Knockout of FosB gene changes drug sensitivity and invasion activity via the regulation of Bcl-2, E-cadherin, β-catenin, and vimentin expression

To identify biomarkers associated with the transfer of diabetes combined with cancer in human genes using bioinformatics analysis

Currently, the incidence of diabetes mellitus is increasing rapidly, particularly in China, and its pathogenesis is still unclear. The goal of this study was to find meaningful biomarkers of metastasis in patients with diabetes and cancer using bioinformatic analysis in order to predict gene expression and prognostic importance for survival. We used the Differentially Expressed Gene, Database for Annotation Visualization and Integrated Discovery, and Gene Set Enrichment Analyses databases, as well as several bioinformatics tools, to explore the key genes in diabetes. Based on the above database, we ended up with 10 hub genes (FOS, ATF3, JUN, EGR1, FOSB, JUNB, BTG2, EGR2, ZFP36, and NR4A2). A discussion of the 10 critical genes, with extensive literature mentioned to validate the association between the 10 key genes and patients with diabetes and cancer, to demonstrate the importance of gene expression and survival prognosis. This study identifies several biomarkers associated with diabetes and cancer development and metastasis that may provide novel therapeutic targets for diabetes combined with cancer patients.

Targeting fatty acid oxidation via Acyl-CoA binding protein hinders glioblastoma invasion

The diffuse nature of Glioblastoma (GBM) tumors poses a challenge to current therapeutic options. We have previously shown that Acyl-CoA Binding Protein (ACBP, also known as DBI) regulates lipid metabolism in GBM cells, favoring fatty acid oxidation (FAO). Here we show that ACBP downregulation results in wide transcriptional changes affecting invasion-related genes. In vivo experiments using patient-derived xenografts combined with in vitro models demonstrated that ACBP sustains GBM invasion via binding to fatty acyl-CoAs. Blocking FAO mimics ACBP^KD-induced immobility, a cellular phenotype that can be rescued by increasing FAO rates. Further investigation into ACBP-downstream pathways served to identify Integrin beta-1, a gene downregulated upon inhibition of either ACBP expression or FAO rates, as a mediator for ACBP's role in GBM invasion. Altogether, our findings highlight a role for FAO in GBM invasion and reveal ACBP as a therapeutic vulnerability to stall FAO and subsequent cell invasion in GBM tumors.

Piperazine tethered bergenin heterocyclic hybrids: design, synthesis, anticancer activity, and molecular docking studies

In an attempt to develop natural product-based anticancer agents, a series of novel piperazine-linked bergenin heterocyclic hybrids bearing arylthiazolyl (5a-e), benzothiazolyl (10a-i), and arylsulfonyl (13a-o) were synthesized using the classical Mannich reaction and evaluated for their anticancer activity. All the synthesized derivatives were assessed for in vitro cytotoxic activity against a panel of human cancer and normal cell lines and the results showed that most of the compounds exhibited significant cytotoxic activity against cancer cells and mild cytotoxicity against normal cells. In particular, the compounds 5a, 5c, 10f, and 13o showed potent cytotoxic activity against tongue and oral cancer cell lines compared to the parent compound (<100 μM). Considering the efficacy, the compounds 5a, 5c, 10f, and 13o were subjected to cell cycle analysis and the results indicated that the compounds mitigated the cell cycle progression at the G0/G1 phase in the tongue and oral cancer cell lines. Subsequently, the annexin V/PI staining assay demonstrated that the compounds 5a, 5c, 10f, and 13o induced early and late apoptosis against tongue cancer and necrosis against oral cancer. Further, gene expression analysis revealed that 5a, 5c, and 13o treatment regulated the BAX and BcL-2 expression and also the selected compounds significantly reduced the expression level of vimentin, oct-4, and nanog. In addition, molecular docking studies revealed that the selected derivatives have strong binding energy with the BcL2 protein and downregulates the expression. Taken together, the study results implied that these compounds are promising anticancer candidates by modulating the epithelial to mesenchymal transition axis and could be considered for further development of novel anticancer drugs.

The relationship between vitamin D level and second acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear-positive during treatment for TB patients was inferred by Bayesian network

BACKGROUND

Vitamin D is related to human immunity, so we used Bayesian network model to analyze and infer the relationship between vitamin D level and the acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear-positive after two months treatment among pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional study. 731 TB patients whose vitamin D level were detected and medical records were collected from December 2019 to December 2020 in XinJiang of China. Logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of second AFB smear-positive. Bayesian network was used to further analyze the causal relationship among vitamin D level and the second AFB smear-positive.

RESULTS

Baseline AFB smear-positive (OR = 6.481, 95%CI: 1.604~26.184), combined cavity (OR = 3.204, 95%CI: 1.586~6.472), full supervision (OR = 8.173, 95%CI:1.536~43.492) and full management (OR = 6.231, 95%CI:1.031~37.636) were not only the risk factors and can also be considered as the reasons for second AFB smear-positive in TB patients (Ensemnle > 0.5). There was no causal relationship between vitamin D level and second AFB smear-positive (Ensemnle = 0.0709).

CONCLUSIONS

The risk factors of second AFB smear-positive were baseline AFB smear-positive, combined cavity, full supervision and full management. The vitamin D level in TB patients was not considered as one of the reasons for the AFB smear-positive.