MicroRNA expression and function in cancer

Hybrid membranes-mediated biomimetic-nanoparticle carrying miR-665 for effective tumor treatment by remodeling tumor microenvironment

BACKGROUND

Osteosarcomas (OS) are malignant bone tumors prevalent in adolescents, characterized by aggressiveness and early metastasis. Current treatments including surgery and chemotherapy face challenges due to drug limitations and the complex tumor microenvironment (TME).

METHODS

Tumor membranes (TM) derived from OS cells and macrophage membranes (MM) derived from macrophages were mixed to create hybrid membranes (HM), which were subsequently used to encapsulate microRNA-665(miR-665)-loaded Poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanoparticles, forming HM@PLGA/miR-665 complexes. In vitro characterization included physical properties, colocalization studies, and assessment of macrophage polarization. In vivo experiments involved a nude mouse model to evaluate tumor targeting, biosafety, and therapeutic efficacy.

RESULTS

The HM@PLGA/miR-665 complexes exhibited good physical characteristics and stability. In vitro, the complexes significantly altered the M1/M2 macrophage ratio, promoting M1 polarization and inhibiting M2 polarization. Supernatants from HM@PLGA/miR-665-treated macrophages inhibited proliferation, migration, and induced apoptosis in MG-63 osteosarcoma cells. In vivo, the complexes effectively targeted tumor tissues, showed good biosafety, and significantly inhibited OS progression, promoting tumor cell apoptosis and altering the M1/M2 macrophage ratio.

CONCLUSION

The HM@PLGA/miR-665 delivery system successfully targeted OS by modulating macrophages in the TME, exhibiting potential as a novel therapeutic strategy for OS.

Recent progress on biosensors for detection of circulating miRNA biomarkers

Circulating miRNAs are a class of non-coding endogenous RNAs found in body fluids which typically consist of 19-24 nucleotides in length. The abnormal expression of miRNAs has been demonstrated to be associated with severe human diseases. Aiming to provide valuable insights for the further development of reliable miRNA detectors for disease early diagnosis and treatment, this work systematically summarizes the latest advancements in signal amplification strategies for miRNA analysis, based on nanomaterials, nucleic acids, enzymes, and CRISPR/Cas system. The emerging techniques for detecting circulating miRNAs in human body fluids over the past decade are highlighted, including electrochemical, optical, and dual-mode biosensors. Furthermore, the challenges of trace miRNA detection in complex samples and the development prospects of miRNA biosensors are also discussed.

The role of miR-155 in cardiovascular diseases: Potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), such as atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases, heart failure (HF), and acute coronary syndrome, represent a significant threat to global health and impose considerable socioeconomic burdens. The intricate pathogenesis of CVD involves various regulatory mechanisms, among which microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as critical posttranscriptional regulators. In particular, miR-155 has demonstrated differential expression patterns across a spectrum of CVD and is implicated in the etiology and progression of arterial disorders. This systematic review synthesizes current evidence on the multifaceted roles of miR-155 in the modulation of genes and pathological processes associated with CVD. We delineate the potential of miR-155 as a diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target, highlighting its significant regulatory influence on conditions such as atherosclerosis, aneurysm, hypertension, HF, myocardial hypertrophy, and oxidative stress. Our analysis underscores the transformative potential of miR-155 as a target for intervention in cardiovascular medicine, warranting further investigation into its clinical applicability.

Antifibrotic potential of reserpine (alkaloid) targeting Keap1/Nrf2; oxidative stress pathway in CCl4-induced liver fibrosis

The death rate due to liver cancer approaches 2 million annually, the majority is attributed to fibrosis. Currently, there is no efficient, safe, non-toxic, and anti-fibrotic drug available, suggesting room for better drug discovery. The current study aims to evaluate the anti-fibrotic role of reserpine, an alkaloid plant compound against CCl4-induced liver fibrosis. In-silico docking analysis showed the interaction of reserpine with keap1 protein with the binding energy -9.0 kcal/mol. In-vitro, biochemical analysis, anti-oxidative indexes, and inflammatory cytokines analysis were performed in HepG2 cells. The non-toxic nature of the compound (<100 μg/ml) was evaluated through MTT assay in HepG2 and Vero cell lines. The antifibrotic potential of the reserpine compound (dose of 0.5 mg/kg) was assessed in CCl4-administered C57BL/6J mice models. Hematoxylin & Eosin and Masson staining were performed to study the morphological changes of liver tissues. Immune histochemistry (IHC) analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of reserpine on the liver fibrosis marker. The biochemical assay indicated a significant decrease in ALT, AST, and MDA levels and increased catalase enzyme post-6-week reserpine treatment in mice models. Gene expression analysis revealed that the reserpine targets oxidative stress Keap1/Nrf2 pathway and down-regulated Keap1 expression by 5-fold and up-regulated Nrf2 and Nqo1 expression by 6 and 4.5-fold respectively showing its antioxidant response. It suppressed the expression of Cyp2e1 by 2.2-fold, illustrating the compound's ability to block lipid peroxidation. Histological and immunostaining exhibited improved hepatocyte morphology and reduced collagen deposition in liver tissues due to reserpine. Reserpine treatment lowered the fibrotic markers α-SMA and Col-1 by 1.3 and 1.5 folds respectively as compared to the control group and increased the expression of miR-200a and miR-29b by 15.5 and 8.2 folds (p < 0.05) while decreased miR-128-1-5p expression by 5-fold. A comprehensive In-silico, In-vitro, and In-vivo analysis revealed that reserpine has a strong anti-fibrotic effect against the CCl4-induced liver fibrosis in C57BL/6J mice model by targeting the Keap1/Nrf2 pathway.

Ferroptosis-targeting drugs in breast cancer

In 2020, breast cancer surpassed lung cancer as the most common cancer in the world for the first time. Due to the resistance of some breast cancer cell lines to apoptosis, the therapeutic effect of anti-breast cancer drugs is limited. According to recent report, the susceptibility of breast cancer cells to ferroptosis affects the progress, prognosis and drug resistance of breast cancer. For instance, roblitinib induces ferroptosis of trastuzumab-resistant human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer cells by diminishing fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) expression, thereby augmenting the susceptibility of these cells to HER2-targeted therapies. In tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer cells, Fascin exacerbates their resistance by repressing solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11) expression, which in turn heightens their responsiveness to tamoxifen. In recent years, Chinese herbs extracts and therapeutic drugs have been demonstrated to elicit ferroptosis in breast cancer cells by modulating a spectrum of regulatory factors pertinent to ferroptosis, including SLC7A11, glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), acyl-CoA synthetase long chain family member 4 (ACSL4), and haem oxygenase 1 (HO-1). Here, we review the roles and mechanisms of Chinese herbal extracts and therapeutic drugs in regulating ferroptosis in breast cancer, providing potential therapeutic options for anti-breast cancer.

The miRNA-mRNA Regulatory Network in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Transcriptomic Analysis From GEO

BACKGROUND

Bioinformatics analysis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) expression profiles can aid in understanding its molecular mechanisms and identifying new targets for diagnosis and treatment.

AIM

In this study, we analyzed expression profile datasets and miRNA expression profiles related to HCC from the GEO using R software to detect differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRs).

