TGF beta1 and related-Smads contribute to pulmonary metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma in mice model

FOXO3 regulates Smad3 and Smad7 through SPON1 circular RNA to inhibit idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Forkhead box protein O3 (FOXO3) has good inhibition ability toward fibroblast activation and extracellular matrix, especially for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. How FOXO3 regulates pulmonary fibrosis remains unclear. In this study, we reported that FOXO3 had binding sequences with F-spondin 1 (SPON1) promoter, which can activate its transcription and selectively promote the expression of SPON1 circRNA (circSPON1) but not mRNA expression. We further demonstrated that circSPON1 was involved in the extracellular matrix deposition of HFL1. In the cytoplasm, circSPON1 directly interacted with TGF-β1-induced Smad3 and inhibited the activation of fibroblasts by inhibiting nuclear translocation. Moreover, circSPON1 bound to miR-942-5p and miR-520f-3p that interfered with Smad7 mRNA and promoted Smad7 expression. This study revealed the mechanism of FOXO3-regulated circSPON1 in the development of pulmonary fibrosis. Potential therapeutic targets and new insights into the diagnosis and treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis based on circRNA were also provided.

The effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on highly metastatic MHCC97-H hepatocellular carcinoma cells following OPN and TGFβ1 gene silencing

The metastatic behavior of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the key factors that leads to poor prognosis. The aim of the current study was to determine the changes in metastasis and the proliferation potential of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in high metastatic potential hepatocellular carcinoma (MHCC97-H) following gene silencing. The osteopontin (OPN) and transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ₁ ) genes, which are associated with metastasis and tumor proliferation, were silenced in MHCC97-H cells. Transwell assays were used to evaluate the migration of MHCC97-H cells in vitro. Additionally, a murine model of MHCC97-H lung metastasis was established. Following OPN and TGFβ₁ silencing, the migration of MHCC97-H cells was significantly reduced following BMSC intervention (P<0.01). Furthermore, there were few MHCC97-H cells in the lung tissues of the OPN- and TGFβ₁ -silenced animals, and their integrated optical density (IOD) value was significantly lower compared with controls (P<0.05). Immunofluorescence of lung metastasis in the MHCC97-H model revealed that there was no significant difference in the IOD value of integrin α_vβ₃ expression in the OPN- and TGFβ₁ -silenced groups compared with controls (P>0.05). The metastasis and proliferation potential of MHCC97-H following BMSC intervention were significantly reduced in vitro and in vivo, especially in the TGFβ₁-silenced group. The decrease in the metastatic potential in gene-silenced MHCC97-H cells was not associated with integrin α_vβ₃ expression. Therefore, OPN and TGFβ₁ may be potential targets for HCC treatment, and TGFβ₁ may have a higher therapeutic potential for BMSC intervention.

Incidence, risk factors, and prognosis in patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma and lung metastasis: a population-based study

Aims

The study aims to explore the incidence, risk factors, and prognosis in patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and synchronous lung metastasis using a large-scale population-based cancer registry database.

Patients and methods

Data of 33,177 HCC patients were retrieved from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database from 2010 to 2015. Multivariate logistic and Cox regression model analysis were applied for the recognition of risk factors and prognostic factors associated with lung metastasis among HCC patients. The overall survival and cancer-specific survival of HCC patients with initial pulmonary metastasis were estimated by Kaplan– Meier analysis, and the survival curves were compared by log-rank tests.

Results

Total 2,084 (6.28%) HCC patients diagnosed with initial pulmonary metastasis were enrolled for analysis. Male gender, younger age, non-white race, unmarried status, uninsured status, elevated alpha-fetoprotein, larger primary liver tumor size, positive lymph node status, synchronal bone or brain metastasis, and tumor poor pathological differentiation were relevant to higher risk of lung metastasis in HCC cohort. The 1-, 3-, 5-year overall survival and cancer-specific survival rates for HCC lung metastasis patients were 12.8% vs 15.3%, 4.0% vs 5.7%, and 1.6% versus 2.4%, respectively. The median overall and cancer-specific survival time in HCC lung metastasis group were both 3 months, while the corresponding time in HCC lung metastasis-free group were 19 and 25 months (P<0.05). Older age, unmarried status, poor tumor differential grade, and absence of surgery were identified as unfavorable prognosis factors.

Conclusion

The survival of patients with HCC lung metastasis was dismal. Several clinicopathological factors were found to be significantly relevant to the development and prognosis of HCC lung metastasis. These new findings could be useful for a precise and individualized therapeutic schedule.

