microRNA-16-5p enhances radiosensitivity through modulating Cyclin D1/E1–pRb–E2F1 pathway in prostate cancer cells

Prostate cancer (CaP) is the second most common cancer in men worldwide in 2012, and radiation therapy is one of the most common definitive treatment options for localized CaP. However, radioresistance is a major challenge for the current radiotherapy, accumulating evidences suggest microRNAs (miRNAs), as an important regulator in cellular ionizing radiation (IR) responses, are closely correlated with radiosensitivity in many cancers. Here, we identified microRNA-16-5p(miR-16-5p) is significantly upregulated in CaP LNCaP cells following IR and can enhance radiosensitivity through modulating Cyclin D1/E1–pRb–E2F1 pathway. To identify the expression profile of miRNAs in CaP cells exposed to IR, we performed human miRNA probe hybridization chip analysis and miR-16-5p was found to be significantly overexpressed in all treatment groups that irradiated with different doses of X-rays and heavy ions (¹²C⁶⁺). Furthermore, overexpression of miR-16-5p suppressed cell proliferation, reduced cell viability, and induced cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase, resulting in enhanced radiosensitivity in LNCaP cells. Additionally, miR-16-5p specifically targeted the Cyclin D1/E1–3′-UTR in LNCaP cells and affected the expression of Cyclin D1/E1 in both mRNA and protein levels. Taken together, miR-16-5p enhanced radiosensitivity of CaP cells, the mechanism may be through modulating Cyclin D1/Cyclin E1/pRb/E2F1 pathway to cause cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase. These findings provided new insight into the correlation between miR-16-5p, cell cycle arrest, and radiosensitivity in CaP, revealed a previously unrecognized function of miR-16-5p–Cyclin D1/E1–pRb–E2F1 regulation in response to IR and may offer an alternative therapy to improve the efficiency of conventional radiotherapy.     

Altered expression of G1/S phase cell cycle regulators in placental mesenchymal stromal cells derived from preeclamptic pregnancies with fetal-placental compromise

Herein, we evaluated whether Placental Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (PDMSCs) derived from normal and Preeclamptic (PE) placentae presented differences in the expression of G1/S-phase regulators p16^INK4A, p18^INK4C, CDK4 and CDK6. Finally, we investigated normal and PE-PDMSCs paracrine effects on JunB, Cyclin D1, p16^INK4A, p18^INK4C, CDK4 and CDK6 expressions in physiological term villous explants.

PDMSCs were isolated from physiological (n = 20) and PE (n = 24) placentae. Passage three normal and PE-PDMSC and conditioned media (CM) were collected after 48h. Physiological villous explants (n = 60) were treated for 72h with normal or PE-PDMSCs CM. Explants viability was assessed by Lactate Dehydrogenase Cytotoxicity assay. Cyclin D1 localization was evaluated by Immuofluorescence (IF) while JunB, Cyclin-D1 p16^INK4A, p18^INK4C, CDK4 and CDK6 levels were assessed by Real Time PCR and Western Blot assay.

We reported significantly increased p16^INK4A and p18^INK4C expression in PE- relative to normal PDMSCs while no differences in CDK4 and CDK6 levels were detected. Explants viability was not affected by normal or PE-PDMSCs CM. Normal PDMSCs CM increased JunB, p16^INK4 and p18^INK4C and decreased Cyclin-D1 in placental tissues. In contrast, PE-PDMSCs CM induced JunB downregulation and Cyclin D1 increase in placental explants. Cyclin D1 IF staining showed that CM treatment targeted mainly the syncytiotrophoblast.

We showed Cyclin D1-p16INK4A/p18INK4C altered pathway in PE-PDMSCs demonstrating an aberrant G1/S phase transition in these pathological cells. The abnormal Cyclin D1-p16INK4A/p18INK4C expression in explants conditioned by PE-PDMSCs media suggest a key contribution of mesenchymal cells to the altered trophoblast cell cycle regulation typical of PE pregnancies with fetal-placental compromise.     

