MYEOV with High Frequencies of Mutations in Head and Neck Cancers Facilitates Cancer Cell Malignant Behaviors.

Cancer driver genes (CDGs) and the driver mutations disrupt the homeostasis of numerous critical cell activities, thereby playing a critical role in tumor initiation and progression. In this study, integrative bioinformatics analyses were performed based on a series of online databases, aiming to identify driver genes with high frequencies of mutations in head and neck cancers. Higher myeloma overexpressed (MYEOV) genetic variation frequency and expression level were connected to a poorer prognosis in head and neck cancer patients. MYEOV was dramatically upregulated within head and neck tumor samples and cells. Consistently, MYEOV overexpression remarkably enhanced the aggressiveness of head and neck cancer cells by promoting colony formation, cell invasion, and cell migration. Conversely, MYEOV knockdown attenuated cancer cell aggressiveness and inhibited tumor growth and metastasis in the oral orthotopic tumor model. In conclusion, MYEOV is overexpressed in head and neck cancer, with greater mutation frequencies correlating to a poorer prognosis in head and neck cancer patients. MYEOV serves as an oncogene in head and neck cancer through the promotion of tumor cell colony formation, invasion, and migration, as well as promoting tumor growth and metastasis in the oral orthotopic tumor model.

Dicalcium Silicate Induced Proinflammatory Responses through TLR2-Mediated NF-κB and JNK Pathways in the Murine RAW 264.7 Macrophage Cell Line.

Proinflammatory responses are important aspects of the immune response to biomaterials, which may cause peri-implantitis and implant shedding. The purpose of this study was to test the cytotoxicity and proinflammatory effects of dicalcium silicate particles on RAW 264.7 macrophages and to investigate the proinflammatory response mechanism induced by C2S and tricalcium phosphate (TCP). C2S and TCP particles were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy spectrum analysis (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Cytotoxicity and apoptosis assays with C2S and TCP in the murine RAW 264.7 cell line were tested using the cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and flow cytometry (FCM). The detection results showed that C2S and TCP particles had no obvious toxicity in RAW 264.7 cells and did not cause obvious apoptosis, although they both caused an oxidative stress response by producing ROS when the concentrations were at 100 µg/mL. C2S particles are likely to induce a proinflammatory response by inducing high TLR2, TNF-α mRNA, TNF-α proinflammatory cytokine, p-IκB, and p-JNK1 + JNK2 + JNK3 expression levels. When we added siRNA-TLR2-1, a significant reduction was observed. These findings support the theory that C2S particles induce proinflammatory responses through the TLR2-mediated NF-κB and JNK pathways in the murine RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line.

miR-340-5p affects oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells proliferation and invasion by targeting endoplasmic reticulum stress proteins.

Lip and oral cancer is the 12th most common malignancy and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) represents about 90% of all oral malignant tumors, with an annual mortality rate exceeding 50%. Recent studies have concluded that endoplasmic reticulum stress may have a close link to tumor genesis, progression, and prognosis. As an epigenetic regulatory factor, miRNA exerts a substantial effect on tumor development. This study found that transcription factor 6 (ATF6) and Protein kinase R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) were abnormally increased within OSCC tissue samples and oral cancer cell lines. The biological functions of ATF6 and PERK within CAL-27 and SCC-9 oral cancer cell lines were investigated. In vitro experiments revealed that silencing ATF6 and PERK suppressed the ability of cells to proliferate and to invade and mitigated cell endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. As predicted by bioinformatics analyses and experiments, miR-340-5p could simultaneously bind to ATF6 and PERK 3' untranslated region (UTR) and inhibit ATF6 and PERK expression. miR-340-3p overexpression inhibited while down-regulation of miR-340-5p boosted the invading and proliferating ability of oral cancer cells, and miR-340-3p also affects ER stress. When co-transfected in oral cancer cells, dynamic effects of miR-340-5p and its targets PERK and ATF6 on cell phenotypes in vitro and in vivo were investigated. PERK or ATF6 overexpression dramatically attenuated phenotypes of miR-340-5p up-regulation. Altogether, miR-340-5p targets the endoplasmic reticulum stress proteins PERK and ATF6 to affect OSCC cell proliferation and invasion.

Expression and regulation of long noncoding RNAs during the osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells in the inflammatory microenvironment.

Although long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been emerging as critical regulators in various tissues and biological processes, little is known about their expression and regulation during the osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) in inflammatory microenvironment. In this study, we have identified 63 lncRNAs that are not annotated in previous database. These novel lncRNAs were not randomly located in the genome but preferentially located near protein-coding genes related to particular functions and diseases, such as stem cell maintenance and differentiation, development disorders and inflammatory diseases. Moreover, we have identified 650 differentially expressed lncRNAs among different subsets of PDLSCs. Pathway enrichment analysis for neighboring protein-coding genes of these differentially expressed lncRNAs revealed stem cell differentiation related functions. Many of these differentially expressed lncRNAs function as competing endogenous RNAs that regulate protein-coding transcripts through competing shared miRNAs.