miR-185 inhibits prostate cancer angiogenesis induced by the nodal/ALK4 pathway

Activin receptors in human cancer: Functions, mechanisms, and potential clinical applications

Activins are members of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily and act as key regulators in various physiological processes, such as follicle and embryonic development, as well as in multiple human diseases, including cancer. They have been established to signal through three type I and two type II serine/threonine kinase receptors, which, upon ligand binding, form a final signal-transducing receptor complex that activates downstream signaling and governs gene expression. Recent research highlighted the dysregulation of the expression or activity of activin receptors in multiple human cancers and their critical involvement in cancer progression. Furthermore, expression levels of activin receptors have been associated with clinicopathological features and patient outcomes across different cancers. However, there is currently a paucity of comprehensive systematic reviews of activin receptors in cancer. Thus, this review aimed to consolidate existing knowledge concerning activin receptors, with a primary emphasis on their signaling cascade and emerging biological functions, regulatory mechanisms, and potential clinical applications in human cancers in order to provide novel perspectives on cancer prognosis and targeted therapy.

Crosstalk between Endothelial Cells and Tumor Cells: A New Era in Prostate Cancer Progression

Prostate cancer stands as one of the most prevalent malignancies afflicting men worldwide. The tumor microenvironment plays a pivotal role in tumor progression, comprising various cell types including endothelial cells, tumor-associated fibroblasts, and macrophages. Recent accumulating evidence underscores the indispensable contribution of endothelial cells to prostate cancer development. Both endothelial cells and tumor cells release a multitude of factors that instigate angiogenesis, metastasis, and even drug resistance in prostate cancer. These factors serve as regulators within the tumor microenvironment and represent potential therapeutic targets for managing prostate cancer. In this review, we provide an overview of the crucial functions of endothelial cells in angiogenesis, metastasis, and drug resistance, and their prospective therapeutic applications in combating this disease.

The role of microRNA-185 in the pathogenesis of human diseases: A focus on cancer

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a widely-studied class of non-coding RNAs characterized by their short length (18-25 nucleotides). The precise functions of miRNAs are not well-elucidated; however, an increasing number of studies suggest their involvement in various physiologic processes and deregulation in pathologic conditions. miRNA-185 (miR-185) is among the mostly-studied miRNAs in human diseases, which is found to play putative roles in conditions like metabolic disorders, asthma, frailty, schizophrenia, and hepatitis. Notably, many cancer studies report the downregulation of miR-185 in cell lines, tumor tissues, and plasma specimens of patients, while it demonstrates a suppressing role on the malignant properties of cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Accordingly, miR-185 can be considered a tumor suppressor miRNA in human malignancies, while a few studies also report inconsistent findings. Being suggested as a prognostic/diagnostic biomarker, mi-185 is also found to offer clinical potentials, particularly for early diagnosis and prediction of the prognosis of cancer patients. In this review, we have outlined the studies that have evaluated the functions and clinical significance of miR-185 in different human diseases with a particular focus on cancer.

Angiogenesis and prostate cancer: MicroRNAs comes into view

Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, is an important stage in the growth of cancer. Extracellular matrix, endothelial cells, and soluble substances must be carefully coordinated during the multistep procedure of angiogenesis. Inducers and inhibitors have been found to control pretty much every phase. In addition to benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, and angiogenesis have a critical role in the initiation and progression of prostate cancer. MicroRNA (miRNA) is endogenous, short, non-coding RNA molecules of almost 22 nucleotides play a role in regulating cellular processes and regulating several genes' expression. Through controlling endothelial migration, differentiation, death, and cell proliferation, miRNAs have a significant function in angiogenesis. A number of pathological and physiological processes, particularly prostate cancer's emergence, depend on the regulation of angiogenesis. Investigating the functions played with miRNAs in angiogenesis is crucial because it might result in the creation of novel prostate cancer therapies that entail regulating angiogenesis. The function of several miRNAs and its targeting genes engaged in cancer of the prostate angiogenesis will be reviewed in this review in light of the most recent developments. The potential clinical utility of miRNAs potentially a novel therapeutic targets will also be explored, as well as their capacity to control prostate cancer angiogenesis and the underlying mechanisms.

