Klebsiella aerogenes exacerbates colon tumorigenesis in the AOM/DSS-induced C57BL/6J mouse.

Klebsiella aerogenes (K. aerogenes, KA) is a gram-negative opportunistic pathogen from the Klebsiella species and the Enterobacteriaceae family. However, the impact of K. aerogenes on colorectal cancer (CRC) remains uncertain. A colitis-associated tumorigenesis animal model was established by administering azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) to C57BL/6J mice. The concentration of K. aerogenes gavage in mice was 109 cfu. The study measured the following parameters: tumor formation (number and size), intestinal permeability (MUC2, ZO-1, and Occludin), colonic inflammation (TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6, and IL-10), proliferation and the fluctuation of the intestinal flora. Under the AOM/DSS-treated setting, K. aerogenes colonization worsened colitis by exacerbating intestinal inflammatory reaction and destroying the mucosal barrier. The intervention markedly augmented the quantity and dimensions of neoplasm in the AOM/DSS mice, stimulated cellular growth, and impeded cellular programmed cell death. In addition, K. aerogenes exacerbated the imbalance of the intestinal microbiota by elevating the abundance of Pseudomonas, Erysipelatoclostridium, Turicibacter, Rikenella, and Muribaculum and leading to a reduction in the abundance of Odoribacter, Alloprevotella, Roseburia, and Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group. The presence of K. aerogenes in AOM/DSS-treated mice promoted tumorigenesis, worsened intestinal inflammation, disrupted the intestinal barrier, and caused disturbance to the gut microbiota.

circSKA3 promotes colorectal cancer metastases through miR-1238 and methylation.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is becoming one of the most common cancers overworld, which causes a high rate of death in patients. circRNAs are non-coding RNAs(ncRNAs), which have been reported to be involved in the development of many cancers, including CRC. However, the exact mechanism that how circRNAs function through in CRC remains unclear. In this study, we firstly used GEO database and bioinformatic methods to identify the significant changed circRNAs, with circSKA3 being the most significantly upregulated circRNAs in CRC tissues. PCR results further confirmed higher expression of circSKA3 in CRC patients. CCK-8, scratch, and transwell assays indicated that circSKA3 could promote the proliferation, migration, and invasion of CRC cell lines for cell detection. Dual-luciferase assays were carried out to detect the downstream targets of circSKA3, and a binding site between circSKA3 and miR-1238 was identified and miR-1238 could also combine with YTHDF2. Overexpression of YTHDF2 rescued the decreased cell proliferation, migration, and invasion caused by miR-1238 overexpression. RIP assay further indicated that YTHDF2 could decrease the methylation of STAT5A. In summary, our study found that circSKA3 was upregulated in CRC tissues comparing with normal tissues. circSKA3 could increase the expression ofYTHDF2 through sponging miR-1238 to decrease the methylation of STAT5A, which could provide a novel target for CRC treatment.

Insulin promotes the proliferation and migration of pancreatic cancer cells by up-regulating the expression of PLK1 through the PI3K/AKT pathway.

Pancreatic cancer has a particularly poor prognosis compared to other tumors. The peculiar hyperinsulin microenvironment of the pancreas is formed due to the endocrine secretion of islets in the pancreas. This study focused on the effect of insulin on the migration and proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells and its molecular mechanisms. We found that insulin promotes the proliferation and migration of pancreatic cancer cells. At the same time, it can up-regulate the expression of PLK1 in pancreatic cancer cells. Knocking down the expression of PLK1 in pancreatic cancer cells can inhibit the effect of insulin on the biological behavior of pancreatic cancer. In addition, we found that insulin activates the PI3K/AKT pathway in pancreatic cancer cells, and that inhibition of this pathway suppresses PLK1 expression. The PI3K/AKT inhibitor LY294002 inhibits the effects of insulin on the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells. This study shows that insulin up-regulates PLK1 expression in pancreatic cancer cells via the PI3K/AKT pathway, which in this way enhances the migration and proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells. This may be one of the important reasons for the poor prognosis of pancreatic cancer.

