Decreased expression of H19/miR-675 ameliorates hypoxia-induced oxaliplatin resistance in colorectal cancer.

Hypoxic microenvironment, a hallmark of solid tumors, contributes to chemoresistance, and long noncoding (lnc) RNAs are involved in hypoxia-induced drug resistance. However, the role of lncRNAs in hypoxic tumor chemotherapy resistance remains unclear. Here, we aimed to elucidate the effects of lncRNAs in hypoxia-mediated resistance in colorectal cancer (CRC), as well as the underlying mechanisms. The results indicated that the expression of lncRNA H19 was enhanced in hypoxia- or oxaliplatin-treated CRC cells; moreover, H19 contributed to drug resistance in CRC cells both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, H19 was noted to act as a competitive endogenous RNA of miR-675-3p to regulate epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Notably, an miR-675-3p mimic could attenuate the effects of H19 deficiency in CRC cells with hypoxia-induced chemoresistance. In conclusion, H19 downregulation may counteract hypoxia-induced chemoresistance by sponging miR-675-3p to regulate EMT; as such, the H19/miR-675-3p axis might be a promising therapeutic target for drug resistance in CRC.

HOTAIR/miR-1277-5p/ZEB1 axis mediates hypoxia-induced oxaliplatin resistance via regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition in colorectal cancer.

The hypoxic microenvironment contributes to the chemoresistance of many malignant tumors including colorectal cancer (CRC). Accumulating studies have indicated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in chemotherapy resistance. In this study, we aimed to determine the effect of lncRNAs in hypoxia-mediated resistance in CRC and its potential mechanism. Here, we discovered that hypoxia-induced oxaliplatin resistance and HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR) expression was increased in hypoxia-treated CRC cell lines and CRC tumors. Knockdown of HOTAIR by siRNA reduced the viability and proliferation of CRC cells treated with oxaliplatin and reversed hypoxia-induced resistance. Mechanically, we found that HOTAIR modulates zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) expression by negative regulations of miR-1277-5p. When miR-1277-5p was silenced, knockdown of HOTAIR was unable to reduce the oxaliplatin resistance in CRC cells. In mouse models of CRC, HOTAIR knockdown markedly inhibited the tumor growth when treated with oxaliplatin. Thus, HOTAIR/miR-1277-5p/ZEB1 axis appears a promising therapeutic target for improving the oxaliplatin efficacy in CRC.

High-risk Stage III colon cancer patients identified by a novel five-gene mutational signature are characterized by upregulation of IL-23A and gut bacterial translocation of the tumor microenvironment.

The heterogeneities of colorectal cancer (CRC) lead to staging inadequately of patients' prognosis. Here, we performed a prognostic analysis based on the tumor mutational profile and explored the characteristics of the high-risk tumors. We sequenced 338 colorectal carcinomas as the training dataset, constructed a novel five-gene (SMAD4, MUC16, COL6A3, FLG and LRP1B) prognostic signature, and validated it in an independent dataset from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses confirmed that the five-gene signature is an independent predictor of recurrence and prognosis in patients with Stage III colon cancer. The mutant signature translated to an increased risk of death (hazard ratio = 2.45, 95% confidence interval = 1.15-5.22, p = 0.016 in our dataset; hazard ratio = 4.78, 95% confidence interval = 1.33-17.16, p = 0.008 in TCGA dataset). RNA and bacterial 16S rRNA sequencing of high-risk tumors indicated that mutations of the five-gene signature may lead to intestinal barrier integrity, translocation of gut bacteria and deregulation of immune response and extracellular related genes. The high-risk tumors overexpressed IL23A and IL1RN genes and enriched with cancer-related bacteria (Bacteroides fragilis,Peptostreptococcus, Parvimonas, Alloprevotella and Gemella) compared to the low-risk tumors. The signature identified the high-risk group characterized by gut bacterial translocation and upregulation of interleukins of the tumor microenvironment, which was worth further researching.

Significant prognostic values of differentially expressed-aberrantly methylated hub genes in breast cancer.

Introduction: Abnormal status of gene expression plays an important role in tumorigenesis, progression and metastasis of breast cancer. Mechanisms of gene silence or activation were varied. Methylation of genes may contribute to alteration of gene expression. This study aimed to identify differentially expressed hub genes which may be regulated by DNA methylation and evaluate their prognostic value in breast cancer by bioinformatic analysis. Methods: GEO2R was used to obtain expression microarray data from GSE54002, GSE65194 and methylation microarray data from GSE20713, GSE32393. Differentially expressed-aberrantly methylated genes were identified by FunRich. Biological function and pathway enrichment analysis were conducted by DAVID. PPI network was constructed by STRING and hub genes was sorted by Cytoscape. Expression and DNA methylation of hub genes was validated by UALCAN and MethHC. Clinical outcome analysis of hub genes was performed by Kaplan Meier-plotter database for breast cancer. IHC was performed to analyze protein levels of EXO1 and Kaplan-Meier was used for survival analysis. Results: 677 upregulated-hypomethylated and 361 downregulated-hypermethylated genes were obtained from GSE54002, GSE65194, GSE20713 and GSE32393 by GEO2R and FunRich. The most significant biological process, cellular component, molecular function enriched and pathway for upregulated-hypomethylated genes were viral process, cytoplasm, protein binding and cell cycle respectively. For downregulated-hypermethylated genes, the result was peptidyl-tyrosine phosphorylation, plasma membrane, transmembrane receptor protein tyrosine kinase activity and Rap1 signaling pathway (All p< 0.05). 12 hub genes (TOP2A, MAD2L1, FEN1, EPRS, EXO1, MCM4, PTTG1, RRM2, PSMD14, CDKN3, H2AFZ, CCNE2) were sorted from 677 upregulated-hypomethylated genes. 4 hub genes (EGFR, FGF2, BCL2, PIK3R1) were sorted from 361 downregulated-hypermethylated genes. Differential expression of 16 hub genes was validated in UALCAN database (p<0.05). 7 in 12 upregulated-hypomethylated and 2 in 4 downregulated-hypermethylated hub genes were confirmed to be significantly hypomethylated or hypermethylated in breast cancer using MethHC database (p<0.05). Finally, 12 upregulated hub genes (TOP2A, MAD2L1, FEN1, EPRS, EXO1, MCM4, PTTG1, RRM2, PSMD14, CDKN3, H2AFZ, CCNE2) and 3 downregulated genes (FGF2, BCL2, PIK3R1) contributed to significant unfavorable clinical outcome in breast cancer (p<0.05). High expression level of EXO1 protein was significantly associated with poor OS in breast cancer patients (p=0.03). Conclusion: Overexpression of TOP2A, MAD2L1, FEN1, EPRS, EXO1, MCM4, PTTG1, RRM2, PSMD14, CDKN3, H2AFZ, CCNE2 and downregulation of FGF2, BCL2, PIK3R1 might serve as diagnosis and poor prognosis biomarkers in breast cancer by more research validation. EXO1 was identified as an individual unfavorable prognostic factor. Methylation might be one of the major causes leading to abnormal expression of those genes. Functional analysis and pathway enrichment analysis of those genes would provide novel ideas for breast cancer research.

PTPRB promotes metastasis of colorectal carcinoma via inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Dysregulation of protein tyrosine phosphatase, receptor type B (PTPRB) correlates with the development of a variety of tumors. Here we show that PTPRB promotes metastasis of colorectal cancer (CRC) cells via inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). We find that PTPRB is expressed at significantly higher levels in CRC tissues compared to adjacent nontumor tissues and in CRC cell lines with high invasion. PTPRB knockdown decreased the number of invasive CRC cells in an in vitro wound healing model, and also reduced tumor metastasis in vivo. Conversely, PTPRB overexpression promoted CRC cell invasion in vitro and metastasis in vivo. PTPRB overexpression decreased vimentin expression and promoted E-cadherin expression, consistent with promotion of EMT, while PTPRB knockdown had the opposite effect. Hypoxic conditions induced EMT and promoted invasion in CRC cells, but these effects were eliminated by PTPRB knockdown. EMT blockade via TWIST1 knockdown inhibited the migration and invasiveness of CRC cells, and even increased PTPRB expression could not reverse this effect. Altogether, these data support the conclusion that PTPRB promotes invasion and metastasis of CRC cells via inducing EMT, and that PTPRB would be a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of CRC.

[miR-15a and miR-16 modulate drug resistance by targeting bcl-2 in human colon cancer cells].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the reversal effect of targeted modulation of bcl-2 expression by miR-15a and miR-16 on drug resistance of human colon cancer cells. METHODS: Mimics or inhibitors of miR-15a and miR-16 were transfected into HCT8 or HCT8/VCR cells with the help of Lipofectamine 2000. The expressions of miR-15a and miR-16 mRNA were detected by RT-qPCR. The levels of bcl-2 and P-gp proteins were measured by Western blot. The inhibitory effects of VCR on growth of HCT8 and HCT8/VCR cells were detected by CCK8. RESULTS: After transfection of the mimics, the expression of miR-15a in the blank control group, negative control group and miR-15a mimic group was 1.00, 0.87 ± 0.24, and 223.44 ± 59.07, respectively, and miR-15a was increased significantly (P < 0.001). The expression of miR-16 in the blank control group, negative control group and miR-16 mimic group was 1.00, 0.66 ± 0.19, and 107.32 ± 22.58, respectively, and miR-16 expression was increased significantly (P < 0.001). The Western blot assay showed that the relative expressions of bcl-2 protein in the blank control group, negative control group, miR-15a mimic group and miR-16 mimic group were 1.00, 0.97 ± 0.02, 0.51 ± 0.06, and 0.65 ± 0.03, respectively, and the expression of bcl-2 protein was decreased significantly (P < 0.05), however, the expressions of P-gp protein showed no significant difference. The CCK8 test showed that at 1, 5, 25 and 125 µg/ml concentration of VCR, the survival rates of HCT8/VCR cells were basically the same in the blank control group, negative control group, miR-15a mimic group and miR-16 mimic group, but the survival rate of HCT8/VCR cells was significantly decreased after transfection of mimics (P < 0.05). After transfection of the inhibitors, the expressions of both miR-15a and miR-16 were decreased significantly (P < 0.001). The Western blot showed that the expression of bcl-2 protein was increased (P < 0.05), while the expression of P-gp protein showed no significant difference. The CCK8 test showed that the survival rate of HCT8 cells which were transfected with inhibitors was significantly higher than that of the blank control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: miR-15a and miR-16 may reverse the drug resistance in human colon cancer cells. A possible mechanism is regulating the expression of bcl-2.