Hsa-miR-21-3p associates with breast cancer patient survival and targets genes in tumor suppressive pathways

Integrative analysis of the microRNA and mRNA response of barramundi (Lates calcarifer) under acute cold stress and Vibrio harveyi challenge

Barramundi (Lates calcarifer) are emerging as a key species in warm-water aquaculture worldwide; however, disease outbreaks caused by Vibrio spp. are impeding industry expansion. Climate change is expected to exacerbate this issue by intensifying extreme weather events, including unusually cold temperatures, thereby increasing the risk of disease. In this study, we investigated the combined effect of cold stress and V. harveyi infection on the early transcriptome (mRNA) and microRNA responses of juvenile barramundi to enhance our understanding of host-pathogen interactions. High levels of differential gene expression were observed in fish subjected to cold stress (22°C) post-infection with V. harveyi, with 3,231 differentially expressed genes and an extensive pro-inflammatory immune response. In contrast, most differentially expressed microRNAs were associated with fish infected with V. harveyi housed under optimal temperature conditions (30°C). MicroRNAs play a crucial role in regulating gene expression, typically through downregulation of target mRNAs. The significant upregulation of miRNAs in barramundi kept at 30°C, and the lack of miRNA upregulation in cold stressed fish, suggests that cold stress impaired the immune-regulatory capacity of affected fish, resulting in a hyper-inflammatory response that may account for the increased mortality observed. This study is the first dual study of the transcriptome and microRNA response of barramundi to V. harveyi infection and expands understanding of the innate immune response in barramundi and the regulatory role of microRNAs in teleost fish.

An update on the molecular mechanisms underlying the progression of miR-21 in oral cancer

Globally, oral cancer ranks among the top ten cancers, with a higher prevalence in lower-income countries, where risk factors such as tobacco use, excessive alcohol consumption, and poor oral hygiene are widespread. Metastasis plays a critical role in cancer progression. miR-21 is a crucial regulator of cancer metastasis, profoundly influencing cellular and molecular pathways that contribute to tumour aggressiveness. As a microRNA, miR-21 downregulates tumour suppressor genes, promoting cell proliferation, survival, invasion, and migration. Its role in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) further facilitates metastatic behaviour. miR-21 also modulates the tumour microenvironment by promoting angiogenesis and altering immune responses, thus enhancing cancer progression.Moreover, miRNA - 21 influences the various signalling pathways like PI3K/ AKT, TGF-β, NF-κB, and STAT3, as well as involved in the cell fate mechanisms known as Autophagy and apoptosis. Clinically, elevated miR-21 levels are associated with poor prognosis, advanced tumour stages, and decreased survival rates, making it a valuable prognostic marker. Additionally, miR-21 expression levels can predict resistance to chemotherapy and targeted therapies, aiding in personalized treatment planning. Therapeutically, targeting miR-21 through anti-miR-21 oligonucleotides, small molecule inhibitors, and miRNA sponges shows promise in pre-clinical studies, potentially inhibiting tumour growth and improving sensitivity to existing treatments. Overall, miR-21's multifaceted role in cancer biology, its prognostic and predictive value, and its potential as a therapeutic target highlight its significance in advancing cancer diagnosis, treatment, and patient outcomes. Further research and clinical trials are essential to exploit miR-21's capabilities in oncology fully.

Exosomal noncoding RNA (ncRNA) in breast cancer pathogenesis and therapy; two sides of the same coin

Over the past few years, breast cancer has become the most prevalent type of cancer globally, with the primary cause of death from the disease being metastatic cancer. This has led to the development of early detection techniques, mainly using non-invasive biomarkers in a range of body fluids. Exosomes are unique extracellular vesicles (EVs) transmitting cellular signals over great distances via various cargo. They are readily apparent in physiological fluids due to release by breast cancer cells or breast cancer-tumor microenvironment (TME) cells. In light of this, numerous biological and functional facets of human tumours, such as breast cancer, are intimately associated with exosomal noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), containing miRNAs (microRNAs), lncRNAs (long noncoding RNAs), and circRNAs (circular RNAs). Exosomal ncRNAs serve a critical role in various steps of breast cancer development, enabling the exchange of genetic information between cancer cells and other cells (e.g., immune cells), thus regulating tumour angiogenesis, growth, metastasis, immune responses and drug resistance. They interact with multiple regulatory complexes with dissimilar enzymatic actions, which, in turn, modify the chromatin sceneries, including nucleosome modifications, DNA methylation, and histone modifications. Herein, we look into the exosomes' underlying regulatory mechanisms in breast cancer. Furthermore, we inspect the existing understanding of the functions of exosomal miRNAs, lncRNAs, and circRNAs in breast cancer to authenticate their possible significance in identifying biomarkers, deciphering their role in immune escape and drug resistance, and finally, analyzing treatment practices.

