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Colorectal cancer (CRC) has become a major public health problem, ranking as the third most common type of cancer. Our previous study has revealed that TCF21 is frequently silenced by promoter hypermethylation in both CRC cell lines and primary CRC, with TCF21 methylation being significantly correlated with lymph node invasion. In this study, we further analyze the expression of TCF21 in CRC tissues and investigate the role of TCF21 in CRC in vitro and in vivo. We also explore the possible pathway regulated by TCF21. We thus demonstrate that decreased levels of TCF21 are associated with the pathological stage, clinical stage and lymph node metastasis, indicating a poor prognosis in CRC patients; overexpression of TCF21 inhibits cell proliferation, migration and invasion in the colorectal cell lines HCT116 and HT29. Furthermore, TCF21 functions as a tumor suppressor probably through inactivation of PI3K/AKT signaling and inhibition of MMPs. Our results suggest that enhancement of TCF21 levels may be a potential strategy to facilitate the prevention and treatment of CRC in the clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Local invasion, metastasis, and chemotherapy resistance are the obstacles for treatment of breast cancer. In this study, we aim to investigate the role of miR-144 in breast cancer. We demonstrate that the expression of miR-144 is downregulated in breast cancer and cell lines, and lower miR-144 expression is associated with poor differentiation, higher clinical stage, and lymph node metastasis in patients with breast cancer. The rescue of miR-144 expression is able to inhibit the cell proliferation and the ability of cell migration and invasion. In addition, we show that miR-144 can directly target at 3'-untranslation region of zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox 1 and 2, that is, ZEB1 and ZEB2, and regulate their expression at transcriptional and translational levels. Moreover, we also demonstrate that ectopic expression of miR-144 can inhibit the process of epithelial mesenchymal transition in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. Thus, we here demonstrate that miR-144 functions as a tumor suppressor in breast cancer at least partly through inhibiting ZEB1/2-mediated epithelial mesenchymal transition process. Our findings indicate that the miR-144-ZEB1/2 signaling could represent a promising therapeutic target for breast cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radioresistance has been demonstrated to be involved in the poor prognosis of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the underlying mechanism remains largely unclear. Investigation on special therapeutic targets associated with radioresistance shows promises for the enhancement of clinical radiotherapy effect toward NSCLC. This study aimed to reveal the role of Stathmin1 (STMN1) in radioresistance in NSCLC as well as the underlying mechanism. Our data showed that the protein levels of STMN1 were significantly upregulated in NSCLC cells subjected to radiation, accompanied with the activation of autophagy. Knockdown of STMN1 expression enhanced the sensitivity of NSCLC cells to X-ray, and the radiation-induced autophagy was also inhibited. Molecular mechanism investigation showed that knockdown of STMN1 expression upregulated the activity of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway in NSCLC cells. Moreover, the activation of PI3K/mTOR signaling showed an inhibitory effect on the autophagy and radioresistance induced by STMN1 in NSCLC cells. In addition, luciferase reporter assay data indicated that STMN1 was a direct target gene of miR-101, which had been reported to be an inhibitor of autophagy. Based on these data, we suggest that as a target gene of miR-101, STMN1 promotes the radioresistance by induction of autophagy through PI3K/mTOR signaling pathway in NSCLC. Therefore, STMN1 may become a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC radiotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]