Distinct prognostic values of four-Notch-receptor mRNA expression in ovarian cancer

Silibinin: an inhibitor for a high-expressed BCL-2A1/BFL1 protein, linked with poor prognosis in breast cancer

Breast cancer (BC) accounts for 30% of all diagnosed cases of cancer in women and remains a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide. The current study looks for a protein from the anti-apoptotic/pro-survival BCL-2 family whose overexpression reduces survivability in BC patients and a potential inhibitor for the protein. We found BCL-2A1/BFL1 protein with high expression linked to low survivability in BC. The protein shows prognosis in 8 out of 29 categories, whereas no other family member manifests this property. Out of 7379 compounds, three small molecules (CHEMBL9509, CHEMBL2104550 and CHEMBL3545011) form an H-bond with BCL-2A1/BFL1 protein's unique residue Cys55. Of the three small molecules, we found CHEMBL9509 (Silibinin) to be a potent inhibitor. The compound forms a stable H-bond with the residue Cys55 with the lowest binding energy compared to the other two compounds. It remains stable in the BH3 binding region for more than 100 ns, whereas the other two detach from the region. Additionally, the compound is found to be better than Venetoclax and Nematoclax. We firmly believe in the compound CHEMBL9509 potency to halt BC's progression by inhibiting the BCL-2A1/BFL1 protein, increasing patients' survivability.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

The Clinical Application of Immunohistochemical Expression of Notch4 Protein in Patients with Colon Adenocarcinoma

The Notch signalling pathway is one of the most conserved and well-characterised pathways involved in cell fate decisions and the development of many diseases, including cancer. Among them, it is worth noting the Notch4 receptor and its clinical application, which may have prognostic value in patients with colon adenocarcinoma. The study was performed on 129 colon adenocarcinomas. Immunohistochemical and fluorescence expression of Notch4 was performed using the Notch4 antibody. The associations between the IHC expression of Notch4 and clinical parameters were analysed using the Chi² test or Chi²_Yatesa test. The Kaplan-Meier analysis and the log-rank test were used to verify the relationship between the intensity of Notch4 expression and the 5-year survival rate of patients. Intracellular localisation of Notch4 was detected by the use of the immunogold labelling method and TEM. 101 (78.29%) samples had strong Notch4 protein expression, and 28 (21.71%) samples were characterised by low expression. The high expression of Notch4 was clearly correlated with the histological grade of the tumour (p < 0.001), PCNA immunohistochemical expression (p < 0.001), depth of invasion (p < 0.001) and angioinvasion (p < 0.001). We can conclude that high expression of Notch4 is correlated with poor prognosis of colon adenocarcinoma patients (log-rank, p < 0.001).

Claudin-4 localization in epithelial ovarian cancer

Claudin-4, a protein with the structure of classic claudins most often found in cell-cell junctions, is frequently overexpressed in epithelial cancers where its localization has not been studied. In this study we aimed to find out where this membrane protein is localized in an ovarian tumor model, OVCAR3 cells, that express high levels of the protein. Immunohistochemical studies showed claudin-4 staining in a perinuclear region, at most plasma membranes and in cytoplasmic puncta. Native claudin-4 did not overlap with phosphorylated claudin-4, which was partially located in focal adhesions. Using claudin-4 BioID technology we confirmed that large amounts of claudin-4 are localized to the Golgi compartment, including in dispersed Golgi in cells where claudin-4 is partially knocked down and in dividing cells. Claudin-4 appears to be present in the vicinity of several types of cell-cell junctions, but there is no evidence that it forms tight junctions in these tumor cells. Both claudin-4, the Golgi marker GM130, and the plasma membrane receptor Notch2 were found in dispersed Golgi in dividing cells. This definition of the cellular architecture of claudin-4 should provide a framework for better understanding of the function of claudin-4 in tumor cells and its molecular interactions.

