Articles

Cellular based immunotherapy for primary liver cancer

Primary liver cancer (PLC) is a common malignancy with high morbidity and mortality. Poor prognosis and easy recurrence on PLC patients calls for optimizations of the current conventional treatments and the ex...

Authors: Yuanyuan Zheng, Yan Li, Jiao Feng, Jingjing Li, Jie Ji, Liwei Wu, Qiang Yu, Weiqi Dai, Jianye Wu, Yingqun Zhou and Chuanyong Guo

Correction to: Knockdown of FOXO3a induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition and promotes metastasis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma by activation of the β-catenin/TCF4 pathway through SPRY2

Authors: Jun Li, Rumeng Yang, Yuting Dong, Manyao Chen, Yu Wang and Guoping Wang

Metabolic impairment of non-small cell lung cancers by mitochondrial HSPD1 targeting

The identification of novel targets is of paramount importance to develop more effective drugs and improve the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldw...

Authors: Beatrice Parma, Vignesh Ramesh, Paradesi Naidu Gollavilli, Aarif Siddiqui, Luisa Pinna, Annemarie Schwab, Sabine Marschall, Shuman Zhang, Christian Pilarsky, Francesca Napoli, Marco Volante, Sophia Urbanczyk, Dirk Mielenz, Henrik Daa Schrøder, Marc Stemmler, Heiko Wurdak…

Empty spiracles homeobox genes EMX1 and EMX2 regulate WNT pathway activation in sarcomagenesis

Sarcomas are a very heterogeneous group of tumors with intrinsic developmental programs derived from the cell of origin. This implies a functional hierarchy inside tumors governed by sarcoma stem cells. Theref...

Authors: Manuel Pedro Jimenez-García, Antonio Lucena-Cacace, Daniel Otero-Albiol and Amancio Carnero

Establishment and characterization of patient-derived head and neck cancer models from surgical specimens and endoscopic biopsies

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is heterogeneous in etiology, phenotype and biology. Patient-derived xenografts (PDX) maintain morphology and molecular profiling of the original tumors and have b...

Authors: Daniel Strüder, Theresa Momper, Nina Irmscher, Mareike Krause, Jan Liese, Sebastian Schraven, Annette Zimpfer, Sarah Zonnur, Ann-Sophie Burmeister, Björn Schneider, Bernhard Frerich, Robert Mlynski, Christina Große-Thie, Christian Junghanss and Claudia Maletzki

Ribosomal L1 domain-containing protein 1 coordinates with HDM2 to negatively regulate p53 in human colorectal Cancer cells

Ribosomal L1 domain-containing protein 1 (RSL1D1) is a nucleolar protein that is essential in cell proliferation. In the current opinion, RSL1D1 translocates to the nucleoplasm under nucleolar stress and inhib...

Authors: Li Ding, Zhiping Zhang, Chenhong Zhao, Lei Chen, Zhiqiang Chen, Jie Zhang, Yaxian Liu, Yesen Nie, Yanzhi He, Kai Liao and Xinyue Zhang

Molecular features and vulnerabilities of recurrent chordomas

Tumor recurrence is one of the major challenges in clinical management of chordoma. Despite R0-resection, approximately 50% of chordomas recur within ten years after initial surgery. The underlying molecular p...

Authors: Carolin Seeling, André Lechel, Michael Svinarenko, Peter Möller, Thomas F. E. Barth and Kevin Mellert

Cellular senescence or stemness: hypoxia flips the coin

Cellular senescence is a complex physiological state whose main feature is proliferative arrest. Cellular senescence can be considered the reverse of cell immortalization and continuous tumor growth. However, ...

Authors: Daniel Otero-Albiol and Amancio Carnero

An immunotherapeutic approach to decipher the role of long non-coding RNAs in cancer progression, resistance and epigenetic regulation of immune cells

Immunotherapeutic treatments are gaining attention due to their effective anti-tumor response. Particularly, the revolution of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) produces promising outcomes for various cancer...

