Background: Ferroptosis is a newly recognized type of cell death, which is different from traditional necrosis, apoptosis or autophagic cell death. However, the position of ferroptosis in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury (ALI) has not been explored intensively so far. In this study, we mainly analyzed the relationship between ferroptosis and LPS-induced ALI. Methods: In this study, a human bronchial epithelial cell line, BEAS-2B, was treated with LPS and ferrostatin-1 (Fer-1, ferroptosis inhibitor). The cell viability was measured using CCK-8. Additionally, the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), and iron, as well as the protein level of SLC7A11 and GPX4, were measured in different groups. To further confirm the in vitro results, an ALI model was induced by LPS in mice, and the therapeutic action of Fer-1 and ferroptosis level in lung tissues were evaluated. Results: The cell viability of BEAS-2B was down-regulated by LPS treatment, together with the ferroptosis markers SLC7A11 and GPX4, while the levels of MDA, 4-HNE and total iron were increased by LPS treatment in a dose-dependent manner, which could be rescued by Fer-1. The results of the in vivo experiment also indicated that Fer-1 exerted therapeutic action against LPS-induced ALI, and down-regulated the ferroptosis level in lung tissues. Conclusions: Our study indicated that ferroptosis has an important role in the progression of LPS-induced ALI, and ferroptosis may become a novel target in the treatment of ALI patients.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Despite the advancement in surgery and chemotherapy, the prognosis of patients with advanced lung cancer is still poor. Yin Yang-1 (YY1) is a multifunctional transcription factor that exhibits positive and negative control on a large number of cellular and viral genes. In this study, we showed that the expression of YY1 is upregulated in lung cancer tissues as compared to adjacent normal tissues. Patients with higher expression of YY1 had larger tumor size, poor differentiation, higher TNM stage, and lymph node metastasis. Ectopic expression of YY1 in lung cancer cells promoted cell proliferation and invasion. Inversely, siRNA-mediated silencing of YY1 inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis. These results suggested that YY1 may function as an oncogene in lung cancer. Moreover, through luciferase reporter assay, electrophoretic mobility shift assay, and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay, we showed that YY1 could directly bind to the promoter region of (long noncoding RNA-plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 [lncRNA-PVT1]) and activated its transcription through the consensus YY1 motif. Knockdown of the expression of YY1 reduced cell proliferation in vivo, consistent with the results obtained from silencing the expression of YY1 in lung cancer cells. Collectively, our study showed a critical role of YY1 in the regulation of tumorigenesis, partly through its downstream target PVT1.

RET rearrangement has been proven as an oncogenic driver in patients with lung cancer. However, the prevalence, clinical characteristics, molecular features and therapeutic options in RET-rearranged patients remain unclear, especially in Chinese lung cancers. We retrospectively collected 6125 Chinese lung cancer patients who have been profiled using next-generation sequencing (NGS). The clinical demographics and molecular features of RET rearrangement-positive patients were analyzed. RET rearrangements were identified in 84 patients with proportion of 1.4% in our cohort. The median age at diagnosis was 58 years and it mainly occurred in females with adenocarcinoma histology. KIF5B-RET was the most frequently fusion type and accounted for 53.8% (57/106) of all RET fusions identified, with K15-R12 as the most frequent variant (71.9%). Among 47 RET-positive patients profiled with larger panels, 72.3% (34/47) harbored concurrent alterations. TP53 ranked as the most common concurrent alteration and concomitant EGFR oncogenic alterations were identified in 7 patients. Moreover, we presented an adenocarcinoma patient harboring concurrent RET fusion and EGFR L858R responded to combinatorial treatment of cabozantinib and osimertinib, with a progression-free survival of 5 months. Our study improved knowledge of clinical characteristics and molecular features of RET-rearranged Chinese lung cancers. It might be helpful for guiding clinicians for more effective personalized diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

Lung cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-associated mortality worldwide, however, molecular mechanisms underlying lung cancer tumorigenesis and progression remain unknown. Here, we report evidence showing that one member of the mammalian methyltransferase-like family (METTL), METTL7B, is a potential molecular target for treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METTL7B expression was elevated in the majority of NSCLC comparing to normal tissues. Increased expression of METTL7B contributed to advanced stages of tumor development and poor survival in NSCLC patients. Lentivirus-mediated shRNA silencing of METTL7B suppressed proliferation and tumorigenesis of cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Investigation on gene expression profiles of NSCLC cells revealed that abundant cell cycle related genes were downregulated in the absence of METTL7B. Pathway enrichment analysis indicated that METTL7B participated in cell cycle regulation. Notably, CCND1, a key regulator for G1/S transition, was significantly decreased with the depletion of METTL7B, resulting in G0/G1 arrest, indicating that METTL7B is critical for cell cycle progression. Taken together, our findings implicate that METTL7B is essential for NSCLC development and progression. METTL7B might serve as a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC.