EMX2 inhibits clear cell renal cell carcinoma progress via modulating Akt/FOXO3a pathway.

Empty spiracles homeobox 2 (EMX2) is initially identified as a key transcription factor that plays an essential role in the regulation of neuronal development and some brain disorders. Recently, several studies emphasized that EMX2 could as a tumor suppressor, but its role in human clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the role and underlying mechanism of EMX2 in the regulation of ccRCC progress. Our results demonstrated that EMX2 expression was markedly decreased in ccRCC tissues and cell lines, and low EMX2 expression predicted the poor prognosis of ccRCC patients. In addition, forced expression of EMX2 significantly inhibited the cell growth, migration, and invasion in vitro, as well as ccRCC tumor growth in nude mice, via, at least in part, regulating Akt/FOXO3a pathway. In detail, EMX2 could attenuate the phosphorylation levels of Akt and FOXO3a, and increase FOXO3a expression without affecting total Akt expression in vivo and in vitro. Meanwhile, shRNA-mediated knockdown of FOXO3a expression could obviously attenuate the effects of EMX2 on cell growth, migration, invasion, and tumor growth. Furthermore, EMX2 could significantly attenuate the interaction between Akt and FOXO3a. Taken together, our results demonstrated that EMX2 could inhibit ccRCC progress through, at least in part, modulating Akt/FOXO3a signaling pathway, thus representing a novel role and underlying mechanism of EMX2 in the regulation of ccRCC progress.

Interleukins-6 -174G/C (rs1800795) and -572C/G (rs1800796) polymorphisms and prostate cancer risk.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is an aggressive cancer influenced by a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Amongst these risk factors, the impact of Interleukin6 (IL6) gene polymorphisms in PCa risk has received a lot of attention. IL-6 is a cytokine that has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several malignancies, including PCa. Two IL-6 gene polymorphisms, - 174 G/C (rs1800795) and - 572 C/G (rs1800796), have received intellectual attention due to their potential role as modulators of prostate cancer risk. The main objective of this research was to comprehensively explore the potential associations between IL-6 rs1800795 and rs1800796 polymorphisms, and their impact on the occurrence of PCa. A case-control study was carried out with a well-defined cohort comprising 110 PCa cases and 110 controls (total n = 220). The genotyping of rs1800795 and rs1800796 was carefully performed using the highly sensitive and accurate Polymerase Chain Reaction-High Resolution Melting Curve (PCR-HRM) technique. The assessment of genetic associations was evaluated using various R packages, such as Haplo-Stats, SNP stat, pheatmap, and LD heatmap. The present study applied odds ratio (OR) analysis to reveal significant evidence of strong associations between the genotypes of rs1800795 and rs1800796 and the susceptibility to PCa. The findings of this study underscore the noteworthy impact of genetic variations in the IL-6 gene on the development of prostate cancer. Specifically, the C/G and G/G genotypes of rs1800795 demonstrated increased PCa risk, with odds ratios (OR) of 1.650 (95% CI = 1.068-2.549, p = 0.032) and 2.475 (95% CI = 1.215-5.043, p < 0.001), respectively. Similarly, the G/C genotype of rs1800796 exhibited an OR of 2.374 (95% CI = 1.363-4.130, p = 0.012) for elevated prostate cancer risk, while the C/C genotype had an OR of 1.81 (95% CI = 1.02-3.22, p = 0.7). Furthermore, our haplotype analysis have revealed an association between haplotype 4 (C-G) and increased risk of PCa (OR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.05-2.73, p = 0.032). In conclusion, this case-control analysis presents compelling evidence for a significant association between IL-6 variants (rs1800795 and rs1800796) and increased susceptibility to prostate cancer.

Evaluating the Lower Urinary Tract Syndrome with a Telemedicine Application: An Exploration of the Electronic Audiovisual Prostate Symptom Score.

Background: The Visual Prostate Symptom Score (VPSS) is used for the assessment of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). It is usually administered by general practitioners (GPs), but in these cases, outcomes do not seem to be reflecting the real conditions of a patient well, with consequent risks of misestimations and misinterpretations. We developed an electronic audiovisual version of VPSS (EPSS), a new symptom scale based on a telemedicine mobile light-based app. The aim of this study is to test and evaluate its reliability. Methods: We enrolled male patients aged between 50 and 80 years across 24 community-based healthcare facilities in Guangzhou, China. Patients were asked to complete the Chinese version of VPSS and EPSS before consultation with the urology specialists. Patients were divided into two groups based on age. First, we analyzed the rate of full understanding of EPSS using a chi-square test. Then, we analyzed the difference between each score of EPSS, VPSS, and outcomes measured by specialists, used as the reference score (RS). Finally, the outcomes were analyzed with the Spearman test and Bartlett test separately. Results: Seventy-nine male patients were included (mean age 70.42 years). Patients were divided into two groups: group 1 (>70 years, n = 40) and group 2 (<70 years, n = 39). The full-understanding rates in groups 1 and 2 were 50% and 64.1%, respectively. No significant differences were noted between groups (p = 0.206). A t-test was presented between each question of VPSS, EPSS, and RS. All questions did not display significant differences (p > 0.05); total scores from the three scales had no significant differences in the evaluation of LUTS. We further explored the variations of choices made by patients in different scales. Spearman's test among VPSS, EPSS, and RS showed positive correlations, and coefficients of the total score were 0.92, 0.91, and 0.93 (p < 0.05). Conclusion: EPSS can be easily used in a significant number of patients and showed correlation with the VPSS and RS. Moreover, certain items resulted in better performance than VPSS. The results showed that EPSS could be a valuable option for both patients and GPs monitoring LUTS and particularly helpful when teleconsultations are considered, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.