Cellular interactions in the tumor microenvironment: the role of secretome

Over the past years, it has become evident that cancer initiation and progression depends on several components of the tumor microenvironment, including inflammatory and immune cells, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, adipocytes, and extracellular matrix. These components of the tumor microenvironment and the neoplastic cells interact with each other providing pro and antitumor signals. The tumor-stroma communication occurs directly between cells or via a variety of molecules secreted, such as growth factors, cytokines, chemokines and microRNAs. This secretome, which derives not only from tumor cells but also from cancer-associated stromal cells, is an important source of key regulators of the tumorigenic process. Their screening and characterization could provide useful biomarkers to improve cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of treatment responses.Agência financiadora Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) FAPESP 10/51168-0 12/06048-2 13/03839-1 National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) CNPq 306216/2010-8 Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) UID/BIM/04773/2013 CBMR 1334info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evidence of a noncoding transcript of the RIPK2 gene overexpressed in head and neck tumor

Receptor-interacting proteins are a family of serine/threonine kinases, which integrate extra and intracellular stress signals caused by different factors, including infections, inflammation and DNA damage. Receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 2 (RIP-2) is a member of this family and an important component of the nuclear factor NF-kappa-B signaling pathway. The corresponding human gene RIPK2 generates two transcripts by alternative splicing, the full-length and a short transcript. The short transcript has a truncated 5’ sequence, which results in a predicted isoform with a partial kinase domain but able to transduce signals through its caspase recruitment domain. In this study, the expression of RIPK2 was investigated in human tissue samples and, in order to determine if both transcripts are similarly regulated at the transcriptional level, cancer cell lines were submitted to temperature and acid stresses. We observed that both transcripts are expressed in all tissues analyzed, with higher expression of the short one in tumor samples, and they are differentially regulated following temperature stress. Despite transcription, no corresponding protein for the short transcript was detected in tissues and cell lines analyzed. We propose that the shorter transcript is a noncoding RNA and that its presence in the cell may play regulatory roles and affect inflammation and other biological processes related to the kinase activity of RIP-2.Instituto de Biotecnologia y Biologia Molecula

Investigação de marcadores protéicos do carcinoma oral

O carcinoma de células escamosas de cabeça e pescoço é um tumor agressivo e está relacionado com a exposição ao tabaco e ao álcool. A recorrência elevada, a variação na agressividade e as taxas baixas de sobrevivência dessa doença requerem nossos esforços para compreender a sua patogênese e para desenvolver melhores estratégias terapêuticas. No presente estudo, foi investigado se a análise proteômica pode identificar diferenças na expressão protéica entre carcinomas de cabeça e pescoço de diferentes graus de estadiamento. Para alcançar este objetivo, foram otimizados protocolos para extração de proteínas e a técnica de eletroforese bidimensional (2D) foi implantada no laboratório. Os padrões de perfil protéico obtidos foram analisados em oito amostras de carcinoma oral e duas de orofaringe (oito procedentes de tumores com metástases em linfonodos regionais e dois sem metástases) e em 17 amostras aparentemente normais de margens cirúrgicas. As variações qualitativas e quantitativas detectadas nos perfis protéicos de ambos os grupos foram consistentes e oito proteínas foram identificadas após análise por espectrometria de massa por dessorção/ionização a laser assistida por matriz (MALDI-TOF-TOF). Foram elas: albumina, alfa enolase, calgranulina B, galectina 7, mioglobina, miosina (cadeia leve 1), miosina (cadeia leve 2) e tropomiosina 2 (beta). Estas proteínas têm sido detectadas com expressão alterada por diferentes autores em carcinomas da cabeça e pescoço e também em outros tumores. Após validação, as proteínas identificadas podem revelar novos biomarcadores de prognóstico e alvos terapêuticos para tumores de cabeça e pescoço.Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is an aggressive cancer. It is closely related to the practice of tobacco smoking and alcohol abuse. The high recurrence, heterogeneous biological aggressiveness and low survival rates of this group of cancer require our efforts to understand the pathogenesis of the disease and to develop better therapeutic strategies. In the present study, we investigated whether proteome analysis can identify differences in protein expression between low and high stage head and neck carcinomas. To reach this aim we optimized protocols for protein extraction and established two-dimensional electrophoresis in the laboratory. Proteome profiling patterns were analyzed in eight oral and two oropharyngeal tumor samples (eight from carcinomas presenting lymph node metastasis and two from carcinomas with no regional metastasis) and in 17 apparently normal surgical margins. Qualitative and quantitative variations in both groups were consistent and eight proteins were identified by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization - time of flight - time of flight (MALDI-TOFTOF) mass spectrometry. These proteins were: albumin, alpha enolase, calgranulin B, galectin 7, myoglobin, myosin (light chain 1), myosin (light chain 2) and tropomyosin beta chain. These proteins have shown to be with altered expression by different studies in head and neck cancers and also in other tumors. After validation, the proteins identified here could be novel biomarkers for prognosis and rational targets for head and neck tumors.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Plasma metabolomics of oral squamous cell carcinomas based on NMR and MS approaches provides biomarker identification and survival prediction

