Vimentin在肿瘤转移中的作用及药物研究进展

波形蛋白(vimentin)是存在于间充质细胞中的一种中间丝蛋白,近些年研究显示vimentin与肿瘤发生、转移密切相关。波形蛋白调节细胞骨架蛋白、细胞粘附分子等蛋白间的相互作用,参与肿瘤细胞和肿瘤相关内皮细胞、巨噬细胞的粘附、迁移、侵袭和细胞信号转导。其高度动态的聚合解聚间的平衡和其复杂的磷酸化形式可能是vimentin参与肿瘤转移过程及细胞-细胞间相互作用的调节机制。Vimentin在肿瘤中的功能提示,其可能是抗肿瘤转移治疗药物研究的新靶点。     

lncRNA在肿瘤中的表达及作用机制

长链非编码RNA(long non-coding RNAs,lncRNAs)是一类转录本长度大于200 nt,不具有蛋白编码功能的非编码RNA.近年来,随着高通量测序技术的发展,越来越多的功能性lncRNAs逐渐被发现,且已成为研究的热点.研究发现,lncRNAs可以作为致癌或抑癌基因参与肿瘤的发生发展.通过比对肿瘤细胞和正常细胞的表达谱显示,多种lncRNAs在不同类型肿瘤中异常表达.除了表型上的研究,目前已有部分报道深入研究了lncRNAs在肿瘤中的作用机制.例如,lncRNAs与肿瘤细胞凋亡、转移及耐药等过程密切相关.此外,在肿瘤患者的临床常规检验中检测到lncRNAs,提示其能够作为一种潜在的肿瘤诊断和预后因子. lncRNAs有望成为新型肿瘤标志物和肿瘤治疗的靶点,用于诊断、治疗、预测预后.本文将通过对lncRNAs在肿瘤中的作用及其分子机制进行综述.     

miR-489在肿瘤中作用的研究进展

mi RNA是一类长度约为22 nt的内源性小分子非编码RNA,几乎参与了机体生命活动的所有过程。近年来研究发现,多种肿瘤组织中mi R-489表达下调,其通过转录后抑制靶基因,如HER2、AKT3、SPIN1等的表达,参与肿瘤细胞的增殖、凋亡、侵袭和转移等多种病理过程,并与肿瘤的耐药及发生、发展密切相关。因此,了解mi R-489的表达、调控及其在肿瘤等疾病中的作用及机制,可为其进一步的临床应用奠定基础。本文就mi R-489与恶性肿瘤关系的研究进展进行综述。     

MiR-133与恶性肿瘤关系的研究进展

微小Rn A-133(micro Rn A-133,mi R-133)是一种在骨骼肌和心肌特异表达的非编码小Rn A,其在心肌肥大等多种肌源性疾病中发挥重要作用。近年研究发现,多种肿瘤组织存在mi R-133的表达紊乱,其通过转录后抑制靶基因,如EGFR、i GF-1R、MMPs等的表达参与肿瘤细胞的增殖、凋亡、侵袭和转移等多种病理过程,并与肿瘤的发生发展密切相关。了解mi R-133的表达、调控及其在肿瘤等疾病中的作用及机制,可为其进一步的临床应用奠定基础。现就mi R-133与恶性肿瘤关系的研究进展进行综述。     

转录因子KLF11生物学功能研究进展

KLF11是Kruppel样转录因子家族中的成员,在胰腺、肌肉、肝脏等多种组织中广泛表达,参与调控细胞增殖、糖脂代谢等多种重要的生理及病理过程。研究表明,KLF11在胰腺癌、肺癌等多种肿瘤中的表达量明显下降,其抑癌作用亦明显降低,这种异常表达参与了肿瘤的发生发展过程。人群及动物模型研究发现,KLF11能够调控胰岛素基因的表达,与青少年发病型成年糖尿病(maturity onset diabetes in young,MODY)密切相关。此外,KLF11还调控脂质氧化与转运,并参与白色脂肪的棕色化过程。本文就其生物学功能研究进展作一综述。     

黏附分子在肿瘤发生及发展中的作用

细胞黏附分子是以配体和受体相结合的形式,介导细胞与细胞间或细胞与基质间相互作用的一类分子,参与机体的多种重要生理和病理过程.近年来,在对肿瘤发生和发展的研究中发现,黏附分子可通过多种途径影响肿瘤的生长、浸润及转移过程.因此.对黏附分子在肿瘤发生和发展中作用及机制的深入研究,可为肿瘤早期诊断提供重要的分子指标和发现新的治疗靶标.并为进而形成临床诊疗新策略提供重要理论支持.现就几种重要黏附分子在肿瘤生长与转移中的作用进行综述.     