Incidence, risk factors, and predictive modeling of stoma site incisional hernia after enterostomy closure: a multicenter retrospective cohort study.

PURPOSE: Stoma site incisional hernia (SSIH) is a common complication, but its incidence and risk factors are not well known. The objective of this study is to explore the incidence and risk factors of SSIH and build a predictive model. METHODS: We performed a multicenter retrospective analysis on the patients who underwent enterostomy closure from January 2018 to August 2020. Patient's general condition, perioperative, intraoperative, and follow-up information was collected. The patients were divided into control group (no occurrence) and observation group (occurrence) according to whether SSIH occurred. Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to evaluate the risk factors of SSIH, following which we constructed a nomogram for SSIH prediction. RESULTS: One hundred fifty-six patients were enrolled in the study. The incidence of SSIH was 24.4% (38 cases), of which 14 were treated with hernia mesh repair, and the others were treated with conservative treatment. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that age ≥ 68 years (OR 1.045, 95% CI 1.002 ~ 1.089, P = 0.038), colostomy (OR 2.913, 95% CI 1.035 ~ 8.202, P = 0.043), BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 (OR 1.181, 95% CI 1.010 ~ 1.382, P = 0.037), malignant tumor (OR 4.838, 95% CI 1.508 ~ 15.517, P = 0.008) and emergency surgery (OR 5.327, 95% CI 1.996 ~ 14.434, P = 0.001) are the independent risk factors for SSIH. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results, a predictive model for the occurrence of SSIH was constructed to screen high-risk groups of SSIH. For patients at high risk for SSIH, how to deal with the follow-up and prevent the occurrence of SSIH is worth further exploration.

Down-regulation of miRNA-196b expression inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasiveness of HepG2 cells while promoting their apoptosis via the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of microRNA-196b (miRNA-196b) on proliferation, migration, invasiveness and apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2), and the mechanism involved.   MiRNA-196b inhibitor or negative control were transfected into HepG2 cells, while empty liposome vector was used as normal control. The results of transfection were assessed using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Cell proliferation, migration, invasiveness and apoptosis were determined using cell counting kit 8 (CCK-8), scratch test, Transwell invasion assay, and flow cytometric analysis, respectively. The expressions of PIK3, Akt and p-Akt proteins were determined using Western blotting. The HepG2 cells were also treated with PI3K/Akt signaling pathway inhibitor LY294002, and its effect on cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis, and expressions of PIK3, Akt, and p-Akt proteins were determined. The results of RT-PCR showed that the relative expression of miRNA-196b in the inhibitor group (0.42 ± 0.13) was significantly lower than that in the blank control group (0.96 ± 0.10) and the negative control group (1.01 ± 0.32) (p < 0.05). The miRNA-196b inhibitor significantly and time-dependently reduced the invasiveness, proliferation migration abilities of HepG2 cells, while promoting their apoptosis (p < 0.05). The expressions of PIK3 and p-Akt proteins were significantly down-regulated in the inhibitor group, when compared with normal and negative control groups (p < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences in the expression of Akt protein among the groups (p > 0.05). After treatment of HepG2 cells with PI3K/Akt signaling pathway inhibitor LY294002, the proliferative, migratory and invasive abilities of cells in the treatment group were significantly enhanced, while cell apoptosis was significantly reduced (p < 0.05). Similarly, the protein expressions of PIK3 and p-Akt in the non-treatment group was significantly upregulated, relative to the treatment group (p < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in the expression of Akt protein between the two groups (p > 0.05). Downregulation of miRNA-196b expression inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasiveness of HepG2 cells, while promoting their apoptosis via a mechanism involving the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Insulin promotes proliferation of pancreatic ductal epithelial cells by increasing expression of PLK1 through PI3K/AKT and NF-κB pathway.

Pancreatic cancer has a poor prognosis. Many epidemiological evidence show that diabetes is closely related to the occurrence of pancreatic cancer. The concentration of insulin in pancreas local tissues is higher than that in systemic circulation. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of insulin on pancreatic duct epithelial cells and identify the potential mechanisms. We found that insulin promoted the proliferation of pancreatic duct epithelial cells in the dependent of increased PLK1. Furthermore, PI3K/AKT and NF-κB pathway were involved in this process. By using PI3K/AKT inhibitor LY294002 and NF-κB shRNA, the increased PLK1 was reversed and cells proliferation was inhibited. Additionally, immunofluorescence analysis revealed the co-localization between PLK1 and ß-catenin. We showed that insulin can promote the increased expression of ß-catenin dependent on PLK1. This study showed that insulin may promotes cell proliferative vitality of pancreatic ductal epithelial cells by inducing PLK1 through PI3K/AKT and NF-κB pathway; The upregulation of PLK1 may reduce the degradation of ß-catenin. This may be one of the mechanisms by which T2DM promotes pancreatic cancer.

Variant TP53BP1 rs560191 G>C is associated with risk of gastric cardia adenocarcinoma in a Chinese Han population.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (GCA) and ten functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including TP53BP1 rs560191 G>C, CASP8 rs1035142 G>T, CASP7 rs3127075 G>C, CASP7 rs7907519 C>A, and six C1orf10/CRNN variants. We performed a hospital-based case-control study to evaluate the genetic effects of these SNPs. METHODS: Two hundred and forty-three GCA cases and 476 controls were enrolled in this study. A custom-by-design 48-Plex SNPscan(TM) Kit was used to determine their genotypes. RESULTS: When the TP53BP1 rs560191 GG homozygote genotype was used as the reference group, the GC genotype was associated with a significantly increased risk of GCA. The CC genotype was not associated with the risk of GCA compared with the GG genotype. None of the CASP8 rs1035142 G>T, CASP7 rs3127075 G>C, CASP7 rs7907519 C>A or the six C1orf10/CRNN polymorphisms showed a significant difference in genotype distributions between the cases and the controls. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrated that the functional polymorphism TP53BP1 rs560191 G>C might contribute to GCA susceptibility. However, the statistical power of our study was limited. Large, well-designed studies and further functional investigations are needed to confirm our findings.

Decorin-mediated inhibition of cholangiocarcinoma cell growth and migration and promotion of apoptosis are associated with E-cadherin in vitro.

Emerging evidences have shown that decorin expression is significantly reduced in many cancer tissues and cancer cells. However, its biological role and clinical significance in cholangiocarcinoma development and progression are unknown. In this study, immunohistochemistry was conducted to investigate the expression of decorin in cholangiocarcinomas. The results showed that decorin levels markedly decreased in 44 cholangiocarcinoma tissues compared to 40 adjacent normal tissues. The analysis between decorin expression and clinicopathological characteristics in cholangiocarcinoma patients showed that patients with low levels of decorin expression had a relatively poor prognosis. Moreover, recombinant human decorin treatment and overexpression of decorin in cholangiocarcinoma cells could inhibit cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and promote apoptosis. Furthermore, the E-cadherin expression significantly increased after decorin overexpression or use of recombinant human decorin in cholangiocarcinoma cells. Our findings indicated that downregulation of decorin may be identified as a poor prognostic biomarker in cholangiocarcinomas. Also, decorin-mediated inhibition of cholangiocarcinoma cell growth, migration, and invasion and promotion of cell apoptosis might be through regulation of the expression of E-cadherin in vitro.

Advances and perspectives in phototherapy-based combination therapy for cancer treatment.

