Psychological, endocrine and polygenic predictors of emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in a longitudinal birth cohort.

The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the lives of families and the well-being of both parents and their children. Various factors, including prenatal stress, dysregulated stress response systems, and genetics may have influenced how the stress caused by the pandemic impacted the well-being of different family members. The present work investigated if emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic could be predicted by developmental stress-related and genetic factors. Emotional well-being of 7-10 year-old children (n = 263) and mothers (n = 241) (participants in a longitudinal German birth cohort (POSEIDON)) was assessed during the COVID-19 pandemic using the CRISIS questionnaire at two time periods (July 2020-October 2020; November 2020-February 2021). Associations of the children's and mothers' well-being with maternal perceived stress, of the children's well-being with their salivary and morning urine cortisol at 45 months, and polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for depression, schizophrenia, loneliness were investigated. Lower emotional well-being was observed in both children and mothers during compared to before the pandemic, with the children's but not the mothers' emotional well-being improving over the course of the pandemic. A positive association between the child and maternal emotional well-being was found. Prenatally assessed maternal perceived stress was associated with a lower well-being in children, but not in mothers. Cortisol measures and PRSs were not significantly associated with the children's emotional well-being. The present study confirms that emotional well-being of children and mothers are linked, and were negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with differences in development over time.

ETS1 is coexpressed with ZEB2 and mediates ZEB2-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in human tumors.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an embryonic program that is reactivated in cancer and regulates the invasion and metastasis of tumor cells. Zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 2 (ZEB2) induces EMT by upregulating matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), yet MMP genes lack ZEB2 binding motif in their promoters. Recently, expression of MMPs was associated to the activation of ETS1 transcription factor; however, a link between ZEB2 and ETS proto-oncogene 1, transcription factor (ETS1) remains to be elucidated. Hence, we investigated the transcriptional regulation of ETS1 by ZEB2 after our initial observation that ZEB2 and ETS1 are coexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HCCs). Chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assays clearly showed that ZEB2 binds to E-box sequences on the promoter of ETS1. Elevated expression of ETS1 was found in DLD-ZEB2 and A431-ZEB2 inducible systems, and knockdown of ZEB2 caused an explicit downregulation of ETS1 in shZEB2-SNU398 and shZEB2-SK-HEP-1 cells. Repression of ETS1 expression in ZEB2-induced conditions substantially impaired the migration and invasive capacities of DLD1 cells. Mechanistically, knockdown of ETS1 in ZEB2-expressing cells resulted in the downregulation of established ZEB2 targets TWIST and MMP9. Correlation analyses in HCC lines, cancer complementary DNA arrays, and The Cancer Genome Atlas RNA-sequencing data set revealed that ZEB2 and ETS1 are coexpressed, and their expressions in human tumors show a highly significant positive correlation. Our results demonstrated that ZEB2 acts as an upstream regulator of ETS1 and, in turn, ETS1 maintains ZEB2-induced EMT. These findings add another level of complexity to the understanding of ZEB2 in the invasion and metastasis of cancer cells, and put ZEB2/ETS1 axis as a novel therapeutic target in human malignancies.

Major depressive disorder in chronic heart failure patients: Does silent cerebral infarction cause major depressive disorder in this patient population?

OBJECTIVE: Depression frequently occurs in patients with heart failure as similar pathophysiological mechanisms present in both these diseases. Patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) have a high incidence of clinically asymptomatic silent cerebral infarction (SCI). This study aimed to evaluate the relation between SCI and major depressive disorder (MDD), and between MDD and clinical and biochemical parameters in DCM patients. METHODS: Patients with ischemic and non-ischemic DCM who had chronic heart failure (CHF) (39 male, 10 female, age 60±10 years) were included in the study. Mean patient ejection fraction (EF) was 34±10%. Patients had no localized neurological symptoms or stroke history. The etiology of DCM was ischemic in 40 and non-ischemic in 9 patients. Twenty-five age-matched healthy volunteers served as a control group for comparison of SCI and MDD prevalence. RESULTS: Patients had mild to severe CHF symptoms. Prevalence of SCI and MDD was significantly higher in patients with DCM than in the control group; 63% vs 8%; p<0.001, and 52% vs 20%; p<0.001 respectively. Patients with SCI had a higher prevalence of MDD than patients without SCI in DCM (61% vs 27%, p=0.02). CONCLUSION: CHF patients have an increased prevalence of SCI and MDD. Patients with SCI have a higher prevalence of MDD compared to patients without SCI in CHF.

The epithelial adherens junction component PLEKHA7 regulates ECM remodeling and cell behavior through miRNA-mediated regulation of MMP1 and LOX.

Epithelial adherens junctions (AJs) are cell-cell adhesion complexes that are influenced by tissue mechanics, such as those emanating from the extracellular matrix (ECM). Here, we introduce a mechanism whereby epithelial AJs can also regulate the ECM. We show that the AJ component PLEKHA7 regulates levels and activity of the key ECM remodeling components MMP1 and LOX in well-differentiated colon epithelial cells, through the miR-24 and miR-30c miRNAs. PLEKHA7 depletion in epithelial cells results in LOX-dependent ECM remodeling in culture and in the colonic mucosal lamina propria in mice. Furthermore, PLEKHA7-depleted cells exhibit increased migration and invasion rates that are MMP1- and LOX- dependent, and form colonies in 3D cultures that are larger in size and acquire aberrant morphologies in stiffer matrices. These results reveal an AJ-mediated mechanism, through which epithelial cells drive ECM remodeling to modulate their behavior, including acquisition of phenotypes that are hallmarks of conditions such as fibrosis and tumorigenesis.

Investigating the cryoprotective efficacy of fructans in mammalian cell systems via a structure-functional perspective.

Fructans have long been known with their role in protecting organisms against various stress factors due to their ability to induce controlled dehydration and support membrane stability. Considering the vital importance of such features in cryo-technologies, this study aimed to explore the cryoprotective efficacy of fructans in mammalian cell systems where structurally different fructan polymers were examined on in vitro cell models derived from organs such as the liver, frequently used in transplantation, osteoblast, and cord cells, commonly employed in cell banking, as well as human seminal fluids that are of vital importance in assisted reproductive technology. To gain insights into the fructan/membrane interplay, structural differences were linked to rheological properties as well as to lipid membrane interactions where both fluorescein leakage from unilamellar liposomes and membrane integrity of osteoblast cells were monitored. High survival rates obtained with human endothelial, osteoblast and liver cells for up to two months clearly showed that fructans could be considered as effective non-permeating cryoprotectants, especially for extended periods of cryopreservation. In trials with human seminal fluid, short chained levan in combination with human serum albumin and glycerol proved very effective in preserving semen samples across multiple patients without any morphological abnormalities.

Targeting TACC3 Induces Immunogenic Cell Death and Enhances T-DM1 Response in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer.

Trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) was the first and one of the most successful antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) approved for treating refractory HER2-positive breast cancer. Despite its initial clinical efficacy, resistance is unfortunately common, necessitating approaches to improve response. Here, we found that in sensitive cells, T-DM1 induced spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC)-dependent immunogenic cell death (ICD), an immune-priming form of cell death. The payload of T-DM1 mediated ICD by inducing eIF2α phosphorylation, surface exposure of calreticulin, ATP and HMGB1 release, and secretion of ICD-related cytokines, all of which were lost in resistance. Accordingly, ICD-related gene signatures in pretreatment samples correlated with clinical response to T-DM1-containing therapy, and increased infiltration of antitumor CD8+ T cells in posttreatment samples was correlated with better T-DM1 response. Transforming acidic coiled-coil containing 3 (TACC3) was overexpressed in T-DM1-resistant cells, and T-DM1 responsive patients had reduced TACC3 protein expression whereas nonresponders exhibited increased TACC3 expression during T-DM1 treatment. Notably, genetic or pharmacologic inhibition of TACC3 restored T-DM1-induced SAC activation and induction of ICD markers in vitro. Finally, TACC3 inhibition in vivo elicited ICD in a vaccination assay and potentiated the antitumor efficacy of T-DM1 by inducing dendritic cell maturation and enhancing intratumoral infiltration of cytotoxic T cells. Together, these results illustrate that ICD is a key mechanism of action of T-DM1 that is lost in resistance and that targeting TACC3 can restore T-DM1-mediated ICD and overcome resistance. SIGNIFICANCE: Loss of induction of immunogenic cell death in response to T-DM1 leads to resistance that can be overcome by targeting TACC3, providing an attractive strategy to improve the efficacy of T-DM1.

A highly potent bi-thiazole inhibitor of LOX rewires collagen architecture and enhances chemoresponse in triple-negative breast cancer.

