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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Oxford University Press (OUP)  

Abstract

Inflammation and aberrant cellular metabolism are widely recognized as hallmarks of cancer. In pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), inflammatory signaling and metabolic reprogramming are tightly interwoven, playing pivotal roles in the pathogenesis and progression of the disease. However, the regulatory functions of inflammatory mediators in metabolic reprogramming in pancreatic cancer have not been fully explored. Earlier, we demonstrated that pro-inflammatory mediator macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) enhances disease progression by inhibiting its downstream transcriptional factor nuclear receptor subfamily 3 group C member 2 (NR3C2). Here, we provide evidence that MIF and NR3C2 interactively regulate metabolic reprogramming, resulting in MIF-induced cancer growth and progression in PDAC. MIF positively correlates with the HK1 (hexokinase 1), HK2 (hexokinase 2) and LDHA (lactate dehydrogenase) expression and increased pyruvate and lactate production in PDAC patients. Additionally, MIF augments glucose uptake and lactate efflux by upregulating HK1, HK2 and LDHA expression in pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and in mouse models of PDAC. Conversely, a reduction in HK1, HK2 and LDHA expression is observed in tumors with high NR3C2 expression in PDAC patients. NR3C2 suppresses HK1, HK2 and LDHA expression, thereby inhibiting glucose uptake and lactate efflux in pancreatic cancer. Mechanistically, MIF-mediated regulation of glycolytic metabolism involves the activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase–ERK signaling pathway, whereas NR3C2 interacts with the activator protein 1 to regulate glycolysis. Our findings reveal an interactive role of the MIF/NR3C2 axis in regulating glucose metabolism supporting tumor growth and progression and may be a potential target for designing novel approaches for improving disease outcome.

DOI： 10.1093/carcin/bgae025

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Other Link： https://academic.oup.com/carcin/article-pdf/45/8/582/58760143/bgae025.pdf

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

DOI： 10.1172/jci.insight.170105

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>
<jats:p>Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal malignancy and is largely refractory to available treatments. Identifying key pathways associated with disease aggressiveness and therapeutic resistance may characterize candidate targets to improve patient outcomes. We used a strategy of examining the tumors from a subset of PDAC patient cohorts with the worst survival to understand the underlying mechanisms of aggressive disease progression and to identify candidate molecular targets with potential therapeutic significance. Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) clustering, using gene expression profile, revealed three patient subsets. A 142-gene signature specific to the subset with the worst patient survival, predicted prognosis and stratified patients with significantly different survival in the test and validation cohorts. Gene-network and pathway analysis of the 142-gene signature revealed dysregulation of Clusterin (CLU) in the most aggressive patient subset in our patient cohort. Hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 b (HNF1B) positively regulated CLU, and a lower expression of HNF1B and CLU was associated with poor patient survival. Mechanistic and functional analyses revealed that CLU inhibits proliferation, 3D spheroid growth, invasiveness and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in pancreatic cancer cell lines. Mechanistically, CLU enhanced proteasomal degradation of EMT-regulator, ZEB1. In addition, orthotopic transplant of CLU-expressing pancreatic cancer cells reduced tumor growth in mice. Furthermore, CLU enhanced sensitivity of pancreatic cancer cells representing aggressive patient subset, to the chemotherapeutic drug gemcitabine. Taken together, HNF1B/CLU axis negatively regulates pancreatic cancer progression and may potentially be useful in designing novel strategies to attenuate disease progression in PDAC patients.</jats:p>

DOI： 10.1093/carcin/bgac092

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Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)  

Abstract

Some patients experience mixed response to immunotherapy, whose biological mechanisms and clinical impact have been obscure. We obtained two tumor samples from lymph node (LN) metastatic lesions in a same patient. Whole exome sequencing for the both tumors and single-cell sequencing for the both tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) demonstrated a significant difference in tumor clonality and TILs’ characteristics, especially exhausted T cell clonotypes, although a close relationship between the tumor cell and T cell clones were observed as a response of an overlapped exhausted T cell clone to an overlapped neoantigen. To mimic the clinical setting, we generated a mouse model of several clones from a same tumor cell line. Similarly, differential tumor clones harbored distinct TILs, and one responded to PD-1 blockade but the other did not in this model. We further conducted cohort study (n = 503) treated with PD-1 blockade monotherapies to investigate the outcome of mixed response. Patients with mixed responses to PD-1 blockade had a poor prognosis in our cohort. Particularly, there were significant differences in both tumor and T cell clones between the primary and LN lesions in a patient who experienced tumor response to anti-PD-1 mAb followed by disease progression in only LN metastasis. Our results underscore that intertumoral heterogeneity alters characteristics of TILs even in the same patient, leading to mixed response to immunotherapy and significant difference in the outcome.

