MiR-125a-3p Regulates Glioma Apoptosis and Invasion by Regulating Nrg1

The current study was designed to examine the functional role and mechanism of miR-125a-3p in glioma development. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to evaluate miR-125a-3p expression in 60 glioma cases of different malignant grades. Then, the clinic pathologic significance of miR-125a-3p expression was determined in combination with the prognosis of the patients. In addition, the effects and mechanisms of miR-125a-3p on the proliferation, apoptosis and invasion of glioma cells were further investigated. The results showed that the expression of miR-125a-3p was decreased significantly in most malignant glioma samples relative to normal brain tissues and glioma tissues of low-malignant degree. Further kaplan-meier survival analysis showed that the lower expression of miR-125a-3p was associated with a poor prognosis of GBM patients. Functional analysis showed that the reintroduction of miR-125a-3p into glioblastoma cell lines induces markedly the apoptosis and suppresses the proliferation and migration of glioblastoma cells in vitro and in vivo. Luciferase assay and Western blot analysis revealed that Nrg1 is a direct target of miR-125a-3p. Furthermore, an increased expression of Nrg1 could reverse the effects of overexpression of miR-125a-3p on the proliferation, apoptosis and migration of glioblastoma cells. These findings suggest that miR-125a-3p performed an important role in glioma development mediated by directly regulating the expression of Nrg1. This study also provides a potential target for diagnosis and treatment of malignant glioma.     

miR-150-5p Inhibits Hepatoma Cell Migration and Invasion by Targeting MMP14

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Despite progress in diagnostics and treatment of HCC, its prognosis remains poor because the molecular mechanisms underlying hepatocarcinogenesis are not well understood. In the study, we focused on identifying the role of miRNAs in HCC progression. miRNA microarray was used to analyze the differentially expressed miRNAs, and the results were validated by qPCR. We found that the miR-150-5p expression is down-regulated in HCC tissues compared with pair non-tumor tissues. miR-150-5p expression is also decreased in metastatic cancer tissues compared with pair primary tissues, indicating that miR-150-5p may be involved in HCC metastasis. Functionally, miR-150-5p inhibition significantly promotes hepatoma cell migration and invasion, whereas miR-150-5p overexpression suppresses cancer cell migration and invasion in vitro. The matrix metalloproteinase 14 (MMP14) is identified as a new target gene of miR-150-5p. miR-150-5p markedly inhibits MMP14 expression in hepatoma cells, and miR-150-5p expression is negative correlation with MMP14 expression in vivo. More important, re-expression of MMP14 in hepatoma cells partially reverses the effect of miR-150-5p in inhibiting cell invasion.     

miR-216b-5p靶向调控BTN3A2促进胶质瘤细胞LN-229的迁移以及侵袭能力

大量证据表明microRNA（miRNA）通过靶向调控靶基因的表达从而在肿瘤侵袭与转移中发挥重要作用。然而关于microRNA-216b-5p (miR-216b-5p )通过靶向嗜乳脂蛋白第3亚家族膜蛋白A2（butyrophilin subfamily 3 member A2,BTN3A2）促进胶质瘤侵袭与转移的机制尚不明确。本研究通过GSE15824与GSE4290差异表达分析筛选出同时在2个芯片中表达上调的BTN3A2（P＜0.05）。生存曲线结果显示,高表达BTN3A2病人总生存期明显下降（P＜0.001）。表达量分析结果显示,BTN3A2表达随WHO分级升高而升高（P＜0.05）,同时1p/19q未联合缺失与IDH突变型病人BTN3A2表达升高（P＜0.001）。基因集富集分析（gene set enrichment analysis,GSEA）结果显示,BTN3A2与众多癌症相关通路有关（P＜0.05）;Western印迹结果显示,BTN3A2在7例胶质瘤组织和胶质瘤细胞系U87、U251和LN-229中表达上调,过表达miR-216b-5p （miR-216b-5p mimics）后BTN3A2蛋白表达水平降低;Transwell结果显示,转染BTN3A2干扰质粒（si-BTN3A2）和miR-216b-5p mimics后可以抑制LN 229细胞体外迁移与侵袭能力（P＜0.05）;在线预测网站证实,miR-216b-5p 为BTN3A2潜在靶基因;生存曲线结果显示,与低表达miR-216b-5p 病人相比,高表达病人生存率明显上调（P=0.025）;荧光定量RT PCR结果显示,miR-216b-5p 在胶质瘤U87、U251和LN-229细胞中表达下降（P＜0.05）;双荧光素酶结果显示,BTN3A2存在与miR-216b-5p 的结合靶点(P<005);综上所述,BTN3A2可能通过结合miR-216b-5p 促进胶质瘤细胞LN 229的迁移以及侵袭。     

