Protein kinase D1 inhibition interferes with mitosis progression

Protein kinase D1 (PKD1) plays a vital role in signal transduction, cell proliferation, membrane trafficking, and cancer; however, the majority of the studies up to date had centered primarily on PKD1 functions in interphase, very little is known about its role during cell division. We previously demonstrated that during mitosis PKD1 is activated and associated with centrosomes, spindles, and midbodies. However, these observations did not address whether PKD1 was associated with mitosis regulation. Accordingly, we used rapidly acting PKD-specific inhibitors to examine the contribution of PKD1 the sequence of events in mitosis. We found that although PKD1 overexpression did not affect mitosis progression, suppression of its catalytic activity by two structurally unrelated inhibitors (kb NB 142-70 and CRT 0066101) induced a significant delay in metaphase to anaphase transition time. PKD1 inhibition during mitosis also produced the appearance of abnormal spindles, defects in chromosome alignment, and segregation as well as apoptosis. Thus, these observations indicate that PKD1 activity is associated with mitosis regulation.     

PLS3 predicts poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer and promotes cancer cell proliferation via PI3K/AKT signaling

Plastin-3 plays a key role in cancer cell proliferation and invasion, but its prognostic value in pancreatic cancer (PACA) remains poorly defined. In this study, we show that PLS3 messenger RNA is overexpressed in PACA tissue compared with normal tissue. We accumulated 207 cases of PACA specimens to perform immunohistochemical analysis and demonstrated that PLS3 levels correlate with T-classification (p < .001) and pathology (p < .001). Furthermore, overall survival rates (p < .001) in tumors with high PLS3 expression were poor, as assessed through Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. PLS3 was found to be an independent prognostic factor for PACA through multivariate Cox regression analysis. Moreover, we found that PLS3 enhances the proliferation and invasion of tumor cells as assessed through Cell Counting Kit-8, wounding healing assays, and Transwell assays. The upregulation of PLS3 also led to enhanced phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/protein kinase B signaling in PACA cells. These data suggest that PLS3 is a biomarker to estimate PACA progression and represents a molecular target for PACA therapy.     

卵巢上皮癌中ING4 基因启动子的甲基化状态及其临床意义

目的：探讨卵巢上皮癌中ING4 基因启动子的甲基化状态及其临床意义。方法：收集2005 年7 月至2012 年6 月哈尔滨医科 大学附属第一医院行全面分期手术并经病理检查确诊的150 例卵巢上皮癌组织标本,并以同期因子宫肌瘤或子宫腺肌症行子宫 全切除术或次全切除术并经病理检查确诊为正常卵巢组织的150 例标本作为对照组。采用甲基化特异性PCR（MSP）技术检测卵 巢上皮癌组织与正常卵巢组织中ING4 基因启动子的甲基化状态,蛋白印迹法检测ING4 蛋白的表达,并分析ING4 基因启动子 的甲基化状态与卵巢上皮癌临床病例特征的关系。结果：卵巢上皮癌组织中ING4 基因启动子的甲基化阳性率为42.7%（64/150）, 明显高于正常卵巢组织（4%,6/150）,差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）。ING4 基因启动子甲基化阳性的卵巢上皮癌组织中ING4蛋白 表达阴性或弱阳性;ING4 基因启动子甲基化阴性的卵巢上皮癌和正常卵巢组织中ING4 蛋白表达阳性;在64 例ING4 基因启动 子甲基化的卵巢上皮癌组织中,ING4 蛋白表达强度与ING4 基因启动子的甲基化程度呈负相关（r=-0.435,P<0.05）。卵巢上皮癌 组织中,ING4 基因甲基化的阳性率随着手术病理分期和组织学分级的增加而增加（P<0.05）;卵巢透明细胞癌（55.6%,10/18）和卵 巢子宫内膜样癌（59.3%,16/27）中ING4 基因甲基化的阳性率显著高于浆液性囊腺癌（33.9%,20/59）和粘液性囊腺癌（39.1%, 18/46）（P<0.05）;ING4基因启动子的甲基化状态与患者的年龄、有无腹水及淋巴结转移均无显著相关性（P>0.05）。结论：ING4 基 因启动子的甲基化可能促进了其在卵巢上皮癌组织中的表达失活,进而促进了卵巢上皮癌的生长和分化。     

