MicroRNA-153 inhibits the proliferation and invasion of human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma by targeting KLF5

Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of microRNAs in Patients with Laryngeal Cancer: A Systematic Review

Laryngeal squamous cell cancer (LSCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors of the head and neck region, with a poor survival rate (5-year overall survival 50-80%) as a consequence of an advanced-stage diagnosis and high recurrence rate. Tobacco smoking and alcohol abuse are the main risk factors of LSCC development. An early diagnosis of LSCC, a prompt detection of recurrence and a more precise monitoring of the efficacy of different treatment modalities are currently needed to reduce the mortality. Therefore, the identification of effective diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for LSCC is crucial to guide disease management and improve clinical outcomes. In the past years, a dysregulated expression of small non-coding RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs), has been reported in many human cancers, including LSCC, and many miRNAs have been explored for their diagnostic and prognostic potential and proposed as biomarkers. We searched electronic databases for original papers that were focused on miRNAs and LSCC, using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol. According to the outcome, 566 articles were initially screened, of which 177 studies were selected and included in the analysis. In this systematic review, we provide an overview of the current literature on the function and the potential diagnostic and prognostic role of tissue and circulating miRNAs in LSCC.

MicroRNA-145-5p modulates Krüppel-like factor 5 and inhibits cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Background

In several human cancers, Krüppel-like factor 5 (KLF5), a zinc finger transcription factor, can contribute to both tumor progression or suppression; however, the precise role of KLF5 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains poorly understood. In this study, the association between KLF5 and microRNA-145-5p (miR-145-5p) in NPC cells was elucidated.

Results

Our results showed that KLF5 expression was up-regulated in NPC group compared to normal group. We found that KLF5 exhibited an oncogenic role in NPC cells. The upregulation of miR-145-5p inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of NPC cells. It was observed that miR-145-5p could down-regulate the mRNA and protein expression of KLF5 in NPC cell lines. Additionally, the activity of focal adhesion kinase (FAK), a migration marker, was regulated by miR-145-5p and KLF5 in NPC cells.

Conclusions

The results of this study indicated that miR-145-5p could repress the proliferation, migration, and invasion of NPC cells via KLF5/FAK regulation, and could be a potential therapeutic target for patients with NPC.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12860-022-00430-9.

Anti-cancer effect of miR-139-3p on laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma by targeting rab5a: In vitro and in vivo studies

BACKGROUND

Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Nowadays, as traditional treatment methods are gradually limited, the development of new treatment methods needs to be resolved. This study aimed to investigate the role of microRNA(miR)-139-3p in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, and further explored the underlying mechanism.

METHODS

In this study, we first used quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to detect the level of miR-139-3p in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma tissue. Then, TargetScan and dual luciferase reporter assay were used to explore and verify whether rab5a was a direct target of miR-139-3p. Thereafter, the expression of miR-139-3p and rab5a in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cell line SNU46 was changed by transfection with miR-139-3p mimic or rab5a-plasmid. Then, SNU46 cell proliferation, cell apoptosis, cell cycle, cell migration and cell invasion were determined using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), flow cytometry, scratch assay and Transwell assay, respectively. Finally, mouse tumor formation experiments were used to test whether miR-139-3p still exerted its role in inhibiting laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma in vivo.

RESULTS

Compared with the adjacent normal tissues, miR-139-3p significantly down-regulated in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma tissue. It was confirmed by dual luciferase reporter experiment that rab5a was a direct target of miR-139-3p. Moreover, the up-regulation of miR-139-3p could effectively inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cells, and induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. In the molecular level study, we found that up-regulation of miR-139-3p inhibited the expression of rab5a in SNU46 cells. In addition, the protein and mRNA expression of factors related to cell migration, invasion, proliferation and apoptosis, such as integrin β1, Focal adhesion kinase (FAK), paxillin, B cell lymphoma-2 (bcl-2), nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9), in SNU46 cells were changed after miR-139-3p up-regulation. Consistent with the results of in vitro studies, in vivo experiments showed that miR-139-3p mimic inhibited laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma tumor growth. All the effects of miR-139-3p on laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma were reversed by rab5a over-expression.

CONCLUSION

miR-139-3p could inhibit laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma by targeting rab5a both in vitro and in vivo.

