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Background: CCN3 plays important roles in growth, differentiation, angiogenesis and adhesion. Recently, the role of CCN3 in human carcinogenesis has become an area of great interest. However, little is known about the function of CCN3 in human cervical cancer., Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the expression profile of CCN3 in cervical cancer and to assess its clinical significance., Material and Methods: In this study, qRT-PCR, immunohistochemistry and Western blotting analysis were used in the detection of CCN3 mRNA and protein expression, both in cervical cancer and in corresponding normal tissue, respectively. The data was correlated with clinicopathological features. A survival analysis was performed to assess the prognostic significance., Results: CCN3 mRNA was overexpressed in cervical cancer tissue when compared with corresponding normal tissue, as was CCN3 protein. Upregulation of CCN3 was significantly associated with the stage of the disease (P = 0.017) and with lymph node involvement (P = 0.006). Using the Kaplan-Meier analysis, a comparison of survival curves of low vs. high expressers of CCN3 revealed a highly significant difference in human cervical cancer tissue (P = 0.021), which suggests that overexpression of CCN3 is associated with a poorer prognosis., Conclusions: The results of the current study suggest that CCN3 may play an important role in cervical carcinogenesis and therefore may have potential as a biomarker for prognosis and as a therapeutic target in cervical cancer.

MicroRNA-27a (miR‑27a) is an oncogene that contributes to drug resistance in various types of cancer. However, the involvement of miR‑27a in gastric cancer has yet to be elucidated. Perifosine is an alkylphospholipid exhibiting antitumor activity as shown in both preclinical studies and clinical trials. The effects of perifosine on gastric cancer have yet to be determined. Therefore, this study was conducted to detect the role of miR‑27a and perifosine in human gastric cancer. miR‑27a was found to be expressed in human gastric cancer tissues and cell lines by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT‑PCR). The correlation between miR‑27a expression and clinicopathological characteristics of gastric cancer. We also explored the growth inhibitory effect of perifosine on human gastric cancer cells with or without co‑targeting miR‑27a by sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. The results showed that miR‑27a expression was significantly upregulated in gastric cancer tissues, compared with their non‑tumor adjacent tissues. High expression levels of miR‑27a were associated with poor tumor histological grade (P=0.037). MiR‑27a inhibitors suppressed the growth of MGC‑803 cells. Assay results showed that perifosine exerted its activity selectively on the AGS cell line and the growth inhibitory effect of perifosine was enhanced significantly in combination with miR‑27a inhibitors in MGC‑803 cells. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that miR‑27a may be a therapeutic target and potential prognostic biological marker in gastric cancer. MiR‑27a inhibitors alone or in combination with perifosine may be a novel therapeutic approach against gastric cancer.

The aggressive course of uveal melanoma is believed to reflect its unusually invasive and metastatic nature, which is associated with the nuclear factor kappaB (NF-κB) pathway. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in the regulation of various biological and pathological processes in cancer, however, the special role of miR-9 in uveal melanoma metastasis is largely unknown. In the present study, we showed that miR-9 is significantly reduced in highly invasive uveal melanoma cell lines, and suppressed migration and invasion of highly invasive cells. Furthermore, miR-9 negatively modulated NF-κB1 expression by direct targeting at its 3'-UTRs. Additionally, downstream targets of NF-κB1, such as MMP-2, MMP-9 and VEGFA, were regulated by miR-9 in the same pattern as NF-κB1. Therefore, miR-9 suppresses uveal melanoma cell migration and invasion partly through downregulation of the NF-κB1 signaling pathway.

Genistein, an isoflavone isolated from soybean, has been found to be a potent antitumor agent. However, both the effect of genistein on human uveal melanoma cells and the precise mechanism by which genistein suppresses tumorigenesis remain unclear. In the present study, we explored the possible activity of genistein to inhibit human uveal melanoma cell growth and investigated the possible role of genistein on microRNA-27a (miR-27a) as well as its target gene zinc finger and BTB domain containing 10 (ZBTB10) expression levels. The results suggested a significant inhibition of uveal melanoma cell growth in a time- and dose-related manner. In vivo study also indicated treatment groups with genistein could significantly inhibit the growth of xenografts. Further functional assays revealed that the levels of miR-27a and its target gene ZBTB10 were significantly different based on the dose of genistein. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that genistein exerts growth inhibitory activities in human uveal melanoma cells. Moreover, we for the first time report a correlation between antitumor activity of genistein and miR-27a mediated regulatory mechanism.