miR-141-3p suppresses development of clear cell renal cell carcinoma by regulating NEK6

microRNA-141-3p Suppressed the Progression of the Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma by Targeting Transforming Growth Factor Beta 2 Gene Expression

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a malignant tumor of kidney epithelial cells, one of the most common tumors in the world. Transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ)1 is a crucial factor that induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancer cells. microRNA-141-3p (miR-141-3p) is a microRNA that is considered a tumor suppressor. However, the role and mechanism of miR-141-3p in TGFβ1-induced ccRCC cells are not fully understood. This study investigated the roles of miR-141-3p and its target gene in regulating EMT in ccRCC development. 786-0 and Caki-1cells were treated with TGFβ1 to induce EMT. The levels of miR-141-3p and TGFβ2 were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. The progression of EMT was evaluated by E-cadherin detection by immunofluorescence, and E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and vimentin detection by Western blotting. Furthermore, migration and invasion capacities were assessed using a Transwell system. The direct binding of miR-141-3p with the target gene TGFβ2 was confirmed by dual luciferase reporter gene assay. Results indicated that TGFβ1 treatment decreased the protein abundance of E-cadherin while increasing the protein expression of N-cadherin and vimentin, indicating TGFβ1-induced EMT was constructed successfully. Moreover, TGFβ1 treatment repressed the expression of miR-141-3p. miR-141-3p mimics reversed the effect of TGFβ1 on the migration, invasion, and expression of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and vimentin. The miR-141-3p directly binds with the 3' untranslated region of TGFβ2 mRNA and suppresses its expression. Furthermore, TGFβ2 overexpression abrogated the above changes regulated by miR-141-3p mimics. Taken together, miR-141-3p inhibited TGFβ1-induced EMT by suppressing the migration and invasion of ccRCC cells via directly targeting TGFβ2 gene expression.

Regulation of overexpression lncRNA ATP2B1-AS1 on lung adenocarcinoma progression

BACKGROUND

LncRNA ATP2B1-AS1 (ATP2B1-AS1) is involved in the occurrence and development of various diseases, while the relationship between lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and ATP2B1-AS1 is unclear. This study was to investigate the expression of ATP2B1-AS1 in LUAD and its influence on survival and prognosis of patients.

METHODS

LUAD tissue samples from patients participating in this study were collected, and the expression levels of ATP2B1-AS1 and miR-141-3p in LUAD sampleswere detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The effect of ATP2B1-AS1 on the growth of A549 cells was investigated through cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and transwell experiments. Besides, the prognostic value of ATP2B1-AS1 in LUAD was assessed via Kaplan-Meier curve and multivariate Cox regression.

RESULTS

ATP2B1-AS1 was downregulated in LUAD tissues and cells, whereas miR-141-3p was upregulated. After pcDNA3.1-ATP2B1-AS1 was transfected into A549 cells, the proliferation ability of A549 cells was decreased, and the migration level and invasion of A549 cells were also inhibited. High expression of ATP2B1-AS1 sponge miR-141-3p exerted prognostic value.

CONCLUSIONS

ATP2B1-AS1 sponge miR-141-3p alleviated the progression of LUAD, and ATP2B1-AS1 may be deemed as a prognostic marker for LUAD.

Tail-approach based design, synthesis, and cytotoxic evaluation of novel disubstituted and trisubstituted 1,3-thiazole benzenesulfonamide derivatives with suggested carbonic anhydrase IX inhibition mechanism

A novel series of 2,4,5- and 2,3,4-trisubstituted thiazole hybrids with 1,3,4-thiadiazolylbenzenesulfonamide was designed following the tail approach as possible hCAIX inhibitors. The key intermediate 1 was condensed with thiosemicarbazide 2a to give 1,3,4-thiadiazolylthiosemicarbazone 3, which upon hetero-cyclization with substituted α-haloketones and esters afforded 2,4,5-trisubstituted thiazole-1,3,4-thiadiazole conjugates 4-8. Furthermore, the trisubstituted thiazole-1,3,4-thiadiazole hybrids 12a-d were synthesized via the regioselective cyclization of 4-substituted-1,3,4-thiadiazolylthiosemicarbazones with phenacyl bromide. The cyclized 2,4-disubstituted thiazole 4 enhanced cytotoxicity by nine, four and two times against HepG-2, Caco2, and MCF-7, respectively. Moreover, the simple methyl substitution on the thiosemicarbazone terminus 9a improved the parent derivative 3 cytotoxicity by nine, fourteen, and six times against HepG-2, Caco2, and MCF-7, respectively. This astonishing cytotoxicity was elaborated with hCAIX molecular docking simulation of 4, 9a, and 12d demonstrating binding to zinc and its catalytic His94. Furthermore, molecular dynamic simulation 9a revealed stable hydrogen bonding with hCAIX with interaction energy of -61.07 kcal mol-1 and ΔGbinding MM-PBSA of -9.6 kcal mol-1.

