An endogenous retroviral element exerts an antiviral innate immune function via the derived lncRNA lnc-ALVE1-AS1.

Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) constitute an important component of animal and human genomes and are usually silenced by epigenetic mechanisms in adult cells. Although ERVs were recently reported to be linked to early development, tumorigenesis and autoimmune disease, their impacts on antiviral innate immunity and the underlying mechanisms have not been elucidated. Here, we provide the first direct evidence of an endogenous retroviral element affecting antiviral innate immunity via its derived antisense long non-coding RNA (lncRNA). We found that an antisense lncRNA, which is called lnc-ALVE1-AS1 and is transcribed from the endogenous avian leukosis virus in chromosome 1 (ALVE1), distinctly inhibited the entry and replication of exogenous retroviruses in chicken embryonic fibroblasts (CEFs). This behaviour is at least in part attributed to the induction of an antiviral innate immune pathway by ALVE1 activation, suggesting that an activated endogenous retroviral element may induce antiviral defence responses via its derived antisense lncRNA. We also found that lnc-ALVE1-AS1 mediated these effects by activating the TLR3 signalling in the cytoplasm. Our results provide novel insights into the antiviral innate immune function of ERVs, suggesting that ERVs may play an important role in antiviral defences and provide new strategies for the development of new vaccines.

Diphenhydramine as a Cause of Drug-Induced Liver Injury.

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is the most common cause of acute liver failure in the Unites States and accounts for 10% of acute hepatitis cases. We report the only known case of diphenhydramine-induced acute liver injury in the absence of concomitant medications. A 28-year-old man with history of 13/14-chromosomal translocation presented with fevers, vomiting, and jaundice. Aspartate-aminotransferase and alanine-aminotransferase levels peaked above 20,000 IU/L and 5,000 IU/L, respectively. He developed coagulopathy but without altered mental status. Patient reported taking up to 400 mg diphenhydramine nightly, without concomitant acetaminophen, for insomnia. He denied taking other medications, supplements, antibiotics, and herbals. A thorough workup of liver injury ruled out viral hepatitis (including A, B, C, and E), autoimmune, toxic, ischemic, and metabolic etiologies including Wilson's disease. A liver biopsy was consistent with DILI without evidence of iron or copper deposition. Diphenhydramine was determined to be the likely culprit. This is the first reported case of diphenhydramine-induced liver injury without concomitant use of acetaminophen.

Biallelic insertion of a transcriptional terminator via the CRISPR/Cas9 system efficiently silences expression of protein-coding and non-coding RNA genes.

The type II bacterial CRISPR/Cas9 system is a simple, convenient, and powerful tool for targeted gene editing. Here, we describe a CRISPR/Cas9-based approach for inserting a poly(A) transcriptional terminator into both alleles of a targeted gene to silence protein-coding and non-protein-coding genes, which often play key roles in gene regulation but are difficult to silence via insertion or deletion of short DNA fragments. The integration of 225 bp of bovine growth hormone poly(A) signals into either the first intron or the first exon or behind the promoter of target genes caused efficient termination of expression of PPP1R12C, NSUN2 (protein-coding genes), and MALAT1 (non-protein-coding gene). Both NeoR and PuroR were used as markers in the selection of clonal cell lines with biallelic integration of a poly(A) signal. Genotyping analysis indicated that the cell lines displayed the desired biallelic silencing after a brief selection period. These combined results indicate that this CRISPR/Cas9-based approach offers an easy, convenient, and efficient novel technique for gene silencing in cell lines, especially for those in which gene integration is difficult because of a low efficiency of homology-directed repair.

IGF2-derived miR-483 mediated oncofunction by suppressing DLC-1 and associated with colorectal cancer.

Emerging evidence indicates that IGF2 plays an important role in various human malignancies, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Hsa-miR-483 is located within intron 7 of the IGF2 locus. However, the mechanism by which increased IGF2 induces carcinogenesis remains largely elusive. DLC-1 has been identified as a candidate tumor suppressor. In this study, we aimed at investigating whether miR-483 transcription is IGF2-dependent, identifying the functional target of miR-483, and evaluating whether tissue and serum miR-483-3p or miR-483-5p levels are associated with CRC. Our results showed that sequences upstream miR-483 had undetectable promoter activity and levels of IGF2, miR-483-3p, and miR-483-5p were synchronously increased in CRC tissues. Positive correlations between IGF2 and miR-483-3p (r=0.4984, ***p<0.0001), and between IGF2 and miR-483-5p (r=0.6659, ***p<0.0001) expression were found. In addition, patients with CRC had a significantly higher serum miR-483-5p level (*p<0.05) compared to normal controls. DLC-1 expression was decreased in colorectal cancer tissues and diminished through transient transfection with miR-483-3p. Our results suggest that IGF2 may exert its oncofunction, at least partly, through its parasitic miR-483 which suppressed DLC-1 in CRC cells. Thus, miR-483 might serve as a new target for therapy and a potential biomarker for the detection of colorectal cancer.

An unusual presentation of a rare benign tumor in the head and neck: A review of hibernomas.

Hibernomas are rare benign tumors that may present in the head and neck in an unusual manner similar to more common malignant tumors such as lymphoma. Our case report describes several characteristics of a patient and benign tumor presentation that is atypical for the usual presentation of hibernomas as reviewed in the literature. Although hibernomas are rare, our report and review of the literature highlights a particular patient population and important key findings that should make one consider these benign tumors in the differential diagnosis of a young patient presenting with a neck mass.

Addition of vandetanib to chemotherapy in advanced solid cancers: a meta-analysis.

The addition of vandetanib to chemotherapy has been shown to have a marked effect on patients with advanced cancers who had failed previous chemotherapy. We carried out a meta-analysis to determine the efficacy and safety of vandetanib compared with chemotherapy in patients with advanced cancers. For this meta-analysis, we selected randomized clinical trials that compared vandetanib-based therapy (VBT) with the matched chemotherapy or placebo alone in patients with advanced cancers. The outcomes included overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), the objective response rate, and toxicities. Hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios were reported with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). A total of 14 eligible trials were included for the meta-analysis, with 2995 patients in the VBT group and 2479 patients in the control group. A significant improvement was observed in PFS (HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.68-0.86 in all cancers, HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.70-0.90 in lung cancer, HR 0.54, 95% CI 0.40-0.74 in thyroid cancer) and in objective response rate (odds ratio 2.09, 95% CI 1.42-3.07) in the VBT group. However, no significant difference was found in OS (HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.90-1.03). The subgroups of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer who benefited from vandetanib therapy were identified as those with a history of smoking (HR 0.87, 95% CI 0.80-0.95) and an adenocarcinoma histology (HR 0.85, 95% CI 0.77-0.94). In addition, patients who received VBT had an increased incidence of adverse events such as rash, diarrhea, and neutropenia. The addition of vandetanib to chemotherapy significantly improves PFS in patients with locally advanced or metastatic cancers, especially lung and thyroid cancer.