High throughput circRNA sequencing analysis reveals novel insights into the mechanism of nitidine chloride against hepatocellular carcinoma

Epigallocatechin gallate induces apoptosis in multiple myeloma cells through endoplasmic reticulum stress induction and cytoskeletal disruption

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable plasma cell malignancy that has prompted investigations into new potential therapeutic avenues. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a major component of green tea, confers antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor properties. Previous studies have shown that EGCG inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis of multiple myeloma cells, however its underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. In this study, we accordingly sought to examine the therapeutic effects and underlying mechanisms of EGCG on MM. Initially, using CCK8 (Cell Counting Kit-8) assays and Annexin V-FITC/PI staining, we demonstrated that EGCG dose-dependently reduced cell viability and induced apoptosis in the MM cell lines MM.1S and RPMI 8226. Subsequently, mRNA sequencing of EGCG-treated MM.1S cells revealed a significant upregulation of genes associated with endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS), including P-eIF2α (phosphorylation-eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 alpha), ATF4 (activating transcription factor 4), CHOP (C/EBP homologous protein, DDIT3), and PUMA (p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis, BBC3), which were confirmed at the protein level by western blotting. Furthermore, treatment with the eIF2α inhibitor ISRIB reduced the rates of EGCG-induced apoptosis and promoted increases in the protein expression of all four ER stress-related molecules in MM cells. Additionally, mRNA-seq data revealed a downregulation of α-Tubulin 1b (TUBA1B) expression in EGCG-treated MM cells, which was confirmed by western blotting and immunofluorescence analyses. Moreover, we utilized a mouse model to show that EGCG inhibited myeloma tumor growth, which was inhibited by ISRIB. In summary, the findings of this novel study indicated that EGCG promotes apoptosis of MM cells, both via activation of the ER stress pathway and disruption of cytoskeletal integrity. These findings highlight the multi-faceted anti-tumor effects of EGCG and its potential clinical application in MM treatment.

A metabolic reprogramming-related gene signature correlates with prognosis and proliferation of BLCA

Bladder cancer (BLCA) is one of the most frequent urothelium carcinoma, but with poor prognosis due to lack of reliable predictive biomarkers. Metabolic reprogramming involving in various nutrients, and is reported to be closely associated with malignant progression in BLCA. With the use of transcriptome sequencing data profiles of 349 patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas, we established a three-gene glycolysis-related signature to predict the prognosis of BLCA patients. Our signature constructed on the basis of AK3, GALK1 and NUP205 expression, detail features and interactions between these three genes were further explored. We established a nomogram by integrating clinical variables and the risk score. Glycolytic level and proliferation ability were detected to study the role and mechanisms of NUP205 on BLCA. The connections between three genes in our signature were independent. We found our signature gains more value for patients with highly malignant stage. The established nomogram also confirmed that the signature had a eligible clinically predict capacity. After inhibited NUP205 expression, we found the glycolysis level of BLCA cells decreased and proliferation ability suppressed, mainly through AMPK signaling pathway inactivation. Collectively, our study explored a three-gene glycolysis-related signature that predict the prognosis of patients with BLCA, and highlights NUP205 as a potential therapeutic target for inhibiting glycolytic processes and proliferation in BLCA cells.

circRNA-0015004 act as a ceRNA to promote RCC2 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma

Although circular RNAs (circRNA) have been demonstrated to modulate tumor initiation and progression, their roles in the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are still poorly understood. Based on the analysis of GEO data (GSE12174), hsa-circRNA-0015004 (circ-0015004) was screened and validated in 80 sets of HCC specimens. Subcellular fractionation analysis was designed to determine the cellular location of circ-0015004. Colony formation and cell counting kit-8 were performed to investigate the role of circ-0015004 in HCC. Dual-luciferase reporter gene assays, RNA immunoprecipitation and chromatin immunoprecipitation were employed to verify the interaction among circ-0015004, miR-330-3p and regulator of chromatin condensation 2 (RCC2). The expression level of circ-0015004 was significantly upregulated in HCC cell lines and HCC tissues. HCC patients with higher circ-0015004 levels displayed shorter overall survival, and higher tumor size and TNM stage. Moreover, knockdown of circ-0015004 significantly reduced HCC cell proliferation in vitro and inhibited the growth of HCC in nude mice. Mechanistic studies revealed that circ-0015004 could upregulate the expression of RCC2 by sponging miR-330-3p, thereby promoting HCC cell proliferation. Furthermore, we identified that Ying Yang 1 (YY1) could function as an important regulator of circ-0015004 transcription. This study systematically demonstrated the novel regulatory signaling of circ-0015004/miR-330-3p/RCC2 axis in promoting HCC progression, providing insight into HCC diagnosis and treatment from bench to clinic.

Identification of SLC40A1, LCN2, CREB5, and SLC7A11 as ferroptosis-related biomarkers in alopecia areata through machine learning

Alopecia areata (AA) is a common non-scarring hair loss condition driven by the collapse of immune privilege and oxidative stress. The role of ferroptosis, a type of cell death linked to oxidative stress, in AA is yet to be explored, even though it's implicated in various diseases. Using transcriptome data from AA patients and controls from datasets GSE68801 and GSE80342, we aimed to identify AA diagnostic marker genes linked to ferroptosis. We employed Single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) for immune cell infiltration evaluation. Correlations between ferroptosis-related differentially expressed genes (FRDEGs) and immune cells/functions were identified using Spearman analysis. Feature selection was done through Support vector machine-recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE) and LASSO regression models. Validation was performed using the GSE80342 dataset, followed by hierarchical internal validation. We also constructed a nomogram to assess the predictive ability of FRDEGs in AA. Furthermore, the expression and distribution of these molecules were confirmed through immunofluorescence. Four genes, namely SLC40A1, LCN2, CREB5, and SLC7A11, were identified as markers for AA. A prediction model based on these genes showed high accuracy (AUC = 0.9052). Immunofluorescence revealed reduced expression of these molecules in AA patients compared to normal controls (NC), with SLC40A1 and CREB5 showing significant differences. Notably, they were primarily localized to the outer root sheath and in proximity to the sebaceous glands. Our study identified several ferroptosis-related genes associated with AA. These findings, emerging from the integration of immune cell infiltration analysis and machine learning, contribute to the evolving understanding of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in AA. Importantly, this research lays a solid foundation for subsequent studies exploring the intricate relationship between AA and ferroptosis.

The Role of Long Noncoding RNAs in Progression of Leukemia: Based on Chromosomal Location

Long non-coding RNA [LncRNA] dysregulation has been seen in many human cancers, including several kinds of leukemia, which is still a fatal disease with a poor prognosis. LncRNAs have been demonstrated to function as tumor suppressors or oncogenes in leukemia. This study covers current research findings on the role of lncRNAs in the prognosis and diagnosis of leukemia. Based on recent results, several lncRNAs are emerging as biomarkers for the prognosis, diagnosis, and even treatment outcome prediction of leukemia and have been shown to play critical roles in controlling leukemia cell activities, such as proliferation, cell death, metastasis, and drug resistance. As a result, lncRNA profiles may have superior predictive and diagnostic potential in leukemia. Accordingly, this review concentrates on the significance of lncRNAs in leukemia progression based on their chromosomal position.

Berberine Protects Against Dihydrotestosterone-Induced Human Ovarian Granulosa Cell Injury and Ferroptosis by Regulating the Circ_0097636/MiR-186-5p/SIRT3 Pathway

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine syndrome in women of reproductive age. Berberine (BBR) is a Chinese herbal monomer that exhibits many pharmacological properties related to PCOS treatment. This study aims to analyze the effect of BBR on a cell model of PCOS and the underlying mechanism. Human ovarian granulosa (KGN) cells were treated with dihydrotestosterone (DHT) to mimic a PCOS cell model. The RNA expression of circ_0097636, miR-186-5p, and sirtuin3 (SIRT3) was determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Protein expression was detected by western blotting. Cell viability was analyzed by CCK-8 assay. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were investigated by 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay and flow cytometry assay, respectively. The levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). Fe2+ concentration was assessed by an iron assay kit. Oxidative stress was assessed by detecting reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and malondialdehyde (MDA) level using commercial kits. The association of miR-186-5p with circ_0097636 and SIRT3 was identified by dual-luciferase reporter assay and RNA pull-down assay. Circ_0097636 expression was downregulated in the follicular fluid of PCOS patients and DHT-treated KGN cells when compared with control groups. BBR treatment partially relieved the DHT-induced inhibitory effect on cell proliferation and promoted effects on cell apoptosis, inflammation, ferroptosis, and oxidative stress in KGN cells. Additionally, circ_0097636 bound to miR-186-5p, and SIRT3 was identified as a target gene of miR-186-5p in KGN cells. BBR treatment ameliorated DHT-induced KGN cell injury by upregulating circ_0097636 and SIRT3 expression and downregulating miR-186-5p expression. Moreover, circ_0097636 overexpression protected KGN cells from DHT-induced injury by increasing SIRT3 expression. BBR ameliorated DHT-induced KGN cell injury and ferroptosis by regulating the circ_0097636/miR-186-5p/SIRT3 pathway.

Nitidine chloride regulates cell function of bladder cancer in vitro through downregulating Lymphocyte antigen 75

Nitidine chloride (NC) is effective on cancer in many tumors, but its effect on bladder cancer (BC) is unknown. We conducted cell function experiments to verify the antineoplastic effect of NC on BC cell lines (5637, T24, and UM-UC-3) in vitro. Then, mRNAs of NC-treated and NC-untreated BC cells were extracted for mRNA sequencing. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs), expression analysis, and drug molecular docking were conducted to discover the target gene of NC. Finally, functional enrichment was analyzed to explore the underlying mechanisms. NC dramatically inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion, and it induced apoptosis and arrested the S and G2/M phases of BC cell lines. Lymphocyte antigen 75 (LY75) appeared to be the target of NC. LY75 was highly expressed and had the ability to distinguish BC tissue from non-cancerous tissue. Then, drug molecular docking confirmed the targeting relationship between NC and LY75. Gene enrichment analysis showed that the downregulated genes, after being treated with NC, were mainly enriched in pathways relevant to cell pathophysiological processes. NC inhibits BC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, induces apoptosis, and arrests cell cycles by downregulating the expression of LY75. This study provides molecular and theoretical bases for NC treatment of BC.

Circ_0000235 targets MCT4 to promote glycolysis and progression of bladder cancer by sponging miR-330-5p

Warburg effect plays a crucial role in bladder cancer (Bca) development. However, the mechanism by which glycolysis is involved in Bca remains poorly understood. CircRNAs commonly play a regulatory role in tumor progression. Our study discovered and identified a novel circRNA, hsa_circ_0000235 (circ235), and investigated its role in the glycolytic process, which further results in the progression of Bca. We applied qRT-PCR to assess its clinicopathological relevance and evaluated its proliferation, migration, and glycolytic capacity. We investigated its mechanism using RNA immunoprecipitation, dual-luciferase reporters, and fluorescence in situ hybridization. The findings demonstrated that circ235 was dramatically increased in Bca tissues and was related to a worse prognosis. In vitro studies revealed that circ235 accelerated the rate of extracellular acidification and promoted glucose uptake and lactate manufacture in Bca cells. Additionally, it strengthened the proliferative and migratory capacities. Experiments on animals revealed that downregulating circ235 dramatically reduced carcinogenesis and tumor growth. Circ235 activates monocarboxylate transporter 4 (MCT4) by sponging miR-330-5p, which promotes glycolysis and tumor growth. In conclusion, these findings suggest that circ235 may be a viable molecular marker and therapeutic target for Bca.

Circular RNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma: biogenesis, function, and pathology

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Both genetic and environmental factors through a multitude of underlying molecular mechanisms participate in the pathogenesis of HCC. Recently, numerous studies have shown that circular RNAs (circRNAs), an emerging class of non-coding RNAs characterized by the presence of covalent bonds linking 3' and 5' ends, play an important role in the initiation and progression of cancers, including HCC. In this review, we outline the current status of the field of circRNAs, with an emphasis on the functions and mechanisms of circRNAs in HCC and its microenvironment. We also summarize and discuss recent advances of circRNAs as biomarkers and therapeutic targets. These efforts are anticipated to throw new insights into future perspectives about circRNAs in basic, translational and clinical research, eventually advancing the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of HCC.

Molecular functions of MCM8 and MCM9 and their associated pathologies

Minichromosome Maintenance 8 Homologous Recombination Repair Factor (MCM8) and Minichromosome Maintenance 9 Homologous Recombination Repair Factor (MCM9) are recently discovered minichromosome maintenance proteins and are implicated in multiple DNA-related processes and pathologies, including DNA replication (initiation), meiosis, homologous recombination and mismatch repair. Consistent with these molecular functions, variants of MCM8/MCM9 may predispose carriers to disorders such as infertility and cancer and should therefore be included in relevant diagnostic testing. In this overview of the (patho)physiological functions of MCM8 and MCM9 and the phenotype of MCM8/MCM9 variant carriers, we explore the potential clinical implications of MCM8/MCM9 variant carriership and highlight important future directions of MCM8 and MCM9 research. With this review, we hope to contribute to better MCM8/MCM9 variant carrier management and the potential utilization of MCM8 and MCM9 in other facets of scientific research and medical care.

Anchoring super-enhancer-driven oncogenic lncRNAs for anti-tumor therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma

Super-enhancer (SE) plays a vital role in the determination of cell identity and fate. Up-regulated expression of coding genes is frequently associated with SE. However, the transcription dysregulation driven by SE, from the viewpoint of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), remains unclear. Here, SE-associated lncRNAs in HCC are comprehensively outlined for the first time. This study integrally screens and identifies several novel SE-associated lncRNAs that are highly abundant and sensitive to JQ1. Especially, HSAL3 is identified as an uncharacterized SE-driven oncogenic lncRNA, which is activated by transcription factors HCFC1 and HSF1 via its super-enhancer. HSAL3 interference negatively regulates NOTCH signaling, implying the potential mechanism of its tumor-promoting role. The expression of HSAL3 is increased in HCC samples, and higher HSAL3 expression indicates an inferior overall survival of HCC patients. Furthermore, siHSAL3 loaded nanoparticles exert anti-tumor effect on HCC in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, this is the first comprehensive survey of SE-associated lncRNAs in HCC. HSAL3 is a novel SE-driven oncogenic lncRNA, and siHSAL3 loaded nanoparticles are therapeutic candidates for HCC. This work sheds lights on the merit of anchoring SE-driven oncogenic lncRNAs for HCC treatment.

Exploring the relationship between abnormally high expression of NUP205 and the clinicopathological characteristics, immune microenvironment, and prognostic value of lower-grade glioma

Nuclear pore complex (NPC) is a major transport pivot for nucleocytoplasmic molecule exchange. Nucleoporin 205 (NUP205)-a main component of NPC-plays a key regulatory role in tumor cell proliferation; however, few reports document its effect on the pathological progression of lower-grade glioma (LGG). Therefore, we conducted an integrated analysis using 906 samples from multiple public databases to explore the effects of NUP205 on the prognosis, clinicopathological characteristics, regulatory mechanism, and tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) formation in LGG. First, multiple methods consistently showed that the mRNA and protein expression levels of NUP205 were higher in LGG tumor tissue than in normal brain tissue. This increased expression was mainly noted in the higher WHO Grade, IDH-wild type, and 1p19q non-codeleted type. Second, various survival analysis methods showed that the highly expressed NUP205 was an independent risk indicator that led to reduced survival time of patients with LGG. Third, GSEA analysis showed that NUP205 regulated the pathological progress of LGG via the cell cycle, notch signaling pathway, and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis. Ultimately, immune correlation analysis suggested that high NUP205 expression was positively correlated with the infiltration of multiple immune cells, particularly M2 macrophages, and was positively correlated with eight immune checkpoints, particularly PD-L1. Collectively, this study documented the pathogenicity of NUP205 in LGG for the first time, expanding our understanding of its molecular function. Furthermore, this study highlighted the potential value of NUP205 as a target of anti-LGG immunotherapy.

Upregulation of HCFC1 expression promoted hepatocellular carcinoma progression through inhibiting cell cycle arrest and correlated with immune infiltration

Background: Host cell factor 1 (HCFC1) was reported associated with the progression of a variety of cancers. However, its role in the prognosis and immunological characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients has not been revealed. Methods: The expression and prognostic value of HCFC1 in HCC were investigated from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset and a cohort of 150 HCC patients. The associations between HCFC1 expression with somatic mutational signature, tumor mutational burden (TMB), and microsatellite instability (MSI) were investigated. Next, the correlation of HCFC1 expression with immune cell infiltration was investigated. In vitro, cytological experiments were conducted to verify the role of HCFC1 in HCC. Results: HCFC1 mRNA and protein upregulated in HCC tissues and correlated to poor prognosis. Multivariate regression analysis based on a cohort of 150 HCC patients revealed that high HCFC1 protein expression was an independent risk factor for prognosis. Upregulation of HCFC1 expression was associated with TMB, MSI, and tumor purity. HCFC1 expression showed a significant positive association with B cell memory, T cell CD4 memory, macrophage M0, and a significant positive association with immune checkpoint-related gene expression in the tumor microenvironment. HCFC1 expression negatively correlated to ImmuneScore, EstimateScore, and StromalScore. The single-cell RNA sequencing analysis demonstrated that the malignant cells and immune cells (B cells, T cells, and macrophages) represented high HCFC1 expression in HCC tissues. Functional analysis revealed that HCFC1 was remarkably correlated with cell cycle signaling. HCFC1 knockdown inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion capacity while promoting the apoptosis of HCC cells. At the same time, the cell-cycle-related proteins such as Cyclin D1 (CCND1), Cyclin A2 (CCNA2), cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4), and cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (CDK6) were downregulated. Conclusion: Upregulation of HCFC1 predicted undesirable prognosis of HCC patients and promoted tumor progression through inhibiting cell cycle arrest.

Targeting ABCB6 with nitidine chloride inhibits PI3K/AKT signaling pathway to promote ferroptosis in multiple myeloma

Since multiple myeloma (MM) remains a cureless malignancy of plasma cells to date, it becomes imperative to develop novel drugs and therapeutic targets for MM. We screened a small molecule library comprising 3633 natural product drugs, which demonstrated that Nitidine Chloride (NC), an extract from traditional Chinese medicine Zanthoxylum nitidum. We used Surface Plasmon Resonance-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Protein Mass Spectrometry (SPR-HPLC-MS), Cellular Thermal Shift Assay (CETSA), molecular docking, and SPR assay to identify the potential targets of NC, in which ABCB6 was the unique target of NC. The effects of ABCB6 on cellular proliferation and drug resistance were determined by CCK8, western blot, flow cytometry, site-mutation cells, transmission electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry staining and xenograft model in vitro and in vivo. NC induced MM cell death by promoting ferroptosis. ABCB6 is the direct target of NC. ABCB6 expression was increased in MM samples compared to normal controls, which was significantly associated with MM relapse and poor outcomes. VGSK was the inferred binding epitope of NC on the ABCB6 protein. In the ABCB6-mutated MM cells, NC did not display cancer resistance, implying the vital role of ABCB6 in NC's bioactivity. Moreover, the silencing of ABCB6 significantly inhibited MM cell growth. Mechanistically, the direct binding of NC to ABCB6 suppressed PI3K/AKT signaling pathway to promote ferroptosis. In conclusion, ABCB6 can be a potential therapeutic target and prognostic biomarker in MM, while NC can be considered a novel drug for MM treatment.

Nitidine chloride induces cardiac hypertrophy in mice by targeting autophagy-related 4B cysteine peptidase

Nitidine chloride (NC) is a standard active component from the traditional Chinese medicine Zanthoxylum nitidum (Roxb.) DC. (ZN). NC has shown a variety of pharmacological activities including anti-tumor activity. As a number of anti-tumor drugs cause cardiotoxicity, herein we investigated whether NC exerted a cardiotoxic effect and the underlying mechanism. Aqueous extract of ZN (ZNE) was intraperitoneally injected into rats, while NC was injected into beagles and mice once daily for 4 weeks. Cardiac function was assessed using echocardiography. We showed that both ZNE administered in rats and NC administered in mice induced dose-dependent cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction, whereas administration of NC at the middle and high dose caused death in Beagles. Consistently, we observed a reduction of cardiac autophagy levels in NC-treated mice and neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes. Furthermore, we demonstrated that autophagy-related 4B cysteine peptidase (ATG4B) may be a potential target of NC, since overexpression of ATG4B reversed the cardiac hypertrophy and reduced autophagy levels observed in NC-treated mice. We conclude that NC induces cardiac hypertrophy via ATG4B-mediated downregulation of autophagy in mice. Thus, this study provides guidance for the safe clinical application of ZN and the use of NC as an anti-tumor drug.

Highly expressed carbohydrate sulfotransferase 11 correlates with unfavorable prognosis and immune evasion of hepatocellular carcinoma

Despite great advance has been made in multi-modality treatments for HCC patients, the effectiveness is far from satisfactory with worse survival outcome, which may be partly explainable by the anti-tumor deficiency of the immune system. It is necessary to clarify the molecular mechanism of HCC immunodeficiency. Here, we demonstrated that carbohydrate sulfotransferase 11 (CHST11) was upregulated in HCC and related to advanced TNM stage. HCC patients with TP53 mutation showed higher CHST11 expression. Survival analysis revealed that CHST11 was an independent prognostic biomarker in HCC. Cellular functional experiments indicated that knockdown of CHST11 in HCC inhibited cell proliferation and metastasis. Gene functional enrichment analyses indicated that CHST11 modulated pathways related to tumor growth, metastasis and immune regulation. Continuative immune-related analyses revealed that CHST11 expression facilitated Tregs infiltration in HCC and promoted the expression of checkpoints PD-L1/PD-1, resulting in the immunosuppression of HCC. Targeting CHST11 may inhibit Tregs infiltration and enhance the antineoplastic effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors, which provides a novel insight into the combination immunotherapy with Treg-modulating agents and PD-L1/PD-1 inhibitors.

The clinical significance and mechanism of microRNA-22-3p targeting TP53 in lung adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND

At present, studies on MircoRNA-22-3p (miR-22-3p) in lung adenocarcinoma use a single method, lack multi-center validation and multi-method validation, and there is no big data concept to predict and validate target genes.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the expression, potential targets and clinicopathological significance of miR-22-3p in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) tissues.

METHODS

LUAD formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumors and adjacent normal lung tissues were collected for real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Collect miR-22-3p in LUAD and non-cancer lung tissue from high-throughput datasets, standardized mean difference (SMD) and area under the curve (AUC) of the comprehensive receiver operating curve (summary receiver operating characteristic cure, sROC curve) were calculated. Cell function experiments on A549 cells transfected with LV-hsa-miR-22-3p. Target genes were predicted by the miRwalk2.0 website and the resulting target genes were subjected to Gene Ontology (GO) pathway enrichment analysis and constructed to protein-protein interaction network. Finally, the protein expression level of the key gene TP53 was validated by searching The Human Protein Atlas (THPA) database to incorporate TP53 immunohistochemical results in LUAD.

RESULTS

RT-qPCR result from 41 pairs of LUAD and adjacent lung tissues showed that miR-22-3p was downregulated in LUAD (AUC = 0.6597, p= 0.0128). Globally, a total of 838 LUADs and 494 non-cancerous lung tissues were included, and were finally combined into 14 platforms. Compared with noncancerous tissue, miR-22-3p expression level was significantly reduced in LUAD tissue (SMD =-0.32, AUC = 0.72l); cell function experiments showed that miR-22-3p has inhibitory effects on cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and has promotion effect on apoptosis. Moreover, target genes prediction, GO pathway enrichment analysis and PPI network exhibited TP53 as a key gene of target gene of miR-22-3p; at last, a total of 114 high-throughput datasets were included, including 3897 LUADs and 2993 non-cancerous lung tissues, and were finally combined into 37 platforms. Compared with noncancerous tissue, TP53 expression level was significantly increased in LUAD (SMD = 0.39, p< 0.01) and it was verified by the protein expression data from THPA.

CONCLUSION

Overexpression of miR-22-3p may inhibit LUAD cell proliferation, migration and invasion through TP53, and promote cell apoptosis.

Tubulin Alpha-1b as a Potential Biomarker for Lung Adenocarcinoma Diagnosis and Prognosis

Background: Because lung cancer is the main cause of cancer deaths and lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) accounts for more than 40% of all lung malignancies, it is essential to develop clinically useful biomarkers for the disease. The aim of this investigation is to assess the potential application of tubulin alpha-1b (TUBA1B) as a biomarker for diagnosing and monitoring the outcome of LUAD. Methods: The clinical data of the LUAD patients was retrospectively analyzed. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis of a tissue microarray containing 90 LUAD cases was implemented to examine the expression of TUBA1B. The protein and mRNA levels of TUBA1B in serum were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis respectively. UALCAN was employed to confirm the expression levels and survival probability of TUBA1B in LUAD patients. Results: Compared to adjacent non-cancerous tissues in the microarray, the expression of TUBA1B in LUAD tissues was much higher. The expression of TUBA1B in LUAD was statistically correlated with lymph node status (P = .031). Moreover, patients with higher TUBA1B expression had shorter overall survival (P < .0001). Furthermore, cox multi-factor analysis also suggested that TUBA1B may be an independent predictor for LUAD prognosis (P = .030). The results of TCGA data analysis by UALCAN were consistent with the microarray results, except for that TUBA1B was also significantly correlated with clinical tumor stages. Protein levels of TUBA1B in serum were obviously elevated in LUAD patients than control (P < .0001), and the area under the ROC curve was 0.99. TUBA1B also showed better sensitivity of 92.9% for LUAD than common clinical biomarkers. Conclusion: TUBA1B may be a non-invasive prognostic and diagnostic biomarker for LUAD patients.

The expression characteristics and clinical significance of ACP6, a potential target of nitidine chloride, in hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Acid phosphatase type 6 (ACP6) is a mitochondrial lipid phosphate phosphatase that played a role in regulating lipid metabolism and there is still blank in the clinico-pathological significance and functional roles of ACP6 in human cancers. No investigations have been conducted on ACP6 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) up to date.

METHODS

Herein, we appraised the clinico-pathological significance of ACP6 in HCC via organizing expression profiles from globally multi-center microarrays and RNA-seq datasets. The molecular basis of ACP6 in HCC was explored through multidimensional analysis. We also carried out in vitro and in vivo experiment on nude mice to investigate the effect of knocking down ACP6 expression on biological functions of HCC cells, and to evaluate the expression variance of ACP6 in xenograft of HCC tissues before and after the treatment of NC.

RESULTS

ACP6 displayed significant overexpression in HCC samples (standard mean difference (SMD) = 0.69, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.56-0.83) and up-regulated ACP6 performed well in screening HCC samples from non-cancer liver samples. ACP6 expression was also remarkably correlated with clinical progression and worse overall survival of HCC patients. There were close links between ACP6 expression and immune cells including B cells, CD8 + T cells and naive CD4 + T cells. Co-expressed genes of ACP6 mainly participated in pathways including cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, glucocorticoid receptor pathway and NABA proteoglycans. The proliferation and migration rate of HCC cells transfected with ACP6 siRNA was significantly suppressed compared with those transfected with negative control siRNA. ACP6 expression was significantly inhibited by nitidine chloride (NC) in xenograft HCC tissues.

CONCLUSIONS

ACP6 expression may serve as novel clinical biomarker indicating the clinical development of HCC and ACP6 might be potential target of anti-cancer effect by NC in HCC.

Comprehensive analysis of the expression profile and clinical implications of regulator of chromosome condensation 2 in pan-cancers

The Regulator of Chromosome Condensation 2 (RCC2) is an important gene that regulates mitosis and cytoplasmic division in the cell cycle. Although there have been reported in several individual tumors, an integrative analysis of RCC2 and its clinical significance across diverse cancer types is poorly elucidated. In this study, we performed integrative bioinformatics analyses to profile the expression landscape and assess the prognostic value of RCC2 in pan-cancers. Correlations between RCC2 expression and tumor-infiltrating immune cells, tumor mutation burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), chemokine and their receptors were analyzed using TCGA, ESTIMATE algorithm, and TISIDB database. We also explored the potential molecular functions of RCC2 through functional enrichment analysis and protein interaction networks. We discovered that RCC2 was highly expressed in various tumor tissues and was closely associated with cancer prognosis. Different RCC2-associated immune infiltration patterns were exhibited in different tumor-infiltrating immune cells. In addition, the RCC2 had a potential role in regulating the tumor immune microenvironment and the formation of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Meanwhile, RCC2 showed a significant correlation with TMB, MSI, chemokines and their receptors in different tumor types. The role of RCC2 as a clinical therapeutic target was further revealed from the perspective of the immune microenvironment. In conclusion, RCC2 is closely associated with tumorigenesis and cancer-immune infiltration, and could be a promising prognostic and therapeutic biomarker in diverse cancers.

Nitidine chloride, a benzophenanthridine alkaloid from Zanthoxylum nitidum (Roxb.) DC., exerts multiple beneficial properties, especially in tumors and inflammation-related diseases

Plant-derived alkaloids are a kind of very important natural organic compounds. Nitidine chloride is one of the main active ingredients in Zanthoxylum nitidum (Roxb.) DC. which is a frequently-used Chinese herbal medicine. Z. nitidum has many kinds of efficacy, such as activating blood circulation and removing stasis, promoting qi circulation and relieving pain, and detoxication and detumescence. In China, Z. nitidum is usually used for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, toothache, and traumatic injury. At present, there are numerous studies of nitidine chloride with regard to its pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, etc. However, a systematic, cutting-edge review of nitidine-related studies is extremely lacking. The present paper aimed at comprehensively summarizing the information on the extraction, separation and purification, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, toxicology and formulation of nitidine chloride. The knowledge included in the present study were searched from the following academic databases involving Web of Science, PubMed, Google scholar, Elsevier, CNKI and Wanfang Data, till July 2022. In terms of nitidine chloride extraction, enzymatic method and ultrasonic method are recommended. Resin adsorption and chromatography were usually used for the separation and purification of nitidine chloride. Nitidine chloride possesses diversified therapeutical effects, such as anti-tumor, anti-inflammation, anti-colitis, anti-malaria, anti-osteoporosis, anti-rheumatoid and so on. According to pharmacokinetics, the intestinal absorption of nitidine chloride is passive diffusion, and it is rarely excreted with urine and feces in the form of prototype drug. Nitidine chloride has a moderate binding to plasma protein, which is independent of the drug concentration. As to toxicology, nitidine chloride showed certain toxicity on liver, kidney and heart. Certain new formulations, such as nanoparticle, microsphere and nano-micelle, could increase the therapeutic effect and decrease the toxicity of nitidine chloride. Despite limitations such as poor solubility, low bioavailability and certain toxicity, nitidine chloride is still a promising natural alkaloid for drug candidates. Extensive and intensive exploration on nitidine chloride is essential to promote the usage of nitidine-based drugs in the clinic practice.

Circ007071 Inhibits Unsaturated Fatty Acid Synthesis by Interacting with miR-103-5p to Enhance PPARγ Expression in the Dairy Goat Mammary Gland

Understanding more precisely the mechanisms controlling the metabolism of fatty acid in the mammary gland of dairy goats is essential for future improvements in milk quality. Particularly since recent data have underscored a key role for circular RNAs (circRNAs) in the mammary gland function, high-throughput sequencing technology was used to identify expression levels of circRNAs in the mammary tissue of dairy goats during early and peak lactation in the present study. Compared with early lactation, results demonstrated that the expression level of circ007071 during peak lactation was 12.02-fold up-regulated. Subsequent studies in goat mammary epithelial cells (GMECs) revealed that circ007071 stimulated the synthesis of triglycerides (TAG) and cholesterol, as well as increased the content of saturated fatty acids (C16:0 and C18:0). More importantly, using a double luciferase reporting system allowed us to detect the circ007071 sequence at a binding site of miR-103-5p, indicating that it targeted this miRNA. Overexpression of circ007071 significantly decreased the abundance of miR-103-5p and led to inhibition of TAG synthesis. In contrast, the abundance of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), a target gene of miR-103-5p, was reinforced with the overexpression of circ007071. Thus, we conclude that one key function of circ007071 in the regulation of milk fat synthesis is to attenuate the inhibitory effect of miR-103-5p on PPARγ via direct interactions with miRNA. As a result, the process of TAG and saturated fatty acid is able to proceed.

A Novel and Robust Prognostic Model for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Based on Enhancer RNAs-Regulated Genes

Evidence has demonstrated that enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) play a vital role in the progression and prognosis of cancers, but few studies have focused on the prognostic ability of eRNA-regulated genes (eRGs) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Using gene expression profiles of HCC patients from the TCGA-LIHC and eRNA expression profiles from the enhancer RNA in cancers (eRic) data portal, we developed a novel and robust prognostic signature composed of 10 eRGs based on Lasso-penalized Cox regression analysis. According to the signature, HCC patients were stratified into high- and low-risk groups, which have been shown to have significant differences in tumor immune microenvironment, immune checkpoints, HLA-related genes, DNA damage repair-related genes, Gene-set variation analysis (GSVA), and the lower half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of Sorafenib. The prognostic nomogram combining the signature, age, and TNM stage had good predictive ability in the training set (TCGA-LIHC) with the concordance index (C-index) of 0.73 and the AUCs for 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS of 0.82, 0.77, 0.74, respectively. In external validation set (GSE14520), the nomogram also performed well with the C-index of 0.71 and the AUCs for 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS of 0.74, 0.77, 0.74, respectively. In addition, an important eRG (AKR1C3) was validated using two HCC cell lines (Huh7 and MHCC-LM3) in vitro, and the results demonstrated the overexpression of AKR1C3 is related to cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in HCC. Altogether, our eRGs signature and nomogram can predict prognosis accurately and conveniently, facilitate individualized treatment, and improve prognosis for HCC patients.

Targeting the COP9 signalosome for cancer therapy

The COP9 signalosome (CSN) is a highly conserved protein complex composed of 8 subunits (CSN1 to CSN8). The individual subunits of the CSN play essential roles in cell proliferation, tumorigenesis, cell cycle regulation, DNA damage repair, angiogenesis, and microenvironmental homeostasis. The CSN complex has an intrinsic metalloprotease that removes the ubiquitin-like activator NEDD8 from cullin-RING ligases (CRLs). Binding of neddylated CRLs to CSN is sensed by CSN4 and communicated to CSN5 with the assistance of CSN6, thus leading to the activation of deneddylase. Therefore, CSN is a crucial regulator at the intersection between neddylation and ubiquitination in cancer progression. Here, we summarize current understanding of the roles of individual CSN subunits in cancer progression. Furthermore, we explain how the CSN affects tumorigenesis through regulating transcription factors and the cell cycle. Finally, we discuss individual CSN subunits as potential therapeutic targets to provide new directions and strategies for cancer therapy.

Depleting circ_0088364 restrained cell growth and motility of human hepatocellular carcinoma via circ_0088364-miR-1270-COL4A1 ceRNA pathway

Circular RNA hsa_circ_0088364 (circ_0088364) is a contributory factor in the malignancy of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to elaborate its role and competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) mechanism in HCC cell growth and motility. Expression of circ_0088364, microRNA (miR)-1270 and Collagen type IV alpha 1 chain (COL4A1) was measured by real-time quantitative PCR and Western blotting, and their relationships were determined by dual-luciferase reporter assay, RNA immunoprecipitation, biotinylated RNA pull-down, and Spearman's rank correlation analysis. Cellular programs were measured by cell counting kit-8 assay, flow cytometry and transwell assays, Western blotting, and xenograft experiment. Expression of circ_0088364 and COL4A1 was upregulated, and miR-1270 was downregulated in HCC patients' tumors; moreover, there were linear correlations among circ_0088364, miR-1270, and COL4A1 expression. Essentially, circ_0088364 and COL4A1 were ceRNAs for miR-1270 via target binding. In function, silencing circ_0088364 or upregulating miR-1270 could suppress cell proliferation, cell cycle entrance, transwell migration and invasion in Huh7 and HCCLM3 cells, as well as promote apoptosis rate. Moreover, above-mentioned effects were accompanied with reduced B-cell lymphoma (Bcl)-2, N-cadherin and Vimentin levels, and elevated Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) and E-cadherin levels. Contrarily, exhausting miR-1270 and restoring COL4A1 could severally abrogate the tumor-suppressive roles of circ_0088364 knockdown and miR-1270 overexpression in HCC cells in vitro. In vivo, silencing circ_0088364 retarded xenograft tumor growth in nude mice induced by Huh7 cells by upregulating miR-1270 and downregulating COL4A1. Blocking circ_0088364 suppressed HCC by inhibiting cell growth and motility via targeting miR-1270-COL4A1 axis.

The expression of circ_0090049 in hepatocellular carcinoma and the molecular regulation mechanism of other biological functions

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in liver cancer. Circular RNA_0090049 (circ_0090049) has been shown to be involved in the advance of HCC. However, the interaction between circ_0090049 and microRNA (miRNA) in HCC has not been studied. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to detect the expression of related genes. Through detection of cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and rate of tumor sphere formation, the capping experiment was carried out to verify the regulatory relationship between miRNA and circ_0090049 or circ_0090049 and ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 T (UBE2T). The expression of related proteins was detected by Western blotting. The interaction of miRNA with circ_0090049 or UBE2T was notarized by Dual-luciferase reporter assay. Xenotransplantation experiments confirmed the function of circ_0090049 in vivo. Circ_0090049 and UBE2T were upregulated in liver cancer. Silencing circ_0090049 reduced the proliferation, migration, invasion, and tumor spheroid formation rate of Huh7 and HCCLM3 cells. MiR-605-5p and miR-548c-3p were identified as targets of circ_0090049, and UBE2T was the target of miR-605-5p and miR-548c-3p. Anti-miR-605-5p, anti-miR-548c-3p or UBE2T overexpression restored the inhibitory effect of circ_0090049 knockdown on HCC cells. Animal experiments confirmed the antitumor effect of silence circ_0090049. Circ_0090049 regulates the expression of UBE2T by regulating miR-605-5p or miR-548c-3p, thereby promoting the development of HCC cells.

Update and New Insights on Future Cancer Drug Candidates From Plant-Based Alkaloids

Cancer is a complex multifactorial disease that results from alterations in many physiological and biochemical functions. Over the last few decades, it has become clear that cancer cells can acquire multidrug resistance to conventional anticancer drugs, resulting in tumor relapse. Thus, there is a continuous need to discover new and effective anticancer drugs. Natural products from plants have served as a primary source of cancer drugs and continue to provide new plant-derived anticancer drugs. The present review describes plant-based alkaloids, which have been reported as active or potentially active in cancer treatment within the past 4 years (2017-2020), both in preclinical research and/or in clinical trials. In addition, recent insights into the possible molecular mechanism of action of alkaloid prodrugs naturally present in plants are also highlighted.

PRRC2A Promotes Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression and Associates with Immune Infiltration

Purpose

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has high morbidity and poor prognosis due to the propensity of recurrence and metastasis. Emerging studies have confirmed that proline-rich coiled-coil2A (PRRC2A) plays a crucial role in tumorigenesis and immunoregulation. However, its expression status and biological functions in HCC remain poorly documented.

Methods

The presence and prognostic value of PRRC2A were determined by a tissue microarray (TMA) cohort and multiple databases, mainly from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC). Functional enrichment analysis was applied to identify the mechanisms of PRRC2A in HCC. The biological function of PRRC2A in HCC progression in vitro was determined by CCK-8, colony formation, EdU, transwell migration and invasion assays. Moreover, the Estimation of STromal and Immune cells in Malignant Tumor tissues using Expression data (ESTIMATE), single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA), tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) algorithms, immunophenoscore (IPS) and public available immunotherapy cohorts were performed to classify their associations with tumor-infiltrating immune cells and immunotherapy.

Results

PRRC2A was upregulated in HCC at both mRNA and protein levels. High PRRC2A expression was correlated with poor prognosis and could be an independent risk factor. Functional enrichment analysis demonstrated that elevated PRRC2A was significantly correlated with the activation of various oncogenic pathways. Additionally, in vitro experiments confirmed that silencing PRRC2A could suppress the proliferation and metastasis capacities of HCC cells. More importantly, PRRC2A was negatively associated with many anti-tumor immune cells, but positively related to the expression of markers of exhaustive T cells. And HCC patients with high PRRC2A were more likely to be nonresponsive to immunotherapy.

Conclusion

This study explored the predictive value and biological roles of PRRC2A in HCC progression and indicated that it might be a potential biomarker for HCC patients and a predictor for immunotherapy.

miR-1229-3p as a Prognostic Predictor Facilitates Cell Viability, Migration, and Invasion of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains one of the most prevalent human malignancies with high mortality. Increasing studies have revealed microRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial roles in the tumorigenesis and progression of cancers. The current study investigated the expression levels of miR-1229-3p and its potential role in HCC. This study enrolled 121 HCC patients. The expression of miR-1229-3p was measured using RT-qPCR in HCC tissue samples and cell lines. The association of miR-1229-3p expression with clinical parameters and patients' prognosis was analyzed by χ² test, Kaplan-Meier, and multivariate Cox regression analyses, respectively. The functions of miR-1229-3p in HCC cells were explored by CCK-8 assay, Transwell migration, and invasion assays. miR-1229-3p was upregulated in HCC tissue samples and cell lines. The upregulation of miR-1229-3p was related to positive lymph node metastasis and advanced TNM stages and predicted with patients' poor prognosis. Overexpression of miR-1229-3p facilitated cell viability and metastasis of HCC cells while knockdown of miR-1229-3p suppressed cell viability and metastasis of HCC cells in vitro. miR-1229-3p may function as an oncogenic role in HCC via promoting cell viability and metastasis. Moreover, miR-1229-3p may be a predictive marker for tumor development and prognosis of HCC patients.

Nitidine chloride inhibits fibroblast like synoviocytes-mediated rheumatoid synovial inflammation and joint destruction by targeting KCNH1

OBJECTIVE

Nitidine chloride (NC), a natural small molecular compound from traditional Chinese herbal medicine zanthoxylum nitidum, has been shown to exhibit anti-tumor effect. However, its role in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is unknown. Here, we investigate the effect of NC in controlling fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS)-mediated synovial inflammation and joint destruction in RA and further explore its underlying mechanism(s).

METHODS

FLSs were separated from synovial tissues obtained from patients with RA. Protein expression was analyzed by Western blot or immunohistochemistry. Gene expression was measured using quantitative RT-PCR. ELISA was used to measure the levels of cytokines and MMPs. Cell proliferation was detected using EdU incorporation. Migration and invasion were evaluated by Boyden chamber assay. RNA sequencing analysis was used to identify the target of NC. Collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model was used to evaluate the in vivo effect of NC.

RESULTS

NC treatment reduced the proliferation, migration, invasion, and lamellipodia formation but not apoptosis of RA FLSs. We also demonstrated the inhibitory effect of NC on TNF-α-induced expression and secretion of IL-6, IL-8, CCL-2, MMP-1 and MMP-13. Furthermore, we identified KCNH1, a gene that encodes ether-à-go-go-1 channel, as a novel targeting gene of NC in RA FLSs. KCNH1 expression was increased in FLSs and synovial tissues from patients with RA compared to healthy controls. KCNH1 knockdown or NC treatment decreased the TNF-α-induced phosphorylation of AKT. Interestingly, NC treatment ameliorated the severity of arthritis and reduced synovial KCNH1 expression in mice with CIA.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data demonstrate that NC treatment inhibits aggressive and inflammatory actions of RA FLSs by targeting KCNH1 and sequential inhibition of AKT phosphorylation. Our findings suggest that NC might control FLS-mediated rheumatoid synovial inflammation and joint destruction, and be a novel therapeutic agent for RA.

Natural products targeting cancer cell dependency

Precision cancer medicine is a tailored treatment approach for individual cancer patients with different genomic characteristics. Mutated or hyperactive oncogenes have served as main drug targets in current precision cancer medicine, while defective or inactivated tumor suppressors in general have not been considered as druggable targets. Synthetic lethality is one of very few approaches that enable to target defective tumor suppressors with pharmacological agents. Synthetic lethality exploits cancer cell dependency on a protein or pathway, which arises when the function of a tumor suppressor is defective. This approach has been proven to be effective in clinical settings since the successful clinical introduction of BRCA-PARP synthetic lethality for the treatment of breast and ovarian cancer with defective BRCA. Subsequently, large-scale screenings with RNAi, CRISPR/Cas9-sgRNAs, and chemical libraries have been applied to identify synthetic lethal partners of tumor suppressors. Natural products are an important source for the discovery of pharmacologically active small molecules. However, little effort has been made in the discovery of synthetic lethal small molecules from natural products. This review introduces recent advances in the discovery of natural products targeting cancer cell dependency and discusses potentials of natural products in the precision cancer medicine.

Identification of Enzalutamide Resistance-Related circRNA-miRNA-mRNA Regulatory Networks in Patients with Prostate Cancer

Purpose

This study aimed to identify enzalutamide resistant-related (EnzR-related) circRNAs and to characterize and validate circRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA regulatory network and corresponding prognostic signature of prostate cancer patients.

Methods

We obtained circRNA expression microarray from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and performed differential expression analysis to identify EnzR-related circRNAs using the limma package. The miRNA and mRNA expression profiling were downloaded and performed differential expression analysis, then overlapped with predicted candidates. Next, we established circRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network and PPI network utilized Cytoscape software and STRING database, respectively. In addition, univariate and Lasso Cox regression analyses were applied to generate a prognostic signature. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and Kaplan–Meier analysis were used to evaluate the reliability and sensitivity of the signature. Ultimately, we chose hsa_circ_0047641 to validate the feasibility of the EnzR-related ceRNA regulatory pathway using qRT-PCR, CCK8 and Transwell assays.

Results

We identified 13 EnzR-related circRNAs and constructed a ceRNA regulatory network that contained two downregulated circRNAs (has-circ-00000919 and has-circ-0000036) and two upregulated circRNAs (has-circ-0047641 and has-circ-0068697), and their sponged 6 miRNAs and 167 targeted mRNAs. Subsequently, these targeted mRNAs were performed to implement PPI analysis and to identify 10 Hub genes. Functional enrichment analysis provided new ways to seek potential biological functions. Besides, we established a prognostic signature of PCa patients based on 8 prognostic-associated mRNAs. We confirmed that the survival rates of PCa patients with high-risk subgroup were slightly lower than those with low-risk subgroup in the TCGA dataset (p<0.001), and ROC curves revealed that the AUC value for prognostic signature was 0.816. Finally, the functional analysis suggested that knockdown of hsa_circ_0047641 could inhibit the progression of PCa and could reverse Enz-resistance in vitro.

Conclusion

We identified 13 EnzR-related circRNAs, and constructed and confirmed that EnzR-related circRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network and corresponding prognostic signature could be a useful prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target.

CircC16orf62 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression through the miR-138-5p/PTK2/AKT axis

Circular RNA (circRNAs) functions vital in the pathogenesis and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the expressions and functions of certain circRNAs on metastasis and proliferation of that cancer is still unclear. Bioinformation analysis and qRT-PCR indicated that CircC16orf62 was prominent upregulated in HCC of which the expression level was positively associated to cancer’s malignant progression. Gain or loss-of-function studies indicated that the reduction of CircC16orf62 expression promotes the proliferation, invasion, and glycolysis of HCC in vitro and in vivo. The bioinformatic analysis found that miR-138-5p and PTK2 were the downstream target of CircC16or62. Then, the FISH(Fluorescence immunoin situ hybridization) and cell nucleoplasmic separation determined that CircC16orf62 located in the cell cytoplasm. Plasmid vectors or siRNAs were used to change the expression of CircC16orf62, miR-138-5p, and PTK2 in PC cell lines. CircC16orf62 functioned as a molecular sponge for miR-138-5p, and a competitive endogenous RNA for PTK2, promoting AKT/mTOR pathway activation. Our observations lead us to conclude that CircC16orf62 functions as an oncogene in HCC progression, behaving as a competitive endogenous RNA for miR-138-5p binding, thus activating the AKT/mTOR pathway. In conclusion, CircC16orf62 is an oncogene through the miR-138-5p/PTK2/Akt axis in HCC cells, indicating CircC16orf62 can be a therapeutic target with potentiality for liver cancer and a predictive marker for people with HCC.

The role of circular RNAs in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a group of regulatory non-coding transcripts, which partake in the pathobiology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Numerous micro-array based investigations have discovered aberrant expression of circRNAs in HCC samples in comparison with para-cancerous sections. Furthermore, a number of in vitro and in vivo experimentations have aimed at understanding the molecular pathways of circRNAs contribution in the evolution of HCC. CircRNAs have interplay with a number of transcription factors such as ZEB1 that possibly mediates the effects of these transcripts in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Moreover, circRNAs functionally interact with miRNAs. CircRNA_0000502/ miR-124, circ_0001955/ miR-145-5p, circ_0001955/ miR-516a-5p and hsa_circ_0001955/miR-145-5p are examples of such interactions in the context of HCC. CircRNAs not only predict the course of HCC, but also, they can differentiate HCC samples from non-malignant liver tissues. In this review article, we have provided an inclusive summary of researches that quantified circRNAs profile in HCC. We also provide evidence for application of circRNAs as HCC biomarkers.

CircRNAs: role in human diseases and potential use as biomarkers

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of endogenous RNAs characterized by a covalent loop structure. In comparison to other types of RNAs, the abundance of circRNAs is relatively low but due to the circular configuration, their stability is very high. In addition, circRNAs display high degree of tissue specificity. The sponging activity of circRNAs toward microRNAs is the best-described mode of action of circRNAs. However, the ability of circRNAs to bind with specific proteins, as well as to encode short proteins, propose alternative functions. This review introduces the biogenesis of circRNAs and summarizes the roles played by circRNAs in human diseases. These include examples of their functional roles in several organ-specific cancers, such as head and neck and breast and lung cancers. In addition, we review potential functions of circRNAs in diabetes, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases. Recently, a growing number of studies have demonstrated involvement of circRNAs in a wide spectrum of signaling molecular pathways, but at the same time many different and controversial views on circRNAs role and function are emerging. We conclude by offering cellular homeostasis generated by networks comprising circular RNAs, other non-coding RNAs and RNA-binding proteins. Accordingly, it is predictable that circRNAs, due to their highly stable nature and remarkable tissue specificity, will emerge as reliable biomarkers of disease course and treatment efficacy.

Down-regulation of microRNA-125b-2-3p is a risk factor for a poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of mortality in cancer patients, but the association between miR-125b-2-3p and the onset and prognosis of HCC has not been reported in previous studies; thus, the clinicopathological implications of miR-125b-2-3p in HCC require elaboration. To examine the expression of miR-125b-2-3p in HCC, both in-house RT-qPCR and public datasets were used to calculate the standard mean difference (SMD) and the summary receiver operating characteristic (sROC). MiR-125b-2-3p was markedly lower in HCC than in non-tumor tissue as assessed by the in-house RT-qPCR which was confirmed by the integrative analysis showing the SMD being -0.69 and the area under the curve (AUC) being 0.84 based on 1,233 cases of HCC and 630 cases of non-HCC controls. To gain a overview of the clinical value of miR-125b-2-3p in HCC, all possible datasets were integrated, and lower miR-125b-2-3p levels could lead to poorer differentiation and a more advanced clinical stage of HCC. The hazard ratio (HR) of miR-125b-2-3p was also calculated using a Cox proportional hazards model, and the miR-125b-2-3p level could act as an protective indication for the survival with the HR being 0.74 based on 586 cases of HCC. Furthermore, the effect of nitidine chloride (NC), a natural bioactive phytochemical alkaloid, on the regulation of miR-125b-2-3p and its potential targets was also investigated. The miR-125b-2-3p level was increased after NC treatment, while the expression of its potential target PRKCA was reduced. Above all, a low-expressed level of miR-125b-2-3p plays a tumor suppressive role in HCC.

Effects of Berberine on Circular RNA Expression Profiles in Human Gastric Cancer Cells

Background

Berberine has been demonstrated to have anticancer effects against gastric cancer (GC), but the mechanism of these actions is unclear.

Objectives

To explore the impact of berberine on circular RNA (circRNA) expression profiles in GC and investigate the potential molecular mechanisms associated with circRNAs in GC.

Methods

AGS and HGC27 GC cells were treated with various concentrations of berberine. Cell viability was measured using a Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Cell proliferation was measured using a cell colony formation assay. Cell apoptosis was measured using flow cytometry. The mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) was determined using a JC-1 probe. RNA-seq was performed to identify circRNA expression profiles in AGS cells after berberine treatment. Selected differentially expressed (DE) circRNAs were verified using RT-qPCR. Bioinformatics analysis was performed to predict target miRNAs and mRNAs and construct a circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network. Pathway and process enrichment analyses were performed to explore the potential biological roles of DE circRNAs.

Results

Berberine decreased GC cell viability, cell proliferation, and Δψm and induced cell apoptosis. Thirty-one DE circRNAs were identified in the berberine-treated group compared to the control group, among which circRNA2499, hsa_circ_0003423, and hsa_circ_0006702 were validated using RT-qPCR. Enrichment analyses, based on the host genes of these 31 DE circRNAs and putative target mRNAs in the circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network of the validated circRNAs, indicated that berberine exerts anti-GC effects in multiple pathways including the Notch, MAPK, and NF-κB signaling pathways via specific circRNAs.

Conclusion

This study elucidated the expression profile of circRNAs in human GC cells after berberine treatment. Our results demonstrate that berberine has the potential to influence cancer-related pathways by regulating circRNA expression and their corresponding target genes in GC cells.

Circular RNA circSIPA1L1 Contributes to Osteosarcoma Progression Through the miR-411-5p/RAB9A Signaling Pathway

Recently, various studies have identified circular RNAs (circRNAs) to play a significant role in tumorigenesis, thereby showing potential as novel tumor biomarkers. circSIPA1L1 is a newly discoveredcircular RNA, which is formed by back-splicing of SIPA1L1 and is found increased in osteosarcoma (OS). Nevertheless, the specific functions of circSIPA1L1 in OS remain unknown. In the present study, circSIPA1L1 was obtained from a previously reported circRNA microarray in the GEO database (GSE96964). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was employed to assess the mRNA level of circSIPA1L1 in OS cell lines and tissue samples. Bioinformatics analysis, luciferase reporter assays, real-time PCR, RNA pull-down assays and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) were employed to verify the binding of circSIPA1L1 with miR-411-5p. Xenograft tumor models were established to identify the role of circSIPA1L1 in vivo. A series of in vitro experiments, such as western blotting, colony formation, transwell assays and anoikis assay were employed to confirm the relationship across circSIPA1L1, miR-411-5p, and RAB9A. Our study confirmed circSIPA1L1 to be upregulated in both human OS samples and OS cell lines. Mechanistically, circSIPA1L1 could serve as a miR-411-5p molecular sponge to increase RAB9A expression, which was confirmed to be a tumor promoter mediating carcinogenesis. Silencing of circSIPA1L1 attenuated the vitality, invasion, migration and proliferation of OS cell lines both in vivo and in vitro. miR-411-5p inhibition or RAB9A overexpression reversed the anti-tumor effects caused by circSIPA1L1 knockdown. Briefly, circSIPA1L1 could function as a driver gene in OS and initiate OS tumorigenesis through the miR-411-5p/RAB9A signaling pathway, which might become a potential therapeutic biomarker for OS treatment.

circSLC8A1 Acts as a Tumor Suppressor in Prostate Cancer via Sponging miR-21

BACKGROUND

There is more and more evidence showed that circRNAs played essentially role in the regulation of various biological processes. The role of circSLC8A1 in prostate cancer (PCa) is yet little known.

METHODS

The CircSLC8A1 expression in human prostate cancer was measured by qRT-PCR. The interplay between the specific circRNA, miRNA, and mRNA was investigated by RT-PCR and luciferase reporter assay. Through transient transfection of siRNA, the impacts of circSLC8A1 on PCa were discussed. Cell cycle evaluation, transwell assay, and CCK-8 assay were employed to determine its biological influences.

RESULTS

In this study, our data revealed that circSLC8A1 was downregulated in PCa tissues and cells. The reduction of circSLC8A1 resulted in the inhibition of cell proliferation and migration. In mechanism, circSLC8A1 exhibited a direct interaction with miR-21 and displayed as a miRNA sponge to inhibit PCa progression. The functional analysis revealed that the circSLC8A1/miR-21 axis may regulate the cell proliferation, angiogenesis, cell migration, epithelial to mesenchymal transition, MAPK signaling pathway, and chemokine signaling pathway.

CONCLUSIONS

CircSLC8A1 functioned as an inhibitor of neoplasm via modulating the miR-21 and might serve as a prospective target for the treatment of PCa.

The Latest Overview of circRNA in the Progression, Diagnosis, Prognosis, Treatment, and Drug Resistance of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the main causes of tumor-related deaths worldwide. Due to the lack of obvious early symptoms and the lack of sensitive screening indicators in the early stage of HCC, the vast majority of patients are diagnosed with advanced or metastatic HCC, resulting in dissatisfactory treatment result. Therefore, it is urgent to determine effective and sensitive diagnostic and prognostic indicators and to determine new therapeutic targets. Circular RNA (circRNA) is a type of non-coding RNA that has been neglected for a long time. In recent years, it has been proved to play an important role in the development of many human diseases. Increasing evidence shows that change in circRNA expression has an extensive effect on the biological behavior of HCC. In this study, we comprehensively tracked the latest progress of circRNA in the pathogenesis of HCC, and reviewed its role as a biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis prediction in patients with HCC. In addition, we also summarized the potential of circRNA as therapeutic target in HCC and its relationship with HCC drug resistance, providing clues for the clinical development of circRNA-based therapeutic strategies.

Recent Update on the Role of Circular RNAs in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

After being overlooked for decades, circular RNAs (circRNAs) have recently generated considerable interest. circRNAs play a role in a variety of normal and pathological biological processes, including hepatocarcinogenesis. Many circRNAs contribute to hepatocarcinogenesis through sponging of microRNAs (miRs) and disruption of cellular signaling pathways that play a part in control of cell proliferation, metastasis and apoptosis. In most cases, overexpressed circRNAs sequester miRs to cause de-repressed translation of mRNAs that encode oncogenic proteins. Conversely, low expression of circRNAs has also been described in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and is associated with inhibited production of tumor suppressor proteins. Other functions of circRNAs that contribute to hepatocarcinogenesis include translation of truncated proteins and acting as adapters to regulate influence of transcription factors on target gene expression. circRNAs also affect hepatocyte transformation indirectly. For example, the molecules regulate immune surveillance of cancerous cells and influence the liver fibrosis that commonly precedes HCC. Marked over- or under-expression of circRNA expression in HCC, with correlating plasma concentrations, has diagnostic utility and assays of these RNAs are being developed as biomarkers of HCC. Although knowledge in the field has recently surged, the myriad of described effects suggests that not all may be vital to hepatocarcinogenesis. Nevertheless, investigation of the role of circRNAs is providing valuable insights that are likely to contribute to improved management of a serious and highly aggressive cancer.

Hsa_circ_0007456 regulates the natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity toward hepatocellular carcinoma via the miR-6852-3p/ICAM-1 axis

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) is one type of important non-coding RNAs that participate in tumorigenesis and cancer progression. In our previous study, we performed a microarray analysis of circRNAs between the tumor tissues and the adjacent normal tissues of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, and found that the circRNA hsa_circ_0007456 is significantly downregulated in the tumor tissues and correlated with the prognosis of HCC. We further investigated the relationship between the expression levels of hsa_circ_0007456 in HCC and the susceptibility of NK cells, and found that the expression levels of hsa_circ_0007456 in HCC cell lines significantly influenced their susceptibility to NK cells. Through a series of screening and validation, we found that hsa_circ_0007456 mainly functioned through sponging miR-6852-3p and regulating the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in HCC. The miR-6852-3p/ICAM-1 axis is essential for the NK cytotoxicity toward HCC mediated by hsa_circ_0007456. In conclusion, we identify here hsa_circ_0007456 as a promising biomarker of HCC, and highlight hsa_circ_0007456/miR-6852-3p/ICAM-1 axis as an important signaling pathway in the process of tumor immune evasion and the tumorigenesis of HCC.

Regulator of Chromosome Condensation 2 Modulates Cell Cycle Progression, Tumorigenesis, and Therapeutic Resistance

Accurate regulation of cell cycle is important for normal tissue development and homeostasis. RCC2 (Regulator of Chromosome Condensation 2) play a role as chromosomal passenger complex (CPC) implicated in all cell cycle phases. RCC2 was initially identified as Ran guanine exchange factor (GEF) for small G proteins. Therefore, RCC2 plays a key role in oncogenesis of most cancers. RCC2 is implicated in Colorectal Cancer (CRC), Lung Adenocarcinoma (LUAD), breast cancer, and ovarian cancer. Expression level of RCC2 protein determines regulation of tumor cell proliferation, invasion, metastasis, and radio-chemotherapeutic resistance. In this review, we explored proteins that interact with RCC2 to modulate tumor development and cancer therapeutic resistance by regulation of cell cycle process through various signaling pathways.

Circ_0001175 Promotes Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Proliferation and Metastasis by Regulating miR-130a-5p

Objective

Many aberrantly expressed circular RNAs (circRNAs) play important roles in the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the exact function of circ_0001175 in HCC cells is unknown. Our study aimed to investigate the expression characteristics of circ_0001175 in HCC and its effects on the proliferation, migration and invasion of HCC cells, and to explore the potential mechanism.

Materials and Methods

Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot were carried out to detect circ_0001175, microRNA-130a-5p (miR-130a-5p) and sorting nexin 5 (SNX5) expressions in HCC tissues and cells; cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), BrdU and Transwell assays were conducted to detect the proliferation, migration and invasion of HCC cells. A lung metastasis model in nude mice was used to examine the effect of circ_0001175 on the metastasis of HCC cells in vivo. Bioinformatics prediction, luciferase reporter gene experiment, Ago2-RIP experiment and RNA pull-down assay were adopted to identify the binding relationships among circ_0001175, miR-130a-5p and SNX5.

Results

Circ_0001175 and SNX5 expressions were up-regulated in HCC tissues and cell lines, while miR-130a-5p expression was down-regulated. Abnormal expressions of circ_0001175, miR-130a-5p and SNX5 were associated with poor clinicopathological features of HCC patients; circ_0001175 facilitated HCC cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro and promoted lung metastasis in vivo; miR-130a-5p inhibited the above malignant biological behaviors of HCC cells, and it could reverse the function of circ_0001175. SNX5 was identified as a target gene of miR-130a-5p, and circ_0001175 could sponge miR-130a-5p and up-regulate the expression of SNX5 in HCC cells.

Conclusion

Circ_0001175 is highly expressed in HCC and facilitates HCC progression through regulating miR-130a-5p/SNX5 axis.

circEYA1 Functions as a Sponge of miR-582-3p to Suppress Cervical Adenocarcinoma Tumorigenesis via Upregulating CXCL14

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) function as efficient microRNA (miRNA) sponges that regulate gene expression in the pathogenesis of many human malignancies. However, their roles in cervical adenocarcinoma remain largely unknown. In this study, we aimed to seek novel circRNAs that regulate cervical adenocarcinoma carcinogenesis and to explore their regulatory mechanisms as well as clinical significance. We identified that 24 circRNAs were differentially expressed in cervical adenocarcinoma tissues by RNA sequencing. Among them, circEYA1 was the most significantly downregulated circRNA in cervical adenocarcinoma. In cervical adenocarcinoma cells, circEYA1 overexpression led to suppression of cell viability and colony formation, promotion of apoptosis, and a decrease of the xenograft tumor growth. The mechanism underlying these observations is that circEYA1 functioned as a sponge of miR-582-3p and abrogated its suppression of CXCL14 expression. Consistently, miR-582-3p inhibition phenocopied the biological effects of circEYA1 overexpression in cervical adenocarcinoma cells. Moreover, miR-582-3p overexpression reversed the suppressive behaviors of circEYA1 in vitro and in vivo. In addition, the expression, correlation, and clinical diagnostic value of circEYA1/miR-582-3p/CXCL14 were confirmed in 198 clinical cervical tissue samples. In summary, our findings highlight a novel tumor suppressive role of circEYA1 in cervical adenocarcinoma tumorigenesis and may provide a potential diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for patients with cervical adenocarcinoma.

CircRNA circUGGT2 Contributes to Hepatocellular Carcinoma Development via Regulation of the miR-526b-5p/RAB1A Axis

Background

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor in the world. Circular RNA hsa_circ_0008274 (circUGGT2) is reported to be upregulated in HCC tissues. Notwithstanding, the role and regulatory mechanism of circUGGT2 in HCC are indistinct.

Methods

Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was implemented to examine the levels of circUGGT2, microRNA (miR)-526b-5p, and ras-related protein Rab-1A (RAB1A) mRNA in HCC tissues and cells. Cell proliferation and colony formation were assessed with 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromide (MTT) or colony formation assays. The levels of cyclin D1, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and RAB1A were detected with Western blotting. Cell cycle progression, migration, and invasion were evaluated by using flow cytometry or transwell assays. The relationship between circUGGT2 or RAB1A and miR-526b-5p was verified via dual-luciferase reporter and/or RNA pull-down assays. Xenograft assay was executed to confirm the role of circUGGT2 in vivo.

Results

We observed that circUGGT2 and RAB1A were upregulated while miR-526b-5p was downregulated in HCC tissues and cells. CircUGGT2 silencing suppressed tumor growth in vivo and curbed proliferation, colony formation, cell cycle progression, migration, and invasion of HCC cells in vitro. Mechanically, circUGGT2 regulated RAB1A expression via competitively binding to miR-526b-5p. Also, the inhibitory influence of circUGGT2 silencing on the malignancy of HCC cells was overturned by miR-526b-5p inhibitor. Furthermore, RAB1A overexpression reversed the suppressive influence of miR-526b-5p mimic on the malignancy of HCC cells.

Conclusion

CircUGGT2 silencing inhibited HCC development via modulating the miR-526b-5p/RAB1A axis, providing a possible target for HCC treatment.

Zanthoxylum nitidum (Roxb.) DC: Traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological activities and toxicology

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Zanthoxylum nitidum (Roxb.) DC. (Z. nitidum), which is known in China as Liang-Mian-Zhen, is mainly distributed in southern China and is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. It is traditionally used for treating stomach ache, toothache, rheumatic arthralgia, traumatic injury and venomous snake bites. Additional medical applications include the treatment of inflammations, various types of cancer, bacterial and viral infections, gastric and oral ulcers and liver damage.

AIM OF THIS REVIEW

This paper aims to offer up-to-date information on the botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicity of Z. nitidum. This review also discussed the perspectives for possible future research on Z. nitidum.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A comprehensive review was carried out on studies about Z. nitidum conducted in the past 60 years by using different resources, including Flora of China, Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China and academic databases.

RESULTS

At present, more than 150 chemical constituents have been separated and identified from Z. nitidum, most of which include alkaloids. Biological activities, including anti-inflammation, analgesia, haemostasis, anticancer and antibacterial, were determined via in vitro and in vivo studies. The variations in the efficacy of Z. nitidum can be attributed to the biological activities of its natural products, especially alkaloids. Toxicity studies on Z. nitidum are relatively few, thus requiring further study.

CONCLUSIONS

This article generalises the current research achievements related to Z. nitidum, which is an important medicinal material in China. Some traditional uses of Z. nitidum have been assessed by pharmacological studies. Unresolved problems remain, including molecular mechanisms underlying biological activities, pharmacokinetics, toxicology and therapeutic effect, which are still being studied and explored before Z. nitidum can be integrated into clinical medicine.

The clinical value and potential molecular mechanism of the downregulation of MAOA in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues

Background

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains one of the most common cancers worldwide and tends to be detected at an advanced stage. More effective biomarkers for HCC screening and prognosis assessment are needed and the mechanisms of HCC require further exploration. The role of MAOA in HCC has not been intensively investigated.

Methods

In‐house tissue microarrays, genechips, and RNAsequencing datasets were integrated to explore the expression status and the clinical value of MAOA in HCC. Immunohistochemical staining was utilized to determine MAOA protein expression. Intersection genes of MAOA related co‐expressed genes and differentially expressed genes were obtained to perform functional enrichment analyses. In vivo experiment was conducted to study the impact of traditional Chinese medicine nitidine chloride (NC) on MAOA in HCC.

Results

MAOA was downregulated and possessed an excellent discriminatory capability in HCC patients. Decreased MAOA correlated with poor prognosis in HCC patients. Downregulated MAOA protein was relevant to an advanced TNM stage in HCC patients. Co‐expressed genes that positively related to MAOA were clustered in chemical carcinogenesis, where CYP2E1 was identified as the hub gene. In vivo experiment showed that nitidine chloride significantly upregulated MAOA in a nude mouse HCC model.

Conclusions

A decreased MAOA level is not only correlated with aggressive behaviors in males but also serves as a promising biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC patients. Moreover, MAOA may play a role in AFB1 toxic transformation through its synergistic action with co‐expressed genes, especially CYP3A4. MAOA also serves as a potential therapy target of NC in HCC patients.

RCC2 contributes to tumor invasion and chemoresistance to cisplatin in hepatocellular carcinoma

Tumor metastasis and chemoresistance are the main causes of treatment failure and high mortality in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Therefore, it is critical to clarify the biological action and potential mechanisms in HCC cells to develop novel therapeutics. The regulator of chromosome condensation 2 (RCC2), a component of the chromosomal passenger complex, was shown to have important roles in tumor development and radio-chemotherapy resistance. However, its role in the aggressive phenotypes and cisplatin (DDP)-resistance of HCC is not known. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the role of RCC2 in HCC pathogenesis. Interestingly, we found that RCC2 was upregulated in HCC patient specimens and HCC cell lines and was correlated with the pathological grade of HCC. To evaluate the function of RCC2 in HCC cell, lentivirus vector-based shRNAs were transfected into HCC cells. Silencing RCC2 inhibited the HCC cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and increased the apoptosis rate upon DDP treatment. Further analysis showed that RCC2-mediated downregulation of the expression of survival proteins occurred via the AKT and Bcl2 pathways. Our results suggest that RCC2 might act as an oncogenic protein promoting metastatic behaviors and cisplatin resistance in HCC cells, and thereby could be a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for HCC.

Circular RNA 0016788 displays as a biomarker for tumor progression and poor prognosis in surgical hepatocellular carcinoma patients

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the clinical significance of circular RNA 0016788 (circ_0016788) regarding its correlation with tumor progression and survival in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods

Two hundred and seventy‐eight HCC patients who received tumor resection were retrospectively analyzed. Circ_0016788 expression in 278 tumor tissues and 116 adjacent tissues was detected by reverse transcription‐quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

Results

Circ_0016788 was elevated in tumor tissue compared with adjacent tissue, and it had an excellent value in distinguishing tumor tissue from adjacent tissue (area under the curve: 0.913; 95% confidence interval: 0.885‐0.941). Furthermore, circ_0016788 correlated to higher performance status score, larger tumor size, increased Barcelona clinic liver cancer (BCLC) stage, abnormal aspartate aminotransferase, abnormal alpha‐fetoprotein, and abnormal carbohydrate antigen 199 levels. Moreover, by Kaplan‐Meier curve and log‐rank test, circ_0016788 high expression correlated with shorter overall survival (OS). Importantly, multivariate Cox's regression analysis displayed that circ_0016788 high expression, older age (≥60 years), history of hepatitis B, history of liver cirrhosis, raised Child‐Pugh stage (B vs A), multifocal disease, largest tumor size (≥5 cm), and increased BCLC stage (B vs A) were independent predictors for poorer OS.

Conclusion

Circ_0016788 displays the potential as a biomarker for assisting personalized treatment, tumor management, and prognosis surveillance in surgical HCC patients.