Nano-revolution in hepatocellular carcinoma: A multidisciplinary odyssey - Are we there yet?

In this editorial we comment on the review by Zhou et al reviewing the landscape of nanomedicine in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We focus on the immense potential of nanotechnology, particularly ligand-receptor mediated nanotherapy, in revolutionizing the treatment landscape of HCC. Despite advancements in multidisciplinary treatment, HCC remains a significant global health challenge. Ligand-mediated nanotherapy offers the opportunity for precise drug delivery to tumor sites, targeting specific receptors overexpressed in HCC cells, thereby enhancing efficacy and minimizing side effects. Overcoming drug resistance and aggressive tumor biology is facilitated by nanomedicine, bypassing traditional hurdles encountered in chemotherapy. Examples include targeting glypican-3, asialoglycoprotein, transferrin receptor or folic acid receptors, capitalizing on their over-expression in tumor cells. The ability for multi-receptor targeting through dual-ligand nanoparticle modification holds the prospect of further enhancement in specificity and efficacy of directed therapy. However, challenges including immune responses, reproducibility in nanoparticle synthesis, and production scalability remain. Future directions involve refining targeting strategies, improving drug release mechanisms, and streamlining production processes to enable personalized and multifunctional nanotherapies. Overall, the integration of nanotherapy in HCC treatment holds immense promise, but continued partnership and effort are needed in offering hope for more effective, precise, and accessible clinical care in the management of HCC.

Systematic bibliometric analysis of research hotspots and trends on the application of premium IOLs in the past 2 decades.

AIM: To analysis of research hotspots and trends on the application of premium intraocular lens (PIOLs) in the past 2 decades. METHODS: The literature search was performed on the Web of Science and included PIOLs studies published between January 2000 and December 2022. The retrieved literature was collated and analyzed by R-tool's Bibliometrix package, CitNetExplorer, CiteSpace and other software. RESULTS: A total of 1801 articles about PIOLs were obtained, most of which were published in Spain and the United States. The organization that published the most articles was the University of Valencia in Spain. Alió JL, and Montés-Micó R, from Spain were the most influential authors in this field. The Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and Journal of Refractive Surgery were the core journals for this field; the top 10 cited articles mainly focus on postoperative satisfaction with multifocal intraocular lens (IOLs) and postoperative results of toric IOLs. Through the keyword analysis, we found that trifocal IOLs, astigmatism and extended depth of focus (EDoF) IOLs are the most discussed topics at present, and the importance of astigmatism and the clinical application of the new generation of PIOLs are the emerging research trends. CONCLUSION: Bibliometric analysis can effectively help to identify multilevel concerns in PIOLs research and the prevailing research trends in the realm of PIOLs encompass the adoption of EDoF IOLs, trifocal IOLs, and their respective Toric models.

TET1 downregulates epithelial-mesenchymal transition and chemoresistance in PDAC by demethylating CHL1 to inhibit the Hedgehog signaling pathway.

Chemoresistance is a major obstacle to prolonging pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patient survival. TET1 is identified as the most important epigenetic modification enzyme that facilitates chemoresistance in cancers. However, the chemoresistance mechanism of TET1 in PDAC is unknown. This study aimed to determine the role of TET1 in the chemoresistance of PDAC. TET1-associated chemoresistance in PDAC was investigated in vitro and in vivo. The clinical significance of TET1 was analyzed in 228 PDAC patients by tissue microarray profiling. We identified that TET1 downregulation is caused by its promoter hypermethylation and correlates with poor survival in PDAC patients. In vitro and in vivo functional studies performed by silencing or overexpressing TET1 suggested that TET1 is able to suppress epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and sensitize PDAC cells to 5FU and gemcitabine. Then RNA-seq, whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) and ChIP-seq were used to explore the TET1-associated pathway, and showed that TET1 promotes the transcription of CHL1 by binding and demethylating the CHL1 promoter, which consequently inhibits the Hedgehog pathway. Additionally, inhibiting Hedgehog signaling by CHL1 overexpression or the Hedgehog pathway inhibitor, GDC-0449, reversed the chemoresistance induced by TET1 silencing. Regarding clinical significance, we found that high TET1 and high CHL1 expression predicted a better prognosis in resectable PDAC patients. In summary, we demonstrated that TET1 reverses chemoresistance in PDAC by downregulating the CHL1-associated Hedgehog signaling pathway. PDAC patients with a high expression levels of TET1 and CHL1 have a better prognosis.

Involvement of NEAT1/miR-133a axis in promoting cervical cancer progression via targeting SOX4.

NEAT1 is an important tumor oncogenic gene in various tumors. Nevertheless, its involvement remains poorly studied in cervical cancer. Our study explored the functional mechanism of NEAT1 in cervical cancer. NEAT1 level in several cervical cancer cells was quantified and we found NEAT1 was greatly upregulated in vitro. NEAT1 knockdown inhibited cervical cancer development through repressing cell proliferation, colony formation, capacity of migration, and invasion and also inducing the apoptosis. For another, microRNA (miR)-133a was downregulated in cervical cancer cells and NEAT1 negatively modulated miR-133a expression. Subsequently, we validated that miR-133a functioned as a potential target of NEAT1. Meanwhile, SOX4 is abnormally expressed in various cancers. SOX4 was able to act as a downstream target of miR-133a and silencing of SOX4 can restrain cervical cancer progression. In addition, in vivo assays were conducted to prove the role of NEAT1/miR-133a/SOX4 axis in cervical cancer. These findings implied that NEAT1 served as a competing endogenous RNA to sponge miR-133a and regulate SOX4 in cervical cancer pathogenesis. To sum up, it was implied that NEAT1/miR-133a/SOX4 axis was involved in cervical cancer development.

Overexpression of LINC00037 represses cervical cancer progression by activating mTOR signaling pathway.

Long non-coding RNAs have been reported to play crucial roles in tumorigenesis including cervical cancer. LINC00037 has been identified as a significant regulator in several cancers. Our study was aimed to investigate the function of LINC00037 in cervical cancer progression. LINC00037 was significantly downregulated in human cervical cancer cells (HeLa, HCC94, HT-3, Caski, and SiHa cells) compared with the ectocervical epithelial cells (End1/E6E7 cells). Overexpression of LINC00037 was able to inhibit cervical cancer cell proliferation, induce cell apoptosis, and restrain the cell migration/invasion capacity. Reversely, knockdown of LINC00037 exhibited an opposite process in vitro. mTOR has been recognized as an atypical serine/threonine kinase that is involved in regulating significant cellular functions. In our present study, we observed that the mTOR signaling pathway was strongly activated in human cervical cancer cells. Meanwhile, upregulation of LINC00037 contributed to the inactivation of mTOR signaling whereas downregulation of LINC00037 activated the pathway. Subsequently, in vivo animal models using SiHa cells were established and we proved that LINC00037 repressed cervical cancer progression via targeting the mTOR signaling pathway. All these findings implied that LINC00037 could regulate cervical cancer pathogenesis via mTOR signaling. In conclusion, a novel role of LINC00037 was manifested in cervical cancer progression.

The transcriptome profiles and methylation status revealed the potential cancer-related lncRNAs in patients with cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer continues to be a major public health problem. Although long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) were involved in the initiation and progression of cancer, few studies focus on the lncRNAs in the cervical cancer. Here, we systematically studied the clinical information, transcriptome profiling, and methylation array data of cervical squamous cell carcinoma and endocervical adenocarcinoma that retrieved from genomic data commons (GDC). Compared with protein-coding genes, the expression levels of pseudogenes and lncRNAs were much lower. A total of 190 differentially expressed lncRNAs and 2,326 protein-coding genes were identified. Meanwhile, 269 differentially methylation regions (DMRs), where 16 lncRNAs were located, were figured out. Only one lncRNA, LINC00592, which was located in the DMRs, was also found differentially expressed. Several transcriptional regulation genes, such as ZNF20, ZNF441, ZNF573, and TMF1, were highly correlated with the expression of LINC00592, which illustrated its possible function on the transcription. Two microRNAs, which were both associated with tumor progression, can bind to LINC00592. Moreover, LINC00592 were also differentially expressed in other tumors. We proposed, with the help of various databases, that LINC00592 is a potential cancer-related lncRNA in cervical cancer and might activate the cancer progression through the regulation of transcription or structural integrity.

Cytotoxic Responses and Apoptosis in Rat Kidney Epithelial Cells Exposed to Lead.

The toxic effects of lead on normal rat kidney epithelial cells (NRK cells) may occur via various pathways. However, the role of intrinsic mitochondrial pathway in Lead-induced apoptosis in NRK cells has not been investigated. The purpose of our study was to investigate cytotoxic responses and cell apoptosis mediated by lead in NRK cells. NRK cells were treated with different concentrations of Lead acetate for 12 h to determine the cytotoxicity of lead. Mitochondrial transmembrane potential was also analyzed using a fluorescence spectrophotometer. Moreover, the activities of caspase-3 and caspase-9 were detected in the presence of lead. Finally, the lead-induced cell apoptosis was evaluated by flow cytometry in the present of caspase inhibitors Z-VAD-FMK and Ac-LEHD-FMK, respectively. The results would contribute to clarify the role of Lead in proliferation and apoptosis of NRK cells, and help to understand the underlying mechanism responsible for lead-induced cell apoptosis.

T-2 toxin regulates steroid hormone secretion of rat ovarian granulosa cells through cAMP-PKA pathway.

T-2 toxin is a secondary metabolite produced by Fusarium genus and is a common contaminant in food and feedstuffs of cereal origin. In porcine granulosa cells(GC), T-2 toxin has been shown to inhibit the steroidogenesis; however, the mechanism has not been well understood. Gonadotropin-stimulated steroidogenesis is regulated by the cAMP-PKA pathway. In this study, we investigated potential mechanisms for T-2 toxin-induced reproductive toxicity focusing on the critical steps of the cAMP-PKA pathway affected by T-2 toxin. We first analyzed the effects of T-2 toxin on progesterone and estrogen production in rat granulosa cells. For this purpose the granulosa cells were cultured for 48 h in 10% fetal bovine serum-containing medium followed by 24h in serum-free medium containing FSH (10 ng/ml) and androstenedione (3 ng/ml), both are required for normal steroidogenesis. Treatment of these cells with T-2 toxin dose-dependently inhibited the growth of cells and the steroid hormone production. Cellular cyclic AMP levels were dose-dependently inhibited by T-2 toxin (0, 1, 10 and 100 nM, 24 h). Furthermore, we found that although the induction of progesterone by 8-Br-cAMP (a FSH mimetic) and 22R-HC (substrate for progesterone) could both be inhibited by T-2 toxin treatment, the T-2-imposed inhibitory effects could be reversed by increasing doses of 22R-HC, while increasing 8-Br-cAMP had no effects, suggesting that T2 toxin targeted at distinct mechanisms. cAMP-stimulated steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) is a rate limiting protein in progesterone synthesis. Exposure to T2 toxin caused significant suppression of StAR expression as determined by Western blotting and semi-quantitative RT-PCR suggesting StAR is a sensitive target for T-2 toxin. Taken together, our results strongly suggest that T2 toxin inhibits steroidogenesis by suppressing cAMP-PKA pathway and StAR is a target for T-2-toxin. The antisteroidogenesis effects were observable at low T-2 dose (1 ng/ml) suggesting T-2 toxin has an endocrine disruptive effect.

Immunomodulatory effects of betulinic acid from the bark of white birch on mice.

The objective of this study was to explore the immunomodulatory effects of betulinic acid (BA) extracted from the bark of white birch on mice. Female mice were orally administered BA for 14 days in doses of 0, 0.25, 0.5, and 1 mg/kg body weight. We found that BA significantly enhanced the thymus and spleen indices, and stimulated lymphocyte proliferation induced by Concanavalin A and lipopolysaccharide as shown by MTT assay. Flow cytometry revealed that BA increased the percentage of CD4(+) cells in thymus as well as the percentage of CD19(+) and the ratios of CD4(+)/CD8(+) in spleen. BA increased the number of plaque-forming cell and macrophage phagocytic activity as indicated by a neutral red dye uptake assay, and the peritoneal macrophages levels of TNF-α were also increased. In contrast, serum levels of IgG and IgM and serum concentrations of IL-2 and IL-6 were significantly decreased in BA-treated mice compared to the control as assayed by haemagglutination tests and ELISA, respectively. Taken together, these results suggest that BA enhances mouse cellular immunity, humoral immunity, and activity of macrophages. Thus, BA is a potential immune stimulator and may strengthen the immune response of its host.