Circulating MiR-16-5p and MiR-19b-3p as Two Novel Potential Biomarkers to Indicate Progression of Gastric Cancer

Liquid biopsies in myeloid malignancies

Hematologic malignancies are the most common type of cancer affecting children and young adults, and encompass diseases, such as leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, all of which impact blood associated tissues such as the bone marrow, lymphatic system, and blood cells. Clinical diagnostics of these malignancies relies heavily on the use of bone marrow samples, which is painful, debilitating, and not free from risks for leukemia patients. Liquid biopsies are based on minimally invasive assessment of markers in the blood (and other fluids) and have the potential to improve the efficacy of diagnostic/therapeutic strategies in leukemia patients, providing a useful tool for the real time molecular profiling of patients. The most promising noninvasive biomarkers are circulating tumor cells, circulating tumor DNA, microRNAs, and exosomes. Herein, we discuss the role of assessing these circulating biomarkers for the understanding of tumor progression and metastasis, tumor progression dynamics through treatment and for follow-up.

Prediction and analysis of weighted genes in isoflurane induced general anesthesia based on network analysis

Purpose: Isoflurane is still wildly used in the developing countries and isoflurane-induced general anesthesia gives rise to serious side effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate the molecular mechanism on isoflurane-induced general anesthesia.Materials and methods: The microarray data of GSE64617 dataset was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. A total of 755 DEGs were identified using the limma package in the R programming language. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes, and Genomes (KEGG) pathways enrichment were conducted for DEGs. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed for DEGs and sensory perception related genes. A global miRNA-mRNA regulatory network was constructed to reveal the interactions in miRNA and mRNA in isoflurane treated samples. Degree was used to evaluate the importance of a gene in the PPI network and miRNA-mRNA regulatory network.Results and conclusions: HMBOX1, CSNK2A1, PNN, SRRM1, PRPF40A, APCNTRK1, MAPK1, hsa-miR-16-5p, hsa-miR-424-5p, hsa-miR-497-5p and hsa-miR-17-5p were selected as weighted genes. The expression changes were further vitrificated in the rat models by performing quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) analysis. In conclusion, we find several weighted mRNAs and miRNAs involved in isoflurane induced general anesthesia through bioinformatics analysis.

Evaluation of the associations between circulating microRNAs and kidney function in coronary angiography patients

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have been linked to chronic kidney disease. Little is known about the association between circulating miRNAs and kidney function in patients at high cardiovascular risk. We therefore investigated the association between a panel of candidate miRNAs and kidney function, based on estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), in two independent cohorts of patients undergoing coronary angiography. The present study totally included 438 patients undergoing coronary angiography, who were divided into a discovery cohort (n = 120) and a validation cohort (n = 318). A candidate miRNA panel comprising 50 renal miRNAs was selected from the literature, and expression levels of circulating miRNAs were determined by real-time PCR. Out of the initially tested candidate miRNAs, 38 miRNAs were sufficiently detectable in plasma. Their association with kidney function was evaluated in the discovery cohort. Associations of seven of these miRNAs with eGFR were significant after multiple testing correction via false discovery rate estimation. To verify obtained results, miRNAs with significant false discovery rates were further analyzed in the validation cohort. miR-106b-5p, miR-16-5p, miR-19b-3p, miR-20a-5p, miR-25-3p, and miR-451a proved to be significantly associated with eGFR also in the validation cohort (all P < 0.001). Association between the identified renal miRNAs and kidney function was confirmed by analysis of covariance adjusting for age, sex, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and albumin-to-creatinine ratio. In conclusion, our study showed that miR-16-5p, miR-19b-3p, miR-20a-5p, miR-25-3p, miR-106b-5p, and miR-451a are significantly linked to kidney function in patients undergoing coronary angiography.

Decrease of miR-19b-3p in Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells Attenuates Meningitic Escherichia coli-Induced Neuroinflammation via TNFAIP3-Mediated NF-κB Inhibition

Meningitic Escherichia coli can traverse the host’s blood–brain barrier (BBB) and induce severe neuroinflammatory damage to the central nervous system (CNS). During this process, the host needs to reasonably balance the battle between bacteria and brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs) to minimize inflammatory damage, but this quenching of neuroinflammatory responses at the BBB is unclear. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are widely recognized as key negative regulators in many pathophysiological processes, including inflammatory responses. Our previous transcriptome sequencing revealed numbers of differential miRNAs in BMECs upon meningitic E. coli infection; we next sought to explore whether and how these miRNAs worked to modulate neuroinflammatory responses at meningitic E. coli entry of the BBB. Here, we demonstrated in vivo and in vitro that meningitic E. coli infection of BMECs significantly downregulated miR-19b-3p, which led to attenuated production of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines via increasing the expression of TNFAIP3, a negative regulator of NF-κB signaling. Moreover, in vivo injection of miR-19b-3p mimics during meningitic E. coli challenge further aggravated the inflammatory damage to mice brains. These in vivo and in vitro findings indicate a novel quenching mechanism of the host by attenuating miR-19b-3p/TNFAIP3/NF-κB signaling in BMECs in response to meningitic E. coli, thus preventing CNS from further neuroinflammatory damage.

RGS4 Regulates Proliferation And Apoptosis Of NSCLC Cells Via microRNA-16 And Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor

PURPOSE

Regulator of G-protein signaling (RGS) proteins are GTPase-activating proteins that target the α-subunit of heterotrimeric G proteins. Many studies have shown that RGS proteins contribute to tumorigenesis and metastasis. However, the mechanism in which RGS proteins, especially RGS4, affect the development of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to characterize the role of RGS4 in NSCLC.

METHODS

RGS4 expression in NSCLC tissues was assessed using an immunohistochemistry tissue microarray. Additionally, RGS4 was knocked down using short-hairpin RNA to assess the regulatory function of RGS4 in the biological behaviors of human NSCLC cell lines. A xenograft lung cancer model in nude BALB/c mice was established to study whether RGS4 knockdown inhibits cancer cell proliferation in vivo.

RESULTS

We observed an increase in RGS4 protein levels in NSCLC samples. RGS4 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in H1299 and PC9 cell lines, but did not affect cell migration. Moreover, we found that RGS4 negatively regulated the expression of microRNA-16 (miR-16), a tumor suppressor. The inhibition of miR-16 resulted in upregulated RGS4 expression. We also found that RGS4 regulated the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and activated the BDNF-tropomyosin receptor kinase B signaling pathway.

CONCLUSION

This study revealed that RGS4 overexpression positively correlated with the development of NSCLC. TDownstream RGS4 targets (eg, miR-16 and BDNF) might be involved in the development of NSCLC and may serve as potential therapeutic targets for its treatment.

Detection of Several Homologous MicroRNAs by a Single Smart Probe System Consisting of Linear Nucleic Acid Blockers

We report a universal smart probe (SP) that is capable of detecting several homologous let-7 microRNAs (miRNAs). While the SP is complementary to let-7a, and therefore, strongly binds to this target, due to sequence homology, the SP also has equal propensity to non-specifically hybridize with let-7b and let-7c, which are homologous to let-7a. The fluorescence signal of the SP was switched off in the absence of any homologous member target, but the signal was switched on when any of the three homologous members was present. With the assistance of nucleic acid blockers (NABs), this SP system can discriminate between homologous miRNAs. We show that the SP can discriminate between let-7a and the other two sequences by using linear NABs (LNABs) to block non-specific interactions between the SP and these sequences. We also found that LNABs used do not cross-react with the let-7a target due to the low LNABs:SP molar ratio of 6:1 used. Overall, this SP represents a universal probe for the recognition of a homologous miRNA family. The assay is sensitive, providing a detection limit of 6 fmol. The approach is simple, fast, usable at room temperature, and represents a general platform for the in vitro detection of homologous microRNAs by a single fluorescent hairpin probe.

