CircRNA_0043691 sponges miR-873-3p to promote metastasis of gastric cancer

LMCD1-AS1 Facilitates Cell Proliferation and EMT by Sponging miR-873-3p in Cervical Cancer

Long non-coding RNA LMCD1 antisense RNA 1 (LMCD1-AS1) has recently been reported to participate in the pathogenesis of several tumors, including thyroid cancer and osteosarcoma. However, the clinical significance of LMCD1-AS1 and the related biological function have not been reported in cervical cancer (CC). In this study, we observed that LMCD1-AS1 expression was highly expressed in CC specimens compared with adjacent normal specimens using quantitative real-time PCR. Chi-square test showed that high LMCD1-AS1 expression was correlated with FIGO stage and lymph node metastasis. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed poor prognosis with high LMCD1-AS1 expression. Moreover, FIGO stage, lymph node metastasis and high LMCD1-AS1 expression could be independent prognostic factors for the patients with CC. Functionally, knockdown of LMCD1-AS1 suppressed the proliferation, migration and invasion of two CC cell lines (HeLa and CaSki) cells by CCK-8 assay, colony formation assay, and Transwell assay. Knockdown of LMCD1-AS1 upregulated E-cadherin expression and downregulated the expression of PCNA, N-cadherin, and imentin in HeLa and CaSki cells. Luciferase reporter assay and RIP assay were conducted to evaluate the downstream molecular mechanisms of LMCD1-AS1. LMCD1-AS1 possesses a putative miR-873-3p-binding site and confirmed the negative correlation between them in CC tissues. Moreover, overexpression of LMCD1-AS1 promoted CC cell proliferation and EMT process through the regulation of miR-873-3p. In addition, depletion of LMCD1-AS1 reduced tumor growth and Ki-67 protein expression. In summary, our findings indicate that LMCD1-AS1 might exert an oncogenic role in CC and targeting LMCD1-AS1 might be a promising therapeutic target for CC treatment.

LncRNA RP11‑805J14.5 functions as a ceRNA to regulate CCND2 by sponging miR‑34b‑3p and miR‑139‑5p in lung adenocarcinoma

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is the most common lung cancer with high incidence. The prognosis of LUAD is poor due to its aggressive behavior. Long non‑coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported as a key modulator on LUAD progression. Therefore, the present study aimed to clarify the molecular mechanism of lncRNAs in LUAD development. The expression of lncRNA RP11‑805J14.5 (RP11‑805J14.5) in LUAD tissues and cells was quantified based on the data in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Cell viability was determined using Cell Counting Kit‑8 method. Apoptotic cells were sorted and determined by flow cytometry. Cell migration and invasion abilities were detected by the Transwell assay. Luciferase reporter experiment and RNA pull‑down assay were utilized to determine the interactions between RP11‑805J14.5, microRNA (miR)‑34b‑3p, miR‑139‑5p, and cyclin D2 (CCND2). A xenograft tumor was established to determine tumor growth in vivo. RP11‑805J14.5 was highly expressed in LUAD and associated with poor survival of LUAD patients. Knockdown of RP11‑805J14.5 suppressed LUAD cell growth, invasion, migration and tumor growth, indicating that RP11‑805J14.5 is an important regulator of LUAD. Our study demonstrated that the regulation of RP11‑805J14.5 on LUAD was mediated by CCND2 whose expression was regulated by sponging miR‑34b‑3p and miR‑139‑5p. The expression of RP11‑805J14.5 was increased in LUAD, and the knockdown of RP11‑805J14.5 expression suppressed LUAD cell growth, invasion and migration by downregulating CCND2 by sponging miR‑34b‑3p and miR‑139‑5p, indicating that RP11‑805J14.5 could be a prospective target for LUAD therapy.

Involvement of plasma lncRNA GSEC in sepsis discrimination and prognosis, and its correlation with macrophage cell inflammation and proliferation

BACKGROUND

Despite the dysregulation and function of G-quadruplex-forming sequence containing lncRNA (GSEC) have been widely reported in human cancers, there are few available data revealing its role in sepsis.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the expression and function of GSEC in the development of sepsis and its potential molecular mechanism.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 78 sepsis patients, 55 non-sepsis intensive care unit patients, and 42 healthy individuals were enrolled in this study. The expression of GSEC was evaluated in plasma and macrophage cells with polymerase chain reaction. The inflammation response of sepsis patients and macrophage cells was analyzed with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The diagnostic and prognostic value of GSEC in sepsis patients were estimated by receiver operator curve (ROC) and Cox analysis. The molecular mechanism underlying the function of GSEC was investigated in RAW264.7 cell with luciferase reporter assay and cell transfection.

RESULTS

Significant upregulation of GSEC was observed in sepsis patients' plasma, which could discriminate sepsis patients from healthy and non-sepsis individuals. Upregulation of GSEC was positively correlated with inflammation cytokine levels and adverse prognosis of sepsis patients. In vitro, GSEC was found to modulate the expression level of miR-873-3p, which mediated the regulatory effect of GSEC on the inflammation and proliferation of RAW264.7.

CONCLUSION

Upregulated GSEC could serve as a biomarker of sepsis pathogenesis and development. GSEC regulates the inflammation and proliferation of macrophage cells through modulating miR-873-3p.

Circular RNA hsa_circ_0002360 Promotes Proliferation and Invasion and Inhibits Oxidative Stress in Gastric Cancer by Sponging miR-629-3p and Regulating the PDLIM4 Expression

Many studies have found that circRNA hsa_0002360 (circ0002360) plays an important role in cancer onset and progression. However, its role in gastric cancer (GC) remains uncertain. Circ0002360 was found to be upregulated in GC cells using QRT-PCR. Furthermore, miR-629-3p, a target miRNA of circ0002360, was the most suppressed miRNA following circ0002360 overexpression. RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP), dual-luciferase reporter analyses, clone formation, transwell, DCFH-DA, and ELISA assays demonstrated that circ0002360-targeted miR-629-3p promotes cell proliferation and migration while inhibiting oxidative stress. GC-related mRNA microarrays from the GEO and TCGA databases, including GSE103236, GSE79973, GSE33429, GSE22804, GSE84437, and TCGA-STAD datasets, were used to find hub biomarkers between normal and gastric cancer samples. WGCNA and uni-Cox analysis were used to identify 27 survival-related risk genes, which were then used to build a risk model for prognosis prediction. Following that, all patients from the GSE84437 and TCGA-STAD datasets with 27 survival-related genes and enough data on survival status and time were randomly assigned to train (n = 433) and test (n = 375) cohorts. Furthermore, ROC and Kaplan-Meier (KM) analyses were used to validate the risk model for both cohorts. randomForest analysis indicated that PDLIM4 was the target gene of miR-629-3p, whose level was increased by circ0002360 but reversed by miR-629-3p mimics. Finally, this study confirmed that circ0002360 sponged miR-629-3p and then upregulated PDLIM4 expression. As a result, circ0002360 may be a useful marker for predicting GC prognosis and an anti-GC treatment target.