食管癌细胞抗失巢凋亡基因UBCH7的发现与鉴定

失巢凋亡(Anoikis)是细胞失去与细胞外基质(Extra-cellular matrix,ECM)粘附时发生的特殊形式的凋亡,是机体维持组织稳态的关键机制之一。抗失巢凋亡能力的获得是肿瘤细胞发生远处转移的前提条件之一。为了鉴定与食管癌细胞抗失巢凋亡相关的基因,文章首先构建食管癌细胞系的逆转录病毒文库,感染对失巢凋亡敏感的NIH3T3细胞,利用感染病毒cDNA文库的混合细胞系进行软琼脂集落形成实验,挑取在悬浮条件下仍可生长成为较大集落的细胞单克隆(潜在具有抗失巢凋亡能力的细胞),通过逆转录病毒载体特异的引物PCR扩增失巢凋亡抗性克隆基因组中的插入cDNA片段,以此获得食管癌细胞系cDNA文库中潜在的具有失巢凋亡抗性的基因。经测序发现其中一个失巢凋亡克隆中整合的cDNA片段包括人UBCH7/UBE2L3基因全长的编码序列(开放阅读框)。利用携带pMSCV-UBCH7的逆转录病毒感染NIH3T3细胞进行验证,结果显示细胞失巢凋亡抗性增强,并且在具有高转移潜能的食管癌细胞系MLuC1中降调UBCH7表达可减弱其失巢凋亡抗性。这些结果表明,UBCH7/UBE2L3是一个与食管癌失巢凋亡抗性相关的基因。     

NDRG1对人肠癌细胞失巢凋亡的影响

目的:探讨NDRG1对体外培养的人肠癌细胞系失巣凋亡的影响。方法:采用慢病毒系统将NDRG1表达单元转入人肠癌细胞系SW620、HCT8中,建立相应的过表达稳定细胞系;通过siRNA的方法干扰HCT116和LOVO细胞系中NDRG1的表达,分别在非贴壁培养的情况下培养48小时,采用流式细胞术和TUNEL染色检测细胞的凋亡情况。结果:在贴壁培养条件下,NDRG1过表达并没有显著影响肠癌细胞的生长及增殖,而NDRG1特异性siRNA干扰HCT116细胞中NDRG1的表达后,其凋亡率无明显变化(P0.05)。在悬浮培养条件下,NDRG1过表达的肠癌细胞的失巢凋亡率显著低于正常对照组(P0.05),而用三种不同的siRNA干扰HCT116及LOVO细胞中NDRG1的表达后,其失巢凋亡率均显著高于正常对照组(P0.05)。结论:NDRG1在体外可抑制人肠癌细胞的失巢凋亡。     

蛋白质酪氨酸磷酸化在抗失巢凋亡的癌细胞中的失调变化

失巢凋亡是细胞与细胞外基质脱离发生的一种特定的凋亡方式 . 癌细胞抗失巢凋亡或失巢生存能力可以使之在转移过程中生存 . 业已发现癌细胞失巢生存与 PI3K-PKB/Akt 、 MAPK 这两条重要信号途径有关,但是 PI3K-PKB/Akt 、 MAPK 通路的上游酪氨酸激酶途径还不甚清楚 . 为此设计了一种基于 SH2-pTyr 特异性结合特性的功能性筛选方法,以期发现癌细胞失巢生存相关的酪氨酸磷酸化蛋白质,为最终明确酪氨酸激酶途径提供有力的实验依据 . 实验发现, MDCK 细胞悬浮培养后失巢凋亡,但癌细胞可以失巢生存 . 与这一现象相一致的是,悬浮培养后, MDCK 细胞中一系列 SH2 结合的酪氨酸磷酸化蛋白质水平急剧下降,而癌细胞中蛋白质酪氨酸磷酸化水平并不呈锚着依赖性 . 细胞悬浮培养后,随着培养时间的延长, MDCK 细胞中 Abl S SH2 结合的靶蛋白酪氨酸磷酸化水平逐渐降低,在 H460 肺癌细胞中经过短暂下降后升高, H1792 肺癌细胞随着培养时间的延长, Abl SH2 结合的靶蛋白酪氨酸磷酸化水平逐渐增加 . Fyn SH2 和 Crk SH2 结合的蛋白质分别为 FAK 和 p130Cas ,后者是重要的失巢生存信号 . 这些结果提示,酪氨酸磷酸化蛋白质可能赋予肺癌细胞失巢生存能力 . 结果也表明,功能性 SH2 筛查方法可以有效地发现肿瘤细胞中失巢生存相关的酪氨酸磷酸化蛋白质 .     

