Miao Li, Wei Chen, Yao-Bing Chen, Lei Wang, Liu Huang
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the combined effects of thymidine phosphorylase (TYMP) and sine oculis homeobox homologue 1 (Six1) on the tumor microenvironment and their role in promoting metastasis in gastric cancer (GC).
Methods: A total of 674 GC patients who underwent surgical resection were enrolled. Correlations between TYMP/Six1 expression and the clinicopathological characteristics and overall survival of patients were analysed. The expression of TYMP, Six1 and vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGFc) was quantified via immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Cell transfection, wound-healing assays and bioinformatics analyses were used to explore the potential underlying mechanisms involved.
Results: Compared with the other groups, the Six1+ /TYMP+ patients exhibited poor differentiation, advanced tumor stage, a higher rate of lymphatic vessel invasion and shorter survival. Additionally, the protein expression of TYMP and Six1 was positively correlated with the VEGFc level. A significant increase in VEGFc expression was observed in cells transfected with TYMP, Six1, and TYMP/Six1 vectors. The results of the wound-healing assay indicated that the synergistic effect of TYMP and Six1 enhanced the migratory ability of GC cells. Furthermore, bioinformatics analysis revealed that TYMP and Six1 were positively correlated with immunosuppressive immune cell subsets and elevated the expression of inhibitory immune checkpoints in GC.
Conclusions: The combination of TYMP and Six1 is a good predictive and prognostic biomarker for GC. This combination enhances the expression of VEGFc, facilitates the invasion of GC cells, and may be linked to inhibitory immune cells and the tumor immune microenvironment.
期刊介绍:
Current Medical Science provides a forum for peer-reviewed papers in the medical sciences, to promote academic exchange between Chinese researchers and doctors and their foreign counterparts. The journal covers the subjects of biomedicine such as physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, pathology and pathophysiology, etc., and clinical research, such as surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and otorhinolaryngology etc. The articles appearing in Current Medical Science are mainly in English, with a very small number of its papers in German, to pay tribute to its German founder. This journal is the only medical periodical in Western languages sponsored by an educational institution located in the central part of China.