miR-193a-3p Promotes Radio-Resistance of Nasopharyngeal Cancer Cells by Targeting SRSF2 Gene and Hypoxia Signaling Pathway

Epigenetic regulation of hepatocellular carcinoma progression: MicroRNAs as therapeutic, diagnostic and prognostic factors

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a significant challenge for public healthcare systems in developed Western countries including the USA, Canada, and the UK, is influenced by different risk factors including hepatitis virus infections, alcoholism, and smoking. The disruption in the balance of microRNAs (miRNAs) plays a vital function in tumorigenesis, given their function as regulators in numerous signaling networks. These miRNAs, which are mature and active in the cytoplasm, work by reducing the expression of target genes through their impact on mRNAs. MiRNAs are particularly significant in HCC as they regulate key aspects of the tumor, like proliferation and invasion. Additionally, during treatment phases such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the levels of miRNAs are key determinants. Pre-clinical experiments have demonstrated that altered miRNA expression contributes to HCC development, metastasis, drug resistance, and radio-resistance, highlighting related molecular pathways and processes like MMPs, EMT, apoptosis, and autophagy. Furthermore, the regulatory role of miRNAs in HCC extends beyond their immediate function, as they are also influenced by other epigenetic factors like lncRNAs and circular RNAs (circRNAs), as discussed in recent reviews. Applying these discoveries in predicting the prognosis of HCC could mark a significant advancement in the therapy of this disease.

Downregulation of carbonic anhydrase IX expression in mouse xenograft nasopharyngeal carcinoma model via doxorubicin nanobubble combined with ultrasound

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether doxorubicin nanobubbles (DOX-NB) combined with diagnostic ultrasound (DUS) irradiation could downregulate the expression of carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) in mouse xenograft nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) model. In this study, the prepared DOX-NB was round and well dispersed. The average diameter of DOX-NB was 250.9 ± 50.8 nm, with an average polydispersity of 0.321 ± 0.05. The cumulative release of DOX in the DOX-NB + DUS group was significantly higher compared with that of the DOX-NB group (p < 0.05). DOX-NB combined with DUS irradiation could significantly inhibit cell viability (p < 0.05). The expression of CAIX and microvessel density (MVD) in the xenografted tumors was the lowest in the DOX-NB + DUS group compared with that of other groups (p < 0.05). In conclusion, DOX-NB combined with DUS irradiation could improve DOX-NB drug release and synergistically inhibit NPC cell activity. DOX-NB combined with DUS irradiation can downregulate the expression of CAIX in mouse xenograft NPC model. This may be due to the synergistic effect of DUS combined with DOX-NB in reducing MVD in NPC.

Towards understandings of serine/arginine-rich splicing factors

Serine/arginine-rich splicing factors (SRSFs) refer to twelve RNA-binding proteins which regulate splice site recognition and spliceosome assembly during precursor messenger RNA splicing. SRSFs also participate in other RNA metabolic events, such as transcription, translation and nonsense-mediated decay, during their shuttling between nucleus and cytoplasm, making them indispensable for genome diversity and cellular activity. Of note, aberrant SRSF expression and/or mutations elicit fallacies in gene splicing, leading to the generation of pathogenic gene and protein isoforms, which highlights the therapeutic potential of targeting SRSF to treat diseases. In this review, we updated current understanding of SRSF structures and functions in RNA metabolism. Next, we analyzed SRSF-induced aberrant gene expression and their pathogenic outcomes in cancers and non-tumor diseases. The development of some well-characterized SRSF inhibitors was discussed in detail. We hope this review will contribute to future studies of SRSF functions and drug development targeting SRSFs.