METHODS AND RESULTS

Common DEGs were identified, and a PPI network was constructed using the STRING database and Cytoscape software to identify hub genes. The reduced levels of tumor suppressor miRNAs or down regulated DEmiRs may be increased levels of oncogenes, the oncomirs or up regulated DEmiRs may be decreased levels of tumor suppressor genes in cancerous cells. According to this strategy, increased and decreased DEGs, also increased and decreased DEmiRs were selected. The multimir package was employed to predict target genes for DEmiRs then DEmiRs-hub gene network created. We identified approximately 1000 overlapping DEGs and 60 DEmiRs. Hub genes included RRM2, MELK, KIF11, KIF23, NCAPG, DLGAP5, BUB1B, AURKB, CCNB1, KIF20A, CCNA2, TTK, PBK, TOP2A, CDK1, MAD2L1, BIRC5, ASPM, CDCA8, and CENPF, all associated with significantly worse survival in HCC. miR-224, miR-24, miR-182, miRNA-1-3p, miR-30a, miR-27a, and miR-214 were identified as important DEmiRs with targeting more than six hub genes.

CONCLUSION

Generally, our findings offer insight into the interaction of hub genes and miRNAs in the development of HCC by bioinformatics analysis, information that may prove useful in identifying biomarkers and therapeutic targets in HCC.

Atorvastatin inhibits glioma glycolysis and immune escape by modulating the miR-125a-5p/TXLNA axis

BACKGROUND

Conventional treatments, including surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, have many limitations in the prognosis of glioma patients. Atorvastatin (ATOR) has a significant inhibitory effect on glioma malignancy. Thus, ATOR may play a key role in the search for new drugs for the effective treatment of gliomas.

METHODS

U87 cells were treated with different doses of ATOR and transfected. Viability was assessed using MTT, proliferative ability was determined using the colony formation test, Bax and Bcl-2 were identified using Western blot, apoptosis was identified using flow cytometry, and U87 cell migration and invasion were detected using the Transwell assay. Glucose uptake, lactate secretion, and ATP production in U87 cell culture medium were quantified. The positive rates of IFN-γ and TNF-α in CD8T were measured through flow cytometry. Subcutaneous injection of U87 cells was carried out to construct an in vivo mouse model of gliom, followed by HE staining to assess the effects of ATOR and miR-125a-5p on tumor development.

RESULTS

ATOR blocked the viability, proliferation, migration, and invasion of U87 cells through the miR-125a-5p/TXLNA axis, and suppressed glycolysis and immune escape of glioma cells. Furthermore, overexpressing miR-125a-5p enhanced the anti-tumor effect of ATOR in vivo.

CONCLUSION

ATOR blocks glioma progression by modulating the miR-125a-5p/TXLNA axis, further demonstrating that ATOR provides an effective therapeutic target for the treatment of glioma.

Exploring prognostic implications of miRNA signatures and telomere maintenance genes in kidney cancer

Kidney cancer, particularly clear cell renal cell carcinoma (KIRC), presents significant challenges in disease-specific survival. This study investigates the prognostic potential of microRNAs (miRNAs) in kidney cancers, including KIRC and kidney papillary cell carcinoma (KIRP), focusing on their interplay with telomere maintenance genes. Utilizing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, miRNA expression profiles of 166 KIRC and 168 KIRP patients were analyzed. An evolutionary learning-based kidney survival estimator identified robust miRNA signatures predictive of 5-year survival for both cancer types. For KIRC, a 37-miRNA signature showed a correlation coefficient (R) of 0.82 and mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.65 years. Similarly, for KIRP, a 23-miRNA signature exhibited an R of 0.82 and MAE of 0.64 years, demonstrating comparable predictive accuracy. These signatures also displayed diagnostic potential with receiver operating characteristic curve values between 0.70 and 0.94. Bioinformatics analysis revealed targeting of key telomere-associated genes such as TERT, DKC1, CTC1, and RTEL1 by these miRNAs, implicating crucial pathways such as cellular senescence and proteoglycans in cancer. This study highlights the significant link between miRNAs and telomere genes in kidney cancer survival, offering insights for therapeutic targets and improved prognostic markers.

Circulating microRNAs as Diagnostic Biomarkers to Detect Specific Stages of Ovarian Cancer: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis

Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the most common gynecological cancers [...].

Multimodal profiling of biostabilized human skin modules reveals a coordinated ecosystem response to injected mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine

BACKGROUND

The field of drug development is witnessing a remarkable surge in the development of innovative strategies. There is a need to develop technological platforms capable of generating human data prior to progressing to clinical trials.

METHODS

Here we introduce a new flexible solution designed for the comprehensive monitoring of the natural human skin ecosystem's response to immunogenic drugs over time. Based on unique bioengineering to preserve surgical resections in a long survival state, it allows for the first time a comprehensive analysis of resident immune cells response at both organ and single-cell levels.

RESULTS

Upon injection of the mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine, we characterized precise sequential molecular events triggered upon detection of the exogenous substance. The vaccine consistently targets DC/macrophages and mast cells, regardless of the administration route, while promoting specific cell-cell communications in surrounding immune cell subsets.

CONCLUSION

Given its direct translational relevance, this approach provides a multiscale vision of genuine human tissue immunity that could pave the way toward the development of new vaccination and drug development strategies.

The ncRNA-AURKA Interaction in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Insights into Oncogenic Pathways, Therapeutic Opportunities, and Future Challenges

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents a major public health concern and ranks among the leading cancer-related mortalities globally. Due to the frequent late-stage diagnosis of HCC, therapeutic options remain limited. Emerging evidence highlights the critical role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in the regulation of Aurora kinase A (AURKA), one of the key hub genes involved in several key cancer pathways. Indeed, the dysregulated interaction between ncRNAs and AURKA contributes to tumor development, progression, and therapeutic resistance. This review delves into the interplay between ncRNAs and AURKA and their role in hepatocarcinogenesis. Recent findings underscore the involvement of the ncRNAs and AURKA axis in tumor development and progression. Furthermore, this review also discusses the clinical significance of targeting ncRNA-AURKA axes, offering new perspectives that could lead to innovative therapeutic strategies aimed at improving outcomes for HCC patients.

HPV16 integration regulates ferroptosis resistance via the c-Myc/miR-142-5p/HOXA5/SLC7A11 axis during cervical carcinogenesis

BACKGROUND

Ferroptosis, a newly identified form of regulated cell death triggered by small molecules or specific conditions, plays a significant role in virus-associated carcinogenesis. However, whether tumours arising after high-risk HPV integration are associated with ferroptosis is unexplored and remains enigmatic.

METHODS

High-risk HPV16 integration was analysed by high-throughput viral integration detection (HIVID). Ferroptosis was induced by erastin, and the levels of ferroptosis were assessed through the measurement of lipid-reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), intracellular Fe2+ level and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Additionally, clinical cervical specimens and an in vivo xenograft model were utilized for the study.

RESULTS

Expression of HPV16 integration hot spot c-Myc negatively correlates with ferroptosis during the progression of cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). Further investigation revealed that the upregulated oncogene miR-142-5p in HPV16-integrated CSCC cells served as a critical downstream effector of c-Myc in its target network. Inhibiting miR-142-5p significantly decreased the ferroptosis-suppressing effect mediated by c-Myc. Through a combination of computational and experimental approaches, HOXA5 was identified as a key downstream target gene of miR-142-5p. Overexpression of miR-142-5p suppressed HOXA5 expression, leading to decreased accumulation of intracellular Fe2+ and lipid peroxides (ROS and MDA). HOXA5 increased the sensitivity of CSCC cells to erastin-induced ferroptosis via transcriptional downregulation of SLC7A11, a negative regulator of ferroptosis. Importantly, c-Myc knockdown increased the anti-tumour activity of erastin by promoting ferroptosis both in vitro and in vivo.

CONCLUSIONS

Collectively, these data indicate that HPV16 integration hot spot c-Myc plays a novel and indispensable role in ferroptosis resistance by regulating the miR-142-5p/HOXA5/SLC7A11 signalling axis and suggest a potential therapeutic approach for HPV16 integration-related CSCC.

Dual role of microRNA-31 in human cancers; focusing on cancer pathogenesis and signaling pathways

Widespread changes in the expression of microRNAs in cancer result in abnormal gene expression for the miRNAs that control those genes, which in turn causes changes to entire molecular networks and pathways. The frequently altered miR-31, which is found in a wide range of cancers, is one cancer-related miRNA that is particularly intriguing. MiR-31 has a very complicated set of biological functions, and depending on the type of tumor, it may act both as a tumor suppressor and an oncogene. The endogenous expression levels of miR-31 appear to be a key determinant of the phenotype brought on by aberrant expression. Varied expression levels of miR-31 could affect cell growth, metastasis, drug resistance, and other process by several mechanisms like targeting BRCA1-associated protein-1 (BAP1), large tumor suppressor kinase 1 (LATS1) and protein phosphatase 2 (PP2A). This review highlights the current understanding of the genes that miR-31 targets while summarizing the complex expression patterns of miR-31 in human cancers and the diverse phenotypes brought on by altered miR-31 expression.

Use of extracellular vesicle microRNA profiles in patients with acute myeloid leukemia for the identification of novel biomarkers

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to establish clinically significant microRNA (miRNA) sets using extracellular vesicles (EVs) from bone marrow (BM) aspirates of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), and to identify the genes that interact with these EV-derived miRNAs in AML.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

BM aspirates were collected from 32 patients with AML at the time of AML diagnosis. EVs were isolated using size-exclusion chromatography. A total of 965 EV-derived miRNAs were identified in all the samples.

RESULTS

We analyzed the expression levels of these EV-derived miRNAs of the favorable (n = 10) and non-favorable (n = 22) risk groups; we identified 32 differentially expressed EV-derived miRNAs in the non-favorable risk group. The correlation of these miRNAs with risk stratification and patient survival was analyzed using the information of patients with AML from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Of the miRNAs with downregulated expression in the non-favorable risk group, hsa-miR-181b and hsa-miR-143 were correlated with non-favorable risk and short overall survival. Regarding the miRNAs with upregulated expression in the non-favorable risk group, hsa-miR-188 and hsa-miR-501 were correlated with non-favorable risk and could predict poor survival. Through EV-derived miRNAs-mRNA network analysis using TCGA database, we identified 21 mRNAs that could be potential poor prognosis biomarkers.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, our findings revealed that EV-derived miRNAs can serve as biomarkers for risk stratification and prognosis in AML. In addition, these EV-derived miRNA-based bioinformatic analyses could help efficiently identify mRNAs with biomarker potential, similar to the previous cell-based approach.

Appendiceal Neuroendocrine Neoplasms: A Comprehensive Review

ABSTRACT

Appendiceal neuroendocrine neoplasm (NEN) is the most common adult appendiceal malignant tumor, constituting 16% of gastrointestinal NENs. They are versatile tumors with varying morphology, immunohistochemistry, secretory properties, and cancer genomics. They are slow growing and clinically silent, to begin with, or present with features of nonspecific vague abdominal pain. Most acute presentations are attributed clinically to appendicitis, with most cases detected incidentally on pathology after an appendectomy. Approximately 40% of them present clinically with features of hormonal excess, which is likened to the functional secretory nature of their parent cell of origin. The symptoms of carcinoid syndrome render their presence clinically evident. However, slow growing and symptomatically silent in its initial stages, high-grade neuroendocrine tumors and neuroendocrine carcinomas of the appendix are aggressive and usually have hepatic and lymph node metastasis at presentation. This review article focuses on imaging characteristics, World Health Organization histopathological classification and grading, American Joint Committee on Cancer/Union or International Cancer Control, European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society staging, European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society standardized guidelines for reporting, data interpretation, early-stage management protocols, and advanced-stage appendiceal NENs. Guidelines are also set for the follow-up and reassessment. The role of targeted radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and high-dose somatostatin analogs in treating advanced disease are discussed, along with types of ablative therapies and liver transplantation for tumor recurrence. The search for newer location-specific biomarkers in NEN is also summarized. Regarding the varying aggressiveness of the tumor, there is a scope for research in the field, with plenty of data yet to be discovered.

Biochemical Markers for Neuroendocrine Tumors: Traditional Circulating Markers and Recent Development-A Comprehensive Review

Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms presenting unique challenges in diagnosis and management. Traditional markers such as chromogranin A (CgA), pancreatic polypeptide (PP), and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) have limitations in terms of specificity and sensitivity. Specific circulating markers such as serotonin and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and various gastrointestinal hormones such as gastrin, glucagon, somatostatin, and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) have a role in identifying functional NENs. Recent advances in molecular and biochemical markers, also accounting for novel genomic and proteomic markers, have significantly improved the landscape for the diagnosis and monitoring of NENs. This review discusses these developments, focusing on both traditional markers such as CgA and NSE, as well as specific hormones like gastrin, insulin, somatostatin, glucagon, and VIP. Additionally, it covers emerging genomic and proteomic markers that are shaping current research. The clinical applicability of these markers is highlighted, and their role in improving diagnostic accuracy, predicting surgical outcomes, and monitoring response to treatment is demonstrated. The review also highlights the need for further research, including validation of these markers in larger studies, development of standardized assays, and integration with imaging techniques. The evolving field of biochemical markers holds promise for improving patient outcomes in the treatment of NENs, although challenges in standardization and validation remain.

Targeting MicroRNAs with Small Molecules

MicroRNAs (miRs) have been implicated in numerous diseases, presenting an attractive target for the development of novel therapeutics. The various regulatory roles of miRs in cellular processes underscore the need for precise strategies. Recent advances in RNA research offer hope by enabling the identification of small molecules capable of selectively targeting specific disease-associated miRs. This understanding paves the way for developing small molecules that can modulate the activity of disease-associated miRs. Herein, we discuss the progress made in the field of drug discovery processes, transforming the landscape of miR-targeted therapeutics by small molecules. By leveraging various approaches, researchers can systematically identify compounds to modulate miR function, providing a more potent intervention either by inhibiting or degrading miRs. The implementation of these multidisciplinary approaches bears the potential to revolutionize treatments for diverse diseases, signifying a significant stride towards the targeting of miRs by precision medicine.

Identification of Tissue miRNA Signatures for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a neoplasm of the gastrointestinal tract, is the most common pancreatic malignancy (90%) and the fourth highest cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Surgery intervention is currently the only strategy able to offer an advantage in terms of overall survival, but prognosis remains poor even for operated patients. Therefore, the development of robust biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognostic stratification in clinical practice is urgently needed. In this work, we investigated deregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) in tissues from PDAC patients with high (G3) or low (G2) histological grade and with (N+) or without (N-) lymph node metastases. miRNA expression profiling was performed by a comprehensive PCR array and subsequent validation by RT-qPCR. The results showed a significant increase in miR-1-3p, miR-31-5p, and miR-205-5p expression in G3 compared to G2 patients (** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001; *** p < 0.001). miR-518d-3p upregulation and miR-215-5p downregulation were observed in N+ compared to N- patients. A statistical analysis performed using OncomiR program showed the significant involvement (p < 0.05) of two miRNAs (miR-31 and miR-205) in the histological grade of PDAC patients. Also, an expression analysis in PDAC patients showed that miR-31 and miR-205 had the highest expression at grade 3 compared with normal and other tumor grades. Overall, survival plots confirmed that the overexpression of miR-31 and miR-205 was significantly correlated with decreased survival in TCGA PDAC clinical samples. A KEGG pathway analysis showed that all three miRNAs are involved in the regulation of multiple pathways, including the Hippo signaling, adherens junction and microRNAs in cancer, along with several target genes. Based on in silico analysis and experimental validation, our study suggests the potential role of miR-1-3p, miR-31-5p, and miR-205-5p as useful clinical biomarkers and putative therapeutic targets in PDAC, which should be further investigated to determine the specific molecular processes affected by their aberrant expression.

