miR-940 inhibits cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cells and is associated with post-operative prognosis

A multi-omics approach for biomarker discovery in neuroblastoma: a network-based framework

Neuroblastoma (NB) is one of the leading causes of cancer-associated death in children. MYCN amplification is a prominent genetic marker for NB, and its targeting to halt NB progression is difficult to achieve. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the molecular interactome of NB is needed to improve treatment outcomes. Analysis of NB multi-omics unravels valuable insight into the interplay between MYCN transcriptional and miRNA post-transcriptional modulation. Moreover, it aids in the identification of various miRNAs that participate in NB development and progression. This study proposes an integrated computational framework with three levels of high-throughput NB data (mRNA-seq, miRNA-seq, and methylation array). Similarity Network Fusion (SNF) and ranked SNF methods were utilized to identify essential genes and miRNAs. The specified genes included both miRNA-target genes and transcription factors (TFs). The interactions between TFs and miRNAs and between miRNAs and their target genes were retrieved where a regulatory network was developed. Finally, an interaction network-based analysis was performed to identify candidate biomarkers. The candidate biomarkers were further analyzed for their potential use in prognosis and diagnosis. The candidate biomarkers included three TFs and seven miRNAs. Four biomarkers have been previously studied and tested in NB, while the remaining identified biomarkers have known roles in other types of cancer. Although the specific molecular role is yet to be addressed, most identified biomarkers possess evidence of involvement in NB tumorigenesis. Analyzing cellular interactome to identify potential biomarkers is a promising approach that can contribute to optimizing efficient therapeutic regimens to target NB vulnerabilities.

Identification of m7G Methylation-Related miRNA Signature Associated with Survival and Immune Microenvironment Regulation in Uterine Corpus Endometrial Carcinoma

Background. N7-methylguanosine (m7G) has been implicated in the development of cancer. The role of m7G-related miRNAs in the survival prediction of UCEC patients has not been investigated. Current research was the first to construct an m7G-related miRNA model to accurately predict the survival of patients with uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) and to explore immune cell infiltration and immune activity in the tumor microenvironment. Methods. RNA-seq data and clinical information of UCEC patients were derived from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Using the TargetScan online database, we predicted miRNAs linked to the m7G-related genes and identified miRNAs which were significantly associated with the survival in UCEC patients and constructed a risk scoring model. The TCGA-UCEC cases were scored according to the risk model, and the high- and low-risk groups were divided by the median risk value. Gene enrichment analysis and immune cell infiltration and immune function analysis were performed using “clusterProfiler” and “GSVA” packages in R. Results. The survival prediction model consisted of 9 miRNAs, namely, hsa-miR-1301, hsa-miR-940, hsa-miR-592, hsa-miR-3170, hsa-miR-876, hsa-miR-215, hsa-miR-934, hsa-miR-3920, and hsa-miR-216b. Survival of UCEC patients in the high-risk group was worse than that in the low-risk group ( $p<0.001$ ). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed that the model had good predictive performance, and the area under the curve was 0.800, 0.690, and 0.705 for 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival predictions, respectively. There were differences in the degree of immune cell infiltration and immune activity between the low-risk and high-risk groups. The expression levels of the identified differentially expressed genes correlated with the susceptibility to multiple anticancer drugs. Conclusions. The survival prediction model constructed based on 9 m7G-related miRNAs had good predictive performance.

Exosomal microRNAs shuttling between tumor cells and macrophages: cellular interactions and novel therapeutic strategies

Extracellular vesicles secreted by tumor microenvironment (TME) cells are vital players in tumor progression through transferring nucleic acids and proteins. Macrophages are the main immune cells in TME and tumor associated macrophages (TAM) express M2 phenotype, which induce tumor proliferation, angiogenesis, invasion, metastasis and immune elimination, resulting in the subsequent evolution of malignancies. There are a high number of studies confirmed that tumor cells and TAM interact with each other through extracellular vesicles in various cancers, like pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, gastric cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, colon cancer, glioblastoma, hepatocellular cancer, and lung cancer. Herein, this review summarizes the current knowledge on mechanisms of communications between tumor cells and TAM via extracellular vesicles, mainly about microRNAs, and targeting these events might represent a novel approach in the clinical implications of this knowledge into successful anti-cancer strategies.

miR-4284 Promotes Cell Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells and is Associated with Postoperative Prognosis

PURPOSE

MicroRNA-4284 (miR-4284) was demonstrated to be aberrantly expressed and affected cell activities in some types of diseases, including cancer. However, the role of miR-4284 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is largely unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression and biological role of miR-4284 in NSCLC.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The qRT-PCR assay was applied to detect the expression of miR-4284 in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. Kaplan-Meier curve method and multiple Cox regression analyses were used to explore the prognostic factors for postoperative NSCLC patients. The CCK-8 assay was carried out to measure the proliferative abilities of A549 and H1299 cells. Transwell migration and invasion assays were used to determine the cell migratory and invasive capabilities of NSCLC cells.

