5-Azacytidine- and retinoic-acid-induced reprogramming of DCCs into dormancy suppresses metastasis via restored TGF-β-SMAD4 signaling

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1.5T磁共振不同序列用于检出妇科肿瘤盆腔淋巴结转移的比较

目的:比较1.5T磁共振(MRI)不同序列条件下对妇科肿瘤盆腔淋巴结转移的检出情况,探讨最佳检出序列条件。方法:选取2015年5月-2017年5月初诊为卵巢癌、宫颈癌、子宫内膜癌的患者78例作为研究对象,均行盆腔淋巴结清扫术。所有患者术前均行T1加权序列(T1WI)、T2加权序列(T2WI)、增强扫描(T1WI+C)、弥散加权成像(DWI)检查,记录每个序列检查条件下检出的盆腔转移淋巴结个数及分布。以病理结果作为判断的"金标准"进行对比。结果:对比病理检查结果,应用DWI序列对妇科肿瘤盆腔淋巴结转移的检出率(95.8%)显著高于T2WI-MRI序列(85.8%)和T1WI-MRI序列(75.0%)(P0.05);DWI序列与T1WI+C序列(90.8%)相比差异无统计学意义(P0.05);DWI阈值法与DWI短径法相比,淋巴结的检出率差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:应用1.5T磁共振检查妇科肿瘤盆腔淋巴节转移时,采用DWI序列扫描对于转移淋巴结的具有较高的检出率,显著优于其他序列扫描;在进行阳性淋巴结判断中,ADC阈值法和短径法均可选用。     

Circulating Tumor Cell Clustering Shapes DNA Methylation to Enable Metastasis Seeding

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The hypoxic microenvironment: A determinant of cancer stem cell evolution

Tumors are often viewed as unique entities with specific behaviors. However, tumors are a mixture of differentially evolved subpopulations of cells in constant Darwinian evolution, selecting the fittest clone and allowing it to outgrow the rest. As in the natural environment, the niche defines the properties the fittest clones must possess. Therefore, there can be multiple fit clones because of the various microenvironments inside a single tumor. Hypoxia is considered to be a major feature of the tumor microenvironment and is a potential contributor to the cancer stem cell (CSC) phenotype and its enhanced tumorigenicity. The acidic microenvironment around hypoxic cells is accompanied by the activation of a subset of proteases that contribute to metastasis. Because of aberrant angiogenesis and the inaccessibility of their locations, hypoxic cells are less likely to accumulate therapeutic concentrations of chemotherapeutics that can lead to therapeutic resistance. Therefore, the targeting of the hypoxic CSC niche in combination with chemotherapy may provide a promising strategy for eradicating CSCs. In this review, we examine the cancer stem cell hypothesis and its relationship to the microenvironment, specifically to hypoxia and the subsequent metabolic switch and how they shape tumor behavior.     

胞外酸性与肿瘤的浸润转移

组织缺氧是实体瘤的一个主要特征,它引起肿瘤细胞胞外酸性环境的形成.肿瘤细胞通过质子感知的G蛋白偶联受体（G protein-coupled receptors,GPCRs）或质子感知的离子通道感知其胞外的酸性环境,并激活多条细胞内信号通路,影响细胞功能. 肿瘤最致命的方面在于其转移能力,肿瘤转移程度与肿瘤细胞迁移能力呈正相关. 因此,对胞外酸性与肿瘤细胞迁移扩散之间关系的深入研究将有助于发现更多新的抗肿瘤转移药物.本文就肿瘤酸性微环境的形成、肿瘤细胞的质子感知制、胞外酸性环境对肿瘤浸润转移的影响及如何将肿瘤pH调节应用于癌症治疗等方面的内容予以综述.     

细胞休眠在肿瘤耐药和复发中的作用

目前对于肿瘤的药物治疗已经取得了一定的进展,然而,治疗后残存肿瘤细胞的复发仍然是导致肿瘤治疗失败的主要原因．肿瘤细胞休眠在肿瘤复发及耐药中发挥着重要的作用．近年来,研究发现上皮间质转化(epithelial-mesenchymal transition,EMT)的肿瘤细胞,肿瘤干细胞(cancer stem cells,CSCs)以及循环肿瘤细胞(circulating tumor cells,CTCs)都显示出细胞周期阻滞的状态．因此,对于休眠阶段肿瘤细胞的研究将可能促进肿瘤的治疗及预防肿瘤的复发．本文总结了药物治疗诱导肿瘤细胞发生休眠的具体过程,同时认为休眠是肿瘤细胞面对药物治疗所采取的主动防御措施,而非被动逃避过程．探究药物诱导性肿瘤细胞的休眠机制对于靶向休眠肿瘤细胞治疗及提高临床治疗效果都具有非常重要的意义．     

肿瘤细胞粘附、迁移与转移的相关性

肿瘤细胞的粘附、迁移能力与癌转移密切相关. 细胞粘附分子选择素、整合素、免疫球蛋白超家族及钙粘素介导同型或异型细胞间以及细胞与基质间的粘附,其在肿瘤细胞表面表达数量或分布方式的改变直接或间接影响着转移潜能,是肿瘤细胞从原发瘤脱落以及着床的关键性环节.肿瘤细胞的迁移能力被认为是癌转移的限速环节.一般情况下,肿瘤细胞在体内或体外的迁移能力与其转移潜能呈正相关性,肿瘤细胞通过对迁移刺激物的趋化性及趋触性应答而完成向远离器官的转移,其具体分子机制目前还不清楚.     

肿瘤转移研究的现状与趋势

肿瘤转移是恶性肿瘤的主要特征,是引起癌症患者死亡的首要因素．肿瘤转移的发生涉及到肿瘤细胞及其所处的微环境中复杂的信号通路,这些信号通路的激活及相互作用介导了肿瘤的转移、侵袭和在血液/淋巴循环系统中存活,以及在转移靶部位的生长过程．肿瘤转移是一个复杂的、多因素调控的动态过程,对于肿瘤转移机制的研究将有助于深入了解转移过程,并可以鉴定到有意义的治疗靶标,为临床诊断和治疗奠定基础．     

黏附分子CD24在肿瘤转移中作用

CD24属糖基磷脂酰肌醇锚蛋白。作为P-选择素配体的黏附分子,其可调节B细胞发育和神经发生。研究显示,CD24高表达在多种肿瘤细胞表面,参与肿瘤的发生发展。已通过体外试验和动物模型证实CD24对多种肿瘤生长和转移相关的肿瘤细胞特性具有调节作用;结合人肿瘤组织研究显示,CD24和乳腺癌、前列腺癌、胰腺癌及肝内胆管癌等肿瘤患者的生存率及预后密切相关。因此,以CD24为靶向的肿瘤诊断和治疗有着诱人的临床应用前景。     

Hypoxia Is a Dominant Remodeler of the Effector T Cell Surface Proteome Relative to Activation and Regulatory T Cell Suppression

Immunosuppressive factors in the tumor microenvironment (TME) impair T cell function and limit the antitumor immune response. T cell surface receptors and surface proteins that influence interactions and function in the TME are proven targets for cancer immunotherapy. However, how the entire surface proteome remodels in primary human T cells in response to specific suppressive factors in the TME remains to be broadly and systematically characterized. Here, using a reductionist cell culture approach with primary human T cells and stable isotopic labeling with amino acids in cell culture–based quantitative cell surface capture glycoproteomics, we examined how two immunosuppressive TME factors, regulatory T cells (Tregs) and hypoxia, globally affect the activated CD8⁺ surface proteome (surfaceome). Surprisingly, coculturing primary CD8⁺ T cells with Tregs only modestly affected the CD8⁺ surfaceome but did partially reverse activation-induced surfaceomic changes. In contrast, hypoxia drastically altered the CD8⁺ surfaceome in a manner consistent with both metabolic reprogramming and induction of an immunosuppressed state. The CD4⁺ T cell surfaceome similarly responded to hypoxia, revealing a common hypoxia-induced surface receptor program. Our surfaceomics findings suggest that hypoxic environments create a challenge for T cell activation. These studies provide global insight into how Tregs and hypoxia remodel the T cell surfaceome and we believe represent a valuable resource to inform future therapeutic efforts to enhance T cell function.     

