Down-regulation of microRNA-124 is correlated with tumor metastasis and poor prognosis in patients with lung cancer

Introduction: MicroRNA-124 (miR-124) has been proven dysregulated in several human malignancies and correlated with tumor progression. However, its expression and clinical significance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is still unclear. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of miR-124 expression in NSCLC. Methods: Expression levels of miR-124 in 92 pairs of NSCLC and adjacent non-tumor tissues were detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). In order to determine its prognostic value, overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox proportional hazard analysis. Results: miR-124 expression level was significantly lower in NSCLC tissues compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues (P < 0.05). The 5-year OS of low miR-124 expression group was significantly shorter than that of high miR-124 expression group (P < 0.05). Moreover, the 5-year DFS of low miR-124 expression group was also significantly shorter than that of high miR-124 expression group (P < 0.05). In a multivariate Cox model, we found that miR-124 expression was an independent prognostic factor for both 5-year OS and 5-year DFS in NSCLC (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Our results offer the convincing evidence that miR-124 may play key roles in the progression of lung cancer and that the down-regulated expression of miR-124 may be independently associated with shorter OS and DFS of patients, suggesting that miR-124 might be a potential marker for further risk stratification in the treatment of lung cancer.     

Expression of miR-32 in human non-small cell lung cancer and its correlation with tumor progression and patient survival

Introduction: miR-32 has recently been found to be implicated in many critical processes in various types of human cancer. However, its clinical significance in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not yet been elucidated. In the present study, we investigated the expression of miR-32 in NSCLC and analyzed its association with clinical features and prognosis of NSCLC patients. Methods: Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to measure expression level of miR-32 in lung cancer cell lines, normal bronchial epithelial cells, 90 pairs of tumor samples and adjacent non-tumor tissues. To determine its prognostic value, overall survival was evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed using the Cox proportional hazard analysis. Results: The expression of miR-32 was significantly decreased in lung cancer cell lines and NSCLC tissues compared with normal bronchial epithelial cells and adjacent non-tumor tissues (P < 0.05). This reduction of miR-32 was associated with tumor stage and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). Moreover, Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that patients with low miR-32 expression had shorter overall survival time than those with high miR-32 expression (P < 0.05). Univariate analysis revealed statistically significant correlations between overall survival and miR-32 level, tumor stage and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). Furthermore, miR-32 levels, tumor stage and lymph node metastasis were independently associated with overall survival (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Our results provided the first evidence that down-regulation of miR-32 was correlated with NSCLC progression, and miR-32 might be a potential molecular biomarker for predicting the prognosis of patients.     

miR-133-3p对甲状腺癌SW579细胞生物学行为和移植瘤生长的影响

目的 探究miR-133-3p对甲状腺癌SW579细胞和体内移植瘤生长的影响。方法 甲状腺癌SW579细胞分为对照组,miR-NC组,miR-133-3p mimic组,按分组转染miR-NC和miR-133-3p mimic。qRT-PCR检测甲状腺癌组织和癌旁组织及转染后细胞中miR-133-3p的表达,克隆形成;EDU染色检测细胞增殖;流式检测细胞凋亡和线粒体膜电位变化;Western blot检测Survivin,caspase-3蛋白表达;试剂盒检测细胞上清液中SOD和MDA含量。裸鼠皮下注射转染miR-133-3p mimic或miR-NC的SW579细胞,qRT-PCR检测瘤组织中miR-133-3p表达量,记录瘤组织体积,TUNEL检测瘤组织凋亡,免疫组化检测瘤组织中Survivin和caspase-3的表达。结果 甲状腺癌组织中miR-133-3p的表达降低。体外细胞实验结果显示,与对照组相比,miR-133-3p组miR-133-3p表达量增加,细胞克隆形成率、EDU阳性细胞率和Survivin蛋白表达降低,细胞凋亡率和caspase-3的蛋白表达升高,线粒体膜电位...     