Exosomal microRNA-16-5p from human urine-derived stem cells ameliorates diabetic nephropathy through protection of podocyte

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) remains one of the severe complications associated with diabetes mellitus. It is worthwhile to uncover the underlying mechanisms of clinical benefits of human urine‐derived stem cells (hUSCs) in the treatment of DN. At present, the clinical benefits associated with hUSCs in the treatment of DN remains unclear. Hence, our study aims to investigate protective effect of hUSC exosome along with microRNA‐16‐5p (miR‐16‐5p) on podocytes in DN via vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA). Initially, miR‐16‐5p was predicated to target VEGFA based on data retrieved from several bioinformatics databases. Notably, dual‐luciferase report gene assay provided further verification confirming the prediction. Moreover, our results demonstrated that high glucose (HG) stimulation could inhibit miR‐16‐5p and promote VEGFA in human podocytes (HPDCs). miR‐16‐5p in hUSCs was transferred through the exosome pathway to HG‐treated HPDCs. The viability and apoptosis rate of podocytes after HG treatment together with expression of the related factors were subsequently determined. The results indicated that miR‐16‐5p secreted by hUSCs could improve podocyte injury induced by HG. In addition, VEGA silencing could also ameliorate HG‐induced podocyte injury. Finally, hUSC exosomes containing overexpressed miR‐16‐5p were injected into diabetic rats via tail vein, followed by qualification of miR‐16‐5p and observation on the changes of podocytes, which revealed that overexpressed miR‐16‐5p in hUSCs conferred protective effects on HPDCs in diabetic rats. Taken together, the present study revealed that overexpressed miR‐16‐5p in hUSC exosomes could protect HPDCs induced by HG and suppress VEGFA expression and podocytic apoptosis, providing fresh insights for novel treatment of DN.

MicroRNAs in acute pancreatitis: From pathogenesis to novel diagnosis and therapy

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an inflammatory disorder initiated by activation of pancreatic zymogens, leading to pancreatic injury and systemic inflammatory response. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as important regulators of gene expression and key players in human physiological and pathological processes. Discoveries over the past decade have confirmed that altered expression of miRNAs is implicated in the pathogenesis of AP. Indeed, a number of miRNAs have been found to be dysregulated in various cell types involved in AP such as acinar cells, macrophages, and lymphocytes. These aberrant miRNAs can regulate acinar cell necrosis and apoptosis, local and systemic inflammatory response, thereby contributing to the initiation and progression of AP. Moreover, patients with AP possess unique miRNA signatures when compared with healthy individuals or those with other diseases. In view of their stability and easy detection, therefore, miRNAs have the potential to act as biomarkers for the diagnosis and assessment of patients with AP. In this review, we provide an overview of the novel cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the roles of miRNAs during the disease processes of AP, as well as the potential diagnosis and therapeutic biomarkers of miRNAs in patients with AP.

Expression of the long noncoding RNA RP11-169D4.1-001 in Hypopharyngeal Squamous cell carcinoma tissue and its clinical significance

Background

Increased research efforts have demonstrated that lncRNAs are associated with multiple head and neck tumors and play important roles in cancer. We previously found that RP11‐169D4.1‐001 plays a tumor‐suppressive role in laryngeal cancer, but its function in human hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HSCC) remains unknown. Thus, this research aimed to analyze the relationship between RP11‐169D4.1‐001 expression and HSCC clinicopathological features.

Methods

Real‐time quantitative reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) was used to detect the expression of RP11‐169D4.1‐001 in 70 pairs of HSCC and adjacent normal tissues.

Results

The expression level of RP11‐169D4.1‐001 in HSCC tissues was significantly lower than that in adjacent normal tissues (P = .001). The expression of RP11‐169D4.1‐001 had no significant relationship with tumor differentiation, stage, smoking, drinking, age, tumor location, or treatment. RP11‐169D4.1‐001 expression was associated with T category (P = .008) and lymph node metastasis (P = .001). Survival data were assessed by Kaplan‐Meier curves. Patients with high RP11‐169D4.1‐001 expression were found to have a shorter overall survival than patients with low RP11‐169D4.1‐001 expression. Multivariate analysis also indicated that target RNA was an independent factor for prognosis. The ROC curve was constructed to clarify the diagnostic value of RP11‐169D4.1‐001.

Conclusions

RP11‐169D4.1‐001 may serve as a new biomarker and potential drug target and can be used as a new biomarker and a potential drug target for the detection and treatment of hypopharyngeal cancer, respectively. Furthermore, RP11‐169D4.1‐001 expression may be an independent prognostic factor affecting the survival of hypopharyngeal cancer patients.

Upregulation of microRNA-520a-3p inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasion via spindle and kinetochore associated 2 in gastric cancer

MicroRNAs (miR) serve important roles in the development and progression of tumors by targeting different genes. miR-520a-3p reported in lung and breast cancers as a tumor suppressor gene. However, the expression and functional significance of miR-520a-3p is not completely understood in gastric cancer (GC). In the present study, it was demonstrated that the expression levels of miR-520a-3p were significantly downregulated in GC tissues and cells using RT-qPCR. In addition, downregulated expression of miR-520a-3p was associated with the clinical stage of the tumor and invasion in patients with GC. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-520a-3p significantly inhibited cell proliferation, invasion and migration in SGC-7901 and MGC-803 GC cell lines using proliferation, wound healing and cell invasion assays. Spindle and kinetochore associated 2 (SKA2) was upregulated in GC cells using western blot analysis and a target gene of miR-520a-3p; miR-520a-3p mimics significantly reduced SKA2 expression. In addition, upregulation of SKA2 protein expression SKA2 reversed the miR-520a-3p-mediated inhibition of SGC-7901 cell proliferation, migration and invasion. In conclusion, miR-520a-3p functioned as a tumor suppressor gene by targeting SKA2 in GC cell lines, and may serve as a novel prognostic and potential therapeutic marker.

Circulating MicroRNAs in Cancer: Potential and Challenge

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous non-coding small RNA molecules that can be secreted into the circulation and exist in remarkably stable forms. Like intercellular miRNAs, circulating miRNAs participate in numerous regulations of biological process and expressed aberrantly under abnormal or pathological status. The quality and quantity changes of circulating miRNAs are associated with the initiation and progression of cancer and can be easily detected by basic molecular biology techniques. Consequently, considerable effort has been devoted to identify suitable extracellular miRNAs for noninvasive biomarkers in cancer. However, several challenges need to be overcome before the practical application. In this review, we discuss several issues of circulating miRNAs: biological function and basic transport carriers; extracellular cell communication process; roles as reliable cancer biomarkers and usage in targeted cancer therapy; and challenges for clinical application.

