MicroRNA-124-3p suppresses cell migration and invasion by targeting ITGA3 signaling in bladder cancer

FTO Knockdown-Mediated Maturation of miR-383-5p Inhibits Malignant Advancement of Pancreatic Cancer by Targeting ITGA3

m6A demethylase FTO is confirmed to be involved in pancreatic cancer progression. FTO regulates miRNA processing. To investigate the regulatory effect of FTO on miR-383-5p and its role in pancreatic cancer. The expression of miR-383-5p, ITGA3, and FTO was predicted using bioinformatic analysis in tissues and was measured using qPCR in cells. Cell biological functions were investigated using MTT assay, Transwell assay, sphere formation assay, and qPCR. The targeting relationship between miR-383-5p and ITGA3 was evaluated using the dual-luciferase reporter assay. The effect of FTO on miR-383-5p processing was evaluated using RIP and MeRIP assay. FTO expression was upregulated in pancreatic cancer and silencing of FTO promoted the processing of miR-383-5p in an m6A-dependent manner. m6A-modified miRNA processing was recognized by IGF2BP1. Downregulation of miR-383-5p reversed FTO knockdown-induced inhibition of cellular processes. The FTO/miR-383-5p/ITGA3 axis facilitated cell viability, metastasis, and stemness in pancreatic cancer.

The relationship between DNA methyltransferase 3B (DNMT3B) and miR 124-3pa expressions in bladder cancer tissues

BACKGROUND

Cancer bladder is the most common malignant tumor affecting the urinary tract. Genetic alterations are tightly associated with the development of cancer bladder. MicroRNAs (miRNA) are small, noncoding single-stranded RNA molecules that have been linked to bladder cancer. miR-124-3pa exhibits altered expression in various types of human malignancies. DNA methyltransferase 3B (DNMT3B) is responsible for de novo DNA methylation which is a fundamental epigenetic process in carcinogenesis. This work was performed to study the expression of DNMT3B and miR 124-3pa in bladder cancer tissues, and investigate their significance in the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease.

SUBJECTS & METHODS

This case-control study included one hundred and six tissue samples of patients with primary urothelial bladder cancer. The tissues were separated into two parts. The first part was immediately frozen and kept at - 80 °C for total RNA extraction with subsequent detection of miR 124-3pa and DNMT3B expressions. The other part was preserved in formalin solution for histopathological examination.

RESULTS

There was a highly statistically significant difference between the cancerous and the normal tissues as regarding miRNA-124-3pa and DNMT3B expression (P < 0.001) for each. Also, there was a highly statistically significant strong negative correlation between miRNA-124-3pa and DNMT3B expression (r=-0.750, P < 0.001). The combined performance of miR-124-3pa and DNMT3B revealed that the cutoff point of ≥ 3.3 can be used as a predictor of the presence of cancer bladder with sensitivity of 98.1% and specificity of 80%.

CONCLUSION

miR-124-3pa and DNMT3B can be used as predictors of the presence of cancer bladder.

Linc-ROR Promotes EMT by Targeting miR-204-5p/SMAD4 in Endometriosis

Endometriosis (EMs) is a systemic and chronic disease with cancer-like feature, namely, distant implantation, which caused heavy healthy burden of nearly 200 million females. LncRNAs have been proved as new modulators in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and EMs. Quantitative real-time PCR was conducted to measure the expression level of long intergenic non-protein coding RNA, regulator of reprogramming (Linc-ROR), and miR-204-5p in ectopic endometrium (n = 25), eutopic endometrium (n = 20), and natural control endometrium (n = 22). Overexpression of Linc-ROR, knockdown or overexpression of miR-204-5p in End1/E6E7 and Ishikawa cells, was conducted to detect the function of Linc-ROR and miR-204-5p in EMs. Furthermore, luciferase reports were used to confirm the combination of Linc-ROR and miR-204-5p and the combination between miR-204-5p and SMAD4. Cell-Counting Kit-8, EdU assay, transwell assays, and Western blotting were used to detect the function of Linc-ROR and miR-204-5p in EMs cancer-like behaviors and EMT process. Linc-ROR was up-regulated in ectopic endometrium. Overexpressed Linc-ROR promotes cell proliferation, invasion, and EMT process. Linc-ROR regulated the EMT process, cellular proliferation, and invasion of EMs via binding to miR-204-5p. In addition, overexpression of Linc-ROR up-regulated SMAD4, a target protein of miR-204-5p, with which regulated EMT process and cancer-like behaviors in EMs together. Linc-ROR/miR-204-5p/SMAD4 axis plays a vital role in regulation EMT process in EMs, which might become a novel therapeutic targets and powerful biomarkers in EMs therapy.

ABERRANT EXPRESSION OF COL14A1, CELRS3, and CTHRC1 IN BREAST CANCER СELLS

BACKGROUND

Collagens, which are the major components of the extracellular matrix involved in the regulation of tumor microenvironment, could be differentially expressed in breast cancer (BC) with different transcriptome profiling.

AIM

To analyze the transcript level expression of COL1A1, COL5A1, COL10A1, COL11A1, COL12A1, COL14A1, CTHRC1, and CELRS3 genes and the clinical relevance of their differential expression in BC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The transcript level expression of the genes was analyzed using the quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) in tumor tissue of 60 BC patients.

RESULTS

Overexpression of COL1A1, COL5A1, COL10A1, COL11A1, COL12A1, CTHRC, and CELRS3 anddown-regulated expression of COL14A1 were observed. COL14A1 down-regulation was associated with aggressive, basal, and Her-2/neu BC subtypes (p = 0.031). Overexpression of CELSR3 was found to be associated with the older age of the patients (> 55 years, p = 0.049). Further analysis with the TCGA BC data set has shown a concordance in the differential expression of the above genes. Furthermore, overexpression of CTHRC1 was associated with poor overall survival (OS), particularly with poor prognosis (p = 0.00042) for the luminal BC subtype. On the other hand, CELSR3 overexpression was associated with mucinous tumors and poor prognosis in post-menopausal women. In silicotarget prediction identified several BC-associated miRNAs and members of miR-154, -515, and -10 families to perform a likely regulatory role in the above ECM genes.

CONCLUSION

The present study shows that the expression of COL14A1 and CTHRC1 may serve as potential biological markers for the detection of basal BC and the prognosis of survival for patients with the luminal subtype of BC.

HRCT1, negatively regulated by miR-124-3p, promotes tumor metastasis and the growth of gastric cancer by activating the ERBB2-MAPK pathway

BACKGROUND

Gastric cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. And patient outcomes are poor due to tumor relapse and metastasis. To develop new therapeutic strategies, it is of great importance to explore the mechanism underlying the progression of gastric cancer.

METHODS

Primary gastric cancer samples with lymph node metastases (LNM) and without LNM were subjected to mRNA microarray assay. The differentially expressed genes were confirmed by RT-qPCR. HRCT1 protein expression was further detected using an immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay. In vitro and in vivo assays were performed to investigate the role of HRCT1 in tumor invasion, metastasis, and proliferation. The expressions of the downstream target genes of HRCT1 were detected by microarray, RT-qPCR and Western blot assays. Dual-luciferase reporter and Western blot assays were carried out to identify miRNAs target to HRCT1.

RESULTS

HRCT1 was upregulated in gastric cancer, and high expression of HRCT1 was associated with poor overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Moreover, HRCT1protein expression was an independent predictor for poor OS and DFS. HRCT1 could promote gastric cancer cells' migration, invasion, and proliferation in vitro as well as tumor metastasis and growth in vivo. Notably, our data showed that HRCT1 promoted gastric cancer progression by activating the ERBB2-MAPK signaling pathway. At least partially, the expression of HRCT1 could be negatively regulated by miR-124-3p.

CONCLUSIONS

The upregulated expression of HRCT1 predicts poor survival for patients with gastric cancer. HRCT1 promotes tumor progression by activating the ERBB2-MAPK pathway. HRCT1, negatively regulated by miR-124-3p, may be a potential therapeutic target for patients with gastric cancer.

