Analysis of the role of CHPF in colorectal cancer tumorigenesis and immunotherapy based on bioinformatics and experiments.

BACKGROUND: Chondroitin polymerizing factor (CHPF) has been found to be involved in the development of numerous cancers and correlated with poor prognosis. However, its role in the tumorigenesis and development of colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unknown. METHODS: In our research, we explored CHPF expression and clinicopathological characteristics using The Cancer Genome Atlas Program (TCGA), UALCAN, GSE9348, TIMER2.0 and The Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database, in addition, we validated CHPF expression in CRC cell lines by Real-Time Quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot (WB). KM-Plotter, PrognoScan and TCGA were also utilized to verify its prognosis value in CRC. Small-interfer RNA (Si-RNA) was used to perform Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8), colony formation, 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EDU), transwell and wound healing assays to testify its function on the tumor progression. Based on TCGA database, we probed potential biological mechanism by which CHPF play its role via clusterProfiler package and GEPIA database and we validated their correlation by WB assay. Moreover, we explored its potential association with the tumor microenvironment (TME), immune infiltrated cells, immune checkpoints, tumor mutation burden (TMB) as well as microsatellite instability (MSI), and investigated immunotherapy sensitivity via Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) algorithm as well as potentially effective therapeutic drugs via pRRophetic algorithm. RESULTS: CHPF was identified upregulated in CRC tissues and cells, correlated with poor prognosis, and nodal metastasis status, stage and histological subtype. Down-regulation of CHPF inhibited CRC cell proliferation, migration and its expression correlated with wnt pathway key molecules. In addition, high expression of CHPF was positively correlated with TME scores, Regulatory T cells (Tregs) cell infiltration degree, Programmed death-1 (PD-1), MSI-high (MSI-H), and TIDE scores, however, not with TMB. Targeted drug analysis showed that patients with high CHPF expression were more sensitive to telatinib, recaparib, serdemetan, and trametinib. CONCLUSION: CHPF could promote the proliferation and migration of CRC cells and lead to poor prognosis, possibly through wnt pathways as well as changes in TME. Patients with high expression of CHPF had poor efficacy in immunotherapy, which might be related to Tregs cell infiltration. Above all, it might offer more reliable guidance for future immunotherapy.

Automatic diagnosis for adenomyosis in ultrasound images by deep neural networks.

OBJECTIVE: To present a new noninvasive technique for automatic diagnosis of adenomyosis, using a novel end-to-end unified network framework based on transformer networks. STUDY DESIGN: This is a prospective descriptive study conducted at a university hospital.1654 patients were recruited to the study according to adenomyosis diagnosed by transvaginal ultrasound (TVS). For adenomyosis characteristics and ultrasound images, automatic identification of adenomyosis were performed based on deep learning methods. We called this unique technique A2DNet: Adenomyosis Auto Diagnosis Network. RESULTS: The A2DNet exhibits excellent performance in diagnosis of adenomyosis, achieving an accuracy of 92.33%, a precision of 96.06%, a recall of 91.71% and an F1 score of 93.80% in the test group. The confusion matrix of experimental results show that the A2DNet can achieve a correct diagnosis rate of 92% or more for both normal and adenomyosis samples, which demonstrate the superiority of the A2DNet comparing with the state-of-the-arts. CONCLUSION: The A2DNet is a safe and effective technique to aid in automatic diagnosis of adenomyosis. The technique which is nondestructive and non-invasive, is new and unique due to the advantages of artificial intelligence.

