Characterization of gene rearrangements resulted from genomic structural aberrations in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma KYSE150 cells

Echinacoside Suppresses the Progression of Breast Cancer by Downregulating the Expression of miR-4306 and miR-4508

The main treatment of breast cancer includes surgical resection, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, and molecular targeted therapy, but the outcomes remain unsatisfactory. Previous studies demonstrated that echinacoside, microRNA (miRNA/miR)-4306 and miR-4508 were associated with lymph node metastasis, chemoresistance and self-renewal capability in breast cancer, but in-depth studies on the underlying mechanism of their anticancer effects have not been performed to date. In order to identify the role of miR-4306 and miR-4508, and the mechanism of the antitumor effect of echinacoside in breast cancer, the present study first examined the expression of miR-4306 and miR-4508 in breast cancer tissues to examine their possible role in the development of breast cancer, then evaluated the effect of echinacoside on the expression of miR-4306 and miR-4508 on the viability, apoptosis, cell cycle, migration, and invasion abilities of breast cancer cells to explore the anti-cancer effect of echinacoside and the involvement of miR-4306 and miR-4508. Finally, the breast cancer cells and mice bearing breast cancer xenografts were treated with echinacoside and inhibitors of miR-4508 or miR-4306 to confirm their role on the anticancer effect of echinacoside. The results showed that miR-4306 and miR-4508 were decreased in breast cancer tissues and cells. Echinacoside inhibited cell proliferation, invasion and migration, and promoted the apoptosis of breast cancer cells by downregulating the expression of miR-4306 and miR-4508. In conclusion, this is the first study to show the association between echinacoside and miRNAs in cancer. The present study elucidates an underlying molecular mechanism of the antitumor effect of echinacoside on breast cancer, and thus may contribute to preventive and therapeutic strategies for breast cancer.

Fuzheng Yiliu Formula Regulates Tumor Invasion and Metastasis through Inhibition of WAVE3 Expression

Objective

To explore the mechanism of action of Fuzheng Yiliu formula (FZYLF) in regulation of the invasion and metastasis of MDA-MB-231/Adr human breast cancer cells through WAVE3.

Methods

The MDA-MB-231/Adr cells with high invasive ability were screened by Transwell, and the plasmid with high WAVE3 expression was made for transfection. Plasmid transfection efficiency and protein expression level were verified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and western blotting (WB). The effect of FZYLF on cell proliferation and invasion was investigated before and after WAVE3 silencing by flow cytometry. A nude mouse model of tumor metastasis was established to study the antitumor activity of FZYLF.

Results

The expression levels of mRNA and proteins of intracellular WAVE3 increased significantly after plasmid transfection, mRNA from 1.37± 0.41 to 9.88 ± 1.31 and protein from 1 ± 0.08 to 5.09 ± 0.03 (P < 0.01). Intervention with FZYLF could significantly affect the activity of MDA-MB-231/Adr cells and inhibit invasion and metastasis, IC₅₀ from 71.04 to 46.41 mg/mL and from 162 ± 14.82 to 81.4 ± 12.05 (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), and significantly reduce the expression levels of WAVE3 (from 1 ± 0.02 to 0.63 ± 0.04), MMP-9 (from 1 ± 0.05 to 0.63 ± 0.03), NF-κB (p65) (from 1 ± 0.02 to 0.62 ± 0.02), and p-IκBα (from 1 ± 0.03 to 0.68 ± 0.02) (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The T/C (%) of FZYLF (13 g crude drug/kg) was 62.06% for MDA-MB-231/Adr tumor xenografted in nude mice, with a tumor inhibition rate of 39.64%.

Conclusion

FZYLF can inhibit the invasion and proliferation of the MDA-MB-231/Adr human breast cancer cells, and the mechanism of action may be related to the regulation of WAVE3 expression.

Hsa_circ_0012563 promotes migration and invasion of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by regulating XRCC1/EMT pathway

BACKGROUND

Recent reports have indicated that circular RNA (circRNA) may regulate tumorigenesis development. However, the function of circRNAs in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is unclear.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

The RT-qPCR assay was performed to detect hsa_circ_0012563 expression in ESCC tissues and cell lines. Then, the MTT assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometric assay, and cell migration and invasion assay were performed to examine the function of hsa_circ_0012563. In addition, the RT-PCR and Western blot were used to detect XRCC1 and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) related gene expression.

RESULTS

The RT-qPCR revealed that the hsa_circ_0012563 expression was remarkably upregulated in ESCC tissue and ESCC cell lines. Functionally, downregulation of hsa_circ_0012563 suppressed cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and promoted cell apoptosis. Mechanically, the knockdown of hsa_circ_0012563 inhibited XRCC1-mediated EMT pathway to suppress cell migration and invasion.

CONCLUSIONS

Therefore, these results reveal hsa_circ_0012563 is a critical oncogene and may be a novel biomarker in ESCC.

Combined detection of IL-6 and IL-8 is beneficial to the diagnosis of early stage esophageal squamous cell cancer: a preliminary study based on the screening of serum markers using protein chips

Background

The diagnosis rate of early stage esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is low due to the lack of specific tumor markers. Seeking for these markers is beneficial to improve the early diagnosis rate and the prognosis of patients. This study profiles the differentially expressed proteins of early stage ESCC patients via the AAH-BLG-507 protein chip, which further consolidates the clinical evidence of ESCC diagnosis.

Materials and methods

In this study, 20 serum samples were collected from Taihe Hospital between August 2016 and June 2017. Ten of them carried ESCC, while the rest were healthy controls. To profile the proteins’ expression level, the AAH-BLG-507 protein chip was used, and both highly expressed and lowly expressed proteins were fished out. Meanwhile, their biological roles were examined by using Gene Ontology (GO) database and String database, and they were further verified by ELISA.

Results

Results showed that the expression levels of AXL, ARTN, Ang2, BDNF, BMP7, cripto-1, CCL28, E-selectin, IL-6, IL-8 and SHH in the serum of early ESCC were significantly upregulated (P<0.05), particularly IL-6 and IL-8. The expression levels of TSP1 and MMP-8 were markedly downregulated (P<0.05). Analysis showed that these proteins were mainly involved in angiogenesis, signal transduction, cell proliferation and migration, indicating the close relationship with the development of ESCC.

Conclusion

It suggested that IL-6 and IL-8 proteins could be considered as the markers for ESCC diagnosis.

Chromosomal and Genomic Variations in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Review of Technologies, Applications, and Prospections

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors with poor prognosis worldwide. The poor prognosis is due to the advanced stage at the time of diagnosis and the limited clinical staging lacking significant molecular biomarkers to effectively stratify patients for treatment options. As cancer is a disease of genome instability and a resulting of accumulation of genetic alteration, mounting chromosomal and genomic technologies were developed and progressed rapidly which could be used for characterizing patients in genomics level. In this review, we summarized applications of multiple technologies and research progress at chromosomal and genomic level in ESCC.

Upregulation of long noncoding RNA HOTTIP promotes metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma via induction of EMT

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the prevalent and deadly cancers worldwide, especially in Eastern Asia. The prognosis of ESCC remains poor; thus, it is still necessary to further dissect the underlying mechanisms and explore therapeutic targets of ESCC. Recent studies show that lncRNAs involve in the initiation and progression of various cancers including ESCC. HOTTIP has been recently revealed as oncogenic regulator in different cancers, however, whether HOTTIP is involved in ESCC remains poorly understood. To investigate the role of HOTTIP in ESCC, we evaluated the HOTTIP expression levels in a series of ESCC tissues and a panel of ESCC cell line using qRT-PCR. Moreover, we investigated the effect of HOTTIP on cell proliferation, migration and invasion of ESCC cells. Here, we reported that HOTTIP was upregulated in ESCC. Further experiments revealed that HOTTIP knockdown significantly inhibited ESCC cells proliferation by causing G1 arrest. Furthermore, inhibitory effects of HOTTIP on cell migration and invasion were partly associated with EMT process. In conclusion, these data suggest that HOTTIP could be an oncogene for ESCC, and may be served as a candidate target for new therapies in human ESCC.

Long noncoding RNA, tissue differentiation-inducing nonprotein coding RNA is upregulated and promotes development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the major causes of cancer death worldwide, especially in Eastern Asia. Due to the poor prognosis, it is necessary to further dissect the underlying mechanisms and explore therapeutic targets of ESCC. Recently, studies show that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have critical roles in diverse biological processes, including tumorigenesis. Increasing evidence indicates that some lncRNAs are widely involved in the development and progression of ESCC, such as HOTAIR, SPRY4-IT1 and POU3F3. An emerging lncRNA, tissue differentiation-inducing nonprotein coding RNA (TINCR), has been studied in human cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and has critical biological function, but its role in ESCC remains unknown. Here, we evaluated the expression profile of TINCR and its biological function in ESCC. In a cohort of 56 patients, TINCR was significantly overexpressed in ESCC tissues compared with paired adjacent normal tissues. Further, in vitro silencing TINCR via small interfering RNA (siRNA) inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of ESCC cells. Meantime, siRNA treatment induced apoptosis and blocked the progression of cell cycle. Taken together, our study suggests that TINCR promotes proliferation, migration and invasion of ESCC cells, acting as a potential oncogene of ESCC.

Circular RNA has_circ_0067934 is upregulated in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and promoted proliferation

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most prevalent and deadly types of cancer worldwide especially in Eastern Asia and the prognosis of ESCC remain poor. Recent evidence suggests that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play important roles in multiple diseases, including cancer. In this study, we characterized a novel circRNA termed hsa_circ_0067934 in ESCC tumor tissues and cell lines. We analyzed a cohort of 51 patients and found that hsa_circ_0067934 was significantly overexpressed in ESCC tissues compared with paired adjacent normal tissues. The high expression level of hsa_circ_0067934 was associated with poor differentiation (P = 0.025), I-II T stage (P = 0.04), and I-II TNM stage (P = 0.021). The in vitro silence of hsa_circ_0067934 by siRNA inhibited the proliferation and migration of ESCC cells and blocked cell cycle progression. Cell fraction analyses and fluorescence in situ hybridization detected that hsa_circ_0067934 was mostly located in the cytoplasm. Our findings suggest that hsa_circ_0067934 is upregulated in ESCC tumor tissue. Our data suggest that hsa_circ_0067934 represents a novel potential biomarker and therapeutic target of ESCC.

An Old Story Retold: Loss of G1 Control Defines A Distinct Genomic Subtype of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has a high mortality rate. To determine the molecular basis of ESCC development, this study sought to identify characteristic genome-wide alterations in ESCC, including exonic mutations and structural alterations. The clinical implications of these genetic alterations were also analyzed. Exome sequencing and verification were performed for nine pairs of ESCC and the matched blood samples, followed by validation with additional samples using Sanger sequencing. Whole-genome SNP arrays were employed to detect copy number alteration (CNA) and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in 55 cases, including the nine ESCC samples subjected to exome sequencing. A total of 108 non-synonymous somatic mutations (NSSMs) in 102 genes were verified in nine patients. The chromatin modification process was found to be enriched in our gene ontology (GO) analysis. Tumor genomes with TP53 mutations were significantly more unstable than those without TP53 mutations. In terms of the landscape of genomic alterations, deletion of 9p21.3 covering CDKN2A/2B (30.9%), amplification of 11q13.3 covering CCND1 (30.9%), and TP53 point mutation (50.9%) occurred in two-thirds of the cases. These results suggest that the deregulation of the G1 phase during the cell cycle is a key event in ESCC. Furthermore, six minimal common regions were found to be significantly altered in ESCC samples and three of them, 9p21.3, 7p11.2, and 3p12.1, were associated with lymph node metastasis. With the high correlation of TP53 mutation and genomic instability in ESCC, the amplification of CCND1, the deletion of CDKN2A/2B, and the somatic mutation of TP53 appear to play pivotal roles via G1 deregulation and therefore helps to classify this cancer into different genomic subtypes. These findings provide clinical significance that could be useful in future molecular diagnoses and therapeutic targeting.

