乳腺癌脑转移差异表达基因的生物学功能分析

乳腺癌脑转移(breast cancer brain metastasis,BCBM)的发病机制尚未明确。为了探究BCBM的发病机制,对BCBM差异表达基因的生物学功能进行研究并筛选关键调控基因。从基因表达综合数据库(gene expression omnibus,GEO)下载4个BCBM基因表达谱数据(GSE12237、GSE100534、GSE125989以及GSE43837),采用R语言筛选差异表达基因,采用富集分析包括基因本体分析(gene ontology,GO)和京都基因与基因组百科全书分析(Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes,KEGG)进行生物学功能分析,采用STRING和Cytoscape分析蛋白质相互作用网络,采用Kaplan-Meier进行生存分析。结果表明,同时存在于2个及以上基因表达谱数据中的差异表达基因261个,GO分析主要涉及细胞外基质组织、细胞外结构组织等生物过程,细胞外基质结构组成、胶原结合等分子功能,含有胶原的细胞外基质、胶原蛋白三聚物等细胞组分;KEGG分析主要涉及蛋白质消化和吸收、局部黏附等通路。蛋白质相互作用网络分析得到9个关键调控基因,其中,DCN、COL6A1与BCBM的生存率显著相关,可作为潜在的BCBM关键调控基因,并为BCBM分子机制的研究提供思路。     

Mesenchymal stem cells within tumour stroma promote breast cancer metastasis

Mesenchymal stem cells have been recently described to localize to breast carcinomas, where they integrate into the tumour-associated stroma. However, the involvement of mesenchymal stem cells (or their derivatives) in tumour pathophysiology has not been addressed. Here, we demonstrate that bone-marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells, when mixed with otherwise weakly metastatic human breast carcinoma cells, cause the cancer cells to increase their metastatic potency greatly when this cell mixture is introduced into a subcutaneous site and allowed to form a tumour xenograft. The breast cancer cells stimulate de novo secretion of the chemokine CCL5 (also called RANTES) from mesenchymal stem cells, which then acts in a paracrine fashion on the cancer cells to enhance their motility, invasion and metastasis. This enhanced metastatic ability is reversible and is dependent on CCL5 signalling through the chemokine receptor CCR5. Collectively, these data demonstrate that the tumour microenvironment facilitates metastatic spread by eliciting reversible changes in the phenotype of cancer cells.     

SHARP1 suppresses breast cancer metastasis by promoting degradation of hypoxia-inducible factors

The molecular determinants of malignant cell behaviours in breast cancer remain only partially understood. Here we show that SHARP1 (also known as BHLHE41 or DEC2) is a crucial regulator of the invasive and metastatic phenotype in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), one of the most aggressive types of breast cancer. SHARP1 is regulated by the p63 metastasis suppressor and inhibits TNBC aggressiveness through inhibition of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and HIF-2α (HIFs). SHARP1 opposes HIF-dependent TNBC cell migration in vitro, and invasive or metastatic behaviours in vivo. SHARP1 is required, and sufficient, to limit expression of HIF-target genes. In primary TNBC, endogenous SHARP1 levels are inversely correlated with those of HIF targets. Mechanistically, SHARP1 binds to HIFs and promotes HIF proteasomal degradation by serving as the HIF-presenting factor to the proteasome. This process is independent of pVHL (von Hippel-Lindau tumour suppressor), hypoxia and the ubiquitination machinery. SHARP1 therefore determines the intrinsic instability of HIF proteins to act in parallel to, and cooperate with, oxygen levels. This work sheds light on the mechanisms and pathways by which TNBC acquires invasiveness and metastatic propensity.     

Involvement of dihydropyridine receptors in excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal muscle

The transduction of action potential to muscle contraction (E-C coupling) is an example of fast communication between plasma membrane events and the release of calcium from an internal store, which in muscle is the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). One theory is that the release channels of the SR are controlled by voltage-sensing molecules or complexes, located in the transverse tubular (T)-membrane, which produce, as membrane voltage varies, 'intramembrane charge movements', but nothing is known about the structure of such sensors. Receptors of the Ca-channel-blocking dihydropyridines present in many tissues, are most abundant in T-tubular muscle fractions from which they can be isolated as proteins. Fewer than 5% of muscle dihydropyridines are functional Ca channels; there is no known role for the remainder in skeletal muscle physiology. We report here that low concentrations of a dihydropyridine inhibit charge movements and SR calcium release in parallel. The effect has a dependence on membrane voltage analogous to that of specific binding of dihydropyridines. We propose specifically that the molecule that generates charge movement is the dihydropyridine receptor.     