失巢凋亡及其在肿瘤侵袭、转移中的调控

作为肿瘤转移的屏障, 细胞与邻近细胞或者细胞外基质(Extracellular matrix, ECM)失去联系后将遭受凋亡, 这种细胞死亡方式称为“失巢凋亡”。正常上皮细胞或不具备转移性质的实体瘤细胞从原位脱落进入血液循环后就会引发失巢凋亡, 失巢凋亡的意义在于防止这些脱落的细胞种植并生长于其他不适宜的地方。而肿瘤细胞, 尤其是一些容易发生远距离转移的恶性肿瘤细胞, 具有极强的抗失巢凋亡特性, 便于转移侵袭。研究发现肿瘤细胞能通过多种方式抵抗失巢凋亡, 比如细胞自分泌生长因子或者由邻近细胞旁分泌, 激活促存活信号通路; 细胞改变整合蛋白的表达模式, 使之能够接收新环境的生存信号; 活性氧(Reactive oxygen species, ROS)通过不依赖配体的方式激活生长因子受体, 从而逃逸凋亡; 上皮间质转化(Epithelial-mesenchymal transition, EMT)激活等。这些方式导致细胞存活信号激活和凋亡途径抑制, 最终使肿瘤细胞抗失巢凋亡, 促进转移。文章综述了当前研究的肿瘤转移的关键机制, 这些策略也将成为肿瘤治疗的重要靶点。     

人肺癌细胞抑癌基因PTEN的表达与失巢凋亡的关系

应用Northern印迹、Western印迹和DNA梯形片段方法 ,研究 8株不同细胞类型的人肺癌细胞中抑癌基因PTEN的表达与失巢凋亡 (anoikis)的关系 ,并分析在此过程中蛋白激酶B(proteinkinaseB ,PKB)和粘着斑激酶(focaladhesionkinase ,FAK)的作用。发现 8株人肺癌细胞PTEN均有mRNA表达 ,且mRNA水平比较接近。但PTEN的蛋白质水平不一致 ,其中 95C、95D和A1株的PTEN蛋白未检测到 ;A549、A4、A7和L1株的PTEN蛋白有表达 ,但较低 ;而H460 株的PTEN表达较强。PTEN缺失的 95D和高表达的H460 细胞株中PTENcDNA序列分析均未发生片断缺失或点突变。RNA稳定性分析表明 ,95DmRNA稳定性较H460 明显下降。在无血清且去粘附培养条件下 ,高表达PTEN的细胞株H460 可被诱导发生失巢凋亡现象 ,在 10 %血清培养条件下可保护其免于失巢凋亡 ,而PTEN缺失的 95D等和其他PTEN低表达的细胞株却没有发生诱导失巢凋亡现象。进一步研究发现PTEN表达可降低PKB的磷酸化 ,下调FAK蛋白质的表达。结果提示各种人肺癌细胞株中PTEN蛋白表达存在显著差异。PTEN参与了失巢凋亡的发生。     

骨形成蛋白7基因诱导人肝癌细胞的凋亡

目的 构建表达重组人骨形成蛋白7 （bone morphogenic protein 7, BMP7）基因的重组逆转录病毒,观察其对人肝癌细胞HepG2的凋亡诱导活性,并探讨其作用机制。方法 克隆BMP7基因,以loxP同源重组法构成逆转录病毒载体pLP-LNCX-BMP7（pLLBMP7）,转染包装细胞PT67进行病毒包装并测定病毒滴度;将逆转录病毒感染人成骨细胞,MTT法检测细胞生长变化,琼脂糖凝胶电泳和流式细胞仪检测肿瘤细胞的凋亡;Western blotting检测BMP7,caspase-3和bcl-2蛋白表达。结果 重组逆转录病毒载体pLLBMP7经鉴定连接正确,转染PT67细胞后上清液中可得到病毒,滴度达1×109pfu;MTT检测见pLLBMP7病毒组48和72h细胞抑制率高于对照组（35.1% vs. 5.3%,68.5% vs.18.3%,均p<0.05）,48h可见BMP7蛋白高表达。琼脂糖凝胶电泳出现典型梯形条带;流式细胞仪检测出现凋亡峰,于转染48h后达最高峰,其凋亡百分率高达14.42%;BMP7蛋白高表达时caspase-3蛋白的表达亦有显著升高,但bcl-2蛋白未见表达差异。结论 构建了BMP7逆转录病毒,在体外能够有效地诱导人肝癌细胞HepG2的凋亡,其可能是通过激活caspase-3而发生作用。     

