MicroRNA-335-5p is a potential suppressor of metastasis and invasion in gastric cancer

Role and mechanism of NCAPD3 in promoting malignant behaviors in gastric cancer

Background

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the major malignancies threatening human lives and health. Non-SMC condensin II complex subunit D3 (NCAPD3) plays a crucial role in the occurrence of many diseases. However, its role in GC remains unexplored.

Materials and Methods

The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, clinical samples, and cell lines were used to analyze NCAPD3 expression in GC. NCAPD3 was overexpressed and inhibited by lentiviral vectors and the CRISPR/Cas9 system, respectively. The biological functions of NCAPD3 were investigated in vitro and in vivo. Gene microarray, Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) were performed to establish the potential mechanisms.

Results

NCAPD3 was highly expressed in GC and was associated with a poor prognosis. NCAPD3 upregulation significantly promoted the malignant biological behaviors of gastric cancer cell, while NCAPD3 inhibition exerted a opposite effect. NCAPD3 loss can directly inhibit CCND1 and ESR1 expression to downregulate the expression of downstream targets CDK6 and IRS1 and inhibit the proliferation of gastric cancer cells. Moreover, NCAPD3 loss activates IRF7 and DDIT3 to regulate apoptosis in gastric cancer cells.

Conclusion

Our study revealed that NCAPD3 silencing attenuates malignant phenotypes of GC and that it is a potential target for GC treatment.

Pathological roles of miRNAs and pseudogene-derived lncRNAs in human cancers, and their comparison as prognosis/diagnosis biomarkers

This review examines and compares the diagnostic and prognostic capabilities of miRNAs and lncRNAs derived from pseudogenes in cancer patients. Additionally, it delves into their roles in cancer pathogenesis. Both miRNAs and pseudogene-derived lncRNAs have undergone thorough investigation as remarkably sensitive and specific cancer biomarkers, offering significant potential for cancer detection and monitoring. . Extensive research is essential to gain a complete understanding of the precise roles these non-coding RNAs play in cancer, allowing the development of novel targeted therapies and biomarkers for improved cancer detection and treatment approaches.

Identification of hub genes to determine drug-disease correlation in breast carcinomas

The exact molecular mechanism underlying the heterogeneous drug response against breast carcinoma remains to be fully understood. It is urgently required to identify key genes that are intricately associated with varied clinical response of standard anti-cancer drugs, clinically used to treat breast cancer patients. In the present study, the utility of transcriptomic data of breast cancer patients in discerning the clinical drug response using machine learning-based approaches were evaluated. Here, a computational framework has been developed which can be used to identify key genes that can be linked with clinical drug response and progression of cancer, offering an immense opportunity to predict potential prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. The framework concerned utilizes DeSeq2, Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Cytoscape, and machine learning techniques to find these crucial genes. Total RNA extraction and qRT-PCR were performed to quantify relative expression of few hub genes selected from the networks. In our study, we have experimentally checked the expression of few key hub genes like APOA2, DLX5, APOC3, CAMK2B, and PAK6 that were predicted to play an immense role in breast cancer tumorigenesis and progression in response to anti-cancer drug Paclitaxel. However, further experimental validations will be required to get mechanistic insights of these genes in regulating the drug response and cancer progression which will likely to play pivotal role in cancer treatment and precision oncology.

Identification of miRNA-mRNA-TFs regulatory network and crucial pathways involved in asthma through advanced systems biology approaches

Asthma is a life-threatening and chronic inflammatory lung disease that is posing a true global health challenge. The genetic basis of the disease is fairly well examined. However, the molecular crosstalk between microRNAs (miRNAs), target genes, and transcription factors (TFs) networks and their contribution to disease pathogenesis and progression is not well explored. Therefore, this study was aimed at dissecting the molecular network between mRNAs, miRNAs, and TFs using robust computational biology approaches. The transcriptomic data of bronchial epithelial cells of severe asthma patients and healthy controls was studied by different systems biology approaches like differentially expressed gene detection, functional enrichment, miRNA-target gene pairing, and mRNA-miRNA-TF molecular networking. We detected the differential expression of 1703 (673 up-and 1030 down-regulated) genes and 71 (41 up-and 30 down-regulated) miRNAs in the bronchial epithelial cells of asthma patients. The DEGs were found to be enriched in key pathways like IL-17 signaling (KEGG: 04657), Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation (KEGG: 04658), and the Th17 cell differentiation (KEGG: 04659) (p-values = 0.001). The results from miRNAs-target gene pairs-transcription factors (TFs) have detected the key roles of 3 miRs (miR-181a-2-3p; miR-203a-3p; miR-335-5p), 6 TFs (TFAM, FOXO1, GFI1, IRF2, SOX9, and HLF) and 32 miRNA target genes in eliciting autoimmune reactions in bronchial epithelial cells of the respiratory tract. Through systemic implementation of comprehensive system biology tools, this study has identified key miRNAs, TFs, and miRNA target gene pairs as potential tissue-based asthma biomarkers.

Effects of the Targeted Regulation of CCRK by miR-335-5p on the Proliferation and Tumorigenicity of Human Renal Carcinoma Cells

Cell cycle-related kinase (CCRK) is most closely related to cyclin-dependent protein kinase, which may activate cyclin-dependent kinase 2 and is associated with the growth of human cancer cells. However, the expression and function of CCRK in the pathogenesis of clear cell renal cell cancer (ccRCC) are unclear. Herein, this research aimed to explore the potential mechanism of the targeted regulation of CCRK by miR-335-5p on the proliferation and tumorigenicity of human ccRCC cells. The results showed that CCRK was significantly overexpressed in ccRCC tissues and cells, and knockdown of the CCRK expression by shRNA inhibited cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo and enhanced cell apoptosis in vitro, which indicated that CCRK could be a potential target for antitumour drugs in the treatment of ccRCC. Moreover, miR-335-5p was found to bind directly to the 3′ untranslated region of CCRK, was expressed at markedly low levels in ccRCC cells, and was closely associated with the tumour stage. The overexpression of CCRK partially reversed the inhibitory effects of miR-335-5p on the cell growth of ccRCC, which implied that miR-335-5p could serve as a promising tumour inhibitor for ccRCC. In summary, CCRK could serve as an alternative antitumour drug target, and miR-335-5p could be a promising therapeutic tumour inhibitor for ccRCC treatment.

miR2Trait: an integrated resource for investigating miRNA-disease associations

MicroRNAs are key components of cellular regulatory networks, and breakdown in miRNA function causes cascading effects leading to pathophenotypes. A better understanding of the role of miRNAs in diseases is essential for human health. Here, we have devised a method for comprehensively mapping the associations between miRNAs and diseases by merging on a common key between two curated omics databases. The resulting bidirectional resource, miR2Trait, is more detailed than earlier catalogs, uncovers new relationships, and includes analytical utilities to interrogate and extract knowledge from these datasets. miR2Trait provides resources to compute the disease enrichment of a user-given set of miRNAs and analyze the miRNA profile of a specified diseasome. Reproducible examples demonstrating use-cases for each of these resource components are illustrated. Furthermore we used these tools to construct pairwise miRNA-miRNA and disease-disease enrichment networks, and identified 23 central miRNAs that could underlie major regulatory functions in the human genome. miR2Trait is available as an open-source command-line interface in Python3 (URL: https://github.com/miR2Trait) with a companion wiki documenting the scripts and data resources developed, under MIT license for commercial and non-commercial use. A minimal web-based implementation has been made available at https://sas.sastra.edu/pymir18. Supplementary information is available at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.8288825.v3.

Could inhibition of metalloproteinases be used to block the process of metastasis?

Metastasis is a multisequential process that allows tumor cells to migrate to tissues distant from the primary tumor. Only a small number of cells escape from the primary tumor; however, the metastases generated are responsible for more than 90% of cancer deaths. Many metastatic processes initially require the total or partial start‐up of a program for the transformation of tumor epithelial cells into mesenchymal cells (EMT). The launching of the EMT program is stimulated by cytokines and other elements produced by the diverse types of cells composing the tumor stroma. In parallel, a process of destabilization of the extracellular matrix (ECM) takes place by means of the synthesis of proteases of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) family. EMC degradation allows the exportation of some tumor cells as mesenchymal cells to the circulatory system and their subsequent implantation in a tissue distant from the primary tumor. The blocking of these both processes appears as a hypothetical stop point in the metastatic mechanism. The present review deals with the different options to achieve the inhibition of MMPs, focusing on MMP7 as a target given its involvement in the metastatic processes of a wide variety of tumors.