Plasma or serum? A qualitative study on rodents and humans using high-throughput microRNA sequencing for circulating biomarkers

microRNAs are small non-coding RNAs gaining interest for their potential roles as reliable biomarkers for the diagnosis and therapeutics of numerous pathologies, ranging from cancer to neurodegenerative or psychiatric disorders. Indeed, microRNAs are present in various accessible biofluids, including peripheral blood, and specific dysregulation of their expression may be associated with these different pathological conditions. microRNAs can be isolated from plasma or serum for sequencing with commercial kits. However, these two biofluids might exhibit some differences in their microRNA contents, due notably to the coagulation process occurring during serum collection. It remains unclear from previous studies and commercial recommendations which blood fraction is preferable. Because of the small amount of circulating microRNAs in a given blood volume, this question appears crucial for qualitative and quantitative optimization of microRNA profiling, especially in animal models used for investigating the pathophysiological relevancy of this approach. We therefore evaluated the efficiency of RNA isolation and microRNA levels from plasma and sera isolated from rats and humans, with a widely used extraction kit (QIAGEN miRNeasy), and assessed microRNA quality and quantity with high-throughput sequencing. Fewer reads with length corresponding to non-miRNAs sequences were observed in plasma than in serum, both from rats and humans. Moreover, rat plasma produced twice as many aligned reads compared to sera, as well as more aligned reads corresponding to microRNAs (84.6% against 38.7%), differences that were not find in human samples. Our results, therefore, clearly indicate that plasma should be preferred for miRNA investigations, particularly for translational studies.

Mir-421 in plasma as a potential diagnostic biomarker for precancerous gastric lesions and early gastric cancer

Objective

MicroRNA (miR)-421 plays a key role in cancer progression. It has been reported that circulating miR-421may be a potential tumor marker for the diagnosis of several cancers. However, the role of miR-421 in plasma as a potential biomarker in the diagnosis of precancerous gastric lesions (Pre) and early-stage gastric cancer (GC) remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated miR-421 in plasma as a novel potential biomarker for the detection of precancerous gastric lesions and early-stage (GC).

Materials & Methods

The miRNA content was determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). MiR-421 content in all subjects was normalized by endogenous miRNA (miR-16). The diagnostic value of miR-421 for Pre and GC was assessed by comparing receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis with traditional tumor markers, including CEA, CA125, CA153, CA211 and CA50. The correlation between the expression of miR-421 and the pathological characteristics of Pre and GC was analyzed.

Results

Elevated expression of miR-421 in plasma can robustly distinguish the normal population from Pre and GC cases, especially in the early stages of gastric cancer cases (all p < 0.05). The ROC analyses showed that the area under the ROC curve (AUC), sensitivity, accuracy and Youden index of miR-421 were superior to traditional tumor markers (CEA, CA125, CA153, CA211, and CA50) in GC diagnosis, while its specificity was higher than CEA, CA153 and CA50 (all p < 0.05). MiR-421 in plasma had higher AUC value than AFP, CA153, CA211 and CA50 in the diagnosis of Pre (all p < 0.05), while specificity, accuracy and Youden index of miR-421 was only lower than CA211. The efficiency of miR-421 in the diagnosis of GC was significantly higher than that of CA211 and CA50, and it was significantly higher than CA153, CA211 and CA50 in the diagnosis of Pre (all p < 0.05). In addition, up-regulation of miR-421 occurred initially in precancerous gastric lesions as well as in the early stage of GC.

Conclusions

Overexpression of plasma miR-421 is a novel biomarker for the detection of precancerous lesions and early gastric cancer.

Identification of a six-miRNA panel in serum benefiting pancreatic cancer diagnosis

Pancreatic cancer (PC) has posed a great health threat to a growing number of people all over the world. Detection of serum miRNAs, being sensitive, noninvasive, and easy to obtain, has a great potential of being a novel screening method for PC patients. In this study, we investigated miRNA expression levels in serum by qRT-PCR. The study was divided into four phases: the screening, training, testing, and external validation stage. We firstly chose candidate miRNAs using Exiqon panels in the screening phase. Then, a total of 129 PC serum samples and 107 normal controls (NCs) were further analyzed in the following training and testing phases to identify differently expressed miRNAs. A cohort of 30 PC serum samples vs 30 NCs was used to confirm the diagnostic value of the identified miRNAs in the external validation phase. Moreover, miRNA expressions in additional 44 PC tumor tissue samples and the matched adjacent normal tissue samples as well as 32 pairs of serum-derived exosomes samples were also further explored. As a result, we identified six significantly upregulated miRNAs in the serum of PC: let-7b-5p, miR-192-5p, miR-19a-3p, miR-19b-3p, miR-223-3p, and miR-25-3p. A six-miRNA panel in serum was then established. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) for the panel was 0.910 for the combined training and testing phases, which showed higher diagnostic value than the individual miRNA. Prognostic value prediction using Cox's proportional hazards model and Kaplan-Meier curves showed that increased serum miR-19a-3p was closely related to worse overall survival (OS). In addition, significant upregulation of miR-192-5p, miR-19a-3p, and miR-19b-3p was observed in both PC tissue and serum-derived exosomes samples. In conclusion, we identified a six-miRNA (let-7b-5p, miR-192-5p, miR-19a-3p, miR-19b-3p, miR-223-3p, and miR-25-3p) panel in the serum for PC early and noninvasive diagnosis.

microRNA-16-5p-containing exosomes derived from bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells inhibit proliferation, migration, and invasion, while promoting apoptosis of colorectal cancer cells by downregulating ITGA2

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a form of cancer developing from either the colon or rectum. Nowadays, research supports the functionality of exosome expressing microRNAs (miRNAs) as potential biomarker for various cancers including CRC. This study was performed with the intent of investigating the roles of both bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and exosomal miR-16-5p in CRC by regulating integrin α2 (ITGA2). A microarray-based analysis was conducted to screen the CRC-associated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) as well as potential regulatory miRNAs. Next, the role of miR-16-5p in terms of its progression in association with CRC was determined. Subsequently, CRC cells were exposed to exosomes secreted by BMSCs transfected with miR-16-5p, isolated and cocultured with CRC cells in an attempt to identify the role of exosomes. Effects of BMSCs-derived exosomes overexpressing miR-16-5p on biological functions of CRC cells and tumorigenicity were all subsequently detected. Effects of miR-16-5p treated with CRC cells in regard to CRC in vivo were also measured. ITGA2 was overexpressed, while miR-16-5p was poorly expressed in CRC cells and miR-16-5p targeted ITGA2. The in vitro experiments revealed that the BMSCs-derived exosomes overexpressing miR-16-5p inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion, while simultaneously stimulating the apoptosis of the CRC cells via downregulation of ITGA2. Furthermore, the results of in vivo experiments confirmed that the BMSCs-derived exosomes overexpressing miR-16-5p repressed the tumor growth of CRC. Collectively, BMSCs-derived exosomes overexpressing miR-16-5p restricted the progression of CRC by downregulating ITGA2.

LncRNA PVT1 promotes proliferation, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of renal cell carcinoma cells through downregulation of miR-16-5p

Background

LncRNAs have recently emerged as vital regulators in the pathogenesis and development of various cancers. LncRNA PVT1 is reported to function as an oncogene in some tumors. However, the role of PVT1 in RCC remains unknown.

Purpose

To explore the potential effects of lncPVT1 on the development of renal cell carcinoma.

Methods

The expression of PVT1 in renal cancer cell lines and tissues was measured by qRT-PCR. The endogenous PVT1 was silenced by RNAi. Cell viabilities were measured by the MTT assay. The migration and invasion of cells were investigated by the transwell assay. The apoptosis of cells was measured by the Nucleosome ELISA and caspase-3 activity assays. The levels of proteins were measured by the western blot.

Results

We found that PVT1 was upregulated in RCC tissues compared with the adjacent normal tissues. PVT1 expression was closely correlated with TNM stage, Fuhrman grade, lymph node metastasis and tumor size. Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed that high expression of PVT1 was significantly associated with poor overall survival. In accordance, overexpression of PVT1 was observed in RCC cells comto HK-2 cell. Silencing of PVT1 significantly repressed cell viability, induced apoptosis and inhibited cell migration and invasion in vitro. Furthermore, bioinformatic analysis and luciferase reporter assay confirmed that miR-16-5p was a target of PVT1. Silencing of miR-16-5p mostly reversed the regulatory effects on RCC cells induced by downregulation of PVT1.