Increased expression of miR-21 predicts poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development and progression. Aberrant miR-21 expression has been reported in several cancers. However, the clinical significance of miR-21 in human HCC is still unclear. Methods: A total of 112 patients with primary HCC who underwent a curative liver resection were included in this retrospective study. The differentially expressed amount of the miR-21 was validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Survival rate was analyzed by log-rank test, and survival curves were plotted according to Kaplan-Meier. Multivariate analysis of the prognostic factors was performed with Cox regression model. Results: As revealed by qRT-PCR analysis, miR-21 expression was significantly upregulated in HCC tissues when compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues (P<0.05). High miR-21 expression level was observed to be closely correlated with tumor differentiation, TNM stage and vein invasion (P<0.05). Patients who had high miR-21 expression had a shorter overall survival than patients who had low miR-21 expression (P<0.05). Moreover, multivariate analysis of the prognosis factors with a Cox proportional hazards model showed that high miR-21 expression was a significant independent predictor of poor survival in HCC (P<0.05). Conclusion: Our results suggested that increased expression of miR-21 was significantly correlated with tumor progression and could be a novel potential biomarker for HCC prognosis.     

Changed profile of microRNAs in acute lung injury induced by cardio-pulmonary bypass and its mechanism involved with SIRT1

Objective: Acute lung injury (ALI) is a severe complication for patients undergoing cardiac surgery necessitating cardio-pulmonary bypass (CPB), however, the possible relationship between microRNAs change and ALI induced by CPB is still not completely understood. Objective: the aim of this study is to determine the microRNAs level changes in patients with ALI induced by CPB and its involved mechanism. Methods: We collected blood samples from 45 patients and performed microRNA microarray experiments to determine the microRNAs level changes in patients with ALI induced by CPB then the result was verified by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Plasma TNF-α level and respiration parameters including respiration index (RI) and oxygenation index (OI) were measured at five different time points before or after CPB. Meanwhile the correlationship between significantly changed microRNAs and TNF-α level and respiration parameters was analyzed. Further more, we transfected miR-320 mimic and inhibitor into A549 cells and observed the proliferation inhibition and apoptosis change caused by oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion. Finally we using dual-luciferase reporter assay, qRT-PCR and western blot investigated the potential target of miR-320. Results: The level of miR-320 was higher in CPB caused ALI with the most significance. Correlation analysis found that the level of miR-320 was positively associated with TNF-α and RI (r = 0.649 and 0.564, P < 0.05), but negative correlated with OI (r = -0.638, P < 0.05). In A549 cells, up-regulated miR-320 induced proliferation inhibition and more apoptosis. SIRT1 may be a target of miR-320 and higher miR-320 resulted in lower expression of SIRT both in mRNA and protein level. Conclusion: miR-320 may mediate the ALI after CPB in which alveolar epithelial cells are injured via down-regulating SIRT1.     

Mechanism underlying the regulation of lncRNA ACTA2-AS1 on CXCL2 by absorbing miRNA-532-5p as ceRNA in the development of ovarian cancer

Objective: To explore the mechanism underlying the regulation of long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) ACTA2-AS1 on CXCL2 as a ceRNA of miR-532-5p in the progression of ovarian cancer (OC). Methods: A qRT-PCR assay was carried out for analyzing the expression changes of ACTA2-AS1, miR-532-5p, as well as CXCL2 in OC tissues and corresponding healthy paracancerous tissues HOSEpiC (human ovarian epithelial cells), and OC cells. OC cells were grouped and transfected, and the fluorescent in situ hybridization was adopted for evaluating ACTA2-AS1 in the cells. Additionally, a dual luciferase reporter (DLR) assay was carried out for verifying the correlation of ACTA2-AS1 with miR-532-5p and of miR-532-5p with CXCL2. Cells were transfected with si-ACTA2-AS1, miR-532-5p, or CXCL2 overexpression plasmids, and then the cell proliferation, invasion, and apoptosis were determined using MTT, Transwell, and flow cytometry assays, respectively. Results: Compared with paracancerous tissues and HOSEpiC cells, OC tissues and cells showed increased ACTA2-AS1 and CXCL2 expression and decreased miR-532-5p expression (all P<0.05). ACTA2-AS1 acted as ceRNA in OC by negatively regulating miR-532-5p. Additionally, upregulating ACTA2-AS1 intensified the proliferation and invasion of cancer cells and suppressed their apoptosis (all P<0.05), and inhibition of it resulted in opposite results. In contrast, overexpressing miR-532-5p suppressed the proliferation, invasion, and clone formation of the cells and promoted their apoptosis (all P<0.05). The effect of ACTA2-AS1 on OC cells can be partially reversed by overexpressing miR-532-5p. Moreover, CXCL2, positively correlated with ACTA2-AS1 in expression (P<0.0001, r=0.7385), was the target of miR-532-5p, and its overexpression could partially offset the influence of miR-532-5p on OC cells. Conclusion: LncRNA ACTA2-AS1 can act as a tumor promoter in OC by absorbing miR-532-5p as ceRNA and regulating CXCL2, and ACTA2-AS1 inhibitor is expected to play a role in targeted therapy of OC.     

