DANCR maintained colon epithelial homeostasis by regulating the TNFα/NF-κB pathway.

Epithelial homeostasis is fundamental for the physiological functions of colon tissue. Dysregulation of colon epithelial structure leads to abnormal immune responses and diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease. In this work we found long non-coding RNA DANCR was a novel regulator to colon epithelial homeostasis. Silencing DANCR resulted in decreased expression of epithelial barrier proteins and enhanced susceptibility to TNFα stimulation, which was accompanied by hyperactivation of the NF-κB pathway. Mechanistical studies revealed DANCR modulated the expression of a protein methyltransferase SET7 to suppress responses to TNFα, as well as the activity of NF-κB pathway. In summary, DANCR regulated colon epithelial homeostasis through modulating the TNFα/NF-κB axis. These findings cast light on the discovery of novel regulators to colon epithelial homeostasis and added new evidence to the physiological functions of DANCR.

An Evaluation of Fluorouracil plus Paclitaxel and Oxiliplatin as a First-Line Treatment for Advanced Gastric Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of fluorouracil (FU) combined with paclitaxel (PTX) and oxaliplatin (OXA) as the first-line treatment for advanced gastric signet ring cell carcinoma (SRCC) and its influence on human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) expression. Methods: We collected one hundred and sixty-eight patients with advanced gastric SRCC, including 87 patients treated with FU combined with PTX and OXA as the study group (SG) and 81 patients treated with FU combined with OXA as the control group (CG). We compared indicators such as efficacy and adverse reactions after treatment between the two groups and also detected serum HER-2 expression pre- and post-treatment. Results: The incidence of adverse reactions differed insignificantly between SG and CG (P > 0.05). SG presented a notably higher objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) than that of CG (P < 0.05). After treatment, the serum HER-2 expression level of patients in both groups decreased significantly (P < 0.05), and that in SG was significantly declined compared to CG (P < 0.05). HER-2 was negatively correlated with the efficacy of both SG and CG. The 1-year survival rate in SG (29.89%) was significantly higher than that in CG (16.05%) (P < 0.05). The median OS and PFS were higher in DG than that in CG (P < 0.05). Conclusion: FU combined with PTX and OXA can effectively improve the efficacy of first-line treatment for advanced gastric SRCC while reducing HER-2 expression, without increasing the adverse reaction rate. This treatment is worthy of clinical promotion.

SOSTDC1 acts as a tumor inhibitor in acute myeloid leukemia by downregulating the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway.

Sclerostin domain-containing 1 (SOSTDC1) has been documented as a key tumor-associated protein that is differentially expressed in multiple malignancies. However, the function of SOSTDC1 in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is unexplored. The goal of this work was to assess the possible role of SOSTDC1 in AML. Our data showed decreased SOSTDC1 level in bone marrow from AML patients, and patients with low levels of SOSTDC1 had a reduced survival rate. SOSTC1 upregulation restrained the proliferative ability and promoted the apoptotic rate of AML cells. SOSTDC1 suppressed the activation of the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway in AML cells. Reactivation of the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway reversed SOSTDC1-mediated antitumor effects. SOSTDC1 upregulation weakened the tumorigenicity of AML cells in vivo. Collectively, our work demonstrates that SOSTDC1 has a tumor-inhibiting role in AML via downregulation of the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway. This work underscores a key function for the SOSTDC1/Wnt/ß-catenin pathway in AML.

Glutaredoxin 2 protects cardiomyocytes from hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced injury by suppressing apoptosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation via enhancing Nrf2 signaling.

Glutaredoxin 2 (GRX2) plays a cytoprotective role under various pathological conditions. However, whether GRX2 plays a role during myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury has not been fully elucidated. In this work, we aimed to explore the detailed role and mechanism of GRX2 in modulating hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R)-induced cardiac injury in vitro. H/R treatment resulted in a significant increase in GRX2 expression in cardiomyocytes. GRX2 knockdown enhanced the sensitivity of cardiomyocytes to H/R-induced apoptosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation, while GRX2 up-regulation exerted a cardioprotective role in H/R-injured cardiomyocytes. Further investigations revealed that GRX2 up-regulation enhanced the activation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) signaling associated with upregulation of the phosphorylation of Akt and glycogen synthase kinase-3ß (GSK-3ß). Akt inhibition markedly abolished GRX2-mediated activation of Nrf2, while GSK-3ß inhibition reversed GRX2-knockdown-mediated inhibition of Nrf2. In addition, Nrf2 inhibition markedly abrogated GRX2-mediated protective effects against H/R-induced apoptosis, oxidative stress and inflammation. Overall, this work indicates that GRX2 protects cardiomyocytes from H/R-induced apoptosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation by enhancing Nrf2 activation via modulation of the Akt/GSK-3ß axis. Our study highlights a potential relevance of GRX2 in myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury; it may serve as an attractive target for cardioprotection.

