The establishment of kidney cancer organoid line in drug testing.

INTRODUCTION: Kidney cancer is a common urological malignancy worldwide with an increasing incidence in recent years. Among all subtypes, renal cell carcinoma (RCC) represents the most predominant malignancy in kidney. Clinicians faced a major challenge to select the most effective and suitable treatment regime for patients from a wide range of modalities, despite improved understanding and diagnosis of RCC. OBJECTIVE: Recently, organoid culture gained more interest as the 3D model is shown to be highly patient specific which is hypothetically beneficial to the investigation of precision medicine. Nonetheless, the development and application of organotypic culture in RCC is still immature, therefore, the primary objective of this study was to establish an organoid model for RCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients diagnosed with renal tumor and underwent surgical intervention were recruited. RCC specimen was collected and derived into organoids. Derived organoids were validated by histological examminations, sequencing and xenograft. Drug response of organoids were compared with resistance cell line and patients' clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that organoids could be successfully derived from renal tumor and they exhibited high concordance in terms of immunoexpressional patterns. Sequencing results also depicted concordant mutations of driver genes in both organoids and parental tumor tissues. Critical and novel growth factors were discovered during the establishment of organoid model. Besides, organoids derived from renal tumor exhibited tumorigenic properties in vivo. In addition, organoids recapitulated patient's in vivo drug resistance and served as a platform to predict responsiveness of other therapeutic agents. CONCLUSION: Our RCC organoid model recaptiluated histological and genetic features observed in primary tumors. It also served as a potential platform in drug screening for RCC patients, though future studies are necessary before translating the outcomes into clinical practices.

Sorted-Cell Sequencing on HCC Specimens Reveals EPS8L3 as a Key Player in CD24/CD13/EpCAM-Triple Positive, Stemness-Related HCC Cells.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a heterogeneous cancer with varying levels of liver tumor initiating or cancer stem cells in the tumors. We aimed to investigate the expression of different liver cancer stem cell (LCSC) markers in human HCCs and identify their regulatory mechanisms in stemness-related cells. METHODS: We used an unbiased, single-marker sorting approach by flow cytometry, fluorescence-activated cell sorting, and transcriptomic analyses on HCC patients' resected specimens. Knockdown approach was used, and relevant functional assays were conducted on the identified targets of interest. RESULTS: Flow cytometry on a total of 60 HCC resected specimens showed significant heterogeneity in the expression of LCSC markers, with CD24, CD13, and EpCAM mainly contributing to this heterogeneity. Concomitant expression of CD24, CD13, and EpCAM was detected in 32 HCC samples, and this was associated with advanced tumor stages. Transcriptomic sequencing on the HCC cells sorted for these individual markers identified epidermal growth factor receptor kinase substrate 8-like protein 3 (EPS8L3) as a common gene associated with the 3 markers and was functionally validated in HCC cells. Knocking down EPS8L3 suppressed the expression of all 3 markers. To search for the upstream regulation of EPS8L3, we found SP1 bound to EPS8L3 promoter to drive EPS8L3 expression. Furthermore, using Akt inhibitor MK2206, we showed that Akt signaling-driven SP1 drove the expression of the 3 LCSC markers. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that Akt signaling-driven SP1 promotes EPS8L3 expression, which is critical in maintaining the downstream expression of CD24, CD13, and EpCAM. The findings provide insight into potential LCSC-targeting therapeutic strategies.

Endothelial dysfunction after androgen deprivation therapy and the possible underlying mechanisms.

INTRODUCTION: Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is a key treatment modality in the management of prostate cancer (PCa), especially for patients with metastatic disease. Increasing evidences suggest that patients who received ADT have increased incidence of diabetes, myocardial infarction, stroke, and even mortality. It is important to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms on how ADT increases cardiovascular risk and induces cardiovascular events, which would provide important information for potential implementation of preventive measures. METHODS: Twenty-six 12-week-old male SD rats were divided into four groups for different types of ADTs including: the bilateral orchidectomy group (Orx), LHRH agonist group (leuprolide), LHRH antagonist group (degarelix), and control group. After treated with drug or adjuvant injection every 3 weeks for 24 weeks, all rats were sacrificed and total blood were collected. Aorta, renal arteries, and kidney were preserved for functional assay, immunohistochemistry, western blot, and quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: In vascular reactivity assays, aorta, intrarenal, and coronary arteries of all three ADT groups showed endothelial dysfunction. AT1R and related molecules at protein and messenger RNA (mRNA) level were tested, and AT1R pathway was shown to be activated and played a role in endothelial dysfunction. Both ACE and AT1R mRNA levels were doubled in the aorta in the leuprolide group while Orx and degarelix groups showed upregulation of AT1R in the kidney tissues. By immunohistochemistry, our result showed higher expression of AT1R in the intrarenal arteries of leuprolide and degarelix groups. The role of reactive oxygen species in endothelial dysfunction was confirmed by DHE fluorescence, nitrotyrosine overexpression, and upregulation of NOX2 in the different ADT treatment groups. CONCLUSION: ADT causes endothelial dysfunction in male rats. GnRH receptor agonist compared to GnRH receptor antagonist, showed more impairment of endothelial function in the aorta and intrarenal arteries. Such change might be associated with upregulation and activation of AngII-AT1R-NOX2 induced oxidative stress in the vasculature. These results help to explain the different cardiovascular risks and outcomes related to different modalities of ADT treatment.

