miR-376c-3p modulates the properties of breast cancer stem cells by targeting RAB2A

Circulating miRNA profiles and the risk of hemorrhagic transformation after thrombolytic treatment of acute ischemic stroke: a pilot study

Background

Hemorrhagic transformation (HT) in acute ischemic stroke is likely to occur in patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) and may lead to neurological deterioration and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH). Despite the complex inclusion and exclusion criteria for IVT and some useful tools to stratify HT risk, sICH still occurs in approximately 6% of patients because some of the risk factors for this complication remain unknown.

Objective

This study aimed to explore whether there are any differences in circulating microRNA (miRNA) profiles between patients who develop HT after thrombolysis and those who do not.

Methods

Using qPCR, we quantified the expression of 84 miRNAs in plasma samples collected prior to thrombolytic treatment from 10 individuals who eventually developed HT and 10 patients who did not. For miRNAs that were downregulated (fold change (FC) <0.67) or upregulated (FC >1.5) with p < 0.10, we investigated the tissue specificity and performed KEGG pathway annotation using bioinformatics tools. Owing to the small patient sample size, instead of multivariate analysis with all major known HT risk factors, we matched the results with the admission NIHSS scores only.

Results

We observed trends towards downregulation of miR-1-3p, miR-133a-3p, miR-133b and miR-376c-3p, and upregulation of miR-7-5p, miR-17-3p, and miR-296-5p. Previously, the upregulated miR-7-5p was found to be highly expressed in the brain, whereas miR-1, miR-133a-3p and miR-133b appeared to be specific to the muscles and myocardium.

Conclusion

miRNA profiles tend to differ between patients who develop HT and those who do not, suggesting that miRNA profiling, likely in association with other omics approaches, may increase the current power of tools predicting thrombolysis-associated sICH in acute ischemic stroke patients. This study represents a free hypothesis-approach pilot study as a continuation from our previous work. Herein, we showed that applying mathematical analyses to extract information from raw big data may result in the identification of new pathophysiological pathways and may complete standard design works.

POU2F2-mediated upregulation of lncRNA PTPRG-AS1 inhibits ferroptosis in breast cancer via miR-376c-3p/SLC7A11 axis

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of BC with high rates of mortality. The mechanism of PTPRG-AS1 in ferroptosis of TNBC was investigated. Methods: Chromatin immunoprecipitation and dual-luciferase reporter assays were used to measure intermolecular relationships. MTT and colony formation assays detected cell viability and proliferation. Kits detected Fe2+ and reactive oxygen species levels. The role of PTPRG-AS1 in tumor growth was analyzed in vivo. Results: PTPRG-AS1 was increased in TNBC tissues and cells. PTPRG-AS1 silencing increased the reduction of glutathione and GPX4, increased Fe2+ and reactive oxygen species in erastin-treated cells and inhibited proliferation. POU2F2 transcriptionally upregulated PTPRG-AS1. PTPRG-AS1 targeted miR-376c-3p to upregulate SLC7A11. PTPRG-AS1 knockdown suppressed tumor growth in vivo. Conclusion: POU2F2 transcriptionally activates PTPRG-AS1 to modulate ferroptosis and proliferation by miR-376c-3p/SLC7A11, promoting TNBC.

Exploring the Potential Role of Circulating microRNAs as Biomarkers for Predicting Clinical Response to Neoadjuvant Therapy in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer (BC) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide. Neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) is increasingly being used to reduce tumor burden prior to surgical resection. However, current techniques for assessing tumor response have significant limitations. Additionally, drug resistance is commonly observed, raising a need to identify biomarkers that can predict treatment sensitivity and survival outcomes. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression and have been shown to play a significant role in cancer progression as tumor inducers or suppressors. The expression of circulating miRNAs has been found to be significantly altered in breast cancer patients. Moreover, recent studies have suggested that circulating miRNAs can serve as non-invasive biomarkers for predicting response to NAT. Therefore, this review provides a brief overview of recent studies that have demonstrated the potential of circulating miRNAs as biomarkers for predicting the clinical response to NAT in BC patients. The findings of this review will strengthen future research on developing miRNA-based biomarkers and their translation into medical practice, which could significantly improve the clinical management of BC patients undergoing NAT.

Advances in Biomarkers and Endogenous Regulation of Breast Cancer Stem Cells

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers. Even if breast cancer patients initially respond to treatment, developed resistance can lead to a poor prognosis. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a group of undifferentiated cells with self-renewal and multipotent differentiation characteristics. Existing evidence has shown that CSCs are one of the determinants that contribute to the heterogeneity of primary tumors. The emergence of CSCs causes tumor recurrence, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance. Previous studies indicated that different stemness-associated surface markers can identify other breast cancer stem cell (BCSC) subpopulations. Deciphering the critical signaling networks that are involved in the induction and maintenance of stemness is essential to develop novel BCSC-targeting strategies. In this review, we reviewed the biomarkers of BCSCs, critical regulators of BCSCs, and the signaling networks that regulate the stemness of BCSCs.