Conclusion

In summary, our study indicates that targeting PVT1 might represent a rational therapeutic strategy for RCC.

Genes interconnecting AMPK and TREM-1 and associated microRNAs in rotator cuff tendon injury

Fatty infiltration and inflammation delay the healing responses and raise major concerns in the therapeutic management of rotator cuff tendon injuries (RCTI). Our evaluations showed the upregulation of 'metabolic check point' AMPK and inflammatory molecule, TREM-1 from shoulder biceps tendons collected from RCTI subjects. However, the epigenetic regulation of these biomolecules by miRNAs is largely unknown and it is likely that a deeper understanding of the mechanism of action can have therapeutic potential for RCTI. Based on this background, we have evaluated the miRNAs from RCTI patients with fatty infiltration and inflammation (FI group) and compared with RCTI patients without fatty infiltration and inflammation (No-FI group). NetworkAnalyst was employed to evaluate the genes interconnecting AMPK and TREM-1 pathway, using PRKAA1 (AMPK), TREM-1, HIF1α, HMGB1, and AGER as input genes. The most relevant miRNAs were screened by considering the fold change below - 7.5 and the number of target genes 10 and more which showed 13 miRNAs and 216 target genes. The exact role of these miRNAs in the fatty infiltration and inflammation associated with RCTI is still unknown and the understanding of biological activity of these miRNAs can pave ways to develop miRNA-based therapeutics in the management of RCTI.

MicroRNAs: Key Regulators to Understand Osteoclast Differentiation?

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding single-stranded RNAs that represent important posttranscriptional regulators of protein-encoding genes. In particular, miRNAs play key roles in regulating cellular processes such as proliferation, migration, and cell differentiation. Recently, miRNAs emerged as critical regulators of osteoclasts (OCs) biology and have been involved in OCs pathogenic role in several disorders. OCs are multinucleated cells generated from myeloid precursors in the bone marrow, specialized in bone resorption. While there is a growing number of information on the cytokines and signaling pathways that are critical to control the differentiation of osteoclast precursors (OCPs) into mature OCs, the connection between OC differentiation steps and miRNAs is less well-understood. The present review will first summarize our current understanding of the miRNA-regulated pathways in the sequential steps required for OC formation, from the motility and migration of OCPs to the cell-cell fusion and the final formation of the actin ring and ruffled border in the functionally resorbing multinucleated OCs. Then, considering the difficulty of working on primary OCs and on the generation of robust data we will give an update on the most recent advances in the detection technologies for miRNAs quantification and how these are of particular interest for the understanding of OC biology and their use as potential biomarkers.

Strategies for targeting energy metabolism in Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog -mutant colorectal cancer

Alterations in cellular energy metabolism play critical roles in colorectal cancer (CRC). These alterations, which correlate to KRAS mutations, have been identified as energy metabolism signatures. This review summarizes the relationship between colorectal tumors associated with mutated KRAS and energy metabolism, especially for the deregulated energy metabolism that affects tumor cell proliferation, invasion, and migration. Furthermore, this review will concentrate on the role of metabolic genes, factors and signaling pathways, which are coupled with the primary energy source connected with the KRAS mutation that induces metabolic alterations. Strategies for targeting energy metabolism in mutated KRAS CRC are also introduced. In conclusion, deregulated energy metabolism has a close relationship with KRAS mutations in colorectal tumors. Therefore, selective inhibitors, agents against metabolic targets or KRAS signaling, may be clinically useful for colorectal tumor treatment through a patient-personalized approach.

Serum miR-16 as a potential biomarker for human cancer diagnosis: results from a large-scale population

BACKGROUND

Cancer is a serious public health problem worldwide, and difficulty in early diagnosis has been the chief obstacle to improve the prognosis of patients. Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) were widely studied to be potential biomarkers for cancer detection. miR-16 is a prevalent but sophisticated one. In the current study, we aimed to assess the diagnostic value of serum miR-16 for cancer detection.

METHODS

A total of 1458 cancer patients, containing ten types of cancers, and 1457 non-cancer controls were recruited in this study. qRT-PCR was used for the amplification of miRNAs. In addition, a meta-analysis of reported studies was performed to confirm our findings systematically.

RESULTS

Consequently, miR-16 was down-regulated in ESCC, GCA and GNCA patients compared with NCs (all P < 0.001), while up-regulated in PDAC patients (P = 0.001), LAC, LSCC and EEC patients (all P < 0.001). But no significant differences were observed in CRC, EOC and TC patients when compared to NCs (P = 0.747, 0.235 and 0.268, respectively). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of miR-16 in GCA, ESCC, LAC, LSCC, GNCA, PDAC and EEC were 0.881, 0.780, 0.757, 0.693, 0.602, 0.614 and 0.681, respectively. Results of meta-analysis showed that miR-16 achieved an overall pooled sensitivity of 0.72, specificity of 0.79, and AUC of 0.85, suggesting that miR-16 was a promising biomarker in cancer detection.

CONCLUSIONS

We provided a comprehensive view of the diagnostic value of serum miR-16 in cancer diagnosis, and confirmed that circulating miR-16 could play an important role in cancer detection.

miR-127 suppresses gastric cancer cell migration and invasion via targeting Wnt7a

Gastric cancer (GC) is a malignant tumor originating from the mucosal epithelium of the stomach. Patients suffering from this disease may have occurrence of residual GC due to delay in diagnosis and treatment. In addition, abnormal expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) is involved in GC progression. Therefore, we examined the underlying mechanism of miR-127 in GC. The expression of miR-127 and Wnt7a was examined in GC using RT-qPCR and western blot analysis. A Transwell assay was used to assess the ability of GC cell migration and invasion. Luciferase reporter assay was used to verify the specific target of miR-127 in GC. The results showed miR-127 expression was lower in GC than normal samples, while Wnt7a expression was detected at a higher level in GC than normal samples. The association between miR-127 and Wnt7a expression was negatively correlated in GC tissues. miR-127 mimic in the two GC cell lines markedly curbed cell migration and invasion, while inhibition of miR-127 showed the opposite effect. In addition, Wnt7a siRNA significantly inhibited GC cell migration and invasion and Wnt7a was verified as a specific target of miR-127 in GC cells. Wnt7a reversed the ability of GC cell migration and invasion regulated by miR-127. In conclusion, miR-127 could curb GC cell migration and invasion by upregulating Wnt7a, indicating its potential application in GC diagnosis and therapy.

Multiplex detection of miRNAs based on aggregation-induced emission luminogen encoded microspheres

Herein, we report a multiplex detection platform based on a suspension array with aggregation-induced emission luminogen (AIEgen) barcodes for simultaneous quantitative measurement of let-7b-5p, miR-16-5p and miR-19b-3p, which are associated with gastric cancer. A detection strategy by using a flow cytometer is proposed, which utilizes AIEgen-encoded microspheres to quantify the target miRNAs, and phycoerythrin as a fluorescence reporter on the detection probes to provide quantitative signals. This multiplex assay shows good specificity for recognizing single base mismatch, and possesses excellent sensitivity with limits of detection (LODs) ranging from 0.43 to 0.76 nM for the three miRNAs. The approach could be extended to the simultaneous detection of more target miRNAs by designing specific detection probes and increasing the number of fluorescence barcodes. We could foresee it holding great potential in future laboratory research and clinical applications due to its flexibility, strong multiplexed ability and good detection performance.

A miRNA multiplex detection assay based on aggregation-induced emission luminogen encoded microspheres.

