World Journal of Biological Chemistry, Jul 27, 2021
This article examines the hype generated around the term “stem cell”, and the capitalization of t... more This article examines the hype generated around the term “stem cell”, and the capitalization of the stem cell craze by the cosmetic industry. It started by introducing product lines containing active ingredients derived from plant stem cells. Then, evolved to using own cells for skin regeneration and hair loss treatment, and allogenic cells for the manufacturing of stem cell-derived products. This article also discusses the missing links for safe and reliable stem cell applications in cosmetics, and why local regulatory bodies, members of the industry and consumers must all work together to stop the illegitimate use of the “stem cell” good name in unsafe or fraudulent commercial practices.
Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Sep 3, 2022
Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) overexpression is considered one of the interesti... more Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) overexpression is considered one of the interesting prognostic biomarkers in bladder cancer. However, the mechanism of bladder cancer development in relation to HER2 status remains to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated HER2‐Ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) kinase interaction and their impact on patient survival and cancer aggressiveness. Using the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohorts, we demonstrated that ATM expression (protein/mRNA) is increased in HER2 deficient compared with proficient HER2 patients. This finding was then validated using the Gene Expression Omnibus database (GEO). Correlation analysis (using low expression vs high expression as a discriminator) revealed a significant association of ATM low and HER2 high status with several clinicopathological variables such as high tumour grade, late disease stage and tumour shape. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis indicated that ATM low and HER2 high is a powerful prognosticator of both overall survival (OS) and disease‐free survival (DFS). Furthermore, using bioinformatics and protein/protein interaction analyses, we identified 66 putative overlapping proteins with direct link between HER2 and ATM most of which are functionally involved in transcription regulation, apoptotic process and cell proliferation. Interestingly, the results showed that these proteins are strongly linked with PI3K‐Akt pathway, p53 pathway and microRNAs in cancer. Altogether, our data pinpoint an important biological role of the interconnection between HER2 and ATM. The latter appear to be an independent prognostic biomarker and may serve as targets to develop novel combination therapies to improve the outcome of patients with bladder cancer.
FABP7 is a member of the multi-gene fatty acid binding protein family. It is expressed in the mam... more FABP7 is a member of the multi-gene fatty acid binding protein family. It is expressed in the mammary gland and has been shown to function as inhibitor of proliferation of breast tumour cells and to promote differentiation through the JAK/Stat pathway. Cytoplasmic FABP7 expression has been shown to be associated with a favourable prognosis of basal-like breast cancer. In other tissues, varying sub-cellular localization of FABP7 between the nucleus and cytoplasm has been observed. Tissue microarray preparations of well-characterized series of 1,249 unselected and 245 ER-negative invasive breast cancers with a long-term follow-up were investigated in this study to assess the biological and clinical significance of FABP7 sub-cellular localization using immunohistochemistry. Both nuclear and cytoplasmic FABP7 were observed. Nuclear FABP7 was associated with high histologic grade, mitotic frequency, pleomorphism and stage, in addition to basal phenotype (BP) and triple-negative (TN) phenotype. Nuclear FABP7 expression showed an association with expression of markers associated with proliferation and cell-cycle control including Ki67, p53 and p21; however, cytoplasmic FABP7 was associated only with Ki67 and P53 (P = 0.001, < 0.001 respectively). Interestingly, in multivariate analysis, nuclear FABP7 expression in BP was significantly associated with longer DFI (P = 0.025) independent of cytoplasmic expression. Tumours with only nuclear positive FABP7 expression had significantly better prognosis than those with only cytoplasmic expression. This is the first study elucidating the sub-cellular localization of FABP7 in a large series of breast cancer cases. Our observations demonstrate the considerable heterogeneity in expression patterns of FABP7 within breast cancer that relates to differences in biological behaviour especially in basal-like breast cancer. Further investigation of the biology of FABP7 in breast cancer is warranted.
