H19/let‑7/Lin28 ceRNA network mediates autophagy inhibiting epithelial‑mesenchymal transition in breast cancer

Deciphering the code: the pivotal role of lncRNAs in advancing TNBC therapy

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) represents the most formidable subtype of breast cancer, characterized by a notable dearth in targeted therapeutic options. Deciphering the underlying molecular mechanisms of TNBC is pivotal for improving patient outcomes. Recent scientific advancements have spotlighted long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) as key players in the genesis, progression, and metastasis of cancers. This review delineates the significant influence of lncRNAs on the advancement, detection, and neoadjuvant chemotherapy efficacy in TNBC, detailing the diverse expression patterns of aberrant lncRNAs. The paper explores the specific mechanisms by which lncRNAs regulate gene expression in both the nucleus and cytoplasm, with a special focus on their involvement in TNBC's post-transcriptional landscape. Thorough investigations into TNBC-associated lncRNAs not only forge new avenues for early diagnosis and potent treatment strategies but also highlight these molecules as promising therapeutic targets, heralding an era of personalized and precision medicine in TNBC management.

Harnessing the potential of long non-coding RNAs in breast cancer: from etiology to treatment resistance and clinical applications

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy among women and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths of females worldwide. It is a complex and molecularly heterogeneous disease, with various subtypes that require different treatment strategies. Despite advances in high-resolution single-cell and multinomial technologies, distant metastasis and therapeutic resistance remain major challenges for BC treatment. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are non-coding RNAs with more than 200 nucleotides in length. They act as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) to regulate post-transcriptional gene stability and modulate protein-protein, protein-DNA, and protein-RNA interactions to regulate various biological processes. Emerging evidence suggests that lncRNAs play essential roles in human cancers, including BC. In this review, we focus on the roles and mechanisms of lncRNAs in BC progression, metastasis, and treatment resistance, and discuss their potential value as therapeutic targets. Specifically, we summarize how lncRNAs are involved in the initiation and progression of BC, as well as their roles in metastasis and the development of therapeutic resistance. We also recapitulate the potential of lncRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers and discuss their potential use in personalized medicine. Finally, we provide lncRNA-based strategies to promote the prognosis of breast cancer patients in clinical settings, including the development of novel lncRNA-targeted therapies.

BMP15 Modulates the H19/miR-26b/SMAD1 Axis Influences Yak Granulosa Cell Proliferation, Autophagy, and Apoptosis

Bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15) regulates the growth and development of follicles. In particular, the long non-coding RNA H19 plays an important role in mammalian reproduction. However, the function and regulatory mechanism of the interaction of BMP15 with H19 in yak granulosa cell (GC) proliferation, autophagy, and apoptosis are poorly understood. In our study, quantitative reverse-transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that H19 were highly expressed in yak healthy follicles. H19 was induced by BMP15 protein in yak GCs. In addition, we confirmed that overexpression of H19 promoted yak GC proliferation and autophagy and inhibited apoptosis. Bioinformatic analysis and luciferase reporter assays demonstrated that H19 directly binds to miR-26b, and SMAD1 was identified as a target of miR-26b. miR-26b overexpression inhibited GC proliferation and autophagy and promoted apoptosis through decreased SMAD1 expression, which was attenuated by H19 overexpression. RNA immunoprecipitation-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and dual-luciferase assays showed that miR-26b was sponged by H19 to preserve SMAD1 expression. Furthermore, SMAD1 mRNA expression was induced and miR-26b expression was reduced after yak GCs were treated with BMP15 protein. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that the H19/miR-26b/SMAD1 axis responds to BMP15 to regulate yack GC proliferation, autophagy, and apoptosis.

Identifying Autophagy-Related lncRNAs and Potential ceRNA Networks in NAFLD

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common chronic disease with complex pathogenesis, which brings economic burden to the society, and there is still no effective therapy. Impaired autophagy has been implicated in the development of NAFLD. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are also reported to play a role in the pathogenesis of NAFLD. However, the role of autophagy-related lncRNAs in NAFLD disease has not been elucidated. Here, we mined GSE135251, GSE160016, GSE130970 and GSE185062 datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus database (GEO) and obtained the human autophagy-related gene list from the Human Autophagy Database (HADb) for in-depth bioinformatic analysis. Following differential expression analysis and intersection of the datasets, Pearson correlation analysis was performed on DElncRNAs and autophagy-related DEmRNAs to obtain autophagy-related lncRNAs, and then Starbase3.0 and TargetScan7.2 were used to construct competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNA) regulatory networks. We constructed four lncRNA-dominated ceRNA regulatory networks (PSMG3-AS1, MIRLET7BHG, RP11-136K7.2, LINC00925), and visualized with Cytoscape. Then we performed co-expression analysis of the ceRNA networks and autophagy-related genes, and functionally annotated them with Metascape. Finally, we performed receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis on lncRNAs and mRNAs within the ceRNA networks. Conclusively, our project is the first to study autophagy-related lncRNAs in NAFLD and finally mined four autophagy-related lncRNAs (PSMG3-AS1, MIRLET7BHG, RP11-136K7.2, LINC00925). We suggested that the four autophagy-related lncRNAs may be closely associated with the occurrence and development of NAFLD through the corresponding ceRNA regulatory networks. This research brings new horizons to the study of NAFLD.

Regulatory effects of lncRNAs and miRNAs on the crosstalk between autophagy and EMT in cancer: a new era for cancer treatment

PURPOSE

Autophagy and EMT (epithelial-mesenchymal transition) are the two principal biological processes and ideal therapeutic targets during cancer development. Autophagy, a highly conserved process for degrading dysfunctional cellular components, plays a dual role in tumors depending on the tumor stage and tissue types. The EMT process is the transition differentiation from an epithelial cell to a mesenchymal-like cell and acquiring metastatic potential. There is evidence that the crosstalk between autophagy and EMT is complex in cancer. In recent years, more studies have shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in autophagy, EMT, and their crosstalk. Therefore, accurate understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of lncRNAs and miRNAs in autophagy, EMT and their interactions is crucial for the clinical management of cancers.

METHODS

An extensive literature search was conducted on the Google Scholar and PubMed databases. The keywords used for the search included: autophagy, EMT, crosstalk, lncRNAs, miRNAs, cancers, diagnostic biomarkers, and therapeutic targets. This search provided relevant articles published in peer-reviewed journals until 2021. Data from these various studies were extracted and used in this review.

RESULTS

The results showed that lncRNAs/miRNAs as tumor inhibitors or tumor inducers could regulate autophagy, EMT, and their interaction by regulating several molecular signaling pathways. The lncRNAs/miRNAs involved in autophagy and EMT processes could have potential uses in cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy.

CONCLUSION

Such information could help find and develop lncRNAs/miRNAs based new tools for diagnosing, prognosis, and creating anti-cancer therapies.

MIR100HG Regulates CALD1 Gene Expression by Targeting miR-142-5p to Affect the Progression of Bladder Cancer Cells in vitro, as Revealed by Transcriptome Sequencing

Background/Aim: The role of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) and competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNA) networks in bladder cancer, especially the function of lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network in bladder cancer, are still relatively poorly understood. This research mainly used transcriptome sequencing to screen key lncRNAs and ceRNAs, explore their pathogenic mechanism in bladder cancer, and search for potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets.

Methods: High-throughput transcriptome sequencing, combined with the limma package, Kaplan-Meier curve analysis, lncRNA-mRNA coexpression network, univariate Cox analysis, multivariate Cox analysis, protein-protein interaction (PPI), functional enrichment, weighed gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), ceRNA network and quantitative PCR (qPCR) analyses were performed to assess and screen differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs. Then, the effects of MIR100HG on the proliferation, migration and invasion of the bladder cancer cell line 5,637 were evaluated using cell counting kit-8(CCK-8), wound-healing and transwell assays, respectively. A dual luciferase reporter assay was used to validate the MIR100HG/miR-142-5p and miR-142-5p/CALD1 targeting relationship, and the regulatory relationship among MIR100HG/miR-142-5p/CALD1 expression was explored using qPCR and western blot.