The simultaneous implantation of the epithelial–mesenchymal program and the synthesis and activation of matrix metalloproteinases during the first phases of the metastasis process is known. The inhibition of proteases could constitute a possible blockage of the process. The review describes the evolution of the different inhibition mechanisms that could inform applicable therapeutic mechanisms for the paralysis of the metastatic process.

Immunomodulatory Properties of Human Breast Milk: MicroRNA Contents and Potential Epigenetic Effects

Infants who are exclusively breastfed in the first six months of age receive adequate nutrients, achieving optimal immune protection and growth. In addition to the known nutritional components of human breast milk (HBM), i.e., water, carbohydrates, fats and proteins, it is also a rich source of microRNAs, which impact epigenetic mechanisms. This comprehensive work presents an up-to-date overview of the immunomodulatory constituents of HBM, highlighting its content of circulating microRNAs. The epigenetic effects of HBM are discussed, especially those regulated by miRNAs. HBM contains more than 1400 microRNAs. The majority of these microRNAs originate from the lactating gland and are based on the remodeling of cells in the gland during breastfeeding. These miRNAs can affect epigenetic patterns by several mechanisms, including DNA methylation, histone modifications and RNA regulation, which could ultimately result in alterations in gene expressions. Therefore, the unique microRNA profile of HBM, including exosomal microRNAs, is implicated in the regulation of the genes responsible for a variety of immunological and physiological functions, such as FTO, INS, IGF1, NRF2, GLUT1 and FOXP3 genes. Hence, studying the HBM miRNA composition is important for improving the nutritional approaches for pregnancy and infant's early life and preventing diseases that could occur in the future. Interestingly, the composition of miRNAs in HBM is affected by multiple factors, including diet, environmental and genetic factors.

Elevation of microRNA-365 impedes malignant behaviors of gastric cancer cells by inhibiting PAX6

MicroRNA-365 (miR-365) has been revealed to be a vital regulator in tumorigenesis of multiple cancers, while there is a large gap in the knowledge about miR-365 expression and gastric cancer (GC). This research focused on the effects of miR-365 and paired box 6 (PAX6) on GC development. Levels of miR-365 and PAX6 in GC tissues and cell lines were determined, followed by the screening of the AGS and NCI-N87 cells. Gain- or loss-of-function assays were used to analyze the effect of miR-365, PAX6 on AGS and NCI-N87 cell behaviors. The effects of altered miR-365 and PAX6 on animal models were observed. Moreover, to assess the interaction between miR-365 and PAX6, we implemented the bioinformatic method and dual luciferase reporter gene assay. MiR-365 was decreased while PAX6 was increased in GC tissues and cell lines. There existed a negative association between miR-365 and PAX6. The promoted miR-365 could repress oncogenicity in vivo and malignant transformation in vitro of GC. PAX6 was the target gene of miR-365. Overexpression of PAX6 reversed the inhibitory effect of up-regulated miR-365 on malignant behavior of gastric cancer cells. Our research displays that the amplification of miR-365 could suppress the malignant behaviors of GC cells via inhibiting PAX6, which may be helpful for GC treatment.

Identification of circRNA-miRNA-Immune-Related mRNA Regulatory Network in Gastric Cancer

The pathogenesis of gastric cancer (GC) is still not fully understood. We aimed to find the potential regulatory network for ceRNA (circRNA–miRNA–immune-related mRNA) to uncover the pathological molecular mechanisms of GC. The expression profiles of circRNA, miRNA, and mRNA in gastric tissue from GC patients were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets. Differentially expressed circRNAs, miRNAs, and immune-related mRNAs were filtered, followed by the construction of the ceRNA (circRNA–miRNA–immune-related mRNA) network. Functional annotation and protein–protein interaction (PPI) analysis of immune-related mRNAs in the network were performed. Expression validation of circRNAs and immune-related mRNAs was performed in the new GEO and TCGA datasets and in-vitro experiment. A total of 144 differentially expressed circRNAs, 216 differentially expressed miRNAs, and 2,392 differentially expressed mRNAs were identified in GC. Some regulatory pairs of circRNA–miRNA–immune-related mRNA were obtained, including hsa_circ_0050102–hsa-miR-4537–NRAS–Tgd cells, hsa_circ_0001013–hsa-miR-485-3p–MAP2K1–Tgd cells, hsa_circ_0003763–hsa-miR-145-5p–FGF10–StromaScore, hsa_circ_0001789–hsa-miR-1269b–MET–adipocytes, hsa_circ_0040573–hsa-miR-3686–RAC1–Tgd cells, and hsa_circ_0006089–hsa-miR-5584-3p–LYN–neurons. Interestingly, FGF10, MET, NRAS, RAC1, MAP2K1, and LYN had potential diagnostic value for GC patients. In the KEGG analysis, some signaling pathways were identified, such as Rap1 and Ras signaling pathways (involved NRAS and FGF10), Fc gamma R-mediated phagocytosis and cAMP signaling pathway (involved RAC1), proteoglycans in cancer (involved MET), T-cell receptor signaling pathway (involved MAP2K1), and chemokine signaling pathway (involved LYN). The expression validation of hsa_circ_0003763, hsa_circ_0004928, hsa_circ_0040573, FGF10, MET, NRAS, RAC1, MAP2K1, and LYN was consistent with the integrated analysis. In conclusion, the identified ceRNA (circRNA–miRNA–immune-related mRNA) regulatory network may be associated with the development of GC.

Identification of Significant Genes and Pathways Associated with Tenascin-C in Cancer Progression by Bioinformatics Analysis

Background

Tenascin-C (TNC) is a large glycoprotein of the extracellular matrix which associated with poor clinical outcomes in several malignancies. TNC over-expression is repeatedly observed in several cancer tissues and promotes several processes in tumor progression. Until quite recently, more needs to be known about the potential mechanisms of TNC as a key player in cancer progression and metastasis.

Materials and Methods

In the present study, we performed a bioinformatics analysis of breast and colorectal cancer expression microarray data to survey TNC role and function with holistic view. Gene expression profiles were analyzed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between normal samples and cancer biopsy samples. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks of the DEGs with CluePedia plugin of Cytoscape software were constructed. Furthermore, after PPI network construction, gene-regulatory networks analysis was performed to predict long noncoding RNAs and microRNAs associated with TNC and cluster analysis was performed. Using the Clue gene ontology (GO) plugin of Cytoscape software, the GO and pathway enrichment analysis were performed.

Results

PPI and DEGs-miRNA-lncRNA regulatory networks showed TNC is a significant node in a huge network, and one of the main gene with high centrality parameters. Furthermore, from the regulatory level perspective, TNC could be significantly impressed by miR-335-5p. GO analysis results showed that TNC was significantly enriched in cancer-related biological processes.

Conclusions

It is important to identify the TNC underlying molecular mechanisms in cancer progression, which may be clinically useful for tumor-targeting strategies. Bioinformatics analysis provides an insight into the significant roles that TNC plays in cancer progression scenarios.

Mapping the genomic diaspora of gastric cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is a leading contributor to global cancer incidence and mortality. Pioneering genomic studies, focusing largely on primary GCs, revealed driver alterations in genes such as ERBB2, FGFR2, TP53 and ARID1A as well as multiple molecular subtypes. However, clinical efforts targeting these alterations have produced variable results, hampered by complex co-alteration patterns in molecular profiles and intra-patient genomic heterogeneity. In this Review, we highlight foundational and translational advances in dissecting the genomic cartography of GC, including non-coding variants, epigenomic aberrations and transcriptomic alterations, and describe how these alterations interplay with environmental influences, germline factors and the tumour microenvironment. Mapping of these alterations over the GC life cycle in normal gastric tissues, metaplasia, primary carcinoma and distant metastasis will improve our understanding of biological mechanisms driving GC development and promoting cancer hallmarks. On the translational front, integrative genomic approaches are identifying diverse mechanisms of GC therapy resistance and emerging preclinical targets, enabled by technologies such as single-cell sequencing and liquid biopsies. Validating these insights will require specifically designed GC cohorts, converging multi-modal genomic data with longitudinal data on therapeutic challenges and patient outcomes. Genomic findings from these studies will facilitate 'next-generation' clinical initiatives in GC precision oncology and prevention.