Lysyl oxidase (LOX) is upregulated in highly stiff aggressive tumors, correlating with metastasis, resistance, and worse survival; however, there are currently no potent, safe, and orally bioavailable small molecule LOX inhibitors to treat these aggressive desmoplastic solid tumors in clinics. Here we discovered bi-thiazole derivatives as potent LOX inhibitors by robust screening of drug-like molecules combined with cell/recombinant protein-based assays. Structure-activity relationship analysis identified a potent lead compound (LXG6403) with ∼3.5-fold specificity for LOX compared to LOXL2 while not inhibiting LOXL1 with a competitive, time- and concentration-dependent irreversible mode of inhibition. LXG6403 shows favorable pharmacokinetic properties, globally changes ECM/collagen architecture, and reduces tumor stiffness. This leads to better drug penetration, inhibits FAK signaling, and induces ROS/DNA damage, G1 arrest, and apoptosis in chemoresistant triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell lines, PDX organoids, and in vivo. Overall, our potent and tolerable bi-thiazole LOX inhibitor enhances chemoresponse in TNBC, the deadliest breast cancer subtype.

Targeting LINC00152 activates cAMP/Ca2+/ferroptosis axis and overcomes tamoxifen resistance in ER+ breast cancer.

Tamoxifen has been the mainstay therapy to treat early, locally advanced, and metastatic estrogen receptor-positive (ER + ) breast cancer, constituting around 75% of all cases. However, the emergence of resistance is common, necessitating the identification of novel therapeutic targets. Here, we demonstrated that long-noncoding RNA LINC00152 confers tamoxifen resistance by blocking tamoxifen-induced ferroptosis, an iron-mediated cell death. Mechanistically, inhibiting LINC00152 reduces the mRNA stability of phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D), leading to activation of the cAMP/PKA/CREB axis and increased expression of the TRPC1 Ca2+ channel. This causes cytosolic Ca2+ overload and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that is, on the one hand, accompanied by downregulation of FTH1, a member of the iron sequestration unit, thus increasing intracellular Fe2+ levels; and on the other hand, inhibition of the peroxidase activity upon reduced GPX4 and xCT levels, in part by cAMP/CREB. These ultimately restore tamoxifen-dependent lipid peroxidation and ferroptotic cell death which are reversed upon chelating Ca2+ or overexpressing GPX4 or xCT. Overexpressing PDE4D reverses LINC00152 inhibition-mediated tamoxifen sensitization by de-activating the cAMP/Ca2+/ferroptosis axis. Importantly, high LINC00152 expression is significantly correlated with high PDE4D/low ferroptosis and worse survival in multiple cohorts of tamoxifen- or tamoxifen-containing endocrine therapy-treated ER+ breast cancer patients. Overall, we identified LINC00152 inhibition as a novel mechanism of tamoxifen sensitization via restoring tamoxifen-dependent ferroptosis upon destabilizing PDE4D, increasing cAMP and Ca2+ levels, thus leading to ROS generation and lipid peroxidation. Our findings reveal LINC00152 and its effectors as actionable therapeutic targets to improve clinical outcome in refractory ER+ breast cancer.

Biological aging markers in blood and brain tissue indicate age acceleration in alcohol use disorder.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with increased mortality and morbidity risk. A reason for this could be accelerated biological aging, which is strongly influenced by disease processes such as inflammation. As recent studies of AUD show changes in DNA methylation and gene expression in neuroinflammation-related pathways in the brain, biological aging represents a potentially important construct for understanding the adverse effects of substance use disorders. Epigenetic clocks have shown accelerated aging in blood samples from individuals with AUD. However, no systematic evaluation of biological age measures in AUD across different tissues and brain regions has been undertaken. METHODS: As markers of biological aging (BioAge markers), we assessed Levine's and Horvath's epigenetic clocks, DNA methylation telomere length (DNAmTL), telomere length (TL), and mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) in postmortem brain samples from Brodmann Area 9 (BA9), caudate nucleus, and ventral striatum (N = 63-94), and in whole blood samples (N = 179) of individuals with and without AUD. To evaluate the association between AUD status and BioAge markers, we performed linear regression analyses while adjusting for covariates. RESULTS: The majority of BioAge markers were significantly associated with chronological age in all samples. Levine's epigenetic clock and DNAmTL were indicative of accelerated biological aging in AUD in BA9 and whole blood samples, while Horvath's showed the opposite effect in BA9. No significant association of AUD with TL and mtDNAcn was detected. Measured TL and DNAmTL showed only small correlations in blood and none in brain. CONCLUSIONS: The present study is the first to simultaneously investigate epigenetic clocks, telomere length, and mtDNAcn in postmortem brain and whole blood samples in individuals with AUD. We found evidence for accelerated biological aging in AUD in blood and brain, as measured by Levine's epigenetic clock, and DNAmTL. Additional studies of different tissues from the same individuals are needed to draw valid conclusions about the congruence of biological aging in blood and brain.

