Effect and Mechanism of lncRNA-PCMF1/hsa-miR-137/Twist1 Axis Involved in the EMT Regulation of Prostate Cancer Cells.

The metastasis is a major reason for the poor prognosis of the patients with prostate cancer (PC). Currently, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is the basic method for the treatment of PC regardless of surgery or drug treatments. However, ADT therapy is generally not recommended for patients with advanced/metastatic PC. Herein, we report for the first time a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)-PCMF1 which promotes the progression of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) in PC cells. Our data demonstrated that PCMF1 in metastatic PC tissues increased significantly compared to non-metastatic specimens. Mechanism research showed that PCMF1 could competitively bind to hsa-miR-137 instead of the 3' -Untranslated Region (UTR) of Twist Family BHLH Transcription Factor 1 (Twist1) by acting as an endogenous miRNA sponge. Furthermore, we found that silence of PCMF1 effectively blocked the EMT in PC cells by indirectly suppressing Twist1 protein mediated by hsa-miR-137 at post-transcriptional level. In summary, our research shows that PCMF1 promotes the EMT of PC cells by causing the functional inactivation of hsa-miR-137 on Twist1 protein, which is an independent risk factor of PC. PCMF1 knockdown combined with hsa-miR-137 expression is a promising PC-targeted therapy. Furthermore, PCMF1 is also expected to act as a useful marker for predicting malignant changes and assessing the prognosis of PC patients.

Urine- and Blood-Based Molecular Profiling of Human Prostate Cancer.

Objective: Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common malignant tumors, accounting for 20% of total tumors ranked first in males. PCa is usually asymptomatic at the early stage and the specificity of the current biomarkers for the detection of PCa is low. The present study evaluates circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in blood or urine, which can be used as biomarkers of PCa and the combination of these markers may increase the sensitivity and specificity of the detection of PCa. Methods: Tissue, blood, and urine samples were collected from patients with PCa. All prostate tissue specimens underwent pathological examination. A hybrid-capture-based next-generation sequencing assay was used for plasma and urinary ctDNA profiling. Sequencing data were analyzed by an in-house pipeline for mutation calling. Mutational profiles of PCa and BPH were compared in both plasma and urine samples. Associations of detected mutations and clinical characteristics were statistically analyzed. Results: A significant association of mutation allele frequencies (MAFs) in the blood samples with patients with metastatic PCa rather than patients with primary PCa, and MAFs are changed after treatment in patients with PCa. Further, the number of mutations in urine is not associated with clinical characteristics of PCa patients, but the frequencies of mutation alleles in the urine are associated with patient age. Comparison of cfDNA aberration profiles between urine and blood reveals more alterations in urine than in blood, including TP53, AR, ATM, MYC, and SPOP mutations. Conclusion: This work provides the potential clinical application of urine, in addition to blood, as a powerful and convenient non-invasive approach in personalized medicine for patients with PCa.

Hsa_Circ_0001206 is downregulated and inhibits cell proliferation, migration and invasion in prostate cancer.

Our study is to explore the expression profiles and potential functions of circRNAs in prostate cancer (PCa). A total of 95 circRNAs and 830 mRNAs were screened to be significantly differentially expressed in PCa tissues by microarrays. Co-expression and competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network were constructed to reveal the potential regulatory mechanisms of circRNAs. Three circRNAs, hsa_circ_0001206, hsa_circ_0001633, and hsa_circ_0009061 were validated to be down-regulated in PCa by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and hsa_circ_0001206 as well as hsa_circ_0009061 was significantly associated with clinical features of PCa patients. Meanwhile, Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves showed their good diagnostic value as biomarkers for PCa. The down-regulation of hsa_circ_001206 was partly because of the regulation of DExH-Box Helicase 9 (DHX9). Moreover, overexpression of hsa_circ_0001206 inhibited PCa cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro and prevented tumor growth in vivo. Dual-luciferase reporter assays showed hsa_circ_0001206 could directly bind to miR-1285-5p. The expression of Smad4, a well-known suppressive gene in PCa, can be increased by overexpression of hsa_circ_0001206 and this effect could be partly reversed by co-transfection of miR-1285-5p mimic. The study revealed expression profiles and potential functions of circRNAs and demonstrated hsa_circ_0001206 played a suppressive role in the pathogenesis of PCa.