Involvement of guanine nucleotide-binding protein in the gating of Ca2+ by receptors

The introduction of impermeant aqueous solutes into individual cells by microinjection has long been established but the difficulties of manipulating the cytosol composition of large populations of microscopic cells have only recently been overcome. Successful techniques include a dielectric breakdown procedure, treatment with micromolar concentrations of ATP4- (ref. 7) and also with very small (that is nonagglutinating, non-fusogenic) amounts of Sendai virus. So far, attention has been concentrated on the behaviour of the cells (generally their response to applied Ca2+ buffers) at the time when the membrane permeability lesions are open, and thus cytosol and external medium are in contact. I now report a novel technique for monitoring the state of molecular solute permeability in cell membranes and show that the lesions generated by ATP4- in the membrane of mast cells can be closed within seconds of adding Mg2+ so that a cycle of permeabilization and resealing can be used to explore the effect of foreign compounds trapped in the cytosol of effectively intact cells. I show that non-hydrolysable GTP analogues, introduced into the cytosol of mast cells, cause them to undergo exocytotic secretion in response to addition of extracellular Ca2+. This finding is discussed in the light of previous experience relating guanine nucleotide regulatory proteins as intermediaries between receptors and the transducers which they control.     

Cell adhesion receptors and cancer

Cell-to-cell and cell-to-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions in the functions of cell adhesion and signal transduction are important in global control of cell phenotypes and cell behavior and are crucial for maintenance of homeostasis and structural/functional stabilization of tissues and organs. Cell adhesion receptors are recognized as the molecular basis of cell adhesion. Cadherin and Integrin are widely expressed adhesion receptors in most tissues. They are transmembrane glycoproteins which, through their cytoplasmic domain, bind to many proteins at the inner surface of cell membrane to form molecule-linkage complexes and then connect with the cytoskeleton. Through cell adhesion receptors a network functioning as cell adhesion and signal transduction is organized between tissue cells and cell-ECM. In this regard cell adhesion receptors play an important role in regulation of morphogenesis, cell-cell recognition, cell migration, cell sorting and the determination of cell's fate in development. They mediate cell functions and their fault expression is intimately correlated with development of disorders like cancer. Several isoforms of Integrin were found to have tumor suppressor effect. Some components in the molecule-linkage of focal contact are actin-binding proteins as well as substrates of kinase in the Integrin initiated signal pathway to play a role as signal transducer. Some of these molecules exhibited tumor suppressor effect too. Decreased expression of E-Cadherin has been demonstrated in many epithelium originated carcinomas. Cadherin associated membrane adhesion plaque molecule β-Catenin is also involved in the oncogene Wnt signal pathway. Both E-Cadherin and β-Catenin were proved respectively with tumor suppressor effect against invasiveness and metastasis. That Cadherin is important for the posttranslationally functional expression of Connexin has been supported by evidence from developmental biology and cancer cell differentiation studies to suggest that some sort of interrelation feedback control exists between the two signal pathways.     

The landscape of cancer genes and mutational processes in breast cancer

All cancers carry somatic mutations in their genomes. A subset, known as driver mutations, confer clonal selective advantage on cancer cells and are causally implicated in oncogenesis, and the remainder are passenger mutations. The driver mutations and mutational processes operative in breast cancer have not yet been comprehensively explored. Here we examine the genomes of 100 tumours for somatic copy number changes and mutations in the coding exons of protein-coding genes. The number of somatic mutations varied markedly between individual tumours. We found strong correlations between mutation number, age at which cancer was diagnosed and cancer histological grade, and observed multiple mutational signatures, including one present in about ten per cent of tumours characterized by numerous mutations of cytosine at TpC dinucleotides. Driver mutations were identified in several new cancer genes including AKT2, ARID1B, CASP8, CDKN1B, MAP3K1, MAP3K13, NCOR1, SMARCD1 and TBX3. Among the 100 tumours, we found driver mutations in at least 40 cancer genes and 73 different combinations of mutated cancer genes. The results highlight the substantial genetic diversity underlying this common disease.     

