Li Yongchao, Wu Tinghui, Gong Shujuan, Zhou Hangzheng, Yu Lufei, Liang Meiyan, Shi Ruijun, Wu Zhenhui, Zhang Jinpei, Li Shuwei
Key Laboratory of Protection & Utilization of Biological Resources in Tarim Basin, College of Life Sciences, Tarim University, Alar, China.
Front Oncol. 2021 Jan 8;10:570736. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2020.570736. eCollection 2020.
The CXC chemokines belong to a family which includes 17 different CXC members. Accumulating evidence suggests that CXC chemokines regulate tumor cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis in various types of cancers by influencing the tumor microenvironment. The different expression profiles and specific function of each CXC chemokine in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are not yet clarified. In our work, we analyzed the altered expression, interaction network, and clinical data of CXC chemokines in patients with HNSCC by using the following: the Oncomine dataset, cBioPortal, Metascape, String analysis, GEPIA, and the Kaplan-Meier plotter. The transcriptional level analysis suggested that the mRNA levels of CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL3, CXCL5, CXCL6, CXCL8, CXCL9, CXCL10, CXCL11, and CXCL13 increased in HNSCC tissue samples when compared to the control tissue samples. The expression levels of CXCL9, CXCL10, CXCL11, CXCL12, and CXCL14 were associated with various tumor stages in HNSCC. Clinical data analysis showed that high transcription levels of CXCL2, CXCL3, and CXCL12, were linked with low relapse-free survival (RFS) in HNSCC patients. On the other hand, high CXCL14 levels predicted high RFS outcomes in HNSCC patients. Meanwhile, increased gene transcription levels of CXCL9, CXCL10, CXCL13, CXCL14, and CXCL17 were associated with a higher overall survival (OS) advantage in HNSCC patients, while high levels of CXCL1, and CXCL8 were associated with poor OS in all HNSCC patients. This study implied that CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL3, CXCL8, and CXCL12 could be used as prognosis markers to identify low survival rate subgroups of patients with HNSCC as well as be potential suitable therapeutic targets for HNSCC patients. Additionally, CXCL9, CXCL10, CXCL13, CXCL14, and CXCL17 could be used as functional prognosis biomarkers to identify better survival rate subgroups of patients with HNSCC.
CXC趋化因子属于一个包含17种不同CXC成员的家族。越来越多的证据表明，CXC趋化因子通过影响肿瘤微环境来调节各种癌症中的肿瘤细胞增殖、侵袭和转移。头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）中每种CXC趋化因子的不同表达谱和特定功能尚未明确。在我们的研究中，我们通过使用以下工具分析了HNSCC患者中CXC趋化因子的表达改变、相互作用网络和临床数据：Oncomine数据集、cBioPortal、Metascape、String分析、GEPIA和Kaplan-Meier绘图仪。转录水平分析表明，与对照组织样本相比，HNSCC组织样本中CXCL1、CXCL2、CXCL3、CXCL5、CXCL6、CXCL8、CXCL9、CXCL10、CXCL11和CXCL13的mRNA水平升高。CXCL9、CXCL10、CXCL11、CXCL12和CXCL14的表达水平与HNSCC的各种肿瘤分期相关。临床数据分析表明，CXCL2、CXCL3和CXCL12的高转录水平与HNSCC患者的低无复发生存率（RFS）相关。另一方面，高CXCL14水平预示着HNSCC患者的高RFS结果。同时，CXCL9、CXCL10、CXCL13、CXCL14和CXCL17的基因转录水平升高与HNSCC患者更高的总生存期（OS）优势相关，而CXCL1和CXCL8的高水平与所有HNSCC患者的不良OS相关。这项研究表明，CXCL1、CXCL2、CXCL3、CXCL8和CXCL12可作为预后标志物，用于识别HNSCC患者中低生存率亚组，也是HNSCC患者潜在的合适治疗靶点。此外，CXCL9、CXCL10、CXCL13、CXCL14和CXCL17可作为功能性预后生物标志物，用于识别HNSCC患者中生存率更高的亚组。