MiR-9 promotes the phenotypic switch of vascular smooth muscle cells by targeting KLF5

Background/aim

Diabetic vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are characterized by increased proliferation and migration. Small noncoding microRNAs (miRNAs) have been considered critical modulators of the VSMC phenotypic switch after an environmental stimulus. However, microRNA in high glucose-induced proinflammation and its atherogenic effect is still ambiguous.

Materials and methods

The technique of qRT-PCR was used to examine the expression of miR-9 in VSMCs. The downstream signaling protein relative to miR-9 regulation, Krüppel-like factor 5, and some marker genes of contractile VSMCs were analyzed by western blotting and qRT-PCR. Luciferase reporter assay was used to detect the expression of KLF5, which is regulated by miR-9. To examine the function of a miR-9 inhibitor in VSMC proliferation and migration, VSMC proliferation and migration assays were performed.

Results

Reduced transcriptional levels of miR-9 and expression of specific genes of contractile VSMCs were observed in the SMC cell line C-12511 treated with high glucose and SMCs, which were isolated from db/db mice. Moreover, the activity of KLF5 3′-UTR was dramatically reduced by a miR-9 mimic and increased by a miR-9 inhibitor. The proliferation and migration of SMCs were reduced by the miR-9 mimic.

Conclusion

miR-9 inhibits the proliferation and migration of SMC by targeting KLF5 in db/db mice.

MicroRNA-153 inhibits cell proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in breast cancer via direct targeting of RUNX2

A number of microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the development and malignant progression of numerous types of human cancer including breast cancer. The underlying regulatory mechanism of miRNA-153 (miR-153) in breast cancer progression remains largely unknown. The present study demonstrated that miR-153 expression levels were significantly reduced in breast cancer tissue samples and cell lines, compared with adjacent healthy tissue samples and normal human breast cell line MCF-10A. In addition, low miR-153 expression was associated with advanced clinical staging and metastasis in patients with breast cancer. However, no association with age, subtype or differentiation was identified. Furthermore, patients with breast cancer with low miR-153 expression had poor prognosis, compared with patients with breast cancer with high miR-153 expression. Overexpression of miR-153 reduced proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in breast cancer SK-BR-3 and BT-549 cells. Runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), which was revealed to be significantly upregulated in breast cancer, was verified as a target gene of miR-153 in SK-BR-3 and BT-549 cells by luciferase reporter gene assay. High RUNX2 expression was associated with advanced clinical staging as well as distant and lymph node metastasis in patients with breast cancer. However, no association with age, subtype or differentiation was identified. Additionally, an inverse correlation between miR-153 and RUNX2 mRNA expression levels was observed in breast cancer tissues. RUNX2 overexpression reduced the suppressive effects of miR-153 on the proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT of SK-BR-3 and BT-549 cells. The present study indicated that miR-153 may serve a role in breast tumor growth and metastasis via direct targeting of RUNX2. The miR-153/RUNX2 axis may be used as a potential therapeutic target in breast cancer treatment.

miR-214-5p targets KLF5 and suppresses proliferation of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small endogenous conserved RNAs regulating genes expression through base pairing with the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of target messenger RNAs. MiR-214-5p is a newly identified miRNA with its biological role largely unknown. In this study, we explored miR-214-5p expression status in 78 paired tumor and nontumor tissues obtained from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by RT-qPCR. The effects of miR-214-5p expression on HCC cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, and cell migration were measured by CCK-8 assay, flow cytometry, and wound-healing assay. A dual-luciferase activity assay was performed to identify whether KLF5 was a target of miR-214-5p. Kaplan-Meier curve and log-rank test were used to investigate the effects of miR-214-5p and KLF5 on overall survival and disease-free survival of patients with HCC. We found miR-214-5p expression was sharply reduced in HCC tissues and cell lines compared with the normal tissues and cell lines. Functional assay revealed that miR-214-5p overexpression could downregulate cell proliferation, cell migration, and arrested cell cycle at G0/G1 phase. Further, we validated Krüppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) as a direct target of miR-214-5p, and was upregulated in HCC and inversely correlated with the expression of miR-214-5p. Moreover, we found the low expression of miR-214-5p and high expression of KLF5 were correlated with tumor size, tumor stage, and poorer 5-year overall survival and disease-free survival of patients with HCC. In conclusion, our results suggested miR-214-5p functions as a tumor suppressor through targeting KLF5 in HCC. Also, miR-214-5p and KLF5 were identified as potential prognostic markers and might be therapeutic targets in HCC.

