Activated hedgehog gene pattern correlates with dismal clinical outcome and tumor microenvironment heterogeneity in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Activation of the Hedgehog signaling pathway is linked to the initiation and development of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its impact on clinical outcomes and the HCC microenvironment remains unclear. Methods: We performed comprehensive analyses of Hedgehog pathway genes in a large cohort of HCC patients. Specifically, we utilized univariate Cox regression analysis to identify Hedgehog genes linked to overall survival, and the LASSO algorithm was used to construct a Hedgehog-related gene pattern. We subsequently examined the correlation between the Hedgehog pattern and the HCC microenvironment employing the CIBERSORT and ssGSEA algorithms. Furthermore, Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) algorithm and the anti-PD-L1 treatment dataset (IMvigor210) are used to evaluate the clinical response of the Hedgehog pattern in predicting immune checkpoint inhibitors. Results: We found that the Hedgehog activation score (HHAS), a prognostic score based on 11 Hedgehog genes, was significantly associated with HCC patient survival. Patients exhibiting high HHAS experienced markedly reduced survival rates compared to those with low HHAS, and HHAS emerged as an independent prognostic factor for HCC. Functional enrichment analysis unveiled the association of the HHAS phenotype with functions related to the immune system, and further investigation demonstrated that HCC patients exhibiting low HHAS displayed elevated levels of anti-tumor immune activation in CD8+ T cells, while high HHAS were linked to immune escape phenotypes and increased infiltration of immune suppressive cells. In addition, in the Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor (ICI) cohort of IMvigor210, patients with higher HHAS had worse ICI treatment outcomes and shortened survival time, indicating that the HHAS is a useful indicator for predicting patient response to immunotherapy. Conclusions: In summary, our study offers valuable insights for advancing research on Hedgehog and its impact on tumor immunity, which provides an opportunity to optimize prognosis and immune therapy for HCC.

Amphiregulin alleviated concanavalin A-induced acute liver injury via IL-22.

OBJECTIVES: Amphiregulin (Areg), a glycoprotein from the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) ligand family, has a well-documented protective role against tissue injury; however, its effects on immune-mediated liver injury are still unclear. Here, we used a concanavalin A (ConA)-induced acute liver hepatitis model to explore the effects of Areg on immune-mediated acute liver injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Some C57BL/6 mice were administered ConA at a dose of 20 mg/kg (model mice), and some received 5 µg of Areg (treated mice). Then, their survival rates over 36 h were analyzed. After 5 h of treatment, liver function, hepatic histology, and apoptosis in liver tissue were investigated, and cytokine expression and neutrophil infiltration and activity in the liver were detected. Moreover, the protective effects of Areg were also evaluated without IL-22 in vivo. RESULTS: Our results showed that Areg administration increased acute liver failure (ALF) mouse survival, restored liver function, and alleviated liver damage. Interestingly, Areg administration increased IL-22 production in hepatic T cells and upregulated IL-22 concentrations in the serum and liver, whereas IL-22 neutralization completely abolished the therapeutic effect of Areg. Meanwhile, Areg administration was concomitant with increased expression of the anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, which are important in the hepatoprotective mechanism of IL-22. CONCLUSIONS: Areg showed direct protective effects against ConA-induced acute liver injury, which suggests the potential therapeutic application of Areg in immune-mediated ALF.

A new sesquiterpene from the mangrove endophytic fungus Aspergillus terreus (No. GX7-3B).

A new compound 1 (named botryosphaerin F), along with other three known compounds 2 (13,14,15,16-tetranorlabd-7-ene-19,6b:12,17-diolide), 3 (botryosphaerin B) and 4 (LL-Z1271ß), has been isolated from the mangrove fungus Aspergillus terreus (No. GX7-3B). The structure of the new compound was established by analysis of spectroscopic data. The hypothetical biogenic relationship of four sesquiterpene analogues was also described in this paper. Furthermore, in the cytotoxicity assays, compound 1 showed potent inhibiting activity towards MCF-7 and HL-60 cancer cell lines with 50% inhibition of cell growth (IC50) values of 4.49 and 3.43 µM, respectively, and compound 4 exhibited promising activity against HL-60 cell line with an IC50 value of 0.6 µM.

[Detection of Skp2 mRNA gene expression using fluorogenic probe quantitative RT-PCR method in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: The current study was designed to examine the expression of Skp2 gene in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) and to investigate the role of Skp2 gene in tumorigenesis and progression of LSCC. METHOD: FQ-PCR method was used to examined the expression of Skp2 gene in 40 LSCC and 10 normal laryngeal mucosa tissues, and relationship between its expression and clinical biological factors of patients with LSCC was analyzed. RESULT: The median copy number of Skp2 mRNA expression in LSCC was 6622.54 copy/microg RNA, the median copy number of Skp2 mRNA expression in normal laryngeal mucosa tissues was 0 copy/microg RNA, there was a very significant difference between them (P < 0.01); The positive rate of Skp2 mRNA expression in LSCC and adjacent normal laryngeal tissue were 50%, 0, respectively (P < 0.01). The median copy number of Skp2 RNA expression in LSCC with cervical lymph node metastasis was 617138.4 copy/microg RNA, the median copy number of Skp2 mRNA expression in LSCC without cervical lymph node metastasis was 0 copy/microg RNA, there was a very significant difference between them (P < 0.05); The positive rate of Skp2 mRNA expression in LSCC with and without cervical lymph node metastasis were 100.00%, 35.48%, respectively (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Skp2 gene might have relation with the cervical lymph node metastasis of LSCC. FQ-PCR is an accurate assay to detecting expression of Skp2 mRNA in patient with LSCC. The level of Skp2 mRNA expression might be a new and more accurate marker, and it can be used to predict cervical lymph node metastasis of LSCC.