The diagnostic value of circulating microRNAs as a biomarker for gastric cancer: A meta‑analysis

Recently, cancer research microRNA studies have drawn great attention. However, the results of these studies have been inconsistent and variable regarding the availability of circulating miRNAs in gastric cancer (GC) diagnosis. Thus, results should be interpreted cautiously. The purpose of the present study was to assess the diagnostic performance of circulating miRNAs in GC diagnosis. We conducted a systematic and comprehensive approach for the inclusion of studies. The sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio were pooled with random effects models, and a summary of receiver operator characteristic (SROC) curves were plotted. The potential heterogeneity was assessed with Q test and I2 statistics. Subgroup analyses and meta‑regressions further investigated the sources of heterogeneity. A total of 77 studies from 48 articles were eligible for the meta‑analysis. The results revealed a sensitivity of 0.76, a specificity of 0.81, and an AUC of 0.86 for gastric cancer diagnosis with circulating miRNAs. In addition, subgroup analyses indicated that multiple miRNAs assays, non‑microarray screening approaches, and serum‑based miRNA assays exhibited good diagnostic performance in contrast to a single miRNA assay, microarray expression profiling screening, and plasma‑based miRNA group analysis. The diagnostic ability of miRNAs in early stage I‑II groups and the high expression group were approximately similar to that in the stage I‑IV groups and the low expression group. For the circulating miRNAs, our meta‑analysis identified a combination of multiple miRNAs, non‑microarray chip screening, and serum‑based miRNA assays were associated with the most effective GC diagnostic performance. However, many unclear molecular mechanisms limited the accuracy of the diagnostic results, and should be interpreted with caution. Further large‑scale prospective studies are required for validating the diagnostic applicability of circulating miRNAs in gastric cancer patients.

miR-15b-5p targeting amyloid precursor protein is involved in the anti-amyloid eflect of curcumin in swAPP695-HEK293 cells

Curcumin exerts a neuroprotective effect on Alzheimer's disease; however, it is not known whether microRNAs are involved in this protective effect. This study was conducted using swAPP695-HEK293 cells as an Alzheimer's disease cell model. swAPP695-HEK293 cells were treated with 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, and 10 μM curcumin for 24 hours. The changes in miR-15b-5p, miR-19a-3p, miR-195-5p, miR-101-3p, miR-216b-5p, miR-16-5p and miR-185-5p expression were assessed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The mRNA and protein levels of amyloid precursor protein, amyloid-β40 and amyloid-β42 were evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, western blot assays and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. swAPP695-HEK293 cells were transfected with miR-15b-5p mimic, or treated with 1 μM curcumin 24 hours before miR-15b-5p inhibitor transfection. The effects of curcumin on amyloid precursor protein, amyloid-β40 and amyloid-β42 levels were evaluated by western blot assays and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Luciferase assays were used to analyze the interaction between miR-15b-5p and the 3'-untranslated region of amyloid precursor protein. The results show that amyloid precursor protein and amyloid-β expression were enhanced in swAPP695-HEK293 cells compared with HEK293 parental cells. Curcumin suppressed the expression of amyloid precursor protein and amyloid-β and up-regulated the expression of miR-15b-5p in swAPP695-HEK293 cells. In addition, we found a negative association of miR-15b-5p expression with amyloid precursor protein and amyloid-β levels in the curcumin-treated cells. Luciferase assays revealed that miR-15b-5p impaired the luciferase activity of the plasmid harboring the 3'-untranslated region of amyloid precursor protein. These findings indicate that curcumin down-regulates the expression of amyloid precursor protein and amyloid-β in swAPP695-HEK293 cells, which was partially mediated by miR-15b-5p via targeting of the 3'-untranslated region of amyloid precursor protein.

MiR-1-5p is down-regulated in gallbladder carcinoma and suppresses cell proliferation, migration and invasion by targeting Notch2

BACKGROUND

Numerous studies have demonstrated that aberrant microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in tumorigenesis and tumor progression. Nevertheless, the precise role of miR-1-5p in gallbladder carcinoma cell growth and metastasis remains not fully revealed.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The levels of miR-1-5p were detected in gallbladder carcinoma tissues and cell lines using qRT-PCR method. A series of functional assays, including cell proliferation, colony formation, wound healing and Transwell invasion were conducted using miR-1-5p or miR-1-5p inhibitor transfected cells.

RESULTS

MiR-1-5p was remarkably down-regulated in gallbladder carcinoma tissues and cell lines compared to normal. In addition, over-expression of miR-1-5p markedly suppressed the growth, migration and invasion of gallbladder carcinoma cell. Conversely, down-expression of miR-1-5p facilitated gallbladder carcinoma cell proliferation and aggressiveness. Mechanistic investigations demonstrated that neurogenic locus notch homolog protein 2 (Notch2) was the directly target of miR-1-5p and Notch2 mediated the inhibitory effect of miR-1-5p in gallbladder carcinoma cell growth and aggressiveness.

CONCLUSION

Our findings demonstrated that miR-1-5p acted as a suppressive miRNA and played vital roles in the growth, migration and invasion of gallbladder carcinoma cell through targeting Notch2.

A two-miRNA signature (miR-33a-5p and miR-128-3p) in whole blood as potential biomarker for early diagnosis of lung cancer

MicroRNAs (MiRNAs) have been found to be dysregulated in lung cancer tissues compared to their matched paracancerous tissues. However, the roles of miRNAs in peripheral blood as potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of lung cancer remain poorly understood. Here we found that miR-33a-5p and miR-128-3p were down-regulated in lung cancer tissues and cell lines. The expression levels of miR-33a-5p and miR-128-3p in lung cancer tissues were significantly correlated to TNM stages. MiR-128-3p in lung cancer tissues was also remarkably related to smoking and tumor size. The relative expression levels of miR-33a-5p and miR-128-3p were positively correlated in lung cancer tissues. Notably, miR-33a-5p and miR-128-3p in whole blood of lung cancer patients or early-stage lung cancer patients (TNM stage I-II) were lowly expressed as compared with that in healthy controls. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analyses revealed higher area under the ROC curve (AUC) values and higher sensitivity/specificity of miR-33a-5p and miR-128-3p alone and in combination were superior to that of traditional tumor markers (CYFR21-1, NSE and CA72-4). Importantly, both miR-33a-5p and miR-128-3p in whole blood were highly stable even under different harsh conditions. The results demonstrate that tumor suppressor miR-33a-5p/miR-128-3p in whole blood can serve as novel biomarkers for the early detection of lung cancer.

Plasma exosomes as novel biomarker for the early diagnosis of gastric cancer

Exosomes are lipid bilayer vesicles of endocytic origin ranging from 30 to 100 nm in size, and contain various nucleic acid molecules such as DNA, mRNA, miRNA, lncRNA and multiple proteins, which could be transferred into target cells. Recent study indicated that exosomes as information carriers between cells has introduced us to a new previously unknown biological communication system. Increasing evidences show that exosomes play a crucial role in gastric cancer because they are potential to influence normal cellular physiology and promote various states of the cancer. In this review, we focus on the latest findings on exosomes in the plasma of gastric cancer patients, mainly summarizing the functions of miRNAs, lncRNAs and multiple proteins in diagnosis, prognosis, and in establishing treatment regimens against gastric cancer. Furtherly, potential functions of exosomes as novel diagnostic biomarkers for gastric cancer are discussed extensively. Exosomes are believed to be a non-invasive disease biomarker with a dual capability to provide insights into the early diagnosis for gastric cancer.