Propofol alleviates hypoxia-induced nerve injury in PC-12 cells by up-regulation of microRNA-153

Background

Although the neuroprotective role of propofol has been identified recently, the regulatory mechanism associated with microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) in neuronal cells remains to be poorly understood. We aimed to explore the regulatory mechanism of propofol in hypoxia-injured rat pheochromocytoma (PC-12) cells.

Methods

PC-12 cells were exposed to hypoxia, and cell viability and apoptosis were assessed by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry assay/Western blot analysis, respectively. Effects of propofol on hypoxia-injured cells were measured, and the expression of miR-153 was determined by stem-loop RT-PCR. After that, whether propofol affected PC-12 cells under hypoxia via miR-153 was verified, and the downstream protein of miR-153 as well as the involved signaling cascade was finally explored.

Results

Hypoxia-induced decrease of cell viability and increase of apoptosis were attenuated by propofol. Then, we found hypoxia exposure up-regulated miR-153 expression, and the level of miR-153 was further elevated by propofol in hypoxia-injured PC-12 cells. Following experiments showed miR-153 inhibition reversed the effects of propofol on hypoxia-treated PC-12 cells. Afterwards, we found BTG3 expression was negatively regulated by miR-153 expression, and BTG3 overexpression inhibited the mTOR pathway and AMPK activation. Besides, hypoxia inhibited the mTOR pathway and AMPK, and these inhibitory effects could be attenuated by propofol.

Conclusion

Propofol protected hypoxia-injured PC-12 cells through miR-153-mediataed down-regulation of BTG3. BTG3 could inhibit the mTOR pathway and AMPK activation.

Correlation between tripartite motif-containing protein 44 protein expression and the prognosis of postoperative patients exhibiting skin squamous cell carcinoma

Tripartite motif-containing protein 44 (TRIM44) plays an important role in the development and progression of some human cancers; however, its role in skin squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate TRIM44 expression and clinicopathological significance of TRIM44 in SCC.Immunohistochemistry (IHC) technique, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot were performed to evaluate differences in TRIM44 protein expression in SCC and normal skin tissues.IHC showed that the positive rate of TRIM44 staining in SCC tissues 26.00% (9/30), while the positive rate of normal control group was 83.33% (25/30). The positive rate of TRIM44 staining in SCC tissues is significantly lower than normal skin tissue (P <.01). RT-PCR showed that the positive rates of TRIM44 mRNA expression in SCC tissues were 16.67% (5/30), but the positive rate of normal control group was 86.67% (26/30). TRIM44 mRNA expression in SCC group was significantly lower than that in the normal group (P <.01). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that low expression was associated with poor overall survival in SCC patients (P =.004). Multi-factor survival analysis indicated that both low TRIM44 expression and tumor stage were independent factors affecting the overall survival of patients with SCC (P =.038 and P =.001, respectively). Low expression of TRIM44 in SCC was associated with staging (P =.009 and P =.008, respectively) and metastasis (P =.003 and P =.004, respectively).The levels of TRIM44 protein and TRIM44 mRNA in SCC are both lowly expressed which is strongly associated with tumor staging, metastasis, and poor survival. And it also is an independent factor affecting the overall survival of patients with SCC.

Microarray-based measurement of microRNA-449c-5p levels in hepatocellular carcinoma and bioinformatic analysis of potential signaling pathways

The clinical role and potential molecular mechanisms of microRNA-449c-5p (miR-449c-5p) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues remains unclear. Combining multiple bioinformatic tools, we studied the miR-449c-5p expression levels in HCC tissues and explored possible target genes and related signaling pathways. First, miR-449c-5p expression data from microarrays provided by publicly available sources were mined and analyzed using various meta-analysis methods. Next, genes that were downregulated after miR-449c-5p mimic transfection into HCC cells were identified, and in silico methods were used to predict potential target genes. Several bioinformatic assessments were also performed to evaluate the possible signaling pathways of miR-449c-5p in HCC. Five microarrays were included in the current study, including GSE98269, GSE64632, GSE74618, GSE40744 and GSE57555. The standard mean difference was 0.44 (0.07-0.80), and the area under the curve was 0.68 (0.63-0.72), as assessed by meta-analyses, which consistently indicated the upregulation of miR-449c-5p in HCC tissues. A total of 2244 genes were downregulated after miR-449c-5p mimic transfection into an HCC cell line, while 5217 target genes were predicted by in silico methods. The overlap of these two gene pools led to a final group of 428 potential target genes of miR-449c-5p. These 428 potential target genes were primarily enriched in the homologous recombination pathway, which includes DNA Polymerase Delta 3 (POLD3). Data mining with Oncomine and the Human Protein Atlas showed a decreasing trend in POLD3 mRNA and protein levels in HCC tissue samples. This evidence suggests that miR-449c-5p could play an essential role in HCC through various pathways and that POLD3 could be a potential miR-449c-5p target. However, these in silico findings should be validated with further experiments.

MicroRNA-153 suppresses human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma migration and invasion by targeting the SNAI1 gene

Human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is a malignant cancer type. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition marker Snail family transcriptional repressor 1 (SNAI1) is associated with the occurrence, development, invasion and metastasis of numerous tumor types, such as lung, liver and ovarian cancer. Previous studies have indicated that microRNA-153 (miR-153) may serve as a novel tumor suppressor, which is involved in tumor metastasis; however, the role and clinical significance of miR-153 in LSCC are not fully understood. The aim of the present study was to determine the role of miR-153 in the growth and aggressiveness of LSCC cells. Bioinformatics prediction method, western blot analysis, Matrigel invasion assay and immunofluorescence were used to analyze whether SNAI1 can be regulated and controlled by miR-153 in LSCC cells. An inverse association between miR-153 and SNAI1 was observed in LSCC tissues. It was demonstrated that SNAI1 is a direct target of miR-153 in LSCC. In addition, the results indicated that miR-153 knockdown inhibited PCI-13 cell migration and invasion by targeting SNAI1, which may be a potential marker that can reflect the degree of malignancy in patients with LSCC. Furthermore, miR-153 knockdown decreased Twist family BHLH transcription factor 1 and metastasis-associated 1 family member 3 expression in LSCC cells. In conclusion, these data indicated that miR-153 regulates LSCC migration via the targeting of SNAI1 gene, which may be a potential predictor for patients with LSCC.

miR‑590‑5p suppresses osteosarcoma cell proliferation and invasion via targeting KLF5

Recently, microRNA (miR)‑590‑5p has been shown to inhibit tumorigenesis in colorectal and breast cancer; however, its function in osteosarcoma (OS) requires further investigation. In the present study miR‑590‑5p expression was poorly expressed in OS samples and cell lines when compared with that observed in normal cells. In addition, overexpression of miR‑590‑5p significantly reduced the proliferation, migration and invasion of SAOS2 and U2OS cells in vitro, as well as inhibiting tumor sizes in vivo. The results revealed that miR‑590‑5p directly targeted Kruppel‑like factor 5 (KLF5) in SAOS2 and U2OS cells. Their expression was inversely correlated with OS tissues. Finally, it was demonstrated that overexpression of KLF5 rescued the inhibitory effects of miR‑590‑5p on cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Overall, the results of the present study suggested that the miR‑590‑5p/KLF5 axis may regulate OS progression and thus, may be a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of patients with OS.

MicroRNA-153 functions as a tumor suppressor in gastric cancer via targeting Kruppel-like factor 5

Various microRNAs (miRs) have been demonstrated to serve important roles in gastric cancer (GC). miR-153 in particular has been reported to serve a suppressive role in GC; however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In the present study Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis were used to examine the mRNA and protein expression of Kruppel-like factor 5. An MTT, wound healing and transwell assay were used to study cell proliferation, migration and invasion, respectively. In the present study, quantitative polymerase chain reaction data indicated that miR-153 was significantly downregulated in GC tissues compared with the adjacent non-tumor tissues. In addition, the reduced expression of miR-153 was significantly associated with GC aggressiveness and poor prognosis of patients. The expression of miR-153 was also reduced in GC cell lines, including KATO III, NCI-N87, SNU-16 and SNU-5, when compared with normal gastric epithelial GES-1 cells. Overexpression of miR-153 in the GC SNU-5 cells by miR-153 mimic transfection significantly inhibited the cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Furthermore, KLF5 was identified as a target gene of miR-153 in SNU-5 cells by bioinformatics prediction. It was observed that KLF5 was significantly upregulated in GC tissues and cell lines, and its expression was negatively regulated by miR-153 in SNU-5 cells. Overexpression of KLF5 impaired the suppressive effects of miR-153 on the proliferation, migration and invasion of SNU-5 cells. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that miR-153 serves a tumor suppressive role in GC, at least partly, through directly targeting KLF5, thus highlighting the clinical significance of miR-153 in GC.