Functional Gene Expression Differentiation of the Notch Signaling Pathway in Female Reproductive Tract Tissues-A Comprehensive Review With Analysis

The Notch pathway involves evolutionarily conserved signaling regulating the development of the female tract organs such as breast, ovary, cervix, and uterine endometrium. A great number of studies revealed Notch aberrancies in association with their carcinogenesis and disease progression, the management of which is still challenging. The present study is a comprehensive review of the available literature on Notch signaling during the normal development and carcinogenesis of the female tract organs. The review has been enriched with our analyses of the TCGA data including breast, cervical, ovarian, and endometrial carcinomas concerning the effects of Notch signaling at two levels: the core components and downstream effectors, hence filling the lack of global overview of Notch-driven carcinogenesis and disease progression. Phenotype heterogeneity regarding Notch signaling was projected in two uniform manifold approximation and projection algorithm dimensions, preceded by the principal component analysis step reducing the data burden. Additionally, overall and disease-free survival analyses were performed with the optimal cutpoint determination by Evaluate Cutpoints software to establish the character of particular Notch components in tumorigenesis. In addition to the review, we demonstrated separate models of the examined cancers of the Notch pathway and its targets, although expression profiles of all normal tissues were much more similar to each other than to its cancerous compartments. Such Notch-driven cancerous differentiation resulted in a case of opposite association with DFS and OS. As a consequence, target genes also show very distinct profiles including genes associated with cell proliferation and differentiation, energy metabolism, or the EMT. In conclusion, the observed Notch associations with the female tract malignancies resulted from differential expression of target genes. This may influence a future analysis to search for new therapeutic targets based on specific Notch pathway profiles.

Distinct prognostic values and antitumor effects of tumor growth factor β1 and its receptors in gastric cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies and is the second leading cause of cancer-associated mortality world-wide. In the present study, the prognostic value and antitumor effects of transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1) and its receptors in GC were explored. The online Kaplan-Meier plotter database was used to investigate the prognostic values of TGFβ1 and its receptors. The present study demonstrated that low mRNA expression levels of TGFβ1 and its 3 receptors, transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβR1), TGFβR2 and TGFβR3, was associated with improved overall survival time in patients with GC. Cell Counting Kit-8 and Transwell assays were used to confirm the effects of TGFβ1, TGFβR1, TGFβR2 and TGFβR3 on the proliferation, migration and invasiveness of the AGS and MKN45 GC cell lines. It was found that the knockdown of these genes blocked cell proliferation, migration and invasion in GC cells. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to determine the role of TGFβR1 and TGFβR3 in GC cells. The results indicate that in addition to TGFβ1 and TGFβR2, TGFβR1 also plays a specific role in the occurrence and development of tumors. Thus, these markers may be considered as potential prognostic indicators in human GC. The findings of the present study indicate that not only TGFβ1 and TGFβR2, but also TGFβR1 is involved in the progression of GC. The findings of the present study provide new ideas and approaches for the treatment of patients with GC.

Distinct functions and prognostic values of RORs in gastric cancer

Retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptors (RORs) are frequently abnormally expressed in several human malignancies, including gastric cancer (GC). RORs are involved in the development and progression of GC through Wnt signaling pathway receptors and other common receptors. However, the prognostic roles of individual RORs in patients with GC remain elusive. We accessed the prognostic roles of three RORs (RORα, RORβ, and RORγ) through "The Kaplan-Meier plotter" (KM plotter) database in patients with GC. For all patients with GC who were followed for 20 years, the low mRNA expression of all three RORs showed a significant correlation with better outcomes. We further accessed the prognostic value of individual RORs in different clinical pathological features including Lauren classification, clinical stages, pathological grades, HER2 status, and different treatments methods. The RORs demonstrated critical prognostic roles in GC. Expressions of RORs were higher in GC tissues when compared with normal gastric tissues. Moreover, knockdown of RORs significantly inhibited cell proliferation and migration, suggesting an oncogenic role of RORs in human GC. These findings suggest potential roles of RORs as biomarkers for GC prognosis and as oncogenes in GC.

Prognostic values of F-box members in breast cancer: an online database analysis and literature review

Introduction: F-box proteins are the substrate-recognizing subunits of SKP1 (S-phase kinase-associated protein 1)–cullin1–F-box protein (SCF) E3 ligase complexes that play pivotal roles in multiple cellular processes, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis. Dysregulation of F-box proteins may lead to an unbalanced proteolysis of numerous protein substrates, contributing to progression of human malignancies. However, the prognostic values of F-box members, especially at mRNA levels, in breast cancer (BC) are elusive. Methods: An online database, which is constructed based on the gene expression data and survival information downloaded from GEO (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/), was used to investigate the prognostic values of 15 members of F-box mRNA expression in BC. Results: We found that higher mRNA expression levels of FBXO1, FBXO31, SKP2, and FBXO5 were significantly associated with worse prognosis for BC patients. While FBXO4 and β-TrCP1 were found to be correlated to better overall survival (OS). Conclusion: The associated results provide new insights into F-box members in the development and progression of BC. Further researches to explore the F-box protein-targetting reagents for treating BC are needed.

