Ciliated hepatic foregut cyst: A report of 6 cases and a review of the English literature

BACKGROUND: Ciliated hepatic foregut cyst (CHFC) is a rare cystic lesion most commonly identified in segment 4 of the liver that arises from the embryonic foregut. The classic histologic pattern is comprised of 4 distinct layers (inner ciliated epithelial lining, smooth muscle, loose connective tissue, fibrous capsule). Although rare, cases of metaplastic and malignant epithelial lining have been described in CHFC. METHODS: We report 6 additional cases of CHFC, one of which had gastric metaplasia of the cyst lining, and review all reported cases of CHFC in the English literature. We describe the clinicopathologic analysis of 6 cases, with selective immunohistochemical analysis on 1 case with gastric metaplasia. RESULTS: Cases occurred in 4 women and 2 men (average age 55 years, range 42 to 67 years). Cysts ranged in size from 0.7 to 17 cm (average 7.2 cm) and were grossly tan-pink to white with blood-filled contents. The majority were located in segment 4 of the liver, however 2 were located in the porta hepatis. Tumor serologies (CA19-9 and/or CEA) were performed in 3 cases; 1 case demonstrated elevated CA19-9, and 2 cases had laboratory values within normal limits. All cases showed the classic histologic findings, however one case additionally had extensive gastric metaplasia. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, CHFC is a rare diagnostic entity that should be considered in the differential diagnosis for cystic hepatic lesions, particularly those located in segment 4 of the liver. Metaplasia and squamous carcinoma can occur, therefore complete surgical excision is the recommended treatment. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13000-015-0321-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Pevonedistat targets malignant cells in myeloproliferative neoplasms in vitro and in vivo via NFκB pathway inhibition

Targeted inhibitors of JAK2 (eg ruxolitinib) often provide symptomatic relief for myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) patients, but the malignant clone persists and remains susceptible to disease transformation. These observations suggest that targeting alternative dysregulated signaling pathways may provide therapeutic benefit. Previous studies identified NFκB pathway hyperactivation in myelofibrosis (MF) and secondary acute myeloid leukemia (sAML) that was insensitive to JAK2 inhibition. Here, we provide evidence that NFκB pathway inhibition via pevonedistat targets malignant cells in MPN patient samples as well as in MPN and patient-derived xenograft mouse models that are nonredundant with ruxolitinib. Colony forming assays revealed preferential inhibition of MF colony growth compared with normal colony formation. In mass cytometry studies, pevonedistat blunted canonical TNFα responses in MF and sAML patient CD34+ cells. Pevonedistat also inhibited hyperproduction of inflammatory cytokines more effectively than ruxolitinib. Upon pevonedistat treatment alone or in combination with ruxolitinib, MPN mouse models exhibited reduced disease burden and improved survival. These studies demonstrating efficacy of pevonedistat in MPN cells in vitro as well as in vivo provide a rationale for therapeutic inhibition of NFκB signaling for MF treatment. Based on these findings, a Phase 1 clinical trial combining pevonedistat with ruxolitinib has been initiated

IMC-Denoise: A content aware denoising pipeline to enhance Imaging Mass Cytometry

Imaging Mass Cytometry (IMC) is an emerging multiplexed imaging technology for analyzing complex microenvironments using more than 40 molecularly-specific channels. However, this modality has unique data processing requirements, particularly for patient tissue specimens where signal-to-noise ratios for markers can be low, despite optimization, and pixel intensity artifacts can deteriorate image quality and downstream analysis. Here we demonstrate an automated content-aware pipeline, IMC-Denoise, to restore IMC images deploying a differential intensity map-based restoration (DIMR) algorithm for removing hot pixels and a self-supervised deep learning algorithm for shot noise image filtering (DeepSNiF). IMC-Denoise outperforms existing methods for adaptive hot pixel and background noise removal, with significant image quality improvement in modeled data and datasets from multiple pathologies. This includes in technically challenging human bone marrow; we achieve noise level reduction of 87% for a 5.6-fold higher contrast-to-noise ratio, and more accurate background noise removal with approximately 2 × improved F1 score. Our approach enhances manual gating and automated phenotyping with cell-scale downstream analyses. Verified by manual annotations, spatial and density analysis for targeted cell groups reveal subtle but significant differences of cell populations in diseased bone marrow. We anticipate that IMC-Denoise will provide similar benefits across mass cytometric applications to more deeply characterize complex tissue microenvironments

