Cell Cycle. 2025 Aug 13:1-22. doi: 10.1080/15384101.2025.2539645. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Epithelial carcinoma cells require penetration of the basement membrane (BM) to metastasize. The BM is a thin layer of extracellular matrix beneath epithelial and endothelial tissues. It acts as a structural barrier, preventing cancer cells from invading and undergoing endocytosis and exocytosis. Thus, understanding the relationship between the BM and tumor immunity can lead to new strategies for halting cancer progression and metastasis. Gene expression data of 33 cancers were obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas database. The study analyzed the correlation between BM regulatory genes, copy number variations, immune-related genes, and tumor immune dysfunction rejection (TIDE). Immunohistochemical methods were used to analyze the expression of regulatory genes. And the BM score was calculated using single-sample gene set enrichment analysis. Single-cell transcriptional sequencing determined the activation status of the BM in the tumor microenvironment. The expression of BM-related genes (BMGs) exhibited significant heterogeneity across different cancer types. Most genes were up-regulated in tumor tissues. Major single nucleotide polymorphisms of BMGs included missense mutations, while major copy number variations were heterozygous deletion and heterozygous amplification. Additionally, the expressions of immune checkpoint molecules CD276, NRP1, and C10orf54 showed positive correlations with BMS. Numerous tumors displayed a significant positive correlation between BMS and TIDE scores. We demonstrate that BM regulatory genes undergo alterations specific to different cancer types, which are associated with the expression of immune checkpoints and immune dysfunction. This indicates that BM remodeling plays an active role in modulating immune resistance, rather than being a passive structural alteration.

PMID:40799172 | DOI:10.1080/15384101.2025.2539645

Cancer Cell. 2025 Feb 14:S1535-6108(25)00030-3. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2025.01.012. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Recent advances have shed light on the molecular heterogeneity of small cell lung cancer (SCLC), yet the spatial organizations and cellular interactions in tumor immune microenvironment remain to be elucidated. Here, we employ co-detection by indexing (CODEX) and multi-omics profiling to delineate the spatial landscape for 165 SCLC patients, generating 267 high-dimensional images encompassing over 9.3 million cells. Integrating CODEX and genomic data reveals a multi-positive tumor cell neighborhood within ASCL1⁺ (SCLC-A) subtype, characterized by high SLFN11 expression and associated with poor prognosis. We further develop a cell colony detection algorithm (ColonyMap) and reveal a spatially assembled immune niche consisting of antitumoral macrophages, CD8⁺ T cells and natural killer T cells (MT²) which highly correlates with superior survival and predicts improving immunotherapy response in an independent cohort. This study serves as a valuable resource to study SCLC spatial heterogeneity and offers insights into potential patient stratification and personalized treatments.

PMID:39983726 | DOI:10.1016/j.ccell.2025.01.012

Cell Metab. 2025 Jan 28:S1550-4131(24)00495-9. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2024.12.013. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy has revolutionized cancer treatment but remains effective in only a subset of patients. Emerging evidence suggests that the gut microbiome and its metabolites critically influence ICB efficacy. In this study, we performed a multi-omics analysis of fecal microbiomes and metabolomes from 165 patients undergoing anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) therapy, identifying microbial and metabolic entities associated with treatment response. Integration of data from four public metagenomic datasets (n = 568) uncovered cross-cohort microbial and metabolic signatures, validated in an independent cohort (n = 138). An integrated predictive model incorporating these features demonstrated robust performance. Notably, we characterized five response-associated enterotypes, each linked to specific bacterial taxa and metabolites. Among these, the metabolite phenylacetylglutamine (PAGln) was negatively correlated with response and shown to attenuate anti-PD-1 efficacy in vivo. This study sheds light on the interplay among the gut microbiome, the gut metabolome, and immunotherapy response, identifying potential biomarkers to improve treatment outcomes.

PMID:39909032 | DOI:10.1016/j.cmet.2024.12.013