Authors: Krishnapriya M. Varier, Hemavathi Dhandapani, Wuling Liu, Jialei Song, Chunlin Wang, Anling Hu, Yaacov Ben-David, Xiangchun Shen, Yanmei Li and Babu Gajendran

Statins: a repurposed drug to fight cancer

As competitive HMG-CoA reductase (HMGCR) inhibitors, statins not only reduce cholesterol and improve cardiovascular risk, but also exhibit pleiotropic effects that are independent of their lipid-lowering effec...

Authors: Wen Jiang, Jin-Wei Hu, Xu-Ran He, Wei-Lin Jin and Xin-Yang He

A vision of immuno-oncology: the Siena think tank of the Italian network for tumor biotherapy (NIBIT) foundation

The yearly Think Tank Meeting of the Italian Network for Tumor Biotherapy (NIBIT) Foundation, brings together in Siena, Tuscany (Italy), experts in immuno-oncology to review the learnings from current immunoth...

Authors: Michele Maio, Michael Lahn, Anna Maria Di Giacomo, Alessia Covre, Luana Calabrò, Ramy Ibrahim and Bernard Fox

Optimizing cisplatin delivery to triple-negative breast cancer through novel EGFR aptamer-conjugated polymeric nanovectors

Management of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is still challenging because of its aggressive clinical behavior and limited targeted treatment options. Cisplatin represents a promising chemotherapeutic com...

Authors: Lisa Agnello, Silvia Tortorella, Annachiara d’Argenio, Clarissa Carbone, Simona Camorani, Erica Locatelli, Luigi Auletta, Domenico Sorrentino, Monica Fedele, Antonella Zannetti, Mauro Comes Franchini and Laura Cerchia

A review of Dynamin 2 involvement in cancers highlights a promising therapeutic target

Dynamin 2 (DNM2) is an ubiquitously expressed large GTPase well known for its role in vesicle formation in endocytosis and intracellular membrane trafficking also acting as a regulator of cytoskeletons. During...

Authors: Delphine Trochet and Marc Bitoun

Circulating extracellular vesicles from individuals at high-risk of lung cancer induce pro-tumorigenic conversion of stromal cells through transfer of miR-126 and miR-320

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) containing specific subsets of functional biomolecules are released by all cell types and analysis of circulating EVs can provide diagnostic and prognostic information. To date, li...

Authors: Francesca Pontis, Luca Roz, Mavis Mensah, Miriam Segale, Massimo Moro, Giulia Bertolini, Ilaria Petraroia, Giovanni Centonze, Anna Maria Ferretti, Paola Suatoni, Ugo Pastorino, Orazio Fortunato and Gabriella Sozzi

Correction to: Gallbladder cancer-associated fibroblasts promote vasculogenic mimicry formation and tumor growth in gallbladder cancer via upregulating the expression of NOX4, a poor prognosis factor, through IL-6-JAK-STAT3 signal pathway

Authors: Mu-Su Pan, Hui Wang, Kamar Hasan Ansari, Xin-Ping Li, Wei Sun and Yue-Zu Fan

Circular RNA circ_001422 promotes the progression and metastasis of osteosarcoma via the miR-195-5p/FGF2/PI3K/Akt axis

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are involved in diverse processes that drive cancer development. However, the expression landscape and mechanistic function of circRNAs in osteosarcoma (OS) remain to be studied.

Authors: Bingsheng Yang, Lutao Li, Ge Tong, Zhirui Zeng, Jianye Tan, Zexin Su, Zhengwei Liu, Jiezhao Lin, Wenwen Gao, Jianping Chen, Sisi Zeng, Guofeng Wu, Lin Li, Shuang Zhu, Qiuzhen Liu and Lijun Lin

Correction to: Pre-metastatic niche triggers SDF-1/CXCR4 axis and promotes organ colonisation by hepatocellular circulating tumour cells via downregulation of Prrx1

Authors: Yujun Tang, Yishi Lu, Yuan Chen, Lei Luo, Lei Cai, Bangjian Peng, Wenbin Huang, Hangyu Liao, Liang Zhao and Mingxin Pan

Neutrophil Extracellular Traps: A New Player in Cancer Metastasis and Therapeutic Target

Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs) are neutrophil-derived extracellular scaffolds, which typically consist of fibrous decondensed chromatins decorated with histones and granule proteins. Initially discovere...

