Downregulation of Friend Leukemia Integration 1 (FLI1) follows the stepwise progression to gastric adenocarcinoma

Identification of Mir-182-3p/FLI-1 Axis as a Key Signaling in Immune Response in Cervical Cancer: A Comprehensive Bioinformatic Analysis

miRNAs modulate gene expression and play critical functions as oncomiRs or tumor suppressors. The miR-182-3p is important in chemoresistance and cancer progression in breast, lung, osteosarcoma, and ovarian cancer. However, the role of miR-182-3p in cervical cancer (CC) has not been elucidated.

AIM

To analyze the role of miR-182-3p in CC through a comprehensive bioinformatic analysis.

METHODS

Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases were used for the expression analysis. The mRNA targets of miR-182-3p were identified using miRDB, TargetScanHuman, and miRPathDB. The prediction of island CpG was performed using the MethPrimer program. The transcription factor binding sites in the FLI-1 promoter were identified using ConSite+, Alibaba2, and ALGGEN-PROMO. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis was performed in STRING 11.5.

RESULTS

miR-182-3p was significantly overexpressed in CC patients and has potential as a diagnostic. We identified 330 targets of miR-182-3p including FLI-1, which downregulates its expression in CC. Additionally, the aberrant methylation of the FLI-1 promoter and Ap2a transcription factor could be involved in downregulating FLI1 expression. Finally, we found that FLI-1 is a possible key gene in the immune response in CC.

CONCLUSIONS

The miR-182-3p/FLI-1 axis plays a critical role in immune response in CC.

Expression of Friend Leukemia Integration-1 (Fli-1) and the Apoptosis Regulator B Cell Lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) in Gastric Carcinoma; an Immunohistochemical Study

Fli-1 regulates multiple biological functions in different cancers particularly Ewing sarcoma and leukemias. There are controversial reports regarding function and prognostic significance of Fli-1 in epithelial cancer including gastric carcinoma (GC). No previous reports examined relationship between Fli-1 and BCL-2 in GC. This study aimed to investigate the expression of Fli-1 and BCL-2 in GC and expected the prognostic significance of their expression. Study was carried out on 88 gastric specimens (58 GC and 30 chronic gastritis cases). Immunohistochemical staining for Fli-1 and BCL-2 was done. There was significant lower Fli-1 and BCL-2 expression in GC than chronic gastritis. Advanced tumor stage showed significant relation with both low Fli-1 expression and negative BCL-2 expression. There was significant direct correlation between BCL-2 positivity and Fli-1 expression in GC. Cox-regression analysis showed that distant metastasis was the first independent factor affecting patients' OS. Fli-1 could act as tumor-suppressor protein involved in GC carcinogenesis. In addition, both Fli-1 and BCL-2 may be used as good prognostic markers in GC. The direct correlation between BCL-2 and Fli-1 expression could potentiate Fli-1 and BCL-2 as therapeutic targets in GC, acting together to inhibit cellular proliferation.

Analysis of DNA methylation and TP53 mutational status for differentiating feline oral squamous cell carcinoma from non-neoplastic mucosa: A preliminary study

Feline oral squamous cell carcinoma (FOSCC) is characterized by high local invasiveness and early bone lysis. The late diagnosis largely limits the efficacy of therapy and increases treatment-related morbidity. The aim of this exploratory study was to assess the methylation pattern of 10 candidate genes and TP53 mutational status in histologic samples of FOSCC. Results were compared with normal oral mucosa and oral inflammatory lesions, in order to establish a gene panel for FOSCC detection. For 10 cats, the above analyses were also performed on oral brushing samples, in order to explore the utility of these methods for screening purposes. Thirty-one FOSCC, 25 chronic inflammatory lesions and 12 controls were included. TP53 mutations were significantly more frequent in the FOSCC (68%) than in the non-neoplastic oral mucosa (3%; P <.001). Based on lasso regression analysis, a step-wise algorithm including TP53, FLI1, MiR124-1, KIF1A and MAGEC2 was proposed. The algorithm allowed to differentiate FOSCC with 94% sensitivity and 100% specificity (accuracy, 97%). When applying the proposed algorithm on 10 brushing samples, accuracy decreased to 80%. These results indicate that the altered DNA methylation of specific genes is present in FOSCC, together with a significant proportion of TP53 mutations. Such alterations are infrequent in normal oral mucosa and chronic stomatitis in cats, suggesting their involvement in feline oral carcinogenesis and their utility as diagnostic biomarkers. Further studies on a high number of brushing samples will be needed to assess the utility of a screening test for the early detection of FOSCC.