Search

Currently, no clinically relevant non-invasive biomarkers are available for screening of multiple cancer types. In this study, we developed a serum diagnostic signature based on 5-methylcytosine (m5C)-related miRNAs (m5C-miRNAs) for multiple-cancer detection. Serum miRNA expression data and the corresponding clinical information of patients were collected from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Serum samples were then randomly assigned to the training or validation cohort at a 1:1 ratio. Using the identified m5C-miRNAs, an m5C-miRNA signature for cancer detection was established using a support vector machine algorithm. The constructed m5C-miRNA signature displayed excellent accuracy, and its areas under the curve were 0.977, 0.934, and 0.965 in the training cohort, validation cohort, and combined training and validation cohort, respectively. Moreover, the diagnostic capability of the m5C-miRNA signature was unaffected by patient age or sex or the presence of noncancerous disease. The m5C-miRNA signature also displayed satisfactory performance for distinguishing tumor types. Importantly, in the detection of early-stage cancers, the diagnostic performance of the m5C-miRNA signature was obviously superior to that of conventional tumor biomarkers. In summary, this work revealed the value of serum m5C-miRNAs in cancer detection and provided a new strategy for developing non-invasive and cost effective tools for large-scale cancer screening.

Alternative splicing (AS) events associated with oncogenic processes present anomalous perturbations in many cancers, including ovarian carcinoma. There are no reliable features to predict survival outcomes for ovarian cancer patients. In this study, comprehensive profiling of AS events was conducted by integrating AS data and clinical information of ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma (OV). Survival-related AS events were identified by Univariate Cox regression analysis. Then, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to construct the prognostic signatures within each AS type. Furthermore, we established a splicing-related network to reveal the potential regulatory mechanisms between splicing factors and candidate AS events. A total of 730 AS events were identified as survival-associated splicing events, and the final prognostic signature based on all seven types of AS events could serve as an independent prognostic indicator and had powerful efficiency in distinguishing patient outcomes. In addition, survival-related AS events might be involved in tumor-related pathways including base excision repair and pyrimidine metabolism pathways, and some splicing factors might be correlated with prognosis-related AS events, including SPEN, SF3B5, RNPC3, LUC7L3, SRSF11 and PRPF38B. Our study constructs an independent prognostic signature for predicting ovarian cancer patients’ survival outcome and contributes to elucidating the underlying mechanism of AS in tumor development.

Hematoporphyrin (HP) and protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) are useful porphyrin photosensitizers with significant application values in photodynamic therapy. Currently, many strategies have been developed to improve their clinical performance, such as incorporating them with nanoparticle (NP) carriers. In this work, we studied the possibility of using β-lactoglobulin (BLG) as a potential NP carrier due to their hydrophobic affinity, pH sensitivity, and low cost of extraction and preservation. The interaction mechanisms of BLG with HP and PPIX were investigated using spectroscopic techniques and molecular docking methods. The molecular docking results agree well with the experimental results, which demonstrate that the formations of HP-BLG and PPIX-BLG complexes are endothermic processes and the main acting force is hydrophobic force. Furthermore, the opening-closure states of EF loop have a great influence on the HP-BLG complex formation, where the central hydrophobic cavity of β-barrel is available for HP binding at pH 7.4 but not available at pH 6.2. However, the formation of the PPIX-BLG complex is less dependent on the states of the EF loop, and the binding sites of PPIX are both located on the external surface of BLG under both pH 7.4 and 6.2 conditions. All of our results would provide new insight into the mechanisms of noncovalent interactions between BLG and HP/PPIX. It is believed that this work indicated the potential application values of BLG in designing pH-sensitive carriers for the delivery of HP and PPIX, as well as other poorly soluble drugs.

Four types of A-related RNA modification regulators interact with each other and even the crosstalk between the regulators could characterize the tumor immune microenvironment infiltration patterns, chemosensitivity, and cancer prognosis in patients with pan-cancer.

