MicroRNA-433 regulates apoptosis by targeting PDCD4 in human osteosarcoma cells

miR-433 Inhibits Glioblastoma Progression by Suppressing the PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway Through Direct Targeting of ERBB4

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a highly malignant brain tumor where new biomarkers and drug targets are much needed in the oncology clinic. miR-433 was identified as a tumor-suppressing miRNA in several different types of human cancer. However, the integrative biology of miR-433 in GBM is still largely unknown. By analyzing the expression profiles of miR-433 in 198 patients with glioma at The Cancer Genome Atlas, we found that the miR-433 expression was decreased in glioma whereas the low expression of miR-433 was significantly associated with shorter overall survival. We then conducted in vitro studies and demonstrated that increased expression of miR-433 suppressed the proliferation, migration, and invasion of LN229 and T98G cells, two representative glioma cell lines. Further, using in vivo mouse model, we found that upregulation of miR-433 inhibited the tumor growth of glioma cells. To situate the integrative biology understanding of the action of miR-433 in glioma, we identified ERBB4 as a gene targeted directly by miR-433 in LN229 and T98G cells. Overexpressed ERBB4 rescued the phenotype caused by overexpression of miR-433. Finally, we showed that miR-433 suppressed the PI3K/Akt pathway in glioma cells. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that miR-433 could potentially act as a tumor suppressor for GBM and may serve as a potential therapeutic target for GBM. Further integrative biology and clinical translational research are warranted to evaluate miR-433 in GBM.

Analysis of Circulating miRNA Profile in Plasma Samples of Glioblastoma Patients

(1) Background: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is among the most aggressive cancers with a poor prognosis. Treatment options are limited, clinicians lack efficient prognostic and predictive markers. Circulating miRNAs—besides being important regulators of cancer development—may have potential as diagnostic biomarkers of GBM. (2) Methods: In this study, profiling of 798 human miRNAs was performed on blood plasma samples from 6 healthy individuals and 6 patients with GBM, using a NanoString nCounter Analysis System. To validate our results, five miRNAs (hsa-miR-433-3p, hsa-miR-362-3p, hsa-miR-195-5p, hsa-miR-133a-3p, and hsa-miR-29a-3p) were randomly chosen for RT-qPCR detection. (3) Results: In all, 53 miRNAs were significantly differentially expressed in plasma samples of GBM patients when data were filtered for FC 1 and FDR 0.1. Target genes of the top 39 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified, and we carried out functional annotation and pathway enrichment analysis of target genes via GO and KEGG-based tools. General and cortex-specific protein–protein interaction networks were constructed from the target genes of top miRNAs to assess their functional connections. (4) Conclusions: We demonstrated that plasma microRNA profiles are promising diagnostic and prognostic molecular biomarkers that may find an actual application in the clinical practice of GBM, although more studies are needed to validate our results.

Advances in the role of miRNAs in the occurrence and development of osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant tumor of the skeletal system in the clinic. It mainly occurs in adolescent patients and the pathogenesis of the disease is very complicated. The distant metastasis may occur in the early stage, and the prognosis is poor. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs of about 18–25 nt in length that are involved in post-transcriptional regulation of genes. miRNAs can regulate target gene expression by promoting the degradation of target mRNAs or inhibiting the translation process, thereby the proliferation of OS cells can be inhibited and the apoptosis can be promoted; in this way, miRNAs can affect the metabolism of OS cells and can also participate in the occurrence, invasion, metastasis, and recurrence of OS. Some miRNAs have already been found to be closely related to the prognosis of patients with OS. Unlike other reviews, this review summarizes the miRNA molecules closely related to the development, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of OS in recent years. The expression and influence of miRNA molecule on OS were discussed in detail, and the related research progress was summarized to provide a new research direction for early diagnosis and treatment of OS.

Elevated Expression of miR-629 Predicts a Poor Prognosis and Promotes Cell Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion of Osteosarcoma

Purpose

Osteosarcoma (OS) is an invasive bone tumor that primarily affects children and adolescents. MicroRNA-629 (miR-629) acts as an oncogene involved in the development of various cancers. This study aims to reveal the clinical significance and biological function of miR-629 in OS.