ACY1 Downregulation Enhances the Radiosensitivity of Cetuximab-Resistant Colorectal Cancer by Inactivating the Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathway

Treatment of cetuximab-resistant colorectal cancer (CRC) is a global healthcare problem. This study aimed to assess the effects of radiotherapy on cetuximab-resistant CRC and explore the underlying mechanism. We established a cetuximab-resistant HCT116 cell line (HCT116-R) by extracorporeal shock. Differentially expressed mRNAs were screened from cells treated with different radiation doses using second-generation high-throughput sequencing. Sequence data showed that ACY1 was significantly downregulated in HCT116-R cells after irradiation. Analysis of the GEO and TCGA datasets revealed that high ACY1 expression was associated with lymph node metastasis and a poor prognosis in CRC patients. In addition, immunohistochemistry results from CRC patients revealed that ACY1 protein expression was related to cetuximab resistance and lymph node metastasis. These findings suggested that ACY1 may function as an oncogene to promote CRC progression and regulate the radiosensitivity of cetuximab-resistant CRC. As expected, ACY1 silencing weakened the proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities of HCT116-R cells after radiotherapy. Mechanistically, TCGA data demonstrated that ACY1 expression was closely related to the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in CRC. We validated that radiotherapy first reduced β-catenin levels, followed by decreased expression of the metastasis-related protein E-cadherin. Silencing ACY1 dramatically enhanced these changes in β-catenin and E-cadherin after radiotherapy. In conclusion, ACY1 downregulation could enhance the radiosensitivity of cetuximab-resistant CRC by inactivating Wnt/β-catenin signaling, implying that ACY1 may serve as a radiotherapy target for cetuximab-resistant CRC.

Small biomarkers with massive impacts: PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalling and microRNA crosstalk regulate nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the most common malignant tumours of the head and neck in Southeast Asia and southern China. The Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling pathway is involved in processes related to tumour initiation/progression, such as proliferation, apoptosis, metastasis, and drug resistance, and is closely related to the clinicopathological features of NPC. In addition, key genes involved in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalling pathway undergo many changes in NPC. More interestingly, a growing body of evidence suggests an interaction between this signalling pathway and microRNAs (miRNAs), a class of small noncoding RNAs. Therefore, in this review, we discuss the interactions between key components of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalling pathway and various miRNAs and their importance in NPC pathology and explore potential diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Mig-6 Inhibits Autophagy in HCC Cell Lines by Modulating miR-193a-3p

Mitogen-inducible gene 6 (Mig-6) is a tumor suppressor gene that plays an important role in many types of cancers by interacting with EGFR. However, its molecular mechanism in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its relationship with miRNAs need to be elucidated. Therefore, this study aimed to explore whether Mig-6 could promote apoptosis and the inhibition of autophagy via its downstream miRNA in HCC cell lines. We used two cell lines, HepG2 and HLE, to establish Mig-6 overexpression and knockdown experiments, as well as miR-193a mimic and inhibitor experiments. The miRNA microarray profiling was also used to verify Mig-6-regulated miRNA. We found that Mig-6 induced apoptosis and reduced autophagy of HCC cell lines. miR-193a-3p is a Mig-6-regulated miRNA in the Mig-6-overexpression model. It affected the apoptosis and autophagy of HCC cells, at least partly by regulating the expression of TGF-β2. Additionally, the relationship between Mig-6 and transforming growth factor TGF-β2 was explored in depth for the first time. These findings revealed an important role of Mig-6 in the apoptosis and autophagy of HCC cells by regulating miR-193a-3p, providing a novel insight into the therapeutic target in HCC.

miR-137 Inhibition of the Invasion, Metastasis, and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition of Nasopharyngeal Cancer by Regulating KDM1A

One of the most frequent malignancies in the head and neck is nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). MicroRNAs, a kind of tiny noncoding RNA molecule, have been used as negative regulators in different types of cancer therapy in recent decades by downregulating their targets. Recent research suggests that microRNAs play an important role in cancer's epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), supporting or inhibiting EMT development. The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is linked to a variety of cancer-related activities, including growth, metastasis, and invasion. Previous research has linked EMT to cancer stem-like characteristics as well as treatment resistance. Moreover, since microRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of the EMT phenotype, certain miRNAs have an effect on cancer stemness and treatment resistance. As a result, both fundamental research and clinical therapy benefit from knowing the connection between EMT-associated miRNAs and cancer stemness/drug resistance. As a result, we looked at the different functions that EMT-associated miRNAs (miR-137) play in the stem-like characteristics of malignant cells in this article. Then we looked at how EMT-associated miRNAs interact with nasopharyngeal cancer's drug-resistant complex signaling pathways. Using qRT-PCR, we evaluated the performance of several micro RNAs with the proposed miR-137 for inhibiting invasion, metastasis, and the EMT process. In conclusion, our findings showed that miR-137 acted as a tumor suppressor gene in controlling NPC EMT and metastasis and that it may be a new therapeutic strategy and prognosis marker for the disease.