MicroRNA-153 expression and prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer

Background: miR-153 has been found to be significantly decreased in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues; however, its clinical significance has not been investigated. Methods: The expression patterns of miR-153 in 137 pairs of human lung cancer tissues and adjacent normal lung tissues were analyzed using qRT-PCR. The relationships between miR-153 expression and clinicopathological parameters were examined by chi-square test. Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test were used to determine the difference in overall survival (OS) rates between two groups. Results: The expression of miR-153 was reduced significantly, compared with adjacent normal lung tissues (P<0.05). We observed that the expression level of miR-153 was positively correlated with the clinical stage (P=0.005), lymph node status (P=0.014), distant metastasis (P=0.004), and differentiated degree (P<0.001) in NSCLC patients. According to the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, the patients with low miR-153 expression exhibited evidently poorer overall survival rates than those with high miR-153 expression (P=0.003). Multivariate analysis showed that the expression of miR-153 was an independent and significant factor associated with poor OS rates (P=0.002). Conclusion: Decreased expression of miR-153 might be a potential unfavorable prognostic factor for patients with NSCLC, and further studies would be needed to prove our findings.     

The regulatory role of microRNA-1187 in TNF-α-mediated hepatocyte apoptosis in acute liver failure

In the current study, we aimed at elucidating the regulatory mechanisms through which microR-1187 (miR-1187) participates in hepatocyte apoptosis in acute liver failure (ALF). An ALF model was induced with D-galactosamine (D-GalN) plus lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in BALB/c mice. The hepatic miRNA expression profile was detected by microarray analysis and verified by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The possible underlying mechanism was investigated in vitro using an embryonic murine hepatocyte cell line (BNLCL2) and miR-1187 mimic. Caspase-8 protein was detected by Western blotting and cell apoptosis was assayed by flow cytometry. Hepatic miR-1187 was down-regulated in ALF mice based on microarray data (P<0.001) and verified by qRT-PCR (P<0.01). Target scan revealed that caspase-8 was the putative target of miR-1187. In an in vitro study, miR-1187 showed the highest up-regulation in BNLCL2 cells transfected with the miR-1187 mimic at a 50 nM concentration for 12 h compared with cells transfected with the non-specific mimic (P<0.001). miR-1187 was down-regulated (P<0.01) but caspase-8 mRNA (P<0.01) as well as protein (P<0.05) were up-regulated in the BNLCL2 cells treated with D-GalN/TNF. Furthermore, overexpressed miR-1187 reduced caspase-8 expression at both the mRNA and protein levels significantly (P<0.01 and P<0.05 respectively), and significantly attenuated the apoptotic rate of BNLCL2 cells (P<0.05). We show that miR-1187 regulates hepatocyte apoptosis by targeting caspase-8. miR-1187 may serve as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of ALF.     

MicroRNA-200a inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal transition in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line

Objective: Our study investigated the role of microRNA (miR)-200a and its molecular targets in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Methods: An inhibitor of miR-200a was transiently transfected into the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, MHCC-97L. The effect of this transfection on mRNA levels of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related genes was measured by fluorescence-based quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Further, protein levels of EMT-related genes, cell proliferation and apoptosis-related markers were assessed by Western blot analysis in these transfected cells. MTT and wound-healing assay were used to evaluate the proliferation and migration of MHCC-97L cells in presence and in absence of miR-200a inhibitor. Results: Compared with miR-NC control group, qRT-PCR results in anti-miR-200a group revealed a significant reduction in the mRNA levels of E-cadherin, with a concomitant increasing in vimentin mRNA level (all P < 0.05). Western blot results showed higher E-cadherin and Caspase-3 protein expressions in anti-miR-200a group compared to miR-NC group (P < 0.05). In addition, vimentin and Ki-67 protein expression was found sharply decreased in anti-miR-200a group compared to miR-NC group (P < 0.05). Consistent with this, wound-healing and MTT assay showed that migration and proliferation capacity of MHCC-97L cells in anti-miR-200a group is significantly increased compared with miR-NC group (both P < 0.05). Conclusion: Our study reveals an important role of miR-200a in inhibiting EMT, proliferation and migration in HCC cells, suggesting the possibility of miR-200a-based therapeutics in HCC.     

miR-144 regulates transforming growth factor-β1 iduced hepatic stellate cell activation in human fibrotic liver

Objectives: Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) into collagen producing myofibroblasts is critical for pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) is one of the main profibrogenic mediators for HSC transdifferentiation. Recent studies have shown effect of microRNAs (miRNAs) on regulating TGF-β1-induced HSC activation during liver fibrosis. Here, we aimed to explore the roles of miR-144 and miR-200c in human liver fibrosis. Methods: Expression of TGF-β1 was detected in 42 fibrotic and 18 normal human liver tissues by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry, and its correlation with α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) was calculated. miR-144 and miR-200c expression level in fibrotic liver tissues were also detected by qRT-PCR. The correlation of TGF-β1 expression with miR-200c and miR-144 in the fibrotic liver was analyzed. Results: The results showed that TGF-β1 expression was much higher in fibrotic liver than that in normal liver tissues (P<0.05). TGF-β1 protein high expressing liver fibrosis showed α-SMA positive cells in the liver parenchyma indicating activated HSCs. Expression of TGF-β1 in fibrotic liver was significantly correlated with α-SMA expression (R=0.633, P<0.001). Furthermore, miR-144 was less expressed in liver fibrosis (P<0.05) and was significantly correlated with expression of TGF-β1 in fibrotic liver tissues (R=-0.442, P<0.01). However, miR-200c did not show significant difference between normal and fibrotic liver (P=0.48) and correlation with TGF-β1 expression (R=0.106, P=0.51). Conclusion: All the results indicate that miR-144 can be a novel regulator of TGF-β1-induced HSC activation during liver fibrosis.     

Expression of cystatin C and its effect on EC9706 cells in esophageal carcinoma

Objective: To investigate the expression of cystatin C gene and its effect on the proliferation, apoptosis and invasiveness of EC9706 cells in esophageal carcinoma. Methods: 56 cases of esophageal carcinoma were randomly collected from our hospital. Samples of human esophageal carcinomas and matched normal esophageal mucosal epithelium were selected by resection operation from these patients. Expression of cathepsin B and cystatin C in these specimens were determined by immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR. Next, lentiviral vectors of over-expression and interference for cystatin C gene were constructed, and both were transfected into EC9706 cells, and then the levels of cystatin C mRNA and protein were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot. The effect of over and low-expressed cystatin C on the proliferation, apoptosis and invasiveness of esophageal carcinoma cells were detected by MTT assay, flow cytometry and Transwell assay. Results: Compared with normal esophageal epithelial tissues, mRNA and protein levels of cathepsin B and cystatin C in esophageal carcinoma tissues were significantly increased (P<0.05). Lentiviral vectors of over-expression and interference for cystatin C gene were successfully transfected into EC9706 cells. Over or low-expression cystatin C had no effect on EC9706 cells proliferation but had a reverse relationship with the apoptosis. However, cystatin C over-expression significantly decreased tumor invasiveness (P<0.05) while the invasiveness of EC9706 cells was significantly enhanced by RNAi-mediated abrogation of cystatin C gene expression (P<0.05). Conclusion: Over-expressed cystatin C could inhibit the invasiveness of esophageal carcinoma cells.     

