Cancer immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment, and it relies heavily on the comprehensive understanding of the immune landscape of the tumor microenvironment (TME). Here, we obtain a detailed immune cell atlas of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) at single-cell resolution. Exhausted T and NK cells, regulatory T cells (Tregs), alternatively activated macrophages and tolerogenic dendritic cells are dominant in the TME. Transcriptional profiling coupled with T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing reveal lineage connections in T cell populations. CD8 T cells show continuous progression from pre-exhausted to exhausted T cells. While exhausted CD4, CD8 T and NK cells are major proliferative cell components in the TME, the crosstalk between macrophages and Tregs contributes to potential immunosuppression in the TME. Our results indicate several immunosuppressive mechanisms that may be simultaneously responsible for the failure of immuno-surveillance. Specific targeting of these immunosuppressive pathways may reactivate anti-tumor immune responses in ESCC.

A therosclerosis is the underlying cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is the leading cause of mortality worldwide.1 CVD is initiated by the accumulation of lipids, necrotic cells, and fibrous elements in the neointima of medium and large arteries. 2,3 The primary cells that contribute to atherosclerotic lesion formation are endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, and macrophages. [4][5][6] Plaque formation results from the infiltration of circulating monocytes in the subendothelial space, where they differentiate into macrophages and subsequently internalize modified lipoproteins and further differentiate into foam cells. 7 Therefore, further clarification of the mechanisms leading to macrophage accumulation is important to prevent plaque rupture and subsequent life-threatening clinical complications, such as myocardial infarction and stroke. See accompanying editorial on page 7The nuclear receptor superfamily is composed of transcription factors that positively and negatively regulate gene expression, which not only influence lipid metabolism at the systemic level but also regulate lipid homeostasis and inflammation in macrophages, endothelial cells, and smooth muscle cells within the arterial walls. 8,9 The nuclear factor I (NFI) family of site-specific DNA-binding proteins are critical regulators of gliogenesis in the developing central nervous system.10,11 NFIA, a member of the NFI family, can modulate DNA replication and transcription through binding to duplex DNA containing the TTGGC motif or 5′-TTGGCN 5 GCCAA-3′ consensus sequence. 12 Many studies have shown that NFIA plays critical roles in specifying glial cell identity and promoting astrocyte differentiation during embryonic development. 10,11 In addition, a recent study demonstrated that NFIA was functionally required for proper adipocyte differentiation and lipid droplet formation. Overexpression of NFIA in 3T3-L1 cells could significantly result in lipid droplet formation without differentiation stimulus. Overexpression of dominantnegative NFIA or small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated knockdown of NFIA could markedly inhibit lipid accumulation during differentiation 13 . However, no publication has © 2014 American Heart Association, Inc. Objective-Cardiovascular disease caused by atherosclerosis is the number one cause of death in Western countries and threatens to become the major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Long noncoding RNAs are emerging as new players in gene regulation, but how long noncoding RNAs operate in the development of atherosclerosis remains unclear. Approach and Results-Using microarray analysis, we found that long noncoding RNA RP5-833A20.1 expression was upregulated, whereas nuclear factor IA (NFIA) expression was downregulated in human acute monocytic leukemia macrophage-derived foam cells. Moreover, we showed that long noncoding RNA RP5-833A20.1 may decreases NFIA expression by inducing hsa-miR-382-5p expression in vitro. We found that the RP5-833A20.1/hsa-miR-382-5p/NFIA pathway is essenti...

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Background: The role of the unspliced XBP1 remains unclear.Results: Disturbed flow concomitantly up-regulates XBP1u and HDAC3, which form a complex with Akt1 and mTOR, leading to Nrf2-mediated HO-1 expression.Conclusion: XBP1u and HDAC3 synergistically exert a protective effect on disturbed flow-induced oxidative stress via regulation of HO-1 expression.Significance: This study provides new insights into the physiological roles of XBP1u and HDAC3.

