A combination of anti-PD-1 therapy and apatinib successfully treated a patient with EGFR mutation-negative advanced lung adenocarcinoma: A case report.

Here, we report the case of a patient with advanced lung adenocarcinoma with negative driver genes, who benefited from treatment with anti-programmed cell death-1 (anti-PD-1) therapy combined with a low dose of apatinib. From February 2020, the patient was treated with camrelizumab combined with pemetrexed disodium. The treatment regimen was adjusted to camrelizumab combined with a low dose of apatinib every 3 weeks because the patient could not tolerate the side effects of the previous chemotherapy, and camrelizumab led to reactive cutaneous capillary endothelial proliferation (RCCEP). After six cycles of camrelizumab plus a low dose of apatinib, the curative effect achieved was complete response (CR), with milder symptoms of RCCEP than before. Until the follow-up time of March 2021, the efficacy evaluation reached CR and the symptoms of RCCEP disappeared. This case report provides a theoretical basis for camrelizumab combined with a low dose of apatinib for the treatment ofcarcinoma patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma with negative driver genes.

Overexpression of mm9_circ_013935 alleviates renal inflammation and fibrosis in diabetic nephropathy via the miR-153-3p/NFIC axis.

Circ-RBM4 (mm9_circ_013935) has been revealed to have low expression in the renal tissues of diabetic nephropathy (DN) mice, and its underlying regulatory mechanism remains unexplored. The high glucose (HG) - treated mouse podocytes were used to establish DN cell models. A cell counting kit-8 assay was used to examine the viability of mouse podocytes. The expression of proteins related to fibrosis (collagen I, collagen III, fibronectin) was detected using Western blot. The concentration of inflammation cytokines (tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin 1ß (IL-1ß), IL-8) in mouse podocytes was assessed by ELISA. The interaction between genes was explored by luciferase reporter assays. HG treatment decreased the viability and elevated the expression of fibrosis and inflammation factors in mouse podocytes. Circ-RBM4 expression was downregulated in HG-treated mouse podocytes. Circ-RBM4 overexpression reversed HG-induced increase in levels of proteins related to fibrosis and the concentration of inflammation factors. The miR-153-3p was revealed to bind with circ-RBM4 and directly targeted nuclear factor I/C (NFIC) in mouse podocytes. Rescue assays indicated that circ-RBM4 attenuated HG-induced fibrosis and inflammation response in mouse podocytes by inhibiting miR-153-3p expression or upregulating NFIC expression. Circ-RBM4 alleviated the renal inflammation and renal fibrosis in DN by targeting the miR-153-3p/NFIC axis.

Identification of a 1p21 independent functional variant for abdominal obesity.

OBJECTIVES: Aiming to uncover the genetic basis of abdominal obesity, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis of trunk fat mass adjusted by trunk lean mass (TFMadj) and followed by a series of functional investigations. SUBJECTS: A total of 11,569 subjects from six samples were included into the GWAS meta-analysis. METHODS: Meta-analysis was performed by a weighted fixed-effects model. In silico replication analysis was performed in the UK-Biobank (UKB) sample (N = 331,093) and in the GIANT study (N up to 110,204). Cis-expression QTL (cis-eQTL) analysis, dual-luciferase reporter assay and electrophoresis mobility shift assay (EMSA) were conducted to examine the functional relevance of the identified SNPs. At last, differential gene expression analysis (DGEA) was performed. RESULTS: We identified an independent SNP rs12409479 at 1p21 (MAF = 0.07, p = 7.26 × 10-10), whose association was replicated by the analysis of TFM in the UKB sample (one-sided p = 3.39 × 10-3), and was cross-validated by the analyses of BMI (one-sided p = 0.03) and WHRadj (one-sided p = 0.04) in the GIANT study. Cis-eQTL analysis demonstrated that allele A at rs12409479 was positively associated with PTBP2 expression level in subcutaneous adipose tissue (N = 385, p = 4.15 × 10-3). Dual-luciferase reporter assay showed that the region repressed PTBP2 gene expression by downregulating PTBP2 promoter activity (p < 0.001), and allele A at rs12409479 induced higher luciferase activity than allele G did (p = 4.15 × 10-3). EMSA experiment implied that allele A was more capable of binding to unknown transcription factors than allele G. Lastly, DGEA showed that the level of PTBP2 expression was higher in individuals with obesity than in individuals without obesity (N = 20 and 11, p = 0.04 and 9.22 × 10-3), suggesting a regulatory role in obesity development. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, we hypothesize a regulating path from rs12409479 to trunk fat mass development through its allelic specific regulation of PTBP2 gene expression, thus providing some novel insight into the genetic basis of abdominal obesity.

Lipopolysaccharide induces inflammation and facilitates lung metastasis in a breast cancer model via the prostaglandin E2-EP2 pathway.

Inflammation is a potent promoter of tumor metastasis. The aim of the present study was to explore the function of systemic inflammation in the formation of lung metastasis of breast cancer cells in a mouse model. BALB/c mice were injected intraperitoneally with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in order to establish an inflammatory animal model and 4T1 murine breast cancer cells were injected through the tail vein to induce lung metastasis. The levels of proinflammatory cytokines were evaluated by ELISA. Metastases on the surface of the lungs were counted and histologically analyzed by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Angiogenesis in the lungs was examined by CD31 immunofluorescence. Mouse pulmonary endothelial cells (MPVECs) were isolated and used to assay endothelial tube formation and determine the protein expression levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in vitro. Serum levels of VEGF and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), the number and size of metastatic lesions, and the expression levels of cyclooxygenase­2 were significantly greater in the lungs of LPS­treated mice, as compared with those in control mice threated with phosphate­buffered saline. Blood vessel density was also markedly increased in the LPS­treated mice. These increases were reversed by treatment with celecoxib. In vitro, the protein expression levels of VEGF produced by the PGE2­treated cells were significantly increased in a concentration­dependent manner. In addition, the production of VEGF was increased in response to treatment with the PGE2 receptor (EP2) agonist ONO­AE1­259­01; however, this increase was abrogated by treatment with AH6809, an EP2 receptor antagonist. Treatment with PGE2 or VEGF alone promoted the tube formation of MPVECs and this effect was reversed by treatment with celecoxib. These results demonstrated that PGE2 may regulate the release of VEGF by MPVECs through the EP2 receptor pathway and thereby promoted pulmonary angiogenesis and breast cancer metastasis in a mouse model.

Vascular endothelial growth factor plays a critical role in the formation of the pre-metastatic niche via prostaglandin E2.

Factors secreted by primary tumors can alter the microenvironment at distant organ sites, generating pre-metastatic niches for subsequent metastatic cancer cell colonization. Breast cancer cells have a propensity to home preferentially to the lung, but the underlying molecular mechanisms whereby primary breast carcinoma-derived factors affect the pre-metastatic lung environment before the arrival of the tumor cells are poorly understood. In this study, 4T1 mammary carcinoma cells were subcutaneously injected into the mammary glands of mice, resulting in the induction of inflammation, increased total vessel density and recruitment of bone marrow-derived cells (BMDCs) in pre-metastatic lungs. Subsequent examination revealed that the sites of inflammatory cell clusters in the lungs were tumor metastasis sites. Moreover, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) induced prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production in mouse pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (MPVECs) and enhanced the adhesion of 4T1 cells. Treatment with the cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor celecoxib significantly reduced 4T1 cell adhesion to MPVECs, and also reduced cancer metastasis and the inflammatory response. These results suggest that VEGF may be an underlying carcinoma-derived factor responsible for formation of the pre-metastatic niche in the lung of 4T1 cell-bearing mice. This study, therefore, demonstrated that primary tumors can alter the lung microenvironment during the pre-metastatic phase by triggering an inflammatory response and PGE2 production. Primary tumor-derived VEGF might thus be a crucial factor responsible for the formation of the pre-metastatic niche by inducing PGE2 production.