Bioinformatics-guided analysis uncovers TIGIT as an epigenetically regulated immunomodulator affecting immunotherapeutic sensitivity of gastric cancer

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Jianfei Ma

BACKGROUND: Immunomodulatory genes play significant roles in the regulation of immunological properties of gastric cancer, but the effect of epigenetic regulation of these genes on the immune properties is unknown. METHOD: I analyzed the methylation-expression correlation among all immunomodulators and compared with the non-immunomodulators. The association between epigenetically regulated immunomodulators (ERI) and tumor microenvironment is evaluated. A key immunomodulator TIGIT is further selected to investigate the potential value in the regulation of immunologic properties. Furthermore, the prognostic value and the immunotherapeutic potential of TIGIT are also explored. RESULT: Four genes are identified as ERIs based on the negative correlation between expression and methylation. Association analysis shows that three ERIs participate in the regulation of the immune microenvironment of gastric cancer. Among these ERIs, TIGIT is identified as a key immunomodulator. TIGIT is found to be significantly associated with immune properties. The high TIGIT expression group tends to display an active immune landscape. TIGIT expression is also found to be associated with survival and immunotherapeutic sensitivity. High TIGIT expression group has a favorable prognosis and is more likely to respond to immunotherapy than the low expression group. CONCLUSION: TIGIT is an epigenetically regulated immunomodulator of gastric cancer which can modify the immune activity and affect immunotherapeutic sensitivity. These findings can promote the research of epigenetic therapies and improve the survival of cancer patients by sensitizing tumors to immune therapies.

BMC Cancer ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simeng Zhang ◽  
Mengzhu Lv ◽  
Yu Cheng ◽  
Shuo Wang ◽  
Ce Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Advanced gastric cancer (AGC) is a disease with poor prognosis due to the current lack of effective therapeutic strategies. Immune checkpoint blockade treatments have shown effective responses in patient subgroups but biomarkers remain challenging. Traditional classification of gastric cancer (GC) is based on genomic profiling and molecular features. Therefore, it is critical to identify the immune-related subtypes and predictive markers by immuno-genomic profiling. Methods Single-sample gene-set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) and ESTIMATE algorithm were used to identify the immue-related subtypes of AGC in two independent GEO datasets. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and Molecular Complex Detection (MCODE) algorithm were applied to identify hub-network of immune-related subtypes. Hub genes were confirmed by prognostic data of KMplotter and GEO datasets. The value of hub-gene in predicting immunotherapeutic response was analyzed by IMvigor210 datasets. MTT assay, Transwell migration assay and Western blotting were performed to confirm the cellular function of hub gene in vitro. Results Three immune-related subtypes (Immunity_H, Immunity_M and Immunity_L) of AGC were identified in two independent GEO datasets. Compared to Immunity_L, the Immuntiy_H subtype showed higher immune cell infiltration and immune activities with favorable prognosis. A weighted gene co-expression network was constructed based on GSE62254 dataset and identified one gene module which was significantly correlated with the Immunity_H subtype. A Hub-network which represented high immune activities was extracted based on topological features and Molecular Complex Detection (MCODE) algorithm. Furthermore, ADAM like decysin 1 (ADAMDEC1) was identified as a seed gene among hub-network genes which is highly associated with favorable prognosis in both GSE62254 and external validation datasets. In addition, high expression of ADAMDEC1 correlated with immunotherapeutic response in IMvigor210 datasets. In vitro, ADAMDEC1 was confirmed as a potential protein in regulating proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cell. Deficiency of ADAMDEC1 of gastric cancer cell also associated with high expression of PD-L1 and Jurkat T cell apoptosis. Conclusions We identified immune-related subtypes and key tumor microenvironment marker in AGC which might facilitate the development of novel immune therapeutic targets.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (4_suppl) ◽  
pp. 66-66
Author(s):  
Koung Jin Suh ◽  
Jin Won Kim ◽  
Ji Eun Kim ◽  
Jiwon Koh ◽  
Ji-Won Kim ◽  
...  