MiR-144 Inhibits Uveal Melanoma Cell Proliferation and Invasion by Regulating c-Met Expression

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group endogenous small non-coding RNAs that inhibit protein translation through binding to specific target mRNAs. Recent studies have demonstrated that miRNAs are implicated in the development of cancer. However, the role of miR-144 in uveal melanoma metastasis remains largely unknown. MiR-144 was downregulated in both uveal melanoma cells and tissues. Transfection of miR-144 mimic into uveal melanoma cells led to a decrease in cell growth and invasion. After identification of two putative miR-144 binding sites within the 3'' UTR of the human c-Met mRNA, miR-144 was proved to inhibit the luciferase activity inMUM-2B cells with a luciferase reporter construct containing the binding sites. In addition, the expression of c-Met protein was inhibited by miR-144. Furthermore, c-Met-mediated cell proliferation and invasion were inhibited by restoration of miR-144 in uveal melanoma cells. In conclusion, miR-144 acts as a tumor suppressor in uveal melanoma, through inhibiting cell proliferation and migration. miR-144 might serve as a potential therapeutic target in uveal melanoma patients.     

MiR-127-5p通过靶向调节adipoR1促进骨关节炎软骨细胞的增殖

脂联素（adiponection）与骨关节炎（osteoarthritis, OA）的发病密切相关,且主要通过其受体adipoR1发挥作用。而骨关节炎中脂联素的表达是否受miRNA表达的影响却未见报道。本文旨在研究miR-127-5p对骨关节炎软骨细胞中脂联素及细胞增殖的影响。分离培养人原代OA软骨细胞及对应正常细胞,甲苯胺蓝染色和II型胶原免疫细胞化学染色进行鉴定。 Real-time PCR结果表明,OA软骨细胞中miR-127-5p的表达与正常软骨细胞中的相比较显著下降。MiR-127-5p转染可显著降低荧光素酶报告基因的荧光强度（P<0.05）,表明adipoR1为miR-127-5p的靶向基因。MiR-127-5p mimic转染软骨细胞后,MTT法研究结果表明,miR-127-5p mimic 可显著促进软骨细胞增殖,Western 印迹结果表明,脂联素及其受体（adipoR1）表达显著上升,p65的表达以及p38、ERK1/2以及IkBα的磷酸化水平显著下降。ELISA结果表明,MMP-1、MMP-3、MMP-13的含量显著下降。实验结果提示,miR-127-5p通过靶向下调adipoR1及脂联素的表达,促进软骨细胞增殖,并且抑制NF-κB信号通路,进而抑制炎性反应。     

