Transcriptomic and Proteomic Profiles for Elucidating Cisplatin Resistance in Head-and-Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

To identify the novel genes involved in chemoresistance in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), we explored the expression profiles of the following cisplatin (CDDP) resistant (R) versus parental (sensitive) cell lines by RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq): JHU029, HTB-43 and CCL-138. Using the parental condition as a control, 30 upregulated and 85 downregulated genes were identified for JHU029-R cells; 263 upregulated and 392 downregulated genes for HTB-43-R cells, and 154 upregulated and 68 downregulated genes for CCL-138-R cells. Moreover, we crossed-checked the RNA-seq results with the proteomic profiles of HTB-43-R (versus HTB-43) and CCL-138-R (versus CCL-138) cell lines.

The Role of Sphingolipids Metabolism in Cancer Drug Resistance.

Drug resistance continues to be one of the major challenges to cure cancer. As research in this field evolves, it has been proposed that numerous bioactive molecules might be involved in the resistance of cancer cells to certain chemotherapeutics. One well-known group of lipids that play a major role in drug resistance are the sphingolipids.

TSPAN1, a novel tetraspanin member highly involved in carcinogenesis and chemoresistance.

The tetraspanin (TSPAN) family constitutes a poorly explored family of membrane receptors involved in various physiological processes, with relevant roles in anchoring multiple proteins, acting as scaffolding proteins, and cell signaling. Recent studies have increasingly demonstrated the involvement of TSPANs in cancer. In particular, tetraspanin 1 (also known as TSPAN1, NET-1, TM4C, C4.

Targeting Sphingolipids for Cancer Therapy.

Sphingolipids are an extensive class of lipids with different functions in the cell, ranging from proliferation to cell death. Sphingolipids are modified in multiple cancers and are responsible for tumor proliferation, progression, and metastasis. Several inhibitors or activators of sphingolipid signaling, such as fenretinide, safingol, ABC294640, ceramide nanoliposomes (CNLs), SKI-II, α-galactosylceramide, fingolimod, and sonepcizumab, have been described.

SDCBP Modulates Stemness and Chemoresistance in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma through Src Activation.

To characterize the mechanisms that govern chemoresistance, we performed a comparative proteomic study analyzing head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cells: CCL-138 (parental), CCL-138-R (cisplatin-resistant), and cancer stem cells (CSCs). Syntenin-1 (SDCBP) was upregulated in CCL-138-R cells and CSCs over parental cells. SDCBP depletion sensitized biopsy-derived and established HNSCC cell lines to cisplatin (CDDP) and reduced CSC markers, Src activation being the main SDCBP downstream target.

Characterization of genetically modified mice for phosphoglycerate mutase, a vitally-essential enzyme in glycolysis.

Glycolytic metabolism is closely involved in physiological homeostasis and pathophysiological states. Among glycolytic enzymes, phosphoglycerate mutase (PGAM) has been reported to exert certain physiological role in vitro, whereas its impact on glucose metabolism in vivo remains unclear. Here, we report the characterization of Pgam1 knockout mice.

Tumor Profiling at the Service of Cancer Therapy.

Cancer treatment options have evolved significantly in the past few years. From the initial surgical procedures, to the latest next-generation technologies, we are now in the position to analyze and understand tumors in a one-by-one basis and use that to our advantage to provide with individualized treatment options that may increase patient survival. In this review, we will focus on how tumor profiling has evolved over the past decades to deliver more efficient and personalized treatment options, and how novel technologies can help us envisage the future of precision oncology toward a better management and, ultimately, increased survival.

Five microRNAs in Serum Are Able to Differentiate Breast Cancer Patients From Healthy Individuals.

Breast cancer is the cancer with the most incidence and mortality in women. microRNAs are emerging as novel prognosis/diagnostic tools. Our aim was to identify a serum microRNA signature useful to predict cancer development.

Autophagy Takes Center Stage as a Possible Cancer Hallmark.

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, despite significant advances in cancer research and improvements in anticancer therapies. One of the major obstacles to curing cancer is the difficulty of achieving the complete annihilation of resistant cancer cells. The resistance of cancer cells may not only be due to intrinsic factors or factors acquired during the evolution of the tumor but may also be caused by chemotherapeutic treatment failure.

Therapy-Induced Modulation of the Tumor Microenvironment: New Opportunities for Cancer Therapies.

Advances in immunotherapy have achieved remarkable clinical outcomes in tumors with low curability, but their effects are limited, and increasing evidence has implicated tumoral and non-tumoral components of the tumor microenvironment as critical mediators of cancer progression. At the same time, the clinical successes achieved with minimally invasive and optically-guided surgery and image-guided and ablative radiation strategies have been successfully implemented in clinical care. More effective, localized and safer treatments have fueled strong research interest in radioimmunotherapy, which has shown the potential immunomodulatory effects of ionizing radiation.

