Effects of cisatracurium on epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Exosomal miR-4800-3p Aggravates the Progression of Hepatocellular Carcinoma via Regulating the Hippo Signaling Pathway by Targeting STK25

Background

Emerging evidence has shown that exosome microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, the influences of miR-4800-3p on the progression of HCC were explored.

Materials and Methods

The expression of miR-4800-3p in the exosome derived by transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1)-treated HCC cells and the serum exosome isolated from HCC patients were identified by real-time PCR. The effects of TGF-β1 and the influences of Huh7-secreted exosomes and the effects of miR-4800-3p combined with/without STK25 on cell functions were explored using the EdU assay cloning experiments, wound healing assay, and Transwell assay. The corresponding molecular mechanisms were further detected using Western blot and real-time PCR assays. The combination of miR-4800-3p and STK25 was verified by the dual-luciferase and RNA pulldown assays. The influences of miR-4800-3p on the growth and epithelial–mesenchymal transformation (EMT) of implanted tumors were tested in vivo and further confirmed by Western blot.

Results

The miR-4800-3p expression was highly expressed in both exosomes derived by TGF-β1-treated HCC cells and the serum exosomes of HCC patients. In the cases of treatment with both Huh7-derived exosomes, the level of miR-4800-3p expression was highest, and the treatment of TGF-β1 could greatly promote the proliferation, stemness, migration, and invasion of HCC cells via upregulating the markers of stemness and EMT, including CD44, CD133, OCT4, N-cadherin, E-cadherin, and ZO-1. Similar results could be obtained when miR-4800-3p was overexpressed in HCC cells. Furthermore, downregulation of STK25 expression, a direct target gene of miR-4800-3p, could greatly rescue the malignant biological behaviors aggravated by overexpression of miR-4800-3p. This was achieved by suppressing the expression of CD44, CD133, OCT4, N-cadherin, and PCNA and activating the Hippo pathway while increasing E-cadherin and ZO-1. Similar results were also obtained in vivo that knockdown of miR-4800-3p expression suppressed tumor growth induced by Huh7-derived exosomes by mediating the EMT markers and the Hippo signaling pathway.

Conclusion

Exosomal miR-4800-3p could accelerate HCC development by regulating the Hippo signal by targeting STK25, which could be used as a new therapeutic target for HCC treatment.

Long non‑coding RNA PITPNA‑AS1 silencing suppresses proliferation, metastasis and epithelial‑mesenchymal transition in non‑small cell lung cancer cells by targeting microRNA‑32‑5p

Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer and has a high mortality rate, worldwide. The major histopathological subtype is non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of long non-coding (lnc) RNA PITPNA antisense RNA 1 (PITPNA-AS1) in NSCLC and elucidate its potential mechanisms. The expression of PITPNA-AS1 was determined in several NSCLC cell lines. Following PITPNA-AS1-silencing, cell proliferation, invasion and migration were evaluated using Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation, Transwell assay and wound healing assays, respectively. The expression levels of proliferation-, migration- and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-associated proteins were examined using immunofluorescence assay or western blot analysis. A luciferase reporter assay was conducted to verify the potential interaction between PITPNA-AS1 and microRNA(miR)-32-5p. Subsequently, rescue assays were performed to investigate the effects of PITPNA-AS1 and miR-32-5p on NSCLC progression. The results demonstrated that PITPNA-AS1 was highly expressed in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. It was found that PITPNA-AS1 silencing inhibited the proliferation, invasion and migration of NSCLC cells. Furthermore, the protein expression of E-cadherin was upregulated, while the expression levels N-cadherin and vimentin were downregulated. The luciferase reporter assay confirmed that miR-32-5p was a direct target of PITPNA-AS1. The rescue experiments suggested that a miR-32-5p inhibitor significantly reversed the inhibitory effects of PITPNA-AS1 silencing on proliferation, invasion, migration and EMT in NSCLC cells. Collectively, the present results demonstrated that PITPNA-AS1 silencing could suppress the progression of NSCLC by targeting miR-32-5p, suggesting a promising biomarker in NSCLC diagnosis and treatment.

Possible involvement of TGF‑β‑SMAD‑mediated epithelial‑mesenchymal transition in pro‑metastatic property of PAX6

Paired box 6 (PAX6) is a transcription factor that has oncogenic features. In breast cancer, PAX6 facilitates tumor progression; however, the underlying mechanism is largely unknown. The majority of breast cancer-related mortalities are associated with metastasis of cancer cells. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the role of PAX6 in breast tumor metastasis. PAX6 was stably overexpressed in breast cancer cells to perform tumor migration and metastasis assays in vitro and in vivo. In addition, the expression of PAX6 and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β)-SMAD signaling associated proteins on human breast cancer tissue array, as well as key factors involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were assayed to explore the mechanism underlying metastasis of breast cancer cells. The expression levels of PAX6 were demonstrated to be increased in human breast cancer tissues and associated with poor clinical outcomes. Overexpression of PAX6 markedly promoted metastasis. Further investigation revealed that PAX6 overexpression increased TGF-β-SMAD signaling pathway and induced EMT. These results suggested that highly expressed PAX6 led to EMT through TGF-β-SMAD signaling pathway, thereby promoting cell metastasis and ultimately affecting survival in patients with breast cancer. Taken together, findings indicated that PAX6 may serve as a therapeutic target for the clinical treatment of breast cancer and the underlying mechanism could be used to overcome metastasis of cancer cells.