BackgroundRenal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a significant urological malignancy with a rising incidence, increasingly linked to metabolic dysregulation and chronic systemic inflammation. While traditional metrics such as body mass index (BMI) are commonly used, they may not fully capture the biological heterogeneity underlying carcinogenesis. This study investigated the associations of the Metabolic Score for Insulin Resistance (METS-IR) and the Systemic Inflammation Response Index (SIRI) with subsequent RCC risk, together with their joint effects and longitudinal trajectory patterns.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective analysis within the UK Biobank prospective cohort, comprising 410,766 participants aged 37-73 years. METS-IR and SIRI were calculated from baseline blood samples. Incident RCC was ascertained through national cancer registries. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), because the outcome was time to incident RCC with variable follow-up and right censoring. Nonlinear relationships were evaluated using restricted cubic splines, and joint effects were assessed on an additive scale. Dynamic trajectory analysis based on repeat assessment data was treated as exploratory.ResultsDuring a median follow-up of 13.65 years, 1,752 (0.43%) participants developed RCC, with a median time to diagnosis of 8.01 years among cases. Both biomarkers were independently associated with RCC risk. In fully adjusted models, each 1-SD increase in METS-IR was associated with a 26% higher RCC risk (HR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.12-1.42), showing a linear dose-response pattern. SIRI showed a non-linear association, with risk increasing more sharply beyond an index value of approximately 1.2; participants in the highest quartile had a 57% higher risk (HR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.35-1.83)than those in the lowest quartile. Participants with concomitantly high METS-IR and high SIRI had the highest risk (HR: 2.40; 95% CI: 2.06-2.79), although additive interaction metrics did not show statistical evidence of interaction. In exploratory trajectory analyses, persistently high METS-IR or SIRI was associated with higher RCC risk, whereas estimates for improved and worsened groups were more imprecise.ConclusionMETS-IR and SIRI were independently associated with RCC risk in this cohort. Their combined assessment may improve risk stratification. The findings further suggest that metabolic and inflammatory trajectory patterns may carry different prognostic information, although these longitudinal results should be interpreted cautiously and not as evidence of causality or risk reversibility.

Rabies, caused by the rabies virus (RABV), remains a global public health issue. Traditional inactivated rabies vaccines are costly, risky, and require multiple doses for post-exposure prophylaxis. The rabies virus glycoprotein (RABV-G), essential for inducing protective antibodies, is crucial for new vaccine development. Lentiviral vectors offer promise due to their efficient gene delivery and strong immune responses. We designed three recombinant pseudotyped lentiviral vector vaccines with enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) as marker, among VSV-G/LV-RABV-G the RABV-G only lies in the core of pseudotyped lentiviral particle, among RABV-G/LV-RABV-G the RABV-G lies in both of the core and the envelop and among RABV-G/LV-eGFP the RABV-G only lies in the envelop. These were tested for antigenicity, infectivity, and neutralizing antibody response. All vaccines showed strong antigen specificity and high titers for virus particles production. Immunization tests in mice showed that VSV-G/LV-RABV-G and RABV-G/LV-RABV-G vaccines induced high neutralizing antibody levels within 3 days, sustained up to 10 weeks. The RABV-G/LV-eGFP vaccine, especially with CPG-ODN adjuvant, also generated significant antibody responses. In summary, the recombinant pseudotyped lentiviral vector vaccines based on the RABV-G show promise for effective, single-dose rabies vaccination.

Bioorthogonal cleavage reactions have been developed as an intriguing strategy to enhance the safety of chemotherapeutics. Aiming to reduce the toxicity and improve the targeted release properties of the colchicine binding site inhibitors (CBSIs) based on previous work, a series of biologically inert prodrugs were further designed and synthesized through a bioorthogonal prodrug strategy. The therapeutic effects of prodrugs could be “turned-on” once combined with palladium resins. Particularly, prodrug 2b was 68.3-fold less cytotoxic compared to the parent compound, while its cytotoxicity was recovered in situ in the presence of palladium resins. Mechanism studies confirmed that 2b inhibited cell growth in the same manner as CBSIs. More importantly, in vivo efficacy studies demonstrated the efficient activation of 2b by palladium resins, resulting in significant inhibition of tumor growth (63.2%). These results suggest that prodrug 2b with improved safety and targeted release property catalyzed by a Pd-mediated bioorthogonal cleavage reaction deserves further investigation.