Non-Coding RNAs and Innate Immune Responses in Cancer

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) and the innate immune system are closely related, acting as defense mechanisms and regulating gene expression and innate immunity. Both are modulators in the initiation, development and progression of cancer. We aimed to review the major types of ncRNAs, including small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), with a focus on cancer, innate immunity, and inflammation. We found that ncRNAs are closely related to innate immunity, epigenetics, chronic inflammation, and cancer and share properties such as inducibility, specificity, memory, and transfer. These similarities and interrelationships suggest that ncRNAs and modulators of trained immunity, together with the control of chronic inflammation, can be combined to develop novel therapeutic approaches for personalized cancer treatment. In conclusion, the close relationship between ncRNAs, the innate immune system, and inflammation highlights their importance in cancer pathways and their potential as targets for novel therapeutic strategies.

Identifying miRNA as biomarker for breast cancer subtyping using association rule

- This paper presents a comprehensive study focused on breast cancer subtyping, utilizing a multifaceted approach that integrates feature selection, machine learning classifiers, and miRNA regulatory networks. The feature selection process begins with the CFS algorithm, followed by the Apriori algorithm for association rule generation, resulting in the identification of significant features tailored to Luminal A, Luminal B, HER-2 enriched, and Basal-like subtypes. The subsequent application of Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers yielded promising results, with the SVM model achieving an overall accuracy of 76.60 % and the RF model demonstrating robust performance at 80.85 %. Detailed accuracy metrics revealed strengths and areas for refinement, emphasizing the potential for optimizing subtype-specific recall. To explore the regulatory landscape in depth, an analysis of selected miRNAs was conducted using MIENTURNET, a tool for visualizing miRNA-target interactions. While FDR analysis raised concerns for HER-2 and Basal-like subtypes, Luminal A and Luminal B subtypes showcased significant miRNA-gene interactions. Functional enrichment analysis for Luminal A highlighted the role of Ovarian steroidogenesis, implicating specific miRNAs such as hsa-let-7c-5p and hsa-miR-125b-5p as potential diagnostic biomarkers and regulators of Luminal A breast cancer. Luminal B analysis uncovered associations with the MAPK signaling pathway, with miRNAs like hsa-miR-203a-3p and hsa-miR-19a-3p exhibiting potential diagnostic and therapeutic significance. In conclusion, this integrative approach combines machine learning techniques with miRNA analysis to provide a holistic understanding of breast cancer subtypes. The identified miRNAs and associated pathways offer insights into potential diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets, contributing to the ongoing efforts to improve breast cancer diagnostics and personalized treatment strategies.

Screening Nonlinear miRNA Features of Breast Cancer by Using Ensemble Regularized Polynomial Logistic Regression

Differentiating breast cancer subtypes based on miRNA data helps doctors provide more personalized treatment plans for patients. This paper explored the interaction between miRNA pairs and developed a novel ensemble regularized polynomial logistic regression method for screening nonlinear features of breast cancer. Three different types of second-order polynomial logistic regression with elastic network penalty (SOPLR-EN) in which each type contains 10 identical models were integrated to determine the most suitable sample set for feature screening by using bootstrap sampling strategy. A single feature and 39 nonlinear features were obtained by screening features that appeared at least 15 times in 30 integrations and were involved in the classification of at least 4 subtypes. The second-order polynomial logistic regression with ridge penalty (SOPLR-R) built on screened feature set achieved 82.30% classification accuracy for distinguishing breast cancer subtypes, surpassing the performance of other six methods. Further, 11 nonlinear miRNA biomarkers were identified, and their significant relevance to breast cancer was illustrated through six types of biological analysis.