Increased expression of the kinesin family member 23 (KIF23) has been verified in gastric cancer (GC) and its upregulation contributes to cell proliferation. Even though, the role of KIF23 has not been fully elucidated in GC, and the mechanisms of KIF23 as an oncogene remain unknown. To further identify its potential role in GC, we analyzed gene expression data from GC patients in GEO and TCGA datasets. KIF23 was upregulated in GC, and increased expression of KIF23 correlated with poor prognosis. Importantly, KIF23 inhibition not only suppressed GC cell proliferation, tumorigenesis, but also migration and invasion, and arrested the cell cycle in the G2/M phase. Mechanistic investigations confirmed that KIF23 activated the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway by directly interacting with APC membrane recruitment 1 (Amer1). Furthermore, KIF23 exhibited competitive binding with Amer1 to block the association of Amer1 with adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), thus relocating Amer1 from the membrane and cytoplasm to the nucleus and attenuating the ability of Amer1 to negatively regulate Wnt/β-catenin signaling, resulting in activation of this signaling pathway. Collectively, our findings demonstrated that KIF23 promoted GC cell proliferation by directly interacting with Amer1 and activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to be involved in multiple biological pathways that can influence tumor progression and metastasis. High-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPVs) is aetiologically correlated to cervical cancer. Recently, miRNAs were reported to be regulated by virus and play pivotal roles in HPV-related tumor progression. However, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. In the present study, we report that HPV16 E7 upregulated miR-27b to promote proliferation and invasion in cervical cancer. The results showed that PPARγ, as a target of miR-27b, played a significant role in suppressing cervical cancer progression by downregulating the sodium-hydrogen exchanger isoform 1 (NHE1). It was also shown that the inhibition of miR-27b diminished the ability of HPV16 E7 to suppress PPARγ or activate NHE1 expression. In addition, we observed high expression of miR-27b and NHE1, but low expression of PPARγ in HPV16-positive cervical cancer tissues. In summary, the present study revealed that miR-27b is upregulated by HPV16 E7 to inhibit PPARγ expression and promotes proliferation and invasion in cervical carcinoma cells.

Gene amplifications in the 17q chromosomal region are observed frequently in breast cancers. An integrative bioinformatics analysis of this region nominated the MAP3K 3 gene as a potential therapeutic target in breast cancer. This gene encodes mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 3 (MAP3K3/MEKK3), which has not yet been reported to be associated with cancer-causing genetic aberrations. We found that MAP3K3 was amplified in approximately 8–20% of breast cancers. Knockdown of MAP3K3 expression significantly inhibited cell proliferation and colony formation in MAP3K3-amplified breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-361 but not in MAP3K3 non-amplified breast cancer cells. Knockdown of MAP3K3 expression in MAP3K3-amplified breast cancer cells sensitized breast cancer cells to apoptotic induction by TNFα and TRAIL, as well as doxorubicin, VP-16 and fluorouracil, three commonly used chemotherapeutic drugs for treating breast cancer. In addition, ectopic expression of MAP3K3, in collaboration with Ras, induced colony formation in both primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts and immortalized human breast epithelial cells (MCF-10A). Combined, these results suggest that MAP3K3 contributes to breast carcinogenesis and may endow resistance of breast cancer cells to cytotoxic chemotherapy. Therefore, MAP3K3 may be a valuable therapeutic target in patients with MAP3K3-amplified breast cancers, and blocking MAP3K3 kinase activity with a small molecule inhibitor may sensitize MAP3K3-amplified breast cancer cells to chemotherapy.

Background Serum/plasma YKL-40 can be a useful index that is associated with tumor development. However, the prognostic value of serum/plasma YKL-40 in patients with solid tumors is still unclear. We aimed to utilize the existing literature to investigate the prognostic value of serum/plasma YKL-40 in solid tumors. Methods An extensive literature search for relevant studies was conducted with the Embase, Medline and Web of Science databases. The effect on survival was measured with the hazard ratio (HR). Then, pooled HRs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using the random and fixed-effects models according to the heterogeneity of the included studies. Results This meta-analysis was based on 41 publications and comprised a total of 7762 patients with solid tumors. The pooled HR showed that elevated serum/plasma YKL-40 was significantly associated with poor OS (HR, 1.44; 95% CI 1.33–1.56). We also found that elevated serum/plasma YKL-40 had significant prognostic effects on OS in various cancer subgroups such as gastrointestinal tumors (HR, 1.37; 95% CI 1.18–1.58), ovarian cancer (HR, 2.27; 95% CI 1.69–3.06), melanoma (HR, 1.77; 95% CI 1.18–2.67), lung cancer (HR, 1.73; 95% CI 1.35–2.23), urologic neoplasms (HR, 1.61; 95% CI 1.08–2.40) and glioblastoma (HR, 1.23; 95% CI 1.07–1.42); in contrast, the prognostic effect of serum/plasma YKL-40 was not statistically significant in breast cancer (HR, 1.07; 95% CI 0.98–1.17). Conclusions The available evidence supports the hypothesis that elevated serum/plasma YKL-40 is associated with poor survival in patients with solid tumors and that serum/plasma YKL-40 may serve as a novel prognostic biomarker.