3-positive SCBC showed higher expression levels of POU2F3, HMGA2 and PLCG2 genes by RNA-Seq. Our data showed the specific clinicopathologic features of 4 rare POU2F3-positive SCBC cases, and the distinct molecular feature was observed between POU2F3-positive and negative SCBC in the limited number of cases.

JARID1B promotes colorectal cancer proliferation and Wnt/ß-catenin signaling via decreasing CDX2 level.

BACKGROUND: Jumonji AT-rich interactive domain 1B(JARID1B) has been shown to be upregulated in many human cancers and plays a critical role in the development of cancers cells. Nevertheless, its functional role in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression is not fully understood. METHODS: Herein, JARID1B expression levels were detected in clinical CRC samples by western blotting and qRT-PCR. DLD-1 cells with JARID1B knockdown or overexpression by stably transfected plasmids were used in vitro and in vivo study. Colony formation, 5-ethynyl-20-deoxyuridine (EdU) and Real Time Cellular Analysis (RTCA) assays were used to detect cell proliferation and growth. Transcriptome and CHIP assays were used to examine the molecular biology changes and molecular interaction in these cells. Nude mice was utilized to study the correlation of JARID1B and tumor growth in vivo. RESULTS: Here, we first observed that JARID1B was significantly upregulated in CRC tissue compared to adjacent normal tissues. In CRC patients, JARID1B high expression was positively relation with poor overall survival. Multivariate analyses revealed that high JARID1B expression was an independent predictive marker for the poor prognosis of CRC. In addition, we found that JARID1B promoted CRC cells proliferation by Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway. Further studies demonstrated CDX2 as a downstream target of JARID1B, and our data demonstrated that CDX2 is crucial for JARID1B -mediated Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that JARID1B regulated CDX2 expression through demethylation of H3K4me3. CONCLUSIONS: CDX2 inhibited by JARID1B-derived H3K4me3 methylation promoted cells proliferation of CRC via Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway. Therefore, our studies provided a novel insight into the role of JARID1B in CRC cells proliferation and potential new molecular target for treating CRC. Video abstract.

USP7 promotes proliferation of papillary thyroid carcinoma cells through TBX3-mediated p57KIP2 repression.

Ubiquitin-specific protease 7 (USP7/HAUSP) is known to regulate multiple cellular phenomena, including cell cycle progression and proliferation, and is involved in binding and stabilizing specific target proteins through deubiquitylation. However, the detailed role of USP7 in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) remains to be investigated. In this study, our results showed that USP7 was upregulated in PTC tissues compared with adjacent nontumour tissues. Consistently, a series of gain/loss functional assays in vivo and in vitro demonstrated the role of USP7 in promoting PTC cell proliferation. Furthermore, we showed that there was a negative correlation between USP7 and the CDK inhibitor p57KIP2 expression in PTC tissues and that USP7 facilitated PTC cell proliferation by inhibiting p57KIP2. Mechanistically, USP7 inhibited p57KIP2 expression by modulating TBX3, directly binding to TBX3, and decreasing its ubiquitination and degradation. Our findings demonstrated that USP7 played a critical oncogenic role in PTC tumorigenesis, suggesting that USP7 might act as a prognostic and therapeutic target for PTC progression.

Epithelioid angiosarcoma of the chest wall with atypical morphology: report of one case.

Epithelioid angiosarcoma is a rare soft-tissue sarcoma, which originates from endothelial cells. Herein, we report a case of an uncommon morphology of epithelioid angiosarcoma in the chest wall with diffuse hemorrhage and necrosis. The 52-years-old man suffered from severe chest pain, hemoptysis, and fever. Contrast-enhanced chest CT scans showed a large space-occupying lesion in the right chest cavity. A right thoracotomy was performed for definite diagnosis and surgical resection. Microscopically, the specimen demonstrated extensive hemorrhage and necrosis, while few visible tumor cells were noted. These cells were round to polygonal and even had an epithelioid appearance, with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm. Vesicular nuclei and prominent nucleoli were observed. Immunohistochemistry indicated that these abnormal cells were positive for cytokeratin, vimentin, CD31, ERG, and FLI-1. They were negative for D2-40, CK5/6, calretinin, WT-1, CK7, TTF-1, napsin A, and CEA. Moreover, Ki-67 with MIB-1 was about 40%. On the whole, histology and immunohistochemistry supported the diagnosis of epithelioid angiosarcoma.