Cancer diagnosis is associated with an increased suicide risk, particularly within the first 1 year after diagnosis of cancer. Abnormal function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis has been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression and suicide. We examined genetic associations of the functional Bcl-1 polymorphism of (rs41423247) neuron-specific glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1) gene, with death by suicide in cancer patients. Suicides occurring within a year of cancer diagnosis ('early suicide') were considered separately from those suicides during the second or subsequent year ('late suicide') after cancer diagnosis.

Typical mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a distinct B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma associated with over-expression of cyclin D1 related to translocation between the IgH and BCL-1 genes. Due to the important functional interaction between cyclin D1 and cyclin dependent kinases, cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors such as flavopiridol are under consideration for treatment of patients with MCL. The present study investigated the in vitro effects of flavopiridol on the MCL cell line (JeKo-1). Flavopiridol at a dose of 10nmol/L induced apoptosis by 6h of treatment as noted by flow cytometric analysis, morphologic examination and Western blotting. The cleavage of procaspase-3 and PARP and the decrease of flavopiridol-induced apoptosis by pan-caspase inhibition suggested that the caspase pathway serves an important role in the apoptotic process. Furthermore, MCL cells exposed to flavopiridol showed down regulation of key cell cycle proteins acting at the restriction point control between the G1 and S phases. The onset of flavopiridol-induced apoptosis also coincided with the down regulation of Mcl-1, anti-apoptotic protein. Collectively, our data indicates that flavopiridol may have significant therapeutic potential in the context of MCL.

Employing inducible genetically engineered and orthotopic mouse models, we demonstrate a key role for transcriptional regulator Yap in maintenance of Kras-mutant pancreatic tumors. Integrated transcriptional and metabolomics analysis reveals that Yap transcribes Myc and cooperates with Myc to maintain global transcription of metabolic genes. Yap loss triggers acute metabolic stress, which causes tumor regression while inducing epigenetic reprogramming and Sox2 upregulation in a subset of pancreatic neoplastic cells. Sox2 restores Myc expression and metabolic homeostasis in Yap-deficient neoplastic ductal cells, which gradually re-differentiate into acinar-like cells, partially restoring pancreatic parenchyma in vivo. Both the short-term and long-term effects of Yap loss in inducing cell death and re-differentiation, respectively, are blunted in advanced, poorly differentiated p53-mutant pancreatic tumors. Collectively, these findings reveal a highly dynamic and interdependent metabolic, transcriptional, and epigenetic regulatory network governed by Yap, Myc, Sox2, and p53 that dictates pancreatic tumor metabolism, growth, survival, and differentiation.

Skin cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Mounting evidence shows that exposure of the skin to solar UV radiation results in inflammation, oxidative stress, DNA damage, dysregulation of cellular signaling pathways and immunosuppression thereby resulting in skin cancer. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is well known to function as an anti-apoptotic factor, especially in numerous malignancies, but the relationship between STAT3 activation and DNA damage response in skin cancer is still not fully understood. We now report that STAT3 inhibited DNA damage induced by UV and STAT3 mediated upregulation of GADD45γ and MDC-1 and the phosphorylation of H2AX in UV induced DNA damage. Notably, STAT3 can increase the expression of ATR in A431 cells. Luciferase assay shows that STAT3 activates the transcription of ATR promoter. More importantly, microRNA-383 suppressed ATR expression by targeting 3' (untranslated regions)UTR of ATR in A431 cells, and STAT3 down-regulates the transcription of miR-383 promoter. Thus, these results reveal the new insight that ATR is down-regulated by STAT3-regulated microRNA-383 in A431 cells. Moreover, overexpression of STAT3 enhanced expression of antiapoptosis genes BCL-1 and MCL-1, and depletion of STAT3 sensitized A431 cells to apoptotic cell death following UV. Collectively, these studies suggest that STAT3 may be a potential target for both the prevention and treatment of human skin cancer.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection can deteriorate asthma by inducing persistent airway inflammation. Increasing evidence elucidated that pyroptosis plays a pivotal role in asthma. Conciliatory anti-allergic decoction (CAD) exhibits an anti-inflammatory effect in ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthma; however, the effects and mechanisms of CAD in RSV-infected asthmatic mice have not yet been elucidated. The RSV-infected asthmatic mice model and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced 16HBE cell pyroptosis model were established, respectively. Pulmonary function, ELISA, and histopathologic analysis were performed to assess the airway inflammation and remodeling in mice with CAD treatment. Furthermore, ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight/mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) was conducted to identify the chemical compounds of high-dose CAD (30 g/kg). Cell viability and apoptosis of 16HBE cells were assessed by CCK-8 and flow cytometry assays, respectively. Finally, the expression levels of apoptosis-, pyroptosis-, and TLR3/NLRP3/NF-κB/IRF3 signaling-related genes were measured with qRT-PCR or western blotting, respectively. Pulmonary function tests showed that CAD significantly ameliorated respiratory dysfunction, airway hyperresponsiveness, inflammation cell recruitment in BALF, pulmonary inflammation, collagen deposition, and cell death in lung tissues. CAD significantly decreased the content of TNF-α, IL-13, IL-4, IL-1β and IL-5 in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), IL-17, IL-6, and OVA-specific IgE in serum and increased serum IFN-γ in asthma mice. The results of UPLC-Q-TOF/MS showed that high-dose CAD had 88 kinds of chemical components. In vitro, CAD-contained serum significantly suppressed LPS-induced 16HBE cell apoptosis. Additionally, CAD and CAD-contained serum attenuated the up-regulated expressions of Bax, Cleaved caspase-3, NLRP3, ASC, Cleaved caspase-1, GSDMD-N, IL-18, IL-1β, TLR3, p-P65, p-IκBα, and IRF3 but increased Bcl-1 and GSDMD levels in the asthma mice and LPS-induced 16HBE cells, respectively. These results illustrated that CAD may have a potential role in improving airway inflammation and pyroptosis through inhibition of the TLR3/NLRP3/NF-κB/IRF3 signaling pathway.

