miR-206 inhibits renal cell cancer growth by targeting GAK

A Comprehensive Review on the Importance of MiRNA-206 in the Animal Model and Human Diseases

MicroRNA-206 (miR-206) is a microRNA that is involved in many human diseases, such as myasthenia gravis, osteoarthritis, depression, cancers, etc. Both inhibition effects and progression roles of miR-206 have been reported for the past few years. High expression of miR-206 was observed in patients with osteoarthritis, gastric cancer and epithelial ovarian cancer compared to normal people. The study also showed that miR-206 promotes cancer progression in breast cancer patients and avascular necrosis of the femoral head. Meanwhile, several studies have shown that expression levels of miR-206 were down-regulated in laryngeal carcinoma cell multiplication, as well as in hepatocellular carcinoma, non-small lung cancer and infantile hemangioma. Moreover, miR-206 was up-regulated in the mild stage of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients and then down-regulated in the moderate and severe stages, indicating that miR-206 has the double effects of starting and aggravating the disease. In neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression, miR-206 also plays an important role in the progression of the disease; the level of miR-206 is most highly expressed in the brains of patients with depression. In the current review, we summarize the role of miR-206 in various diseases, and miR-206 may be developed as a new biomarker for diagnosing diseases in the near future.

Emerging roles and mechanisms of miR-206 in human disorders: a comprehensive review

As a member of the miR-1 family, miR-206 is located between IL-17 and PKHD1 genes in human. This miRNA has been shown to be involved in the pathogenic processes in a variety of human disorders including cancers, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, atherosclerosis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, epilepsy, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, Hirschsprung disease, muscular dystrophies, pulmonary arterial hypertension, sepsis and ulcerative colitis. In the current review, we summarize the role of miR-206 in both malignant and non-malignant situations and explain its possible therapeutic implications.

Common pathways and functional profiles reveal underlying patterns in Breast, Kidney and Lung cancers

Background

Cancer is a major health problem which presents a high heterogeneity. In this work we explore omics data from Breast, Kidney and Lung cancers at different levels as signalling pathways, functions and miRNAs, as part of the CAMDA 2019 Hi-Res Cancer Data Integration Challenge. Our goal is to find common functional patterns which give rise to the generic microenvironment in these cancers and contribute to a better understanding of cancer pathogenesis and a possible clinical translation down further studies.

Results

After a tumor versus normal tissue comparison of the signaling pathways and cell functions, we found 828 subpathways, 912 Gene Ontology terms and 91 Uniprot keywords commonly significant to the three studied tumors. Such features interestingly show the power to classify tumor samples into subgroups with different survival times, and predict tumor state and tissue of origin through machine learning techniques. We also found cancer-specific alternative activation subpathways, such as the ones activating STAT5A in ErbB signaling pathway. miRNAs evaluation show the role of miRNAs, such as mir-184 and mir-206, as regulators of many cancer pathways and their value in prognoses.

Conclusions

The study of the common functional and pathway activities of different cancers is an interesting approach to understand molecular mechanisms of the tumoral process regardless of their tissue of origin. The existence of platforms as the CAMDA challenges provide the opportunity to share knowledge and improve future scientific research and clinical practice.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13062-021-00293-8.

The miRNA: a small but powerful RNA for COVID-19

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a severe and rapidly evolving epidemic. Now, although a few drugs and vaccines have been proved for its treatment and prevention, little systematic comments are made to explain its susceptibility to humans. A few scattered studies used bioinformatics methods to explore the role of microRNA (miRNA) in COVID-19 infection. Combining these timely reports and previous studies about virus and miRNA, we comb through the available clues and seemingly make the perspective reasonable that the COVID-19 cleverly exploits the interplay between the small miRNA and other biomolecules to avoid being effectively recognized and attacked from host immune protection as well to deactivate functional genes that are crucial for immune system. In detail, SARS-CoV-2 can be regarded as a sponge to adsorb host immune-related miRNA, which forces host fall into dysfunction status of immune system. Besides, SARS-CoV-2 encodes its own miRNAs, which can enter host cell and are not perceived by the host's immune system, subsequently targeting host function genes to cause illnesses. Therefore, this article presents a reasonable viewpoint that the miRNA-based interplays between the host and SARS-CoV-2 may be the primary cause that SARS-CoV-2 accesses and attacks the host cells.

Identification of vital genes and pathways associated with mucosal melanoma in Chinese

Mucosal melanoma is a rare malignant melanoma with more aggressive and poorer outcomes. The incidence of mucosal melanoma varies greatly among different ethnic groups. We herein sought to characterize the vital genes and pathways of Chinese mucosal melanoma patients. By whole-exome sequencing in six patients with mucosal melanoma, we detected a total of 21,733 CNVs and 2372 SNPs. The CNV/SNP burden varies greatly between individuals, including recurrent CNV targeting PIK3 family, KRAS, APC and BRCA1. Significantly mutated genes were NUDT5, ZBTB18, NEURL4, ZNF430, RBM44, GAK, PCDHA13, STK38 and UBR5. Besides, FAT1 gene was identified frequently mutated in anorectal melanoma patients (3/3, 100%). Moreover, our result showed that HPV infection may be associated with mucosal melanoma. In conclusion, this study indicated that mucosal melanomas have a low SNPs burden and a high number of CNVs and expand the spectrum of mucosal melanoma variants, also provided an insight for the pathological mechanism of mucosal melanoma.

