Talen-mediated girdin knockout downregulates cell proliferation, migration and invasion in human esophageal carcinoma ECA109 cells

LncRNA FAM83H-AS1 promotes oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma progression via miR-10a-5p/Girdin axis

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been well demonstrated to emerge as crucial regulators in cancer progression, and they can function as regulatory network based on their interactions. Although the biological functions of FAM83H-AS1 have been confirmed in various tumour progressions, the underlying molecular mechanisms of FAM83H-AS1 in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remained poorly understood. To address this, we treated human oesophageal cancer cell line Eca109 cells with TGF-β and found FAM83H-AS1 was notably overexpressed. In the present study, FAM83H-AS1 was observed to be significantly up-regulated in ESCC tissues and was associated with TNM stage, pathological differentiation and lymph node metastasis. FAM83H-AS1 reinforced oesophageal cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and participated in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process at mRNA and protein levels. In addition, a concordant regulation between FAM83H-AS1 and its sense strand FAM83H was detected at the transcriptional and translational levels. Furthermore, FAM83H-AS1 could act as competing endogenous RNA to affect the expression of Girdin by sponging miR-10a-5p verified by RIP and luciferase reporter assays. Consequently, the study provided a unique perspective of FAM83H-AS1 in ESCC progression, which may be considered as potential biomarker and therapeutic target for ESCC therapy.

Girdin regulates the proliferation and apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells via the PI3K/Akt signalling pathway

Girdin functions as an Akt phosphorylation enhancer (APE), which expedites the proliferation and survival of many types of tumours. However, the influence of Girdin on pancreatic cancer and the underlying molecular mechanisms have yet to be uncovered. Hence, in the present study, we sought to elucidate the function of Girdin in pancreatic cancer malignancy, particularly its role in pancreatic cancer cell proliferation, migration and apoptosis. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to evaluate Girdin expression in pancreatic cancer tissues and to analyse its correlation with pathological grade. Girdin expression was further validated in pancreatic cancer cell lines (AsPC-1, BxPC-3 and PANC-1), and human pancreatic ductal epithelial (HPNE) cells were used as a control. Recombinant adenovirus vectors containing Girdin-siRNA were constructed to inhibit Girdin expression and were used in subsequent experiments to determine the effects of Girdin silencing on pancreatic cancer cells. Girdin silencing suppressed pancreatic cancer cell proliferation and induced pancreatic cancer cell apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. According to the results of further mechanistic investigations, Girdin may regulate cell processes through the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) signalling pathway to exert additive effects on pancreatic cancer.

Combination of cytoplasmic and nuclear girdin expression is an independent prognosis factor of breast cancer

Girdin is an actin-binding protein playing key roles in the development of various carcinomas. Although online tools have predicted nuclear localization of girdin with a high probability, convincing proof has rarely been provided until now. The purpose of this study was to discover girdin's precise subcellular distribution and the potential prognostic value corresponding to its localization. The subcellular distribution of girdin was detected in a human breast cancer cell line and in >800 samples of human breast tissue by clinical pathologic analysis. In this study, we discovered for the first time that girdin could attach to chromatin and interact with topoisomerase-IIα in nucleus. Cytoplasmic and nuclear girdin exhibited different roles in prognosis of breast cancer: cytoplasmic girdin expression was an independent prognostic factor for progression-free survival (PFS), whereas nuclear girdin expression was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (OS). More important, combination cytoplasmic and nuclear girdin was an independent prognosis factor of both OS and PFS. In conclusion, our research results strongly recommend combination analysis of cytoplasmic and nuclear girdin for a precise prognostic prediction in breast cancer.-Zhang, H., Yu, F., Qin, F., Shao, Y., Chong, W., Guo, Z., Liu, X., Fu, L., Gu, F., Ma, Y. Combination of cytoplasmic and nuclear girdin expression is an independent prognosis factor of breast cancer.