The TGFβ Induced MicroRNAome of the Trabecular Meshwork

Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is a progressive optic neuropathy with a complex, multifactorial aetiology. Raised intraocular pressure (IOP) is the most important clinically modifiable risk factor for POAG. All current pharmacological agents target aqueous humour dynamics to lower IOP. Newer therapeutic agents are required as some patients with POAG show a limited therapeutic response or develop ocular and systemic side effects to topical medication. Elevated IOP in POAG results from cellular and molecular changes in the trabecular meshwork driven by increased levels of transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) in the anterior segment of the eye. Understanding how TGFβ affects both the structural and functional changes in the outflow pathway and IOP is required to develop new glaucoma therapies that target the molecular pathology in the trabecular meshwork. In this study, we evaluated the effects of TGF-β1 and -β2 treatment on miRNA expression in cultured human primary trabecular meshwork cells. Our findings are presented in terms of specific miRNAs (miRNA-centric), but given miRNAs work in networks to control cellular pathways and processes, a pathway-centric view of miRNA action is also reported. Evaluating TGFβ-responsive miRNA expression in trabecular meshwork cells will further our understanding of the important pathways and changes involved in the pathogenesis of glaucoma and could lead to the development of miRNAs as new therapeutic modalities in glaucoma.

Towards the development of a DNA automaton: modular RNA-cleaving deoxyribozyme logic gates regulated by miRNAs

Advancements in DNA computation have unlocked molecular-scale information processing possibilities, utilizing the intrinsic properties of DNA for complex logical operations with transformative applications in biomedicine. DNA computation shows promise in molecular diagnostics, enabling precise and sensitive detection of genetic mutations and disease biomarkers. Moreover, it holds potential for targeted gene regulation, facilitating personalized therapeutic interventions with enhanced efficacy and reduced side effects. Herein, we have developed six DNAzyme-based logic gates able to process YES, AND, and NOT Boolean logic. The novelty of this work lies in their additional functionalization with a common DNA scaffold for increased cooperativity in input recognition. Moreover, we explored hierarchical input binding to multi-input logic gates, which helped gate optimization. Additionally, we developed a new design of an allosteric hairpin switch used to implement NOT logic. All DNA logic gates achieved the desired true-to-false output signal when detecting a panel of miRNAs, known for their important role in malignancy regulation. This is the first example of DNAzyme-based logic gates having all input-recognizing elements integrated in a single DNA nanostructure, which provides new opportunities for building DNA automatons for diagnosis and therapy of human diseases.

miR-125 in Breast Cancer Etiopathogenesis: An Emerging Role as a Biomarker in Differential Diagnosis, Regenerative Medicine, and the Challenges of Personalized Medicine

Breast Cancer (BC) is one of the most common cancer types worldwide, and it is characterized by a complex etiopathogenesis, resulting in an equally complex classification of subtypes. MicroRNA (miRNA or miR) are small non-coding RNA molecules that have an essential role in gene expression and are significantly linked to tumor development and angiogenesis in different types of cancer. Recently, complex interactions among coding and non-coding RNA have been elucidated, further shedding light on the complexity of the roles these molecules fulfill in cancer formation. In this context, knowledge about the role of miR in BC has significantly improved, highlighting the deregulation of these molecules as additional factors influencing BC occurrence, development and classification. A considerable number of papers has been published over the past few years regarding the role of miR-125 in human pathology in general and in several types of cancer formation in particular. Interestingly, miR-125 family members have been recently linked to BC formation as well, and complex interactions (competing endogenous RNA networks, or ceRNET) between this molecule and target mRNA have been described. In this review, we summarize the state-of-the-art about research on this topic.

Potential mechanisms and drug prediction of Rheumatoid Arthritis and primary Sjögren's Syndrome: A public databases-based study

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) are the most common systemic autoimmune diseases, and they are increasingly being recognized as occurring in the same patient population. These two diseases share several clinical features and laboratory parameters, but the exact mechanism of their co-pathogenesis remains unclear. The intention of this study was to investigate the common molecular mechanisms involved in RA and pSS using integrated bioinformatic analysis. RNA-seq data for RA and pSS were picked up from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Co-expression genes linked with RA and pSS were recognized using weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis. Then, we screened two public disease-gene interaction databases (GeneCards and Comparative Toxicogenomics Database) for common targets associated with RA and pSS. The DGIdb database was used to predict therapeutic drugs for RA and pSS. The Human microRNA Disease Database (HMDD) was used to screen out the common microRNAs associated with RA and pSS. Finally, a common miRNA-gene network was created using Cytoscape. Four hub genes (CXCL10, GZMA, ITGA4, and PSMB9) were obtained from the intersection of common genes from WGCNA, differential gene analysis and public databases. Twenty-four drugs corresponding to hub gene targets were predicted in the DGIdb database. Among the 24 drugs, five drugs had already been reported for the treatment of RA and pSS. Other drugs, such as bortezomib, carfilzomib, oprozomib, cyclosporine and zidovudine, may be ideal drugs for the future treatment of RA patients with pSS. According to the miRNA-gene network, hsa-mir-21 may play a significant role in the mechanisms shared by RA and pSS. In conclusion, we identified commom targets as potential biomarkers in RA and pSS from publicly available databases and predicted potential drugs based on the targets. A new understanding of the molecular mechanisms associated with RA and pSS is provided according to the miRNA-gene network.