Authors: Dakai Yang and Jing Liu

CK2-mediated phosphorylation of Che-1/AATF is required for its pro-proliferative activity

Che-1/AATF (Che-1) is an RNA polymerase II binding protein involved in several cellular processes, including proliferation, apoptosis and response to stress. We have recently demonstrated that Che-1 is able to...

Authors: Valeria Catena, Tiziana Bruno, Simona Iezzi, Silvia Matteoni, Annalisa Salis, Cristina Sorino, Gianluca Damonte and Maurizio Fanciulli

Neutrophil extracellular traps in cancer: not only catching microbes

Neutrophils are the most abundant type of white blood cells circulating throughout the bloodstream and are often considered the frontline defenders in innate immunity. However, neutrophils are increasingly bei...

Authors: Livia Ronchetti, Nouha Setti Boubaker, Maddalena Barba, Patrizia Vici, Aymone Gurtner and Giulia Piaggio

Immuno-genomic classification of colorectal cancer organoids reveals cancer cells with intrinsic immunogenic properties associated with patient survival

The intrinsic immuno-ge7nomic characteristics of colorectal cancer cells that affect tumor biology and shape the tumor immune microenvironment (TIM) are unclear.

Authors: Eun Jeong Cho, Minsuh Kim, Daum Jo, Jihye Kim, Ji-Hye Oh, Hee Chul Chung, Sun-hye Lee, Deokhoon Kim, Sung-Min Chun, Jihun Kim, Hyeonjin Lee, Tae Won Kim, Chang Sik Yu, Chang Ohk Sung and Se Jin Jang

Correction to: Current status of ctDNA in precision oncology for hepatocellular carcinoma

Authors: Yan Li, Yuanyuan Zheng, Liwei Wu, Jingjing Li, Jie Ji, Qiang Yu, Weiqi Dai, Jiao Feng, Jianye Wu and Chuanyong Guo

Elesclomol-induced increase of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species impairs glioblastoma stem-like cell survival and tumor growth

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive primary malignant brain tumor in adults, characterized by a poor prognosis mainly due to recurrence and therapeutic resistance. It has been widely demonstra...

Authors: Mariachiara Buccarelli, Quintino Giorgio D’Alessandris, Paola Matarrese, Cristiana Mollinari, Michele Signore, Andrea Cappannini, Maurizio Martini, Pierluigi D’Aliberti, Gabriele De Luca, Francesca Pedini, Alessandra Boe, Mauro Biffoni, Roberto Pallini and Lucia Ricci-Vitiani

EIF4A3-induced circ_0084615 contributes to the progression of colorectal cancer via miR-599/ONECUT2 pathway

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common malignant tumor. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been reported to take part in the progression of CRC. However, the functions of circ_0084615 in CRC development are still unde...

Authors: Zhipeng Jiang, Qinwen Tai, Xiaojun Xie, Zehui Hou, Wei Liu, Zhuomin Yu, Zhiqiang Liang and Shuang Chen

Loss of RANBP3L leads to transformation of renal epithelial cells towards a renal clear cell carcinoma like phenotype

Renal cell carcinomas (RCC) are characterized by the deregulation of several hundred hyperosmolality-responsive genes. High expression of a subset of these genes including the Ran binding protein 3 like (RANBP3L)...

Authors: Dmitry Chernyakov, Alexander Groß, Annika Fischer, Nicola Bornkessel, Christoph Schultheiss, Dennis Gerloff and Bayram Edemir

Common and mutation specific phenotypes of KRAS and BRAF mutations in colorectal cancer cells revealed by integrative -omics analysis

Genes in the Ras pathway have somatic mutations in at least 60 % of colorectal cancers. Despite activating the same pathway, the BRAF V600E mutation and the prevalent mutations in codon 12 and 13 of KRAS have all...

