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Purpose:We previously reported the oncogenic role of paired-like homeodomain 2 (PITX2) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). In this study, we aimed to identify the miRNA regulators of PITX2 and the mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of ESCC.Experimental Design:Using miRNA profiling and bioinformatics analyses, we identified miR-644a as a negative mediator of PITX2 in ESCC. A series of in vivo and in vitro assays were performed to confirm the effect of miR-644a on PITX2-mediated ESCC malignancy.Results:ESCC cells and tissues expressed less miR-644a than normal epithelial controls. In patient samples, lower expression of miR-644a in ESCC tissues was significantly correlated with tumor recurrence and/or metastasis, such that miR-644a, PITX2, and the combination of the two were independent prognostic indicators for ESCC patient's survival (P < 0.05). Gain- and loss-of-function studies demonstrated that miR-644a inhibited ESCC cell growth, migration, and invasion in vitro and suppressed tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. In addition, miR-644a dramatically suppressed self-renewal and stem cell–like traits in ESCC cells. Furthermore, the effect of upregulation of miR-644a was similar to that of PITX2 knockdown in ESCC cells. Mechanistic studies revealed that miR-644a attenuates ESCC cells' malignancy and stem cell–associated phenotype, at least partially, by inactivation of the Akt/GSK-3β/β-catenin signaling pathway through PITX2. Furthermore, promoter hypermethylation caused downregulation of miR-644a in ESCC.Conclusions:Downregulation of miR-644a plays an important role in promoting both aggressiveness and stem-like traits of ESCC cells, suggesting that miR-644a may be useful as a novel prognostic biomarker or therapeutic target for the disease. Clin Cancer Res; 23(1); 298–310. ©2016 AACR.

MiR-644a inhibits the stemness of Eca-109 cells by regulating PITX2 expression. A-D, enforced overexpression of miR-644a in Eca-109 cells substantially down-regulated the levels of stemness-associated genes (Nanog, Oct-4, Bmi-1, Notch-1 and Smo), multiple drug-resistance transporter genes (ABCC2, ABCG2) and surface antigens associated with cancer stem cells (CD24, CD44, CD133, CD105, and CD166) (A), reduced phere-forming ability (B) and proportion of side-population cells (C), and also largely increased chemosensitivity to cisplatin or radiosensitivity to IR (D). Restoration of PITX2 in miR-644a-overexpressing Eca-109 cells largely rescued the cells' stemness, while knockdown of PITX2 by shPITX2 decreased Eca-109 cells' stemness (A-D). E, tumor formation in nude mice shows reduced tumorigenicity in 3 groups of miR-644a-overexpressing Eca-109 cells indicated, as compared to that in matched control groups. *P

Shortening of the 3′ untranslated regions (3′UTR) of mRNA is an important mechanism for oncogene activation. However, 3′UTR alteration events, their pathologic functions, and underlying mechanisms in human urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB) are not clear. Here, we combine RNA sequencing, bioinformatics, and clinical studies in two independent cohorts of patients with UCB to identify a novel RAC1 shorter 3′UTR isoform that is frequently expressed in UCB and is critical in the tumorigenesis and acquisition of a poor prognostic phenotype in patients. Short 3′UTR isoform of RAC1 substantially upregulated RAC1 expression by escaping from miRNA-targeted repression and played an essential oncogenic role in UCB pathogenesis. An important cleavage/polyadenylation factor, cleavage stimulation factor 2 (CSTF2), induced 3′UTR shortening of RAC1 in UCB by mediating slow transcriptional elongation at RAC1. Cotranscriptional recruitment of CSTF2 on the GUAAU motif at proximal polyadenylation site of RAC1 attenuated the recruitment of two transcription factors AFF1 and AFF4, causing the defects in elongation. CSTF2 regulated the tumorigenic functions of the shorter RAC1 isoform in UCB cells, enhancing cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. The combination of high expression of CSTF2 and high usage of RAC1 short-3′UTR isoform may be used as a powerful biomarker to predict poor prognosis in UCB. Our findings also suggest a CSTF2-regulated RAC1-3′UTR shortening program as an exploitable therapeutic strategy for patients with UCB.Significance: These findings demonstrate that the short isoform of RAC1 is critical in UCB tumorigenesis and may have implications for developing new therapeutic strategies to treat this disease. Cancer Res; 78(20); 5848–62. ©2018 AACR.

