Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most lethal cancer in humans, with a 5-year survival rate of <5%. Recently, glypican-1 (GPC1)-expressing circulating exosomes were found to be a promising diagnostic tool for PDAC. However, the aberrant expression of GPC1 has not been systematically evaluated in large-scale clinical samples of PDAC. Here, we performed a comprehensive analysis of GPC1 mRNA and protein expression features. Included in this study were 178 PDAC patients from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) and 186 subjects whose tissues were used in immunohistochemical staining assays. We demonstrated that GPC1 mRNA was silenced in normal pancreata; however, it was re-expressed in PDAC tissues probably because of the promoter hypomethylation. The GPC1 protein was barely expressed in the normal and adjacent noncancerous pancreata. In tumor tissues, 59.7% (111/186) of the detected samples showed positive expression. Notably, GPC1 was elevated in 63.6% (34/55) of early stage cases. High levels of GPC1 were associated with poorer differentiation and larger tumor diameters. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a significant difference in overall survival between the groups categorized by GPC1 expression (P = 0.0028). Multivariate analyses indicated that GPC1 was a significant risk factor for poor overall survival with a 1.82-fold increase in the hazard ratio (P = 0.0022). In conclusion, during pancreatic tumorigenesis, GPC1 was ectopically expressed and served as an independent poor prognostic factor. Our findings highlighted the alluring prospect of GPC1 as an early diagnostic and prognostic marker as well as a therapeutic target for PDAC. Cancer Medicine Open Access 1182

PurposeEsophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a serious malignant tumor that affects human health. We analyzed the correlation between serum stathmin level and ESCC and elucidated the molecular mechanisms of stathmin's promotion of ESCC cell invasion and metastasis.MethodsStathmin level in ESCC and healthy control serum were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the clinical parameters were analyzed. We established ESCC cells with stathmin overexpression or knockdown and then evaluated the effects of stathmin on invasion and metastasis in ESCC. Differentially expressed genes were analyzed by Human Transcriptome Array and confirmed by RT-PCR. The expression levels of the integrin family, focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) were detected by immunoblotting.ResultsSerum levels of stathmin were significantly higher in ESCC than in control serum and associated with lymph node metastasis, tumor stage and size. Furthermore, we found that stathmin promoted migration and invasion of ESCC cells in vitro and in vivo. In addition, we confirmed that the activation of the integrinα5β1/FAK/ERK pathway is increased in stathmin-overexpression cells and accelerates cell motility by enhancing cell adhesion ability.ConclusionStathmin may predict a potential metastasis biomarker for ESCC.

Sugar transporters of the SWEET family mediate cross membrane movement of mono- and disaccharides and play vital roles in diverse physiological and pathophysiological processes, including sink–source relationship, pathogen responses, reproductive growth, and development. However, it remains to be determined how these transporters function in non-module plants of agricultural significance, given the evolutionarily diverse traits. In this study, we combined transcriptome analysis, rapid amplification of cDNA ends-cloning (RACE-cloning), expression profiling, and heterologous functional assay to identify SWEET genes that may have potential roles during flower opening and sexual reproduction in Jasminum sambac . During the anthesis, the floral organs of J. sambac express seven SWEET homologous genes from all four clades of the family. JsSWEET9 and 2 are significantly upregulated when flowers are fully opened, up to 6- and 3-fold compared to unopened buds, respectively. The other transporters, JsSWEET1, 5, 10, and 17 are also accumulated slightly at stage associated with fragrance release, whereas only the vacuole transporter JsSWEET16 showed small decrease in transcript level after anthesis. The JsSWEET5, a clade II member, is capable to complement yeast cell uptake on most tested sugar substrates with a preference for hexoses, while the clade I transporter JsSWEET1 mediates merely galactose import when expressed in yeast. Our results provide first evidence for further investigation on sugar transport and allocation during flowering and reproductive processes in J. sambac.

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