Establishment and validation of a postoperative predictive model for patients with colorectal mucinous adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to develop comprehensive and effective nomograms for predicting overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates in patients with colorectal mucinous adenocarcinoma (CRMA). METHODS: A total of 4711 CRMA patients who underwent radical surgery between 2010 and 2018 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database were collected and randomized into development (n=3299) and validation (n=1412) cohorts at a ratio of 7:3 for model development and validation. OS and CSS nomograms were developed using the prognostic factors from the development cohort after multivariable Cox regression analysis. The performance of the nomograms was evaluated using Harrell's concordance index (C-index), calibration diagrams, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and decision curve analysis (DCA). RESULTS: The study included 4711 patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that age, tumor size, grade, pT stage, pN stage, M stage, carcinoembryonic antigen, perineural invasion, tumor deposits, regional nodes examined, and chemotherapy were correlated with OS and CSS. Marital status was independently related to OS. In the development and validation cohorts, the C-index of OS was 0.766 and 0.744, respectively, and the C-index of CSS was 0.826 and 0.809, respectively. Calibration curves and ROC curves showed predictive accuracy. DCA showed that the nomograms had excellent potency over the 8th edition of the TNM staging system with higher clinical net benefits. Significant differences in OS and CSS were observed among low-, medium-, and high-risk groups. CONCLUSIONS: Nomograms were developed for the first time to predict personalized 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS and CSS in CRMA postoperative patients. External and internal validation confirmed the excellent discrimination and calibration ability of the nomograms. The nomograms can help clinicians design personalized treatment strategies and assist with clinical decisions.

TSPAN31 regulates the proliferation, migration, and apoptosis of gastric cancer cells through the METTL1/CCT2 pathway.

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common human malignancies worldwide, but the molecular mechanism of GC has not been fully elucidated. Tetraspanin 31 (TSPAN31) has been rarely studied in human malignant tumors. This study aimed to investigate the effects of TSPAN31 on GC. We analyzed GC tissues through high-throughput sequencing technology and chose TSPAN31 with high expression. The expression of TSPAN31 in GC was analyzed through bioinformatics website and qRT-PCR. The protein level of TSPAN31 in GC tissues was determined by western blot and immunochemistry. The proliferation, migration, and apoptosis of GC cells were detected by the cell counting kit-8, transwell, and apoptosis experiments. METTL1 and CCT2 that may co-express with TSPAN31 were predicted by the GEPIA database, and analyzed the correlation between the expression levels of TSPAN31, METTL1 and CCT2. The results shows TSPAN31 was highly expressed in GC tissues, and high expression of TSPAN31 was found to result in poor prognosis of patients with GC. TSPAN31 could regulate the proliferation, migration and apoptosis of GC cells. The relative expression levels of TSPAN31, METTL1 and CCT2 in GC were positively correlated. Low expression of TSPAN31 could partially reverse the effect of high expression of METTL1 and CCT2 on the tumor progression of GC cells. In conclusion, TSPAN31 was highly expressed in GC tissues and led to poor prognosis of patients with GC. TSPAN31 may regulate the proliferation, migration, and apoptosis of GC cells. This regulatory mechanism may be achieved through co-expression with METTL1 and CCT2.

Overexpression of miR-144-3p alleviates polycystic ovaries syndrome through targeting expression of HSP-70.

Increasing microRNAs are shown to be participate in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) pathogenesis. Nevertheless, the biological effects of miR-144-3p and its detailed mechanisms in PCOS are to be investigated. The purpose of our work was to study the function of miR-144-3p in PCOS. Currently, Expression of miR-144-3p was greatly reduced in PCOS patients and PCOS rat models. In addition, HSP-70 expression was greatly elevated PCOS. Cell proliferation assays and flow cytometry assay were carried out following the overexpression of miR-144-3p in ovarian granulosa cells from PCOS rat models. We observed that miR-144-3p overexpression induced the proliferation and repressed cell apoptosis while loss of miR-144-3p demonstrated an opposite process. Then, PCOS rat models were classified to four groups: LV-NC group, LV-miR-144-3p group, Anti-control group, and Anti-miR-144-3p group. In response to loss of miR-144-3p, we found E2, T, and LH serum levels were elevated and FSH serum level was inhibited. Upregulation of miR-144-3p exhibited an opposite process. Moreover, HSP-70 was a direct target of miR-144-3p. Furthermore, increased expression of HSP-70 rescued the effects of miR-144-3p on ovarian granulosa cell growth and apoptosis. In addition, knockdown of HSP-70 alleviated endocrine disorders and abnormal ovarian weight in vivo. To sum up, miR-144-3p might function as a novel target for PCOS treatment via targeting HSP-70.