Phototherapy, including photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT), has the advantages of spatiotemporal selectivity, non-invasiveness, and negligible drug resistance. Phototherapy has been approved for treating superficial epidermal tumors. However, its therapeutic efficacy is limited by the hypoxic tumor microenvironment and the highly expressed heat shock protein. Moreover, poor tissue penetration and focused irradiation laser region in phototherapy make treating deep tissues and metastatic tumors challenging. Combination therapy strategies, which integrate the advantages of each treatment and overcome their disadvantages, can significantly improve the therapeutic efficacy. Recently, many combination therapy strategies have been reported. Our study summarizes the strategies used for combining phototherapy with other cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, sonodynamic therapy, gas therapy, starvation therapy, and chemodynamic therapy. Some research cases were selected to analyze the combination therapy effect, delivery platform feature, and synergetic anticancer mechanisms. Moreover, additional research cases are summarized in the tables. This review provides strong evidence that phototherapy-based combination strategies can enhance the anticancer effect compared with phototherapy alone. Additionally, the challenges and future perspectives associated with these combinational therapies are discussed.

Evaluation of the prognostic performance of different cutoff values of lymph node ratio staging system for stage III colorectal cancer.

This study attempted to compare the prognostic performance of lymph node ratio (LNR) staging system with different cutoff values relative to American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) pN staging system in stage III colorectal cancer (CRC). Overall, 45,069 patients from the SEER dataset and 69 patients from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (the External set) who underwent surgical resection of the primary tumor and were diagnosed with stage III CRC by postoperative pathology were included. Patients were divided into three subgroups based on the LNR cutoff used in previous studies, Kaplan-Meier curves were plotted, and log-rank test was used to compare the differences among groups in terms of cancer-specific survival (CSS). Cox regression model was applied for survival analysis. To evaluate the discriminatory power of different lymph node staging systems, Harrell's C statistic(C-index) and Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) were applied. A set of optimal cutoff values (0.11; 0.36; 0.66) of LNR staging system with the most considerable discriminatory power to the prognosis in patients with stage III CRC (SEER set: C-index = 0.714; AIC = 58,942.46, External set: C-index = 0.809; AIC = 164.36) were obtained, and both were superior to the AJCC pN staging system (SEER set: C-index = 0.708; AIC = 59,071.20, External set: C-index = 0.788; AIC = 167.06). For evaluating the prognostic efficacy of patients with stage III colorectal cancer, the cutoff value (0.11; 0.36; 0.66) of LNR staging system had the best discrimination and prognostic ability, which was superior to LNR staging system under other cutoff values and AJCC pN staging system.

Function and mechanism of exosomes derived from different cells as communication mediators in colorectal cancer metastasis.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks as the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality, with metastasis being the primary determinant of poor prognosis in patients. Investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying CRC metastasis is currently a prominent and challenging area of research. Exosomes, as crucial intercellular communication mediators, facilitate the transfer of metabolic and genetic information from cells of origin to recipient cells. Their roles in mediating information exchange between CRC cells and immune cells, fibroblasts, and other cell types are pivotal in reshaping the tumor microenvironment, regulating key biological processes such as invasion, migration, and formation of pre-metastatic niche. This article comprehensively examines the communication function and mechanism of exosomes derived from different cells in cancer metastasis, while also presenting an outlook on current research advancements and future application prospects. The aim is to offer a distinctive perspective that contributes to accurate diagnosis and rational treatment strategies for CRC.

Prediction values of tertiary lymphoid structures in the prognosis of patients with left- and right-sided colon cancer: a multicenter propensity score-matched study.

