Background NF2-related schwannomatosis (NF2-SWN) is associated with multiple benign tumors in the nervous system. NF2-SWN, caused by mutations in the NF2 gene, has developed into intracranial and spinal schwannomas. Because of the high surgical risk and frequent recurrence of multiple tumors, targeted therapy is necessary. However, there are no approved drugs.Methods We examined the action mechanism of PRG-N-01, a candidate molecule for NF2-SWN, through the direct binding assay and mass spectrometry. For in vitro anti-proliferative experiments, primary cells derived from the NF2 mouse model and patient tumors were treated with PRG-N-01. The in vivo therapeutic and preventive efficacy was validated via intraperitoneal and oral administration in the NF2 mouse model (Postn-Cre; Nf2f/f). Gene expression profile in the DRG of the mouse model was explored by RNA sequencing. The pharmacological properties of PRG-N-01 were analyzed through the preclinical study.Results PRG-N-01 binds to the N-terminal extremity of TGF beta R1 (T beta R1) kinase domain, where T beta R1 and RKIP interact, inhibiting the binding and preventing degradation of RKIP. In vivo administration in the mouse model suppressed schwannoma progression in the DRG. Early oral administration of the PRG-N-01 also demonstrated preventive effects on NF2-SWN. PRG-N-01 treatment suppressed tumor growth genes while upregulating genes related to for normal cell metabolism and Schwann cell differentiation in DRG. PRG-N-01 showed druggable properties through the preclinical study, including ADME, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and toxicology.Conclusions Together, our study provides the rationale and critical data for a prospective clinical trial of PRG-N-01 in NF2-SWN patients indicating PRG-N-01 as a promising candidate for the treatment.
Prostate cancer (PC) is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy among men and contributes significantly to cancer-related mortality. While recent advances in in vitro PC modeling systems have been made, there remains a lack of robust preclinical models that faithfully recapitulate the genetic and phenotypic characteristics across various PC subtypes-from localized PC (LPC) to castration-resistant PC (CRPC)-along with associated stromal cells. Here, we established human PC assembloids from LPC and CRPC tissues by reconstituting tumor organoids with corresponding cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), thereby incorporating aspects of the tumor microenvironment (TME). Established PC organoids exhibited high concordance in genomic landscape with parental tumors, and the tumor assembloids showed a higher degree of phenotypic similarity to parental tumors compared to tumor organoids without CAFs. PC assembloids displayed increased proliferation and reduced sensitivity to anti-cancer treatments, indicating that PC assembloids are potent tools for understanding PC biology, investigating the interaction between tumor and CAFs, and identifying personalized therapeutic targets.
Approximately 20% of breast cancers overexpress ErbB2/HER2/Neu, a receptor tyrosine kinase. Our previous studies demonstrated that HER2 interacts with the calcium pump, PMCA2, and the scaffolding molecules, NHERF1 and Ezrin to stabilize HER2/HSP90 interactions and contribute to the retention of active HER2 at the plasma membrane. In the normal mammary epithelium where apical/basal polarity is tightly regulated by junctional proteins, HER2 is expressed at low levels in the basolateral membrane and interacts with the LAP family member, Erbin, whereas PMCA2, NHERF1, and Ezrin localize to the apical membrane. Here, we show that loss of apical membrane polarity in hyperplastic lesions of MMTV-Neu mammary glands or in human DCIS leads to intermixing of these molecules and allows Erbin to interact with NHERF1, Ezrin and HER2 initially within the basolateral membrane and then more diffusely throughout the plasma membrane. In SKBR3 cells, Erbin interacts with NHERF1, Ezrin and HER2 in actin-rich membrane protrusions that we have previously described to be sites of active HER2 signaling. Knockdown of Erbin in these cells reduced HER2 signaling by disrupting the formation of a HER2/NHERF1/Ezrin/HSP90 protein complex in the membrane protrusions. Furthermore, inhibition of Ezrin or knock-down of NHERF1 expression disrupted the ability of Erbin to interact with HER2. Taken together, our data suggest that Erbin supports HER2 stability, HER2 membrane retention and HER2 transforming ability by interacting with Ezrin and NHERF1 to maintain a multi-protein signaling complex necessary for HER2-mediated transformation.