The Significance of the Alter miR let-7a and miR-335 Expression Level Regulating the CCR7/CCL19 Axis as Potential Biomarkers of Tumor Progression in NSCLC

The chemokine receptor 7/C-C ligand 19 chemokine (CCR7/CCL19) has been implicated in the development and progression of NSCLC. Its expression is regulated by various epigenetic factors including miRNAs. The aim of this study was to assess the expression of CCR7/CCL19 in cancer tissue in relation to that of miRNAs (miR-let-7a, miR-335) as transcriptional regulators. The expression of the tested miRNAs was also evaluated in serum exosomes. Sixty patients (n = 60) were enrolled in the study. The total expression of the studied mRNA and miRNAs were evaluated using qPCR. Tumor tissue fragments, macroscopically unchanged adjacent tissue, and serum were used as controls. Higher CCR7 and CCL19 mRNA expression levels were observed in tumor tissue compared to control. According to stages of the disease (AJCC tumor staging), the greatest expression level of the studied genes' mRNA was observed in patients with stage III. In NSCLC patients, lower miR let-7a expression level was observed in tumor tissue compared to serum; however, miR-335 expression level was higher (p < 0.05). The expression level of miR-335 positively correlated with tumor size (T features according to pTNM staging) and AJCC tumor staging, while miR let-7a had a negative correlation (p > 0.05) with liquid biopsy. Significantly greater miR-335 expression level and lower miR let-7a expression level in serum were observed in patients with metastases to lymph nodes. Our findings reveal a significant correlation between the expression levels of the mRNA of the studied genes and miRNAs. Changes in miR-335 and miR let-7a expression levels in the serum exosomes of NSCLC patients in relation to lymph node metastases and tumor stage may serve as a non-invasive molecular biomarker of tumor progression.

Exploratory Profiling of Extracellular MicroRNAs in Cerebrospinal Fluid Comparing Leptomeningeal Metastasis with Other Central Nervous System Tumor Statuses

The diagnosis of leptomeningeal metastasis (LM) is often difficult due to the paucity of cancer cells in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and nonspecific findings on neuroimaging. Investigations of extracellular microRNAs (miRNAs) in CSF could be used for both the diagnosis and study of LM pathogenesis because they reflect the activity of disseminating cancer cells. We isolated CSF extracellular miRNAs from patients (n = 65) of different central nervous system tumor statuses, including cancer control, healthy control, LM, brain metastasis (BM), and primary brain tumor (BT) groups, and performed miRNA microarrays. In unsupervised clustering analyses, all LM and two BM samples showed unique profiles. Among 30 miRNAs identified for LM-specific biomarkers via a Prediction Analysis of Microarrays, miR-335-5p and miR-34b-3p were confirmed in both the discovery and validation samples (n = 23). Next, we performed a significance analysis of the microarray (SAM) to extract discriminative miRNA profiles of two selected CSF groups, with LM samples revealing a greater number of discriminative miRNAs than BM and BT samples compared to controls. Using SAM comparisons between LM and BM samples, we identified 30 upregulated and 6 downregulated LM miRNAs. To reduce bias from different primary cancers, we performed a subset analysis with primary non-small cell lung cancer, and 12 of 13 upregulated miRNAs in LM vs. BM belonged to the upregulated miRNAs in LM. We identified possible target genes and their biological processes that could be affected by LM discriminative miRNAs in NSCLC using the gene ontology database. In conclusion, we identified a unique extracellular miRNA profile in LM CSF that was different from BM, suggesting the use of miRNAs as LM biomarkers in studies of LM pathogenesis.

Long non‑coding RNA SNHG20 promotes cell proliferation, migration and invasion in retinoblastoma via the miR‑335‑5p/E2F3 axis

Current therapies for retinoblastoma (RB) are unsatisfactory and there is an urgent need for the development of new treatment modalities. Small nucleolar RNA host gene 20 (SNHG20) has been reported to serve a key oncogenic role in the development of various types of cancer, but its role in RB tumorigenesis remains to be fully determined. The present study aimed to investigate the expression patterns and biological roles of SNHG20 in RB. The expression levels of SNHG20 were measured via reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR in RB tissues and cell lines. The impact of SNHG20 status on cell proliferation, survival, migration and invasion was determined using small interfering RNA and a range of established experimental assays. The SNHG20/microRNA (miR)‑335‑5p/E2F transcription factor 3 (E2F3) signaling axis was further investigated using a dual‑luciferase activity reporter system and an RNA pull‑down assay combined with bioinformatics analyses. SNHG20 expression was significantly increased in RB tissues and cell lines. Silencing of SNHG20 in RB cells was shown to inhibit cell proliferation, clonogenic survival, migration and invasion. Moreover, mechanistic investigations demonstrated that SNHG20 could enhance the expression of E2F3 by sponging of miR‑335‑5p. These data suggested that the long non‑coding RNA SNHG20 may promote cell proliferation, migration and invasion in RB via the miR‑335‑5p/E2F3 axis.

Diagnostic and therapeutic potencies of miR-18a-5p in mixed-type gastric adenocarcinoma

Mixed-type gastric adenocarcinoma (by Lauren Classification) has poor clinical outcomes with few targeted treatment options. The primary objective of this study was to find the prognostic factors, accurate treatment approaches, and effective postoperative adjuvant therapy strategies for patients with mixed-type gastric adenocarcinoma (GA). A microRNA sequencing data set and the corresponding clinical parameters of patients with gastric cancer were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Differentially expressed microRNAs (DEMs) of diffuse- and intestinal-type GA were, respectively, determined. Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests were subsequently carried out to evaluate the prognostic relevance of each DEM. To study the common factors between diffuse- and intestinal-type GA, a pathway enrichment analysis was performed on the target genes of identified DEMs using the PANTHER database. After data preprocessing, we analyzed a total of 230 samples from 210 patients with GA. Eighty-six DEMs in diffuse-type GA samples and 59 DEMs in intestinal-type GA samples were, respectively, identified (p  2.0). The Kaplan-Meier survival method further screened out six prognosis-related DEMs for diffuse-type GA and seven prognosis-related DEMs for intestinal-type GA (p < 0.05). MiR-18a-5p was found to be the only common prognosis-related DEM between diffuse- and intestinal-type GA. The common signaling pathways further revealed that target genes of miR-18a-5p are involved in mixed-type GA progression. This study suggests that miR-18a-5p acts as a potential target for treatment, and common signal pathways provide a rich basis to seek reliable and effective molecular targets for the diagnosis, clinical treatment, and postoperative adjuvant therapy strategy of mixed-type GA.

LncRNA DANCR regulates lymphatic metastasis of bladder cancer via the miR-335/VEGF-C axis

Background

Substantial evidence indicate that long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) and microRNA (miRNA) act as key role in bladder cancer. Differentiation antagonistic ncRNA (DANCR) could be used as a biomarker in the occurrence and development of cancer. This study aims to explore the mechanism of DANCR/miR-335/VEGF-C axis affecting lymphatic metastasis of bladder cancer.

Methods

qRT-PCR detects the expression of DANCR in bladder cancer cell lines (SW780, 5637, T24, UM-UC-3) and normal bladder cell lines (SV-HUC-1), and selects T24 cell lines for subsequent experiments. The expression levels of DANCR, miR-335 and VEGF were measured by qRT-PCR, and the dual luciferase reporter gene verified the targeted regulation of DANCR on miR-335 and miR-335 on VEGF. CCK-8, Transwell and Wound healing assay detect the proliferation, invasion and migration ability of bladder cancer cells, Endothelial cell adhesion assay and Western blot further prove the lymphatic metastasis of bladder cancer.

