LINC00240 sponges miR-4465 to promote proliferation, migration, and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells via HGF/c-MET signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVE: LINC00240, as a novel long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), has never been studied in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This research reported the expression and function of LINC00240 in HCC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: LINC00240 expression in 180 HCC patients was downloaded from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. HCC patients' survival was analyzed via Kaplan­Meier analysis. The expression of LINC00240, miR-4465 and HGF in Hep3B and Huh7 cells were regulated by transfection. Cell viability was determined by MTT assay. Transwell experiment was used for the detection of cells migration and invasion abilities. The interaction between LINC00240, miR-4465 and HGF was reflected by Luciferase reporter assay. LINC00240, miR-4465, HGF and p-c-MET expression in HCC cells were researched by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and Western blot. RESULTS: TCGA data showed that high LINC00240 expression was markedly associated with lower survival of HCC patients (p = 0.036). LINC00240 expression was aberrantly upregulated in HCC cells. Silencing of LINC00240 significantly reduced HCC cells viability, migration and invasion. miR-4465 was a target gene of LINC00240. Silencing of LINC00240 reduced HCC cells viability, migration and invasion via directly promoting miR-4465 expression. HGF was target gene of miR-4465. miR-4465 up-regulation obviously suppressed HGF and p-c-MET expression. According to rescue experiment, LINC00240 silencing inhibited HCC cells viability, migration and invasion by suppressing HGF/c-MET signaling pathway via targeting miR-4465. CONCLUSIONS: LINC00240 sponges miR-4465 to promote HCC cells proliferation, migration and invasion via HGF/c-MET signaling pathway.

[Effect of cigarette smoke exposure during pregnancy on offspring of ovarian development and oocyte DNA methylation in female mice].

Objective: To explore the effects of cigarette smoke exposure during pregnancy on the quality of oocytes and the whole genome DNA methylation in the offspring of female mice during the period of germinal vesicle (GV) . Methods: The pregnant 7 d mice were divided into 3 groups, exposure on the 0, 0.5, 1 lit cigarettes cabinet (volume 18 L) , at 9 am and 3 pm for 1 h twice daily, until delivery. When the mice were 6 weeks old, the organ index and the number of follicles in the ovary were detected by weighing and making HE stained sections. GV stage oocytes were obtained by Hoechst 33342 staining and indirect immunofluorescence to detect the quality of oocytes, chromatin configuration and whole genome DNA methylation level. Results: Compared with the control group and low dose group, the offspring ovarian organ index of female mice in the high dose group decreased, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05) . Compared with the control group, the number of follicular oocytes in low dose group and high dose group female mice offspring decreased, the zona pellucida oocytes diameter decreased, and the zona pellucida thickness increased, the differences were statistical significance (P<0.05) . Compared with control group and low dose group, in the high dose group, the oocytes nucleus diameter of the female mice offspring decreased, the proportion of nucleolus surrounded type chromatin configuration (SN) decreased, and the proportion of nucleoil not surrounded type (NSN) increased, the relative fluorescence intensity of 5MeC decreased, the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05) . Conclusion: Exposure to cigarette smoke during pregnancy may reduce indicators of offspring ovarian organ index, female rat follicle number and oocyte quality change, the high dose group can lead to oocyte chromatin structure and DNA methylation level anomaly.

Prognostic and assessment value of hyperglycemia and glycosylated hemoglobin in critical patients.

Hyperglycemia is common in critical patients and high blood glucose levels have a negative effect on their prognosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hyperglycemia and glycosylated hemoglobin (GHb) in critical patients. A total of 648 critical patients were enrolled in the study and received a random blood glucose test when they entered the emergency department. If blood glucose was more than 11.1 mM, a GHb test was followed within 24 h. All patients were followed up for 28 days. According to diabetes mellitus (DM) history, GHb value, and outcome of follow-up, patients were divided into different groups, and mortality rates were calculated, respectively. Hyperglycemia was found in 67.44% (437/648) of patients, and 51.49% (225/437) and 48.51% (212/437) had normal and elevated GHb levels, respectively. At the end of the follow-up period, 14 of the normal GHb patients and 32 of the elevated GHb patients died (6.22 and 15.09%, respectively). In the normal GHb group, 53 had a DM history, 23 were newly diagnosed with DM, and 149 had hospital-related hyperglycemia (HRH); the mortality rates were 11.32% (6/53), 8.70% (2/23), and 4.03% (6/149), respectively. In the elevated GHb group, 114 had a DM history, 83 were newly diagnosed with DM, and 15 had HRH; the mortality rates were 13.16% (15/114), 19.27% (16/83), and 6.67% (1/15), respectively. Hyperglycemia and GHb might play important roles in the prognosis and assessment for critical patients, and the prognosis would vary according to the different causes of hyperglycemia.