Blood Circulating Non-Coding RNAs for the Clinical Management of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) represents the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer, and is related to unfavorable prognosis and limited treatment strategies. Currently, there is a lack of reliable biomarkers allowing for the clinical management of TNBC. This is probably caused by a complex molecular background, leading to the development and establishment of a unique tumor phenotype. Recent studies have reported non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) not only as the most promising class of molecular agents with a high applicability to manage human cancers, including TNBC, but also as robust and non-invasive biomarkers that are able to be monitored in blood circulation, with the application of liquid biopsy. There is a lack of papers discussing the role of blood-circulating ncRNAs as diagnostic, predictive, and prognostic biomarkers for TNBC. In this paper, we summarized the available literature reports on the utility of blood-circulating ncRNAs for TNBC management. Additionally, we supplemented this review by bioinformatics analysis, for better understanding of the role of ncRNAs' machinery in the development of a unique TNBC phenotype.

A ceRNA network mediated by LINC00475 in papillary thyroid carcinoma

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most frequent histological type of differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been widely reported to play a key role in human malignancies, and PTC is included. This study aimed to find out the functions and mechanism of lncRNA LINC00475 in PTC. LINC00475 was upregulated in PTC cells and was mainly located in the cytoplasm according to reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction analyses and subcellular fractionation assays. As shown by cell counting kit-8 assays, ethynyl deoxyuridine incorporation assays, wound healing assays, and transwell assays, LINC00475 knockdown suppressed cell viability, proliferation, migration, and invasion. Mechanistically, LINC00475 upregulated the expression of messenger RNA zinc finger CCHC-type containing 12 (ZCCHC12) by binding to miR-376c-3p. ZCCHC12 was a direct target gene of miR-376c-3p in PTC cells. The relationship between miR-376c-3p and LINC00475 (or ZCCHC12) in PTC cells was probed by luciferase reporter assays, RNA pulldown assays, and RNA immunoprecipitation assays. In addition, both mRNA and protein levels of ZCCHC12 were downregulated due to miR-376c-3p overexpression or LINC00475 silencing. ZCCHC12 overexpression partially reversed the suppressive effect of LINC00475 knockdown on malignant behaviors of PTC cells. In conclusion, LINC00475 promotes PTC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by upregulating ZCCHC12 via the interaction with miR-376c-3p.

Identification of Potential Osteoporosis miRNA Biomarkers Using Bioinformatics Approaches

Osteoporosis is a degenerative osteoarthropathy commonly found in old people and postmenopausal women. Many studies showed that microRNAs (miRNAs) can regulate the expression of osteoporosis-related genes and are abnormally expressed in patients with osteoporosis. miRNAs therefore have the potential to serve as biomarkers of osteoporosis. In this study, the limma package was used for the differential expression analysis of mRNA expression profiles and 357 significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained. Metascape was used for functional enrichment analysis of DEGs. The result revealed that DEGs were mainly enriched in signaling pathways like MAPK6/MAPK4. Based on the STRING database, the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of DEGs was constructed. MCODE was used to analyze the functional subsets, and a key functional subset composed of 9 genes was screened out. In addition, the miRNA-mRNA regulatory interaction network (RegIN) was analyzed by the CyTargetLinker plugin, which generated 55 miRNA-mRNA regulatory interactions. Through literature searching, the osteoporosis-related gene FOXO1 in the key functional subset was determined to be the main object of the study. In qRT-PCR assay, the expression of the predicted miRNAs was tested in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of mice with osteoporosis, in which 13 miRNAs were remarkably highly expressed. All in all, this study, based on bioinformatics analysis and testing assay of miRNA expression, determined the potential biomarkers of osteoporosis.

Trailblazing perspectives on targeting breast cancer stem cells

Breast cancer (BCa) is one of the most prevalent malignant tumors affecting women's health worldwide. The recurrence and metastasis of BCa have made it a long-standing challenge to achieve remission-persistent or disease-undetectable clinical outcomes. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) possess the ability to self-renew and generate heterogeneous tumor bulk. The existence of CSCs has been found to be vital in the initiation, metastasis, therapy resistance, and recurrence of tumors across cancer types. Because CSCs grow slowly in their dormant state, they are insensitive to conventional chemotherapies; however, when CSCs emerge from their dormant state and become clinically evident, they usually acquire genetic traits that make them resistant to existing therapies. Moreover, CSCs also show evidence of acquired drug resistance in synchrony with tumor relapses. The concept of CSCs provides a new treatment strategy for BCa. In this review, we highlight the recent advances in research on breast CSCs and their association with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), circulating tumor cells (CTCs), plasticity of tumor cells, tumor microenvironment (TME), T-cell modulatory protein PD-L1, and non-coding RNAs. On the basis that CSCs are associated with multiple dysregulated biological processes, we envisage that increased understanding of disease sub-classification, selected combination of conventional treatment, molecular aberration directed therapy, immunotherapy, and CSC targeting/sensitizing strategy might improve the treatment outcome of patients with advanced BCa. We also discuss novel perspectives on new drugs and therapeutics purposing the potent and selective expunging of CSCs.