66 Background: Peripheral regulatory T cells (pTregs) might involve in tumor immune microenvironment. We aim to evaluate the correlation between pTregs and tumor immune microenvironment. Methods: pTregs status was determined from assessment of the pTreg/total T cell ratio (ratio of Foxp3 Treg-specific demethylated region (TSDR) to CD3G/CD3D demethylation) through epigenetic pattern of bisulfite pyrosequencing in long-term stored peripheral blood of 442 gastric cancer patients who received curative surgery. Immunohistochemical staining of multiple immune-related markers including CD3, CD4, CD8, Foxp3, 1-selectin arginase, ADAM metallopeptidase domain 17, CD163 and CD45RO within tumor microenvironment were performed in resected gastric tumor specimen. Results: The median value of FoxP3-TSDR and CD3G/CD3D demethylation was 5.8% and 32.3%, respectively. When pTreg/total T cell ratio was divided into eight equal groups from the lowest to the highest value, the extreme pTreg/total T cell ratio of the upper eighth and the lower eighth was significantly associated with lower CD45RO expressed cell counts within tumor microenvironment. In terms of arginase and CD163, inverse results were observed. Patients with extreme pTreg/total T cell ratio had significantly shorter disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) compared to the patients with non-extreme pTreg/total T cell ratio. Multivariate analysis which included age, stage, lymphatic invasion, vascular invasion, and perineural invasion as covariates demonstrated that the extreme pTreg/total T cell ratio was an independent predictor for shorter DFS (HR 1.740, 95% CI 1.128 – 2.682; p = 0.012) and OS (HR 1.900, 95% CI 1.175 – 3.070; p = 0.003). Conclusions: Our results suggest that the pTreg/total T cell ratio determined by epigenetic methylation analysis is correlated with specific immune cell infiltration within tumor microenvironment in resected gastric tumors, and gives prognostic information in gastric cancer patients. pTreg/total T cell ratio could be an easy-obtained potential biomarker for prognosis and future immunotherapeutic treatment strategies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danyang Zhou

Abstract BackgroundThe prognosis of HER2+ early breast cancer is heterogeneous. AR, as an indicator of prognosis and treatment, is uncertain in HER2+ subtypes. We aimed to investigate the prognostic value of AR and the relationship between AR expression and immune microenvironment in HER2+ early breast invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC).MethodsHER2+ early breast IDC patients diagnosed by pathology who underwent surgery at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center from 2016 to 2017 were the main population. All patients included performed AR test and their clinicopathological data were collected. The disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated by the Kaplan–Meier method and Cox proportional hazards model. AR+ and AR- breast IDCs were matched 1:1 according to age, T stage and N stage for immune infiltration analysis.ResultsA total of 554 patients with HER2+ early breast cancer were included in this retrospective study, regardless of HR status. Taking 10% as the cutoff values of AR, 81.6% of patients were AR positive and 18.4% were AR negative. ER+ (P<0.001) and PR+ (P<0.001) had significant relations with the positive expression of AR. Kaplan-Meier survival curves analysis suggested that AR had close links with OS (P=0.001), not DFS (P=0.051). Eliminating the potential impact caused by HR, AR also predicted a longer OS (P=0.014) and AR was an independent impact factor for OS by multivariate analysis (P=0.036) in HER2+HR- early breast IDC patients. In AR+ and AR- matched HER2+HR- patients, TILs (P=0.043) and PD-L1 (P=0.027) is significantly low in AR+ patients. The strongest negative correlation was observed between AR and PD-L1 (Pearson’s r =-0.299, P=0.001). AR+ seemed to trend a favorable clinical survival in HER2+HR- IDCs with low TILs or positive PD-L1.ConclusionsAR+ were markedly related to the better OS in HER2+HR- early breast cancer, while the negative correlation was observed between AR and PD-L1/TILs. We provided new insights for the prognostic value and immune microenvironment association of AR to optimize treatment strategies in HER2+ early breast IDCs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e001638
Author(s):  
Qi-Hua Peng ◽  
Chun-Hua Wang ◽  
Hong-Min Chen ◽  
Rong-Xin Zhang ◽  
Zhi-Zhong Pan ◽  
...  