Integrated bioinformatics analysis shows integrin alpha 3 is a prognostic biomarker for pancreatic cancer

Integrin subunit alpha 3 (ITGA3) expression correlates with the development and prognosis of human cancers. This study aimed to investigate the association of ITGA3 expression with pancreatic cancer (PCa) prognosis. The ITGA3 gene expression data were extracted from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) cohort and 14 Gene Expression Omnibus microarray datasets. The differences in ITGA3 expression levels between tumor and non-tumor tissues were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. Cox regression analysis and meta-analysis were performed to detect the association of ITGA3 expression with PCa prognosis. ITGA3 expression was higher in tumors than in controls. Tumors with advanced grades (3/4) had higher ITGA3 levels compared with early-grade tumors (1/2). The meta-analysis of the TCGA PAAD cohort and seven microarray datasets (GSE28735, GSE62452, GSE79668, GSE71729, GSE57495, GSE78229, and GSE21501) showed that ITGA3 was a prognostic biomarker in PCa (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.38, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.26-1.51, p < 0.00001). Five ITGA3-related genes, including ITGB1 (HR = 1.6), ITGB5 (HR = 1.6), ITGB6 (HR = 1.6), LAMA3 (HR = 2.1), and CD9 (HR = 2.3), correlated with PCa prognosis significantly (p < 0.05). Functional enrichment analysis showed that ITGA3 was related to "hsa04151: PI3K-Akt signaling pathway" and "hsa04510: Focal adhesion." We concluded that high ITGA3 expression was a potential prognostic biomarker in PCa.

Potential Focal Adhesion Kinase Inhibitors in Management of Cancer: Therapeutic Opportunities from Herbal Medicine

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a multifunctional protein involved in cellular communication, integrating and transducing extracellular signals from cell-surface membrane receptors. It plays a central role intracellularly and extracellularly within the tumor microenvironment. Perturbations in FAK signaling promote tumor occurrence and development, and studies have revealed its biological behavior in tumor cell proliferation, migration, and adhesion. Herein we provide an overview of the complex biology of the FAK family members and their context-dependent nature. Next, with a focus on cancer, we highlight the activities of FAK signaling in different types of cancer and how knowledge of them is being used for screening natural compounds used in herbal medicine to fight tumor development.

Osthole inhibits the migration and invasion of highly metastatic breast cancer cells by suppressing ITGα3/ITGβ5 signaling

Metastasis is the leading cause of death in breast cancer patients. Osthole, as an active compound detected in the traditional Chinese medicine Wenshen Zhuanggu Formula, has shown a promising anti-metastatic activity in human breast cancer cells, but the underlying mechanisms remain ambiguous. In this study we elucidated the anti-metastatic mechanisms of osthole in highly metastatic breast cancer cells and a zebrafish xenograft model. We showed that the expression of integrin α3 (ITGα3) and integrin β5 (ITGβ5) was upregulated in highly metastatic MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-231BO breast cancer cell lines but was downregulated in poorly metastatic MCF-7 breast cancer cell line, which might be the key targets of osthole's anti-metastatic action. Furthermore, we showed that knockdown of ITGα3 and ITGβ5 attenuated breast cancer cell migration and invasion possibly via suppression of FAK/Src/Rac1 pathway, whereas overexpression of ITGα3 and ITGβ5 caused the opposite effects. Consistently, osthole significantly inhibited breast cancer metastasis by downregulating ITGα3/ITGβ5 signaling in vitro and in vivo. These results provide new evidence that osthole may be developed as a candidate therapeutic drug for metastatic breast cancer.

mRNA-miRNA bipartite networks reconstruction in different tissues of bladder cancer based on gene co-expression network analysis

Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most important cancers worldwide, and if it is diagnosed early, its progression in humans can be prevented and long-term survival will be achieved accordingly. This study aimed to identify novel micro-RNA (miRNA) and gene-based biomarkers for diagnosing BC. The microarray dataset of BC tissues (GSE13507) listed in the GEO database was analyzed for this purpose. The gene expression data from three BC tissues including 165 primary bladder cancer (PBC), 58 normal looking-bladder mucosae surrounding cancer (NBMSC), and 23 recurrent non-muscle invasive tumor tissues (RNIT) were used to reconstruct gene co-expression networks. After preprocessing and normalization, deferentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained and used to construct the weighted gene co-expression network (WGCNA). Gene co-expression modules and low-preserved modules were extracted among BC tissues using network clustering. Next, the experimentally validated mRNA-miRNA interaction information were used to reconstruct three mRNA-miRNA bipartite networks. Reactome pathway database and Gene ontology (GO) was subsequently performed for the extracted genes of three bipartite networks and miRNAs, respectively. To further analyze the data, ten hub miRNAs (miRNAs with the highest degree) were selected in each bipartite network to reconstruct three bipartite subnetworks. Finally, the obtained biomarkers were comprehensively investigated and discussed in authentic studies. The obtained results from our study indicated a group of genes including PPARD, CST4, CSNK1E, PTPN14, ETV6, and ADRM1 as well as novel miRNAs (e.g., miR-16-5p, miR-335-5p, miR-124-3p, and let-7b-5p) which might be potentially associated with BC and could be a potential biomarker. Afterward, three drug-gene interaction networks were reconstructed to explore candidate drugs for the treatment of BC. The hub miRNAs in the mRNA-miRNA bipartite network played a fundamental role in BC progression; however, these findings need further investigation.

Magnesium isoglycyrrhizinate suppresses bladder cancer progression by modulating the miR-26b/Nox4 axis

Magnesium isoglycyrrhizinate (MI), a magnesium salt of 18α-GA stereoisomer, has been reported to exert efficient hepatoprotective activity. However, its effect on bladder cancer remains unclear. The study explored the effects of MI on the growth, colony formation, apoptosis, invasion, and migration of bladder cancer cells (HTB9 and BIU87 cells). Typical apoptotic changes of bladder cancer cells such as nuclear concentration and fragmentation were observed using Hoechst staining. The effects of MI on the expression levels of microRNA-26b (miR-26b), NADPH oxidase 4 (Nox4), nuclear transcription factor-κB (NF-κB), and hHypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) were detected using qRT-PCR and Western blot. The potential targets of miR-26b were predicted using Targetscan, and their interactions were determined by luciferase reporter assay. A xenograft mouse model was established to evaluate the anti-tumor effects of MI in vivo. MI significantly suppressed the proliferation, colony formation, invasion, and migration and induced apoptosis of human bladder cancer cells, and MI significantly increased miR-26b expression. Nox 4 was identified to be a direct target of miR-26b. MiR-26b mimics significantly decreased the relative luciferase activity of wild type (WT) Nox 4 but not mutant type (MUT) Nox4. Meanwhile, MI markedly downregulated the expression levels of Nox4, NF-κB, and HIF-1α both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, MI inhibited xenograft tumor growth in vivo and decreased the expression of Nox4, NF-κB, and HIF-1α. Overall, MI showed a potent anti-tumor effect against bladder cancer partially via modulating the miR-26b/Nox4 axis.

Testing lncRNAs signature as clinical stage–related prognostic markers in gastric cancer progression using TCGA database

LncRNA expression can be conducive to gastric cancer (GC) prognosis. The objective of this study is to ascertain five specific lncRNAs involved in tumor progression of GC and their role as prognostic markers to diagnose clinical stage-wise GC. High-throughput RNA sequencing data were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and performed genome-wide lncRNA expression analysis using edgeR package, Bioconductor.org , and R-statistical computing to analyze differentially expressed lncRNA analysis. Cutoff parameters were FDR < 0.05 and |Log2FC| > 2. Total 351 tumor samples with differentially expressed lncRNAs were divided into group-1 lncRNAs such as AC019117.2 and LINC00941, and group-2 lncRNAs such as LINC02410, AC012317.2, and AC141273.1 by 2:1. The Spearman correlation coefficients ( p < 0.05) and correlation test function (cor.test ()) were performed for lncRNAs as per clinical stage. Cytoscape software was used to construct lncRNA–mRNA interaction networks. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway ( p < 0.05) analysis were conducted using the clusterProfiler package. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis was performed to determine the overall survival of patients based on the expression of five lncRNAs in different clinical stages of GC. AC019117.2 and LINC00941 of group 1 inferred a positive correlation with clinical stages of stage I to stage IV, and their expressions were higher in tumor tissues than normal tissues. On the contrary, LINC02410, AC012317.2, and AC141273.1 of group 2 exhibited a negative correlation with clinical stage, and they exhibited more expression in normal tissues compared to tumor tissues. GO and KEGG pathway analysis reported that AC019117.2 may interact with LINC00941 via ITGA3 and trophoblast glycoprotein (TPBG) to foster tumor progression. Tumor-specific group-1 lncRNAs were conducive to the poor overall survival and exhibited a positive correlation with the clinical stages of stage I to stage IV in GC as per the lncRNA–mRNA networking analysis. These five lncRNAs could be considered as clinically useful lncRNA-based prognostic markers to predict clinical stage-wise GC progression.