Supplementary Figure S1. Identification of 3'UTR shortening of RALA and RAC1 from UCB, colorectal carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma and non-small cell lung cancer samples. Supplementary Figure S2. RAC1 with short 3'UTR promotes tumorigenesis and produces more protein due to evasion of miRNA-mediated repression. Supplementary Figure S3. Screening of APA factors that contribute to the PAS selection of RAC1 in UCB. Supplementary Figure S4. CSTF2 regulates colony formation and invasiveness abilities of shorter RAC1 isoform in UCB. Supplementary Table S1. PDUI value calculated from DaPars analysis of 15 pairs of UCB and adjacent normal bladder tissues. Supplementary Table S2. KEGG pathway analyses of APA genes identified from RNA-Seq. Supplementary Table S3. RAC1 genomic mutations identified from TCGA UCB database. Supplementary Table S4. Correlation between the expression of CSTF2 and clinicopathologic characteristics of UCB patients

Supplementary Methods, Supplementary Figure legends and Supplementary Table S1 to S4.

Negative air ion (NAI) is an essential indicator for measuring air cleanliness of a given area, with vital role in regulating psychological and physiological functions of human body. The photoelectric effect is an important source and influencing factor for the generation of NAI during photosynthesis, but the photoelectric effect is extremely weak and difficult to monitor. Plant electrical signal is an important indicator that indirectly reflects photoelectric effect. Previous studies mostly focused on the spatiotemporal variation of NAI in different forest communities and its relationship with meteorological factors. At present, there is little research on NAI and plant electrical signal. In this study, we explored the effect of different light intensities (0, 150, 300, 500, 700, 800, 1000 and 1200 μmol·m空气负离子(NAI)是衡量一个地区空气清洁度的重要指标,对人体的心理健康和生理机能具有重要的调节作用。植被光合过程中光电效应是NAI产生的重要来源和影响因素,但光电效应极其微弱而难以直接监测,而植物电信号是间接反映光电效应的重要指标,以往研究多侧重在不同森林群落中NAI的时空变化特征及其与气象因素的关系,目前关于NAI与植物电信号的研究较少。本研究以白皮松为对象,通过人工气候室控制试验,探讨不同光照强度下(0、150、300、500、700、800、1000和1200 μmol·m

We study the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in tilted Weyl metals with weak Gaussian disorder under the Kubo-Streda formalism in this work. To separate the three different contributions, namely the intrinsic, side jump and skew scattering contribution, it is usually considered necessary to go to the eigenstate (chiral) basis of the Kubo-Streda formula. However, it is more straight-forward to compute the total Hall current in the spin basis. For the reason, we develop a systematic and transparent scheme to separate the three different contributions in the spin basis for relativistic systems by building a one-to-one correspondence between the Feynman diagrams of the different mechanisms in the chiral basis and the products of the symmetric and anti-symmetric part of the polarization operator in the spin basis. We obtain the three contributions of the AHE in tilted Weyl metals by this scheme and found that the side jump contribution exceeds both the intrinsic and skew scattering contribution for the low-energy effective Hamiltonian. We compared the anomalous Hall current obtained from our scheme with the results from the semi-classical Boltzmann equation approach under the relaxation time approximation and found that the results from the two approaches agree with each other in the leading order of the tilting velocity.

Members of the mitochondrial transcription terminator factor (mTERF) family, originally identified in vertebrate mitochondria, are involved in the termination of organellular transcription. In plants, mTERF proteins are mainly localized in chloroplasts and mitochondria. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), mTERF8/pTAC15 was identified in the plastid-encoded RNA polymerase (PEP) complex, the major RNA polymerase of chloroplasts. In this work, we demonstrate that mTERF8 is associated with the PEP complex. An mTERF8 knockout line displayed a wild-type–like phenotype under standard growth conditions, but showed impaired efficiency of photosystem II electron flow. Transcription of most chloroplast genes was not substantially affected in the mterf8 mutant; however, the level of the psbJ transcript from the psbEFLJ polycistron was increased. RNA blot analysis showed that a larger transcript accumulates in mterf8 than in the wild type. Thus, abnormal transcription and/or RNA processing occur for the psbEFLJ polycistron. Circular reverse transcription PCR and sequence analysis showed that the psbJ transcript terminates 95 nucleotides downstream of the translation stop codon in the wild type, whereas its termination is aberrant in mterf8. Both electrophoresis mobility shift assays and chloroplast chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis showed that mTERF8 specifically binds to the 3′ terminal region of psbJ. Transcription analysis using the in vitro T7 RNA polymerase system showed that mTERF8 terminates psbJ transcription. Together, these results suggest that mTERF8 is specifically involved in the transcription termination of the chloroplast gene psbJ.

Cisplatin represents one of the first‐line drugs used for non‐small‐cell lung cancer treatment. However, considerable side effects and the emergence of drug resistance are becoming critical limitations to its application. Combinatorial strategies may be able to extend the use of cisplatin. Both Tanshinone IIA and cisplatin inhibit non‐small‐cell lung cancer cell growth in a time‐ and dose‐dependent manner. When Tanshinone IIA was combined with cisplatin at a ratio of 20:1, they were observed to exert a synergistic inhibitory effect on non‐small‐cell lung cancer cells. The combination treatment was shown to impair cell migration and invasion, arrest the cell cycle in the S phases, and induce apoptosis in A549 and PC9 cells in a synergistic manner. KEGG pathway analysis and molecular docking indicated that Tanshinone IIA might mainly influence the phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase‐Akt signalling pathway. In all treated groups, the expression levels of Bax and cleaved Caspase‐3 were up‐regulated, whereas the expression levels of Bcl‐2, Caspase‐3, p‐Akt, and p‐PI3K proteins were down‐regulated. Among these, the combination of Tan IIA and cisplatin exhibited the most significant difference. Tanshinone IIA may function as a novel option for combination therapy for non‐small‐cell lung cancer treatment.

We study the possibility to realize Majorana zero mode that's robust and may be easily manipulated for braiding in quantum computing in the ground state of the Kitaev model in this work. To achieve this we first apply a uniform [111] magnetic field to the gapless Kitaev model and turn the Kitaev model to an effective p + ip topological superconductor of spinons. We then study possible vortex binding in such system to a topologically trivial spot in the ground state. We consider two cases in the system: one is a vacancy and the other is a fully polarized spin. We show that in both cases, the system binds a vortex with the defect and a robust Majorana zero mode in the ground state at a weak uniform [111] magnetic field. The distribution and asymptotic behavior of these Majorana zero modes is studied. The Majorana zero modes in both cases decay exponentially in space, and are robust against local perturbations and other Majorana zero modes far away, which makes them promising candidate for braiding in topological quantum computing., 15pages

Background: Cisplatin (DDP) is the firs-line chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of NSCLC. However, DDP resistance limits their usage to maximize the antineoplastic effect. The aims of this study were to investigate whether cordycepin (Cor) could reverse multidrug resistance (MDR) in NSCLC and to explore the underlying mechanisms.Methods: Cell proliferation and apoptosis were analyzed in NSCLC cell lines in vitro and in vivo, parental and DDP-resistant A549 cells, treated with DDP alone or combination with Cor. Proteins of different signaling pathways were investigated between DDP-sensistive and -insensitive A549 cell lines by GO terms and KEGG analysis, and perturbations of the MAPK and PI3K-AKT signaling pathways were evaluated by western blot. Results: Our data showed that Cor enhanced DDP inhibition of cell proliferation and promotion of apoptosis markedly compared to DDP alone group in both A549 and A549DDP. The synergic actions were associated with activation of AMPK and inhibition of AKT, mTOR and downstream P709S6K, S6 phosphorylation in the AKT pathway.Conclusion: Cor/DDP combination has synergistic effect on inhibiting proliferation and promoting apoptosis of NSCLC cells in the presence or absence of DDP resistance.