神经导向因子在肿瘤中的作用及其机制

神经导向因子Netrins作为分泌蛋白与膜结合蛋白,在神经细胞迁移、分化及凋亡等生物学过程中发挥重要的作用。自发现以来,Netrins被认为负责指导中枢神经系统组织形态的发育,随后发现它也广泛参与一些非神经组织的黏附、迁移和分化等生理过程,如血管生成、淋巴管形成和炎症等。最近的研究表明,Netrins也参与调控肿瘤的发生与发展,在结直肠癌、胰腺导管腺癌等多种肿瘤组织中发挥重要的调控作用。由于Netrins的功能多样性且通过结合不同受体在肿瘤组织中发挥不同的生物学效应,其在肿瘤中的具体作用机制尚不清楚。文中结合课题组目前的实验研究进展,阐述了近年来关于Netrins的研究,特别是在肿瘤领域取得的最新研究结果,总结了其作用机制,并对其研究及应用前景进行了展望。     

Hippo通路与肿瘤相关性研究进展

Hippo通路对控制组织器官大小以及细胞增殖、凋亡有着重要的调节作用。研究表明,Yes相关蛋白作为Hippo通路转录共激活因子,参与了肿瘤的发生发展过程,其过表达可促进细胞的恶性转化。研究Hippo通路在癌症发生发展中的作用及机制将为肿瘤的预防和治疗提供新的思路。     

Pinx1表达与端粒酶活性及肿瘤的关系

Pinx1作为端粒酶抑制剂,也是最近发现的一种新型肿瘤抑制因子.通过对内源性端粒酶抑制基因Pinx1与端粒酶、端粒相关蛋白在肿瘤中的表达以及Pinx1在肿瘤演进过程中的作用及临床意义进行一系列的研究,发现肿瘤中Pinx1表达下降与端粒酶活性增高密切相关,且端粒酶活性增高的程度与肿瘤的预后相关.现对近年来Pinx1基因的最新研究进展,特别是该基因表达与端粒酶活性在肿瘤发生、发展中的作用,作一综述和分析.     

长链非编码RNA HULC与消化系统肿瘤的相关性研究及作用机制*

随着全基因组测序技术的快速发展,越来越多的长链非编码RNA(long noncoding RNA, lncRNA)分子被发现,逐渐成为新的研究热点。LncRNA HULC(highly up-regulated in liver cancer)是一种在肝癌中呈异常上调表达的长链非编码RNA,并参与调控了肝癌细胞增殖、抗凋亡、侵袭及上皮间质化等诸多肿瘤恶性生物学行为。随着研究的不断深入,发现HULC于其他消化系统肿瘤(胃癌、胰腺癌、结肠癌等)中同样呈现上调表达,可通过不同作用机制调控肿瘤的发生发展,并有望成为新型肿瘤诊断标志物和精准分子治疗的靶点。本文就近年来LncRNA HULC与消化系统肿瘤的相关性研究及其作用机制进行综述。     

Vimentin affects the mobility and invasiveness of prostate cancer cells

A significant proportion of prostate cancer patients treated with curative intent go on to develop advanced disease. At a fundamental biological level, very little is known about what makes the disease aggressive and metastatic. Observational pathology reports and experimental data suggest that epithelial-mesenchymal transition is involved in prostate cancer invasiveness. Here, we investigated vimentin expression of prostate cancer cells, and explored the potential mechanism of vimentin promoting prostate cancer cells invasion. Vimentin expression was not detected in well differentiated tumors or in moderately differentiated tumors, but the majority of poorly differentiated cancers (5/11 with negative bone scan, 11/14 bone with positive scan) and bone metastases (8/8) had high vimentin expression in tumor cells. Downregulation of vimentin expression in PC-3 cells by transfection with antisense-vimentin led to a significant decrease in tumor cells motility and invasive activity. Furthermore, the expression of E-cadherin was inversely associated with expression of vimentin. Our results suggest that vimentin affects prostate cancer cells motility and invasiveness.     