LncRNA CCDC26 Interacts with CELF2 Protein to Enhance Myeloid Leukemia Cell Proliferation and Invasion via the circRNA_ANKIB1/miR-195-5p/PRR11 Axis.

LncRNA CCDC26 is aberrantly expressed in myeloid leukemia (ML) and promotes myeloid leukemia progression, but the potential mechanism of CCDC26 in regulating ML progression is unclear. In this study, we observed that lncRNA CCDC26 was upregulated in both chronic and acute ML cell lines. LncRNA CCDC26 promoted the proliferation and invasion of K562 and HL-60 cells, which was determined by cell counting kit-8 test and Transwell invasion assay. Flow cytometry showed that lncRNA CCDC26 inhibited cell apoptosis. Bioinformatics and expression correlation analyses revealed that there was a potential interaction between CCDC26 and CUGBP Elav-like family member 2 (CELF2) protein, an RNA bind protein (RBP). Then the relationship between CCDC26 and the RBP CELF2 was identified by using RNA pull-down and RNA immunoprecipitation (RNA-IP) assays. Further analysis showed that overexpression of CCDC26 could noticeably upregulate circRNA_ANKIB1 expression via sponging CELF2. Subsequently, we found that overexpressed circRNA_ANKIB1 could significantly promote proline rich 11 (PRR11) protein expression by sponging miR-195a-5p. Moreover, PRR11 was also upregulated by CCDC26 and downregulated by CELF2. Mechanically, we uncovered that the miR-195a-5p inhibitor activated the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) pathways through upregulating PRR11 protein expression. Furthermore, the inhibitors of AKT, p65-NF-κB, or Bcl-2 could inhibit the effect of the miR-195a-5p inhibitor on ML cell behaviors. In conclusion, lncRNA CCDC26 could upregulate PRR11 protein expression by sponging miR-195a-5p, thereby activating the PI3K/AKT and NF-κB pathways to enhance ML cell proliferation and invasion and suppress cell apoptosis.

Therapeutic efficacy of IL-17A antibody injection in preventing the development of colitis associated carcinogenesis in mice.

Chronic inflammation increases colorectal cancer (CRC) risk as seen in ulcerative colitis (UC). Proinflammatory cytokines play a critical role in mediating the development of colitis associated cancer (CAC). In this study, the therapeutic efficacy of anti-interleukin (IL)-17A by anti-IL-17A antibody injection on the development of CAC was assessed in 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) plus dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) induced CAC mouse model. The results showed that mice dosed with DMH plus DSS for 10 weeks evoked high degree dysplastic lesion in the large bowel that accompanied with significant increased IL-17A expression, proliferation index and inflammation degree in mice. After anti-IL-17A antibody injection for 2 weeks, the number of tumors, proliferation index and the expression level of IL-17A protein in the large bowel tissues were significantly decreased. Therefore, we concluded that the anti-IL-17A blockade can suppress the development of CAC and is a potential therapeutic agent for the prevention of CAC in colitis mice.

The role of interleukin-17A in colorectal tumorigenesis.

It has been well documented that interleukin (IL)-17A mainly produced by the newly identified T cell subtype Th17 cells is an important proinflammatory cytokine that plays a vital pathogenic role in the process of human inflammatory bowel diseases. Recently, new information concerning the biological activities of IL-17A relating to the development of colorectal cancer (CRC) has also been reported. The present mini-review focuses on recent observations concerning the role of IL-17A in the development of CRCs, and it discusses the clinical significance of IL-17A as a biomarker and potential therapeutic target.

Immune microenvironmental shift along human colorectal adenoma-carcinoma sequence: is it relevant to tumor development, biomarkers and biotherapeutic targets?

Human colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is one of the leading cancers. Every year, the WHO estimates a total of 945,000 new CRC cases, with 492,000 deaths worldwide. Most CRCs arise from the main premalignant lesion, colorectal adenomas, and the progression of colorectal adenoma to CRCs may take a long-term time course. The development of human CRCs is not only determined by the adenomatous cells, but also by the interaction between adenomatous cells and host immune environment. In response to tumor initiation or invasion, many inflammatory cells and components will be inevitably activated and form an inflammatory microenvironment surrounding the CRC tumors. Accumulative evidence has revealed that inflammatory response plays a key role in the development of human CRCs by implicating in many aspects including in determining the microenvironmental immune function shift from immunosurveillance to immunosuppression and significantly influences the progression of precancerous lesions to cancers. In this review, the functional changes of immune microenvironment from precancerous stage (adenoma) to cancer stage are summarized, and their potential as predictive biomarkers and biotherapeutic significance in preventing the development of CRCs are discussed.