Genetic variants in the Hedgehog signaling pathway genes are associated with gastric cancer risk in a Chinese Han population.

The Hedgehog signaling pathway participates in the occurrence and progression of cancers including gastric cancer. We conducted this study to evaluate whether genetic variants in the Hedgehog signaling pathway genes would affect gastric cancer risk. Multi-marker Analysis of GenoMic Annotation (MAGMA) was used to investigate the aggregated genetic effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) assigned to candidate genes. The relationship between SNPs and gastric cancer risk was estimated by multivariate logistic regression analyses. Gene expression was calculated using databases obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Kaplan-Meier plotter was used to evaluate the association between gene expression with gastric cancer survival. Tumor Immune Estimation Resource 2.0 (TIMER 2.0) was applied to determine the correlation between selected gene expression and the immune cell infiltration degree. We identified that the G allele of rs2990912 in KIF27 was associated with higher gastric cancer risk, especially in the young and male subgroups. The expression of KIF27 in gastric cancer tissues was higher than that in normal tissues, leading to poor survival in gastric cancer patients. Besides, KIF27 expression was related to immune cell infiltration and positively correlated with PD-L1 expression. Our findings highlight the key role of genetic variation in the Hedgehog signaling pathway genes in gastric cancer susceptibility, which may provide important insights into the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of gastric cancer.

Circ_0007331 knock-down suppresses the progression of endometriosis via miR-200c-3p/HiF-1α axis.

Endometriosis is considered a benign gynaecological disease with cancer-like characterizations, which has a high incidence among women of reproductive age. However, this disease has so far lacked timely diagnosis and effective treatment owing to its unclear aetiology. In this study, we identified aberrant high expression of circ_0007331 in ectopic endometrial cells by comparing the endometrial samples from patients with and without endometriosis. Further functional experiments revealed that circ_0007331 knock-down effectively suppressed the viability, proliferation and invasive capacity of ectopic endometrial cells. Additionally, we attempted to define the molecular mechanism of circ_0007331 in the initiation and progression of endometriosis. Circ_0007331 acted as a miRNA sponge for miR-200c-3p to indirectly regulate the function of HIF-1α, which plays a key role in the local angiogenesis and hypoxic mechanisms of ectopic endometrium. A final in vivo experiment confirmed that circ_0007331 knock-down could suppress the development of endometriosis through down-regulating the expression of HIF-1α. Collectively, we preliminarily characterized the role and possible insights of circ_0007331/miR-200c-3p/HIF-1α axis in the proliferation and invasion of ectopic endometrial cells. We hope that by exploring the potential function and molecular mechanism of circ_0007331, we can increase our biological insight into the pathogenesis of endometriosis, which will bring the new ways for the diagnosis and therapy of this disease.

Remote modulation of lncRNA GCLET by risk variant at 16p13 underlying genetic susceptibility to gastric cancer.

The biological effects of susceptibility loci are rarely reported in gastric tumorigenesis. We conducted a large-scale cross-ancestry genetic study in 18,852 individuals and identified the potential causal variant rs3850997 T>G at 16p13 significantly associated with a decreased risk of gastric cancer [odds ratio (OR) = 0.87, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.83 to 0.91, P = 2.13 × 10-9]. This risk effect was mediated through the mapped long noncoding RNA GCLET (Gastric Cancer Low-Expressed Transcript; ORindirect = 0.987, 95% CI = 0.975 to 0.999, P = 0.018). Mechanistically, rs3850997 exerted an allele-specific long-range regulatory effect on GCLET by affecting the binding affinity of CTCF. Furthermore, GCLET increased FOXP2 expression by competing with miR-27a-3p, and this regulation remarkably affected in vitro, in vivo, and clinical gastric cancer phenotypes. The findings highlight the genetic functions and implications for the etiology and pathology of cancers.

