miRNA-21 as a novel therapeutic target in lung cancer

Highly Stable and Integrable Graphene/Molybdenum Disulfide Heterojunction Field-Effect Transistor-Based miRNA Biosensor

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important noncoding RNA molecules that participate in gene regulation and are widely associated with the occurrence and development of various cancers. Developing rapid, highly sensitive, low-cost, and highly stable miRNA detection methods is of great significance for clinical diagnosis. Field-effect transistors (FETs) based on two-dimensional (2D) materials have been proven to have great potential in the field of miRNA detection due to their label-free, rapid, highly sensitive, low-power, and portable features. However, biosensors based on 2D material FETs require the application of an external gate voltage in solution, which seriously hinders the integration, miniaturization, and signal stability of the devices. This study proposes a graphene-molybdenum disulfide heterojunction (G/MoS2) FET biosensing platform to detect miRNA-21 and miRNA-155 without the need for an external gate voltage. The results demonstrate a detection time of approximately 30 min, a linear response range spanning from 10 fM to 10 nM, and limits of detection of 6.06 fM for miRNA-21 and 2.59 fM for miRNA-155. Through comparative experiments, the biosensor shows excellent selectivity and can distinguish target miRNAs from nontarget miRNAs. The G/MoS2 FET biosensor developed in this study provides a technical platform for miRNA detection and has a broad application prospect, especially in the early diagnosis of diseases and the screening of biomarkers.

IRPCA: An Interpretable Robust Principal Component Analysis Framework for Inferring miRNA-Drug Associations

Recent evidence indicates that microribonucleic acids (miRNAs) are crucial in modulating drug sensitivity by orchestrating the expression of genes involved in drug metabolism and its pharmacological effects. Existing predictive methods struggle to extract features related to miRNAs and drugs, often overlooking the significance of data noise and the limitations of using a single similarity measure. To address these limitations, we propose an interpretable robust principal component analysis framework (IRPCA). IRPCA enhances the robustness of the model by employing a nonconvex low-rank approximation, thereby offering greater flexibility. Interpretability is ensured by analyzing low-rank matrix decomposition, which clarifies how miRNAs interact with drugs. Gaussian interaction profile kernel (GIPK) similarities are introduced to compute integrated similarities between miRNAs and drugs, addressing the issue of the single similarity feature. IRPCA is subsequently utilized to extract pertinent features, and a fully connected neural network is employed to generate the ultimate prediction scores. To assess the efficacy of IRPCA, we implemented 5-fold cross-validation (CV), which outperformed other leading methods, achieving the highest area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.9653. Additionally, case studies provide additional evidence supporting the efficacy of IRPCA.

Digital Profiling of Tumor Extracellular Vesicle-Associated RNAs Directly from Unprocessed Blood Plasma

Tumor-derived extracellular vesicle (tEV)-associated RNAs hold promise as diagnostic biomarkers, but their clinical use is hindered by the rarity of tEVs among nontumor EVs. Here, we present EV-CLIP, a highly sensitive droplet-based digital method for profiling EV RNA. EV-CLIP utilizes the fusion of EVs with charged liposomes (CLIPs) in a microfluidic chip. Optimized CLIP surface charge enables exceptional sensitivity and selectivity for EV-derived miRNAs and mRNAs. This approach streamlines detection with minimal plasma volume (20 μL) and eliminates the need for prior EV isolation or RNA preparation, preventing loss of EVs or RNA. In testing with 83 patient samples, EV-CLIP detected EGFR L858R and T790M mutations with high AUC values of 1.0000 and 0.9784, respectively. Its success in serial monitoring during chemotherapy highlights its potential for precise quantification of rare EV subpopulations, facilitating the exploration of single EV RNA content and enhancing understanding of diverse EV populations in various disease states.

Intelligent Cell Profiling and Precision Release: Multimolecular Marker-Activated Transmembrane DNA Computing Nanosystem

Accurate classification of tumor cells is of importance for cancer diagnosis and further therapy. In this study, we develop multimolecular marker-activated transmembrane DNA computing systems (MTD). Employing the cell membrane as a native gate, the MTD system enables direct signal output following simple spatial events of "transmembrane" and "in-cell target encounter", bypassing the need of multistep signal conversion. The MTD system comprises two intelligent nanorobots capable of independently sensing three molecular markers (MUC1, EpCAM, and miR-21), resulting in comprehensive analysis. Our AND-AND logic-gated system (MTDAND-AND) demonstrates exceptional specificity, allowing targeted release of drug-DNA specifically in MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, the transformed OR-AND logic-gated system (MTDOR-AND) exhibits broader adaptability, facilitating the release of drug-DNA in three positive cancer cell lines (MCF-7, HeLa, and HepG2). Importantly, MTDAND-AND and MTDOR-AND, while possessing distinct personalized therapeutic potential, share the ability of outputting three imaging signals without any intermediate conversion steps. This feature ensures precise classification cross diverse cells (MCF-7, HeLa, HepG2, and MCF-10A), even in mixed populations. This study provides a straightforward yet effective solution to augment the versatility and precision of DNA computing systems, advancing their potential applications in biomedical diagnostic and therapeutic research.

Apoptotic Potential and Antitumor Efficacy of Trilliumoside A: A New Steroidal Saponin Isolated from Rhizomes of Trillium govanianum

Natural product-derived molecules exhibit potential as anticancer agents. Trilliumoside A, a new steroidal saponin, was obtained from rhizomes of Trillium govanianum, and its anticancer activity was investigated in the presented study. Trilliumoside A was investigated in a panel of cell lines, and it exhibited promising cytotoxic activity on the A549 cells (human lung cancer cells) with an IC50 of 1.83 μM. The mechanism of cell death induced by Trilliumoside A in A549 cells and its anticancer potential in murine tumor models (EAC and EAT) were presented in the current research. Trilliumoside A was found to induce apoptosis in A549 cells by increasing the expression of various apoptotic proteins, such as Bax, Puma, cytochrome C, cleaved PARP, and cleaved caspase 3. Additionally, Trilliumoside A regulates the expression of p53, CDK2, and Cyclin A by decreasing the mitochondrial membrane potential, elevating reactive oxygen species, and stopping the growth of A549 cells in the synthesis phase (S) of the cell cycle. Trilliumoside A showed a considerable reduction in the tumor volume, the amount of ascitic fluid, and the total cell number without affecting the body weight of animals. Our results demonstrate that Trilliumoside A inhibits the proliferation of human lung cancer cells by inducing DNA damage, arresting the cell cycle, and activating the mitochondrial signaling pathway. The study demonstrated the potential of Trilliumoside A as a potential anticancer agent.

Engineered G-Quadruplex-Embedded Self-Quenching Probes Regulate Single Probe-Based Multiplex Isothermal Amplification to Light Road Lamp Probes for Sensitized Determination of microRNAs

Design of oligonucleotide probe-based isothermal amplification with the ability to identify miRNA biomarkers is crucial for molecular diagnostics. In this work, we engineered a miRNA-21-responsive G-quadruplex-embedded self-quenching probe (GE-SQP) that can regulate single probe-based multiplex amplifications. The free GE-SQP is tightly locked in a quenching state with no active G-quadruplexes. Introduction of target miRNA to hybridize with GE-SQP would induce a multiplex isothermal amplification to significantly build a lot of one-bulb-contained road lamp probe (OC-RLP) and two-bulb-contained road lamp probe (TC-RLP) using G-quadruplex as the lamp bulb. When lightened by thioflavin T (ThT), beams of fluorescence were emitted to show the presented miRNA-21. Specially, the whole amplification is only a one probe-involved one-step reaction without any wasted species. The mix-to-detection and all-in amplification behavior allows the sensing system a maximally maintained operation simplicity and high assay performance. In such a way, the detection range of miRNA-21 is from 1 fM to 1 nM with a limit of detection of 0.86 fM. The practicability was demonstrated by determining miRNA-21 from serum samples with acceptable results. We expect that this method can open a new avenue for exploring advanced biosensors with improved analytical performances.

