MiR-654-3p Constrains Proliferation, Invasion, and Migration of Sinonasal Squamous Cell Carcinoma via CREB1/PSEN1 Regulatory Axis

Pyroptosis and mitochondrial function participated in miR-654-3p-protected against myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction (MI) is one of the leading causes of heart failure with highly complicated pathogeneses. miR-654-3p has been recognized as a pivotal regulator of controlling cell survival. However, the function of miR-654-3p in cardiomyocytes and MI has yet to be reported. This study aimed to identify the role of miR-654-3p in the regulation of myocardial infarction. To understand the contribution of miR-654-3p on heart function, we generated cardiac-specific knockdown and overexpression mice using AAV9 technology in MI injury. Mechanically, we combined cellular and molecular techniques, pharmaceutical treatment, RNA sequencing, and functional testing to elucidate the potential pathological mechanisms. We identified that mice subjected to MI decreased the expression of miR-654-3p in the border and infarcted area. Mice lacking miR-654-3p in the heart showed some inflammation infiltration and myocardial fibrosis, resulting in a mild cardiac injury. Furthermore, we found a deficiency of miR-654-3p in cardiomyocytes resulted in pyroptotic cell death but not other programmed cell death. Intriguingly, miR-654-3p deficiency aggravated MI-induced cardiac dysfunction, accompanied by higher myocardial fibrosis and cardiac enzymes and augmented pyroptosis activation. Cardiac elevating miR-654-3p prevented myocardial fibrosis and inflammation infiltration and decreased pyroptosis profile, thereby attenuating MI-induced cardiac damage. Using RNA sequence and molecular biological approaches, we found overexpression of miR-654-3p in the heart promoted the metabolic ability of the cardiomyocytes by promoting mitochondrial metabolism and mitochondrial respiration function. Our finding identified the character of miR-654-3p in protecting against MI damage by mediating pyroptosis and mitochondrial metabolism. These findings provide a new mechanism for miR-654-3p involvement in the pathogenesis of MI and reveal novel therapeutic targets. miR-654-3p expression was decreased after MI. Mice lacking miR-654-3p in the heart showed some inflammation infiltration and myocardial fibrosis, resulting in a mild cardiac injury. The deficiency of miR-654-3p in cardiomyocytes resulted in pyroptotic cell death. miR-654-3p deficiency aggravated MI-induced cardiac dysfunction, accompanied by higher myocardial fibrosis and cardiac enzymes and augmented pyroptosis activation. Overexpression of miR-654-3p prevented myocardial fibrosis and inflammation infiltration and decreased pyroptosis profile, thereby attenuating MI-induced cardiac damage. Overexpression of miR-654-3p in the heart promoted the metabolic ability of the cardiomyocytes by promoting mitochondrial metabolism and mitochondrial respiration function.

To investigate the role and potential mechanism of has_circ_RBMS3 in bone metastasis of breast cancer based on bioinformatics

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play a crucial regulatory role in malignant tumor metastasis. This study focused on the role of bone metastasis-related circRBMS3 in breast cancer. Two circRNA microarray datasets were obtained from the GEO database and overlapped bone metastasis-related circRNAs in breast cancer. CircRBMS3 expression was validated in bone metastasis tissues by RT-qPCR. Cellular CCK-8 assay and Transwell assays were performed to measure the effect of circRBMS3 in breast cancer cells. Bioinformatic analyses were performed to identify the binding miRNAs of circRBMS3 and downstream mRNAs. Online database STRING and Cytoscape software were used to analyze PPI interaction and conduct the ceRNA network. GEO database analysis showed that circRBMS3 was one of the upregulated circRNAs among all the metastatic cells. CircRBMS3 was increased in bone metastasis breast cancer tissues compared to non-bone metastasis tissues and associated with poor 3-year overall survival. CircRBMS3 knockdown repressed breast cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, as well as bone resorption gene and osteoclast phenotype gene expression. CircRBMS3 was found to bind withmiR-654-3p. Subsequently, downstream mRNAs were predicted, and the circRBMS3 miR-654-3p-mRNA network was established. In conclusion, circRBMS3 expression was upregulated in bone metastasis breast cancer and might be a potential prognostic marker for patients. Silencing circRBMS3 restrained breast cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, as well as associated with bone metastasis. The circRBMS3-miR-654-3p-mRNAs network elucidated potential mechanisms underlying bone metastasis in breast cancer.

Decreased expression of hsa_circ_0112879 in oral squamous cell carcinoma and its clinicopathological implications

Background

To identify differently expressed circular RNA (circRNA) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and adjacent normal tissue, construct a hsa_circ_0112879-related microRNAs (miRNAs) prognostic model, and discuss the circRNA as a biomarker for early diagnosis of OSCC.

Methods

The expression of hsa_circ_0112879 in OSCC cell lines and tissues was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to estimate its clinical significance. The potential miRNA and messenger RNA (mRNA) binding to hsa_circ_009755 were predicted by R software edgeR package. Based on the median value of the risk score in the all-sample cohort, all the included patients with OSCC were divided into either high- or low-risk groups, and Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed. The ROC curve was used to verify the accuracy of the risk signature in predicting the prognosis of OSCC. By univariable Cox, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), and multivariable Cox analyses, we constructed a hsa_circ_0112879-related miRNAs risk model to forecast the prognosis of OSCC.