Extracellular circulating miRNAs as potential non-invasive biomarkers in non-small cell lung cancer patients

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) comprises 85% of all lung cancers and is a malignant condition resistant to advanced-stage treatment. Despite the advancement in detection and treatment techniques, the disease is taking a deadly toll worldwide, being the leading cause of cancer death every year. Current diagnostic methods do not ensure the detection of the disease at an early stage, nor can they predict the risk of its development. There is an urgent need to identify biomarkers that can help predict an individual's risk of developing NSCLC, distinguish NSCLC subtype, allow monitor disease and treatment progression which can improve patient survival. Micro RNAs (miRNAs) represent the class of small and non-coding RNAs involved in gene expression regulation, influencing many biological processes such as proliferation, differentiation, and carcinogenesis. Research reports significant differences in miRNA profiles between healthy and neoplastic tissues in NSCLC. Its abundant presence in biofluids, such as serum, blood, urine, and saliva, makes them easily detectable and does not require invasive collection techniques. Many studies support miRNAs' importance in detecting, predicting, and prognosis of NSCLC, indicating their utility as a promising biomarker. In this work, we reviewed up-to-date research focusing on biofluid miRNAs' role as a diagnostic tool in NSCLC cases. We also discussed the limitations of applying miRNAs as biomarkers and highlighted future areas of interest.

A novel angiogenic effect of PCSK9- regulated genes

BACKGROUND

Since the discovery of the Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin Type 9(PCSK9) gene has been involved in regulating low-density lipoprotein metabolism and cardiovascular disease (CVD), many therapeutic strategies directly targeting PCSK9 have been introduced. PCSK9 gain of function (GoF) mutations are associated with autosomal dominant hypercholesterolemia (ADH) and premature atherosclerosis. In contrast, PCSK9 loss of function (LOF) mutations have cardioprotective effects and can lead to familial hypo cholesterol in some instances. However, its potential impacts beyond the typical effects on lipid metabolism have not been elucidated. Therefore the study aimed to identify and verify PCSK9's possible effects beyond its traditional role in lipid metabolism.

METHODS

The S127R is a PCSK9 gain of function mutation. Firstly, We used the data of the gene expression Omnibus(GEO) database to identify the differentially expressed genes between S127R mutation carriers and ordinary people. Secondly, the identification and analysis of significant genes were performed with various bioinformatics programs. Thirdly, to verify the possible effect and the potential pathways of PCSK9 on angiogenesis, we constructed PCSK9 low and high expression models by transfecting PCSK9-siRNA (small interfering RNA) and PCSK9-plasmid complex into human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), respectively. Furthermore, Wound-Healing Assay and Capillary tube formation assay were applied to measure the effect of PCSK9 on angiogenesis. Fourthly, the expression level of VEGFR2 and the significant genes between PCSK9 low and high expression models were verified by quantitative real-time PCR. All data were analysed by GraphPad Prism 8 software.

RESULTS

88 DEGs were identified, including 45 up-regulated and 43 down-regulated DEGs. Furthermore, we identified the six genes (MMP9, CASP3, EGR1, NGFR, LEFTY1 and NODAL) as significantly different genes between PCSK9-S127R and Control hiPSC. Further, we found that these significant difference genes were mainly associated with angiogenesis after enrichment analysis. To verify the possible effect of PCSK9 on angiogenesis, we constructed low and high-expression PCSK9 models by transfecting siRNA and PCSK9-plasmid complex into human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), respectively. The tubule formation test and Wound healing assays showed that overexpression of PCSK9 had an inhibitory effect on angiogenesis, which could be reversed by decreasing the expression of PCSK9. Moreover, bioinformatics analysis indicated that the six hub genes (MMP9, CASP3, EGR1, NGFR, LEFTY1 and NODAL) might play a vital role in the biological function of PCSK9 in angiogenesis. Real-time quantitative PCR was applied to clarify the expression profiles of these critical genes in overexpression/knockdown PCSK9. Finally, the expression levels of MMP9, Caspase3, LEFTY1, and NODAL were suppressed by overexpression of PCSK9 and could be alleviated by PCSK9 knockdown. Otherwise, EGR1 had the opposite expression trend, and there was no specific trend of NGFR after repeated experiments.

