LZ-106, a potent lysosomotropic agent, causing TFEB-dependent cytoplasmic vacuolization.

Cytoplasmic vacuolization usually occurs in cells treated with different agents and substances. We found that LZ-106, an analog of enoxacin, is a potent lysosomotropic agent, contributing to the formation of cytoplasmic vacuoles in cells. Studies of LZ-106-induced vacuolization in H460 cells showed acid environment inside these vacuoles. Further study demonstrated that markers in the late endosomes and lysosomes, like LAMP1 and RAB7, on the surface of the vacuoles, implying that these vacuoles might derive from endosomes and/or lysosomes. By studying the fluorescence intensity of LZ-106, we discovered that LZ-106 tended to locate in acid organelles, and Bafilomycin A1, a V-ATPase inhibitor, was able to suppress its acid organelles localization. Also, we noticed that LZ-106 could induce lysosome stress, involving pH increment and lysosomal membrane damage. Moreover, the expression levels of some lysosome-related proteins, like LAMP1, EEA1, and Cathepsin B, were also altered upon LZ-106 treatment. At last, we confirmed LZ-106 can activate TFEB, a key regulator of lysosomes. Knockdown of TFEB could also reverse LZ-106's effect on vacuolization in H460 cells. Taken together, due to LZ-106's lysosomotropic properties, it is able to accumulate in the acid organelles and induce lysosomal dysfunction in H460 cells, leading to TFEB activation and the following cytoplasmic vacuolization.

Serum miR-638 Combined with Squamous Cell Carcinoma-Related Antigen as Potential Screening Biomarkers for Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Aims: Cervical cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in developing nations. Human papillomavirus prophylactic vaccines are not widely available, and there are shortages of gynecologists and cytologists in the already overburdened health care systems. The aim of this study was to identify circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) that could be used as feasible screening tests for cervical cancer in low-resource regions. Materials and Methods: Serum expression levels of five miRNAs were measured and validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) patients, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia patients, and healthy individuals. Squamous cell carcinoma-related antigen (SCC-Ag) was also measured in the serum. Results: Serum miR-638, miR-203a-3p, miR-1914-5p, and miR-521 levels were downregulated in the CSCC group (p < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicated that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) values for miR-638 and miR-521 were 0.734 and 0.742, respectively, for discriminating CSCC patients from healthy controls. Furthermore, the combined use of miR-638 and SCC-Ag yielded the best screening performance and increased the AUC value, sensitivity, and specificity to 0.956, 94.87%, and 80.00%, respectively. Conclusion: This study suggested that miR-638 and miR-521 have independent screening value and that the combined measurement of miR-638 and SCC-Ag resulted in a better ability to discriminate patients with CSCC from healthy individuals.

Association Study Between Methylation in the Promoter Regions of cGAS, MAVS, and TRAF3 Genes and the Risk of Cervical Precancerous Lesions and Cervical Cancer in a Southern Chinese Population.

A case-control study was used to explore the association between the methylation status in the promoter regions of the cGAS, MAVS, and TRAF3 genes and the diseases of cervical precancerous lesions (CPL) and cervical cancer (CC) in a Southern Chinese population, and to further explore their interaction effects with high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) infection and environmental factors in these diseases. The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, and this study was performed in 97 healthy controls, 75 patients with CPL and 33 patients with CC, while each participant has read and signed the informed consent forms before enrolment. The promoter methylation status genes were detected from the bisulfite-treated DNA by the bisulfite sequencing PCR (BSP) technique, which was carried out using MethPrimer. The cGAS, MAVS, and TRAF3 promoter methylation levels in CPL (CPL cGAS = 35.40%, CPL MAVS = 24.26%, and CPL TRAF3 = 96.76%) were significantly higher than those in the control (Control cGAS = 31.87%, Control MAVS = 21.16%, and Control TRAF3 = 96.26%, PcGAS < 0.001, PMAVS < 0.001, and PTRAF3 = 0.001); however, there was no significant differences between the CC and control. In the logistic regression model with adjusted covariates, compared with the individuals whose cGAS methylation levels were less than or equal to 31.87%, the women with the levels more than 31.87% increased the risk of CPL by 2.49 times (ORa = 2.49, 95% CI = 1.31-4.75, P a = 0.006). The women with MAVS methylation levels above 21.16% were 1.97 times more likely to have CPL than the those with the levels less than 21.16% (ORa = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.06-3.69, P a = 0.033). A synergistic interaction was found between hrHPV and gene promoter methylation levels of cGAS and MAVS in CPL; however, no potential interaction was observed in CC. The promoter methylation levels in cGAS, MAVS, and TRAF3 genes are higher in CPL than in control, indicating that hypermethylation might be an early event in the progression of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). The interaction between the promoter methylation levels in cGAS and MAVS genes and hrHPV infection might play a role in the development of CPL.

Silica nanoparticles as an enhancer in the IL-1ß-induced inflammation cycle of A549 cells.

Objective: The industrial production and combustion of coal can produce silica nanoparticles (nano-SiO2). It enters the human body mainly through the respiratory tract and exerts a toxic effect. However, whether nano-SiO2 can increase the IL-1ß-induced inflammatory expression in A549 cells has not been tested. Therefore, the synergistic toxicity of nano-SiO2 and IL-1ß to A549 was observed in our study. Materials and methods: We exposed A549 cells to nano-SiO2 (0, 100, 500, and 1000 µg/ml) for 12 and 24 h. The effect of nano-SiO2 on the viability of A549 cells was observed by the CCK-8 method. The A549 cells were exposed to nano-SiO2 (1 mg/mL) and cytokine IL-1ß (10 ng/mL) for 4 h, and we detected the expression of IL-1ß and IL-6 cytokines by real time quantitative polymerase chain (RT-qPCR) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expression of ß-Actin, I-κB, phospho-ERK1/2 (P-ERK1/2), total-ERK1/2 (T-ERK1/2), phospho-JNK (P-JNK), total-JNK (T-JNK), phospho-P38 (P-P38), and total-P38 (T-P38) in A549 cells was detected by the Western Blot method. Results: The nano-SiO2 treatment resulted in a time-dependent decrease in the viability of A549 cells. The synergistic effect of nano-SiO2 and IL-1ß was observed on the new production of IL-1ß and IL-6 in A549 cells. The Western blot results showed that nano-SiO2 can increase the expression of IL-1ß and IL-6 by promoting the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and elevating the phosphorylation of I-κB by IL-1ß. IL-1ß and IL-6 were induced by nano-SiO2, and the IL-1ß treatment with 20 µM of I-κBα phosphorylation inhibitor (PD98059) and 20 µM of ERK1/2 inhibitor (BAY11-7082) for 1 h was significantly lower than that of the control group in A549 cells. Discussion and conclusion: These results indicated that nano-SiO2 had a toxic effect on A549 cells, and this effect could increase IL-1ß on the A549 cell-induced inflammatory response. The results suggested that the release of IL-1ß and IL-6 in A549 was enhanced by the synergistic IL-1ß-induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and I-κB. This process is similar to a snowball, and it is possible that IL-1ß is continuously produced and repeatedly superimposed in A549 cells to produce an inflammatory effect; then, a vicious circle occurs, and an inflammatory storm is accelerated.

G1 phase cell cycle arrest in NSCLC in response to LZ-106, an analog of enoxacin, is orchestrated through ROS overproduction in a P53-dependent manner.

LZ-106, a newly synthetized analog of quinolone, has been shown to be highly effective in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in both cultured cells and xenograft mouse model with low toxicity, yet the molecular mechanisms still require exploration. Here, we substantiated the involvement of P53 activation in intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation upon LZ-106 treatment and related P53 to the ROS-induced viability inhibition and apoptosis, which was exhibited in the previous research. P53 was shown to play an indispensable role in the elevated levels of intracellular ROS in LZ-106-treated NSCLC cells through ROS detection. We further identified the anti-proliferation effect of LZ-106 in NSCLC cells through G1 phase cell cycle arrest by cell cycle analysis, with the expression analysis of the key proteins, and discovered that the cell cycle arrest effect is also mediated by induction of ROS in a P53-dependent manner. In addition, the tumor suppression effect exhibited in vivo was demonstrated to be similar to that in vitro, which requires the participation of P53. Thus, LZ-106 is a potent antitumor drug possessing potent proliferation inhibition and apoptosis induction ability through the P53-dependent ROS modulation both in vitro and in vivo.

Association Between MALAT1 and THRIL Polymorphisms and Precancerous Cervical Lesions.

BACKGROUND: The occurrence of cervical cancer is a complex process, for which human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a risk factor, although not all women infected with HPV will develop the disease. Knockout of mammalian lung metastasis associated transcript 1 (MALAT1) is associated with increased risk for several cancer types, whereas the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) THRIL is essential for induction of tumor necrosis factor-α expression, which plays important roles in HPV infection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To investigate the effects of polymorphisms in the lncRNAs MALAT1 and THRIL on the susceptibility to precancerous cervical lesions, 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were analyzed from 164 cervical precancerous lesion cases and 428 controls. Gene-gene and gene-environment interactions and haplotype associations were also evaluated. RESULTS: We found a significantly decreased risk of precancerous cervical lesions for the THRIL rs7133268 AG genotype (odds ratio adjusted = 0.63, 95% confidence interval: 0.42-0.94, p = 0.025). Multifactor dimensionality reduction analysis identified a significant two-locus interaction model involved in HPV infection and THRIL rs7133268 (training balanced accuracy = 0.6957, testing balanced accuracy = 0.6948, cross-validation consistency = 10/10, p = 0.0046). Other SNPs, including the two identified for MALAT1, were not significantly related to the risk of precancerous cervical lesions. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the rs7133268 polymorphism of the lncRNA THRIL gene can reduce the genetic susceptibility of precancerous cervical lesions and in turn reduce the risk of HPV infection.

Association of variants of miRNA processing genes with cervical precancerous lesion risk in a southern Chinese population.

The miRNA processing genes play essential roles in the biosynthesis of mammalian miRNAs, and their genetic variants are involved in the development of various cancers. Our study aimed to determine the potential association between miRNA processing gene polymorphisms and cervical precancerous lesions. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including Ran-GTP (RAN) rs14035, exportin-5 (XPO5) rs11077, DICER1 rs3742330, DICER1 rs13078, and TARBP2 rs784567, were genotyped in a case-control study to estimate risk factors of cervical precancerous lesions. The gene-environment interactions and haplotype association were estimated. We identified a 27% decreased risk of cervical precancerous lesions for individuals with minor G allele in DICER1 rs3742330 (odds ratio (OR) = 0.73, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.58-0.92, P = 0.009). The AG and AG/GG genotypes in DICER1 rs3742330 were also found to decrease the risk of cervical precancerous lesions (AG compared with AA: OR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.35-0.73, P <0.001; AG/GG compared with AA: OR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.39-0.77, P = 0.001). The GT haplotype in DICER1 had a risk effect on cervical precancerous lesions compared with the AT haplotype (OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.08-1.73, P = 0.010). A two-factor (DICER1 rs3742330 and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection) and two three-factor (model 1: rs3742330, passive smoking, and HPV infection; model 2: rs3742330, abortion history, and HPV infection) interaction models for cervical precancerous lesions were identified. In conclusion, the genetic variants in the miRNA processing genes and interactions with certain environmental factors might contribute to the risk of cervical precancerous lesions in southern Chinese women.