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OBJECTIVE: MED subunits have been reported to be associated with various types of tumors, however, the potential role of MED7 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was still unclear. The aim of the study was to explore the role of MED7 in HCC. METHODS: In this study, MED7 mRNA expression levels between HCC and adjacent normal tissues were first analyzed by several public datasets. Then we utilized a tissue microarray (TMA) to investigate the clinical role of MED7 in HCC by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Meanwhile, the potential mechanisms of MED7 based on gene-gene correlation analyses were also explored. RESULTS: High mRNA level of MED7 correlated with advanced stage and worse grade of differentiation. IHC results showed that MED7 protein level was upregulated in HCC and associated with Edmondson grade and Microvascular invasion in 330 cases of HCC. GO (Gene Ontology) and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) analysis revealed that MED7 co-expressed genes participate primarily in ribonucleoprotein complex biogenesis, protein targeting, mRNA processing and nucleoside triphosphate metabolic process et cetera. Further analysis also revealed that MED7 mRNA level has significant correlation with immune cells infiltration levels. CONCLUSION: MED7 was upregulated in HCC and correlated with progression of HCC. Meanwhile, MED7 may promote HCC through participating in multiple gene networks to influence tumorigenesis as well as immune response in HCC microenvironment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of diabetes mellitus (DM) on the survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still unclear. The present study aims to draw a firm conclusion in terms of evaluating the impact of DM on the prognosis of HCC after hepatectomy. The pattern of recurrence for HCC was often stratified into early-stage (<2 years) and late-stage (≥2 years) recurrence. Because the early-stage recurrence was mainly attributed to aggressive tumor pathological characteristics, patients who recurrence or die within 2 years were excluded. Cumulative overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were determined by the method of Kaplan–Meier, and the independent risk factors of OS/RFS were determined by Cox regression analysis. A total of 426 patients were eventually included. The 3- and 5-year OS in patients with and without DM was 83.7%, 55.1%; and 90.9%, 77.4%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that DM was an independent risk factor for OS (HR 1.166, 95% CI 1.056–2.036, P = 0.022) and RFS (HR 1.365, 95% CI 1.043–1.787, P = 0.023). DM is an independent risk factor for long-term prognosis in patients with HCC. Patients with DM after hepatectomy for HCC, thus, need to actively control DM and closer follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer is a complex process in which protein-coding and non-coding genes play essential roles. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), as a subclass of noncoding genes, are implicated in various cancer processes including growth, proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis. Due to presence in body fluids such as blood and urine, lncRNAs have become novel biomarkers in cancer detection, diagnosis, progression, and therapy response. Remarkably, increasing evidence has verified that lncRNAs play essential roles in chemoresistance by targeting different signalling pathways. Autophagy, a highly conserved process in response to environmental stresses such as starvation and hypoxia, plays a paradoxical role in inducing resistance or sensitivity to chemotherapy agents. In this regard, we reviewed chemoresistance, the role of lncRNAs in cancer, and the role of lncRNAs in chemoresistance by modulating autophagy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule-grabbing non-integrin-related protein (DC-SIGNR) is a transmembrane receptor primarily involved in pathogen recognition by the innate immune system, with particular importance for viral recognition. DC-SIGNR may also be associated with tumorigenesis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between DC-SIGNR expression, development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and clinicopathological features. Immunohistochemistry was used to assess DC-SIGNR protein expression in HCC and paired non-cancerous tissue samples. DC-SIGNR expression was lower in HCC tissues compared with adjacent non-tumor tissue samples. The expression of DC-SIGNR was associated with small tumor size, low Edmondson grade and high patient long term survival rates. Bioinformatics analyses were performed on several datasets to assess the potential function of DC-SIGNR and related genes; the data revealed that DC-SIGNR mRNA expression was lower in HCC tissues compared with non-cancerous controls, and analyses of ten-year survival rates indicated patients with low DC-SIGNR expression exhibited shorter average survival times. In conclusion, decreased DC-SIGNR expression in HCC tissues may be a relevant predictive biomarker of clinical prognosis, in addition to being a viable therapeutic target for HCC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulating evidence indicates that microRNAs (miRNAs) are aberrantly expressed in human cancer and contribute to the tumorigenesis, but their roles in pancreatic cancer are still largely unknown. In this study, our data showed that miR-130b was significantly downregulated in 52 pairs of pancreatic cancer tissues and five cell lines. Furthermore, the deregulated miR-130b was correlated with worse prognosis, increased tumor size, late TNM stage, lymphatic invasion and distant metastasis. Multivariate analysis showed that miR-130b expression was a significant and independent prognostic predictor for pancreatic cancer patients. Functional studies indicated that the overexpression of miR-130b dramatically suppressed the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo, which could be attributed to the induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at S phase. Meanwhile, an overexpressed miR-130b remarkably inhibited the invasive ability of pancreatic cancer cells. Moreover, the dual luciferase assay revealed that STAT3 was directly targeted by miR-130b, which was further confirmed by the inverse expression of miR-130b and STAT3 in pancreatic cancer samples. Our findings suggested that miR-130b might have a considerable potential in prognosis identification and application of therapy for pancreatic cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/srep08087 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulating evidences indicate that microRNAs play a vital role in regulating tumor progression. However, the roles of miR-148b in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are still largely unknown. In this study, our data showed that miR-148b was significantly downregulated in 40 pairs of human HCC tissues. Further, the deregulated miR-148b was significantly correlated with larger tumor size, more tumor number, metastasis and worse prognosis in HCC. Overexpression of miR-148b inhibited HCC HepG2 cells proliferation and tumorigenicity. Further, miR-148b induced cells apoptosis by activating caspase- 3 and caspase-9, and induced S phase arrest by regulating cyclinD1 and p21, and also inhibited cell invasion. Data from the dual-luciferase reporter gene assay showed that WNT1 was a direct target of miR-148b, and overexpressed WNT1 inversely correlated with miR-148b levels in HCC tissues. Silencing of WNT1 inhibited the growth of HCC cells, and also induced cells apoptosis and inhibited invasion, which is consistent with the effects of miR-148b overexpression. MiR-148b downregulated expression of WNT1, β-catenin and C-myc, while upregulated E-cadherin expression. We conclude that the frequently downregulated miR-148b can regulate WNT1/β-catenin signalling pathway and function as a tumor suppressor in HCC. These findings suggest that miR-148b may serve as a novel therapeutic target for HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Ghrelin is an endogenous ligand of the growth hormone (GH) secretagogue receptor and is closely associated with chronic heart failure (CHF). We undertook this study to investigate the relevance of ghrelin in CHF prognosis. Methods: A total of 145 in-patients with CHF in NYHA class II, III or IV despite optimized therapy were prospectively included in the study, grouped according to NYHA class and compared with 55 healthy control subjects. Ghrelin and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (Nt pro-BNP) were measured in plasma by ELISA. Echocardiographic information was also measured, including left atrial dimension, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, LV volume and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Patients were followed for 2 years or until major adverse cardiac events. Results: Plasma ghrelin levels were significantly lower in patients with CHF than in control subjects (p = 0.014). In addition, plasma ghrelin levels differed significantly with the severity of CHF. Notably, survival analysis showed that high ghrelin levels were an indicator of a favorable prognosis for CHF. Our results also showed that ghrelin correlated inversely with plasma Nt pro-BNP levels (r = −0.562, p <0.001) and positively with LVEF (r = 0.620, p <0.001) in patients with CHF. Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that ghrelin levels were independently associated with adverse cardiac events (hazard ratio: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.64–0.81, p = 0.03). Conclusions: Ghrelin is a new biomarker of CHF severity as well as a new prognostic predictor for patients with CHF. Future experimental and clinical studies are warranted to evaluate ghrelin as a novel prognostic tool and for its therapeutic potential in patients with CHF. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]