The role of noncoding RNAs in cancer lipid metabolism

Cuproptosis related ceRNA axis AC008083.2/miR-142-3p promotes the malignant progression of nasopharyngeal carcinoma through STRN3

Background

CeRNA axis is an important way to regulate the occurrence and development of Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Although the research on inducing cuproptosis of tumor cells is in the early stage of clinical practice, its mechanism of action is still of great significance for tumor treatment, including NPC. However, the regulation mechanism of cuproptosis in NPC by ceRNA network remains unclear.

Methods

The ceRNA network related to the survival of nasopharyngeal carcinoma related genes was constructed by bioinformatics. Dual-luciferase reporter assay and other experiments were used to prove the conclusion.

Results

Our findings indicate that the AC008083.2/miR-142-3p axis drives STRN3 to promote the malignant progression of NPC. By performing enrichment analysis and phenotypic assays, we demonstrated that the changes in the expressions of AC008083.2/miR-142-3p/NPC can affect the proliferation of NPC. Mechanistically, luciferase reporter gene assays suggested that AC008083.2 acts as a ceRNA of miR-142-3p to regulate the content of STRN3. Furthermore, the regulations of STRN3 and the malignant progression of NPC by AC008083.2 depends on miR-142-3p to some extent.

Conclusions

Our study reveals an innovative ceRNA regulatory network in NPC, which can be considered a new potential target for diagnosing and treating NPC.

Circ_0002395 promotes aerobic glycolysis and proliferation in pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells via miR-548c-3p/PDK1 axis

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) showing unusual expressions have been discovered in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD). However, the functions and underlying mechanisms of these circRNAs still remain largely unclear. Our current study discovered a notable increase in the expression of circRNA hsa_circ_0002395 (circ_0002395) in both PAAD tissues and cell lines. This up-regulation of circ_0002395 was found to be associated with larger tumor sizes and lymph node metastasis. Furthermore, our findings showed that circ_0002395 facilitated aerobic glycolysis and cell proliferation in PAAD cells by regulating the miR-548c-3p/PDK1 axis. Mechanistically, we identified circ_0002395 as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) that sponged miR-548c-3p, thereby promoting PDK1 expression and aerobic glycolysis, and ultimately resulting in the enhancement of cell proliferation. Our findings found that circ_0002395 promoted proliferation of PAAD cells by enhancing PDK1 expression and aerobic glycolysis by sponging miR-548c-3p.

PAD2: A potential target for tumor therapy

Peptide arginine deiminase 2(PAD2) catalyzes the conversion of arginine residues on target proteins to citrulline residues in the presence of calcium ions. This particular posttranslational modification is called citrullination. PAD2 can regulate the transcriptional activity of genes through histone citrullination and nonhistone citrullination. In this review, we summarize the evidence from recent decades and systematically illustrate the role of PAD2-mediated citrullination in tumor pathology and the regulation of tumor-associated immune cells such as neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages and T cells. Several PAD2-specific inhibitors are also presented to discuss the feasibility of anti-PAD2 therapy to treat tumors and the urgent problems to be solved. Finally, we review some recent developments in the development of PAD2 inhibitors.