Long noncoding RNA FOXD2-AS1 aggravates hepatocellular carcinoma tumorigenesis by regulating the miR-206/MAP3K1 axis

LncRNAs play crucial roles in the development of various cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Nevertheless, the function of the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) FOXD2‐AS1 in HCC is still poorly understood. In this study, we focused on the role of FOXD2‐AS1 in HCC. We found that FOXD2‐AS1 was significantly upregulated in HCC cells in comparison to normal human liver cells, LO2. In this study, we also demonstrated that miR‐206 expression was greatly reduced in HCC cells. Furthermore, the inhibition of FOXD2‐AS1 repressed HCC cell proliferation, enhanced cell apoptosis, and restrained cell invasion and migration. The knockdown of FOXD2‐AS1 elevated miR‐206 expression, and we validated an interaction between these RNAs. Additionally, miR‐206 mimics inhibited HCC development while miR‐206 mimics had the opposite effect. MAP kinase 1 (MAP3K1) was predicted to be a target of miR‐206. We discovered that FOXD2‐AS1 modulated MAP3K1 expression by sponging miR‐206 in MHCC‐97L and HepG2 cells. Finally, our in vivo experiments validated that the knockdown of FOXD2‐AS1 inhibited HCC progression by modulating the miR‐206/MAP3K1 axis. In conclusion, this work implies FOXD2‐AS1 accelerates HCC progression through sponging miR‐206 and regulating MAP3K1 expression.

Silencing circZFR inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasion of human renal carcinoma cells by regulating miR-206

Background

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most prevalent kind of kidney cancer. At present, the most efficient treatment mean is surgery. 40% patients with clear cell RCC (ccRCC) relapse after surgery. Identifying novel therapeutic markers and spots for early detection and treatment of RCC is necessary.

Methods

qRT-PCR was utilized to quantify circZFR and miR-206 expression in CAKI-1 and ACHN cells. Cell viability was detected by CCK-8 assay. Colony formation capacity was measured by colony formation assay. Transwell assay was utilized to investigate migration and invasion capacity. Expression of migration and apoptosis-associated proteins was quantified by Western blot.

Results

As a result, circZFR was highly expressed in RCC tissues and cells. Si-circZFR suppressed cell growth, migration and invasion of experimental cells. In addition, knockdown of circZFR upregulated miR-206 expression. Moreover, the antigrowth, antimigrating and anti-invasive effects of si-circZFR were attenuated when downregulating miR-206. Furthermore, Met is the target gene of miR-206 in experimental cells. The suppression on these signaling pathways was acted by targeting miR-206/Met axis.

Conclusion

The results demonstrated si-circZFR inhibited cell growth, migration and invasion in experimental cells by up-regulating of miR-206. Furthermore, si-circZFR suppressed Wnt/β-catenin and PI3K/AKT pathways via targeting miR-206/Met axis.

Clathrin heavy chain phosphorylated at T606 plays a role in proper cell division

Clathrin regulates mitotic progression, in addition to membrane trafficking. However, the detailed regulatory mechanisms of clathrin during mitosis remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate novel regulation of clathrin during mitotic phase of the cell cycle. Clathrin heavy chain (CHC) was phosphorylated at T606 by its association partner cyclin G-associated kinase (GAK). This phosphorylation was required for proper cell proliferation and tumor growth of cells implanted into nude mice. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that the localization of CHC-pT606 signals changed during mitosis. CHC-pT606 signals localized in the nucleus and at the centrosome during interphase, whereas CHC signals were mostly cytoplasmic. Co-immunoprecipitation suggested that CHC formed a complex with GAK and polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1). Depletion of GAK using siRNA induced metaphase arrest and aberrant localization of CHC-pT606, which abolished Kiz-pT379 (as a phosphorylation target of PLK1) signals on chromatin at metaphase. Taken together, we propose that the GAK_CHC-pT606_PLK1_Kiz-pT379 axis plays a role in proliferation of cancer cells.

miR-33a inhibits cell growth in renal cancer by downregulation of MDM4 expression

Background

MicroRNA‐33a (miR‐33a) plays the role of the tumor suppressor gene by regulating the expression level of downstream genes. However, the effects of miR‐33a in renal cell cancer (RCC) remain unknown. Our study was designed to investigate the expression level and potential function of miR‐33a in RCC.