CONCLUSION

PCSK9 might play an essential role in angiogenesis, unlike its typical role in lipid metabolism, and MMP9, Caspase3, LEFTY1, NODAL, and EGR1 may be involved in the regulation of angiogenesis as critical genes.

STAT3 signaling in prostate cancer progression and therapy resistance: An oncogenic pathway with diverse functions

The categorization of cancers demonstrates that prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in men and it causes high death annually. Prostate cancer patients are diagnosed mainly via biomarkers such as PSA test and patients show poor prognosis. Prostate cancer cells rapidly diffuse into different parts of body and their metastasis is also a reason for death. Current therapies for prostate cancer patients include chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy as well as targeted therapy. The progression of prostate cancer cells is regulated by different factors that STAT3 signaling is among them. Growth factors and cytokines such as IL-6 can induce STAT3 signaling and it shows carcinogenic impact. Activation of STAT3 signaling occurs in prostate cancer and it promotes malignant behavior of tumor cells. Induction of STAT3 signaling increases glycolysis and proliferation of prostate cancer cells and prevents apoptosis. Furthermore, STAT3 signaling induces EMT mechanism in increasing cancer metastasis. Activation of STAT3 signaling stimulates drug resistance and the limitation of current works is lack of experiment related to role of STAT3 signaling in radio-resistance in prostate tumor. Calcitriol, capsazepine and β-elemonic are among the compounds capable of targeting STAT3 signaling and its inhibition in prostate cancer therapy. In addition to natural products, small molecules targeting STAT3 signaling have been developed in prostate cancer therapy.

Specific microRNA Signature Kinetics in Porphyromonas gingivalis-Induced Periodontitis

Porphyromonas gingivalis is one of the major bacteria constituting the subgingival pathogenic polymicrobial milieu during periodontitis. Our objective is to determine the global microRNA (miRNA, miR) expression kinetics in 8- and 16-weeks duration of P. gingivalis infection in C57BL/6J mice and to identify the miRNA signatures at specific time-points in mice. We evaluated differential expression (DE) miRNAs in mandibles (n = 10) using high-throughput NanoString nCounter® miRNA expression panels. The bacterial colonization, alveolar bone resorption (ABR), serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies, and bacterial dissemination were confirmed. In addition, all the infected mice showed bacterial colonization on the gingival surface, significant increases in ABR (p < 0.0001), and specific IgG antibody responses (p < 0.05-0.001). The miRNA profiling showed 26 upregulated miRNAs (e.g., miR-804, miR-690) and 14 downregulated miRNAs (e.g., miR-1902, miR-1937a) during an 8-weeks infection, whereas 7 upregulated miRNAs (e.g., miR-145, miR-195) and one downregulated miR-302b were identified during a 16-weeks infection. Both miR-103 and miR-30d were commonly upregulated at both time-points, and all the DE miRNAs were unique to the specific time-points. However, miR-31, miR-125b, miR-15a, and miR-195 observed in P. gingivalis-infected mouse mandibles were also identified in the gingival tissues of periodontitis patients. None of the previously identified miRNAs reported in in vitro studies using cell lines (periodontal ligament cells, gingival epithelial cells, human leukemia monocytic cell line (THP-1), and B cells) exposed to P. gingivalis lipopolysaccharide were observed in the in vivo study. Most of the pathways (endocytosis, bacterial invasion, and FcR-mediated phagocytosis) targeted by the DE miRNAs were linked with bacterial pathogen recognition and clearance. Further, eighteen miRNAs were closely associated with the bacterial invasion of epithelial cells. This study highlights the altered expression of miRNA in gingiva, and their expression depends on the time-points of infection. This is the first in vivo study that identified specific signature miRNAs (miR-103 and miR-30d) in P. gingivalis invasion of epithelial cells, establishes a link between miRNA and development of periodontitis and helping to better understand the pathobiology of periodontitis.