The switch from mitosis to meiosis is the key event marking onset of differentiation in the germline stem cell lineage. In Drosophila, the translational repressor Bgcn is required for spermatogonia to stop mitosis and transition to meiotic prophase and the spermatocyte state. Here we show that the mammalian Bgcn homolog YTHDC2 facilitates a clean switch from mitosis to meiosis in mouse germ cells, revealing a conserved role for YTHDC2 in this critical cell fate transition. YTHDC2-deficient male germ cells enter meiosis but have a mixed identity, maintaining expression of Cyclin A2 and failing to properly express many meiotic markers. Instead of continuing through meiotic prophase, the cells attempt an abnormal mitotic-like division and die. YTHDC2 binds multiple transcripts including Ccna2 and other mitotic transcripts, binds specific piRNA precursors, and interacts with RNA granule components, suggesting that proper progression of germ cells through meiosis is licensed by YTHDC2 through post-transcriptional regulation.

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) can destroy tumors by recruiting effectors such as myeloid cells, or targeting immunomodulatory receptors to promote cytotoxic T cell responses. Here, we examined the therapeutic potential of combining a direct tumor-targeting mAb, anti-CD20, with an extended panel of immunomodulatory mAbs. Only the anti-CD27/CD20 combination provided cures. This was apparent in multiple lymphoma models, including huCD27 transgenic mice using the anti-huCD27, varlilumab. Detailed mechanistic analysis using single-cell RNA sequencing demonstrated that anti-CD27 stimulated CD8+ T and natural killer cells to release myeloid chemo-attractants and interferon gamma, to elicit myeloid infiltration and macrophage activation. This study demonstrates the therapeutic advantage of using an immunomodulatory mAb to regulate lymphoid cells, which then recruit and activate myeloid cells for enhanced killing of mAb-opsonized tumors.

Knowledge of the genomic landscape of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) grows increasingly detailed, providing challenges in contextualizing the accumulated information. To define the underlying networks, we here perform a multi-platform molecular characterization. We identify major subgroups characterized by genomic instability (GI) or activation of epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT)-like programs, which subdivide into non-inflammatory and inflammatory subtypes. GI CLL exhibit disruption of genome integrity, DNA-damage response and are associated with mutagenesis mediated through activation-induced cytidine deaminase or defective mismatch repair. TP53 wild-type and mutated/deleted cases constitute a transcriptionally uniform entity in GI CLL and show similarly poor progression-free survival at relapse. EMT-like CLL exhibit high genomic stability, reduced benefit from the addition of rituximab and EMT-like differentiation is inhibited by induction of DNA damage. This work extends the perspective on CLL biology and risk categories in TP53 wild-type CLL. Furthermore, molecular targets identified within each subgroup provide opportunities for new treatment approaches.