Involvement of Non-Coding RNAs in Chemo- and Radioresistance of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

The crucial treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is radiation therapy supplemented by chemotherapy. However, long-term radiation therapy can cause some genetic and proteomic changes to produce radiation resistance, leading to tumour recurrence and poor prognosis. Therefore, the search for new markers that can overcome the resistance of tumor cells to drugs and radiotherapy and improve the sensitivity of tumor cells to drugs and radiotherapy is one of the most important goals of pharmacogenomics and cancer research, which is important for predicting treatment response and prognosis. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), may play important roles in regulating chemo- and radiation resistance in nasopharyngeal carcinoma by controlling the cell cycle, proliferation, apoptosis, and DNA damage repair, as well as other signalling pathways. Recent research has suggested that selective modulation of ncRNA activity can improve the response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, providing an innovative antitumour approach based on ncRNA-related gene therapy. Therefore, ncRNAs can serve as biomarkers for tumour prediction and prognosis, play a role in overcoming drug resistance and radiation resistance in NPC, and can also serve as targets for developing new therapeutic strategies. In this review, we discuss the involvement of ncRNAs in chemotherapy and radiation resistance in NPC. The effects of these molecules on predicting therapeutic cancer are highlighted.

miRNA-Based Regulation of Alternative RNA Splicing in Metazoans

Alternative RNA splicing is an important regulatory process used by genes to increase their diversity. This process is mainly executed by specific classes of RNA binding proteins that act in a dosage-dependent manner to include or exclude selected exons in the final transcripts. While these processes are tightly regulated in cells and tissues, little is known on how the dosage of these factors is achieved and maintained. Several recent studies have suggested that alternative RNA splicing may be in part modulated by microRNAs (miRNAs), which are short, non-coding RNAs (~22 nt in length) that inhibit translation of specific mRNA transcripts. As evidenced in tissues and in diseases, such as cancer and neurological disorders, the dysregulation of miRNA pathways disrupts downstream alternative RNA splicing events by altering the dosage of splicing factors involved in RNA splicing. This attractive model suggests that miRNAs can not only influence the dosage of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level but also indirectly interfere in pre-mRNA splicing at the co-transcriptional level. The purpose of this review is to compile and analyze recent studies on miRNAs modulating alternative RNA splicing factors, and how these events contribute to transcript rearrangements in tissue development and disease.

Radio-Susceptibility of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: Focus on Epstein- Barr Virus, MicroRNAs, Long Non-Coding RNAs and Circular RNAs

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a type of head and neck cancer. As a neoplastic disorder, NPC is a highly malignant squamous cell carcinoma that is derived from the nasopharyngeal epithelium. NPC is radiosensitive; radiotherapy or radiotherapy combining with chemotherapy are the main treatment strategies. However, both modalities are usually accompanied by complications and acquired resistance to radiotherapy is a significant impediment to effective NPC therapy. Therefore, there is an urgent need to discover effective radio-sensitization and radio-resistance biomarkers for NPC. Recent studies have shown that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded products, microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs), which share several common signaling pathways, can function in radio-related NPC cells or tissues. Understanding these interconnected regulatory networks will reveal the details of NPC radiation sensitivity and resistance. In this review, we discuss and summarize the specific molecular mechanisms of NPC radio-sensitization and radio-resistance, focusing on EBV-encoded products, miRNAs, lncRNAs and circRNAs. This will provide a foundation for the discovery of more accurate, effective and specific markers related to NPC radiotherapy. EBVencoded products, miRNAs, lncRNAs and circRNAs have emerged as crucial molecules mediating the radio-susceptibility of NPC. This understanding will improve the clinical application of markers and inform the development of novel therapeutics for NPC.

