Lymph node metastasis is the major concern that causes death in colorectal cancers. However, biomarkers for cancer metastasis are still lacking. In this study, we applied an LC-MS/MS-based label-free quantitative proteomics approach to compare the differential secretome of a primary cell line SW480 and its lymph node metastatic cell line SW620 from the same colorectal cancer patient. We identified a total of 910 proteins from the conditioned media and 145 differential proteins between SW480 and SW620 (>1.5-fold change). The differential expression pattern of 6 candidate proteins was validated by Western blot analysis. Among them, trefoil factor 3 and growth/differentiation factor 15, two up-regulated proteins in SW620, were further analyzed in a large cohort of clinical tissue and serum samples. Sandwich ELISA assay showed that the serum levels of both proteins were significantly higher in lymph node metastatic colorectal cancers. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis confirmed that serum trefoil factor 3 and growth/differentiation factor 15 could provide a discriminatory diagnostic test for predicting colorectal cancer metastasis. Immunohistochemical analysis also showed that the overexpression of trefoil factor 3 or growth/differentiation factor 15 in colorectal cancer was associated with lymph node metastatic behavior. This study showed an accurate, sensitive, and robust label-free quantitation approach for differential analysis of cancer secretome. The comparison of the cancer secretome in vitro is a feasible strategy to obtain valuable biomarkers for potential clinical application. Both trefoil factor 3 and growth/differentiation factor 15 could serve as potential biomarkers for the prediction of colorectal cancer metastasis.
To address the association between variants and breast cancer, an increasing number of articles on genetic association studies, genome-wide association studies (GWASs), and related meta- and pooled analyses have been published. Such studies have prompted an updated assessment of the associations between gene variants and breast cancer risk. We searched PubMed, Medline, and Web of Science and retrieved a total of 87 meta- and pooled analyses, which addressed the associations between 145 gene variants and breast cancer. Analyses met the following criteria: (1) breast cancer was the outcome, (2) the articles were all published in English, and (3) in the recent published meta- and pooled analyses, the analyses with more subjects were selected. Among the 145 variants, 46 were significantly associated with breast cancer and the other 99 (in 62 genes) were not significantly associated with breast cancer. The summary ORs for the 46 significant associations (P < 0.05) were further assessed by the method of false-positive report probability (FPRP). Our results demonstrated that 10 associations were noteworthy: CASP8 (D302H), CHEK2 (*1100delC), CTLA4 (+49G>A), FGFR2 (rs2981582, rs1219648, and rs2420946), HRAS (rare alleles), IL1B (rs1143627), LSP1 (rs3817198), and MAP3K1 (rs889312). In addition, eight GWASs were identified, in which 25 loci were obtained (14 in nine genes, six near a gene or genes, and five intergenic loci). Of the 25 SNPs, 20 were noteworthy: C6orf97 (rs2046210 and rs3757318), FGFR2 (rs2981579, rs1219648, and rs2981582), LSP1 (rs909116), RNF146 (rs2180341), SLC4A7 (rs4973768), MRPS30 (rs7716600), TOX3 (rs3803662 and rs4784227), ZNF365 (rs10995190), rs889312, rs614367, rs13281615, rs13387042, rs11249433, rs1011970, rs614367, and rs1562430. In summary, in this review of genetic association studies, 31.7% of the gene-variant breast cancer associations were significant, and 21.7% of these significant associations were noteworthy. However, in GWASs, 80% of the significant associations were noteworthy.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, and metastasis is the principle reason for its poor prognosis. Overexpression of high-mobility gene group A2 (HMGA2) contributes to the aggressiveness of CRC. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of its overexpression is still elusive. In this study, we showed that ectopic expression of HMGA2 significantly enhanced cell migration and invasion in vitro and promoted tumor growth and distant metastasis in vivo In contrast, the silencing of HMGA2 produced the opposite effects in vitro and in vivo Chromatin immunoprecipitation-PCR and luciferase assays revealed that HMGA2 bound directly to the promoters of FN1 and IL11 and significantly induced their transcriptional activities. Moreover, as the direct downstream target of HMGA2, IL11 modulated cell migration and invasion through a pSTAT3-dependent signaling pathway. Furthermore, a strong positive correlation between HMGA2 and IL11 expression was identified in 122 CRC tissues. High IL11 expression was associated with poor differentiation, a large tumor size, lymph node metastasis and low overall survival in CRC patients. Collectively, our data reveal novel insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying HMGA2-mediated CRC metastasis and highlight the possibility of targeting HMGA2 and IL11 for treating CRC patients with metastasis.
Apc(Min/+) mouse, a mouse model for human familial adenomatosis polyposis, contains a truncating mutation in the Apc gene and spontaneously develops intestinal tumors. Our previous study revealed two distinct stages of tumorigenesis in the colon of Apc(Min/+) mouse: microadenomas and macroscopic tumors. Microadenomas already have lost their remaining allele of the Apc and all microadenomas show accumulation of beta-catenin, indicating that activation of the canonical Wnt pathway is an initiating event in the tumorigenesis. This study shows that expression of nuclear beta-catenin in macroscopic tumors is further upregulated in comparison with that in microadenomas. Furthermore, transcriptional activity of beta-catenin/T-cell factor (Tcf) signaling, assessed using beta-catenin/Tcf reporter transgenic mice, is higher in the macroscopic tumors than that in microadenomas. In addition, the expression level of Dickkopf-1, which is known to be a negative modifier of the canonical Wnt pathway, was reduced only in colon tumors. These results suggest that activation of beta-catenin/Tcf transcription plays a role not only in the initiation stage but also in the promotion stage of colon carcinogenesis in Apc(Min/+) mice.
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