P21-activated kinase 5 plays essential roles in the proliferation and tumorigenicity of human hepatocellular carcinoma.

AIM: To investigate the roles of P21-activated kinase 5 (PAK5) in proliferation and tumorigenicity of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: HCC and matched paraneoplastictis tissue samples were obtained from 30 patients. Human HCC cell lines SMMC7721, HepG2, Hep3B, SK-HEP-1, Huh-7, and liver cell line HL-7702 were examined. The expression of PAK5 gene was studied using real-time qPCR and Western blotting. Cell proliferation was quantified with the MTT assay. Cell cycle was analyzed with flow cytometry. The tumorigenicity of Lv-shRNA-transfected HepG2 cells was evaluated in BALB/cA nude mice. RESULTS: The mRNA level of PAK5 was significantly higher in 25 out of 30 HCC samples compared to the matched paraneoplastic tissues. The HCC cell lines showed varying expression of PAK5 protein, and the highest level was found in the HepG2 cells. PAK5 gene silencing in HepG2 cells markedly reduced the cell proliferation and colony formation, and induced cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase. Furthermore, PAK5 gene silencing suppressed the tumor formation in nude mice, and significantly decreased the expression of HCC-related genes Cyclin D1 and beta-catenin. CONCLUSION: PAK5 may play essential roles in the initiation and progression of human HCC. Thus, it may be an effective therapeutic target or perhaps serve as a clinical diagnostic or prognostic marker in human HCC.

Krüppel-like factor 8 is a novel androgen receptor co-activator in human prostate cancer.

AIM: Krüppel-like factor 8 (KLF8) plays important roles in cell cycle and oncogenic transformation. On other hand, androgen receptor (AR) is crucial in development of both androgen-dependent and independent prostatic malignancies. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of KLF8 in prostate cancer (PCa) and the relationship between KLF8 and AR. METHODS: Eight human PCa cell lines, including androgen-dependent LNCap cells and androgen-independent 22Rv1 cells, as well as human PCa samples were studied. LNCap cells and 22Rv1 cells were transfected with plasmids encoding full-length wild-type KLF8 or KLF8 shRNA. The expression of KLF8 protein was detected using Western blotting or immunohistochemical staining. Cell proliferation in vitro was measured with MTT assay, and in vivo in a xenograft nude mouse model. Yeast two-hybrid screening, co-immunoprecipitation and pull down assays were used to examine the binding of KLF8 to AR. Luciferase reporter gene assay was used to measure the transcriptional activity of the genes targeted by AR. RESULTS: In 133 human PCa samples, KLF8 protein staining was observed in 92.65% (63/68) of high-grade PCa, 66.15% (43/65) of low-grade PCa, and 6.82% (3/44) of adjacent normal tissues. The expression of KLF8 was significantly associated with poorer overall survival. Overexpression of KLF8 enhanced the proliferation of both LNCap and 22Rv1 cells, while knockdown of endogenous KLF8 suppressed the proliferation. These manipulations exerted similar effects on the tumor volumes in the xenograft nude mouse model. Yeast two-hybrid screening revealed that KLF8 was a novel AR-interacting protein. With pull down assay and co-immunoprecipitation assay, we demonstrated that KLF8 bound directly to AR, and KLF8 enhanced AR target gene transcription. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate that KLF8 is a novel AR transcriptional co-activator that is overexpressed in PCa and may play a role in progression of hormone-refractory PCa.

miRNA-10a-5p inhibits cell metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma via targeting SKA1.

