Shuchen Lin

Sirolimus induces apoptosis and reverses multidrug resistance in human osteosarcoma cells in vitro via increasing microRNA-34b expression.

Aim:Multi-drug resistance poses a critical bottleneck in chemotherapy. Given the up-regulation of mTOR pathway in many chemoresistant cancers, we examined whether sirolimus (rapamycin), a first generation mTOR inhibitor, might induce human osteosarcoma (OS) cell apoptosis and increase the sensitivity of OS cells to anticancer drugs in vitro.Methods:Human OS cell line MG63/ADM was treated with sirolimus alone or in combination with doxorubicin (ADM), gemcitabine (GEM) or methotrexate (MTX). Cell proliferation and apoptosis were detected using CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry, respectively. MiRNAs in the cells were analyzed with miRNA microarray. The targets of miR-34b were determined based on TargetScan analysis and luciferase reporter assays. The expression of relevant mRNA and proteins was measured using qRT-PCR and Western blotting. MiR-34, PAK1 and ABCB1 levels in 40 tissue samples of OS patients were analyzed using qRT-PCR and in situ hybridization assays.Results:Sirolimus (1–100 nmol/L) dose-dependently suppressed the cell proliferation (IC50=23.97 nmol/L) and induced apoptosis. Sirolimus (10 nmol/L) significantly sensitized the cells to anticancer drugs, leading to decreased IC50 values of ADM, GEM and MTX (from 25.48, 621.41 and 21.72 μmol/L to 4.93, 73.92 and 6.77 μmol/L, respectively). Treatment of with sirolimus increased miR-34b levels by a factor of 7.5 in the cells. Upregulation of miR-34b also induced apoptosis and increased the sensitivity of the cells to the anticancer drugs, whereas transfection with miR-34b-AMO, an inhibitor of miR-34b, reversed the anti-proliferation effect of sirolimus. Two key regulators of cell cycle, apoptosis and multiple drug resistance, PAK1 and ABCB1, were demonstrated to be the direct targets of miR-34b. In 40 tissue samples of OS patients, significantly higher miR-34 ISH score and lower PAK5 and ABCB1 scores were detected in the chemo-sensitive group.Conclusion:Sirolimus increases the sensitivity of human OS cells to anticancer drugs in vitro by up-regulating miR-34b interacting with PAK1 and ABCB1. A low miR-34 level is an indicator of poor prognosis in OS patients.

Interleukin-6 as a Prognostic Marker for Breast Cancer: A Meta-analysis:

Aims and background Interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been shown to promote tumor survival, metastasis, and angiogenesis, in addition to possessing antitumor activities. In light of the conflicting data, we sought to determine whether IL-6 could be used as a prognostic factor for patients with breast cancer. Methods Eligible studies describing the use of IL-6 as a prognostic factor for breast cancer were identified. Data describing overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and clinicopathologic features were collected and analyzed. Results Thirteen articles containing 3,224 breast cancer patients were identified. The results showed that IL-6 expression was not associated with lymph node metastasis, tumor size, or histologic grade. Moreover, there was no correlation between IL-6 expression and DFS. However, the combined hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) for OS was 2.15 (1.46, 3.17). Sensitivity analysis further demonstrated that, for OS, the results of this meta-analysis were stable. A subgroup analysis showed that the source used to detect IL-6 levels may have altered the pooled results for OS. Conclusions Taken together, these results indicate that IL-6 expression is associated with poor prognosis for breast cancer and the prognostic role is affected by the source used to detect IL-6 levels.

Luteolin inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis of prostate cancer cells through miR-301

Luteolin is a falvonoid compound derived from Lonicera japonica Thunb. Numerous reports have demonstrated that luteolin has anticancer effects on many kinds of tumors. This study investigated the effects of luteolin on prostate cancer (PCa), assessing the PC3 and LNCaP cells. The cell viability and apoptosis were assessed by performing Cell Counting Kit-8 assay and Annexin V–fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide double staining. Luteolin was found to inhibit androgen-sensitive and androgen-independent PCa cell lines’ growth and induced apoptosis. To uncover the exact mechanisms and molecular targets, microRNA (miR) array analysis was performed. miR-301 was found to be markedly downregulated. Then, the expression of miR-301 was retrospectively analyzed in the primary PCa tissues by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization methods. According to the quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction results of miR-301, the 54 PCa patients were divided into two groups: high and low miR-301 groups. The division indicator is a relative expression ≥5. Compared to the low-expression group, high miR-301 expression was associated with a significantly shorter overall survival (P=0.029). The proapoptotic gene, DEDD2, was predicted to be the direct target of miR-301. It was clarified in accordance with bioinformatics and luciferase activity analyses. The overexpression of miR-301 by plasmid decreased the luteolin effect. Taken together, these results suggest that luteolin inhibits PCa cell proliferation through miR-301, the poor predictive factor of PCa.

