C14orf166 overexpression correlates with tumor progression and poor prognosis of breast cancer

An in silico prediction of interaction models of influenza A virus PA and human C14orf166 protein from yeast-two-hybrid screening data

The human C14orf166 protein, also known as RNA transcription, translation, and transport factor, shows positive modulatory activity on the cellular RNA polymerase II enzyme. This protein is a component of the tRNA-splicing ligase complex and is involved in RNA metabolism. It also functions in the nucleo-cytoplasmic transport of RNA molecules. The C14orf166 protein has been reported to be associated with some types of cancer. It has been shown that the C14orf166 protein binds to the influenza A virus RNA polymerase PA subunit and has a stimulating effect on viral replication. In this study, candidate interactor proteins for influenza A virus PA protein were screened with a Y2H assay using HEK293 Matchmaker cDNA. The C14orf166 protein fragments in different sizes were found to interact with the PA. The three-dimensional structures of the viral PA and C14orf166 proteins interacting with the PA were generated using the I-TASSER algorithm. The interaction models between these proteins were predicted with the ClusPro protein docking algorithm and analyzed with PyMol software. The results revealed that the carboxy-terminal end of the C14orf166 protein is involved in this interaction, and it is highly possible that it binds to the carboxy-terminal of the PA protein. Although amino acid residues in the interaction area of the PA protein with the C14orf166 showed distribution from 450th to 700th position, the intense interaction region was revealed to be at amino acid positions 610-630.

GRAM domain-containing protein 1A (GRAMD1A) promotes the expansion of hepatocellular carcinoma stem cell and hepatocellular carcinoma growth through STAT5

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the leading cause for cancer death worldwide, new prognostic factors and targets are critical for HCC treatment. Here, we found GRAMD1A was upregulated in HCC tissues, patients with high GRAMD1A levels had poor outcome, statistical analyses found GRAMD1A expression was positively correlated with pathologic differentiation and survival or mortality. It was an unfavorable prognostic factor for HCC patients. Functional analyses revealed GRAMD1A contributed to the self-renewal of HCC stem cells, resistance to chemotherapy and tumor growth of HCC determined by hepatosphere formation assay, side population (SP) analysis, TUNEL assay, soft agar growth ability assay and tumor growth model in vivo. Mechanism analyses found signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5) was the target of GRAMD1A, GRAMD1A regulated the target genes of STAT5 and the transcriptional activity of STAT5. Inhibition of STAT5 in indicated HCC cells overexpressing GRAMD1A suppressed the effects of GRAMD1A on the self-renewal of HCC stem cell, resistance to chemotherapy and tumor growth, suggesting GRAMD1A promoted the self-renewal of HCC stem cells and the development of HCC by increasing STAT5 level. GRAMD1A might be a useful biomarker and target for HCC.