Targeting TACC3 represents a novel vulnerability in highly aggressive breast cancers with centrosome amplification.

Centrosome amplification (CA) is a hallmark of cancer that is strongly associated with highly aggressive disease and worse clinical outcome. Clustering extra centrosomes is a major coping mechanism required for faithful mitosis of cancer cells with CA that would otherwise undergo mitotic catastrophe and cell death. However, its underlying molecular mechanisms have not been fully described. Furthermore, little is known about the processes and players triggering aggressiveness of cells with CA beyond mitosis. Here, we identified Transforming Acidic Coiled-Coil Containing Protein 3 (TACC3) to be overexpressed in tumors with CA, and its high expression is associated with dramatically worse clinical outcome. We demonstrated, for the first time, that TACC3 forms distinct functional interactomes regulating different processes in mitosis and interphase to ensure proliferation and survival of cancer cells with CA. Mitotic TACC3 interacts with the Kinesin Family Member C1 (KIFC1) to cluster extra centrosomes for mitotic progression, and inhibition of this interaction leads to mitotic cell death via multipolar spindle formation. Interphase TACC3 interacts with the nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase (NuRD) complex (HDAC2 and MBD2) in nucleus to inhibit the expression of key tumor suppressors (e.g., p21, p16 and APAF1) driving G1/S progression, and its inhibition blocks these interactions and causes p53-independent G1 arrest and apoptosis. Notably, inducing CA by p53 loss/mutation increases the expression of TACC3 and KIFC1 via FOXM1 and renders cancer cells highly sensitive to TACC3 inhibition. Targeting TACC3 by guide RNAs or small molecule inhibitors strongly inhibits growth of organoids and breast cancer cell line- and patient-derived xenografts with CA by induction of multipolar spindles, mitotic and G1 arrest. Altogether, our results show that TACC3 is a multifunctional driver of highly aggressive breast tumors with CA and that targeting TACC3 is a promising approach to tackle this disease.

Toxic PARP trapping upon cAMP-induced DNA damage reinstates the efficacy of endocrine therapy and CDK4/6 inhibitors in treatment-refractory ER+ breast cancer.

Resistance to endocrine therapy and CDK4/6 inhibitors, the standard of care (SOC) in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer, greatly reduces patient survival. Therefore, elucidating the mechanisms of sensitivity and resistance to SOC therapy and identifying actionable targets are urgently needed. Here, we show that SOC therapy causes DNA damage and toxic PARP1 trapping upon generation of a functional BRCAness (i.e., BRCA1/2 deficiency) phenotype, leading to increased histone parylation and reduced H3K9 acetylation, resulting in transcriptional blockage and cell death. Mechanistically, SOC therapy downregulates phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D), a novel ER target gene in a feedforward loop with ER, resulting in increased cAMP, PKA-dependent phosphorylation of mitochondrial COXIV-I, ROS generation and DNA damage. However, during SOC resistance, an ER-to-EGFR switch induces PDE4D overexpression via c-Jun. Notably, combining SOC with inhibitors of PDE4D, EGFR or PARP1 overcomes SOC resistance irrespective of the BRCA1/2 status, providing actionable targets for restoring SOC efficacy.

Reviving immunogenic cell death upon targeting TACC3 enhances T-DM1 response in HER2-positive breast cancer.

