POFUT1 as a Promising Novel Biomarker of Colorectal Cancer
CANCERS
Authors: Chabanais, Julien; Labrousse, Francois; Chaunavel, Alain; Germot, Agnes; Maftah, Abderrahman
Abstract
Background: While protein O-fucosyltransferase 1 (POFUT1) overexpression has been recently proposed as a potential biomarker for different cancer types, no study was carried out on POFUT1 implication in colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: Data from 626 tumors and 51 non-tumor adjacent tissues available in FireBrowse had been used in this study. Statistical analyses on POFUT1 expression and gene copy number, NOTCH receptors (main targets of POFUT1 enzymatic activity) expression and association of POFUT1 and NOTCH1 expressions with clinical parameters were investigated. Data were completed by POFUT1 histological labeling on six tumor tissues from patients with CRC. Results: We found that POFUT1 is overexpressed from the stage I (p < 0.001) and 76.02% of tumors have a 20q11.21 amplification, associated in 90.13% of cases with a POFUT1 overexpression, compared to non-tumor adjacent tissues. The POFUT1 copy number in tumors is mainly between 2 and 3. POFUT1 is positively correlated with NOTCH1 (r(s) = 0.34, p < 0.001), NOTCH3 (r(s) = 0.087, p = 0.0297), and NOTCH4 (r(s) = 0.097, p = 0.0148) expressions, while negatively correlated with NOTCH2 expression (r(s) = -0.098, p = 0.0142). POFUT1 overexpression is markedly associated with rectal location, non-mucinous adenocarcinoma and cancer stages IV and M1. NOTCH1 overexpression is only associated with rectal location and non-mucinous adenocarcinoma. Conclusion: We conclude that POFUT1 is overexpressed in CRC from stage I, and its high expression is associated with metastatic process, probably through NOTCH pathway activation. Then, POFUT1 could represent a potential novel biomarker for CRC diagnosis.
Hypoxia-selective inhibition of angiogenesis development by NAMI-A analogues
BIOMETALS
Authors: Oszajca, Maria; Collet, Guillaume; Stochel, Grazyna; Kieda, Claudine; Brindell, Magorzata
Abstract
The antimetastatic ruthenium(III) complex (H(2)Im)[trans-RuCl4(HIm)(DMSO)] (NAMI-A) as well as its two analogues (H(2)Ind)[trans-RuCl4(HInd)(DMSO)] (Ru-Ind) and (HIsq)[trans-RuCl4(Isq)(DMSO)] (Ru-Isq) (HIm-imidazole, HInd-indazole, Isq-isoquinoline, DMSO-dimethyl sulfoxide) were tested for their effect on endothelial cell functions in vitro on human skin microvascular endothelial cells (HSkMEC) and human endothelial progenitor cells (HPEC-CB.2) under normoxic (21 % O-2) and hypoxic (1 % O-2) conditions. All studied complexes showed very low cytotoxicity profiles towards both mature microvascular and precursor endothelial cells (ECs), independently of oxygen concentration. Among tested compounds Ru-Ind exhibited the highest cytotoxicity. The antiangiogenic activity of ruthenium complexes was evaluated for their influence on pseudo-vessels formation by microvascular endothelial cells (HSkMEC) because of their involvement in melanoma progression. Our studies indicated that Ru-Ind and Ru-Isq exhibited hypoxia- and dose-dependent-inhibition of angiogenesis on Matrigel (TM). Significant hypoxia-selective downregulation of pseudo-vessels formation by Ru-Isq correlates with efficient inhibition of cell motility. Interestingly, in the applied concentration doses migration of endothelial cells was also inhibited by NAMI-A, but the pseudo-vessels formation on Matrigel (TM) was unaffected. Angiogenesis-related genes expression profile for both mature and precursor ECs indicated that inhibition of angiogenesis, mainly due to Ru-Isq, as compared to NAMI-A and Ru-Ind correlated with downregulation of CD31 and CD144 expression and upregulation of NOTCH4 expression in mature ECs, which is essential for endothelial cell motility and stalk cells organization control. The hypoxia-selective antiangiogenic activity of Ru-Ind and Ru-Isq, NAMI-A analogues makes them potent antimetastatic therapeutics for their selective action in hypoxia which controls tumor pathologic angiogenesis.