Cisplatin (DDP) is the first-line chemotherapeutic agent against lung cancer. However, the therapeutic effect of DDP loses over time due to the acquired drug resistance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. In recent years, the role of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) cordycepin (Cor) in cancer treatment has been attracting attention. However, the effects of Cor on DDP resistance in NSCLC are unclear. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of Cor in combination with DDP on cell proliferation and apoptosis in NSCLC and explore possible underlying mechanisms. The cell proliferation and apoptosis were analyzed in NSCLC parental (A549) and DDP-resistant (A549DDP) cells treated with DDP alone or in combination with Cor both in vitro and in vivo. Different genes and signaling pathways were investigated between DDP-sensitive and DDP-resistant A549 cells by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis. The perturbations of the MAPK and PI3K-AKT signaling pathways were evaluated by Western blot analysis. Our data showed that Cor markedly enhanced DDP inhibition on cell proliferation and promotion of apoptosis compared to the DDP-alone group in both A549 and A549DDP cells. The synergic actions were associated with activation of AMPK; inhibition of AKT, mTOR, and downstream P709S6K; and S6 phosphorylation in the AKT pathway compared with DDP alone. Collectively, combination of Cor and DDP has a synergistic effect in inhibiting proliferation and promoting apoptosis of NSCLC cells in the presence or absence of DDP resistance. The antitumor activity is associated with activation of AMPK and inhibition of the AKT pathway to enhance DDP inhibition on NSCLC. Our results suggested that Cor in combination with DDP could be an additional therapeutic option for the treatment of DDP-resistant NSCLC.

Background: Standard measures that define obesity and related disorders varies widely, this study investigated the relationship between different anthropometric indices of obesity criteria and their correlation to hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidaemia in a local adult population in China.Methods: The study participants underwent the same questionnaire survey, bio-impedance body composition analysis, and blood laboratory test. The t-test and chi-square test were used to compare the characteristics of different groups, and the receiver operating characteristic curve was used to analyse the correlation of different indicators and explore their cut-off values.Results: The study comprised 14,926 participants, of whom 39.80% (5948/14,926) were male, and the mean age of the study population was 56.75±9.74 years. The waist circumference had the greatest influence on all factors, and BMI, AVI, and BRI were similarly correlated. WHtR had the largest AUC for predicting obesity in both sexes, and in addition, we provided a recommended cut-off value of BMI, WHR, WHtR, BAI, OBD, CI, AVI, ABSI and BRI. WHtR had the largest AUC for predicting diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidaemia, while BMI also served as a good predictive indicator (all P

To determine the cortical mechanism that underlies the cognitive impairment and motor disability in hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), nine HSP patients from a Chinese family were examined using clinical evaluation, cognitive screening, and genetic testing. Controls were matched healthy subjects. White-matter fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD; tract-based spatial statistics), cortical thickness (FreeSurfer), and subcortical gray matter (FIRST) based on T1-weighted MRI and diffusion tensor imaging were analyzed. A novel mutation in the SPAST gene (NM_014946.3, c.1321+2T>C) was detected. Patients had motor disability and low Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores. Patients showed significantly decreased total gray- and white-matter volumes, corpus callosum volume, cortical thickness, and subcortical gray-matter volume as well as significantly lower FA and AD values and significantly higher MD and RD values in the corpus callosum and corticospinal tract. Cortical thickness, subcortical gray-matter volume, and MoCA score were negatively correlated with disease duration. Cortical thickness in the right inferior frontal cortex was negatively correlated with Spastic Paraplegia Rating Scale score. Cortical thickness and right hippocampus volume were positively correlated with the MoCA score and subscores. In conclusion, brain damage is not restricted to the white matter in SPG4-HSP patients, and widespread gray-matter damage may account for the disease progression, cognitive impairment, and disease severity in SPG4-HSP.

