LINC00346 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression via activating the JAK-STAT3 signaling pathway.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains the most common malignant tumor worldwide. Long noncoding RNAs can modulate various tumorigenic processes. In addition, growing evidence has indicated tha the Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) pathway is activated in multiple cancers, including HCC. Recently, it was found that LINC00346 can participate in several cancers. Nevertheless, the biological roles of LINC00346 in HCC have been barely investigated. In this study, the function of LINC00346 was specifically concentrated upon. We observed that LINC00346 was obviously elevated in HCC cells (Bel7404, Huh-6, HepG2, and QGY-7703 cells). Then, Bel7404 and HepG2 cells were overexpressed with LINC00346. Overexpression of LINC00346 repressed HCC cell survival and cell proliferation. In addition, apoptosis of Bel7404 and HepG2 cells was triggered by LINC00346 upregulation. Bel7404 and HepG2 cell cycle was arrested in the G1 phase by LINC00346. Meanwhile, we conducted wound-healing assay and Transwell invasion assays. As shown, we observed that the migratory and invasive capacities of Bel7404 and HepG2 cells were remarkably restrained by the increase of LINC00346. Moreover, we showed that LINC00346 overexpression activated the JAK-STAT3 pathway, which is involved in many cancers. Afterward, in vivo experiments were utilized and we proved that LINC00346 was able to induce HCC tumor growth via activating the JAK-STAT3 pathway. To conclude, we revealed the potential possibility of developing LINC00346 as an indicator for HCC.

Hyaluronic acid-modified cationic nanoparticles overcome enzyme CYP1B1-mediated breast cancer multidrug resistance.

AIM: Enzyme CYP1B1 (CYP1B1) is usually overexpressed in multidrug resistance (MDR) breast cancer cells, which could metabolically inactivate docetaxel (DTX). MATERIALS & METHODS: The cationic core-shell nanoparticles (hyaluronic acid/polyethyleneimine nanoparticles [HA/PEI NPs]) modified with hyaluronic acid (HA) were developed and coloaded with DTX and α-napthtoflavone (ANF, a CYP1B1 inhibitor) to overcome MDR in breast cancer induced by CYP1B1. Physicochemical characterization, MDR reversing effect in vitro and pharmacokinetics in vivo of HA/PEI NPs were evaluated. RESULTS: The HA/PEI NPs exhibited spherical morphology with size of (193.6 ± 3.1) nm. The HA/PEI NPs could reverse MDR effectively by downregulating the expression of CYP1B1. The HA/PEI NPs improved the bioavailability of DTX. CONCLUSION: The HA/PEI NPs might be a promising strategy to overcome CYP1B1-mediated breast cancer MDR.

Folate and Borneol Modified Bifunctional Nanoparticles for Enhanced Oral Absorption.

Oral delivery is considered the preferred route of administration due to its convenience and favorable compliance. Here, docetaxel (DTX) loaded polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanoparticles, coated with polyethyleneimine⁻folic acid (PEI-FA) and polyethyleneimine⁻borneol (PEI-BO), were designed to enhance oral absorption (FA/BO-PLGA-NPs). The FA/BO-PLGA-NPs were spherical and smooth with an average size of (137.0 ± 2.1) nm. Encapsulation efficiency (EE%) and drug loading (DL%) were (80.3 ± 1.8)% and (2.3 ± 0.3)%, respectively. In vitro release studies showed that approximately 62.1% of DTX was released from FA/BO-PLGA-NPs in media at pH 7.4. The reverted gut sac method showed that the absorption of FA/BO-PLGA-NPs in the intestines was approximately 6.0 times that of DTX. Moreover, cellular uptake suggested that the obtained FA/BO-PLGA-NPs could be efficiently internalized into Caco-2 cells via FA-mediated active targeting and BO-mediated P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inhibition. Pharmacokinetics study demonstrated that after oral administration of DTX at a dose of 10 mg/kg in FA/BO-PLGA-NPs, the bioavailability of FA/BO-PLGA-NPs was enhanced by approximately 6.8-fold compared with that of DTX suspension. FA/BO-PLGA-NPs caused no obvious irritation to the intestines. Overall, the FA/BO-PLGA-NP formulation remarkably improved the oral bioavailability of DTX and exhibited a promising perspective in oral drug delivery.

Inhibiting pulmonary metastasis of breast cancer based on dual-targeting graphene oxide with high stability and drug loading capacity.

