Cordycepin inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis in human cholangiocarcinoma.

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of cordycepin in human cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) cell growth and apoptosis. In the present study, colony formation assay, cell-counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and tumor xenograft experiment were performed to evaluate the effect of cordycepin on human CCA cell growth in vitro and in vivo; flow cytometric analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of cordycepin on cell apoptosis; quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blot assays were performed to evaluate the expression levels of Caspase-3, Bcl-2 and Bax. The results showed that cordycepin inhibited cell growth in QBC939 and RBE cells in vitro and it could also inhibit QBC939 cells growth in vivo. Furthermore, the flow cytometric analysis, qRT-PCR and western blot assays showed that cordycepin could trigger QBC939 and RBE cells apoptosis by regulating the expression levels of Caspase-3, Bcl-2 and Bax. And we proposed that cordycepin could inhibit human CCA cell growth in vitro and in vivo, while, this function is related to the induction of cell apoptosis.

Long non-coding RNA MALAT1 promotes cholangiocarcinoma cell proliferation and invasion by activating PI3K/Akt pathway.

Increasing evidence indicated that metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) acted as a key regulator in the proliferation and invasion of several cancers. However, the function of MALAT1 in the development of cholangiocarcinoma has not been experimentally established. In the present study, the expression levels of MALAT1 in cholangiocarcinoma cell lines were detected by quantitative real-time PCR. The effects of MALAT1 knockdown on the cell proliferation and invasion of cholangiocarcinoma cells were detected with Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), colony formation assay and Trans-well assay, respectively. The expressions of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins (E-cadherin, Vimentin) were evaluated to discover whether the process of EMT was involved. We also evaluated the expression of phos-phatidylinositol-3-kinase/serine/threonine kinase (PI3K/Akt) signaling pathway proteins (PI3K, p-PI3K, Akt, p-Akt) to determine the associated molecular mechanism. And we discovered that MALAT1 was up-regulated in cholangiocarcinoma cancer cells. CCK-8, colony formation and trans-well assay showed that the proliferation and invasion of QBC-939 and RBE with MALAT1 knockdown were inhibited. Moreover, MALAT1 could promote EMT in cholangiocarcinoma cells. In addition, MALAT1 may activate PI3K/Akt pathway. These results indicated that MALAT1 promoted cholangiocarcinoma cell proliferation and invasion. The effects of MALAT1 on cholangiocarcinoma cells might be through activating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. These investigations may facilitate a better understanding of MALAT1 and it might be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of cholangiocarcinoma.

Study on the relationship between miR-520g and the development of breast cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common malignant tumors occurred in women. There is no sensitive and specific marker for early diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of breast cancer. It is suggested that miRNA may be a potential tumor marker for breast cancer. Mir-520g is considered to be associated with many tumors. This study aims to test the expression of mir-520g in peripheral blood of BC patients and healthy control. We also explored the relationship between mir-520g and several prognostic factors in breast cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The peripheral blood of 86 cases with breast cancer (including 18 cases with stage 0, 24 cases of phase I, 20 cases of stage II, 24 cases of stage III) and 26 cases of healthy subjects were collected. The miR-520g level was measured by real-time quantitative PCR (RT qPCR) method. The correlation between plasma miR-520g level and the clinical stage, molecular subtype, receptors' expression and other factors related to the prognosis of the patients were examined. RESULTS: Plasma mir-520g expression levels were significantly higher in BC patients with lymph node metastatic and low differentiation degree grade (p = 0.033 and 0.016), and plasma miR-520g expression was significantly higher in breast cancer patients with mammary gland invasion (p < 0.01) and low expressed p53 (p = 0.0039). CONCLUSIONS: Highly expressed mir-520g is associated with lymph node metastasis and low differentiation of breast cancer, and also is associated with mammary gland invasion in breast cancer. This study suggests that mir-520g may be associated with some important prognostic factors in breast cancer patients, and may have a potential value for breast cancer marker.

Identification of microRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers in screening of head and neck cancer: a meta-analysis.

Head and neck cancer (HNC) is one of the most prevalent cancers; it is often diagnosed at its advanced stage and has a low 5-year survival rate. Evidence suggests that noninvasive biomarker microRNAs (miRNAs) are valuable for early diagnosis of HNC. This meta-analysis assessed the diagnostic value of miRNAs in HNC detection. A systematic literature search for relevant studies up to August 4, 2014 was conducted in databases and other sources. Statistical analysis was conducted using STATA 12.0. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, and other parameters, together with a summary receiver operating characteristic curve were used to assess the overall performance of miRNA assays. Subgroup analyses and meta-regression were used to analyze heterogeneity, and a Deeks' funnel plot asymmetry test assessed publication bias. Twenty-four articles with 1856 HNC patients and 1375 controls were included. The pooled results were as follows: sensitivity, 0.80 (95%CI = 0.77-0.83); specificity, 0.80 (95%CI = 0.76-0.85); positive likelihood ratio, 4.1 (95%CI = 3.2-5.2); negative likelihood ratio, 0.25 (95%CI = 0.21-0.30); diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), 16 (95%CI = 11-24); and area under curve (AUC), 0.87 (95%CI = 0.84-0.89). We conducted subgroup analyses based on ethnicity, cancer type, miRNA profiling, and specimen types, and found that miRNA assays yielded the highest accuracy in esophageal cancer. Notably, the DOR was 99 and the AUC was 0.96 for the multiple miRNA test, indicating strong discrimination of cancer patients from healthy people. The meta-analysis indicates that noninvasive miRNAs are a promising diagnostic tool with moderate accuracy for HNC diagnosis.