赖氨酸乙酰转移酶5与肿瘤

赖氨酸乙酰转移酶5(KAT5)作为MYST家族中的一员,可通过乙酰化不同底物,参与转录、DNA修复、分化和信号转导等细胞过程。KAT5的作用不可被其他MYST家族成员替代,并且KAT5的敲除可直接导致细胞凋亡,说明KAT5可能位于细胞中生理信号通路的上游,发挥着极其重要且独一无二的作用。因此,KAT5表达量的变化极有可能导致肿瘤的发生发展。过去的研究发现,KAT5在乳腺癌、黑色素瘤、肺癌中表达降低,在这些肿瘤中被认为是抑癌因子。然而,近年来研究发现,KAT5在乳腺癌、肝癌、黑色素瘤、前列腺癌和肺癌等肿瘤中既可高表达又可低表达。在KAT5高表达前提下,KAT5可作为促癌因子发挥促癌作用,而在KAT5低表达的前提下,KAT5又可作为抑癌因子发挥抑癌作用,并随着KAT5进一步表达下降,抑癌作用减弱,从而导致肿瘤的发生发展。此外,KAT5还被发现在骨肉瘤、甲状腺癌、胶质母细胞瘤和结直肠癌等肿瘤中异常表达,且KAT5的异常表达与肿瘤细胞的增殖、转移、凋亡、药物和放疗抵抗性密切相关。因此,KAT5是具有潜力的肿瘤治疗靶点之一。本文根据近些年KAT5在肿瘤中的表达量和在相应表达量下参与的抑癌或促癌信号通路进行综述,希望为肿瘤的治疗与预后监测提供新的启示和参考。     

Role of vimentin in cell migration

Cell migration plays a crucial role in embryonic development, wound healing, regeneration, inflammation, and immune response, as well as in dissemination of malignant tumors. Vimentin is the marker of migrating cells, but its role in cell migration is still unclear. However, recent studies have revealed novel functions for vimentin related to the migration, such as determination of cellular polarity, regulation of cell contact formation, and arrangement and transport of signal proteins involved in cell motility. The review sums up the latest data on vimentin functions and its involvement in molecular mechanisms underlying cell migration. Early studies demonstrated that vimentin expression during embryonic development is associated with cell migration. However, having obtained vimentin knockout mice without apparent impairments in development and ability to reproduce, doubts have appeared if vimentin is required for cell migration during embryonic development. In the present review, we also discuss involvement of vimentin in migration processes at different stages of development and try to resolve current contradictions concerning the role of vimentin in various events of cell migration.     

The Intermediate Filament Vimentin Mediates MicroRNA miR-378 Function in Cellular Self-renewal by Regulating the Expression of the Sox2 Transcription Factor

MicroRNAs are short noncoding RNAs that are implicated in cell self- renewal and cancer development. We show that miR-378 is up-regulated in human cancers and found that tumor cells transfected with miR-378 acquired properties of tumor stem cells, including cell self-renewal. Overexpression of miR-378 enhanced cell survival and colony formation. Isolated from a single-cell colony, the miR-378-expressing cells formed tumors in nude mice at low cell densities. These cells expressed higher levels of miR-378 and formed more and larger spheres and colonies. We found that the miR-378-expressing cells contained a large number of side population cells and could undergo differentiation. Cells transfected with miR-378 expressed increased levels of Sox2. Expression of miR-378 and Sox2 was found correlated significantly in cancer cell lines and in cancer patient specimens. We also observed opposite levels of vimentin in the cancer cell lines and human breast carcinoma specimens. We further demonstrated that vimentin is a target of miR-378, and ectopic transfection of vimentin inhibited Sox2 expression, resulting in decreased cell survival. Silencing vimentin promoted Sox2 expression and cell survival. Our study demonstrates that miR-378 is a regulator of stem cell marker Sox2 by targeting vimentin, which may serve as a new tool in studying the role of stem cells in tumorigenesis.     