Patients and Methods

The levels of miR-629 expression in tissues and cells were detected through quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Chi-square test was used to evaluate the relationship between miR-621 expression and clinical parameters in patients with OS. Survival analysis was performed by the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox regression analysis of the effect of miR-629 expression on the prognosis of OS patients. CCK-8 and Transwell experiments were used to demonstrate the effect of miR-629 on OS cell function.

Results

Compared with the controls, miR-629 levels were significantly elevated in patients with OS (P < 0.001), Furthermore, miR-629 upregulation showed significantly associated with clinical stage (P = 0.011), distant metastasis (P = 0.003) and poor survival (log rank test, P = 0.013) in OS patients. miR-629 might be a potential prognostic biomarker for OS (HR = 2.890, 95% CI = 1.126-7.416, P = 0.027). Cell function experiments proved that the high expression of miR-629 promoted cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of OS.

Conclusion

All experimental results demonstrated that miR-629 as an oncogene promotes the tumor cell growth, migration and invasion of OS, and miR-629 may act as a novel prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for patients with this malignant tumor.

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomal microRNA-208a promotes osteosarcoma cell proliferation, migration, and invasion

A recent study has discovered that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are recruited into tumors and MSC-derived exosomes in a novel mechanism of cell-to-cell communication in human cancers. Here, in this study, we explore the impact of the microRNA-208a (miR-208a)-enriched exosomes derived from bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) on osteosarcoma cells. Human osteosarcoma cells MG-63 and Saos-2 were exposed to BMSCs-derived exosomes treated with either miR-208a mimic or inhibitor. The MTT assay, transwell migration assay, and soft agar colony formation assay were used to evaluate the viability, migration, and clonogenicity of osteosarcoma cells. Bioinformatics analysis and dual-luciferase reporter gene assays validated the targeted relationship between miR-208a and PDCD4. Western blot assay was used to detect the expression of PDCD4 and related proteins in the ERK1/2 pathway in osteosarcoma cells. BMSCs communicated with osteosarcoma cells via exosomes. Ectopic expression of miR-208a was shown to increase the viability, migration, and clonogenicity of osteosarcoma cells. Analysis of the exosomal content identified miR-208a as a mediator of the exosomal effects on osteosarcoma cells in part via downregulation of PDCD4 and activating the ERK1/2 pathway. In summary, our study illuminates that BMSC-derived exosomal miR-208a enhances the progression of osteosarcoma.

The Regulatory Role of Non-coding RNAs on Programmed Cell Death Four in Inflammation and Cancer

Programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4) is a tumor suppressor gene implicated in many cellular functions, including transcription, translation, apoptosis, and the modulation of different signal transduction pathways. The downstream mechanisms of PDCD4 have been well-discussed, but its upstream regulators have not been systematically summarized. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) are gene transcripts with no protein-coding potential but play a pivotal role in the regulation of the pathogenesis of solid tumors, cardiac injury, and inflamed tissue. In recent studies, many ncRNAs, especially microRNAs (miRNAs) and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), were found to interact with PDCD4 to manipulate its expression through transcriptional regulation and function as oncogenes or tumor suppressors. For example, miR-21, as a classic oncogene, was identified as the key regulator of PDCD4 by targeting its 3′-untranslated region (UTR) to promote tumor proliferation, migration, and invasion in colon, breast, and bladder carcinoma. Therefore, we reviewed the recently emerging pleiotropic regulation of PDCD4 by ncRNAs in cancer and inflammatory disorders and aimed to shed light on the mechanisms of associated diseases, which could be conducive to the development of novel treatment strategies for PDCD4-induced diseases.

Intronic miRNA mediated gene expression regulation controls protein crowding inside the cell

Gene regulatory effects of microRNAs at a posttranscriptional level have been established over the last decade. In this study, we analyze the interaction networks of mRNA translation regulation through intronic miRNA, under various tissue-specific cellular contexts, taking into account the thermodynamic affinity, chemical kinetics, co-localization, concentration levels, network parameters and the presence of competitive interactors. This database, and analysis has been made available through an open-access web-server, miRiam, to promote further exploration. Here we report that expression of genes involved in Apoptosis Processes, Immune System Processes, Translation Regulator Activities, and Molecular Transport Activities within the cell are predominately regulated by miRNA mediation. Our findings further indicate that this regulatory effect has a profound effect in controlling protein crowding inside the cell. A miRNA mediated gene expression regulation serves as a temporal regulator, allowing the cellular machinery to temporarily 'pause' the translation of mRNA, indicating that the miRNA-mRNA interactions may be important for governing the optimal usage of cell volume.