Young patients with colorectal cancer have poor survival in the first twenty months after operation and predictable survival in the medium and long-term: Analysis of survival and prognostic markers

Introduction

Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare, yet potentially aggressive disease. Although literature regarding female breast cancer (FBC) is extensive, little is known about the etiopathogenesis of male breast cancer. Studies from our laboratory show that MBCs have a distinct immunophenotypic profile, suggesting that the etiopathogenesis of MBC is different from FBCs. The aim of this study was to evaluate and correlate the immunohistochemical expression of cell cycle proteins in male breast carcinoma to significant clinico-biological endpoints.

Methods

75 cases of MBC were identified using the records of the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency over 26 years (1970-1996). Cases were reviewed and analyzed for the immunohistochemical expression of PCNA, Ki67, p27, p16, p57, p21, cyclin-D1 and c-myc and correlated to clinico-biological endpoints of tumor size, node status, stage of the disease, and disease free survival (DFS).

Results

Decreased DFS was observed in the majority of tumors that overexpressed PCNA (98%, p = 0.004). The overexpression of PCNA was inversely correlated to the expression of Ki67 which was predominantly negative (78.3%). Cyclin D1 was overexpressed in 83.7% of cases. Cyclin D1 positive tumors were smaller than 2 cm (55.6%, p = 0.005), had a low incidence of lymph node metastasis (38.2%, p = 0.04) and were associated with increased DFS of >150 months (p = 0.04). Overexpression of c-myc (90%) was linked with a higher incidence of node negativity (58.3%, p = 0.006) and increased DFS (p = 0.04). p27 over expression was associated with decreased lymph node metastasis (p = 0.04). P21 and p57 positive tumors were related to decreased DFS (p = 0.04). Though p16 was overexpressed in 76.6%, this did not reach statistical significance with DFS (p = 0.06) or nodal status (p = 0.07).

Conclusion

Aberrant cell cycle protein expression supports our view that these are important pathways involved in the etiopathogenesis of MBC. Tumors with overexpression of Cyclin D1 and c-myc had better outcomes, in contrast to tumors with overexpression of p21, p57, and PCNA with significantly worse outcomes. P27 appears to be a predictive marker for lymph nodal status. Such observation strongly suggests that dysregulation of cell cycle proteins may play a unique role in the initiation and progression of disease in male breast cancer. Such findings open up new avenues for the treatment of MBC as a suitable candidate for novel CDK-based anticancer therapies in the future.     

Cell cycle regulators in bladder cancer: relationship to schistosomiasis

Dysregulation of cell cycle control may lead to genomic instability, neoplastic transformation and tumor progression. In terms of the particular roles in regulation of the cell-cycle, p21(WAF1) causes growth arrest through inhibition of cyclin-dependant kinases required for G1/S transition. P16 (INK4A) and p15 (INK4B) are thought to act as tumor suppressors, since their inactivation and/or deletion are observable in various types of malignancies. Cyclin D1 is hypothesized to control cell cycle progression through the G1-S check point. The present study evaluated p21 expression, p16 and p15 gene deletion and cylin D1 expression in bladder carcinoma among Egyptian patients, in relation to different clinicopathological features of the tumors and presence or absence of bilharziasis. Tissue specimens were obtained from 132 patients with bladder carcinoma and 50 normal tissue samples from the same patients served as control. P21 was determined by Western blot (WB) and enzyme immunoassay (EIA), p16 and p15 gene deletions were examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Cyclin D1 was detected by WB. Levels of p21 were lower in malignant tumors than in normal tissues. Lower expression of p21 was evident in lymph node positive, well differentiated tumors and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) than in lymph node negative, poorly differentiated tumors and transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). In all normal samples, p15 and p16 genes were detected while cyclin D1 was not detected. P16 and p15 genes were deleted in 38.7% (41/106) and 30.2% (32/106) of bladder tumors respectively. The deletion of both genes was associated with poor differentiation grade and presence of bilharziasis. P16 deletion was also correlated to advancing tumor stage. Cyclin D1 was expressed in 57.5% of bladder tumors (69/120), where its expression was correlated to early stage, well differentiation grade, schistomiasis, and low levels of p21. Cell cycle is dysregulated in bladder carcinoma. This was evident from the increased expression of cyclin D1, the decreased levels of p21 and the deletion of p15 and p16 genes. Moreover, p16 and p15 gene deletion was related to tumor progression and might have a role in bilharzial bladder carcinogenesis. Cyclin D1 over-expression appears to be an early event in bladder cancer and might explain bilharzial associated bladder carcinogenesis.     

细胞周期调控因子在非小细胞肺癌作用的研究

目前研究认为P16、视网膜母细胞瘤基因（Rb）、细胞周期蛋白（CylinD1）及细胞周期蛋白依赖性激酶（CDK4）几种细胞周期调控因子相互作用构成一条重要的细胞周期调节通路,为了解P16、PRb、CyclinD1种调控因子在非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）中的作用,本实验采用免疫组织化学方法对38例原发性NSCLC中上述三种因子的表达进行了研究。结果,其中54％的肺癌组织出现CyclinD1的过度表达,P16、Rb的阳性表达率分别为47．4％和76．3％。我们发现,在50％Rb阳性病例中,P16蛋白不表达或表达水平很低,在21％PRb阴性病例中,P16蛋白具有较高的表达水平,本研究结果提示：1．PRb与P16蛋白在NSCLC中的表达呈负相关,P16的表达可能受PRb负调控,2．PRb的失活与CyclinD1过度表达共同存在于NSCLC中;3．NSCLC的发生涉及P16－Rb－CyclinD1／CDK4调节通路多个调控因子的异常。     

miR-937-5p targets SOX17 to modulate breast cancer cell cycle and cell proliferation through the Wnt signaling pathway

Breast cancer is one of the most frequent cancers in women and the globally leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Bioinformatics and experimental analyses found that miR-937-5p may play a proto-oncogenic role in breast cancer; however, the specific effects and the molecular mechanism need further investigation. GSEA-KEGG and GSEA-GO suggested that miR-937-5p might be related to cell cycle and DNA replication. The experimental data indicated that miR-937-5p inhibition significantly repressed the proliferation of breast carcinoma cells and elicited S-phase cell cycle arrest. Meanwhile, the protein levels of proliferating marker ki-67 and cell cycle regulators Cyclin A2, Cyclin B1, CDK1, and Cyclin D1 were also decreased by miR-937-5p inhibition. miR-937-5p could directly bind to and negatively regulate SOX17. SOX17 overexpression also significantly repressed the proliferation of breast carcinoma cells and elicited S-phase cell cycle arrest and decreased ki-67, β-catenin, c-Myc, Cyclin A2, Cyclin B1, Cyclin D1, and CDK1 protein contents. More importantly, the effects of miR-937-5p were reversed by SOX17.     

慢病毒载体系统介导hUC—MSC绿色荧光蛋白和荧光素酶共表达技术体系的建立

目的建立慢病毒载体系统介导的人脐带间充质干细胞（hUC-MSC）绿色荧光蛋白（GFP）和荧光素酶共表达技术体系。方法 GFP和荧光素酶共表达慢病毒载体与相应包装质粒psPAX2和pMD2.G经聚乙烯亚胺介导共转染HEK293T细胞以包装病毒;病毒感染P4代hUC-MSC 12 h后,再行嘌呤霉素筛选24 h,普通光学显微镜观察细胞形态,荧光显微镜下观察GFP的表达情况,IVIS Kinetic成像系统拍照以观察和记录慢病毒感染后hUC-MSC荧光素酶的表达情况;MTS法行细胞生长曲线作图,同时,普通和实时定量RTPCR法检测细胞周期调控相关蛋白Cyclin D1、Cyclin E1和p21WAF1/CIP1的表达。采用方差分析和t检验进行统计学分析。结果慢病毒感染并不会造成体外培养hUC-MSC形态的明显改变,而荧光显微镜和IVIS Kinetic成像系统的观察结果则分别证实,GFP和荧光素酶经慢病毒载体系统的介导可在hUC-MSC中成功地共表达。此外,细胞生长曲线作图结果表明,对照和GFP及荧光素酶共表达慢病毒感染后hUC-MSC的生长增殖速率相仿（P〉0.01）;实时定量RT-PCR法检测结果则显示,与对照慢病毒感染相比,GFP和荧光素酶共表达慢病毒感染后其细胞周期调控相关蛋白Cyclin D1、Cyclin E1和p21WAF1/CIP1mRNA表达水平分别是对照组的1.11倍（P=0.130）、0.54倍（P=0.000）和0.78倍（P=0.005）,表明外源GFP和荧光素酶共表达对体外培养的hUC-MSC生长增殖等表型无显著影响。结论慢病毒载体系统可有效介导外源基因在hUC-MSC中的表达;同时,GFP和荧光素酶在hUC-MSC中的共表达也将极大地方便其体内转归的示踪。     