Results

In this study, DANCR was highly expressed in bladder cancer cell lines. Transfection of si-DANCR significantly inhibits the proliferation, migration, invasion and lymphatic metastasis of bladder cancer cells. Dual luciferase assay confirmed that DANCR targets miR-335/VEGF-C. Transfection of miR-335 mimic promotes the proliferation, migration, invasion and lymphatic metastasis of bladder cancer cells, overexpression of DANCR eliminates the promotion of miR-335 mimic on bladder cancer cells. Further experiments proved that inhibition of miR-335 and overexpression of VEGF-C can reverse the inhibitory effect of silencing DANCR on bladder cancer cells.

Conclusions

In bladder cancer, DARCR plays an important role, which regulates the proliferation, migration, invasion and lymphatic metastasis of bladder cancer cells through the miR-335/VEGF-C molecular axis.

Correction to: MicroRNA-335-5p is a potential suppressor of metastasis and invasion in gastric cancer

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

microRNA Sequencing of CD34+ Sorted Adipose Stem Cells Undergoing Endotheliogenesis

While several microRNAs (miRNAs) that regulate the endotheliogenesis and further promote angiogenesis have been identified in various cancers, the identification of miRNAs that can drive the differentiation of adipose derived stromal/stem cells (ASCs) into the endothelial lineage has been largely unexplored. In this study, CD34+ ASCs sorted using magnetic bead separation were induced to differentiate along the endothelial pathway. miRNA sequencing of ASCs at day 3, 9, and 14 of endothelial differentiation was performed on Ion Proton sequencing system. The data obtained by this high-throughput method were aligned to the human genome HG38, and the differentially expressed miRNAs during endothelial differentiation at various time points (day 3, 9, and 14) were identified. The gene targets of the identified miRNAs were obtained through miRWalk database. The network-pathway analysis of miRNAs and their targets was performed using the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) bioinformatic tools to determine the potential candidate miRNAs that promote endothelial differentiation. Based on these analyses, six upregulated miRNAs (miR-181a-5p, miR-330-5p, miR-335-3p, miR-15b-5p, miR-99a-5p, and miR-199a-5p) and six downregulated miRNAs (miR-145-5p, miR-155-5p, miR-193a-3p, miR-125a-5p, miR-221-5p, and miR-222-3p) were chosen for further studies. In vitro evaluation of these miRNAs to induce endothelial differentiation when transfected into CD34+ sorted ASCs was studied using Von Willebrand Factor (VWF) staining and quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Our results suggest that miRNAs: 335-5p, 330-5p, 181a-5p and anti-miRNAs: 125a-5p, 145-5p can likely induce endothelial differentiation in CD34+ sorted ASCs. Further studies are clearly required to elucidate the specific mechanisms on how miRNAs or anti-miRNAs identified through bioinformatics approach can induce the endotheliogenesis in ASCs.

Selenium-mediated gga-miR-29a-3p regulates LMH cell proliferation, invasion, and migration by targeting COL4A2

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element that has several functions in cellular processes related to cancer prevention. While the cancericidal effect of Se has been reported in liver cancer, the mechanism has not been clarified. MiR-29a has widely been reported as a tumor suppressor; however, it also acts as a carcinogenic agent by increasing cell invasion in human epithelial cancer cells and hepatoma cells. In a previous study, we found that miR-29a-3p is a Se-sensitive miRNA. However, its effect in the chicken hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (LMH) is still unknown. In the present study, we found that the expression of miR-29a-3p in LMH cells was decreased by Se supplementation and increased under Se-deficient conditions. Flow cytometry and CCK-8 results suggested that Se decreased LMH cell proliferation induced by miR-29a-3p overexpression. Transwell and gap-closure assays implied that Se mediated LMH cell invasion and migration by downregulating miR-29a-3p. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting results suggested that Se mitigated miR-29a-3p overexpression-induced LMH cell proliferation by downregulating CDK2, cyclin-D1, CDK6, and cyclin-E1. We further demonstrated that collagen type IV alpha 2 (COL4A2) is a target gene of miR-29a-3p. COL4A2 activates the RhoA/ROCK pathway to promote LMH cell invasion and migration. In conclusion, Se mediated miR-29a-3p overexpression induced LMH cell invasion and migration by targeting COL4A2 to inactivate the RhoA/ROCK pathway.

The Role of Noncoding RNAs in the Regulation of Anoikis and Anchorage-Independent Growth in Cancer

Cancer is a global health concern, and the prognosis of patients with cancer is associated with metastasis. Multistep processes are involved in cancer metastasis. Accumulating evidence has shown that cancer cells acquire the capacity of anoikis resistance and anchorage-independent cell growth, which are critical prerequisite features of metastatic cancer cells. Multiple cellular factors and events, such as apoptosis, survival factors, cell cycle, EMT, stemness, autophagy, and integrins influence the anoikis resistance and anchorage-independent cell growth in cancer. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), are dysregulated in cancer. They regulate cellular signaling pathways and events, eventually contributing to cancer aggressiveness. This review presents the role of miRNAs and lncRNAs in modulating anoikis resistance and anchorage-independent cell growth. We also discuss the feasibility of ncRNA-based therapy and the natural features of ncRNAs that need to be contemplated for more beneficial therapeutic strategies against cancer.

MiR‐335‐5p inhibits the progression of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma by targeting MAP3K2

Mounting evidence has indicated that aberrantly expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles in tumorigenesis, including in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Previous studies have shown that miR‐335‐5p can serve as a tumor suppressor or an oncogene in cancer. However, the clinical importance and biological effects of miR‐335‐5p in HNSCC have not been determined. Here, we investigated the expression pattern, functional role, and mechanisms of miR‐335‐5p in HNSCC. We showed a decreased expression of miR‐335‐5p in HNSCC samples from the TCGA and GEO databases. Consistently, we detected a downregulation of miR‐335‐5p in HNSCC cell lines and patient tissues. The expression of miR‐335‐5p was inversely correlated with advanced clinical TNM stage and lymph node metastasis in HNSCC patients. miR‐335‐5p overexpression inhibited HNSCC cell proliferation and induced apoptosis, while miR‐335‐5p inhibition had the opposite effects. miR‐335‐5p overexpression suppressed tumor growth in mice. Bioinformatic analyses and functional assays identified MAP3K2 as a target of miR‐335‐5p, and we showed that miR‐335‐5p downregulated mitogen‐activated protein kinase kinase kinase 2 (MAP3K2) expression in HNSCC cells. We found an inverse association between MAP3K2 and miR‐335‐5p expression in 38 pairs of HNSCC tissues. Furthermore, the effect of miR‐335‐5p overexpression on growth and metastasis as well as cell apoptosis in HNSCC cells could be partially rescued by MAP3K2 expression. Collectively, our data show that miR‐335‐5p inhibits the development of HNSCC by regulating MAP3K2 expression. Thus, these findings offer novel insights into a potential therapeutic strategy for HNSCC patients.

Blood exosomal micro ribonucleic acid profiling reveals the complexity of hepatocellular carcinoma and identifies potential biomarkers for differential diagnosis

BACKGROUND

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide, but there is a shortage of effective biomarkers for its diagnosis.

AIM

To explore blood exosomal micro ribonucleic acids (miRNAs) as potential biomarkers for HCC diagnosis.

METHODS

T

RESULTS

The principal component analysis suggested that daily alcohol consumption could alter the blood exosomal miRNA profiles of hepatitis B virus positive non-HCC patients through miR-3168 and miR-223-3p. The miRNA profiles also revealed the tumor stages of HCC patients. High expression of miR-455-5p and miR-30c-5p, which significantly correlated with better overall survival in tumor tissues, could also be detected in blood exosomes. Two pairs of miRNAs (miR-584-5p/miR-106-3p and miR-628-3p/miR-941) showed a 94.1% sensitivity and 68.4% specificity to differentiate HCC patients from non-HCC patients. The specificity of the combination was substantially influenced by alcohol consumption habits.

CONCLUSION

This study suggested that blood exosomal miRNAs can be used as new non-invasive diagnostic tools for HCC. However, their accuracy could be affected by tumor stage and alcohol consumption habits.

