Circulating miR-451a levels as a potential biomarker to predict the prognosis of patients with multiple myeloma

Non-coding RNAs and exosomal ncRNAs in multiple myeloma: An emphasis on molecular pathways

One of the most common hematological malignancies is multiple myeloma (MM) that its mortality and morbidity have increased. The incidence rate of MM is suggested to be higher in Europe and various kinds of therapeutic strategies including stem cell transplantation. However, MM treatment is still challenging and gene therapy has been shown to be promising. The non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) including miRNAs, lncRNAs and circRNAs are considered as key players in initiation, development and progression of MM. In the present review, the role of ncRNAs in MM progression and drug resistance is highlighted to provide new insights for future experiments for their targeting and treatment of MM. The miRNAs affect proliferation and invasion of MM cells, and targeting tumor-promoting miRNAs can induce apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, and reduces proliferation of MM cells. Furthermore, miRNA regulation is of importance for modulating metastasis and chemotherapy response of tumor cells. The lncRNAs exert the same function and determine proliferation, migration and therapy response of MM cells. Notably, lncRNAs mainly target miRNAs in regulating MM progression. The circRNAs also target different molecular pathways in regulating MM malignancy that miRNAs are the most well-known ones. Furthermore, clinical application of ncRNAs in MM is discussed.

Curcuminoids Modulated the IL-6/JAK/STAT3 Signaling Pathway in LoVo and HT-29 Colorectal Cancer Cells

BACKGROUND

Curcuminoids, including curcumin, desmethoxycurcumin, and bisdesmethoxycurcumin, are natural polyphenolic compounds that exhibit various biological properties, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities. Dysregulation of the interleukin (IL)-6-mediated Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (JAK/STAT3) signaling pathway is closely associated with the development of colorectal cancer (CRC).

METHODS

Here, we have evaluated the modulation of the IL-6/JAK/STAT3 pathway of curcumin, desmethoxycurcumin, and bisdesmethoxycurcumin in LoVo and HT-29 colorectal cancer cells with a single molecular array (Simoa), western blot analysis, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and pathway analysis system.

RESULTS

The study showed that curcuminoids suppressed the amount of IL-6 in LoVo and HT-29 colorectal cancer cells. Meanwhile, curcuminoids inhibited the expression of inflammation regulator-related microRNA (miRNA). We also found that the expression of total STAT3 was downregulated by curcuminoids. Moreover, the pathway analysis system showed that curcuminoids inactivated the JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway. Taken together, we demonstrated that the anti-cancer activities of curcuminoids against colorectal cancer are due to the modulation of the IL-6/JAK/STAT3 cascade.

CONCLUSION

Curcuminoids could be a promising anti-cancer agent for the treatment of human colorectal cancer.

miR-139-5p and miR-451a as a Diagnostic Biomarker in LUSC

Background

Lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) is a type of lung cancer that originates from segmental or subsegmental bronchial mucosa. There is evidence that miRNA plays an important role in the occurrence and progression of tumors.

Methods

In this study, plasma samples of patients with early LUSC and healthy volunteers were subjected to miRNA sequencing, and the levels of differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) in LUSC tissues were analyzed using R language. Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier (K-M) survival curve analyses were performed to determine the relationship between DEMs and prognosis in LUSC, and PCR method was verified for the plasma expression level of DEMs in patients with LUSC. The levels of CYFRA21-1 and SCC-Ag in plasma were measured, and area under curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of the DEMs.

Results

A total of 21 DEMs were screened out by sequencing. The expression levels of DEMs in tissue samples in the TCGA database were analyzed, and four DEMs with consistent expression levels were further screened from plasma and tissue samples. Regression analysis and K-M curve were performed to select two DEMs (miR-139-5p, miR-451a) that were correlated with the prognosis. PCR verification results showed that the levels of miR-451a and miR-139-5p were low in patients, and the level of miR-139-5p in late stages III & IV with the patients of LUSC was higher than that in stages I & II. The AUC values of the four indicators (SCC-Ag, CYFRA21-1, miR-451a and miR-139-5p) in the diagnosis of LUSC, early and late cases were 0.884, 0.935 and 0.778, respectively.

Conclusion

The detection of miR-139-5p and miR-451a levels in plasma has a certain potential in the non-invasive diagnosis, especially in patients with early stages of LUSC.

Liquid biopsy: an evolving paradigm for the biological characterisation of plasma cell disorders

Liquid biopsies-a source of circulating cell-free nucleic acids, proteins and extracellular vesicles-are currently being explored for the quantitative and qualitative characterisation of the tumour genome and as a mode of non-invasive therapeutic monitoring in cancer. Emerging data suggest that liquid biopsies might offer a potentially simple, non-invasive, repeatable strategy for diagnosis, prognostication and therapeutic decision making in a genetically heterogeneous disease like multiple myeloma (MM), with particular applicability in subsets of patients where conventional markers of disease burden may be less informative. In this review, we describe the emerging utility of the evaluation of circulating tumour DNA, extracellular RNA, cell-free proteins and metabolites and extracellular vesicles in MM.

The microRNA-451a/chromosome segregation 1-like axis suppresses cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and induces apoptosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

MicroRNA-451a (miR-451a) has been implicated in the initiation and progression of multiple cancers. However, the regulatory mechanisms underlying its function in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) are poorly understood. Thus, we investigated in detail the role of the microRNA-451a/chromosome segregation 1-like (miR-45a/CSE1L) axis and its regulatory mechanism in NPC. We examined the levels of miR-451a and CSE1L in NPC, and assessed the effects of miR-451a and CSE1L on NPC by cell functional experiments. Furthermore, we elucidated the direct regulatory effect of miR-451a on CSE1L by the luciferase reporter assay, RNA pull-down assay, and RNA immunoprecipitation and validated our observations by calculating the Pearson's correlation coefficient. We found that miR-451a was down-regulated in NPC cells, and its over-expression attenuated cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, and tumor growth in 5-8 F and SUNE-1 cells and promoted apoptosis. Moreover, CSE1L was the direct gene target of miR-451a, and its over-expression abrogated miR-451a-dependent inhibition of malignancy in 5-8 F and SUNE-1 cells. The Pearson's correlation coefficient indicated a negative correlation between CSE1L and miR-451a. miR-451a serves as a tumor suppressor and targets CSE1L. miR-451a suppresses CSE1L expression, thereby reducing proliferation, invasion, and migration and increasing apoptosis of NPC cells.