Long noncoding RNA LINC01234 promoted cell proliferation and invasion via miR-1284/TRAF6 axis in colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common and leading malignancies globally. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) function as potentially critical regulator in colorectal cancer. LINC01234, a novel lncRNA in tumor biology, regulates the progression of various tumors. However, the tumorigenic mechanism of LINC01234 in colorectal cancer is still unclear. This study was performed with the aim to prospectively investigate clinical significance, effect, and mechanism of lncRNA LINC01234 in colorectal cancer. First, we found that LINC01234, localized in the cytoplasm, was increased in both colorectal cancer cell lines and tissues. Subsequent functional assays suggested LINC01234 knockdown suppressed cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of colorectal cancer cells, while blocked cell cycle and induced cell apoptosis. Moreover, we identified that miR-1284 was target of LINC01234, we further demonstrated a negative correlation with LINC01234 in colorectal cancer tissues and cells. Furthermore, miR-1284 targeted and suppressed tumor necrosis factor receptor–associated factor 6 (TRAF6). Loss-of-function assay revealed that LINC01234 silencing suppressed colorectal cancer progression through inhibition of miR-1284. In vivo subcutaneous xenotransplanted tumor model indicated LINC01234 knockdown inhibited in vivo tumorigenic ability of colorectal cancer via downregulation of TRAF6. Collectively, this study clarified the biological significance of LINC01234/miR-1284/TRAF6 axis in colorectal cancer progression, providing insights into LINC01234 as novel potential therapeutic target for colorectal cancer therapeutic from bench to clinic.     

FASTK family of genes linked to cancer

Fas Activated Serine/Threonine Kinase (FASTK) family is a protein family encoded in the nuclear genome that spans the mitochondria and executes numerous functions, and consists of FASTK, the founding member along with 5 homologous proteins FASTKD1-5. Up regulation of FASTK family members have not only been implicated in tumour progression and invasion but also in increased resistance to chemotherapy proven by their knockdown leading to increased sensitivity to drugs. Thus, this review reports the implication of FASTK proteins in cancer and hence provides a scope to emphasise the role of these proteins in Oral Cancer.     

Identification of Novel Crk-associated Substrate (p130Cas) Variants with Functionally Distinct Focal Adhesion Kinase Binding Activities

Elevated levels of p130^Cas (Crk-associated substrate)/BCAR1 (breast cancer antiestrogen resistance 1 gene) are associated with aggressiveness of breast tumors. Following phosphorylation of its substrate domain, p130^Cas promotes the integration of protein complexes involved in multiple signaling pathways and mediates cell proliferation, adhesion, and migration. In addition to the known BCAR1-1A (wild-type) and 1C variants, we identified four novel BCAR1 mRNA variants, generated by alternative first exon usage (1B, 1B1, 1D, and 1E). Exons 1A and 1C encode for four amino acids (aa), whereas 1D and 1E encode for 22 aa and 1B1 encodes for 50 aa. Exon 1B is non-coding, resulting in a truncated p130^Cas protein (Cas1B). BCAR1-1A, 1B1, and variant 1C mRNAs were ubiquitously expressed in cell lines and a survey of human tissues, whereas 1B, 1D, and 1E expression was more restricted. Reconstitution of all isoforms except for 1B in p130^Cas-deficient murine fibroblasts induced lamellipodia formation and membrane ruffling, which was unrelated to the substrate domain phosphorylation status. The longer isoforms exhibited increased binding to focal adhesion kinase (FAK), a molecule important for migration and adhesion. The shorter 1B isoform exhibited diminished FAK binding activity and significantly reduced migration and invasion. In contrast, the longest variant 1B1 established the most efficient FAK binding and greatly enhanced migration. Our results indicate that the p130^Cas exon 1 variants display altered functional properties. The truncated variant 1B and the longer isoform 1B1 may contribute to the diverse effects of p130^Cas on cell biology and therefore will be the target of future studies.     

Epigenetic repression of microRNA-129-2 leads to overexpression of SOX4 in gastric cancer

High levels of SOX4 expression have been found in a variety of human cancers, such as lung, brain and breast cancers. However, the expression of SOX4 in gastric tissues remains unknown. The SOX4 expression was detected using immunohistochemical staining and semi-quantitative RT-PCR, and our results showed that SOX4 was up-regulated in gastric cancer compared to benign gastric tissues. To further elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying up-regulation of SOX4 in gastric cancers, we analyzed the expression of microRNA-129-2 (miR-129-2) gene, the epigenetic repression of which leads to overexpression of SOX4 in endometrial cancer. We found that up-regulation of SOX4 was inversely associated with the epigenetic silencing of miR-129-2 in gastric cancer, and restoration of miR-129-2 down-regulated SOX4 expression. We also found that inactivation of SOX4 by siRNA and restoration of miR-129-2 induced apoptosis in gastric cancer cells.