miR-550a-3-5p acts as a tumor suppressor and reverses BRAF inhibitor resistance through the direct targeting of YAP.

Although evidence has emerged to suggest that YAP overexpression is a crucial factor for tumor progression and resistance to targeted drugs in multiple cancers, the miRNA-mediated YAP regulation is still unclear. Here we show that the novel miR-550a-3-5p acts as a tumor suppressor and reverses BRAF inhibitor resistance through the direct targeting of YAP. Our data showed that the miR-550a-3-5p suppressed cell proliferation, metastasis, and tumor sphere formation through the direct inhibition of YAP and its oncogenic pathway in various cancer cell types.

Mycobacterium massiliense Induces Macrophage Extracellular Traps with Facilitating Bacterial Growth.

Human neutrophils have been known to release neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), antimicrobial DNA structures capable of capturing and killing microbes. Recently, a similar phenomenon has been reported in macrophages infected with various pathogens. However, a role for macrophages extracellular traps (METs) in host defense responses against Mycobacterium massiliense (M.

High cholesterol diet induces IL-1β expression in adult but not larval zebrafish.

Recently, it has been demonstrated that high cholesterol diet induced hypercholesterolemia and vascular lipid oxidation and accumulation in zebrafish larvae, suggesting that zebrafish is a new promising atherosclerosis model in addition to mouse models. However, up to date, there was no report regarding inflammatory cytokine expression during the lipid accumulation in zebrafish larva and adult fish. In this study, we first demonstrated the expression levels of IL-1β and TNF-α in high cholesterol diet (HCD)-fed zebrafish larvae, and found that although HCD induced vascular lipid accumulation, the cytokine expressions in the larvae were not changed by HCD.

Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition blocks M2 macrophage differentiation and suppresses metastasis in murine breast cancer model.

Tumor cells are often associated with abundant macrophages that resemble the alternatively activated M2 subset. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) inhibit anti-tumor immune responses and promote metastasis. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibition is known to prevent breast cancer metastasis.