SMADs binding site polymorphisms rs9911630 is associated with susceptibility but not prognosis of gastric cancer: a case control study.

Background: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) can change their binding strength, affecting the function of transcription factors (TFs). Small mother against decapentaplegic (SMAD) proteins are known as a family of TFs involved in tumorigenesis. We performed this study to investigate whether SNPs in SMADs binding sites affect the susceptibility or prognosis of gastric cancer (GC). Methods: Using bioinformatics tools, we focused on the association between rs9911630 polymorphism and GC. We performed this case-control study in 1275 GC patients and 1426 cancer-free subjects using TaqMan allelic discrimination method. Results: We found that rs9911630 A>G polymorphism was associate to an increased risk of gastric cancer (adjusted OR for additive model = 1.16; 95% CI = 1.03-1.30). Furthermore, we assess whether rs9911630 polymorphism affected the prognosis of GC. However, no significant association was discovered between rs9911630 A>G polymorphism and overall survival time of GC patients (HR for addictive model = 1.01; 95%CI = 0.88-1.15). Conclusions: Our results suggested that rs9911630 polymorphism in SMADs target site might influence susceptibility but not prognosis of gastric cancer.

Genetic variants in Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK pathway are associated with gastric cancer risk in Chinese Han population.

The dysregulation of Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK pathway governs occurrence and progression of cancers. In previous studies, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified multiple gene loci related to gastric cancer. However, a great many genetic loci have been missed due to multiple statistical comparisons of GWAS. In this study, Multi-marker Analysis of GenoMic Annotation (MAGMA) was applied to analyze genes in Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK pathway and their single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) based on Chinese GWAS including 1625 gastric cancer cases and 2100 controls. The SNP effects on gastric cancer susceptibility were calculated on the basis of a logistic regression model. Expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis was performed based on the genotype-tissue expression (GTEx) project. We identified that three SNPs in MAP2K1, rs4287513, rs76906202 and rs11631448 were markedly associated with gastric cancer risk (rs4287513: OR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.10-1.54, P = 1.92 × 10-3; rs76906202: OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.79-0.96, P = 3.72 × 10-3; rs11631448: OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.05-1.39, P = 6.74 × 10-3). All the loci were eQTLs for MAP2K1 in normal gastric samples. Moreover, the low expression of MAP2K1 was significantly associated with poor survival in gastric cancer patients. Thus, MAP2K1 might represent a key gene related to gastric cancer in Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK pathway, whereas SNPs in MAP2K1 confer gastric cancer susceptibility by having biological effects on the MAP2K1 expression.

Correction: Long non-coding RNA SNHG17 is an unfavourable prognostic factor and promotes cell proliferation by epigenetically silencing P57 in colorectal cancer.

Correction for 'Long non-coding RNA SNHG17 is an unfavourable prognostic factor and promotes cell proliferation by epigenetically silencing P57 in colorectal cancer' by Zhonghua Ma et al., Mol. BioSyst., 2017, 13, 2350-2361.

microRNA-501-5p promotes cell proliferation and migration in gastric cancer by downregulating LPAR1.