Immunogenic cell death (ICD), an immune-priming form of cell death, has been shown to be induced by several different anti-cancer therapies. Despite being the first and one of the most successful antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) approved for refractory HER2-positive breast cancer, little is known if response and resistance to trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) involves ICD modulation that can be leveraged to enhance T-DM1 response. Here, we report that T-DM1 induces spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC)-dependent ICD in sensitive cells by inducing eIF2α phosphorylation, surface exposure of calreticulin, ATP and HMGB1 release, and secretion of ICD-related cytokines, all of which are lost in resistance. Accordingly, an ICD-related gene signature correlates with clinical response to T-DM1-containing therapy. We found that transforming acidic coiled-coil containing 3 (TACC3) is overexpressed in T-DM1 resistant cells, and that T-DM1 responsive patients have reduced TACC3 protein while the non-responders exhibited increased TACC3 expression during T-DM1 treatment. Notably, genetic or pharmacological inhibition of TACC3 revives T-DM1-induced SAC activation and induction of ICD markers in vitro. Finally, TACC3 inhibition elicits ICD in vivo shown by vaccination assay, and it potentiates T-DM1 by inducing dendritic cell (DC) maturation and enhancing infiltration of cytotoxic T cells in the human HER2-overexpressing MMTV.f.huHER2#5 (Fo5) transgenic model. Together, our results show that ICD is a key mechanism of action of T-DM1 which is lost in resistance, and that targeting TACC3 restores T-DM1-mediated ICD and overcomes resistance.

Targeting LINC00152 activates cAMP/Ca2+/ferroptosis axis and overcomes tamoxifen resistance in ER+ breast cancer.

Tamoxifen has been the mainstay therapy to treat early, locally advanced, and metastatic estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer, constituting around 75% of all cases. However, emergence of resistance is common, necessitating the identification of novel therapeutic targets. Here, we demonstrated that long-noncoding RNA LINC00152 confers tamoxifen resistance via blocking tamoxifen-induced ferroptosis, an iron-mediated cell death. Mechanistically, inhibiting LINC00152 reduces the mRNA stability of phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D), leading to activation of cAMP/PKA/CREB axis and increased expression of TRPC1 Ca2+ channel. This causes cytosolic Ca2+ overload and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that is, on one hand, accompanied by downregulation of FTH1, a member of the iron sequestration unit, thus increasing intracellular Fe2+ levels; and on the other hand, inhibition of the peroxidase activity upon reduced GPX4 and xCT levels. These ultimately induce lipid peroxidation and ferroptotic cell death in combination with tamoxifen. Overexpressing PDE4D rescues LINC00152 inhibition-mediated tamoxifen sensitization by de-activating the cAMP/Ca2+/ferroptosis axis. Importantly, high LINC00152 expression is significantly correlated with high PDE4D/low ferroptosis and worse survival in multiple cohorts of tamoxifen- or tamoxifen-containing endocrine therapy-treated ER+ breast cancer patients. Overall, we identified LINC00152 inhibition as a novel mechanism of ferroptosis induction and tamoxifen sensitization, thereby revealing LINC00152 and its effectors as actionable therapeutic targets to improve clinical outcome in refractory ER+ breast cancer.

Doxorubicin induces prolonged DNA damage signal in cells overexpressing DEK isoform-2.

DEK has a short isoform (DEK isoform-2; DEK2) that lacks amino acid residues between 49-82. The full-length DEK (DEK isoform-1; DEK1) is ubiquitously expressed and plays a role in different cellular processes but whether DEK2 is involved in these processes remains elusive. We stably overexpressed DEK2 in human bone marrow stromal cell line HS-27A, in which endogenous DEKs were intact or suppressed via short hairpin RNA (sh-RNA). We have found that contrary to ectopic DEK1, DEK2 locates in the nucleus and nucleolus, causes persistent γH2AX signal upon doxorubicin treatment, and couldn't functionally compensate for the loss of DEK1. In addition, DEK2 overexpressing cells were more sensitive to doxorubicin than DEK1-cells. Expressions of DEK1 and DEK2 in cell lines and primary tumors exhibit tissue specificity. DEK1 is upregulated in cancers of the colon, liver, and lung compared to normal tissues while both DEK1 and DEK2 are downregulated in subsets of kidney, prostate, and thyroid carcinomas. Interestingly, only DEK2 was downregulated in a subset of breast tumors suggesting that DEK2 can be modulated differently than DEK1 in specific cancers. In summary, our findings show distinct expression patterns and subcellular location and suggest non-overlapping functions between the two DEK isoforms.

The ZEB2-dependent EMT transcriptional programme drives therapy resistance by activating nucleotide excision repair genes ERCC1 and ERCC4 in colorectal cancer.