Results: A total of 127 differentially expressed lncRNAs and 620 differentially expressed mRNAs were screened. Based on the survival prognosis analysis, Cox analysis, lncRNA-mRNA network, PPI network and WGCNA, we obtained 3 key lncRNAs and 13 key mRNAs, as well as the MIR100HG/miR-142-5p/CALD1 key regulatory axis. qPCR results showed that compared with the adjacent tissues, the expression of MIR100HG and CALD1 was up-regulated, and the expression of miR-142-5p was down-regulated. Moreover, MIR100HG expression was positively correlated with the tumor grade and clinical grade of patients with bladder cancer. Overexpression of MIR100HG effectively promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of 5,637 cells, inhibited the expression of miR-142-5p, and induced the expression of CALD1 in 5,637 cells. In addition, miR-142-5p inhibited CALD1 expression in bladder cancer cells through a direct association, and reversed the proliferation and CALD1 expression in 5,637 cells overexpressing of MIR100HG.

Conclusion: MIR100HG regulates CALD1 expression by targeting miR-142-5p to inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of bladder cancer cells. MIR100HG is an independent prognostic factor for bladder cancer, with potential as a biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment of bladder cancer.

Crucial Roles of LncRNAs-Mediated Autophagy in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer remains a worldwide public health issue. LncRNA and autophagy respectively or simultaneously, get involved in cellular and molecular processes of many different cancers, including genesis, metastasis, and deterioration of breast cancer and other malignant tumors. In this review, relevant studies have been summarized, and we have found that lncRNA-mediated autophagy in luminal A breast cancer, luminal B breast cancer, HER-2 positive breast cancer, and basal-like breast cancer may play an important role in mediating drug resistance sensitivity. LncRNAs target genes and affect different signaling pathways to a complex network, which attenuates the occurrence and development of primary breast cancer by coordinating autophagy. Abnormal expression of LncRNA may lead to dysregulation of autophagy, resulting in tumor genesis, expansion, and resistance to anti-tumor therapy. Targeting specific lncRNAs for autophagy regulation may conduct as a bio-marker for reliable diagnosis and prognosis treatment of breast cancer or provide a promising therapeutic strategy.

The Metabolism Reprogramming of microRNA Let-7-Mediated Glycolysis Contributes to Autophagy and Tumor Progression

Cancer is usually a result of abnormal glucose uptake and imbalanced nutrient metabolization. The dysregulation of glucose metabolism, which controls the processes of glycolysis, gives rise to various physiological defects. Autophagy is one of the metabolic-related cellular functions and involves not only energy regeneration but also tumorigenesis. The dysregulation of autophagy impacts on the imbalance of metabolic homeostasis and leads to a variety of disorders. In particular, the microRNA (miRNA) Let-7 has been identified as related to glycolysis procedures such as tissue repair, stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes, and tumoral metastasis. In many cancers, the expression of glycolysis-related enzymes is correlated with Let-7, in which multiple enzymes are related to the regulation of the autophagy process. However, much recent research has not comprehensively investigated how Let-7 participates in glycolytic reprogramming or its links to autophagic regulations, mainly in tumor progression. Through an integrated literature review and omics-related profiling correlation, this review provides the possible linkage of the Let-7 network between glycolysis and autophagy, and its role in tumor progression.

The Role of Long Non-Coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in Female Oriented Cancers

Recent advances in molecular biology have discovered the mysterious role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) as potential biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and targets for advanced cancer therapy. Studies have shown that lncRNAs take part in the incidence and development of cancers in humans. However, previously they were considered as mere RNA noise or transcription byproducts lacking any biological function. In this article, we present a summary of the progress on ascertaining the biological functions of five lncRNAs (HOTAIR, NEAT1, H19, MALAT1, and MEG3) in female-oriented cancers, including breast and gynecological cancers, with the perspective of carcinogenesis, cancer proliferation, and metastasis. We provide the current state of knowledge from the past five years of the literature to discuss the clinical importance of such lncRNAs as therapeutic targets or early diagnostic biomarkers. We reviewed the consequences, either oncogenic or tumor-suppressing features, of their aberrant expression in female-oriented cancers. We tried to explain the established mechanism by which they regulate cancer proliferation and metastasis by competing with miRNAs and other mechanisms involved via regulating genes and signaling pathways. In addition, we revealed the association between stated lncRNAs and chemo-resistance or radio-resistance and their potential clinical applications and future perspectives.