In spite of the achievement in treatment, the gastric cancer (GC) mortality still remains high. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of small noncoding RNAs that play a crucial part in tumor progression. In this study, we explored the expression and function of microRNA-501-5p (miR-501-5p) in GC cell lines. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assay results suggested that miR-501-5p was significantly upregulated in GC tissues and cell lines. And, the Cell Counting Kit-8 colony formation and cell migration assay results showed that the downregulation of miR-501-5p decreased GC cell proliferation and migration. Besides that, we found that GC cell cycle was arrested in G2 phase and cell apoptosis rate was increased by silencing the expression of miR-501-5p in GC cell lines using the flow cytometry. We also found that miR-501-5p could directly target lysophosphatidic acid receptor 1 (LPAR1) and negatively regulate LPAR1 expression in GC cell lines by performing dual-luciferase reporter gene assay and Western blot analysis. And, LPAR1 was significantly downregulated in GC tissues and inversely correlated with miR-501-5p expression. Furthermore, LPAR1 downregulation promoted cell proliferation and migration, which were attenuated by cotransfection of miR-501-5p inhibitor in GC cells. In conclusion, miR-501-5p can promote GC cell proliferation and migration by targeting and downregulating LPAR1. miR-501-5p/LPAR1 may become a potential therapeutic target for GC treatment.

A genetic variation in the CpG island of pseudogene GBAP1 promoter is associated with gastric cancer susceptibility.

BACKGROUND: Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified that several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are implicated in gastric cancer (GC) risk. However, the multiple statistical comparisons of GWASs may reject some true biological positives with subthreshold P values. METHODS: This study annotated the genomic locations of all CpG islands in the genome using the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE). The SNPs in the regions were then genotyped using the Illumina 660W Quad chip. The effects of the prominent variations on GC risk were further confirmed in the other independent cohorts. RESULTS: SNP rs2990245, which is located in the promoter of pseudogene GBAP1, was associated with GC risk using GWASs data. An additional cohort of 1275 GC patients and 1424 controls validated that individuals with the CC genotype had a 62% decreased risk of GC compared with those who carried the TT genotype (P = 2.01E-04) in the codominant model. The significant association was observed in the additive, dominant, and recessive models. A meta-analysis combining the results from the GWASs and replication studies revealed that rs2990245 was significantly associated with decreased GC risk (P = 5.59E-12). Importantly, rs2990245 can regulate the expression of GBAP1 by influencing the methylation status of the GBAP1 promoter. GBAP1 can act as a competing endogenous RNA by binding competitively with micro-RNA-212-3p and then promoting GBA expression. CONCLUSION: rs2990245 is significantly associated with a decreased risk of GC. Pseudogene GBAP1 contributes to the development and progression of GC by sequestering the miR-212-3p from binding to GBA.

Genome-wide long non-coding RNAs identified a panel of novel plasma biomarkers for gastric cancer diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: Although long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are regarded as useful plasma-based biomarkers for cancer detection, the potential diagnostic value of lncRNAs in gastric cancer (GC) remains unclear. METHODS: To screen promising lncRNAs biomarkers for GC, we performed genome-wide lncRNA microarray assay between five GC cases plasma and matched healthy controls plasma. The expression of candidate plasma-related lncRNAs were validated in two-phase validation of 446 subjects. The receiver operating characteristic curve was constructed for evaluating diagnostic accuracy. We also determined the origin and stability of plasma lncRNAs, and investigated biological effects of candidate lncRNAs on cellular phenotypes. RESULTS: A total of 3878 lncRNAs were expressed differentially in GC plasma, among which the top 10 up-regulated lncRNAs were selected for further validation. A two-stage validation revealed that plasma levels of three lncRNAs (FAM49B-AS, GUSBP11, and CTDHUT) were significantly higher in GC plasma as compared with healthy controls (P < 0.05), and the combined area under curve of these lncRNAs was 0.818 (95% CI 0.772-0.864). Moreover, these lncRNAs were stable and detectable in human plasma, and also enriched in extracellular fluid. The expression levels of all three lncRNAs dropped significantly on day 10 after radical surgery compared with preoperative levels (P < 0.05). Also, lncRNA FAM49B-AS significantly promoted GC cell viability and invasion. CONCLUSIONS: Plasma lncRNA FAM49B-AS, GUSBP11 and CTDHUT have a strong potential to serve as noninvasive biomarkers for GC diagnosis.

Effect of miR-30e regulating NK cell activities on immune tolerance of maternal-fetal interface by targeting PRF1.