Splicing factor SRSF2-centric gene regulation

Serine/arginine-rich splicing factor 2 (SRSF2) is a splicing factor that is widely expressed in a variety of mammalian cell types. Increasing evidence has confirmed that SRSF2 plays vital roles in a number of biological and pathological processes. Therefore, it is important to understand how its expression is regulated, and how it regulates the expression of its target genes. Recently, we found that SRSF2 expression could be upregulated by herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) infection, and that altered SRSF2 expression, in turn, epigenetically regulates the transcription of HSV-1 genes. Further studies on T cell exhaustion demonstrated that upregulated SRSF2 in exhausted T cells elevated the levels of multiple immune checkpoint molecules by associating with the acyl-transferases, P300 and CBP, and by altering histone modification near the transcription start sites of these genes, thereby influencing signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 binding to these gene promoters. These findings suggest that SRSF2 acts as an important sensor and effector during disease progression. Here, we discuss the molecules that regulate SRSF2 gene expression and their associated mechanisms, and the mechanisms via which SRSF2 regulates the expression of target genes, thus providing novel insights into the central role of SRSF2 in gene regulation.

A positive feedback loop between AlkB homolog 5 and miR-193a-3p promotes growth and metastasis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most frequent malignancies worldwide. miR-193a-3p acts as an oncogene or tumor suppressor in different cancers. However, the functional role and regulatory mechanism of miR-193a-3p in ESCC remain to be elucidated. Our results demonstrated that miR-193a-3p expression was significantly upregulated and associated with advanced TNM stage, recurrence, and poor prognosis in ESCC patients. miR-193-3p targeted ALKBH5 and suppressed its expression. ALKBH5 inhibited miR-193a-3p expression in turn. ALKBH5 affected the primary miR-193a-3p processing by negatively regulating its m⁶A modification. These findings suggested a positive feedback regulation between miR-193a-3p and ALKBH5 in ESCC cells. Moreover, the functional assays indicated that the miR-193-3p-ALKBH5 feedback loop promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion ability of ESCC cells in vitro, and facilitated tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. Collectively, our current study identified a novel positive feedback regulation between miR-193a-3p and ALKBH5 in ESCC, which may be helpful to gain insight into ESCC pathogenesis and provide novel therapeutic target for ESCC.

Role of Non-coding RNAs on the Radiotherapy Sensitivity and Resistance of Head and Neck Cancer: From Basic Research to Clinical Application

Head and neck cancers (HNCs) rank as the sixth common and the seventh leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, with an estimated incidence of 600,000 cases and 40-50% mortality rate every year. Radiotherapy is a common local therapeutic modality for HNC mainly through the function of ionizing radiation, with approximately 60% of patients treated with radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. Although radiotherapy is more advanced and widely used in clinical practice, the 5-year overall survival rates of locally advanced HNCs are still less than 40%. HNC cell resistance to radiotherapy remains one of the major challenges to improve the overall survival in HNC patients. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are newly discovered functional small RNA molecules that are different from messenger RNAs, which can be translated into a protein. Many previous studies have reported the dysregulation and function of ncRNAs in HNC. Importantly, researchers reported that several ncRNAs were also dysregulated in radiotherapy-sensitive or radiotherapy-resistant HNC tissues compared with the normal cancer tissues. They found that ectopically elevating or knocking down expression of some ncRNAs could significantly influence the response of HNC cancer cells to radiotherapy, indicating that ncRNAs could regulate the sensitivity of cancer cells to radiotherapy. The implying mechanism for ncRNAs in regulating radiotherapy sensitivity may be due to its roles on affecting DNA damage sensation, inducing cell cycle arrest, regulating DNA damage repair, modulating cell apoptosis, etc. Additionally, clinical studies reported that in situ ncRNA expression in HNC tissues may predict the response of radiotherapy, and circulating ncRNA from body liquid serves as minimally invasive therapy-responsive and prognostic biomarkers in HNC. In this review, we aimed to summarize the current function and mechanism of ncRNAs in regulating the sensitivity of HNC cancer cells to radiotherapy and comprehensively described the state of the art on the role of ncRNAs in the prognosis prediction, therapy monitoring, and prediction of response to radiotherapy in HNC.