A four-miRNA signature in serum as a biomarker for bladder cancer diagnosis

BACKGROUND

Urinary bladder cancer (BCa) is globally the 10th most frequent cancer. As a novel diagnostic tool, miRNA in serum screening is non-invasive. This project aimed to determine particular serum miRNAs as novel biomarkers for diagnosing urinary BCa.

METHODS

We designed a three-phase study with 122 healthy controls (HCs) and 132 BCa patients. The 30 miRNAs' expressions in serum from HCs and BCa patients were detected during the screening phase. The miRNAs with the most dysregulation were tested in the training (HCs vs. BCa, 30 each) and validation (80 HCs vs. 82 BCa) phase further. The diagnostic ability of these candidate miRNAs was estimated by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves as well as the area under the ROC curve (AUC). The miRNAs' target genes and their annotations to functions were predicted utilizing bioinformatic assays.

RESULTS

Six serum miRNAs (miR-124-3p, miR-182-5p, miR-1-3p, miR-196a-5p, miR-23b-3p and miR-34a-5p) had significantly different expression between BCa patients and HCs in the training and validation phase. The four-microRNA panel improved the diagnostic value, with AUC =0.985. The result of bioinformatic analysis showed that these miRNAs' target genes in the panel may be related to the MAPK signaling pathway in bladder cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study identified a four-miRNA panel that is a non-invasive new biomarker for diagnosing BCa.

MicroRNA as a Biomarker for Diagnostic, Prognostic, and Therapeutic Purpose in Urinary Tract Cancer

The incidence of urologic cancers, including kidney, upper tract urothelial, and bladder malignancies, is increasing globally, with a high percentage of cases showing metastasis upon diagnosis and low five-year survival rates. MicroRNA (miRNA), a small non-coding RNA, was found to regulate the expression of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes in several tumors, including cancers of the urinary system. In the current review, we comprehensively discuss the recently reported up-or down-regulated miRNAs as well as their possible targets and regulated pathways involved in the development, progression, and metastasis of urinary tract cancers. These miRNAs represent potential therapeutic targets and diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers that may help in efficient and early diagnosis in addition to better treatment outcomes.

Prognostic Autophagy-Related Genes of Gastric Cancer Patients on Chemotherapy

Background: Chemotherapy resistance based on fluorouracil and cisplatin is one of the most encountered postoperative clinical problems in patients diagnosed with gastric cancer (GC), resulting in poor prognosis. Aim of the Study: This study aimed to combine autophagy-related genes (ARGs) to investigate the susceptibility patients with GC to postoperative chemotherapy. Methods: Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, gene expression data for GC patients undergoing chemotherapy were integrated and analyzed. Prognostic genes were screened based on univariate and multivariate analysis regression analysis. Subjects were divided into high-risk and low-risk groups according to the median risk score. Kaplan-Meier method was used to evaluate OS and DFS. The accuracy of the prediction was determined by the subject operating characteristic curve analysis. In addition, stratified analyses based on different clinical variables was performed to assess the correlation between risk scores and clinical variables. Quantitative real-time (qRT) PCR was used to verify the expression of CXCR4 in GC tissues and cell lines. Results: A total of nine ARGs related to the prognosis of chemotherapy patients were screened out. Compared with normal gastric mucosa cell, CXCR4 showed elevated expression in GC and was significantly associated with survival. Based on GEO and TCGA databases, the model accurately predicted DFS and OS after chemotherapy. Conclusion: This study established prognostic markers based on nine genes, predicting that ARGs are related to chemotherapy susceptibility of GC patients, which can provide better individualized treatment regimens for clinical practice.

Low expression of CD24 is associated with poor survival in colorectal cancer

In this study we analyzed expression of CD24 in a cohort of colorectal cancer patients using immunohistochemistry staining of CD24. We found a significant association between absence or low expression of CD24 (10% of membranous and 55% of cytoplasmic staining) and shortened patient survival. Protein localization played a crucial role in the prognosis: membranous form was the major and prognostic one in primary tumors, while cytoplasmic expression was elevated in liver metastases compared to the primary tumors and contained prognostic information. Then, using The Cancer Genome Atlas Colon Adenocarcinoma (TCGA-COAD) RNA-seq data, we showed that CD24 mRNA level was two-fold decreased in primary colorectal cancers compared to adjacent normal mucosa. Like the protein staining data, ten percent of patients with the lowest mRNA expression levels of CD24 in primary tumors had reduced survival compared to the ones with higher expression. To explain these findings mechanistically, shRNA-mediated CD24 knockdown was performed in HT-29 colorectal cancer cells. It resulted in the increase of cell migration in vitro, no changes in proliferation and apoptosis, and a slight decrease in cell invasion. As increased cell migration is a hallmark of metastasis formation, this finding corroborates the association of a decreased CD24 expression with poor prognosis. Differential gene expression analysis revealed upregulation of genes involved in cell migration in the group of patients with low CD24 expression, including integrin subunit α3 and α3, β3 subunits of laminin 332. Further co-expression analysis identified SPI1, STAT1 and IRF1 transcription factors as putative master-regulators in this group.

Adenine Inhibits the Invasive Potential of DLD-1 Human Colorectal Cancer Cell via the AMPK/FAK Axis

Tumor metastasis is a major cause of death of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Our previous findings show that adenine has antiproliferation activity against tumor cells. However, whether adenine reduces the invasiveness of DLD-1 and SW480 CRC cells has not been thoroughly explored. In this study, we aimed to explore the effects of adenine on the invasion potential of DLD-1 cells. Our findings showed that adenine at concentrations of ≤200 μM did not influence the cell viability of DLD-1 and SW480 CRC cells. By contrast, adenine reduced the migratory potential of the CRC cells. Moreover, it decreased the invasion capacity of the CRC cells in a dose-dependent manner. We further observed that adenine downregulated the protein levels of tissue plasminogen activator, matrix metalloproteinase-9, Snail, TWIST, and vimentin, but upregulated the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 expression in DLD-1 cells. Adenine decreased the integrin αV level and reduced the activation of integrin-associated signaling components, including focal adhesion kinase (FAK), paxillin, and Src in DLD-1 cells. Further observations showed that adenine induced AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation and inhibited mTOR phosphorylation in DLD-1 cells. The knockdown of AMPK restored the reduced integrin αV level and FAK/paxillin/Src signaling inhibited by adenine in DLD-1 cells. Collectively, these findings reveal that adenine reduces the invasion potential of DLD-1 cells through the AMPK/integrin/FAK axis, suggesting that adenine may have anti-metastatic potential in CRC cells.

miR-181b-5p Promotes the Progression of Cholangiocarcinoma by Targeting PARK2 via PTEN/PI3K/AKT Signaling Pathway

This study combined with bioinformatics analysis and investigated the expression pattern of miR-181b-5p, as well as explored its role and mechanism in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA or CHOL). Several bioinformatics databases were used to analyze the expression of miR-181b and the enrichment of miR-181b in biological activities and biological pathways in CCA. The RT-qPCR analysis was used to examine the expression levels of miR-181b-5p. A receiver operation characteristics (ROC) curve analysis and the Kaplan-Meier survival assay were conducted to validate the diagnostic and prognostic implication of miR-181b-5p. Cell experiments were used to explore the possible functional role of miR-181b-5p in CCA progression. The bioinformatics assay was used to predict the target gene of miR-181b-5p and Western blot was used to confirm the related signaling pathway. The bioinformatics analysis results suggest that miR-181b-5p was highly expressed in cholangiocarcinoma and its expression was negatively related to PARK2 expression in CCA tissues. miR-181b-5p expression in the serum and tissues was upregulated and associated with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage. Increased expression of miR-181b-5p had relatively high diagnostic accuracy and showed poor prognosis in CCA patients. In addition, miR-181b-5p overexpression enhanced cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by targeting PARK2. Overexpression of miR-181b-5p activated the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, while knockdown of miR-181b-5p suppressed the signaling pathway. Increased expression of miR-181b-5p in CCA may be a potential diagnostic or/and prognostic indicator for CCA patients. The present data indicated miR-181b-5p acted as an oncogene in CCA through promoting tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of CCA via the PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway by targeting PARK2, which might be a promising therapeutic target or biomarker for CCA.