RNA-binding protein (RBP) plays pivotal roles in the malignant progression of cancer by regulating gene expression. In this paper, we aimed to develop RBP-based prognostic signature and identify critical hub RBPs in bladder cancer (BLCA). Firstly, a risk model based on differentially expressed RBP gens (DERBPs) between normal and tumor tissues was successfully established, which can predict the tumor stromal score and drug sensitivity. Then two another RBP risk models based on miRNA-correlated RBPs or lncRNA-correlated RBPs were also established, and RBMS3 was identified as the overlapping gene in the three models. Data from multiple bioinformatics databases revealed that RBMS3 was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (OS), and was associated with an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) in BLCA. Further, Single-cell RNA-Seq (scRNA-Seq) data and the human protein altas (HPA) database showed that RBMS3 expression (both mRNA and protein) were up-regulated in BLCA tumor and tumor stromal cells. Finally, RBMS3 was shown to be associated with worse response to BLCA immunotherapy. Overall, RBMS3 is a key prognostic RBP with TME remodeling function and may serve as a target for BLCA immunotherapy.

Circadian rhythm disruption impacts the efficiency of both chemotherapy and immunotherapy, yet identifying the key factors involved remains challenging. Circadian rhythm disruption can trigger aberrant fibroblasts activation, suggesting potential roles of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in addressing this issue. In this paper, TCGA-BLCA patients were classified into two subgroups based on the expression of core circadian rhythm genes (CCRGs). The CCRG-based subgroups showed distinct fibroblast-related signals, from which a risk model composed of five fibroblast-related genes was finally established with excellent survival prognostic value in both TCGA and GEO datasets. The risk model was positively associated with the infiltration of CAFs and can efficiently predict the immunotherapy response in BLCA. Besides, high-risk score was associated with reduced sensitivity to a majority of traditional chemotherapeutic drugs such as oxaliplatin and gemcitabine. Further, the correlation between CCRGs and the risk genes was analyzed. Among the five risk genes, FAM20C displayed the most extensive correlation with the CCRGs and exhibited the strongest connection with CAFs infiltration. Moreover, FAM20C independently served as a predictor for the response to immunotherapy in BLCA. In conclusion, this study has identified a circadian-based signature for evaluating CAFs infiltration and predicting the efficacy of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. The central gene FAM20C has emerged as a promising candidate which merits further investigations.

程序性细胞死亡蛋白1(PD-1)及其配体PD-L1是重要的免疫检查点蛋白,肿瘤细胞膜上的PD-L1与T细胞上的PD-1结合以逃避免疫监视.靶向PD-L1/PD-1的免疫疗法在多种肿瘤的治疗中显示出了显著的临床效果,遗憾的是只有一部分患者实现了持久反应.最新研究表明,PD-L1可定位于肿瘤细胞内,发挥着非免疫检查点功能,广泛参与肿瘤细胞的多种恶性表型.全文总结了肿瘤细胞内PD-L1作用的相关研究进展,从PD-L1胞内定位的调控,以及胞内PD-L1与DNA损伤修复、细胞自噬、细胞凋亡、肿瘤转移的关系,论述了胞内PD-L1与肿瘤细胞恶性表型的关系.最后,介绍了靶向胞内PD-L1的策略方法,为靶向PD-L1的癌症治疗提供思路.

Microtubules, formed by α- and β-tubulin heterodimer, are considered as a major target to prevent the proliferation of tumor cells. Microtubule-targeted agents have become increasingly effective anticancer drugs. However, due to the relatively sophisticated chemical structure of taxane and vinblastine, their application has faced numerous obstacles. Conversely, the structure of colchicine binding site inhibitors (CBSIs) is much easier to be modified. Moreover, CBSIs have strong antiproliferative effect on multidrug-resistant tumor cells and have become the mainstream research orientation of microtubule-targeted agents. This review focuses mainly on the recent advances of CBSIs during 2017-2022, attempts to depict their biological activities to analyze the structure-activity relationships and offers new perspectives for designing next generation of novel CBSIs.

Deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) regulate antiviral immune response through targeting DNA sensor signaling pathway members. As one of the DNA sensors, interferon (IFN)-γ inducible protein 16 (IFI16) play a major role in response to virus infections through activating the canonical STING/TBK-1/IRF3 signaling pathway. Only a few studies discuss the function of DUBs in IFI16-mediated antiviral response. Ubiquitin-specific protease 12 (USP12), which is one of the major members of the USP family, participates in various biological functions. However, whether USP12 regulates the nucleic acid sensor to modulate antiviral immune responses has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we found that knockout or knockdown of USP12 impaired the HSV-1-induced expressions of IFN-β, CCL-5, IL-6, and downstream interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs). Moreover, USP12 deficiency increased HSV-1 replication and host susceptibility to HSV-1 infection. Mechanistically, USP12 inhibited the proteasome-dependent degradation of IFI16 through its deubiquitinase activity, thereby maintaining IFI16 stability and promoting IFI16-STING-IRF3- and p65-mediated antiviral signaling. Overall, our findings demonstrate an essential role of USP12 in DNA-sensing signaling and contribute to the understanding of deubiquitination-mediated regulation of innate antiviral responses.

Everolimus, an oral mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) inhibitor, presents a therapeutic option in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients who were intolerant to, or previously failed, immune- and vascular endothelial growth factor-targeted therapies. However, the onset of drug resistance limits its clinical use. One possible mechanism underpinning the resistance is that inhibiting mTORC1 by everolimus results in mTORC2-dependent activation of v-Akt murine thymoma viral oncogene (AKT) and upregulation of hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIF). Norcantharidin (NCTD) is a demethylated derivative of cantharidin with antitumor properties which is an active ingredient of the traditional Chinese medicine Mylabris. In this study, everolimus-resistant RCC cells (786-O-R) obtained by chronic everolimus treatment revealed higher level of HIF2α and over-activated mTORC2 pathway and NCTD inhibits cell proliferation in both everolimus-resistant and -sensitive RCC cells by arresting cell cycle in G0/G1 phase and reducing cell cycle-related proteins of C-Myc and cyclin D. Furthermore, NCTD shows synergistic anticancer effects combined with everolimus in everolimus-resistant 786-O-R cells. Mechanically, NCTD repressed both mTORC1 and mTORC2 signaling pathways as well as downstream molecular signaling pathways, such as p-4EBP1, p-AKT, HIF1α and HIF2α. Our findings provide sound evidence that combination of NCTD and everolimus is a potential therapeutic strategy for treating RCC and overcoming everolimus resistance by dual inhibition of mTORC1 and mTORC2.

The acidic tumor microenvironment stands as a major obstacle to the efficient elimination of tumor cells. Norcantharidin (NCTD) is a powerful antitumor agent with multiple bioactivities. However, the effect of NCTD under acidic conditions is still unclear. Here, we report that NCTD can efficiently kill bladder cancer (BC) cells in acidic culture, and more intriguingly, NCTD can induce immunogenic cell death (ICD), thereby promoting antitumor immunity. In NCTD-treated BC cells, the surface-exposed calreticulin (ecto-CALR) was significantly increased. Consistently, co-culture with these cells promoted dendritic cell (DC) maturation. The NCTD-induced ICD is autophagy dependent, as autophagy inhibition completely blocked the NCTD-induced ecto-CALR and DC maturation. In addition, the DC showed a distinct maturation phenotype (CD80(high) CD86(low)) in acidic culture, as compared to that in physiological pH (CD80 high CD86(high)). Finally, the NCTD-induced ICD was validated in a mouse model. NCTD treatment significantly increased the tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes in MB49 bladder cancer mice. Immunizing mice with NCTD-treated MB49 cells significantly increased tumor-free survival as compared to control. These findings demonstrate that NCTD could induce ICD in an acidic environment and suggest the feasibility to combine NCTD with anticancer immunotherapy to treat BC.

Gene therapy's entrance into clinical settings has made it an ever more attractive field of study for various diseases. However, relatively little progress has been made in targeting kidney diseases due to poor gene delivery efficiency in renal cells. The development of novel gene therapy vectors for medical intervention to treat kidney diseases is needed. In this study, we designed and produced a pseudotyped lentiviral vector with envelope glycoproteins of Zika virus (ZIKV), and evaluated its potential use in viral vector entry, neutralization assay, and gene delivery especially in the renal context. The lentiviral vector, simplified as ZIKV-E, is pseudotyped with Env/G-TC representing the transmembrane (TM) and cytoplasmic (CY) domains of Env replaced with the TM and CY domains of the glycoprotein (G) of the vesicular stomatitis virus. In vivo results show that ZIKV-E induced efficient transduction in tubular epithelial cells in mouse kidneys, demonstrating >100-fold higher expression of exogenous green fluorescent protein gene compared with that achieved by vesicular stomatitis virus G (VSV-G) protein pseudotyped lentiviral vector. The results also showed that the vector ZIKV-E transduced cells in a pH-independent manner and the transduction was inhibited by anti-ZIKV Env domain III antibodies. Results also show that ZIKV-E can be used as a surrogate for studies of ZIKV entry mechanisms and neutralization antibody assay. In all, this study successfully demonstrated a novel pseudotyped lentiviral vector ZIKV-E for inducing high transduction efficiency in renal tubular epithelial cells that could serve as a foundation for gene therapy for the treatment of inherited renal diseases in humans.

