miR-200a-3p predicts prognosis and inhibits bladder cancer cell proliferation by targeting STAT4.

Introduction: STAT4 is a transcriptional regulator that has been reported to have oncogenic activities in various cancers. In our study, the posttranscriptional regulatory effect of miR-200a-3p on STAT4 and the prognostic significance of miR-200a-3p and STAT4 were evaluated in bladder cancer (BCa). Material and methods: Proliferation and apoptosis of BCa cell lines were monitored using CCK-8 and Annexin V-FITC assays, respectively. Gene and protein expression levels in BCa tissues and cells were detected using RT-qPCR and western blotting, respectively. Results: Significant downregulation of miR-200a-3p and upregulation of STAT4 were observed in BCa tissues and cells compared with the corresponding non-tumor adjacent tissues. Both STAT4 and miR-200a-3p were validated as independent prognostic indicators in sixty-nine BCa patients for predicting overall survival and disease-free survival. In vitro experimental analyses revealed that knockdown of STAT4 repressed BCa cell growth and elevated cell apoptosis. Molecular interactive analysis revealed STAT4 as a direct target of miR-200a-3p, which could suppress STAT4 protein expression by posttranscriptional repression. Cotransfection of miR-200a-3p mimics and STAT4 overexpression plasmids into BCa cells demonstrated that the antineoplastic activities of miR-200a-3p in vitro were neutralized by overexpressed STAT4. Conclusions: The miR-200a-3p/STAT4 signaling cascade plays an important role in the progression of BCa, which provides a new promising target for targeted BCa therapies.

WITHDRAWN: Long non-coding RNA UCA1 regulates tumor growth by impairing let-7e-dependent HMGA2 repression in bladder cancer.

Ahead of Print article withdrawn by publisher.

[Phenotypic transformation of corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells in hypertensive rats].

OBJECTIVE: To validate the hypothesis that the phenotypic transformation occurs in the smooth muscle cells in the corpus cavernosum of hypertensive rat and explore its impact on the erectile function of rats. METHODS: Eighteen 16-week-old male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and 10 syngeneic normotensive rats (WKY) were used in this experiment. After measurement of systolic blood pressure of the caudal artery and examination of the erectile function with subcutaneous injection of apomorphine (APO), the rats were divided into 3 groups, namely hypertensive with erectile dysfunction (HBP-ED) group (n=6), hypertensive (HBP) group (n=12) and control group (n=10). Immunohistochemical staining and color image analysis system were used to observe expression of calponin 1 and osteopontin (OPN) in rat corpus cavernosum. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR was used to determine the expression of calponin 1 and OPN mRNAs in different groups. RESULTS: The expressions of calponin 1 protein and mRNA were the highest in the control group and the lowest in HBP-ED group, while the expressions of OPN protein and mRNA were the highest in HBP-ED group and the lowest in the control group. CONCLUSION: The smooth muscle cells may transform from the contractile phenotype into synthetic phenotype in the corpus cavernosum of the hypertensive rats, resulting ultimately in erectile dysfunction.