Association of microRNA-21 expression with breast cancer subtypes and its potential as an early biomarker

Breast cancer has become the most diagnosed cancer worldwide in 2020 with high morbidity and mortality rates. The alarming increase in breast cancer incidence has sprung many researchers to focus on developing novel screening tests to identify early breast cancer which will allow clinicians to provide timely and effective treatments. With much evidence supporting the notion that the deregulation of miRNAs (a class of non-coding RNA) greatly contributes to cancer initiation and progression, the promising role of miRNAs as cancer biomarkers is gaining traction in the research world. Among the upregulated miRNAs identified in breast carcinogenesis, miR-21 was shown to be significantly expressed in breast cancer tissues and bodily fluids of breast cancer patients. Therein, this review paper aims to provide an overview of breast cancer, the role and significance of miR-21 in breast cancer pathogenesis, and its potential as a breast cancer biomarker. The paper also discusses the current types of tumor biomarkers and their limitations, the presence of miR-21 in extracellular vesicles and plasma, screening methods available for miRNA detection along with some challenges faced in developing diagnostic miR-21 testing for breast cancer to provide readers with a comprehensive outlook based on using miR-21 in clinical settings.

What are the changes in the hotspots and frontiers of microRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma over the past decade?

BACKGROUND

Emerging research suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A comprehensive analysis of recent research concerning miRNAs in HCC development could provide researchers with a valuable reference for further studies.

AIM

To make a comprehensive analysis of recent studies concerning miRNAs in HCC.

METHODS

All relevant publications were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database. Bibliometrix software, VOSviewer software and CiteSpace software were used to visually analyze the distribution by time, countries, institutions, journals, and authors, as well as the keywords, burst keywords and thematic map.

RESULTS

A total of 9426 publications on this topic were found worldwide. According to the keywords analysis, we found that the studies of miRNAs focused on their expression level, effects, and mechanisms on the biological behaviour of HCC. Keywords bursting analysis showed that in the early years (2013-2017), "microRNA expression", "gene expression", "expression profile", "functional polymorphism", "circulating microRNA", "susceptibility" and "mir 21" started to attract attention. In the latest phase (2018-2022), the hot topics turned to "sorafenib resistance", "tumor microenvironment" and so on.

CONCLUSION

This study provides a comprehensive overview of the role of miRNAs in HCC development based on bibliometric analysis. The hotspots in this field focus on miRNAs expression level, effects, and mechanisms on the biological behavior of HCC. The frontiers turned to sorafenib resistance, tumor microenvironment and so on.

Circulating miRNAs signature on breast cancer: the MCC-Spain project

PURPOSE

To build models combining circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) able to identify women with breast cancer as well as different types of breast cancer, when comparing with controls without breast cancer.

METHOD

miRNAs analysis was performed in two phases: screening phase, with a total n = 40 (10 controls and 30 BC cases) analyzed by Next Generation Sequencing, and validation phase, which included 131 controls and 269 cases. For this second phase, the miRNAs were selected combining the screening phase results and a revision of the literature. They were quantified using RT-PCR. Models were built using logistic regression with LASSO penalization.

RESULTS

The model for all cases included seven miRNAs (miR-423-3p, miR-139-5p, miR-324-5p, miR-1299, miR-101-3p, miR-186-5p and miR-29a-3p); which had an area under the ROC curve of 0.73. The model for cases diagnosed via screening only took in one miRNA (miR-101-3p); the area under the ROC curve was 0.63. The model for disease-free cases in the follow-up had five miRNAs (miR-101-3p, miR-186-5p, miR-423-3p, miR-142-3p and miR-1299) and the area under the ROC curve was 0.73. Finally, the model for cases with active disease in the follow-up contained six miRNAs (miR-101-3p, miR-423-3p, miR-139-5p, miR-1307-3p, miR-331-3p and miR-21-3p) and its area under the ROC curve was 0.82.

CONCLUSION

We present four models involving eleven miRNAs to differentiate healthy controls from different types of BC cases. Our models scarcely overlap with those previously reported.

