Articles

In vitro differentiation of W8B2⁺ human cardiac stem cells: gene expression of ionic channels and spontaneous calcium activity

Human cardiac stem cells expressing the W8B2 marker (W8B2⁺ CSCs) were recently identified and proposed as a new model of multipotent CSCs capable of differentiating into smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells and...

Authors: Oualid Ayad, Zeina R. Al Sayed, Stéphane Sebille, Christophe Magaud, Charles-Albert Chapotte-Baldacci, Christophe Jayle, Jean-François Faivre, Nathalie Gaborit, Aurélien Chatelier and Patrick Bois

MicroRNA-296-5p inhibits cell metastasis and invasion in nasopharyngeal carcinoma by reversing transforming growth factor-β-induced epithelial–mesenchymal transition

To explore the effect of miR-296-5p on the metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells and investigate the underlying mechanism.

Authors: Meihui Chen, Chen Chen, Haiqing Luo, Jing Ren, Qiuqin Dai, Wenjia Hu, Keyuan Zhou, Xudong Tang and Xiangyong Li

The nuclear receptor 4A family members: mediators in human disease and autophagy

The Nuclear receptor 4A (NR4A) subfamily, which belongs to the nuclear receptor (NR) superfamily, has three members: NR4A1 (Nur77), NR4A2 (Nurr1) and NR4A3 (Nor1). They are gene regulators with broad involveme...

Authors: Liqun Chen, Fengtian Fan, Lingjuan Wu and Yiyi Zhao

hsa_circ_0006916 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression by activating the miR-337-3p/STAT3 axis

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are thought to be involved in the development of various malignancies. The expression and function of hsa_circ_0006916, a newly identified circRNA, in hepatocellular carcinoma remain u...

Authors: Xiao-Yong Zhou, Hui Yang, Yang-Qiu Bai, Xiu-Ling Li, Shuang-Yin Han and Bing-Xi Zhou

Obituary: in memory of Professor Tadeusz Chojnacki (1932–2020)

Authors: Ewa Swiezewska and Anna Chojnacka

Upregulation of miR-361-3p suppresses serotonin-induced proliferation in human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells by targeting SERT

Abnormal proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) is a key mechanism in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) can induce abnormal proliferation of P...

Authors: Ying Zhang, Yongbin Chen, Guo Chen, Yingling Zhou, Hua Yao and Hong Tan

Arsenic trioxide as a novel anti-glioma drug: a review

Arsenic trioxide has shown a strong anti-tumor effect with little toxicity when used in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). An effect on glioma has also been shown. Its mechanisms include regu...

Authors: Yi Fang and Zhen Zhang

Knockdown of LINC00665 inhibits proliferation and invasion of breast cancer via competitive binding of miR-3619-5p and inhibition of catenin beta 1

Long intergenic non-protein coding RNA00665 (LINC00665) plays a crucial tumorigenic role in many cancers, such as gastric cancer and lung adenocarcinoma. However, its role and mechanism of action in the progre...

Authors: Minhao Lv, Qixin Mao, Juntao Li, Jianghua Qiao, Xiuchun Chen and Suxia Luo

Comparative transcriptome analysis of the main beam and brow tine of sika deer antler provides insights into the molecular control of rapid antler growth

Deer antlers have become a valuable model for biomedical research due to the capacities of regeneration and rapid growth. However, the molecular mechanism of rapid antler growth remains to be elucidated. The a...

Authors: Baojin Yao, Chaonan Wang, Zhenwei Zhou, Mei Zhang, Daqing Zhao, Xueyuan Bai and Xiangyang Leng

The MDM2 ligand Nutlin-3 differentially alters expression of the immune blockade receptors PD-L1 and CD276

The links between the p53/MDM2 pathway and the expression of pro-oncogenic immune inhibitory receptors in tumor cells are undefined. In this report, we evaluate whether there is p53 and/or MDM2 dependence in t...

