Identification of circRNA and mRNA expression profiles and functional networks of vascular tissue in lipopolysaccharide‐induced sepsis

Sepsis is the most common cause of death in intensive care units. This study investigated the circular RNA (circRNA) and mRNA expression profiles and functional networks of the aortic tissue in sepsis. We established a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐induced rat sepsis model. High‐throughput sequencing was performed on the aorta tissue to identify differentially expressed (DE) circRNAs and mRNAs, which were validated by real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‐qPCR). Bioinformatic analysis was carried out and coding and non‐coding co‐expression (CNC) and competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory networks were constructed to investigate the mechanisms. In total, 373 up‐regulated and 428 down‐regulated circRNAs and 2063 up‐regulated and 2903 down‐regulated mRNAs were identified. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses of mRNAs showed that the down‐regulated genes were mainly enriched in the process of energy generation. CNC and ceRNA regulatory networks were constructed with seven DE circRNAs. The results of functional enrichment analysis of CNC target genes revealed the important role of circRNAs in inflammatory response. The ceRNA network also highlighted the significant enrichment in calcium signalling pathway. Significant alterations in circRNAs and mRNAs were observed in the aortic tissue of septic rats. In addition, CNC and ceRNA networks were established.     

非编码RNA与病毒性心肌炎

病毒性心肌炎(Viral myocarditis,VMC)是一种由病毒感染所引起的以心肌细胞炎症为特征的疾病。由于病毒性心肌炎的发病机制尚未完全研究清楚,因此该病的诊断及治疗对于临床医生来说仍具有极大的挑战性。非编码RNAs (Non-coding RNAs,ncRNAs)是一类不具有编码蛋白质功能的RNA,越来越多的研究表明ncRNAs参与到调控VMC的发生和发展过程中,这可能成为VMC的治疗或诊断的新研究靶点。文中对近3年来关于ncRNAs在VMC的发病机制及诊断中可能发挥的作用进行了综述。     

子宫内膜癌中的lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA网络的整合分析

子宫内膜癌(uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma, UCEC)是危害女性健康的癌症之一,但其发生发展机制尚不完全清楚。基因的异常表达在细胞癌变过程中发挥着重要的作用。本研究利用生物信息学方法对UCEC中异常表达的基因进行网络调控分析,为UCEC的机制研究及预后治疗提供理论依据。首先,利用"limma"包筛选得到差异表达的RNA分子;接着,利用R软件中的"GDCRNATools"包构建lncRNA-miRNA-mRNAceRNA网络;最后,利用DAVID(TheDatabasefor Annotation,Visualization and Integrated Discovery)、R软件中的"survival"包、MCODE(Molecular COmplex Detection)插件、StarBase数据库等对ceRNA网络中的RNA分子进行综合分析。结果显示,在UCEC中,我们鉴定了1 319个mRNA、68个lncRNA及100个miRNA为差异表达的RNA分子。同时,利用这些UCEC中的差异表达RNA分子,成功构建了ceRNA网络,结果表明,HCG11、LINC00958、LINC00667、MAGI2-AS3和AC093010.3可能具有ceRNA的功能。通过进一步对该网络成员的分析,结果发现,该网络中的mRNA分子聚集于内皮细胞增殖、细胞骨架和锌离子结合负调控等生物学过程中。生存分析显示,hsa-miR-449a、LINC00958、PKIA和DPYSL2等19个差异表达的RNA分子与UCEC患者预后显著相关。最后,利用MCODE插件对ceRNA网络进行筛选,共获得一个子网络,其成员分别是LINC00667、hsa-miR-449a、hsa-miR-34a-5p和RECK。该研究结果提示,在UCEC的发生发展中存在lncRNA、miRNA和mRNA的差异表达,并且这些RNA分子之间存在ceRNA网络模式的调控,其中一些关键分子与患者的预后相关,这将为进一步研究与理解UCEC的发病机制及预后提供理论依据。     

Expression profiles and potential roles of transfer RNA-derived small RNAs in atherosclerosis

Knowledge regarding the relationship between the molecular mechanisms underlying atherosclerosis (AS) and transfer RNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs) is limited. This study illustrated the expression profile of tsRNAs, thus exploring its roles in AS pathogenesis. Small RNA sequencing was performed with four atherosclerotic arterial and four healthy subject samples. Using bioinformatics, the protein-protein interaction network and cellular experiments were constructed to predict the enriched signalling pathways and regulatory roles of tsRNAs in AS. Of the total 315 tsRNAs identified to be dysregulated in the AS group, 131 and 184 were up-regulated and down-regulated, respectively. Interestingly, the pathway of the differentiated expression of tsRNAs in cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) was implicated to be closely associated with AS. Particularly, tRF-Gly-GCC might participate in AS pathogenesis via regulating cell adhesion, proliferation, migration and phenotypic transformation in HUVECs and VSMCs. In conclusion, tsRNAs might help understand the molecular mechanisms of AS better. tRF-Gly-GCC may be a promising target for suppressing abnormal vessels functions, suggesting a novel strategy for preventing the progression of atherosclerosis.     

