Elevated phosphatase of regenerating liver 3 (PRL-3) promotes cytoskeleton reorganization, cell migration and invasion in endometrial stromal cells from endometrioma

Multi-omic analyses identified SFRP4 as a novel biomarker in abnormal uterine bleeding with ovulatory dysfunction

The goal of the study was to explore the mechanism underlying the progression from abnormal uterine bleeding with ovulatory dysfunction (AUB-O) to AUB with atypical hyperplasia/malignancy (AUB-M). AUB-O, AUB-M and control endometrial tissues were subjected to multi-omic analyses to identify biomarkers. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), including SFRP4, between the AUB-O and AUB-M groups were identified. The expression of SFRP4 was upregulated in endometrial tissues from AUB-O groups compared to that from AUB-M groups. SFRP4 knockdown in human endometrial epithelial cells (hEECs) promoted cell migration, invasion, proliferation and colony formation but inhibited apoptosis. Furthermore, the levels of key Wnt pathway proteins were altered by SFRP4 knockdown: Wnt-5A was downregulated and Wnt-7A was upregulated. In conclusion, we identified SFRP4 as an AUB-O-related molecule. SFRP4 might play a key role in hEECs apoptosis, migration, invasion, proliferation and colony formation via the Wnt pathway. SFRP4 may serve as a repressive factor regarding the progression of AUB-O to AUB-M. However, further studies are warranted to elucidate the exact mechanism.

Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase PRL-3: A Key Player in Cancer Signaling

Protein phosphatases are primarily responsible for dephosphorylation modification within signal transduction pathways. Phosphatase of regenerating liver-3 (PRL-3) is a dual-specific phosphatase implicated in cancer pathogenesis. Understanding PRL-3's intricate functions and developing targeted therapies is crucial for advancing cancer treatment. This review highlights its regulatory mechanisms, expression patterns, and multifaceted roles in cancer progression. PRL-3's involvement in proliferation, migration, invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis, and drug resistance is discussed. Regulatory mechanisms encompass transcriptional control, alternative splicing, and post-translational modifications. PRL-3 exhibits selective expressions in specific cancer types, making it a potential target for therapy. Despite advances in small molecule inhibitors, further research is needed for clinical application. PRL-3-zumab, a humanized antibody, shows promise in preclinical studies and clinical trials. Our review summarizes the current understanding of the cancer-related cellular function of PRL-3, its prognostic value, and the research progress of therapeutic inhibitors.

Identification of MKNK1 and TOP3A as ovarian endometriosis risk-associated genes using integrative genomic analyses and functional experiments

The risk of endometriosis (EM), which is a common complex gynaecological disease, is related to genetic predisposition. However, it is unclear how genetic variants confer the risk of EM. Here, via Sherlock integrative analysis, we combined large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) summary statistics on EM (N = 245,494) with a blood-based eQTL dataset (N = 1490) to identify EM risk-related genes. For validation, we leveraged two independent eQTL datasets (N = 769) for integration with the GWAS data. Thus, we prioritised 14 genes, including GIMAP4, TOP3A, and NMNAT3, which showed significant association with susceptibility to EM. We also utilised two independent methods, Multi-marker Analysis of GenoMic Annotation and S-PrediXcan, to further validate the EM risk-associated genes. Moreover, protein-protein interaction network analysis showed the 14 genes were functionally connected. Functional enrichment analyses further demonstrated that these genes were significantly enriched in metabolic and immune-related pathways. Differential gene expression analysis showed that in peripheral blood samples from patients with ovarian EM, TOP3A, MKNK1, SIPA1L2, and NUCB1 were significantly upregulated, while HOXB2, GIMAP5, and MGMT were significantly downregulated compared with their expression levels in samples from the controls. Immunohistochemistry further confirmed the increased expression levels of MKNK1 and TOP3A in the ectopic and eutopic endometrium compared to normal endometrium, while HOBX2 was downregulated in the endometrium of women with ovarian EM. Finally, in ex vivo functional experiments, MKNK1 knockdown inhibited ectopic endometrial stromal cells (EESCs) migration and invasion. TOP3A knockdown inhibited EESCs proliferation, migration, and invasion, while promoting their apoptosis. Convergent lines of evidence suggested that MKNK1 and TOP3A are novel EM risk-related genes.

Progranulin promotes proliferation, migration and invasion via the PI3K/Akt signalling pathway in a model of endometriosis

RESEARCH QUESTION

What are the levels of progranulin (PGRN) expression in primary endometrial stromal cells (ESC) and endometrial tissue in patients with endometriosis (EMS)? What is the role and mechanism of action of PGRN in EMS?

DESIGN

Endometrial tissue was collected from 30 patients, 15 with EMS (EMS group) and 15 without EMS (non-EMS group). PGRN expression in endometrial tissue and ESC was analysed by immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, western blotting and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. PGRN overexpression and silencing ESC were established with lentivirus to detect the effect on proliferation, invasion and migration. The relationship between PGRN and the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) signalling pathway was verified by western blotting. A rescue assay was performed with PI3K inhibitor treatment.

RESULTS

The PGRN expression was significantly higher in EMS samples. PGRN up-regulation promoted proliferation (P = 0.007), migration (P = 0.002) and invasion (P < 0.001) of eutopic endometrial stromal cells (EUESC). The ratio of p-AKT/AKT was higher in the overexpression PGRN (ovPGRN) group than in the overexpression-NC (ovNC) group (P = 0.004). Silencing PGRN produced the opposite results, and LY2940002 addition reversed the effect of PGRN up-regulation on the proliferation, invasion and migration of EUESC.

CONCLUSIONS

PGRN might promote the proliferation, invasion and migration of EUESC via the PI3K/Akt signalling pathway. These preliminary in-vitro findings may present a new perspective and inspire further study of the mechanism of EMS.

The phosphatase of regenerating liver-3 protein(PRL-3)promotes glioma cell invasiveness by interacting with β3 -tubulin

PRL-3 is a tyrosine phosphatase linked with tumor metastasis. It is detected high expression in different kinds of cancers, including colorectal, gastric, ovarian, and liver cancer. Its high expression is positively correlated with the progression of tumors and negatively with survivals of patients. However, the detailed mechanism underlying PRL-3 in tumor metastasis still remains unclear. In the present study, we found that PRL-3 is able to bind to β3-tubulin in pull-down and co-immunoprecipitation assays. Furthermore, overexpression of PRL-3 dephosphorylated β3-tubulin, a component of cytoskeleton, which plays critical role in cell shape formation and migration. Using cell wound healing and matrigel invasion assays, we found that PRL-3 could promote the migration and invasion of glioma cells. Taken together, our study revealed that PRL-3 may be involved in migration and invasion of glioma by dephosphorylating β3-tubulin. It is tempting to speculate that dephosphorylation of β3-tubulin by PRL-3 results in assembly of the cytoskeleton and facilitates cell migration and/or tumor metastasis.

Exploration of the Modulatory Property Mechanism of ELeng Capsule in the Treatment of Endometriosis Using Transcriptomics Combined With Systems Network Pharmacology

Endometriosis is a common gynecological disease and causes severe chronic pelvic pain and infertility. Growing evidence showed that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) plays an active role in the treatment of endometriosis. ELeng Capsule (ELC) is a Chinese medicine formula used for the treatment of endometriosis for several years. However, the mechanisms of ELC have not been fully characterized. In this study, network pharmacology and mRNA transcriptome analysis were used to study various therapeutic targets in ELC. As a result, 40 compounds are identified, and 75 targets overlapped with endometriosis-related proteins. The mechanism of ELC for the treatment of endometriosis is based on the function modules of inducing apoptosis, inhibiting angiogenesis, and regulating immunity mainly through signaling molecules and interaction (neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction), immune system-associated pathways (toll-like receptor signaling pathway), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling, and MAPK signaling pathway based on network pharmacology. In addition, based on RNA-sequence analysis, we found that the mechanism of ELC was predominantly associated with the regulation of the function modules of actin and cytoskeleton, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), focal adhesion, and immunity-associated pathways. In conclusion, ELC exerted beneficial effects on endometriosis, and the potential mechanism could be realized through functional modules, such as inducing apoptosis and regulating angiogenesis, cytoskeleton, and EMT. This work not only provides insights into the therapeutic mechanism of TCM for treating endometriosis but also offers an efficient way for drug discovery and development from herbal medicine.

Expression of Talin-1 in endometriosis and its possible role in pathogenesis

BACKGROUND

Endometriosis is a disease that involves active cell invasion and migration. Talin-1 can promote cell invasion, migration and adhension in various cancer cells, but its role in endometriosis has not been investigated. This study was to investigate the expression level of Talin-1 in endometriosis and the role of Talin-1 in the proliferation, adhesion, migration, and invasion of human endometrial stromal cells (ESCs).

METHODS

Ectopic and eutopic endometrial tissues were collected from women with endometriosis, and the control endometrial tissues were obtained from patients without endometriosis. The expression level of Talin-1 was detected in each sample using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. The expression of Talin-1 was inhibited using RNA interference in ESCs, and its proliferation, apoptosis, adhesion, migration, and invasion capacity were analyzed. Western blotting was performed to detect the expression of related molecules after the downregulation of Talin-1.

RESULTS

The results showed that the mRNA and protein expression of Talin-1 were significantly increased in the ectopic endometrium and eutopic endometrial tissues compared with the controls. The knockdown of Talin-1 did not affect the proliferation and apoptosis of ESCs. The results indicated that the downexpression of Talin-1 inhibited the adhesion, invasion, and migration of ESCs. In addition, the expressions of N-cadherin, MMP-2, and integrin β3 were significantly lower after the deregulation of Talin-1, whereas the levels of E-cadherin were significantly increased.

CONCLUSIONS

The expression of Talin-1 was increased in the ectopic and eutopic endometrial tissues compared with the control endometrium. The downregulation of Talin-1 inhibited the adhesion, invasion, and migration of ESCs.

B3GNT3 acts as a carcinogenic factor in endometrial cancer via facilitating cell growth, invasion and migration through regulating RhoA/RAC1 pathway-associated markers

BACKGROUND

Aberrant expression of beta-1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase-3 (B3GNT3) has been frequently clarified in various cancers, however, its role in endometrial cancer (EC) has not been assessed in detail.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to investigate the biological role of B3GNT3 in EC and simply explored the detailed mechanism.

METHODS

The EC RNA-Seq dataset from TCGA database was applied to evaluate the expression of B3GNT3 and assess its role on prognostic value. HEC-1-A and KLE cell lines of EC were used to perform loss- and gain-of-function B3GNT3 assays respectively. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blot were used to measure the mRNA and protein levels of indicated molecules respectively. Cell counting kit-8, clone formation tests, and Transwell assay served to determine the changes of proliferative, invasive and migratory abilities of EC cells after altering the expression of B3GNT3.

RESULTS

B3GNT3 was found to be highly expressed in EC tissues compared to normal tissues according to the online public databases, which confirmed by the following qRT-PCR in 3 EC cell lines. Besides, high B3GNT3 expression presented a worse overall survival in EC patients as compared with low B3GNT3 expression group. Furthermore, functional experiments in vitro indicated that B3GNT3 could facilitate the cell growth, invasion and migration. Moreover, we found that downregulation of B3GNT3 significantly reduced the expression level of GTP-RhoA and GTP-RAC1, whereas upregulation of B3GNT3 presented the opposite results.

CONCLUSION

The results of current study demonstrate that B3GNT3 acts as an oncogene that promotes EC cells growth, invasion and migration possibly through regulating the RhoA/RAC1 signaling pathway-related markers, suggesting that B3GNT3 may be a candidate biomarker for EC therapeutic intervention.

Fast Diffusion Sustains Plasma Membrane Accumulation of Phosphatase of Regenerating Liver-1

It has been proposed that the accumulation of farnesylated phosphatase of regenerating liver-1 (PRL-1) at the plasma membrane is mediated by static electrostatic interactions of a polybasic region with acidic membrane lipids and assisted by oligomerization. Nonetheless, localization at early and recycling endosomes suggests that the recycling compartment might also contribute to its plasma membrane accumulation. Here, we investigated in live cells the dynamics of PRL-1 fused to the green fluorescent protein (GFP-PRL-1). Blocking the secretory pathway and photobleaching techniques suggested that plasma membrane accumulation of PRL-1 was not sustained by recycling endosomes but by a dynamic exchange of diffusible protein pools. Consistent with this idea, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy in cells overexpressing wild type or monomeric mutants of GFP-PRL-1 measured cytosolic and membrane-diffusing pools of protein that were not dependent on oligomerization. Endogenous expression of GFP-PRL-1 by CRISPR/Cas9 genome edition confirmed the existence of fast diffusing cytosolic and membrane pools of protein. We propose that plasma membrane PRL-1 replenishment is independent of the recycling compartment and the oligomerization state and mainly driven by fast diffusion of the cytosolic pool.

Epidermal growth factor promotes stromal cells migration and invasion via up-regulation of hyaluronate synthase 2 and hyaluronan in endometriosis

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the role(s) of hyaluronan synthase 2 (HAS2) and hyaluronan in disease progression of endometriosis and epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced motility changes of endometriotic cells.

DESIGN

A case-control experimental study and in vitro primary cell culture study.

SETTING

University hospital-affiliated research centers.

PATIENTS

A total of 21 women with stage I/II endometriosis, 33 women with stage III/IV endometriosis with endometrioma, and 32 women without endometriosis were included in our study.

INTERVENTIONS

Serum, eutopic endometrial tissues, and/or ectopic endometriotic tissues were collected. Primary eutopic endometrial stromal cells (EuESCs) and ectopic ovarian endometriotic stromal cells (OvESCs) were isolated and cultured from women with ovarian endometrioma, and then treated with or without EGF.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The concentrations of EGF and hyaluronan in serum were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expressions and localizations of EGF receptor (EGFR), phosphorylated-(p)EGFR, HAS2, and hyaluronan receptor CD44 in tissues were examined by immunohistochemistry. The mRNA and protein levels of HAS2 in EuESCs and OvESCs were examined by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot, respectively, and the concentrations of hyaluronan in conditioned medium were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Cell motility was evaluated by transwell migration/invasion assays.

RESULTS

Serum EGF and hyaluronan concentrations were higher in women with stage III/IV endometriosis than in women with stage I/II or without endometriosis. EGFR, pEGFR, HAS2, and CD44 were immunolocalized in eutopic endometrium and ectopic endometriotic lesions, and the expressions of pEGFR and HAS2 were elevated in ectopic endometriotic lesions compared to eutopic endometrium. Treatment with EGF upregulated HAS2 and hyaluronan expression as well as cell migration and invasion in both EuESCs and OvESCs, and pharmaceutical blocking of EGFR abolished these effects. In addition, knockdown of HAS2 by small interfering RNA attenuated both basal and EGF-induced hyaluronan expression and cell motility changes. Notably, ERK1/2 and AKT signaling pathways were shown to be downstream of EGF in regulating HAS2 and hyaluronan expression as well as cell migration and invasion.

CONCLUSION

EGF increased the expression of endometriosis-associated hyaluronan and its synthase HAS2, both of which mediated EGF-induced stromal cell migration and invasion in women with endometriosis.

Knockdown of long noncoding RNA CCDC144NL-AS1 attenuates migration and invasion phenotypes in endometrial stromal cells from endometriosis†

Endometriosis (EM) is a mysterious and complicated disease that has been found to be multifactorial. Recent studies demonstrated that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of EM. However, the functional and biological mechanisms of lncRNAs in EM remain unknown. Here, we performed microarray analyses to compare the lncRNA expression profiles of four paired ectopic endometrial (EC) tissues and eutopic endometrial (EU) tissues from patients with ovarian EM. A novel lncRNA, CCDC144NL-AS1, was identified as being potentially functional. CCDC144NL-AS1 expression was upregulated in EC tissues compared to EU and normal endometrial (NE) tissues. Its expression was higher in EC tissues than in EU tissues in 86.7% (26/30) of patients with EM. Despite the lack of a significant increase according to revised American Fertility Society (rAFS) stages, approximately 60% of stage VI EM cases exhibited higher CCDC144NL-AS1 levels, many more than in the stage II-III cases. Subcellular fractionation demonstrated that CCDC144NL-AS1 was localized in the cytoplasm and nucleus of the human EM-derived immortalized endometrial stromal cell line hEM15A. CCDC144NL-AS1 depletion suppressed the migration and invasion of hEM15A cells, but exerted no effects on cell adhesion, proliferation, apoptosis, or cell cycle. Knockdown of CCDC144NL-AS1 dramatically altered the distribution of cytoskeletal filamentous actin (F-actin) stress fibers compared to the negative control group treatment. Western blot analysis revealed that knockdown of CCDC144NL-AS1 attenuated the protein levels of vimentin filaments and MMP-9, but not N-cadherin or β-catenin. Collectively, our results suggest that CCDC144NL-AS1 might be involved in the pathogenesis of EM and provide a novel target for ovarian EM.

Extracellular vesicle-mediated transfer of the lncRNA-TC0101441 promotes endometriosis migration/invasion

Extracellular vesicular long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) to influence recipient cells is emerging as a novel mechanism for disease progression. TC0101441 is a newly identified metastasis-related lncRNA involved in cancer. Since endometriosis exhibits prometastasis behavior similar to those observed in cancer, we aimed to investigate whether TC0101441 is involved in endometriosis and, if so, whether extracellular vesicular TC0101441 contributes to the migration/invasion of endometriotic cyst stromal cells (ECSCs). Clinically, we found that TC0101441 was highly expressed in ectopic endometria than in the eutopic and normal endometria. Serum extracellular vesicular TC0101441 levels were substantially increased in patients at stage III/IV endometriosis in comparison with stage I/II endometriosis and controls. In vitro, using TC0101441-high-expression ECSCs (ECSCs-H) as extracellular vesicles (EVs)-generating cells and TC0101441-low-expression ECSCs (ECSCs-L) as recipient cells, we observed that the PKH67-labeled ECSCs-H-derived EVs were effectively internalized by ECSCs-L. ECSCs-H-derived EVs shuttling TC0101441 were transferred to ECSCs-L, modulating their migratory/invasive abilities partially by regulating certain metastasis-related proteins, which eventually facilitated endometriosis migration/invasion. This study elucidates a potential crosstalk between ECSCs via EVs in endometriotic milieus, suggests a novel mechanism for endometriosis migration/invasion from the perspective of the "extracellular vesicular transfer of lncRNAs" and highlights the potential of circulating extracellular vesicular TC0101441 as a biomarker for endometriosis.

The Exosomal Long Noncoding RNA aHIF is Upregulated in Serum From Patients With Endometriosis and Promotes Angiogenesis in Endometriosis

OBJECTIVE

The transfer of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) via exosomes to modulate recipient cells represents an important mechanism for disease progression. Antisense hypoxia-inducible factor (aHIF) is a well-known angiogenesis-related lncRNA. Here, we aimed to investigate the clinical implications of aHIF and exosomal aHIF in endometriosis and the involvement of exosome-shuttled aHIF in endometriosis angiogenesis.

STUDY DESIGN

The distribution and expression of aHIF in ectopic, eutopic, and normal endometria was evaluated. Serum exosomal aHIF levels in patients with endometriosis were tested. The correlation between serum exosomal aHIF and aHIF expression in ectopic endometria was analyzed. Endometriotic cyst stromal cells (ECSCs)-derived exosomes were characterized. The internalization of exosomes by human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was observed. A series of in vitro assays were conducted to investigate the roles and mechanisms of exosomal aHIF in endometriosis angiogenesis.

RESULTS

Clinically, aHIF was highly expressed in ectopic endometria and serum exosomes in patients with endometriosis. Serum exosomal aHIF was significantly correlated to aHIF expression in matched ectopic endometria. In vitro, PKH67-labeled exosomes derived from aHIF high expression ECSCs were effectively internalized by recipient HUVECs. Notably, exosome-shuttled aHIF was transferred from ECSCs to HUVECs, which in turn elicited proangiogenic behavior in HUVECs by activating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A, VEGF-D, and basic fibroblast growth factor, thereby facilitating endometriosis angiogenesis.

CONCLUSION

Our study illustrates a potential cell-cell communication between ECSCs and HUVECs in an ectopic environment, provides a novel mechanistic model explaining how ECSCs induce angiogenesis from the perspective of the "exosomal transfer of aHIF," and highlights the clinical value of circulating exosomal aHIF in endometriosis.

ILK enhances migration and invasion abilities of human endometrial stromal cells by facilitating the epithelial-mesenchymal transition

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a significant part in the pathogenesis of endometriosis by facilitating the migration and invasion abilities of cells. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) increases the cell migration and invasion abilities by inducing the EMT. Eutopic and control endometrial stromal cells (EuSCs and CSCs) were isolated and cultured. Cell migration and invasion abilities were detected by transwell assays. Levels of proteins were detected by Western blot. EuSCs showed higher levels of ILK, N-cadherin, vimentin and stronger migration and invasion abilities. After transfection of siRNA-ILK, E-cadherin and keratin levels were increased while N-cadherin and vimentin levels were decreased in EuSCs. Besides that, the migration and invasion abilities of EuSCs were significantly decreased after transfection of siRNA-ILK. On the contrary, levels of ILK, N-cadherin and vimentin were increased while levels of E-cadherin and keratin were decreased simultaneously after transfecting CSCs with pEGFP-C1-ILK. Simultaneously, the migration and invasion abilities of CSCs were increased after transfection of pEGFP-C1-ILK. Our study verified that high expression of ILK enhanced the migration and invasion abilities of ESCs by facilitating the EMT. Given that ILK played crucial roles in the pathogenesis of endometriosis, it may be considered as a promising targeted therapy for endometriosis.

