The apoptotic mechanism dysfunction plays a critical role in cancer cell growth and escaping from cancer therapies; the underlying mechanisms are to be further elucidated. This study aims to investigate the role of phospholipase C epsilon 1 (PLCE1) in modulating the apoptosis mechanism in esophageal cancer (Eca) cells. The results showed that Eca cell lines, OE33 and CP-C cells expressed high levels of PLCE1. Knockdown of PLCE1 markedly increased 9.26 folds of the expression of p53 and 13.8 folds of the frequency of apoptotic CP-C cells via modulating the p53 promoter methylation.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors, and the expression and function of an uncharacterized protein RNF214 in HCC are still unknown. Phase separation has recently been observed to participate in the progression of HCC. In this study, we investigated the expression, function, and phase separation of RNF214 in HCC. We found that RNF214 was highly expressed in HCC and associated with poor prognosis. RNF214 functioned as an oncogene to promote the proliferation, migration, and metastasis of HCC. Mechanically, RNF214 underwent phase separation, and the coiled-coil (CC) domain of RNF214 mediated its phase separation. Furthermore, the CC domain was necessary for the oncogenic function of RNF214 in HCC. Taken together, our data favored that phase separation of RNF214 promoted the progression of HCC. RNF214 may be a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for HCC.

Chemoresistance poses a significant impediment to effective treatments for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). P21-activated kinase 4 (PAK4) has been implicated in NSCLC progression by invasion and migration. However, the involvement of PAK4 in cisplatin resistance is not clear. Here, we presented a comprehensive investigation into the involvement of PAK4 in cisplatin resistance within NSCLC. Our study revealed enhanced PAK4 expression in both cisplatin-resistant NSCLC tumors and cell lines. Notably, PAK4 silencing led to a remarkable enhancement in the chemosensitivity of cisplatin-resistant NSCLC cells. Cisplatin evoked endoplasmic reticulum stress in NSCLC. Furthermore, inhibition of PAK4 demonstrated the potential to sensitize resistant tumor cells through modulating endoplasmic reticulum stress. Mechanistically, we unveiled that the suppression of the MEK1-GRP78 signaling pathway results in the sensitization of NSCLC cells to cisplatin after PAK4 knockdown. Our findings establish PAK4 as a promising therapeutic target for addressing chemoresistance in NSCLC, potentially opening new avenues for enhancing treatment efficacy and patient outcomes.

Background. To determine if the use of the Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI) impacts the clinical efficacy of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICIs) in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), a meta-analysis was conducted. Method. Eleven studies from PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and other databases up to May 2022, were selected. The pertinent clinical outcomes were assessed by applying the Progression-free survival (PFS), Overall Survival (OS), Hazard Ratio (HR), and 95 Confidence Interval (CI). Result. This study included eleven articles containing 7,893 NSCLC patients. The result indicated that PPI use was dramatically related to poor OS (HR: 1.30 [1.101.54]), and poor PFS (HR: 1.25 [1.091.42]) in case of patients treated with ICIs. With regard to the subgroup analysis, PPI use was dramatically associated with poor OS (Europe: HR=1.48 [1.26, 1.74], Worldwide: HR=1.54 [1.24, 1.91]), and poor PFS (Europe: HR=1.36 [1.18, 1.57], Worldwide: HR=1.34 [1.16, 1.55]) in patients from Europe and multi-center studies across the world, poor OS in patients with age less than or equal to 65 (HR=1.56 [1.14, 2.15]), poor PFS in patients aged more than 65 (HR=1.36 [1.18, 1.57]), poor OS for patients receiving with PD-1 (HR=1.37 [1.04, 1.79]), poor PFS for patients receiving with PD-L1 (HR=1.33 [1.19, 1.49]), and poor OS (30: HR=1.89 [1.29, 2.78], ±30: HR=1.44 [1.27, 1.64]) and poor PFS (30: HR=1.51 [1.11, 2.05], ±30: HR=1.32 [1.20, 1.45]) for patients who received PPI at 30 days before and/or after starting the ICIs treatment. Conclusion. Our meta-analysis indicated that PPI combined with ICIs in the treatment of NSCLC patients could result in poor OS and PFS. PPI use should be extremely cautious in clinical practices to avoid the impact on the efficacy of the ICIs.