MicroRNA-124-3p inhibited progression of nasopharyngeal carcinoma by interaction with PCDH8 and the inactivation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is characterised by distinct geographical distribution and is particularly prevalent in Asian countries. But the mechanisms related to the progression of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) are not completely understood. MiR-124-3p functions as a tumor suppressor in many kinds of human cancers. Here, we explored the effects and mechanism of miR-124-3p on the proliferation and colony formation in NPC. In our study, we reported that miR-124-3p was significantly downregulated in NPC tissues and cell lines. Overexpression miR-124-3p decreased NPC cell proliferation and colony formation abilities. Meanwhile, knockdown miR-124-3p increased proliferation and colony formation abilities. Additionally, dual-luciferase assay showed that miR-124-3p could positively regulated PCDH8 by targeting its 3'-UTR. Overexpression of PCDH8 could partially rescue the proliferation and colony formation role of miR-124-3p inhibitor. Our study indicated that miR-124-3p played a tumor suppressor by directly interacting with PCDH8 and inhibiting the activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. Overall, we found that miR-124-3p inhibited the activation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in NPC by interacting with PCDH8. Thus, PCDH8 may be a potential molecular target that impeded NPC proliferation and colony formation.

Exploring microRNA target genes and identifying hub genes in bladder cancer based on bioinformatic analysis

BACKGROUND

Bladder cancer (BC) is the second most frequent malignancy of the urinary system. The aim of this study was to identify key microRNAs (miRNAs) and hub genes associated with BC as well as analyse their targeted relationships.

METHODS

According to the microRNA dataset GSE112264 and gene microarray dataset GSE52519, differentially expressed microRNAs (DEMs) and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained using the R limma software package. The FunRich software database was used to predict the miRNA-targeted genes. The overlapping common genes (OCGs) between miRNA-targeted genes and DEGs were screened to construct the PPI network. Then, gene ontology (GO) analysis was performed through the "cluster Profiler" and "org.Hs.eg.db" R packages. The differential expression analysis and hierarchical clustering of these hub genes were analysed through the GEPIA and UCSC Cancer Genomics Browser databases, respectively. KEGG pathway enrichment analyses of hub genes were performed through gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA).

RESULTS

A total of 12 DEMs and 10 hub genes were identified. Differential expression analysis of the hub genes using the GEPIA database was consistent with the results for the UCSC Cancer Genomics Browser database. The results indicated that these hub genes were oncogenes, but VCL, TPM2, and TPM1 were tumour suppressor genes. The GSEA also showed that hub genes were most enriched in those pathways that were closely associated with tumour proliferation and apoptosis.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, we built a miRNA-mRNA regulatory targeted network, which explores an understanding of the pathogenesis of cancer development and provides key evidence for novel targeted treatments for BC.

Targeting pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase signaling in the development of effective cancer therapy

Pyruvate is irreversibly decarboxylated to acetyl coenzyme A by mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC). Decarboxylation of pyruvate is considered a crucial step in cell metabolism and energetics. The cancer cells prefer aerobic glycolysis rather than mitochondrial oxidation of pyruvate. This attribute of cancer cells allows them to sustain under indefinite proliferation and growth. Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinases (PDKs) play critical roles in many diseases because they regulate PDC activity. Recent findings suggest an altered metabolism of cancer cells is associated with impaired mitochondrial function due to PDC inhibition. PDKs inhibit the PDC activity via phosphorylation of the E1a subunit and subsequently cause a glycolytic shift. Thus, inhibition of PDK is an attractive strategy in anticancer therapy. This review highlights that PDC/PDK axis could be implicated in cancer's therapeutic management by developing potential small-molecule PDK inhibitors. In recent years, a dramatic increase in the targeting of the PDC/PDK axis for cancer treatment gained an attention from the scientific community. We further discuss breakthrough findings in the PDC-PDK axis. In addition, structural features, functional significance, mechanism of activation, involvement in various human pathologies, and expression of different forms of PDKs (PDK1-4) in different types of cancers are discussed in detail. We further emphasized the gene expression profiling of PDKs in cancer patients to prognosis and therapeutic manifestations. Additionally, inhibition of the PDK/PDC axis by small molecule inhibitors and natural compounds at different clinical evaluation stages has also been discussed comprehensively.

Identification of an 11-Autophagy-Related-Gene Signature as Promising Prognostic Biomarker for Bladder Cancer Patients

Simple Summary

Human bladder cancer, one of the most common cancers worldwide, is a molecularly heterogenous and complex disease. Identifying novel prognostic biomarkers and establishing new predictive signatures are important for personalized medicine and effective treatment of bladder cancer patients. Autophagy, a cell self-maintenance process that removes damaged organelles and misfolded proteins, displays both tumor promotion and suppression activities. The aim of our study is to investigate the function of autophagy-related genes in bladder cancer with the main focus on their contribution to prognostic outcome. By analyzing data obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we identified 32 autophagy-related genes that were highly associated with overall survival of bladder cancer patients. Further statistical assessment established an 11-autophagy-related-gene signature as an effective prognostic biomarker to predict the survival outcomes of bladder cancer patients.

Abstract

Background: Survival rates for highly invasive bladder cancer (BC) patients have been very low, with a 5-year survival rate of 6%. Accurate prediction of tumor progression and survival is important for diagnosis and therapeutic decisions for BC patients. Our study aims to develop an autophagy-related-gene (ARG) signature that helps to predict the survival of BC patients. Methods: RNA-seq data of 403 BC patients were retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas Urothelial Bladder Carcinoma (TCGA-BLCA) database. Univariate Cox regression analysis was performed to identify overall survival (OS)-related ARGs. The Lasso Cox regression model was applied to establish an ARG signature in the TCGA training cohort (N = 203). The performance of the 11-gene ARG signature was further evaluated in a training cohort and an independent validation cohort (N = 200) using Kaplan-Meier OS curve analysis, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, as well as univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis. Results: Our study identified an 11-gene ARG signature that is significantly associated with OS, including APOL1, ATG4B, BAG1, CASP3, DRAM1, ITGA3, KLHL24, P4HB, PRKCD, ULK2, and WDR45. The ARGs-derived high-risk bladder cancer patients exhibited significantly poor OS in both training and validation cohorts. The prognostic model showed good predictive efficacy, with the area under the ROC curve (AUCs) for 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year overall survival of 0.702 (0.695), 0.744 (0.640), and 0.794 (0.658) in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. A prognostic nomogram, which included the ARGs-derived risk factor, age and stage for eventual clinical translation, was established. Conclusion: We identified a novel ARG signature for risk-stratification and robust prediction of overall survival for BC patients.

The potential role of miR-124-3p in tumorigenesis and other related diseases

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of single-stranded noncoding and endogenous RNA molecules with a length of 18-25 nucleotides. Previous work has shown that miR-124-3p leads to malignant progression of cancer including cell apoptosis, migration, invasion, drug resistance, and also recovers neural function, affects adipogenic differentiation, facilitates wound healing through control of various target genes. miR-124-3p has been mainly previously characterized as a tumor suppressor regulating tumorigenesis and progression in several cancers, such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), gastric cancer (GC), bladder cancer, ovarian cancer (OC), and leukemia, as a tumor promotor in breast cancer (BC), and it has been also widely studied in a variety of neurological diseases, like Parkinson's disease (PD), dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD), and cardiovascular diseases, ulcerative colitis (UC), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). To lay the groundwork for future therapeutic strategies, in this review we mainly focus on the most recent years of literature on the functions of miR-124-3p in related major cancers, as well as its downstream target genes. Although current work as yet provides an incomplete picture, miR-124-3p is still worthy of more attention as a practical and effective clinical biomarker.