Abstract Metabolomics has proven to be an important omics approach to understand the molecular pathways underlying the tumour phenotype and to identify new clinically useful markers. The literature on cancer has illustrated the potential of this approach as a diagnostic and prognostic tool. The present study aimed to analyse the plasma metabolic profile of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and controls and to compare patients with metastatic and primary tumours at different stages and subsites using nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry. To our knowledge, this is the only report that compared patients at different stages and subsites and replicates collected in diverse institutions at different times using these methodologies. Our results showed a plasma metabolic OSCC profile suggestive of abnormal ketogenesis, lipogenesis and energy metabolism, which is already present in early phases but is more evident in advanced stages of the disease. Reduced levels of several metabolites were also associated with an unfavorable prognosis. The observed metabolomic alterations may contribute to inflammation, immune response inhibition and tumour growth, and may be explained by four nonexclusive views—differential synthesis, uptake, release, and degradation of metabolites. The interpretation that assimilates these views is the cross talk between neoplastic and normal cells in the tumour microenvironment or in more distant anatomical sites, connected by biofluids, signalling molecules and vesicles. Additional population samples to evaluate the details of these molecular processes may lead to the discovery of new biomarkers and novel strategies for OSCC prevention and treatment

Solubilization of proteins from human lymph node tissue and two-dimensional gel storage.

In the present study, we compared six different solubilization buffers and optimized two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) conditions for human lymph node proteins. In addition, we developed a simple protocol for 2-D gel storage. Efficient solubilization was obtained with lysis buffers containing (a) 8 M urea, 4% CHAPS (3-[(3-cholamidopropyl) dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonate), 40 mM Tris base, 65 mM DTT (dithiothreitol) and 0.2% carrier ampholytes; (b) 5 M urea, 2 M thiourea, 2% CHAPS, 2% SB 3-10 (N-decyl-N,N-dimethyl-3-ammonio-1-propanesulfonate), 40 mM Tris base, 65 mM DTT and 0.2% carrier ampholytes or (c) 7 M urea, 2 M thiourea, 4% CHAPS, 65 mM DTT and 0.2% carrier ampholytes. The optimal protocol for isoelectric focusing (IEF) was accumulated voltage of 16,500 Vh and 0.6% DTT in the rehydration solution. In the experiments conducted for the sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), best results were obtained with a doubled concentration (50 mM Tris, 384 mM glycine, 0.2% SDS) of the SDS electrophoresis buffer in the cathodic reservoir as compared to the concentration in the anodic reservoir (25 mM Tris, 192 mM glycine, 0.1% SDS). Among the five protocols tested for gel storing, success was attained when the gels were stored in plastic bags with 50% glycerol. This is the first report describing the successful solubilization and 2D-electrophoresis of proteins from human lymph node tissue and a 2-D gel storage protocol for easy gel handling before mass spectrometry (MS) analysis

Proteômica: metodologias e aplicações no estudo de doenças humanas Proteomics: methodologies and applications to the study of human diseases

A abordagem proteômica tem permitido estudos em larga escala da expressão proteica em diferentes tecidos e fluidos corporais, em condições e/ou momentos distintos. O recente progresso de metodologias nessa área tem aberto novas oportunidades para obtenção de informações relevantes sobre processos normais e anormais que ocorrem no organismo humano. No presente artigo, é feita uma revisão das principais técnicas proteômicas e de suas aplicações no estudo de doenças humanas.<br>Proteomic approach has allowed large-scale studies of protein expression in different tissues and body fluids in discrete conditions and/or time points. Recent advances of methodologies in this field have opened new opportunities to obtain relevant information on normal and abnormal processes occurring in the human body. In the current report, the main proteomics techniques and their application to human disease study are reviewed