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a global health problem and current treatments are insufficient due to immune tolerance to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). RNA interference (RNAi) is a more promising approach for antiviral therapy. Here, 17 single artificial microRNAs (amiRNAs) targeting the highly conserved regions of HBV genome were screened to inhibit HBV replication. In addition, we compared three tandem amiRNAs, each containing 3 different amiRNAs, out of which amiRNA135 was selected to be studied in detail. In vitro data showed that amiRNA135 significantly inhibited the replication of different HBV genotypes (including resistant and mutant). In vivo study was carried out by adeno-associated virus 8-mediated gene delivery, we found that the anti-HBV effects of AAV8-amiRNA135 were time and dose-dependent. Serum HBsAg and HBeAg in high dose groups were significantly reduced at 7 days after a single intravenous vector injection, and maintained at low levels throughout a 15-month experiment. Immunohistochemical staining and HBV core particle DNA analysis confirmed that HBV replication in the liver was strongly inhibited by AAV8-amiRNA135. Taken together, our data suggest that AAV8-mediated trimeric amiRNA expression is a promising therapeutic approach for chronic HBV infection.

Autophagy plays critical roles in the pluripotent stemness of cancer stem cells (CSCs). However, how CSCs maintain the elevated autophagy to support stemness remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that bladder cancer stem-like cells (BCSLCs) are at slow-cycling state with enhanced autophagy and mitophagy. In these slow-cycling BCSLCs, the DNA replication initiator MCM7 is required for autophagy and stemness. MCM7 knockdown inhibits autophagic flux and reduces the stemness of BCSLCs. MCM7 can facilitate autolysosome formation through binding with dynein to promote autophagic flux. The enhanced autophagy/mitophagy helps BCSLCs to maintain mitochondrial respiration, thus inhibiting AMPK activation. AMPK activation can trigger switch from autophagy to apoptosis, through increasing BCL2/BECLIN1 interaction and inducing P53 accumulation. In summary, we find that MCM7 can promote autophagic flux to support.

目的:初步探讨慢病毒载体介导的SARS-CoV-2 Spike蛋白(简称S蛋白)过表达对人肾上皮细胞生长的影响及相关机制.方法:构建S蛋白慢病毒的表达载体pLV-CMV-S-IRES-eGFP,并将此载体包装成慢病毒颗粒(LV-S).利用重组的慢病毒LV-S感染人肾小管上皮细胞(HK-2)及HEK293T细胞(293T),利用EdU测定其细胞活力,利用流式细胞术测定其细胞周期和细胞凋亡,并通过Western blot检测相关蛋白表达水平.结果:重组慢病毒载体感染HK-2及293T细胞24 h均能观察到eGFP表达,细胞活力检测结果显示S蛋白过表达可以使HK-2及293T细胞的细胞活力下降.流式细胞术结果显示S蛋白诱导细胞周期阻滞在G2/M期,同时S蛋白通过激活Caspase-3和Caspase-9诱导细胞发生凋亡.此外,SARS-CoV-2 S蛋白过表达可以增强HK-2及293T细胞自噬相关蛋白的表达.结论:SARS-CoV-2 S蛋白可能通过诱导肾上皮细胞发生周期阻滞和凋亡,介导细胞损伤.

