Artemis as Predictive Biomarker of Responsiveness to Preoperative Chemoradiotherapy in Patients with Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.

The aim of this study was to identify Artemis as a predictive biomarker for guiding preoperative chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer. The resection specimens were collected from 50 patients with rectal cancer who underwent preoperative chemoradiotherapy. Artemis expression in biopsy tissues was evaluated using immunohistochemical staining according to the percentage of positively stained cells combined with staining intensity. Among the 50 patients, 36 (72%) had a weakly positive Artemis protein expression, 10 (20%) had a moderately positive expression, and 4 (8%) showed a strongly positive expression. The criteria of magnetic resonance imaging tumor regression grade (mrTRG) and pathological rectal cancer regression grade (RCRG) were used to assess the tumor response to chemoradiotherapy. Correlation analysis shows that there is a significant negative correlation between high Artemis immunoscore and treatment response (r = -0.532, p < 0.001). The results imply that high Artemis expression was associated with poor treatment response. Our study suggested a potential role of Artemis as a predictive biomarker of the tumor response to preoperative chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.

miR-122-5p Inhibits the Proliferation, Invasion and Growth of Bile Duct Carcinoma Cells by Targeting ALDOA.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Bile duct cancer, although not among the most common tumors, still accounts for more and more worldwide deaths each year. By attempting to verify an overexpression of ALDOA in cholangiocarcinoma tissues and cells and explore the underlying molecular mechanism regulated by miR-122-5p, this study was designed to provide a potential molecular target in bile duct cancer treatment. METHODS: Western blot and immunohistochemistry were performed to detect the ALDOA protein level in duct carcinoma tissues. The transfection efficiency was confirmed by western blot and/or RT-qPCR assay. The proliferation of bile duct carcinoma cells was determined by MTT and colony formation assay. The invasion ability of bile duct carcinoma cells was evaluated with Transwell invasion assay. Flow cytometry detected cell apoptosis of bile duct carcinoma cells. The miRNAs which modulate ALDOA were filtrated from bioinformatics software and clinical specimens. The target relationship was confirmed by dual luciferase reporter assay. Furthermore, a xenograft model was completed to verify the impact of miRNA on inhibition growth of bile duct carcinoma cells. RESULTS: ALDOA was found up-regulated in bile duct carcinoma tissues and cells. Knockdown of ALDOA promoted the apoptosis of cells and inhibited the proliferation and invasion of bile duct carcinoma cells. Bioinformatics and clinical specimens indicated the negative correlation and targeted regulation between miR-122-5p and ALDOA. By down-regulating ALDOA, overexpression of miR-122-5p appeared to promote cell apoptosis and significantly inhibit cell proliferation, invasion in vitro and suppress the tumor growth in vivo. CONCLUSION: miR-122-5p inhibited proliferation and invasion of bile duct carcinoma cells and promoted cell apoptosis by targeting ALDOA expression.