MicroRNAs as non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers for gastric cancer: Current insights and future perspectives

Non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers may contribute to an early identification of gastric cancer (GC) and improve the clinical management. Unfortunately, no sensitive and specific screening biomarkers are available yet and the currently available approaches are limited by the nature of the disease. GC is a heterogenic disease with various distinct genetic and epigenetic events that occur during the multifactorial cascade of carcinogenesis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are commonly deregulated in gastric mucosa during the Helicobacter pylori infection and in stepwise manner from chronic gastritis, through preneoplastic conditions such as atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia, to early dysplasia and invasive cancer. Identification of miRNAs in blood in 2008 led to a great interest on miRNA-based diagnostic, prognostic biomarkers in GC. In this review, we provide the most recent systematic review on the existing studies related to miRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers for GC. Here, we systematically evaluate 75 studies related to differential expression of circulating miRNAs in GC patients and provide novel view on various heterogenic aspects of the existing data and summarize the methodological differences. Finally, we highlight several important aspects crucial to improve the future translational and clinical research in the field.

MicroRNAs as potential biomarkers for diagnosis, therapy and prognosis of gastric cancer

Despite the widespread use of endoscopy and conventional tumor biomarkers, gastric cancer (GC) remains one of the most frequent causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide due to its late diagnosis and poor response to treatment. Valuable and practical biomarkers are urgently needed to screen patients with a high risk of GC that can complement endoscopic diagnosis. Such biomarkers will enable the efficient prediction of therapeutic response and prognosis of GC patients and favor the establishment of an effective treatment strategy for each and every patient. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNA sequences that play important roles in modulating key biological processes by regulating the expression of target genes. Expectedly, miRNAs are abnormally expressed within the tumor tissue and in associated biological fluids of GC patients including their blood, gastric juice, and urine. Accumulating evidence indicates that miRNAs are potential biomarkers with multiple diagnostic functions for GC. Here, we review recent advances and challenges in using miRNAs, particularly biofluid miRNAs, as GC biomarkers with potential clinical applications including diagnosing, clinically staging, and predicting malignant behaviors, therapy response, recurrence after surgery and survival time.

miR-16 targets SALL4 to repress the proliferation and migration of gastric cancer

There is increasing evidence that microRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in tumor progression and development by targeting different genes, including gastric cancer (GC). However, the role of miR-16 in GC is so far unclear. Herein, we examined the function and potential mechanism of miR-16 in GC. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR found that miR-16 expression was prominently lower in GC tissues while SALL4 expression was frequently higher than normal tissues. Re-expression of miR-16 could suppress GC cell proliferation and migration by MTT and Transwell assay. We confirmed that miR-16 directly targeted SALL4 in regulating GC by luciferase assay. Knockdown of SALL4 inhibited cell proliferation and migration. Furthermore, SALL4 could counteract the inhibition-effect of miR-16 in GC. In conclusion, for the the first time we demonstrated that miR-16 played inhibitory effect through targeting SALL4 in GC cell proliferation and migration. Our study revealed that miR-16/SALL4 axis was critical in regulating the GC development, indicating a new prospect to regulate GC cell progression and development.

DNA-templated silver nanoclusters locate microRNAs in the nuclei of gastric cancer cells

Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) is correlated with cancer progression. In vitro detection methods using extracts from cell lysis cannot provide information about the spatial distribution of miRNAs. Due to the development of miRNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), increasing amounts of intracellular expression information are being obtained. However, miRNA FISH suffers from weak signals and complex steps and thus remains very challenging. Herein, a strategy based on DNA-templated silver nanoclusters (AgNCs/DNAs) and their G-rich fluorescence enhancement effect was developed for FISH detection of miRNAs in gastric cancer cells. The method combines hybridization and signal amplification into one step, which allows imaging of intracellular miRNAs immediately after hybridization. Most importantly, using the method based on our design, miR-101-3p, miR-16-5p and miR-19b-3p were found to be located in the nuclei of MGC803 cells with granulated shapes, indicating an unanticipated distribution pattern. In addition, before the final miRNA FISH, we performed an optimization of AgNCs/DNAs and their G-rich fluorescence enhancement effect; we found that the effect occurred at shorter wavelengths emitting green fluorescence, with weakened red fluorescence at longer wavelengths. However, the components involved in the FISH process impacted the fluorescence properties so greatly that the probes finally exhibited slightly strengthened red fluorescence signals. Our method enables facile visualization of miRNAs at the subcellular level, which may benefit the precise localization of miRNAs in single cells in the future.

Down-regulation of microRNA-19b in hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer

miR-19b (miR-19b-3p) has been reported to be correlated with either favorable or unfavorable events in several cancers. However, no study has been conducted to evaluate the expression level of miR-19b in patients with breast cancer (BC). This study was aimed to investigate the expression level of miR-19b in human malignant and healthy breast tissues with histopathology of ER+/PR+/HER2-. We performed a miRNA real-time PCR to detect differential expression of miR-19b in 40 BC, including 17 BC with familial background and 23 BC without familial background, and 12 non-tumoral tissues. Moreover, a bioinformatics prediction upon miR-19b functionality in BC cells was performed. The miR-19b expression level was significantly down-regulated in BC, BC with familial background, and BC without familial background compared with its expression in normal tissue (p value, <0.0001; fold change, -7.45; p value, 0.0003; fold change, -6.45; and p value, 0.0005; fold change, -8.41, respectively). Moreover, according to the AUCs (area under curve) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, miR-19b can significantly distinguish all defined categories. Last, in agreement with our experimental findings, proteoglycans in cancer, pathways in cancer, FoxO signaling pathway, central carbon metabolism in cancer, p53 signaling pathway, transcriptional misregulation in cancer, and prolactin signaling pathway were predicted as miR-19b-related signaling pathways. In summary, down-regulation of miR-19b in BC vs healthy tissue suggests that mir-19b can function as a tumor suppressor. Our results shed additional information on controversial expression pattern of miR-19b depending on different cancer types.

Expression profile of circulating microRNAs in the Correa pathway of progression to gastric cancer

Background

Helicobacter pylori infection causes long-term chronic active gastritis, a risk factor for the intestinal and diffuse forms of gastric cancer. Most gastric cancers develop in a stepwise progression from chronic active gastritis to precursor lesions of gastric cancer. The early detection of gastric cancer improves survival. Studies with recent evidence have proposed circulating-microRNAs as biomarkers of cancer.

Objective

The purpose of this study was to explore the circulating-microRNA profile from H. pylori infection to gastric adenocarcinoma.

Methods

One hundred and twenty-three patients were enrolled and assigned to the discovery or the validation sets. In the discovery phase, circulating-microRNAs were measured by dye-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction and a selection of circulating-microRNAs was validated by probe-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction. A quality control protocol was used.

Results

One hundred and sixty-seven circulating-microRNAs were detected. Precursor lesions of gastric cancer and gastric cancer patients showed the downregulation of eight and five circulating-microRNAs, respectively. We further validated the deregulation of miR-196a-5p in precursor lesions of gastric cancer and the deregulation of miR-134-5p, miR-144-3p and miR-451a in gastric cancer. However, circulating-microRNAs exhibited moderate diagnostic performance due to the overlap of circulating-microRNA expression between non-cancer and cancer patients. miR-144-3p/miR-451a expression levels were correlated. Interestingly, these microRNAs are in 17q11.2, a site of rearrangements associated with gastric cancer.

Conclusion

Circulating-microRNAs are deregulated in precancerous and gastric cancer patients but efforts are needed to improve their diagnostic accuracy.

