MiR-204-5p Performs a Protective Effect on Cerulein-Induced Rat Pancreatic Acinar Cell AR42J Cell Damage by Targeting Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase/Tryptophan 5-Monooxygenase Activation Protein Gamma and Regulating PI3K/Hippo Pathways

Research on the pathological mechanism of rectal adenocarcinoma based on DNA methylation

Colorectal cancer is one of the 3 most common cancers worldwide. In this study, a weighted network-based analysis method was proposed to explore the pathological mechanisms and prognostic targets of rectal adenocarcinoma (READ) at the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation level. In this study, we downloaded clinical information and DNA methylation data from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Differentially methylated gene analysis was used to identify the differential methylated genes in READ. Canonical correlation analysis was used to construct the weighted gene regulatory network for READ. Multilevel analysis and association analyses between gene modules and clinical information were used to mine key modules related to tumor metastasis evaluation. Genetic significance analysis was used to identify methylation sites in key modules. Finally, the importance of these methylation sites was confirmed using survival analysis. DNA methylation datasets from 90 cancer tissue samples and 6 paracancerous tissue samples were selected. A weighted gene regulatory network was constructed, and a multilevel algorithm was used to divide the gene co-expression network into 20 modules. From gene ontology enrichment analysis, characteristic M was related to biological processes such as the chemotaxis of fibroblast growth factors and the activation and regulation of immune cells etc and characteristic N was associated with the regulation of cytoskeleton formation, mainly microtubules and flagella, regulation of synapses, and regulation of cell mitosis. Based on the results of survival analysis, 7 key methylation sites were found closely correlated to the survival rate of READ, such as cg04441191 (microtubule-associated protein 4 [MAP4]), cg05658717 (KSR2), cg09622330 (GRIN2A), cg10698404 (YWHAG), cg17047993 (SPAG9), cg24504843 (CEP135), and cg24531267 (CEP250). Mutational and transcriptomic level studies revealed significant differences in DNA methylation, single nucleotide polymorphism, and transcript levels between YWHAG and MAP4 in normal tissues compared to tumor tissues, and differential expression of the 2 proteins in immunohistochemistry. Therefore, potential targeting drugs were screened for these 2 proteins for molecular docking, and artenimol was found to bind to MAP4 protein and 27-hydroxycholesterol to YWHAG. Our study found that key methylation sites played an important role in tumor metastasis and were associated with the prognosis of READ. Mutations and methylation may jointly regulate the transcription and translation of related genes, which in turn affect cancer progression. This may provide some new potential therapeutic targets and thoughts for the prognosis of READ.

The Role of MicroRNAs in Pancreatitis Development and Progression

Pancreatitis (acute and chronic) is an inflammatory disease associated with significant morbidity, including a high rate of hospitalization and mortality. MicroRNAs (miRs) are essential post-transcriptional modulators of gene expression. They are crucial in many diseases' development and progression. Recent studies have demonstrated aberrant miRs expression patterns in pancreatic tissues obtained from patients experiencing acute and chronic pancreatitis compared to tissues from unaffected individuals. Increasing evidence showed that miRs regulate multiple aspects of pancreatic acinar biology, such as autophagy, mitophagy, and migration, impact local and systemic inflammation and, thus, are involved in the disease development and progression. Notably, multiple miRs act on pancreatic acinar cells and regulate the transduction of signals between pancreatic acinar cells, pancreatic stellate cells, and immune cells, and provide a complex interaction network between these cells. Importantly, recent studies from various animal models and patients' data combined with advanced detection techniques support their importance in diagnosing and treating pancreatitis. In this review, we plan to provide an up-to-date summary of the role of miRs in the development and progression of pancreatitis.

Transcriptomic Analyses of the Adenoma-Carcinoma Sequence Identify Hallmarks Associated With the Onset of Colorectal Cancer

The concept of the adenoma-carcinoma sequence in colorectal cancer (CRC) is widely accepted. However, the relationship between the characteristics of the transcriptome and the adenoma-carcinoma sequence in CRC remains unclear. Here, the transcriptome profiles of 15 tissue samples from five CRC patients were generated by RNAseq. Six specific dynamic expression patterns of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were generated by mFuzz. Weighted correlation network analysis showed that DEGs in cluster 4 were associated with carcinoma tissues, and those in cluster 6 were associated with non-normal tissues. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses identified metabolic dysregulation as a consistent finding throughout the transition process, whereas downregulation of the immune response occurred during normal to adenoma transition, and the upregulation of canonical pathways was associated with adenoma to carcinoma transition. Overall survival analysis of patients in cluster 6 identified TPD52L1 as a marker of poor prognosis, and cell proliferation, colony formation, wound healing, and Transwell invasion assays showed that high expression levels of TPD52L1 promoted malignant behaviors. In total, 70 proteins were identified as potential partners of hD53 by mass spectrometry. CRC formation was associated with three cancer hallmarks: dysregulation of metabolism, inactivation of the immune response, and activation of canonical cancer pathways. The TPD52L1 gene was identified as a potential marker to track tumor formation in CRC and as an indicator of poor patient prognosis.