Knocking down MiR-15a expression promotes the occurrence and development and induces the EMT of NSCLC cells in vitro

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a major type of lung cancer, with the highest mortality rate in all cancers. For all stages of NSCLC, the five-year survival is less than fifteen percent. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a significant process in tumor occurrence and development, in which microRNAs may play an important role. In many cancers, microRNA-15's family member can act as suppressors or oncogenes of tumors; however, the relation between these microRNAs and EMT in lung cancer remains unclear. According to our study, miR-15a expression decreased in tumor tissues compared with than that in adjacent tissue samples. Knocking down miR-15a expression in NSCLC cells inhibited apoptosis and facilitated cell proliferation and invasion, and. Moreover, down-regulating miR-15a decreased the expression of an EMT-associated protein, E-cadherin, while increased those of vimentin, N-cadherin, and slug.     

A novel matrine derivative WM622 inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma by inhibiting PI3K/AKT signaling pathways

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a unique subtype of head and neck cancer, with tendency to spread to regional lymph nodes and distant organs at early stage. Vimentin, a major cytoskeletal protein constituent of the intermediate filament, plays a critical role in the epithelial–mesenchymal transition. Overexpression of vimentin is considered to be a critical prerequisite for metastasis in numerous human cancers. Therefore, targeting vimentin for cancer therapy has gained a lot of interest. In the present study, we detected vimentin expression in NPC tissues and found that overexpression of vimentin is associated with poor prognosis of NPC patients. Silencing of vimentin in NPC CNE2 cells by RNAi suppresses cells migration and invasion in vitro. However, blocking vimentin did not affect cell proliferation of CNE2 cells. In addition, the in vivo metastatic potential of CNE2 cells transfected with Vimentin shRNA was suppressed in a nude mouse model of pulmonary metastasis. Silencing of Vimentin in CNE2 cells leads to a decrease of microvessel density and VEGF, CD31, MMP2, and MMP9 expressions in pulmonary metastatic tumors. Importantly, we found that it is easier for the tumor cells from the high vimentin-expressing pulmonary metastatic tumors to reinvade the microvessel and to form stable tumor plaques attached to the endothelial cells, which resemble the resource of circulating tumor cells and are very hard to eliminate. However, depletion of vimentin inhibits the formation of vascular tumor plaques. Our findings suggest that RNAi-based vimentin silencing may be a potential and promising anti-metastatic therapeutic strategy for NPC.     

CLDN11在胰腺癌神经浸润动物模型中mRNA水平的表达

目的:神经浸润的发生预示胰腺癌预后不良,疼痛的发生与神经浸润密切相关,癌细胞和神经组织间相互作用、连接及粘附可能参与了神经浸润的发生,Claudins作为组成紧密连接的主要成份,在多种肿瘤中有所表达,本实验拟通过观察其成员CLDN11在体内、体外mRNA水平的表达,探讨CLDN11在胰腺癌神经浸润发病机制中的作用,为其诊断及治疗新方法的探索提供一定的实验依据。方法:通过裸鼠坐骨神经周围注射不同人胰腺癌细胞系的方法建立稳定的胰腺癌神经浸润动物模型,成瘤后检测肿瘤组织中CLDN11 mRNA表达水平的差异。同时检测不同人胰腺癌细胞株中CLDN11 mRNA的表达水平的差异。结果:CLDN11在神经侵犯发生率低的肿瘤中的表达高于神经侵犯发生率高的肿瘤,在正常胰腺组织中无表达。CLDN11的mRNA水平在panc-1细胞株中表达高于Capan-2组。结论:经本实验研究发现CLDN11在PNI发生率高的肿瘤组织及高神经浸润能力的细胞株中表达下调,而在PNI发生率低的肿瘤组织及神经浸润能力低的细胞株中高表达,可以得出在神经浸润发生中,CLDN11的表达受到抑制的结论,由此推断如果过表达CLDN11,有可能阻碍PNI的发生及发展;另外,CLDN11表达的下降也可能预示着PNI的发生及进展,因此CLDN11表达的下降可作为PNI发生的预警信号,也可作为胰腺癌基因治疗的靶点,为提高胰腺癌的早期诊断率、改善胰腺癌的预后提供初步的基础实验依据。     