IRAK4 mediates colitis-induced tumorigenesis and chemoresistance in colorectal cancer

Aberrant activation of the NF-κB transcription factors underlies chemoresistance in various cancer types, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Targeting the activating mechanisms, particularly with inhibitors to the upstream IκB kinase (IKK) complex, is a promising strategy to augment the effect of chemotherapy. However, clinical success has been limited, largely because of low specificity and toxicities of tested compounds. In solid cancers, the IKKs are driven predominantly by the Toll-like receptor (TLR)/IL-1 receptor family members, which signal through the IL-1 receptor-associated kinases (IRAKs), with isoform 4 (IRAK4) being the most critical. The pathogenic role and therapeutic value of IRAK4 in CRC have not been investigated. We found that IRAK4 inhibition significantly abrogates colitis-induced neoplasm in APCMin/+ mice, and bone marrow transplant experiments showed an essential role of IRAK4 in immune cells during neoplastic progression. Chemotherapy significantly enhances IRAK4 and NF-κB activity in CRC cells through upregulating TLR9 expression, which can in turn be suppressed by IRAK4 and IKK inhibitors, suggesting a feed-forward pathway that protects CRC cells from chemotherapy. Lastly, increased tumor phospho-IRAK4 staining or IRAK4 mRNA expression is associated with significantly worse survival in CRC patients. Our results support targeting IRAK4 to improve the effects of chemotherapy and outcomes in CRC

Combined KRAS-MAPK pathway inhibitors and HER2-directed drug conjugate is efficacious in pancreatic cancer

Targeting the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains clinically unsuccessful. We aim to develop a MAPK inhibitor-based therapeutic combination with strong preclinical efficacy. Utilizing a reverse-phase protein array, we observe rapid phospho-activation of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) in PDAC cells upon pharmacological MAPK inhibition. Mechanistically, MAPK inhibitors lead to swift proteasomal degradation of dual-specificity phosphatase 6 (DUSP6). The carboxy terminus of HER2, containing a TEY motif also present in extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), facilitates binding with DUSP6, enhancing its phosphatase activity to dephosphorylate HER2. In the presence of MAPK inhibitors, DUSP6 dissociates from the protective effect of the RING E3 ligase tripartite motif containing 21, resulting in its degradation. In PDAC patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models, combining ERK and HER inhibitors slows tumour growth and requires cytotoxic chemotherapy to achieve tumour regression. Alternatively, MAPK inhibitors with trastuzumab deruxtecan, an anti-HER2 antibody conjugated with cytotoxic chemotherapy, lead to sustained tumour regression in most tested PDXs without causing noticeable toxicity. Additionally, KRAS inhibitors also activate HER2, supporting testing the combination of KRAS inhibitors and trastuzumab deruxtecan in PDAC. This study identifies a rational and promising therapeutic combination for clinical testing in PDAC patients

Distinct clonal identities of B-ALLs arising after lenolidomide therapy for multiple myeloma

Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) who are treated with lenalidomide rarely develop a secondary B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). The clonal and biological relationship between these sequential malignancies is not yet clear. We identified 17 patients with MM treated with lenalidomide, who subsequently developed B-ALL. Patient samples were evaluated through sequencing, cytogenetics/fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), immunohistochemical (IHC) staining, and immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) clonality assessment. Samples were assessed for shared mutations and recurrently mutated genes. Through whole exome sequencing and cytogenetics/FISH analysis of 7 paired samples (MM vs matched B-ALL), no mutational overlap between samples was observed. Unique dominant IgH clonotypes between the tumors were observed in 5 paired MM/B-ALL samples. Across all 17 B-ALL samples, 14 (83%) had a TP53 variant detected. Three MM samples with sufficient sequencing depth (\u3e500×) revealed rare cells (average of 0.6% variant allele frequency, or 1.2% of cells) with the same TP53 variant identified in the subsequent B-ALL sample. A lack of mutational overlap between MM and B-ALL samples shows that B-ALL developed as a second malignancy arising from a founding population of cells that likely represented unrelated clonal hematopoiesis caused by a TP53 mutation. The recurrent variants in TP53 in the B-ALL samples suggest a common path for malignant transformation that may be similar to that of TP53-mutant, treatment-related acute myeloid leukemia. The presence of rare cells containing TP53 variants in bone marrow at the initiation of lenalidomide treatment suggests that cellular populations containing TP53 variants expand in the presence of lenalidomide to increase the likelihood of B-ALL development