Understanding the function of the tumor microenvironment,and compounds from marine organisms for breast cancer therapy

The pathology and physiology of breast cancer(BC),including metastasis,and drug resistance,is driven by multiple signaling pathways in the tumor microenvironment(TME),which hamper antitumor immunity.Recently,long non-coding RNAs have been reported to mediate pathophysiological developments such as metastasis as well as immune suppression within the TME.Given the complex biology of BC,novel personalized therapeutic strategies that address its diverse pathophysiologies are needed to improve clinical outcomes.In this review,we describe the advances in the biology of breast neoplasia,including cellular and molecular biology,heterogeneity,and TME.We review the role of novel molecules such as long non-coding RNAs in the pathophysiology of BC.Finally,we provide an up-to-date overview of anticancer compounds extracted from marine microorganisms,crustaceans,and fishes and their synergistic effects in combination with other anticancer drugs.Marine compounds are a new discipline of research in BC and offer a wide range of anti-cancer effects that could be harnessed to target the various pathways involved in BC development,thus assisting current therapeutic regimens.     

Hsp90 facilitates accurate loading of precursor piRNAs into PIWI proteins

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) defend the genome against transposon activity in animal gonads. The Hsp90 chaperone machinery has been implicated in the piRNA pathway, but its exact role remains obscure. Here, we examined the effect of 17-N-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG), an Hsp90-specific inhibitor, on the piRNA pathway. In the silkworm ovary-derived BmN4 cells, 17-AAG treatment reduced the level of piRNAs and PIWI proteins. In vitro, the 5′-nucleotide preference upon precursor piRNA loading was compromised by 17-AAG, whereas 3′-end trimming and 2′-O-methylation were unaffected. Our data highlight a role of Hsp90 in accurate loading of precursor piRNAs into PIWI proteins.     

Transgenerational maintenance of transgene body CG but not CHG and CHH methylation

In plants, RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) can target both transgene promoters and coding regions/gene bodies. RdDM leads to methylation of cytosines in all sequence contexts: CG, CHG and CHH. Upon segregation of the RdDM trigger, at least CG methylation can be maintained at promoter regions in the progeny. So far, it is not clear whether coding region methylation can be also maintained. We showed that the body of Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) transgene constructs became densely de novo methylated at CG, CHG and CHH sites upon PSTVd infection. In this study, we demonstrate that in viroid-free progeny plants, asymmetric CHH and CHG methylation was completely lost. However, symmetric CG methylation was stably maintained for at least two generations. Importantly, the presence of transgene body methylation did not lead to an increase of dimethylation of histone H3 lysine 9 or a decrease of acetylation of H3. Our data supports the view that CG methylation can be maintained not only in promoters but also in the body of transgenes. They further suggest that maintenance of methylation may occur independently of tested chromatin modifications.     

LncRNAs as potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in gastric cancer: A novel approach to personalized medicine

Gastric cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death with 5-year survival rate of about 30–35%. Since early detection is associated with decreased mortality, identification of novel biomarkers for early diagnosis and proper management of patients with the best response to therapy is urgently needed. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) due to their high specificity, easy accessibility in a noninvasive manner, as well as their aberrant expression under different pathological and physiological conditions, have received a great attention as potential diagnostic, prognostic, or predictive biomarkers. They may also serve as targets for treating gastric cancer. In this review, we highlighted the role of lncRNAs as tumor suppressors or oncogenes that make them potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of gastric cancer. Relatively, lncRNAs such as H19, HOTAIR, UCA1, PVT1, tissue differentiation-inducing nonprotein coding, and LINC00152 could be potential diagnostic and prognostic markers in patients with gastric cancer. Also, the impact of lncRNAs such as ecCEBPA, MLK7-AS1, TUG1, HOXA11-AS, GAPLINC, LEIGC, multidrug resistance-related and upregulated lncRNA, PVT1 on gastric cancer epigenetic and drug resistance as well as their potential as therapeutic targets for personalized medicine was discussed.