MicroRNAs: Their Role in Metastasis, Angiogenesis, and the Potential for Biomarker Utility in Bladder Carcinomas

Angiogenesis is the process of generating new capillaries from pre-existing blood vessels with a vital role in tumor growth and metastasis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are noncoding RNAs that exert post-transcriptional control of protein regulation. They participate in the development and progression of several cancers including bladder cancer (BLCA). In cancer tissue, changes in microRNA expression exhibit tissue specificity with high levels of stability and detectability. miRNAs are less vulnerable to degradation, making them novel targets for therapeutic approaches. A suitable means of targeting aberrant activated signal transduction pathways in carcinogenesis of BLCA is possibly through altering the expression of key miRNAs that regulate them, exerting a strong effect on signal transduction. Precaution must be taken, as the complexity of miRNA regulation might result in targeting several downstream tumor suppressors or oncogenes, enhancing the effect further. Since exosomes contain both mRNA and miRNA, they could therefore possibly be more effective in targeting a recipient cell if they deliver a specific miRNA to modify the recipient cell protein production and gene expression. In this review, we discuss the molecules that have been shown to play a significant role in BLCA tumor development. We also discuss the roles of various miRNAs in BLCA angiogenesis and metastasis. Advances in the management of metastatic BLCA have been limited; miRNA mimics and molecules targeted at miRNAs (anti-miRs) as well as exosomes could serve as therapeutic modalities or as diagnostic biomarkers.

The Role of MiR-124 in Bladder Cancer – A Review of the Literature

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of non-coding RNA molecules that have an important role in modulating the expression of genes involved in regulating cellular functions. A growing number of studies suggest the abnormal expression of microRNAs in different types of cancer cells. MiRNA-124 is a microRNA that is down-regulated in many types of cancer cells, including bladder cancer. Our objective is to provide a review of the key publications that studied the effect of miR-124 on bladder cancer. This review focus on the targets and different pathways of miR-124 that were identified in various studies and differences between their expressions in normal urothelium and tumor tissues. We also include data regarding urinary methylations levels of miR-124 and their role in bladder cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Subsequently, we establish future perspectives of miR-124 research and its promising role in bladder cancer.

Potential Prognostic Biomarkers of Lung Adenocarcinoma Based on Bioinformatic Analysis

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), which accounts for 60% of non-small-cell lung cancers, is poorly diagnosed and has a low average 5-year survival rate (approximately 20%). It remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Studies on long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in LUAD-related competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks are limited. We aimed to identify novel prognostic biomarkers for LUAD using bioinformatic tools and data analysis. We systemically integrated differentially expressed genes and clinically significant modules using weighted correlation network analysis. We performed a functional analysis of the collected candidate genes and explored three LUAD-related genes (VWF, PECAM1, and COL1A1) associated with the overall survival rates of patients with LUAD. Based on Cox proportional hazards analysis of candidate mRNAs and lncRNAs together with differentially expressed microRNAs, we constructed ceRNA networks, obtained 12 lncRNAs in the ceRNA networks, and revealed seven novel lncRNAs AC021016.2, AC079630.1, AC116407.1, AC125807.2, AF131215.5, LINC01936, and RHOXF1-AS1. These lncRNAs were found to be associated with overall survival rates and are suitable for the prediction of prognosis by Kaplan-Meier survival and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses. In particular, three lncRNAs—AF131215.5, AC125807.2, and LINC01936—showed an independent prognostic value of overall survival for patients with LUAD. We evaluated the diagnostic capabilities of seven lncRNAs for patients with LUAD using principal component analysis and the Gene Set Variation Analysis index. lncRNAs and crucial genes could be effectively used for distinguishing LUAD tumors from normal tissues in the Gene Expression Omnibus profile. In particular, AC021016.2 showed a significant prognostic value in the validation dataset. Our findings reveal the significance of exploring lncRNAs in cancer-related ceRNAs using bioinformatic strategies.

Role of microRNA-381 in bladder cancer growth and metastasis with the involvement of BMI1 and the Rho/ROCK axis

Background

Emerging evidence has noted the important participation of microRNAs (miRNAs) in several human diseases including cancer. This research was launched to probe the function of miR-381 in bladder cancer (BCa) progression.

Methods

Twenty-eight patients with primary BCa were included in this study. Cancer tissues and the adjacent normal tissues were obtained. Aberrantly expressed miRNAs in BCa tissues were analyzed using miRNA microarrays. miR-381 expression in the bladder and paired tumor tissues, and in BCa and normal cell lines was determined. The target relationship between miR-381 and BMI1 was predicted online and validated through a luciferase assay. Gain-of-functions of miR-381 and BMI1 were performed to identify their functions on BCa cell behaviors as well as tumor growth in vivo. The involvement of the Rho/ROCK signaling was identified.

Results

miR-381 was poor regulated in BCa tissues and cells (all p < 0.05). A higher miR-381 level indicated a better prognosis of patients with BCa. Artificial up-regulation of miR-381 inhibited proliferation, invasion, migration, resistance to apoptosis, and tumor formation ability of BCa T24 and RT4 cells (all p < 0.05). miR-381 was found to directly bind to BMI1 and was negatively correlated with BMI1 expression. Overexpression of BMI1 partially blocked the tumor suppressing roles of miR-381 in cell malignancy and tumor growth (all p < 0.05). In addition, miR-381 led to decreased RhoA phosphorylation and ROCK2 activation, which were also reversed by BMI1 (all p < 0.05). Artificial inhibition of the Rho/ROCK signaling blocked the functions of BMI1 in cell growth and metastasis (all p < 0.05).

Conclusion

The study evidenced that miR-381 may act as a beneficiary biomarker in BCa patients. Up-regulation of miR-381 suppresses BCa development both in vivo and in vitro through BMI1 down-regulation and the Rho/ROCK inactivation.

Expression and Prognostic Analysis of Integrins in Gastric Cancer

Background

Integrins are involved in the biological process of a variety of cancers, but their importance in the diagnosis and prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) is still unclear. Therefore, this study aimed at exploring the significance of ITG gene expression in GC to evaluate its diagnosis and prognosis.

Methods

GEPIA data were used to evaluate the mRNA expression of ITG genes in GC patients. The prognostic value of these genes was assessed by analyzing their mRNA expression using the Kaplan–Meier curve. The biological function of ITG genes was evaluated by GC tissue sequencing combined with GSEA bioinformatics. Based on the sequencing data, ITGA5 with the largest expression difference was selected for verification, and RT-PCR was used to verify its mRNA expression level in 40 pairs of GC and normal tissues.

Results

ITG (A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A11, AE, AL, AM, AV, AX, B1, B2, B4, B5, B6, and B8) was highly expressed in GC tissues, while ITGA8 was low, compared with their expression in normal tissues. RNA-seq data shows that ITG (A2, A5, A11, AV, and B1) expression was associated with poor prognosis and overall survival. In addition, combined with the results of GC tissue mRNA sequencing, it was further found that the differentially expressed genes in the ITGs genes. ITGA5 was highly expressed in GC tissues compared with its expression in normal tissues, as evaluated by qRT–PCR (P < 0.001) and ROC (P < 0.001, AUC (95% CI) = 0.747 (0.641–0.851)), and confirmed that ITGA5 expression was a potential diagnostic marker for GC. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the signaling pathway involved in ITGA5 was mainly enriched in focal adhesion, ECM-receptor interaction, and PI3K-AKT and was mainly involved in biological processes such as cell adhesion, extracellular matrix, and cell migration.

Conclusion

This study suggested that ITGs were associated with the diagnosis and prognosis of GC and discovered the prognostic value and biological role of ITGA5 in GC. Thus, ITGA5 might be used as a potential diagnostic marker for GC.