Upregulation of S100A6 in patients with endometriosis and its role in ectopic endometrial stromal cells

S100 calcium-binding protein A6 (S100A6) is up-regulated in many malignancies and overexpression of S100A6 has been identified associated with proliferation, migration and invasion phenotype in several cancer cells. In the present study, we explored whether S100A6 plays a role in the development of endometriosis. Significantly higher levels of mRNA and protein expression of S100A6 were observed in ectopic endometrial tissues compared to eutopic and normal endometrial tissues. Silencing of S100A6 in ectopic endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) significantly inhibited cell viability, migration and invasion. Moreover, knockdown of S100A6 suppressed p38/MAPK activity in ectopic ESCs, which can be partially attenuated by CacyBP/SIP phosphorylation inhibitor. In conclusion, our results suggest that the abnormal expression of S100A6 may contribute to the pathogenesis of endometriosis and the S100A6/CacyBP/p38 signaling may provide as a promising treatment target.

Activation of the CXCL16/CXCR6 Axis by TNF-α Contributes to Ectopic Endometrial Stromal Cells Migration and Invasion

The activation of systemic and local inflammatory mechanisms, including elevated levels of chemokines and proinflammatory cytokines in endometriosis progression, is becoming more evident in the recent years. Here, we report the involvement of CXC chemokine 16 (CXCL16) and its sole receptor, CXC chemokine receptor 6 (CXCR6), in pathophysiology of endometriosis. Expression of CXCL16, but not CXCR6, was significantly upregulated in endometriotic lesions when compared to control endometrium. Additionally, serum CXCL16 was significantly elevated in women with endometriosis when compared to control group. Moreover, blockade of the CXCL16/CXCR6 axis by CXCR6 small-interfering RNA reduced the migration and invasion of ectopic endometrial stromal cells (EESCs) followed by decreased phosphorylation of ERK1/2. Furthermore, TNF-α treatment induced the expression of CXCL16 in EESCs. In conclusion, these results suggest that CXCL16/CXCR6 axis, whose expression was enhanced by TNF-α, may be associated with the increased motility of EESCs, through regulation of ERK1/2 signaling, thus contributing to the development of endometriosis. These findings indicate that the CXCL16/CXCR6 axis may contribute to the progression of endometriosis and could be served as a potential target for diagnosis and treatment.

PRL-3 is a potential glioblastoma prognostic marker and promotes glioblastoma progression by enhancing MMP7 through the ERK and JNK pathways

Purpose: Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive type of primary brain malignancy and is associated with a poor prognosis. Previously, we found that phosphatase of regenerating liver-3 (PRL-3) was significantly up-regulated in glioblastoma as determined by a microarray analysis. However, the function of PRL-3 in glioblastoma remains unknown. We aimed to investigate the clinical relationship between PRL-3 and glioblastoma, and uncover the mechanisms of PRL-3 in the process of glioblastoma.

Methods: PRL-3 expression was evaluated in 61 glioblastoma samples and 4 cell lines by RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry. Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed to evaluate the prognostic value of PRL-3 for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) for glioblastoma patients. Proliferation was evaluated by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and EdU proliferation assay, migration and invasion by wound-closure/Transwell assays, and qRT-PCR/immunoblotting/IHC were used for both in vivo and in vitro investigations.

Result: A high PRL-3 expression level was closely correlated with unfavorable OS and PFS for glioblastoma patients, and was also significantly correlated with Ki-67 expression. Down-regulation of PRL-3 inhibited glioma cell proliferation, invasion and migration through ERK/JNK/matrix metalloproteinase 7 (MMP7) in vitro and in vivo.

Conclusions: PRL-3 expression enhances the invasion and proliferation of glioma cells, highlighting this phosphatase as a novel prognostic candidate and an attractive target for future therapy in glioblastoma.