Magnetic Resonance Gd-RGD Imaging Study of Hepatocellular Carcinoma with High and Low Metastatic Potential before and after Human Bone Marrow-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell Intervention

Background:

Biotherapy based on human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) is currently the focus of research, especially in the field of autologous stem cell transplantation. A novel type of metastasis-associated magnetic resonance (MR) molecular imaging probe was constructed, and the changes in metastasis and proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) before and after BMSC intervention were observed through MR imaging (MRI).

Methods:

Metastasis-associated MR molecular imaging probe, integrin α_vβ₃ ligand cRGD-PEG-DGL-DTPA-Gd (Gd-RGD), were constructed. After human BMSC intervention was performed for 6 weeks, tumor weight inhibition rates were calculated, and the RGD molecular probe was imaged through MRI with molecular imaging agent Gd-DTPA as control. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in the MRI experiment were used as semi-quantitative indicators. Polymerase chain reaction method was performed to detect proliferation- and metastasis-associated indicators, transforming growth factor β-1 (TGFβ1), osteopontin (OPN), and integrin subunit α_v and β₃.

Results:

The highest tumor weight inhibition rates were observed 3 weeks after the BMSC transplantation. The MR Gd-RGD in the HCC tissues after the BMSC intervention showed less enhancement than Gd-DTPA. The Gd-DTPA MRI of control group had higher SNR and CNR than Gd-RGD MRI in the experimental groups (P < 0.05). For high metastatic potential hepatocellular carcinoma (MHCC97-H), significant differences were observed in the SNRs and CNRs of Gd-RGD MRI before and after the BMSC intervention (P < 0.05). For low metastatic potential hepatocellular carcinoma (MHCC97-L), the CNRs of Gd-RGD MRI were statistically different before and after BMSC intervention (P < 0.05). With regard to MHCC97-H, OPN, β₃, and TGFβ1 expression significantly decreased after BMSC intervention (P < 0.05). In MHCC97-L and OPN, β₃, TGFβ1, and α_v expression after BMSC intervention decreased, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05).

Conclusions:

The CNR index of MRI is a good indicator for distinguishing high- and low-metastatic potential HCC tissues. After BMSC transplantation of MRI through the two kinds of tracer, the SNR and CNR indexes can distinguish two kinds of high and low metastatic potential HCC tissues, and Gd-RGD imaging is more suitable in distinguishing the metastatic potential changes through BMSC intervention.

Xanthine dehydrogenase downregulation promotes TGFβ signaling and cancer stem cell-related gene expression in hepatocellular carcinoma

Xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH), a rate-limiting enzyme involved in purine metabolism, has an essential role in inflammatory cascades. Researchers have known for decades that XDH activity is decreased in some cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the role of XDH in cancer pathogenesis has not been fully explored. In this study, we showed that low XDH mRNA levels were correlated with higher tumor stages and poorer prognoses in patients with HCC. Knocking down or inhibiting XDH promoted migration and invasion but not proliferation of HCC cells. The abovementioned phenotypic changes are dependent on increases in epithelial-mesenchymal transition marker gene expression and transforming growth factor-β-Smad2/3 signaling activity in HCC. XDH overexpression suppressed HCC cell invasion in vitro and in vivo. In addition, the expression and activity of XDH were associated with the expression of CSC-related genes, such as CD44 or CD133, in HCC cells. These data suggest that downregulated XDH expression may be a useful clinical indicator and contribute to the development and progression of HCC.

Expression of OTUB1 in hepatocellular carcinoma and its effects on HCC cell migration and invasion

OTUB1 (OTU domain-containing ubiquitin aldehyde binding protein 1) is a deubiquitinating enzyme (DUB) that belongs to the ovarian tumor (OTU) domain protease superfamily. Although it has been demonstrated to play important roles in the development of many kinds of cancer, the mechanism of OTUB1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is not clear. The aim of this study was to explore the roles of OTUB1 in HCC progression using cell lines and 115 archived HCC samples. In addition, the clinical outcomes were also analyzed with a special focus on OTUB1 expression in HCC samples. In the immunohistochemical study, OTUB1 showed high expression in 60 of the 115 cases (52.2%). The OTUB1 expression level was significantly correlated with many clinicopathological parameters, including TNM stage (P = 0.002), histology stage (P = 0.002), and metastasis/recurrence (P = 0.016). Survival analysis showed that the group with OTUB1 overexpression had significantly shorter overall survival time than the group with OTUB1 downregulation (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.482; confidence interval [CI]: 0.311-0.748; P = 0.001). Multivariate analysis indicated that OTUB1 expression was a significant and independent prognostic parameter (HR = 0.214; CI: 0.126-0.364; P < 0.001) for HCC patients. The ability of HCC cells to undergo proliferation, migration, and invasion was suppressed by disruption of endogenous OTUB1 using short hairpin RNA (shRNA). OTUB1 expression appears to be a new and independent predictor for the prognosis of HCC patients. Overexpression of OTUB1 in HCC could be a novel, effective, and supplementary biomarker for HCC because it plays a vital role in the progression of HCC.

