MiR-335-3p inhibits cell proliferation, induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in acute myeloid leukemia by targeting EIF3E

LncRNA AP000695.2 promotes glycolysis of lung adenocarcinoma via the miR-335-3p/TEAD1 axis

AP000695.2 is a novel long non-coding RNA (lncRNA). Its aberrant high expression is remarkably associated with poor prognosis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). However, its role and underlying mechanism in LUAD remains unclear. Previous bioinformatics analysis indicated that AP000695.2 may be closely related to the glycolysis of LUAD. This study aims to verify and explore the mechanism of AP000695.2 in glycolysis of LUAD. Overexpression plasmid and siRNA are used to construct cell models of upregulation and downregulation of AP000695.2, respectively. AP000695.2 is highly expressed in lung cancer cell lines as revealed by qPCR. Western blot analysis, FDG uptake, lactate production assay and ECAR determination results show that high expression of AP000695.2 facilitates glycolysis of LUAD cells. CCK-8, EdU staining, Transwell and wound healing assays show that high expression of AP000695.2 promotes cell growth and migration of LUAD. The relationship between AP000695.2 and miR-335-3p is confirmed by bioinformatics analysis and dual-luciferase reporter assays. Through the dual-luciferase reporter assay, TEA domain transcription factor 1 (TEAD1) is identified as a target gene of miR-335-3p. Rescue experiments are applied to verify the relationship among AP000695.2, miR-335-3p and TEAD1. Our study indicates that AP000695.2 is involved in the mechanism of LUAD through functioning as a ceRNA to competitively sponge miR-335-3p, thereby regulating the expression of TEAD1. In the in vivo models, AP000695.2 depletion restrains tumor growth and glycolysis. AP000695.2 promotes the glycolysis of LUAD by regulating the miR-335-3p/TEAD1 axis, and it may serve as a potential target of anti-tumor energy metabolism therapy.

Clinical significance of urinary exosomal microRNAs in patients with IgA nephropathy

Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) is the most common primary glomerulonephritis worldwide. The clinical relevance of 11 urinary exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) was evaluated in patients with IgAN. From January 2009 to November 2018, IgAN (n = 93), disease control (n = 11), and normal control (n = 19) groups were enrolled. We evaluated the expression levels of urinary exosomal miRNAs at the baseline and their relationship with clinical and pathologic features. This study aimed to discriminate statistically powerful urinary exosomal miRNAs for the prognosis of IgAN. Urinary miRNA levels of miR-16-5p, miR-29a-3p, miR-124-3p, miR-126-3p, miR-199a-3p, miR-199b-5p, and miR-335-3p showed significant correlation with both estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and urine protein-to-creatinine ratio (uPCR). In univariate regression analysis, age, body mass index, hypertension, eGFR, uPCR, Oxford classification E, and three miRNAs (miR-16-5p, miR-199a-3p, and miR-335-3p) were associated with disease progression in patients with IgAN. The area under the curve (AUC) of miR-199a-3p was high enough (0.749) without any other clinical or pathologic factors, considering that the AUC of the International IgAN Risk Prediction Tool was 0.853. Urinary exosomal miRNAs may serve as alternative prognostic biomarkers of IgAN with further research.

A review on the role of cyclin dependent kinases in cancers

The Cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) class of serine/threonine kinases has crucial roles in the regulation of cell cycle transition and is mainly involved in the pathogenesis of cancers. The expression of CDKs is controlled by a complex regulatory network comprised of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, which are dysregulated during the progression of cancer. The abnormal activation of CDKs results in uncontrolled cancer cell proliferation and the induction of cancer stem cell characteristics. The levels of CDKs can be utilized to predict the prognosis and treatment response of cancer patients, and further understanding of the function and underlying mechanisms of CDKs in human tumors would pave the way for future cancer therapies that effectively target CDKs. Defects in the regulation of cell cycle and mutations in the genes coding cell-cycle regulatory proteins lead to unrestrained proliferation of cells leading to formation of tumors. A number of treatment modalities have been designed to combat dysregulation of cell cycle through affecting expression or activity of CDKs. However, effective application of these methods in the clinical settings requires recognition of the role of CDKs in the progression of each type of cancer, their partners, their interactions with signaling pathways and the effects of suppression of these kinases on malignant features. Thus, we designed this literature search to summarize these findings at cellular level, as well as in vivo and clinical levels.

miR-335-5p regulates the proliferation, migration and phenotypic switching of vascular smooth muscle cells in aortic dissection by directly regulating SP1

Uncontrolled proliferation, migration and phenotypic switching of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are important steps in the development and progression of aortic dissection (AD). The function and potential mechanism of miR-335-5p in the pathogenesis of AD are explored in this study. Specifically, the biological function of miR-335-5p is explored in vitro through CCK-8, Transwell, immunofluorescence, EdU, wound-healing, RT-qPCR and western blotting assays. In addition, an AD model induced by angiotensin II is used to investigate the function of miR-335-5p in vivo. A dual-luciferase assay is performed to verify the targeting relationship between miR-335-5p and specificity protein 1 (SP1). Experiments involving the loss of SP1 function are performed to demonstrate the function of SP1 in the miR-335-5p-mediated regulation of human aortic-VSMCs (HA-VSMCs). AD tissues and platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB)-stimulated HA-VSMCs show significant downregulation of miR-335-5p expression and upregulated SP1 expression. Overexpression of miR-335-5p effectively suppresses cell proliferation, migration and synthetic phenotype markers and enhances contractile phenotype markers induced by PDGF-BB treatment. Additionally, SP1 is identified as a target gene downstream of miR-335-5p, and its expression is negatively correlated with miR-335-5p in AD. Upregulation of SP1 partially reverses the inhibitory effect of miR-335-5p on HA-VSMCs, whereas the downregulation of SP1 has the opposite effect. Furthermore, Ad-miR-335-5p clearly suppresses aorta dilatation and vascular media degeneration in the AD model. Our results suggest that miR-335-5p inhibits HA-VSMC proliferation, migration and phenotypic switching by negatively regulating SP1, and indicate that miR-335-5p may be a potential therapeutic target in AD.