MicroRNAs as a Suitable Biomarker to Detect the Effects of Long-Term Exposures to Nanomaterials. Studies on TiO2NP and MWCNT

The presence of nanomaterials (NMs) in the environment may represent a serious risk to human health, especially in a scenario of chronic exposure. To evaluate the potential relationship between NM-induced epigenetic alterations and carcinogenesis, the present study analyzed a panel of 33 miRNAs related to the cell transformation process in BEAS-2B cells transformed by TiO₂NP and long-term MWCNT exposure. Our battery revealed a large impact on miRNA expression profiling in cells exposed to both NMs. From this analysis, a small set of five miRNAs (miR-23a, miR-25, miR-96, miR-210, and miR-502) were identified as informative biomarkers of the transforming effects induced by NM exposures. The usefulness of this reduced miRNA battery was further validated in other previously generated transformed cell systems by long-term exposure to other NMs (CoNP, ZnONP, MSiNP, and CeO₂NP). Interestingly, the five selected miRNAs were consistently overexpressed in all cell lines and NMs tested. These results confirm the suitability of the proposed set of mRNAs to identify the potential transforming ability of NMs. Particular attention should be paid to the epigenome and especially to miRNAs for hazard assessment of NMs, as wells as for the study of the underlying mechanisms of action.

Circulating microRNAs from the Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Biomarkers: A Focus on the Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

microRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as relevant molecules in cancer development and progression. MiRNAs add a post-transcriptional level of control to the regulation of gene expression. The deregulation of miRNA expression results in changing the molecular circuitry in which miRNAs are involved, leading to alterations of cell fate determination. In this review, we describe the miRNAs that are emerging as innovative molecular biomarkers from liquid biopsies, not only for diagnosis, but also for post-surgery management in cancer. We focus our attention on renal cell carcinoma, in particular highlighting the crucial role of circulating miRNAs in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) management. In addition, the functional deregulation of miRNA expression in ccRCC is also discussed, to underline the contribution of miRNAs to ccRCC development and progression, which may be relevant for the identification and design of innovative clinical strategies against this tumor.

miR‑205‑3p promotes lung cancer progression by targeting APBB2

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a leading cause of cancer-associated mortality, has resulted in low survival rates and a high mortality worldwide. Accumulating evidence has suggested that microRNAs (miRs) play critical roles in the regulation of cancer progression and the present study aimed to explore the underlying mechanism of miR-205 in NSCLC. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR was performed, which determined that miR-205 expression was upregulated in NSCLC, and the present study detected the upregulation of miR-205-3p in a number of NSCLC cell lines and NSCLC tissues. In addition, the mediation of amyloid β precursor protein-binding family B member 2 (APBB2) by miR-205-3p was demonstrated. Moreover, miR-205-3p was predicted to directly target the 3′untranslated region of APBB2, which was confirmed using a dual-luciferase reporter assay. It was found that lentivirus mediated-APBB2 knockdown could promote cellular viability and suppress apoptosis in NSCLC cells, as determined via MTT, TUNEL and flow cytometry assays. Thus, the current findings highlighted the potential promotive impact of miR-205-3p on NSCLC processes and may provide theoretical evidence for miR-205-3p as a potential clinical gene therapy target.

Chidamide and Radiotherapy Synergistically Induce Cell Apoptosis and Suppress Tumor Growth and Cancer Stemness by Regulating the MiR-375-EIF4G3 Axis in Lung Squamous Cell Carcinomas

As a selective histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor developed in China, chidamide has been applied for the treatment of refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) and multiple solid tumors, including lung cancer. However, the underlying mechanisms are not well elucidated. In our present study, we found that chidamide and radiation acted synergistically to suppress cell and xenograft growth of lung squamous cell carcinoma cells by inducing cell apoptosis. Moreover, chidamide alone or a combination of chidamide and radiation treatment inhibited cancer cell stemness. miRNA microarray analysis demonstrated that miR-375 was the highest upregulated microRNA (miRNA) in NCI-2170 and NCI-H226 cells treated with chidamide alone or treated with chidamide plus radiation, compared with normal control. Inhibition of miR-375 attenuated the promoting effect of chidamide alone and chidamide plus radiation-induced NCI-2170 and NCI-H226 cell apoptosis and reverted the suppression of cancer stemness caused by chidamide alone or chidamide plus radiation treatment. Moreover, EIF4G3, a scaffold protein in the translation initiation complex, was found to be a direct target of miR-375 based on the luciferase reporter assay and western blot analysis. Interestingly, both chidamide alone and chidamide plus radiation treatments suppressed the mRNA and protein expression of EIF4G3. Silence of EIF4G3 also induced cell apoptosis and suppressed tumor growth in NCI-2170 and NCI-H226 cells. These data suggest that chidamide shows a synergistic effect with radiation therapy on lung squamous cell carcinomas by modulating the miR-375-EIF4G3 axis, which may afford an effective strategy to overcome the drug resistance of chidamide in clinical cancer therapy.

mir-21-5p inhibits the progression of human chondrosarcoma by regulating CCR7/STAT3/NF-κB pathway

Purpose: MicroRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) play an important role in the initiation and development of chondrosarcoma (CS). However, the role of miR-21-5p in CS progression and its underlying molecular mechanisms remains unclear.Materials and Methods: miR-21-5p expression was measured by qRT-PCR. Cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were detected by CCK-8 and Transwell assay. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to validate the target of miR-21-5p. Western blot was applied to explore the expressions of CCR7 and EMT biomarkers. Then, the xenograft model was established to confirm the effects of miR-21-5p.Results: miR-21-5p was significantly downregulated in CS tissues and cells and negatively correlated with grade, recurrence, and 5-year overall survival. In vitro, miR-21-5p caused G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and induced apoptosis by decreasing cyclin D1 expression and Bcl-2/Bax ratio. miR-21-5p suppressed cell migration and invasion of CS cells by inhibiting epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In vivo, miR-21-5p inhibited xenograft tumor formation of SW1353 cells. Mechanistically, miR-21-5p targeted the 3'-UTR of C-C chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) mRNA to inhibit its expression. Overexpression of CCR7 reversed the inhibitory effects of miR-21-5p on CS cell behaviors. However, the silencing of CCR7 enhanced the inhibitory effects of miR-21-5p on CS cells. Besides, the overexpression of miR-21-5p or silencing of CCR7 obviously reduced the expression levels of p-STAT3, p-p56, and p-IκBα.Conclusion: miR-21-5p targeted CCR7 expression to inhibit the STAT3 and NF-κB signaling, thereby suppressing cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and EMT in CS cells, which might be a novel mechanistic study for CS therapy.Abbreviations: 3'-UTR: 3'-untranslated region; CCR7: C-C chemokine receptor type 7; CS: chondrosarcoma; DMEM: dulbecco's modified eagle's medium; EMT: epithelial-mesenchymal transition; HEK-293T: human embryonic kidney-293T; miR-21-5p: microRNA-21-5p; miR-NC: negative control miRNA; SD: standard deviation; si-CCR7: CCR7 siRNAs.

Curcumin Regulates Cancer Progression: Focus on ncRNAs and Molecular Signaling Pathways

Curcumin [(1E,6E) ‑1,7‑bis(4‑hydroxy‑3‑methoxyphenyl) hepta‑1,6‑diene‑3,5‑ dione] is a natural polyphenol derived from the rhizome of the turmeric plant Curcuma longa. Accumulated evidences have presented curcumin’s function in terms of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant properties, and especially anti-tumor activities. Studies demonstrated that curcumin could exert anti-tumor activity via multiple biological signaling pathways, such as PI3K/Akt, JAK/STAT, MAPK, Wnt/β-catenin, p53, NF-ĸB and apoptosis related signaling pathways. Moreover, Curcumin can inhibit tumor proliferation, angiogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), invasion and metastasis by regulating tumor related non-coding RNA (ncRNA) expression. In this review, we summarized the roles of curcumin in regulating signaling pathways and ncRNAs in different kinds of cancers. We also discussed the regulatory effect of curcumin through inhibiting carcinogenic miRNA and up regulating tumor suppressive miRNA. Furthermore, we aim to illustrate the cross regulatory relationship between ncRNA and signaling pathways, further to get a better understanding of the anti-tumor mechanism of curcumin, thus lay a theoretical foundation for the clinical application of curcumin in the future.

Role of RASA1 in cancer: A review and update (Review)

Ras p21 protein activator 1 (RASA1) is a regulator of Ras GDP and GTP and is involved in numerous physiological processes such as angiogenesis, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. As a result, RASA1 also contributes to pathological processes in vascular diseases and tumour formation. This review focuses on the role of RASA1 in multiple tumours types in the lung, intestines, liver, and breast. Furthermore, we discuss the potential mechanisms of RASA1 and its downstream effects through Ras/RAF/MEK/ERK or Ras/PI3K/AKT signalling. Moreover, miRNAs are capable of regulating RASA1 and could be a novel targeted treatment strategy for tumours.

Effects and mechanism of microRNA‑218 against lung cancer

Lung cancer is the most prevalent and observed type of cancer in Xuanwei County, Yunnan, South China. Lung cancer in this area is called Xuanwei lung cancer. However, its pathogenesis remains largely unknown. To date, a number of studies have shown that microRNA (miR)‑218 functions as a tumor suppressor in multiple types of cancer. However, the role of miR‑218 and its regulatory gene network in Xuanwei lung cancer have yet to be investigated. The current study identified that the expression levels of miR‑218 in XWLC‑05 cells were markedly lower compared with those in immortalized lung epithelial BEAS‑2B cells. The present study also demonstrated that overexpression of miR‑218 could decrease cell proliferation, invasion, viability and migration in Xuanwei lung cancer cell line XWLC‑05 and NSCLC cell line NCI‑H157. Additionally, the results revealed that overexpression of miR‑218 could induce XWLC‑05 and NCI‑H157 cell apoptosis by arresting the cell cycle at G2/M phase. Finally, the present study demonstrated that overexpression of miR‑218 could lead to a significant increase in phosphatase and tensin homolog (<em>PTEN</em>) and YY1 transcription factor (<em>YY1</em>), and a decrease in B‑cell lymphoma 2 (<em>BCL‑2</em>) and BMI1 proto‑oncogene, polycomb ring finger (<em>BMI‑1</em>) at the mRNA and protein level in XWLC‑05 and NCI‑H157 cell lines. However, we did not observe any remarkable difference in the roles of miR‑218 and miR‑218‑mediated regulation of <em>BCL‑2</em>, <em>BMI‑1</em>, <em>PTEN</em> and <em>YY1</em> expression in the progression of Xuanwei lung cancer. In conclusion, miR‑218 could simultaneously suppress cell proliferation and tumor invasiveness and induce cell apoptosis by increasing <em>PTEN</em> and <em>YY1</em> expression, while decreasing <em>BCL‑2</em> and <em>BMI‑1</em> in Xuanwei lung cancer. The results demonstrated that miR‑218 might serve a vital role in tumorigenesis and progression of Xuanwei lung cancer and overexpression of miR‑218 may be a novel approach for the treatment of Xuanwei lung cancer.

Altered expression of microRNA-92b-3p predicts survival outcomes of patients with prostate cancer and functions as an oncogene in tumor progression

The global incidence of prostate cancer (PCa) has been increasing in recent years. Meanwhile, some studies have indicated the association between malignancies, such as lung and gastric cancer and PCa, and microRNAs (miRNAs). The present study was designed to assess the prognostic value of miR-92b-3p in patients with PCa and further investigate the biological function of miR-92b-3p. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to estimate the expression of miR-92b-3p in PCa tissues and cell lines compared with normal tissues and cells. Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the overall survival rate of patients with PCa. A Cox regression analysis was used to verify the prognostic value of miR-92b-3p. The biological function of miR-92b-3p was investigated using cell experiments. The findings of the present study revealed the upregulated expression of miR-92b-3p in PCa tissues and cells compared with normal tissues and cells. The overexpression of miR-92b-3p was significantly associated with the distant metastasis status and Tumor-Node-Metastasis stage of patients with PCa and predicted poor prognosis of PCa. In addition, the cell experiment results indicated that miR-92b-3p overexpression in PCa cells promoted cell proliferation, migration and invasion. The present study revealed that the overexpression of miR-92b-3p predicted poor prognosis in patients with PCa. Decreased expression of miR-92b-3p can suppress PCa cell proliferation, migration and invasion, which indicated that miR-92b-3p may function as an oncogene and serve as a novel therapeutic target for PCa.

Association of MicroRNA-21 with p53 at Mutant Sites R175H and R248Q, Clinicopathological Features, and Prognosis of NSCLC

This study aimed to investigate the association of miRNA-21 with mutant p53 expression, prognosis, interaction, and clinicopathological features of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Tissue specimens from 200 NSCLC patients were collected for qRT-PCR analysis of miR-21 and p53 expression, and p53 mutations were analyzed by Sanger sequencing. NSCLC cell lines were used to determine the effects of miR-21 knockdown on cell viability, cell cycle distribution, and p53 expression. We found that miR-21 expression was upregulated in NSCLC tissues, which was associated with an increase in p53 mRNA levels and with advanced tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stages and lymph node metastasis. The most common mutant sites of p53 in NSCLC were R175H and R248Q. Moreover, elevated miR-21 and p53 expression levels were associated with shorter overall survival. Knockdown of miR-21 reduced NSCLC cell viability, arrested NSCLC cells at the G₀-to-G₁ phase of the cell cycle, and downregulated mutant p53 mRNA levels and phosphorylated p53 protein expression in A549 and H1650 cells compared to control cells. miR-21 is associated p53 at mutant sites R175H and R248Q, which seems not to be oncogenic, as it is being reported, since in a normal cell, without a mutated p53, it will probably have a protective role.

LncRNA SNHG9 is Downregulated in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Suppressed miR-21 Through Methylation to Promote Cell Proliferation

Background

LncRNA SNHG9 has been shown to be an oncogenic lncRNA in glioblastoma, while its role in other cancers is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of SNHG9 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods

The differential expression of SNHG9 in NSCLC was first explored by analyzing the TCGA dataset, followed by measuring the expression levels of SNHG9 in paired NSCLC and non-tumor tissues by RT-qPCR. Expression of miR-21 was also determined by RT-qPCR. Correlations were analyzed by linear regression. The interaction between miR-21 and SNHG9 was detected using RNA pull-down. The expression relationship between SNHG9 and miR-21 was analyzed by SNHG9 or miR-21 overexpression experiments. The effects of overexpression of SNHG9 on the methylation of miR-21 were analyzed by methylation-specific PCR (MSP). Cell proliferation was evaluated by CCK-8 assay.

Results

By analyzing the TCGA dataset, we observed downregulation of SNHG9 in NSCLC, which was confirmed by measuring the expression levels of SNHG9 in paired NSCLC tumor tissues and non-tumor tissues from NSCLC patients involved in this study. MiR-21 was upregulated in NSCLC tumor tissues and inversely correlated with SNHG9 in cancer tissues but not in non-tumor tissues. The interaction between SNHG9 and miR-21 was predicted by bioinformatic analyses, which was further verified by RNA pull-down. In NSCLC cells, overexpression of SNHG9 led to downregulated miR-21 and increased methylation of miR-21 gene. In contrast, miR-21 did not affect the expression of SNHG9. In addition, overexpression of SNHG9 attenuated the enhancing effects of miR-21 on NSCLC proliferation.

Conclusion

SNHG9 might downregulate miR-21 through methylation to suppress cancer cell proliferation.

Rigidified DNA Triangle-Protected Molecular Beacon from Endogenous Nuclease Digestion for Monitoring microRNA Expression in Living Cells

Utilizing the nucleic acid-based self-assembly technology, Y-shaped backbone-rigidified DNA triangles with substantially enhanced nuclease resistance are built by designing a Y-shaped backbone in the center of a planar DNA triangle. Along this line, we developed aptamer-targeted DNA triangle-based molecular beacon (Apt-Tri-MB) probes for monitoring the microRNA expression in living cells with high sensitivity and specificity. For the Apt-Tri-MB probe, the MB is protected by the DNA triangle from unwanted enzymatic digestion, and a targeting ligand aptamer is introduced to endow the MB with active tumor cell-targeting capability. Thus, the digestion-induced false-positive signal is avoided, and the background fluorescence, which originates from the passive cell uptake (e.g., transfection) of reporting probes, is substantially suppressed. The imaging capability of the Apt-Tri-MB is superior to the commercial transfection agent-based counterpart and exhibits good universality suitable for imaging different miRNAs by changing the recognition fragment of the MB. Meanwhile, the disadvantages are efficiently circumvented, including the susceptibility of nucleic acids to nuclease-mediated degradation, inability of MB probes to enter cells, lipofectamine-determined cellular cytotoxicity, and nontargeting cell uptake. Inspired by the Y-shaped backbone-rigidified Apt-Tri-MB, we also constructed X-shaped backbone-rigidified quadrangle-based probes (Apt-Qua-MB). The experimental results show that cell imaging and antidegradation capability of Apt-Qua-MB are comparable with Apt-Tri-MB. As a proof-of-concept study, the Apt-Tri-MB is expected to open an exciting avenue for the further application of nucleic acid probes in the cellular level research and clinical disease diagnosis.

