Association between the overexpression of PBOV1 and the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Immune signature of gene expression pattern shared by autism spectrum disorder and Huntington's disease

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Huntington's disease (HD) are complex neurological conditions with unclear causes and limited treatments, affecting individuals, families, and society. Despite ASD and HD representing two opposing stages of neuronal development and degeneration, they share similar clinical-pathological features in motor function. In this study, we leveraged transcriptomic data from the prefrontal cortex available in public databases to identify shared transcriptional characteristics of ASD and HD. Differential expression analysis revealed that the majority of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were up-regulated in ASD carriers, whereas most DEGs were down-regulated in HD carriers. Among the DEGs shared between both diseases, three out of seven protein-coding genes were related to the immune system. Furthermore, we identified two enriched pathways shared between ASD and HD DEGs. The gene interaction network analysis unveiled four hub genes shared by both diseases, all of which are associated with immune functions. The findings suggest a shared gene expression pattern in the prefrontal cortex of people with ASD and HD, closely linked to the immune system. These findings will contribute to exploring the biological mechanisms underlying the shared phenotypes of these two diseases from an immunological perspective.

The Role of Small Interfering RNAs in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a primary liver cancer with high mortality, is the most common malignant tumor in the world. Currently, the effect of routine treatment is poor, especially for this kind of cancer with strong heterogeneity and late detection. In the past decades, the researches of gene therapy for HCC based on small interfering RNA have blossomed everywhere. This is a promising therapeutic strategy, but the application of siRNA is limited by the discovery of effective molecular targets and the delivery system targeting HCC. As the deepening of research, scientists have developed many effective delivery systems and found more new therapeutic targets.

CONCLUSIONS

This paper mainly reviews the research on HCC treatment based on siRNA in recent years, and summarizes and classifies the HCC treatment targets and siRNA delivery systems.

MicroRNA-27a-5p Inhibits Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion and Promotes Apoptosis of Wilms' Tumor Cell by Targeting PBOV1

Wilms' tumor is the most common type of renal tumor in children. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that play crucial regulatory roles in tumorigenesis. We aimed to study the expression profile and function of miR-27a-5p in Wilms' tumor. miR-27a-5p expression was downregulated in human Wilms' tumor tissues. Functionally, overexpression of miR-27a-5p promoted cell apoptosis of Wilms' tumor cells. Furthermore, upregulated miR-27a-5p delayed xenograft Wilms' tumor tumorigenesis in vivo. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that miR-27a-5p directly targeted the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of PBOV1, and luciferase reporter assay confirmed the interaction between miR-27a-5p and PBOV1. The function of PBOV1 in Wilms' tumor was evaluated in vitro, and knockdown of PBOV1 dampened cell migration. In addition, overexpression of PBOV1 antagonized the tumor-suppressive effect of miR-27a-5p in Wilms' tumor cells. Collectively, our findings reveal the regulatory axis of miR-27a-5p/PBOV1 in Wilms' tumor, and miR-27a-5p might serve as a novel therapeutic target in Wilms' tumor.

Strategies for Targeting Gene Therapy in Cancer Cells With Tumor-Specific Promoters

Cancer is the second cause of death worldwide, surpassed only by cardiovascular diseases, due to the lack of early diagnosis, and high relapse rate after conventional therapies. Chemotherapy inhibits the rapid growth of cancer cells, but it also affects normal cells with fast proliferation rate. Therefore, it is imperative to develop other safe and more effective treatment strategies, such as gene therapy, in order to significantly improve the survival rate and life expectancy of patients with cancer. The aim of gene therapy is to transfect a therapeutic gene into the host cells to express itself and cause a beneficial biological effect. However, the efficacy of the proposed strategies has been insufficient for delivering the full potential of gene therapy in the clinic. The type of delivery vehicle (viral or non viral) chosen depends on the desired specificity of the gene therapy. The first gene therapy trials were performed with therapeutic genes driven by viral promoters such as the CMV promoter, which induces non-specific toxicity in normal cells and tissues, in addition to cancer cells. The use of tumor-specific promoters over-expressed in the tumor, induces specific expression of therapeutic genes in a given tumor, increasing their localized activity. Several cancer- and/or tumor-specific promoters systems have been developed to target cancer cells. This review aims to provide up-to-date information concerning targeting gene therapy with cancer- and/or tumor-specific promoters including cancer suppressor genes, suicide genes, anti-tumor angiogenesis, gene silencing, and gene-editing technology, as well as the type of delivery vehicle employed. Gene therapy can be used to complement traditional therapies to provide more effective treatments.

Prognostic value of ATAD3 gene cluster expression in hepatocellular carcinoma

ATPase family AAA domain-containing protein 3 (ATAD3) is a mitochondrial membrane-bound ATPase that is involved in a number of cellular processes and is linked with the progression of various types of malignancies. In primates, the ATAD3 gene cluster contains ATAD3A, ATAD3B and ATAD3C. The association between ATAD3 gene cluster expression and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unknown. Therefore, the present study examined the prognostic significance of ATAD3 gene cluster expression in patients with HCC. Box plots of expression differences between HCC and normal liver tissues for the ATAD3 family genes were obtained from the online tool Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis. Data from 360 patients with HCC in The Cancer Genome Atlas database were analyzed. Kaplan-Meier analysis and a Cox regression model were used to calculate median survival time (MST) and overall survival (OS). ATAD3A and ATAD3B expression levels were higher in HCC compared with normal liver tissues (P<0.05). However, ATAD3C expression was significantly decreased in HCC tissues compared with normal liver tissues (P<0.05). ATAD3A [P=0.017, hazard ratio (HR)=1.54, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.08-2.20; adjusted P=0.032; adjusted HR=1.52; 95% CI=1.04-2.22] and ATAD3B (P=0.026, HR=1.49, 95% CI=1.05-2.13; adjusted P=0.031, adjusted HR=1.52, 95% CI=1.04-2.21) expression levels were significantly associated with OS. A joint-effects analysis revealed that patients with high ATAD3A and ATAD3B expression had reduced OS rates compared with patients with low ATAD3A and ATAD3B expression (P=0.007, HR=1.77, 95% CI=1.16-2.69; adjusted P=0.013, adjusted HR=1.76, 95% CI=1.13-2.75). In conclusion, ATAD3A and ATAD3B may serve as potential prognostic biomarkers for patients with HCC.