Authors: Ruidong Li, Pavlina Zatloukalova, Petr Muller, Maria Gil-Mir, Sachin Kote, Simon Wilkinson, Alain J. Kemp, Lenka Hernychova, Yaxin Wang, Kathryn L. Ball, Kaixiong Tao, Ted Hupp and Borivoj Vojtesek

Forced expression of miR-143 and -145 in cardiomyocytes induces cardiomyopathy with a reductive redox shift

Animal model studies show that reductive stress is involved in cardiomyopathy and myopathy, but the exact physiological relevance remains unknown. In addition, the microRNAs miR-143 and miR-145 have been shown...

Authors: Kota Ogawa, Akiko Noda, Jun Ueda, Takehiro Ogata, Rumiko Matsuyama, Yuji Nishizawa, Shanlou Qiao, Satoru Iwata, Morihiro Ito, Yoshitaka Fujihara, Masatoshi Ichihara, Koichi Adachi, Yuji Takaoka and Takashi Iwamoto

Specific functions of Exostosin-like 3 (EXTL3) gene products

Exostosin-like 3 (EXTL3) encodes the glycosyltransferases responsible for the biosynthesis of the backbone structure of heparan sulfate (HS), a sulfated polysaccharide that is ubiquitously distributed on the anim...

Authors: Shuhei Yamada

Effects of HPV16 E6 protein on Daxx-induced apoptosis in C33A cells

Daxx is a highly conserved nuclear protein with an important role in transcription, apoptosis and other cell processes. We investigated the role of HPV16 E6 in Daxx-induced apoptosis through their interactions...

Authors: Shuangyang Tang, Shuang Ding, Lan Yu, Haiyan Shen, Yanping Wan and Yimou Wu

Do ABC transporters regulate plasma membrane organization?

The plasma membrane (PM) spatiotemporal organization is one of the major factors controlling cell signaling and whole-cell homeostasis. The PM lipids, including cholesterol, determine the physicochemical prope...

Authors: Ambroise Wu, Karolina Wojtowicz, Stephane Savary, Yannick Hamon and Tomasz Trombik

Silibinin suppresses epithelial–mesenchymal transition in human non-small cell lung cancer cells by restraining RHBDD1

Rhomboid domain containing 1 (RHBDD1) plays a crucial role in tumorigenesis. Silibinin, which is a natural extract from milk thistle, has shown anti-tumor effects against various tumors. Here, we investigate w...

Authors: Suyan Xu, Hongyan Zhang, Aifeng Wang, Yongcheng Ma, Yuan Gan and Guofeng Li

The usefulness of lactate dehydrogenase measurements in current oncological practice

One of the hallmarks of cancer cells is increased energy requirements associated with the higher rate of cellular proliferative activity. Metabolic changes in rapidly dividing cancer cells are closely associat...

Authors: Agata Forkasiewicz, Maja Dorociak, Kamilla Stach, Piotr Szelachowski, Renata Tabola and Katarzyna Augoff

LncRNA NNT-AS1 promotes lung squamous cell carcinoma progression by regulating the miR-22/FOXM1 axis

Recent studies have revealed that dysregulated expression of long non-coding RNA nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase antisense RNA 1 (lncRNA NNT-AS1) is associated with cell tumorigenicity in non-small ce...

Authors: Jing Ma, Guanbin Qi and Lei Li

Asiaticoside inhibits TGF-β1-induced mesothelial-mesenchymal transition and oxidative stress via the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway in the human peritoneal mesothelial cell line HMrSV5

Peritoneal fibrosis (PF) is a frequent complication caused by peritoneal dialysis (PD). Peritoneal mesothelial cells (PMCs), the first barrier of the peritoneum, play an important role in maintaining structure...

Authors: Junyi Zhao, Jun Shi, Yun Shan, Manshu Yu, Xiaolin Zhu, Yilin Zhu, Li Liu and Meixiao Sheng

On the physiological and cellular homeostasis of ascorbate

Recent interest in the role of ascorbate in crucial metabolic processes is driven by the growing number of medical reports that show beneficial effects of ascorbate supplementation for maintaining general well...

Authors: Magdalena Przybyło and Marek Langner

Role of angiotensin-converting enzyme in myeloid cell immune responses

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), a dicarboxypeptidase, plays a major role in the regulation of blood pressure by cleaving angiotensin I into angiotensin II (Ang II), a potent vasoconstrictor. Because of it...

Authors: Duo-Yao Cao, Suguru Saito, Luciana C. Veiras, Derick Okwan-Duodu, Ellen A. Bernstein, Jorge F. Giani, Kenneth E. Bernstein and Zakir Khan

Downregulation of miR-637 promotes vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration via regulation of insulin-like growth factor-2

Dysregulation of the proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is a crucial cause of atherosclerosis. MiR-637 exerts an antiproliferative effect on multiple human cells. Its impact on...

Authors: Ning Yang, Bo Dong, Yanqiu Song, Yang Li, Lu Kou, Jingyu Yang and Qin Qin

LncRNA DRAIC inhibits proliferation and metastasis of gastric cancer cells through interfering with NFRKB deubiquitination mediated by UCHL5

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) as a widespread and pivotal epigenetic molecule participates in the occurrence and progression of malignant tumors. DRAIC, a kind of lncRNA whose coding gene location is on 15q23 c...

Authors: Zheng Zhang, Xiaoxuan Hu, Jia Kuang, Jinmao Liao and Qi Yuan

Targeting the 4-1BB costimulatory molecule through single chain antibodies promotes the human T-cell response

Adoptive T-cell therapy (ACT) using autologous tumor-reactive T lymphocytes has considerable potential for cancer immunotherapy. In ACT, T cells are isolated from cancer patients and then stimulated and expand...

Authors: Salman Bagheri, Elmira Safaie Qamsari, Mehdi Yousefi, Farhad Riazi-Rad and Zahra Sharifzadeh

MicroRNA-186-5p serves as a diagnostic biomarker in atherosclerosis and regulates vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration

MicroRNA dysregulation occurs in many human diseases, including atherosclerosis. Here, we examined the serum expression and clinical significance of miR-186-5p in patients with atherosclerosis, and explored it...

Authors: Bin Sun, Qingtao Cao, Meng Meng and Xiaolong Wang

The role of miR-711 in cardiac cells in response to oxidative stress and its biogenesis: a study on H9C2 cells

Oxidative stress results in cell apoptosis/death and plays a detrimental role in disease development and progression. Stressors alter the miRNA expression profile and miRNAs play a role in the cell response to...

Authors: Duo Zhao, Hao Zheng, Adam Greasley, Fengjun Ling, Qinfeng Zhou, Bowen Wang, Tiffany Ni, Ishita Topiwala, Cuilin Zhu, Tina Mele, Kexiang Liu and Xiufen Zheng

Quantitative proteomics analysis of differentially expressed proteins induced by astragaloside IV in cervical cancer cell invasion

Cervical cancer remains the second leading cause of mortality in women in developing countries. While surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and vaccine therapy are being applied for its treatment, individually ...

Authors: Chenglai Xia, Zhihong He and Yantao Cai

TCF 4 tumor suppressor: a molecular target in the prognosis of sporadic colorectal cancer in humans

A huge array of function is played by the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in development by balancing gene expression through the modulation of cell-specific DNA binding downstream effectors such as T-cell fac...

Authors: Mumtaz Anwar, Pooja Malhotra, Rakesh Kochhar, Alka Bhatia, Akhtar Mahmood, Rajinder Singh and Safrun Mahmood

The role of phosphatidylserine recognition receptors in multiple biological functions

Apoptotic cells are rapidly engulfed and degraded by phagocytes through efferocytosis. Efferocytosis is a highly regulated process. It is triggered upon the activation of caspase-dependent apoptosis, which in ...

Authors: Mehri Bemani Naeini, Vanessa Bianconi, Matteo Pirro and Amirhossein Sahebkar

MiR-206 may suppress non-small lung cancer metastasis by targeting CORO1C

Non-small lung cancer (NSCLC), with a poor 5-year survival rate (16%), is the major type of lung cancer. Metastasis has been identified as the main factor that leads to NSCLC therapy failure. MiR-206 is a meta...

Authors: Ming Liao and Lijun Peng

LncRNA CASC2 inhibits hypoxia-induced pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration by regulating the miR-222/ING5 axis

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is often characterized by cell proliferation and migration of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). LncRNA cancer susceptibility candidate 2 (CASC2) has been re...

Authors: Yan Han, Yuhao Liu, Chaokuan Yang, Chuanyu Gao, Xiaoyan Guo and Jiangtao Cheng

Downregulation of miR-483-5p decreases hypoxia-induced injury in human cardiomyocytes by targeting MAPK3

MiR-483-5p was recently identified as a risk factor in the early stages of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients. Here, we further investigated how miR-483-5p affects cardiomyocyte apoptosis and oxidative...

Authors: Yan Hao, Haitao Yuan and Houzhi Yu

miR-144-3p inhibits cell proliferation of colorectal cancer cells by targeting BCL6 via inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin signaling

It has been shown that miR-144-3p regulates cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion in various cancers. However, the function and expression of miR-144-3p in colorectal cancer (CRC) remained obsc...

Authors: Naihui Sun, Liang Zhang, Chongguang Zhang and Yuan Yuan

Unfolded protein response (UPR) integrated signaling networks determine cell fate during hypoxia

During hypoxic conditions, cells undergo critical adaptive responses that include the up-regulation of hypoxia-inducible proteins (HIFs) and the induction of the unfolded protein response (UPR). While their in...

Authors: Sylwia Bartoszewska and James F. Collawn

Blockage of O-linked GlcNAcylation induces AMPK-dependent autophagy in bladder cancer cells

High levels of the post-translational modification O-GlcNAcylation (O-GlcNAc) are found in multiple cancers, including bladder cancer. Autophagy, which can be induced by stress from post-translational modifica...

Authors: Lu Jin, Feng Yuan, Guangcheng Dai, Qiu Yao, Han Xiang, Lixia Wang, Boxin Xue, Yuxi Shan and Xiaolong Liu

Adipose-derived stromal cells in regulation of hematopoiesis

Over the past decade, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) found in the bone marrow microenvironment have been considered to be important candidates in cellular therapy. However, the application of MSCs in clinica...

Authors: Jing Zhang, Yunsheng Liu, Wen Yin and Xingbin Hu

Metabolic host response and therapeutic approaches to influenza infection

Based on available metabolomic studies, influenza infection affects a variety of cellular metabolic pathways to ensure an optimal environment for its replication and production of viral particles. Following in...

Authors: Mohsen Keshavarz, Farid Solaymani-Mohammadi, Haideh Namdari, Yaser Arjeini, Mohammad Javad Mousavi and Farhad Rezaei

MicroRNA-125b exerts antitumor functions in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma by targeting the STAT3 pathway

MicroRNA-125b (miR-125b) is downregulated in human cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). However, its function in CSCC has yet to be extensively explored. Here, we analyze the relationship between signal t...

Authors: Ke Tian, Wanggen Liu, Jing Zhang, Xiaoyi Fan, Jingyuan Liu, Nan Zhao, Chunxia Yao and Guoying Miao

Ferrostatin-1 alleviates lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury via inhibiting ferroptosis

Ferroptosis is a newly recognized type of cell death, which is different from traditional necrosis, apoptosis or autophagic cell death. However, the position of ferroptosis in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ...

Authors: Pengfei Liu, Yetong Feng, Hanwei Li, Xin Chen, Guangsuo Wang, Shiyuan Xu, Yalan Li and Lei Zhao

GNAS promotes inflammation-related hepatocellular carcinoma progression by promoting STAT3 activation

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still the most common cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide and accumulating studies report that HCC is frequently linked to chronic inflammation. G-protein alpha-subuni...

Authors: Hongda Ding, Xixia Zhang, Yang Su, Changjun Jia and Chaoliu Dai

Inhibition of microRNA-15 protects H9c2 cells against CVB3-induced myocardial injury by targeting NLRX1 to regulate the NLRP3 inflammasome

Viral myocarditis (VMC) is a type of cardiac inflammation that is generally caused by coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) infection. Several MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are known to play crucial roles in VMC pathogenesis. MiR-15 ...

