Complement C3 polymorphism is associated with the susceptibility of myasthenia gravis in Chinese adult patients.

Complement component 3 (C3) had been proved to be involved in the pathogenesis and exacerbation of both myasthenia gravis (MG) patients and experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) models. We evaluated the underlying association between five SNPs (rs344555, rs7951, rs3745568, rs366510 and rs163913) in C3 gene and Chinese adult MG patients. Our study consisted of 409 adult MG patients and 487 healthy controls. Subgroups were classified by gender, onset age, thymoma, anti-AChR antibody, onset muscle involvement (ocular/generalized) and severity (Oosterhuis score at the maximal severity during the initial two years after the onset of MG). We found significant differences in allele frequencies between MG and the control group, between various MG subgroups and the control group in rs344555 and rs3745568. There were significant differences in genotype frequencies between MG group and the control group, between MG subgroups and the control group under the codominant and additive inheritance models in rs344555 and rs3745568. No association was found between the frequencies of these SNPs and the severity of MG. We also used a comprehensive classification which was close to the clinical scenario to minimize the interaction among clinical features. In rs344555, the T allele frequency in thymoma (-) AChR-Ab (+) subgroup was significantly higher than that in the control group. Our results indicated that rs344555 was associated with the susceptibility of Chinese adult MG patients; rs3745568 was probably associated with the susceptibility of Chinese adult MG patients. No association was found between the frequencies of these SNPs and the severity of MG.

MCM3AP-AS1 regulates proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion of breast cancer cells via binding with ZFP36.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggest that long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) maintenance complex component 3 associated protein (MCM3AP) antisense RNA 1 (MCM3AP-AS1) has a wide range of functions in several cancers. However, its expression and functions in breast cancer are unclear. METHODS: Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of MCM3AP-AS1. MTT, colony formation and anchorage-independent growth assay were used to examine the effect of MCM3AP-AS1 on growth of breast cancer cells. TUNEL and flow cytometry assay were applied to investigate the role of MCM3AP-AS1 on cell apoptosis. Wound heading and transwell matric penetration assay were used to detect the role of MCM3AP-AS1 on cell motility. RNA pull-down and RIP assay were used to examine the interaction of MCM3AP-AS1 and ZFP36. RESULTS: We found that lncRNA MCM3AP-AS1 was significantly upregulated in breast cancer, which correlated with patients' clinicopathological characteristics. Downregulation of MCM3AP-AS1 substantially inhibited the proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion of breast cancer cells. Further analysis clarified that MCM3AP-AS1 binds with the RNA-binding protein ZFP36 ring finger protein (ZFP36) to regulate the levels of cyclin D1 (CCND1), c-myc (MYC), and matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP1). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show lncRNA MCM3AP-AS1 might be a prognostic factor and a promising therapeutic target for breast cancer therapy.

Association study between IL-17A and IL-17F gene polymorphism and myasthenia gravis in Chinese patients.

Alleles of IL-17A and IL-17F genes were reported to be associated with many inflammatory and autoimmune disorders in Asian patients. Serum level and mRNA of IL-17A in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were reported to be significantly higher in MG patients than in healthy controls. In experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) animals, IL-17 may have effects on the severity of MG. This study investigated the association between four SNPs of IL-17A and IL-17F gene (rs8193036, rs2275913 and rs3748067 in IL-17A; rs763780 in IL-17F) and MG in Chinese patients. The allele frequencies were compared between 480 MG patients and 487 healthy controls, between each MG subgroup and the control group, and between each pairs of MG subgroups. Subgroups were specified by clinical features (onset age, gender, thymoma, AChRAb and muscle involvement at onset) and maximal severity during the follow-up. No associations were found between the four SNPs of IL-17A and IL-17F gene and MG in Chinese patients.