Long Non-Coding RNA H19 Promotes Glioma Cell Invasion by Deriving miR-675

H19 RNA has been characterized as an oncogenic long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in breast and colon cancer. However, the role and function of lncRNA H19 in glioma development remain unclear. In this study, we identified that H19/miR-675 signaling was critical for glioma progression. By analyzing glioma gene expression data sets, we found increased H19 in high grade gliomas. H19 depletion via siRNA inhibited invasion in glioma cells. Further, we found H19 positively correlated with its derivate miR-675 expression and reduction of H19 inhibited miR-675 expression. Bioinformatics and luciferase reporter assays showed that miR-675 modulated Cadherin 13 expression by directly targeting the binding site within the 3′ UTR. Finally, introduction of miR-675 abrogated H19 knockdown-induced cell invasion inhibition in glioma cells. To our knowledge, it is first time to demonstrate that H19 regulates glioma development by deriving miR-675 and provide important clues for understanding the key roles of lncRNA-miRNA functional network in glioma.     

miR-221 通过作用DVL2 影响前列腺癌细胞系的侵袭功能*

目的:评价miR-221在前列腺癌细胞系中表达的变化对其神经内分泌样转化及其侵袭功能的影响。方法:以Northern blot检测LNCaP,LNCaP-AI两种前列腺癌细胞系中7种microRNA的表达变化;细胞转染法检测在雄激素剥夺环境中LNCaP和LNCaP-AI细胞系中miR-221的作用;CCK-8法检测细胞在不同阶段的生长增殖水平;Transwell法检测转染细胞的侵袭能力;qRT-PCR和Western blot检测转染的细胞中神经元特异性烯醇化酶(NSE)及dishevelled-2(DVL2)表达的变化。结果:与雄激素依赖性前列腺癌(ADPC)的细胞系LNCaP相比,miR-221在雄激素非依赖性前列腺癌(AIPC)的细胞系LNCaP-AI中明显高表达。通过转染使miR-221在LNCaP细胞系中高表达可促进细胞的NSE表达,加速其神经内分泌样分化。而在LNCaP-AI细胞系中下调miR-221水平则会升高靶基因DVL2的表达水平,并增强LNCaP-AI细胞的迁移和侵袭能力。结论:该实验证实在AIPC和ADPC细胞系中miR-221存在表达差异。miR-221可促进前列腺癌细胞的神经内分泌样转化,这可能是导致前列腺癌雄激素非依赖转化的重要原因。MiR-221可通过作用DVL2调节晚期前列腺癌细胞的转移和侵袭。     

BMP-2 Promotes Oral Squamous Carcinoma Cell Invasion by Inducing CCL5 Release

Bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2)-containing bone grafts are useful regenerative materials for oral and maxillofacial surgery; however, several invitro and invivo studies previously reported cancer progression-related adverse effects caused by BMP-2. In this study, by quantifying the rhBMP-2 content released from bone grafts, the rhBMP-2 concentration that did not show cytotoxicity in each cell line was determined and applied to the invitro monoculture or coculture model in the invasion assay. Our results showed that 1 ng/ml rhBMP-2, while not affecting cancer cell viability, significantly increased the invasion ability of the cancer cells cocultured with fibroblasts. Cocultured medium with rhBMP-2 also contained increased levels of matrix metalloproteinases. rhBMP-2-treated cocultured fibroblasts did not show a prominent difference in mRNA expression profile. Some cytokines, however, were detected in the conditioned medium by a human cytokine antibody array. Among them, the cancer invasion-related factor CCL5 was quantified by ELISA. Interestingly, CCL5 neutralizing antibodies significantly reduced the invasion of oral cancer cells. In conclusion, our results suggest that 1 ng/ml rhBMP-2 may induce invasion of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells by CCL5 release in coculture models. Therefore, we propose that a careful clinical examination before the use of rhBMP-2-containing biomaterials is indispensable for using rhBMP-2 treatment to prevent cancer progression.     

