Increased Expression of MiR-27a and MiR-24-2 in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Advances in research on the anti-tumor mechanism of Astragalus polysaccharides

The dry root of the soybean plant Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch) Bge. var. mongholicus (Bge) Hsiao or A. membranaceus (Fisch) Bge, Astragali Radix (AR) has a long medicinal history. Astragalus polysaccharide (APS), the natural macromolecule that exhibits immune regulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, and other pharmacological activities, is an important active ingredient extracted from AR. Recently, APS has been increasingly used in cancer therapy owing to its anti-tumor ability as it prevents the progression of prostate, liver, cervical, ovarian, and non-small-cell lung cancer by suppressing tumor cell growth and invasion and enhancing apoptosis. In addition, APS enhances the sensitivity of tumors to antineoplastic agents and improves the body's immunity. This macromolecule has prospects for broad application in tumor therapy through various pathways. In this article, we present the latest progress in the research on the anti-tumor effects of APS and its underlying mechanisms, aiming to provide novel theoretical support and reference for its use in cancer therapy.

An Eleven-microRNA Signature Related to Tumor-Associated Macrophages Predicts Prognosis of Breast Cancer

The dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been known to play important roles in tumor development and progression. However, the understanding of the involvement of miRNAs in regulating tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and how these TAM-related miRNAs (TRMs) modulate cancer progression is still in its infancy. This study aims to explore the prognostic value of TRMs in breast cancer via the construction of a novel TRM signature. Potential TRMs were identified from the literature, and their prognostic value was evaluated using 1063 cases in The Cancer Genome Atlas Breast Cancer database. The TRM signature was further validated in the external Gene Expression Omnibus GSE22220 dataset. Gene sets enrichment analyses were performed to gain insight into the biological functions of this TRM signature. An eleven-TRM signature consisting of mir-21, mir-24-2, mir-125a, mir-221, mir-22, mir-501, mir-365b, mir-660, mir-146a, let-7b and mir-31 was constructed. This signature significantly differentiated the high-risk group from the low-risk in terms of overall survival (OS)/ distant-relapse free survival (DRFS) (p value < 0.001). The prognostic value of the signature was further enhanced by incorporating other independent prognostic factors in a nomogram-based prediction model, yielding the highest AUC of 0.79 (95% CI: 0.72−0.86) at 5-year OS. Enrichment analyses confirmed that the differentially expressed genes were mainly involved in immune-related pathways such as adaptive immune response, humoral immune response and Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation. This eleven-TRM signature has great potential as a prognostic factor for breast cancer patients besides unravelling the dysregulated immune pathways in high-risk breast cancer.

PRMT7: A Pivotal Arginine Methyltransferase in Stem Cells and Development

Protein arginine methylation is a posttranslational modification catalyzed by protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs), which play critical roles in many biological processes. To date, nine PRMT family members, namely, PRMT1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, have been identified in mammals. Among them, PRMT7 is a type III PRMT that can only catalyze the formation of monomethylarginine and plays pivotal roles in several kinds of stem cells. It has been reported that PRMT7 is closely associated with embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, muscle stem cells, and human cancer stem cells. PRMT7 deficiency or mutation led to severe developmental delay in mice and humans, which is possibly due to its crucial functions in stem cells. Here, we surveyed and summarized the studies on PRMT7 in stem cells and development in mice and humans and herein provide a discussion of the underlying molecular mechanisms. Furthermore, we also discuss the roles of PRMT7 in cancer, adipogenesis, male reproduction, cellular stress, and cellular senescence, as well as the future perspectives of PRMT7-related studies. Overall, PRMT7 mediates the proliferation and differentiation of stem cells. Deficiency or mutation of PRMT7 causes developmental delay, including defects in skeletal muscle, bone, adipose tissues, neuron, and male reproduction. A better understanding of the roles of PRMT7 in stem cells and development as well as the underlying mechanisms will provide information for the development of strategies for in-depth research of PRMT7 and stem cells as well as their applications in life sciences and medicine.

