LNA Inhibitor in microRNA miR-23b as a Potential Anti-proliferative Option in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Zhenzhu Xiaoji Decoction Induces Autophagy and Apoptosis Cell Death in Liver Cancer Cells through AKT/mTOR and JAK2/STAT3 Signaling Pathway

Background

Liver cancer is one of the most common digestive tumors. The prescription Zhenzhu Xiaoji decoction (ZZXJD) has a certain effect on the growth and survival of primary liver cancer. Object: This article aimed to explore the effect and molecular mechanism of ZZXJD on liver cancer SMMC-7721 cells.

Method

The research groups were divided into the model group, ZZXJD group, and cisplatin group. SMMC-7721 cells were treated with different concentrations of ZZXJD-medicated serum for 24 h and 48 h. The cell viability was measured with CCK8 assay, and cell morphology was observed by fluorescence microscope and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Western blot, RT-PCR, and gene chip were used to determine the protein expression level and gene expression level of cells and tumor tissues.

Results

ZZXJD inhibited the proliferation activity of SMMC-7721 cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. The morphological changes of the cell showed apoptosis and autophagy. The gene expression of protein kinase B (AKT), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), Janus kinase 2 (JAK2), and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3(STAT3) were downregulated compared with the model group(p < 0.05). The nude mice experiments confirmed that ZZXJD inhibited the growth of tumors in tumor-bearing mice, and the effect increased with the increase of concentration.

Conclusion

ZZXJD induced autophagy and apoptosis of liver cancer cells via inhibiting AKT/mTOR signaling pathway and JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway, thereby affecting the growth and survival of liver cancer cells.

Non-coding RNAs as biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma-A systematic review

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common malignancy in the world and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death, and its incidence is increasing globally. Despite significant advances in treatment strategies for HCC, the prognosis is still poor due to its high recurrence rate. Therefore, there is an urgent need to understand the pathogenesis of HCC and further develop new therapies to improve the prognosis and quality of life of HCC patients. MicroRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) are small non-coding RNAs involved in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression that is abnormally expressed in cancer-associated genomic regions or vulnerable sites. More and more findings have shown that miRNAs are important regulatory factors of mRNA expression in HCC, and they are receiving more and more attention as a possible key biomarker of HCC. This review mainly summarizes the potential applied value on miRNAs as diagnostic, drug resistant, prognostic, and therapeutic biomarkers in the diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis of HCC. Also, we summarize the research value of long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs), and miRNAs network in HCC as novel biomarkers, aiming at providing some references for the therapy of HCC.

Adipose-derived exosomes deliver miR-23a/b to regulate tumor growth in hepatocellular cancer by targeting the VHL/HIF axis

Adipose tissue has long been considered to be involved in tumor progression. However, the adipocyte-secreted molecular determinants that regulate hepatocellular cancer progression have not been defined yet. In this study, the expression pattern of exosome miRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with high body fat ratio (BFR) were identified by using low-density microarray. And the targets of exosome-miRNAs in HCC cells were predicted by bioinformatics methods and verified by in vitro as well as in vivo experiments. Here, we show that microRNA-23a/b (miR-23a/b) was significantly upregulated in both serum exosomes and tumor tissues of HCC patients with a high body fat ratio than low BFR. Subsequently, in vitro studies suggested that miR-23a/b was most likely to be derived from adipocytes and was transported into cancer cells via exosomes, thus promoting HCC cell growth and migration. Meanwhile, exosome miR-23a and miR-23b confer chemoresistance by targeting the von Hippel-Lindau/hypoxia-inducible factor axis. Our study provides evidence in that high BFR-related exosome miR23-a/b is a promising target for future treatment of HCC.