A cell-autonomous requirement for Cip/Kip cyclin-kinase inhibitors in regulating neuronal cell cycle exit but not differentiation in the developing spinal cord

Control over cell cycle exit is fundamental to the normal generation of the wide array of distinct cell types that comprise the mature vertebrate CNS. Here, we demonstrate a critical role for Cip/Kip class cyclin-kinase inhibitory (CKI) proteins in regulating this process during neurogenesis in the embryonic spinal cord. Using immunohistochemistry, we show that all three identified Cip/Kip CKI proteins are expressed in both distinct and overlapping populations of nascent and post-mitotic neurons during early neurogenesis, with p27(Kip1) having the broadest expression, and both p57(Kip2) and p21(Cip1) showing transient expression in restricted populations. Loss- and gain-of-function approaches were used to establish the unique and redundant functions of these proteins in spinal cord neurogenesis. Using genetic lineage tracing, we provide evidence that, in the absence of p57, nascent neurons re-enter the cell cycle inappropriately but later exit to begin differentiation. Analysis of p57(Kip2);p27(Kip1) double mutants, where p21 expression is confined to only a small population of interneurons, demonstrates that Cip/Kip CKI-independent factors initiate progenitor cell cycle exit for the majority of interneurons generated in the developing spinal cord. Our studies indicate that p57 plays a critical cell-autonomous role in timing cell cycle exit at G1/S by opposing the activity of Cyclin D1, which promotes cell cycle progression. These studies support a multi-step model for neuronal progenitor cell cycle withdrawal that involves p57(Kip2) in a central role opposing latent Cyclin D1 and other residual cell cycle promoting activities in progenitors targeted for differentiation.     

Alterations in TP53, cyclin D2, c-Myc, p21WAF1/CIP1 and p27KIP1 expression associated with progression in B-CLL

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL) originates from B lymphocytes that may differ in the activation level, maturation state or cellular subgroups in peripheral blood. Tumour progression in CLL B cells seems to result in gradual accumulation of the clone of resting B lymphocytes in the early phases (G0/G1) of the cell cycle. The G1 phase is impaired in B-CLL. We investigated the gene expression of five key cell cycle regulators: TP 53, c-Myc, cyclin D2, p21WAF1/CIP1 and p27KIP1, which primarily regulate the G1 phase of the cell cycle, or S-phase entry and ultimately control the proliferation and cell growth as well as their role in B-CLL progression. The study was conducted in peripheral blood CLL lymphocytes of 40 previously untreated patients. Statistical analysis of correlations of TP53, cyclin D2, c-Myc, p21WAF1/CIP1 and p27KIP1 expressions in B-CLL patients with different Rai stages demonstrated that the progression of disease was accompanied by increases in p53, cyclin D2 and c-Myc mRNA expression. The expression of p27KIP1 was nearly statistically significant whereas that of p21 WAF1/CIP1 showed no such correlation. Moreover, high expression levels of TP53 and c-Myc genes were found to be closely associated with more aggressive forms of the disease requiring earlier therapy.     

Staurosporine-induced Growth Inhibition of Glioma Cells is Accompanied by Altered Expression of Cyclins, CDKs and CDK Inhibitors

Staurosporine was found to bring about complete growth inhibition of human glioma cell lines. U87 MG cells were arrested in S phase while U373 MG cells in G2/M phase on staurosporine treatment. Consistent with this observation, no change in G1 phase regulators viz., Cyclin D1, D3 and CDK4 was seen on staurosporine treatment. The levels of CDK2, CDC2, Cyclin A and Cyclin B proteins decreased, while the levels of CDK inhibitors viz., p21 and p27 were found to increase on staurosporine treatment. The mRNA levels of CDK2 and CDC2 genes were also found to decrease on staurosporine treatment. Thus apart from staurosporine’s known direct inhibitory effect on CDK2 and CDC2 activities, staurosporine was found to down-regulate activities of these two kinases by modulating the expression of the kinases themselves as well that of their activating partners (Cyclins) and their inhibitors.