Results

The expression of hsa_circ_0112879 was significantly downregulated in the OSCC tissues and cell lines. The expression level was statistically correlated with the pathological differentiation of OSCC tumors (P=0.0285). Furthermore, 141 differentially expressed hsa_circ_0112879-related miRNAs were obtained [|log2FC| >1, false discovery rate (FDR) <0.05], of which 70 miRNAs were up-regulated in OSCC tissues, whereas 71 miRNAs were down-regulated in OSCC tissues. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) at 1-, 3-, and 5-year in the all-sample cohort was 0.591, 0.689, and 0.618, respectively. The toll-like receptor signaling pathway, Janus tyrosine kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) signaling pathway, nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor signaling pathway, and T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling pathway were mainly enriched in the high-risk group.

Conclusions

The model and nomogram constructed herein has the ability to discriminate the prognosis of OSCC patients. Hsa_circ_0112879 may serve as a novel biomarker in the diagnosis and prognosis of OSCC.

Comprehensive analysis of m6A modifications in oral squamous cell carcinoma by MeRIP sequencing

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modifications are the most abundant internal modifications of mRNA and have a significant role in various cancers; however, the m6A methylome profile of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in the mRNA-wide remains unknown. In this study, we examined the relationship between m6A and OSCC. Four pairs of OSCC and adjacent normal tissues were compared by Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP-seq). Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) analyses were used to further analyze the MeRIP-seq data. A total of 2,348 different m6A peaks were identified in the OSCC group, including 85 m6A upregulated peaks and 2,263 m6A downregulated peaks. Differentially methylated m6A binding sites were enriched in the coding sequence in proximity to the stop codon of both groups. KEGG analysis revealed genes with upregulated m6A-modified sites in the OSCC group, which were prominently associated with the forkhead box O (FOXO) signaling pathway. Genes containing downregulated m6A-modified sites were significantly correlated with the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, spliceosome, protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum, and endocytosis. IPA analysis indicated that several genes with differential methylation peaks form networks with m6A regulators. Overall, this study established the mRNA-wide m6A map for human OSCC and indicated the potential links between OSCC and N6-methyladenosine modification.

PSEN1 is associated with colon cancer development via potential influences on PD-L1 nuclear translocation and tumor-immune interactions

Presenilin 1 (PSEN1), as a catalytical core of the γ-secretase complex, plays multiple actions through mediating transmembrane domain shedding of the substrates. Unlike extensive studies performed on investigating the functions of γ-secretase substrates or the effects of γ-secretase inhibitors, our findings uncover a potential action of PSEN1 on PD-L1 alternative truncation and nuclear translocation, broadening our understanding on how the γ-secretase contributes to colon cancer development as well as suggesting a potential strategy to improve the efficacy of PD-1/PD-L1 blockade. Immunohistochemical data showed loss of PD-L1 protein expression in all the primary colon adenocarcioma (COAD) cases in the HPA collection, while PSEN1 was scored to be highly expressed, indicating their converse expression patterns (p<0.001). Meanwhile a strongly positive gene correlation was explored by TIMER2 and GEPIA (p<0.001). Up-regulated PSEN1 expression in COAD might facilitate liberating a C-terminal PD-L1 truncation via proteolytic processing. Then following an established regulatory pathway of PD-L1 nuclear translocation, we found that PSEN1 showed significant correlations with multiple components in HDAC2-mediated deacetylation, clathrin-dependent endocytosis, vimentin-associated nucleocytoplasmic shuttling and importin family-mediated nuclear import. Moreover, connections of PSEN1 to the immune response genes transactivated by nuclear PD-L1 were tested. Additionally, contributions of PSEN1 to the tumor invasiveness (p<0.05) and the tumor infiltrating cell enrichments (p<0.001) were investigated by cBioportal and the ESTIMATE algorithm. Levels of PSEN1 were negatively correlated with infiltrating CD8+ T (p<0.05) and CD4+ T helper (Th) 1 cells (p<0.001), while positively correlated with regulatory T cells (Tregs) (p<0.001) and cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) (p<0.001). It also displayed significant associations with diverse immune metagenes characteristic of T cell exhaustion, Tregs and CAFs, indicating possible actions in immune escape. Despite still a preliminary stage of this study, we anticipate to deciphering a novel function of PSEN1, and supporting more researchers toward the elucidations of the mechanisms linking the γ-secretase to cancers, which has yet to be fully addressed.

Inflammation-Related Gene Signature for Predicting the Prognosis of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Purpose

The inflammatory response was associated with the prognosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). This study aimed to perform a novel prognostic signature based on inflammation-related genes (IRGs) for a better understanding of the prognosis of HNSCC.

Patients and Methods

IRGs were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Functional enrichment analysis was performed to explore potential pathways. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression as well as the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) were utilized to construct an IRGs-based prognostic model on TCGA database and the GEO database was utilized for outcome validation. The nomogram model was constructed based on independent prognostic factors after univariate and multivariate Cox regression. The immune cell infiltration level was analyzed via the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) database.

Results

In this study, we confirmed that 60% IRGs were abnormally expressed in HNSCC samples, and these were associated with important oncobiology. Then, a prognostic signature comprising 7 hub genes was generated based on TCGA database. The results were validated in 97 patients from GSE41613. A nomogram comprising risk score, age, M stage and N stage was generated to improve the accuracy of prognosis evaluation. The immune cell infiltration analysis suggested that 5 hub genes (ADGRE1, OLR1, TIMP1, GPR132 and CCR7) were negatively correlated with tumor purity and positively correlated with the infiltration of immune cells.

Conclusion

Our study established a novel signature consisting of 7 hub genes for the prognostic prediction in patients with HNSCC.