Down-regulation of microRNA-126 and microRNA-133b acts as novel predictor biomarkers in progression and metastasis of non small cell lung cancer

Objective: MiRNAs play crucial roles in progression of cancer. However, the underlying mechanisms of miRNAs in non small cell lung cancer are still poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression level of microRNA-126 (miR-126) and microRNA-133b (miR-133b) and also their association with clinicopathological features in patients with non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Total RNA was purified from NSCLC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues and then quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to evaluate the expression rate of microRNAs. Furthermore, the association of miR-126 and miR-133b level with clinicopathological features and prognosis were evaluated. Results: Our findings showed that expression of miR-126 was decreased in NSCLC tissues compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues. On the other hand, a lower expression of miR-133b was seen in NSCLC tissues when compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues. In term of miR-126, our results showed that miR-126 was associated with tumor stage and lymph nodes metastasis (P<0.05). In term of miR-133b, our finding indicated that decreased expression of miR-133b was correlated with advanced tumor stage and lymph nodes metastasis (P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank test indicated that patients with low expression of miR-126 and miR-133b had a shorter overall survival (log-rank test; P<0.05). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model revealed that low expression of miR-126 and miR-133b, advanced tumor stage and lymph nodes metastasis were independent prognostic factors for overall survival of NSCLC patients. Conclusions: These findings suggested that miR-126 and miR-133b might play a key role in the progression and metastasis of NSCLC and would be applied as a novel therapeutic agent.     

miR-21 inhibitor suppresses proliferation and migration of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells through down-regulation of BCL2 expression

This study is to investigate the expression of miR-21 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells, and the effect of miR-21 in the biological behavior and expression of B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2) in NPC cells. Paired NPC and adjacent non-tumor tissues were obtained from 53 patients who underwent primary surgical resection of NPC tissues. Luciferase reporter assay was performed to test whether BCL2 is a direct target of miR-21. Methylthiazolyl blue tetrazolium assay and colony assay were used to evaluate the effect of miR-21 on NPC cell proliferation. Transwell and wound-healing assays were carried out to test the effect of low expression of miR-21 on cancer cell migration and invasion. QRT-PCR and Western blotting were used to measure the levels of mRNA and protein expression, respectively. Tumor tissues showed a positive correlation between the levels of miR-21 and BCL2 protein expression. Cells transfected with miR-21 inhibitor healed slower compared the control (P < 0.05). In addition, cell migration was notably inhibited by the down-regulation of miR-21 in vitro (P < 0.05). The reduction in miR-21 expression showed a remarkable effect on the biological behavior of NPC cell clone formation (P < 0.05). Low expression of miR-21 by transfection with miRNA expression plasmid led to a decrease in BCL2 expression, which was accompanied by reduced migration and proliferation of the cancer cells. Our results demonstrated that miR-21 inhibitor down-regulated BCL2 expression level, suggesting that BCL2 might be a target gene for the initiation and development of NPC cells.     

Down-regulation of miR-181b promotes apoptosis by targeting CYLD in thyroid papillary cancer

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a small class of non-coding RNAs that are widely deregulated in various cancers. They act as either oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes in human cancer. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential role of miR-181b in human thyroid papillary cancer. The expression levels of different miRNAs were measured by micro array analysis in 10 thyroid papillary cancer specimens and adjacent normal thyroid cancer tissues. MTT assays, colony formation assays, apoptosis assays were used to explore the potential function of miR-181b inhibitor in TPC1 human thyroid papillary cancer cells. Luciferase reporter assays were performed to validate the regulation of a putative target of miR-181b, in corroboration with qPCR and western blot assays. We found that the expression of miR-181b was higher in thyroid papillary cancer specimens compared with adjacent normal tissues (P < 0.05). Downregulation of miR-181b inhibited cellular growth and promoted cellular apoptosis. Luciferase assays indicated that miR-181b can bind with its putative target site in the 3’-untranslated region (3’-UTR) of CYLD, suggesting that CYLD is a direct target of miR-181b. Western blot analysis indicated that downregulation of miR-181b results in the upregulation of CYLD at protein levels. Taken together, downregulation of miR-181b expression causes cellular growth inhibition, promoting cellular apoptosis by targeting CYLD. These findings suggest that downregulation of the expression of miR-181b may be a therapeutic target for the treatment of human thyroid papillary cancer.     