A Study of the Possible Roles and the Extent of Evolutionary Conservation of Universal Stress Protein Gene from Escherichia coli

The expression of the uspA gene is induced in response to virtually any stress or starvation conditions, and thus, the Universal Stress Protein (UspA) appears to be a general, non-specific responder to deviations from balanced growth in Escherichia coli. Since others have established that the uspA mutant displays an abnormal acetate utilization pattern, the pta and ackA genes, which encode enzymes involved in metabolizing acetate, were hypothesized to be the targets of UspA control. In order to determine whether UspA controls the expression of these enzymes, the promoter region for the pta/ackA operon was cloned by PCR and fused to the Vibrio fischeri luxCDABE reporter. The reporter plasmid containing the promoter::lux fusion was introduced into uspA+ and uspA- isogenic strains and the amount of pta/ackA transcription was measured by monitoring luminescence. The analysis of bioluminescent data has shown that pta/ackA genes exhibit dose-responsive induction by ethanol in both uspA+ and uspA- backgrounds. Experiments also indicate that one of the functions of UspA might be the down-regulation of pta/ackA transcriptional activity, since the uspA- transformants showed induced transcription levels that were 2-10 times greater than those detected in the clones of the isogenic parental strain. Since\ud uspA is a member of fatty acid metabolism regulon and is expressed concomitantly with fad genes during the entry into stationary phase, these experiments suggest that UspA may have a role in optimizing the flow of acetyl-CoA through the central metabolic pathways. Restriction of the conversion of acetyl-CoA to acetate through the PTA-ACK pathway may be beneficial for the cells experiencing starvation or stress conditions. In addition, further characterization of uspA was accomplished by studying the extent of its evolutionary conservation using PCR and Southern blot analysis. Most of the bacterial species from the Enterobacteriaceae family indicated the presence of a uspA homologue. Furthermore, the evolutionary conservation of uspA was suggested in a number of gram-negative species, especially in the gamma subdivision of Proteobacteria, as well as in some gram-positive species

Constitutive IRAK4 Activation Underlies Poor Prognosis and Chemoresistance in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

PURPOSE: Aberrant activation of the NF-κB transcription factors underlies the aggressive behavior and poor outcome of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, clinically effective and safe NF-κB inhibitors are not yet available. Because NF-κB transcription factors can be activated by the Interleukin-1 Receptor-Associated Kinase (IRAK) downstream of the Toll-like receptors (TLRs), but has not been explored in PDAC, we sought to investigate the role of IRAK in the pathobiology of PDAC. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We examined the phosphorylation status of IRAK4 (p-IRAK4), the master regulator of TLR signaling, in PDAC cell lines, in surgical samples and commercial tissue microarray. We then performed functional studies using small molecule IRAK1/4 inhibitor, RNA-interference and CRISPR/Cas9n techniques to delineate the role of IRAK4 in NF-κB activity, chemoresistance, cytokine production and growth of PDAC cells in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: p-IRAK4 staining was detectable in the majority of PDAC lines and about 60% of human PDAC samples. Presence of p-IRAK4 strongly correlated with phospho-NF-κB/p65 staining in PDAC samples and is predictive of postoperative relapse and poor overall survival. Inhibition of IRAK4 potently reduced NF-κB activity, anchorage-independent growth, chemoresistance and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines from PDAC cells. Both pharmacologic suppression and genetic ablation of IRAK4 greatly abolished PDAC growth in mice and augmented the therapeutic effect of gemcitabine by promoting apoptosis, reducing tumor cell proliferation and tumor fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS: Our data established IRAK4 as a novel therapeutic target for PDAC treatment. Development of potent IRAK4 inhibitors is needed for clinical testing