The Role of Notch3 in Cancer

The Notch family is a highly conserved gene group that regulates cell-cell interaction, embryogenesis, and tissue commitment. This review article focuses on the third Notch family subtype, Notch3. Regulation via Notch3 signaling was first implicated in vasculogenesis. However, more recent findings suggest that Notch3 signaling may play an important role in oncogenesis, tumor maintenance, and resistance to chemotherapy. Its role is mainly oncogenic, although in some cancers it appears to be tumor suppressive. Despite the wealth of published literature, it remains relatively underexplored and requires further research to shed more light on its role in cancer development, determine its tissue-specific function, and elaborate novel treatment strategies. Herein we summarize the role of Notch3 in cancer, possible mechanisms of its action, and current cancer treatment strategies targeting Notch3 signaling.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

The Notch family is a highly conserved gene group that regulates cell-cell interaction, embryogenesis, and tissue commitment. This review summarizes the existing data on the third subtype of the Notch family, Notch3. The role of Notch3 in different types of cancers is discussed, as well as implications of its modification and new strategies to affect Notch3 signaling activity.

Prognostic values of the mRNA expression of natural killer receptor ligands and their association with clinicopathological features in breast cancer patients

BACKGROUND

Natural killer (NK) cells are lymphocytes of the innate immune system that have potent cytotoxic activity against tumor cells. NK cell recognition and activity towards cancer cells are regulated by an integrated interplay between numerous inhibitory and activating receptors acting in concert to eliminate tumor cells expressing cognate ligands. Despite strong evidence supporting the role of NK cells in breast cancer (BC) control, BC still develops and progresses to form large tumors and metastases. A major mechanism of BC escape from NK immunity is the alteration of the expression of NK receptor ligands. The aim of this study was to determine whether NK receptor ligands' mRNA expression might influence prognosis in BC patients and whether these effects differ by molecular subtypes and clinicopathological features.

METHODS

We used the KM plotter platform to analyze the correlation between mRNA expression of 32 NK receptor ligands and relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in 3951 and 1402 BC patients, respectively. The association with tumor subtypes and clinicopathological features was determined. BC samples were split into high and low expression groups according to the best cutoff value and the two patient cohorts were compared by Kaplan-Meier survival plots. The hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals and log rank P values were calculated and FDR-adjusted for multiple testing correction. The data was considered to be statistically significant when FDR-adjusted P value < 0.05.

RESULTS

High mRNA expression of around 80% of ligands for NK activating and inhibitory receptors associated with better RFS, which correlated with longer OS for only about half of the NK-activating ligands but for most NK-inhibitory ligands. Also, five NK-activating ligands correlated with worse prognosis. These prognostic values were differentially associated with the BC clinical criteria. In addition, the favorable prognostic influence of NK-activating ligands' upregulation, as a whole, was mainly significantly associated with HER2-positive and basal-like subtypes, lymph node positive phenotype, and high-grade tumors.

CONCLUSIONS

NK receptor ligands appear to play an important role in defining BC patient prognosis. Identification of a group of patients with worse prognosis expressing high levels of NK-activating ligands and low levels of NK-inhibitory ligands makes them ideal potential candidates for NK-based immunotherapy to eliminate residual tumor cells, prevent relapse and improve patient survival.

Distinct Expression and Prognostic Value of MS4A in Gastric Cancer

Gastric cancer has high malignancy and early metastasis, which lead to poor survival rate. In this study, we assessed the expressions and prognostic values of MS4A family, a newly recently discovered family, by two online dataset, GEPIA and Kaplan Meier-plotter. From these results eight members, MS4A2, MS4A6, MS4A7, MS4A8, MS4A14, MS4A15, TMEM176A and TMEM176B showed positive expression in gastric cancer or normal tissues, and these genes were screened for further analysis of prognostic values. We observed that low mRNA expressions of MS4A2, MS4A7, MS4A14, MS4A15, TMEM176A and TMEM176B were correlated with better overall survival (OS) in all gastric cancer patients, while high mRNA expression of MS4A6 was observed to be associated with good prognosis. MS4A8’s high mRNA level was correlated to better OS in diffuse gastric cancer patients. Further, we estimated prognostic values of MS4A family in gastric cancer patients with different clinic-pathological features, including clinical stages, differentiation level, lymph node status and HER2 status. Our results indicate that these eight MS4A members can estimate prognosis in patients with different pathological groups. In conclusion, MS4A family members are potential biomarkers, and may contribute to tumor progression in gastric cancer.