Exploring Specific miRNA-mRNA Axes With Relationship to Taxanes-Resistance in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most prevalent type of malignancy in women worldwide. Taxanes (paclitaxel and docetaxel) are widely applied as first-line chemotherapeutic agents, while the therapeutic effect is seriously limited by the development of drug resistance. In the present study, we screened out several miRNAs dysregulated in taxanes-resistant breast cancer samples and confirmed that two miRNAs (miR-335-5p and let-7c-5p) played a major role in cell proliferation, apoptosis, and chemo-resistance. In addition, the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) for potential target genes of miR-335-5p and let-7c-5p identified three hub genes (CXCL9, CCR7, and SOCS1) with a positive relationship to taxanes-sensitivity. Further, target relationships between miR-335-5p and CXCL9, let-7c-5p and CCR7/SOCS1 were confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assays. Importantly, the regulatory functions of CXCL9, CCR7, and SOCS1 on proliferation and chemoresistance were validated. In conclusion, our study shed light on clinical theragnostic relationships between miR-335-5p/CXCL9, let-7c-5p/CCR7/SOCS1 axes, and taxanes-resistance in breast cancer.

Correlation of microRNA-335 expression level with clinical significance and prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer

Although treatments have improved significantly in recent years, the prognosis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains poor. miR-335 has been demonstrated to play the antitumor role in several cancer types. Its expression was reduced in NSCLC tissues relative to noncancerous adjacent tissues. Furthermore, downregulation of miR-335 in A459 lung cancer cells promoted cell proliferation. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the clinical significance and prognostic value of miR-335 in NSCLC.The lung cancer tissues and adjacent nontumor lung tissues were obtained from 131 patients who underwent the primary surgical resection at Lianyungang First People's Hospital. Student t test was used to distinguish differences between groups. χ test was involved for analysis of clinicopathological data. The overall survival was analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method and the log rank test. Multiple Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was carried out to identify the independent factors that had a significant impact on patient survival.miR-335 was significantly lower in NSCLC samples compared to non-cancerous samples (P < .001). The expression level of miR-335 was significantly correlated with tumor histology (P = .028), lymph node metastasis (P = .002), differentiation degree (P < .001), and pathological TNM stage (P < .001). The log-rank test indicated that patients with decreased miR-335 expression experienced poor overall survival in NSCLC (P = .029).The results of the present study indicated that miR-335 was down-expressed in NSCLC, and is associated with tumor progression and poor prognosis, suggesting that the expression of miR-335 might be an independent prognostic factor of overall survival in patients with NSCLC.

MicroRNA-145 suppresses uveal melanoma angiogenesis and growth by targeting neuroblastoma RAS viral oncogene homolog and vascular endothelial growth factor

BACKGROUND

Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults. It has been demonstrated that microRNA-145 (miR-145) is correlated with the progression of various cancers by regulating the expression of multiple target genes, especially a number of genes that regulate angiogenesis and proliferation. However, the underlying mechanisms of miR-145 in tumor angiogenesis of UM are still not well illustrated. Thus, we aimed to explore the potential target genes or pathways regulated by miR-145 in UM and the effect of miR-145 on invasion and angiogenesis.

METHODS

Totally, 24 choroid samples were collected in our study, including 12 UM samples and 12 normal uveal tissues. The expression of neuroblastoma RAS viral oncogene homolog (N-RAS), phosphorylated protein kinase B (p-AKT), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in UM tissues and normal uveal tissues was analyzed using Western blotting analysis. Lentivirus expression system was used to construct MUM-2B and OCM-1 cell lines with stable overexpression of miR-145. Transwell and endothelial cell tube formation assay were used to measure the effects of miR-145 on the invasion and angiogenesis of UM in vitro. The downstream target genes of miR-145 were predicted by bioinformatics and confirmed using a luciferase assay. BALB/c nude mice models were established to investigate the mechanisms of miR-145 on tumor growth and angiogenesis in vivo. Group data comparisons were performed using analysis of Student's t test. A two-tailed P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

RESULTS

The results of Western blotting analysis indicated that the expressions of N-RAS (1.10 ± 0.35 vs. 0.41 ± 0.36, t = 3.997, P = 0.012), p-AKT (1.16 ± 0.22 vs. 0.57 ± 0.03, t = 7.05, P = 0.001), and VEGF (0.97 ± 0.32 vs. 0.45 ± 0.21, t = 3.314, P = 0.008) in UM tumor tissues were significantly higher than those in normal uveal tissue. Luciferase assay demonstrated N-RAS and VEGF as downstream targets of miR-145. Moreover, tube formation assay revealed that miR-145-transfected human microvascular endothelial cell line formed shorter tube length (36.10 ± 1.51 mm vs. 42.91 ± 0.94 mm, t = 6.603, P = 0.003) and less branch points (350.00 ± 19.97 vs. 406.67 ± 17.62, t = 3.685, P = 0.021) as compared with controls. In addition, the numbers of invaded MUM-2B and OCM-1 cells with miR-145 overexpression were significantly lower than the controls (35.7 ± 3.3 vs. 279.1 ± 4.9, t = 273.75, P < 0.001 and 69.5 ± 4.4 vs. 95.6 ± 4.7, t = 21.27, P < 0.001, respectively). In vivo, xenografts expressing miR-145 had smaller sizes (miR-145 vs. miR-scr, 717.41 ± 502.62 mmvs. 1694.80 ± 904.33 mm, t = 2.314, P = 0.045) and lower weights (miR-145 vs. miR-scr, 0.74 ± 0.46 g vs. 1.65 ± 0.85 g, t = 2.295, P = 0.045).

CONCLUSION

Our results indicated that miR-145 is an important tumor suppressor and the inhibitory strategies against N-RAS/VEGF signaling pathway might be potential therapeutic applications for UM in the future.

Non-coding RNAs in gastric cancer

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are functional RNA molecules that play crucial regulatory roles in many fundamental biological processes. The dysregulation of ncRNAs is significantly associated with the progression of human cancers, including gastric cancer. In this review, we have summarized the oncogenic or tumor-suppressive roles and the regulatory mechanisms of lncRNAs, miRNAs, circRNAs and piRNAs, and have discussed their potential as biomarkers or therapeutic targets in gastric cancer.

Deep Sequencing of Small RNAs from Neurosurgical Extracellular Vesicles Substantiates miR-486-3p as a Circulating Biomarker that Distinguishes Glioblastoma from Lower-Grade Astrocytoma Patients

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play key roles in glioblastoma (GBM; astrocytoma grade IV) biology and are novel sources of biomarkers. EVs released from GBM tumors can cross the blood-brain-barrier into the periphery carrying GBM molecules, including small non-coding RNA (sncRNA). Biomarkers cargoed in circulating EVs have shown great promise for assessing the molecular state of brain tumors in situ. Neurosurgical aspirate fluids captured during tumor resections are a rich source of GBM-EVs isolated directly from tumor microenvironments. Using density gradient ultracentrifugation, EVs were purified from cavitron ultrasonic surgical aspirate (CUSA) washings from GBM (n = 12) and astrocytoma II-III (GII-III, n = 5) surgeries. The sncRNA contents of surgically captured EVs were profiled using the Illumina^® NextSeq^TM 500 NGS System. Differential expression analysis identified 27 miRNA and 10 piRNA species in GBM relative to GII-III CUSA-EVs. Resolved CUSA-EV sncRNAs could discriminate serum-EV sncRNA profiles from GBM and GII-III patients and healthy controls and 14 miRNAs (including miR-486-3p and miR-106b-3p) and cancer-associated piRNAs (piR_016658, _016659, _020829 and _204090) were also significantly expressed in serum-EVs. Circulating EV markers that correlate with histological, neuroradiographic and clinical parameters will provide objective measures of tumor activity and improve the accuracy of GBM tumor surveillance.

MicroRNAs in gastric cancer: Biomarkers and therapeutic targets

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of non-coding RNAs that have critical roles in regulation of expression of genes. They can inhibit or decrease expression of target genes mostly via interaction with 3' untranslated region of their targets. Their crucial roles in the regulation of expression of tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes have potentiated them as contributors in tumorigenesis. Moreover, their stability in body fluids has enhanced their potential as cancer biomarkers. In the present review article, we describe the role of miRNAs in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer and advances in application of miRNAs as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in this kind of malignancy.

