Selective Inhibition of PI3K Isoforms in Brain Tumors Suppresses Tumor Growth by Increasing Radiosensitivity.

Purpose: Glioblastoma (GBM) is a malignant brain tumor with poor prognosis. Radioresistance is a major challenge in the treatment of brain tumors. The development of several types of tumors, including GBM, involves the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) signaling pathway.

Combining radiation with PI3K isoform-selective inhibitor administration increases radiosensitivity and suppresses tumor growth in non-small cell lung cancer.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a malignant lung tumor with a dismal prognosis. The activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT signaling pathway is common in many tumor types including NSCLC, which results in radioresistance and changes in the tumor microenvironment. Although pan-PI3K inhibitors have been tested in clinical trials to overcome radioresistance, concerns regarding their excessive side effects led to the consideration of selective inhibition of PI3K isoforms.

Coupling of LETM1 up-regulation with oxidative phosphorylation and platelet-derived growth factor receptor signaling via YAP1 transactivation.

Persistent cellular proliferation and metabolic reprogramming are essential processes in carcinogenesis. Here, we performed Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and found that that LETM1, a mitochondrial calcium transporter, is associated with cellular growth signals such as platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor signaling and insulin signaling pathways. These results were then verified by qRT-PCR and immnunoblotting.

Upregulation of long noncoding RNA LOC100507661 promotes tumor aggressiveness in thyroid cancer.

Recent advances in next-generation sequencing have revealed a variety of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). However, studies of lncRNAs are at a very early stage, our knowledge of the biological functions and clinical implications remains limited. To investigate the roles of lncRNAs in thyroid cancers, we verified 56 lncRNAs identified as potential cancer-promoting genes in a previous study that analyzed 2394 tumor SNP arrays from 12 types of cancer.

Distinct Features of Nonthyroidal Illness in Critically Ill Patients With Infectious Diseases.

Nonthyroidal illness (NTI), often observed in critically ill patients, arises through diverse alterations in the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis. However, the causal relationship between underlying disease and NTI diversity in critically ill patients is poorly understood.The aim of this study was to examine NTI severity and adverse outcomes in critically ill patients with respect to their underlying disease(s).

Relationship of Focally Amplified Long Noncoding on Chromosome 1 (FAL1) lncRNA with E2F Transcription Factors in Thyroid Cancer.

Recent functional genomic studies revealed that the oncogenic activity of focally amplified lncRNA on chromosome 1 (FAL1, ENSG00000228126) contributes to tumor growth by p21 repression in human cancers. However, the expression of FAL1 was not investigated in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). We aimed to determine if FAL1 was up-regulated in PTC compared to paired contralateral normal thyroid tissues, and to investigate the potential targets of this lncRNA and its clinicopathological significance in PTC.

KSR1 is coordinately regulated with Notch signaling and oxidative phosphorylation in thyroid cancer.

Kinase suppressor of RAS1 (KSR1) is a scaffold protein implicated in RAS-mediated RAF activation. However, the molecular function of KSR in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is unknown. Thus, this study aimed to characterize the role of KSR1 in patients with PTC.

A metabolic phenotype based on mitochondrial ribosomal protein expression as a predictor of lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Metabolic reprogramming has been regarded as an essential component of malignant transformation. However, the clinical significance of metabolic heterogeneity remains poorly characterized. The aim of this study was to characterize metabolic heterogeneity in thyroid cancers via the analysis of the expression of mitochondrial ribosomal proteins (MRPs) and genes involved in oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos), and investigate potential prognostic correlations.

Bobby Sox homology regulates odontoblast differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells/progenitors.

Background: Transcription factors have been implicated in regulating the differentiation of odontoblasts from dental pulp stem cells/progenitors (DPSCs/progenitors), but their regulatory network is not completely understood.

Result: New transcription factors that control the odontoblast differentiation of human DPSCs/progenitors were analyzed using a microarray. The result revealed bobby sox homolog (BBX) to be expressed most strongly during odontoblast differentiation.