Upregulation of the long noncoding RNA TUG1 promotes proliferation and migration of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the prevalent and deadly cancers worldwide, especially in Eastern Asia. The prognosis of ESCC remains poor; thus, it is still necessary to further dissect the underlying mechanisms and explore therapeutic targets of ESCC. Recent studies show that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have critical roles in diverse biological processes, including tumorigenesis. Some lncRNAs, such as HOTAIR and POU3F3, were reported to play important roles in ESCC. Here, we characterized the expression profile of taurine-upregulated gene 1 (TUG1), a lncRNA recruiting and binding to polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), in ESCC. In a cohort of 62 patients, TUG1 was significantly overexpressed in ESCC tissues compared with paired adjacent normal tissues, and high expression level of TUG1 was associated with family history and upper segment of esophageal cancer (p < 0.05). Further, in vitro silencing TUG1 via siRNA inhibited the proliferation and migration of ESCC cells and blocked the progression of cell cycle. Therefore, our study indicates that TUG1 promotes proliferation and migration of ESCC cells and is a potential oncogene of ESCC.

Physical activity and risks of esophageal and gastric cancers: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

The incidence of esophageal and gastric cancer has been increasing rapidly worldwide in recent years, although the reason for this increase is unclear. Here, a statistical synthesis of studies that evaluated the association between physical activity, a well-known protecting factor against death and other chronic diseases, and the risk of esophageal and gastric cancer was performed.

METHODS

Potentially suitable studies were identified using Medline and Embase. The reference lists of all included articles and those of several recent reviews were searched manually. Studies were included if they (1) were published as case-control or cohort studies evaluating the association between physical activity and risk of esophageal or gastric cancer; and (2) reported point estimates (i.e., risk ratios, odds ratios) and measures of variability (i.e., 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) for physical activity and risk of esophageal or gastric cancer.

RESULTS

Fifteen studies were identified (7 cohorts, 8 case-controls; 984 esophageal and 7,087 gastric cancers). Collectively, they indicated that the risk of gastric cancer was 13% lower among the most physically active people than among the least active people (RR = 0.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.78 to 0.97) and that of esophageal cancer was 27% lower (RR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.56 to 0.97).

CONCLUSIONS

Pooled results from observational studies support a protective effect of physical activity against both esophageal and gastric cancer.

Integrated analysis of long noncoding RNA and coding RNA expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Tumorigenesis is a complex dynamic biological process that includes multiple steps of genetic and epigenetic alterations, aberrant expression of noncoding RNA, and changes in the expression profiles of coding genes. We call the collection of those perturbations in genome space the “cancer initiatome.” Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are pervasively transcribed in the genome and they have key regulatory functions in chromatin remodeling and gene expression. Spatiotemporal variation in the expression of lncRNAs has been observed in development and disease states, including cancer. A few dysregulated lncRNAs have been studied in cancers, but the role of lncRNAs in the cancer initiatome remains largely unknown, especially in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We conducted a genome-wide screen of the expression of lncRNAs and coding RNAs from ESCC and matched adjacent nonneoplastic normal tissues. We identified differentially expressed lncRNAs and coding RNAs in ESCC relative to their matched normal tissue counterparts and validated the result using polymerase chain reaction analysis. Furthermore, we identified differentially expressed lncRNAs that are co-located and co-expressed with differentially expressed coding RNAs in ESCC and the results point to a potential interaction between lncRNAs and neighboring coding genes that affect ether lipid metabolism, and the interaction may contribute to the development of ESCC. These data provide compelling evidence for a potential novel genomic biomarker of esophageal squamous cell cancer.