A six-microRNA panel in plasma was identified as a potential biomarker for lung adenocarcinoma diagnosis

Differently expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) in the plasma of lung adenocarcinoma (LA) patients might serve as biomarkers for LA detection. MiRNA expression profiling was performed using Exiqon panels followed by the verification (30 LA VS. 10 healthy controls (HCs)) with quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in the screening phase. Identified miRNAs were confirmed through training (42 LA VS. 32 HCs) and testing stages (66 LA VS. 62 HCs) by using qRT-PCR based absolute quantification methods. A total of six up-regulated plasma miRNAs (miR-19b-3p, miR-21-5p, miR-221-3p, miR-409-3p, miR-425-5p and miR-584-5p) were identified. The six-miRNA panel could discriminate LA patients from HCs with areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.72, 0.74 and 0.84 for the training, testing and the external validation stage (33 LA VS. 30 HCs), respectively. All the miRNAs identified except miR-584-5p were significantly up-regulated in LA tissues. MiR-19-3p, miR-21-5p, miR-409-3p and miR-425-5p showed high expression in arterial plasma with borderline significance. Additionally, miR-19-3p, miR-21-5p and miR-221-3p were significantly up-regulated in exosomes extracted from LA peripheral plasma samples. In conclusion, we identified a six-miRNA panel in peripheral plasma which might give assistance to the detection of LA at least for Asian population to a certain extent.

The role of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) in endometrial carcinoma: A carcinogenesis, progression, prognosis, and target therapy marker

PURPOSE

Glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) is a serine/threonine kinase involved in cancer development. Herein, we demonstrated the role of GSK-3β in endometrial cancer (EC) and identified new therapeutic targets.

RESULTS

GSK-3β was overexpressed in EC tissues, and was positively correlated with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging, dedifferentiation, and myometrial infiltration depth. Besides, GSK-3β overexpression predicted lower cumulative and relapse-free survival rate. si-GSK-3β transfection suppressed cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and promoted cell apoptosis through downregulating NF-kB, Cyclin D1 and MMP9 expression whereas upregulating P21 expression. Bioinformatic predictions and dual-luciferase reporter assays showed that GSK-3β was a possible target of miR-129. MiR-129 transfection reduced GSK-3β expression, and exhibited the same trend as si-GSK-3β transfection in cell function experiments. The nude mouse xenograft assay showed that miR-129 overexpression may suppress tumor growth through downregulating GSK-3β expression. Further studies showed that AZD1080, a GSK-3β inhibitor, could also inhibit EC cell proliferation, migration and invasion, while induced cell apoptosis through modulating relevant genes downstream of GSK-3β signaling.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

GSK-3β expression was determined in EC tissue and normal endometrial tissues by immunohistochemistry. After GSK-3β down-regulation by si-GSK-3β, microRNA-129 mimic transfection or GSK-3β inhibitor exposure, EC cell phenotypes and related molecules were examined.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results demonstrate for the first time that GSK-3β may be a novel and important therapeutic target for the treatment of endometrial carcinoma. GSK-3β inhibitor AZD1080 may be an effective drug for treating endometrial carcinoma.

MicroRNAs miR-19, miR-340, miR-374 and miR-542 regulate MID1 protein expression

The MID1 ubiquitin ligase activates mTOR signaling and regulates mRNA translation. Misregulation of MID1 expression is associated with various diseases including midline malformation syndromes, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. While this indicates that MID1 expression must be tightly regulated to prevent disease states specific mechanisms involved have not been identified. We examined miRNAs to determine mechanisms that regulate MID1 expression. MicroRNAs (miRNA) are small non-coding RNAs that recognize specific sequences in their target mRNAs. Upon binding, miRNAs typically downregulate expression of these targets. Here, we identified four miRNAs, miR-19, miR-340, miR-374 and miR-542 that bind to the 3'-UTR of the MID1 mRNA. These miRNAs not only regulate MID1 expression but also mTOR signaling and translation of disease associated mRNAs and could therefore serve as potential drugs for future therapy development.

Targeting the lipid metabolic axis ACSL/SCD in colorectal cancer progression by therapeutic miRNAs: miR-19b-1 role

An abnormal acyl-CoA synthetase/stearoyl-CoA desaturase (ACSL/SCD) lipid network fuels colon cancer progression, endowing cells with invasive and migratory properties. Therapies against this metabolic network may be useful to improve clinical outcomes. Because micro-RNAs (miRNAs/miRs) are important epigenetic regulators, we investigated novel miRNAs targeting this pro-tumorigenic axis; hence to be used as therapeutic or prognostic miRNAs. Thirty-one putative common miRNAs were predicted to simultaneously target the three enzymes comprising the ACSL/SCD network. Target validation by quantitative RT-PCR, Western blotting, and luciferase assays showed miR-544a, miR-142, and miR-19b-1 as major regulators of the metabolic axis, ACSL/SCD Importantly, lower miR-19b-1 expression was associated with a decreased survival rate in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, accordingly with ACSL/SCD involvement in patient relapse. Finally, miR-19b-1 regulated the pro-tumorigenic axis, ACSL/SCD, being able to inhibit invasion in colon cancer cells. Because its expression correlated with an increased survival rate in CRC patients, we propose miR-19b-1 as a potential noninvasive biomarker of disease-free survival and a promising therapeutic miRNA in CRC.

Design and Characterization of a Singly Labeled Fluorescent Smart Probe for In Vitro Detection of miR-21

A sensitive hairpin smart probe (SP) has been developed and tested for its sequence-specificity and sensitivity for detecting microRNAs (miRNAs). The loop sequence of this SP is perfectly complementary to microRNA-21 (miR-21) sequence. This miRNA regulates certain biological processes and has been implicated in certain forms of cancer. The stem of the new SP consists of a fluorophore on one end and multiple guanine bases on the opposing end are used as quenchers. The fluorescence of the SP is significantly quenched by the guanine bases at room temperature and in the absence of the miR-21 target. The presence of miR-21 switches on the fluorescence due to spontaneous hybridization of the SP with this target, which also forces the stem hybrid of the SP apart. This new SP successfully discriminated between the perfect miR-21 target and two closely similar single-base mismatch sequences. When the SP was incubated with the miR-21 at 37 ℃, the hybridization kinetics increased seven times, compared to room temperature hybridization. Overall, this new SP shows good detection sensitivity and gives a limit of detection and limit of quantitation of 14.0 nM and 46.7 nM, respectively. This detection platform represents a simple, fast, mix-and-read homogeneous assay for sequence-specific detection of miR-21, and it can be adapted for other related diagnostic applications.

Examining plasma microRNA markers for colorectal cancer at different stages

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as promising biomarkers; however, few miRNAs have been reproducible and can be used in clinical practice. In this study, we screened the levels of 754 miRNAs using TaqMan array in 50 individual plasma samples from 10 demographically matched healthy controls and 40 colorectal cancer (CRC) patients (10 each of stage I-IV) and identified 22 miRNAs associated with the presence of and stages of CRC. Then we performed the validation for 11 miRNAs in an independent cohort including 187 CRC cases and 47 healthy controls. Comprehensive analyses showed that plasma miR-96 distinguished stage I-IV CRC from healthy controls with an area under curve (AUC) of 0.740; miR-203 separated stage III-IV CRC patients from stage I-II with an AUC of 0.757; and miR-141 differentiated stage IV CRC from stage I-III patients with an AUC of 0.851. Survival analyses showed that plasma miR-96 and miR-200b were independent prognostic factors for overall survival. Thus, we propose four miRNAs (miR-96, miR-203, miR-141 and miR-200b) as clinically validated circulating biomarkers for CRC prognosis that warrant further evaluation for clinical utility.

miR19b-3p promotes the growth and metastasis of colorectal cancer via directly targeting ITGB8