Deep RNA sequencing reveals the dynamic regulation of miRNA, lncRNAs, and mRNAs in osteosarcoma tumorigenesis and pulmonary metastasis

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common pediatric malignant bone tumor, and occurrence of pulmonary metastasis generally causes a rapid and fatal outcome. Here we aimed to provide clues for exploring the mechanism of tumorigenesis and pulmonary metastasis for OS by comprehensive analysis of microRNA (miRNA), long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), and mRNA expression in primary OS and OS pulmonary metastasis. In this study, deep sequencing with samples from primary OS (n = 3), pulmonary metastatic OS (n = 3), and normal controls (n = 3) was conducted and differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs), lncRNAs (DElncRNAs), and mRNAs (DEmRNAs) between primary OS and normal controls as well as pulmonary metastatic and primary OS were identified. A total of 65 DEmiRNAs, 233 DElncRNAs, and 1405 DEmRNAs were obtained between primary OS and normal controls; 48 DEmiRNAs, 50 DElncRNAs, and 307 DEmRNAs were obtained between pulmonary metastatic and primary OS. Then, the target DEmRNAs and DElncRNAs regulated by the same DEmiRNAs were searched and the OS tumorigenesis-related and OS pulmonary metastasis-related competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks were constructed, respectively. Based on these ceRNA networks and Venn diagram analysis, we obtained 3 DEmiRNAs, 15 DElncRNAs, and 100 DEmRNAs, and eight target pairs including miR-223-5p/(CLSTN2, AC009951.1, LINC01705, AC090673.1), miR-378b/(ALX4, IGSF3, SULF1), and miR-323b-3p/TGFBR3 were involved in both tumorigenesis and pulmonary metastasis of OS. The TGF-β superfamily co-receptor TGFBR3, which is regulated by miR-323b-3p, acts as a tumor suppressor in OS tumorigenesis and acts as a tumor promoter in pulmonary metastatic OS via activation of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) program.In conclusion, the OS transcriptome (miRNA, lncRNA, and mRNA) is dynamically regulated. These analyses might provide new clues to uncover the molecular mechanisms and signaling networks that contribute to OS progression, toward patient-tailored and novel-targeted treatments.

MicroRNA‑433 reduces cell proliferation and invasion in non‑small cell lung cancer via directly targeting E2F transcription factor 3

MicroRNAs (miRNA/miRs) have been associated with the initiation and progression of non‑small‑cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Hence, a comprehensive understanding of the association between dysregulated miRNAs and NSCLC may contribute to the identification of novel therapeutic methods for patients with NSCLC. MiRNA‑433 (miR‑433) has been reported to be dysregulated in numerous types of human cancers; however, its expression pattern, biological roles and associated mechanisms in NSCLC require further investigation. The present study aimed to detect miR‑433 expression and determine its roles and underlying molecular mechanisms in NSCLC. In the present study, reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction revealed that miR‑433 was significantly downregulated in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. This decreased miR‑433 expression was strongly associated with the tumor node metastasis stage and lymph node metastasis of patients with NSCLC. Cell Counting kit‑8 and cell invasion assays revealed that the resumption of miR‑433 expression decreased the proliferation and invasion of NSCLC cells. Bioinformatics analysis predicted E2F transcription factor 3 (E2F3) as a potential target of miR‑433. Luciferase reporter assay, RT‑qPCR and western blot analysis further demonstrated that E2F3 was a direct target of miR‑433 in NSCLC. E2F3 downregulation induced by small interfering RNA exhibited inhibitory effects similar to those of miR‑433 overexpression in NSCLC cells, and the restored E2F3 expression counteracted the suppressive effects on NSCLC cells induced by miR‑433 overexpression. Therefore, miR‑433 may inhibit the progression of NSCLC, at least in part, by targeting E2F3. The present study indicated that miR‑433 may be investigated as an innovative candidate target for the therapy of patients with this fatal disease.