Integrated Microfluidic System for Gene Silencing and Cell Migration

Metastasis involves the phenotype transition of cancer cells to gain invasiveness, and the following migration at the tumor site. Here an integrated microfluidic chip to study this process is presented by combining on-chip delivery of siRNA for gene silencing and cell migration assay. The major advantage of the integrated chip is the simple input of cells and gene transfection materials, and the ultimate output of migration ability. The reverse-fishbone structure and 0.7× phosphate-buffered saline solution are the optimized parameters for improved delivery efficiency. Using the chip, it is validated that cofilin plays an essential role in regulating cancer cell migration. The integrated chip may provide a simple and effective platform for biologists to easily check the role of specific genes in metastasis.

miR-101 Inhibiting Cell Proliferation, Migration and Invasion in Hepatocellular Carcinoma through Downregulating Girdin

miR-101 is considered to play an important role in hepato-cellular carcinoma (HCC), but the underlying molecular mechanism remains to be elucidated. Here, we aimed to confirm whether Girdin is a target gene of miR-101 and determine the tumor suppressor of miR-101 through Girdin pathway. In our previous studies, we firstly found Girdin protein was overexpressed in HCC tissues, and it closely correlated to tumor size, T stage, TNM stage and Edmondson-Steiner stage of HCC patients. After specific small interfering RNA of Girdin was transfected into HepG2 and Huh7.5.1 cells, the proliferation and invasion ability of tumor cells were significantly inhibited. In this study, we further explored the detailed molecular mechanism of Girdin in HCC. Interestingly, we found that miR-101 significantly low-expressed in HCC tissues compared with that in matched normal tissues while Girdin had a relative higher expression, and miR-101 was inversely correlated with Girdin expression. In addition, after miR-101 transfection, the proliferation, migration and invasion abilities of HepG2 cells were weakened. Furthermore, we confirmed that Girdin is a direct target gene of miR-101. Finally we confirmed Talen-mediated Girdin knockout markedly suppressed cell proliferation, migration and invasion in HCC while down-regulation of miR-101 significantly restored the inhibitory effect. Our findings suggested that miR-101/Girdin axis could be a potential application of HCC treatment.

Girdin regulates the migration and invasion of glioma cells via the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway

Girdin, an actin‑binding protein, is associated with cell migration and is expressed at high levels in glioma cells. However, the association between girdin and the development of glioma remains to be elucidated. In the present study, short‑hairpin RNA technology was used to silence the gene expression of girdin. The effects of girdin silencing on glioma cell proliferation, migration and invasion were then assessed using a cell viability assay, wound‑healing assay, transwell invasion assay, reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction, western blot analysis and gelatin zymography. The results suggested that girdin silencing inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of glioma cells. In addition, the expression levels and activity of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)‑2 and MMP‑9 were also affected by girdin silencing. Further mechanistic investigation indicated that girdin may regulate glioma cell migration and invasion through the phosphatidylinositol‑3‑kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K‑Akt) signaling pathway. Therefore, the results of the present study provide a theoretical foundation for the development of anticancer drugs.

Heterotrimeric G proteins as emerging targets for network based therapy in cancer: End of a long futile campaign striking heads of a Hydra

Most common diseases, e.g., cancer are driven by not one, but multiple cell surface receptors that trigger and sustain a pathologic signaling network. The largest fraction of therapeutic agents that target individual receptors/pathways eventually fail due to the emergence of compensatory mechanisms that reestablish the pathologic network. Recently, a rapidly emerging paradigm has revealed GIV/Girdin as a central platform for receptor cross-talk which integrates signals downstream of a myriad of cell surface receptors, and modulates several key pathways within downstream signaling network, all via non-canonical activation of trimeric G proteins. Unlike canonical signal transduction via G proteins, which is spatially and temporally restricted, the temporal and spatial features of non-canonical activation of G protein via GIV is unusually unrestricted. Consequently, the GIV●G protein interface serves as a central hub allowing for control over several pathways within the pathologic signaling network, all at once. The relevance of this new paradigm in cancer and other disease states and the pros and cons of targeting the GIV●G protein interface are discussed.