Background: Ubiquitous mitochondrial creatine kinase (uMtCK) transfers high-energy phosphates from mitochondrially generated ATP to creatine to generate phosphocreatine. uMtCK overexpression has been reported in several malignant tumors, however, the clinical significance and impact of uMtCK in gastric cancer (GC) has not been comprehensively studied. Methods: We first examined uMtCK expression in GC by quantitative real-time PCR and western blot assays. Then the clinicopathological significance of aberrant uMtCK expression was determined by immunohistochemical staining in a GC tissue microarray. Kaplan–Meier analysis was used for survival analysis. The biological functions of uMtCK in GC cells were explored by wound-healing, transwell assays and glucose metabolism assays in vitro as well as a liver metastasis model by spleen injection in nude mice in vivo. Results: We verified that the expression of uMtCK was substantially elevated in GC tissues, significantly associating with a poorer prognosis in GC patients, especially for those with advanced stage. In univariate and multivariate analyses, uMtCK expression emerged as an independent prognostic factor for both disease-free survival and overall survival. Functionally, we demonstrated that uMtCK promoted glycolysis in GC cells and facilitated their migration, invasion and liver metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, uMtCK enhanced GC progression in a HK2-dependent glycolysis via acting the JNK-MAPK/JUN signaling pathway. Conclusions: uMtCK could serve as a novel independent prognostic biomarker as well as potential therapeutic target for GC patients, particularly for GC patients with an advanced UICC stage and tumor recurrence.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. More than 70% of breast cancers are estrogen receptor (ER) alpha positive. Compared with ER alpha-negative breast cancer, which is more aggressive and has a shorter survival time, ER alpha-positive breast cancer could benefit from endocrine therapy. Selective estrogen receptor modulators, such as tamoxifen, are widely used in endocrine therapy. Approximately half of ER alpha-positive breast cancer patients will eventually develop endocrine resistance, making it a major clinical challenge in therapy. Thus, decoding the throughput of estrogen signaling, including the control of ER alpha expression and stability, is critical for the improvement of breast cancer therapeutics. Methods: TRIM3 and ER alpha protein expression levels were measured by western blotting, while the mRNA levels of ER alpha target genes were measured by RT–PCR. A CCK-8 assay was used to measure cell viability. RNA sequencing data were analyzed by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. Identification of ER alpha signaling activity was accomplished with luciferase assays, RT–PCR and western blotting. Protein stability assays and ubiquitin assays were used to detect ER alpha protein degradation. Ubiquitin-based immunoprecipitation assays were used to detect the specific ubiquitination modification on the ER alpha protein. Results: In our current study, we found that TRIM3, an E3 ligase, can promote ER alpha signaling activity and breast cancer progression. TRIM3 depletion inhibits breast cancer cell proliferation and migration, while unbiased RNA sequencing data indicated that TRIM3 is required for the activity of estrogen signaling on the -genome-wide scale. The immunoprecipitation assays indicated that TRIM3 associates with ER alpha and promotes its stability, possibly by inducing K63-linked polyubiquitination of ER alpha. In conclusion, our data implicate a nongenomic mechanism by which TRIM3 stabilizes the ER alpha protein to control ER alpha target gene expression linked to breast cancer progression. Conclusion: Our study provides a novel posttranslational mechanism in estrogen signaling. Modulation of TRIM3 expression or function could be an interesting approach for breast cancer treatment. Graphical

Although aberrant activation of the Hippo/YAP axis has been implicated in the development of gastric cancer, functional studies of this cascade in the context of gastric signet-ring cell carcinoma (GSRC) remain absent. Our previous single-cell sequencing results showed that G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) is overexpressed in GSRC, and this overexpression is associated with aberrant activation of the Hippo/YAP axis. In this study, we integrated in vitro cytological functional assays with GSRC cell lines and in vivo xenograft nude mice models to elucidate the functional implications of GPER in GSRC. The overexpression of GPER was identified as being associated with more unfavorable outcomes in GSRC. Its activation facilitated tumor proliferation by YAP nuclear translocation and subsequent transcriptional activation. Mechanistically, GPER inhibited LATS1-mediated YAP phosphorylation by competitively binding to ARRB2, thereby enhancing YAP activity. Moreover, YAP was shown to bind to the GPER promoter, forming a positive feedback loop that reinforced oncogenic signaling. Pharmacological inhibition of GPER using G-15 reduced YAP activation and effectively attenuated tumor aggressiveness, highlighting the GPER-YAP feedback loop as a potential therapeutic target for GSRC. This study underscores the pivotal role of the GPER-YAP positive feedback loop in GSRC and proposes dual inhibition of GPER and YAP as a promising therapeutic strategy for GSRC.

In this article, the scramble group of the invasion experiment in Fig. 2d, the Vector group of the migration experiment in Fig. 6c, the si-uMtCK + Lv-HK2 group of the invasion experiment in Fig. 6d and the experimental results of Lv-uMtCK + sh-HK2 in Fig. 6e were erroneously published; the Figs. 2 and 6 should have appeared as shown below.