miR‑338‑3p inhibits A549 lung cancer cell proliferation and invasion by targeting AKT and β‑catenin signaling pathways

CircRNA HLCS regulates lens epithelial cell apoptosis via miR-338-3p/BPNT1 axis

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of circ_HLCS on age-related cataract (ARC).

METHODS

Circ_HLCS, microRNA (miR)-338-3p, and bisphosphate 3'-nucleotidase 1 (BPNT1) were quantified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction or western blot. Cell proliferation and cell viability were assessed by the 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridinr and cell counting kit-8 assays. Cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. Targeted correlations among circ_HLCS, miR-338-3p, and BPNT1 were verified by the dual-luciferase reporter and RNA pull-down assays.

RESULTS

circ_HLCS was diminished in ARC tissues and UV-treated SRA01/04 cells. Elevated content of circ_HLCS undermined UV-induced cell proliferation inhibition and apoptosis. Mechanistically, circ_HLCS directly targeted miR-338-3p, and circ_HLCS regulated BPNT1 expression through miR-338-3p. Furthermore, reduction of miR-338-3p ameliorated UV-induced SRA01/04 cell damage by increasing BPNT1 expression.

CONCLUSION

Taken together, these data suggested that circ_HLCS inhibited apoptosis of UV-treated SRA01/04 cells by miR-338-3p/BPNT1 axis. Therefore, circ_HLCS might be a potential therapeutic target for ARC.

Exosomal circKDM4A Induces CUL4B to Promote Prostate Cancer Cell Malignancy in a miR-338-3p-Dependent Manner

Circular RNA lysine demethylase 4A (circKDM4A) is also named circ_0012098 and its abnormal expression has been confirmed in serum exosomes of prostate cancer (PC) patients. However, whether PC progression involves the exosomal circ_0012098 remains unknown. RNA expression of circKDM4A, microRNA-338-3p (miR-338-3p) and cullin 4B (CUL4B) was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Protein expression was checked by Western blot. The positive expression rate of nuclear proliferation marker (ki-67) was analyzed by immunohistochemistry assay. Dual-luciferase reporter assay and RNA immunoprecipitation assay were used to identify the interaction between miR-338-3p and circKDM4A or CUL4B. Mouse model assay was performed to determine the effect of exosomal circKDM4A on tumorigenesis in vivo. CircKDM4A expression was significantly upregulated in the serum exosomes from PC patients compared with the exosomes from healthy volunteers. Exosomes treatment promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of PC cells but inhibited apoptosis; however, these effects were attenuated after circKDM4A knockdown. Meanwhile, circKDM4A depletion restored exosome-increased circKDM4A expression. Additionally, circKDM4A acted as a miR-338-3p sponge, and miR-338-3p bound to CUL4B in PC cells. CircKDM4A regulated the effect of exosome-induced PC cell malignancy by interacting with miR-338-3p and CUL4B. Moreover, circKDM4A silencing relieved exosome-induced tumor growth in vivo. Exosomal circKDM4A promoted PC malignant progression by the miR-338-3p/CUL4B axis, providing a therapeutic target for PC.

Upregulation of XIAP promotes lung adenocarcinoma brain metastasis by modulating ceRNA network

Dysregulation of XIAP has been shown to affect the progression of a variety of cancers, including lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). However, the function and mechanisms of XIAP in lung adenocarcinoma with brain metastasis (LUAD-BM) remains poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed the differential mRNA of 58 lung adenocarcinomas samples and 28 lung adenocarcinomas with brain metastases in GEO database. 191 differentially expressed mRNAs were significantly associated with immune response, the proliferation of the immune cell, cell-cell adhesion. Subsequent analyzed by lasso and SVM found that XIAP was significantly elevated in LUAD-BM and significantly associated with LUAD grade and metastasis. Then we constructed a molecular regulatory network of ncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA by Cystoscope based on the correlation obtained from Starbase. It was found that SBF2-AS1 or RUNDC3A-AS1, has-miR-338-3p and XIAP may have a regulatory relationship. Furthermore, we also initially found that XIAP was closely correlation with T cells, B cells, Mast cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells. In conclusion, we found that XIAP was significantly higher expressed in LUAD-BM compared with LUAD without brain metastasis, suggesting that XIAP may play an important role in the future prediction and clinical treatment of LUAD-BM.

Total xanthone in mangosteen inhibits cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and inflammatory response in gastric cancer cells by regulating miR-338-3p

BACKGROUND

Total xanthone in mangosteen has antitumor effect, but its effect on the biological behavior of gastric cancer cells is still unknown. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can play an important regulatory role in the occurrence and development of gastric cancer and may be a potential target for gastric cancer treatment, but whether they could be potential targets for total xanthone in mangosteen in the treatment of gastric cancer is unknown.

AIM

To explore the effect of total xanthone in mangosteen on the biological behavior of gastric cancer AGS cells and the possible mechanism involved.

METHODS

Human gastric cancer AGS cells were randomly divided into the following groups: NC group, low-dose xanthone group, medium-dose xanthone group, high-dose xanthone group, miR-NC group, miR-338-3p group, high-dose xanthone + anti-miR-NC group, and high-dose xanthone group + anti-miR-338-3p group. MTT and Transwell assays were used to detect cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. ELISA was used to detect the levels of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β. qRT-PCR was used to detect the expression of miR-338-3p.