失巢凋亡相关基因对子宫内膜癌患者预后状况的预测价值

子宫内膜癌(uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma, UCEC)是最常见的女性生殖系统肿瘤,肿瘤发生远端转移的患者预后极差。失巢凋亡(anoikis)是一种特殊的程序性细胞死亡形式,在肿瘤的侵袭和转移中起着关键作用,分析失巢凋亡相关基因与UCEC患者预后之间的关系将为临床治疗提供指导。本研究采用非监督一致性聚类算法对数据集进行分组,分析患者的肿瘤微环境(tumor microenvironment, TME)与临床特征的差异。同时,筛选预后相关的失巢凋亡基因,构建风险评分模型,评估UCEC患者的风险评分与临床特征、 TME和药物治疗反应之间的关系。在分析失巢凋亡相关基因表达差异的基础上确定两个明确的聚类(A簇和B簇),与A簇UCEC患者相比,B簇UCEC患者的总生存期较短、免疫浸润水平较低。构建的风险评分模型可量化失巢凋亡相关基因的调控模式,高风险评分组表现为预后不良且免疫细胞浸润水平低,而低风险评分组则相反。药物敏感性分析结果表明,高风险评分的人群可能从靶向有丝分裂和DNA修复通路的药物中获得更佳疗效。本研究揭示了失巢凋亡相关基因与临床特征、 TME...     

多种机器学习模型构建阿尔兹海默病失巢凋亡相关预测模型

阿尔兹海默病(AD)是最常见的神经退行性疾病。失巢凋亡(Anoikis)是一种新型的程序性细胞死亡方式,可导致多种疾病的发展。本研究旨在探讨失巢凋亡相关基因(ANRGs)在AD中的作用,并建立预测模型。基于GSE33000数据集筛选到1 666个AD与正常脑组织相比差异表达的基因,与53个ANRGs取交集,得到10个基因。利用上述基因,对310例AD患者进行无监督聚类,将其分为3个亚型,进一步分析不同亚型间的免疫微环境差异。之后,采用WGCNA算法筛选与AD相关的特征基因,选取4种机器学习算法(RF,GLM,SVM和XGB),构建AD罹患风险的预测模型,并在3个外部队列中进行验证(GSE5281,GSE29378,GSE122063)。最后,基于XGB模型中的5个AD特征基因(TM6SF1,SMYD3,OXCT1,MAP1B和ITPKB),成功构建一个列线图,为AD的临床预测提供参考。     

miR-935靶向GLUD1调控LKB1缺失型肺癌失巢凋亡机制

[目的]探讨miR-935靶向GLUD1调控LKB1缺失型肺癌细胞失巢凋亡的潜在机制。[方法]分离条件下培养肺癌细胞构建失巢细胞模型,抽取各个分离时间点的细胞总RNA进行miRNA-seq,过表达或敲低差异miRNA后检测LKB1缺失型肺癌细胞A549和H157的失巢凋亡水平。通过miRDB在线分析和遗传学筛选鉴定miRNA的关键底物。根据是否过表达miR-935分为对照组和miR-935过表达组;根据是否敲低GLUD1分为对照组和GLUD1敲低组。[结果]随着分离时间的延长,肺癌细胞中miR-935的表达水平下降(1.47±0.15 vs 0.09±0.01,P<0.05)、GLUD1的表达水平上升(0.87±0.16 vs 1.44±0.21,P<0.05)。过表达miR-935后,肺癌细胞的失巢凋亡水平上升[(15.87±2.23)%vs(49.79±7.63)%,P<0.05]。敲低GLUD1后,肺癌细胞的失巢凋亡水平显著上升[(16.32±3.11)%vs(48.21±5.67)%,P<0.05]。过表达miR-935后,肺癌细胞中GLUD1 mRNA...     