Genetic variants of genes in the Notch signaling pathway predict overall survival of non-small cell lung cancer patients in the PLCO study

The Notch signaling pathway has been shown to have biological significance and therapeutic application in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We hypothesize that genetic variants of genes in the Notch signaling pathway are associated with overall survival (OS) of NSCLC patients. To test this hypothesis, we performed multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to evaluate associations of 19,571 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 132 Notch pathway genes with OS of 1,185 NSCLC patients available from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial. We found that five potentially functional tagSNPs in four genes (i.e., ADAM12 rs10794069 A > G, DTX1 rs1732793 G > A, TLE1 rs199731120 C > CA, TLE1 rs35970494 T > TC and E2F3 rs3806116 G > T) were associated with a poor OS, with a variant-allele attributed hazards ratio (HR) of 1.27 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 1.13–1.42, P = 3.62E-05], 1.30 (1.14–1.49, 8.16E-05), 1.40 (1.16–1.68, 3.47E-04), 1.27 (1.11–1.44, 3.38E-04), and 1.21 (1.09–1.33, 2.56E-04), respectively. Combined analysis of these five risk genotypes revealed that the genetic score 0–5 was associated with the adjusted HR in a dose-response manner (P_trend = 3.44E-13); individuals with 2–5 risk genotypes had an adjusted HR of 1.56 (1.34–1.82, 1.46E-08), compared with those with 0–1 risk genotypes. Larger studies are needed to validate our findings.

SOX2OT variant 7 contributes to the synergistic interaction between EGCG and Doxorubicin to kill osteosarcoma via autophagy and stemness inhibition

BACKGROUND

Doxorubicin is the preferred chemotherapeuticdrug for osteosarcoma treatment of which clinical efficacy is limited because of its chemo-resistance and cardiac toxicity. It is necessary to develop the combination regimen with complementary molecular mechanisms to reduce the side effects and enhance sensitivity of Doxorubicin. EGCG is a polyphenol in green tea with antitumor bioactivity,which has been found that its combination with certain chemotherapeutic drugs could improve the antitumor efficiency.

METHODS

In this study, MTT assay was used to detect the cell growth inhibition The CD133+/CD44+ cells were isolated from U2OS and SaoS2 cell lines using magnetic-activated cell sorting and identified by flow cytometry analysis. qRT-PCR was used for determining the relative mRNA levels of key genes. Immunofluorescence was performed to evaluate the autophagy flux alterations. Self-renewal ability was accessed by sphere-forming assay. Tumorigenicity in nude mice was preformed to evaluate tumorigenicity in vivo.

RESULTS

We found that EGCG targeting LncRNA SOX2OT variant 7 produced synergistic effects with Doxorubicin on osteosarcoma cell growth inhibition. On the one hand, EGCG could reduce the Doxorubicin-induced pro-survival autophagy through decreasing SOX2OT variant 7 to improve the growth inhibition of Doxorubicin. On the other hand, EGCG could partially inactivate Notch3/DLL3 signaling cascade targeting SOX2OT variant 7 to reduce the stemness then abated drug-resistance of osteosarcoma cells.

CONCLUSIONS

This study will help to reveal the molecular mechanisms of synergistic effects of EGCG and Doxorubicin on OS chemotherapy and improve the clinical efficacy of chemotherapy as well as provide a basis for developing antitumor drugs targeting osteosarcoma stem cells.