MicroRNA-126 exerts antitumor functions in ovarian cancer by targeting EGFL7 and affecting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and ERK/MAPK signaling pathway

Ovarian cancer (OC) is a common gynecological malignant carcinoma worldwide. Accumulating research has revealed that multiple microRNAs (miRNAs) are abnormally expressed at different levels in various malignancies, playing vital roles in tumorigenesis. This study investigated the regulatory functions and potential mechanism of miR-126 in OC proliferation, invasion and migration. It was found that miR-126 was prominently downregulated in OC. Moreover, the decrease of miR-126 promoted the aggressive phenotypes and indicated poor prognosis of OC patients. Functional assays demonstrated that restoration of miR-126 dramatically repressed OC cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Furthermore, luciferase reporter assay was conducted to verify putative binding sites of miR-126 in the epidermal growth factor-like domain 7 (EGFL7) 3 untranslated region (3'UTR), indicating that EGFL7 was a target gene of miR-126 in OC cells. It was further discovered that miR-126 exerts its function on regulating ERK/MAPK pathway and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in OC cells. The above findings suggested that miR-126 served as a cancer suppressor in OC, suggesting a promising application of miR-126 in the clinical diagnosis and therapeutics of OC.

Circular RNA circDLGAP4 is involved in lung cancer development through modulating microRNA-143/CDK1 axis

To investigate the role of circular RNA DLGAP4 (circDLGAP4) in lung cancer. circDLGAP4 expression was detected in lung cancer tissues and cell lines by PCR. The correlation between circDLGAP4 and clinicopathological characteristics of lung cancer patients was investigated. Moreover, the influences of depression of circDLGAP4 on the biological processes biological processes of lung cancer cells were explored in vitro. In addition, whether circDLGAP4 regulated lung cancer cell biological processes by sponging microRNA-143 (miR-143) to regulate cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) expression was explored and verified in another lung cell line. CircDLGAP4 expression was remarkably elevated in lung cancer tissues and was significantly corrected with TNM stage and tumor metastasis. Suppression of circDLGAP4 inhibited the biological performances of lung cancer cells. Also, there was a negative regulatory relationship between circDLGAP4 and miR-143. Inhibition of miR-143 alleviated the influences of circDLGAP4 depression on lung cancer cell biological processes. Moreover, CDK1 was discovered as a target of miR-143, and miR-143 was involved in the process of lung cancer cell biological processes through targeting CDK1. Our findings reveal that circular RNA circDLGAP4 is involved in lung cancer development through modulating microRNA-143/CDK1 axis. circDLGAP4 may serve as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis or treatment of lung cancer.

Physical and chemical template-blocking strategies in the exponential amplification reaction of circulating microRNAs

The detection of circulating miRNA through isothermal amplification wields many attractive advantages over traditional methods, such as reverse transcription RT-qPCR. However, it is challenging to control the background signal produced in the absence of target, which severely hampers applications of such methods for detecting low abundance targets in complex biological samples. In the present work, we employed both the cobalt oxyhydroxide (CoOOH) nanoflakes and the chemical modification of hexanediol to block non-specific template elongation in exponential amplification reaction (EXPAR). Adsorption by the CoOOH nanoflakes and the hexanediol modification at the 3' end effectively prevented no-target polymerization on the template itself and thus greatly improved the performance of EXPAR, detecting as low as 10 aM of several miRNA targets, including miR-16, miR-21, and miR-122, with the fluorescent DNA staining dye of SYBR Gold™. Little to no cross-reactivity was observed from the interfering strands present in 10-fold excess. Besides contributing to background reduction, the CoOOH nanoflakes strongly adsorbed nucleic acids and isolated them from a complex sample matrix, thus permitting successful detection of the target miRNA in the serum. We expect that simple but sensitive template-blocking EXPAR could be a valuable tool to help with the discovery and validation of miRNA markers in biospecimens. Graphical abstract.

The Promising Role of miR-21 as a Cancer Biomarker and Its Importance in RNA-Based Therapeutics

MicroRNAs are small noncoding transcripts that posttranscriptionally regulate gene expression via base-pairing complementarity. Their role in cancer can be related to tumor suppression or oncogenic function. Moreover, they have been linked to processes recognized as hallmarks of cancer, such as apoptosis, invasion, metastasis, and proliferation. Particularly, one of the first oncomiRs found upregulated in a variety of cancers, such as gliomas, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer, was microRNA-21 (miR-21). Some of its target genes associated with cancer are PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog), PDCD4 (programmed cell death protein 4), RECK (reversion-inducing cysteine-rich protein with Kazal motifs), and STAT3 (signal transducer activator of transcription 3). As a result, miR-21 has been proposed as a plausible diagnostic and prognostic biomarker, as well as a therapeutic target for several types of cancer. Currently, research and clinical trials to inhibit miR-21 through anti-miR-21 oligonucleotides and ADM-21 are being conducted. As all of the evidence suggests, miR-21 is involved in carcinogenic processes; therefore, inhibiting it could have effects on more than one type of cancer. However, whether miR-21 can be used as a tissue-specific biomarker should be analyzed with caution. Consequently, the purpose of this review is to outline the available information and recent advances regarding miR-21 as a potential biomarker in the clinical setting and as a therapeutic target in cancer to highlight its importance in the era of precision medicine.

Possible Molecular Mechanisms for the Roles of MicroRNA-21 Played in Lung Cancer

Background:

We aimed to find the possible molecular mechanisms for the roles of microRNA-21 underlying lung cancer development.

Methods:

MicroRNA-21-5p inhibitor was transfected into A549 cells. Total RNA was isolated from 10 samples, including 3 in control group (A549 cells), 3 in negative control group (A549 cells transferred with microRNA-21 negative control), and 4 in SH group (A549 cells transferred with microRNA-21 inhibitor), followed by RNA sequencing. Then, differentially expressed genes were screened for negative control group versus control group, SH group versus control group, and SH group versus negative control group. Functional enrichment analyses, protein–protein interaction network, and modules analyses were conducted. Target genes of hsa-miR-21-5p and transcription factors were predicted, followed by the regulatory network construction.

Results:

Minichromosome maintenance 10 replication initiation factor and cell division cycle associated 8 were important nodes in protein–protein interaction network with higher degrees. Cell division cycle associated 8 was enriched in cell division biological process. Furthermore, maintenance 10 replication initiation factor and cell division cycle associated 8 were significantly enriched in cluster 1 and micro-RNA-transcription factor-target genes regulating network. In addition, transcription factor Dp family member 3 (transcription factor of maintenance 10 replication initiation factor and cell division cycle associated 8) and RAD21 cohesin complex component (transcription factor of maintenance 10 replication initiation factor) were target genes of hsa-miR-21-5p.

Conclusions:

Micro-RNA-21 may play a key role in lung cancer partly via maintenance 10 replication initiation factor and cell division cycle associated 8. Furthermore, microRNA-21 targeted cell division cycle associated 8 and then played roles in lung cancer via the process of cell division. Transcription factor Dp family member 3 and RAD21 cohesin complex component are important transcription factors in microRNA-21-interfered lung cancer.

Clinicopathological significance of microRNA-21 in extracellular vesicles of pleural lavage fluid of lung adenocarcinoma and its functions inducing the mesothelial to mesenchymal transition

Background

Pre‐resection pleural lavage cytology is useful to predict tumor recurrence and the prognosis of lung cancer patients. Recently, extracellular vesicles (EVs) isolated from effusion specimens have come under the spotlight, and several studies showed that microRNA in EVs is associated with prognosis. MicroRNA‐21 (miR‐21) is a representative onco‐microRNA, and miR‐21 in EVs (EV‐miR‐21) promotes cancer dissemination by inducing mesothelial to mesenchymal transition (MMT) in the peritoneal cavity. In this study, we isolated EVs from pleural lavage fluid and focused on EV‐miR‐21 as a diagnostic factor with a relationship to pleural dissemination.

Methods

The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset comprising of 448 cases of lung adenocarcinoma, tissue microarray of 144 cases of lung adenocarcinoma, and pleural lavage fluid of 41 cases was used to examine miR‐21 expression levels. The function of EV‐miR‐21 was investigated in vitro.

Results

The miR‐21 expression level in primary sites was associated with a poor prognosis and correlated with pleural invasion of adenocarcinoma. EV‐miR‐21 levels in pleural lavage fluid were associated with positive cytology and pleural invasion in the primary sites, even in cytology‐negative cases. In vitro studies demonstrated that EV‐miR‐21 induces the MMT. Mesothelial cells in the MMT showed functions similar to cancer‐associated fibroblasts, which are an important stromal component in primary sites and disseminated pleural lesions.

Conclusions

EV‐miR‐21 in pleural lavage fluid is important as a diagnostic and prognostic factor. Moreover, EV‐miR‐21 induces the MMT, which can form premetastatic niches of dissemination in the pleural cavity.

