MicroRNA-592 suppresses the malignant phenotypes of thyroid cancer by regulating lncRNA NEAT1 and downregulating NOVA1

Ginsenoside Rg1 Suppresses Ferroptosis of Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells in Sepsis-induced Acute Kidney Injury via the FSP1-CoQ10- NAD(P)H Pathway

INTRODUCTION

Sepsis-induced acute kidney injury is related to an increased mortality rate by modulating ferroptosis through ginsenoside Rg1. In this study, we explored the specific mechanism of it.

METHODS

Human renal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2) were transfected with oe-ferroptosis suppressor protein 1 and treated with lipopolysaccharide for ferroptosis induction, and they were then treated with ginsenoside Rg1 and ferroptosis suppressor protein 1 inhibitor. Ferroptosis suppressor protein 1, CoQ10, CoQ10H2, and intracellular NADH levels in HK-2 cells were assessed by Western blot, ELISA kit, and NAD/NADH kit. NAD+/NADH ratio was also calculated, and 4-Hydroxynonal fluorescence intensity was assessed by immunofluorescence. HK-2 cell viability and death were assessed by CCK-8 and propidium iodide staining. Ferroptosis, lipid peroxidation, and reactive oxygen species accumulation were assessed by Western blot, kits, flow cytometry, and C11 BODIPY 581/591 molecular probe. Sepsis rat models were established by cecal ligation and perforation to investigate whether ginsenoside Rg1 regulated the ferroptosis suppressor protein 1-CoQ10-NAD(P)H pathway in vivo.

RESULTS

LPS treatment diminished ferroptosis suppressor protein 1, CoQ10, CoQ10H2, and NADH contents in HK-2 cells, while facilitating NAD+/NADH ratio and relative 4- Hydroxynonal fluorescence intensity. FSP1 overexpression inhibited lipopolysaccharideinduced lipid peroxidation in HK-2 cells via the ferroptosis suppressor protein 1-CoQ10- NAD(P)H pathway. The ferroptosis suppressor protein 1-CoQ10-NAD(P)H pathway suppressed lipopolysaccharide-induced ferroptosis in HK-2 cells. Ginsenoside Rg1 alleviated ferroptosis in HK-2 cells by regulating the ferroptosis suppressor protein 1-CoQ10- NAD(P)H pathway. Moreover, ginsenoside Rg1 regulated the ferroptosis suppressor protein 1-CoQ10-NAD(P)H pathway in vivo.

CONCLUSION

Ginsenoside Rg1 alleviated sepsis-induced acute kidney injury by blocking renal tubular epithelial cell ferroptosis via the ferroptosis suppressor protein 1-CoQ10- NAD(P)H pathway.

LncRNA gadd7 promotes mitochondrial membrane potential decrease and apoptosis of alveolar type II epithelial cells by positively regulating MFN1 in an in vitro model of hyperoxia-induced acute lung injury

The mortality and morbidity rates of ovarian cancer (OC) are high, but the underlying mechanisms of OC have not been characterized. In this study, we determined the role of Rho GTPase Activating Protein 30 (ARHGAP30) in OC progression. We measured ARHGAP30 abundance in OC tissue samples and cells using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and RT-qPCR. EdU, transwell, and annexin V/PI apoptosis assays were used to evaluate proliferation, invasiveness, and apoptosis of OC cells, respectively. The results showed that ARHGAP30 was overexpressed in OC tissue samples and cells. Inhibition of ARHGAP30 suppressed growth and metastasis of OC cells, and enhanced  apoptosis. Knockdown of ARHGAP30 in OC cells significantly inhibited the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. Treatment with the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway inhibitor buparlisib simulated the effects of ARHGAP30 knockdown on growth, invasiveness, and apoptosis of OC cells. Following buparlisib treatment, the expression levels of p-PI3K, p-AKT, and p-mTOR were significantly decreased. Furthermore, buparlisib inhibited the effects of ARHGAP30 upregulation on OC cell growth and invasiveness. In conclusion, ARHGAP30 regulated the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway to promote progression of OC.

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.