High Atlastin 2-2 (ATL2-2) Expression Associates with Worse Prognosis in Estrogen-Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer

The disruption of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homeostasis occurs in many human diseases. Atlastins (ATLs) maintain the branched network of the ER. The dysregulation of ATL2, located at ER network junctions, has been associated with cancer. ATL2 is necessary for lipid droplet formation in murine breast tissue. Thus, we analyzed whether ATL2 has a role in human breast cancer (BC) pathology. The expression of ATL2 variant ATL2-2 was analyzed in breast tumors from the BC cohorts of the TCGA, METABRIC, and two independent Icelandic cohorts, Cohort 1 and 2; its association with clinical, pathological, survival, and cellular pathways was explored. ATL2-2 mRNA and protein expression were higher in breast tumors than in normal tissue. ATL2-2 mRNA associated with tumor characteristics that indicate a worse prognosis. In METABRIC, high ATL2-2 mRNA levels were associated with shorter BC-specific survival (BCSS) in patients with estrogen-receptor-positive luminal breast tumors, which remained significant after correction for grade and tumor size (HR 1.334, CI 1.063-1.673). Tumors with high ATL2 mRNA showed an upregulation of hallmark pathways MYC targets v1, E2F targets, and G2M checkpoint genes. Taken together, the results suggest that high levels of ATL2-2 may support BC progression through key cancer driver pathways.

The diagnostic significance of circulating miRNAs and metabolite profiling in early prediction of breast cancer in Egyptian women

OBJECTIVE

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most commonly diagnosed solid malignancies in women worldwide.

PURPOSE

Finding new non-invasive circulating diagnostic biomarkers will facilitate the early prediction of BC and provide valuable insight into disease progression and response to therapy using a safe and more accessible approach available every inspection time. Therefore, our present study aimed to investigate expression patterns of potentially circulating biomarkers that can differentiate well between benign, malignant, and healthy subjects.

METHODS

To achieve our target, quantitative analyses were performed for some circulating biomarkers which have a role in the proliferation and tumor growth, as well as, glutamic acid, and human epidermal growth receptor 2 (HER2) in blood samples of BC patients in comparison to healthy controls using qRT-PCR, liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS), and ELISA.

RESULTS

Our findings showed that the two miRNAs (miRNA-145, miRNA-382) were expressed at lower levels in BC sera than healthy control group, while miRNA-21 was expressed at higher levels in BC patients than control subjects. Area under ROC curves of BC samples revealed that AUC of miRNA-145, miRNA-382, miRNA-21, and glutamic acid was evaluated to equal 0.99, 1.00, 1.00 and 1.00, respectively. Besides, there was a significantly positive correlation between miRNA-145 and miRNA-382 (r = 0.737), and a highly significant positive correlation between miRNA-21 and glutamic acid (r = 0.385).

CONCLUSION

Based on our results, we conclude that the detection of serum miRNA-145, -382 and -21 as a panel along with glutamic acid, and circulating HER2 concentrations could be useful as a non-invasive diagnostic profiling for early prediction of breast cancer in Egyptian patients. It can provide an insight into disease progression, discriminate between malignancy and healthy control, and overcome the use limitations (low sensitivity and specificity, repeated risky exposure, and high cost) of other detecting tools, including mammography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound.

Exploring the Potential Role of Circulating microRNAs as Biomarkers for Predicting Clinical Response to Neoadjuvant Therapy in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer (BC) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide. Neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) is increasingly being used to reduce tumor burden prior to surgical resection. However, current techniques for assessing tumor response have significant limitations. Additionally, drug resistance is commonly observed, raising a need to identify biomarkers that can predict treatment sensitivity and survival outcomes. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression and have been shown to play a significant role in cancer progression as tumor inducers or suppressors. The expression of circulating miRNAs has been found to be significantly altered in breast cancer patients. Moreover, recent studies have suggested that circulating miRNAs can serve as non-invasive biomarkers for predicting response to NAT. Therefore, this review provides a brief overview of recent studies that have demonstrated the potential of circulating miRNAs as biomarkers for predicting the clinical response to NAT in BC patients. The findings of this review will strengthen future research on developing miRNA-based biomarkers and their translation into medical practice, which could significantly improve the clinical management of BC patients undergoing NAT.

Pre-clinical and clinical importance of miR-21 in human cancers: Tumorigenesis, therapy response, delivery approaches and targeting agents

The field of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) has made significant progress in understanding the pathogenesis of diseases and has broadened our knowledge towards their targeting, especially in cancer therapy. ncRNAs are a large family of RNAs with microRNAs (miRNAs) being one kind of endogenous RNA which lack encoded proteins. By now, miRNAs have been well-coined in pathogenesis and development of cancer. The current review focuses on the role of miR-21 in cancers and its association with tumor progression. miR-21 has both oncogenic and onco-suppressor functions and most of the experiments are in agreement with the tumor-promoting function of this miRNA. miR-21 primarily decreases PTEN expression to induce PI3K/Akt signaling in cancer progression. Overexpression of miR-21 inhibits apoptosis and is vital for inducing pro-survival autophagy. miR-21 is vital for metabolic reprogramming and can induce glycolysis to enhance tumor progression. miR-21 stimulates EMT mechanisms and increases expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 thereby elevating tumor metastasis. miR-21 is a target of anti-cancer agents such as curcumin and curcumol and its down-regulation impairs tumor progression. Upregulation of miR-21 results in cancer resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Increasing evidence has revealed the role of miR-21 as a biomarker as it is present in both the serum and exosomes making them beneficial biomarkers for non-invasive diagnosis of cancer.

Metal Organic Framework-Based Bio-Barcode CRISPR/Cas12a Assay for Ultrasensitive Detection of MicroRNAs

CRISPR/Cas12a has shown great potential in molecular diagnostics, but its application in sensing of microRNAs (miRNAs) was limited by sensitivity and complexity. Here, we have sensitively and conveniently detected microRNAs by reasonably integrating metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) based biobarcodes with CRISPR/Cas12a assay (designated as MBCA). In this work, DNA-functionalized Zr-MOFs were designed as the converter to convert and amplify each miRNA target into activators that can initiate the trans-cleavage activity of CRISPR/Cas12a to further amplify the signal. Such integration provides a universal strategy for sensitive detection of miRNAs. By tuning the complementary sequences modified on nanoprobes, this assay achieves subattomolar sensitivity for different miRNAs and was selective to single-based mismatches. With the proposed method, the expression of miR-21 in different cancer cells can be assessed, and breast cancer patients and healthy individuals can be differentiated by analyzing the target miRNAs extracted from serum samples, holding great potential in clinical diagnosis.

Role of epigallocatechin-3- gallate in the regulation of known and novel microRNAs in breast carcinoma cells

Breast cancer comprises 30% of all cancer cases among the world’s women population. MicroRNAs are small, endogenous, non-coding RNAs that regulate cell proliferating and apoptotic pathways by modulating expressions of related genes. Phytochemicals like epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) are known to have a chemotherapeutic effect on cancer often through the regulation of microRNAs. The aim is to find out the key known and novel miRNAs, which are controlled by EGCG in breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) revealed 1,258 known and 330 novel miRNAs from untreated and 83 μM EGCG (IC50 value of EGCG) treated cells. EGCG modulated 873 known and 47 novel miRNAs in the control vs. treated sample. The hypothesis of EGCG being a great modulator of miRNAs that significantly control important cancer-causing pathways has been established by analyzing with Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Protein Analysis Through Evolutionary Relationships (PANTHER) database. Validation of known and novel miRNA expression differences in untreated vs. treated cells was done using qPCR. From this study, a few notable miRNAs were distinguished that can be used as diagnostics as well as prognostic markers for breast cancer.

Pathogenesis and prognosis of primary oral squamous cell carcinoma based on microRNAs target genes: a systems biology approach

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most prevalent head and neck malignancy, with frequent cervical lymph-node metastasis, leading to a poor prognosis in OSCC patients. The present study aimed to identify potential markers, including microRNAs (miRNAs) and genes, significantly involved in the etiology of early-stage OSCC. Additionally, the main OSCC's dysregulated Gene Ontology annotations and significant signaling pathways were identified. The dataset GSE45238 underwent multivariate statistical analysis in order to distinguish primary OSCC tissues from healthy oral epithelium. Differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) with the criteria of p-value < 0.001 and |Log2 fold change| > 1.585 were identified in the two groups, and subsequently, validated targets of DEMs were identified. A protein interaction map was constructed, hub genes were identified, significant modules within the network were illustrated, and significant pathways and biological processes associated with the clusters were demonstrated. Using the GEPI2 database, the hub genes' predictive function was assessed. Compared to the healthy controls, main OSCC had a total of 23 DEMs. In patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), upregulation of CALM1, CYCS, THBS1, MYC, GATA6, and SPRED3 was strongly associated with a poor prognosis. In HNSCC patients, overexpression of PIK3R3, GIGYF1, and BCL2L11 was substantially correlated with a good prognosis. Besides, “proteoglycans in cancer” was the most significant pathway enriched in the primary OSCC. The present study results revealed more possible mechanisms mediating primary OSCC and may be useful in the prognosis of the patients with early-stage OSCC.

