Circular ribonucleic acid nei-like deoxyribonucleic acid glycosylase 3 governs the microribonucleic acid -3150b-3p/laminin subunit gamma 1 network to partially promote the development of hepatocellular carcinoma

Combination of omics, bioinformatics, molecular docking, and experimental validation to elucidate the hepatoprotective effects, mechanisms, and active compounds of Shandougen

Omics, bioinformatics, molecular docking, and experimental validation were used to elucidate the hepatoprotective effects, mechanisms, and active compounds of Shandougen (SDG) based on the biolabel-led research pattern. Integrated omics were used to explore the biolabels of SDG intervention in liver tissue. Subsequently, bioinformatics and molecular docking were applied to topologically analyze its therapeutic effects, mechanisms, and active compounds based on biolabels. Finally, an animal model was used to verify the biolabel analysis results. Omics, bioinformatics, and molecular docking revealed that SDG may exert therapeutic effects on liver diseases in the multicompound and multitarget synergistic modes, especially liver cirrhosis. In the validation experiment, SDG and its active compounds (betulinic acid and gallic acid) significantly improved the liver histopathological damage in the CCl4-induced liver cirrhosis model. Meanwhile, they also produced significant inhibitory effects on the focal adhesion pathway (integrin alpha-1, myosin regulatory light chain 2, laminin subunit gamma-1, etc.) and alleviated the associated pathological processes: focal adhesion (focal adhesion kinase 1)-extracellular matrix (collagen alpha-1(IV) chain, collagen alpha-1(VI) chain, and collagen alpha-2(VI) chain) dysfunction, carcinogenesis (alpha-fetoprotein, NH3, and acetylcholinesterase), inflammation (tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-1 [IL-1], IL-6, and IL-10), and oxidative stress (reactive oxygen species, malonaldehyde, and superoxide dismutase). This study provides new evidence and insights for the hepatoprotective effects, mechanisms, and active compounds of SDG.

Circ_0124208 Promotes the Progression of Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Regulating the miR-338-3p/LAMC1 Axis

Hundreds of circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been identified as key regulators in biological processes; however, only few of these circRNAs have been functionally described to participate in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The present study aimed to reveal the function and molecular mechanisms of circ_0124208 in HCC. Real-time quantitative PCR revealed the upregulation of circ_0124208 in HCC tissues and cells. Based on cell functional experiments, silencing circ_0124208 attenuated proliferation and migration, but boosted the apoptosis of Hep 3B and Huh7 cells in vitro. The in vivo experiment further validated the repression of tumor growth via circ_0124208 knockdown. RNA immunoprecipitation and dual-luciferase reporter assays showed that circ_0124208 sponged miR-338-3p and reduced its expression. miR-338-3p inhibition was found to partially reverse the tumor-suppressive effects caused by circ_0124208 in Hep 3B and Huh7 cells. Furthermore, miR-338-3p directly targeted laminin subunit gamma 1 (LAMC1). The malignancy of Hep 3B and Huh7 cell was decreased by LAMC1 knockdown, and this effect was mitigated by miR-338-3p suppression. Overall, circ_0124208 was demonstrated for the first time to play a crucial role as an oncogene in HCC, implying that it could be a useful biomarker for HCC diagnosis. Furthermore, the circ_0124208/miR-338-3p/LAMC1 axis can be used as a potential therapeutic target for HCC treatment.

Biological Functions of the DNA Glycosylase NEIL3 and Its Role in Disease Progression Including Cancer

The accumulation of oxidative DNA base damage can severely disrupt the integrity of the genome and is strongly associated with the development of cancer. DNA glycosylase is the critical enzyme that initiates the base excision repair (BER) pathway, recognizing and excising damaged bases. The Nei endonuclease VIII-like 3 (NEIL3) is an emerging DNA glycosylase essential in maintaining genome stability. With an in-depth study of the structure and function of NEIL3, we found that it has properties related to the process of base damage repair. For example, it not only prefers the base damage of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), G-quadruplex and DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs), but also participates in the maintenance of replication fork stability and telomere integrity. In addition, NEIL3 is strongly associated with the progression of cancers and cardiovascular and neurological diseases, is incredibly significantly overexpressed in cancers, and may become an independent prognostic marker for cancer patients. Interestingly, circNEIL3, a circular RNA of exon-encoded origin by NEIL3, also promotes the development of multiple cancers. In this review, we have summarized the structure and the characteristics of NEIL3 to repair base damage. We have focused on NEIL3 and circNEIL3 in cancer development, progression and prognosis.

Circ_0011232 contributes to hepatocellular carcinoma progression through miR-503-5p/AKT3 axis

BACKGROUND

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a type of primary liver cancer with high mortality. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been confirmed to be involved in the development of HCC, but the functions of circ_0011232 in HCC remain ill-defined.

METHODS

Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, western blot assay, or immunohistochemistry assay was performed to determine the levels of circ_0011232, miR-503-5p, and AKT3. RNase R assay and actinomycin D assay were conducted to analyze the feature of circ_0011232. Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry analysis, wound-healing assay, and transwell assay were conducted to evaluate HCC cell proliferation, colony formation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was carried out to confirm the relationships among circ_0011232, miR-503-5p, and AKT3. The murine xenograft assay was conducted to verify the function of circ_0011232 in tumor growth in vivo.

RESULTS

Circ_0011232 and AKT3 were upregulated, while miR-503-5p was decreased in HCC tissues and cells. Circ_0011232 knockdown repressed HCC cell proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion, and promoted apoptosis in vitro and blocked tumor growth in vivo. MiR-503-5p was a target of circ_0011232. MiR-503-5p inhibition reversed the effects of circ_0011232 knockdown on HCC cell development. Moreover, AKT3 was confirmed to be a target of miR-503-5p, and AKT3 overexpression abolished the inhibitory effects on HCC cell progression caused by miR-503-5p.

CONCLUSION

Circ_0011232 facilitated HCC progression via miR-503-5p/AKT3 axis, which might provide a novel treatment strategy for HCC.

Prediction of potential prognostic biomarkers in metastatic prostate cancer based on a circular RNA-mediated competing endogenous RNA regulatory network

Recently, studies on competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks have become prevalent, and circular RNAs (circRNAs) have crucial implications for the development and progression of carcinoma. However, studies relevant to metastatic prostate cancer (mPCa) are scant. This study aims to discover potential ceRNAs that may be related to the prognosis of mPCa. RNA-Seq data were obtained from the MiOncoCirc database and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Differential expression patterns of RNAs were examined using R packages. Circular RNA Interactome, miRTarBase, miRDB and TargetScan were applied to predict the corresponding relation between circRNAs, miRNAs and mRNAs. The Gene Ontology (GO) annotations were performed to present related GO terms, and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) tools were applied for pathway annotations. Moreover, survival analysis was conducted for the hub genes. We found 820 circRNAs, 81 miRNAs and 179 mRNAs that were distinguishingly expressed between primary prostate cancer (PCa) and mPCa samples. A ceRNA network including 45 circRNAs, 24 miRNAs and 56 mRNAs was constructed. In addition, the protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was built, and 10 hub genes were selected by using the CytoHubba application. Among the 10 hub genes, survival analysis showed that ITGA1, LMOD1, MYH11, MYLK, SORBS1 and TGFBR3 were significantly connected with disease-free survival (DFS). The circRNA-mediated ceRNA network provides potential prognostic biomarkers for metastatic prostate cancer.