抗人细胞角蛋白7(CK7)单克隆抗体的制备及鉴定

用KLH偶联合成细胞角蛋白7(CK7)优势表位多肽片段（C14）免疫小鼠,经细胞融合技术制备CK7单克隆抗体（mAb）,并收集临床组织进行免疫组化鉴定。C14多肽作为抗原具有良好的免疫反应性。本研究共获得了3株能稳定分泌抗CK7抗体的单克隆细胞株,选择亲和力较好的7A8单克隆抗体进行免疫组化鉴定,结果表明,本研究筛选的7A8单克隆抗体的质量浓度为0.49μg/mL时,与收集的临床标本均有良好的特异性反应,低于医院常用CK7检测试剂盒中抗体质量浓度2～5μg/mL,表现出较高的灵敏度。本研究筛选的7A8单克隆抗体为研发CK7快速诊断试剂提供了关键的原材料。     

食管鳞癌染色体及基因组DNA畸变研究进展

食管鳞癌是我国常见的消化道恶性肿瘤,进展快且预后差。由于早期一般无明显症状,临床确诊的食管鳞癌大多已发展到了中晚期,治愈难度较大。越来越多的证据表明,在食管鳞癌发生发展过程中,染色体及基因组DNA畸变均是最常见的遗传学改变。文章就食管鳞癌染色体及基因组水平异常的研究进展作一综述。     

食管鳞癌染色体及基因组DNA畸变研究进展

食管鳞癌是我国常见的消化道恶性肿瘤, 进展快且预后差。由于早期一般无明显症状, 临床确诊的食管鳞癌大多已发展到了中晚期, 治愈难度较大。越来越多的证据表明, 在食管鳞癌发生发展过程中, 染色体及基因组DNA畸变均是最常见的遗传学改变。文章就食管鳞癌染色体及基因组水平异常的研究进展作一综述。     

食管鳞癌相关基因与预后及临床病理关系的研究进展

食管鳞癌是一种多因素的疾病,除了环境因素可以影响食管癌发生和发展,分子水平的基因改变是近年研究的热点。近年基因芯片技术的发展,已发现众多基因,如β-catenin、wnt1、p53、cyclinD1以及EGFR等基因表达的改变与食管鳞癌的发生、发展或预后相关,从而可更好地寻找判断预后的分子指标,具有广阔的应用前景,但其与影响食管鳞癌预后的众多因素之间的关系及其与临床病理的关系以及应用,仍需进一步研究。     

Overexpression of Aurora-A kinase promotes tumor cell proliferation and inhibits apoptosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell line

Attrora-A kinase, a serine/threonine protein kinase, is a potential oncogene. Amplification and overexpression of Aurora-A have been found in several types of human tumors, including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma （ESCC）. It has been demonstrated that cells overexpressing Attrora-A are more resistant to cisplatin-induced apoptosis. However, the molecular mechanisms mediating these effects remain largely unknown. In this report, we showed that overexpression of Attrora-A through stable transfection of pEGFP-Aurora-A in human ESCC KYSE150 cells significantly promoted cell proliferation and inhibited cisplatin- or UV irradiation-induced apoptosis. Cleavages of caspase-3 and poly （ADPribose） polymerase （PARP） in Attrora-A overexpressing cells were substantially reduced after cisplatin or UV treatment. Furthermore, we found that silencing of endogenous Aurora-A kinase with siRNA substantially enhanced sensitivity to cisplatin- or UV-induced apoptosis in human ESCC EC9706 cells. In parallel, overexpression of Aurora-A potently upregulated the expression of Bcl-2. Moreover, the knockdown of Bcl-2 by siRNA abrogated the Aurora-A＇s effect on inhibiting apoptosis. Taken together, these data provide evidence that Aurora-A overexpression promoting cell proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis, suggesting a novel mechanism that is closely related to malignant phenotype and anti-cancer drugs resistance of ESCC cells.     

Tumor-suppressive microRNA-10a inhibits cell proliferation and metastasis by targeting Tiam1 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Aberrant microRNAs (miRNAs) expressions could contribute to the progression of numerous cancers, including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, while miR-10a participates in multiple biological processes on cancers. However, the molecular mechanism of miR-10a in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has not been investigated. Herein, miR-10a was significantly reduced in ESCC clinical tissues and ESCC cell lines (EC109 and TE-3). In addition, immunohistochemistry indicated that the expressions of α-SMA, Ki-67, and PCNA in tumor tissues were higher than that of controls. In vitro, overexpression of miR-10a dramatically suppressed cell proliferation and enhanced cell apoptosis, while the decrease of miR-10a expressed the opposite outcome. Specially, overexpression of miR-10a caused a G0/G1 peak accumulation. Moreover, miR-10a also negatively regulated ESCC cell migration and invasion. Furthermore, targetscan bioinformatics predictions and the dual-luciferase assay confirmed that Tiam1 was a direct target gene of miR-10a. The statistical analysis showed Tiam1 was negatively in correlation with miR-10a in ESCC patient samples. And silencing Tiam1 could lead to a decline on cell growth, invasion, and migration in ESCC cell lines, while it could enhance cell apoptosis and cause a G0/G1 peak accumulation. In vivo, it revealed that miR-10a notably decreased the tumor growth and metastasis in xenograft model and pulmonary metastasis model. And it showed a lower expressions of Tiam1 in the miR-10a mimics group by immunohistochemistry. Taken together the results, they indicated that miR-10a might function as a novel tumor suppressor in vitro and in vivo via targeting Tiam1, suggesting miR-10a to be a candidate biomarker for the ESCC therapy.     