Pleiotrophin promotes chemoresistance to doxorubicin in osteosarcoma by upregulating P-glycoprotein

Chemoresistance is a major hindrance to successful treatment of osteosarcoma (OS). Pleiotrophin (PTN), a neurotrophic growth factor, has been linked to the malignant characteristics of various cancer types. We retrospectively examined the correlation between PTN expression and chemoresistance in OS in a cohort of 133 OS patients. Immunohistochemistry revealed that PTN expression correlated with the necrosis rate and local OS recurrence. In a prognostic analysis, high PTN expression was associated with poor overall and disease-free survival, and was an independent adverse prognostic factor for disease-free survival. In doxorubicin-treated OS cells, PTN knockdown enhanced cellular chemosensitivity, increased the apoptosis rate and inhibited clone formation, while PTN overexpression had the opposite effects. In a xenograft model, PTN knockdown and overexpression respectively enhanced and reduced cellular sensitivity to doxorubicin. PTN upregulated anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), p-Glycogen Synthase Kinase (GSK)3β, β-catenin and multidrug resistance protein 1/P-glycoprotein (MDR1/P-gp). In rescue assays with the β-catenin inhibitor XAV939 and the MDR1/P-gp inhibitor verapamil, PTN promoted chemoresistance to doxorubicin in OS cells by activating ALK/GSK3β/β-catenin signaling, thereby upregulating MDR1/P-gp. Therefore, PTN could be used as a biomarker predicting chemotherapeutic responses, and downregulating PTN could be a promising therapeutic strategy to prevent chemoresistance in OS patients.Chemoresistance is a major hindrance to successful treatment of osteosarcoma (OS). Pleiotrophin (PTN), a neurotrophic growth factor, has been linked to the malignant characteristics of various cancer types. We retrospectively examined the correlation between PTN expression and chemoresistance in OS in a cohort of 133 OS patients. Immunohistochemistry revealed that PTN expression correlated with the necrosis rate and local OS recurrence. In a prognostic analysis, high PTN expression was associated with poor overall and disease-free survival, and was an independent adverse prognostic factor for disease-free survival. In doxorubicin-treated OS cells, PTN knockdown enhanced cellular chemosensitivity, increased the apoptosis rate and inhibited clone formation, while PTN overexpression had the opposite effects. In a xenograft model, PTN knockdown and overexpression respectively enhanced and reduced cellular sensitivity to doxorubicin. PTN upregulated anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), p-Glycogen Synthase Kinase (GSK)3β, β-catenin and multidrug resistance protein 1/P-glycoprotein (MDR1/P-gp). In rescue assays with the β-catenin inhibitor XAV939 and the MDR1/P-gp inhibitor verapamil, PTN promoted chemoresistance to doxorubicin in OS cells by activating ALK/GSK3β/β-catenin signaling, thereby upregulating MDR1/P-gp. Therefore, PTN could be used as a biomarker predicting chemotherapeutic responses, and downregulating PTN could be a promising therapeutic strategy to prevent chemoresistance in OS patients.

Elevated expression of serine/threonine phosphatase type 5 correlates with malignant proliferation in human osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary malignant bone tumor in adolescents and young adults. However, the involvement of serine/threonine phosphatase type 5 (PP5) in osteosarcoma remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the functional role of PP5 in osteosarcoma cells. Firstly, we found that PP5 is widely expressed in several human osteosarcoma cell lines. Then we used lentivirus-delivered siRNA to silence PP5 expression in Saos-2 and U2OS cell lines. Knockdown of endogenous PP5 expression by shRNA-expressing lentivirus significantly decreased the viability and proliferation of the osteosarcoma cells. Moreover, FACS analysis showed that knockdown of PP5 expression induced a significant arrest in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle, which was associated with the inhibition of cell proliferation. Therefore, knockdown of PP5 is likely to provide a novel alternative to targeted therapy of osteosarcoma and deserves further investigation.

