miR-190 promotes HCC proliferation and metastasis by targeting PHLPP1

Molecular mechanism of wedelolactone inhibits high glucose-induced human retinal vascular endothelial cells injury through regulating miR-190 expression

To investigate the effects and molecular mechanisms of wedelolactone (WEL) on high glucose-induced injury of human retinal vascular endothelial cells (HRECs). The cell injury model was established by incubating HRECs with 30 mmol/L glucose for 24 hour. HRECs were divided into control (Con) group, high glucose (HG) group, HG + WEL-low dose (L) group, HG + WEL-medium dose (M), HG + WEL-high dose (H) group, HG + miR-NC group, HG + miR-190 group, HG + WEL + antimiR-NC group, HG + WEL + antimiR-190 group. The kit detects cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and malondialdehyde (MDA) content; cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry; miR-190 expression was detected by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Compared with Con group, the levels of ROS and MDA in the HG group were significantly increased (P < .01), the SOD activity and the expression of miR-190 expression were significantly decreased (P < .05), and the apoptosis rate was significantly increased (P < .01). Compared with HG group, the levels of ROS and MDA in HG + WEL-L group, HG + WEL-M group and HG + WEL-H group were significantly decreased (P < .05), SOD activity and miR-190 expression were significantly increased (P < .05), and apoptosis rate was significantly reduced (P < .05). Compared with the HG + miR-NC group, the levels of ROS and MDA in HG + miR-190 group were significantly reduced (P < .01), SOD activity was significantly increased (P < .01), and apoptosis rate was significantly reduced (P < .05). Compared with the HG + WEL + antimiR-NC group, the ROS level and MDA content in the HG + WEL + antimiR-190 group were significantly increased (P < .05), SOD activity was significantly decreased (P < .05), and apoptosis rate was significantly increased (P < .05). Wedelolactone can attenuate high glucose-induced HRECs apoptosis and oxidative stress by up-regulating miR-190 expression.

Emerging roles of PHLPP phosphatases in lung cancer

Pleckstrin homologous domain leucine-rich repeating protein phosphatases (PHLPPs) were originally identified as protein kinase B (Akt) kinase hydrophobic motif specific phosphatases to maintain the cellular homeostasis. With the continuous expansion of PHLPPs research, imbalanced-PHLPPs were mainly found as a tumor suppressor gene of a variety of solid tumors. In this review, we simply described the history and structures of PHLPPs and summarized the recent achievements in emerging roles of PHLPPs in lung cancer by 1) the signaling pathways affected by PHLPPs including Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT, RAS/RAF/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MEK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and Protein kinase C (PKC) signaling cascades. 2) function of PHLPPs regulatory factor USP46 and miR-190/miR-215, 3) the potential roles of PHLPPs in disease prognosis, Epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR)- tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) resistance and DNA damage, 4) and the possible function of PHLPPs in radiotherapy, ferroptosis and inflammation response. Therefore, PHLPPs can be considered as either biomarker or prognostic marker for lung cancer treatment.

MicroRNAs in Cancer: From Gene Expression Regulation to the Metastatic Niche Reprogramming

By 2003, the Human Genome project had been completed; however, it turned out that 97% of genome sequences did not encode proteins. The explanation came later when it was found the untranslated DNA contain sequences for short microRNAs (miRNAs) and long noncoding RNAs that did not produce any mRNAs or tRNAs, but instead were involved in the regulation of gene expression. Initially identified in the cytoplasm, miRNAs have been found in all cell compartments, where their functions are not limited to the degradation of target mRNAs. miRNAs that are secreted into the extracellular space as components of exosomes or as complexes with proteins, participate in morphogenesis, regeneration, oncogenesis, metastasis, and chemoresistance of tumor cells. miRNAs play a dual role in oncogenesis: on one hand, they act as oncogene suppressors; on the other hand, they function as oncogenes themselves and inactivate oncosuppressors, stimulate tumor neoangiogenesis, and mediate immunosuppressive processes in the tumors, The review presents current concepts of the miRNA biogenesis and their functions in the cytoplasm and nucleus with special focus on the noncanonical mechanisms of gene regulation by miRNAs and involvement of miRNAs in oncogenesis, as well as the authors' opinion on the role of miRNAs in metastasis and formation of the premetastatic niche.

miR-190 promotes malignant transformation and progression of human urothelial cells through CDKN1B/p27 inhibition

Background

Although miR-190 has been reported to be related to human diseases, especially in the development and progression of cancer, its expression in human bladder cancer (BC) and potential contribution to BC remain unexplored.

Methods

RT-qPCR was used to verify the expression level of miR-190 and CDKN1B. Flow cytometry (FCM) assays were performed to detect cell cycle. Soft agar assay was used to measure anchorage-independent growth ability. Methylation-Specific PCR, Dual-luciferase reporter assay and Western blotting were used to elucidate the potential mechanisms involved.

Results

Our studies revealed that downregulation of the p27 (encoded by CDKN1B gene) protein is an important event related to miR-190, promoting the malignant transformation of bladder epithelial cells. miR-190 binds directly to CDKN1B 3’-UTR and destabilizes CDKN1B mRNA. Moreover, miR-190 downregulates TET1 by binding to the TET1 CDS region, which mediates hypermethylation of the CDKN1B promoter, thereby resulting in the downregulation of CDKN1B mRNA. These two aspects led to miR-190 inhibition of p27 protein expression in human BC cells. A more in-depth mechanistic study showed that c-Jun promotes the transcription of Talin2, the host gene of miR-190, thus upregulating the expression of miR-190 in human BC cells.

Conclusions

In this study, we found that miR-190 plays an important role in the development of BC. Taken together, these findings indicate that miR-190 may promote the malignant transformation of human urothelial cells by downregulating CDKN1B, which strengthens our understanding of miR-190 in regulating BC cell transformation.

Identification of differentially expressed genes and biological pathways in para-carcinoma tissues of HCC with different metastatic potentials

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumor with extensive metastasis. Changes in the tumor microenvironment provide favorable conditions for tumor metastasis. However, the role of changes to the tumor microenvironment in HCC metastasis is yet to be elucidated. The Gene Expression Omnibus expression profile GSE5093 consists of 20 noncancerous tissues surrounding HCC tissues, including 9 metastasis-inclined microenvironment samples with detectable metastases and 11 metastasis-averse microenvironment samples without detectable metastases. The present study assessed 35 HCC samples to verify the results of chip analysis. In total, 712 upregulated and 459 downregulated genes were identified, with 1,033 nodes, 7,589 edges and 10 hub genes. Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis revealed that the differentially expressed genes were significantly enriched in ‘cell-cell adhesion’, ‘cell proliferation’ and ‘protein binding’. The top 10 hub genes were identified via a protein-protein interaction analysis. The 3 most significant modules were identified from the protein-protein network. Moreover, an association between hub genes and patient prognosis was identified. In conclusion, these candidate genes and pathways may help elucidate the mechanisms underlying HCC metastasis and identify more options for targeted therapy.

miR-190-5p in human diseases

miRNAs, a major class of small noncoding RNAs approximately 18-25 nucleotides in length, function by repressing the expression of target genes through binding to complementary sequences in the 3'-UTRs of target genes. Emerging evidence has highlighted their important roles in numerous diseases, including human cancers. Recently, miR-190 has been shown to be dysregulated in various types of human cancers that participates in cancer-related biological processes, including proliferation, apoptosis, metastasis, drug resistance, by regulating associated target genes, and to predict cancer diagnosis and prognosis. In this review, we summarized the roles of miR-190-5p in human diseases, especially in human cancers. Then we classified its target genes in tumorigenesis and progression, which might provide evidence for cancer diagnosis and prognosis, promising tools for cancer treatment, or leads for further investigation.

Celecoxib attenuates hepatocellular proliferative capacity during hepatocarcinogenesis by modulating a PTEN/NF-κB/PRL-3 pathway

Although the efficacy of celecoxib on various cancer cell behaviors, including aberrant proliferation, in cultured hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells has been demonstrated, whether celecoxib regulates cell proliferation by targeting PRL-3-associated signaling transduction during hepatocarcinogenesis in vivo has been incompletely studied. Here, we investigate the anti-proliferative efficacy of celecoxib in a rapid HCC mouse model established by hydrodynamic transfection of activated AKT and c-Met proto-oncogenes. The results show that celecoxib is effective at delaying the malignant transformation of hepatocytes by reducing the protein expression of Ki67, Cyclin D1 and c-Myc in the AKT/c-Met HCC-bearing mice. Mechanistically, celecoxib increases the protein expression of PTEN and suppresses the protein expression of NF-κB and PRL-3 in the liver of the HCC mice. Using PTEN-silenced and LPS-stimulated approaches in vitro, a mechanism by which celecoxib regulates a PTEN/NF-κB/PRL-3 pathway in HCC cells was illuminated. Altogether, our study demonstrates that celecoxib attenuates the hepatocellular proliferative capacity during hepatocarcinogenesis, which is probably attributable to its regulation of the PTEN/NF-κB/PRL-3 pathway.

Celecoxib modulates the PTEN/NF-κB/PRL-3 pathway during hepatocarcinogenesis in vivo.