Supplementary Tables S1-S9: Supplementary Table S1: Clinicopathological characteristics in the ME... more Supplementary Tables S1-S9: Supplementary Table S1: Clinicopathological characteristics in the METABRIC cohort Supplementary Table S2: External validation cohorts (pooled n = 2413). Supplementary Table S3: Clinicopathological characteristics of Nottingham cohort Supplementary Table S4: Antigens, primary antibodies, clone, source, optimal dilution and scoring system used for each immunohistochemical marker Supplementary Table S5: BLM (nuclear protein expression) in breast cancer Supplementary Table S6: BLM (cytoplasmic protein expression) in breast cancer Supplementary Table S7: BLM (nuclear and cytoplasmic protein co-expression) in breast cancer Supplementary Table S8. BLM - Rad51 nuclear co-expression and breast cancer Supplementary Table S9: Multivariate analysis in Nottingham cohort.
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer and second leading cause of cancer-related deaths... more Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer and second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women in the United States. Our laboratory has identified the protein hEcd (human ortholog of Drosophila Ecdysoneless) as a novel regulator of cell cycle. Previous studies showed that Ecd regulates cell cycle by regulating the Rb-E2F pathway. Given the dysregulation of the cell cycle machinery in cancer, we examined expression of Ecd in normal, benign, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDCs) of breast. In first cohort, we showed while normal and hyperplasia of breast barely showed Ecd expression, high Ecd expression was observed in DCIS and IDC patient tissue specimens. In this cohort of 104 IDC patents, Ecd expression was positively associated with higher grade (p=0.04).We then analyzed Ecd expression in a second larger cohort (954) and observed similar results, where increased Ecd expression was associated with tumors of higher histological grade (p=0.013), mitotic count (p=0.032), and Nottingham Prognostic Index score (p=0.014). Notably, Ecd expression was positively associated with HER2/neu (p=0.002) overexpression. Significantly, a positive association between Ecd expression and shorter breast cancer specific survival (BCSS) (p=0.008) and disease-free survival (DFS) (p=0.003) was observed in HER2/neu overexpressing patients. Taken together, our results demonstrate Ecd expression as a novel marker for breast cancer progression that predicts tumor progression and the clinical outcome in breast cancer patients. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4593. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4593
World Journal of Biological Chemistry, Jul 27, 2021
This article examines the hype generated around the term “stem cell”, and the capitalization of t... more This article examines the hype generated around the term “stem cell”, and the capitalization of the stem cell craze by the cosmetic industry. It started by introducing product lines containing active ingredients derived from plant stem cells. Then, evolved to using own cells for skin regeneration and hair loss treatment, and allogenic cells for the manufacturing of stem cell-derived products. This article also discusses the missing links for safe and reliable stem cell applications in cosmetics, and why local regulatory bodies, members of the industry and consumers must all work together to stop the illegitimate use of the “stem cell” good name in unsafe or fraudulent commercial practices.
Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Sep 3, 2022
Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) overexpression is considered one of the interesti... more Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) overexpression is considered one of the interesting prognostic biomarkers in bladder cancer. However, the mechanism of bladder cancer development in relation to HER2 status remains to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated HER2‐Ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) kinase interaction and their impact on patient survival and cancer aggressiveness. Using the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohorts, we demonstrated that ATM expression (protein/mRNA) is increased in HER2 deficient compared with proficient HER2 patients. This finding was then validated using the Gene Expression Omnibus database (GEO). Correlation analysis (using low expression vs high expression as a discriminator) revealed a significant association of ATM low and HER2 high status with several clinicopathological variables such as high tumour grade, late disease stage and tumour shape. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis indicated that ATM low and HER2 high is a powerful prognosticator of both overall survival (OS) and disease‐free survival (DFS). Furthermore, using bioinformatics and protein/protein interaction analyses, we identified 66 putative overlapping proteins with direct link between HER2 and ATM most of which are functionally involved in transcription regulation, apoptotic process and cell proliferation. Interestingly, the results showed that these proteins are strongly linked with PI3K‐Akt pathway, p53 pathway and microRNAs in cancer. Altogether, our data pinpoint an important biological role of the interconnection between HER2 and ATM. The latter appear to be an independent prognostic biomarker and may serve as targets to develop novel combination therapies to improve the outcome of patients with bladder cancer.