Zejun Wang,1,* Shichao Zhang,2,* Chaochao Zheng,3 Kaide Xia,4 Liangquan Sun,4 Xuejie Tang,4 Fulin Zhou,4 Yan Ouyang,2 Fuzhou Tang3 1Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, People’s Republic of China; 2Key Laboratory of Infectious Immune and Antibody Engineering in Guizhou Province/School of Biology and Engineering, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, People’s Republic of China; 3Immune Cells and Antibody Engineering Research Center of Guizhou province/School of Biology and Engineering, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, People’s Republic of China; 4Guiyang Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Guiyang Children’s Hospital, Guiyang, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Fuzhou Tang, Immune Cells and Antibody Engineering Research Center of Guizhou province/School of Biology and Engineering, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 085188174043, Email tangfuzhou@163.com Yan Ouyang, Key Laboratory of Infectious Immune and Antibody Engineering in Guizhou province/School of Biology and Engineering, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, People’s Republic of China, Email ouyangyan@gmc.edu.cnBackground: Tumor immune cell infiltration is closely associated with the occurrence and development of tumors. Collagen triple helix repeats containing 1 (CTHRC1), a regulator of collagen expression and cell migration, is involved in the metastasis and invasion of tumors. However, the role of CTHRC1 in breast cancer remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of CTHRC1, and further explore its association with immune infiltration in breast cancer.Methods: CTHRC1 expression pattern and prognostic value were analyzed using ONCOMINE, PrognoScan, GEPIA, and Kaplan–Meier Plotter databases. We then detected CTHRC1 mRNA levels in breast cancer tissues and paired normal breast tissues by Q-PCR. Subsequently, the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) database was used to determine the methylation status of CTHRC1. Furthermore, CTHRC1 mutations were investigated using the Catalogue of Somatic mutations in Cancer (COSMIC) and cBioPortal databases. We also assessed the correlation between CTHRC1 expression and immune cell infiltration using TIMER. In addition, The relationship of CTHRC1 expression with the immune marker sets of various immune cells was evaluated using GEPIA and TIMER.Results: CTHRC1 was highly expressed in a variety of tumors, including breast cancer. Elevated CTHRC1 expression was related to a poor prognosis. Notably, CTHRC1 expression was significantly associated with macrophage infiltration, especially the immune infiltration gene marker set of M2. Copy number variations, DNA mutations and methylation states might be potential mechanisms for regulating CTHRC1 expression. Protein digestion and absorption, human papillomavirus infection, ECM-receptor interaction, focal adhesion, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways were identified as the potential CTHRC1-driven signaling pathways.Conclusion: These findings suggest that CTHRC1 could be a promising immune-related biomarker for the treatment of breast cancer patients.Keywords: CTHRC1, breast cancer, prognostic, macrophage, biomarker

The administration of mRNA-based tumour vaccines is considered a promising strategy in tumour immunotherapy, although its application against kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) is still at its infancy stage. The purpose of this study was to identify potential antigens and to further select suitable patients for vaccination. Gene expression data and clinical information were retrieved from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases. GEPIA2 was used to evaluate the prognostic value of selected antigens. The relationship of antigens presenting cell infiltration with antigen expression was evaluated by TIMER, and immune subtypes were determined using unsupervised cluster analysis. Tumour antigens LRP2 and DOCK8, which are associated with prognosis and tumour-infiltrating antigen-presenting cells, were identified in KIRC. A total of six immune subtypes were identified, and patients with immune subtype 1–4 (IS1–4) tumours had an immune ‘cold’ phenotype, a higher tumour mutation burden, and poor survival. Moreover, these immune subtypes showed significant differences in the expression of immune checkpoint and immunogenic cell death modulators. Finally, the immune landscape of KIRC revealed the immune-related cell components in individual patients. This study suggests that LRP2 and DOCK8 are potential KIRC antigens in the development of mRNA vaccines, and patients with immune subtypes IS1–4 are suitable for vaccination.