DOI： 10.1158/2767-9764.crc-22-0050

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Elsevier {BV}  

DOI： 10.1016/j.ccell.2022.01.001

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer Science and Business Media {LLC}  

DOI： 10.1007/s10120-021-01174-9

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：American Society of Hematology  

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>
<jats:p>Classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) responds markedly to PD-1 blockade therapy, and the clinical responses are reportedly dependent on expression of major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II). This dependence is different from other solid tumors, in which the MHC class I (MHC-I)/CD8+ T-cell axis plays a critical role. In this study, we investigated the role of the MHC-II/CD4+ T-cell axis in the antitumor effect of PD-1 blockade on cHL. In cHL, MHC-I expression was frequently lost, but MHC-II expression was maintained. CD4+ T cells highly infiltrated the tumor microenvironment of MHC-II–expressing cHL, regardless of MHC-I expression status. Consequently, CD4+ T-cell, but not CD8+ T-cell, infiltration was a good prognostic factor in cHL, and PD-1 blockade showed antitumor efficacy against MHC-II–expressing cHL associated with CD4+ T-cell infiltration. Murine lymphoma and solid tumor models revealed the critical role of antitumor effects mediated by CD4+ T cells: an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody exerted antitumor effects on MHC-I−MHC-II+ tumors but not on MHC-I−MHC-II− tumors, in a cytotoxic CD4+ T-cell–dependent manner. Furthermore, LAG-3, which reportedly binds to MHC-II, was highly expressed by tumor-infiltrating CD4+ T cells in MHC-II–expressing tumors. Therefore, the combination of LAG-3 blockade with PD-1 blockade showed a far stronger antitumor immunity compared with either treatment alone. We propose that PD-1 blockade therapies have antitumor effects on MHC-II–expressing tumors such as cHL that are mediated by cytotoxic CD4+ T cells and that LAG-3 could be a candidate for combination therapy with PD-1 blockade.</jats:p>

DOI： 10.1182/bloodadvances.2020002098

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Authorship：Lead author,　Corresponding author   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Spandidos Publications  

DOI： 10.3892/or.2020.7669

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer Science and Business Media LLC  

DOI： 10.1007/s00428-019-02535-7

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Other Link： http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00428-019-02535-7.pdf

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Society for Free Radical Research Japan  

DOI： 10.3164/jcbn.18-91

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Authorship：Lead author,　Corresponding author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Elsevier BV  

DOI： 10.1016/j.mmcr.2018.02.002

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Authorship：Lead author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Impact Journals, LLC  

DOI： 10.18632/oncotarget.24892

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Authorship：Lead author,　Corresponding author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Wiley  

p16 activation caused by oncogenic mutations may represent oncogene‐induced senescence (OIS), a protective mechanism against oncogenic events. However, OIS can contribute to tumor development via tissue remodeling in some tumors. Erdheim–Chester disease (ECD), a rare non‐Langerhans cell histiocytosis, is one such tumor. Its clinical and histological features vary, making it difficult to diagnose. Herein, we describe an autopsy of an ECD patient. The patient underwent radiological examinations, including ¹⁸F‐fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)‐positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), bone scintigraphy and CT. A biopsy from the lesion with the highest FDG accumulation confirmed the presence of foamy macrophages, a diagnostic clue for ECD. Based on this finding and the clinical features, ECD was diagnosed. However, the patient died from heart dysfunction. After the autopsy, each radiologically different site showed various histological findings regarding the morphology of macrophages, fibrosis, inflammation, and p16 expression. OIS‐induced histological progression can cause certain changes observed in radiological images. In addition, in order to evaluate the increase in glucose metabolism, which can affect FDG accumulation, the expression of glucose transporter 1 and hexokinase II was also analyzed. Summarizing the radio‐histological correlation can help further both the understanding and diagnosis of ECD.