NOVA1 promotes NSCLC proliferation and invasion by activating Wnt/β-catenin signaling

BACKGROUND

Neuro-oncological ventral antigen 1 (NOVA1) is a neuron-specific RNA-binding protein which regulates alternative splicing in the developing nervous system. Recent research has found that NOVA1 plays a significant role in carcinogenesis. In this paper, we examine the role of NOVA1 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its underlying molecular mechanisms.

METHODS

The expression of NOVA1 in NSCLC was detected by immunohistochemistry and correlations between NOVA1 expression and clinicopathological factors were analyzed by chi-square tests. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and the Cox regression model were used to evaluate the predictive effect of prognostic factors. Western blotting, Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation, apoptosis, migration and invasion assays were used to detect the effects of silencing (si)NOVA1 RNA on Wnt/β-catenin signaling and biological behavior in NSCLC cell lines.

RESULTS

Our study showed that expression of NOVA1 was up-regulated and significantly correlated with poor differentiation (p = 0.020), advanced TNM stage (P = 0.001), T stage (P = 0.001) and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.000) as well as the expression of β-catenin (P = 0.012) in NSCLC. The down-regulation of NSCLC by siRNA significantly inhibited proliferation, migration and invasion and promoted apoptosis in NSCLC cells. Expression of Wnt signaling molecules, including β-catenin, activated β-catenin, cyclin D1, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-7, was also significantly reduced by siNOVA1. The inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in A549 and H1299 cells by siNOVA1 was reversed after treatment with a β-catenin expression plasmid.

CONCLUSION

The present study suggests that NOVA1 may serve as a potential prognosis biomarker in NSCLC. High NOVA1 expression was associated with poor survival rate. Finally, in vitro experiments verified that NOVA1 promotes NSCLC cell proliferation and invasion by regulating Wnt/β-catenin signaling.

Molecular Interactions of the Long Noncoding RNA NEAT1 in Cancer

As one of the best-studied long noncoding RNAs, nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1 (NEAT1) plays a pivotal role in the progression of cancers. NEAT1, especially its isoform NEAT1-1, facilitates the growth and metastasis of various cancers, excluding acute promyelocytic leukemia. NEAT1 can be elevated via transcriptional activation or stability alteration in cancers changing the aggressive phenotype of cancer cells. NEAT1 can also be secreted from other cells and be delivered to cancer cells through exosomes. Hence, elucidating the molecular interaction of NEAT1 may shed light on the future treatment of cancer. Herein, we review the molecular function of NEAT1 in cancer progression, and explain how NEAT1 interacts with RNAs, proteins, and DNA promoter regions to upregulate tumorigenic factors.

Landscape of Alternative Splicing Events Related to Prognosis and Immune Infiltration in Glioma: A Data Analysis and Basic Verification

Background

Glioma is a prevalent primary brain cancer with high invasiveness and typical local diffuse infiltration. Alternative splicing (AS), as a pervasive transcriptional regulatory mechanism, amplifies the coding capacity of the genome and promotes the progression of malignancies. This study was aimed at identifying AS events and novel biomarkers associated with survival for glioma.

Methods

RNA splicing patterns were collected from The Cancer Genome Atlas SpliceSeq database, followed by calculating the percentage of splicing index. Expression profiles and related clinical information of glioma were integrated based on the UCSC Xena database. The AS events in glioma were further analyzed, and glioma prognosis-related splicing factors were identified with the use of bioinformatics analysis and laboratory techniques. Further immune infiltration analysis was performed.

Results

Altogether, 9028 AS events were discovered. Upon univariate Cox analysis, 425 AS events were found to be related to the survival of patients with glioma, and 42 AS events were further screened to construct the final prognostic model (area under the curve = 0.974). Additionally, decreased expression of the splicing factors including Neuro-Oncological Ventral Antigen 1 (NOVA1), heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein C (HNRNPC), heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein L-like protein (HNRNPLL), and RNA-Binding Motif Protein 4 (RBM4) contributed to the poor survival in glioma. The immune infiltration analysis demonstrated that AS events were related to the proportion of immune cells infiltrating in glioma.

