BMCActa Medica Okayama1475-28672112021Increased expression of TAZ and associated upregulation of PD-L1 in cervical cancer592ENYanyanHanDepartment of Pathology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical SciencesDandanLiuThe Fourth Medical Center of The General Hospital of the Chinese People’s Liberation ArmyLianhongLiPathology Department of Dalian Medical UniversityBackground As an important component of the Hippo pathway, WW domain-containing transcription regulator 1 (TAZ), is a transcriptional coactivator that is responsible for the progression of various types of cancers. Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) receptors in activated T cells and their ligand programming death force 1 (PD-L1) are the main checkpoint signals that control T cell activity. Studies have shown high levels of PD-L1 in various cancers and that PD-L1/PD-1 signals to evade T-cell immunity. Recent data have demonstrated that TAZ can regulate the characteristics of cancer cells via PD-L1. Cervical cancer is a common gynecological disease worldwide. In this study, we attempted to evaluate the effects of TAZ and PD-L1 on cervical cancer. <br>
Methods Hela cervical cancer cells were transfected with TAZ plasmid or TAZ siRNA or PD-L1 siRNA by using Lipofectamine 2000. The relationship between TAZ and PD-L1 in cervical cancer cells was determined by qRT-PCR and western blotting. The functional roles of TAZ were confirmed via CCK-8, Transwell and flow cytometry assays. Western blotting was utilized to observe the expression of BCL-2 and Caspase-3. The clinicopathological correlation of TAZ and PD-L1 was evaluated via relevant databases. <br>
Result TAZ is upregulated in cervical cancer and induces the growth and metastasis of cervical cancer cells by targeting PD-L1and inhibiting the ratio of apoptotic of cancer cells. High TAZ and PD-L1 expression was observed in different stage, grade, histological patterns, and ages of cervical cancer groups compared with normal cervix groups. Furthermore, high TAZ expression was positively correlated with the infiltration levels of immune cells and the expression of PD-L1.No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.The Japanese Society for Lymphoreticular Tissue ResearchActa Medica Okayama1346-42806012020Hemosiderin deposition in lymph nodes of patients with plasma cell-type Castleman disease16ENYanyanHanDepartment of Pathology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical SciencesTakuroIgawaDepartment of Pathology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical SciencesKyoheiOginoDepartment of Pathology, Fukuyama City HospitalAsamiNishikoriDivision of Pathophysiology, Okayama University Graduate School of Health SciencesYukaGionDivision of Pathophysiology, Okayama University Graduate School of Health SciencesTadashiYoshinoDepartment of Pathology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical SciencesYasuharuSatoDivision of Pathophysiology, Okayama University Graduate School of Health SciencesPlasma cell-type Castleman disease (PCD) is a rare idiopathic atypical lymphoproliferative disorder. It is difficult to differentiate between PCD and IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) based on histology alone. As PCD often presents with abundant hemosiderin deposition, lymph node lesions obtained from 22 PCD patients and 12 IgG4-RD patients were analyzed using Prussian blue staining to clarify whether hemosiderin deposition is effective in distinguishing between these two diseases. The analysis disclosed that hemosiderin was more densely deposited in PCD than in IgG4-RD. The median number of Prussian blue-positive cells ± standard deviation (SD) in PCD and IgG4-RD cases was 13 ± 36 cells/3HPFs and 4 ± 8 cells/3HPFs (P = 0.034), respectively. In addition, we analyzed the relationship between hemosiderin deposition and levels of serum interleukin (IL)-6, serum C-reactive protein (CRP), and anemia-related biomarkers. We found that hemosiderin deposition was significantly correlated with the level of serum CRP (P = 0.045); however, no significant correlation was observed between hemosiderin deposition and serum IL-6 levels (P = 0.204). A non-significant positive correlation was observed between hemosiderin deposition and serum hemoglobin levels (P=0.09). Furthermore, no significant correlation was observed between hemosiderin deposition and serum iron levels (P = 0.799). In conclusion, hemosiderin deposition characteristically observed in PCD may be related to the inflammatory aggressiveness of the disease and could be used for its differential diagnosis.No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.SpringerActa Medica Okayama14795876172019Analysis of the role of the Hippo pathway in cancer116ENYanyanHanOkayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical SciencesCancer is a serious health issue in the world due to a large body of cancer-related human deaths, and there is no current treatment available to efficiently treat the disease as the tumor is often diagnosed at a serious stage. Moreover, Cancer cells are often resistant to chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and molecular-targeted therapy. Upon further knowledge of mechanisms of tumorigenesis, aggressiveness, metastasis, and resistance to treatments, it is necessary to detect the disease at an earlier stage and for a better response to therapy. The hippo pathway possesses the unique capacity to lead to tumorigenesis. Mutations and altered expression of its core components (MST1/2, LATS1/2, YAP and TAZ) promote the migration, invasion, malignancy of cancer cells. The biological significance and deregulation of it have received a large body of interests in the past few years. Further understanding of hippo pathway will be responsible for cancer treatment. In this review, we try to discover the function of hippo pathway in different diversity of cancers, and discuss how Hippo pathway contributes to other cellular signaling pathways. Also, we try to describe how microRNAs, circRNAs, and ZNFs regulate hippo pathway in the process of cancer. It is necessary to find new therapy strategies for cancer.No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.