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are widely up-regulated or down-regulated in a variety of tumors, including lung cancer, liver cancer, and colorectal cancer (CRC). Furthermore, miRNAs can function as tumor suppressors or proto-oncogenes by controlling the growth and metastasis of cancer cells. In the present study, we found a significant increase in miR19b-3p levels in CRC compared to tumor tissue and revealed the role of miR19b-3p in CRC growth and metastasis. The exogenous overexpression of miR19b-3p induced the proliferation, migration, and invasion of CRC cells in vitro. In addition, the nude mouse xenograft model showed that miR19b-3p overexpression promoted CRC growth and lung metastasis in vivo, whereas silencing miR19b-3p showed opposite results. Mechanistic studies have shown that the integrin beta-8 (ITGB8) transcript is one of the direct targets of miR19b-3p, and the expression of ITGB8 in CRC specimens was positively correlated with miR19b-3p. Finally, ectopic expression of ITGB8 rescued cell proliferation and invasion, which was inhibited by down-regulation of miR19b-3p. In addition, knockdown of ITGB8 neutralized the effects of miR19b-3p overexpression on cell growth and metastasis in CRC cells. Together, these results suggest that the miR19b-3p/ITGB8 axis plays an important role in the growth and metastasis of CRC.

miR-19b-3p promotes colon cancer proliferation and oxaliplatin-based chemoresistance by targeting SMAD4: validation by bioinformatics and experimental analyses

Background

As a disease with extremely complex molecular mechanisms, many deregulated miRNAs have been identified in colon cancer. Few studies have been performed by using Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA) to predict miRNAs specifically expressed in colon cancer.

Methods

A characteristic microRNA-target network of colon cancer was explored using IPA. Then the clinical significance of miR-19b-3p was evaluated in 211 colon cancer patients. The roles of miR-19b-3p and its candidate target gene, SMAD4, in colon cancer progression were examined both in vitro and in vivo.

Results

Bioinformatics analysis showed that 15 microRNAs screened by IPA were significantly correlated with malignant biological behaviors of colon cancer. miR-19b-3p was the most significantly upregulated candidate based on the validation experiment using 211 colon cancer samples. High expression of miR-19b-3p was significantly associated with high N stage (P < 0.001), high AJCC stage (P < 0.001), poor histologic grade (P = 0.032), frequent venous and lymphatic invasion (P = 0.027), and liver metastasis (P < 0.001). Survival analysis revealed that miR-19b-3p was an independent prognostic factor associated with colon cancer patient’s overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). miR-19b-3p promoted proliferation and chemoresistance of colon cancer cells, but had no effect on invasion in vitro, along with tumorigenesis in vivo. In addition, we confirmed that miR-19b-3p mediates resistance to oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy via SMAD4.

Conclusions

Our findings demonstrate the role of miR-19b-3p-SMAD4 axis in colon cancer progression, which may become a potential therapeutic target against chemotherapy resistance.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13046-017-0602-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

MicroRNA-16-5p overexpression suppresses proliferation and invasion as well as triggers apoptosis by targeting VEGFA expression in breast carcinoma

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of small noncoding RNA molecules, can manipulate the expressions of endogenous tumor-related genes, and are implicated in the development and progression of a wide type of tumors. In this study, the investigation from real-time quantitative PCR revealed that miRNA-16-5p was downregulated in breast carcinoma tissues and cells, coupled with the elevations of HIF-α and VEGFA protein expressions, compared with normal tissues. Lentiviral armed with miR-16-5p markedly increased the miR-16-5p levels in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, compared to blank and NC groups, and miR-16-5p overexpression significantly inhibited the proliferation and colony formation in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. Besides, miR-16-5p upregulation markedly induced apoptosis and reduced invasion ability in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. Notably, VEGFA was direct target of miR-16-5p. Stepwise investigation from in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that miR-16-5p overexpression suppressed tumor growth and reduced HIF-α and VEGFA expressions in breast carcinoma cells and nude mice tumor tissues. These findings provide novel insights into molecular mechanism involved in the roles of miR-16-5p in tumor development and progression of breast carcinoma, and thus manipulation of miR-16-5p may be a novel potential therapeutic target for future therapies of the patients with breast carcinoma.

Systematic literature review and clinical validation of circulating microRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers for colorectal cancer

Because patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) are usually diagnosed at an advanced stage and current serum tumor markers have limited diagnostic efficacy, there is an urgent need to identify reliable diagnostic biomarkers. To better define the diagnostic potential of microRNAs (miRNAs) for CRC, we performed a comprehensive evaluation of reported circulating CRC miRNA markers. After a systematic literature review, we selected 30 candidate miRNAs and used quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction to examine their expression in a training cohort of 120 plasma samples (CRC vs healthy controls (HC) = 60:60). Expression data was confirmed in a validation cohort of 160 plasma samples (CRC vs HC = 80:80). We ultimately identified 5 dysregulated circulating miRNAs (miR-15b, miR-17, miR-21, miR-26b, and miR-145), of which miR-21 and miR-26b proved to have the best diagnostic performance in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. Based on these results, we propose a novel blood-based diagnostic model, integrating 5 CRC-related miRNAs and serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), which provides better diagnostic performance than the combined 5 miRNAs, CEA alone, or any single miRNA. We propose that the novel CRC diagnostic model presented here will be useful for overcoming the limitations faced by current non-invasive diagnostic strategies.

Plasma microRNA-320 is a potential diagnostic and prognostic bio-marker in gastric cancer

OBJECTIVE

MicroRNA-320 (MiR-320) had been reported to be down-regulated in several cancers. However, its clinical significance in gastric cancer remained unknown. In this study, we aimed to detect the expression of miR-320 and its clinical significance in gastric cancer.

METHODS

The relative expression levels of miR-320 in plasma of gastric cancer patients and healthy controls were detected using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was established to estimate the diagnostic value of miR-320 in gastric cancer. Moreover, its prognostic value was assessed via Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses.

RESULTS

Compared with healthy individuals, the plasma miR-320 expression in patients with gastric cancer was significantly decreased (P<0.001). The low plasma miR-320 expression was closely associated with TNM stage and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Furthermore, plasma miR-320 could be used to distinguish gastric cancer patients from healthy controls with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.861. The sensitivity and specificity were 82.4% and 75.9%, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that patients with high expression of miR-320 had an obviously longer overall survival than those with low miR-320 expression (log rank test, P=0.003). MiR-320 could be an independent prognostic factor for patients with gastric cancer via univariate and multivariate analyses.

CONCLUSIONS

Plasma miR-320 is down-regulated and correlated with the progression of gastric cancer. What's more, miR-320 may be a potential bio-marker for the diagnosis and prognosis of gastric cancer patients.

MicroRNA-16-5p Inhibits Osteoclastogenesis in Giant Cell Tumor of Bone

Giant cell tumor (GCT) of bone is an aggressive skeletal tumor characterized by localized bone resorption. MicroRNA-16-5p (miR-16-5p) has been reported to be downregulated in lesions of patients with GCT, but little is known about its role in GCT. To explore the underlying function of miR-16-5p in GCT, we first detected its expression in patients with GCT. The results showed that osteoclast formation increased, whereas miR-16-5p expression considerably decreased with the severity of bone destruction. Furthermore, we found that miR-16-5p expression considerably decreased with the progression of receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand- (RANKL-) induced osteoclastogenesis. Functionally, miR-16-5p mimics significantly reduced RANKL-induced osteoclast formation. However, treatment with an inhibitor of miR-16-5p significantly promoted osteoclastogenesis. These findings reveal that miR-16-5p inhibits osteoclastogenesis and that it may represent a therapeutic target for giant cell tumor of bone.