CA IX-targeted Ag_(2)S quantum dots bioprobe for NIR-II imaging-guided hypoxia tumor chemo-photothermal therapy

Hypoxia is the common characteristic of almost all solid tumors,which prevents therapeutic drugs from reaching the tumors.Therefore,the development of new targeted agents for the accurate diagnosis of hypoxia tumors is widely concerned.As carbonic anhydrase IX(CA IX)is abundantly distributed on the hypoxia tumor cells,it is considered as a potential tumor biomarker.4-(2-Aminoethyl)benzenesulfonamide(ABS)as a CA IX inhibitor has inherent inhibitory activity and good targeting effect.In this study,Ag_(2)S quantum dots(QDs)were used as the carrier to prepare a novel diagnostic and therapeutic bioprobe(Ag_(2)S@polyethylene glycol(PEG)-ABS)through ligand exchange and amide condensation reaction.Ag_(2)S@PEG-ABS can selectively target tumors by surface-modified ABS and achieve accurate tumor imaging by the near infrared-II(NIR-II)fluorescence characteristics of Ag_(2)S QDs.PEG modification of Ag_(2)S QDs greatly improves its water solubility and stability,and therefore achieves high photothermal stability and high photothermal conversion efficiency(PCE)of 45.17%.Under laser irradiation,Ag_(2)S@PEG-ABS has powerful photothermal and inherent antitumor combinations on colon cancer cells(CT-26)in vitro.It also has been proved that Ag_(2)S@PEG-ABS can realize the effective treatment of hypoxia tumors in vivo and show good biocompatibility.Therefore,it is a new efficient integrated platform for the diagnosis and treatment of hypoxia tumors.

Prioritization of risk genes in colorectal cancer by integrative analysis of multi-omics data and gene networks

Genome-wide association studies(GWASs)have identified over 140 colorectal cancer(CRC)-associated loci;however,target genes at the majority of loci and underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly understood.Here,we utilized a Bayesian approach,integrative risk gene selector(iRIGS),to prioritize risk genes at CRC GWAS loci by integrating multi-omics data.As a result,a total of 105 high-confidence risk genes(HRGs)were identified,which exhibited strong gene dependencies for CRC and enrichment in the biological processes implicated in CRC.Among the 105 HRGs,CEBPB,located at the 20q13.13 locus,acted as a transcription factor playing critical roles in cancer.Our subsequent assays indicated the tumor promoter function of CEBPB that facilitated CRC cell proliferation by regulating multiple oncogenic pathways such as MAPK,PI3K-Akt,and Ras signaling.Next,by integrating a fine-mapping analysis and three independent case-control studies in Chinese populations consisting of 8,039 cases and 12,775 controls,we elucidated that rs1810503,a putative functional variant regulating CEBPB,was associated with CRC risk(OR=0.90,95%CI=0.86–0.93,P=1.07×10^(−7)).The association between rs1810503 and CRC risk was further validated in three additional multi-ancestry populations consisting of 24,254 cases and 58,741 controls.Mechanistically,the rs1810503 A to T allele change weakened the enhancer activity in an allele-specific manner to decrease CEBPB expression via longrange promoter-enhancer interactions,mediated by the transcription factor,REST,and thus decreased CRC risk.In summary,our study provides a genetic resource and a generalizable strategy for CRC etiology investigation,and highlights the biological implications of CEBPB in CRC tumorigenesis,shedding new light on the etiology of CRC.

A genetic variant in the immune-related gene ERAP1 affects colorectal cancer prognosis

Background:Findings on the association of genetic factors and colorectal cancer(CRC)survival are limited and inconsistent,and revealing the mechanism underlying their prognostic roles is of great importance.This study aimed to explore the relationship between functional genetic variations and the prognosis of CRC and further reveal the possible mechanism.Methods:We first systematically performed expression quantitative trait locus(eQTL)analysis using The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)dataset.Then,the Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to filter out the survival-related eQTL target genes of CRC patients in two public datasets(TCGA and GSE39582 dataset from the Gene Expression Omnibus database).The seven most potentially functional eQTL single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)associated with six survival-related eQTL target genes were genotyped in 907 Chinese CRC patients with clinical prognosis data.The regulatory mechanism of the survival-related SNP was further confirmed by functional experiments.Results:The rs71630754 regulating the expression of endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1(ERAP1)was significantly associated with the prognosis of CRC(additive model,hazard ratio[HR]:1.43,95%confidence interval[CI]:1.08-1.88,P=0.012).The results of dual-luciferase reporter assay and electrophoretic mobility shift assay showed that the A allele of the rs71630754 could increase the binding of transcription factor 3(TCF3)and subsequently reduce the expression of ERAP1.The results of bioinformatic analysis showed that lower expression of ERAP1 could affect the tumor immune microenvironment and was significantly associated with severe survival outcomes.Conclusion:The rs71630754 could influence the prognosis of CRC patients by regulating the expression of the immune-related gene ERAP1.Trial Registration:No.NCT00454519(https://clinicaltrials.gov/)

AAZ2 induces mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis by targeting PDK1 in gastric cancer

Drastic surges in intracellular reactive oxygen species(ROS)induce cell apoptosis,while most chemotherapy drugs lead to the accumulation of ROS.Here,we constructed an organic compound,arsenical N-(4-(1,3,2-dithiarsinan-2-yl)phenyl)acrylamide(AAZ2),which could prompt the ROS to trigger mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis in gastric cancer(GC).Mechanistically,by targeting pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1(PDK1),AAZ2 caused metabolism alteration and the imbalance of redox homeostasis,followed by the inhibition of phosphoinositide-3-kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR)pathway and leading to the activation of B-cell lymphoma 2(Bcl2)/Bcl2-associated X(Bax)/caspase-9(Cas9)/Cas3 cascades.Importantly,our in vivo data demonstrated that AAZ2 could inhibit the growth of GC xenograft.Overall,our data suggested that AAZ2 could contribute to metabolic abnormalities,leading to mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis by targeting PDK1 in GC.