In this study, heparin and polyethyleneimine-folic acid modified graphene oxide was designed and synthesized as a dual-targeting biomaterial to load doxorubicin (DOX@GPFH) with high loading capacity for enhanced cellular uptake. GDC0941, a phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase/Akt phosphorylation inhibitor, was selected to enhance anti-metastasis effect of DOX@GPFH via down-regulating expression of matrix metalloproteinase. Modified with heparin, the stability of DOX@GPFH was significantly enhanced and the drug loading ratio increased largely from 64.4% to 125.1%. The inhibition rates of the mixture of DOX@GPFH and GDC0941 in vitro by wound healing, cell migration and invasion assays were 61.2%±13.9%, 81.0%±3.6% and 76.8%±5.2%, respectively, while the tumor and the pulmonary anti-metastasis rates tested in vivo were 77.0%±7.6% and 73.7%±9.6%, respectively. Our findings illustrated an effective approach for developing dual-targeting graphene oxide with high drug loading for pulmonary anti-metastasis of breast cancer.

Synergistic inhibition of migration and invasion of breast cancer cells by dual docetaxel/quercetin-loaded nanoparticles via Akt/MMP-9 pathway.

Metastasis impedes the successful chemotherapy for breast cancer. In this study, an Akt inhibitor (quercetin, Qu) was co-delivered with a chemotherapeutic agent (docetaxel, DTX) by using hyaluronic acid (HA)-modified nanoparticles (NPs) as vectors to block metastasis. Dual DTX/Qu-loaded HA/polylactic-co-glycolic acid-polyethyleneimine NPs (PP-HA/NPs) were prepared through a modified emulsion solvent evaporation technique. The particle size of PP-HA/NPs with narrow polydispersity was 209.8±10.8nm. Wound healing assay revealed that Qu co-delivery and HA modification elicited synergistic inhibitory effects on cell motility. The downregulation of p-Akt and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression contributed to the significant inhibition of cell migration and invasion with inhibition rates of 95.6% and 99.3%, respectively. Further studies indicated that PP-HA/NPs could be efficiently uptaken by 4T1 breast cancer cells and could further induce cytotoxicity, decrease colony formation and promote cell apoptosis. Biodistribution assay demonstrated PP-HA/NPs also enhanced drug accumulation in the tumor and lungs and predicted that PP-HA/NPs could be employed as an effective therapy for primary tumor and pulmonary metastasis. Therefore, PP-HA/NPs could be a promising delivery system to treat metastatic breast cancer effectively.

Long non-coding RNA HNF1A-AS1 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation by repressing NKD1 and P21 expression.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Recent evidences have demonstrated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) act as key regulators of tumor development and progression including HCC. In the study, we showed that the expression level of HNF1A-AS1 was up-regulated in HCC cell lines. Furthermore, CCK-8 cell proliferation assays and cell cycle analysis showed that HNF1A-AS1 over-expression facilitated HCC cell proliferation by promoting the cell proliferation and S-phase progression, whereas HNF1A-AS1 knockdown had the opposite effect. Western-blotting analysis revealed that knockdown of HNF1A-AS1 inhibited the cycle-relative protein cyclin-D1 and PCNA expression in HCC cells. Mechanism, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays showed that by interacting with enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), HNF1A-AS1 promoted HCC cell proliferation by repressing the NKD1 and p21 expression. These results suggested that HNF1A-AS1 may contribute to HCC progression, which may be an effective therapeutic target for patients.

Determination of contents of four alkaloids in Pericarpium arecae by quantitative analysis of multi-components by single-marker.

By using a typical component in traditional Chinese medicine Pericarpium Arecae (PA), quantitative analysis of multi-components by single-marker (QAMS) was performed to determine the contents of four alkaloids. With a column packed with strong cation exchange bonded silica particles, the alkaloids were well separated, showing linear relationships within certain ranges. The limit of detection, limit of quantitation, precision, stability, repeatability and recovery all met requirements. By employing arecoline as internal standard, relative correction factors for arecaidine, guvacine and guvacoline at five concentrations were detected with three HPLC systems and three HPLC columns. The peaks of arecaidine, guvacine and guvacoline were positioned, during which the columns with the same packing materials from different manufacturers significantly affected relative retention values and retention time differences of the alkaloids. However, the columns, from different batches, managed to give relative retention values satisfying the requirements of HPLC peak positioning. The Thermo Fisher Scientific column packed with strong cation exchange bonded silica particles was finally selected by considering resolution and peak time. Compared with the external standard method, QAMS detected the alkaloid contents in 12 PA samples more accurately and reliably. The results provide valuable evidence for content determination and quality control of alkaloids in PA.