Proteins Found in the Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Secretome and Their Therapeutic Potential

The cancer secretome comprises factors secreted by tumors, including cytokines, growth factors, proteins from the extracellular matrix (ECM), proteases and protease inhibitors, membrane and extracellular vesicle proteins, peptide hormones, and metabolic proteins. Secreted proteins provide an avenue for communication with other tumor cells and stromal cells, and these in turn promote tumor growth and progression. Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women in the US and worldwide. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by its aggressiveness and its lack of expression of the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and HER2, making it unable to be treated with therapies targeting these protein markers, and leaving patients to rely on standard chemotherapy. In order to develop more effective therapies against TNBC, researchers are searching for targetable molecules specific to TNBC. Proteins in the TNBC secretome are involved in wide-ranging cancer-promoting processes, including tumor growth, angiogenesis, inflammation, the EMT, drug resistance, invasion, and development of the premetastatic niche. In this review, we catalog the currently known proteins in the secretome of TNBC tumors and correlate these secreted molecules with potential therapeutic opportunities to facilitate translational research.

Role of miRNA-145, 148, and 185 and Stem Cells in Prostate Cancer

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules that play a role in cancer linked to the regulation of important cellular processes and pathways involving tumorigenesis, cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. A lot of human miRNA sequences have been identified which are linked to cancer pathogenesis. MicroRNAs, in prostate cancer (PC), play a relevant role as biomarkers, show a specific profile, and have been used as therapeutic targets. Prostate cancer (PC) is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men. Clinical diagnoses among the gold standards for PC diagnosis and monitoring are prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, digital rectal examination, and prostate needle biopsies. PSA screening still has a large grey area of patients, which leads to overdiagnosis. Therefore, new biomarkers are needed to improve existing diagnostic tools. The miRNA expression profiles from tumour versus normal tissues are helpful and exhibit significant differences not only between cancerous and non-cancerous tissues, but also between different cancer types and subtypes. In this review, we focus on the role of miRNAs-145, 148, and 185 and their correlation with stem cells in prostate cancer pathogenesis. MiR-145, by modulating multiple oncogenes, regulates different cellular processes in PC, which are involved in the transition from localised to metastatic disease. MiR-148 is downregulated in high-grade tumours, suggesting that the miR-148-3 family might act as tumour suppressors in PC as a potential biomarker for detecting this disease. MiR-185 regulation is still unclear in being able to regulate tumour processes in PC. Nevertheless, other authors confirm the role of this miRNA as a tumour suppressor, suggesting its potential use as a suitable biomarker in disease prognosis. These three miRNAs are all involved in the regulation of prostate cancer stem cell behaviour (PCSCs). Within this contest, PCSCs are often involved in the onset of chemo-resistance in PC, therefore strategies for targeting this subset of cells are strongly required to control the disease. Hence, the relationship between these two players is interesting and important in prostate cancer pathogenesis and in PCSC stemness regulation, in the attempt to pave the way for novel therapeutic targets in prostate cancer.