Advanced Glycation End Products Increase MDM2 Expression via Transcription Factor KLF5

Type 2 diabetes increases the risk for all-site cancers including colon cancer. Diabetic patients present typical pathophysiological features including an increased level of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which comes from a series of nonenzymatic reactions between sugars and biological macromolecules, positively associated with the occurrence of diabetic complications. MDM2 is an oncogene implicated in cancer development. The present study investigated whether diabetes promoted MDM2 expression in colon cells and the underlying mechanisms. Our results showed that AGE increased the protein level of MDM2 in a cell model and promoted binding between MDM2 and Rb as well as p53, which led to degradation of Rb and p53. KLF5 was able to bind to the regulatory sequence of the MDM2 gene, and knockdown of the KLF5 protein level inhibited the AGE-triggered MDM2 overexpression, which indicated that KLF5 was the transcription factor for MDM2. In a mouse model of diabetes, we found that AGE level was increased in serum. The protein levels of both KLF5 and MDM2 were increased. KLF5 was able to bind to the regulatory sequence of the MDM2 gene. In conclusion, our results suggest that diabetes increases the level of AGE which enhances the expression of MDM2 via transcription factor KLF5 in colon cells. MDM2 overexpression is a candidate biological link between type 2 diabetes and colon cancer development.

MicroRNA‑195 inhibits cell proliferation, migration and invasion in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma by targeting ROCK1

Laryngeal carcinoma is the second most common malignancy of the head and neck cancers. The most common type of laryngeal carcinoma comprises laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), which accounts for ~95% of laryngeal carcinoma cases. Despite great progress in diagnostic and therapeutic techniques over the last few decades, the prognosis for patients with LSCC remains poor. A number of studies reported that various miRNAs are dysregulated in LSCC and serve critical roles in LSCC tumorigenesis and tumor development. The present study aimed to evaluate the expression level of microRNA (miR)‑195 and its possible roles in LSCC. Briefly, miR‑195 was downregulated in LSCC tissues and cell lines. In addition, low miR‑195 expression was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage of LSCC patients. Further study has demonstrated that miR‑195 overexpression suppressed cell proliferation, migration and invasion of LSCC. Moreover, rho‑associated kinase 1 (ROCK1) was identified as a direct target gene of miR‑195. Downregulation of ROCK1 exerted similar roles to that of miR‑195 overexpression in LSCC, suggesting ROCK1 was a direct downstream target of miR‑195. These findings elucidated a novel molecular mechanism for the pathogenic mechanism in LSCC carcinogenesis and progression, and may have a potential role in the treatment of patients with LSCC.

MicroRNA‑503 serves an oncogenic role in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma via targeting programmed cell death protein 4

Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), the most common form of laryngeal carcinoma, is an aggressive malignancy that demonstrates the second highest rate of morbidity of all head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. The abnormal expression of microRNAs (miRs) has been demonstrated in a number of types of human cancer, and they have been demonstrated to be oncogenes or tumour suppressor genes. miR-503 has been studied in various types of human cancer; however, the expression level, roles and underlying mechanisms in LSCC remain unknown. In the present study, it was demonstrated that miR-503 was significantly upregulated in LSCC tissues and cell lines. The level of miR-503 in LSCC tissues was correlated with thyroid cartilage invasion, lymph node metastasis, and tumour, node and metastasis stage. In addition, down-regulation of miR-503 inhibited cell proliferation and invasion in LSCC. Programmed cell death protein 4 (PDCD4) was identified to be a direct target gene of miR-503. PDCD4 overexpression could mimic the roles of miR-503 underexpression in LSCC. Furthermore, PDCD4 was down-regulated in LSCC tissues and this correlated with the miR-503 expression level. In conclusion, these results suggested that miR-503 promotes tumour growth and invasion by directly targeting PDCD4. The identification of the miR-503/PDCD4 axis may provide novel targets for LSCC treatment and improve prognosis.

