Effects of silencing hsa_circ_0015326 on proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis of epithelial ovarian cancer cells.

Although the treatment of ovarian cancer has made great progress, there are still many patients who are not timely detected and given targeted therapy due to unknown pathogenesis. Recent studies have found that hsa_circ_0015326 is upregulated in ovarian cancer and is involved in the proliferation, invasion, and migration of ovarian cancer cells. However, whether hsa_circ_0015326 can be used as a new target of ovarian cancer needs further investigation. Therefore, the effect of hsa_circ_0015326 on epithelial ovarian cancer was investigated in this study. At first, si-hsa_circ_0015326 lentivirus was transfected into epithelial ovarian cancer cells. Then real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect hsa_circ_0015326 level. The proliferation of ovarian cancer cells was detected by CCK-8 assay. The horizontal and vertical migration abilities of the cells were detected by wound-healing assay and Transwell assay, respectively. Transwell assay was also used to determine the invasion rate. As for the apoptosis rate, it was assessed by flow cytometry. As a result, the expression level of hsa_circ_0015326 in A2780 and SKOV3 was found to be higher than that in IOSE-80. However, after transfecting si-hsa_circ_0015326 and si-NC into the cells, the proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities of A2780 and SKOV3 cells in the si-hsa_circ_0015326 group were significantly reduced in comparison to those in the si-NC and mock groups, while their apoptosis rates were elevated. Collectively, silencing hsa_circ_0015326 bears the capability of inhibiting the proliferation, migration, and invasion of ovarian cancer cells while increasing apoptosis rate. It can be concluded that hsa_circ_0015326 promotes the malignant biological activities of epithelial ovarian cancer cells.

Zinc finger protein 180 induces an apoptotic phenotype by activating METTL14 transcriptional activity in colorectal cancer.

Zinc finger protein 180 (ZNF180) is a multifunctional protein that interacts with nucleic acids and regulates various cellular processes; however, the function of ZNF180 in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. The present study investigated the role and function of ZNF180 in CRC, and aimed to reveal the underlying molecular mechanism. The results revealed that ZNF180 was downregulated in CRC tissues and was associated with a good prognosis in patients with CRC. Additionally, the expression of ZNF180 was downregulated by methylation in CRC. In vivo and in vitro experiments revealed that ZNF180 overexpression was functionally associated with the inhibition of cell proliferation and the induction of apoptosis. Mechanistically, chromatin immunoprecipitation­PCR and luciferase assays demonstrated that ZNF180 markedly regulated the transcriptional activity of methyltransferase 14, N6­adenosine­methyltransferase non­catalytic subunit (METTL14) by directly binding to and activating its promoter region. Simultaneous overexpression of ZNF180 and knockdown of METTL14 indicated that the reduction of METTL14 could suppress the effects of ZNF180 on the induction of apoptosis. Clinically, the present study observed a significant positive correlation between ZNF180 and METTL14 expression levels, and low expression of ZNF180 and METTL14 predicted a poor prognosis in CRC. Overall, these findings revealed a novel mechanism by which the ZNF180/METTL14 axis may modulate apoptosis and cell proliferation in CRC. This evidence suggests that this axis may serve as a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in patients with CRC.

KRAS G12V Mutation is an Adverse Prognostic Factor of Chinese Gastric Cancer Patients.

This study aims to investigate the molecular characteristics of Chinese gastric cancer patients. In our study, the KRAS, BRAF, and PIK3CA mutation status of 485 GC patients were analyzed by Sanger sequencing. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to plot survival curves according to different genotypes. The results show that the frequency of KRAS, BRAF and PIK3CA mutations were 4.1%, 1.2% and 3.5%, respectively. BRAF mutations were significantly concentrated in stage III and IV gastric cancer (P=0.009). KRAS G12V mutation carriers have much shorter OS than other mutation carriers and wild-type group patients (P=0.013). In conclusion, only the KRAS G12V mutation has an adverse effect on patient survival.

[In vitro drug release profiles and mucoadhesive property of bioadhesive microspheres of metronidazole].

AIM: To prepare bioadhesive microspheres of metronidazole (Metro) with prolonging resident time in the stomach and sustaining drug release. METHODS: The microspheres were prepared by a drying-in-liquid method. The appearance, particle size and drug release in vitro were examined. The factors influencing bioadhesive property and drug release, such as ethyl cellulose (EC)/carbopol 934P (CP) ratio, particle size and Metro content were investigated. RESULTS: The average diameter of the Metro-EC-CP microspheres was 559.9 microns. The release profiles of metronidazole were shown to fit to first-order equations well. With the increase of CP content in the Metro-EC-CP microspheres, the microspheres showed better mucoadhesion and faster drug release. The drug release rate decreased with the increase of particle size and the decrease of Metro content. CONCLUSION: The Metro-EC-CP microspheres have a sound mucoadhsive property and sustained drug release when the ratio of EC and CP was 17:3 and Metro content was 25%. The drug release was shown to last for 8 h in 0.1 mol.L-1 hydrochloric acid.