Shortening of the 3′ untranslated regions (3′UTR) of mRNA is an important mechanism for oncogene activation. However, 3′UTR alteration events, their pathologic functions, and underlying mechanisms in human urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB) are not clear. Here, we combine RNA sequencing, bioinformatics, and clinical studies in two independent cohorts of patients with UCB to identify a novel RAC1 shorter 3′UTR isoform that is frequently expressed in UCB and is critical in the tumorigenesis and acquisition of a poor prognostic phenotype in patients. Short 3′UTR isoform of RAC1 substantially upregulated RAC1 expression by escaping from miRNA-targeted repression and played an essential oncogenic role in UCB pathogenesis. An important cleavage/polyadenylation factor, cleavage stimulation factor 2 (CSTF2), induced 3′UTR shortening of RAC1 in UCB by mediating slow transcriptional elongation at RAC1. Cotranscriptional recruitment of CSTF2 on the GUAAU motif at proximal polyadenylation site of RAC1 attenuated the recruitment of two transcription factors AFF1 and AFF4, causing the defects in elongation. CSTF2 regulated the tumorigenic functions of the shorter RAC1 isoform in UCB cells, enhancing cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. The combination of high expression of CSTF2 and high usage of RAC1 short-3′UTR isoform may be used as a powerful biomarker to predict poor prognosis in UCB. Our findings also suggest a CSTF2-regulated RAC1-3′UTR shortening program as an exploitable therapeutic strategy for patients with UCB. Significance: These findings demonstrate that the short isoform of RAC1 is critical in UCB tumorigenesis and may have implications for developing new therapeutic strategies to treat this disease. Cancer Res; 78(20); 5848–62. ©2018 AACR.

An easy one-step co-precipitation method was adopted to prepare chitosan/Fe3O4 composite microparticles (MCTS). Scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer, and X-ray diffraction were utilized to examine the features of the microparticles. The results showed that the microparticles had a honeycomb-like porous framework with superparamagnetic properties and a saturation magnetization of ~ 43.4 emu g−1. The adsorption performance of polyphenols in sugarcane juice with using MCTS as adsorbent was also investigated. The adsorption kinetics indicated that the polyphenol adsorption process was suitable for the pseudo-second-order mode, while the Langmuir isotherm mode could be employed to best show the adsorption behavior. According to the thermodynamic parameter values, this adsorption process is endothermic and spontaneous. Recycling experiments indicated that the MCTS adsorbent had considerable reusability.

Dysregulation of non-coding RNAs, including miRNAs and lncRNAs has been reported to play vital roles in gastric cancer (GC) carcinogenesis, but the mechanism involved is largely unknown. Using the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) data set and bioinformatics analyses, we identified miR-532-5p as a potential tumor suppressor in GC, and found that lncRNA LINC01410 might be a negative regulator of miR-532-5p. We then conducted a series of in vivo and in vitro assays to explore the effect of LINC01410 on miR-532-5p-mediated GC malignancy and the underlying mechanism involved. MiR-532-5p overexpression inhibited GC metastasis and angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo, whereas miR-532-5p silencing had the opposite effect. Further study showed that miR-532-5p attenuated NF-κB signaling by directly inhibiting NCF2 expression, while miR-532-5p silencing in GC enhanced NF-κB activity. Furthermore, we demonstrated miR-532-5p down-regulation was caused by aberrantly high expression of LINC01410 in GC. Mechanistically, overexpression of LINC01410 promoted GC angiogenesis and metastasis by binding to and suppressing miR-532-5p, which resulted in up-regulation of NCF2 and sustained NF-κB pathway activation. Interestingly, NCF2 could in turn increase the promoter activity and expression of LINC01410 via NF-κB, thus forming a positive feedback loop that drives the malignant behavior of GC. Finally, high expression of LINC01410, along with low expression of miR-532-5p, was associated with poor survival outcome in GC patients. Our studies uncover a mechanism for constitutive LINC1410-miR-532-5p-NCF2-NF-κB feedback loop activation in GC, and consequently, as a potential therapeutic target in GC treatment.