BackgroundCKLF-like MARVEL transmembrane domain-containing 6 (CMTM6), a programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) regulator, is widely expressed in various tumors and regulates the immune microenvironment. However, its prognostic value remains controversial, and the roles of CMTM6 in colorectal cancer (CRC) are still unknown. In this study, we aimed to elaborate the expression patterns of CMTM6 and PD-L1 in CRC and investigate their relationship with the infiltration of T cells and the prognosis of patients with CRC.MethodsAnalysis of CMTM6 mRNA levels, gene ontology enrichment analysis and single-sample gene set enrichment analysis were performed in a The Cancer Genome Atlas colon cancer cohort. The expression of CMTM6 and PD-L1 and the infiltration of T cells in tumor tissues from our cohort containing 156 patients with CRC receiving adjuvant chemotherapy and 77 patients with CRC without chemotherapy were examined by immunohistochemistry assay.ResultsCMTM6 expression was upregulated in CRC compared with normal colon tissues, and CMTM6 levels were lower in advanced tumors than in early-stage tumors. High expression of CMTM6 correlated with lower pT stage and more CD4+/CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and predicted a favorable prognosis in CRC. PD-L1 was expressed in CRC tissues at a low level, and PD-L1 positivity in tumor stroma (PD-L1(TS)), but not PD-L1 positivity in cancer cells (PD-L1(CC)), was associated with an increased density of CD4+ TILs and a favorable prognosis. The coexpression status of CMTM6 and PD-L1(TS) divided patients with CRC into three groups with low, moderate and high risks of progression and death, and patients with CMTM6High/PD-L1(TS)+ status had the longest survival. Moreover, the prognostic value of CMTM6/PD-L1 expression was more significant in patients with CRC treated with adjuvant chemotherapy than in those not treated with chemotherapy.ConclusionCMTM6 has a critical impact on the immune microenvironment and can be used as an independent prognostic factor for CRC. The coexpression status of CMTM6 and PD-L1 can be used as a new classification to stratify the risk of progression and death for patients with CRC, especially for patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. These findings may provide insights into improving responses to immunotherapy-included comprehensive treatment for CRC in the future.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simeng Zhang ◽  
Mengzhu Lv ◽  
Yu Cheng ◽  
Shuo Wang ◽  
Ce Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Advanced gastric cancer (AGC) is a disease with poor prognosis due to the current lack of effective therapeutic strategies. Immune checkpoint blockade treatments have shown effective responses in patient subgroups but biomarkers remain challenging. Traditional classification of gastric cancer (GC) is based on genomic profiling and molecular features. Therefore, it is critical to identify the immune-related subtypes and predictive markers by immuno-genomic profiling. Methods: Single-sample gene-set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) and ESTIMATE algorithm were used to identify the immue-related subtypes of AGC in two independent GEO datasets. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and Molecular Complex Detection (MCODE) algorithm were applied to identify hub-network of immune-related subtypes. Hub genes were confirmed by prognostic data of KMplotter and GEO datasets. MTT assay, Transwell migration assay and Western blotting were performed to confirm the cellular function of hub gene in vitro. Results: Three immune-related subtypes (Immunity_H, Immunity_M and Immunity_L) of AGC were identified in two independent GEO datasets. Compared to Immunity_L, the Immuntiy_H subtype showed higher immune cell infiltration and immune activities with favorable prognosis. A weighted gene co-expression network was constructed based on GSE62254 dataset and identified one gene module which was significantly correlated with the Immunity_H subtype. A Hub-network which represented high immune activities was extracted based on topological features and Molecular Complex Detection (MCODE) algorithm. Furthermore, ADAM like decysin 1 (ADAMDEC1) was identified as a seed gene among hub-network genes which is highly associated with favorable prognosis in both GSE62254 and external validation datasets. In vitro, ADAMDEC1 was confirmed as a potential protein in regulating proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cell. Deficiency of ADAMDEC1 of gastric cancer cell also associated with high expression of PD-L1 and Jurkat T cell apoptosis. Conclusions: We identified immune-related subtypes and key tumor microenvironment marker in AGC which might facilitate the development of novel immune therapeutic targets.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Shan-Shan Luo ◽  
Xi-Wen Liao ◽  
Xiao-Dong Zhu

