MESP1-knockdown inhibits the proliferation and epithelial mesenchymal transition of hepatocellular carcinoma and enhances the tumor-suppressive effect of 5-fluorouracil.

Primary liver hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third most deadly malignancy worldwide,in part, because it is often diagnosed at an advanced stage. Thus, molecular markers are needed to aid in the early diagnosis and treatment of HCC. Expression of abnormal mesoderm posterior-1 (MESP1) promotes tumorigenesis; however,its role in the regulation of HCC proliferation, apoptosis,and invasion is unknown. Here,we analyzed data in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)and Genotype Tissue Expression (GTEx) databases on the pan-cancer expression of MESP1 and its relationship with clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients with HCC. The expression of MESP1 was measured in 48 HCC tissues using immunohistochemical staining,and the results were correlated with clinical stage, tumor differentiation, tumor size,and metastasis. MESP1 expression was downregulated using small interfering RNA (siRNA) in the HCC cell lines HepG2 and Hep3B,and cell viability, proliferation,cell cycle, apoptosis,and invasion were analyzed. Finally,we also evaluated the tumor suppression effect of MESP1 downregulation combined with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) treatment. Our results showed that MESP1 is a pan-oncogene associated with poor prognosis in patients with HCC. siRNA-induced downregulation of MESP1 expression in HepG2 and Hep3B cells exhibited downregulation of ß-catenin and GSK3ß expression 48h after transfection, along with an increase in apoptosis rate, arrest in the G1-S phase,and a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential. Moreover,the expression levels of c-Myc, PARP1, bcl2, Snail1, MMP9, and immune checkpoint genes (TIGIT, CTLA4,LAG3,CD274,and PDCD1) were downregulated, while those of caspase3 and E-cadherin were upregulated. Tumor cells also showed decreased migration ability. Furthermore, siRNA interference of MESP1 expression combined with 5-FU-treatment of HCC cells significantly enhanced the G1-S phase block and apoptosis. MESP1 showed an aberrant high expression in HCC and was associated with poor clinical outcomes; therefore, MESP1 may be a potential target for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC.

Hydroa vacciniforme-like lymphoproliferative disorder: A retrospective study on clinicopathological characteristics of 32 cases.

The clinicopathological features of 32 patients (17 females and 15 males) with a median age of 8 years (range, 1.5-21 years) from Southwestern China diagnosed with hydroa vacciniforme-like lymphoproliferative disorder (HVLPD) were reviewed. At presentation, 6 patients showed only skin lesions, while 26 patients showed both skin lesions and systemic symptoms, including fever, lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly. As the disease progressed, systemic symptoms occurred in all patients. Follow-up data of 29 patients showed that 14 patients were still alive with disease with a median follow-up time of 22 months (range 3.6-71 months), and 15 patients died within a median follow-up of 6 months (range 0-60 months).

Knockout of Atg5 inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis of DF-1 cells.

Atg5, as a switch of cell autophagy and apoptosis, plays an important regulatory role in the occurrence and development of autophagy. Atg5 has been reported to involve the autophagy process but little in the apoptotic process. Here, we constructed an Atg5-/- DF-1 cell line using the CRISPR/Cas9 assay and confirmed the significant difference in growth kinetics between Atg5-/- DF-1 cells and wild-type DF-1 cells. Importantly, we found that Atg5 suppresses the cellular proliferation and induce the apoptosis in DF-1 cells by Hoechst's staining, flow cytometry, and caspase activity assay. All these findings indicated that Atg5 plays an important role in the proliferation of DF-1 cells. On the other hand, we compared the expression of autophagy key proteins LC3 and P62 in Atg5 knockout cells and wild-type cells, and detected the aggregation point distribution of LC3 protein in cells by laser confocal technique; our results showed that Atg5 knockout inhibited autophagy compared with wild-type cells. The present findings further help to resolve the molecular mechanisms regulating Atg5 autophagy and apoptosis.