BACKGROUND: Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) are the lymphocyte aggregates that play a key role in the vast majority of solid tumors including colon cancer, displaying an antitumor effect under most circumstances. The heterogeneity between left- and right-sided colon cancer (LCC and RCC) encompasses various aspects, such as clinical manifestations, pathological features, and immune responses. However, the function and prognostic significance of TLS within LCC and RCC have yet to be fully understood. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 2612 patients who underwent radical resection for LCC or RCC without distant metastasis in multiple medical centers. Utilizing propensity score matching, 121 patients with LCC and 121 patients with RCC were selected for the training set. An external validation set including 64 patients with LCC and 64 patients with RCC were also employed. Hematoxylin-eosin and immunohistochemical staining were used to assess TLS and the proportion of various immune cells. Clinical characteristics and prognostic values of TLS in patients with LCC and RCC were analyzed. Nomograms were constructed for LCC and RCC to predict 3-year and 5-year overall survival (OS), respectively. RESULTS: For LCC and RCC patients, TLS was located in the interstitial region or outside the tumor tissue and mainly consisted of B cells and T cells. The TLS quantity and density in RCC were higher than those of LCC. In multivariate Cox regression analysis, TLS density ( P =0.014), vascular invasion ( P =0.019), and AJCC stage ( P =0.026) were independent prognostic factors for 5-year OS of RCC. For LCC patients, AJCC stage ( P =0.024), tumor differentiation ( P =0.001), and tumor budding ( P =0.040) emerged as independent prognostic factors for 5-year OS. Similar results were obtained in the external verification set. Separate nomograms for RCC and LCC were developed, displaying improved prediction performance compared to the AJCC 8th edition TNM staging system. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in TLS quantity and density were observed between LCC and RCC, suggesting that a nomogram based on TLS density could more effectively predict survival for RCC patients. Furthermore, a nomogram based on tumor budding was recommended for better prediction of LCC patient survival. Taken together, these results suggested that the immune and clinical characteristics of colon cancer at left and right side were substantially different, which may lead to the use of different prediction model and the development of individual treatment strategy.

Cell-free RNA for the liquid biopsy of gastrointestinal cancer.

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer includes many cancer types, such as esophageal, liver, gastric, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer. As the cornerstone of personalized medicine for GI cancer, liquid biopsy based on noninvasive biomarkers provides promising opportunities for early diagnosis and dynamic treatment management. Recently, a growing number of studies have demonstrated the potential of cell-free RNA (cfRNA) as a new type of noninvasive biomarker in body fluids, such as blood, saliva, and urine. Meanwhile, transcriptomes based on high-throughput RNA detection technologies keep discovering new cfRNA biomarkers. In this review, we introduce the origins and applications of cfRNA, describe its detection and qualification methods in liquid biopsy, and summarize a comprehensive list of cfRNA biomarkers in different GI cancer types. Moreover, we also discuss perspective studies of cfRNA to overcome its current limitations in clinical applications. This article is categorized under: RNA in Disease and Development > RNA in Disease.

Prediction of liver and lung metastases in patients with early-onset colorectal cancer by nomograms based on heterogeneous and homogenous risk factors.

BACKGROUND: Identifying the risk factors for distant metastasis in early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) is crucial for elucidating its etiology and facilitating preventive treatment. This study aims to characterize the variability in EOCRC incidence and discern both heterogeneous and homogeneous risk factors associated with synchronous liver, lung, and hepato-lung metastases. METHODS: This study included patients with EOCRC enrolled in the SEER database between 2010 and 2015 and divided patients into three groups by synchronous liver, lung, and hepato-lung metastases. Each group of patients with different metastasis types was randomly assigned to the development and validation cohort in a ratio of 7:3. Logistic regression was used to analyze the heterogeneous and homogenous risk factors for synchronous liver, lung, and hepato-lung metastases in the development cohort of patients. Nomograms were built to calculate the risk of metastasis, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and calibration curve were used to quantitatively evaluate their performance. RESULTS: A total of 16,336 eligible patients with EOCRC were included in this study, of which 17.90% (2924/16,336) had distant metastases. The overall incidences of synchronous liver, lung, and hepato-lung metastases were 11.90% (1921/16,146), 2.42% (390/16,126), and 1.50% (241/16,108), respectively. Positive CEA values before treatment, increased lymphatic metastases, and deeper invasion of intestinal wall were positively correlated with three distant types of metastases. On the contrary, the correlation of age, ethnicity, location of primary tumor, and histologic grade among the three types was inconsistent. The ROC curve and calibration curve proved to have fine performance in predicting distant metastases of EOCRC. CONCLUSIONS: There are significant differences in the incidence of distant metastases in EOCRC, and related risk factors are heterogeneous and homogenous. Although limited risk factors were incorporated in this study, the established nomograms indicated good predictive performance.