MicroRNA-335/ID4 dysregulation predicts clinical outcome and facilitates leukemogenesis by activating PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in acute myeloid leukemia

MircoRNA-335 (miR-335) has been reported as a significant cancer-associated microRNA, which was often epigenetically silenced and acted as a tumor suppressor gene in diverse human solid tumors. Conversely, recent studies show that miR-335 overexpression was identified in both adult and pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML), suggesting that it might play an oncogenic role of miR-335 in AML. However, the role of miR-335 during leukemogenesis remains to be elucidated. MiR-335/ID4 expression was detected by real-time quantitative PCR and/or western blot. Survival analysis was performed to explore the association between miR-335/ID4 expression and the prognosis, and further validated by public databases. Gain-of-function experiments determined by cell proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation were conducted to investigate the biological functions of miR-335/ID4. Herein, we found that miR-335 expression, independent of its methylation, was significantly increased and negatively correlated with reduced ID4 expression in AML. Moreover, aberrant miR-335/ID4 expression independently affected chemotherapy response and leukemia-free/overall survival in patients with AML. Gain-of-function experiments in vitro showed the oncogenic role of miR-335 by affecting cell apoptosis and proliferation in AML, and could be rescued by ID4 restoration. Mechanistically, we identified and verified that miR-335/ID4 contributed to leukemogenesis through activating PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Collectively, aberrant miR-335/ID4 expression was an independent prognostic biomarker in AML. MiR-335/ID4 dysregulation facilitated leukemogenesis through the activation of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Clinical and prognostic association of oncogene cadherin 11 in gastric cancer

The abnormal expression of cadherin-11 (CDH11) affects the progression of several types of cancer. However, the expression pattern and prognostic value of CDH11 in gastric cancer (GC) have not been reported. In the present study, the expression of CDH11 in patients with GC and its effect on their survival were analyzed using public cancer databases. The expression of CDH11 in GC tissues was significantly higher compared with that in normal gastric tissues. The expression of CDH11 was higher in advanced GC compared with early GC, and increased CDH11 was associated with tumor progression and poor prognosis in patients with GC. The high level of methylation in the promoter of CDH11 in GC tissues was not sufficient to reverse the upregulation of CDH11 caused by transcriptional activation. Finally, the expression pattern and prognostic significance of CDH11 in GC were validated using data from patients with GC recruited for the present study. Collectively, the present results demonstrated that CDH11 was upregulated in GC tissues, and suggested that high CDH11 expression may be associated with progression and poor prognosis in GC.

Long Noncoding RNA NEAT1 Upregulates Survivin and Facilitates Gallbladder Cancer Progression by Sponging microRNA-335

Background

Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is the most common cancer of the biliary tract, but molecularly targeted therapies are not available for GBC. Loss of microRNA (miR)-335 expression may be a useful predictor of clinical outcomes and the reversal of its loss of expression may be a useful treatment strategy for GBC. In this study, we investigated whether a long noncoding RNA, nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1 (NEAT1) sponges miR-335 in GBC cells.

Materials and Methods

Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry were used to determine the expression of miR-335; NEAT1; survivin; and Ki67 in GBC cell lines (GBC-SD and SGC-996) and tissue samples from patients (n = 25). Cell Counting Kit-8, colony-formation, and Transwell migration and invasion assays were performed to measure cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Bioinformatic analysis and dual-luciferase reporter assays were utilized to analyze correlativity.

Results

miR-335 overexpression resulted in inhibition of GBC cell proliferation and invasion. In addition, knockdown of NEAT1 resulted in downregulation of survivin expression. As NEAT1 competitively “sponges” miR-335, NEAT1 knockdown resulted in inhibited GBC cell proliferation and invasion in vitro and GBC tumor growth in vivo. Furthermore, NEAT1 was found to be upregulated in GBC samples, and its expression was inversely correlated with miR-335 levels, but positively correlated with survivin levels.

Conclusion

These findings indicate that NEAT1 promotes survivin expression by functioning as a competitive endogenous RNA for miR-335 in GBC cells; thus, we have identified a potential biomarker and target for GBC diagnosis and therapy.

LncRNA FOXD3-AS1 Mediates AKT Pathway to Promote Growth and Invasion in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Through Regulating RICTOR

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has high morbidity and mortality, but current therapeutic methods cannot effectively improve patient's prognosis. FOXD3-AS1, a new identified long noncoding RNA, is dysregulated in several cancers and functions as a carcinogenic or tumor-suppressor factor. However, the function of FOXD3-AS1 in HCC has not been reported. Materials and Methods: Quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction was applied to evaluate the expression of FOXD3-AS1 in HCC tissues and cell lines. miRDB and TargetScan websites were utilized to predict the interaction network of FOXD3-AS1 as a competing endogenous RNA. The interaction was confirmed by luciferase reporter assay and RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay. The effect of FOXD3-AS1 on HCC cells (Huh6) were measured by cell counting kit (CCK)-8, BrdU cell proliferation assay, Transwell invasion assay, and wound healing assay. Results: FOXD3-AS1 was overexpressed in HCC, and HCC patients with the high level of FOXD3-AS1 had a poor prognosis. In addition, FOXD3-AS1 knockdown considerably inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of Huh6 cells. Besides, FOXD3-AS1 functioned as a sponge of miR-335, and RICTOR was a direct target gene of miR-335. Furthermore, FOXD3-AS1 could enhance the level of RICTOR through sponging miR-335. Moreover, the knockdown of FOXD3-AS1 could competitively bind with miR-335 to suppress RICTOR expression, thereby inhibiting the growth of Huh6 cells through the deactivation of AKT signaling pathway. Conclusions: FOXD3-AS1 is crucial for the tumorigenesis and progression of HCC. The interaction among FOXD3-AS1, miR-335, and RICTOR provides a novel insight for understanding the molecular mechanism of HCC, and FOXD3-AS1, miR-335, and RICTOR can be regarded as the potential targets for HCC treatment.

Up-regulation of microRNA-335-5p reduces inflammation via negative regulation of the TPX2-mediated AKT/GSK3β signaling pathway in a chronic rhinosinusitis mouse model

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is featured with chronic symptoms of inflammation or infection in the nasal and sinus tissues. MicroRNAs (miRNAs/miRs), such as dysregulated expression of miR-125b and miR-26a, has been previously demonstrated to be related to CRS. The present study is intended to define the role of miR-335-5p in inflammation and the related mechanism in a mouse model of CRS. The differentially expressed genes associated with CRS were screened by microarray analysis. The targeting relationship between miR-335-5p and TPX2 was analyzed by target prediction program and dual luciferase reporter gene assay. The mouse model of CRS was established, and mice were introduced with miR-335-5p mimics, miR-335-5p inhibitors, or siRNA against TPX2 to explore the regulatory functions of miR-335-5p. The regulatory effect of miR-335-5p on inflammation with the involvement of the AKT signaling pathway was also analyzed with the expression of inflammatory cytokines and AKT signaling pathway-related factors measured. It was indicated that miR-335-5p regulated the TPX2 gene-mediated AKT signaling pathway. TPX2 was identified as a target gene of miR-335-5p, and miR-335-5p elevation inhibited the activation of the AKT signaling pathway. In mice with CRS, up-regulation of miR-335-5p or silence of TPX2 inhibited the inflammation, as evidenced by decreased levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-8, and higher levels of GSK3β and IL-10. Collectively, miR-335-5p inhibits the activation of AKT signaling pathway by negatively mediating TPX2, which may confer anti-inflammatory protection in CRS.

Pseudogene-Derived lncRNAs and Their miRNA Sponging Mechanism in Human Cancer

Pseudogenes, abundant in the human genome, are traditionally considered as non-functional “junk genes.” However, recent studies have revealed that pseudogenes act as key regulators at DNA, RNA or protein level in diverse human disorders (including cancer), among which pseudogene-derived long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) transcripts are extensively investigated and has been reported to be frequently dysregulated in various types of human cancer. Growing evidence demonstrates that pseudogene-derived lncRNAs play important roles in cancer initiation and progression by serving as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) through competitively binding to shared microRNAs (miRNAs), thus affecting both their cognate genes and unrelated genes. Herein, we retrospect those current findings about expression, functions and potential ceRNA mechanisms of pseudogene-derived lncRNAs in human cancer, which may provide us with some crucial clues in developing potential targets for cancer therapy in the future.