AIM: Natural killer (NK) cells, as key regulatory cells, accumulate at the maternal-fetal interface in large numbers. This study explored the effect of miR-30e on regulating the activity and function of peripheral blood NK cells (PB-NK cells) and decidua NK cells (D-NK cells) by targeting PRF1 in immune tolerance of maternal-fetal interface. METHODS: Expressions of miR-30e in PB and decidua tissues from 49 patients with recurrent spontaneous abortion and 52 normal pregnant women were measured using PCR. NK cells were isolated from PB and decidua tissues and identified by flow cytometry (FCM). In PB-NK cells and D-NK cells activated by IFN-α, expressions of miR-30e and PRF1 were determined by PCR and Western blot. Negative controls of miR-30e mimics/inhibitors and siRNA against PRF1 were transfected in PB-NK cells and D-NK cells. Expressions of miR-30e and PRF1 were determined and their relationship was verified. Expressions of KIR2DL1, NKp44, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-4 and IL-10 were determined by FCM. Cytotoxicity kit was used to identify the cytotoxicity of NK cells. PCR and ELISA were employed to measure expression of VEGF, Ang-2 and PGF in D-NK cells. RESULTS: After activation by IFN-α, D-NK cells and PB-NK cells showed decreased miR-30e expression and increased PRF1 expression in normal non-pregnant women. PRF1 is a target gene of miR-30e and miR-30e negatively regulated PRF1 expression. The treatment of miR-30e mimics elevated KIR2DL1 expression and decreased NKp44 expression in PB-NK or D-NK cells. Moreover, up-regulation of miR-30e expression suppressed cytotoxicity, corresponding to increased expression of IL-4and IL-10 and reduced expression of IFN-γ and TNF-α in PB-NK and D-NK cells, as well as enhanced expression of VEGF, Ang-2 and PGF in D-NK cells. Transfection of miR-30e inhibitors could reverse the tendencies. CONCLUSION: Up-regulated miR-30e can reduce the cytotoxicity of PB-NK cells and D-NK cells by targeting PRF1, whereby inhibiting Th1 tolerance phenotype and inducing Th2 immunodominance. miR-30e may be contributive to creating a micro-immune tolerance environment of maternal-fetal interface.

Prognostic Role of MicroRNA-497 In Cancer Patients: A Meta-analysis.

Background: MicroRNA-497(miR-497) has been studied for its irreplaceable role of predicting the prognosis of various cancers, but there has been no systematic study to summarize the data. Consequently, we performed this meta-analysis to reveal the association between the expression level of miR-497 and cancer prognosis systematically. Materials and Methods: PubMed was searched for appropriate studies and a total of 12 eligible publications with 989 cancer patients were recruited into our analysis to assess the strength of the association. Hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) were analyzed to finish this work. Results: The cancer patients who have high expressing level of miR-497 are less possible to have lymph node metastasis (OR = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.16-0.40, P < 0.001) and more likely to have favourable tumor-node-metastasis stage (OR = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.17-0.49, P < 0.001). Also, high miR-497 expression level was notably connected to better overall survival (pooled HR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.32-0.53, P < 0.001). Conclusions: High expressing levels of miR-497 might be a potential biomarker which can be used to predict the better prognosis of different cancer types.

Association of MUC1 rs4072037 Functional Polymorphism and Cancer Risk: Evidence from 12551 Cases and 13436 Controls.