MicroRNA-195 inhibits growth and invasion of laryngeal carcinoma cells by directly targeting DCUN1D1

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression and are involved in cell biological processes. The aberrant expression of miR-195 has been found in various types of human cancer. However, the effect of miR-195 on the initiation and development of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) remains to be elucidated. Accordingly, in the present study, we detected the expression level of miR-195 in the LSCC and the normal tissues and found that miR-195 were significantly downregulated in the LSCC tissues. Gain-of-function or loss-of-function studies including cell proliferation, wound healing assay, Transwell assay, cell cycle and apoptosis assays were performed to investigate the biological function of miR-195. Luciferase reporter assay and the rescue study confirmed that DCUN1D1 was a target of miR-195. Furthermore, DCUN1D1 expression levels were found to be upregulated in laryngeal tissues and to have a negative correlation with miR-195. We also found that both miR-195 and DCUN1D1 siRNAs can inhibit cell invasion possibly through downregulating Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) at the post-transcriptional level, which can be attenuated by restoring the expression of DCUN1D1. In summary, these data suggest that low expression of miR-195 contributes to the poor prognosis of LSCC and miR-195 regulates the proliferation and invasion ability of LSCC cells in vitro. miR-195 may suppress growth and invasion of LSCC cells possibly through targeting DCUN1D1, which would provide a candidate target for cancer therapy.

Correlation between secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine protein expression and the prognosis of postoperative patients exhibiting esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between the expression level of secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) and the prognosis of postoperative patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The expression level of SPARC was detected in the 89 ESCC tissue cases and 100 healthy esophageal mucosa cases, which served as the controls. Immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription‑polymerase chain reaction (RT‑PCR) were employed to evaluate the SPARC expression in cases with ESCC. RT‑PCR demonstrated that the positive rates of SPARC mRNA expression in ESCC were 71.91% (64/89). The positive rates of normal esophageal mucosa mRNA expression were 15.00% (15/100), which were significantly lower than that in the ESCC tissue samples. The difference was statistically significant (P<0.001). Immunohistochemical staining indicated that the positive expression rate of SPARC protein in the ESCC tissue samples was significantly higher than that in the esophageal mucosa tissue samples (65.17 vs. 8.00%; P<0.001). The expression of SPARC protein was negatively correlated with lymph node metastasis (P<0.05), which was not associated with the pathologic gross morphology, tumor differentiation degree or other clinical features. The survival of patients with ESCC was not associated with the expression level of SPARC protein (P>0.05), but was associated with the tumor location (P<0.05), differentiation (P<0.001) and staging (P<0.05). Thus, SPARC mRNA and protein were highly expressed in ESCC, and negatively correlated with lymph node metastasis, which was not associated with postoperative survival of ESCC patients. Thus, detection of SPARC mRNA and protein expression levels may facilitate early diagnosis and prognosis assessment of ESCC.

MicroRNA-153-3p suppress cell proliferation and invasion by targeting SNAI1 in melanoma

Malignant melanoma is one of the most common malignancies of the skin cancer and increasing evidences revealed that microRNAs (miRNAs) exert significant effects in melanoma. In the present study, the underlying function of microRNA-153-3p (miR-153-3p) in melanoma was investigated from different levels, including cell level, protein level and gene level. Our results showed that expression of miR-153-3p was lower in melanoma tissues and melanoma cells compared with the para-tumor tissue and normal melanocytes. The overexpression of miR-153-3p inhibited the cell proliferation and invasion, at the same time promoted cell apoptosis. Moreover, we identified that snail family transcriptional repressor 1 (SNAI1) is the direct target of miR-153-3p, and there is a negative correlation between miR-153-3p level and SNAI1 expression. In summary, we presented the evidences that miR-153-3p may act as a tumor suppressor by down-regulating the expression of SNAI1 in melanoma and miR-153-3p might be a potential biomarker in the diagnosis and treatment of malignant melanoma.