Conclusions

It is of great value for comprehensive consideration of AS events, splicing networks, and related molecular subtype clusters in revealing the underlying mechanism and immune microenvironment remodeling for glioma, which provides clues for the further verification of related therapeutic targets.

Recent advances of NEAT1-miRNA interactions in cancer

With high incidence rate, cancer is the main cause of death in humans. Non-coding RNAs, as novel master regulators, especially long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs), play important roles in the regulation of tumorigenesis. lncRNA NEAT1 has recently gained much attention, as it is dysregulated in a broad spectrum of cancers, where it acts as either an oncogene or a tumor suppressor gene. Accumulating evidence shows that NEAT1 is correlated with the process of carcinogenesis, including proliferation, invasion, survival, drug resistance, and metastasis. NEAT1 is considered to be a biomarker and a novel therapeutic target for the diagnosis and prognosis of different cancer types. The mechanisms by which NEAT1 plays a critical role in cancers are mainly via interactions with miRNAs. NEAT1-miRNA regulatory networks play significant roles in tumorigenesis, which has attracted much attention from researchers around the world. In this review, we summarize the interaction of NEAT1 with miRNAs in the regulation of protein-coding genes in cancer. A better understanding of the NEAT1-miRNA interactions in cancer will help develop new diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic approaches.

Reference Genes for qPCR-Based miRNA Expression Profiling in 14 Human Tissues

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are promising biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of various diseases. Quantitative PCR is the most frequently used method of measuring expression levels of miRNA. However, the lack of validated reference genes represents the main source of potential bias in results. It is normal practice to use small nuclear RNAs as reference genes; however, they often have variable expression. Researchers tend to prefer the most stable reference genes in each experiment. The review includes reference genes for the following tissue types: gliomas, lung cancer, melanoma, gastric cancer, liver cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, thyroid cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, rectal cancer, blood tumors, and placental tissues.

miRNA-Based Regulation of Alternative RNA Splicing in Metazoans

Alternative RNA splicing is an important regulatory process used by genes to increase their diversity. This process is mainly executed by specific classes of RNA binding proteins that act in a dosage-dependent manner to include or exclude selected exons in the final transcripts. While these processes are tightly regulated in cells and tissues, little is known on how the dosage of these factors is achieved and maintained. Several recent studies have suggested that alternative RNA splicing may be in part modulated by microRNAs (miRNAs), which are short, non-coding RNAs (~22 nt in length) that inhibit translation of specific mRNA transcripts. As evidenced in tissues and in diseases, such as cancer and neurological disorders, the dysregulation of miRNA pathways disrupts downstream alternative RNA splicing events by altering the dosage of splicing factors involved in RNA splicing. This attractive model suggests that miRNAs can not only influence the dosage of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level but also indirectly interfere in pre-mRNA splicing at the co-transcriptional level. The purpose of this review is to compile and analyze recent studies on miRNAs modulating alternative RNA splicing factors, and how these events contribute to transcript rearrangements in tissue development and disease.

NEAT1 as a competing endogenous RNA in tumorigenesis of various cancers: Role, mechanism and therapeutic potential

The nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1 (NEAT1) is a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that is upregulated in a variety of human cancer types. Increasing evidence has shown that the elevation of NEAT1 in cancer cells promotes cell growth, migration, and invasion and inhibits cell apoptosis. It is also known that lncRNAs act as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) by sponging microRNAs (miRNAs) to alter the expression levels of their target genes in the development of cancers. Therefore, it is important to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying this observation. In this review, specific emphasis was placed on NEAT1's role in tumor development. We also summarize and discuss the feedback roles of NEAT1/miRNA/target network in the progression of various cancers. As our understanding of the role of NEAT1 during tumorigenesis improves, its therapeutic potential as a biomarker and/or target for cancer also becomes clearer.