Suppression of murine breast cancer metastasis by selective inhibition of CXCR4 by synthetic polypeptide derived from viral macrophage inflammatory protein II

Stromal cell-derived factor-1 and its receptor CXC chemokine receptor-4 (CXCR4) have been implicated in breast cancer metastasis. A significant association between HER2 and CXCR4 expression has been observed in human breast tumor tissues, and overexpression of CXCR4 is essential for HER2-mediated tumor metastasis. Moreover, CXCR4 expression is low in normal breast tissues and high in malignant tumors, suggesting that a blockade of CXCR4 may limit tumor metastasis. The present study investigated the action of a synthetic antagonist 21-mer peptide derived from viral macrophage inflammatory protein II against CXCR4 (NT21MP) in inhibiting metastasis in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that chemotaxis of SKBR3 cells toward SDF-1α was reduced by NT21MP in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.05). NT21MP inhibited tumor growth at 500 μg/kg and in combination with Herceptin, the anti-HER2 antibody. The in vivo metastatic assay showed that NT21MP significantly inhibited pulmonary metastasis, and the number of metastatic tumor nodes on the surface of the lung was greatly decreased. Compared with the saline-treated control group, PCNA expression was dose-dependently decreased by NT21MP, the percentage of apoptotic cells was increased, and CXCR4 mRNA and protein expression were downregulated. In conclusion, NT21MP inhibits cellular prolifer-ation, promotes apoptosis by downregulating CXCR4 expression, and suppresses the progression of primary and metastatic tumors. CXCR4 may be a useful therapeutic target for breast cancer, and NT21MP may serve as a potential target drug for the treatment of breast cancer metastasis.     

家族性和三阴性乳腺癌血清中miR-21的表达

目的:检测血清miR-21在乳腺癌中的表达差异,为进一步阐明miR-21在家族性和三阴性乳腺癌发病机制中的作用.方法:收集健康女性体检者、具有患乳腺癌高风险者、不同种类乳腺癌患者的血清.以线虫miR-39为外参,通过实时荧光定量PCR检测77份血清中miR-21的表达水平.结果:家族性乳腺癌组、三阴性乳腺癌组和乳腺癌高风险组血清miR-21水平显著高于正常对照组、其他乳腺癌组(P0.01).血清miR-21的表达水平与淋巴结转移、Ki67高表达有关(P0.01).结果显示血清miR-21表达量在家族性和三阴性乳腺癌中升高,且与淋巴结转移和Ki67表达有关.结论:血清miR-21与三阴性、家族性乳腺癌的发生有紧密联系,其表达增高与乳腺癌的遗传性、恶性程度及预后判断有关.     

miR-23b对口腔癌转移影响

口腔癌转移是威胁全世界生命健康的问题,有效的靶向治疗对口腔癌患者尤为重要.近年来,microRNA(miRNA)作为一种微小的非编码RNA在肿瘤转移中发挥着重要的作用,因此,开展了体外探究miR-23b在口腔癌转移中的作用.利用实时荧光定量核酸扩增检测系统(qRT-PCR)检测了miR-23b在口腔正常细胞和口腔癌细胞中的表达差异,结果显示miR-23b在口腔癌细胞中的表达明显高于口腔正常细胞中的表达,且随着口腔癌转移程度的增加而增高(P<0.05).在此基础上,通过给细胞转染miR-23b mimics的方法过表达miR-23b,以探究该miRNA对口腔癌转移的作用.实验结果发现,增加口腔原位癌细胞Um-2中miR-23b的表达后,该细胞的转移能力显著增强,表明miR-23b在口腔癌转移中发挥着重要作用,可能成为临床口腔癌的治疗靶点和口腔癌检测标志物.     