FABP7 is a member of the multi-gene fatty acid binding protein family. It is expressed in the mam... more FABP7 is a member of the multi-gene fatty acid binding protein family. It is expressed in the mammary gland and has been shown to function as inhibitor of proliferation of breast tumour cells and to promote differentiation through the JAK/Stat pathway. Cytoplasmic FABP7 expression has been shown to be associated with a favourable prognosis of basal-like breast cancer. In other tissues, varying sub-cellular localization of FABP7 between the nucleus and cytoplasm has been observed. Tissue microarray preparations of well-characterized series of 1,249 unselected and 245 ER-negative invasive breast cancers with a long-term follow-up were investigated in this study to assess the biological and clinical significance of FABP7 sub-cellular localization using immunohistochemistry. Both nuclear and cytoplasmic FABP7 were observed. Nuclear FABP7 was associated with high histologic grade, mitotic frequency, pleomorphism and stage, in addition to basal phenotype (BP) and triple-negative (TN) phenotype. Nuclear FABP7 expression showed an association with expression of markers associated with proliferation and cell-cycle control including Ki67, p53 and p21; however, cytoplasmic FABP7 was associated only with Ki67 and P53 (P = 0.001, < 0.001 respectively). Interestingly, in multivariate analysis, nuclear FABP7 expression in BP was significantly associated with longer DFI (P = 0.025) independent of cytoplasmic expression. Tumours with only nuclear positive FABP7 expression had significantly better prognosis than those with only cytoplasmic expression. This is the first study elucidating the sub-cellular localization of FABP7 in a large series of breast cancer cases. Our observations demonstrate the considerable heterogeneity in expression patterns of FABP7 within breast cancer that relates to differences in biological behaviour especially in basal-like breast cancer. Further investigation of the biology of FABP7 in breast cancer is warranted.
Supplementary Tables S1-S9: Supplementary Table S1: Clinicopathological characteristics in the ME... more Supplementary Tables S1-S9: Supplementary Table S1: Clinicopathological characteristics in the METABRIC cohort Supplementary Table S2: External validation cohorts (pooled n = 2413). Supplementary Table S3: Clinicopathological characteristics of Nottingham cohort Supplementary Table S4: Antigens, primary antibodies, clone, source, optimal dilution and scoring system used for each immunohistochemical marker Supplementary Table S5: BLM (nuclear protein expression) in breast cancer Supplementary Table S6: BLM (cytoplasmic protein expression) in breast cancer Supplementary Table S7: BLM (nuclear and cytoplasmic protein co-expression) in breast cancer Supplementary Table S8. BLM - Rad51 nuclear co-expression and breast cancer Supplementary Table S9: Multivariate analysis in Nottingham cohort.
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer and second leading cause of cancer-related deaths... more Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer and second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women in the United States. Our laboratory has identified the protein hEcd (human ortholog of Drosophila Ecdysoneless) as a novel regulator of cell cycle. Previous studies showed that Ecd regulates cell cycle by regulating the Rb-E2F pathway. Given the dysregulation of the cell cycle machinery in cancer, we examined expression of Ecd in normal, benign, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDCs) of breast. In first cohort, we showed while normal and hyperplasia of breast barely showed Ecd expression, high Ecd expression was observed in DCIS and IDC patient tissue specimens. In this cohort of 104 IDC patents, Ecd expression was positively associated with higher grade (p=0.04).We then analyzed Ecd expression in a second larger cohort (954) and observed similar results, where increased Ecd expression was associated with tumors of higher histological grade (p=0.013), mitotic count (p=0.032), and Nottingham Prognostic Index score (p=0.014). Notably, Ecd expression was positively associated with HER2/neu (p=0.002) overexpression. Significantly, a positive association between Ecd expression and shorter breast cancer specific survival (BCSS) (p=0.008) and disease-free survival (DFS) (p=0.003) was observed in HER2/neu overexpressing patients. Taken together, our results demonstrate Ecd expression as a novel marker for breast cancer progression that predicts tumor progression and the clinical outcome in breast cancer patients. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4593. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4593
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