Molecular mediators of breast cancer metastasis

Breast cancer has the highest incidence rate of malignancy in women worldwide. A major clinical challenge faced by patients with breast cancer treated by conventional therapies is frequent relapse. This relapse has been attributed to the cancer stem cell (CSC) population that resides within the tumor and possess stemness properties. Breast CSCs are generated when breast cancer cells undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transition resulting in aggressive, highly metastatic, and invasive phenotypes that exhibit resistance towards chemotherapeutics. Metastasis, a phenomenon that aids in the migration of breast CSCs, occurs through any of three different routes: hematogenous, lymphatic, and transcoelomic. Hematogenous dissemination of breast CSCs leads to metastasis towards distant unrelated organs like lungs, liver, bone, and brain causing secondary tumor generation. Activation of metastasis genes or silencing of metastasis suppressor genes often leads to the advancement of metastasis. This review focuses on various genes and molecular factors that have been implicated to regulate organ-specific breast cancer metastasis by defying the available therapeutic interventions.     

结直肠癌肿瘤组织中TMPRSS4、c-Met、KIF18A表达水平与其病理特性和生存状态的关系

目的探讨结直肠癌肿瘤组织中跨膜丝氨酸蛋白酶4(TMPRSS4)、间质表皮转化因子(c-Met)、驱动蛋白家族成员18A(KIF18A)表达水平与其病理特性和生存状态的关系。方法选取该院于2015年3月至2017年6月确诊的102例结直肠癌患者作为研究对象,比较癌变组织和癌旁组织TMPRSS4、c-Met阳性率及KIF18A水平的差异,不同病理状态及生存状态患者的TMPRSS4、c-Met阳性率及KIF18A水平的差异,分析患者的病理状态及生存状态与TMPRSS4、c-Met阳性率和KIF18A水平的相关性。结果癌变组织TMPRSS4、c-Met阳性率及KIF18A水平明显高于癌旁组织(P<0.05);不同性别、年龄患者TMPRSS4、c-Met阳性率及KIF18A水平比较差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05),而不同病程、TNM分期、临床分型患者之间比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);通过对患者的随访,生存患者61例,死亡患者41例,生存组TMPRSS4、c-Met阳性率及KIF18A水平明显低于死亡组(P<0.05);患者的TNM分期、临床分型、病程及生存状态与TMPRSS4、c-Met阳性率及KIF18A的水平呈正相关(r=0.165~0.998,P<0.05)。结论结直肠癌肿瘤组织中TMPRSS4、c-Met阳性率及KIF18A水平与其病理特性和生存状态存在一定的相关性,可作为结直肠癌患者诊断辅助参考之一。     

Nutrition transition – Pattern IV: Leads Bangladeshi youth to the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity

Fast food and soft drinks consumption leading to excess calorie intake coupled with lack of acceptable physical activity has augmented the prevalence of overweight and obesity among the world population for the past few eras. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 475 youth selected by systematic random sampling attending in 27 established public and private universities and colleges of Bangladesh. The study was aimed to evaluate habitual facts associated with the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Bangladeshi youth. The rates of fast food consumption (once/week) are 50.6%, 43.7%, and 53.3% in overweight, pre-obese and obese-1 respondents accordingly and the rates of soft drinks consumption (4–6 times/week) are 40.5%, 59.2%, and 73.3% respectively for the same subjects. Moreover, approximately 40.8% of the youth went to fast food restaurants at least once per week and 27.2% went regularly (2 times/week). Youth having fast foods 2 times/week, consuming soft drinks 3–4 times/week were more likely to be obese. Besides, obesity epidemic was observed among those who have not the habit of doing physical exercise. This study provides evidence of increasing trend and threat to overweight and obesity for the Bangladeshi youth.     

Profilin 1, negatively regulated by microRNA-19a-3p,serves as a tumor suppressor in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Profilin 1 (PFN1) is a critical actin-regulatory protein; however, its functional role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression remains to be further elucidated. In the present study, we observed that the expression levels of PFN1 were significantly decreased in HCC tissues and cell lines. Low PFN1 expression was significantly correlated with aggressive clinicopathological characteristics and poor prognosis of HCC patients. Further in vitro experiments demonstrated that overexpression of PFN1 remarkably inhibited the proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT of HCC cells. Moreover, we also found that PFN1 was a direct target gene of miR-19a-3p, and in HCC tissues, and there was a significantly inverse correlation between PFN1 mRNA and miR-19a-3p expression. Collectively, our results showed that PFN1 functions as a tumor suppressor in HCC, and might serve as a diagnostic and therapeutic target for HCC patients.     

上皮间充质转化在后囊膜下混浊中的研究进展

白内障是我国首位致盲性眼病，也是世界上多数国家致盲的主要原因，目前手术是唯一有效的治疗方法。而后囊膜下混浊即后发性白内障(PCO)是白内障术后常见的并发症，也是导致术后视力下降的主要原因。研究表明，术后残留的晶状体上皮细胞(LECs)发生上皮间充质转化(EMT)在PCO的发生发展中起到了重要的作用。本文主要概述了近些年来EMT在PCO中的研究进展。     

ATP6L promotes metastasis of colorectal cancer by inducing epithelial‐mesenchymal transition

ATP6L, the C subunit of the V‐ATPase V0 domain, is involved in regulating the acidic tumor micro‐environment and may promote tumor progression. However, the expression and functional role of ATP6L in tumors have not yet been well explored. In this study, we found that ATP6L protein overexpression was related to colorectal cancer histological differentiation (P < 0.001), presence of metastasis (P < 0.001) and recurrence (P = 0.02). ATP6L expression in the liver metastatic foci was higher than in the primary foci (P = 0.04). ATP6L expression was notably concomitant with epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) immunohistochemical features, such as reduced expression of the epithelial marker E‐cadherin (P = 0.021) and increased expression of the mesenchymal marker vimentin (P = 0.004). Results of in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that ATP6L expression could alter cell morphology, regulate EMT‐associated protein expression, and enhance migration and invasion. The effect of ATP6L on metastasis was further demonstrated in a tail vein injection mice model. In addition, the mouse xenograft model showed that ATP6L‐overexpressing HCT116 cells grew into larger tumor masses, showed less necrosis and formed more micro‐vessels than the control cells. Taken together, our results suggest that ATP6L promotes metastasis of colorectal cancer by inducing EMT and angiogenesis, and is a potential target for tumor therapy.     

上皮-间质转化在子宫腺肌病中作用的研究进展

子宫腺肌病(ADS)是子宫内膜腺体及间质侵入子宫肌层导致的以子宫局灶或弥漫性增大为主要改变的良性疾病,其具体发病机制尚不清楚。目前多数研究者认为ADS是基底层内膜细胞增生、侵入到肌层间质的结果。在上皮-间质转化(EMT)过程中,上皮细胞失去细胞极性,细胞间紧密连接和黏附连接减弱,获得了浸润性和游走迁移能力,成为具有间质细胞功能和特性的细胞。EMT在肿瘤形成中赋予细胞迁移、浸润的能力,而ADS发生、发展过程中子宫内膜细胞侵入肌层的生物学行为与之非常相似。已有研究表明EMT在ADS形成中具有重要作用。目前ADS的临床治疗面临较多的挑战,因此阐明ADS的发生机制是寻求临床早期预防、治疗ADS有效方法的关键。