Increased expression of microRNA-196a predicts poor prognosis in human ovarian carcinoma

Objective: Overexpression of MicroRNA-196a (miR-196a) has recently been reported in different types of human cancers. However, the prognostic value of miR-196a in ovarian carcinoma remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the expression of miR-196a in ovarian carcinoma and its relationship with tumor progression and clinical prognosis. Methods: The expression level of miR-196a was examined by quantitative Real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in surgically removed ovarian cancer tissues and ovarian cancer cell lines. The correlation between miR-196a expression and clinical features and prognosis were statistically analyzed. Results: The results showed that the miR-196a expression was significantly upregulated in tumor tissues and ovarian cancer cell lines compared with that in normal ovarian surface tissues and normal ovarian epithelial cells. Moreover, miR-196a expression was positively correlated with FIGO stage (P <0.001), tumor size (P =0.020), and lymph nodes metastasis (P =0.019). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that high levels of miR-196a expression was associated with poorer overall survival (P <0.001) and recurrent-free survival (P =0.003), especially in patients with advanced disease (P =0.002). Multivariate analysis suggested that miR-196a expression was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival of patients with ovarian carcinoma. Conclusions: In conclusion, miR-196a may play an important role in the progression of ovarian carcinoma, and could be used as an independent prognostic biomarker for patients with ovarian carcinoma.     

Role of miR-101 in pheochromocytoma patients with SDHD mutation

This study aimed to screen the potential diagnostic biomarkers for distinguishing the malignant pheochromocytoma (PCC) from benign PCC. A total of 59 patients with PCC (benign and malignant) were enrolled in this study. The expression level of miRNAs in patients with different kind PCCs (healthy control, benign, malignant, malignant with or without SDHD mutation, adrenal and extra-adrenal) was analyzed using the qRT-PCR analysis. Besides, the diagnosis accuracy of miRNA in PCC samples was analyzed using the ROC analysis. Moreover, level of miR-101 in serum was detected by qRT-PCR analysis and serum VEGF level in patients with PCC was detected using the ELISA kit. Compared with benign PCC, miR-101 level was higher in patients with malignant PCC (P < 0.05), while the level of miR-513-5p and miR-26b showed no difference between malignant PCC and benign PCC (P > 0.05). miR-101 expression was significantly increased in malignant tumor tissue with SDHD mutation (P < 0.05) and in extra-adrenal tissues (P < 0.05), respectively. Besides, AUCs for miR-101 in PCC samples was 0.79 and for which in PCC samples with non-SDHD mutation was 0.77. Besides, serum miR-101 in malignant PCC was high but showed no difference among groups (P > 0.05). Moreover, serum VEGF level in malignant tumors was significantly high compared with benign tumor, as well as that in malignant PCC with SDHD mutation (P < 0.05). Our study suggested that SDHD mutation may enhance the overexpression of miR-101 in malignant tumors and miR-101 may be a potential diagnostic biomarker for malignant PCC and benign PCC.     

Knock-down of ABCE1 gene induces G1/S arrest in human oral cancer cells

Purpose: This study aims to explore the clinical characteristics of ATP binding cassette E1 (ABCE1) in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) and its roles in the proliferation, invasiveness, migration and apoptosis of the human oral squamous cell carcinoma cells CAL-27. Methods: The expression of ABCE1 and its target protein-RNase L, were first studied in tumor tissues of OSCC and adjacent non-tumor tissues. Moreover, CAL-27cells were transfected by ABCE1-specific shRNA, then MTT assay, the transwell and scratch assay were used to study cell proliferation and migration activity; the apoptosis rate and cell cycle distribution were tested by flow cytometry. Western blot and RT-PCR assay were adopted to measure their silencing efficacy. Results: ABCE1 expression is low in the adjacent non-tumor tissues while the expression is high in the oral cancer; the expression is reversely proportional to the differentiation degrees. The expression of RNaseL was in contrary to ABCE1. After transfected with ABCE1-siRNA, the proliferation, invasiveness and migration capabilities of cells decreased significantly whilst the apoptosis rate enhanced greatly (P < 0.01). Meanwhile, the expression of ABCE1 in CAL-27 cells was blocked (P < 0.01) while the expression of RNase L increased significantly (P < 0.01). Conclusion: ABCE1 is closely connected with the pathogenesis and development of oral cancer, which acts through the cellular pathways of 2-5A/RNase L.