Except for excision repair cross-complementing 1 (ERCC1), mRNA expression of the remaining ERCC genes has not been investigated in the prognosis of gastric cancer (GC). The present study aimed to explore the mRNA expression and prognostic values of each member of the ERCC family in GC patients by using the Kaplan–Meier (KM) plotter tool. The details of each ERCC family member were entered into a database and GC patients were separated into high and low expression to draw survival plots using the KM plotter. In the present study, we observed that high expression of ERCC1 mRNA was significantly associated with longer overall survival (OS) for all GC patients (hazard ratio [HR]=0.77, 95% confidence intervals [CI]=0.63–0.95, P=0.016) compared with low expression. High expression of ERCC4 and ERCC6 mRNA indicated a worse OS for all GC patients (HR=1.28, 95% CI=1.02–1.6, P=0.035 and HR=1.25, 95% CI=1.02–1.54, P=0.029, respectively) and especially for patients with intestinal-type GC (HR=1.87, 95% CI=1.26–2.79, P=0.0018 and HR=1.62, 95% CI=1.04–2.54, P=0.033, respectively). High ERCC8 mRNA expression indicated a worse OS for all GC patients (HR=1.34, 95% CI=1.02–1.76, P=0.034) and especially for patients with diffuse-type GC (HR=2.25, 95% CI=1.36–3.75, P=0.0013). In conclusion, our findings indicate that ERCC4, ERCC6, and ERCC8 may be potential biomarkers for GC prognosis and may serve as potential therapeutic targets for GC. However, these findings still need further verification.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Haimeng Li ◽  
Yibo Zhang ◽  
Shangyong Zheng

Background. The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a crucial role in the initiation and progression of cancer. Bladder cancer (BLCA) is a malignant tumor of the genitourinary system. Its heterogeneity results in significant differences in the prognosis of patients. To date, this is still a huge challenge for clinical treatment. In recent years, more and more evidence showed that dysregulation of transcription factors (TFs) plays an important role in tumor progression, invasion, and metastasis. Unfortunately, the role of TFs on the tumor microenvironment in bladder cancer is unclear. Methods. The original data of BLCA and corresponding adjacent tissues were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. TFs were downloaded from the Animal Transcription Factor DataBase (Animal TFDB). Intersection analysis was used to obtain TFs that were differentially expressed between tumor and adjacent tissues. Gene Set Cancer Analysis (GSCALite) and CIBERSORT software were used to reveal the key differentially expressed TFs (DE-TFs). Subsequently, UALCAN and Human Protein Atlas (HPA) databases were used to disclose the expression of key DE-TFs in BLCA. The K - M curve divulged the relationship between the key DE-TFs and the patient’s overall survival (OS), and the univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were conducted to explore independent prognostic factors. The cluster profiler package and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) were used for functional enrichment of genes related to the key DE-TFs. Finally, CIBERSORT software analyzed the immune landscape of BLCA. Results. We obtained a total of 117 BLCA-related DE-TFs. Among them, ETV7 was identified as the key DE-TFs due to its association with the autophagy activation pathway and various immune cells in cancer. Online databases of UALCAN and HPA indicated that ETV7 was overexpressed in tumors and negatively correlated with tumor severity. The K - M curve showed that the OS of patients with high expression of ETV7 was poor, which indicated that it was an independent prognostic factor. Functional enrichment of 87 DEGs between ETV7-high and -low expression groups indicated that it was closely related to the immune response and the functions of a variety of immune cells. Finally, CIBERSORT results proved that the high and low expression of ETV7 also caused significant differences in the tumor immune microenvironment of patients. Conclusion. Overall, we proved that the transcription factor ETV7 was a novel prognostic factor, which may improve the individualized outcome prediction in BLCA by regulating the tumor immune microenvironment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yangming Hou ◽  
Yingjuan Xu ◽  
Dequan Wu

AbstractThe infiltration degree of immune and stromal cells has been shown clinically significant in tumor microenvironment (TME). However, the utility of stromal and immune components in Gastric cancer (GC) has not been investigated in detail. In the present study, ESTIMATE and CIBERSORT algorithms were applied to calculate the immune/stromal scores and the proportion of tumor-infiltrating immune cell (TIC) in GC cohort, including 415 cases from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened by Cox proportional hazard regression analysis and protein–protein interaction (PPI) network construction. Then ADAMTS12 was regarded as one of the most predictive factors. Further analysis showed that ADAMTS12 expression was significantly higher in tumor samples and correlated with poor prognosis. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) indicated that in high ADAMTS12 expression group gene sets were mainly enriched in cancer and immune-related activities. In the low ADAMTS12 expression group, the genes were enriched in the oxidative phosphorylation pathway. CIBERSORT analysis for the proportion of TICs revealed that ADAMTS12 expression was positively correlated with Macrophages M0/M1/M2 and negatively correlated with T cells follicular helper. Therefore, ADAMTS12 might be a tumor promoter and responsible for TME status and tumor energy metabolic conversion.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1820
Author(s):  
Chengcheng Hao ◽  
Yuxin Cui ◽  
Jane Lane ◽  
Shuqin Jia ◽  
Jiafu Ji ◽  
...  

