Recurrences in stage II rectal carcinoma after curative resection alone: from the viewpoint of angiogenesis

Correlation analysis of bone marrow microvessel density and miRNA expression on drug resistance in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia after tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment

OBJECTIVE

This study analyzed the relationship between bone marrow microvessel density (MVD) and the expression of four miRNAs with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) resistance after tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment.

METHODS

234 CML patients were divided into resistance and non-resistance groups in terms of the results of the 5-year follow-up. Patients were divided into the Optimum response group and the Warning/Failure group based on TKI response. MVD was determined by immunohistochemistry, and the expression levels of four miRNAs (miR-106a, miR-155, miR-146a, and miR-340) in bone marrow biopsy specimens were examined by qPCR. We evaluated the association of MVD with four miRNAs and them predictive value for CML resistance after TKI treatment.

RESULTS

The MVD and the levels of miR-106a, miR-155, and miR-146a were significantly higher while the miR-340 level was lower in the resistance group than the non-resistance group. Besides, MVD had a significant correlation with the levels of miR-340 and miR-155. According to the results of survival analysis, MVD as well as miR-340 and miR-155 levels were observably correlated with 5-year survival of patients without TKI resistance. The results of the ROC curve indicated that the MVD, miR-106a, miR-340, and miR-155 had good predictive accuracy for CML resistance after TKI treatment. As for the results of multivariate analysis, disease stage, risk level (high risk), high MVD, low miR-340 expression, and high miR-155 expression were all independent risk factors for CML resistance.

CONCLUSION

MVD and the expression of miR-340 and miR-155 are closely associated with CML resistance after TKI treatment.

Growth differentiation factor 15 promotes cell viability, invasion, migration, and angiogenesis in human liver carcinoma cell line HepG2

AIM

This study was aimed to explore the role of growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODS

Human liver carcinoma cell line HepG2 was used and transfected with vector and/or short hairpin RNA (shRNA) against GDF15. Then, the transfection efficiency was ascertained by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot. Cell viability was measured by 3-(4, 5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT). Cell invasion and migration were measured by Transwell assay and Scratch assay. In addition, human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) tube formation assay was performed to analysis the angiogenesis. Further, the protein expressions of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related factors were measured by Western blot.

RESULT

We found that GDF15 overexpression significantly facilitated cell viability, cell invasion, migration, and angiogenesis (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The protein expressions of N-Cadherin, Vimentin and Twist1 were up-regulated by GDF15 overexpression, while E-Cadherin was down-regulated. Reciprocally, using a GDF15-shRNA strategy, we observed that GDF15 downregulation inhibited both basal and GDF15-induced cell viability, migration, invasion and angiogenesis in HepG2 cells.

CONCLUSION

GDF15 could promote cell viability, invasion, migration, and angiogenesis of HepG2 cells. GDF15 overexpression might be a potential risk factor of HCC.