Circular RNA Circ_0067934 Attenuates Ferroptosis of Thyroid Cancer Cells by miR-545-3p/SLC7A11 Signaling

Ferroptosis is an emerging programmed cell death distinguished from apoptosis and autophagy and plays essential roles in tumorigenesis. Thyroid cancer is a prevalent endocrine tumor, but the molecular mechanism of ferroptosis during thyroid cancer development remains unclear. Here, we identified the critical function of circular RNA circ_0067934 in repressing ferroptosis of thyroid cancer cells. Our data showed that the ferroptosis activator erastin decreased thyroid cancer cell viabilities, while the circ_0067934 shRNA further attenuated erastin-inhibited cell viabilities. The silencing of circ_0067934 enhanced the levels of ferroptosis-related markers, including Fe2+, iron, and ROS in the cells. The knockdown of circ_0067934 induced thyroid cancer cell apoptosis and repressed thyroid cancer cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Circ_0067934 upregulated the expression of the ferroptosis-negative regulator SLC7A11 by sponging and inhibiting miR-545-3p in thyroid cancer cells. The overexpression of SLC7A11 or the inhibitor of miR-545-3p reversed circ_0067934 silencing-regulated thyroid cancer cell proliferation. Therefore, we concluded that Circ_0067934 attenuated ferroptosis of thyroid cancer cells by miR-545-3p/SLC7A11 signaling. Circ_0067934 may serve as a potential therapeutic target by regulating ferroptosis for the treatment of thyroid cancer.

Long Noncoding RNA CCDC26 Promotes Thyroid Cancer Malignant Progression via miR-422a/EZH2/Sirt6 Axis

Purpose

Long noncoding RNAs are crucial regulators in thyroid cancer progression. However, the role of lncRNA CCDC26 in thyroid cancer remains unclear. Here, we aimed to explore the effect of CCDC26 on thyroid cancer progression and the underlying mechanism.

Materials and Methods

A total of 50 clinical thyroid cancer samples were studied in patients' samples, cultured cells, and nude mice before and after treatment using quantitative reverse transcription-PCR, CCK-8 assays, BrdU incorporation assays, Transwell assays, cell apoptosis analysis, luciferase reporter gene assay, RNA immunoprecipitation, Western blot analysis, and tumorigenicity analysis.

Results

CCDC26 expression was elevated in patients' thyroid cancer tissues and thyroid cancer cell lines. CCDC26 depletion remarkably reduced proliferation, invasion, and migration but induced apoptosis of thyroid cancer cells. Mechanically, miR-422a mimic remarkably reduced the luciferase activity of CCDC26 transfected cells but failed to affect cells transfected with CCDC26 containing the mutated miR-422a-binding site. RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays showed that CCDC26 and miR-422a preferentially interacted with Ago2, but not IgG, in the micro-ribonucleoprotein complexes (miRNPs). CCDC26 depletion enhanced miR-422a expression and MiR-422a inhibitor reversed CCDC26 knockdown-induced inhibition of thyroid cancer progression in vitro. CCDC26 upregulated EZH2 and Sirt6 expression by sponging miR-422a in thyroid cancer cells. Tumorigenicity analysis in nude mice revealed that CCDC26 contributed to thyroid tumor growth via miR-422a/EZH2/Sirt6 axis in vivo.

Conclusion

CCDC26 promotes thyroid cancer malignant progression via miR-422a/EZH2/Sirt6 axis. This finding provides new insights into the mechanism by which CCDC26 promotes malignant thyroid cancer development, advances our understanding of lncRNAs' association with thyroid cancer, and indicates that CCDC26 and miR-422a may serve as potential targets for thyroid cancer.

lncRNA NEAT1 ameliorates LPS‑induced inflammation in MG63 cells by activating autophagy and suppressing the NLRP3 inflammasome