Abstract Objectives We aimed to identify predictive markers for metachronous gastric cancer (MGC) in early gastric cancer (EGC) patients curatively treated with endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). Materials and Methods From EGC patients who underwent ESD, bulk RNA sequencing was performed on non‐cancerous gastric mucosa samples at the time of initial EGC diagnosis. This included 23 patients who developed MGC, and 23 control patients without additional gastric neoplasms for over 3 years (1:1 matched by age, sex, and Helicobacter pylori infection state). Candidate differentially‐expressed genes were identified, from which biomarkers were selected using real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and cell viability assays using gastric cell lines. An independent validation cohort of 55 MGC patients and 125 controls was used for marker validation. We also examined the severity of gastric intestinal metaplasia, a known premalignant condition, at initial diagnosis. Results From the discovery cohort, 86 candidate genes were identified of which KDF1 and CDK1 were selected as markers for MGC, which were confirmed in the validation cohort. CERB5 and AKT2 isoform were identified as markers related to intestinal metaplasia and were also highly expressed in MGC patients compared to controls (p < 0.01). Combining these markers with clinical data (age, sex, H. pylori and severity of intestinal metaplasia) yielded an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.91 (95% CI, 0.85‐0.97) for MGC prediction. Conclusion Assessing biomarkers in non‐cancerous gastric mucosa may be a useful method for predicting MGC in EGC patients and identifying patients with a higher risk of developing MGC, who can benefit from rigorous surveillance.
Involution of the mammary gland after lactation is a dramatic example of coordinated cell death. Weaning causes distension of the alveolar structures due to the accumulation of milk, which, in turn, activates STAT3 and initiates a caspase-independent but lysosome-dependent cell death (LDCD) pathway. Although the importance of STAT3 and LDCD in early mammary involution is well established, it has not been entirely clear how milk stasis activates STAT3. In this report, we demonstrate that protein levels of the PMCA2 calcium pump are significantly downregulated within 2–4 h of experimental milk stasis. Reductions in PMCA2 expression correlate with an increase in cytoplasmic calcium in vivo as measured by multiphoton intravital imaging of GCaMP6f fluorescence. These events occur concomitant with the appearance of nuclear pSTAT3 expression but prior to significant activation of LDCD or its previously implicated mediators such as LIF, IL6, and TGFβ3, all of which appear to be upregulated by increased intracellular calcium. We further demonstrate that increased intracellular calcium activates STAT3 by inducing degradation of its negative regulator, SOCS3. We also observed that milk stasis, loss of PMCA2 expression and increased intracellular calcium levels activate TFEB, an important regulator of lysosome biogenesis through a process involving inhibition of CDK4/6 and cell cycle progression. In summary, these data suggest that intracellular calcium serves as an important proximal biochemical signal linking milk stasis to STAT3 activation, increased lysosomal biogenesis, and lysosome-mediated cell death.
While mesalamine, a 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA), is pivotal in the management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) through both step-up and top-down approaches in clinical settings, its widespread utilization is limited by low bioavailability at the desired site of action due to rapid and extensive absorption in the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Addressing mesalamine's pharmacokinetic challenges, here, we introduce nanoassemblies composed exclusively of a mesalamine prodrug that pairs 5-ASA with a mucoadhesive and cathepsin B-cleavable peptide. In an IBD model, orally administered nanoassemblies demonstrate enhanced accumulation and sustained retention in the GI tract due to their mucoadhesive properties and the epithelial enhanced permeability and retention (eEPR) effect. This retention enables the efficient uptake by intestinal pro-inflammatory macrophages expressing high cathepsin B, triggering a burst release of the 5-ASA. This cascade fosters the polarization toward an M2 macrophage phenotype, diminishes inflammatory responses, and simultaneously facilitates the delivery of active agents to adjacent epithelial cells. Therefore, the nanoassemblies show outstanding therapeutic efficacy in inhibiting local inflammation and contribute to suppressing systemic inflammation by restoring damaged intestinal barriers. Collectively, this study highlights the promising role of the prodrug nanoassemblies in enhancing targeted drug delivery, potentially broadening the use of mesalamine in managing IBD.
Forkhead box protein A1 (FOXA1), a pioneering transcriptional factor known for its critical roles in prostate and ERα−positive breast cancer, is also expressed in human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2/ErbB2)-positive breast cancers. However, its role in HER2-pos tumors is less well understood. Here we investigate the function of FOXA1 in HER2/ErbB2- positive breast cancers. The loss of FOXA1 was associated with a marked decrease in the viability of HER2-positive and HER2 amplified cell lines, suggesting a pivotal involvement of FOXA1 in these breast cancers. Employing patient-derived single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics, we demonstrate that FOXA1 is co-expressed with ErbB2 in HER2- positive breast cancers. Suppression of FOXA1 expression led to the reduction of HER2 expression and signaling. Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Sequencing (ChIP-seq) and Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin using sequencing (ATAC-seq) identified FOXA1 binding motifs in the ErbB2 promoter and regulatory element regions, which controlled ErbB2 gene expression. Notably, FOXA1 knockdown was observed to enhance Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) signaling and impede luminal tumor differentiation. Furthermore, we find that FOXA1 and TRPS1 combine to regulate TEAD/YAP-TAZ activity. Taken together, these findings highlight the essential role of FOXA1 in maintaining HER2 expression and a luminal cell phenotype in HER2-positive breast cancers.### Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.
Abstract The nanoString GeoMx® Digital Spatial Profiling (DSP) enables the investigation of spatial assessment of tumors through high-plex profiling at the RNA and protein levels. Recent genomic analyses have revealed the intertumor heterogeneity between primary and metastatic lesions in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. In CRC with liver metastases, current treatment strategies are mainly based on the parameters of primary tumors, and metastatic heterogeneity is a challenge since molecular heterogeneity contributes to therapeutic resistance. Furthermore, spatial intratumor heterogeneity exists within a single tumor between cancer cells (tumor) and their microenvironment (stroma) in human cancers. However, whether there are distinct spatial gene expression patterns of tumor and stroma between primary lesions and liver metastases remains unclear in CRCs. We examined 24 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples, including primary lesions and matched liver metastases from 12 patients (6 with synchronous and 6 with metachronous metastases) using NanoString GeoMx® DSP. The best regions of interest (ROI) with the invasive front boundary of the tumor were selected by pathologists. The ROI was segmented into PanCK-positive (tumor) and PanCK-negative (stroma), followed by a collection of indexed oligonucleotides and sequencing on Illumina instrument. Differential expression and pathways enrichment analyses were performed using R BioConductor package standR, limma, and GSEABase. Statistical significances were based on |Log2 fold change| > 1 and Benjamini-Hochberg-corrected P < 0.05. Immune cell abundance was estimated using the SpatialDecon package. In 12 metastatic patients (mean age, 61 years ± 7 [standard deviation]), liver metastatic stroma was associated with 68 upregulated and 93 downregulated genes compared to the primary stroma, with enrichment of 'Immune response' terms in gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). A higher proportion of CD4 T memory cells and increased expression of cytotoxic genes (IL7R [2.02-fold], CD3E [1.75-fold], KLRB1 [1.68-fold], and GZMK [1.54-fold]) were observed in liver stroma compared to primary stroma. Conversely, liver metastatic tumors were associated only with 23 upregulated and 6 downregulated genes compared to primary tumors, with 'humoral response' terms enriched in GSEA. Similar patterns were observed in stratified analyses with synchronous and metachronous metastases, although a more prominent ‘immune response’ was observed in synchronous metastatic stroma compared to the primary stroma. We revealed that higher immune cell proportion and cytotoxic activity were observed in liver metastatic stroma compared to CRC stroma, providing novel insights into a unique etiology and may yield clinical implications for developing targeted treatment modalities for liver metastatic CRC patients. Citation Format: Jongwon Lee, Yeseul Kim, Hyo Seon Ryu, Jongmin Sim, Chungyeul Kim, Jong Min Park, Ah-Reum Lim, Jung Sun Kim, Hwa Jung Sung, Xingyi Guo, Jungmin Choi, Jungyoon Choi. Investigating spatial gene expression profiling in colorectal cancer: Tumor and stroma comparison between primary lesions and matched liver metastases [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 1160.
