CAMIRADA: Cancer microRNA association discovery algorithm, a case study on breast cancer

Effective exosomes in breast cancer: focusing on diagnosis and treatment of cancer progression

Breast cancer (BC) is the most prevalent aggressive malignant tumor in women worldwide and develops from breast tissue. Although cutting-edge treatment methods have been used and current mortality rates have decreased, BC control is still not satisfactory. Clarifying the underlying molecular mechanisms will help clinical options. Extracellular vesicles known as exosomes mediate cellular communication by delivering a variety of biomolecules, including proteins, oncogenes, oncomiRs, and even pharmacological substances. These transferable bioactive molecules can alter the transcriptome of target cells and affect signaling pathways that are related to tumors. Numerous studies have linked exosomes to BC biology, including therapeutic resistance and the local microenvironment. Exosomes' roles in tumor treatment resistance, invasion, and BC metastasis are the main topics of discussion in this review.

Application value of miRNA-182 as a biomarker for cancer diagnosis: a systematic review with meta-analysis

Aim: This study aims to establish the potential reliability and validity of miRNA-182 as a diagnostic tool in oncology, and hence to contribute to the decision-making process in clinical settings. Materials & methods: To further evaluate the role of miRNA-182 as a cancer biomarker, we conducted a search of the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Wanfang and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases of existing literature. Conclusion: These results suggest that miRNA-182 could function as a potential molecular marker for cancer detection and diagnosis. The effect of miRNA-182 on tumor development should be further studied to confirm these results and add to the current understanding of its role in cancer.

Extracellular Vesicles in Breast Cancer: From Biology and Function to Clinical Diagnosis and Therapeutic Management

Breast cancer (BC) is the first worldwide most frequent cancer in both sexes and the most commonly diagnosed in females. Although BC mortality has been thoroughly declining over the past decades, there are still considerable differences between women diagnosed with early BC and when metastatic BC is diagnosed. BC treatment choice is widely dependent on precise histological and molecular characterization. However, recurrence or distant metastasis still occurs even with the most recent efficient therapies. Thus, a better understanding of the different factors underlying tumor escape is mainly mandatory. Among the leading candidates is the continuous interplay between tumor cells and their microenvironment, where extracellular vesicles play a significant role. Among extracellular vesicles, smaller ones, also called exosomes, can carry biomolecules, such as lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids, and generate signal transmission through an intercellular transfer of their content. This mechanism allows tumor cells to recruit and modify the adjacent and systemic microenvironment to support further invasion and dissemination. By reciprocity, stromal cells can also use exosomes to profoundly modify tumor cell behavior. This review intends to cover the most recent literature on the role of extracellular vesicle production in normal and cancerous breast tissues. Specific attention is paid to the use of extracellular vesicles for early BC diagnosis, follow-up, and prognosis because exosomes are actually under the spotlight of researchers as a high-potential source of liquid biopsies. Extracellular vesicles in BC treatment as new targets for therapy or efficient nanovectors to drive drug delivery are also summarized.

CmirC: an integrated database of clustered miRNAs co-localized with copy number variations in cancer

Genomic rearrangements and copy number variations (CNVs) are the major regulators of clustered microRNAs (miRNAs) expression. Several clustered miRNAs are harbored in and around chromosome fragile sites (CFSs) and cancer-associated genomic hotspots. Aberrant expression of such clusters can lead to oncogenic or tumor suppressor activities. Here, we developed CmirC (Clustered miRNAs co-localized with CNVs), a comprehensive database of clustered miRNAs co-localized with CNV regions. The database consists of 481 clustered miRNAs co-localized with CNVs and their expression patterns in 35 cancer types of the TCGA. The portal also provides information on CFSs, miRNA cluster candidates, genomic coordinates, target gene networks, and gene functionality. The web portal is integrated with advanced tools such as JBrowse, NCBI-BLAST, GeneSCF, visNetwork, and NetworkD3 to help the researchers in data analysis, visualization, and browsing. This portal provides a promising avenue for integrated data analytics and offers additional evidence for the complex regulation of clustered miRNAs in cancer. The web portal is freely accessible at http://slsdb.manipal.edu/cmirclust to explore clinically significant miRNAs.

MicroRNA-139-5p acts as a suppressor gene for depression by targeting nuclear receptor subfamily 3, group C, member 1

MicroRNA-139-5p (miR-139-5p) is one of the most differentially expressed miRNAs in the brain between healthy people and depressed patients. However, its function in depression is unclear. Therefore, we investigated the function of miR-139-5p in depression. Here, miR-139-5p expression was found to be upregulated in the model group. MiR-139-5p inhibition could increase sucrose preference and decrease mice immobility time after chronic corticosterone (CORT) injection. Furthermore, compared with the antago-NC group, 3 weeks of antagomiR-139-5p treatment significantly decreased miR-139-5p level in model group hippocampus, increased sucrose preference index, reduced neuron damages, and enhanced the levels of nuclear receptor subfamily 3 group C member 1 (NR3C1), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), phosphorylated/total tyrosine kinase receptor B (p-TrkB/TrkB), phosphorylated/total cAMP-response element-binding protein (p-CREB/CREB) and phosphorylated/total extracellular regulated protein kinases (p-ERK/ERK). Moreover, as a potential target for miR-139-5p, NR3C1 level was reduced by miR-139-5p mimic. Altogether, by activating the BDNF-TrkB signaling pathway, miR-139-5p inhibition plays an antidepressant-like role and might serve as an effective depression target (Fig. graphical abstract).

Silencing of long non‑coding RNA NEAT1 inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma progression by downregulating SMO by sponging microRNA‑503

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) poses an increasing threat to humans, due to its poor prognosis. Nuclear‑enriched abundant transcript 1 (NEAT1), a type of long non‑coding (lnc)RNA, has been found to function in a variety of cancer types. However, the role of NEAT1 in HCC is poorly understood. Reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression levels of NEAT1, microRNA (miR)‑503 and Smoothened (SMO) mRNA in HCC tissues and cells. MTT and flow cytometry assays were used to investigate cell viability and apoptosis, respectively, while Transwell assays were performed to investigate cell invasion and migration. StarBase and TargetScan were utilized to predict the target sequence between miR‑503 and NEAT1 or SMO, the results of which were verified using a dual‑luciferase reporter assay. The protein expression level of SMO was measured using western blot. The RNA expression level of NEAT1 and SMO was significantly elevated in HCC tissues and cells compared with that in the corresponding healthy tissues and cells, which was contrary to miR‑503 expression level. NEAT1 silencing was found to restrict the viability, migration and invasion of the cells, while simultaneously induced apoptosis in the HCC cell line. Further studies found that miR‑503 expression was negatively correlated with NEAT1 or SMO. It was also confirmed that NEAT1 directly interacted with miR‑503 and miR‑503 could bind to the 3'‑untranslated region of SMO. Furthermore, overexpression of NEAT1 or SMO could reverse the effects of miR‑503‑mediated inhibition on cell viability, invasion, migration and promotion of apoptosis in the HCC cell lines. These results demonstrated that downregulation of NEAT1 impeded the viability, migration, invasion and induced apoptosis through the NEAT1/miR‑503/SMO axis in the HCC cell line.