MiR-508-5p Inhibits the Progression of Glioma by Targeting Glycoprotein Non-metastatic Melanoma B

Glioma is a severe and highly lethal brain cancer, a malignancy largely stemming from growing in a relatively restrained area of the brain. Hence, the understanding of the molecular regulation of the growth of glioma is critical for improving its treatment. MicroRNA has become a hotspot in research on diseases, especially in the initiation and progression of different types of cancer. However, the molecular function and mechanisms of miR-508-5p in gliomagenesis are still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate miR-508-5p expression in glioma and determine its effects on proliferation. miR-508-5p expression levels, both in glioma cell lines and in tissue, were significantly lower than in a normal human astrocyte cell line or adjacent tissues. Cell growth was analyzed using a MTT assay and over-expression of miR-508-5p was found to decrease glioma cell growth. Moreover, a bioinformatic analysis was performed, showing that glycoprotein non-metastatic melanoma B (GPNMB) was a direct target for miR-508-5p in glioma cells. Furthermore, in vivo treatment with miR-508-5p reduced GPNMB protein levels in the tumor. Additionally, overexpression of GPNMB without 3′-UTR partially reversed the cell growth arrest induced by miR-508-5p over-expression in glioma cells. In conclusion, these results indicate that increased expression of miR-508-5p might be related to glioma progression, indicating a potential role of miR-508-5p for clinical therapy.     

MiR-674-5p Suppresses the Proliferation and Migration of Glioma Cells by Targeting Cul4b

Neurochemical Research - Glioma multiforme (GBM) is the most common malignant primary brain tumors. Despite the considerable advances in GBM treatment, it is still one of the most lethal forms of...     

CircDHDDS/miR-361-3p/WNT3A Axis Promotes the Development of Retinoblastoma by Regulating Proliferation,Cell Cycle,Migration, and Invasion of Retinoblastoma Cells

Neurochemical Research - Retinoblastoma (RB) is a common intraocular malignant tumor. The growing evidence has reported that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play critical roles in RB development....     

M2 Macrophage Derived Extracellular Vesicle-Mediated Transfer of MiR-186-5p Promotes Colon Cancer Progression by Targeting DLC1

Colon cancer (CC) is one of the most common malignances in digestive tract. M2-polarized macrophages within the tumor microenvironment could facilitate CC cell growth by transferring molecules via extracellular vesicles, but the mechanisms are not fully elucidated. The current study aims to identify the possible effectors in M2 macrophage-derived extracellular vesicles (M2-EVs) and reveal related molecular mechanisms. In our study, we validated the promotion effects of M2-EVs on the proliferation and motility of CC cells, which was found to be dependent on the EVs enclosed molecules by a mild EVs digestion assay. Then we found that miR-186-5p was enriched in M2-EVs and was responsible for the tumor promoting functions of M2-EVs. Furthermore, mechanism investigation revealed M2-EVs transferring miR-186-5p inhibited DLC1 expression by targeting its 3''UTR, and restored DLC1 successfully neutralized the tumor-promoting effects of M2-EVs transferring miR-186-5p via inhibiting the β-catenin pathway. Our study revealed that M2-EVs facilitates the growth and motility of CC cells by delivering the enclosed miR-186-5p, which directly targets DLC1 mRNAs and facilitates their degradation, which could provide a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for CC.     

BRMS1 Suppresses Glioma Progression by Regulating Invasion,Migration and Adhesion of Glioma Cells

Breast cancer metastasis suppressor 1 (BRMS1) is a metastasis suppressor gene in several solid tumors. However, the expression and function of BRMS1 in glioma have not been reported. In this study, we investigated whether BRMS1 play a role in glioma pathogenesis. Using the tissue microarray technology, we found that BRMS1 expression is significantly decreased in glioma compared with tumor adjacent normal brain tissue (P<0.01, χ² test) and reduced BRMS1 staining is associated with WHO stages (P<0.05, χ² test). We also found that BRMS1 was significantly downregulated in glioma cell lines compared to normal human astrocytes (P<0.01, χ² test). Furthermore, we demonstrated that BRMS1 overexpression inhibited glioma cell invasion by suppressing uPA, NF-κB, MMP-2 expression and MMP-2 enzyme activity. Moreover, our data showed that overexpression of BRMS1 inhibited glioma cell migration and adhesion capacity compared with the control group through the Src-FAK pathway. Taken together, this study suggested that BRMS1 has a role in glioma development and progression by regulating invasion, migration and adhesion activities of cancer cells.     