Angioprevention of Urologic Cancers by Plant-Derived Foods

The number of cancer cases worldwide keeps growing unstoppably, despite the undeniable advances achieved by basic research and clinical practice. Urologic tumors, including some as prevalent as prostate, bladder or kidney tumors, are no exceptions to this rule. Moreover, the fact that many of these tumors are detected in early stages lengthens the duration of their treatment, with a significant increase in health care costs. In this scenario, prevention offers the most cost-effective long-term strategy for the global control of these diseases. Although specialized diets are not the only way to decrease the chances to develop cancer, epidemiological evidence support the role of certain plant-derived foods in the prevention of urologic cancer. In many cases, these plants are rich in antiangiogenic phytochemicals, which could be responsible for their protective or angiopreventive properties. Angiogenesis inhibition may contribute to slow down the progression of the tumor at very different stages and, for this reason, angiopreventive strategies could be implemented at different levels of chemoprevention, depending on the targeted population. In this review, epidemiological evidence supporting the role of certain plant-derived foods in urologic cancer prevention are presented, with particular emphasis on their content in bioactive phytochemicals that could be used in the angioprevention of cancer.

MiR-185-5p regulates the development of myocardial fibrosis

BACKGROUND

Cardiac fibrosis stiffens the ventricular wall, predisposes to cardiac arrhythmias and contributes to the development of heart failure. In the present study, our aim was to identify novel miRNAs that regulate the development of cardiac fibrosis and could serve as potential therapeutic targets for myocardial fibrosis.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Analysis for cardiac samples from sudden cardiac death victims with extensive myocardial fibrosis as the primary cause of death identified dysregulation of miR-185-5p. Analysis of resident cardiac cells from mice subjected to experimental cardiac fibrosis model showed induction of miR-185-5p expression specifically in cardiac fibroblasts. In vitro, augmenting miR-185-5p induced collagen production and profibrotic activation in cardiac fibroblasts, whereas inhibition of miR-185-5p attenuated collagen production. In vivo, targeting miR-185-5p in mice abolished pressure overload induced cardiac interstitial fibrosis. Mechanistically, miR-185-5p targets apelin receptor and inhibits the anti-fibrotic effects of apelin. Finally, analysis of left ventricular tissue from patients with severe cardiomyopathy showed an increase in miR-185-5p expression together with pro-fibrotic TGF-β1 and collagen I.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data show that miR-185-5p targets apelin receptor and promotes myocardial fibrosis.

MicroRNAs Targeting HIF-2α, VEGFR1 and/or VEGFR2 as Potential Predictive Biomarkers for VEGFR Tyrosine Kinase and HIF-2α Inhibitors in Metastatic Clear-Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Metastatic clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (m-ccRCC) is characterized by increased hypoxia-induced factor (HIF)-2α and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-dependent angiogenesis through loss of function of the von Hippel-Lindau protein. VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (VEGFR-TKIs) are a cornerstone of m-ccRCC treatment, and new treatments targeting HIF-2α are currently under investigation. However, predictive biomarkers for these treatments are lacking. In this retrospective cohort study including 109 patients treated with VEGFR-targeted therapies as first-line treatment, we aimed to study the possible predictive function of microRNAs (miRNAs) targeting HIF-2α, VEGFR1 and VEGFR2. We selected miRNAs inversely correlated with HIF-2α, VEGFR1 and/or VEGFR2 expression and with predicted target sites in the respective genes and subsequently studied their impact on therapeutic outcomes. We identified four miRNAs (miR-34c-5p, miR-221-3p, miR-222-3p and miR-3529-3p) inversely correlated with VEGFR1 and/or VEGFR2 expression and associated with tumor shrinkage and progression-free survival (PFS) upon treatment with VEGFR-TKIs, highlighting the potential predictive value of these miRNAs. Moreover, we identified three miRNAs (miR-185-5p, miR-223-3p and miR-3529-3p) inversely correlated with HIF-2α expression and associated with tumor shrinkage and PFS upon treatment with VEGFR-TKIs. These three miRNAs can have a predictive value not only upon treatment with VEGFR-TKIs but possibly also upon treatment with the upcoming HIF-2α inhibitor belzutifan.