Resistance to adjuvant chemotherapy is a major clinical problem in the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of an epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT)-inducing protein, ZEB2, in chemoresistance of CRC, and to uncover the underlying mechanism. We performed IHC for ZEB2 and association analyses with clinical outcomes on primary CRC and matched CRC liver metastases in compliance with observational biomarker study guidelines. ZEB2 expression in primary tumours was an independent prognostic marker of reduced overall survival and disease-free survival in patients who received adjuvant FOLFOX chemotherapy. ZEB2 expression was retained in 96% of liver metastases. The ZEB2-dependent EMT transcriptional programme activated nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway largely via upregulation of the ERCC1 gene and other components in NER pathway, leading to enhanced viability of CRC cells upon oxaliplatin treatment. ERCC1-overexpressing CRC cells did not respond to oxaliplatin in vivo, as assessed using a murine orthotopic model in a randomised and blinded preclinical study. Our findings show that ZEB2 is a biomarker of tumour response to chemotherapy and risk of recurrence in CRC patients. We propose that the ZEB2-ERCC1 axis is a key determinant of chemoresistance in CRC.

Elevated level of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein is important in determining prognosis in chronic heart failure.

BACKGROUND: While the adverse prognostic impact of a high level of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in coronary artery disease is well known, we lack data about the prognostic importance of hs-CRP in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. The aim was to investigate the relationship between hs-CRP and prognosis in CHF patients. MATERIAL/METHODS: Patients (n=258, 74 females) with CHF of both ischemic and non-ischemic etiology were followed up for a mean period of 17 + or - 13 months. The primary end-point was cardiac mortality. RESULTS: During the follow-up period, 71 patients died of cardiac causes. Left ventricular ejection fractions of these patients were lower, but not significantly so (23 + or - 10 vs. 26 + or - 10%, p=0.09). hs-CRP (4.57 + or - 5.35 vs. 1.88 + or - 2.75 mg/dl, p<0.001), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) (1621 + or - 1361 vs. 736 + or - 914 pg/ml, p<0.001), and creatinine (1.7 + or - 1.7 vs. 1.2 + or - 0.6 mg/dl, p=0.015) levels were significantly higher in CHF patients with cardiac mortality. Using stepwise multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses, hs-CRP proved to be a significant independent predictor of cardiac death (hazard ratio: 1.1, 95%CI: 1.05-1.15, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: hs-CRP can provide additional prognostic information for the risk stratification of CHF patients. These insights might ultimately also affect the treatment of CHF patients.

[Renin and the heart]. / Renin ve kalp.

The inhibition of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) has an effect beyond reducing blood pressure in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases; it also reduces mortality and morbidity. Although the classic RAS blockage is effective, due to blockage of negative feedback inhibition, it increases plasma renin activity and as a result generates a residual cardiovascular risk. Different from ACE-i and ARB treatments, aliskiren, a direct renin inhibitor, is the only pharmacologic agent that noticeably reduces the plasma renin activity, an independent cardiovascular risk factor. This creates a new option in RAS blockage. The efficacy and safety of aliskiren in the treatment of hypertension has been well established. The effect of aliskiren on cardiovascular mortality and morbidity is being researched. At this point there are many experimental and clinical studies to answer questions on this subject.

ROR1 Expression and Its Functional Significance in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common and deadly cancer; however, very little improvement has been made towards its diagnosis and prognosis. The expression and functional contribution of the receptor tyrosine kinase ROR1 have not been investigated in HCC before. Hence, we investigated the expression of ROR1 in HCC cells and assessed its involvement in hepatocarcinogenesis. METHODS: Recombinant bacterial ROR1 protein was used as an immunogen to generate ROR1 monoclonal antibodies. ROR1 transcript levels were detected by RT-qPCR and the protein expression of ROR1 in HCC was assessed by Western blotting by using homemade anti-ROR1 monoclonal antibodies. Apoptosis, cell cycle, trans-well migration, and drug efflux assays were performed in shRNA-ROR1 HCC cell clones to uncover the functional contribution of ROR1 to hepatocarcinogenesis. RESULTS: New ROR1 antibodies specifically detected endogenous ROR1 protein in human and mouse HCC cell lines. ROR1-knockdown resulted in decreased proliferation and migration but enhanced resistance to apoptosis and anoikis. The observed chemotherapy-resistant phenotype of ROR1-knockdown cells was due to enhanced drug efflux and increased expression of multi-drug resistance genes. CONCLUSIONS: ROR1 is expressed in HCC and contributes to disease development by interfering with multiple pathways. Acquired ROR1 expression may have diagnostic and prognostic value in HCC.