The mechanisms of inflammation in bone and joint tissue are complex and involve long non‑coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which play an important role in this process. The aim of the present study was to screen out differentially expressed genes in human osteoblasts stimulated by inflammation, and to further explore the mechanisms underlying inflammatory responses and the functional activity of human osteoblasts through bioinformatics methods and in vitro experiments. For this purpose, MG63 cells were stimulated with various concentrations of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for different periods of time to construct an optimal inflammatory model and RNA sequencing was then performed on these cells. The levels of nuclear enriched abundant transcript 1 (NEAT1), various inflammatory factors, Nod‑like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) protein and osteogenesis‑related proteins, as well as the levels of cell apoptosis‑ and cell cycle‑related markers were measured in MG63 cells stimulated with LPS, transfected with NEAT1 overexpression plasmid and treated with bexarotene by western blot analysis, RT‑qPCR, immunofluorescence, FISH, TEM and flow cytometry. There were 427 differentially expressed genes in the LPS‑stimulated MG63 cells, in which NEAT1 was significantly downregulated. LPS upregulated the expression of inflammatory cytokines and NLRP3, inhibited the expression of autophagy‑related and osteogenesis‑related proteins, promoted apoptosis and altered the cell cycle, which was partially inhibited by NEAT1 overexpression and promoted by bexarotene. LPS stimulated inflammation in the MG63 cells and inhibited the retinoid X receptor (RXR)‑α to downregulate the expression of NEAT1 and decrease levels of autophagy, which promoted the activation of NLRP3 and the release of inflammatory factors, and impaired the functional activity of osteoblasts, thus promoting the development of inflammation.

Use of signals of positive and negative selection to distinguish cancer genes and passenger genes

A major goal of cancer genomics is to identify all genes that play critical roles in carcinogenesis. Most approaches focused on genes positively selected for mutations that drive carcinogenesis and neglected the role of negative selection. Some studies have actually concluded that negative selection has no role in cancer evolution. We have re-examined the role of negative selection in tumor evolution through the analysis of the patterns of somatic mutations affecting the coding sequences of human genes. Our analyses have confirmed that tumor suppressor genes are positively selected for inactivating mutations, oncogenes, however, were found to display signals of both negative selection for inactivating mutations and positive selection for activating mutations. Significantly, we have identified numerous human genes that show signs of strong negative selection during tumor evolution, suggesting that their functional integrity is essential for the growth and survival of tumor cells.

Long non-coding RNA SNHG20 promotes ovarian cancer development by targeting microRNA-338-3p to regulate MCL1 expression

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) were reported to be associated with the development of ovarian cancer (OC). Increasing evidence demonstrated that lncRNA SNHG20 and miR-338-3p were involved in OC. However, the functional mechanism of lncRNA SNHG20 and miR-338-3p in OC development remains unknown. The expression of SNHG20, miR-338-3p and myeloid cell leukemia 1 (MCL1) was detected by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. MTT assay, flow cytometry and transwell migration and invasion assays were used to assess cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion, respectively. The relative protein expression was detected by western blot analysis. The interaction between miR-338-3p and SNHG20 or MCL1 was predicted by starBase v3.0, and subsequently confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assay. Besides, mouse xenograft assay was carried out to explore the effect of SNHG20 on tumor growth in vivo. The levels of SNHG20 and MCL1 were upregulated, while miR-338-3p level was downregulated in OC tissues and cells. SNHG20 knockdown repressed OC cell proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and induced apoptosis. Interestingly, SNHG20 targeted miR-338-3p to regulate MCL1 expression. miR-338-3p depletion or MCL1 overexpression could reverse the effects of SNHG20 knockdown on OC cells. Besides, SNHG20 knockdown impeded tumor growth in vivo. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that SNHG20 regulates OC development via modulation of the miR-338-3p/MCL1 axis, providing the theoretical basis for the treatment of OC.

Silence of FOXD2-AS1 inhibited the proliferation and invasion of esophagus cells by regulating miR-145-5p/CDK6 axis