LKB1 modulates lung cancer differentiation and metastasis

Germline mutation in serine/threonine kinase 11 (STK11, also called LKB1) results in Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, characterized by intestinal hamartomas and increased incidence of epithelial cancers. Although uncommon in most sporadic cancers, inactivating somatic mutations of LKB1 have been reported in primary human lung adenocarcinomas and derivative cell lines. Here we used a somatically activatable mutant Kras-driven model of mouse lung cancer to compare the role of Lkb1 to other tumour suppressors in lung cancer. Although Kras mutation cooperated with loss of p53 or Ink4a/Arf (also known as Cdkn2a) in this system, the strongest cooperation was seen with homozygous inactivation of Lkb1. Lkb1-deficient tumours demonstrated shorter latency, an expanded histological spectrum (adeno-, squamous and large-cell carcinoma) and more frequent metastasis compared to tumours lacking p53 or Ink4a/Arf. Pulmonary tumorigenesis was also accelerated by hemizygous inactivation of Lkb1. Consistent with these findings, inactivation of LKB1 was found in 34% and 19% of 144 analysed human lung adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas, respectively. Expression profiling in human lung cancer cell lines and mouse lung tumours identified a variety of metastasis-promoting genes, such as NEDD9, VEGFC and CD24, as targets of LKB1 repression in lung cancer. These studies establish LKB1 as a critical barrier to pulmonary tumorigenesis, controlling initiation, differentiation and metastasis.     

犬乳腺癌的病理学观察

犬乳腺癌是一类乳腺恶性肿瘤,绝大多数是由于乳腺的上皮组织的恶性癌变产生,是引起犬死亡的重要原因.通过对一例松狮犬乳腺肿瘤进行切除,并进行组织病理学观察,确诊该肿瘤为乳腺癌.     

Polymorphisms of chemokine receptors and its ligand alleles influencing genetic susceptibity to HIV-1 infection in eight ethnic groups in Chinese mainland

Limited genetic information is available concerning the polymorphisms of HIV-1 resistant genes in indigenous Chinese populations. The aim of this study is to identify the allelic frequencies of the chemokine and chemokine receptor genes in the Chinese mainland. Genomic DNA samples extracted from whole blood of 2318 subjects were analyzed by using PCR or PCR/restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assays, and further confirmed by direct DNA sequencing. Higher frequencies of mutant CCR2-64I (19.15%—28.79%) and SDF1-3’A (19.10%—29.86%) alleles were found in subjects of 8 ethnic groups in the Chinese mainland. In contrast, the △32 mutation in CCR5 gene occurs at a very low frequency (0.0016, n=1287) in Han population. A relatively high frequency of CCR5- wt/D32 heterozygotes was observed in Uygurian and Mongolian populations. No △32 mutation allele was detected in Tibetan and other 4 ethnic groups in Yunnan Province. There was no CCR5-m303 mutation in subjects of any ethnic group in the Chinese mainland. Our results suggest that the CCR5-△32 mutation is not a major resistant factor against HIV-1 infection and disease progression in Han, Tibetan and other ethnic groups in Yunnan Province. Whether higher frequencies of CCR2-64I and SDF1-3′A alleles constitute major genetic resistant factors or not remains to be clarified.     

Regulation of cancer cell migration and bone metastasis by RANKL

Bone metastases are a frequent complication of many cancers that result in severe disease burden and pain. Since the late nineteenth century, it has been thought that the microenvironment of the local host tissue actively participates in the propensity of certain cancers to metastasize to specific organs, and that bone provides an especially fertile 'soil'. In the case of breast cancers, the local chemokine milieu is now emerging as an explanation for why these tumours preferentially metastasize to certain organs. However, as the inhibition of chemokine receptors in vivo only partially blocks metastatic behaviour, other factors must exist that regulate the preferential metastasis of breast cancer cells. Here we show that the cytokine RANKL (receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand) triggers migration of human epithelial cancer cells and melanoma cells that express the receptor RANK. RANK is expressed on cancer cell lines and breast cancer cells in patients. In a mouse model of melanoma metastasis, in vivo neutralization of RANKL by osteoprotegerin results in complete protection from paralysis and a marked reduction in tumour burden in bones but not in other organs. Our data show that local differentiation factors such as RANKL have an important role in cell migration and the tissue-specific metastatic behaviour of cancer cells.