Haoran Wu

Glycolipid metabolism disorder are major threats to human health and life. Genetic, environmental, psychological, cellular, and molecular factors contribute to their pathogenesis. Several studies demonstrated that neuroendocrine axis dysfunction, insulin resistance, oxidative stress, chronic inflammatory response, and gut microbiota dysbiosis are core pathological links associated with it. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets of glycolipid metabolism disorder remain to be elucidated. Progress in high-throughput technologies has helped clarify the pathophysiology of glycolipid metabolism disorder. In the present review, we explored the ways and means by which genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and gut microbiomics could help identify novel candidate biomarkers for the clinical management of glycolipid metabolism disorder. We also discuss the limitations and recommended future research directions of multi-omics studies on these diseases.

Objective Therapy-induced tumour microenvironment (TME) remodelling poses a major hurdle for cancer cure. As the majority of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) exhibits primary or acquired resistance to antiprogrammed cell death (ligand)-1 (anti-PD-[L]1) therapies, we aimed to investigate the mechanisms underlying tumour adaptation to immune-checkpoint targeting. Design Two immunotherapy-resistant HCC models were generated by serial orthotopic implantation of HCC cells through anti-PD-L1-treated syngeneic, immunocompetent mice and interrogated by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), genomic and immune profiling. Key signalling pathway was investigated by lentiviral-mediated knockdown and pharmacological inhibition, and further verified by scRNA-seq analysis of HCC tumour biopsies from a phase II trial of pembrolizumab ( NCT03419481 ). Results Anti-PD-L1-resistant tumours grew >10-fold larger than parental tumours in immunocompetent but not immunocompromised mice without overt genetic changes, which were accompanied by intratumoral accumulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC), cytotoxic to exhausted CD8 + T cell conversion and exclusion. Mechanistically, tumour cell-intrinsic upregulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARγ) transcriptionally activated vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) production to drive MDSC expansion and CD8 + T cell dysfunction. A selective PPARγ antagonist triggered an immune suppressive-to-stimulatory TME conversion and resensitised tumours to anti-PD-L1 therapy in orthotopic and spontaneous HCC models. Importantly, 40% (6/15) of patients with HCC resistant to pembrolizumab exhibited tumorous PPARγ induction. Moreover, higher baseline PPARγ expression was associated with poorer survival of anti-PD-(L)1-treated patients in multiple cancer types. Conclusion We uncover an adaptive transcriptional programme by which tumour cells evade immune-checkpoint targeting via PPARγ/VEGF-A-mediated TME immunosuppression, thus providing a strategy for counteracting immunotherapeutic resistance in HCC.

The serine/threonine kinase Akt, also known as protein kinase B (PKB), is one of the key factors regulating glucose and lipid energy metabolism, and is the core focus of current research on diabetes and metabolic diseases. Akt is mostly expressed in key metabolism-related organs and it is activated in response to various stimuli, including cell stress, cell movement, and various hormones and drugs that affect cell metabolism. Genetic and pharmacological studies have shown that Akt is necessary to maintain the steady state of glucose and lipid metabolism and a variety of cellular responses. Existing evidence shows that metabolic syndrome is related to insulin resistance and lipid metabolism disorders. Based on a large number of studies on Akt-related pathways and reactions, we believe that Akt can be used as a potential drug target to effectively treat metabolic syndrome.