RESULTS

miR-4284 expression was upregulated in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. High expression of miR-4284 was correlated with poor differentiation, positive lymph node metastasis, and advanced TNM stages. In addition, postoperative patients with higher expression of miR-4284 exhibited a shorter overall survival time than those with lower expression of miR-4284. Moreover, the upregulation of miR-4284 accelerated cell proliferative, migratory, and invasive abilities of A549 and H1299 cells, while the downregulation of miR-4284 inhibited these cellular capabilities.

CONCLUSION

miR-4284 was noticeably upregulated in NSCLC and associated with a poor prognosis of postoperative NSCLC patients. miR-4284 promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion of A549 and H1299 cells. This study indicated that miR-4284 might serve as a prognostic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target for postoperative NSCLC patients.

miR-940 is a new biomarker with tumor diagnostic and prognostic value

miR-940 is a microRNA located on chromosome 16p13.3, which has varying degrees of expression imbalance in many diseases. It binds to the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) and affects the transcription or post-transcriptional regulation of target protein-coding genes. For a diversity of cellular processes, including cell proliferation, migration, invasion, apoptosis, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), cell cycle, and osteogenic differentiation, miR-940 can affect them not only by regulating protein-coding genes but also long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs) in pathways. Intriguingly, miR-940 participates in four pathways that affect cancer development, including the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, PD-1 pathway, and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt pathway. Importantly, the expression of miR-940 is intimately correlated with the diagnosis and prognosis of tumor patients, as well as to the efficacy of tumor chemotherapy drugs. In conclusion, our main purpose is to outline the expression of miR-940 in various diseases and the molecular biological and cytological functions of target genes in order to reveal its potential diagnostic and prognostic value as well as its predictive value of drug efficacy.

Hsa_circ_0046263 Drives the Carcinogenesis and Metastasis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Through the Promotion of NOVA2 by Absorbing Mir-940 as a Molecular Sponge

Background

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have increasingly been investigated in different cancers due to their regulatory roles. In this study, hsa_circ_0046263 will be detailedly researched in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods

The analyses of hsa_circ_0046263, microRNA-940 (miR-940), and neuro-oncological ventral antigen 2 (NOVA2) levels were administrated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The proliferation detection was conducted using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and colony formation assays. Cell cycle and apoptosis were evaluated by flow cytometry. Transwell assay for migration and invasion was used to determine cell metastatic capacity. Overall protein levels were examined adopting Western blot. Target binding analysis was completed via dual-luciferase reporter and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays. The effect of hsa_circ_0046263 on NSCLC in vivo was studied by xenograft model in mice.

Results

Hsa_circ_0046263 was overtly upregulated in NSCLC with important prognostic value. In vitro experiments indicated that hsa_circ_0046263 knockdown caused inhibitory effects on NSCLC cell proliferation, cell cycle, and metastasis but stimulative effect on apoptosis. Molecular mechanism analysis demonstrated that hsa_circ_0046263 served as a miR-940 sponge to act in the development of NSCLC. Moreover, miR-940 targeted NOVA2 and NOVA2 was regulated by hsa_circ_0046263/miR-940 axis. NOVA2 overexpression also neutralized the miR-940-mediated progression inhibition of NSCLC cells. In vivo assays suggested that hsa_circ_0046263 enhanced NSCLC tumorigenesis by targeting miR-940/NOVA2 axis.

Conclusion

Hsa_circ_0046263 was identified as a cancer-promoting factor in NSCLC via sponging miR-940 and upregulating NOVA2, which presented a clear mechanism of NSCLC occurrence and progression.

The Hsa_circ_0091579/miR-940/TACR1 Axis Regulates the Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Purpose

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play important roles in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. The circRNA hsa_circ_0091579 (circ_0091579) is dysregulated in HCC, while the mechanism of circ_0091579 in HCC development is largely unknown.

Patients and Methods

Thirty paired cancer and adjacent normal tissues were harvested from HCC patients. SNU-387 and Huh7 cells were cultured in this study. circ_0091579, microRNA-940 (miR-940) and tachykinin-1 receptor (TACR1) abundances were measured via quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction or Western blot. Cell viability, migration, invasion, colony ability, cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were assessed via 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide, transwell assay, colony formation assay and flow cytometry. The interaction among circ_0091579, miR-940 and TACR1 was tested via dual-luciferase reporter analysis. The anti-HCC role of circ_0091579 knockdown in vivo was investigated using xenograft model.

Results

circ_0091579 expression was enhanced in HCC tissue samples and cells. circ_0091579 silence inhibited cell viability, migration, invasion and colony formation, induced cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase, and promoted apoptosis in HCC cells. miR-940 was targeted via circ_0091579 and miR-940 knockdown reversed the suppressive effect of circ_0091579 silence on HCC development. miR-940 targeted TACR1 to repress HCC development. circ_0091579 could regulate TACR1 expression by mediating miR-940. Down-regulation of circ_0091579 decreased xenograft tumor growth.

Conclusion

Knockdown of circ_0091579 repressed HCC development by mediating miR-940/TACR1 axis, indicating a new pathogenesis of HCC.