EWSR1 overexpression is a pro-oncogenic event in multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) is cytogenetically, genetically and molecularly heterogenous even among subclones in one patient, therefore, it is essential to identify both frequent and patient-specific drivers of molecular abnormality. Following previous molecular investigations, we in this study investigated the expression patterns and function of the Ewing sarcoma breakpoint region 1 (EWSR1) gene in MM. The EWSR1 transcriptional level in CD138-positive myeloma cells was higher in 36.4% of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, in 67.4% of MM patients compared with normal plasma cells, and significantly higher in ten human myeloma-derived cell lines (HMCLs) examined. EWSR1 gene knockdown caused growth inhibition with an increase of apoptotic cells in NCI-H929 and KMS-12-BM cells. Gene expression profiling using microarray analysis suggested EWSR1 gene knockdown caused transcriptional modulation of several genes associated with processes such as cell proliferation, cell motility, cell metabolism, and gene expression. Of particular, EWSR1 gene knockdown caused upregulation of let-7c and downregulation of its known targets K-RAS and AKT. Finally, our analysis using community database suggested that high EWSR1 expression positively associates with poor prognosis and advanced disease stage in MM. These findings suggest that EWSR1 overexpression is a pro-oncogenic molecular abnormality that may participate in MM progression.

Upregulation of miR-124-3p by Liver X Receptor Inhibits the Growth of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells Via Suppressing Cyclin D1 and CDK6

MiR-124-3p has been identified as a novel tumor suppressor and a potential therapeutic target in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) through regulating its target genes. However, the upstream regulatory mechanisms of mir-124-3p in HCC has not been fully understood. The transcription factor liver X receptor (LXR) plays a critical role in suppressing the proliferation of HCC cells, but it is unclear whether LXR is involved in the regulation of mir-124-3p. In the present study, we demonstrated that the expression of mir-124-3p was positively correlated with that of LXR in HCC, and the cell growth of HCC was significantly inhibited by LXR agonists. Moreover, activation of LXR with the agonists up-regulated the expression of mir-124-3p, and in turn down-regulated cyclin D1 and cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (CDK6) expression, which are the target genes of mir-124-3p. Mechanistically, miR-124-3p mediates LXR induced inhibition of HCC cell growth and down-regulation of cyclin D1 and CDK6 expression. In vivo experiments also confirmed that LXR induced miR-124-3p expression inhibited the growth of HCC xenograft tumors, as well as cyclin D1 and CDK6 expression. Our findings revealed that miR-124-3p is a novel target gene of LXR, and regulation of the miR-124-3p-cyclin D1/CDK6 pathway by LXR plays a crucial role in the proliferation of HCC cells. LXR-miR-124-3p-cyclin D1/CDK6 pathway may be a novel potential therapeutic target for HCC treatment.

miR-425-5p Acts as a Molecular Marker and Promoted Proliferation, Migration by Targeting RNF11 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and dangerous malignant tumors in China, which causes a large number of deaths every year. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) dysfunction contributes to the malignant progression of tumors. The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between the biological role of miR-425-5p and malignant progression of HCC. Our results showed that miR-425-5p expression was significantly upregulated in HCC tissues and closely related to the poor prognosis of HCC patients. The knockdown of miR-425-5p inhibited cell proliferation and migration. Further, we identified RNF11 as the downstream target gene of miR-425-5p. In addition, the rescue experiments showed that the upregulation of RNF11 could rescue the inhibitory effect of miR-425-5p on HCC. In general, miR-425-5p as an oncogene promotes the malignant development of HCC via RNF11 and serves as a molecular target for predicting the prognosis of HCC patients.

ELK1/lncRNA-SNHG7/miR-2682-5p feedback loop enhances bladder cancer cell growth

AIMS

The purpose of this paper is to unearth the ceRNA regulatory mechanism of SNHG7 in bladder cancer (BCa).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The expression of SNHG7 in BCa cells was uncovered by qRT-PCR. The biological functions of SNHG7 in BCa cells were explored by CCK-8 assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry analysis, wound healing assay and transwell assay. Luciferase reporter assay and RIP assay were applied to analyze the interaction of ELK1 with SNHG7 or miR-2682-5p.

KEY FINDINGS

SNHG7 was conspicuously highly expressed in BCa tissues and cells. The upregulated expression of SNHG7 was related with poor prognosis in BCa patients. Moreover, SNHG7 exerted oncogenic functions in BCa through enhancing cell growth, migration and invasion. ELK1 increased the level of SNHG7 by binding with the promoter region of SNHG7. SNHG7 strengthened the expression of ELK1 via acting as a sponge of miR-2682-5p. Both ELK1 and miR-2682-5p involved in the SNHG7-mediated BCa progression.

SIGNIFICANCE

ELK1/SNHG7/miR-2682-5p feedback loop enhances cell growth, migration and invasion in BCa.

MiR-124a Regulates Extracellular Vesicle Release by Targeting GTPase Rabs in Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Increased understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the disease has led to the development of novel therapies and improving outcomes. Recently, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as vehicles for the transfer of genetic information between tumors and their microenvironment and have been implicated in lung cancer initiation, progression, and response to therapy. However, the mechanisms that drive the biogenesis and selective packaging of EVs remain poorly understood. Rab family guanosine triphosphates (GTPases) and their regulators are important membrane trafficking organizers. In this study, we investigated the role of select Rab GTPases on the regulation of EV release. We found that microRNAs target Rab GTPases to regulate EV release from lung cancer cell lines. In particular, Rab32 is a target of miR-124a, and siRNA and miRNA mediated inhibition of Rab32 leads to impaired EV secretion. The downstream implications for microRNA-based regulation of EV release are currently under investigation.

Interference with circBC048201 inhibits the proliferation, migration, and invasion of bladder cancer cells through the miR-1184/ITGA3 axis

The abnormal expression of circular RNA (circRNA) is bound up with the progress of various human cancers. This study aimed to reveal the potential role and mechanism of circBC048201 in the proliferation, migration, and invasion of bladder cancer cells. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to detect the expression of circBC048201. Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation, and transwell migration and invasion assays were used to confirm the in vitro functions of circBC048201. Western blot, RNA pull-down, and dual-luciferase reporter gene experiments were performed to study the potential mechanism. circBC048201 was abnormally highly expressed in bladder cancer tissues and cells, and the interference with circBC048201 inhibited bladder cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. From the potential mechanism analysis, our data suggested that circBC048201 and miR-1184, miR-1184 and ITGA3 could bind to each other, and the interference with circBC048201 repressed bladder cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion through the miR-1184/ITGA3 axis. In summary, our results showed that circBC048201 was abnormally highly expressed in bladder cancer tissues and cells, and the interference with circBC048201 inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of bladder cancer cells through the miR-1184/ITGA3 axis.

Role of microRNA/Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition Axis in the Metastasis of Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer (BC) is the 11th most common diagnosed cancer, and a number of factors including environmental and genetic ones participate in BC development. Metastasis of BC cells into neighboring and distant tissues significantly reduces overall survival of patients with this life-threatening disorder. Recently, studies have focused on revealing molecular pathways involved in metastasis of BC cells, and in this review, we focus on microRNAs (miRNAs) and their regulatory effect on epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) mechanisms that can regulate metastasis. EMT is a vital process for migration of BC cells, and inhibition of this mechanism restricts invasion of BC cells. MiRNAs are endogenous non-coding RNAs with 19-24 nucleotides capable of regulating different cellular events, and EMT is one of them. In BC cells, miRNAs are able to both induce and/or inhibit EMT. For regulation of EMT, miRNAs affect different molecular pathways such as transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), Snail, Slug, ZEB1/2, CD44, NSBP1, which are, discussed in detail this review. Besides, miRNA/EMT axis can also be regulated by upstream mediators such as lncRNAs, circRNAs and targeted by diverse anti-tumor agents. These topics are also discussed here to reveal diverse molecular pathways involved in migration of BC cells and strategies to target them to develop effective therapeutics.

microRNA-124-3p inhibits tumourigenesis by targeting mitogen-activated protein kinase 4 in papillary thyroid carcinoma