Authors: Snehangshu Kundu, Muhammad Akhtar Ali, Niklas Handin, Louis P. Conway, Veronica Rendo, Per Artursson, Liqun He, Daniel Globisch and Tobias Sjöblom

Nuclear Transglutaminase 2 interacts with topoisomerase II⍺ to promote DNA damage repair in lung cancer cells

To block repairs of DNA damages, especially the DNA double strand break (DSB) repair, can be used to induce cancer cell death. DSB repair depends on a sequential activation of DNA repair factors that may be po...

Authors: Xiao Lei, Kun Cao, Yuanyuan Chen, Hui Shen, Zhe Liu, Hongran Qin, Jianming Cai, Fu Gao and Yanyong Yang

Correction to: A novel miR-219-SMC4-JAK2/Stat3 regulatory pathway in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Authors: Bo Zhou, Hongxu Chen, Dong Wei, Yi Kuang, Xiaobiao Zhao, Guangyao Li, Jun Xie and Ping Chen

A 5′-tRNA halve, tiRNA-Gly promotes cell proliferation and migration via binding to RBM17 and inducing alternative splicing in papillary thyroid cancer

tRNA-derived small noncoding RNAs (sncRNAs) are mainly categorized into tRNA halves (tiRNAs) and fragments (tRFs). Biological functions of tiRNAs in human solid tumor are attracting more and more attention, bu...

Authors: Litao Han, Hejing Lai, Yichen Yang, Jiaqian Hu, Zhe Li, Ben Ma, Weibo Xu, Wanlin Liu, Wenjun Wei, Duanshu Li, Yu Wang, Qiwei Zhai, Qinghai Ji and Tian Liao

Gut microbiota-mediated immunomodulation in tumor

Tumor immunity consists of various types of cells, which serve an important role in antitumor therapy. The gastrointestinal tract is colonized by trillions of microorganisms, which form the gut microbiota. In ...

Authors: Xinyi Liu, Yanjie Chen, Si Zhang and Ling Dong

Inhibiting the redox function of APE1 suppresses cervical cancer metastasis via disengagement of ZEB1 from E-cadherin in EMT

Metastasis is a major challenge in cervical cancer treatment. Previous studies have shown that the dual functional protein apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) promotes tumor metastasis and is overexpre...

Authors: Qing Li, Zhi-Wei Zhou, Wei Duan, Cheng-Yuan Qian, Shu-Nan Wang, Meng-Sheng Deng, Dan Zi, Jian-Min Wang, Cheng-Yi Mao, Guanbin Song, Dong Wang, Kenneth D. Westover and Cheng-Xiong Xu

Correction to: Pyroptosis: a new paradigm of cell death for fighting against cancer

Authors: Yixin Tan, Quanzhu Chen, Xiaoling Li, Zhaoyang Zeng, Wei Xiong, Guiyuan Li, Xiayu Li, Jianbo Yang, Bo Xiang and Mei Yi

A positive feedback loop between Periostin and TGFβ1 induces and maintains the stemness of hepatocellular carcinoma cells via AP-2α activation

Liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs) play key roles in the metastasis, recurrence, and chemotherapeutic resistance of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Our previous research showed that the POSTN gene is closely related...

Authors: Gang Chen, Yi Wang, Xin Zhao, Xiao-zai Xie, Jun-gang Zhao, Tuo Deng, Zi-yan Chen, Han-bin Chen, Yi-fan Tong, Zhen Yang, Xi-wei Ding, Peng-yi Guo, Hai-tao Yu, Li-jun Wu, Si-na Zhang, Qian-dong Zhu…

Cancer: a mirrored room between tumor bulk and tumor microenvironment

It has been well documented that the tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a key role in the promotion of drug resistance, the support of tumor progression, invasiveness, metastasis, and even the maintenance of a...

Authors: Pablo Hernández-Camarero, Elena López-Ruiz, Juan Antonio Marchal and Macarena Perán

Long non-coding RNA DLEU2 drives EMT and glycolysis in endometrial cancer through HK2 by competitively binding with miR-455 and by modulating the EZH2/miR-181a pathway

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and aerobic glycolysis are fundamental processes implicated in cancer metastasis. Although increasing evidence demonstrates an association between EMT induction and e...

