The Long Non-Coding RNA H19 Drives the Proliferation of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma with H3K27 Mutation

Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is an incurable paediatric malignancy. Identifying the molecular drivers of DIPG progression is of the utmost importance. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) represent a large family of disease- and tissue-specific transcripts, whose functions have not yet been elucidated in DIPG. Herein, we studied the oncogenic role of the development-associated H19 lncRNA in DIPG. Bioinformatic analyses of clinical datasets were used to measure the expression of H19 lncRNA in paediatric high-grade gliomas (pedHGGs). The expression and sub-cellular location of H19 lncRNA were validated in DIPG cell lines. Locked nucleic acid antisense oligonucleotides were designed to test the function of H19 in DIPG cells. We found that H19 expression was higher in DIPG vs. normal brain tissue and other pedHGGs. H19 knockdown resulted in decreased cell proliferation and survival in DIPG cells. Mechanistically, H19 buffers let-7 microRNAs, resulting in the up-regulation of oncogenic let-7 target (e.g., SULF2 and OSMR). H19 is the first functionally characterized lncRNA in DIPG and a promising therapeutic candidate for treating this incurable cancer.

The evolutionarily conserved long non-coding RNA LINC00261 drives neuroendocrine prostate cancer proliferation and metastasis via distinct nuclear and cytoplasmic mechanisms

Metastatic neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is a highly aggressive disease, whose incidence is rising. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) represent a large family of disease- and tissue-specific transcripts, most of which are still functionally uncharacterized. Thus, we set out to identify the highly conserved lncRNAs that play a central role in NEPC pathogenesis. To this end, we performed transcriptomic analyses of donor-matched patient-derived xenograft models (PDXs) with immunohistologic features of prostate adenocarcinoma (AR⁺ /PSA⁺ ) or NEPC (AR^- /SYN⁺ /CHGA⁺ ) and through differential expression analyses identified lncRNAs that were upregulated upon neuroendocrine transdifferentiation. These genes were prioritized for functional assessment based on the level of conservation in vertebrates. Here, LINC00261 emerged as the top gene with over 3229-fold upregulation in NEPC. Consistently, LINC00261 expression was significantly upregulated in NEPC specimens in multiple patient cohorts. Knockdown of LINC00261 in PC-3 cells dramatically attenuated its proliferative and metastatic abilities, which are explained by parallel downregulation of CBX2 and FOXA2 through distinct molecular mechanisms. In the cell cytoplasm, LINC00261 binds to and sequesters miR-8485 from targeting the CBX2 mRNA, while inside the nucleus, LINC00261 functions as a transcriptional scaffold to induce SMAD-driven expression of the FOXA2 gene. For the first time, these results demonstrate hyperactivation of the LINC00261-CBX2-FOXA2 axes in NEPC to drive proliferation and metastasis, and that LINC00261 may be utilized as a therapeutic target and a biomarker for this incurable disease.

The Open University's first one-day symposium on treatment-emergent neuroendocrine prostate cancer

The Open University's first one-day symposium on treatment-emergent neuroendocrine prostate cancer attracted world-leading figures, early career researchers and industry colleagues. The symposium proved insightful into the 'real-world' impact and current problems faced in the diagnosis and treatment of neuroendocrine prostate cancer. It was important for this meeting to take place as the incidence of neuroendocrine prostate cancer is increasing due to the widespread use of next-generation androgen deprivation drugs. The symposium discussions proposed new molecularly driven deadlines to accelerate research and improved the treatment of this deadly and poorly recognized malignancy.

Impact of Multi-year Cropping Regimes on Solanum tuberosum Tuber Yields in the Presence of Pratylenchus penetrans and Verticillium dahliae

Five cropping regimes involving combinations of 2 legumes, alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and yellow sweet dover (Melilotus officinalis), 2 monocots, corn (Zea mays) and sudax (Sorghum halupeuse x Sorghum sudanese), and potato (Solanum tuberosum cv. Superior) were tested for their impact on potato yields in a field infested with Pratylenchus penetrans and Verticillium dahliae. No differences in 1990 tuber yields were observed among the five cropping regimes (P < 0.05). In 1991, yields following 1 year of corn, sudax, sweet clover, or alfalfa and 2 years of potato were not different from that of 3 years of continuous potato (P < 0.05). Two years of sweet clover or alfalfa followed by potato resulted in significantly increased potato tuber yields compared with 3 years of potato (P < 0.05). The 2-year legume and 2-year grain rotations resulted in lower P. penetrans population densities at the end of the 3-year rotation compared with 3 years of continuous potato (P < 0.01). The highest preplant V. dahliae population density (34 cfu/g soil), together with a P. penetrans density of 12/100 cm(3) of soil was in the sudax-sudax-potato cropping regime and resulted in the lowest potato tuber yield. The highest preplant P. penetrans population density (54/100 cm(3) soil), together with a V. dahliae population density of 19.5 cfu/g soil was observed in the corn-corn-potato cropping regime and resulted in the second lowest potato tuber yield in 1991. After 3 years, potato tuber yields were negatively related to preplant densities of V. dahliae (r(2) = 0.237), P. penetrans (r(2) = 0.175), and both pathogens (r(2) = 0.380). A comprehensive regression model was developed to isolate pathogen effects on potato yields from cropping regime effects encompassing all 10 cropping regimes (r(2) = 0.915).