ORC6, Negatively Regulated by miR-1-3p, Promotes Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, microRNA-1-3p (miR-1-3p) has been linked to the progression of multiple cancers, whereas little is known about its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Herein, we investigated the function of miR-1-3p in HCC, and its regulatory function on origin recognition complex subunit 6 (ORC6). METHODS: Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed for detecting the expression levels of miR-1-3p and ORC6 mRNA in HCC samples and cell lines. ORC6 expression at the protein level was quantified by Western blot. After gain-of-function and loss-of-function models were established, cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assays, Transwell assays, flow cytometry, and 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay were performed for examining cell proliferation, migration, invasion, cell cycle, and apoptosis. The targeting relationship between miR-1-3p and ORC6 was confirmed with bioinformatic analysis and dual-luciferase reporter assays. RESULTS: The expression of miR-1-3p was reduced in HCC samples and cell lines. Overexpression of miR-1-3p suppressed the proliferation, migration, and invasion, and induced cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis of HCC cells, whereas the opposite effects were induced by miR-1-3p inhibition. ORC6 is identified as a novel target of miR-1-3p, the expression of which is negatively correlated with miR-1-3p expression in HCC tissues. ORC6 overexpression facilitated the proliferation, migration, invasion, and cell cycle progression, and reduced apoptosis of HCC cells, whereas the opposite effects were induced by ORC6 knockdown. What is more, ORC6 overexpression counteracted the biological functions of miR-1-3p in HCC cells. CONCLUSION: MiR-1-3p targets ORC6 to suppress the proliferation, migration, invasion, and cell cycle progression, and promote apoptosis of HCC cells.

MEK inhibition by cobimetinib suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma and angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo.

Hepatocellular carcinoma which is featured with the extensive vascularization is the third most frequent cause of cancer-related deaths with limited therapeutic options, particularly for advanced disease. Cobimetinib, a MEK inhibitor, has been approved for the treatment of melanomas with a BRAF mutation. In this work, we investigated the efficacy of cobimetinib in sensitive and resistant HCC cells. Using a panel of HCC cell lines and normal hepatocellular cells as control, we showed that cobimetinib is active against HCC cells and spare normal hepatocellular cells. Cobimetinib at nanomolar concentration inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in sorafenib-resistant HCC cells (Hep3B-r), suggesting its ability to overcome HCC resistance to standard of care. This was further demonstrated by our results that cobimetinib significantly augmented the inhibitory effects of sorafenib and doxorubicin in HCC cells. Notably, cobimetinib dose-dependently inhibited tumor angiogenesis by inhibiting HCC endothelial cell (HCCEC) growth, survival and capillary network work formation. Cobimetinib suppressed ERK/RSK without affecting JNK or p38 signaling pathways in Hep3B-r and HCCEC cells. In addition, cobimetinib negatively influenced the apoptosis pathways by increasing pro-apoptotic protein Bim and decreasing anti-apoptotic proteins Mcl-1 and Bcl-2. In addition, we validated the in vitro findings in HCC xenograft mouse model and demonstrated that cobimetinib inhibited ERK signaling, promoted apoptosis, and was active against resistant HCC growth and angiogenesis in vivo, without causing significant toxicity in mice. Our findings support the clinical trials of cobimetinib for HCC treatment and highlight the therapeutic value of inhibiting MEK/ERK/RSK to overcome HCC resistance.

6PGD inhibition sensitizes hepatocellular carcinoma to chemotherapy via AMPK activation and metabolic reprogramming.

Better understanding of the molecular mechanism involved in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression is essential for the development of therapeutic strategies to overcome chemoresistance in HCC patients. In this work, we show that 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD), a key enzyme of the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway, is important for HCC growth and survival. Compared to normal liver tissues, we demonstrate that 6PGD expression is upregulated in HCC tissues. 6PGD overexpression increases 6PGD activity and promotes growth in normal liver cells. In contrast, targeting 6PGD using both genetic and pharmacological approaches inhibits HCC growth and survival. Combination of chemotherapeutic agents with 6PGD inhibition achieves greater efficacy in inhibiting HCC growth and survival than chemotherapeutic agent alone. We further show that inhibition of 6PGD activates AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase 1 (ACC1), and decreases level of NADPH/NAD + and NADH in HCC, leading to SIRT1 activity reduction and oxidative stress. Conversely, AMPK depletion significantly abolishes the effects of physcion (a selective small-molecule 6PGD inhibitor) in decreasing NADPH/NAD + ratio, growth and survival, confirming the role of AMPK as the relevant upstream activator with 6PGD inhibition in HCC cells. Our work is the first to demonstrate the upregulation of 6PGD and its critical involvement in growth and survival in HCC. Our findings suggest 6PGD as a promising therapeutic target to overcome chemoresistance in HCC.

Tumor-Specific D-Dimer Concentration Ranges and Influencing Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study.

D-dimer level in cancer patients is associated with risk of venous thromboembolism and deep venous thrombosis. Most cancer patients have "abnormal" D-dimer levels based on the current normal reference range. To investigate tumor-specific D-dimer reference range, we compared D-dimer levels for nine different tumour types with healthy controls by using simultaneous quantile regression and constructing a median, 5th percentile, and 95th percentile model of normal tumour D-dimer concentration. Associations with tumour primary site, stage, pathological type, and treatment were also explored. Additionally, 190 patients were tracked to reveal the relevance of initial D-dimer levels to cancer prognosis. D-dimer ranges (median, 5th, 95th) in various cancers (mg/L) were: liver 1.12, 0.27, 5.25; pancreatic 0.96, 0.23, 4.81; breast 0.44, 0.2, 2.17; gastric 0.65, 0.22, 5.03; colorectal 0.73, 0.22, 4.45; lung 0.7, 0.25, 4.0; gynaecological 0.61, 0.22, 3.98; oesophageal 0.23, 0.7, 3.45; and head and neck 0.22, 0.44, 2.19. All were significantly higher than that of healthy controls (0.18, 0.07, 0.57). D-dimer peaked 1-2 days postoperatively but had decreased to the normal range by 1 week. Additionally, cancer patients with high initial D-dimer were shown a tendency of poor prognosis in survival rate. In conclusion, D-dimer levels in cancer depend on patient age, tumour primary site, and tumour stage. Thrombosis prevention is necessary if D-dimer has not decreased to the tumor-specific baseline a week after surgery.

[Diagnostic value of cytokeratin 19 fragment in nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical significance of cytokeratin 19 fragments test in the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. METHODS: The study included 102 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, 90 cases of nasal polyp/nasopharyngitis, and 150 healthy individuals. RT-PCR was used to detect CK19 mRNA expression and Western blot to detect CK19 fragment protein expression in tissues of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Expression of CK19-2G2 was examined by immunohistochemistry. Chemiluminescence analysis was used to detect the serum levels of CK19-2G2, and ELISA to detect that of EB-VCA IgA. RESULTS: Among 102 cases of nasophryngeal carcinoma, 64 showed CK19 mRNA expression by RT-PCR, 60 showed CK19 protein fragments in tumor tissues by Western blot, and 66 showed expression of CK19-2G2 by immunohistochemistry in nasopharyngeal carcinoma, including strong positivity in 20 cases, moderate in 34 cases and weak in 12 cases. The sensitivity and specificity of CK19-2G2 in the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma were 49.0% and 89.2%, and those of EB-VCA IgA were 52.9% and 85.4%, respectively. The combined detection of CK19-2G2 and EB-VCA IgA increased the sensitivity to 73.5% while the specificity remained at 80.0%. CONCLUSIONS: High levels of CK19-2G2 fragment expressed in tissue and serum are present in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The serum level of CK19-2G2 is helpful in the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Furthermore, the combination of serum CK19-2G2 and EB-VCA IgA improves the detection sensitivity.

[Treatment of glandular cystitis].

OBJECTIVE: To improve the therapeutic results of patients with glandular cystitis. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-seven patients with glandular cystitis were treated according to their different etiological factors. The therapeutic methods included anti-infection, obstruction relief, bladder irrigation, transurethral resection, partial cystectomy, total cystectomy. RESULTS: The patients who were associated stones and foreign bodies (50%) were cured spontaneously with an effective rate of 94%. The effective rate in patients with low urinary tract obstruction was 84%. Patients with simple urinary tract infection (53%) were cured spontaneously after anti-infection therapy. The effective rate, recurrence rate and malignancy rate in patients without associated diseases were 71%, 46% and 21% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Cystitis glandularis should be treated according to different etiological factors.