RSK2-inactivating mutations potentiate MAPK signaling and support cholesterol metabolism in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Mutational profiling of patient tumors has suggested that hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development is mainly driven by loss-of-function mutations in tumor suppressor genes. p90 ribosomal S6 kinase 2 (RSK2) functions as a direct downstream kinase of ERK1/2 and elevated RSK2 expression has been reported to support oncogenic functions in some cancers. We investigated if RSK2 was also dysregulated by inactivating mutations in cancers including HCC. METHODS: We performed exome sequencing and targeted DNA sequencing on HBV-associated HCCs to examine recurrent RSK2 mutations. The functional significance and mechanistic consequences of RSK2 mutations were examined in natural RSK2-null HCC cells, and RSK2-knockout HCC cells. The potential downstream pathways underlying RSK2 mutations were investigated by RNA sequencing, qRT-PCR and mass spectrometry. RESULTS: We detected recurrent somatic RSK2 mutations at a rate of 6.3% in our HCC cohorts and revealed that, among many cancer types, HCC was the cancer most commonly harboring RSK2 mutations. The RSK2 mutations were inactivating and associated with a more aggressive tumor phenotype. We found that, functionally, restoring RSK2 expression in natural RSK2-null HBV-positive Hep3B cells suppressed proliferation and migration in vitro and tumorigenicity in vivo. Mechanistically, RSK2-inactivating mutations attenuated a SOS1/2-dependent negative feedback loop, leading to the activation of MAPK signaling. Of note, this RSK2 mutation-mediated MAPK upregulation rendered HCC cells more sensitive to sorafenib, a first-line multi-kinase inhibitor for advanced HCC. Furthermore, such activation of MAPK signaling enhanced cholesterol biosynthesis-related gene expression in HCC cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal the mechanistic and functional significance of RSK2-inactivating mutations in HCC. These inactivating mutations may serve as an alternative route to activate MAPK signaling and cholesterol metabolism in HCC. LAY SUMMARY: In this study, we identified and functionally characterized RSK2-inactivating mutations in human hepatocellular carcinoma and demonstrated their association with aggressive tumor behavior. Mutations in RSK2 drive signaling pathways with known oncogenic potential, leading to enhanced cholesterol biosynthesis and potentially sensitizing tumors to sorafenib treatment.

Hepatitis B Virus-Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Promoter Integration Harnesses Host ELF4, Resulting in Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Gene Transcription in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) integrations are common in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In particular, alterations of the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene by HBV integrations are frequent; however, the molecular mechanism and functional consequence underlying TERT HBV integration are unclear. APPROACH AND RESULTS: We adopted a targeted sequencing strategy to survey HBV integrations in human HBV-associated HCCs (n = 95). HBV integration at the TERT promoter was frequent (35.8%, n = 34/95) in HCC tumors and was associated with increased TERT mRNA expression and more aggressive tumor behavior. To investigate the functional importance of various integrated HBV components, we employed different luciferase reporter constructs and found that HBV enhancer I (EnhI) was the key viral component leading to TERT activation on integration at the TERT promoter. In addition, the orientation of the HBV integration at the TERT promoter further modulated the degree of TERT transcription activation in HCC cell lines and patients' HCCs. Furthermore, we performed array-based small interfering RNA library functional screening to interrogate the potential major transcription factors that physically interacted with HBV and investigated the cis-activation of host TERT gene transcription on viral integration. We identified a molecular mechanism of TERT activation through the E74 like ETS transcription factor 4 (ELF4), which normally could drive HBV gene transcription. ELF4 bound to the chimeric HBV EnhI at the TERT promoter, resulting in telomerase activation. Stable knockdown of ELF4 significantly reduced the TERT expression and sphere-forming ability in HCC cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our results reveal a cis-activating mechanism harnessing host ELF4 and HBV integrated at the TERT promoter and uncover how TERT HBV-integrated HCCs may achieve TERT activation in hepatocarcinogenesis.

Rapid Identification of Pathogenic Variants in Two Cases of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease by Gene-Panel Sequencing.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is a common inherited peripheral neuropathy affecting up to 1 in 1214 of the general population with more than 60 nuclear genes implicated in its pathogenesis. Traditional molecular diagnostic pathways based on relative prevalence and clinical phenotyping are limited by long turnaround time, population-specific prevalence of causative variants and inability to assess multiple co-existing variants. In this study, a CMT gene panel comprising 27 genes was used to uncover the pathogenic mutations in two index patients. The first patient is a 15-year-old boy, born of consanguineous parents, who has had frequent trips and falls since infancy, and was later found to have inverted champagne bottle appearance of bilateral legs and foot drop. His elder sister is similarly affected. The second patient is a 37-year-old woman referred for pre-pregnancy genetic diagnosis. During early adulthood, she developed progressive lower limb weakness, difficulties in tip-toe walking and thinning of calf muscles. Both patients are clinically compatible with CMT, have undergone multiple genetic testings and have not previously received a definitive genetic diagnosis. Patients 1 and 2 were found to have pathogenic homozygous HSPB1:NM_001540:c.250G>A (p.G84R) variant and heterozygous GDAP1:NM_018972:c.358C>T (p.R120W) variant, respectively. Advantages and limitations of the current approach are discussed.