Interference of Notch 1 inhibits the proliferation and invasion of breast cancer cells: Involvement of the β‑catenin signaling pathway

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of carcinoma in humans. The aim of the present study was to identify the role of Notch 1 in the proliferation and invasion of human breast cancer cells. Firstly, the levels of Notch 1 were determined by western blot analysis in breast cancer cell lines, and the results revealed that the expression levels of Notch 1 were markedly higher in MDA‑MB‑231 and MCF‑7 cells, and lower in MCF‑10A cells, compared with human mammary epithelial cells. An MTT assay was used to determine the viability of breast cancer cells. The optical density (OD)490 values were significantly decreased in Notch 1 short hairpin (sh)RNA‑transfected MCF‑7 and MDA‑MB‑231 cells, compared with the OD490 values in the negative control shRNA‑transfected cells. The MCF‑7 cells and MDA‑MB‑231 cells were also treated with increasing concentrations of MRK003, a Notch 1 inhibitor, for 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively. The inhibition rate was gradually increased in the MRK003‑treated cells in a time‑ and dose‑dependent manner. The invasive ability of the cells was determined using a Transwell migration assay. The migration ability was significantly decreased in the Notch 1‑transfected MCF‑7 cells and MDA‑MB‑231 cells. The molecular mechanism was examined, and the knockdown of Notch 1 significantly decreased the expression levels of β‑catenin, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)‑2 and MMP‑9, and was also correlated with the downregulation of β‑catenin in the nucleus. In conclusion, Notch 1 was key in the progression of breast cancer, and knocking down the expression of Notch 1 significantly suppressed the proliferation and invasion of breast cancer cells. This provides novel clues for cancer therapy in human breast cancer.

Prognostic value of abnormally expressed lncRNAs in ovarian carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Ovarian cancer (OC) is the most deadly gynecological cancer and it is urgently needed to find a new marker for the progress of OC. Many long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to be aberrantly expressed in ovarian carcinoma, and may serve as prognostic markers. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis to gain a better understanding of the prognostic value of lncRNAs in patients with varian carcinoma. We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science. A total of 13 eligible studies, including 10 on clinicopathological features, 13 on prognosis were identified. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) or odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated using random- or fixed-effects models. Our results revealed that the increased expressions of 8 lncRNAs were associated with poor prognosis and the decreased expressions of 5 lncRNAs were related to poor prognosis in ovarian carcinoma. High HOTAIR expression was associated with shorter overall survival in ovarian cancer (pooled HR: 2.05, 95% CI: 1.51-2.77, P < 0.001). In conclusion, our meta-analysis suggested that LncRNAs could function as potential prognostic markers for ovarian cancer patients and high expression HOTAIR was associated with shorter overall survival in ovarian cancer.

Prognostic roles of mRNA expression of notch receptors in non-small cell lung cancer

Notch signalling is aberrantly activated in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Nevertheless, the prognostic roles of mRNA expression of four Notch receptors in NSCLC patients remain elusive. In this report, we reported the prognostic roles of Notch receptors in a total of 1,926 NSCLC patients through “The Kaplan-Meier plotter” (KM plotter) database which is capable to assess the effect of 22,277 genes on survival of NSCLC patients. We found that mRNA high expression level of Notch1 was associated with better overall survival (OS) for all NSCLC patients, hazard ratio (HR) 0.78 (0.69-0.89), p=0.00019, better OS in adenocarcinoma (Ade) patients, HR 0.59 (0.46-0.75), p=1.5e-05, as well as in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) patients, HR 0.78 (0.62-0.99), p=0.044. mRNA high expression levels of Notch2 and Notch3 were associated with worsen OS for all NSCLC patients, as well as in Ade, but not in SCC patients. mRNA high expression level of Notch4 was not found to be associated with to OS for all NSCLC patients. In addition, mRNA high expression levels of Notch2, Notch3, but Notch4 are significantly associated with the NSCLC patients who have different smoking status. Our results indicate that mRNA expression of Notch receptors may have distinct prognostic values in NSCLC patients. These results will benefit for developing tools to accurately predict the prognosis of NSCLC patients.

Distinct prognostic values of S100 mRNA expression in breast cancer

S100 family genes encode low molecular weight, acidic-Ca²⁺ binding proteins implicating in a wide spectrum of biological processes. S100 family contains at least 20 members, most of which are frequently dysregulated in human malignancies including breast cancer. However, the prognostic roles of each individual S100, especially the mRNA level, in breast cancer patients remain elusive. In the current study, we used "The Kaplan-Meier plotter" (KM plotter) database to investigate the prognostic values of S100 mRNA expression in breast cancer. Our results indicated that high mRNA expression of S100A8, S100A9, S100A11 and S100P were found to be significantly correlated to worse outcome, while S100A1 and S100A6 were associated with better prognosis in all breast cancer patients. We further assessed the prognostic value of S100 in different intrinsic subtypes and clinicopathological features of breast cancer. The associated results will elucidate the role of S100 in breast cancer and may further lead the research to explore the S100-targeting reagents for treating breast cancer patients.

