Identification of novel genes in testicular cancer microenvironment based on ESTIMATE algorithm-derived immune scores
JOURNAL OF CELLULAR PHYSIOLOGY
Authors: Ke, Zhi-Bin; Wu, Yu-Peng; Huang, Peng; Hou, Jian; Chen, Ye-Hui; Dong, Ru-Nan; Lin, Fei; Wei, Yong; Xue, Xue-Yi; Ng, Chi-Fai; Xu, Ning
Abstract
Testicular cancer is the most common solid malignancy among young men. We downloaded data of testicular cancer patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas database to find novel genes in the testicular cancer microenviroment based on ESTIMATE algorithm-derived immune scores. A total of 156 cases of testicular cancer were included in this study and 165 cases of normal testicular tissues were used. We divided the testicular cancer patients into high- and low-score groups based on their immune scores. We identified 1,226 differentially expressed genes (fold change > 2, false discovery rate < 0.05), including 688 downregulated genes and 538 upregulated genes, between these two groups. The top Gene Ontology terms were involved in the immune response-regulating cell surface receptor signaling pathway, immune response-activating cell surface receptor signaling pathway, external side of the plasma membrane, and receptor ligand activity. By performing the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis, we demonstrated that cAMP signaling pathway was highly enriched among these differentially expressed genes. High expression of LINC01564, LINC02208, ODAM, RNA5SP111, and RNU6-196P were found to be associated with poor overall survival. The expression of genes was further validated by the Human Protein Atlas and only ALB and IFNG were demonstrated to be differentially expressed between testis tissue and testicular cancer tissue.
Differential Pathogenic Th17 Profile in Mesenteric Lymph Nodes of Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis Patients
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
Authors: Bsat, Marwa; Chapuy, Laurence; Rubio, Manuel; Wassef, Ramses; Richard, Carole; Schwenter, Frank; Loungnarath, Rasmy; Soucy, Genevieve; Mehta, Heena; Sarfati, Marika
Abstract
The drug targets IL23 and IL12 regulate pathogenicity and plasticity of intestinal Th17 cells in Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), the two most common inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). However, studies examining Th17 dysregulation in mesenteric lymph nodes (mLNs) of these patients are rare. We showed that in mLNs, CD could be distinguished from UC by increased frequencies of CCR6(+)CXCR3(-) ROR gamma(+)Tbet(-)CD4(+) (Th17) memory T cells enriched in CD62L(low) effector memory T cells (T-EM), and their differentially expressed molecular profile. Th17 T-EM cells (expressing IL17A, IL17F, RORC, and STAT3) displayed a higher pathogenic/cytotoxic (IL23R, IL18RAP and GZMB, CD160, PRF1) gene signature in CD relative to UC, while non-pathogenic/regulatory genes (IL9, FOXP3, CTLA4) were more elevated in UC. In both CD and UC, IL12 but not IL23, augmented IFN gamma expression in Th17 T-EM and switched their molecular profile toward an ex-Th17 (Th1*)-biased transcriptomic signature (increased IFNG, and decreased TCF7, IL17A), suggesting that Th17 plasticity occurs in mLNs before their recruitment to inflamed colon. We propose that differences observed between Th17 cell frequencies and their molecular profile in CD and UC might have implications in understanding disease pathogenesis, and thus, therapeutic management of patients with IBD.