Emerging role of non-coding RNAs in response of cancer cells to radiotherapy

Radiotherapy is an effective method for treatment of a large proportion of human cancers. Yet, the efficacy of this method is precluded by the induction of radioresistance in tumor cells and the radiation-associated injury of normal cells surrounding the field of radiation. These restrictions necessitate the introduction of modalities for either radiosensitization of cancer cells or protection of normal cells against adverse effects of radiation. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have essential roles in the determination of radiosensitivity. Moreover, ncRNAs can modulate radiation-induced side effects in normal cells. Several microRNAs (miRNAs) such as miR-620, miR-21 and miR-96-5p confer radioresistance, while other miRNAs including miR-340/ 429 confer radiosensitivity. The expression levels of a number of miRNAs are associated with radiation-induced complications such as lung fibrosis or oral mucositis. The expression patterns of several long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) such as MALAT1, LINC00630, HOTAIR, UCA1 and TINCR are associated with response to radiotherapy. Taken together, lncRNAs and miRNAs contribute both in modulation of response of cancer cells to radiotherapy and in protection of normal cells from the associated side effects. The current review provides an overview of the roles of these transcripts in these aspects.

MiRNAs in Radiotherapy Resistance of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the most common malignant tumors of the head and neck in Southeast Asia and southern China. Although the comprehensive treatment based on intensity-modulated radiation therapy improves outcomes, the five-year survival rate of NPC patients is low, and the recurrence remains high. Radiotherapy resistance is the main cause of poor prognosis in NPC patients. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous non-coding RNAs regulating various biological functions in eukaryotes. These miRNAs can regulate the development and progression of nasopharyngeal carcinoma by affecting the proliferation, apoptosis, movement, invasion and metastasis of NPC cells. The abnormal expression of miRNAs is closely related to radiotherapy sensitivity and prognosis of NPC patients, which can affect the transmission of related signaling pathways by regulating the expression of tumor suppressor genes and / or oncogenes, and therefore participate in radiotherapy resistance in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Here, we review the mechanisms by which miRNAs may be involved in the radiotherapy resistance of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Downregulation of miR-193a-3p is involved in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting CCND1

Background

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second-highest cause of malignancy-related death worldwide, and many physiological and pathological processes, including cancer, are regulated by microRNAs (miRNAs). miR-193a-3p is an anti-oncogene that plays an important part in health and disease biology by interacting with specific targets and signals.

Methods

In vitro assays were performed to explore the influences of miR-193a-3p on the propagation and apoptosis of HCC cells. The sequencing data for HCC were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and the expression levels of miR-193a-3p in HCC and non-HCC tissues were calculated. The differential expression of miR-193a-3p in HCC was presented as standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in Stata SE. The impact of miR-193a-3p on the prognoses of HCC patients was determined by survival analysis. The potential targets of miR-193a-3p were then predicted using miRWalk 2.0 and subjected to enrichment analyses, including Gene Ontology (GO) annotation, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis, and Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network analysis. The interaction between miR-193a-3p and one predicted target, Cyclin D1 (CCND1), was verified by dual luciferase reporter assays and Pearson correlation analysis.

Results

MiR-193a-3p inhibited the propagation and facilitated the apoptosis of HCC cells in vitro. The pooled SMD indicated that miR-193a-3p had a low level of expression in HCC (SMD: −0.88, 95% CI [−2.36 −0.59]). Also, HCC patients with a higher level of miR-193a-3p expression tended to have a favorable overall survival (OS: HR = 0.7, 95% CI [0.43–1.13], P = 0.14). For the KEGG pathway analysis, the most related pathway was “proteoglycans in cancer”, while the most enriched GO term was “protein binding”. The dual luciferase reporter assays demonstrated the direct interaction between miR-193a-3p and CCND1, and the Pearson correlation analysis suggested that miR-193a-3p was negatively correlated with CCND1 in HCC tissues (R =  − 0.154, P = 0.002).

Conclusion

miR-193a-3p could suppress proliferation and promote apoptosis by targeting CCND1 in HCC cells. Further, miR-193a-3p can be used as a promising biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC in the future.