Up-Regulation of microRNA-183 Promotes Cell Proliferation and Invasion in Glioma By Directly Targeting NEFL

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and lethal type of primary malignant brain tumor. In recent years, increasing reports suggest that discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs) might provide a novel therapeutical target for human cancers, including GBM. The expression and roles of microRNA-183 (miR-183) has been explored in several types of human cancers, including in GBM, and plays important roles in tumor initiation and progression. However, its biological functions in GBM remain largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that miR-183 was significantly up-regulated in astrocytoma tissues and glioblastoma cell lines. Introduction of miR-183 mimics into U251 cells could promoted, while its antisense oligos inhibited cell proliferation and invasion. Moreover, we identified neurofilament light polypeptide (NEFL) as a novel target gene of miR-183. The expression levels of NEFL are inversely correlated with that of miR-183 in human astrocytoma clinical specimens. In addition, NEFL-siRNA could significantly attenuate the inhibitory effects of knockdown miR-183 on the proliferation and invasion of U251 cells via mTOR signaling pathway. Overall, This study revealed that miR-183 promotes glioma cell proliferation by targeting NEFL, and also demonstrated that miR-183 could be a potential target for GBM treatment.     

Finasteride Inhibits Human Prostate Cancer Cell Invasion through MMP2 and MMP9 Downregulation

Introduction

The use of the 5-alpha reductase inhibitors (5-ARIs) finasteride and dutasteride for prostate cancer prevention is still under debate. The FDA recently concluded that the increased prevalence of high-grade tumors among 5-ARI-treated patients must not be neglected, and they decided to disallow the use of 5-ARIs for prostate cancer prevention. This study was conducted to verify the effects of finasteride on prostate cell migration and invasion and the related enzymes/proteins in normal human and tumoral prostatic cell lines.

Materials and Methods

RWPE-1, LNCaP, PC3 and DU145 cells were cultivated to 60% confluence and exposed for different periods to either 10 µM or 50 µM finasteride that was diluted in culture medium. The conditioned media were collected and concentrated, and MMP2 and MMP9 activities and TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 protein expression were determined. Cell viability, migration and invasion were analyzed, and the remaining cell extracts were submitted to androgen receptor (AR) detection by western blotting techniques. Experiments were carried out in triplicate.

Results

Cell viability was not significantly affected by finasteride exposure. Finasteride significantly downregulated MMP2 and MMP9 activities in RWPE-1 and PC3 cells and MMP2 in DU145 cells. TIMP-2 expression in RWPE-1 cells was upregulated after exposure. The cell invasion of all four tested cell lines was inhibited by exposure to 50 µM of finasteride, and migration inhibition only occurred for RWPE-1 and LNCaP cells. AR was expressed by LNCaP, RWPE-1 and PC3 cells.

Conclusions

Although the debate on the higher incidence of high-grade prostate cancer among 5-ARI-treated patients remains, our findings indicate that finasteride may attenuate tumor aggressiveness and invasion, which could vary depending on the androgen responsiveness of a patient’s prostate cells.     

MiR-371-5p Facilitates Pancreatic Cancer Cell Proliferation and Decreases Patient Survival

Background

microRNAs (miRNAs) play a critical role in tumorigenesis, either as a tumor suppressor or as an oncogenic miRNA, depending on different tumor types. To date, scientists have obtained a substantial amount of knowledge with regard to miRNAs in pancreatic cancer. However, the expression and function of miR-371-5p in pancreatic cancer has not been clearly elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate the roles of miR-371-5p in pancreatic cancer and its association with the survival of patients with pancreatic cancer.