The “writers” of four types of adenosine (A)-related RNA modifications (N6-methyladenosine, N1-methyladenosine, alternative polyadenylation, as well as A-to-inosine RNA editing) are closely related to the tumorigenesis and progression of many cancer types, including skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM). However, the potential roles of the crosstalk between these RNA modification “writers” in the tumor microenvironment (TME) remain unclear. The RNA modification patterns were identified using an unsupervised clustering method. Subsequently, based on differentially expressed genes responsible for the aforementioned RNA modification patterns, an RNA modification “writer” scoring model (W_Score) was constructed to quantify the RNA modification-associated subtypes in individual patients. Moreover, a correlation analysis for W_Score and the TME characteristics, clinical features, molecular subtypes, drug sensitivities, immune responses, and prognosis was performed. We identified three RNA modification patterns, corresponding to distinct tumor immune microenvironment characteristics and survival outcomes. Based on the W_Score score, which was extracted from the RNA modification-related signature genes, patients with SKCM were divided into high- and low-W_Score groups. The low-W_Score group was characterized by better survival outcomes and strengthened immunocyte infiltration. Further analysis showed that the low-W_Score group was positively associated with higher tumor mutation burden and PD-L1 expression. Of note, two immunotherapy cohorts demonstrated that patients with low W_Score exhibited long-term clinical benefits and an enhanced immune response. This study is the first to systematically analyze four types of A-related RNA modifications in SKCM, revealing that these “writers” essentially contribute to TME complexity and diversity. We quantitatively evaluated the RNA modification patterns in individual tumors, which could aid in developing personalized immunotherapy strategies for patients.

The performance of implanted biomaterials is largely determined by their interaction with the host immune system. As a fibrous-like 3D network, fibrin matrix formed at the interfaces of tissue and material, whose effects on dendritic cells (DCs) remain unknown. Here, a bone plates implantation model was developed to evaluate the fibrin matrix deposition and DCs recruitment

Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent and specialized antigen presenting cells, which play a crucial role in initiating and amplifying both the innate and adaptive immune responses against cancer. Tumor cells can escape from immune attack by secreting suppressive cytokines that solely or cooperatively impair the immune function of DCs. However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully defined. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been identified as a major cytokine in the tumor microenvironment. To elucidate the effects of VEGF on the motility and immune function of mature DCs (mDCs), the cells were treated with 50 ng/mL VEGF and investigated by proteomics and molecular biological technologies. The results showed that VEGF can impair the migration capacity and immune function of mDCs through the RhoA‐cofilin1 pathway mediated by the VEGF receptor 2, suggesting impaired motility of mDCs by VEGF is one of the aspects of immune escape mechanisms of tumors. It is clinically important to understand the biological behavior of DCs and the immune escape mechanisms of tumor as well as how to improve the efficiency of antitumor therapy based on DCs.

The tumor immune microenvironment is of crucial importance in cancer progression and anticancer immune responses. Thus, systematic exploration of the expression landscape and prognostic significance of immune-related genes (IRGs) to assist in the prognosis of colon cancer is valuable and significant. The transcriptomic data of 470 colon cancer patients were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and the differentially expressed genes were analyzed. After an intersection analysis, the hub IRGs were identified and a prognostic index was further developed using multivariable Cox analysis. In addition, the discriminatory ability and prognostic significance of the constructed model were validated and the characteristics of IRGs associated overall survival were analyzed to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. A total of 465 differentially expressed IRGs and 130 survival-associated IRGs were screened. Then, 46 hub IRGs were identified by an intersection analysis. A regulatory network displayed that most of these genes were unfavorable for the prognosis of colon cancer and were regulated by transcription factors. After a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression analysis, 14 hub IRGs were ultimately chose to construct a prognostic index. The validation results illustrated that this model could act as an independent indicator to moderately separate colon cancer patients into low- and high-risk groups. This study ascertained the prognostic significance of IRGs in colon cancer and successfully constructed an IRG-based prognostic signature for clinical prediction. Our results provide promising insight for the exploration of diagnostic markers and immunotherapeutic targets in colon cancer.