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most challenging subtype of breast cancer because of its aggressive behavior and the limited therapeutic strategies available. In the last decade, immunotherapy has become a promising treatment to prolong survival in advanced solid cancers including TNBC. However, the efficacy of immunotherapy in solid cancers remains limited because solid tumors contain few tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Here, we show that targeting an ETS transcription factor ELK3 (ELK3) recruits immune cells including natural killer (NK) cells into tumors via the chemotactic activity of chemokine. ELK3 depletion increases CXCL16 expression level and promotes NK cell cytotoxicity through CXCL16-mediated NK cell recruitment in TNBC. In silico analysis showed that ELK3 is negatively correlated with CXCL16 expression in breast cancer patient samples. Low expression of ELK3 and high expression of CXCL16 were associated with a better prognosis. Low expression of ELK3 and high expression of CXCL16 were associated with increased expression of NK cell-related genes. Our findings demonstrate that the ELK3-CXCL16 axis modulates NK cell recruitment to increase NK cell cytotoxicity, suggesting that targeting the ELK3 gene could be an adjuvant strategy for increasing the efficacy of immunotherapy in TNBC.
Involution of the mammary gland after lactation is a dramatic example of coordinated cell death. Weaning causes distension of the alveolar structures due to the accumulation of milk, which, in turn, activates STAT3 and initiates a caspase- independent but lysosome-dependent cell death (LDCD) pathway. Although the importance of STAT3 and LDCD in early mammary involution is well established, it has not been entirely clear how milk stasis activates STAT3. In this report, we demonstrate that protein levels of the PMCA2 calcium pump are significantly downregulated within 2- 4 hours of experimental milk stasis. Reductions in PMCA2 expression correlate with an increase in cytoplasmic calcium in vivo as measured by multiphoton intravital imaging of GCaMP6f fluorescence. These events occur concomitant with the appearance of nuclear pSTAT3 expression but prior to significant activation of LDCD or its previously implicated mediators such as LIF, IL6 and TGFβ3, all of which appear to be upregulated by increased intracellular calcium. We also observed that milk stasis, loss of PMCA2 expression and increased intracellular calcium levels activate TFEB, an important regulator of lysosome biogenesis. This is the result of increased TGFβ signaling and inhibition of cell cycle progression. Finally, we demonstrate that increased intracellular calcium activates STAT3 by inducing degradation of its negative regulator, SOCS3, a process which also appears to be mediated by TGFβ signaling. In summary, these data suggest that intracellular calcium serves as an important proximal biochemical signal linking milk stasis to STAT3 activation, increased lysosomal biogenesis, and lysosome- mediated cell death.
