Radio-Susceptibility of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: Focus on Epstein- Barr Virus, MicroRNAs, Long Non-Coding RNAs and Circular RNAs.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a type of head and neck cancer. As a neoplastic disorder, NPC is a highly malignant squamous cell carcinoma that is derived from the nasopharyngeal epithelium. NPC is radiosensitive; radiotherapy or radiotherapy combining with chemotherapy are the main treatment strategies. However, both modalities are usually accompanied by complications and acquired resistance to radiotherapy is a significant impediment to effective NPC therapy. Therefore, there is an urgent need to discover effective radio-sensitization and radio-resistance biomarkers for NPC. Recent studies have shown that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded products, microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs), which share several common signaling pathways, can function in radio-related NPC cells or tissues. Understanding these interconnected regulatory networks will reveal the details of NPC radiation sensitivity and resistance. In this review, we discuss and summarize the specific molecular mechanisms of NPC radio-sensitization and radio-resistance, focusing on EBV-encoded products, miRNAs, lncRNAs and circRNAs. This will provide a foundation for the discovery of more accurate, effective and specific markers related to NPC radiotherapy. EBVencoded products, miRNAs, lncRNAs and circRNAs have emerged as crucial molecules mediating the radio-susceptibility of NPC. This understanding will improve the clinical application of markers and inform the development of novel therapeutics for NPC.

H19/miR-675-5p Targeting SFN Enhances the Invasion and Metastasis of Nasalpharyngeal Cancer Cells.

AIMS: The aim is to study the role of miR-675-5p coded by long non-coding RNA H19 in the development of Nasopharyngeal Cancer (NPC) and whether miR-675-5p regulates the invasion and metastasis of NPC through targeting SFN (14-3-3σ). The study further validated the relationship between H19, miR-675-5p and SFN in NPC and their relationship with the invasion and metastasis of NPC. METHODS: Western blot was used to detect the expression of 14-3-3σ protein in immortalized normal nasopharyngeal epithelial cells NP69 and different metastatic potential NPC cells, 6-10B and 5-8F. At the same time, to find out the relationship between 14-3-3σ protein and the expression of H19 and miR-675-5p, the expression of H19 and miR-675-5p in normal nasopharynx epithelial cells NP69 and varied nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells 6-10B and 5-8F were quantified by real-time PCR. MiR-675-5p mimic and inhibitor were transfected into NPC 6-10B to over-express and down-express miR-675-5p; miR-675-5p mimic negative control and inhibitor negative control were transfected into NPC 6-10B as control groups. The effect of over-expression and down-expression by miR-675-5p on the expression of 14-3-3σ protein was detected by Western blotting. The 3'-UTR segments of SFN, containing miR-675-5p binding sites were amplified by PCR and the luciferase activity in the transfected cells was assayed to detect whether SFN is the direct target of miR-675-5p. Transwell and scratch assays were used to verify the changes in NPC invasion and metastasis ability of mimics and inhibitors transfected with miR-675-5p. RESULTS: The expression of 14-3-3σ protein in normal nasopharynx epithelial cells NP69 is significantly higher than in varied nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells, 6-10B and 5-8F (P<0.05), and the 14-3-3σ protein levels in low-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell 6-10B is higher than in high-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell 5-8F. The expression of H19 and miR-675-5p are significantly higher in NPC cells than in NP69 cell (P<0.05). The expression of H19 and miR-675-5p in high-Metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell 5-8F was higher than in low-Metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell 6-10B. The expression of 14-3-3σ protein in miR-675-5p mimic cells was significantly lower than in mimic NC (negative control) group and blank control group. However, compared with the blank control group, mimic NC showed no significant difference in 14-3-3σ protein between the two groups. The miR-675-5p inhibitor group was significantly higher than the inhibitor NC group and the blank control group (p<0.05), but there was no significant difference in the expression of 14-3-3σ protein in the inhibitor NC group and the blank control group (p>0.05). Dual-luciferase reporter assay system shows the 3'-UTR segments of SFN containing miR-675-5p binding sites. SFN was the target gene of miR-675-5p. CONCLUSION: 14-3-3σ is downregulated in NPC and is involved in the development of NPC. H19 and miR- 675-5p are upregulated in NPC, which is related to the development of NPC. The over-expression of miR- 675-5p inhibits the expression of 14-3-3σ protein. SFN is the target gene of miR-675-5p. MiR-675-5p targets SFN, downregulates its protein expression and promotes the invasion and metastasis of NPC.

MiR-597 Targeting 14-3-3σ Enhances Cellular Invasion and EMT in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Cells.

BACKGROUND: Alterations in microRNAs (miRNAs) are related to the occurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and play an important role in the molecular mechanism of NPC. Our previous studies show low expression of 14-3-3σ (SFN) is related to the metastasis and differentiation of NPC, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. METHODS: Through bioinformatics analysis, we find miR-597 is the preferred target miRNA of 14-3-3σ. The expression level of 14-3-3σ in NPC cell lines was detected by Western blotting. The expression of miR-597 in NPC cell lines was detected by qRT-PCR. We transfected miR-597 mimic, miR-597 inhibitor and 14-3-3σ siRNA into 6-10B cells and then verified the expression of 14-3-3σ and EMT related proteins, including E-cadherin, N-cadherin and Vimentin by western blotting. The changes of migration and invasion ability of NPC cell lines before and after transfected were determined by wound healing assay and Transwell assay. RESULTS: miR-597 expression was upregulated in NPC cell lines and repaired in related NPC cell lines, which exhibit a potent tumor-forming effect. After inhibiting the miR-597 expression, its effect on NPC cell line was obviously decreased. Moreover, 14-3-3σ acts as a tumor suppressor gene and its expression in NPC cell lines is negatively correlated with miR-597. Here 14-3-3σ was identified as a downstream target gene of miR-597, and its downregulation by miR-597 drives epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and promotes the migration and invasion of NPC. CONCLUSION: Based on these findings, our study will provide theoretical and experimental evidences for molecular targeted therapy of NPC.