Authors: Peixin Dong, Ying Xiong, Yosuke Konno, Kei Ihira, Noriko Kobayashi, Junming Yue and Hidemichi Watari

Identification and monitoring of mutations in circulating cell-free tumor DNA in hepatocellular carcinoma treated with lenvatinib

There has been a recent surge in interest in predicting biological effects associated with genomic alterations in order to implement personalized cancer treatment strategies. However, no reports have yet evalu...

Authors: Yasutoshi Fujii, Atsushi Ono, C. Nelson Hayes, Hiroshi Aikata, Masami Yamauchi, Shinsuke Uchikawa, Kenichiro Kodama, Yuji Teraoka, Hatsue Fujino, Takashi Nakahara, Eisuke Murakami, Daiki Miki, Wataru Okamoto, Tomokazu Kawaoka, Masataka Tsuge, Michio Imamura…

Integrin alpha-V is an important driver in pancreatic adenocarcinoma progression

Mesothelial E- and P-selectins substantially mediate the intraperitoneal spread of Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) cells in xenograft models. In the absence of selectins in the host, the integrin subuni...

Authors: Marius Kemper, Alina Schiecke, Hanna Maar, Sergey Nikulin, Andrey Poloznikov, Vladimir Galatenko, Michael Tachezy, Florian Gebauer, Tobias Lange, Kristoffer Riecken, Alexander Tonevitsky, Achim Aigner, Jakob Izbicki, Udo Schumacher and Daniel Wicklein

A systematic review on poly(I:C) and poly-ICLC in glioblastoma: adjuvants coordinating the unlocking of immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is currently under intensive investigation as a potential breakthrough treatment option for glioblastoma. Given the anatomical and immunological complexities surrounding glioblastoma, lymphocytes...

Authors: Jorrit De Waele, Tias Verhezen, Sanne van der Heijden, Zwi N. Berneman, Marc Peeters, Filip Lardon, An Wouters and Evelien L. J. M. Smits

C4b-binding protein α-chain enhances antitumor immunity by facilitating the accumulation of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in the tumor microenvironment in pancreatic cancer

Recent studies indicate that complement plays pivotal roles in promoting or suppressing cancer progression. We have previously identified C4b-binding protein α-chain (C4BPA) as a serum biomarker for the early ...

Authors: Kosuke Sasaki, Shigetsugu Takano, Satoshi Tomizawa, Yoji Miyahara, Katsunori Furukawa, Tsukasa Takayashiki, Satoshi Kuboki, Mamoru Takada and Masayuki Ohtsuka

PARP inhibitors in gastric cancer: beacon of hope

Defects in the DNA damage response (DDR) can lead to genome instability, producing mutations or aberrations that promote the development and progression of cancer. But it also confers such cells vulnerable to ...

Authors: Yali Wang, Kun Zheng, Yongbiao Huang, Hua Xiong, Jinfang Su, Rui Chen and Yanmei Zou

HCK maintains the self-renewal of leukaemia stem cells via CDK6 in AML

Leukaemia stem cells (LSCs) are responsible for the initiation, maintenance, and recurrence of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), an aggressive haematological malignancy associated with drug resistance and relapse...

Authors: Zheng Li, Fangce Wang, Xiaoxue Tian, Jun Long, Bin Ling, Wenjun Zhang, Jun Xu and Aibin Liang

TRAIL promotes epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition by inducing PD-L1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas

Tumor necrosis factor-associated apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) was initially considered an immunity guard; however, its function remains controversial. Besides immune cells, lung and colon cancer cells hav...