The role of noncoding RNAs in Parkinson's disease: biomarkers and associations with pathogenic pathways

The discovery of various noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) and their biological implications is a growing area in cell biology. Increasing evidence has revealed canonical and noncanonical functions of long and small ncRNAs, including microRNAs, long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), circular RNAs, PIWI-interacting RNAs, and tRNA-derived fragments. These ncRNAs have the ability to regulate gene expression and modify metabolic pathways. Thus, they may have important roles as diagnostic biomarkers or therapeutic targets in various diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders, especially Parkinson's disease. Recently, through diverse sequencing technologies and a wide variety of bioinformatic analytical tools, such as reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR, microarrays, next-generation sequencing and long-read sequencing, numerous ncRNAs have been shown to be associated with neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's disease. In this review article, we will first introduce the biogenesis of different ncRNAs, including microRNAs, PIWI-interacting RNAs, circular RNAs, long noncoding RNAs, and tRNA-derived fragments. The pros and cons of the detection platforms of ncRNAs and the reproducibility of bioinformatic analytical tools will be discussed in the second part. Finally, the recent discovery of numerous PD-associated ncRNAs and their association with the diagnosis and pathophysiology of PD are reviewed, and microRNAs and long ncRNAs that are transported by exosomes in biofluids are particularly emphasized.

LncRNA H19: A novel oncogene in multiple cancers

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a series of non-coding RNAs that lack open reading frameworks. Accumulating evidence suggests important roles for lncRNAs in various diseases, including cancers. Recently, lncRNA H19 (H19) became a research focus due to its ectopic expression in human malignant tumors, where it functioned as an oncogene. Subsequently, H19 was confirmed to be involved in tumorigenesis and malignant progression in many tumors and had been implicated in promoting cell growth, invasion, migration, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, metastasis, and apoptosis. H19 also sequesters some microRNAs, facilitating a multilayer molecular regulatory mechanism. In this review, we summarize the abnormal overexpression of H19 in human cancers, which suggests wide prospects for further research into the diagnosis and treatment of cancers.

Long non-coding RNA CASC9/microRNA-590-3p axis participates in lutein-mediated suppression of breast cancer cell proliferation

Previous studies have shown that lutein can inhibit the proliferation of breast cancer cells. However, the mechanism of lutein inhibiting the proliferation of breast cancer cells remains unclear. The present study aimed to determine whether the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) Cancer Susceptibility 9 (CASC9)/microRNA (miR)-590-3p axis participates in the antiproliferative effects of lutein via lncRNA microarray hybridization, reverse transcription-quantitative PCR, dual-luciferase reporter and MTT assays. The results demonstrated that CASC9 was the most significantly downregulated lncRNA in MCF7 cells treated with lutein. miR-590-3p was identified as the target of CASC9. In addition, lutein downregulated CASC9 expression and upregulated miR-590-3p expression in dose- and time-dependent manners, respectively. CASC9 knockdown or overexpression of miR-590-3p inhibited the proliferation of breast cancer cells. Notably, simultaneous transfection with miR-590-3p mimics and CASC9 small interfering RNA increased the potency of lutein in inhibiting the proliferation of breast cancer cells. Taken together, these results suggest that the CASC9/miR-590-3p axis participates in the antiproliferative effects of lutein on breast cancer.

Regulation of autophagy by microRNAs in human breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common solid cancer that affects female population globally. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs that can regulate post-transcriptional modification of multiple downstream genes. Autophagy is a conserved cellular catabolic activity that aims to provide nutrients and degrade un-usable macromolecules in mammalian cells. A number of in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies have reported that some miRNAs could modulate autophagy activity in human breast cancer cells, and these would influence human breast cancer progression and treatment response. Therefore, this review was aimed to discuss the roles of autophagy-regulating miRNAs in influencing breast cancer development and treatment response. The review would first introduce autophagy types and process, followed by the discussion of the roles of different miRNAs in modulating autophagy in human breast cancer, and to explore how would this miRNA-autophagy regulatory process affect the disease progression or treatment response. Lastly, the potential applications and challenges of utilizing autophagy-regulating miRNAs as breast cancer biomarkers and novel therapeutic agents would be discussed.

A Signature of Autophagy-Related Long Non-coding RNA to Predict the Prognosis of Breast Cancer

Background: A surge in newly diagnosed breast cancer has overwhelmed the public health system worldwide. Joint effort had beed made to discover the genetic mechanism of these disease globally. Accumulated research has revealed autophagy may act as a vital part in the pathogenesis of breast cancer.

Objective: Aim to construct a prognostic model based on autophagy-related lncRNAs and investigate their potential mechanisms in breast cancer.