RESULTS

After treatment with total xanthone in mangosteen, cell viability and the levels of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β were decreased (P < 0.05), the number of migrating and invasive cells was decreased (P < 0.05), and the expression of miR-338-3p was increased (P < 0.05). After transfection with miR-338-3p mimic, cell viability and the levels of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β were decreased (P < 0.05), and the number of migrating and invasive cells was decreased (P < 0.05). Transfection with anti-miR-338-3p could reverse the effect of total xanthone in mangosteen on the biological behavior of AGS cells.

CONCLUSION

Total xanthone in mangosteen can inhibit the proliferation, migration, invasion, and inflammatory response of gastric cancer cells by promoting the expression of miR-338-3p.

circRNA hsa_circ_0005909 Predicts Poor Prognosis and Promotes the Growth, Metastasis, and Drug Resistance of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer via the miRNA-338-3p/SOX4 Pathway

Background

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are powerful factors in regulating various cancer behaviors. It has been manifested in previous researches that circular RNA hsa_circ_0005909 (circ_0005909) exhibits a regulatory function in osteosarcoma. However, there are no other studies on whether circ_0005909 displays potential functions on the progression of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods

RT-PCR was applied to examine the expression of circ_0005909 in NSCLC. To study the specific behaviors of NSCLC cells after circ_0005909 knockdown, cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assays, colony formation assays, Transwell assays, and xenograft tumor model assays were conducted. Bioinformatics and luciferase reporter assays were employed to study the association among circ_0005909, miRNA-338-3p, and SOX4.

Results

In this research, our group firstly showed that circ_0005909 expressions were distinctly increased in NSCLC specimens and cell lines. Clinical studies revealed that high circ_0005909 expressions were associated with poor prognosis of NSCLC patients. Functionally, knockdown of circ_0005909 was observed to suppress the proliferation, metastasis, and drug resistance of NSCLC cells. In the terms of mechanism, circ_0005909 could act as a sponge of miRNA-338-3p, and miRNA-338-3p could target SOX4. In addition, miRNA-338-3p inhibitors reversed the suppressor ability of circ_0005909 silence on NSCLC behaviors.

Conclusions

circ_0005909 promoted the progression of NSCLC via the modulation of the miRNA-338-3p/SOX4 axis, which may be a therapeutic target for NSCLC.

Molecular interactions of miR-338 during tumor progression and metastasis

Background

Cancer, as one of the main causes of human deaths, is currently a significant global health challenge. Since the majority of cancer-related deaths are associated with late diagnosis, it is necessary to develop minimally invasive early detection markers to manage and reduce mortality rates. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), as highly conserved non-coding RNAs, target the specific mRNAs which are involved in regulation of various fundamental cellular processes such as cell proliferation, death, and signaling pathways. MiRNAs can also be regulated by long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs). They are highly stable in body fluids and have tumor-specific expression profiles, which suggest their suitability as efficient non-invasive diagnostic and prognostic tumor markers. Aberrant expression of miR-338 has been widely reported in different cancers. It regulates cell proliferation, migration, angiogenesis, and apoptosis in tumor cells.

Main body

In the present review, we have summarized all miR-338 interactions with other non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) and associated signaling pathways to clarify the role of miR-338 during tumor progression.

Conclusions

It was concluded that miR-338 mainly functions as a tumor suppressor in different cancers. There were also significant associations between miR-338 and other ncRNAs in tumor cells. Moreover, miR-338 has a pivotal role during tumor progression using the regulation of WNT, MAPK, and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways. This review highlights miR-338 as a pivotal ncRNA in biology of tumor cells.

MicroRNA-338-3p suppresses ovarian cancer cells growth and metastasis: implication of Wnt/catenin beta and MEK/ERK signaling pathways

BACKGROUND

Downregulation of microRNA-338-3p (miR-338-3p) was detected in many malignant tumors, which indicated miR-338-3p might serve as a role of antioncogene in those cancers. The present study aimed to explore the roles of miR-338-3p in the growth and metastasis of ovarian cancer cells and elaborate the underlying possible molecular mechanism.

METHODS

Multiply biomedical databases query and KEGG pathway enrichment assay were used to infilter possible target genes and downstream pathways regulated by miR-338-3p. Overexpression miR-338-3p lentiviral vectors were transfected into ovarian cancer OVCAR-3 and OVCAR-8 cells, cell proliferation, migration and invasion were analyzed by MTT, colony formation, transwell, Matrigel assay and xenograft mouse model. One 3'-untranslated regions (UTRs) binding target gene of miR-338-3p, MACC1 (MET transcriptional regulator MACC1), and its regulated gene MET and downstream signaling pathway activities were examined by western blot.

RESULTS

Biomedical databases query indicated that miR-338-3p could target MACC1 gene and regulate Met, downstream Wnt/Catenin beta and MEK/ERK pathways. Rescue of miR-338-3p could inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of ovarian cancer cells, and suppress the growth and metastasis of xenograft tumor. Restoration of miR-338-3p could attenuate MACC1 and Met overexpression induced growth, epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and activities of Wnt/Catenin beta and MEK/ERK signaling in vitro and in vivo.

CONCLUSIONS

The present data indicated that restoration of miR-338-3p could suppress the growth and metastasis of ovarian cancer cells, which might due to the inhibition of proliferation and EMT induced by MACC1, Met and its downstream Wnt/Catenin beta and MEK/ERK signaling pathways.