Program death receptor-1 (PD-1) and T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein-3 (Tim-3) play an important role in tumor immune evasion.PD-1 blockade could produce an effective anti-tumor effect but the response rate was low due to lacking of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and existing of other negative regulatory pathways.Streptavidin(SA)-GM-CSF surface-anchored tumor cells vaccine could induce specific anti-tumor immune response.However, this vaccine failed to induce regression of established tumor because it also up-regulated PD-1 expression on tumor cells dependent on IFNγ and up-regulated PD-1/Tim-3 expression on CD8 + TILs.Subsets of CD8 + TILs assay showed that PD-1 expression was closely associated with CD8 + TILs exhaustion, and Tim-3 expression was closely correlated with secretion function but not proliferation of CD8 + TILs.Sequential administration of anti-PD-1 and anti-Tim-3 could further improve the efficacy of SA-GM-CSF-anchored vaccine therapy, and tumor regression was noted in over 50%.This triple therapy improves the specific cytotoxic activity and decreased the apoptosis of CD8 + TILs.These findings indicated that this triple therapy could induce a more robust anti-tumor immune response.

Shikonin (SK) is the major bioactive component extracted from the roots of Lithospermum erythrorhizon with anticancer activity. SK could inhibit the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of cancer cells. However, the underlying mechanism is elusive. In the present study, the inhibitory activities of SK on proliferation, invasion and migration were examined in bladder cancer (BC) cells. SK potently decreased the viabilities of BC cells but showed less cytotoxicity to normal bladder epithelial cells. Moreover, SK reversed the EMT, suppressed the migration and invasion of BC cells. Intriguingly, NHE1, the major proton efflux pump, was dramatically down-regulated by SK. The EMT-inhibitory effect of SK was mediated by NHE1 down-regulation, as NHE1-overexpress alleviated while Cariporide (NHE1 inhibitor) enhanced this effect. Further, enforced alkalinization of intracellular pH (pHi) reversed the EMT-inhibitory effect of SK, indicating a key role of acidic pHi in this process. Finally, elevated NHE1 expression was observed in human bladder cancer tissues. Collectively, this research reveals a supportive effect of NHE1 and alkaline pHi on EMT. SK can suppress EMT through inhibiting NHE1 and hence inducing an acidic pHi.

Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) has been reported to be associated with impaired prognosis for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, the latent mechanism is unclear. Polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells (PMN-MDSCs) induce immune suppression in CHB and promote the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. Lectin-type oxidized LDL receptor-1 (LOX-1) was recently identified as a specific marker for PMN-MSDC. We found NPC survivors with CHB had high levels of LOX-1+ PMN-MDSCs. LOX-1+ PMN-MDSCs significantly reduced T cell proliferation and activation. Endoplasmic reticulum stress was induced in LOX-1+ PMN-MDSCs. In addition, LOX-1+ PMN-MDSCs increased their expression of NOX2, a key reactive oxygen species (ROS)-related genes, and levels of ROS illustrated by the DCFDA test. The ROS inhibitor N-acetylcysteine abrogated the suppression of LOX-1+ PMN-MDSCs on T cell activation. The EBV DNA-positivity rate was higher in NPC survivors with CHB than in NPC patients without CHB. Those presenting with positive EBV DNA displayed higher LOX-1+ PMN-MDSC levels. LOX-1+ PMN-MDSCs suppressed the CD8+ T cell response against EBV. This study revealed LOX-1+ PMN-MDSC accumulation and activation in NPC survivors with CHB. LOX-1+ PMN-MDSCs might suppress the host immune response to EBV through ER stress/ROS pathway. These results explained the association of CHB with unfavorable NPC prognosis.

Cancer cells can enter quiescent or dormant state to resist anticancer agents while maintaining the potential of reactivation. However, the molecular mechanism underlying quiescence entry and reactivation remains largely unknown. In this paper, cancer cells eventually entered a reversible quiescent state to resist long-term paclitaxel (PTX) stress. The quiescent cells were characterized with Na+/H+ exchanger 1 (NHE1) downregulation and showed acidic intracellular pH (pHi). Accordingly, decreasing pHi by NHE1 inhibitor could induce cell enter quiescence. Further, acidic pHi could activate the ubiquitin-proteasome system and inhibiting proteasome activity by MG132 prevented cells entering quiescence. In addition, we show that after partial release, the key G1-S transcription factor E2F1 protein level was not recovered, while MCM7 protein returned to normal level in the reactivated cells. More importantly, MCM7 knockdown inhibited G1/S genes transcription and inhibited the reactivated proliferation. Taken together, this study demonstrates a regulatory function of intracellular acidification and subsequent protein ubiquitination on quiescence entry, and reveals a supportive effect of MCM7 on the quiescence-reactivated proliferation.