MicroRNA-210 targets FBXO31 to inhibit tumor progression and regulates the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and EMT in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Evidence from previous studies showed that the dysregulation of microRNA (miR) is frequently associated with tumor progression. The aberrant miR‐210 expression has been identified in a variety of tumors. However, its biological roles in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) still need further elucidation. Thus, in the current study we explore the roles of miR‐210 in ESCC progression. The findings of our study reveal that miR‐210 is down‐regulated in ESCC, which indicates poor prognosis and aggressive tumor progression. Moreover, miR‐210 restoration was found to enhance ESCC viability, invasion, and migration abilities. F‐Box only protein 31 (FBXO31) was confirmed to be one of the targets of miR‐210 in ESCC cells. Results also revealed that miR‐210 played crucial roles in regulating ESCC cell epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) and Wnt/β‐catenin signaling. In conclusion, data show that miR‐210 serves as an anti‐ESCC miR via down‐regulation of FBXO31 and regulation of EMT and Wnt signaling, suggesting that the miR‐210/FBXO31 axis may function as promising therapeutic targets and effective prognostic markers for ESCC patients.

miR‐210 serves as an anti‐ESCC miR via down‐regulation of FBXO31 and regulation of EMT and Wnt signaling

Uncovering the expression patterns and the clinical significance of miR-182, miR-205, miR-27a and miR-369 in patients with urinary bladder cancer

BACKGROUND

Given the high recurrence and progression rates and the absence of reliable markers for early detection and prognosis prediction of patients with urothelial bladder cancer (BCa), the exploration of new biomarkers with high specificity is imperative. Mainly, microRNAs (miRNAs), which are involved in the initiation and the progression of BCa. Herein, the expression patterns of miR-182, miR-205, miR-27a and miR-369 were evaluated in patients with urothelial BCa.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The expression levels of the miRNAs were investigated in 90 FFPE tissue samples (23 LG NMIBC, 44 HG NMIBC, 23 MIBC) and 10 non tumoral bladder tissues using TaqMan based RT-qPCR. Data analysis was performed using 2^-ΔΔCT method. Correlation to clinical characteristics of the patients was performed using descriptive statistics and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was performed to evaluate the diagnostic value of all miRNAs. MiR-27a, miR-205 and miR-369 were down-regulated whereas miR-182 was up-regulated in patients compared to controls (p < 0.001). MiR-205 and miR-182 positively segregate between NMIBC and MIBC (p = 0.002 and p = 0.000 respectively) whereas the distribution of miR-27a's expression among these tumor groups was almost significant (p = 0.05) and that of miR-369's expression was irrelevant (p = 0.618). Interestingly, miR-182 was discriminative between LG NMIBC and HG NMIBC (p < 0.001) and Ta/T1 tumors (p = 0.000). Furthermore, high levels of miR-182 were potentially predictive of progression in NMIBC patients (p = 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Collectively, a selection of miRNAs was found to be aberrantly expressed in BCa suggesting a potential diagnostic value in BCa. In addition, the clinical value of miR-182 and miR-205 as potential prognosis biomarkers was highlighted. Indeed, our data provide additional insights into cancer biology. Further functional or target studies are mandatory to strengthen these findings.

MicroRNA-24 in Cancer: A Double Side Medal With Opposite Properties

MicroRNA-24 (miR-24) has been widely studied in a variety of human cancers, which plays different roles in specific type of cancers. In the present review, we summarized the recent surveys regarding the role of miR-24 in different human cancers. On the one hand, miR-24 was reported to be down-regulated in some types of cancer, indicating its role as a tumor suppressor. On the other hand, it has shown that miR-24 was up-regulated in some other types of cancer, even in the same type of cancer, suggesting the role of miR-24 being as an oncogene. Firstly, miR-24 was dysregualted in human cancers, which is related to the clinical performance of cancer patients. Thus miR-24 could be used as a potential non-invasive diagnostic marker in human cancers. Secondly, miR-24 was associated with the tumor initiation and progression, being as a promoter or inhibitor. Therefore, miR-24 might be an effective prognostic biomarker in different type of cancers. Lastly, the abnormal expression of miR-24 was involved in the chemo- and radio- therapies of cancer patients, indicating the role of miR-24 being as a predictive biomarker to cancer treatment. Totally, miR-24 contributes to tumorigenesis, tumor progression, and tumor therapy, which closely related to clinic. The present review shows that miR-24 plays a double role in human cancers and provides plenty of evidences to apply miR-24 as a potential novel therapeutic target in treating human cancers.