m^6 A RNA甲基化修饰异常在肿瘤中的作用

N6-甲基腺嘌呤(N6-methyladenosine,m6A)是真核生物信使RNA(messenger RNA,mRNA)含量最多的化学修饰之一。m6A修饰主要由m6A甲基转移酶(methyltransferase)催化,m6A去甲基酶(demethylase)去除,并由m6A结合蛋白(binding protein)识别。它广泛参与调控mRNA剪接、加工、翻译和降解等生命周期的各个阶段,且与肥胖和肿瘤等多种疾病及异常的生理功能相关。近年的研究发现,肿瘤中m6A相关蛋白质(METTL3/14、WTAP、FTO、ALKBH5、YTHDFs)的异常表达,引发m6A甲基化的失调,调控致癌基因和抑癌基因的表达参与肿瘤的发生与发展,并与患者预后不良密切相关。随着RNA免疫沉淀测序技术与高通量测序技术和液相色谱等检测技术的快速发展,有关m6A在肿瘤发生发展中的作用机制研究的进展迅猛,靶向m6A也成为肿瘤临床治疗的新方向。本文重点对m6A RNA甲基化相关因子在癌症发生发展中的作用及机制进行综述,总结m6A RNA甲基化检测技术的最新进展,梳理现有文献报道的脱甲基酶抑制剂大黄酸、甲氯芬那酸2(meclofenamic acid2,MA2)和右旋羟戊二酸(R-2-hydroxyglutarate,R-2HG)等在肿瘤靶向治疗中的运用,为以m6A RNA甲基化为切入点的肿瘤防治研究提供思路与理论参考。     

LINC00461 promotes cell migration and invasion in breast cancer through miR-30a-5p/integrin β3 axis

Mounting evidence has demonstrated that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are dysregulated and implicated in the occurrence and development of a wide range of human malignancies. LINC00461, a novel cancer-related lncRNA, has been reported to be highly expressed and serve as oncogene in glioma; however, its biological role in breast cancer (BC) remains obscure. This study aimed to explore the role of LINC00461 in BC and elucidate the potential molecular mechanisms involved. In the current study, LINC00461 was found to be significantly upregulated in both BC tissues and cell lines. Besides, we found that high LINC00461 expression was associated with TNM stage and differentiation. Furthermore, functional studies demonstrated that LINC00461 expedited BC cell migration and invasion. Notably, LINC00461 was observed to enhance the expression of vimentin and zinc-finger E-box binding homeobox factor 1, suppress the expression of E-cadherin, and promote the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase and AKT signaling pathways. Mechanical investigations revealed that LINC00461 positively modulated integrin β3 (ITGB3) expression as miR-30a-5p sponge in BC cells. Taken together, LINC00461 exerts an oncogenic role in BC through miR-30a-5p/ITGB3 axis. Our data indicate that LINC00461 may be used to be a novel candidate therapeutic target and a valuable diagnostic biomarker for BC.     

Suppressive and Hypermethylated MicroRNAs in the Pathogenesis of Breast Cancer

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in oncogenesis by suppression of proto-oncogenes or tumor suppressive genes. This review presents data of suppressive miRNAs role in the mechanisms of occurrence and development of malignant tumors of breast cancer as the example—that is the most widespread oncopathology in women. Targets and functions of suppressive and antimetastatic miRNAs have been illustrated, as well as for suppressive miRNAs with an oncogenic potential (such as miR-200a, miR-200c) that appears probably owing to the ability of miRNA to interact with a variety of targets depending on the cellular content. Based on the published and the authors’ own data, the role of hypermethylation of promoter regions in inhibition of expression and regulatory function of miRNA genes in breast cancer was characterized. In conclusion, the authors pointed future prospects of clinical application of suppressive miRNAs in diagnostics and treatment of breast cancer.