PEG10 is imperative for TGF-β1-induced epithelial‑mesenchymal transition in hepatocellular carcinoma

Substantial evidence indicates that transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) plays a vital role in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). PEG10 has been shown involved in invasion and metastasis of tumors. The present study investigated the role of PEG10 in TGF-β1-triggered EMT in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression. Immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR were used to measure the expression level of PEG10 in clinical HCC tissues with or without lymph node metastasis, and normal tissues. The results showed that PEG10 expression is higher in HCC tissues and associated with overall survival (OS) and lymph node metastasis. Moreover, PEG10 expression level was remarkably higher in hepatic cancer cells than the normal hepatic cell line L02. In the present study, we constructed an adenovirus vector containing the coding area of PEG10 (Ad-PEG10) and infected HepG2 cells and found that overexpression of PEG10 promoted the cell migration, invasion ability and EMT of HepG2 cells. TGF-β1 acted on HepG2 cells by enhancing cell migration, invasion, EMT and upregulating PEG10 expression level. However, cells pretreated with adenovirus vector of PEG10 shRNAs (Ad-shRNA1 and Ad-shRNA2) did not occur EMT prior to TGF-β1 stimulation. Moreover, TGF-β1 did not increase the migration and invasion of cells with PEG10 knockdown and overexpression of PEG10 confers chemoresistance to HepG2 cells. Accordingly, sufficient PEG10 expression level is essential for TGF-β1 induced EMT and associated with the chemoresistance in HepG2 cells.

Bioinformatics analysis of the gene expression profile of hepatocellular carcinoma: preliminary results

Aim of the study

To analyse the expression profile of hepatocellular carcinoma compared with normal liver by using bioinformatics methods.

Material and methods

In this study, we analysed the microarray expression data of HCC and adjacent normal liver samples from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database to screen for differentially expressed genes. Then, functional analyses were performed using GenCLiP analysis, Gene Ontology categories, and aberrant pathway identification. In addition, we used the CMap database to identify small molecules that can induce HCC.

Results

Overall, 2721 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. We found 180 metastasis-related genes and constructed co-occurrence networks. Several significant pathways, including the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signalling pathway, were identified as closely related to these DEGs. Some candidate small molecules (such as betahistine) were identified that might provide a basis for developing HCC treatments in the future.

Conclusions

Although we functionally analysed the differences in the gene expression profiles of HCC and normal liver tissues, our study is essentially preliminary, and it may be premature to apply our results to clinical trials. Further research and experimental testing are required in future studies.

HOXD9 promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer metastasis by ZEB1 regulation in hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor that severely threatens human health. The poor prognosis of HCC is mainly attributed to intrahepatic and extrahepatic metastases. HOXD9 proteins belong to a superfamily that regulates the development and control of many cellular processes, including proliferation, apoptosis, cell shape, and cell migration. HOXD9 can also function as an oncogene in several cancer cells. However, its biological function in human HCC requires further investigation. In this study, HOXD9 exhibited high expression in invasive HCC cells. HOXD9 overexpression can significantly enhance HCC cell migration, invasion, and metastasis, whereas silencing HOXD9 inhibits these processes. HOXD9 also promotes the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of HCC cells. Microarray analysis suggests that ZEB1 can function as a downstream factor of HOXD9. HOXD9 can interact with the promoter region of ZEB1 and promotes ZEB1 expression. ZEB1 knockdown inhibits HOXD9-induced migration and invasion, as well as EMT in HCC cells. This study helps elucidates the oncogenic functions of HOXD9 in HCC.