A variety of microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the role of miR-10a-5p in the progression of HCC remains unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the role of miR-10a-5p in the development of HCC and the possible molecular mechanism. miR-10a-5p expression in HCC tissues and plasma from patients was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Migratory changes in HCC cells were detected after the overexpression of miR-10a-5p. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins were detected by Western blot. Finally, through luciferase assay and rescue experiments, the mechanism by which miR-10a-5p regulates its downstream gene, human spindle and kinetochore-associated complex subunit 1, SKA1 and the interaction between these molecules in the development of HCC were determined. The expression of miR-10a-5p was markedly downregulated in HCC tissues, cell lines, and plasma. The overexpression of miR-10a-5p significantly inhibited the migration, invasion, and EMT of HCC cells. Furthermore, SKA1 was shown to be a downstream gene of miR-10a-5p. SKA1 silencing had the same effect as miR-10a-5p overexpression in HCC. In particular, the overexpression of SKA1 reversed the inhibitory effects of miR-10a-5p in HCC. Taken together, low miR-10a-5p expression is associated with HCC progression. miR-10a-5p inhibits the malignant development of HCC by negatively regulating SKA1.

Electroacupuncture may alleviate behavioral defects via modulation of gut microbiota in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease.

OBJECTIVE: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease involving non-motor symptoms, of which gastrointestinal disorders are the most common. In light of recent results, intestinal dysfunction may be involved in the pathogenesis of PD. Electroacupuncture (EA) has shown potential effects, although the underlying mechanism remains mostly unknown. We speculated that EA could relieve the behavioral defects of PD, and that this effect would be associated with modulation of the gut microbiota. METHODS: Mice were randomly divided into three groups: control, PD + MA (manual acupuncture), and PD + EA. MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine) was used to establish the mouse model of PD. Rotarod performance tests, open field tests, and pole tests were carried out to assess motor deficiencies. Immunohistochemistry was conducted to examine the survival of dopaminergic neurons. 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing was applied to investigate the alterations of the gut microbiome. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to characterize the messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines. RESULTS: We found that EA was able to alleviate the behavioral defects in the rotarod performance test and pole test, and partially rescue the significant loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN) chemically induced by MPTP in mice. Moreover, the PD + MA mice showed a tendency toward decreased intestinal microbial alpha diversity, while EA significantly reversed it. The abundance of Erysipelotrichaceae was significantly increased in PD + MA mice, and the alteration was also reversed by EA. In addition, the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α were substantially increased in the SN of PD + MA mice, an effect that was reversed by EA. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that EA may alleviate behavioral defects via modulation of gut microbiota and suppression of inflammation in the SN of mice with PD, which provides new insights into the pathogenesis of PD and its treatment.

Intra-oral pre-treatment with capsaicin increases consumption of sweet solutions in rats.

Sprague-Dawley rats received preference tests for sucrose or saccharin daily following oral treatment with 0.02% capsaicin. Consumed sweet solutions and preference scores increased in capsaicin-treated rats, compared to control rats on the second to fifth exposure period for sucrose and all exposure periods for saccharin. Chow intake was not affected by repeated treatment with capsaicin. Real-time RT-PCR analysis revealed decreased expression of sweet receptors T1R2 and T1R3 as well as capsaicin receptor VR1 in the circumvallate after this repeated oral exposure to capsaicin. VR1 immunoreactivities were also localized in the vallate taste cells by fluorescence immunohistochemistry. Results suggest that decreased expression of sweet receptors in the circumvallate may be related to increased sweet consumption in capsaicin-treated rats; any causal relationship should be further studied. Also, these data suggest that capsaicin may interact with a sweet transduction pathway in the mediation of its receptor VR1 that are located in the vallate taste cells.

Prognostic value of carbonic anhydrase XII (CA XII) overexpression in hepatocellular carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: Carbonic anhydrase XII (CA XII) is a key mediator of several signaling pathways that are involved in cancer development. This study was designed to investigate the clinical significance and prognostic value of postoperative CA XII expression in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on HCC tissue (n = 90), and the relationships between CA XII expression in the HCC tissue, the clinicopathologic features, and survival were further evaluated. The mRNA expression of CA XII and clinicopathologic characteristics of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were extracted from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. RESULTS: CA XII was overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues compared to normal liver tissues from the TCGA database. Moreover, CA XII mRNA expression was significantly associated with several clinicopathologic factors of hepatocellular carcinoma including sex (P = 0.011) and pathologic grade (P = 0.012). For HCC tissue samples in a tissue microarray (TMA), high CA XII protein expression was closely related to age (P = 0.013), tumor size (P = 0.014), and pathological grade (P = 0.015). A Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that elevated CA XII expression was associated with short disease-free survival (DFS) (P = 0.002) and overall survival (OS) (P = 0.006). In addition, a multivariate analysis showed that high CA XII expression was an independent prognostic indicator for disease-free survival (P = 0.018), but not overall survival, in HCC patients. CONCLUSION: This study showed that high CA XII expression was associated with poor prognosis in HCC patients.

Effect of pseudolaric acid B on gastric cancer cells: inhibition of proliferation and induction of apoptosis.

AIM: To examine the effect of pseudolaric acid B on the growth of human gastric cancer cell line, AGS, and its possible mechanism of action. METHODS: Growth inhibition by pseudolaric acid B was analyzed using MTT assay. Apoptotic cells were detected using Hoechst 33258 staining, and confirmed by DNA fragmentation analysis. Western blot was used to detect the expression of apoptosis-regulated gene Bcl-2, caspase 3, and cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1). RESULTS: Pseudolaric acid B inhibited the growth of AGS cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner by arresting the cells at G(2)/M phase, which was accompanied with a decrease in the levels of cdc2. AGS cells treated with pseudolaric acid B showed typical characteristics of apoptosis including chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation. Moreover, treatment of AGS cells with pseudolaric acid B was also associated with decreased levels of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2, activation of caspase-3, and proteolytic cleavage of PARP-1. CONCLUSION: Pseudolaric acid B can dramatically suppress the AGS cell growth by inducing apoptosis after G(2)/M phase arrest. These findings are consistent with the possibility that G(2)/M phase arrest is mediated by the down-regulation of cdc2 levels. The data also suggest that pseudolaric acid B can trigger apoptosis by decreasing Bcl-2 levels and activating caspase-3 protease.

Association between ADAM17 promoter polymorphisms and ischemic stroke in a Chinese population.

AIM: Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Most ischemic strokes (IS) are caused by atherosclerosis. Recently, the pivotal role of ADAM17 in atherosclerosis has been thoroughly addressed. However, the association between ADAM17 and IS has not yet been thoroughly explored. The present study therefore aimed to investigate the association between disintegrin and metalloproteinase 17 (ADAM17) gene polymorphisms and the risk of ischemic stroke (IS). METHODS: The associations between five ADAM17 promoter polymorphisms and the risk of IS were assessed in 342 patients with IS and 296 age-matched healthy individuals in a case-control study. RESULTS: The allele and genotype frequencies of the ADAM17 polymorphisms (rs11684747, rs11689958, rs12692386, rs55790676 and rs1524668) did not differ significantly between the IS patients and healthy control group subjects. In addition, no significant associations were detected between the ADAM17 haplotypes and IS. The mean intima-media thickness in the IS patients was not associated with the ADAM17 polymorphisms. When the IS patients were stratified according to their OCSP classification, the genotype frequencies of the ADAM17-rs1524668 polymorphism exhibited a significant association with the PACI subtype of IS. Moreover, the ADAM17-rs12692386 A＞G polymorphism was found to be associated with a higher ADAM17 mRNA expression. CONCLUSIONS: The SNPs in the ADAM17 promoter region do not appear to be major contributors to the pathogenesis of IS. However, the rs12692386 G ADAM17 allele is correlated with a higher expression of ADAM17 mRNA, which may play a role in increasing inflammation in IS patients. Furthermore, the ADAM17-rs1524668 polymorphism is linked to a higher risk of PACI-type stroke, confirming the role of ADAM17 in the pathophysiology of PACI, with potentially important therapeutic implications.