Methods

The expression of miR-371-5p was examined in pancreatic duct adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and their adjacent normal pancreatic tissues (ANPT) or in pancreatic cancer cell lines by qRT-PCR. The association of miR-371-5p expression with overall survival was determined. The proliferation and apoptosis of SW-1990 and Panc-1 cells, transfected with miR-371-5p mimics or inhibitor, were assessed using MTT assay and flow cytometry, respectively. The tumorigenicity was evaluated via mice xenograft experiments. miR-371-5p promoter interactions were analyzed by chromatin immunoprecipitation assays (ChIP). Protein expression was analyzed by Western blot.

Results

The expression level of miR-371-5p was dramatically upregulated in clinical PDAC tissues compared with ANPT. Patients with high miR-371-5p expression had a significantly shorter survival than those with low miR-371-5p expression. The in vitro and in vivo assays showed that overexpression of miR-371-5p resulted in cell proliferation and increased tumor growth, which was associated with inhibitor of growth 1 (ING1) downregulation. Interestingly, we also found that ING1, in turn, inhibited expression of miR-371-5p in the promoter region.

Conclusions

our study demonstrates a novel ING1-miR-371-5p regulatory feedback loop, which may have a critical role in PDAC. Thus miR-371-5p can prove to be a novel prognostic factor and therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer treatment.     

MiR-126 Regulates the ERK Pathway via Targeting KRAS to Inhibit the Glioma Cell Proliferation and Invasion

The activity of some constitutive contained in the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway plays crucial roles in glioma cell growth and proliferation. Emerging studies have reported that microRNA (miRNA) could regulate the ERK signal pathway by directly targeting various oncogenes. This study enabled us to discover that the average miR-126 expression was significantly decreased in glioblastoma tissues, and this significant decrease was related to high histopathological grades. Our experiment also demonstrated that the over-expression of miR-126 suppressed glioma cell proliferation and invasion in vitro. Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene (KRAS) which is involved in ERK pathway was directly targeted by miR-126 in glioma through binding to two sites in the 3′ untranslated region (3′-UTR) of KRAS mRNA. Notably, the expression level of KRAS was positively correlated to the activity of ERK pathway and its downstream regulators (phosphorylation level of ERK (pERK) and c-Fos). Furthermore, the over-expression of KRAS expression vector without the 3′-UTR partially reverses the tumor-suppressive effects of miR-126. Moreover, the up-regulation of miR-126 contributes to the aberrant activation of the ERK signaling and inhibits cell proliferation and invasion through targeting KRAS. Therefore, it was suspected that miR-126 may be a potential therapeutic target for high-grade glioma.     

TRAP1 Shows Clinical Significance and Promotes Cellular Migration and Invasion through STAT3/MMP2 Pathway in Human Esophageal Squamous Cell Cancer

Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated protein 1 (TRAP1), an important member of mitochondrial heat shock protein 90 family, is involved in multiple biological processes in several types of tumors. However, its pathological role in esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) remains unknown. Herein, we demonstrated the clinical value of TRAP1, and its role in apoptosis and motility in ESCC. The clinical potential of TRAP1 was investigated through immunohistochemical analysis in 328 ESCC samples, which revealed that strong TRAP1 expression was associated with increased risk of lymph node metastasis, while high TRAP1 expression correlated with poor prognosis. Expression of TRAP1 was found to be an independent prognostic factor for patients with ESCC. Additionally, the upregulation of TRAP1 antagonized cisplatin-induced apoptosis while its downregulation sensitized cells to cisplatin-induced apoptosis. As revealed by the transwell assay, TRAP1 overexpression promoted cellular migration and invasion as compared to the control groups. In contrast, silencing of endogenous TRAP1 expression attenuated the ability of migration and invasion. Finally, the molecular mechanism investigated in the present study demonstrated that TRAP1-mediated migration and invasion occurred through STAT3/MMP2 signaling pathway. In conclusion, TRAP1 may be considered as a molecular predictive marker for prognosis and a novel molecular candidate for therapeutic target in ESCC.