Overexpression of TMEM158 contributes to ovarian carcinogenesis

Background

Transmembrane protein 158 (TMEM158) is a recently identified upregulated gene during Ras-induced senescence. Its association with various cancers has been recently reported. However, the expression and biological function of TMEM158 in ovarian cancer is still unclear. This study was aimed to elucidate the roles of TMEM158 in cell proliferation, adhesion and cell invasion of ovarian cancer cells.

Methods

We analyzed TMEM158 mRNA level in ovarian cancer tissues and adjacent no-tumorous tissues by real-time PCR. We then suppressed TMEM158 expression of ovarian cancer cells by RNA interference and examined the effects of TMEM158 knockdown on cancerous transformation of ovarian cancer cells.

Results

The RNA-sequencing data of the ovarian cancer cohort from The Cancer Genome Atlas project (TCGA) and our real-time PCR data showed that TMEM158 was overexpressed in ovarian cancer. Knockdown of TMEM158 by RNA interference in ovarian cancer cells significantly inhibited cell proliferation, which may be due to the increase of G1-phase arrest. Silencing of TMEM158 also inhibited cell adhesion, cell invasion as well as tumorigenicity in nude mice. Moreover, knockdown of TMEM158 notably repressed cell adhesion via down-regulating the expression intercellular adhesion molecule1 (ICAM1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule1 (VCAM1). Transforming Growth Factor-β (TGF-β) signaling pathway was also remarkably impaired by TMEM158 silencing.

Conclusions

Our data suggests that TMEM158 may work as an oncogene for ovarian cancer and that inhibition of TMEM158 may be a therapeutic strategy for ovarian cancer.

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) plus percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) for the treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) plus percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) have been used for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, whether the combination therapy of TACE plus PEI is better than TACE or PEI alone in the treatment of HCC remains controversial. Thus, we conducted this meta-analysis to assess the efficacy of combined therapy for unresectable HCC compared with that of TACE or PEI alone. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published from Pubmed, Embase, Web Of Science, Chinese Biomedical Literature database (SinoMed), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang database, were systematically reviewed to assess the survival benefits and tumor recurrence for HCC patients treated with TACE plus PEI. Pooled risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for survival rate and tumor recurrence rate were calculated using a random-effects or fixed-effects model, depending on the heterogeneity between the included studies. 19 RCTs met the inclusion criteria were included in this meta-analysis with a total number of 1948 patients. The pooled results showed that the combination therapy of TACE plus PEI significantly improved 1, 2, 3-year survival rate [RR1-year = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.17-1.31, P = 0.000; RR2-year = 1.64, 95% CI: 1.44-1.87, P = 0.000; RR3-year = 2.27, 95% CI: 1.93-2.67, P = 0.000] compared with that of TACE or PEI alone. The local tumor recurrence rate in HCC patients treated with TACE plus PEI was lower than that of monotherapy (RR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.29-0.96; P = 0.035). The combined therapy of TACE with PEI also significantly reduced the AFP level (RR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.19-1.66, P = 0.000) and tumor size (>50%) (RR = 1.61, 95% CI: 1.40-1.85, P = 0.000). This meta-analysis confirms the benefits of TACE + PEI in the treatment of unresectable HCC, with an improvement in survival rate, and a reduction in local tumor recurrence, AFP level, and tumor size.

Effects of transforming growth factor β-1 infected human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on high- and low-metastatic potential hepatocellular carcinoma

Background

This study investigates the effects of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) on migration and proliferation ability of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with high- and low-metastatic potential.

Methods

The hMSC and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGFβ-1) gene infected hMSC were co-cultured with hepatoma cells. The ability of cells migration was assessed by Transwell assay. The ability of cells proliferation was detected using CCK-8 assay. The mice were engrafted with hMSC and TGFβ-1 gene infected hMSC, respectively, after hepatoma cells inoculation 15 days, twice a week for 6 weeks successively. The tumor inhibition rate was calculated. TGFβ-1, osteopontin (OPN), and programmed cell death protein 4 (PDCD4) genes expression of hepatoma cells were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) before and after co-cultured experiments.

