miR-514a-3p functions as a tumor suppressor in renal cell carcinoma

Human Oral Mucosa Stem Cells Increase Survival of Neurons Affected by In Vitro Anoxia and Improve Recovery of Mice Affected by Stroke Through Time-limited Secretion of miR-514A-3p

The success rate of regenerative medicine largely depends on the type of stem cells applied in such procedures. Consequently, to achieve the needed level for clinical standardization, we need to investigate the viability of accessible sources with sufficient quantity of cells. Since the oral region partly originates from the neural crest, which naturally develops in niche with decreased levels of oxygen, the main goal of this work was to test if human oral mucosa stem cells (hOMSC) might be used to treat neurons damaged by anoxia. Here we show that hOMSC are more resistant to anoxia than human induced pluripotent stem cells and that they secrete BDNF, GDNF, VEGF and NGF. When hOMSC were added to human neurons damaged by anoxia, they significantly improved their survival. This regenerative capability was at least partly achieved through miR-514A-3p and SHP-2 and it decreased in hOMSC exposed to neural cells for 14 or 28 days. In addition, the beneficial effect of hOMSC were also confirmed in mice affected by stroke. Hence, in this work we have confirmed that hOMSC, in a time-limited manner, improve the survival of anoxia-damaged neurons and significantly contribute to the recovery of experimental animals following stroke.

Long non-coding RNA FEZF1-AS1 promotes rectal cancer progression by competitively binding miR-632 with FAM83A

The long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) forebrain embryonic zinc finger protein 1 antisense RNA1 (FEZF1-AS1) was recently identified as an oncogenic gene in several types of tumors. The biological function of FEZF1-AS1 in rectal cancer progression, however, remains unknown. In the present study, we discover that FEZF1-AS1 is significantly upregulated in rectal cancer tissues and cells. Knocking down of FEZF1-AS1 suppresses cell proliferation, migration, and invasion , and tumorigenesis . Furthermore, FEZF1-AS1 functions as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-632, resulting in the suppression of family with sequence similarity 83, member A (FAM83A). Overall, our findings reveal that FEZF1-AS1/miR-632/FAM83A axis plays an oncogenic role in rectal cancer progression, suggesting that it may be a novel therapeutic target for rectal cancer.

Long non‑coding RNA LUCAT1 contributes to cisplatin resistance by regulating the miR‑514a‑3p/ULK1 axis in human non‑small cell lung cancer

Drug resistance is a major obstacle in the therapy of malignant tumors, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been demonstrated to be involved in chemoresistance. The present study aimed to investigate the role of lung cancer-associated transcript 1 (LUCAT1) in cisplatin (DDP) resistance in NSCLC. By using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), it was found that the expression of LUCAT1 was elevated and that of microRNA-514a-3p (miR-514a-3p) was decreased in DDP-resistant NSCLC tissues and cells. Functionally, LUCAT1 upregulation enhanced cisplatin resistance by promoting the viability, autophagy and metastasis, and inhibiting the apoptosis of NSCLC cells, as demonstrated by Cell Counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, western blot analysis, Transwell assay and flow cytometric analysis. LUCAT1 was identified as a sponge of miR-514a-3p and uncoordinated-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1) was proven to be a target gene of miR-514a-3p by bioinformatics analysis, dual-luciferase reporter assay and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay. The enhancing effect of miR-514a-3p on cisplatin sensitivity was reversed by the elevation of LUCAT1. ULK1 knockdown suppressed cisplatin resistance, while this effect was attenuated by miR-514a-3p inhibition. Moreover, LUCAT1 positively regulated ULK1 expression by targeting miR-514a-3p. In addition, LUCAT1 knockdown suppressed tumor growth in vivo. On the whole, the findings of the present study demonstrate that LUCAT1 contributes to the resistance of NSCLC cells to cisplatin by regulating the miR-514a-3p/ULK1 axis, elucidating a novel regulatory network in cisplatin resistance in NSCLC.