Search

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide with highest incidence in Asia and Africa. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of non-coding single stranded RNA, which not only post transcriptionally regulate gene expression but also respond to signaling molecules to affect cell functions such as Wnt/β-catenin signaling specifically in HCC. The goal of this study is to investigate the crosstalk between Wnt/β-catenin signaling proteins and microRNAs expression in HCC patients.Fresh tissue samples of 30 primary HCC patients and 10 control subjects were included. Expression level of 13 different miRNAs (miR-10a- miR-106b- miR-99a- miR-148a- miR-125b- miR-30e- miR-183- miR-155- miR-199a- miR-199a3p- miR-24- miR-122 and miR-215) were examined using real-time PCR assay. Five proteins involved in the Wnt/β-catenin pathway (β-catenin, APC, c-myc, survivin and cyclin D1) were analysed by immunohistochemistry technique. The correlation between miRNAs expression levels with protein expressions was assessed.Up-regulation of miR-155 and miR-183 was reported in HCC patients compared to normal controls and this up-regulation was significantly correlated with liver cirrhosis in the case of miR-155 (p0.05) referring to their oncogenic activity. Down-regulation was observed for 11 miRNAs in HCC indicating their tumour suppression activity. MiRNA-10a, miR-30e, miR-215, miR-125b and miR-148a were significantly correlated with the expression of important players in Wnt/β-catenin pathway including β-catenin, APC and c-myc (p0.05). Detailed analysis revealed that miR-215 is associated with the grade of the disease and miR-125b is associated with HCV infection.Collectively, our data showed potential role of miR-10a, miR-30e, miR-215, miR-125b and miR-148a as important mediators in HCC progression. Furthermore, their association with Wnt/β-catenin cascade proteins could be exploited to develop new therapeutic target strategies in HCC.

Cisplatin is a potent chemotherapeutic agent with a wide range of activities. Nephrotoxicity and cardiotoxicity represent it's major complication upon clinical use. The present study was carried out to evaluate the possible protective effect of DL-α-lipoic acid (LA) against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and cardiotoxicity. Different groups of rats (n = 10) were administered either saline (control), cisplatin (10 mg/kg, i.p.), LA (100 mg/kg, i.p.) or their combination (LA 30 min prior to cisplatin administration). Twenty-four hours later all animals were decapitated and sera were used for estimation of activities of urea (BUN), creatinine (Cr), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and creatine kinase (CK). Homogenates of the kidney and heart were used for estimation of oxidative stress markers (reduced glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and nitric oxide (NO)). Additionally, caspase-3 activities and DNA-fragmentation were investigated in renal tissues. The results showed that cisplatin produced significant elevation in serum activities of LDH, CK, BUN, and Cr and also induced significant elevation in the oxidative stress makers (MDA and NO) accompanied by significant reduction in GSH and SOD in both kidney and heart. The integrity of DNA was heavily damaged and caspase-3 was activated in renal tissues. The results emphasized nephrotoxicty and cardiotoxicity of cisplatin. On the other hand, prior administration of LA significantly attenuated the cisplatin-evoked disturbances in the above mentioned parameters and protected both kidney and heart tissues. The histopathological examination emphasized the obtained results. In conclusion, LA is suggested to be a potential candidate to ameliorate cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and cardiotoxicity without altering the antitumor efficacy of cisplatin.

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common neoplasm among women in most developed countries, including Egypt. Elevated levels of certain proteins in human BC are associated with unfavorable prognosis and progressive stages of the disease. The aim of our study was to evaluate the protein expression profile and prognostic significance of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), MMP-9 and membrane type 1-MMP (MT1-MMP) and their interaction in operable BC patients. The protein expression of COX-2, MMP-2 and MT1-MMP were evaluated by western blot technique, whereas enzymatic activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 was determined by zymography in 47 breast cancer patients as well as normal adjacent tissues. Also, the correlation between these proteins and age, tumor size, LN stage, TNM stage, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, disease-free survival, and overall survival (OS) has been investigated. As compared to adjacent normal tissues, COX-2, MMP-2 and MT1-MMP were over-expressed in 43, 64, and 60 % of tumor tissues, respectively. In the same pattern, the activity of MMP-2 (62 %) and MMP-9 (45 %) was elevated in BC tissues. Multivariate analysis showed a positive correlation between the protein expression of COX-2, MMP-2, and MT1-MMP and the activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in BC patients. However, the enzymatic activity showed no correlation with clinicopathological features. This study confirms the preclinical evidence that COX-2 increased the expression of MT1-MMP, which in turn activates MMP-2. The lack of correlation with clinicopathological features, OS or disease-free survival ascertains the complexity of tumor progression and metastasis with many pro- and counter regulatory factors.