Osteoclast-like stromal giant cells in breast cancer likely belong to the spectrum of immunosuppressive tumor-associated macrophages

Background: Breast cancer with osteoclast-like stromal giant cells (OSGC) is an exceedingly rare morphological pattern of invasive breast carcinoma. The tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) of these tumors is populated by OSGC, which resemble osteoclasts and show a histiocytic-like immunophenotype. Their role in breast cancer is unknown. The osteoclast maturation in the bone is regulated by the expression of cytokines that are also present in the TIME of tumors and in breast cancer tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). TAMs-mediated anti-tumor immune pathways are regulated by miRNAs akin to osteoclast homeostasis. Here, we sought to characterize the different cellular compartments of breast cancers with OSGC and investigate the similarities of OSGC with tumor and TIME in terms of morphology, protein, and miRNA expression, specifically emphasizing on monocytic signatures.

Methods and Results: Six breast cancers with OSGC were included. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and TAMs were separately quantified. The different cellular populations (i.e., normal epithelium, cancer cells, and OSGC) were isolated from tissue sections by laser-assisted microdissection. After RNA purification, 752 miRNAs were analyzed using a TaqMan Advanced miRNA Low-Density Array for all samples. Differentially expressed miRNAs were identified by computing the fold change (log2Ratio) using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and p values were corrected for multiple comparisons using the false discovery rate (FDR) approach. As a similarity analysis among samples, we used the Pearson test. The association between pairs of variables was investigated using Fisher exact test. Classical and non-classical monocyte miRNA signatures were finally applied. All OSGC displayed CD68 expression, TILs (range, 45–85%) and high TAMs (range, 35–75%). Regarding the global miRNAs profile, OSGC was more similar to cancer cells than to non-neoplastic ones. Shared deregulation of miR-143-3p, miR-195-5p, miR-181a-5p, and miR-181b-5p was observed between OSGC and cancer cells. The monocyte-associated miR-29a-3p and miR-21-3p were dysregulated in OSGCs compared with non-neoplastic or breast cancer tissues.

Conclusion: Breast cancers with OSGC have an activated TIME. Shared epigenetic events occur during the ontogenesis of breast cancer cells and OSGC but the innumophenotype and miRNA profiles of the different cellular compartmens suggest that OSGC likely belong to the spectrum of M2 TAMs.

Comprehensive Analysis of Transcriptional Expression of hsa-mir-21 Predicted Target Genes and Immune Characteristics in Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma

Background: To uncover advanced prognosis biomarkers in patient with kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), our study was the first to make a comprehensive analysis of hsa-mir-21 predicted target genes and explore the immune characteristics in KIRC. Methods: In this study, the comprehensive analysis of hsa-mir-21 predicted target genes and immune characteristics in KIRC were analyzed via TIMER2.0, UALCAN, Metascape, Kaplan-Meier plotter, Human Protein Atlas, CancerSEA, JASPAR, GEPIA, R package: GSVA package (version 1.34.0) & immune infiltration algorithm (ssGSEA) and R package: RMS package (version 6.2-0) & SURVIVAL package (version 3.2-10). Results: Up-transcriptional expressions of RP2, NFIA, SPRY1 were significantly associated with favorable prognosis in KIRC, whereas that of TGFBI was markedly significantly to unfavorable prognosis. Additionally, RP2, NFIA, SPRY1 and TGFBI were significantly relevant to the immune infiltration in KIRC. Finally, ZNF263 was a common predicted transcription factor of RP2, NFIA, SPRY1 and TGFBI, which can as an independent indicator for prognosis in KIRC patients. Conclusions: Hsa-mir-21 predicted target genes (RP2, NFIA, SPRY1 and TGFBI) and the common transcription factor ZNF263 could be the advanced prognosis biomarkers in KIRC patients.

Prognostic value of 12 m7G methylation-related miRNA markers and their correlation with immune infiltration in breast cancer

RNA guanine-7 methyltransferase (RNMT), in complex with FAM103A1, plays an important role in tumorigenesis and development. The aim of this study was to establish a prognostic model of RNMT and FAM103A1-based upstream microRNAs and explore its correlation with immune cell infiltration in breast cancer (BC) while investigating its potential prognostic value and verify the model by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The miRNA expression data upstream of the m7G methyltransferase complex RNMT/FAM103A1 in BC was obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas and TargetScan databases. We performed univariate Cox regression, LASSO regression, Kaplan-Meier survival, and principal component analyses, along with risk prognostic modelling. Based on multivariate Cox regression analysis, a total of 12 m7G methyltransferase-related miRNAs were found. The model showed good accuracy for predicting the 1-, 3-,5-, and 10-year survival rates, and the areas under the curve were almost &gt;0.7. To characterize the risk-level model constructed from 12 miRNAs, 12 differentially expressed mRNAs related to prognosis and immune infiltration were obtained. The prognosis of BC patients is well predicted by the risk model we constructed. This model is also closely related to immune infiltration, and new immunotherapy targets can be explored from this field.

Disease progression role as well as the diagnostic and prognostic value of microRNA-21 in patients with cervical cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction

Cervical cancer is the fourth commonest and the fourth leading cause of cancer death in females globally. The upregulated expression of microRNA-21 in cervical cancer has been investigated in numerous studies, yet given the inconsistency on some of the findings, a systematic review and meta-analysis is needed. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to investigate the role in disease progression as well as the diagnostic and prognostic value of microRNA-21 in patients with cervical cancer.

Methods

Literature search was carried out through visiting several electronic databases including PubMed/MEDLINE/ PubMed Central, Web of Science, Embase, WorldCat, DOAJ, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. After extraction, data analysis was carried out using Rev-Man 5.3, STATA 15.0 and Meta-disk 1.4. I2 and meta-bias statistics assessed heterogeneity and publication bias of the included studies, respectively. The area under summary receiver operating characteristic curve and other diagnostic indexes were used to estimate diagnostic accuracy.

Result

A total of 53 studies were included for this systematic review and meta-analysis. This study summarized that microRNA-21 targets the expression of numerous genes that regulate their subsequent downstream signaling pathways which promote cervical carcinogenesis. The targets addressed in this study included TNF-α, CCL20, PTEN RasA1, TIMP3, PDCD-4, TPM-1, FASL, BTG-2, GAS-5, and VHL. In addition, the meta-analysis of reports from 6 eligible studies has demonstrated that the overall area under the curve (AUC) of summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) of microRNA-21 as a diagnostic accuracy index for cervical cancer was 0.80 (95% CI: 0.75, 0.86). In addition, evidence from studies revealed that upregulated microRNA-21 led to worsening progression and poor prognosis in cervical cancer patients.

Conclusion

microRNA-21 is an oncogenic microRNA molecule playing a key role in the development and progression of cervical malignancy. It has good diagnostic accuracy in the diagnosis of cervical cancer. In addition, the upregulation of microRNA-21 could predict a worse outcome in terms of prognosis in cervical cancer patients.

Involvement of microRNA modifications in anticancer effects of major polyphenols from green tea, coffee, wine, and curry

Epidemiological studies have shown that consumption of green tea, coffee, wine, and curry may contribute to a reduced risk of various cancers. However, there are some cancer site-specific differences in their effects; for example, the consumption of tea or wine may reduce bladder cancer risk, whereas coffee consumption may increase the risk. Animal and cell-based experiments have been used to elucidate the anticancer mechanisms of these compounds, with reactive oxygen species (ROS)-based mechanisms emerging as likely candidates. Chlorogenic acid (CGA), curcumin (CUR), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and resveratrol (RSV) can act as antioxidants that activate AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) to downregulate ROS, and as prooxidants to generate ROS, leading to the downregulation of NF-κB. Polyphenols can modulate miRNA (miR) expression, with these dietary polyphenols shown to downregulate tumor-promoting miR-21. CUR, EGCG, and RSV can upregulate tumor-suppressing miR-16, 34a, 145, and 200c, but downregulate tumor-promoting miR-25a. CGA, EGCG, and RSV downregulate tumor-suppressing miR-20a, 93, and 106b. The effects of miRs may combine with ROS-mediated pathways, enhancing the anticancer effects of these polyphenols. More precise analysis is needed to determine how the different modulations of miRs by polyphenols relate to the cancer site-specific differences found in epidemiological studies related to the consumption of foods containing these polyphenols.

miRNAs in Cancer (Review of Literature)

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, noncoding, single-stranded RNA molecules that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level by binding to mRNAs. miRNAs affect the course of processes of fundamental importance for the proper functioning of the organism. These processes include cell division, proliferation, differentiation, cell apoptosis and the formation of blood vessels. Altered expression of individual miRNAs has been shown in numerous cancers, which may indicate the oncogenic or suppressor potential of the molecules in question. This paper discusses the current knowledge about the possibility of using miRNA as a diagnostic marker and a potential target in modern anticancer therapies.