Cold-inducible RNA binding protein promotes breast cancer cell malignancy by regulating Cystatin C levels.

Cold-inducible RNA binding protein (CIRBP) is a stress-responsive protein that promotes cancer development and inflammation. Critical to most CIRBP functions is its capacity to bind and posttranscriptionally modulate mRNA. However, a transcriptome-wide analysis of CIRBP mRNA targets in cancer has not yet been performed.

TSPAN1: A Novel Protein Involved in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Chemoresistance.

Sensitization of resistant cells and cancer stem cells (CSCs) represents a major challenge in cancer therapy. A proteomic study revealed tetraspanin-1 (TSPAN1) as a protein involved in acquisition of cisplatin (CDDP) resistance (Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD020159). TSPAN1 was found to increase in CDDP-resistant cells, CSCs and biopsies from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients.

Phosphoglycerate Mutase Cooperates with Chk1 Kinase to Regulate Glycolysis.

Dysregulated glycolysis, including the cancerous Warburg effect, is closely involved in pathological mechanisms of diseased states. Among glycolytic enzymes, phosphoglycerate mutase (PGAM) has been known to exert certain physiological impact in vitro, whereas its regulatory role on glycolysis remains unclear. Here, we identified that PGAM plays a key role in regulating glycolysis in cancer cells but not in standard cells.

Autophagy inhibition as a promising therapeutic target for laryngeal cancer.

To identify the putative relevance of autophagy in laryngeal cancer, we performed an immunohistochemistry study to analyze the expression of the proteins involved in this process, namely, LC3, ATG5 and p62/SQSTM1. Additionally, Prostate tumor-overexpressed gene 1 protein (PTOV1) was included due to its potential relevance in laryngeal cancer. Moreover, as cancer resistance might involve autophagy in some circumstances, we studied the intrinsic drug resistance capacity of primary tumor cultures derived from 13 laryngeal cancer biopsies and their expression levels of LC3, ATG5, p62 and PTOV1.

Otologic, audiometric and speech findings in patients undergoing surgery for cleft palate.

Background: Although considerable progress has been made in the last 30 years in the treatment of cleft palate (CP), a multidisciplinary approach combining examinations by a paediatrician, maxillofacial surgeon, otolaryngologist and speech and language pathologist followed by surgical operation is still required. In this work, we performed an observational cross-sectional study to determine whether the CP grade or number of ventilation tubes received was associated with tympanic membrane abnormalities, hearing loss or speech outcomes.

Methods: Otologic, audiometric, tympanometric and speech evaluations were performed in a cohort of 121 patients (children > 6 years) who underwent an operation for CP at the Vall d'Hebron Hospital, Barcelona from 2000 to 2014.

Common Metabolic Pathways Implicated in Resistance to Chemotherapy Point to a Key Mitochondrial Role in Breast Cancer.

Cancer cells are known to reprogram their metabolism to adapt to adverse conditions dictated by tumor growth and microenvironment. A subtype of cancer cells with stem-like properties, known as cancer stem cells (CSC), is thought to be responsible for tumor recurrence. In this study, we demonstrated that CSC and chemoresistant cells derived from triple negative breast cancer cells display an enrichment of up- and downregulated proteins from metabolic pathways that suggests their dependence on mitochondria for survival.

Expression patterns and bioinformatic analysis of miR-1260a and miR-1274a in Prostate Cancer Tunisian patients.

Currently, microRNAs (miRs) represent great biomarkers in cancer due to their stability and their potential role in diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. This study aims to evaluate the expression levels of miRs-1260 and -1274a in prostate cancer (PC) samples and to identify their eventual targets by using bioinformatic analysis. In this project, we evaluated the expression status of miRs-1260 and -1274a in 86 PC patients and 19 controls by using real-time quantitative PCR and 2 method.

miR-99a reveals two novel oncogenic proteins E2F2 and EMR2 and represses stemness in lung cancer.

Lung cancer is one of the most aggressive tumours with very low life expectancy. Altered microRNA expression is found in human tumours because it is involved in tumour growth, progression and metastasis. In this study, we analysed microRNA expression in 47 lung cancer biopsies.

Prostate Tumor Overexpressed-1 (PTOV1) promotes docetaxel-resistance and survival of castration resistant prostate cancer cells.

Metastatic prostate cancer is presently incurable. The oncogenic protein PTOV1, first described in prostate cancer, was reported as overexpressed and significantly correlated with poor survival in numerous tumors. Here, we investigated the role of PTOV1 in prostate cancer survival to docetaxel and self-renewal ability.