Upregulation of the Coatomer Protein Complex Subunit beta 2 (COPB2) Gene Targets microRNA-335-3p in NCI-H1975 Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells to Promote Cell Proliferation and Migration

BACKGROUND The coatomer protein complex subunit beta 2 (COPB2) gene is upregulated and promotes cell proliferation in some cancer cells. This study aimed to investigate the role of microRNA (miRNA) targeting by COPB2 gene expression in human lung adenocarcinoma cell lines, including NCI-H1975 cells. MATERIAL AND METHODS COPB2 expression in normal human bronchial epithelial cells and lung adenocarcinoma cells was measured by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot. NCI-H1975 human lung adenocarcinoma cells were transfected with short-interfering COPB2 (siCOPB2). Cell apoptosis and cell proliferation were evaluated by flow cytometry and Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assays, respectively. The transwell assay evaluated cell migration. Targeting of miR-335-3p by COPB2 was predicted using TargetScan 7.2 and verified using a dual-luciferase reporter assay in NCI-H1975 cells. MiR-335-3p mimics were transfected into NCI-H1975 cells. The further functional analysis included detection of protein expression for cyclin D1, tissue inhibitor matrix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1), matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9), Bcl-2, and Bax, to verify the role of miR-335-3p targeting by COPB2 in lung adenocarcinoma cells. RESULTS COPB2 was upregulated in lung adenocarcinoma cells and was a direct target of miR-335-3p mimics. COPB2 knockdown promoted cell apoptosis, inhibited cell migration and proliferation in NCI-H1975 cells. The effects of COPB2 knockdown on NCI-H1975 cells were increased by miR-335-3p mimics, which also further reduced the expression levels of cyclin D1, MMP9, and Bcl-2 and further increased TIMP-1 and Bax by siCOPB2. CONCLUSIONS This study showed that COPB2 was the functional target of miR-335-3p in NCI-H1975 human adenocarcinoma cells.

LINC00319 acts as a microRNA-335-5p sponge to accelerate tumor growth and metastasis in gastric cancer by upregulating ADCY3

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common cancers in the world and remains a heavy burden of health worldwide. Adenylate cyclase 3 (ADCY3) is a widely expressed membrane-associated protein in human tissues and has been identified to be a new molecular target of GC. Long noncoding RNAs have a substantial influence on tumorigenesis and progression of tumors by binding to microRNAs. Therefore, this study is to clarify the mechanism by which LINC00319 sponges micro RNA-335-5p (miR-335-5p) to influence the development of GC. Initially, microarray analysis identified GC-related differentially expressed LINC00319 and ADCY3 for this study. The interaction was confirmed that LINC00319 interacted with miR-335-5p to regulate ADCY3. Next, SGC-7901 cells presenting with the lowest LINC00319 expression and the highest miR-335-5p expression were transfected with LINC00319, miR-335-5p inhibitor, or ADCY3 vector to examine their roles in growth and metastasis of GC cells, which was further ascertained by in vivo experiments. LINC00319 was upregulated and miR-335-5p was downregulated in GC cells. LINC00319 overexpression, miR-335-5p inhibitor, or ADCY3 overexpression was shown to significantly elevate the expression of cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and metastasis associated 1, decrease that of growth arrest-specific 1, and promote tumor growth and metastasis by increasing proliferation and migration and reducing cell apoptosis. Importantly, it was found that overexpressed miR-335-5p exerted its tumor suppressive role in GC through downregulating ADCY3. Collectively, LINC00319 expedited growth and metastasis of GC by upregulating miR-335-5p-mediated ADCY3.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study is carried out based on in vivo and in vitro studies in mice and gastric cancer (GC) cells with the aim of clarifying the role of LINC00319 on GC growth and metastasis, which associated with micro RNA-335-5p-mediated adenylate cyclase 3. Altogether, we identified LINC00319 to be a potential therapy to treat GC.

Two-stage Bayesian GWAS of 9576 individuals identifies SNP regions that are targeted by miRNAs inversely expressed in Alzheimer's and cancer

INTRODUCTION

We compared genetic variants between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and two age-related cancers-breast and prostate -to identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are associated with inverse comorbidity of AD and cancer.

METHODS

Bayesian multinomial regression was used to compare sex-stratified cases (AD and cancer) against controls in a two-stage study. A ±500 KB region around each replicated hit was imputed and analyzed after merging individuals from the two stages. The microRNAs (miRNAs) that target the genes involving these SNPs were analyzed for miRNA family enrichment.

RESULTS

We identified 137 variants with inverse odds ratios for AD and cancer located on chromosomes 19, 4, and 5. The mapped miRNAs within the network were enriched for miR-17 and miR-515 families.

DISCUSSION

The identified SNPs were rs4298154 (intergenic), within TOMM40/APOE/APOC1, MARK4, CLPTM1, and near the VDAC1/FSTL4 locus. The miRNAs identified in our network have been previously reported to have inverse expression in AD and cancer.

Current Smoking is Associated with Decreased Expression of miR-335-5p in Parenchymal Lung Fibroblasts

Cigarette smoking causes lung inflammation and tissue damage. Lung fibroblasts play a major role in tissue repair. Previous studies have reported smoking-associated changes in fibroblast responses and methylation patterns. Our aim was to identify the effect of current smoking on miRNA expression in primary lung fibroblasts. Small RNA sequencing was performed on lung fibroblasts from nine current and six ex-smokers with normal lung function. MiR-335-5p and miR-335-3p were significantly downregulated in lung fibroblasts from current compared to ex-smokers (false discovery rate (FDR) <0.05). Differential miR-335-5p expression was validated with RT-qPCR (p-value = 0.01). The results were validated in lung tissue from current and ex-smokers and in bronchial biopsies from non-diseased smokers and never-smokers (p-value <0.05). The methylation pattern of the miR-335 host gene, determined by methylation-specific qPCR, did not differ between current and ex-smokers. To obtain insights into the genes regulated by miR-335-5p in fibroblasts, we overlapped all proven miR-335-5p targets with our previously published miRNA targetome data in lung fibroblasts. This revealed Rb1, CARF, and SGK3 as likely targets of miR-335-5p in lung fibroblasts. Our study indicates that miR-335-5p downregulation due to current smoking may affect its function in lung fibroblasts by targeting Rb1, CARF and SGK3.

MicroRNAs are Necessary for BMP-7-induced Dendritic Growth in Cultured Rat Sympathetic Neurons

Neuronal connectivity is dependent on size and shape of the dendritic arbor. However, mechanisms controlling dendritic arborization, especially in the peripheral nervous system, are not completely understood. Previous studies have shown that bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are important initiators of dendritic growth in peripheral neurons. In this study, we examined the hypothesis that post-transcriptional regulation mediated by microRNAs (miRNAs) is necessary for BMP-7-induced dendritic growth in these neurons. To examine the role of miRNAs in BMP-7-induced dendritic growth, microarray analyses was used to profile miRNA expression in cultured sympathetic neurons from the superior cervical ganglia of embryonic day 21 rat pups at 6 and 24 h after treatment with BMP-7 (50 ng/mL). Our data showed that BMP-7 significantly regulated the expression of 43 of the 762 miRNAs. Of the 43 miRNAs, 22 showed robust gene expression; 14 were upregulated by BMP-7 and 8 were downregulated by BMP-7. The expression profile for miR-335, miR-664-1*, miR-21, and miR-23b was confirmed using qPCR analyses. Functional studies using morphometric analyses of dendritic growth in cultured sympathetic neurons transfected with miRNA mimics and inhibitors indicated that miR-664-1*, miR-23b, and miR-21 regulated early stages of BMP-7-induced dendritic growth. In summary, our data provide evidence for miRNA-mediated post-transcriptional regulation as important downstream component of BMP-7 signaling during early stages of dendritic growth in sympathetic neurons.