Methods: The transcriptome data and clinical information of patients with breast cancer were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Autophagy-related genes were obtained from the Human Autophagy Database (HADb). Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) related to autophagy were acquired through the Pearson correlation analysis. Univariate Cox regression analysis as well as the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis were used to identify autophagy-related lncRNAs with prognostic value. We constructed a risk scoring model to assess the prognostic significance of the autophagy-related lncRNAs signatures. The nomogram was then established based on the risk score and clinical indicators. Through the calibration curve, the concordance index (C-index) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were evaluated to obtain the model's predictive performance. Subgroup analysis was performed to evaluate the differential ability of the model. Subsequently, gene set enrichment analysis was conducted to investigate the potential functions of these lncRNAs.

Results: We attained 1,164 breast cancer samples from the TCGA database and 231 autophagy-related genes from the HAD database. Through correlation analysis, 179 autophagy-related lncRNAs were finally identified. Univariate Cox regression analysis and LASSO regression analysis further screened 18 prognosis-associated lncRNAs. The risk scoring model was constructed to divide patients into high-risk and low-risk groups. It was found that the low-risk group had better overall survival (OS) than those of the high-risk group. Then, the nomogram model including age, tumor stage, TNM stage and risk score was established. The evaluation index (C-index: 0.78, 3-year OS AUC: 0.813 and 5-year OS AUC: 0.785) showed that the nomogram had excellent predictive power. Subgroup analysis showed there were difference in OS between high-risk and low-risk patients in different subgroups (stage I-II, ER positive, Her-2 negative and non-TNBC subgroups; all P < 0.05). According to the results of gene set enrichment analysis, these lncRNAs were involved in the regulation of multicellular organismal macromolecule metabolic process in multicellular organisms, nucleotide excision repair, oxidative phosphorylation, and TGF-β signaling pathway.

Conclusions: We identified 18 autophagy-related lncRNAs with prognostic value in breast cancer, which may regulate tumor growth and progression in multiple ways.

Lin28 Inhibits the Differentiation from Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells to Glial Lineage Cells through Upregulation of Yap1

The RNA-binding protein Lin28 regulates neurogliogenesis in mammals, independently of the let-7 microRNA. However, the detailed regulatory mechanism remains obscured. Here, we established Lin28a or Lin28b overexpression mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and found that these cells expressed similar levels of the core pluripotent factors, such as Oct4 and Sox2, and increased Yap1 but decreased lineage-specific markers compared to the control ESCs. Further differentiation of these ESCs to neuronal and glial lineage cells revealed that Lin28a/b overexpression did not affect the expression of neuronal marker βIII-tubulin, but dramatically inhibited the glial lineage markers, such as Gfap and Mbp. Interestingly, overexpression of Yap1 in mouse ESCs phenocopied Lin28a/b overexpression ESCs by showing defect in glial cell differentiation. Inhibition of Yap1/Tead-mediated transcription with verteporfin partially rescued the differentiation defect of Lin28a/b overexpression ESCs. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that Lin28 can directly bind to Yap1 mRNA, and the induction of Yap1 by Lin28a in mESCs is independent of Let7. Taken together, our results unravel a novel Lin28-Yap1 regulatory axis during mESC to glial lineage cell differentiation, which may shed light on glial cell generation in vitro.

Identification of key modules and genes associated with breast cancer prognosis using WGCNA and ceRNA network analysis

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-associated mortality in women worldwide and has become a major public health problem. Although the definitive cause of breast cancer is not known, many genes sensitive to breast cancer have been detected using advanced technologies. Our study identified 3301 differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs between tumor and normal samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Based on the gene expression analysis and clinical traits as well as weighted gene co-expression network analysis, the co-expression Brown module was found to be key for breast cancer prognosis. A total of 453 genes in the Brown module were used for functional enrichment, protein-protein interaction analysis, lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA network, and lncRNA-RNA binding protein-mRNA network construction. GRM4, SSTR2, PARD6B, PRR15, COX6C, and lncRNA DSCAM-AS1 were the hub genes according to protein-protein interaction, lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA and lncRNA-RNA binding protein-mRNA network. Their high expression was found to be correlated with breast cancer development, according to multiple databases. In conclusion, this study provides a framework of the co-expression gene modules of breast cancer and identifies several important biomarkers in breast cancer development and prognosis.

ceRNA network development and tumour-infiltrating immune cell analysis of metastatic breast cancer to bone

PURPOSE

Advanced breast cancer commonly metastasises to bone; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying the affinity for breast cancer cells to bone remains unclear. Thus, we developed nomograms based on a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network and analysed tumour-infiltrating immune cells to elucidate the molecular pathways that may predict prognosis in patients with breast cancer.

METHODS

We obtained the RNA expression profile of 1091 primary breast cancer samples included in The Cancer Genome Atlas database, 58 of which were from patients with bone metastasis. We analysed the differential RNA expression patterns between breast cancer with and without bone metastasis and developed a ceRNA network. Cibersort was employed to differentiate between immune cell types based on tumour transcripts. Nomograms were then established based on the ceRNA network and immune cell analysis. The value of prognostic factors was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and a Cox proportional risk model.

RESULTS

We found significant differences in long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), 18 microRNAs (miRNAs), and 20 messenger RNAs (mRNAs) between breast cancer with and without bone metastasis, which were used to construct a ceRNA network. We found that the protein-coding genes GJB3, CAMMV, PTPRZ1, and FBN3 were significantly differentially expressed by Kaplan-Meier analysis. We also observed significant differences in the abundance of plasma cell and follicular helper T cell populations between the two groups. In addition, the proportion of mast cells, gamma delta T cells, and plasma cells differed depending on disease location and stage. Our analysis showed that a high proportion of follicular helper T cells and a low proportion of eosinophils promoted survival and that DLX6-AS1, Wnt6, and GABBR2 expression may be associated with bone metastasis in breast cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

We developed a bioinformatic tool for exploring the molecular mechanisms of bone metastasis in patients with breast cancer and identified factors that may predict the occurrence of bone metastasis.

Enhancement of Breast Cancer Cell Aggressiveness by lncRNA H19 and its Mir-675 Derivative: Insight into Shared and Different Actions

Breast cancer is a major public health problem and the leading world cause of women death by cancer. Both the recurrence and mortality of breast cancer are mainly caused by the formation of metastasis. The long non-coding RNA H19, the precursor of miR-675, is involved in breast cancer development. The aim of this work was to determine the implication but, also, the relative contribution of H19 and miR-675 to the enhancement of breast cancer metastatic potential. We showed that both H19 and miR-675 increase the invasive capacities of breast cancer cells in xenografted transgenic zebrafish models. In vitro, H19 and miR-675 enhance the cell migration and invasion, as well as colony formation. H19 seems to induce the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), with a decreased expression of epithelial markers and an increased expression of mesenchymal markers. Interestingly, miR-675 simultaneously increases the expression of both epithelial and mesenchymal markers, suggesting the induction of a hybrid phenotype or mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET). Finally, we demonstrated for the first time that miR-675, like its precursor H19, increases the stemness properties of breast cancer cells. Altogether, our data suggest that H19 and miR-675 could enhance the aggressiveness of breast cancer cells through both common and different mechanisms.

Natural products and phytochemical nanoformulations targeting mitochondria in oncotherapy: an updated review on resveratrol

Mitochondria are intracellular organelles with two distinct membranes, known as an outer mitochondrial membrane and inner cell membrane. Originally, mitochondria have been derived from bacteria. The main function of mitochondria is the production of ATP. However, this important organelle indirectly protects cells by consuming oxygen in the route of energy generation. It has been found that mitochondria are actively involved in the induction of the intrinsic pathways of apoptosis. So, there have been efforts to sustain mitochondrial homeostasis and inhibit its dysfunction. Notably, due to the potential role of mitochondria in the stimulation of apoptosis, this organelle is a promising target in cancer therapy. Resveratrol is a non-flavonoid polyphenol that exhibits significant pharmacological effects such as antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor. The anti-tumor activity of resveratrol may be a consequence of its effect on mitochondria. Multiple studies have investigated the relationship between resveratrol and mitochondria, and it has been demonstrated that resveratrol is able to significantly enhance the concentration of reactive oxygen species, leading to the mitochondrial dysfunction and consequently, apoptosis induction. A number of signaling pathways such as sirtuin and NF-κB may contribute to the mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis by resveratrol. Besides, resveratrol shifts cellular metabolism from glycolysis into mitochondrial respiration to induce cellular death in cancer cells. In the present review, we discuss the possible interactions between resveratrol and mitochondria, and its potential application in cancer therapy.