The study aimed to investigate the role of miR-124-3p and its potential molecular mechanism in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). The expression of miR-124-3p and mitogen-activated protein kinase 4 (MAP2K4) in human thyroid follicular epithelial cell line (NTHY-ORI3-1) and human papillary thyroid carcinoma cell lines (SW1736, BCPAP, TPC-1 and K1) was measured by RT-qPCR. Cell proliferation was measured by CCK-8, while cell cycle and apoptosis rate were measured by flow cytometry. Invasive ability and migrative ability were measured by transwell assay and wound healing assay, respectively. Western blot was used to detect the levels of relative proteins. In vivo, TPC-1 cells transfected with miR-124-3p mimic were subcutaneously injected into the flank of the mice to form tumour. After successful modelling, mice were divided into two groups (n = 10): Control group and miR-124-3p mimic group. The present study showed that miR-124-3p was lowly expressed, while MAP2K4 was highly expressed in PTC cell lines. Besides, miR-124-3p targeted MAP2K4 and negatively regulated MAP2K4 in TPC-1 cells. In addition, miR-124-3p inhibited the proliferation and motility, and induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest of TPC-1 cells by inactivating MAP2K4/JNK/JunD pathway. Furthermore, miR-124-3p inhibited tumour formation by downregulating MAP2K4 level in vivo. In conclusion, the study provided a novel molecular mechanism of miR-124-3p in the progress of PTC. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY: Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most important pathological type of thyroid cancer, accounting for 80% of thyroid cancer. miR-124-3p exhibited significant inhibitory role in the transformation and development of malignant tumours. However, in PTC, the roles and its potential molecular mechanism are unclear. Here, the study investigated the roles of miR-124-3p in the progress of PTC and its potential molecular mechanism. We found that miR-124-3p inhibited the proliferation and motility, and induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in PTC cells. This study provided a novel molecular mechanism of miR-124-3p in the progress of PTC.

LINC00511 promotes gastric cancer cell growth by acting as a ceRNA

BACKGROUND

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most aggressive malignancies, with a high incidence and poor prognosis worldwide. Recently, accumulating evidence has illustrated that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play pivotal roles in many cancers. It has been reported that LINC00511 contributes to tumorigenesis in various diseases. However, the role of LINC00511 in GC cell growth remains mostly unknown.

AIM

To determine whether the lncRNA LINC00511 exerted its carcinogenic function in GC via the miR-124-3p/PDK4 axis.

METHODS

Cell culture and transfection, RNA extraction and quantitative real-time PCR, CCK-8 assay, Colony formation assay, Luciferase reporter assay, RIP assay, RNA pull-down assay, and Western blot analysis were used to show expression and mechanisms of LINC00511 in GC progression and apoptosis. Rescue assays were performed to verify the relationships among LINC00511, miR-124-3p and PDK4 further.

RESULTS

The expression of LINC00511 was remarkably upregulated in GC cells compared to that in corresponding normal cell lines. Compared to the controls, cell proliferation was inhibited, and cell apoptosis was increased upon LINC00511 knockdown, demonstrating that LINC00511 influenced GC cell growth. An exploration of the molecular mechanism revealed that LINC00511 functioned as a molecular sponge of miR-124-3p and that PDK4 was a downstream target of miR-124-3p in GC. Rescue assays showed that the overexpression of PDK4 could partly restore the inhibitory function of si-LINC00511 in GC.

CONCLUSION

These data demonstrate that LINC00511 promotes gastric cancer cell growth by acting as a ceRNA to regulate the miR-124-3p/PDK4 axis, which may be a promising therapeutic target for GC.

LINC00667 promotes Wilms' tumor metastasis and stemness by sponging miR-200b/c/429 family to regulate IKK-β

Wilms' tumor, also known as nephroblastoma, is a kind of pediatric renal cancer. Previous studies have indicated that microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate various cancers progression. However, whether miR-200 family regulated Wilms' tumor progression remains to be elucidated. In our study, miR-200b/c/429 expression was downregulated in Wilms' tumor tissue samples from 25 patients. And data from three independent analyses of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction revealed that the expression of miR-200b/c/429 was downregulated in Wilms' tumor cell lines. Functionally, Cell counting kit-8 assay revealed that cell viability was reduced by overexpressing miR-200b/c/429. Transwell assay manifested that cell migration and invasion was hindered by miR-200b/c/429 overexpression. Sphere-forming and western blot assays demonstrated that miR-200b/c/429 overexpression suppressed the sphere formation ability. Mechanically, nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway was confirmed to be associated with Wilms' tumor progression; miR-200b/c/429 overexpression inactivated NF-κB pathway as miR-200b/c/429 was identified to target IκB kinase β (IKK-β), an NF-κB pathway-related gene. Moreover, miR-200b/c/429 was sponged by LINC00667 in Wilms' tumor cells. LINC00667 competitively bound with miR-200b/c/429 to regulate IKK-β expression and then activated NF-κB pathway in Wilms' tumor. Subsequently, rescue assays illustrated that silencing of IKK-β could reverse the effect of miR-200b/c/429 inhibition on the progression of sh-LINC00667-transfected Wilms' tumor cells. In summary, LINC00667 promoted Wilms' tumor progression by sponging miR-200b/c/429 family to regulate IKK-β.

Overexpression of microRNA-96 is associated with poor prognosis and promotes proliferation, migration and invasion in cholangiocarcinoma cells via MTSS1

MicroRNA-96 (miR-96) has been revealed serve an oncogenic role in various types of cancer. However, the role of miR-96 in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) development and progression is yet to be elucidated. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the role of miR-96 in CCA. The expression pattern of miR-96 in CCA tissues and cell lines was evaluated using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR analysis. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analyses were conducted to investigate the prognostic significance of miR-96 in CCA. Cell Counting Kit-8 and Transwell assays were performed to identify the functions of miR-96. The association between miR-96 and metastasis suppressor-1 (MTSS1) was verified using a dual-luciferase assay. The results demonstrated that miR-96 expression levels were increased in CCA tissues and cell lines compared with those in adjacent normal tissues and normal human intrahepatic biliary epithelial cell lines, respectively. High expression levels of miR-96 were significantly associated with lymph node metastasis, differentiation and TNM stage. In addition, upregulated expression of miR-96 was associated with a poorer prognosis and was predicted to be a prognostic factor in patients with CCA. Overexpression of miR-96 in vitro promoted CCA cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Additionally, MTSS1 was identified as a direct target of miR-96. The results of the present study indicated the clinical and biological importance of miR-96 as an oncogene in CCA. miR-96 may represent an independent prognostic biomarker and may promote CCA cell proliferation, migration and invasion by targeting MTSS1.

Low Dosed Curcumin Combined with Visible Light Exposure Inhibits Renal Cell Carcinoma Metastatic Behavior In Vitro

Recent documentation shows that a curcumin-induced growth arrest of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cells can be amplified by visible light. This study was designed to investigate whether this strategy may also contribute to blocking metastatic progression of RCC. Low dosed curcumin (0.2 µg/mL; 0.54 µM) was applied to A498, Caki1, or KTCTL-26 cells for 1 h, followed by exposure to visible light for 5 min (400–550 nm, 5500 lx). Adhesion to human vascular endothelial cells or immobilized collagen was then evaluated. The influence of curcumin on chemotaxis and migration was also investigated, as well as curcumin induced alterations of α and β integrin expression. Curcumin without light exposure or light exposure without curcumin induced no alterations, whereas curcumin plus light significantly inhibited RCC adhesion, migration, and chemotaxis. This was associated with a distinct reduction of α3, α5, β1, and β3 integrins in all cell lines. Separate blocking of each of these integrin subtypes led to significant modification of tumor cell adhesion and chemotactic behavior. Combining low dosed curcumin with light considerably suppressed RCC binding activity and chemotactic movement and was associated with lowered integrin α and β subtypes. Therefore, curcumin combined with visible light holds promise for inhibiting metastatic processes in RCC.

ITGA3 interacts with VASP to regulate stemness and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of breast cancer cells

BACKGROUND

The interaction of integrin and extracellular matrix (ECM) has a profound implication on pathological conditions such as tumor growth and infiltration. Related reports have confirmed that integrin α3 (ITGA3) influences the development of bladder cancer, head and neck cancer, colorectal cancer and other cancers. However, the mechanism of ITGA3 in breast cancer is unknown.

METHODS

The impact of ITGA3 on the biological features of breast cancer cells was explored using the Transwell and wound healing assays. In addition, its influence on stemness of breast cancer cells was examined with the sphere formation assay. The possible mechanism by which ITGA3 regulates breast cancer was explored using Western blot. The interaction between ITGA3 and VASP was determined by co-immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence staining assays.