Methods

RT‐qPCR was applied to measure the levels of miR‐33a in RCC tissues and cell lines. Western blotting and luciferase reporter assay were used to detect the relationship between miR‐33a and Mouse double minute 4 (MDM4) in RCC cells. CCK‐8 and flow cytometry were applied to detected cell viability and cell cycle. Animal models and TUNEL assay were applied to detect the effect of miR‐33a on the growth of RCC and cell apoptosis.

Results

We found that the levels of miR‐33a were significantly decreased in RCC tissues and cell lines. Moreover, the low expression of miR‐33a in RCC patients indicated a shorter overall survival (OS). Notably, MDM4 as a direct target of miR‐33a in RCC, the expression level of MDM4 was significantly increased in RCC cells group than the control group. Furthermore, miR‐33a overexpression significantly inhibited RCC cells growth than the control group, while the inhibitory effects of miR‐33a were reversed upon the overexpression of MDM4. Luciferase reporter assays showed that there was a direct interaction between miR‐33a and 3′ UTR of MDM4 mRNA. In vivo, tumor volumes and weight were significantly decreased in the transfected miR‐33a mimics group than the control group.

Conclusion

Taken together, our study indicates that miR‐33a inhibits RCC cell growth by targeting MDM4.

Signature microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs in laryngeal cancer recurrence identified using a competing endogenous RNA network

The aim of the present study was to identify novel microRNA (miRNA) or long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) signatures of laryngeal cancer recurrence and to investigate the regulatory mechanisms associated with this malignancy. Datasets of recurrent and nonrecurrent laryngeal cancer samples were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus database (GSE27020 and GSE25727) to examine differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRs), lncRNAs (DE-lncRs) and mRNAs (DEGs). miRNA-mRNA and lncRNA-miRNA networks were constructed by investigating the associations among these RNAs in various databases. Subsequently, the interactions identified were combined into a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory network. Feature genes in the miRNA-mRNA network were identified via topological analysis and a recursive feature elimination algorithm. A support vector machine (SVM) classifier was established using the betweenness centrality values in the miRNA-mRNA network, consisting of 32 optimal feature-coding genes. The classification effect was tested using two validation datasets. Furthermore, coding genes in the ceRNA network were examined via pathway enrichment analyses. In total, 21 DE-lncRs, 507 DEGs and 55 DE-miRs were selected. The SVM classifier exhibited an accuracy of 94.05% (79/84) for sample classification prediction in the TCGA dataset, and 92.66 and 91.07% in the two validation datasets. The ceRNA regulatory network comprised 203 nodes, corresponding to mRNAs, miRNAs and lncRNAs, and 346 lines, corresponding to the interactions among RNAs. In particular, the interactions with the highest scores were HLA complex group 4 (HCG4)-miR-33b, HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR)-miR-1-MAGE family member A2 (MAGEA2), EMX2 opposite strand/antisense RNA (EMX2OS)-miR-124-calcitonin related polypeptide α (CALCA) and EMX2OS-miR-124-γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptor γ2 subunit (GABRG2). Gene enrichment analysis of the genes in the ceRNA network identified that 11 pathway terms and 16 molecular function terms were significantly enriched. The SVM classifier based on 32 feature coding genes exhibited high accuracy in the classification of laryngeal cancer samples. miR-1, miR-33b, miR-124, HOTAIR, HCG4 and EMX2OS may be novel biomarkers of recurrent laryngeal cancer, and HCG4-miR-33b, HOTAIR-miR-1-MAGEA2 and EMX2OS-miR-124-CALCA/GABRG2 may be associated with the molecular mechanisms regulating recurrent laryngeal cancer.

MiR-206 inhibits proliferation, migration, and invasion of gastric cancer cells by targeting the MUC1 gene

Background

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can regulate the post-transcriptional level of gene expression. It has been documented that downregulation of miR-206 is significant in human gastric cancer (GC), whereas its role in GC cell biological behaviors, including proliferation, migration, and invasion, has not been thoroughly investigated. MiR-206 levels have a negative association with lymph node metastasis and tumor invasion, and patients with higher miR-206 expression have better prognoses. Functional studies demonstrated that miR-206 overexpression significantly suppresses GC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, and induces apoptosis in vitro.

Materials and methods

MiR-206 and MUC1 were determined by RNA extraction, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, and luciferase reporter gene assays. The viability of GC cells was tested using the Cell Counting Kit 8 assay. Transwell invasion and migration assays detected GC cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and migration. Flow cytometry was applied to analyze apoptotic cells. FACS analysis was applied to detect the mitochondrial membrane potential of cells. Western blotting assay determined protein levels.

Results

The luciferase reporter gene assay demonstrated that miR-206 might directly bind to the 3'UTR of the MUC1 gene and suppress MUC1 expression. Furthermore, MUCI expression was upregulated and inversely associated with miR-206 levels in GC tissues. More importantly, the miR-206-mediated suppression of proliferation, migration, and invasion, and the induction of apoptosis, were abrogated by MUC1 overexpression.

Conclusion

Our data demonstrated that miR-206 may exert antitumor activities through inhibiting the expression of MUC1, which may serve as an effective and potential target for GC treatment.