Objectives: The result of the relationship between the MUC1 rs4072037 polymorphism and cancer risk is controversial, we take this meta-analysis to investigate a more precise result. Methods: Electronic database Pubmed, Web of science and Cochrane library had been used to search relevant articles concerning the relationship between MUC1 rs4072037 polymorphism and cancer risk. We used odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the strength of the gene-disease association. We also conducted subgroup analysis, sensitivity analyses and publication bias in the meta-analysis. Results: In our meta-analysis, we involved 17 studies (19 datasets) with 12551 cases and 13436 controls eventually. It showed the MUC1 rs4072037 polymorphism was associated with decreased cancer risk in four genetic models (G vs. A: OR=0.79, 95%CI: 0.71-0.89, P< 0.001; AG vs. AA: OR=0.72, 95%CI: 0.62-0.82, P< 0.001; GG vs. AA: OR=0.78, 95%CI: 0.69-0.88, P< 0.001; AG+GG vs. AA: OR=0.72, 95%CI: 0.63-0.83, P< 0.001). In subgroup analysis, it showed a decreased cancer risk among Asians but not Caucasians and a significant decreased gastric cancer risk in all genetic models. Conclusion: MUC1 rs4072037 polymorphism is associated with decreased cancer risk and can probably be used as a tumor marker, especially for gastric cancer and for Asians.

Modularized laparoscopic regional en bloc mesogastrium excision (rEME) based on membrane anatomy for distal gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the safety and feasibility of a new surgical procedure named modularized laparoscopic regional En bloc mesogastrium excision (rEME) based on the membrane anatomy in distal laparoscopic radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer. METHODS: From January 2014 to June 2017, 92 consecutive cases of patients with stages I-III distal gastric cancer were divided into 2 groups: laparoscopic radical gastrectomy plus standard D2 lymph node dissection (SD group, n = 44) and modularized rEME (rEME group, n = 48). Evaluations were made in terms of the operative data, pathological results, recovery time of digestive tract functions, complications, and length of stay. RESULTS: 85 patients (SD group, n = 40 and rEME group, n = 45) were finally included for analysis. There were no significant differences in the median total numbers of dissected LNs (31.98 ± 10.48 vs. 34.93 ± 13.12, p = 0.261), LNs in the greater curvature (12.18 ± 6.55 vs. 13.62 ± 8.09, p = 0.444), LNs in the lesser curvature (19.55 ± 7.40 vs. 17.98 ± 8.31, p = 0.365) between the SD and rEME groups. The rEME group showed lower loss of blood volume (107.11 ± 60.13 ml vs. 146.25 ± 85.78 ml, p = 0.019). No significant differences were found in recovery time of digestive tract functions, postoperative complication rates and length of hospital stay between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic radical gastrectomy plus modularized rEME based on the membrane anatomy is a safe and feasible procedure for distal gastric cancer.

LncRNA MT1JP functions as a ceRNA in regulating FBXW7 through competitively binding to miR-92a-3p in gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: Emerging evidence has shown that dysregulation function of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) implicated in gastric cancer (GC). However, the role of the differentially expressed lncRNAs in GC has not fully explained. METHODS: LncRNA expression profiles were determined by lncRNA microarray in five pairs of normal and GC tissues, further validated in another 75 paired tissues by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Overexpression of lncRNA MT1JP was conducted to assess the effect of MT1JP in vitro and in vivo. The biological functions were demonstrated by luciferase reporter assay, western blotting and rescue experiments. RESULTS: LncRNA MT1JP was significantly lower in GC tissues than adjacent normal tissues, and higher MT1JP was remarkably related to lymph node metastasis and advance stage. Besides, GC patients with higher MT1JP expression had a well survival. Functionally, overexpression of lncRNA MT1JP inhibited cell proliferation, migration, invasion and promoted cell apoptosis in vitro, and inhibited tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. Functional analysis showed that lncRNA MT1JP regulated FBXW7 expression by competitively binding to miR-92a-3p. MiR-92a-3p and down-regulated FBXW7 reversed cell phenotypes caused by lncRNA MT1JP by rescue analysis. CONCLUSION: MT1JP, a down-regulated lncRNA in GC, was associated with malignant tumor phenotypes and survival of GC. MT1JP regulated the progression of GC by functioning as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to competitively bind to miR-92a-3p and regulate FBXW7 expression. Our study provided new insight into the post-transcriptional regulation mechanism of lncRNA MT1JP, and suggested that MT1JP may act as a potential therapeutic target and prognosis biomarker for GC.