Plasma microRNA profiling highlights miR-1260b and miR-720 as novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

This paper was designed to explore the value of miRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers that may facilitate the early detection of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Plasma miRNA profiles were defined via an array-based approach using samples from ESCC patients and healthy controls (n=5 each). Differentially expressed miRNAs in these samples were validated via qPCR in ESCC patients (n=96) and healthy controls (n=51), and the relationship between ESCC patient plasma miR-1260b and miR-720 levels and clinicopathological characteristics were additionally examined. In total, 12 plasma miRNAs that were differentially expressed between ESCC patients and healthy controls were identified via miRNA. Six of these miRNAs were subsequently validated, revealing that both miR-1260b and miR-720 were significantly differentially abundant in ESCC patients and controls, with miR-1260b being significantly upregulated in ESCC patients relative to controls (2.24, 1.41 respectively, P<0.001), while the opposite was observed with respect to miR-720 (0.66, 2.27 respectively, P=0.001). The use of both miR-720 and miR-1260b as a combined diagnostic tool was highly efficacious, yielding an AUC of 0.814, a sensitivity of 86.3%, and a specificity of 73.2% as a means of detecting ESCC patients. Elevated plasma miR-1260b level was also associated with a poorer patient prognosis when compared to patients with a low plasma miRNA level (P=0.021). This study has successfully developed a plasma miRNA biomarker signature of ESCC that may offer value as a diagnostic or prognostic tool when evaluating patients with ESCC.     

Epigenetic inactivation of SPINT2 is associated with tumor suppressive function in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor type 2 (SPINT2), a Kunitz-type serine proteinase inhibitor, has been identified as a putative tumor suppressor gene silenced by promoter methylation. We aimed to investigate whether SPINT2 might act as an esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tumor suppressor gene. Four ESCC cell lines, Fifty-two ESCC tissues and twenty-nine neighboring non-cancerous tissues were included in this study. The expression of SPINT2 was monitored by real time PCR. Bisulfite genomic sequencing and methylation-specific PCR were used to analyze methylation status. The effect of SPINT2 on cell proliferation and apoptosis in EC109 and EC9706 cells was observed by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometric analysis. We found that silencing of SPINT2 was associated with promoter methylation in ESCC cell lines. The densely methylated SPINT2 promoter region was confirmed by bisulfite genomic sequencing. Ectopic expression of SPINT2 inhibited cell proliferation through inducing cell apoptosis in vitro. Furthermore, methylation-specific PCR analysis revealed that SPINT2 promoter methylation was prominent in carcinoma tissues (52.08%) compared with neighboring non-cancerous tissues (22.58%). Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that patients with SPINT2 hypermethylation had shorter survival time. The tumor suppressor gene of SPINT2 is commonly silenced by promoter hypermethylation in human ESCC and SPINT2 hypermethylation is correlated with poor overall survival, implicating SPINT2 is an underlying prognostic marker for human ESCC.     

A genetic variant in CDKN2A/2B locus was associated with poor prognosis in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is among the leading causes of cancer related death. Despite of extensive efforts in identifying valid cancer prognostic biomarkers, only a very small number of markers have been identified. Several genetic variants in the 9p21 region have been identified that are associated with the risk of multiple cancers. Here, we explored the association of two genetic variants in the 9p21 region, CDKN2A/B, rs10811661, and rs1333049 for the first time in 273 subjects with, or without ESCC. We observed that the patients with ESCC had a higher frequency of a TT genotype for rs10811661 than individuals in the control group, and this polymorphism was also associated with tumor size. Moreover, a CC genotype for the rs1333049 polymorphism was associated with a reduced overall survival (OS) of patients with ESCC. In particular, patients with a CC (rs1333049) genotype had a significantly shorter OS (CC genotype: 34.5 ± 8.9 months vs. CG+GG: 47.7 ± 5.9 months; p value = 0.03). We have also shown the association of a novel genetic variant in CDKN2B gene with clinical outcome of patients with ESCC. Further investigations are warranted in a larger population to explore the value of emerging markers as a risk stratification marker in ESCC.