Selumetinib suppresses cell proliferation, migration and trigger apoptosis, G1 arrest in triple-negative breast cancer cells

BackgroundTriple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has aggressive progression with poor prognosis and ineffective treatments. Selumetinib is an allosteric, ATP-noncompetitive inhibitor of MEK1/2, which has benn known as effective antineoplastic drugs for several malignant tumors. We hypothesized that Selumetinib might be potential drug for TNBC and explore the mechanism.MethodsAfter treated with Selumetinib, the viability and mobility of HCC1937 and MDA-MB-231 were detected by MTT, tunnel, wound-healing assay, transwell assay and FCM methods. MiR array was used to analysis the change of miRs. We predicted and verified CUL1 is the target of miR-302a using Luciferase reporter assay. We also silenced the CUL1 by siRNA, to clarify whether CUL1 take part in the cell proliferation, migration and regulated its substrate TIMP1 and TRAF2. Moreover, after transfection, the antagomir of miR-302a and CUL1 over-expressed plasmid into HCC1937 and MDA-MB-231 cell accompanied with the Selumetinib treatment, we detected the proliferation and migration again.ResultsSelumetinib reduce the proliferation, migration, triggered apoptosis and G1 arrest in TNBC cell lines. In this process, the miR-302a was up-regulated and inhibited the CUL1 expression. The later negatively regulated the TIMP1 and TRAF2. As soon as we knockdown miR-302a and over-expression CUL1 in TNBC cells, the cytotoxicity of Selumetinib was reversed.ConclusionsMiR-302a targeted regulated the CUL1 expression and mediated the Selumetinib-induced cytotoxicity of triple-negative breast cancer.

PAK5 overexpression is associated with lung metastasis in osteosarcoma

p21-activated kinases (PAKs) are multifunctional effectors of Rho GTPases, which are associated with cytoskeletal organization, cellular morphogenesis, migration and survival. PAKs are overactive in a number of tumor tissues and have attracted attention as a potential target for cancer therapy. In the present study, PAK5 levels were analyzed in primary osteosarcoma (OS) samples (n=65) using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) methods. In the primary OS tissue, increased PAK5 expression (IHC score >2, n=37) was associated with significantly decreased overall survival (P=0.036) compared with decreased PAK5 expression (IHC score ≤2, n=28). PAK5 expression was identified to be significantly associated with metastasis (P=0.010). The lung is the most common metastasis site for OS. In addition, the level of PAK5 in lung metastasis tissue (n=13) was detected using RT-qPCR and IHC methods. PAK5 expression was increased in lung metastasis tissue compared with in primary OS samples. PAK5 was silenced using short hairpin RNA in OS cell lines. Wound healing, migration and nude mice model assay results consistently demonstrated that PAK5 knockdown was able to significantly inhibit OS migration. In PAK5-knockdown cells, the alteration in the expression of a number of metastasis-associated factors, including epithelial cadherin, vimentin, fibronectin and matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2), was analyzed. Only MMP2 expression was decreased significantly (P<0.05). The expression level of MMP2 was analyzed in primary OS tissue and lung metastasis tissue using RT-qPCR and IHC methods. Expression of MMP2 was identified to be associated with expression of PAK5. The results of the present study suggest that PAK5 promotes OS cell migration and that PAK5 expression may be used to predict lung metastasis.

Knockdown of ubiquitin-specific peptidase 39 inhibited the growth of osteosarcoma cells and induced apoptosis in vitro

BackgroundUbiquitin specific peptidase 39 (USP39), an essential factor in the assembly of the mature spliceosome complex, has an aberrant expression in several cancer. However, its function and the corresponding mechanism on human osteosarcoma has not been fully explored yet.MethodsThe mRNA and DNA copies of USP39 were increased in osteosarcoma cancer tissues compared with the one in human normal tissues according to datasets from the publicly available Oncomine database. A further western blot analysis also demonstrated an aberrant endogenous expression of USP39 in three different osteosarcoma cells. Then lentivirus-mediated short hairpin RNA (shRNA) was designed to silence USP39 in human osteosarcoma cell line U2OS, which is used to test the impact of USP39-silencing on cellular proliferation, colony formation, cell cycle distribution and apoptosis.ResultsKnockdown of USP39 expression in U2OS cell significantly decreased cell proliferation, impaired colony formation ability. A further analysis indicated suppression of USP39 arrested cell cycle progression at G2/M phase via p21 dependent way. In addition, the results of Annexin V/7-AAD staining suggested the knockdown of USP39 could promote U2OS cell apoptosis through PARP cleavage.ConclusionsThese results uncover the critical role of USP39 in regulating cancer cell mitosis and indicate USP39 is critical for osteosarcoma tumorigenesis.

Monitoring cancer stem cells: insights into clinical oncology.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small, characteristically distinctive subset of tumor cells responsible for tumor initiation and progression. Several treatment modalities, such as surgery, glycolytic inhibition, driving CSC proliferation, immunotherapy, and hypofractionated radiotherapy, may have the potential to eradicate CSCs. We propose that monitoring CSCs is important in clinical oncology as CSC populations may reflect true treatment response and assist with managing treatment strategies, such as defining optimal chemotherapy cycles, permitting pretreatment cancer surveillance, conducting a comprehensive treatment plan, modifying radiation treatment, and deploying rechallenge chemotherapy. Then, we describe methods for monitoring CSCs.