Down-regulating Interleukin-22/Interleukin-22 binding protein axis promotes inflammation and aggravates diet-induced metabolic disorders.

The prevalence of metabolic diseases has become a severe public health problem. Previously, we reported that Interleukin-22 (IL-22) was independently associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease, and could protect endothelial cells from glucose- and lysophosphatidylcholine-induced injury. The activity of IL-22 is strongly regulated by IL-22-binding protein (IL-22BP). The aim of this investigation was to determine the effect of IL-22/IL-22BP axis on glucolipid metabolism. Serum IL-22 and IL-22BP expression in metabolic syndrome (MetS) patients and healthy controls was examined. IL-22BP-knockout (IL-22ra2-/-) and wild-type (WT) mice were fed with control diet (CTD) and high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks. The IL-22 related pathway expression, the glucolipid metabolism, and inflammatory markers in mice were examined. Serum IL-22 and IL-22BP levels were found significantly increased in MetS patients (p < 0.001). IL-22BP deficiency down-regulated IL-22-related pathway, aggravated glucolipid metabolism disorder, and promoted inflammation in mice. Collectively, this work deepens the understanding of the relationship between IL-22/IL-22BP axis and metabolism disorders, and identified that down-regulation of IL-22/IL-22BP axis promotes metabolic disorders in mice.

circBANP promotes colorectal cancer growth and metastasis via sponging let-7d-5p to modulate HMGA1/Wnt/ß-catenin signaling.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common and deadly cancers, and the incidence of CRC is on the rise. Due to the lack of early diagnosis method and high metastasis of the disease, the prognosis of CRC remains very poor. Exploring the underlying molecular mechanisms of CRC is very necessary for effective therapy. In this study, we investigated the function of circBANP in CRC. The results showed that circBANP was elevated in both CRC tissues and cells and its level positively correlated with the stage of CRC. Knockdown of circBANP greatly suppressed the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process and CRC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. In addition, knockdown of circBANP inhibited CRC tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. Further, circBANP directly bound to let-7d-5p and regulated CRC development via acting as a let-7d-5p sponge. Let-7d-5p directly targeted HMGA1 and thus circBANP/let-7d-5p regulated Wnt/ß-catenin signaling via HMGA1. Collectively, circBANP promotes CRC development and metastasis via acting as a let-7d-5p sponge to regulate HMGA1/Wnt/ß-catenin signaling, providing a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for the management of CRC.

Girdin Knockdown Increases Gemcitabine Chemosensitivity to Pancreatic Cancer by Modulating Autophagy.

Chemotherapy is crucial for the treatment of pancreatic cancer (PC). Gemcitabine (GEM) as the first-line chemotherapy drug has a high resistance rate. Increasing the sensitivity of gemcitabine is currently the objectives and challenges of this study. Our previous study showed Girdin was closely related to the progression and prognosis of PC, indicating that Girdin may be associated with chemosensitivity. In the current study, we use recombinant adenovirus to specifically knockdown Girdin in PC cell lines to determine the effect of Girdin in the process of gemcitabine chemosensitivity. Autophagy is one of the pathways affecting the gemcitabine chemosensitivity in PC. Further research validated that Girdin may activate autophagy by interacting with autophagy protein p62/SQSTM1, which could enhance chemotherapy resistance to gemcitabine in PC. Down-regulation of Girdin may therefore increase gemcitabine chemosensitivity in PC. Our results reveal that Girdin acted as a negative regulator of gemcitabine chemosensitivity in PC. Increased autophagy activity caused by abnormally high Girdin expression may be one of the main factors for the reduction in chemosensitivity, which may provide new perspectives on understanding chemosensitization in PC.

Construction of a novel mRNA-miRNA-lncRNA network and identification of potential regulatory axis associated with prognosis in colorectal cancer liver metastases.

Liver metastasis is a leading cause of death in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Increasing evidence demonstrates that competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks play important roles in malignant cancers. The purpose of this study was to identify molecular markers and build a ceRNA network as a significant predictor of colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). By integrated bioinformatics analysis, we found that apolipoprotein C1 (APOC1) was upregulated in CRLM and associated with prognosis in patients with CRC and thereby established an APOC1-dependent ceRNA network. By survival analysis, expression analysis, and correlation analysis of each element in the ceRNA network, we identified that ZEB1-AS1, miR-335-5p and APOC1 regulated each other. We further experimentally confirmed that ZEB1-AS1 promoted a CRC progression via regulating the expression of miR-335-5p that controlled the expression of APOC1. Our findings indicate that the ZEB1-AS1-miR-335-5p-APOC1 ceRNA regulatory network is significantly valuable for better prognosis of patients with CRC and as a new therapeutic target for the treatment of CRLM.

Polo-like kinase 1 is involved in apoptosis, invasion, and metastasis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) is overexpressed in different types of carcinomas, and it is widely pursued as a novel target for treatment of neoplasms. However, the role of Plk1 in invasion and metastasis of pancreatic cancer has not been reported. METHODS: In order to evaluate whetherPlk1 can potentially serve as a therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer, we herein explore and discuss the relationship between the inhibition of Plk1 by RNA interference (RNAi) and invasion and metastasis of pancreatic cancer cells. For this, three pancreatic cancer cell lines (AsPC-1, BxPC-3, and PANC-1) were studied. Plk1-specific short hairpin RNAs (shPlk1) were introduced into these cell lines by viral transduction. RESULTS: We found that Plk1 mRNA and protein levels were significantly reduced in the shPlk1 group. Moreover, knockdown of Plk1 expression by shPlk1 promoted apoptosis, while cell invasion and metastasis potentials were significantly reduced. CONCLUSIONS: Plk1 expression levels were closely correlated with proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of pancreatic cancer, and inhibition of Plk1 expression by RNAi could promote cell apoptosis and suppress metastasis and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells in vitro. Furthermore, Plk1 might constitute novel target for treatment of pancreatic cancer, with inhibition of Plk1 potentially providing a new strategy for the prevention of pancreatic cancer invasion and metastasis.

Giant ventral hernia simultaneously containing the spleen, a portion of the pancreas and the left hepatic lobe: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Ventral hernia, also known as incisional hernia, is a common complication of previous surgery. The contents of ventral hernia may include omentum, preperitoneal fat, small intestine or colon. However, ventral hernia with protrusion of more than two parenchymal organs simultaneously is extremely rare, and its repair is very complex and difficult. Surgeons should make a comprehensive assessment based on their own experience and the individual characteristics of the hernia. In addition, psychological therapy should be emphasized in the whole treatment process. CASE SUMMARY: We report a rare case of asymptomatic giant ventral hernia for 15 years in a 21-year-old female. The patient underwent umbilical hernia repair at the age of 1 year. Approximately 5 years later, ventral hernia recurred and repair with Mesh was performed, but the operation failed due to postoperative infection, and a huge mass appeared in the left abdominal wall. The mass increased gradually with the development and maturity of the body. Computerized tomography scan demonstrated that the patient's total spleen, part of the pancreas and left lobe of the liver were simultaneously herniated through the abdominal incisional hernia. As the patient was unable to endure the inconvenience of life and the potential risk of spleen or liver rupture, she underwent a ventral hernia repair with Mesh at our hospital. The operation was successful and the patient had a good recovery. During a 3-mo follow-up, the patient remained asymptomatic and the appearance of the surgical incision was greatly improved. CONCLUSION: Ventral hernia is a common complication of abdominal surgery. Ventral hernia with protrusion of more than two parenchymal organs simultaneously is extremely rare. Surgeons should pay attention to the psychological treatment while restoring the abdominal physiological function in ventral hernia patients.