基因修饰细胞介导的肿瘤治疗

肿瘤的基因治疗,最终都是通过基因修饰细胞介导完成的,这些基因修饰细胞可分为（1）免疫基因修饰的肿瘤细胞疫苗;（2）自杀基因或抑癌基因修饰的细胞疫苗;（3）基因修饰的树突状细胞（DC）疫苗;（4）基因修饰造血干细胞;（5）基因修饰淋巴细胞;（6）基因修饰血管内皮细胞及其它。它们在肿瘤的基因治疗中各有特点,本主要介绍这些方面的研究进展。     

Using a variant of coverslip hypoxia to visualize tumor cell alterations at increasing distances from an oxygen source

Early stages in tumor development involve growth in confined spaces, where oxygen diffusion is limited and metabolic waste products accumulate. This hostile microenvironment imposes strong selective pressures on tumor cells, leading eventually to the survival and expansion of aggressive subclones that condition further tumor evolution. To model features of this microenvironment in vitro, a diffusional barrier can be introduced in the form of a coverslip placed on top of cells, a method termed coverslip hypoxia. Using a variant of this method, with larger volume between coverslip and cells and with oxygen diffusion occurring only through a small hole in the center of the coverslip, we have visualized alterations in LNCaP tumor cells as a function of their distance to the oxygen source at the center. We observed remarkable morphological changes in LNCaP cells as the distance from the center increases, with cells becoming highly spread, displaying dynamic membrane protrusions and occasionally adopting a migratory phenotype. Concomitantly, cells farther from the center displayed marked increases in the hypoxia marker hypoxyprobe, whereas extracellular pH decreased in the same direction. Cells with altered morphology displayed prominent increases in fibrillar actin, as well as swollen mitochondria with distorted cristae and accumulation of neutral lipid-containing intracellular vesicles. These results show that an in vitro microenvironment that models diffusional barriers encountered by tumors in situ can have profound effects on tumor cells. The coverslip hypoxia variant we describe can be used to characterize in vitro the response of tumor cells to environmental conditions that play crucial roles in early tumor development.     

Cancer-Derived Succinate Promotes Macrophage Polarization and Cancer Metastasis via Succinate Receptor

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Priming cancer cells for drug resistance: role of the fibroblast niche

Conventional and targeted chemotherapies remain integral strategies to treat solid tumors. Despite the large number of anti-cancer drugs available, chemotherapy does not completely eradicate disease. Disease recurrence and the growth of drug resistant tumors remain significant problems in anti-cancer treatment. To develop more effective treatment strategies, it is important to understand the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of drug resistance. It is generally accepted that cancer cells do not function alone, but evolve through interactions with the surrounding tumor microenvironment. As key cellular components of the tumor microenvironment, fibroblasts regulate the growth and progression of many solid tumors. Emerging studies demonstrate that fibroblasts secrete a multitude of factors that enable cancer cells to become drug resistant. This review will explore how fibroblast secretion of soluble factors act on cancer cells to enhance cancer cell survival and cancer stem cell renewal, contributing to the development of drug resistant cancer.     

间质-上皮转化在肿瘤转移中的作用

肿瘤转移是一个多步骤、多因素参与的复杂过程,是目前临床上绝大多数肿瘤患者的致死因素.上皮-间质转化(epithelial-mesenchymal transition, EMT)过程已被证实可促使肿瘤细胞发生转移.近年来许多研究表明,间质-上皮转化(mesenchymal-epithelial transition, MET)即EMT的逆过程,与肿瘤也密切相关,特别是肿瘤转移即形成继发性的肿瘤转移灶.深入研究肿瘤MET有望为肿瘤转移的预防和诊治提供新思路.