Tumor Biology

This study aimed to analyze the expression, clinical significance of proto-oncogene in non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and the biological effect in its cell line by siRNA targeting wild-type p53-induced phosphatase 1 (Wip1). Immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were, respectively, used to analyze Wip1 protein expression in 75 cases of NSCLC and normal tissues to study the relationship between Wip1 expression and clinical parameters. Wip1 siRNA was transiently transfected into papillary NSCLC H1299 cell by liposome-mediated method and was detected by RT-PCR and Western blot. MTT assay, cell apoptosis, and cell cycle were also conducted as to the influence of the downregulated expression of Wip1 that might be found on H1299 cells biological effect. The positive rates of Wip1 protein was 69.3 % in NSCLC tissues but 16.0 % expressed in normal tissues (P < 0.05). The relative content of Wip1 mRNA was 0.785 ± 0.062 and 0.147 ± 0.020 in NSCLC tissues and normal tissues, respectively, with significant differences between the two types (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences between Wip1 expression and sex, age, tumor size, and pathological types (P > 0.05). However, there were significant differences between Wip1 expression and lymph node metastasis, clinical stages, and tumor differentiation (P < 0.05). Individuals with positive and negative levels of Wip1 expression showed were statistically significant differences in the 5-year overall survival rate (P < 0.05). RT-PCR and Western blot showed that H1299 cell transfected Wip1 siRNA had a lower relative expressive content than normal cell (P < 0.05). MTT assay, cell apoptosis, and cell cycles demonstrated that H1299 cell transfected Wip1 siRNA had a lower survival fraction, higher cell apoptosis, more percentage of the G0/G1 phases, and lower cells in the S phases (P < 0.05). Wip1 protein and mRNA were increased in NSCLC, specifically in lymph node metastasis, clinical stages, and tumor differentiation. Wip1 may be involved in the biological processes of NSCLC cell proliferation, cell apoptosis, and cell cycle.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women worldwide. Risk assessment is one of the main services delivered by cancer clinics. Biomarker analysis on different tissues including the peripheral blood can provide crucial information. One of the potential epigenetic biomarkers (epimarkers) is introduced as the peripheral blood DNA methylation pattern. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential value of peripheral blood epimarkers as an accessible tool to predict the risk of breast cancer development. WBC’s DNA was the focus of several case-control studies at both genome wide and candidate gene levels to reveal epigenetic changes accounting for predisposition to breast cancer, leading to suggest that ATM, TITF1, SFRP1, NUP155, NEUROD1, ZNF217, DBC2, DOK7 and ESR1 genes and the LINE1, Alu and Sat2 DNA elements could be considered as the potential epimarkers. To address that by which mechanisms WBC’s DNA methylation patterns could be linked to the propensity to breast cancer, several contemplations have been offered. Constitutional epimutation during embryonic life, and methylation changes secondary to either environmental exposures or tumor-mediated immune response, are the two main mechanisms. One can deduce that epimarkers based on their potential properties or regulatory impacts on cancer-related genes may be employed for risk prediction, prognosis, and survival inferences that are highly required for breast cancer management toward personalized medicine.

During tumor development, benign neoplastic cells are influenced by the expression of cytokines, growth factors, and proteases present in the tumor microenvironment. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is the most studied growth factor and is considered important for cell proliferation and migration. Metalloproteinases (MMPs) are also involved in tumor progression. The present study aimed to analyze the proliferation, viability and migration index of pleomorphic adenoma myoepithelial cells, in addition to the secretion of MMPs with EGF supplementation. Benign myoepithelial cells were cultured with two different EGF doses (5 and 10 ng/ml), and the influence of EGF on cell proliferation and viability, using trypan blue and MTT assays, respectively, after 24, 48, and 72 h, was evaluated. To analyze cellular morphology, hematoxylin-eosin staining and indirect immunofluorescence using the anti-vimentin antibody, was performed. In vitro migration assays were performed in Transwell chambers with an 8-μm pore covered with Matrigel and supplemented with 5 or 10 ng/ml of EGF, after 96 h. After 4 days of cell culture, ELISA was performed to determine the MMP-2 and MMP-13 levels. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post hoc Tukey test was applied, with a significance level of 0.05. The results revealed that EGF influences myoepithelial cell morphology, without alteration of proliferation and viability. The migration assay showed that EGF increased the mean index from 16 % in the control group to 40 and 76 % for 5 and 10 ng/ml of EGF, respectively. ELISA revealed that when the cells were supplemented with either of the EGF doses, an increase in MMP-2 levels was observed when compared with the control group (C). This study concludes that EGF aids in the production of MMP-2, which favors the dissolution of the basement membrane, contributing to cell migration and tumor progression, hence permitting contact between the myoepithelial cells and stroma.