Bioinformatics-Based Identification of a circRNA-miRNA-mRNA Axis in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinomas

BACKGROUND

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has a poor prognosis due to the lack of early disease symptoms. Using bioinformatics tools, this study aimed to discover differentially expressed nonprotein-coding RNAs and genes with potential prognostic relevance in ESCC.

METHODS

Two microRNAs (miRNAs) and one circular RNA (circRNA) microarray datasets were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Differential expression of miRNAs (DEMs) and circRNAs (DECs) was, respectively, identified in ESCC tissue and compared to adjacent healthy tissue. Further analysis was performed using the miRNA microarray datasets, where miRTarBase was used to predict which messenger RNAs (mRNAs) was present. This was followed by protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and Gene Ontology (GO) analyses. Moreover, cytoHubba and UALCAN were used to predict the important nodes and perform patient survival analysis, respectively. The miRNA-associated circRNAs were predicted using the ENCORI website. The interaction between DECs and the predicted circRNAs was also determined. A circRNA-miRNA-mRNA axis was constructed.

RESULTS

Associated with RAP1B and circ_0052867, two miRNAs (miR-133b and miR-139-5p) were identified as being differentially expressed and downregulated across the two datasets. Finally, the circ_0052867/miR-139-5p/RAP1B regulatory axis was established.

CONCLUSION

This study provides support for the possible mechanisms of disease progression in ESCC.

Overexpression of miR-27a predicts poor prognosis and promotes the progression in cholangiocarcinoma

The function of microRNA-27a (miR-27a) expression in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) remains largely unclear; therefore, this study aimed to investigate the clinical significance and functional role of miR-27a in CCA. This study included 117 paired CCA tissues and adjacent normal tissues from CCA patients who received surgical resection. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to measure the expression levels of miR-27a in CCA tissues and cell lines. A Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox regression analysis were used to determine overall prognostic performance. The effects of miR-27a on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were measured by CCK-8 and Transwell assays. The expression levels of miR-27a in patients with CCA and cell lines were higher than those in adjacent normal tissues and normal cells, respectively. Additionally, miR-27a levels were found to be associated with lymph node metastasis and TNM stages. The overall survival time of CCA patients with high miR-27a expression was poorer than that of those with low miR-27a expression. Furthermore, miR-27a overexpression promoted CCA cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, whereas knockdown of miR-27a suppressed cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Taken together, these results suggest the potential usefulness of miR-27a in the prognosis and progression of CCA.

iPSC-derived progenitor stromal cells provide new insights into aberrant musculoskeletal development and resistance to cancer in down syndrome