Background: Osteopontin (OPN) splice variants are identified as predictors of tumour progression and therapeutic resistance in certain types of solid tumours. However, their roles in gastric cancer (GC) remain poorly characterized. The current study sought to assess the prognostic value of the three OPN splice variants (namely OPN-a, OPN-b, and OPN-c) in gastric cancer and their potential functions within gastric cancer cells. Methods: RNA extraction and reverse transcription were performed using our clinical cohort of gastric carcinomas and matched normal tissues (n = 324 matched pairs). Transcript levels were determined using real-time quantitative PCR. Three OPN splice variants overexpressed cell lines were created from the gastric cancer cell line HGC-27. Subsequently, biological functions, including cell growth, adhesion, migration, and invasion, were studied. The potential effects of OPN isoforms on cisplatin and 5-Fu were evaluated by detecting cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in the HGC-27-derived cell lines. Results: Compared with normal tissues, the expression levels of three splice variants were all elevated in gastric cancer tissues in an order of OPN-a > OPN-b > OPN-c. The OPN-a level significantly increased with increasing TNM staging and worse clinical outcome. There appeared to be a downregulation for OPN-c in increasing lymph node status (p < 0.05), increasing TNM staging, and poor differentiation. High levels of OPN-a and OPN-b were correlated with short overall survival and disease-free survival of gastric cancer patients. However, the low expression of OPN-c was significantly associated with a poor prognosis. Functional analyses further showed that ectopic expression of OPN-c suppressed in vitro proliferation, adhesiveness, migration, and invasion properties of HGC-27 cells, while the opposite role was seen for OPN-a. Cellular ROS detection indicated that OPN-a and OPN-c significantly promoted ROS production after treatment with 5-Fu comparing to OPN-vector, while only OPN-a markedly induced ROS production after treatment with cisplatin. Conclusion: Our results suggest that OPN splice variants have distinguished potential to predict the prognosis of gastric cancer. Three OPN variants exert distinctive functions in gastric cancer cells. Focusing on specific OPN isoforms could be a novel direction for developing diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in gastric cancer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-432
Author(s):  
Hidetoshi Mori ◽  
Jennifer Bolen ◽  
Louis Schuetter ◽  
Pierre Massion ◽  
Clifford C. Hoyt ◽  
...  

AbstractMultiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) allows simultaneous antibody-based detection of multiple markers with a nuclear counterstain on a single tissue section. Recent studies have demonstrated that mIF is becoming an important tool for immune profiling the tumor microenvironment, further advancing our understanding of the interplay between cancer and the immune system, and identifying predictive biomarkers of response to immunotherapy. Expediting mIF discoveries is leading to improved diagnostic panels, whereas it is important that mIF protocols be standardized to facilitate their transition into clinical use. Manual processing of sections for mIF is time consuming and a potential source of variability across numerous samples. To increase reproducibility and throughput we demonstrate the use of an automated slide stainer for mIF incorporating tyramide signal amplification (TSA). We describe two panels aimed at characterizing the tumor immune microenvironment. Panel 1 included CD3, CD20, CD117, FOXP3, Ki67, pancytokeratins (CK), and DAPI, and Panel 2 included CD3, CD8, CD68, PD-1, PD-L1, CK, and DAPI. Primary antibodies were first tested by standard immunohistochemistry and single-plex IF, then multiplex panels were developed and images were obtained using a Vectra 3.0 multispectral imaging system. Various methods for image analysis (identifying cell types, determining cell densities, characterizing cell-cell associations) are outlined. These mIF protocols will be invaluable tools for immune profiling the tumor microenvironment.


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