Results

TGFβ-1 infected hMSC or hMSC co-culture with hepatoma cells groups can significantly promote hepatoma cells proliferation (P < 0.05). The migration numbers of hepatoma cells with TGFβ-1 infected hMSC co-culture groups were significantly reduced compared with the other two groups (P < 0.05). The tumors weight inhibition rates of MHCC97-H and MHCC97-L animal models were the highest in the third week by hMSC engraftment. But the highest tumor inhibition rate of MHCC97-H animal models was observed in the fourth week and MHCC97-L animal models in the fifth week after TGFβ-1 infected hMSC engraftment. OPN gene relative quantitative expression of hepatoma cells was significantly down-regulated after co-cultured with hMSC and TGFβ-1 gene infected hMSC groups (P < 0.05). TGFβ-1 gene relative quantitative expression of MHCC97-H and MHCC97-L cells was significantly up-regulated after co-cultured with TGFβ-1 gene infected hMSC groups (P < 0.05). PDCD4 expression had no statistical differences among groups.

Conclusions

hMSC and TGFβ-1 gene infected hMSC can promote hepatoma cells proliferation and inhibit hepatoma cells migration. hMSC and TGFβ-1 gene infected hMSC exhibit anti-tumor activity in a time-dependent manner. TGFβ-1 cytokine may be the main factor in HCC proliferation. OPN makes a significant contribution to the changes of hepatoma cells metastasis.

MicroRNAs and SerpinB3 in hepatocellular carcinoma

miRNAs are small non-coding RNAs which target complementary mRNA sequences, usually resulting in gene silencing. They can exhibit oncogenic or tumor suppressor properties, modulating cell homeostasis. Several data have documented that miRNAs are typically deregulated in different types of cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Some of the miRNAs such as miR-122, miR-221, miR-1 and miR-21 have been found to repress post-transcriptionally the expression of genes involved in cell cycle regulation, cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell migration and invasion. In HCC serum levels of miR-122, miR-221 and miR-16 have been described deregulated, suggesting that they may be used as molecular targets for early detection, prognosis and treatment. The ov-serpin SerpinB3 was found previously increased in liver tumor cancers and associated with apoptosis resistance, increased cell proliferation and invasiveness. Recent data indicate that this serpin may enhance its oncogenic potential through inhibition of several tumor suppressive miRNAs, typically described in HCC.

Gene expression data reveal common pathways that characterize the unifocal nature of ovarian cancer

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the study was to evaluate the biological validity of ovarian cancer (OVCA) screening and early detection efforts and to characterize signaling pathways associated with human cancer metastasis and patient survival.

STUDY DESIGN

Using genome-wide expression profiling and deoxyribonucleic acid sequencing, we compared pelvic and matched extrapelvic implants from 30 patients with advanced-stage OVCA for expression of molecular signaling pathways and p53 gene mutations. Differentially expressed pathways were further evaluated in a series of primary or early-stage vs metastatic or recurrent cancer samples from 389 ovarian, prostate, and oral cancer patients. Metastasis pathways were also evaluated for associations with survival in 9 independent clinicogenomic datasets from 1691 ovarian, breast, colon, brain, and lung cancer and leukemia patients. The inhibitory effects of 1 pathway (transforming growth factor [TGF]-WNT) on in vitro OVCA cell migration were studied.

RESULTS

Pelvic and extrapelvic OVCA implants demonstrated similar patterns of signaling pathway expression and identical p53 mutations. However, we identified 3 molecular pathways/cellular processes that were differentially expressed between pelvic and extrapelvic OVCA samples and between primary/early-stage and metastatic/advanced or recurrent ovarian, oral, and prostate cancers. Furthermore, their expression was associated with overall survival from ovarian cancer (P = .006), colon cancer (1 pathway at P = .005), and leukemia (P = .05). Artesunate-induced TGF-WNT pathway inhibition impaired OVCA cell migration.

CONCLUSION

Advanced-stage OVCA has a unifocal origin in the pelvis. Molecular pathways associated with extrapelvic OVCA spread are also associated with metastasis from other human cancers and with overall patient survival. Such pathways represent appealing therapeutic targets for patients with metastatic disease.

Comparative effectiveness of radiofrequency ablation with or without transarterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma

The aim of this study is to compare the overall survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) versus RFA alone. All eligible studies were collected from the PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and the Embase electronic databases. The outcomes were overall survival rates. We used odds ratios to assess the strength of the association, and 95% confidence intervals give a sense of the precision of the estimate. Statistical analyses were performed by Review Manager 5.0 and Stata 11.0. A total of 19 available studies were considered in the present meta-analysis. When all groups were pooled, meta-analysis showed that RFA plus TACE significantly improved the survival rates of patients with HCC at 1, 3, and 5 years compared with RFA alone. The combination of RFA with TACE has advantages in improving overall survival rate, and provides better prognosis for HCC patients.