MIR-107, MIR-223-3P and MIR-21-5P Reveals Potential Biomarkers in Penile Cancer

BACKGROUND

Inguinal lymph node involvement is the main prognostic factor in patients with penile cancer. However, there is a lack of marker/s for lymph node metastasis. microRNAs have been investigated as potential markers for prognosis of various types of cancer. Taking this into consideration, our main goal was to determine the association of miR-223-3p, miR-107, and miR-21-5p expression with clinicopathological characteristics, as well as presence of lymph node metastasis in patients with penile cancer.

METHODS

Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded penile squamous cell carcinoma specimens from 50 patients, at diagnosis and prior to any cancer treatment, were obtained. Tissue samples comprising at least 70% malignant cells and adjacent non-tumor tissues were evaluated by using qRT-PCR for expression level of miR-223-3p, miR-107 and miR-21-5p. Additionally, molecular identification of HPV was performed by PCR, and the expression levels of PTEN were analyzed by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS

Penile squamous cell carcinoma primary tumors presented higher expression of miR-223-3p, miR-107, and miR-21-5p when compared to non-tumor adjacent tissues. Upregulation of miR-223-3p was associated lymph node metastasis. Higher expression of miR-107 was associated with worsening of prognosis (as observed by histological grade II and III, tumors bigger than 2.0 cm, stage III and IV, and lower disease-free survival). In addition, higher expression of miR-107 and miR-21-5p was correlated to the absence of PTEN protein expression.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data demonstrate that higher expression of miR-223-3p, miR-107, and miR-21-5p is correlated with poor prognosis in penile cancer. The upregulation of these microRNAs potentially affect critical cancer pathways and may be important for the prognosis and response to therapy in penile cancer.

Aberrant MicroRNAomics in Pulmonary Complications: Implications in Lung Health and Diseases

Over the last few decades, evolutionarily conserved molecular networks have emerged as important regulators in the expression and function of eukaryotic genomes. Recently, miRNAs (miRNAs), a large family of small, non-coding regulatory RNAs were identified in these networks as regulators of endogenous genes by exerting post-transcriptional gene regulation activity in a broad range of eukaryotic species. Dysregulation of miRNA expression correlates with aberrant gene expression and can play an essential role in human health and disease. In the context of the lung, miRNAs have been implicated in organogenesis programming, such as proliferation, differentiation, and morphogenesis. Gain- or loss-of-function studies revealed their pivotal roles as regulators of disease development, potential therapeutic candidates/targets, and clinical biomarkers. An altered microRNAome has been attributed to several pulmonary diseases, such as asthma, chronic pulmonary obstructive disease, cystic fibrosis, lung cancer, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Considering the relevant roles and functions of miRNAs under physiological and pathological conditions, they may lead to the invention of new diagnostic and therapeutic tools. This review will focus on recent advances in understanding the role of miRNAs in lung development, lung health, and diseases, while also exploring the progress and prospects of their application as therapeutic leads or as biomarkers.

Advances in the Application of Magnetic Nanoparticles for Sensing

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are of high significance in sensing as they provide viable solutions to the enduring challenges related to lower detection limits and nonspecific effects. The rapid expansion in the applications of MNPs creates a need to overview the current state of the field of MNPs for sensing applications. In this review, the trends and concepts in the literature are critically appraised in terms of the opportunities and limitations of MNPs used for the most advanced sensing applications. The latest progress in MNP sensor technologies is overviewed with a focus on MNP structures and properties, as well as the strategies of incorporating these MNPs into devices. By looking at recent synthetic advancements, and the key challenges that face nanoparticle-based sensors, this review aims to outline how to design, synthesize, and use MNPs to make the most effective and sensitive sensors.

Long non-coding RNA T-cell leukemia/lymphoma 6 serves as a sponge for miR-21 modulating the cell proliferation of retinoblastoma through PTEN

Retinoblastoma (Rb) is one of the most common eye malignancies occur in childhood. The crucial roles of non-coding RNAs, particularly long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs), have been widely reported in Rb progression. In the present study, we found the expression of lncRNA T-cell leukemia/lymphoma 6 (TCL6) was significantly downregulated in Rb tissues and cell lines. Knockdown of lncRNA TCL6 promoted cell proliferation while reduced cell apoptosis in Rb cells. Moreover, lncRNA TCL6 serves as a sponge for miR-21, a previously-reported oncogenic miRNA in Rb, by direct targeting to negatively regulated miR-21 expression, therefore modulating Rb proliferation through miR-21. TCL6 overexpression inhibited Rb cell proliferation while miR-21 overexpression exerted an opposing effect; the effect of TCL6 overexpression was partially attenuated by miR-21 overexpression. PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway was involved in lncRNA TCL6/miR-21 axis modulating Rb cell proliferation. Taken together, lncRNA TCL6 serves as a tumor suppressor by acting as a sponge for miR-21 to counteract miR-21-mediated PTEN repression.

Gastric Cancer MicroRNAs Meta-signature

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common types of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-associated mortality. Identification of novel biomarkers is critical to prolonging patient survival. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) proved to play diverse roles in the physiological and pathological state in cancers including GC. Herein we aimed at performing a meta-analysis on miRNA profiling studies that used microarray platforms. Relevant studies were retrieved from PubMed and GEO databases. We used the robust rank aggregation to perform the meta-analysis. Moreover, for meta-signature miRNAs target genes, we performed pathway enrichment and GO molecular function enrichment analysis. A total of 19 upregulated miRNAs and seven downregulated miRNAs in GC samples were identified. However, only three upregulated and one downregulated miRNA reached statistical significance after multiple test correction. Here we showed that hsa-miR-21-5p, hsa-miR-93-5p, hsa-miR-25-3p, and hsa-miR-375 are differentially expressed in GC samples.

Catalytic Knockdown of miR-21 by Artificial Ribonuclease: Biological Performance in Tumor Model

Control of the expression of oncogenic small non-coding RNAs, notably microRNAs (miRNAs), is an attractive therapeutic approach. We report a design platform for catalytic knockdown of miRNA targets with artificial, sequence-specific ribonucleases. miRNases comprise a peptide [(LeuArg)₂Gly]₂ capable of RNA cleavage conjugated to the miRNA-targeted oligodeoxyribonucleotide, which becomes nuclease-resistant within the conjugate design, without resort to chemically modified nucleotides. Our data presented here showed for the first time a truly catalytic character of our miR-21-miRNase and its ability to cleave miR-21 in a multiple catalytic turnover mode. We demonstrate that miRNase targeted to miR-21 (miR-21-miRNase) knocked down malignant behavior of tumor cells, including induction of apoptosis, inhibition of cell invasiveness, and retardation of tumor growth, which persisted on transplantation into mice of tumor cells treated once with miR-21-miRNase. Crucially, we discover that the high biological activity of miR-21-miRNase can be directly related not only to its truly catalytic sequence-specific cleavage of miRNA but also to its ability to recruit the non-sequence specific RNase H found in most cells to elevate catalytic turnover further. miR-21-miRNase worked synergistically even with low levels of RNase H. Estimated degradation in the presence of RNase H exceeded 10³ miRNA target molecules per hour for each miR-21-miRNase molecule, which provides the potency to minimize delivery requirements to a few molecules per cell. In contrast to the comparatively high doses required for the simple steric block of antisense oligonucleotides, truly catalytic inactivation of miRNA offers more effective, irreversible, and persistent suppression of many copy target sequences. miRNase design can be readily adapted to target other pathogenic microRNAs overexpressed in many disease states.

miR-21-mediated regulation of 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase in colon cancer

Elevated prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) levels are observed in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, and this increase is associated with poor prognosis. Increased synthesis of PGE₂ in CRC has been shown to occur through COX-2-dependent mechanisms; however, loss of the PGE₂-catabolizing enzyme, 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH, HPGD), in colonic tumors contributes to increased prostaglandin levels and poor patient survival. While loss of 15-PGDH can occur through transcriptional mechanisms, we demonstrate that 15-PGDH can be additionally regulated by a miRNA-mediated mechanism. We show that 15-PGDH and miR-21 are inversely correlated in CRC patients, with increased miR-21 levels associating with low 15-PGDH expression. 15-PGDH can be directly regulated by miR-21 through distinct sites in its 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR), and miR-21 expression in CRC cells attenuates 15-PGDH and promotes increased PGE₂ levels. Additionally, epithelial growth factor (EGF) signaling suppresses 15-PGDH expression while simultaneously enhancing miR-21 levels. miR-21 inhibition represses CRC cell proliferation, which is enhanced with EGF receptor (EGFR) inhibition. These findings present a novel regulatory mechanism of 15-PGDH by miR-21, and how dysregulated expression of miR-21 may contribute to loss of 15-PGDH expression and promote CRC progression via increased accumulation of PGE₂.

MicroRNAs and their role in environmental chemical carcinogenesis

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small, noncoding RNA species that play crucial roles across many biological processes and in the pathogenesis of major diseases, including cancer. Recent studies suggest that the expression of miRNA is altered by certain environmental chemicals, including metals, organic pollutants, cigarette smoke, pesticides and carcinogenic drugs. In addition, extensive studies have indicated the existence and importance of miRNA in different cancers, suggesting that cancer-related miRNAs could serve as potential markers for chemically induced cancers. The altered expression of miRNA was considered to be a vital pathogenic role in xenobiotic-induced cancer development. However, the significance of miRNA in the etiology of cancer and the exact mechanisms by which environmental factors alter miRNA expression remain relatively unexplored. Hence, understanding the interaction of miRNAs with environmental chemicals will provide important information on mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of chemically induced cancers, and effectively diagnose and treat human cancers resulting from chronic or acute carcinogen exposure. This study presents the current evidence that the miRNA deregulation induced by various chemical carcinogens, different cancers caused by environmental carcinogens and the potentially related genes in the onset or progression of cancer. For each carcinogen, the specifically expressed miRNA may be considered as the early biomarkers of the cancer process. In this review, we also summarize various target genes of the altered miRNA, oncogenes or anti-oncogenes, and the existing evidence regarding the gene regulation mechanisms of cancer caused by environmentally induced miRNA alteration. The future perspective of miRNA may become attractive targets for the diagnosis and treatment of carcinogen-induced cancer.

Next-Generation Sequencing Reveals the Role of Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate in Regulating Putative Novel and Known microRNAs Which Target the MAPK Pathway in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer A549 Cells

Lung cancer constitutes 85% of non-small cell lung cancer diagnosed cases. MicroRNAs are novel biomarkers that are capable of modulating multiple oncogenic pathways. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is a potent chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agent for cancer. We aimed to identify important known and putative novel microRNAs modulated by EGCG in A549 cells using next-generation sequencing and identify their gene targets. Preliminary analysis revealed an IC50 value of 309 μM with G0/G1 phase arrest at 40 μM EGCG treatment. MicroRNA profiling identified 115 known and 4 putative novel microRNAs in 40 μM and 134 known and 3 putative novel microRNAs in 100 μM EGCG-treated A549 cells. The top 10 up-expressed microRNAs were similar between the untreated control and EGCG-treated A549 cells. An up-expression in oncogenic microRNAs, which belong to broadly conserved seed families, were observed in untreated control and EGCG-treated A549 cells. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Protein Analysis Through Evolutionary Relationships pathway analyses of the validated microRNA targeting genes strengthened the hypothesis that EGCG treatment can modulate microRNAs that play a significant role in the MAPK signaling pathway. Expression profile of microRNAs was validation by quantitative real time PCR of randomly selected microRNAs. This study identified signature microRNAs that can be used as novel biomarkers for lung cancer diagnosis.

A Novel Multifunctional Nanowire Platform for Highly Efficient Isolation and Analysis of Circulating Tumor-Specific Markers

Circulating tumor-specific markers are crucial to understand the molecular and cellular processes underlying cancer, and to develop therapeutic strategies for the treatment of the disease in clinical applications. Many approaches to isolate and analyze these markers have been reported. Here, we propose a straightforward method for highly efficient capture and release of exosomes and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in a single platform with well-ordered three-dimensional (3D) architecture that is constructed using a simple electrochemical method. Conductive polypyrrole nanowires (Ppy NWs) are conjugated with monoclonal antibodies that specifically recognize marker proteins on the surface of exosomes or CTCs. In response to electrical- or glutathione (GSH)-mediated stimulation, the captured exosomes or cells can be finely controlled for retrieval from the NW platform. A surface having nano-topographic structures allows the specific recognition and capture of small-sized exosome-like vesicles (30-100 nm) by promoting topographical interactions, while physically blocking larger vesicles (i.e., microvesicles, 100-1,000 nm). In addition, vertically aligned features greatly improve cell capture efficiency after modification with desired high-binding affinity biomolecules. Notably, exosomes and CTCs can be sequentially isolated from cancer patients' blood samples using a single NW platform via modulating electrochemical and chemical cues, which clearly exhibits great potential for the diagnosis of various cancer types and for downstream analysis due to its facile, effective, and low-cost performance.

Ursolic Acid Induces Apoptosis in Colorectal Cancer Cells Partially via Upregulation of MicroRNA-4500 and Inhibition of JAK2/STAT3 Phosphorylation

Though ursolic acid (UA) isolated from Oldenlandia diffusa was known to exhibit anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and anti-obesity effects, the underlying antitumor mechanism of ursolic acid was not fully understood to date. Thus, in the present study, the apoptotic mechanism of ursolic acid was elucidated in HCT116 and HT29 colorectal cancer cells in association with STAT3 and microRNA-4500 (miR-4500) by MTT assay, Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-dT-mediated dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) assay, cell cycle analysis, immunofluorescence, and Western blotting. Ursolic acid significantly exerted cytotoxicity, increased TUNEL positive cells and sub-G1 apoptotic portion, induced cleavage of poly (adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and caspase 3 in HCT116 and HT29 cells. Of note, ursolic acid attenuated the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins such as Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and also blocked nuclear translocation of STAT3 in colorectal cancer cells. Notably, ursolic acid increased the expression level of miR-4500 in HCT116 cells by qRT-PCR analysis and conversely miR-4500 inhibitor reversed cytotoxic, anti-proliferative, and apoptotic effects by increasing TUNEL positive cells, PARP cleavage and inhibiting p-STAT3 in ursolic acid treated colorectal cancer cells. Overall, our findings provide evidence that usolic acid induces apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells partially via upregulation of miR-4500 and inhibition of STAT3 phosphorylation as a potent anti-cancer agent for colorectal cancer therapy.

Propofol Inhibits Lung Cancer A549 Cell Growth and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Process by Upregulation of MicroRNA-1284

Propofol has been widely used in lung cancer resections. Some studies have demonstrated that the effects of propofol might be mediated by microRNAs (miRNAs). This study aimed to investigate the effects and mechanisms of propofol on lung cancer cells by regulation of miR-1284. A549 cells were treated with different concentrations of propofol, while transfected with miR-1284 inhibitor, si-FOXM1, and their negative controls. Cell viability, migration, and invasion, and the expression of miR-1284, FOXM1, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) factors were detected by CCK-8, Transwell, qRT-PCR, and Western blot assays, respectively. In addition, the regulatory and binding relationships among propofol, miR-1284, and FOXM1 were assessed, respectively. Results showed that propofol suppressed A549 cell viability, migration, and invasion, upregulated E-cadherin, and downregulated N-cadherin, vimentin, and Snail expressions. Moreover, propofol significantly promoted the expression of miR-1284. miR-1284 suppression abolished propofol-induced decreases of cell viability, migration, and invasion, and increased FOXM1 expression and the luciferase activity of FOXM1-wt. Further, miR-1284 negatively regulated FOXM1 expression. FOXM1 knockdown reduced cell viability, migration, and invasion by propofol treatment plus miR-1284 suppression. In conclusion, our study indicated that propofol could inhibit cell viability, migration, invasion, and the EMT process in lung cancer cells by regulation of miR-1284.

MicroRNA‑21 regulates the biological behavior of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by targeting RASA1

MicroRNA‑21 (miR‑21) has been revealed to play a crucial role in regulating the biological behavior, including proliferation, migration, invasion and metastasis in certain cancers. However, its role in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has yet to be elucidated. Based on the data of GSE13937 downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, miR‑21 was revealed to be one of the top 20 differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs screened using the Morpheus online tool. RAS p21 protein activator 1 (RASA1) was predicted as the target gene of miR‑21 using the predicting software and was combined with miR‑21 using the luciferase reporter assay. Its relative expression was significantly decreased, however, miR‑21 was increased in the tumor tissues compared to the normal adjacent tissues in patients with ESCC as determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (q‑PCR). Furthermore, overexpression of miR‑21 (mimic) could significantly decrease the gene level of RASA1. Conversely, downregulation of miR‑21 (inhibitor) significantly increased the gene level of RASA1, while downregulation of RASA1 (siRASA1) markedly increased the gene expression of miR‑21. Notably, the expression of Snail and vimentin were significantly increased by upregulation of miR‑21 and downregulation of RASA1. Transwell results revealed that miR‑21 and RASA1 regulated proliferation, migration and invasion in ESCC cells. In an in vivo model, miR‑21 inhibitor (antagomir) could inhibit tumor growth. In conclusion, miR‑21 regulated cell proliferation, migration, invasion and tumor growth of ESCC by directly targeting RASA1, which may have been achieved via regulation of Snail and vimentin. Anti‑miR‑21 revealed an antitumor effect. Thus, it may be considered as a possible target for ESCC therapy.