Down syndrome (DS) is a congenital disorder caused by trisomy 21 (T21). It is associated with cognitive impairment, muscle hypotonia, heart defects, and other clinical anomalies. At the same time, individuals with Down syndrome have lower prevalence of solid tumor formation. To gain new insights into aberrant DS development during early stages of mesoderm formation and its possible connection to lower solid tumor prevalence, we developed the first model of two types of DS iPSC-derived stromal cells. Utilizing bioinformatic and functional analyses, we identified over 100 genes with coordinated expression among mesodermal and endothelial cell types. The most significantly down-regulated processes in DS mesodermal progenitors were associated with decreased stromal progenitor performance related to connective tissue organization as well as muscle development and functionality. The differentially expressed genes included cytoskeleton-related genes (actin and myosin), ECM genes (Collagens, Galectin-1, Fibronectin, Heparan Sulfate, LOX, FAK1), cell cycle genes (USP16, S1P complexes), and DNA damage repair genes. For DS endothelial cells, our analysis revealed most down-regulated genes associated with cellular response to external stimuli, cell migration, and immune response (inflammation-based). Together with functional assays, these results suggest an impairment in mesodermal development capacity during early stages, which likely translates into connective tissue impairment in DS patients. We further determined that, despite differences in functional processes and characteristics, a significant number of differentially regulated genes involved in tumorigenesis were expressed in a highly coordinated manner across endothelial and mesodermal cells. These findings strongly suggest that microRNAs (miR-24-4, miR-21), cytoskeleton remodeling, response to stimuli, and inflammation can impact resistance to tumorigenesis in DS patients. Furthermore, we also show that endothelial cell functionality is impaired, and when combined with angiogenic inhibition, it can provide another mechanism for decreased solid tumor development. We propose that the same processes, which specify the basis of connective tissue impairment observed in DS patients, potentially impart a resistance to cancer by hindering tumor progression and metastasis. We further establish that cancer-related genes on Chromosome 21 are up-regulated, while genome-wide cancer-related genes are down-regulated. These results suggest that trisomy 21 induces a modified regulation and compensation of many biochemical pathways across the genome. Such downstream interactions may contribute toward promoting tumor resistant mechanisms.

Nimodipine Improves Cognitive Impairment After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in Rats Through IncRNA NEAT1/miR-27a/MAPT Axis

Background

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a cerebral hemorrhage disease that severely damages the brain and causes cognitive impairment (CI). Therefore, accurate and appropriate treatment strategies are urgently needed. The application of nimodipine can not only improve blood circulation in patients with SAH but also repair ischemic neuron injury.

Purpose

To investigate the effects of nimodipine and lncRNA nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1 (NEAT1)/miR-27a/microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) axis on CI after SAH.

Methods

One hundred and twenty healthy male rats were selected and equally divided into control group, sham operation group, model group, PBS group, nimodipine group (drug group), NC siRNA group, NC mimics group, NEAT1 siRNA, miR-27a mimics, MAPT siRNA, drug + NEAT1-ad, and drug + NC-ad groups by random number table. Rats in the model group were constructed by double-hemorrhage model, and expression vectors were injected into the tail to regulate the expression of lncRNA NEAT1, miR-27a and MAPT. In addition, Western blot was employed to detect brain tissue protein, flow cytometry was applied to measure brain tissue apoptosis, and MTT was utilized to determine cell activity, so as to evaluate brain damage and cognitive function in each group.

Results

Nimodipine, down-regulated lncRNA NEAT1, up-regulated miR-27a and down-regulated MAPT all improved brain damage and CI, inhibited brain tissue cell apoptosis, and enhanced brain cell activity. The common binding sites of lncRNA NEAT1 and MAPT were found on the miR-27a sequence fragment, and miR-27a could be paired with the former two. Nimodipine was found to cause the down-regulation of lncRNA NEAT1 and MAPT, as well as the up-regulation of miR-27a.

Conclusion

Nimodipine can improve CI after SAH in rats through the lncRNA NEAT1/miR-27a/MAPT axis.

Genetic and molecular bases of esophageal Cancer among Iranians: an update

Abstract

Background

Esophageal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer related deaths among the Iranians. There is still a high ratio of mortality and low 5 years survival which are related to the late onset and diagnosis. Majority of patients refer for the treatment in advanced stages of tumor progression.

Main body

It is required to define an efficient local panel of diagnostic and prognostic markers for the Iranians. Indeed such efficient specific panel of markers will pave the way to decrease the mortality rate and increase the 5 years survival among the Iranian patients via the early diagnosis and targeted therapy.

Conclusion

in present review we have reported all of the molecular markers in different signaling pathways and cellular processes which have been assessed among the Iranian esophageal cancer patients until now.