DOI： 10.1111/pin.12663

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Authorship：Lead author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Wiley  

Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a rare but socially important neoplasm due to its association with asbestos exposure. Malignant mesothelioma is difficult to diagnose at an early stage, yet there are no particularly effective treatments available at the advanced stage, thus necessitating efficient strategies to prevent MM in individuals already exposed to asbestos. We previously showed that persistent oxidative damage caused by foreign body reaction and affinity of asbestos both to hemoglobin and histones is one of the major pathogeneses. Accordingly, as an effective strategy to prevent asbestos‐induced MM, we undertook the use of an iron chelator, deferasirox, which decreased the epithelial–mesenchymal transition in a crocidolite‐induced rat MM model. However, this agent may show adverse effects. Here, we studied the effects of iron removal by phlebotomy as a realistic measure on the same rat model. We injected a total of 5 mg crocidolite i.p. to F1 hybrid rats between the Fischer‐344 and Brown‐Norway strains at the age of 6 weeks. We repeated weekly or biweekly phlebotomy of 6‐8 mL/kg/time from 10 to 60 weeks of age. The animals were observed until 120 weeks. In male rats, phlebotomy significantly decreased the weight and nuclear grade of MM, and modestly reduced the associated ascites and the fraction of more malignant sarcomatoid subtype. Weekly phlebotomy prolonged long‐term survival. Our results indicate that appropriate phlebotomy may be a practical preventive measure to attenuate the initiation and promotion capacity of asbestos towards MM by reducing iron in individuals exposed to asbestos.

DOI： 10.1111/cas.13460

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Wiley  

Aims

Ossification is found occasionally in dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLPS). The aims of this study were to elucidate whether the formed bone tissue is usually produced by tumour cells or by reactive non‐neoplastic cells, and to reveal the clinicopathological characteristics of DDLPS with ossification.

Methods and results

We examined 36 cases of ossified DDLPS by comparing them to 31 cases of non‐ossified DDLPS. MDM2 amplification was confirmed in osteocytes and/or osteoblastic cells in all but one ossified DDLPS cases (27 of 28) using fluorescence in‐situ hybridisation, although the morphological impression of ossification appeared to be mainly metaplastic (27 of 36) or high‐grade osteosarcoma‐like (six of 36). The bone tissue was often formed predominantly at the periphery of the DDLPS area near the well‐differentiated liposarcoma component (18 of 36), and an organised structure such as bone marrow‐like differentiation was not uncommon (12 of 36). According to a modified French Fédération Nationale des Centers de Lutte Contre le Cancer (FNCLCC) grading system, ossified DDLPS tended to be lower grade than non‐ossified DDLPS (mean grade: 1.88 and 2.15, respectively). Ossification in DDLPS was associated significantly with shorter local recurrence‐free survival by multivariate analysis (P = 0.02347), but metaplastic‐appearing ossification tended to be associated with longer overall survival (P = 0.1400).

Conclusions

The bone tissue formed in DDLPS was mainly neoplastic regardless of its morphology and maturity, which highlighted the osteogenic differentiation of the tumour cells. DDLPS patients with osteogenic differentiation tended to suffer from earlier local recurrences, which did not necessarily lead to poor life outcomes.

DOI： 10.1111/his.13421

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Elsevier BV  

DOI： 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2017.02.011

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Impact Journals, LLC  

DOI： 10.18632/oncotarget.11829

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Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Wiley  

Asbestos‐induced mesothelial carcinogenesis is currently a profound social issue due to its extremely long incubation period and high mortality rate. Therefore, procedures to prevent malignant mesothelioma in people already exposed to asbestos are important. In previous experiments, we established an asbestos‐induced rat peritoneal mesothelioma model, which revealed that local iron overload is a major cause of pathogenesis and that the induced genetic alterations are similar to human counterparts. Furthermore, we showed that oral administration of deferasirox modified the histology from sarcomatoid to the more favorable epithelioid subtype. Here, we used i.p. administration of desferal to evaluate its effects on asbestos‐induced peritoneal inflammation and iron deposition, as well as oxidative stress. Nitrilotriacetate was used to promote an iron‐catalyzed Fenton reaction as a positive control. Desferal significantly decreased peritoneal fibrosis, iron deposition, and nuclear 8‐hydroxy‐2′‐deoxyguanosine levels in mesothelial cells, whereas nitrilotriacetate significantly increased all of them. Desferal was more effective in rat peritoneal mesothelial cells to counteract asbestos‐induced cytotoxicity than in murine macrophages (RAW264.7). Furthermore, rat sarcomatoid mesothelioma cells were more dependent on iron for proliferation than rat peritoneal mesothelial cells. Because inflammogenicity of a fiber is proportionally associated with subsequent mesothelial carcinogenesis, iron elimination from the mesothelial environment can confer dual merits for preventing asbestos‐induced mesothelial carcinogenesis by suppressing inflammation and mesothelial proliferation simultaneously.

DOI： 10.1111/cas.12947

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Other Link： https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/cas.12947

Language：Japanese   Publisher：(一社)日本病理学会  

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：(一社)日本病理学会  

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