WNT4 overexpression and secretion in thymic epithelial tumors drive an autocrine loop in tumor cells .

Background: WNT4-driven non-canonical signaling is crucial for homeostasis and age-related involution of the thymus. Abnormal WNT signaling is important in many cancers, but the role of WNT signaling in thymic tumors is largely unknown.

Materials & Methods: Expression and function of WNT4 and FZD6 were analyzed using qRT-PCR, Western blot, ELISA, in biopsies of non-neoplastic thymi (NT), thymoma and thymic carcinomas.

A Descriptive Study of the Physical Direct Interaction between Adipose Tissue-Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Colo 205 Cells: Impact on Cancer Cells Stemness, and Intracellular Reactive Oxygen Species Levels.

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are widely used in clinical research to treat a wild spectrum of diseases due to their homing ability to damaged tissues, self-renewal capacity, and differentiation ability into various types of cells. In this research, we are describing the physical direct interaction between AT-MSCs and colon cancer cells, its impact on the stemness of colon cancer cells, along with the levels of intracellular Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) levels in both types of cells.

Methods: Adipose-tissue mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs) were characterized by the means of MSCs classical markers expression using flow cytometry, and multilineage differentiation through osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation.

Metabolic Profiling of Thymic Epithelial Tumors Hints to a Strong Warburg Effect, Glutaminolysis and Precarious Redox Homeostasis as Potential Therapeutic Targets.

Thymomas and thymic carcinomas (TC) are malignant thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) with poor outcome, if non-resectable. Metabolic signatures of TETs have not yet been studied and may offer new therapeutic options. Metabolic profiles of snap-frozen thymomas (WHO types A, AB, B1, B2, B3, = 12) and TCs ( = 3) were determined by high resolution magic angle spinning 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (HRMAS 1H-NMR) spectroscopy.

Functional apoptosis profiling identifies MCL-1 and BCL-xL as prognostic markers and therapeutic targets in advanced thymomas and thymic carcinomas.

Background: Multi-omics studies have shown a high and lack of common driver mutations in most thymomas (TH) and thymic carcinomas (TC) that hamper the development of novel treatment approaches. However, deregulation of apoptosis has been proposed as a common hallmark of TH and TC. BH3 profiling can be utilized to study the readiness of living cancer cells to undergo apoptosis and their dependency on pro-survival BCL-2 family proteins.

Molecular pathology of thymomas: implications for diagnosis and therapy.

Thymomas exhibit a unique genomic landscape, comprising the lowest on average total mutational burden among adult human cancers; a unique point mutation in the GTF2I gene in WHO type A and AB thymomas (and rarely others); almost unique KMT2A-MAML2 translocations in rare WHO type B2 and B3 thymomas; a unique YAP1-MAML2 translocation in almost all metaplastic thymomas; and unique miRNA profiles in relation to GTF2I mutational status and WHO histotypes. While most thymomas can be diagnosed solely on the basis of morphological features, mutational analyses can solve challenging differential diagnostic problems. No molecular biomarkers have been identified that predict the response of unresectable thymomas to chemotherapy or agents with known molecular targets.