Integrated Network Analysis to Determine CNN1, MYL9, TAGLN, and SORBS1 as Potential Key Genes Associated with Prostate Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer (PCa) is challenging to treat. It is necessary to screen for related biological markers to accurately predict the prognosis and recurrence of prostate cancer. METHODS: Three data sets, GSE28204, GSE30521, and GSE69223, from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were integrated into this study. After the identification of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between PCa and normal prostate tissues, network analyses including protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) were used to select hub genes. Gene Ontology (GO) term analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed to annotate the functions of DEGs and hub modules of the networks. Survival analysis was performed to validate the correlation between the key genes and PCa relapse. RESULTS: In total, 867 DEGs were identified, including 201 upregulated and 666 downregulated genes. Three hub modules of the PPI network and one hub module of the weighted gene co-expression network were determined. Moreover, four key genes (CNN1, MYL9, TAGLN, and SORBS1) were significantly associated with PCa relapse (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: CNN1, MYL9, TAGLN, and SORBS1 may be potential biomarkers for PCa development.

Total neoadjuvant therapy versus chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced rectal cancer: Bayesian network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Total neoadjuvant therapy is a promising treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer, utilizing either short-course radiotherapy or long-course chemoradiotherapy, but their relative efficacy remains unclear. The aim of this Bayesian network meta-analysis was to investigate clinical outcomes amongst patients receiving total neoadjuvant therapy with short-course radiotherapy or long-course chemoradiotherapy, and those receiving long-course chemoradiotherapy alone. METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed. All studies that compared at least two of these three treatments for locally advanced rectal cancer were included. The primary endpoint was the pathological complete response rate, and survival outcomes were adopted as secondary outcomes. RESULTS: Thirty cohorts were included. Compared with long-course chemoradiotherapy, both total neoadjuvant therapy with long-course chemoradiotherapy (OR 1.78, 95 per cent c.i. 1.43 to 2.26) and total neoadjuvant therapy with short-course radiotherapy (OR 1.75, 95 per cent c.i. 1.23 to 2.50) improved the pathological complete response rate. Similar benefits were observed in the sensitivity and subgroup analyses, except for short-course radiotherapy with one to two cycles of chemotherapy. No significant differences in survival outcomes were found amongst the three treatments. Long-course chemoradiotherapy with consolidation chemotherapy (HR 0.44, 95 per cent c.i. 0.20 to 0.99) exhibited higher disease-free survival than long-course chemoradiotherapy alone. CONCLUSION: Compared with long-course chemoradiotherapy, both short-course radiotherapy with greater than or equal to three cycles of chemotherapy and total neoadjuvant therapy with long-course chemoradiotherapy can improve the pathological complete response rate, and long-course chemoradiotherapy with consolidation chemotherapy may lead to a marginal benefit in disease-free survival. The pathological complete response rate and survival outcomes are similar for total neoadjuvant therapy with short-course radiotherapy or long-course chemoradiotherapy.

Discovery of novel 2-phenylamino-4-prolylpyrimidine derivatives as TRK/ALK dual inhibitors with promising antitumor effects.

In order to explore novel TRK and ALK dual inhibitors, a series of 2-phenylamino-4-prolylpyrimidine derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxicity and enzymatic activities. Delightfully, most compounds were detected moderated to excellent activities in cellular assay. Among them, compound 21 exhibited encouraging cytotoxicity on KM12, H2228 and KARPAS299 cells with IC50 values of 0.86, 0.141 and 0.072 µM. Meanwhile, the performances of 21 in the enzymatic assays were in good accordance with anti-proliferative activity with IC50 values of 2.2, 9.3 and 38 nM towards TRKA, ALKWT and ALKL1196M, respectively. Compared with Entrectinib, compound 21 not only ensured the inhibitory activity on TRKA, but also improved the affinity with ALK and ALKL1196M to a certain extent. Ultimately, the binding model of 21 with TRKA and ALK were ideally established through molecular docking, which further confirmed the SARs analysis.

Structure guided design of potent indole-based ATX inhibitors bearing hydrazone moiety with tumor suppression effects.

ATX was capable of catalyzing the hydrolysis of LPC to the lipid mediator LPA which attracted considerable attention on the development of potent ATX inhibitors. Herein, driven by the HTS product indole-based lead 1, a hybridization strategy was utilized to construct the trifluoroacetyl hydrazone moiety through assembling the phenyl thiazole fragment to the indole skeleton of lead 1. After a systematic structure guided optimization, by cycling the phenyl thiazole to the compacted benzothiazole or decreasing the lipophilicity, two promising ATX inhibitors (9j and 25a) were identified with IC50 values of 2.1 nM and 19.0 nM, respectively. All compounds were tested a panel of cancer cell lines and a preliminary affinity on breast cancer cell lines (SI > 16.5) were observed which shed a light on their potential application of breast cancer relevant cases. Through a dedicated docking study, the intramolecular pseudo-ring within the trifluoroacetylhydrazone moiety played a significant role in constraining the binding poses of 9j and 25a. Finally, a binding free energy calculation was conducted to examine the contribution of different interactions in binding affinity.

Galectin-3 may serve as a marker for poor prognosis in colorectal cancer: A meta-analysis.

Galectin-3 has an important function in the development of tumors. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to explore the relationships between the expression of galectin-3 on clinicopathological features and prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). A comprehensive literature search was used to identify eligible studies, and Stata software was conducted using in this meta-analysis. A total of 15 studies, including 1661 cases, were matched in the inclusion criteria. The pooled analysis indicated that galectin-3 expression was related to the poor overall survival (OS) in CRC patients (HR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.36-2.31, P < 0.0001). Our meta-analysis also showed that cancerous tissues have higher levels of galectin-3 expression than normal tissues. Besides, positive galectin-3 expression was also related to advanced TNM stages(III/IV vs. I/II: OR 5.30, 95% CI: 2.42-11.61, P < 0.0001), higher Duke's stages (C/D vs. A/B: OR 4.00, 95% CI: 2.22-7.22, P < 0.0001), venous invasion (venous invasion vs. not: OR 3.02, 95%CI: 1.75-5.22, P < 0.0001) and higher CEA level (CEA≥5 ng/ml vs. ≤ 5 ng/ml: OR 2.09, 95% CI: 1.09-4.03, P = 0.03). In summary, our results indicated that overexpression of galectin-3 is significantly related to the tumor progression and could be a efficient in predicting the prognosis of patients with CRC.