CD133 expression in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is correlated with nuclear hypoxia-inducing factor 1α (HIF-1α).

PURPOSE: In our previous study, we have found that the hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) is upregulated in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) tissues compared with para-cancer normal tissues by 2-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. It was reported that hypoxic conditions were correlated with cancer stem cell generation and HIF-1α acted as a transcription regulator in nuclear HIF-1α expression. Therefore, in this study we investigate the relation between CD133 and nuclear HIF-1α expression levels in RCC tissues. METHODS: In this study 61 RCC tissues from the patients that treated with radical nephrectomy were collected. Then, we investigated the expression of CD133 and nuclear HIF-1α expression by immunohistochemistry. To verify the relation between CD133 and nuclear HIF-1α expression, we treated 786-O cells with cobalt chloride. The expression of CD133 on 786-O cells was analyzed by flowcytometry. RESULTS: The immunohistochemical study showed that CD133 was correlated with tumor stage and metastatic stage, whereas nuclear HIF-1α had no association with clinicopathological parameters. However, the expression of nuclear HIF-1α was correlated with CD133. The CD133 expression in 786-O cells was enhanced by cobalt chloride, which meant that CD133 expression was affected by hypoxia. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that in RCC, CD133 expression was strongly related to nuclear HIF-1α and the expression of CD133 might be upregulated under hypoxia environment.

[Carbon storage maturity age of Larix olgenisis and L. kaempferi].

The successive years and average increments of the volumes of Larix olgensis and L. kaempferi were computed by Trunk Analysis, and the carbon content and carbon density of L. olgensis and L. kaempferi at their different age stages were measured with Germany Vario EL III element analyzer, aimed to approach the carbon storage maturity age of the two tree species. The results indicated that L. olgensis and L. kaempferi had a volume maturity age of 48.3 and 49.3 years, respectively, and the change trend of their carbon density was basically identical. The maximum carbon density was presented in the 30th year for L. olgensis and the 35th year for L. kaempfer. The successive years carbon storage of L. kaempferi was larger than that of L. olgensis, but the carbon storage maturity age was in adverse. The average carbon storage of L. kaempferi was also larger than that of L. olgensis. Through simulating the curve equations of successive years and average carbon storages, the carbon storage maturity age of L. olgensis and L. kaempferi were computed as 48.7 years and 47.7 years, respectively.

[Snow/wind damage in natural secondary forests in Liaodong mountainous regions of Liaoning Province].

In early spring of 2003, the secondary forests at the Qingyuan Experimental Forests (QEF) of the Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences suffered from the damage caused by snow and wind (snow/wind damage). This damage occurred at 800 m above sea level was the most serious one since 1949. In order to make clear its occurrence and process and to analyze its possible influences on the secondary forest system, comprehensive investigations were conducted soon after the snow/wind damage. The results showed that the occurrence of this damage was due to the special site conditions (higher sea level and steeper slopes) and air temperature, which suited the wet snow formation and the snow accumulation on trees after a large scale of precipitation. The more seriously damaged areas were those with the stands of Acer mono, Juglans mandshurica, Populus spp. and so on. The ratio of damaged trees was negatively correlated with stand density, soil depth and size class of diameter, and positively correlated with tree height. Based on these results, the likely influences of snow/wind damage, i. e., the happening of diseases and insect pests, the vegetation changing under forests, and the factors of habitat and dominant species in natural secondary forests were also discussed. It is significant that to do observation and basic research on damaged forests will provide reasonable strategies for management of natural secondary forests.