Recent studies have indicated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) could act as non-invasive tumor markers in both diagnosis and predicting the prognosis. In this study, we focused to determine the expression of circulating lncRNAs in patients suffering from non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), aiming to found the potential lncRNA as predictor. Twenty-one lncRNAs which previously identified were selected as candidate targets for subsequent circulating lncRNA assay. The candidate lncRNAs were validated by qRT-PCR arranged in the training and validation sets. Circulating SPRY4-IT1, ANRIL, and NEAT1 were significantly increased in plasma samples of NSCLC patients during training set and validation set. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis revealed that plasma ANRIL provided the highest diagnostic performance with an area under ROC curve value (AUC) of 0.798. Further combination with the three factors indicated a higher power (AUC, 0.876; sensitivity, 82.8 %; specificity, 92.3 %). The stableness detection of the three factors indicated that circulating SPRY4-IT1, ANRIL, and NEAT might serve as a predictor for the early warning of non-small-cell lung cancer.

Endocan, which has been identified to be low expressed in gastric cancer, was found to be positively related to the differentiation level of gastric cancer in vivo and in vitro. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the role of endocan in gastric adenocarcinoma cell line SGC7901 by artificially upregualting or downregulating endocan expression using endocan recombinant vector or specific small interfering RNA (siRNA)-targeting endocan gene, respectively. The effects of endocan recombinant vector-mediated over-expressing and siRNA-mediated endocan silencing on the differentiation, migration, and apoptosis of SGC7901 cells were assessed. Furthermore, the primary molecular mechanisms of endocan were explored by testing the expression alterations of associated protein in SGC7901 along endocan over-expression or knockdown. We found that over-expression of endocan reduced the migration but promoted the differentiation and apoptosis of SGC7901 cells. While, knockdown of endocan did just the opposite. Some molecules were found to participate in endocan-mediated anti-tumor effects, such as p53, caspase 3, and MMP-9. In conclusion, our findings suggest that endocan plays an anti-carcinogenic role in gastric cancer development and progression and might serve as a prognostic biomarker as well as a potential therapeutic target for gastric cancer.

Platinum-based chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is a preferred standard of care for locally advanced head and neck cancer (HNC). However, survival benefit is small, with substantial toxicity and biomarkers of CRT resistance that could guide treatment selection and spare morbidity. Increased DNA repair in solid tumors may contribute to cancer cells’ ability to survive in genotoxic stress environments afforded by therapy. We assessed mRNA expression levels of DNA repair-related genes BRCA1, RAP80, 53 binding protein 1 (53BP1), mediator of DNA damage checkpoint 1 (MDC1), and RNF8. We correlated our findings with response and overall survival in 72 head and neck patients treated with weekly carboplatin AUC 2 and radiotherapy. Complete response (CR) to CRT was 50 % in patients with low levels of 53BP1 compared to 6.3 % in patients with high levels (p = 0.0059). Of high BRCA1 mRNA expressors, 41.2 % had CR compared to 29.4 % of low expressors (p = 0.72). For a small group of patients with low 53BP1 and either high BRCA1 or RAP80, CRs were 66.7 and 71.4 %, respectively. A trend for better overall survival (OS) was found for patients with low 53BP1 (15 vs 8 m; p = 0.056). Our findings highlight the potential usefulness of 53BP1 mRNA as a predictive biomarker of response and overall survival in HNC patients treated with chemoradiotherapy. Those with high 53BP1 expression could derive only a meager benefit from treatment. Analysis of BRCA1 and RAP80 could further reinforce the predictive value of 53BP1. Although this was a retrospective study with small sample size, it could inform larger translational studies in HNC.

Common genetic variations in the leptin (LEP), leptin receptor (LEPR), and paraoxonase 1 (PON1) genes have been considered to be implicated in the development of breast cancer. However, the results were inconsistent. In this study, a meta-analysis was performed to assess the associations of five polymorphisms, including LEP G2548A, LEPR Q223R, LEPR Lys109Arg, PON1 L55M, and PON1 Q192R polymorphisms, with breast cancer risk. Published literature from PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Embase databases, CNKI, and Wanfang Data were retrieved. All studies evaluating the association between LEP G2548A, LEPR Q223R, LEPR Lys109Arg, PON1 L55M, or PON1 Q192R polymorphism and breast cancer risk were included. Pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated using fixed- or random-effects model. Three studies (2,003 cases and 1,967 controls) for LEP G2548A polymorphism, nine studies (4,627 cases and 5,476 controls) for LEPR Q223R polymorphism, five studies (2,759 cases and 2,573 controls) for LEPR Lys109Arg polymorphism, four studies (1,517 cases and 1,379 controls) for PON1 L55M polymorphism, and five studies (1,575 cases and 2,283 controls) for PON1 Q192R polymorphism were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, the results showed null significant association between LEP G2548A, LEPR Q223R, LEPR Lys109Arg, or PON1 Q192R polymorphism and breast cancer risk; however, PON1 L55M was significantly associated with breast cancer risk overall (MM vs. LL: OR = 2.16; 95% CI, 1.76–2.66). For LEPR Q223R polymorphism, further subgroup analysis suggested that the association was only statistically significant in East Asians (OR = 0.50; 95% CI, 0.36–0.70) but not in Caucasians (OR = 1.06; 95% CI, 0.77–1.45) or Africans (OR = 1.30; 95% CI, 0.83–2.03). The present meta-analysis suggested that LEPR Q223R polymorphism might be implicated in the development of breast cancer in East Asians; PON1 L55M might increase breast cancer risk. However, given the limited sample size, the findings warrant further investigation.