The Enhanced Expression of ZWILCH Predicts Poor Survival of Adrenocortical Carcinoma Patients

Abstract

Zwilch kinetochore protein (ZWILCH) plays a key role in proper cell proliferation. The upregulation of the ZWILCH gene was observed in many types of cancers, but the association of ZWILCH with adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) was not investigated so far. The main aim of the presented study was to verify if the enhanced level of the ZWILCH gene can be used as a diagnostic marker for ACC development and progression, as well as a predictor of survival time for ACC patients. The performed analyses included investigation of the ZWILCH expression profile in tumors with publicly available TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) datasets and transcriptomic data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, as well as, in human biological samples of normal adrenal, adrenocortical carcinoma and in commercially available tissue microarrays. The findings demonstrate statistically significant higher ZWILCH gene expression in ACC tissue in comparison with normal adrenal glands. Furthermore, there is a strong correlation between ZWILCH upregulation and tumor mitotic rate and the probability of patient survival. The enhanced ZWILCH level is also connected with the activation of genes involved in cell proliferation and the inhibition of genes related to the immune system. This work contributes to a better understanding of the role of ZWILCH as an ACC biomarker and diagnostic tool.

Effect of cellular senescence on the response of human peritoneal mesothelial cells to TGF-β

“…The microarray study was conducted according to previously described procedures 64 – 66 . Total RNA from HPMCs was extracted with TRI Reagent (SigmaAlrdich, Merck Life Science, Darmstadt, Germany) purified with the Quick-RNA MiniPrep kit (Zymo Research Corp., Irvine, CA, USA) and quantified by spectrophotometry.…”

Impaired Expression of Humanin during Adrenocortical Carcinoma

“…The study protocol conformed to the ethical guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki. The patients' clinical characteristics were described earlier [67].…”

“…TMA slides obtained from US Biomax Inc. (AD2081a; Rockville, MD, USA) represent human normal and adrenal gland disease spectrum (adrenal gland cancer progression) cases. The procedure of deparaffinization and staining was described earlier [67]. In brief, the TMA slide was deparaffinized in xylene and then incubated twice in 100% and once in 96%, 80%, and 70% of ethanol for 1 min at RT.…”