The decrease in cellular deformability shows strong correlation with erythrocyte aging. Cell deformation can be divided into passive deformation and active deformation; however, the active deformation has been ignored in previous studies. In this work, Young's moduli of age-related erythrocytes were tested by atomic force microscopy. Furthermore, the deformation and passive and active deformation values were calculated by respective areas. Our results showed that erythrocytes in the densest fraction had the highest values of the Young's modulus, deformation, and active deformation, but the lowest values of passive deformation. Moreover, values of the deformation and active deformation both increased gradually with erythrocyte aging. The present data indicate that the elastic hysteresis loop between the approach and the retract curve could be regarded as erythrocyte deformability, and cellular deformability could be characterized by energy states. In addition, active deformation might be a crucial mechanical factor for clearing aged erythrocytes. This could provide an important information on erythrocyte biomechanics in the removal of aged cell.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent specialized antigen-presenting cells as now known, which play a crucial role in initiating and amplifying both the innate and adaptive immune responses. Immunologically, the motilities and T cell activation capabilities of DCs are closely related to the resulting immune responses. However, due to the complexity of the immune system, the dynamic changes in the number of cells during the peripheral tissue (e.g. skin and mucosa) immune response induced by DCs are still poorly understood. Therefore, this study simulated dynamic number changes of DCs and T cells in this process by constructing several ordinary differential equations and setting the initial conditions of the functions and parameters. The results showed that these equations could simulate dynamic numerical changes of DCs and T cells in peripheral tissue and lymph node, which was in accordance with the physiological conditions such as the duration of immune response, the proliferation rates and the motilities of DCs and T cells. This model provided a theoretical reference for studying the immunologic functions of DCs and practical guidance for the clinical DCs-based therapy against immune-related diseases.

Background In physiological and pathological conditions activated protein kinace C (PKC) has been observed in the erythrocytes. Externalization of ankyrin followed by Arg–Gly–Asp (RGD)/integrin recognition also triggers erythrophagocytosis. In the present study, to test whether activated PKC is associated with ankyrin exposure in erythrophagocytosis. Methods Phorbol 12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)-induced PKC activation and ankyrin phosphorylation were tested, and under different treatment conditions the subpopulation of erythrocytes with ankyrin exposure and the levels of intracellular calcium were analyzed by flow cytometry. Results Results showed that treatment of erythrocytes with PMA in a calcium-containing buffer led to ankyrin exposure. In the absence of extracellular calcium, no ankyrin exposure was observed. PKC inhibition with calphostin C, a blocker of the PMA binding site, completely prevented the calcium entry, protein phosphorylation and ankyrin exposure. PKC inhibition with chelerythrine chloride, an inhibitor of the active site, diminished the level of ankyrin-exposing cells and ankyrin phosphorylation; however it even led to a higher percentage of cells with increased levels of calcium than with PMA treatment alone. Although PKC was activated and ankyrin phosphorylation occurred, no ankyrin exposure was observed in the absence of extracellular calcium. Conclusion Analyses of results suggested that PMA induces calcium influx into the erythrocytes, leading to the activation of calcium-dependent enzymes and the phosphorylation of membrane proteins, ultimately inducing ankyrin exposure and erythrophagocytosis. This study may provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of removing aged or diseased erythrocytes.

The mechanical properties of vertebrate erythrocytes depend on their cytoskeletal protein networks. Membrane skeleton proteins spectrin and protein 4.1 (4.1R) cross-link with actin to maintain membrane stability under mechanical stress. Phosphorylation of 4.1R alters the affinity of 4.1R for spectrin–actin binding and this modulates the mechanical properties of human erythrocytes. In this study, phorbol 12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)-induced phosphorylation of 4.1R was tested, erythrocyte deformability was determined and the erythrocyte elastic modulus was detected in human, chick, frog and fish. Furthermore, amino acid sequences of the functionally important domains of 4.1R were analyzed. Results showed that PMA-induced phosphorylation of 4.1R decreased erythrocyte deformability and this property was stable after 1 h. The values of Young’s modulus alteration gradually decreased from human to fish (0.388±0.035 kPa, 0.219±0.022 kPa, 0.191±0.036 kPa and 0.141±0.007 kPa). Ser-312 and Ser-331 are located within the consensus sequence recognized by protein kinase C (PKC); however, Ser-331 in zebrafish was replaced by Ala-331. The sequence of the 8 aa motif from vertebrate 4.1R showed only one amino acid mutation in frog and numerous substitutions in fish. Analyses of Young’s modulus suggested that the interaction between 4.1R with the spectrin–actin binding domain may have a special relationship with the development of erythrocyte deformability. In addition, amino acid mutations in 4.1R further supported this relationship. Thus, we hypothesize that alteration of membrane skeleton protein binding affinity may play a potential role in the development of erythrocyte deformability, and alteration of Young’s modulus values may provide a method for determining the deformability development of vertebrate erythrocytes.

The aim of this study is to explore the effect of exhaustive exercise on erythrocyte band 3 (SLC4A1; EB3). The association between the alterations of EB3 and red blood cell (RBC) deformability induced by exercise-induced dysfunction has been investigated. Rats were divided among 2 groups: (i) control (C), and (ii) exercise exhausted (E). RBC deformability was investigated in the rats in the exhaustive exercise and control groups. Erythrocytes from the control and exercise-exhausted groups were evaluated for the expression of erythrocyte band 3 through immunoblotting and immunofluorescence studies. Exhaustive exercise led to significant increments in the levels of clustering of erythrocyte band 3 along with the conjugation of membrane proteins to form high-molecular-weight complexes (P < 0.05). Under shear stresses, RBC deformability was found to decline significantly in the exhaustive exercise groups compared with the control group. These data suggest that the RBC dysfunction observed during exercise-induced oxidative stress could be associated with alterations in the structure and function of erythrocyte band 3, which in turn leads to dysfunction in the rheological properties of RBCs. These results provide further insight into erythrocyte damage induced by exhaustive exercise.

Background/Aims: In vitro studies have shown that band-3 function is mainly regulated by its phosphorylation status. The main purpose of the study was to investigate whether band-3 phosphorylation status interferes with an exhaustive running exercise-related dysfunction of RBC deformability. Methods: Rats were divided into sedentary control (C) and exercise test (ET) groups. The ET group was divided further into exhaustive running exercise (ERE) and moderate running exercise (MRE) subgroups. Results: Tyrosine phosphorylation of band-3 was significantly elevated in the absence of reducing agent, consistent with the emergence of band-3 clustering in the ERE group compared with the control and MRE groups. The elongation index (EI) was found to decline significantly in the ERE group compared with the C and MRE groups under shear stress (control group, 0.41 ± 0.01 at 3 Pa and 0.571 ± 0.008 at 30 Pa; ERE group, 0.3140 ± 0.013 at 3 Pa and 0.534 ± 0.009 at 30 Pa; P Conclusion: Our results suggest that exhaustive running exercise results in elevated band-3 tyrosine phosphorylation and alters band-3 membrane organization. Furthermore, it appears that exhaustive running exercise induced band 3 phosphorylation is due to the oxidation of critical sulfydryl groups of a membrane phosphatase (PTP).

Current blood banking procedures may not fully preserve red blood cell (RBC) function during storage, contributing to the decrease of RBC oxygen release ability. This study was undertaken to evaluate the impact of routine cold storage on RBC oxygen release ability.RBC units were collected from healthy donors and each unit was split into two parts (whole blood and suspended RBC) to exclude possible donor variability. Oxygen dissociation measurements were performed on blood units stored at 4 °C during a 5-week period. 2,3-diphosphoglycerate levels and fluorescent micrographs of erythrocyte band 3 were also analysed.P50 and oxygen release capacity decreased rapidly during the first 3 weeks, and then did not change significantly. In contrast, the kinetic properties (PO2-t curve and T*50) of oxygen release changed slowly during the first 3 weeks of storage, but then decreased significantly in the last 2 weeks. 2,3-diphosphoglycerate decreased quickly during the first 3 weeks of storage to almost undetectable levels. Band 3 aggregated significantly during the last 2 weeks of storage.RBC oxygen release ability appears to be sensitive to routine cold storage. The thermodynamic characteristics of RBC oxygen release ability changed mainly in the first 3 weeks of storage, due to the decrease of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, whereas the kinetic characteristics of RBC oxygen release ability decreased significantly at the end of storage, probably affected by alterations of band 3.