Background: Different immune cell states reflect distinct tumor microenvironment and led to various clinical outcomes for cancer patients. However, very few studies examined the contribution of peripheral blood (PB) immune landscapes to the treatment response due to the limited applications. This study aimed to explore the circulating immune cell landscapes associated the sensitivity to cytotoxic chemotherapy with trastuzumab in HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer patients. Methods: Whole blood were drawn at baseline and after 2 cycles of trastuzumab plus cytotoxic chemotherapy from six patients (3 responders and 3 non-responders). Approximately 3,500 to 10,000 peripheral blood mononuclear cells per patients were profiled using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). scRNA-seq data were further processed and analyzed using Seurat package version 3.1. Cell populations were clustered using the Louvain algorithm and subsequently annotated using known marker genes. Differential abundance in cell population was quantified using MiloR and differentially expressed genes were detected using MAST between responders and non-responders. Results: After removing low quality cells, a total of 65,295 cells were clustered into 18 clusters. CD8 Effector T, CD4 Naïve T, CD4 Effector T, Cytotoxic NK, Naïve B, Plasma B and Monocytes were significantly enriched in responders compared to non-responders. Especially, CD8 Effector T, NK, Plasma B and Classical Monocytes showed distinct patterns that those cells were enriched in pre-treatment than post-treatment of responder but not in non-responder. From the differentially expressed gene analysis, cytotoxic or costimulatory marker genes (GZMK, GZMA, GNLY, CCL5, NKG7, PRF1) were enriched in responders. While, exhausted or coinhibitory marker genes (DNAJB1, LGALS9, HAVCR2) were enriched in non-responders. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed four pathways associated with T cell, B cell receptor signaling, NK cell mediated cytotoxicity and Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction which showed differences between responders and non-responders following chemotherapy. Finally, validation with flow cytometry using independent cohort showed that constant expression manner in HAVCR2, LGALS9 and LGALS3 genes. Conclusions: Single-cell transcriptome analysis identified distinct PB immune landscapes associated with treatment response in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer patients. Differential abundance and unique gene expression programs of immune cell populations could serve as potential predictive biomarkers for anti-HER2 therapy. Citation Format: Jongwon Lee, Jungmin Choi, In Hae Park. Single-cell transcriptome reveals distinct peripheral blood immune landscapes associated with sensitivity to anti-HER2 treatment in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer patients [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr P5-02-51.
We explored accumulated genomic alterations in patients with heavily treated HER2 + metastatic breast cancer enrolled in the KCSG BR18-14/KM10B trial. Targeted sequencing was performed with circulating tumor DNAs (ctDNAs) collected before the treatment of 92 patients. ctDNAs collected at the time of disease progression from seven patients who had a durable response for > 12 months were also analyzed. Sixty-five genes were identified as pathogenic alterations in 99 samples. The most frequently altered genes were TP53 (n = 48), PIKCA (n = 21) and ERBB3 (n = 19). TP53 and PIK3CA mutations were significantly related with shorter progression free survival (PFS), and patients with a higher ctDNA fraction showed a worse PFS. The frequency of homologous recombination deficiency (HRD)-related gene mutations was higher than that in matched tumor tissues, and these mutations tended to be associated with shorter PFS. New pathogenic variants were found at the end of treatment in all seven patients, including BRCA2, VHL, RAD50, RB1, BRIP1, ATM, FANCA, and PIK3CA mutations. In conclusion, TP53 and PIK3CA mutations, as well as a higher ctDNA fraction, were associated with worse PFS with trastuzumab and cytotoxic chemotherapy. The enrichment of HRD-related gene mutations and newly detected variants in ctDNA may be related to resistance to treatment.
Background Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) is required for embryonic breast development and has important functions during lactation, when it is produced by alveolar epithelial cells and secreted into the maternal circulation to mobilize skeletal calcium used for milk production. PTHrP is also produced by breast cancers, and GWAS studies suggest that it influences breast cancer risk. However, the exact functions of PTHrP in breast cancer biology remain unsettled. Methods We developed a tetracycline-regulated, MMTV (mouse mammary tumor virus)-driven model of PTHrP overexpression in mammary epithelial cells (Tet-PTHrP mice) and bred these mice with the MMTV-PyMT (polyoma middle tumor-antigen) breast cancer model to analyze the impact of PTHrP overexpression on normal mammary gland biology and in breast cancer progression. Results Overexpression of PTHrP in luminal epithelial cells caused alveolar hyperplasia and secretory differentiation of the mammary epithelium with milk production. This was accompanied by activation of Stat5 and increased expression of E74-like factor-5 (Elf5) as well as a delay in post-lactation involution. In MMTV-PyMT mice, overexpression of PTHrP (Tet-PTHrP;PyMT mice) shortened tumor latency and accelerated tumor growth, ultimately reducing overall survival. Tumors overproducing PTHrP also displayed increased expression of nuclear pSTAT5 and Elf5, increased expression of markers of secretory differentiation and milk constituents, and histologically resembled secretory carcinomas of the breast. Overexpression of PTHrP within cells isolated from tumors, but not PTHrP exogenously added to cell culture media, led to activation of STAT5 and milk protein gene expression. In addition, neither ablating the Type 1 PTH/PTHrP receptor (PTH1R) in epithelial cells nor treating Tet-PTHrP;PyMT mice with an anti-PTH1R antibody prevented secretory differentiation or altered tumor latency. These data suggest that PTHrP acts in a cell-autonomous, intracrine manner. Finally, expression of PTHrP in human breast cancers is associated with expression of genes involved in milk production and STAT5 signaling. Conclusions Our study suggests that PTHrP promotes pathways leading to secretory differentiation and proliferation in both normal mammary epithelial cells and in breast tumor cells.
Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has greatly advanced our understanding of cellular heterogeneity by profiling individual cell transcriptomes. However, cell dissociation from the tissue structure causes a loss of spatial information, which hinders the identification of intercellular communication networks and global transcriptional patterns present in the tissue architecture. To overcome this limitation, novel transcriptomic platforms that preserve spatial information have been actively developed. Significant achievements in imaging technologies have enabled in situ targeted transcriptomic profiling in single cells at single-molecule resolution. In addition, technologies based on mRNA capture followed by sequencing have made possible profiling of the genome-wide transcriptome at the 55-100 mu m resolution. Unfortunately, neither imaging-based technology nor capture-based method elucidates a complete picture of the spatial transcriptome in a tissue. Therefore, addressing specific biological questions requires balancing experimental throughput and spatial resolution, mandating the efforts to develop computational algorithms that are pivotal to circumvent technology-specific limitations. In this review, we focus on the current state-of-the-art spatially resolved transcriptomic technologies, describe their applications in a variety of biological domains, and explore recent discoveries demonstrating their enoimous potential in biomedical research. We further highlight novel integrative computational methodologies with other data modalities that provide a framework to derive biological insight into heterogeneous and complex tissue organization.
Despite numerous observations regarding the relationship between DNA methylation changes and cancer progression, only a few genes have been verified as diagnostic biomarkers of colorectal cancer (CRC). To more practically detect methylation changes, we performed targeted bisulfite sequencing. Through co-analysis of RNA-seq, we identified cohort-specific DNA methylation markers: CpG islands of the intragenic regions of PDX1, EN2, and MSX1. We validated that these genes have oncogenic features in CRC and that their expression levels are increased in correlation with the hypermethylation of intragenic regions. The reliable depth of the targeted bisulfite sequencing data enabled us to design highly optimized quantitative methylation-specific PCR primer sets that can successfully detect subtle changes in the methylation levels of candidate regions. Furthermore, these methylation levels can divide CRC patients into two groups denoting good and poor prognoses. In this study, we present a streamlined workflow for screening clinically significant differentially methylated regions. Our discovery of methylation markers in the PDX1, EN2, and MSX1 genes suggests their promising performance as prognostic markers and their clinical application in CRC patients.
Upregulation of oncogenic miRNA21 (miR-21) plays a pivotal role in proliferation, migration and invasion of cancer cells. In addition to cancer cells, tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) also have high abundance of miR-21, which accelerates malignant progression of tumors in the late stages of carcinogenesis. Despite of the pro-tumorigenic functions of miR-21 in TAMs and cancer cells, reliable therapeutic strategies to simultaneously inhibit miR-21 activity in both types of cell have not yet been developed. In this study, we designed a dual-targeting drug delivery system of miR-21 inhibitors that could bind to both tumor cells and macrophages with overexpressed PD-L1 receptors. This peptide-oligonucleotide conjugate (Pep-21) consists of a PDL1-binding peptide covalently linked with an anti-miR-21 inhibitor via click chemistry. Pep-21 was preferentially internalized in both cell types, consequently depleting endogenous miR-21. Our studies found that Pep-21 treatment reduced tumor cell migration, reprogrammed immunosuppressive M2-type TAMs into M1-type macrophages, and restrained tumor progression. Collectively, neutralization of miR-21 activity in both cancer cells and TAMs can be a promising strategy for effective antitumor responses.