Dysregulation of non-coding RNAs, including miRNAs and lncRNAs has been reported to play vital roles in gastric cancer (GC) carcinogenesis, but the mechanism involved is largely unknown. Using the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) data set and bioinformatics analyses, we identified miR-532-5p as a potential tumor suppressor in GC, and found that lncRNA LINC01410 might be a negative regulator of miR-532-5p. We then conducted a series of in vivo and in vitro assays to explore the effect of LINC01410 on miR-532-5p-mediated GC malignancy and the underlying mechanism involved. MiR-532-5p overexpression inhibited GC metastasis and angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo, whereas miR-532-5p silencing had the opposite effect. Further study showed that miR-532-5p attenuated NF-κB signaling by directly inhibiting NCF2 expression, while miR-532-5p silencing in GC enhanced NF-κB activity. Furthermore, we demonstrated miR-532-5p down-regulation was caused by aberrantly high expression of LINC01410 in GC. Mechanistically, overexpression of LINC01410 promoted GC angiogenesis and metastasis by binding to and suppressing miR-532-5p, which resulted in up-regulation of NCF2 and sustained NF-κB pathway activation. Interestingly, NCF2 could in turn increase the promoter activity and expression of LINC01410 via NF-κB, thus forming a positive feedback loop that drives the malignant behavior of GC. Finally, high expression of LINC01410, along with low expression of miR-532-5p, was associated with poor survival outcome in GC patients. Our studies uncover a mechanism for constitutive LINC1410-miR-532-5p-NCF2-NF-κB feedback loop activation in GC, and consequently, as a potential therapeutic target in GC treatment.

Background and objectives: Conbercept is a novel anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agent for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD). However, no head-to-head study has compared the effectiveness of conbercept with that of ranibizumab. In this study, we will compare the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and safety profiles of ranibizumab and conbercept in the treatment of wAMD. Design: This is a single-center, prospective, cohort study. Methods: Patients (≥ 50 years old) diagnosed with wAMD will be allocated to the conbercept or ranibizumab group according to their preference. Following a treat-and-extend protocol, patients will receive intravitreal injections of 0.5 mg conbercept or 0.5 mg ranibizumab every month in the first three injections. Outcome measures: The primary outcome is quality of life, measured with the Chinese version of the Low Vision Quality of Life Questionnaire, from baseline to 48 weeks post-treatment. Secondary outcomes include best corrected visual acuity, central retinal thickness, cost of treatment, intraocular pressure, and adverse events. The follow-up phase will last 1 year. Propensity score matching will be used to deal with differences in baseline between the two groups. A cost-effectiveness analysis will be performed. Discussion: The results of this study will provide clinicians with a rational basis for choosing the most effective treatment for wAMD patients. Ethics and dissemination: This study has been approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Guizhou Provincial People’s Hospital (approval number: 2017113). Patient recruitment was initiated in November 2017. Analysis of primary outcome measures will be completed in October 2020, and the study will be finished in October 2021. Dissemination plans include presentations at scientific conferences and publication in scientific journals. Trial registration: This study was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry with registration number of ChiCRT-OPC-17013023, protocol version: 2.0.

Zhengzhong Wu,1 Mengtan Cai,1 Jun Cao,2 Jiaxing Zhang,1 Xianglin Luo1,3 1College of Polymer Science and Engineering, 2National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, 3State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China Abstract: Zwitterionic polymers have unique features, such as good compatibility, and show promise in the application of drug delivery. In this study, the zwitterionic copolymers, poly(ε-caprolactone)-b-poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine) with disulfide (PCL-ss-PMPC) or poly(ε-caprolactone)-b-poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine) or without disulfide (PCL-PMPC) and with different block lengths in PCL-ss-PMPC, were designed. The designed copolymers were obtained by a combination of ring-opening polymerization and atom transferring radical polymerization. The crystallization properties of these polymers were investigated. The micelles were prepared based on the obtained copolymers with zwitterionic phosphorylcholine as the hydrophilic shell and PCL as the hydrophobic core. The size distributions of the blank micelles and the doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded micelles were uniform, and the micelle diameters were

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in the pathology of various tumors, including colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the role of lncRNA in CRC liver metastasis remains unclear. Methods: a microarray was performed to identify the differentially expressed lncRNAs between CRC tissues with and without liver metastasis. Survival analysis was evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method and assessed using the log-rank test. In vitro and in vivo assays were preformed to explore the biological effects of the differentially expressed lncRNA in CRC cells. Results: the lncRNA UICLM (up-regulated in colorectal cancer liver metastasis) was significantly up-regulated in cases of CRC with liver metastasis. Moreover, UICLM expression was higher in CRC tissues than in normal tissues, and UICLM expression was associated with poor patient survival. Knockdown of UICLM inhibited CRC cell proliferation, invasion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and CRC stem cell formation in vitro as well as tumor growth and liver metastasis in vivo. Ectopic expression of UICLM promoted CRC cell proliferation and invasion. Mechanistic investigations revealed that UICLM induced its biological effects by regulating ZEB2, as the oncogenesis facilitated by UICLM was inhibited by ZEB2 depletion. Further study indicated that UICLM acted as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-215 to regulate ZEB2 expression. Conclusions: taken together, our findings demonstrate how UICLM induces CRC liver metastasis and may offer a novel prognostic marker and therapeutic target for this disease.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been implicated in cancer progression through largely unknown mechanisms. Herein, we identify an N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modified circRNA, circNSUN2, frequently upregulated in tumor tissues and serum samples from colorectal carcinoma (CRC) patients with liver metastasis (LM) and predicts poorer patient survival. The upregulated expression of circNSUN2 promotes LM in PDX metastasis models in vivo and accelerates cancer cells invasion in vitro. Importantly, N6-methyladenosine modification of circNSUN2 increases export to the cytoplasm. By forming a circNSUN2/IGF2BP2/HMGA2 RNA-protein ternary complex in the cytoplasm, circNSUN2 enhances the stability of HMGA2 mRNA to promote CRC metastasis progression. Clinically, the upregulated expressions of circNSUN2 and HMGA2 are more prevalent in LM tissues than in primary CRC tissues. These findings elucidate that N6-methyladenosine modification of circNSUN2 modulates cytoplasmic export and stabilizes HMGA2 to promote CRC LM, and suggest that circNSUN2 could represent a critical prognostic marker and/or therapeutic target for the disease.

This study investigated whether melatonin alleviates intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) by promoting autophagy through inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway.Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining and Safranin-O staining were used to measure disc degeneration in rat needle puncture IVDD models, and melatonin was injected intraperitoneally in the treated group to test its function. The expression of autophagy and extracellular matrix (ECM) degeneration related-markers were measured in the discs using immunohistochemistry. Transmission electron microscopy was used to evaluate the activation of autophagy in human nucleus pulposus (NP) tissues with different degenerated statuses. The expression of autophagy and disc degeneration related-markers were detected in NP cells by Western blot, RT-qPCR, and immunofluorescence analyses. NF-κB signaling pathway involvement was studied by lentivirus-mediated knockdown, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining.Melatonin prevented IVDD development in vivo and in vitro. Compared to non-degenerated disc tissues, degenerated human NP tissues showed a decrease in the autophagy-specific marker LC3B and the numbers of autophagosomes and autolysosomes, whereas the p62 level was increased; similar results were observed in rat IVDD models, indicating a negative correlation between autophagy and IVDD. Furthermore, both in vivo and in vitro studies found that melatonin application induced autophagy and reduced ECM disc degradation. Melatonin was also shown to regulate autophagy by inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway in vivo and vitro.This study indicates that melatonin prevents IVDD by promoting autophagy, indicating its possible therapeutic potential for controlling the progression of IVDD.