MicroRNA expression profiling provides novel insights into immune-related pathways involved in gastric cancer

Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers, and an increasing number of studies have found that microRNAs (miRNAs) play essential roles in gastric cancer progression; however, the roles of specific miRNAs involved in the immune response to this disease remain unclear. We compared the miRNA expression in tissues from primary gastric cancer patients and healthy controls to find miRNAs dysregulated in gastric cancer and used bioinformatics tools to determine potential roles of these miRNAs in the immune system. We evaluated 25 primary gastric cancer tissues and five healthy gastric tissues. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed for a set of miRNAs, followed by the prediction of their target genes and functional enrichment analysis of these targets. Analysis of a microarray dataset showed that the miRNA miR-196a-5p was significantly upregulated, while miR-374a-5p and miR-375 were downregulated in gastric cancer patients. In addition, miR-374-5p was significantly downregulated in patients with metastasis compared with its expression levels in non-metastatic patients (p = 0.03). Bioinformatics analysis suggested that the pathways regulated by these differentially expressed miRNAs were related to the immune response, cell adhesion, and cell migration. Most importantly, this study provides a new insight into the potential use of multiple miRNAs to find distinct pathways of immune regulation in gastric cancer.

Non-coding RNAs in regulating gastric cancer metastasis

Gastric cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and mortality remains high, especially in East Asia. At present, the main method to diagnose gastric cancer is pathological biopsy. At the time of diagnosis, most patients have been diagnosed with advanced cancer and metastasis. The treatment of gastric cancer patients is mainly radical surgical resection and chemoradiotherapy, while patients with metastatic tumor have great challenges to radical surgery and are prone to drug resistance. Metastasis is an important factor affecting tumor development. In addition, evidence accumulated in the literature indicates that non-coding RNA plays a key role in tumor metastasis. This article reviews the role of ncRNAs in gastric cancer metastasis and discusses the regulatory mechanism in the development and treatment of gastric cancer.

Monospecific antibody targeting of CDH11 inhibits epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and represses cancer stem cell-like phenotype by up-regulating miR-335 in metastatic breast cancer, in vitro and in vivo

Background

Metastasis is a leading cause of breast cancer mortality. The induction of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and complex oncogenic signaling is a vital step in the evolution of highly metastatic and therapeutically-intractable breast cancer; necessitating novel target discovery or development of therapeutics that target metastatic breast cells (MBCs).

Methods

To achieve this, this study employs a combination of in silico bioinformatics analyses, protein and transcript analyses, drug sensitivity assays, functional assays and animal studies.

Results

The present study identified CDH11 as an inductor and/or facilitator of metastatic signaling, and biomarker of poor prognosis in MBCs. Furthermore, we showed that in the presence of CDH11-rich cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 MBC cell lines acquired enhanced metastatic phenotype with increased CDH11, β-catenin, vimentin, and fibronectin (FN) expression. We also demonstrated, for the first time to the best of our knowledge that exposure to anti-CDH11 antibody suppresses metastasis, reduces CDH11, FN and β-catenin expression, and abrogate the cancer stem cell (CSC)-like traits of MBC cells. Interestingly, ectopic expression of miR-335 suppressed CDH11, β-catenin and vimentin expression, in concert with attenuated metastatic and CSC potentials of the MBC cells; conversely, inhibition of miR-335 resulted in increased metastatic potential. Finally, corroborating the in silica and in vitro findings, in vivo assays showed that the administration of anti-CDH11 antibody or miR-335 mimic suppressed tumorigenesis and inhibited cancer metastasis.

Conclusions

These findings validate our hypotheses that miR-335 mediates anti-CDH11 antibody therapy response and that an enhanced miR-335/CDH11 ratio elicits marked suppression of the MBC CSC-like and metastatic phenotypes, thus revealing a therapeutically-exploitable inverse correlation between CDH11-enhanced CSC-like and metastatic phenotype and miR-335 expression in MBCs. Thus, we highlight the therapeutic promise of humanized anti-CDH11 antibodies or miR-335-mimic, making a case for their clinical application as efficacious therapeutic option in patients with MBC.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-019-5811-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Epigenetic silencing of miR-335 induces migration by targeting insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor in multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a common hematological malignancy and remains incurable. MiRNA-335 is a classic tumor suppressor, yet its expression pattern and biological role in MM is unclear. The aim of the present study was to determine the expression pattern, biological role, and mechanism of miR-335 in MM. In this study, we found that miR-335 expression was decreased in MM. The promoter of miR-335 was also hypermethylated in MM. It was found that over-expression of miR-335 or 5-azacytidine treatment suppressed migration of MM cells and down-regulated the expression of IGF-1R. MiR-335 thus acts as a metastatic suppressor by targeting IGF-1R in MM. Moreover, aberrant promoter hyper-methylation is critical for miR-335 silencing in MM. We also found that miR-335 assisted in predicting both the prognosis and progression of disease in MM patients. Observations might offer a new complementary diagnostic and therapeutic target in MM.

Low Expression of MicroRNA335-5p Is Associated with Malignant Behavior of Gallbladder Cancer: A Clinicopathological Study

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that regulate multiple cellular processes during cancer progression, identified to be involved in tumorgenesis of several cancers including cancers of digestive system. However its role in gallbladder inflammatory disease (GID) and gallbladder cancer (GBC) has not been well documented. The present study was aimed to investigate the clinical significance of hsa-miRNA-335-5p (miR-335) in GBC and GID. Subjects and Methods: This prospective case control study, conducted from July 1, 2014 to December 1, 2017 in Era’s Lucknow Medical College & Hospital, India, evaluated miR-335 expression by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Hundred tissue samples GID (control; n=50) and GBC (case; n=50) were studied. Relative quantification of target miR-335 expression was examined using the comparative cycle threshold method. Their expression was correlated with different clinicopathological parameters. Fishers’ exact test, Student’s t-test, and Chi-square test were used as appropriate for data analysis. Kaplan-Meier methods were used to calculate overall and disease-free survival rate. Two sided P<0.05 was considered as significant. Results: miR-335 expression was found to be significantly low in GBC lesions when compared with GID lesions (P<0.001). The low expression level of miR-335 was correlated with histological grade (P=0.007), clinical stage (P<0.001), lymph node metastasis (P<0.001) and liver metastasis (P=0.016). Reduced expression of miRNA-335 was associated with a shorter median overall survival (7 months vs. 25 months) in GBC patients (P<0.001). Conclusions: Down regulation of miR-335 is associated with the severity of the disease and thus indicate that miR-335 expression may serve as prognostic marker for GBC.

miR-505 acts as a tumor suppressor in gastric cancer progression through targeting HMGB1

Gastric cancer (GC) is a frequent type of malignant tumor worldwide. GC metastasis results in the majority of clinical treatment failures. MicroRNAs (miRNA) are identified to exhibit crucial roles in GC. Our current study aimed to explore the biological roles of miR-505 in GC progression. It was observed that miR-505 was robustly decreased in GC cells compared with human normal gastric epithelial GES-1 cells. Overexpression of miR-505 was able to repress GC progression in AGS and BGC-823 cells. In addition, high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) has been identified as a crucial oncogene in several cancer types. By carrying out bioinformatics analysis, HMGB1 was predicted as a direct target of miR-505. Meanwhile, HMGB1 was found to be significantly increased in GC cells and it was confirmed in our study that miR-505 can directly target HMGB1 in vitro. miR-505 mimics can inhibit HMGB1 messenger RNA and protein expression dramatically. Subsequently, knockdown of HMGB1 can inhibit GC cell proliferation, colony formation, and induce cell apoptosis. Furthermore, HMGB1 silence suppressed GC cell migration and invasion greatly in vitro. Finally, it was validated that miR-505 can inhibit GC progression by targeting HMGB1 in vivo. Taken these together, it was indicated that miR-505/HMGB1 axis was involved in the development of GC. miR-505 can serve as a potential prognostic indicator in GC therapy.

The Possible Role of Complete Loss of Myostatin in Limiting Excessive Proliferation of Muscle Cells (C2C12) via Activation of MicroRNAs

Myostatin (MSTN) is a member of the TGF-β superfamily that negatively regulates skeletal muscle growth and differentiation. However, the mechanism by which complete MSTN deletion limits excessive proliferation of muscle cells remains unclear. In this study, we knocked out MSTN in mouse myoblast lines using a Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR/Cas9) system and sequenced the mRNA and miRNA transcriptomes. The results show that complete loss of MSTN upregulates seven miRNAs targeting an interaction network composed of 28 downregulated genes, including TGFB1, FOS and RB1. These genes are closely associated with tumorigenesis and cell proliferation. Our study suggests that complete loss of MSTN may limit excessive cell proliferation via activation of miRNAs. These data will contribute to the treatment of rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS).