LncRNA CRNDE promotes cell proliferation, migration and invasion of ovarian cancer via miR-423-5p/FSCN1 axis.

Ovarian cancer seriously threatens the health of women. LncRNA CRNDE is known to be upregulated in ovarian cancer. However, the mechanism by which CRNDE regulates the progress of ovarian cancer is largely unknown. MTT assay was applied to measure the cell viability. Colony formation assay was used to measure the cell proliferation. Cell migration was tested by wound healing, and Transwell assay was performed to detect cell invasion. In addition, the expression of miR-423-5p, CRNDE and FSCN1 were detected by RT-qPCR and western blotting, respectively. Meanwhile, dual-luciferase reporter assay and RIP assay were performed to explore the correlation between miR-423-5p and CRNDE (or FSCN1). CRNDE and FSCN1 were upregulated in ovarian cancer cells (SKOV3, CAOV-3, IGROV1, A2780 and C13K), while miR-423-5p was downregulated. Moreover, silencing of FSCN1/CRNDE significantly decreased proliferation, migration and invasion of ovarian cancer cells (SKOV3 and CI3K) via suppressing MMP-2 and MMP-9. In addition, CRNDE could sponge miR-423-5p, and FSCN1 was confirmed to be the direct target of miR-423-5p. Furthermore, CRNDE knockdown-induced inhibition of FSCN1 was notably reversed by miR-423-5p downregulation. Knockdown of CRNDE inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion of ovarian cancer via miR-423-5p/FSCN1 axis. Thus, CRNDE may serve a new target for ovarian cancer.

Leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein-1, relevant with microvessel density, is an independent survival prognostic factor for stage III colorectal cancer patients: a retrospective analysis.

BACKGROUND: Leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein-1 (encoded by LRG1) has been shown to be involved in multiple cancer progression and angiogenesis. LRG1 has been shown to be one of the five plasma proteins that can be used for colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosis. The objective of the current study was to explore relationship between LRG1 protein expression and microvessel density (MVD) in stage III CRC. METHODS: A single-center retrospective analysis of all stage III CRC who underwent surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy was carried out. LRG1 and CD34 were tested in tumor tissues by immunohistochemistry (IHC). RESULTS: LRG1 protein expression was significantly associated with MVD (P <0.001) and other clinicopathological parameters, including T stage (P=0.028), differentiation (P=0.035) and vascular invasion (P=0.007). Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that LRG1 protein expression was an independent poor predictive factor for both disease-free and overall survival. CONCLUSION: LRG1 protein expression can be used as a prognostic marker for stage III CRC along with its use as a diagnostic marker for CRC in general.

[Expression of leptin and leptin receptor in hepatocellular carcinoma and the clinicopathological significance].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expressions of leptin and leptin receptor in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and explore the clinicopathological significance. METHODS: The expressions of leptin and leptin receptor were examined by immunohistochemistry in 81 HCC patients undergoing curative tumor resection. The correlations between the expression of two biomarkers and the clinicopathological factors were analyzed. RESULTS: The overexpression rate of leptin and leptin receptor in HCC was 56.8% and 35.8%, respectively. No significant correlation was observed between their overexpression (r=0.236, P=0.034). Leptin receptor overexpression was significantly correlated to the tumor size and TNM stage (P<0.05), but not to age, body mass index, α-fetoprotein, hepatitis B surface antigen status, tumor grade, vascular invasion, or liver cirrhosis (P≥0.05). Leptin overexpression showed no significant correlations to the above clinicopathological factors (P≥0.05). CONCLUSION: Leptin receptor overexpression may have an inhibitory effect on hepatocellular carcinoma. The expression status of leptin receptor decides the action of leptin and leptin receptor after their binding.

Prognostic and predictive values of pERK1/2 and pAkt-1 expression in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy.

Ras/ERK and PI3K/Akt pathways are reported to play a prognostic role and contribute to drug resistance in many cancers. The objective of this study was to explore associations between the expression levels of several molecules in Ras/ERK and PI3K/Akt pathways and their clinical significance in predicting the effectiveness of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The expressions of K-ras, Raf-1, ERK1/2, phosphorylated ERK1/2 (pERK1/2), Akt-1, phosphorylated Akt-1 (pAkt-1), and Bcl-2 were detected by immunohistochemistry in tumor specimens from 144 NSCLC patients. The correlations between the expression levels of these molecules and the clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed. Patient survival was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test, and Cox regression. The positive expression rates of K-ras, Raf-1, ERK1/2, pERK1/2, Akt-1, pAkt-1, and Bcl-2 were 21.5%, 41.7%, 59.7%, 27.1%, 50.7%, 36.1%, and 30.6%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that patients with pERK1/2-positive (P = 0.01), Bcl-2-positive (P = 0.023), or pAkt-1 negative (P = 0.021) had significantly better recurrence-free survival (RFS) than those with pERK1/2-negative, Bcl-2-negative, or pAkt-1-positive. Multivariate analysis showed that earlier stage (P ≤ 0.001), non-adenocarcinoma (P ≤ 0.001), pERK1/2-positive (P ≤ 0.001), and pAkt-1-negative (P = 0.016) were independent prognostic factors for a better RFS in NSCLC. pERK1/2-positive and pAkt-1-negative proved to contribute to a better RFS in postoperative NSCLC patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy after taking the stage and histological subtype into account. pERK1/2 and pAkt-1 could be considered as new independent prognostic biomarkers for predicting RFS and selecting patients who are more likely to benefit from postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy.