Higher concentration of P7C3 than required for neuroprotection suppresses renal cell carcinoma growth and metastasis.

Background: P7C3 is a novel compound that has been widely applied in neurodegenerative diseases and nerve injury repair. Here, we show that higher concentrations of P7C3 than are required for in vivo neuroprotection have the novel function of suppressing renal cell carcinoma (RCC) proliferation and metastasis. Methods: Colony formation, CCK-8 and EdU assay were applied to evaluate RCC cell proliferation. Wound healing and transwell assay were used to measure RCC cell migration and invasion. Flow cytometry assay was employed to detect RCC cell apoptosis and cell cycle. qRT-PCR assay was carried out to measure ribonucleotide reductase subunit M2 (RRM2) mRNA expression level, while western blot assay was utilized to detect the expression level of target proteins. RCC cell growth in vivo was determined by xenografts in mice. Results: We observed that high concentrations of P7C3 could restrain the proliferation and metastasis of RCC cells and promote cell apoptosis. Mechanistically, this new effect of higher dose of P7C3 was associated with reduced expression of RRM2, and the beneficial efficacy of P7C3 in RCC was blocked when suppression of RRM2 was prevented. When RRM2 suppression was permitted, the cGAS-STING pathway was activated by virtue of RRM2/Bcl-2/Bax signaling. Lastly, intraperitoneal injection of this high level of P7C3 in mice potently inhibited tumor growth. Conclusion: In conclusion, we show here that P7C3 that exerts an anti-cancer effect in RCC. Our study indicated that P7C3 might act as a novel drug for RCC in the future. The regulatory signal pathway RRM2/Bcl-2/BAX/cGAS-STING might present novel insight to the potential mechanism of RCC development.

Erratum: A CRISPR Interference of CBP and p300 Selectively Induced Synthetic Lethality in Bladder Cancer Cells In Vitro: Erratum.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.32332.].

Coactivation of Hydrogen Peroxide Using Pyrogenic Carbon and Magnetite for Sustainable Oxidation of Organic Pollutants.

Pyrogenic carbon and magnetite (Fe3O4) were mixed together for the activation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), aiming to enhance the oxidation of refractory pollutants in a sustainable way. The experimental results indicated that the straw-derived carbon obtained by pyrolysis at 500-800 °C was efficient on coactivation of H2O2, and the most efficient one was that prepared at 700 °C (C700) featured with abundant defects. Specifically, the reaction rate constant (kobs) for removal of an antibiotic ciprofloxacin in the coactivation system (C700/Fe3O4/H2O2) is 12.5 times that in the magnetite-catalyzed system (Fe3O4/H2O2). The faster pollutant oxidation is attributed to the sustainable production of •OH in the coactivation process, in which the carbon facilitated decomposition of H2O2 and regeneration of Fe(II). Besides the enhanced H2O2 utilization in the coactivation process, the leaching of iron was controlled within the concentration limit in drinking water (0.3 mg·L-1) set by the World Health Organization.

N,S-codoped biochar outperformed N-doped biochar on co-activation of H2O2 with trace dissolved Fe(â ¢) for enhanced oxidation of organic pollutants.

Co-activation of H2O2 with biochar and iron sources together provides an attractive strategy for efficient removal of refractory pollutants, because it can solve the problems of slow Fe(Ⅱ) regeneration in Fenton/Fenton-like processes and of low •OH yield in biochar-activated process. In this study, a wood-derived biochar (WB) was modified by heteroatom doping for the objective of enhancing its reactivity toward co-activation of H2O2. The performance of the co-activated system using doped biochars and trace dissolved Fe(Ⅲ) on oxidation of organic pollutants was evaluated for the first time. The characterizations using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectra and electrochemical analyses indicate that heteroatom doping introduced more defects in biochar and improved its electron transfer capacity. The oxidation experiments show that heteroatom doping improved the performance of biochar in the co-activated process, in which the N,S-codoped biochar (NSB) outperformed the N-doped biochar (NB) on oxidation of pollutants. The reaction rate constant (kobs) for oxidation of sulfadiazine in NSB + Fe + H2O2 is 2.25 times that in NB + Fe + H2O2, and is 72.9 times that in the Fenton-like process without biochar, respectively. The mechanism investigations indicate that heteroatom doping enhanced biochar's reactivity on catalyzing the decomposition of H2O2 and on reduction of Fe(Ⅲ) due to the improved electron transfer/donation capacity. In comparison with N-doping, N,S-codoping provided additional electron donor (thiophenic C-S-C) for faster regeneration of Fe(Ⅱ) with less amount of doping reagent used. Furthermore, co-activation with NSB maintained to be efficient at a milder acidic pH than Fenton/Fenton-like processes, and can be used for oxidation of different pollutants and in real water. Therefore, this research provides a novel, sustainable and cost-efficient method for oxidation of refractory pollutants.

Aldolase B attenuates clear cell renal cell carcinoma progression by inhibiting CtBP2.

Aldolase B (ALDOB), a glycolytic enzyme, is uniformly depleted in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) tissues. We previously showed that ALDOB inhibited proliferation through a mechanism independent of its enzymatic activity in ccRCC, but the mechanism was not unequivocally identified. We showed that the corepressor C-terminal-binding protein 2 (CtBP2) is a novel ALDOB-interacting protein in ccRCC. The CtBP2-to-ALDOB expression ratio in clinical samples was correlated with the expression of CtBP2 target genes and was associated with shorter survival. ALDOB inhibited CtBP2-mediated repression of multiple cell cycle inhibitor, proapoptotic, and epithelial marker genes. Furthermore, ALDOB overexpression decreased the proliferation and migration of ccRCC cells in an ALDOB-CtBP2 interaction-dependent manner. Mechanistically, our findings showed that ALDOB recruited acireductone dioxygenase 1, which catalyzes the synthesis of an endogenous inhibitor of CtBP2, 4-methylthio 2-oxobutyric acid. ALDOB functions as a scaffold to bring acireductone dioxygenase and CtBP2 in close proximity to potentiate acireductone dioxygenase-mediated inhibition of CtBP2, and this scaffolding effect was independent of ALDOB enzymatic activity. Moreover, increased ALDOB expression inhibited tumor growth in a xenograft model and decreased lung metastasis in vivo. Our findings reveal that ALDOB is a negative regulator of CtBP2 and inhibits tumor growth and metastasis in ccRCC.

Co-catalysis of trace dissolved Fe(iii) with biochar in hydrogen peroxide activation for enhanced oxidation of pollutants.

Activation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) with biochar is a sustainable and low-cost approach for advanced oxidation of organic pollutants, but faces the challenge of a low yield of hydroxyl radical (˙OH). Herein, we hypothesize that the activation efficiency of H2O2 can be enhanced through co-catalysis of trace dissolved iron (Fe) with biochar. Two biochar samples derived from different feedstock, namely LB from liquor-making residue and WB from wood sawdust, were tested in the co-catalytic systems using trace Fe(iii) (0.3 mg L-1). The cumulative ˙OH production in [Fe(iii) + LB]/H2O2 was measured to be 3.28 times that in LB/H2O2, while the cumulative ˙OH production in [Fe(iii) + WB]/H2O2 was 11.9 times that in WB/H2O2. No extra consumption of H2O2 was observed in LB/H2O2 or WB/H2O2 after addition of trace Fe(iii). Consequently, the reaction rate constants (k obs) for oxidation of pollutants (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and sulfamethazine) were enhanced by 3.13-9.16 times. Other iron species including dissolved Fe(ii) and iron minerals showed a similar effect on catalyzing 2,4-D oxidation by biochar/H2O2. The interactions involved in adsorption and reduction of Fe(iii) by biochar in which the defects acted as electron donors and oxygen-containing functional groups bridged the electron transfer. The fast regeneration of Fe(ii) in the co-catalytic system resulted in the sustainable ˙OH production, thus the efficient oxidation of pollutants comparable to other advanced oxidation processes was achieved by using dissolved iron at a concentration as low as the concentration that can be found in natural water.

Angiotensin II promotes EMT of hepatocellular carcinoma cells through high mobility group protein B1 mediated by E4F1.

To screen for specific transcription factors (TFs) that induce expression of the HMGB1 promoter in response to stimulation by Ang-II. A HMGB1 overexpressing vector and small interfering (si)RNA were constructed and used to transfect the three HCC cell lines used in scratched monolayer wound healing and Transwell assays. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays were used to confirm the relationship between a specific TF and the HMGB1 promoter. Invasion and migration by HMGB1 overexpressing HCC cells after treatment with Ang-II were significantly increased compared to negative controls (NC); E-cadherin was down-regulated while vimentin was up-regulated. However, compared with NC, invasion and migration by HMGB1 siRNA HCC cells stimulated by Ang-II were not altered; the expression of E-cadherin and vimentin was also unaltered. Nineteen TFs were predicted by Promoter 2.0 Prediction Server and TFsitescan. Real-time qPCR was used to evaluate TF expression levels. E4F1 was the only TF abnormally elevated in all three HCC cell lines when stimulated by Ang-II. WB and ChIP assays revealed high expression of E4F1 compared to other TFs in cells stimulated by Ang-II. E4F1 is activated by Ang-II and binds to the HMGB1 promoter region to promote HMGB1 expression; it then enhances Ang-II to induce HCC cell invasion and migration, and EMT.

CircTLK1 promotes the proliferation and metastasis of renal cell carcinoma by sponging miR-136-5p.

BACKGROUND: Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a novel type of noncoding RNA (ncRNA), are covalently linked circular configurations that form via a loop structure. Accumulating evidence indicates that circRNAs are potential biomarkers and key regulators of tumor development and progression. However, the precise roles of circRNAs in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remain unknown. METHODS: Through circRNA high-throughput sequencing of RCC cell lines, we identified the circRNA TLK1 (circTLK1) as a novel candidate circRNA derived from the TLK1 gene. qRT-PCR detected the mRNA, circRNA and miRNA expression levels in RCC tissues and cells. Loss-of function experiments were executed to detect the biological roles of circTLK1 in the RCC cell phenotypes in vitro and in vivo. RNA-FISH, RNA pull-down, dual-luciferase reporter, western blot and immunohistochemistry assays were used to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the functions of circTLK1. RESULTS: circTLK1 is overexpressed in RCC, and expression is positively correlated with distant metastasis and unfavorable prognosis. Silencing circTLK1 significantly inhibited RCC cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro and in vivo. circTLK1 was mainly distributed in the cytoplasm and positively regulated CBX4 expression by sponging miR-136-5p. Forced CBX4 expression reversed the circTLK1 suppression-induced phenotypic inhibition of RCC cells. Moreover, CBX4 expression was positively correlated with VEGFA expression in RCC tissues. CBX4 knockdown significantly inhibited VEGFA expression in RCC cells. CONCLUSION: Collectively, our findings demonstrate that circTLK1 plays a critical role in RCC progression by sponging miR-136-5p to increase CBX4 expression. circTLK1 may act as a diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for RCC.

The miR-140-5p/KLF9/KCNQ1 axis promotes the progression of renal cell carcinoma.

Although renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a common malignant urological cancer, its pathogenesis remains unclear. Previous studies have indicated that miR-140-5p acts as a tumor suppressor in various tumors, including bladder cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, and gastric cancer, but its biological function in RCC remains unknown. In the present study, we found that miR-140-5p was upregulated in RCC tissues, whereas Krüppel-like factor 9 (KLF9) was downregulated and correlated inversely with miR-140-5p in RCC tissues. miR-140-5p promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion of RCC cells in vitro, and knockdown of miR-140-5p significantly suppressed tumor growth and lung metastasis in nude mouse model of RCC. We also found that miR-140-5p significantly suppressed the expression of KLF9 by binding to the 3'-UTR of KLF9 mRNA and that KLF9, as a transcription factor, upregulates KCNQ1 (also called Kv 7.1 and Kv LQT1) expression by binding to the site (-841/-827) in the KCNQ1 promoter region in RCC cells. Moreover, forced expression of KCNQ1 decreased the growth and metastasis of RCC cells. These results suggest that the miR-140-5p/KLF9/KCNQ1 axis functions as a key signaling pathway in RCC progression and metastasis and represents a potential target of RCC therapies.

Circular RNA MYLK promotes tumour growth and metastasis via modulating miR-513a-5p/VEGFC signalling in renal cell carcinoma.

Growing evidence indicates that circular RNAs (circRNAs) are promising biomarkers, as they play significant roles in the development of various cancers. The circular RNA MYLK (circMYLK) has been reported to be involved in the development of malignant tumours, including liver, prostate and bladder cancers. Nevertheless, the biological function of circMYLK in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remains unclear. In this study, we observed that circMYLK is notably up-regulated in RCC. Increased circMYLK expression led to a larger tumour size, distant metastasis and poor prognosis of RCC patients. Moreover, circMYLK silencing repressed RCC growth and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, circMYLK can capture miR-513a-5p to facilitate VEGFC expression and further promote the tumorigenesis of RCC cells. In summary, our findings demonstrate that circMYLK has an oncogenic role in RCC growth and metastasis by modulating miR-513a-5p/VEGFC signalling. Thus, circMYLK has potential as a diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target in the treatment of RCC.

LncRNA NRON promotes the proliferation, metastasis and EMT process in bladder cancer.

Background: Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most common malignancies world-wide with high morbidity and mortality. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are thought to play a critical role in cancer development. LncRNA NRON, a repressor of activated T-cell nuclear factor (NFAT), has been shown to be dysregulated in many cancer types. However, the clinical significance and molecular mechanism of NRON in bladder cancer is still unknown. Methods: The expression levels of NRON in BC tissues and cell lines were tested by RT-qPCR. Survival analysis was performed to detect the correlation between NRON expression and clinical outcomes in patients with BC. The biological role of NRON in BC cells proliferation and metastasis was examined in vitro and in vivo. Results: The expression of NRON was significantly upregulated in BC specimens and cell lines compared with paired adjacent normal tissues and normal cell lines. The upregulation of NRON in bladder cancer patients was significantly associated with the depth of bladder tumor invasion and poor prognosis. Knockdown of NRON inhibited BC cells proliferation, migration, invasion and tumorigenicity. Furthermore, NRON promoted epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) progression, and NRON-induced EZH2 expression contributed to this process. Conclusion: In conclusion, our results suggested that NRON acted as an oncogene and tumor biomarker for BC.

Effects of surfactants on the removal of nitrobenzene by Fe(II) sorbed on goethite.

Surfactants are easily accumulated in groundwater, sediment, and aquifers, due to their excessive use in household, industrial, and agricultural processes. These residual surfactants are expected to influence the transformation and fate of organic contaminants by Fe(II) sorbed on iron oxides in anaerobic environments. Here, we investigated the effects of various surfactants including nonionic TX-100, anionic SDBS and bio-surfactant saponin on the removal of nitrobenzene (NB) by Fe(II) sorbed on goethite (goethite/Fe(II)) through batch experiments. We also elucidated the mechanism behind the effects by XPS, XRD, and determination of the amounts of sorbed Fe(II) on goethite. The results showed that the presence of TX-100 improved NB removal from 77.2% in the absence of surfactant, to 93.8% within 6 h, and improved the removal rate by about 1.3 times. In contrast, the presence of SDBS decreased the removal efficiency to 45.5%, and the presence of saponin nearly inhibited the removal of NB completely. The removed NB was finally nearly reduced to aniline in the absence or presence of surfactants, except in the case of saponin. The amounts of sorbed Fe(II) listed in the sequence as goethite/Fe(II)+TX-100 > goethite/Fe(II) > goethite/Fe(II)+SDBS > goethite/Fe(II)+saponin, and this order negatively correlated with that in the redox potential of these systems. These results confirmed that the presence of surfactants influenced the sorption of Fe(II) on goethite and changed the reactivity of goethite/Fe(II) for NB removal. This finding will promote a clear understanding of the impact of coexisting surfactants on the transformation and fate of organic contaminants in real anaerobic environments.

A CRISPR Interference of CBP and p300 Selectively Induced Synthetic Lethality in Bladder Cancer Cells In Vitro.

The transcriptional coactivator CREB-binding protein (CBP) and p300 are adenoviral E1A-binding proteins involved in various cellular processes, including embryonic development, homeostasis, cell differentiation and transcription activation. Previous study suggested that synthetic lethality between CBP and p300 inhibition in lung and hematopoietic cancers. However, the underlying mechanism of CBP and p300 paralog in bladder cancer remains unknown. In this study, we discovered that combined CBP and p300 inhibition impaired cell proliferation and induced apoptosis of bladder cancer cells and normal bladder urothelial cell via decreasing c-Myc expression. Then, we employed the dCas9-KRAB system, hTERT promoter and hUPII promoter to construct an CRISPR interference system which could specifically repress CBP and p300 expression and cause lethality in bladder cancer cells in vitro. The CRISPR interference system we constructed could specifically inhibit the progression of bladder cancer, providing a novel strategy to fight against bladder cancer.

Multiplexed promoterless gene expression with CRISPReader.

BACKGROUND: Genes are comprised of DNA codes and contain promoters and other control elements for reading these codes. The rapid development of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) technology has made possible the construction of a novel code-reading system with low dependency on the native control elements. RESULTS: We develop CRISPReader, a technology for controlling promoterless gene expression in a robust fashion. We demonstrate that this tool is highly efficient in controlling transcription and translation initiation of a targeted transgene. A notable feature of CRISPReader is the ability to "read" the open reading frames of a cluster of gene without traditional regulatory elements or other cofactors. In particular, we use this strategy to construct an all-in-one AAV-CRISPR-Cas9 system by removing promoter-like elements from the expression cassette to resolve the existing AAV packaging size problem. The compact AAV-CRISPR-Cas9 is also more efficient in transactivation, DNA cleavage, and gene editing than the dual-AAV vector encoding two separate Cas9 elements, shown by targeting both reporter and endogenous genes in vitro and in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: CRISPReader represents a novel approach for gene regulation that enables minimal gene constructs to be expressed and can be used in potential biomedical applications.

PCAT-1: A Novel Oncogenic Long Non-Coding RNA in Human Cancers.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides (nts) without obvious protein coding potential. lncRNAs act as multiple roles in biological processes of diseases, especially carcinomas. Prostate cancer associated transcript-1 (PCAT-1) is an oncogenic lncRNA that identified by RNA-Sequence in prostate cancer. High expression of PCAT-1 is observed in different types of cancers, including prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, hepatocellular cancer and gastric cancer. High expressed PCAT-1 is correlated with poor overall survival. Furthermore, PCAT-1 regulates cancer cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion. Additionally, PCAT-1 is involved in EMT and Wnt/ß-catenin-signaling pathway. In this review, we focus on the implication of PCAT-1 in human cancers.

MiR-31-5p acts as a tumor suppressor in renal cell carcinoma by targeting cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1).

BACKGROUND: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for more than 90% of cancers in the kidney. RCC is often asymptomatic, as a result people with RCC generally have advanced disease by the time it is discovered and has a poor prognosis compared to other cancers. Therefore, it is necessary to explore its pathogenesis and identify some reliable prognostic biomarker of RCC. miRNAs are emerging as important players in the development and progression of RCC. miR-31-5p has been reported to act as a tumor suppressor in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study is to determine the detailed molecular mechanism of miR-31-5p in the progression of RCC and to investigate its potential clinical value. METHODS: In this study, RT-qPCR, EdU assay, CCK-8 assay, wound scratch assay, transwell assay, flow cytometry assay and cell cycle assay were performed to detect miR-31-5p expression and its functions in RCC. Moreover, 42 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) RCC samples were used to analyze the relationship between miR-31-5p expression and patients' overall survival. Finally, luciferase reporter assay, RT-qPCR assay and western blot were used to explore the association between miR-31-5p and its potential targets. RESULTS: miR-31-5p was significantly down-regulated in RCC tissues and RCC cell lines compared with paired adjacent normal tissues and normal cell lines. miR-31-5p downregulation was associated with poor prognosis in RCC patients. Overexpression of miR-31-5p inhibited RCC cell proliferation, migration and invasion and cell cycle. Conversely, down-regulation of miR-31-5p promoted cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Furthermore, cyclin-dependent kinasec1 (CDK1), a key player in cell cycle regulation, was identified as a functional target of miR-31-5p. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that miR-31-5p serves as a tumor suppressor in RCC and is expected to be a molecular biomarker for poor prognosis of RCC.