NIMA-related kinase-6 (NEK6) as an executable target in cancer

Cancer is a disease that develops when cells begin to divide uncontrollably and spreads to other parts of the body. Proliferation and invasion of cancerous cells are generally known to be influenced by cell cycle-related proteins in human malignancies. Therefore, in this review, we have emphasized on the serine/threonine kinase named NEK6. NEK6 is been deliberated to play a critical role in mitosis progression that includes mitotic spindle formation, metaphase to anaphase transition, and centrosome separation. Moreover, it has a mechanistic role in DNA repair and can cause apoptosis when inhibited. Past studies have connected NEK6 protein expression to cancer cell senescence. Besides, there are reports relating NEK6 to a range of malignancies including breast, lung, ovarian, prostate, kidney, liver, and others. Given its significance, this review attempts to describe the structural and functional aspects of NEK6 in various cellular processes, as well as how it is linked to different forms of cancer. Lastly, we have accentuated, on some of the plausible inhibitors that have been explored against NEK6 overexpression.

Telomere-related gene risk model for prognosis and drug treatment efficiency prediction in kidney cancer

Kidney cancer is one of the most common urological cancers worldwide, and kidney renal clear cell cancer (KIRC) is the major histologic subtype. Our previous study found that von-Hippel Lindau (VHL) gene mutation, the dominant reason for sporadic KIRC and hereditary kidney cancer-VHL syndrome, could affect VHL disease-related cancers development by inducing telomere shortening. However, the prognosis role of telomere-related genes in kidney cancer has not been well discussed. In this study, we obtained the telomere-related genes (TRGs) from TelNet. We obtained the clinical information and TRGs expression status of kidney cancer patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, The International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) database, and the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) database. Totally 353 TRGs were differential between tumor and normal tissues in the TCGA-KIRC dataset. The total TCGA cohort was divided into discovery and validation TCGA cohorts and then using univariate cox regression, lasso regression, and multivariate cox regression method to conduct data analysis sequentially, ten TRGs (ISG15, RFC2, TRIM15, NEK6, PRKCQ, ATP1A1, ELOVL3, TUBB2B, PLCL1, NR1H3) risk model had been constructed finally. The kidney patients in the high TRGs risk group represented a worse outcome in the discovery TCGA cohort (p<0.001), and the result was validated by these four cohorts (validation TCGA cohort, total TCGA cohort, ICGC cohort, and CPTAC cohort). In addition, the TRGs risk score is an independent risk factor for kidney cancer in all these five cohorts. And the high TRGs risk group correlated with worse immune subtypes and higher tumor mutation burden in cancer tissues. In addition, the high TRGs risk group might benefit from receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapy agents. Moreover, the proteins NEK6, RF2, and ISG15 were upregulated in tumors both at the RNA and protein levels, while PLCL1 and PRKCQ were downregulated. The other five genes may display the contrary expression status at the RNA and protein levels. In conclusion, we have constructed a telomere-related genes risk model for predicting the outcomes of kidney cancer patients, and the model may be helpful in selecting treatment agents for kidney cancer patients.

In Mitosis You Are Not: The NIMA Family of Kinases in Aspergillus, Yeast, and Mammals

The Never in mitosis gene A (NIMA) family of serine/threonine kinases is a diverse group of protein kinases implicated in a wide variety of cellular processes, including cilia regulation, microtubule dynamics, mitotic processes, cell growth, and DNA damage response. The founding member of this family was initially identified in Aspergillus and was found to play important roles in mitosis and cell division. The yeast family has one member each, Fin1p in fission yeast and Kin3p in budding yeast, also with functions in mitotic processes, but, overall, these are poorly studied kinases. The mammalian family, the main focus of this review, consists of 11 members named Nek1 to Nek11. With the exception of a few members, the functions of the mammalian Neks are poorly understood but appear to be quite diverse. Like the prototypical NIMA, many members appear to play important roles in mitosis and meiosis, but their functions in the cell go well beyond these well-established activities. In this review, we explore the roles of fungal and mammalian NIMA kinases and highlight the most recent findings in the field.

A Four-MicroRNA Panel in Serum as a Potential Biomarker for Screening Renal Cell Carcinoma

Background: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has been a major health problem and is one of the most malignant tumors around the world. Serum microRNA (miRNA) profiles previously have been reported as non-invasive biomarkers in cancer screening. The aim of this study was to explore serum miRNAs as potential biomarkers for screening RCC. Methods: A three-phase study was conducted to explore serum miRNAs as potential biomarkers for screening RCC. In the screening phase, 12 candidate miRNAs related to RCC were selected for further study by the ENCORI database with 517 RCC patients and 71 NCs. A total of 220 participants [108 RCC patients and 112 normal controls (NCs)] were enrolled for training and validation. The dysregulated candidate miRNAs were further confirmed with 30 RCC patients and 30 NCs in the training phase and with 78 RCC patients and 82 NCs in the validation phase. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) were used for assessing the diagnostic value of miRNAs. Bioinformatic analysis and survival analysis were also included in our study. Results: Compared to NCs, six miRNAs (miR-18a-5p, miR-138-5p, miR-141-3p, miR-181b-5p, miR-200a-3p, and miR-363-3p) in serum were significantly dysregulated in RCC patients. A four-miRNA panel was built by combining these candidate miRNAs to improve the diagnostic value with AUC = 0.908. ABCG1 and RNASET2, considered potential target genes of the four-miRNA panel, may play a significant role in the development of RCC. Conclusion: A four-miRNA panel in serum was identified for RCC screening in our study. The four--miRNA panel has a great potential to be a non-invasive biomarker for RCC screening.