Hepatitis B virus X protein and hypoxia‑inducible factor-1α stimulate Notch gene expression in liver cancer cells

Increasing evidence has demonstrated that Notch genes, including Notch1, Notch2, Notch3 and Notch4, are involved in carcinogenesis. However, the expression and regulation of Notch genes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues have not been fully investigated. In the present study, immunohistochemical and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) analyses were performed to examine the expression of Notch genes in normal human liver, HBV-related HCC and paired peritumoral tissues. Additionally, qPCR and western blotting were utilized to investigate the impact of hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) and hypoxia‑inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) on the regulation of Notch gene expression. The immunohistochemical and qPCR results showed that the expression levels of Notch1, Notch3 and Notch4 were significantly higher in HCC tissues than the levels in peritumoral and normal liver tissues. However, no significant difference in Notch2 expression was found between HCC and peritumoral tissues. Among the four Notch genes, immunohistochemical analyses found that only the increased level of Notch3 in HCC tissues was positively correlated with vascular invasion of liver cancer (P<0.05). Moreover, we found that overexpression of both HBx and HIF-1α increased the expression of Notch1, Notch3 and Notch4 in HepG2 and Bel-7404 cell lines. In summary, the present study demonstrated that Notch1, Notch3 and Notch4 were upregulated in HCC tissues and that HBx and HIF-1α may be the factors that cause the overexpression of Notch genes. Furthermore, the increased expression of Notch3 was closely related to the vascular invasiveness of HCC.

Expression and mechanism of action of miR-196a in epithelial ovarian cancer

OBJECTIVE

To explore the expression, biological function and possible mechanism of action of microRNA molecular-196a (miR-196a) in epithelial ovarian cancer.

METHODS

RT-PCR was used to detect the expression quantities of epithelial ovarian tissue, benign ovarian tissue, normal ovary epithelial tissue, ovarian cancer cell lines and miR-196a in normal ovarian epithelial cells to analyze the relationship between the expression of miR-196a and the clinical pathologic parameters of ovarian cancer. Among those cell lines, the cell line of which miR-196a expressed the most or least was selected and transfected the ovarian cancer cell line by using negative control plasma and miR-196a inhibitor. After transfection, RT-PCR was used to test the expression quantity of miR-196a, Transwell chamber method was applied to determine the migration and invasion abilities of ovarian carcinoma cells and Western blot was employed to detect the expression of HOXA10 protein.

RESULTS

The relative expression quantities of miR-196a in ovarian cancer tissue and benign ovarian tissue were significantly higher than that in normal ovarian epithelial tissue, and the expression quantity of miR-196a in ovarian cancer tissue was distinctively higher than that in benign ovarian tissue (P < 0.05). Among 78 cases of epithelial ovarian cancer, the expression quantities of miR-196a in patients with low differentiation were all significantly higher than those in patients with high differentiation (P < 0.05). The expression of miR-196a showed no significant relation with age, clinical stage and whether CA125 was positive or not in patients (P > 0.05). Compared with normal ovarian epithelial cell line IOSE80, the expression quantities of miR-196a of all ovarian cancer cell lines increased obviously and differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Among them, the expression of miR-196a of ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3 was the highest, while it decreased significantly (4.678 ± 0.785 vs. 2.131 ± 0.345, t = 2.938, P < 0.05) after the ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3 was transfected by miR-196a inhibitor. The results of Transwell chamber method showed that the migration and invasion abilities of ovarian cancer cells SKOV3 were declined significantly after the expression of miR-196a was down-regulated and the difference showed statistical significance (P < 0.05). The results of Western blot revealed that the relative expression of HOXA10 decreased distinctly after the expression of miR-196a was down-regulated and also the difference showed statistical significance (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The miR-196a might serve as a cancer-promoting gene to promote the migration and invasion of epithelial ovarian cancer by downstream target gene HOXA10.