Department of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China.
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Guigang City People’s Hospital, Guigang, Guangxi 537100, China.
Aging (Albany NY). 2024 Mar 18;16(6):5123-5148. doi: 10.18632/aging.205630.
The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway has been implicated in the pathogenesis of various cancers. However, the roles of the downstream GLI family (GLI1, GLI2, and GLI3) in tumorigenesis remain elusive. This study aimed to unravel the genetic alterations of GLI1/2/3 in cancer and their association with the immune microenvironment and related signaling pathways. Firstly, we evaluated the expression profiles of GLI1/2/3 in different cancer types, analyzed their prognostic and predictive values, and assessed their correlation with tumor-infiltrating immune cells. Secondly, we explored the relationships between GLI1/2/3 and genetic mutations, epigenetic modifications, and clinically relevant drugs. Finally, we performed enrichment analysis to decipher the underlying mechanisms of GLI1/2/3 in cancer initiation and progression. Our results revealed that the expression levels of GLI1/2/3 were positively correlated in most cancer tissues, suggesting a cooperative role of these factors in tumorigenesis. We also identified tissue-specific expression patterns of GLI1/2/3, which may reflect the distinct functions of these factors in different cell types. Furthermore, GLI1/2/3 expression displayed significant associations with poor prognosis in several cancers, indicating their potential as prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Importantly, we found that GLI1/2/3 modulated the immune microenvironment by regulating the recruitment, activation, and polarization of cancer-associated fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and macrophages. Additionally, functional enrichment analyses indicated that GLI1/2/3 are involved in the regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Together, our findings shed new light on the roles of GLI1/2/3 in tumorigenesis and provide a potential basis for the development of novel therapeutic strategies targeting GLI-mediated signaling pathways in cancer.
Hedgehog(Hh)信号通路已被牵连到各种癌症的发病机制中。然而,下游 GLI 家族(GLI1、GLI2 和 GLI3)在肿瘤发生中的作用仍不清楚。本研究旨在揭示 GLI1/2/3 在癌症中的遗传改变及其与免疫微环境和相关信号通路的关联。首先,我们评估了 GLI1/2/3 在不同癌症类型中的表达谱,分析了它们的预后和预测价值,并评估了它们与肿瘤浸润免疫细胞的相关性。其次,我们探讨了 GLI1/2/3 与遗传突变、表观遗传修饰和临床相关药物的关系。最后,我们进行了富集分析,以破译 GLI1/2/3 在癌症发生和进展中的潜在机制。我们的结果表明,在大多数癌症组织中,GLI1/2/3 的表达水平呈正相关,表明这些因素在肿瘤发生中具有协同作用。我们还确定了 GLI1/2/3 的组织特异性表达模式,这可能反映了这些因素在不同细胞类型中的不同功能。此外,GLI1/2/3 的表达与几种癌症的不良预后显著相关,表明它们可能成为预后生物标志物和治疗靶点。重要的是,我们发现 GLI1/2/3 通过调节癌症相关成纤维细胞、内皮细胞和巨噬细胞的募集、激活和极化来调节免疫微环境。此外,功能富集分析表明 GLI1/2/3 参与调节上皮-间充质转化(EMT)。总之,我们的发现揭示了 GLI1/2/3 在肿瘤发生中的作用,并为开发针对 GLI 介导的信号通路的新型治疗策略提供了潜在的基础。