Involvement of microRNA-718, a new regulator of EGR3, in regulation of malignant phenotype of HCC cells.

OBJECTIVE: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still one of the most common death-related malignancies worldwide. Because the way onset and progression are hidden most, HCC diagnoses are made at an advanced stage, when they are unsuitable for surgical resection. MicroRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs, participating in many aspects of cancers. In this study, we tried to establish the role of microRNA-718 (miR-718) in the malignant phenotype of HCC cells and its possible role in HCC diagnosis. METHODS: Here we first used a methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, Transwell migration and invasion assays, and colony formation assay to evaluate the impact of miR-718 on the malignant phenotypes of HCC cells. Then, we used bioinformatic methods to predict the target gene of miR-718 and used green fluorescence protein (GFP) reporter assay, Western blot, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to validate the regulation relationship. Finally, we determined the role of the target gene in the HCC phenotype. RESULTS: We found that the expression of miR-718 was significantly reduced in various HCC cell lines and HCC tissues. Re-expression of miR-718 significantly reduced the cellular viability and colony formation ability as well as inhibited the migration and invasion abilities of HCC cell lines. Early growth response protein 3 (EGR3) is a direct target of miR-718 and is negatively regulated by miR-718. EGR3 could increase the viability and proliferation of HCC cells, and promot the migration and invasion of HCC cells. CONCLUSIONS: miR-718 acts as a tumor suppressive microRNA in HCC via regulating the expression of EGR3, which may provide a new diagnostic marker and treatment target for HCC.

Changes of Plasma Tumor Necrosis Factor α and C-Reactive Protein Levels in Patients with Hypertension Accompanied by Impaired Glucose Tolerance and their Clinical Significance.

BACKGROUND: Chronic inflammation could affect the occurrence and development of malignant tumors. To explore the levels of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients accompanied by impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and their clinical significance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 210 patients hospitalized in Affiliated Hospital of Taishan Medical University from Jun., 2013 to Dec., 2014 were selected, in which 92 cases were accompanied by IGT. Meanwhile, 80 randomly-selected healthy people by physical examination were as the control. The levels of routine biochemical indexes, plasma TNF-α and CRP in all subjects were measured. RESULTS: Both systolic and diastolic pressures in hypertension group and hypertension plus IGT group were significantly higher than in control group (p<0.01), but there was no statistical significance between these two groups (p>0.05). The levels of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and blood glucose 2 h after taking glucose in hypertension plus IGT group were markedly higher than other groups (p<0.01). Homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), TNF-α and CRP contents were on the progressive increase in control, hypertension and hypertension plus IGT groups, but significant differences were presented among each group (P<0.01). Hypertension accompanied by IGT had a significantly-positive association with CRP, TNF-α, FPG and blood glucose 2h after taking glucose. CONCLUSIONS: The levels of plasma TNF-α and CPR in patients with hypertension accompanied by IGT increase significantly, indicating that inflammatory reaction in these patient increases, thus suggesting that these patients should be focused regarding cancer prevention.

Predictive value of left ventricular remodeling by area strain based on three-dimensional wall-motion tracking after PCI in patients with recent NSTEMI.

We aimed to explore whether a novel left ventricular performance index, area strain (AS), based on three-dimensional wall-motion tracking (3-D-WMT) done before and after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) could predict left ventricular (LV) remodeling in patients with recent non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). Sixty-one patients (53.6 ± 8.8 years) with recent NSTEMI were enrolled. Coronary angiography and PCI were undertaken for reperfusion. Parameters of myocardial deformation (including LV end-diastolic volume, LV end-systolic volume, LV ejection fraction, LV global and regional peak area strain) were measured by 3-D-WMT before and 1 week after reperfusion therapy. Six months after reperfusion, LV negative remodeling was defined as lack of improvement in LV function, with increase in LV end-diastolic volume ≥15%. Patients were subdivided into remodeled group (n = 25) and non-remodeled group (n = 36) at follow-up. Patients with negative LV remodeling had significantly higher cardiac troponin I (cTnI) levels at baseline (21.21 ± 12.22 vs. 15.56 ± 8.91 ng/mL; p = 0.0357), higher B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) level (247.56 ± 177.39 vs. 170.53 ± 97.89 pg/mL; p = 0.0336) and reduced global AS (-27.9 ± 4.6% vs. -31.9 ± 4.3%; p = 0.001) than those without remodeling. Global AS at baseline had a significantly close correlation with cTnI level 36 h after MI (r = 0.71, p < 0.001). Moreover, a weak relationship was found between LV global AS at baseline and BNP level 24 h after myocardial infarction (r = 0.423, p < 0.001). By multivariate logistic regression analysis, lack of improvement of global AS 1 week after PCI was found to be a powerful independent predictor of negative LV remodeling at follow-up (OR = 1.41, 95% CI 1.28-3.27, p = 0.003). In particular, a global AS ≤32% (absolute value) showed a sensitivity and a specificity of 86.1% and 68.0% in predicting negative LV remodeling. These data suggest that AS could be used to assess myocardial global and regional LV function with good feasibility and repeatability. Global AS 1 week after PCI is a good independent predictor of negative LV remodeling after 6-month follow-up.