Diagnostic value of miR-193a-3p in Alzheimer's disease and miR-193a-3p attenuates amyloid-β induced neurotoxicity by targeting PTEN

OBJECTIVE

Many microRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to be aberrantly expressed in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. The present study aimed to explore the diagnostic value and neuroprotective role of miR-193a-3p in AD.

METHODS

108 sporadic AD patients and 93 healthy controls were included. An Aβ25-35 insult cellular AD model of PC12 and SH-SY5Y was established. The relative expression levels of miR-193a-3p were calculated using qRT-PCR. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was applied to evaluate the usefulness of miR-193a-3p for detecting AD. Cell viability and apoptotic rates were calculated. Luciferase reporter assay was performed to confirm the interaction between miR-193a-3p and PTEN.

RESULTS

miR-193a-3p expression was downregulated in both AD patients and the cellular AD model (all P < 0.001). Remarkable positive association was detected between serum miR-193a-3p level and MMSE score in AD patients (r = 0.5889, P < 0.0001). The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 89.8% and 77.4%, respectively, and the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.914. Overexpression of miR-193a-3p weakened Aβ25-35 induced cell viability inhibition, and reduced Aβ25-35 induced cell apoptosis in PC12 cells (all P < 0.01). Downregulation of miR-193a-3p intensified the effect of Aβ25-35 PTEN was proved to be the target gene of miR-193a-3p.

CONCLUSION

MiR-193a-3p could be a novel biomarker for AD diagnosis, and may protect against neurotoxicity in AD by targeting PTEN.

Establishment of the Prognosis Predicting Signature for Endometrial Cancer Patient

BACKGROUND Novel biomarkers provide clinicians more critical information on tumor genetic features and patients' prognosis. Here, we aimed to establish prognosis-predicting signatures for endometrial carcinoma (EC) patients based on the miRNA information. MATERIAL AND METHODS The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) website was available for dataset extraction. Prognosis-associated miRNAs were generated by univariate Cox regression test. Online websites were used to predict the targeted genes of these enrolled miRNAs. The miRNA-mRNA network was described by Cytoscape software, while the relevant signaling pathways of these targeted genes were enriched by Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses. RESULTS The miRNA-based overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) predicting signatures were constructed by LASSO Cox regression analyses, respectively, by which, the endometrial carcinoma patients were separated into high- and low-risk groups in both the discovery and validation sets. Univariate Cox regression analyses suggested that these high-risk patients had elevated death and recurrence risk compared to low-risk patients. In addition, multivariate Cox regression analysis confirmed that our signatures were independent prognosticate factors with or without clinicopathological features for endometrial carcinoma patients. Moreover, the miRNA-mRNA network was displayed by Cytoscape software, and the pathway enrichment analyses found that the targeted genes of these enrolled miRNAs were enriched in tumor progression and drug resistance-related pathways. CONCLUSIONS The OS and RFS predicting classifiers serve as independent prognosis-associated determiners for EC patients.

MicroRNA-449b-5p suppresses cell proliferation, migration and invasion by targeting TPD52 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an important type of head and neck malignant cancer with geographical distribution. MicroRNA-449b-5p (miR-449b-5p) is related to the development of various cancers, while its function in NPC remains unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the role and target gene of miR-449b-5p in NPC. Expressions of miR-449b-5p in NPC cell lines and clinical tissues were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Cell proliferation was determined by MTT and colony formation assays. Migration and invasion abilities after different treatment were evaluated by wound healing and Transwell assays, respectively. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was performed to explore the relationship between miR-449b-5p and tumour protein D52 (TPD52). TPD52 expression was determined by qRT-PCR and western blot assay. miR-449b-5p was significantly downregulated in NPC cell lines and clinical tissues than the matched control. Overexpression of miR-449b-5p inhibited proliferation, migration and invasion of NPC cells. Dual-luciferase reporter assay indicated that miR-449b-5p directly targeted TPD52. Furthermore, shRNA-mediated downregulation of TPD52 rectified the promotion of cell migration and invasion by miR-449b-5p inhibition. In conclusion, the present study suggests that miR-449b-5p, as a novel tumour-suppressive miRNA against NPC, inhibits proliferation, migration and invasion of NPC cells via inhibiting TPD52 expression.