miR-622 Increases miR-30a Expression through Inhibition of Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1α to Improve Metastasis and Chemoresistance in Human Invasive Breast Cancer Cells

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) plays a pivotal role in the survival, metastasis, and response to treatment of solid tumors. Autophagy serves as a mechanism for tumor cells to eliminate misfolded proteins and damaged organelles, thus promoting invasiveness, metastasis, and resistance to treatment under hypoxic conditions. MicroRNA (miRNA) research underscores the significance of these non-coding molecules in regulating cancer-related protein synthesis across diverse contexts. However, there is limited reporting on miRNA-mediated gene expression studies, especially with respect to epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and autophagy in the context of hypoxic breast cancer. Our study reveals decreased levels of miRNA-622 (miR-622) and miRNA-30a (miR-30a) in invasive breast cancer cells compared to their non-invasive counterparts. Inducing miR-622 suppresses HIF-1α protein expression, subsequently activating miR-30a transcription. This cascade results in reduced invasiveness and migration of breast cancer cells by inhibiting EMT markers, such as Snail, Slug, and vimentin. Furthermore, miR-30a negatively regulates beclin 1, ATG5, and LC3-II and inhibits Akt protein phosphorylation. Consequently, this improves the sensitivity of invasive MDA-MB-231 cells to docetaxel treatment. In conclusion, our study highlights the therapeutic potential of inducing miR-622 to promote miR-30a expression and thus disrupt HIF-1α-associated EMT and autophagy pathways. This innovative strategy presents a promising approach to the treatment of aggressive breast cancer.

Functional and Potential Therapeutic Implication of MicroRNAs in Pancreatic Cancer

The alarmingly low five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer presents a global health challenge, contributing to about 7% of all cancer-related deaths. Late-stage diagnosis and high heterogeneity are the biggest hurdles in treating pancreatic cancer. Thus, there is a pressing need to discover novel biomarkers that could help in early detection as well as improve therapeutic strategies. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of short non-coding RNA, have emerged as promising candidates with regard to both diagnostics and therapeutics. Dysregulated miRNAs play pivotal roles in accelerating tumor growth and metastasis, orchestrating tumor microenvironment, and conferring chemoresistance in pancreatic cancer. The differential expression profiles of miRNAs in pancreatic cancer could be utilized to explore novel therapeutic strategies. In this review, we also covered studies on recent advancements in various miRNA-based therapeutics such as restoring miRNAs with a tumor-suppressive function, suppressing miRNA with an oncogenic function, and combination with chemotherapeutic drugs. Despite several challenges in terms of specificity and targeted delivery, miRNA-based therapies hold the potential to revolutionize the treatment of pancreatic cancer by simultaneously targeting multiple signaling pathways.

Dysregulation of miRNA expression in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia at diagnosis: a systematic review

Aim: The present systematic review aimed to explore miRNAs as a potential biomarker for early diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Materials & methods: A systematic search was conducted in three electronic databases, including Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed, to obtain relevant articles investigating the alteration of miRNA expression in patients with CML. Results: The authors found miRNAs whose expression changes are effective in the induction of CML disease. Among them, miR-21 and miR-155 were identified as the most common miRNAs with increased expression and miR-150 and miR-146 as the most common miRNAs with decreased expression. Conclusion: miRNAs can be used as an indicator for the early detection and treatment of CML phase.

Overexpression of MicroRNA-138 Affects the Proliferation and Invasion of Urothelial Carcinoma Cells by Suppressing SOX9 Expression

SRY-box transcription factor 9 (SOX9) is important for sexual differentiation, chondrogenic differentiation, and cell proliferation in cancer. It acts as a target molecule of microRNA (miR)-138 in various tumors and is associated with tumor development and growth. In this study, we analyzed the functions of miR-138 and SOX9 in urothelial carcinoma. SOX9 was highly expressed in invasive urothelial carcinoma tissues. miR-138 precursor transfection of T24 and UMUC2 cells significantly decreased SOX9 expression, indicating that SOX9 is a miR-138 target in urothelial carcinoma. Moreover, miR-138 precursor or SOX9 small interfering RNA (siRNA) transfection decreased the proliferation of urothelial carcinoma cell lines. To further confirm that miR-138-SOX9 signaling is involved in cell proliferation and invasion, urothelial carcinoma cells were transfected with the miR-138 precursor or SOX9 siRNA. This transfection reduced the proliferation and invasion of cells via the promotion of autophagy and apoptosis and G0/G1 cell cycle arrest. These results suggest that miR-138-SOX9 signaling modulates the growth and invasive potential of urothelial carcinoma cells.

MicroRNA 452 regulates SHC1 expression in human colorectal cancer and colitis

BACKGROUND

Human microRNA 452 (MIR452) has been linked to both colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis.

OBJECTIVE

We analyzed the correlation between MIR452 and its putative target gene in human CRC cells and in mouse colitis tissues.

METHODS

Luciferase reporter assay confirmed that Src homologous and collagen adaptor protein 1 (SHC1) is a direct target of MIR452. Furthermore, the expression of proteins or mRNA was assessed by immunohistochemical analysis, Western blot, or quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR).

RESULTS

We found that MIR452 has a potential binding site at 3'-UTR of SHC1. Likewise, MIR452 or siSHC1 transfection dramatically reduced the level of cellular SHC1 in CRC cells. The expression of SHC1 was frequently downregulated in both human CRC tissues and mouse colitis tissues. In CRC cells, we demonstrated that MIR452 regulated the expression of genes involved in the SHC1-mediated KRAS-MAPK signal transduction pathways.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest a potential defense mechanism in which MIR452 regulation of the adaptor protein SHC1 maintains cellular homeostasis during carcinogenesis or chronic inflammation. Therefore, MIR452 may have therapeutic value for human early-stage CRC and colitis.

Regulation and clinical potential of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT/hTERT) in breast cancer

Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT/hTERT) serves as the pivotal catalytic subunit of telomerase, a crucial enzyme responsible for telomere maintenance and human genome stability. The high activation of hTERT, observed in over 90% of tumors, plays a significant role in tumor initiation and progression. An in-depth exploration of hTERT activation mechanisms in cancer holds promise for advancing our understanding of the disease and developing more effective treatment strategies. In breast cancer, the expression of hTERT is regulated by epigenetic, transcriptional, post-translational modification mechanisms and DNA variation. Besides its canonical function in telomere maintenance, hTERT exerts non-canonical roles that contribute to disease progression through telomerase-independent mechanisms. This comprehensive review summarizes the regulatory mechanisms governing hTERT in breast cancer and elucidates the functional implications of its activation. Given the overexpression of hTERT in most breast cancer cells, the detection of hTERT and its associated molecules are potential for enhancing early screening and prognostic evaluation of breast cancer. Although still in its early stages, therapeutic approaches targeting hTERT and its regulatory molecules show promise as viable strategies for breast cancer treatment. These methods are also discussed in this paper. Video Abstract.

The role of miRNA in colorectal cancer diagnosis: A pilot study

Despite recent advances in diagnosis and treatment, colorectal cancer (CRC) remains the third most common cancer worldwide, and has both a poor prognosis and a high recurrence rate, thus indicating the need for new, sensitive and specific biomarkers. MicroRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) are important regulators of gene expression, which are involved in numerous biological processes implicated in tumorigenesis. The objective of the present study was to investigate the expression of miRNAs in plasma and tissue samples from patients with CRC, and to examine their potential as CRC biomarkers. Using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR, it was revealed that miR-29a, miR-101, miR-125b, miR-146a and miR-155 were dysregulated in the formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues of patients with CRC, compared with the surrounding healthy tissue, and these miRNAs were associated with several pathological features of the tumor. Bioinformatics analysis of overlapping target genes identified AGE-RAGE signaling as a putative joint regulatory pathway. miR-146a was also upregulated in the plasma of patients with CRC, compared with the healthy control group, and had a fair discriminatory power (area under the curve, 0.7006), with 66.7% sensitivity and 77.8% specificity. To the best of our knowledge, this distinct five-miRNA deregulation pattern in tumor tissue, and upregulation of plasma miR-146a, were shown for the first time in patients with CRC; however, studies on larger patient cohorts are warranted to confirm their potential to be used as CRC diagnostic biomarkers.

Intrauterine Smoke Exposure, microRNA Expression during Human Lung Development, and Childhood Asthma

Intrauterine smoke (IUS) exposure during early childhood has been associated with a number of negative health consequences, including reduced lung function and asthma susceptibility. The biological mechanisms underlying these associations have not been established. MicroRNAs regulate the expression of numerous genes involved in lung development. Thus, investigation of the impact of IUS on miRNA expression during human lung development may elucidate the impact of IUS on post-natal respiratory outcomes. We sought to investigate the effect of IUS exposure on miRNA expression during early lung development. We hypothesized that miRNA-mRNA networks are dysregulated by IUS during human lung development and that these miRNAs may be associated with future risk of asthma and allergy. Human fetal lung samples from a prenatal tissue retrieval program were tested for differential miRNA expression with IUS exposure (measured using placental cotinine concentration). RNA was extracted and miRNA-sequencing was performed. We performed differential expression using IUS exposure, with covariate adjustment. We also considered the above model with an additional sex-by-IUS interaction term, allowing IUS effects to differ by male and female samples. Using paired gene expression profiles, we created sex-stratified miRNA-mRNA correlation networks predictive of IUS using DIABLO. We additionally evaluated whether miRNAs were associated with asthma and allergy outcomes in a cohort of childhood asthma. We profiled pseudoglandular lung miRNA in n = 298 samples, 139 (47%) of which had evidence of IUS exposure. Of 515 miRNAs, 25 were significantly associated with intrauterine smoke exposure (q-value < 0.10). The IUS associated miRNAs were correlated with well-known asthma genes (e.g., ORM1-Like Protein 3, ORDML3) and enriched in disease-relevant pathways (oxidative stress). Eleven IUS-miRNAs were also correlated with clinical measures (e.g., Immunoglobulin E andlungfunction) in children with asthma, further supporting their likely disease relevance. Lastly, we found substantial differences in IUS effects by sex, finding 95 significant IUS-miRNAs in male samples, but only four miRNAs in female samples. The miRNA-mRNA correlation networks were predictive of IUS (AUC = 0.78 in males and 0.86 in females) and suggested that IUS-miRNAs are involved in regulation of disease-relevant genes (e.g., A disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain 19 (ADAM19), LBH regulator of WNT signaling (LBH)) and sex hormone signaling (Coactivator associated methyltransferase 1(CARM1)). Our study demonstrated differential expression of miRNAs by IUS during early prenatal human lung development, which may be modified by sex. Based on their gene targets and correlation to clinical asthma and atopy outcomes, these IUS-miRNAs may be relevant for subsequent allergy and asthma risk. Our study provides insight into the impact of IUS in human fetal lung transcriptional networks and on the developmental origins of asthma and allergic disorders.

The Potential Role of MiRs-139-5p and -454-3p in Endoglin-Knockdown-Induced Angiogenic Dysfunction in HUVECs

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is a rare genetic disease characterized by aberrant angiogenesis and vascular malformations. Mutations in the transforming growth factor beta co-receptor, endoglin (ENG), account for approximately half of known HHT cases and cause abnormal angiogenic activity in endothelial cells (ECs). To date, how ENG deficiency contributes to EC dysfunction remains to be fully understood. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate virtually every cellular process. We hypothesized that ENG depletion results in miRNA dysregulation that plays an important role in mediating EC dysfunction. Our goal was to test the hypothesis by identifying dysregulated miRNAs in ENG-knockdown human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and characterizing their potential role in EC function. We identified 32 potentially downregulated miRNAs in ENG-knockdown HUVECs with a TaqMan miRNA microarray. MiRs-139-5p and -454-3p were found to be significantly downregulated after RT-qPCR validation. While the inhibition of miR-139-5p or miR-454-3p had no effect on HUVEC viability, proliferation or apoptosis, angiogenic capacity was significantly compromised as determined by a tube formation assay. Most notably, the overexpression of miRs-139-5p and -454-3p rescued impaired tube formation in HUVECs with ENG knockdown. To our knowledge, we are the first to demonstrate miRNA alterations after the knockdown of ENG in HUVECs. Our results indicate a potential role of miRs-139-5p and -454-3p in ENG-deficiency-induced angiogenic dysfunction in ECs. Further study to examine the involvement of miRs-139-5p and -454-3p in HHT pathogenesis is warranted.

The NF-κB/miR-488/ERBB2 axis modulates pancreatic cancer cell malignancy and tumor growth through cell cycle signaling

Pancreatic cancer is one of the malignancies having the poorest prognosis due to late diagnoses and lack of efficient treatment regimens. The identification of potential miRNA-targeted gene axes could act as targets for developing novel treatment strategies. Herein, it was assessed that miR-488 expression was markedly downregulated within pancreatic carcinoma. Higher expression of miR-488 was shown to be linked to better prognosis rates of pancreatic carcinoma as per online data. Within two pancreatic tumor cells, MIA PaCa-2 and PANC-1, miR-488 overexpression significantly suppressed malignant cytological behavior by inhibiting cell viability, enhancing cell apoptosis, and inducing cell cycle G2/M-phase arrest. Moreover, miR-488 overexpression also decreased the protein levels of cell cycle regulators, including cyclin A, cyclin B, CDK1, and CDK2. miR-488 directly targets ERBB2 (receptor tyrosine-protein kinase2) to suppress the expression of ERBB2 by targeting its 3'UTR. ERBB2 knockdown in MIA PaCa-2 and PANC-1 cell lines suppressed, but miR-488 inhibition enhanced the cancer cell biological malignant behavior; the effects of miR-488 inhibition on pancreatic cancer cells were significantly reversed by ERBB2 knockdown. NF-κB suppressed the expression of miR-488 transcriptionally via targeting its promoter region, consequentially repressing the tumor-suppressive effects of miR-488 upon pancreatic tumor cells. Thus, an NF-κB/miR-488/ERBB2 axis modulating pancreatic cancer cell malignancy and tumor growth through cell cycle signaling was conclusively demonstrated.

Prognostic potential of miR-144 in various cancers: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

MicrorNA-144 (MiR-144) has been shown to be an attractive prognostic tumor biomarker and play a fundamental role in various cancers, However, the conclusion was inconsistency. The aim of this study was to identify the prognostic role of miR-144 in cancers.

METHODS

Relevant studies were searched in PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science up to April 20, 2022. Hazard ratios (HR), odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals were pooled from the selected studies.

RESULTS

A total of 15 articles involving 1846 participants fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The results revealed that low miR-144 expression was significantly associated with favorable overall survival (HR: 0.68, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.53-0.88) in various cancers. Low miR-144 expression had better predictive value in patients with urinary system cancer (HR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.35-0.64). In addition, low miR-144 expression was associated with tumor diameter (big vs small) (OR: 1.69, 95% CI: 1.08-2.75), tumor stage (III-IV vs I-II) (OR: 2.52, 95% CI: 3.76-8.14) and invasion depth (T3 + T4 vs T2 + T1) (OR: 3.24, 95% CI: 1.72-4.89).

CONCLUSION

miR-144 may serve as a prognostic biomarker in cancers.

Predicting potential miRNA-disease associations based on more reliable negative sample selection

BACKGROUND

Increasing biomedical studies have shown that the dysfunction of miRNAs is closely related with many human diseases. Identifying disease-associated miRNAs would contribute to the understanding of pathological mechanisms of diseases. Supervised learning-based computational methods have continuously been developed for miRNA-disease association predictions. Negative samples of experimentally-validated uncorrelated miRNA-disease pairs are required for these approaches, while they are not available due to lack of biomedical research interest. Existing methods mainly choose negative samples from the unlabelled ones randomly. Therefore, the selection of more reliable negative samples is of great importance for these methods to achieve satisfactory prediction results.

RESULTS

In this study, we propose a computational method termed as KR-NSSM which integrates two semi-supervised algorithms to select more reliable negative samples for miRNA-disease association predictions. Our method uses a refined K-means algorithm for preliminary screening of likely negative and positive miRNA-disease samples. A Rocchio classification-based method is applied for further screening to receive more reliable negative and positive samples. We implement ablation tests in KR-NSSM and find that the combination of the two selection procedures would obtain more reliable negative samples for miRNA-disease association predictions. Comprehensive experiments based on fivefold cross-validations demonstrate improvements in prediction accuracy on six classic classifiers and five known miRNA-disease association prediction models when using negative samples chose by our method than by previous negative sample selection strategies. Moreover, 469 out of 1123 selected positive miRNA-disease associations by our method are confirmed by existing databases.

CONCLUSIONS

Our experiments show that KR-NSSM can screen out more reliable negative samples from the unlabelled ones, which greatly improves the performance of supervised machine learning methods in miRNA-disease association predictions. We expect that KR-NSSM would be a useful tool in negative sample selection in biomedical research.

Role of Nanotechnology in Overcoming the Multidrug Resistance in Cancer Therapy: A Review

Cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality around the globe and is likely to become the major cause of global death in the coming years. As per World Health Organization (WHO) report, every year there are over 10 and 9 million new cases and deaths from this disease. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery are the three basic approaches to treating cancer. These approaches are aiming at eradicating all cancer cells with minimum off-target effects on other cell types. Most drugs have serious adverse effects due to the lack of target selectivity. On the other hand, resistance to already available drugs has emerged as a major obstacle in cancer chemotherapy, allowing cancer to proliferate irrespective of the chemotherapeutic agent. Consequently, it leads to multidrug resistance (MDR), a growing concern in the scientific community. To overcome this problem, in recent years, nanotechnology-based drug therapies have been explored and have shown great promise in overcoming resistance, with most nano-based drugs being explored at the clinical level. Through this review, we try to explain various mechanisms involved in multidrug resistance in cancer and the role nanotechnology has played in overcoming or reversing this resistance.

miR-223-3p Regulates NLRP3 to Inhibit Proliferation and Promote Apoptosis of ONG Cells

Objective

Optic nerve glioma (ONG) is a rare disease, defined as a WHO grade I tumor, which affects the visual pathway. The objective of this study was to investigate the expression of miR-223-3p in ONG as well as its function and regulation in ONG cell lines.

Methods

qRT-PCR assays were used to measure miR-223-3p expression in ONG tissues and cell lines. After overexpression of miR-223-3p in Hs683 and WERI-Rb-1 cell lines, CCK-8 and EdU assays were performed to examine cell proliferation, and flow cytometry was used to assess apoptosis. Dual luciferase assays were utilized to identify the target binding to miR-223-3p and NLRP3. Rescue assays were carried out to investigate the regulatory mechanism of miR-223-3p acting through NLRP3. Nude mouse tumorigenesis assays were established to verify the effect of miR-223-3p on ONG growth.

Results

miR-223-3p was weakly expressed in both ONG tissues and cell lines. miR-223-3p inhibited the proliferative ability of Hs683 and WERI-Rb-1 cell lines and promoted apoptosis. In addition, there was binding between miR-223-3p and NLRP3. Simultaneous overexpression of NLRP3 and miR-223-3p partially counteracted the role of miR-223-3p in the cell lines. Lastly, miR-223-3p inhibited ONG growth.

Conclusion

miR-223-3p plays an inhibitory role in ONG development by regulating NLRP3 to inhibit the proliferation of ONG cells and promote apoptosis.

Influences of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon on the epigenome toxicity and its applicability in human health risk assessment

The existence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in ambient air is an escalating concern worldwide because of their ability to cause cancer and induce permanent changes in the genetic material. Growing evidence implies that during early life-sensitive stages, the risk of progression of acute and chronic diseases depends on epigenetic changes initiated by the influence of environmental cues. Several reports deciphered the relationship between exposure to environmental chemicals and epigenetics, and have known toxicants that alter the epigenetic states. Amongst PAHs, benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) is accepted as a group 1 cancer-causing agent by the International Agency for the Research on Cancer (IARC). B[a]P is a well-studied pro-carcinogen that is metabolically activated by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)/cytochrome P450 pathway. Cytochrome P450 plays a pivotal role in the stimulation step, which is essential for DNA adduct formation. Accruing evidence suggests that epigenetic alterations assume a fundamental part in PAH-promoted carcinogenesis. This interaction between PAHs and epigenetic factors results in an altered profile of these marks, globally and locus-specific. Some of the epigenetic changes due to exposure to PAHs lead to increased disease susceptibility and progression. It is well understood that exposure to environmental carcinogens, such as PAH triggers disease pathways through changes in the genome. Several evidence reported due to the epigenome-wide association studies, that early life adverse environmental events may trigger widespread and persistent variations in transcriptional profiling. Moreover, these variations respond to DNA damage and/or a consequence of epigenetic modifications that need further investigation. Growing evidence has associated PAHs with epigenetic variations involving alterations in DNA methylation, histone modification, and micro RNA (miRNA) regulation. Epigenetic alterations to PAH exposure were related to chronic diseases, such as pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, endocrine disruptor, nervous system disorder, and cancer. This hormetic response gives a novel perception concerning the toxicity of PAHs and the biological reaction that may be a distinct reliance on exposure. This review sheds light on understanding the latest evidence about how PAHs can alter epigenetic patterns and human health. In conclusion, as several epigenetic change mechanisms remain unclear yet, further analyses derived from PAHs exposure must be performed to find new targets and disease biomarkers. In spite of the current limitations, numerous evidence supports the perception that epigenetics grips substantial potential for advancing our knowledge about the molecular mechanisms of environmental toxicants, also for predicting health-associated risks due to environmental circumstances exposure and individual susceptibility.

miR-1285-3p targets TPI1 to regulate the glycolysis metabolism signaling pathway of Tibetan sheep Sertoli cells

Glycolysis in Sertoli cells (SCs) can provide energy substrates for the development of spermatogenic cells. Triose phosphate isomerase 1 (TPI1) is one of the key catalytic enzymes involved in glycolysis. However, the biological function of TPI1 in SCs and its role in glycolytic metabolic pathways are poorly understood. On the basis of a previous research, we isolated primary SCs from Tibetan sheep, and overexpressed TPI1 gene to determine its effect on the proliferation, glycolysis, and apoptosis of SCs. Secondly, we investigated the relationship between TPI1 and miR-1285-3p, and whether miR-1285-3p regulates the proliferation and apoptosis of SCs, and participates in glycolysis by targeting TPI1. Results showed that overexpression of TPI1 increased the proliferation rate and decreased apoptosis of SCs. In addition, overexpression of TPI1 altered glycolysis and metabolism signaling pathways and significantly increased amount of the final product lactic acid. Further analysis showed that miR-1285-3p inhibited TPI1 by directly targeting its 3’untranslated region. Overexpression of miR-1285-3p suppressed the proliferation of SCs, and this effect was partially reversed by restoration of TPI1 expression. In summary, this study shows that the miR-1285-3p/TPI1 axis regulates glycolysis in SCs. These findings add to our understanding on the regulation of spermatogenesis in sheep and other mammals.

Inhibition and potential treatment of colorectal cancer by natural compounds via various signaling pathways

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common type of malignant digestive tract tumor with a high incidence rate worldwide. Currently, the clinical treatment of CRC predominantly include surgical resection, postoperative chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. However, these treatments contain severe limitations such as drug side effects, the risk of recurrence and drug resistance. Some natural compounds found in plants, fungi, marine animals, and bacteria have been shown to inhibit the occurrence and development of CRC. Although the explicit molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of these compounds on CRC are not clear, classical signaling transduction pathways such as NF-kB and Wnt/β-catenin are extensively regulated. In this review, we have summarized the specific mechanisms regulating the inhibition and development of CRC by various types of natural compounds through nine signaling pathways, and explored the potential therapeutic values of these natural compounds in the clinical treatment of CRC.

SFGAE: a self-feature-based graph autoencoder model for miRNA-disease associations prediction

Increasing evidence has suggested that microRNAs (miRNAs) are important biomarkers of various diseases. Numerous graph neural network (GNN) models have been proposed for predicting miRNA-disease associations. However, the existing GNN-based methods have over-smoothing issue-the learned feature embeddings of miRNA nodes and disease nodes are indistinguishable when stacking multiple GNN layers. This issue makes the performance of the methods sensitive to the number of layers, and significantly hurts the performance when more layers are employed. In this study, we resolve this issue by a novel self-feature-based graph autoencoder model, shortened as SFGAE. The key novelty of SFGAE is to construct miRNA-self embeddings and disease-self embeddings, and let them be independent of graph interactions between two types of nodes. The novel self-feature embeddings enrich the information of typical aggregated feature embeddings, which aggregate the information from direct neighbors and hence heavily rely on graph interactions. SFGAE adopts a graph encoder with attention mechanism to concatenate aggregated feature embeddings and self-feature embeddings, and adopts a bilinear decoder to predict links. Our experiments show that SFGAE achieves state-of-the-art performance. In particular, SFGAE improves the average AUC upon recent GAEMDA [1] on the benchmark datasets HMDD v2.0 and HMDD v3.2, and consistently performs better when less (e.g. 10%) training samples are used. Furthermore, SFGAE effectively overcomes the over-smoothing issue and performs stably well on deeper models (e.g. eight layers). Finally, we carry out case studies on three human diseases, colon neoplasms, esophageal neoplasms and kidney neoplasms, and perform a survival analysis using kidney neoplasm as an example. The results suggest that SFGAE is a reliable tool for predicting potential miRNA-disease associations.

Role of MicroRNA-7 (MiR-7) in Cancer Physiopathology

miRNAs are non-coding RNA sequences of approximately 22 nucleotides that interact with genes by inhibiting their translation through binding to their 3' or 5' UTR regions. Following their discovery, the role they play in the development of various pathologies, particularly cancer, has been studied. In this context, miR-7 is described as an important factor in the development of cancer because of its role as a tumor suppressor, regulating a large number of genes involved in the development and progression of cancer. Recent data support the function of miR-7 as a prognostic biomarker in cancer, and miR-7 has been proposed as a strategy in cancer therapy. In this work, the role of miR-7 in various types of cancer is reviewed, illustrating its regulation, direct targets, and effects, as well as its possible relationship to the clinical outcome of cancer patients.

Apigenin Targets MicroRNA-155, Enhances SHIP-1 Expression, and Augments Anti-Tumor Responses in Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a deadly disease with a grim prognosis. Pancreatic tumor derived factors (TDF) contribute to the induction of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) that impedes the effectiveness of immunotherapy. PC-induced microRNA-155 (miRNA-155) represses expression of Src homology 2 (SH2) domain-containing Inositol 5'-phosphatase-1 (SHIP-1), a regulator of myeloid cell development and function, thus impacting anti-tumor immunity. We recently reported that the bioflavonoid apigenin (API) increased SHIP-1 expression which correlated with the expansion of tumoricidal macrophages (TAM) and improved anti-tumor immune responses in the TME of mice with PC. We now show that API transcriptionally regulates SHIP-1 expression via the suppression of miRNA-155, impacting anti-tumor immune responses in the bone marrow (BM) and TME of mice with PC. We discovered that API reduced miRNA-155 in the PC milieu, which induced SHIP-1 expression. This promoted the restoration of myelopoiesis and increased anti-tumor immune responses in the TME of heterotopic, orthotopic and transgenic SHIP-1 knockout preclinical mouse models of PC. Our results suggest that manipulating SHIP-1 through miR-155 may assist in augmenting anti-tumor immune responses and aid in the therapeutic intervention of PC.

Diagnostic Strategies for Urologic Cancer Using Expression Analysis of Various Oncogenic Surveillance Molecules—From Non-Coding Small RNAs to Cancer-Specific Proteins

Urinary-tract-related tumors are prone to simultaneous or heterogeneous multiple tumor development within the primary organ. Urologic tumors have a very high risk of recurrence in the long and short term. This may be related to the disruption of homeostasis on the genetic level, such as the induction of genetic mutations due to exposure to various carcinogenic factors and the disruption of cancer suppressor gene functions. It is essential to detect the cancer progression signals caused by genetic abnormalities and find treatment therapies. In this review, we discuss the usefulness of tumor-expressing clinical biomarkers for predicting cancer progression. Furthermore, we discuss various factors associated with disturbed intracellular signals and those targeted by microRNAs, which are representative of non-coding small RNAs.

Identification of the regulatory role of the circ_0004788/miR-515-5p/FGF2 network in nasopharyngeal carcinoma development

BACKGROUND

CircularRNAs (circRNAs) played vital roles in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, the impacts of circ_0004788 on the development of NPC have not been explored.

METHODS

Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) and colony formation assays were applied to determine cell proliferation. Wound healing, transwell invasion assay, tube formation assay, and flow cytometry were employed for the detection of cell migration, invasion, angiogenesis, and apoptosis, respectively. Xenograft tumor experiment was used to explore the biological role of circ_0004788 in NPC in vivo.

RESULTS

Circ_0004788 and fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) were significantly elevated, and microRNA-515-5p (miR-515-5p) was dramatically decreased in NPC tissues and cells. The impacts of circ_0004788 knockdown on cell progression in NPC cells were reversed by miR-515-5p inhibitor, and FGF2 overexpression could block the suppressive effect of miR-515-5p on cell progression in NPC cells.

CONCLUSION

Circ_0004788 knockdown restrained the progression of NPC via the miR-515-5p/FGF2 axis.

MicroRNA-592 serves as a novel tumor suppressor in Uveal melanoma: bioinformatics analysis and in vitro cell function verification

Uveal melanoma (UVM), one common eye tumor in adults, is related with a high risk of metastasis and poor prognosis. Studies have shown that many miRNAs are abnormally expressed in UVM tissues, and play an important regulatory role in the cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of UVM. Therefore, it is of great significance to analyze the expression characteristics of microRNAs (miRNAs) in UVM and clarify the role of miRNA in the tumorigenesis and development of UVM. In this study, we firstly downloaded and analyzed miRNA expression data of UVM tissues in TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) database to select the differential expressed miRNAs in different clinical stages (IIA, IIB, IIIA, IIIB, IV). Compared with other stages, microRNA-592 (miR-592) was up-regulated in stage IV UVM patients. Then we used several bioinformatics tools including miRbase, miRDB, RNA22 and TargetScan, and found that it was be conserved in different species. Cell viability was determined by Cell Counting Kit-8. The proliferation and invasion of MUM-2B and C819 cells was measured using Edu assay and Transwell assay. We found that silencing miR-592 enhanced the progression of UVM cells, while miR592 overexpression inhibited the cell growth and invasion. The target genes of miR-592 were predicted by three webservers (miRDB, RNA22, and TargetScan), and verified by Real-Time PCR (qPCR). This is the first study to explore the role of miR-592 in malignant progression of UVM by bioinformatics and cell experiments. Our study suggests that tumor suppressor miR-592 may function as potential therapeutic target and biomarker for UVM.