Plexin C1 Marks Liver Cancer Cells with Epithelial Phenotype and Is Overexpressed in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background and Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma is an aggressive malignancy of the liver and is ranked as the sixth most common cancer worldwide. There is still room for novel markers to improve the diagnosis and monitoring of HCC. Our observations in cancer databases that PLXNC1 is upregulated in HCC led us to investigate the expression profile of Plexin C1 mRNA and protein in HCC cell lines and tissues. Methods: A recombinant protein encompassing part of the extracellular domain of Plexin C1 was used as an antigen for monoclonal antibody development. Transcript and protein levels of Plexin C1 in HCC cell lines were determined by RT-qPCR and Western blotting, respectively. In vivo evaluation of Plexin C1 expression in HCC tissues was accomplished by immunohistochemistry studies in tissue microarrays. Results: A monoclonal antibody, clone PE4, specific to Plexin C1, was generated. In silico and in vitro analyses revealed a Plexin C1-based clustering of well-differentiated HCC cell lines. Staining of HCC and nontumoral liver tissues with PE4 showed a membrane-localized overexpression of Plexin C1 in tumors (p=0.0118). In addition, this expression was correlated with the histological grades of HCC cases. Conclusions: Plexin C1 distinguishes HCC cells of epithelial characteristics from those with the mesenchymal phenotype. Compared to the nontumoral liver, HCC tissues significantly overexpress Plexin C1. The newly generated PE4 antibody can be evaluated in larger HCC cohorts and might be exploited for the examination of Plexin C1 expression pattern in other epithelial malignancies.

Genome-wide analysis of endogenously expressed ZEB2 binding sites reveals inverse correlations between ZEB2 and GalNAc-transferase GALNT3 in human tumors.

BACKGROUND: ZEB2 is a transcriptional repressor that regulates epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) through binding to bipartite E-box motifs in gene regulatory regions. Despite the abundant presence of E-boxes within the human genome and the multiplicity of pathophysiological processes regulated during ZEB2-induced EMT, only a small fraction of ZEB2 targets has been identified so far. Hence, we explored genome-wide ZEB2 binding by chromatin immunoprecipitation-sequencing (ChIP-seq) under endogenous ZEB2 expression conditions. METHODS: For ChIP-Seq we used an anti-ZEB2 monoclonal antibody, clone 6E5, in SNU398 hepatocellular carcinoma cells exhibiting a high endogenous ZEB2 expression. The ChIP-Seq targets were validated using ChIP-qPCR, whereas ZEB2-dependent expression of target genes was assessed by RT-qPCR and Western blotting in shRNA-mediated ZEB2 silenced SNU398 cells and doxycycline-induced ZEB2 overexpressing colorectal carcinoma DLD1 cells. Changes in target gene expression were also assessed using primary human tumor cDNA arrays in conjunction with RT-qPCR. Additional differential expression and correlation analyses were performed using expO and Human Protein Atlas datasets. RESULTS: Over 500 ChIP-Seq positive genes were annotated, and intervals related to these genes were found to include the ZEB2 binding motif CACCTG according to TOMTOM motif analysis in the MEME Suite database. Assessment of ZEB2-dependent expression of target genes in ZEB2-silenced SNU398 cells and ZEB2-induced DLD1 cells revealed that the GALNT3 gene serves as a ZEB2 target with the highest, but inversely correlated, expression level. Remarkably, GALNT3 also exhibited the highest enrichment in the ChIP-qPCR validation assays. Through the analyses of primary tumor cDNA arrays and expO datasets a significant differential expression and a significant inverse correlation between ZEB2 and GALNT3 expression were detected in most of the tumors. We also explored ZEB2 and GALNT3 protein expression using the Human Protein Atlas dataset and, again, observed an inverse correlation in all analyzed tumor types, except malignant melanoma. In contrast to a generally negative or weak ZEB2 expression, we found that most tumor tissues exhibited a strong or moderate GALNT3 expression. CONCLUSIONS: Our observation that ZEB2 negatively regulates a GalNAc-transferase (GALNT3) that is involved in O-glycosylation adds another layer of complexity to the role of ZEB2 in cancer progression and metastasis. Proteins glycosylated by GALNT3 may be exploited as novel diagnostics and/or therapeutic targets.