Authors: Huanyu Zhang, Guohui Qin, Chaoqi Zhang, Huiyun Yang, Jinyan Liu, Hongwei Hu, Peng Wu, Shasha Liu, Li Yang, Xinfeng Chen, Xueke Zhao, Lidong Wang and Yi Zhang

Correction to: Long non-coding RNA XIST regulates gastric cancer progression by acting as a molecular sponge of miR-101 to modulate EZH2 expression

Authors: Dong-liang Chen, Huai-qiang Ju, Yun-xin Lu, Le-zong Chen, Zhao-lei Zeng, Dong-sheng Zhang, Hui-yan Luo, Feng Wang, Miao-zhen Qiu, De-shen Wang, Da-zhi Xu, Zhi-wei Zhou, Helene Pelicano, Peng Huang, Dan Xie, Feng-hua Wang…

Patient-derived cell lines and orthotopic mouse model of peritoneal carcinomatosis recapitulate molecular and phenotypic features of human gastric adenocarcinoma

Gastric adenocarcinoma with peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) is therapy resistant and leads to poor survival. To study PC in depth, there is an urgent need to develop representative PC-derived cell lines and met...

Authors: Shumei Song, Yan Xu, Longfei Huo, Shuangtao Zhao, Ruiping Wang, Yuan Li, Ailing W. Scott, Melissa Pool Pizzi, Ying Wang, Yibo Fan, Kazuto Harada, Jiankang Jin, Lang Ma, Xiaodan Yao, Namita D. Shanbhag, Qiong Gan…

Metformin induces Ferroptosis by inhibiting UFMylation of SLC7A11 in breast cancer

Ferroptosis is a newly defined form of regulated cell death characterized by the iron-dependent accumulation of lipid peroxidation and is involved in various pathophysiological conditions, including cancer. Ta...

Authors: Jingjing Yang, Yulu Zhou, Shuduo Xie, Ji Wang, Zhaoqing Li, Lini Chen, Misha Mao, Cong Chen, Aihua Huang, Yongxia Chen, Xun Zhang, Noor Ul Hassan Khan, Linbo Wang and Jichun Zhou

LncRNA CARMN overexpression promotes prognosis and chemosensitivity of triple negative breast cancer via acting as miR143-3p host gene and inhibiting DNA replication

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer with poor prognosis and lack of effective treatment target. Here we screened differentially expressed lncRNAs through bioinformatics analysis ...

Authors: Xiaonan Sheng, Huijuan Dai, Yueyao Du, Jing Peng, Rui Sha, Fan Yang, Liheng Zhou, Yanping Lin, Shuguang Xu, Yifan Wu, Wenjin Yin and Jinsong Lu

Correction to: Long non-coding RNA LINC00968 attenuates drug resistance of breast cancer cells through inhibiting the Wnt2/β-catenin signaling pathway by regulating WNT2

Authors: Dian-Hui Xiu, Gui-Feng Liu, Shao-Nan Yu, Long-Yun Li, Guo-Qing Zhao, Lin Liu and Xue-Feng Li

Targeting WD repeat domain 5 enhances chemosensitivity and inhibits proliferation and programmed death-ligand 1 expression in bladder cancer

Chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy are first-line treatments for advanced muscle-invasive bladder cancer (BCa), but the unsatisfactory objective response rate to these treatments yields poor 5-year patient surv...

Authors: Jingtong Zhang, Qianghua Zhou, Keji Xie, Liang Cheng, Shengmeng Peng, Ruihui Xie, Lixuan Liu, Yangjie Zhang, Wen Dong, Jinli Han, Ming Huang, Yuelong Chen, Tianxin Lin, Jian Huang and Xu Chen

Current approach and novel perspectives in nasopharyngeal carcinoma: the role of targeting proteasome dysregulation as a molecular landmark in nasopharyngeal cancer

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) represents a molecularly paradigmatic tumor given the complex diversity of environmental as well as host dependent factors that are closely implicated in tissue transformation an...

Authors: Ramon Yarza, Mateo Bover, Maria Teresa Agulló-Ortuño and Lara Carmen Iglesias-Docampo

Zinc transporter SLC39A13/ZIP13 facilitates the metastasis of human ovarian cancer cells via activating Src/FAK signaling pathway

Zinc transporters have been found to be associated with the pathogenesis of numerous human diseases including cancer. As the most lethal gynecologic malignancy, ovarian cancer is characterized by rapid progres...

Authors: Xinxin Cheng, Jie Wang, Chunling Liu, Tianduo Jiang, Ningzhi Yang, Dan Liu, Huanhuan Zhao and Zhelong Xu