MicroRNAs influence and longevity

Background

MiRNAs play critical roles in the regulation of cellular function, life span, and the aging process. They can affect longevity positively and negatively through different aging pathways.

Main text

MiRNAs are a group of short non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expressions at post-transcriptional levels. The different types of alterations in miRNAs biogenesis, mRNA expressions, and activities of miRNA-protein complexes can affect the regulation of normal post-transcriptional gene process, which may lead to aging, age-related diseases, and an earlier death. It seems that the influence of deregulation of miRNAs on senescence and age-related diseases occurring by targeting aging molecular pathways can be used for diagnosis and prognosis of them. Therefore, the expression and function of miRNAs should be studied more accurately with new applicable and validated experimental tools. However, the current review wishes to highlight simply a connection among miRNAs, senescence and some age-related diseases.

Conclusion

Despite several research indicating the key roles of miRNAs in aging and longevity, further investigations are still needed to elucidate the essential roles of miRNAs in controlling mRNA regulation, cell proliferation, death and/or protection during stress and health problems. Besides, more research on miRNAs will help to identify new targets for alternative strategies regarding effectively screen, treat, and prevent diseases as well as make slow the aging process.

MIR-147B Regulated Proliferation and Apoptosis of Gastric Cancer Cells by Targeting CPEB2 Via the PTEN Pathway

The present study has been performed to illustrate the role and mechanism of microRNA-147b (miR-147b) in the cellular viability and apoptosis of gastric cancer (GC) cells. The GC tissues of 50 patients with complete data and the adjacent tissues were selected from Shanxi Cancer Hospital, and 3 pairs of tissues were randomly selected for microarray detection of high-expressing microRNAs. The expressions of miR-147b were quantified in numerous GC cell lines, i.e., BGC-823, SGC-7901, AGS, MGC-803 and MKN-45, normal tissue cell lines and 50 pairs of gastric cancer tissues. Moreover, two cell lines of miR-147b high-expressing used PCR quantitative analysis were selected for transfection experiments. The differentially expressed miR-147b was screened from 3 pairs of samples by miRNA chip. The expression ofmiR-147b was found highly expressed in gastric cancer tissues of 50 pairs of gastric cancer and adjacent tissues. The miR-147b found in diverse range in each of GC cell line. Therefore, two cell lines, BGC-823 and MGC-803, with relatively high expression levels of miR-147b were selected for further analysis and research. Scratch analysis results showed that compared with miR-147b NC, the miR-147b inhibitor group inhibited GC cell growth and reduced cell migration. The early apoptosis of MGC-803, and BGC-823 cells was enhanced by miR-147b inhibitor. miR-147b inhibitor significantly repressed the proliferation of BGC-823 and MGC-803 cells. Our study showed that the high expression of miR-147b is positively correlated with the occurrence and development of gastric cancer.

Overexpression of microRNA-345 Affects the Invasive Capacity of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Cell Lines by Suppressing MUC1 and TJP2 Expression

The majority of pancreatic carcinomas are pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC), and the presence of non-invasive pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia or intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm, as an associated lesion, is considered important. These microscopic hyperplastic or grossly papillomatous lesions exhibit varying degrees of morphological atypia and may develop into invasive carcinomas. In this study, we investigated whether mucin-1 (MUC1) is involved in the progression of pancreatic carcinoma and examined the mechanisms by which microRNAs regulate MUC1 expression in vitro. In PDAC cell lines, suppression of MUC1 expression reduced cell proliferation and invasion; PDAC cell lines transfected with an miR-345 precursor suppressed the expression of MUC1, and reduced cell proliferation and invasion. Tight junction protein 2 (TJP2), a putative target of miR-345, is regulated by MUC1. The suppression of TJP2 expression reduced cell proliferation by inducing apoptosis. These results suggest that MUC1 and TJP2, the putative target molecules of miR-345, are critical in maintaining the invasive potential of pancreatic carcinoma cells, and regulating their expression may prevent the progression of non-invasive pancreatic intraductal lesions to invasive carcinomas. This study provides new insights for the development of novel molecular targeted therapies for pancreatic carcinomas.

miRNA Pattern in Hypoxic Microenvironment of Kidney Cancer—Role of PTEN

MicroRNAs are post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression, and disturbances of their expression are the basis of many pathological states, including cancers. The miRNA pattern in the context of tumor microenvironment explains mechanisms related to cancer progression and provides a potential target of modern therapies. Here we show the miRNA pattern in renal cancer focusing on hypoxia as a characteristic feature of the tumor microenvironment and dysregulation of PTEN, being a major tumor suppressor. Methods comprised the CRSPR/Cas9 mediated PTEN knockout in the Renca kidney cancer cell line and global miRNA expression analysis in both in vivo and in vitro (in normoxic and hypoxic conditions). The results were validated on human cancer models with distinct PTEN status. The increase in miR-210-3p in hypoxia was universal; however, the hypoxia-induced decrease in PTEN was associated with an increase in miR-221-3p, the loss of PTEN affected the response to hypoxia differently by decreasing miR-10b-5p and increasing miR-206-3p. In turn, the complete loss of PTEN induces miR-155-5p, miR-100-5p. Upregulation of miR-342-3p in knockout PTEN occurred in the context of the whole tumor microenvironment. Thus, effective identification of miRNA patterns in cancers must consider the specificity of the tumor microenvironment together with the mutations of key suppressors.

Genetic Polymorphisms in microRNA Genes Targeting PI3K/Akt Signal Pathway Modulate Cervical Cancer Susceptibility in a Chinese Population

Polymorphisms in microRNA (miRNA) genes could influence the expression of miRNAs that regulate the PI3K/Akt signalling pathway and play crucial roles in cancer susceptibility. To investigate the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in miRNA genes of PI3K/Akt with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical cancer (CC), nine SNPs located in miRNA genes were selected for genotyping, and the association of these SNPs with CIN and CC risk was evaluated. A total of 1,402 participants were enrolled in the current study, including 698 healthy individuals in the control group, 431 patients with CC, and 273 patients with CIN. Nine SNPs in miRNA genes (rs107822 in miR-219a, rs10877887 in let-7i, rs2292832 in miR-149, rs353293 in miR-143, rs3746444 in miR-499, rs3803808 in miR-132, rs4078756 in miR-10b, rs629367 in let-7a, and rs7372209 in miR-26a) were genotyped using MassArray, and the association of these SNPs with CIN and CC were analysed. The results showed that the frequencies of rs107822 in miR-219a and rs2292832 in miR-149 were significantly different between the control and CC groups (p &lt; 0.005). The C allele of rs107822 in miR-219a was associated with an increased risk of CC (OR = 1.29, 95%CI:1.09–1.54) whereas the C allele of rs2292832 in miR-149 was associated with a decreased risk of CC (OR = 0.77, 95%CI:0.64–0.92). The results of inheritance model analysis showed that the best-fit inheritance models for rs107822 and rs2292832 were log-additive. The 2CC + CT genotype of rs107822 could be a risk factor for CC when compared with the TT genotype (OR = 1.28, 95%CI:1.08–1.51). The 2CC + CT genotype of rs2292832 could be a protective factor against CC when compared with the TT genotype (OR = 0.76, 95%CI:0.64–0.92). However, no association of these SNPs with CIN was found in the current study. Our results suggest that rs107822 in the promoter region of miR-219a and rs2292832 in pre-miR-149 region are associated with the risk of CC.