Emodin regulated lactate metabolism by inhibiting MCT1 to delay non-small cell lung cancer progression.

Lung cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world, with high incidence rate and mortality. Monocarboxylate transporter (MCT) 1 has been found to be widely expressed in various tumors and plays a crucial role in regulating energy metabolism. Emodin, as an important traditional Chinese medicine in China, has been reported to inhibit the progression of lung cancer.

Shikonin Suppresses Cell Tumorigenesis in Gastric Cancer Associated with the Inhibition of c-Myc and Yap-1.

Aim: The study aimed to study the potential roles and mechanisms of shikonin in gastric cancer by network pharmacology and biological experiments.

Methods: The key genes and targets of shikonin in gastric cancer were predicted by network pharmacology and molecular docking study. The effect of shikonin on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of gastric cancer cells was detected by the CCK8 method, and wound healing and transwell assays.

Detection of Klebsiella pneumoniae cfDNA in pleural fluid and its clinical value.

Background: Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP) is an important opportunistic pathogen that can easily cause pneumonia and pleural effusion when body resistance is reduced. However, the positive rate of KP detected from clinical pleural effusion by traditional methods, including bacterial culture, is meager. Therefore, new detection methods are urgently needed to improve the positive detection rate of KP and other bacteria in pleural effusion.

High expression of the gene might promote apoptosis through downregulation of the Ras/ERK signalling pathway in the intestinal type of gastric cancer.

Objective: To investigate the effect of the casein kinase 2 interacting protein 1 (CKIP-1) on the apoptosis of the intestinal type of gastric cancer (GC).

Methods: The levels of CKIP-1 protein and the rates of apoptosis were measured in tissue samples of the intestinal type of GC and human GC cell lines. The rate of apoptosis and the protein levels of B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2 associated X protein (Bax), cleaved cysteinyl aspartate specific protease 3 (cleaved caspase-3), cleaved caspase-9, rat sarcoma (Ras), extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) and phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 (p-ERK1/2) were analysed in SGC7901 cells expressing CKIP-1 short hairpin RNA (shRNA; knockdown) and SGC7901 cells overexpressing CKIP-1.

Detection of Gene Rearrangement in Cell-free RNA from Lung Cancer Malignant Pleural Effusion.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of measuring gene rearrangement in cell-free RNA (cf-RNA) of the supernatant from malignant pleural effusion (MPE). Supernatant, cell blocks, and matched sera samples were collected. Cf-RNA was isolated from the supernatant and sera, and cellular RNA was isolated from cell blocks.

Casein kinase 2 interacting protein 1 positively regulates caudal-related homeobox 1 in intestinal-type gastric cancer.

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies, and intestinal-type GC is the main histopathologic type of GC in China. We previously reported that casein kinase 2 interacting protein 1 (CKIP-1) acts as a candidate tumor suppressor in intestinal-type GC. CKIP-1 participates in the regulation of multiple signaling pathways, including the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, of which caudal-related homeobox 1 (CDX1) may be a downstream target gene.

Prostatic epithelial cells and their high expressions of CKIP-1 affect the TGF-β expression levels which might reduce the scar formation in remodeling stage at prostatic urethral wounds after wound repair.

Objective: There are less scar formations in some wounds after wound repair. Our earlier study had shown that the amount of collagen fibers in canine prostatic urethra wound were less than in bladder neck wound after 2-μm laser resection of the prostate (TmLRP) and partial bladder neck mucosa at 4 weeks. The purpose of this study was to observe the amount of scar tissue and characterize the probable causes of "less scar healing" in prostatic urethra wound.

P1-HNF4α expression negatively correlates with HER2 levels and is associated with good prognosis in gastric adenocarcinoma.

HNF4α, a member of the steroid/thyroid nuclear receptor super family, is a transcriptional factor expressed in various tissues and cells. In this study, we aimed to investigate the clinical significance of P1-HNF4α protein expression in gastric adenocarcinoma. We examined P1-HNF4α and HER2 protein levels in the tissue of 245 gastric adenocarcinoma samples by immunohistochemistry, and analyzed the association between P1-HNF4α levels, and clinicopathologic factors or prognosis.

Impact of age on EGFR mutations in never-smoking female lung adenocarcinoma patients with malignant pleural effusion.

Our aim was to evaluate EGFR mutations in never-smoking female lung adenocarcinoma patients with malignant pleural effusion and to reveal the relationship between age and EGFR mutations. Never-smoking female lung adenocarcinoma patients were retrospectively studied, including 301 biopsy samples and 80 cytological specimens. Our results showed a significant increase of EGFR mutation prevalence by increase of age in cytological specimens, but not in biopsy samples.

PARP6 acts as an oncogene and positively regulates Survivin in gastric cancer.

Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases 6 (PARP6) is a novel member of the PARP family. Previous studies focused mostly on the role of PARP6 in colorectal cancer; however, the role of PARP6 in gastric cancer is currently unclear. In the present study, we found a high-level expression of PARP6 in gastric cancer cells and PARP6 promoted cell proliferation, migration and invasion.

CKIP-1 serves as a negative regulator and correlates with the degree of differentiation in gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most commonly diagnosed malignancies worldwide. CKIP-1 is a casein kinase-2 α-subunit (CK2α) interacting protein. Though previous reports have shown that CKIP-1 plays a critical role in several types of cancers, hardly there are any studies that examined the role of CKIP-1 in the progression of GC.

Numb Enriches a Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Cell Subpopulation Associated with Enhanced Notch and Hedgehog Signaling.

To elucidate the role and molecular mechanism of Numb in prostate cancer and the functional contribution of Numb prostate cancer cells in castration resistance. The expression of Numb was assessed using multiple datasets and prostate cancer tissues from both humans and mice. The biological effects of the overexpression and knockdown of Numb in human prostate cancer cell lines were investigated and In addition, we developed a reliable approach to distinguish between prostate cancer cell populations with a high or low endogenous expression of Numb protein using a Numb promoter-based lentiviral reporter system.

Regulation of Prostate Development and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia by Autocrine Cholinergic Signaling via Maintaining the Epithelial Progenitor Cells in Proliferating Status.

Regulation of prostate epithelial progenitor cells is important in prostate development and prostate diseases. Our previous study demonstrated a function of autocrine cholinergic signaling (ACS) in promoting prostate cancer growth and castration resistance. However, whether or not such ACS also plays a role in prostate development is unknown.

The Sigma-2 Receptor and Progesterone Receptor Membrane Component 1 are Different Binding Sites Derived From Independent Genes.

The sigma-2 receptor (S2R) is a potential therapeutic target for cancer and neuronal diseases. However, the identity of the S2R has remained a matter of debate. Historically, the S2R has been defined as (1) a binding site with high affinity to 1,3-di-o-tolylguanidine (DTG) and haloperidol but not to the selective sigma-1 receptor ligand (+)-pentazocine, and (2) a protein of 18-21 kDa, as shown by specific photolabeling with [(3)H]-Azido-DTG and [(125)I]-iodoazido-fenpropimorph ([(125)I]-IAF).

Regulation and methylation of tumor suppressor miR-124 by androgen receptor in prostate cancer cells.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most frequently diagnosed cancer for men in the developed world. Androgen receptor signaling pathway plays an important role in prostate cancer progression. Recent studies show that microRNA miR-124 exerts a tumor suppressive function in prostate cancer.

TOP2Ahigh is the phenotype of recurrence and metastasis whereas TOP2Aneg cells represent cancer stem cells in prostate cancer.

Recurrence and metastasis are the main causes of death for prostate cancer patients and cancer stem cells (CSCs) are proposed to play important roles in cancer recurrence and metastasis. It is generally thought that genes upregulated in recurrent/metastatic disease are likely biomarkers of CSCs. Hence we analyzed multiple microarray datasets on prostate tumor tissues to identify upregulated genes associated with cancer recurrence/metastasis, and tried to explore whether those genes were true biomarkers of prostate CSCs.

Symmetrical and asymmetrical division analysis provides evidence for a hierarchy of prostate epithelial cell lineages.

Although symmetrical and asymmetrical divisions of stem cells have been extensively studied in invertebrate and mammalian neural epithelia, their role remains largely unknown in mammalian non-neural epithelial development, regeneration and tumorigenesis. Here, using basal and luminal cell-specific markers and cell lineage tracing transgenic mice, we report that in developing prostatic epithelia, basal and luminal cells exhibit distinct division modes. While basal cells display both symmetric and asymmetric divisions leading to different cell fates, luminal cells only exhibit symmetrical divisions.

Zeb1 promotes androgen independence of prostate cancer via induction of stem cell-like properties.

Current androgen deprivation therapy often leads to androgen independence. However, mechanism of the therapeutic failure is still not well understood. Here, we demonstrate elevated expression of Zeb1 in androgen-independent prostate cancer cells and prostate tumors of castrated PTEN conditional knockout mice.

Hypermethylation-mediated transcriptional repression of TMPRSS2 in androgen receptor-negative prostate cancer cells.

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer for men in the developed world. Androgen receptor (AR) is very important in prostate cancer progression. TMPRSS2 is an AR signaling downstream gene and closely related to prostate carcinogenesis.

Androgen receptor is negatively correlated with the methylation-mediated transcriptional repression of miR-375 in human prostate cancer cells.

Androgen receptor (AR) plays a critical role during the development and progression of prostate cancer in which microRNA miR-375 is overexpressed and correlated with tumor progression. Although DNA methylation is a key mechanism for the repression of gene expression, the relationship between AR and the expression or the hypermethylation of miR-375 is unknown. In this study, we found that AR-positive prostate cancer (PCa) cells showed high expression levels and hypomethylation of the miR-375.

Elevated serum osteopontin levels and genetic polymorphisms of osteopontin are associated with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease.

Purpose: Osteopontin (OPN) is a proinflammatory cytokine involved in chronic inflammatory diseases. This study aimed to analyze the role of OPN in the pathogenesis of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease.

Methods: Serum levels of OPN in VKH patients and healthy controls were assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Behçet's disease exhibits an increased osteopontin serum level in active stage but no association with osteopontin and its receptor gene polymorphisms.

Osteopontin (OPN) and its receptors have been reported to be involved in a number of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. This study was designed to analyze the OPN serum level in Behçet's disease (BD) and the association of gene polymorphisms of OPN and its receptors with BD. The serum level of OPN in active BD patients, inactive BD patients, and controls was assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.