Prognostic value of microRNAs in lung cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-associated mortality throughout the world. The prognosis of the disease depends on many factors including the stage and type of cancer. Many studies have identified various microRNAs (miRNAs) that affect the prognosis of lung cancer. In order to systemically analyze the available clinical data, the present study performed a meta-analysis to examine all evidence on the potential role of miRNAs as novel predictors of survival in lung cancer. Literature published in English prior to February 1st, 2018 was searched through PubMed to review all of the associations between individual miRNAs and groups of miRNAs with the prognosis of lung cancer. Data was extracted using standard forms and pooled odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. A total of 15 eligible studies were included in the meta-analysis. These represented 1,753 lung cancer patients and 20 miRNAs. A total of 8 downregulated miRNAs were associated with poorer overall survival (OS) [hazard ratio (HR)=0.59, 95% CI: 0.47–0.75, P<1×10⁻⁴], while 10 upregulated miRNAs were associated with poorer OS (HR=1.76, 95% CI: 1.31–2.35, P<1×10⁻⁴). Additionally, low miRNA expression was associated with lymph node metastasis [LNM; relative risk (RR)=0.53, 95% CI: 0.46–0.61, P<1×10⁻⁴]. The expression of miRNAs was not associated with lung cancer stage (RR=1.07, 95% CI: 0.94–1.22, P=0.23). Expression levels of different miRNAs were associated with the OS and LNM of patients with lung cancer. These miRNAs may be applied as potential prognostic markers in lung cancer.

miR-497 may enhance the sensitivity of non-small cell lung cancer cells to gefitinib through targeting the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor

Background

Recently, studies have demonstrated that microRNA-497 (miR-497) plays an important role in modulating tumor cell sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs; however, its role in cellular resistance to the effects of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) in treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is not fully understood. In this study, we explored the potential of miR-497 in targeting the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) signaling pathways to overcome gefitinib resistance.

Methods

A gefitinib resistant human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell line (A549/GR) was established by the method of gefitinib mutagenesis culture. Next, the A549/GR cells were transfected with miR-497 mimics to establish an miR-497 overexpression model, designated A549/GR-miR497-mimic. MTT assay was used to assess cell resistance to gefitinib, and western blot assay was employed to evaluate alterations of IGF-1R and the AKT1 signaling pathway.

Results

We found that A549/GR-miR497-mimic cells (IC50 =33.76±0.97 µmol/L) were more sensitive to gefitinib than the control group (P<0.01). In addition, the expression levels of IGF-1R and phosphorylated AKT1 (p-AKT1) in A549/GR-miR497-mimic cells were reduced.

Conclusions

We demonstrated that miR-497 may have the effect of reversing gefitinib resistance and increasing the sensitivity of NSCLC cells to EGFR-TKIs by inhibiting the expression of IGF-1R and reducing activation of the downstream AKT signaling pathway. Thus, miR-497 plays a vital role in the acquired resistance to EGFR-TKIs, and it may represent a potential therapeutic strategy to treat NSCLC exhibiting resistance to EGFR-TKIs.

MicroRNA-21 promotes the proliferation, migration and invasion of non-small cell lung cancer A549 cells by regulating autophagy activity via AMPK/ULK1 signaling pathway

The present study investigated the expression of microRNA (miR)-21 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues, its biological functions and mechanism of autophagy regulation. A total of 46 patients with NSCLC were enrolled in the present study. To measure the expression of miR-21, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was employed. NSCLC A549 cells were transfected with miR-negative control (NC), miR-21 mimics or inhibitor. The CCK-8 assay was used to investigate the proliferation of A549 cells. To study migration and invasion abilities of A549 cells, The Transwell assay was performed. In addition, to determine the expression levels of ULK1, LC3B, AMPKα, p-AMPKα and p62 proteins, western blotting was conducted and laser confocal microscopy was performed to observe the formation of autophagosomes in A549 cells. To explore whether miR-21 regulates the biological functions of A549 cells via autophagy, an autophagy inhibitor, 3-MA, or agonist, rapamycin, were used in a rescue assay. Results indicated that miR-21 expression in NSCLC tissues was enhanced, and closely correlated with the occurrence and development of NSCLC. In vitro experiments showed that miR-21 mimics promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of A549 cells, while miR-21 inhibitor inhibited these biological functions. Western blotting indicated that miR-21 upregulated autophagy marker LC3BII protein, but downregulated p62 protein. Laser confocal microscopy showed that miR-21 activated autophagy of A549. Rescue experiments indicated that autophagy reversed the effect of miR-21 on the proliferation, migration and invasion of A549 cells. Western blotting data suggested that autophagy-related AMPK/ULK1 signaling pathway was activated by miR-21, and interference or overexpression of ULK1 reversed the biological functions of miR-21. The present study demonstrated that miR-21 expression in NSCLC tissues was upregulated and positively correlated with lymphatic metastasis and clinical staging. In addition, miR-21 regulated autophagy activity of NSCLC A549 cells via AMPK/ULK1 signaling pathway, and promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of NSCLC A549 cells.

MiR-374b Promotes Proliferation and Inhibits Apoptosis of Human GIST Cells by Inhibiting PTEN through Activation of the PI3K/Akt Pathway

Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) are the most common mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. In order to investigate a new treatment fot GIST, we hypothesized the effect of miR-374b targeting PTEN gene-mediated PI3K/Akt signal transduction pathway on proliferation and apoptosis of human gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) cells. We obtained GIST tissues and adjacent normal tissues from 143 patients with GIST to measure the levels of miR-374b, PTEN, PI3K, Akt, caspase9, Bax, MMP2, MMP9, ki67, PCNA, P53 and cyclinD1. Finally, cell viability, cell cycle and apoptosis were detected. According to the KFGG analysis of DEGs, PTEN was involved in a variety of signaling pathways and miRs were associated with cancer development. The results showed that MiR-374b was highly expressed, while PTEN was downregulated in the GIST tissues. The levels of miR-374b, PI3K, AKT and PTEN were related to tumor diameter and pathological stage. Additionally, miR-374b increased the mRNA and protein levels of PI3K, Akt, MMP2, MMP9, P53 and cyclinD1, suggesting that miR-374b activates PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in GIST-T1 cells. Moreover, MiR-374b promoted cell viability, migration, invasion, and cell cycle entry, and inhibited apoptosis in GIST cells. Taken together, the results indicated that miR-374b promotes viability and inhibits apoptosis of human GIST cells by targeting PTEN gene through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Thus, this study provides a new potential target for GIST treatment.

MiR-21 Suppresses Anoikis through Targeting PDCD4 and PTEN in Human Esophageal Adenocarcinoma

Anoikis is a form of apoptosis induced upon cell detachment from extracellular matrix. It has been determined that acquisition of resistance to anoikis is a critical step for tumor cell metastasis. MiR-21, the most prominent oncomiR, plays an important role in tumor progression. In this study, we revealed that up-regulation of miR-21 in human esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) is associated with lymph node metastasis and poor survival rate. Because of the established anti-apoptosis effect of miR-21, it is tempting to speculate that miR-21 might contribute to tumor metastasis by regulating anoikis. qRT-PCR analysis demonstrated that miR-21 expression in OE33/AR cells (subpopulation of human EA OE33 cells that acquired resistance to anoikis) was significantly increased. Also, transfection of miR-21 mimics provided OE33 cells resisting to anoikis. By luciferase assays, we verified that PDCD4 and PTEN were the functional targets of miR-21. In mouse model, via tail vein injection experiment, we showed that the metastasis formation of OE33 cells in vivo could be mediated by changing the miR-21 expression pattern. Taken together, our findings suggested that miR-21 was involved in the regulation of anoikis in human EA cells. Targeting miR-21 may provide a novel strategy to prevent metastasis.

Application of serum microRNA-9-5p, 21-5p, and 223-3p combined with tumor markers in the diagnosis of non-small-cell lung cancer in Yunnan in southwestern China

Purpose

Xuanwei City is located in late Permian coal-accumulating areas of the northeastern region of Yunnan Province. In China, morbidity and mortality from lung cancer are highest in Yunnan. Identifying useful circulating markers suitable for the diagnosis of lung cancer in this region is quite meaningful. In this study, we evaluated diagnostic roles of serum miR-9-5p, 21-5p, 223-3p, 135b-5p, 339-5p, and 501-5p in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in Yunnan. Moreover, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of several tumor markers, including carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cytokeratin 19 fragment 21-1 (CYFRA21-1), and squamous cell carcinoma-related antigen (SCC).