RESULTS

Results show that downregulation of ITGA3 promotes breast cancer cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and migration. Indeed, suppression of ITGA3 negatively regulates the stemness of breast cancer cells and EMT process. Our findings indicate that ITGA3 interacts with VASP and regulates its expression, and knockdown of ITGA3 inhibits the activity of the PI3K-AKT axis.

CONCLUSION

Our results show that ITGA3-VASP modulates breast cancer cell stemness, EMT and PI3K-AKT pathways. Therefore, ITGA3 might be a druggable target for clinical breast cancer management.

Overexpression of miR-939-3p predicts poor prognosis and promotes progression in lung cancer

BACKGROUND

Lung cancer is the main cancer-related deaths worldwide. In this study, we explored the clinical prognostic significance and functional role of miR-939-3p in lung cancer.

METHODS

We analyzed the expression of miR-939-3p in lung cancer tissues and cells by qRT-PCR. The prognostic significance of miR-939-3p was investigated using the Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox regression analyses. The CCK-8 assay was used to determine the role of miR-939-3p in cell proliferation. Transwell assays were used to determine the effects of miR-939-3p on cell migration and invasion abilities.

RESULTS

The expression of miR-939-3p was upregulated in cancer tissues and cell lines compared with adjacent normal tissues and normal cells, respectively. The upregulated miR-939-3p was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis, TNM stage and poor prognosis of lung cancer patients. After the transfection of miR-939 mimic, overexpression of miR-939-3p promoted lung cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggested that miR-939-3p acts as an oncogene and promotes cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in lung cancer. miR-939-3p may be a potential independent prognostic biomarker in lung cancer.

Knockdown of lncRNA HOXA-AS2 Inhibits Viability, Migration and Invasion of Osteosarcoma Cells by miR-124-3p/E2F3

Background

Osteosarcoma (OS) is one of the most frequent bone malignancies. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been revealed to participate in many cancers, including OS. This study aimed to explore the biological function of lncRNA homeobox A cluster antisense RNA2 (HOXA-AS2) and its potential mechanism in OS progression.

Methods

Twenty-seven OS patients were recruited for this study. U2OS and MG-63 cells were cultured for in vitro analyses. The levels of HOXA-AS2, microRNA-124-3p (miR-124-3p) and E2F transcription factor 3 (E2F3) were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction or Western blot. OS progression was investigated by cell viability, migration and invasion using cell counting kit-8 or trans-well assay. The interaction among HOXA-AS2, miR-124-3p and E2F3 was explored by bioinformatics analysis, luciferase reporter assay, RNA immunoprecipitation and biotinylated RNA pull-down. Xenograft model was established by injecting U2OS cells into nude mice.

Results

HOXA-AS2 expression was increased in OS tissues and cells and associated with poor survival of patients. Knockdown of HOXA-AS2 inhibited cell viability, migration and invasion in OS cells. miR-124-3p could bind with HOXA-AS2 and its deficiency reversed the suppressive role of HOXA-AS2 knockdown. Moreover, E2F3 acted as a target of miR-124-3p and positively regulated by HOXA-AS2. Silence of E2F3 suppressed OS progression, which was abolished by miR-124-3p exhaustion. Interference of HOXA-AS2 attenuated U2OS xenograft tumor growth via upregulating miR-124-3p and downregulating E2F3.

Conclusion

HOXA-AS2 silence impeded OS progression possibly by functioning as a decoy of miR-124-3p to target E2F3, indicating novel evidence of HOXA-AS2 as a promising therapeutic target of OS.

MiR-124-3p inhibits the migration and invasion of Gastric cancer by targeting ITGB3

BACKGROUND

Gastric cancer is one of the major malignant tumors in the world. Integrins expressed in cancer cells can promote tumor progression and migration. MiRNAs can inhibit the expression of target genes by directly binding to their mRNAs and can affect various important biological processes. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of miR-124- 3p and ITGB3 in gastric cancer.

METHODS

RT-PCR and western blot are used to detect the expression of miR-124-3p, ITGB3 and integrin β3 in gastric cancer tissues and cells. The wound healing, CCK-8 assay, transwell migration and invasion assay were performed to determine the cell proliferation, migration and invasion. What's more, bioinformatics prediction and luciferase assay was conducted to demonstrated the binding efficiency between miR-124-3p and ITGB3.

RESULTS

We verified that ITGB3 and miR-124-3p changes the migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells in vitro. The overexpression or silencing of miR-124-3p inhibited or promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of both selected gastric cancer cells, and ITGB3 is just the reverse. Meanwhile, we validated that ITGB3 is the target of miR-124-3p by bioinformatics prediction and luciferase assay. Lastly, the expression of ITGB3 in 40 pairs of gastric cancer tissues were significantly higher than that in the adjacent normal tissues, while the expression level of miR-124-3p was significantly decreased in cancer tissues.

CONCLUSIONS

miR-124-3p inhibits the migration and invasion of Gastric cancer by targeting ITGB3 in gastric cancer cells. Our results suggested that miR-124-3p and ITGB3 may reasonably serve as a promising therapeutic target.

MicroRNA-448 modulates the progression of neuropathic pain by targeting sirtuin 1

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial roles in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain. The present study investigated the effects of miR-448 on the progression of neuropathic pain in a rat model of chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve. Reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction was conducted to detect the gene expression. The paw withdrawal threshold (PWT) and paw withdrawal latency (PWL) were used to assess the pain threshold. The protein expression levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were detected by ELISA. The target of miR-448 was predicted by TargetScan software. The Student's t-test or one-way ANOVA were used to identify statistical differences among groups. miR-448 was persistently upregulated in CCI rats, and both mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia in CCI rats were decreased following miR-448 downregulation. The expression levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α were significantly increased in CCI rats compared with controls, and these effects were reversed following treatment with a miR-448 inhibitor. A luciferase reporter assay revealed that sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) was a target gene of miR-448. SIRT1 was found to abrogate the effect of miR-448 on neuropathic pain development. Collectively, the results of the present study revealed that miR-448 promoted neuropathic pain in CCI rats by regulating neuroinflammation via SIRT1. Therefore, SIRT1 may be considered as a novel biomarker for neuropathic pain.

The Effect of SPTLC2 on Promoting Neuronal Apoptosis is Alleviated by MiR-124-3p Through TLR4 Signalling Pathway

To investigate the role and mechanism of microRNA-124-3p (miR-124-3p) and serine palmitoyltransferase long chain base subunit 2 (SPTLC2) in neuronal apoptosis induced by mechanical injury. Transient transfection was used to modify the expression of miR-124-3p and SPTLC2. After transfection, neuronal apoptosis was evaluated in an in vitro injury model of primary neurons using TUNEL staining and western blot. The correlation between miR-124-3p and SPTLC2 was identified through a dual luciferase reporter assay in HEK293 cells. A rescue experiment in primary neurons was performed to further confirm the result. To explore the downstream mechanisms, co-immunoprecipitation was performed to identify proteins that interact with SPTLC2 in toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signalling pathway. Subsequently, the relative expression levels of TLR4 pathway molecules were measured by western blot. Our results showed that increased miR-124-3p can inhibit neuronal apoptosis, which is opposite to the effect of SPTLC2. In addition, miR-124-3p was proved to negatively regulate SPTLC2 expression and suppress the apoptosis-promoting effect of SPTLC2 via the TLR4 signalling pathway.

MicroRNA Dysregulation in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) is the second most frequent cancer in humans and it can be locally invasive and metastatic to distant sites. MicroRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) are endogenous, small, non-coding RNAs of 19–25 nucleotides in length, that are involved in regulating gene expression at a post-transcriptional level. MicroRNAs have been implicated in diverse biological functions and diseases. In cancer, miRNAs can proceed either as oncogenic miRNAs (onco-miRs) or as tumor suppressor miRNAs (oncosuppressor-miRs), depending on the pathway in which they are involved. Dysregulation of miRNA expression has been shown in most of the tumors evaluated. MiRNA dysregulation is known to be involved in the development of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). In this review, we focus on the recent evidence about the role of miRNAs in the development of CSCC and in the prognosis of this form of skin cancer.