Authors: Ru Tong, Tiewen Jia, Ruijie Shi and Futang Yan

MicroRNA-429 inhibits neuroblastoma cell proliferation, migration and invasion via the NF-κB pathway

MicroRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) can participate in the development and progression of neuroblastoma. Many studies have indicated that miR-429 can participate in tumor development. However, the mechanism underlying ...

Authors: Xianjun Zhou, Hongting Lu, Fujiang Li, Xiwei Hao, Lulu Han, Qian Dong and Xin Chen

LINC00511 promotes proliferation and invasion by sponging miR-515-5p in gastric cancer

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are known to be involved in tumorigenesis. The functions of LINC00511 in gastric cancer are poorly understood.

Authors: Di Wang, Ketong Liu and Erdong Chen

Deficiency of αII-spectrin affects endothelial cell–matrix contact and migration leading to impairment of angiogenesis in vitro

Precise coordination of cytoskeletal components and dynamic control of cell adhesion and migration are required for crucial cell processes such as differentiation and morphogenesis. We investigated the potenti...

Authors: Beata Machnicka, Aurélie Ponceau, Julien Picot, Yves Colin and Marie-Christine Lecomte

DNA–dependent protein kinase in telomere maintenance and protection

This review focuses on DNA–dependent protein kinase (DNA–PK), which is the key regulator of canonical non–homologous end–joining (NHEJ), the predominant mechanism of DNA double–strand break (DSB) repair in mam...

Authors: Jiangdong Sui, Shichuan Zhang and Benjamin P. C. Chen

The ubiquitin system: orchestrating cellular signals in non-small-cell lung cancer

The ubiquitin system, known as a common feature in eukaryotes, participates in multiple cellular processes, such as signal transduction, cell-cycle progression, receptor trafficking and endocytosis, and even t...

Authors: Qiang Fan, Qian Wang, Renjie Cai, Haihua Yuan and Ming Xu

The novel circular RNA circ-CAMK2A enhances lung adenocarcinoma metastasis by regulating the miR-615-5p/fibronectin 1 pathway

Circular RNA (circRNA) has recently been considered as a key regulator in carcinogenesis. In this study, we investigated the functional significance and regulatory role of circ-CAMK2A (hsa_circ_0128332) in lun...

Authors: Jiahui Du, Guangzhao Zhang, Hongli Qiu, Haifeng Yu and Wuying Yuan

SOX30, a target gene of miR-653-5p, represses the proliferation and invasion of prostate cancer cells through inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin signaling

Sex-determining region Y-box containing gene 30 (SOX30) is a newly identified tumor-associated gene in several types of cancer. However, whether SOX30 is involved in the development and progression of prostate...

Authors: Qiang Fu, Zhenye Sun, Fan Yang, Tianci Mao, Yanyao Gao and He Wang

The long noncoding RNA LINC00483 promotes lung adenocarcinoma progression by sponging miR-204-3p

The expression of the long noncoding RNA LINC00483 is upregulated in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). However, its role in the progression of LUAD and the underlying mechanisms remain elusive.

Authors: Shengzhuang Yang, Tao Liu, Yu Sun and Xiangsen Liang

Editorial focus: understanding off-target effects as the key to successful RNAi therapy

With the first RNA interference (RNAi) drug (ONPATTRO (patisiran)) on the market, we witness the RNAi therapy field reaching a critical turning point, when further improvements in drug candidate design and del...

Authors: Rafal Bartoszewski and Aleksander F. Sikorski

MicroRNA-582–3p negatively regulates cell proliferation and cell cycle progression in acute myeloid leukemia by targeting cyclin B2

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) function as post-transcriptional gene expression regulators. Some miRNAs, including the recently discovered miR-582–3p, have been implicated in leukemogenesis. This study aimed to reveal the...

Authors: Haixia Li, Xuefei Tian, Paoqiu Wang, Mao Huang, Ronghua Xu and Tian Nie