Methods

Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction detected six miRNAs in the serum of 104 NSCLC patients and 50 cancer-free controls. Other markers, including CEA, CYFRA21-1, and SCC, in serum were also measured. The diagnostic ability of miRNAs and tumor markers was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The diagnostic performance of these serum markers was also evaluated in Xuanwei and non-Xuanwei subjects, because the etiological and the epidemiological characteristics of lung cancer in Xuanwei were quite different from those in other regions.

Results

Serum miR-9-5p, miR-21-5p, miR-223-3p, CEA, CYFRA21-1, and SCC were upregulated in NSCLC patients, compared with cancer-free controls. No significant difference was found in miR-135b-5p, miR-339-5p, and miR-501-5p expression. The area under ROC curves (AUCs) of miR-9-5p, miR-21-5p, miR-223-3p, CEA, CYFRA21-1, and SCC were 0.706, 0.765, 0.744, 0.749, 0.735, and 0.616, respectively. When combined, miRNAs and tumor markers yielded the highest diagnostic power, with AUC of 0.886, sensitivity of 82.69%, and specificity of 88.00%. In Xuanwei subjects, miR-223-3p and CEA may be suitable biomarkers to distinguish NSCLC from cancer-free states with AUCs of 0.752 and 0.791, respectively. The diagnostic power of the combination of miRNAs and tumor markers was still the highest in both subgroups (region: Xuanwei and non-Xuanwei; stages: I–II and III–IV).

Conclusion

Serum miR-9-5p, miR-21-5p, miR-223-3p, CEA, CYFRA21-1, and SCC could be potential diagnostic biomarkers for NSCLC patients in Yunnan. miRNAs and tumor markers should be combined to diagnose NSCLC, as it showed better ability for screening patients with NSCLC.

Profile of epigenetic mechanisms in lung tumors of patients with underlying chronic respiratory conditions

Background

Chronic lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and epigenetic events underlie lung cancer (LC) development. The study objective was that lung tumor expression levels of specific microRNAs and their downstream biomarkers may be differentially regulated in patients with and without COPD.

Methods

In lung specimens (tumor and non-tumor), microRNAs known to be involved in lung tumorigenesis (miR-21, miR-200b, miR-126, miR-451, miR-210, miR-let7c, miR-30a-30p, miR-155 and miR-let7a, qRT-PCR), DNA methylation, and downstream biomarkers were determined (qRT-PCR and immunoblotting) in 40 patients with LC (prospective study, subdivided into LC-COPD and LC, N = 20/group).

Results

Expression of miR-21, miR-200b, miR-210, and miR-let7c and DNA methylation were greater in lung tumor specimens of LC-COPD than of LC patients. Expression of downstream markers PTEN, MARCKs, TPM-1, PDCD4, SPRY-2, ETS-1, ZEB-2, FGFRL-1, EFNA-3, and k-RAS together with P53 were selectively downregulated in tumor samples of LC-COPD patients. In these patients, tumor expression of miR-126 and miR-451 and that of the biomarkers PTEN, MARCKs, FGFRL-1, SNAIL-1, P63, and k-RAS were reduced.

Conclusions

Biomarkers of mechanisms involved in tumor growth, angiogenesis, migration, and apoptosis were differentially expressed in tumors of patients with underlying respiratory disease. These findings shed light into the underlying biology of the reported greater risk to develop LC seen in patients with chronic respiratory conditions. The presence of an underlying respiratory disease should be identified in all patients with LC as the differential biological profile may help determine tumor progression and the therapeutic response. Additionally, epigenetic events offer a niche for pharmacological therapeutic targets.

ENaCs as Both Effectors and Regulators of MiRNAs in Lung Epithelial Development and Regeneration

Epithelial sodium channels (ENaC) play an important role in re-absorbing excessive luminal fluid by building up an osmotic Na+ gradient across the tight epithelium in the airway, the lung, the kidney, and the colon. The ENaC is a major pathway for retention of salt in kidney too. MicroRNAs (miRs), a group of non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level, have emerged as a novel class of regulators for ENaC. Given the ENaC pathway is crucial for maintaining fluid homeostasis in the lung and the kidney and other cavities, we summarized the cross-talk between ENaC and miRs and recapitulated the underlying regulatory factors, including aldosterone, transforming growth factor-β1, and vascular endothelial growth factor-A in the lung and other epithelial tissues/organs. We have compared the profiling of miRs between normal and injured mice and human lungs, which showed a significant alteration in numerous miRs in mouse models of LPS and ventilator induced ARDS. In addition, we reiterated the potential regulation of the ENaC by miRs in stem/ progenitor cell-based re-epithelialization, and identified a promising pharmaceutic target of ENaC for removing edema fluid in ARDS by mesenchymal stem cells-released paracrine. In conclusion, it seems that the interactions between miRs and scnn1s/ENaCs are critical for lung development, epithelial cell turnover in adult lungs, and re-epithelialization for repair.

Increased miR-21a provides metabolic advantages through suppression of FBP1 expression in non-small cell lung cancer cells

Lung cancer is the most common solid tumor and the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. miR-21 is one of the most commonly observed aberrant miRNAs in human cancers. However, the biological roles of miR-21 in glucose metabolism of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells remain unknown. In the present study, our findings demonstrated that miR-21 promoted glucose uptake and increased TXNIP expression. miR-21 increased lactate generation and decreased oxygen consumption in NSCLC cells. Moreover, we found that miR-21 promoted glycolysis and decreased OXPHOS. Mechanistically, fructose-1,6-biphosphatase (FBP1) was a direct target of miR-21 and observed a negative correlation between miR-21 and FBP1 in NSCLC samples. Restoring FBP1 expression reversed the effects induced by miR-21 overexpression in NSCLC cells. Together, our findings suggest the critical role of miR-21 in glucose metabolism through suppression of FBP1 in NSCLC cells. miR-21 may be a potential target of NSCLC treatment.

Long noncoding RNA NBAT1 negatively modulates growth and metastasis of osteosarcoma cells through suppression of miR-21

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary bone malignancies. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are key regulatory RNAs which takes part in several biological processes. LncRNA neuroblastoma associated transcript 1 (NBAT1) is a newly identified functional lncRNA. NBAT1 functions as a tumor suppressor in some cancers. However, the expression pattern, the biological function and the mechanisms of NBAT1 in OS progress have not been elucidated. In this study, for the first time, we found that NBAT1 expression is downregulated in OS tissues and cell lines and is associated with clinical stage, distant metastasis and poor prognosis. Loss- and gain-of-function assays showed that NBAT1 played a negative regulatory role in OS growth and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Further investigation demonstrated that NBAT1 physically interacted with miR-21 and then suppressed its expression. NBAT1 also regulated downstream genes targeted by miR-21, including PTEN, PDCD4, TPM1 and RECK. These findings may extend the function of NBAT1 in tumor progression and provide a novel target for OS treatment.

Angiogenesis in adenosquamous cancer of pancreas

Adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas (ASCP) is an uncommon variant of exocrine pancreatic malignancies, characterized by a histological admixture of adenomatous and squamous cell elements. This cancer is characterized by a poorly differentiated histology and a poorer clinical outcome compared to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Unlike PDAC, that is characterized by a low microvascular density (MVD) and collapsed vasculature, no data are available about angiogenesis in ASPC. Immunohistochemical evaluation of MVD and trypatse-positive mast cells (MCs) were performed on a single case of ASCP compared to PDAC. Moreover, the levels of angiopoietin-1 and -2 (Ang-1, Ang-2), receptor tyrosine kinase with immunoglobulin and epidermal growth factor homology domain-2 (Tie-2), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF1A), miR-21-5p, miR-181a-5p, miR-122-5p, and miR-27a-3p were evaluated by real-time PCR. Higher number of tryptase-positive MCs and MVD are observed in the ASCP case compared to PDAC one. Lower levels of miR-122-5p and higher expression of VEGFA, HIF1A and Ang-2 genes were observed in ASCP. Furthermore, lower Ang-1 and Tie-2 transcript levels and higher increases of miR-21-5p, miR27a-3p and miR-181a-5p levels were found in the rarest form of pancreatic carcinoma. Our data demonstrate an important angiogenic activity in ASCP with a putative role of miR-21-5p, miR-181a-5p, miR-122-5p and miR-27a-3p in the regulation of this process.