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Biomolecules
Special Issues
The Role of Biomolecules in Tumor Microenvironment
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The Role of Biomolecules in Tumor Microenvironment

A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Medicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2022) | Viewed by 4157

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Yu-Chen Hu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
Interests: gene therapy; cell and tissue engineering; vaccine development; biomaterials; synthetic biology; metabolic engineering and biorefinery
Dr. Jen-Huang Huang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300044, Taiwan
Interests: cancer model

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a complex environment that comprises cancer cells, stromal cells, extracellular matrix, lymphatic cells, vasculature, and signaling molecules. The biomolecules generated in such a suppressive milieu (e.g., metabolites, exosomes) can be viewed as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers to characterize the current stage and behavior of the tumor and even understand the development of the tumor. By contrast, the biomolecules that directly or indirectly alter the tumor microenvironment (e.g., proteinases) can potentially become therapeutic agents to block or reduce the development progress of tumors for cancer treatment. Understanding this dynamic and intricate interaction between biomolecules and the tumor microenvironment could help to translate fundamental research toward clinical applications.

Prof. Dr. Yu-Chen Hu
Dr. Jen-Huang Huang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomolecules is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • tumour microenvironment
  • diagnosis
  • treatment
  • metobolites
  • ECM remodeling

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 5453 KiB  
Article
High PD-L1 Expression Correlates with an Immunosuppressive Tumour Immune Microenvironment and Worse Prognosis in ALK-Rearranged Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
by Xia Tian, Yalun Li, Qin Huang, Hao Zeng, Qi Wei and Panwen Tian
Biomolecules 2023, 13(6), 991; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom13060991 - 15 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1661
Abstract
High tumour programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression is associated with poor progression-free survival (PFS) after tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy in ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the characteristics of the tumour microenvironment (TME) and their prognostic values in ALK [...] Read more.
High tumour programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression is associated with poor progression-free survival (PFS) after tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy in ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the characteristics of the tumour microenvironment (TME) and their prognostic values in ALK-rearranged NSCLC are unknown. Here, we collected tumour tissues from pretreated ALK-rearranged NSCLC patients, immunohistochemical staining was used to assess PD-L1 expression, and tumour-infiltrating immune cells were determined via multiplex immunofluorescence staining (mIF). Our data showed that the median values of PFS for the high PD-L1 group and low PD-L1 group who received ALK-TKI treatment were 4.4 and 16.4 months, respectively (p = 0.008). The median overall survival (OS) of the two groups was 24.0 months and not reached, respectively (p = 0.021). Via univariate and multivariate analyses, a high PD-L1 expression and a worse ECOG PS were determined to be independent prognostic factors of OS (HR = 3.35, 95% CI: 1.23–9.11, p = 0.018; HR = 6.42, 95% CI: 1.45–28.44, p = 0.014, respectively). In addition, the high PD-L1 group had increased Tregs and exhausted CD8+ T cells in both the tumour and stroma (all p < 0.05). High PD-L1 expression was an adverse predictive and prognostic biomarker for ALK-rearranged NSCLC. The characteristics of the TME in patients with high PD-L1 expression were shown to have an immunosuppressive status. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Biomolecules in Tumor Microenvironment)
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13 pages, 2349 KiB  
Article
Plasma Kallikrein-Activated TGF-β Is Prognostic for Poor Overall Survival in Patients with Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma and Associates with Increased Fibrogenesis
by Rasmus S. Pedersen, Neel I. Nissen, Christina Jensen, Jeppe Thorlacius-Ussing, Tina Manon-Jensen, Majken L. Olesen, Lasse L. Langholm, Hadi M. H. Diab, Lars N. Jorgensen, Carsten P. Hansen, Inna M. Chen, Julia S. Johansen, Morten A. Karsdal and Nicholas Willumsen
Biomolecules 2022, 12(9), 1315; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom12091315 - 17 Sep 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2098
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a hard-to-treat cancer due to the collagen-rich (fibrotic) and immune-suppressed microenvironment. A major driver of this phenomenon is transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β). TGF-β is produced in an inactive complex with a latency-associated protein (LAP) that can be [...] Read more.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a hard-to-treat cancer due to the collagen-rich (fibrotic) and immune-suppressed microenvironment. A major driver of this phenomenon is transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β). TGF-β is produced in an inactive complex with a latency-associated protein (LAP) that can be cleaved by plasma kallikrein (PLK), hereby releasing active TGF-β. The aim of this study was to evaluate LAP cleaved by PLK as a non-invasive biomarker for PDAC and tumor fibrosis. An ELISA was developed for the quantification of PLK-cleaved LAP-TGF-β in the serum of 34 patients with PDAC (stage 1–4) and 20 healthy individuals. Biomarker levels were correlated with overall survival (OS) and compared to serum type III collagen (PRO-C3) and type VI collagen (PRO-C6) pro-peptides. PLK-cleaved LAP-TGF-β was higher in patients with PDAC compared to healthy individuals (p < 0.0001). High levels (>median) of PLK-cleaved LAP-TGF-β were associated with poor OS in patients with PDAC independent of age and stage (HR 2.57, 95% CI: 1.22–5.44, p = 0.0135). High levels of PLK-cleaved LAP-TGF-β were associated with high PRO-C3 and PRO-C6, indicating a relationship between the PLK-cleaved LAP-TGF-β fragment, TGF-β activity, and tumor fibrosis. If these preliminary results are validated, circulating PLK-cleaved LAP-TGF-β may be a biomarker for future clinical trials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Biomolecules in Tumor Microenvironment)
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