This study aimed to investigate the function of long non-coding RNA FOXD2 adjacent opposite strand RNA 1 (lncRNA FOXD2-AS1) during the progression of esophagus cancer (EC) and explore its underlying molecular mechanisms. The level of FOXD2-AS1 in EC tissues and paracancerous tissues was detected by using RT-qPCR; ROC curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of FOXD2-AS1 for EC. In addition, CCK8 assay and immunofluorescence staining assay were used to detect the proliferation of Eca-109 and TE-1 cells. To investigate the function of FOXD2-AS1 on cell apoptosis and cell cycle, flow cytometry was performed. To detect the invasion ability of EC cells, transwell invasion assay was performed. Starbase3.0 and Targetscan were used to predict the target genes of FOXD2-AS1 and miR-145-5p, and protein expressions were detected with western blot. We found FOXD2-AS1 was significantly upregulated in EC tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues, which was positively correlated with clinicopathological parameters of patients with EC. Downregulation of FOXD2-AS1 inhibited the proliferation and invasion by inducing apoptosis of EC cells. Moreover, FOXD2-AS1 may regulate the expression of CDK6 by targeting miR-145-3p. Meanwhile, silencing of FOXD2-AS1 caused G1 phase arrest of EC cells by reducing the expression of CDK6. In conclusion, silening FOXD2-AS1 significantly inhibited the proliferation and invasion of EC cells by regulating the miR-145-5p/CDK6 axis. Therefore, FOXD2-AS1 might be used as diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for EC.

Alternative Splicing by NOVA Factors: From Gene Expression to Cell Physiology and Pathology

NOVA1 and NOVA2, the two members of the NOVA family of alternative splicing factors, bind YCAY clusters of pre-mRNAs and assemble spliceosomes to induce the maintenance/removal of introns and exons, thus governing the development of mRNAs. Members of other splicing families operate analogously. Activity of NOVAs accounts for up to 700 alternative splicing events per cell, taking place both in the nucleus (co-transcription of mRNAs) and in the cytoplasm. Brain neurons express high levels of NOVAs, with NOVA1 predominant in cerebellum and spinal cord, NOVA2 in the cortex. Among brain physiological processes NOVAs play critical roles in axon pathfinding and spreading, structure and function of synapses, as well as the regulation of surface receptors and voltage-gated channels. In pathology, NOVAs contribute to neurodegenerative diseases and epilepsy. In vessel endothelial cells, NOVA2 is essential for angiogenesis, while in adipocytes, NOVA1 contributes to regulation of thermogenesis and obesity. In many cancers NOVA1 and also NOVA2, by interacting with specific miRNAs and by additional mechanisms, activate oncogenic roles promoting cell proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion. In conclusion, NOVAs regulate cell functions of physiological and pathological nature. Single cell identification and distinction, and new therapies addressed to NOVA targets might be developed in the near future.

Effects of CDK6 regulated by miR-298 on proliferation and apoptosis of thyroid cancer cells

Effects of CDK6 regulated by miR-298 on proliferation and apoptosis of thyroid cancer cells were explored. Seventy-five cases of thyroid carcinoma and adjacent tissues were collected. The expression levels of miR-298 and CDK6 mRNA in tissues and cells were detected by RT-PCR. In addition, thyroid cancer cells and human normal thyroid cells Nthy-ori3-1 were purchased, with the former transfected with miR-298-mimics, miR-298-inhibitor, miR-NC, si-CDK6, si-NC, Sh-CDK6, Sh-NC to build cell models. Then the expression levels of miR-298 and CDK6 in thyroid cancer tissues and cells were detected by qRT-PCR, and the expression of CDK6, Bax, Bcl-2 and caspase-3 by WB. CCK-8 and flow cytometry were employed to detect cell proliferation and apoptosis, and dual luciferase report was adopted to determine the relationship between miR-298 and CDK6. miR-298 was underexpressed in thyroid cancer, and CDK6 was highly expressed in thyroid cancer. Cell experiments revealed that overexpression of miR-298 or inhibition of CDK6 expression could suppress cell proliferation, promote apoptosis, and significantly increase the expression levels of Bax and caspase-3 proteins, decrease Bcl-2 protein expression, which was contrary to the biological phenotype of cells after inhibition of miR-298 or further overexpression of CDK6. Dual luciferase report confirmed that miR-298 was a targeting site of CDK6. miR-298 can inhibit the proliferation of thyroid cells and promote apoptosis of thyroid cancer cells by regulating the expression of CDK6, which is expected to be a potential target for clinical application.