Network analysis of circular permutations in multidomain proteins reveals functional linkages for uncharacterized proteins.

Various studies have implicated different multidomain proteins in cancer. However, there has been little or no detailed study on the role of circular multidomain proteins in the general problem of cancer or on specific cancer types. This work represents an initial attempt at investigating the potential for predicting linkages between known cancer-associated proteins with uncharacterized or hypothetical multidomain proteins, based primarily on circular permutation (CP) relationships. First, we propose an efficient algorithm for rapid identification of both exact and approximate CPs in multidomain proteins. Using the circular relations identified, we construct networks between multidomain proteins, based on which we perform functional annotation of multidomain proteins. We then extend the method to construct subnetworks for selected cancer subtypes, and performed prediction of potential link-ages between uncharacterized multidomain proteins and the selected cancer types. We include practical results showing the performance of the proposed methods

Opinion dynamics on directed small-world networks

In this paper, we investigate the self-affirmation effect on formation of public opinion in a directed small-world social network. The system presents a non-equilibrium phase transition from a consensus state to a disordered state with coexistence of opinions. The dynamical behaviors are very sensitive to the density of long-range interactions and the strength of self-affirmation. When the long-range interactions are sparse and individual generally does not insist on his/her opinion, the system will display a continuous phase transition, in the opposite case with high self-affirmation strength and dense long-range interactions, the system does not display a phase transition. Between those two extreme cases, the system undergoes a discontinuous phase transition.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Kaempferol nanoparticles achieve strong and selective inhibition of ovarian cancer cell viability.

Ovarian cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death for women throughout the Western world. Kaempferol, a natural flavonoid, has shown promise in the chemoprevention of ovarian cancer. A common concern about using dietary supplements for chemoprevention is their bioavailability. Nanoparticles have shown promise in increasing the bioavailability of some chemicals. Here we developed five different types of nanoparticles incorporating kaempferol and tested their efficacy in the inhibition of viability of cancerous and normal ovarian cells. We found that positively charged nanoparticle formulations did not lead to a significant reduction in cancer cell viability, whereas nonionic polymeric nanoparticles resulted in enhanced reduction of cancer cell viability. Among the nonionic polymeric nanoparticles, poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-PPO-PEO) nanoparticles incorporating kaempferol led to significant reduction in cell viability of both cancerous and normal cells. Poly(DL-lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles incorporating kaempferol resulted in enhanced reduction of cancer cell viability together with no significant reduction in cell viability of normal cells compared with kaempferol alone. Therefore, both PEO-PPO-PEO and PLGA nanoparticle formulations were effective in reducing cancer cell viability, while PLGA nanoparticles incorporating kaempferol had selective toxicity against cancer cells and normal cells. A PLGA nanoparticle formulation could be advantageous in the prevention and treatment of ovarian cancers. On the other hand, PEO-PPO-PEO nanoparticles incorporating kaempferol were more effective inhibitors of cancer cells, but they also significantly reduced the viability of normal cells. PEO-PPO-PEO nanoparticles incorporating kaempferol may be suitable as a cancer-targeting strategy, which could limit the effects of the nanoparticles on normal cells while retaining their potency against cancer cells. We have identified two nanoparticle formulations incorporating kaempferol that may lead to breakthroughs in cancer treatment. Both PEO-PPO-PEO and PLGA nanoparticle formulations had superior effects compared with kaempferol alone in reducing cancer cell viability

MiRNA-145 increases therapeutic sensibility to gemcitabine treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is one of the most leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Although recent advances provide various treatment options, pancreatic adenocarcinoma has poor prognosis due to its late diagnosis and ineffective therapeutic multimodality. Gemcitabine is the effective first-line drug in pancreatic adenocarcinoma treatment. However, gemcitabine chemoresistance of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells has been a major obstacle for limiting its treatment effect. Our study found that p70S6K1 plays an important role in gemcitabine chemoresistence. MiR-145 is a tumor suppressor which directly targets p70S6K1 for inhibiting its expression in pancreatic adenocarcinoma, providing new therapeutic scheme. Our findings revealed a new mechanism underlying gemcitabine chemoresistance in pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells

MiR-148a inhibits angiogenesis by targeting ERBB3.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in carcinogenesis in various solid cancers including breast cancer. Down-regulation of microRNA-148a (miR-148a) has been reported in certain cancer types. However, the biological role of miR-148a and its related targets in breast cancer are unknown yet. In this study, we showed that the level of miR-148a was lower in MCF7 cells than that in MCF10A cells. V-erb-b2 erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog 3 (ERBB3) is a direct target of miR-148a in human breast cancer cells through direct binding of miR-148a to ERBB3 3\u27-UTR region. Overexpression of miR-148a in MCF7 cells inhibited ERBB3 expression, blocked the downstream pathway activation including activation of AKT, ERK1/2, and p70S6K1, and decreased HIF-1α expression. Furthermore, forced expression of miR-148a attenuated tumor angiogenesis in vivo. Our results identify ERBB3 as a direct target of miR-148a, and provide direct evidence that miR-148a inhibits tumor angiogenesis through ERBB3 and its downstream signaling molecules. This information would be helpful for targeting the miR-148a/ERBB3 pathway for breast cancer prevention and treatment in the future

Chronic Arsenic Exposure and Angiogenesis in Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells via the ROS/miR-199a-5p/HIF-1α/COX-2 Pathway.

Background: Environmental and occupational exposure to arsenic is a major public health concern. Although it has been identified as a human carcinogen, the molecular mechanism underlying the arsenic-induced carcinogenesis is not well understood.Objectives: We aimed to determine the role and mechanisms of miRNAs in arsenic-induced tumor angiogenesis and tumor growth.Methods: We utilized an in vitro model in which human lung epithelial BEAS-2B cells were transformed through long-term exposure to arsenic. A human xenograft tumor model was established to assess tumor angiogenesis and tumor growth in vivo. Tube formation assay and chorioallantoic membranes assay were used to assess tumor angiogenesis.Results: We found that miR-199a-5p expression levels were more than 100-fold lower in arsenic-transformed cells than parental cells. Re-expression of miR-199a-5p impaired arsenic-induced angiogenesis and tumor growth through its direct targets HIF-1α and COX-2. We further showed that arsenic induced COX-2 expression through HIF-1 regulation at the transcriptional level. In addition, we demonstrated that reactive oxygen species are an upstream event of miR-199a-5p/ HIF-1α/COX-2 pathway in arsenic-induced carcinogenesis.Conclusion: The findings establish critical roles of miR-199a-5p and its downstream targets HIF-1/COX-2 in arsenic-induced tumor growth and angiogenesis.Citation: He J, Wang M, Jiang Y, Chen Q, Xu S, Xu Q, Jiang BH, Liu LZ. 2014. Chronic arsenic exposure and angiogenesis in human bronchial epithelial cells via the ROS/miR-199a-5p/HIF-1α/COX-2 Pathway. Environ Health Perspect 122:255-261; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1307545

Roles and mechanism of miR-199a and miR-125b in tumor angiogenesis.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to be involved in different aspects of cancer biology including tumor angiogenesis. In this study, we identified that two miRNAs, miR-199a and miR-125b were downregulated in ovarian cancer tissues and cell lines. Overexpression of miR-199a and miR-125b inhibited tumor-induced angiogenesis associated with the decrease of HIF-1α and VEGF expression in ovarian cancer cells. Moreover, the levels of miR-199a and miR-125b were negatively correlated with VEGF mRNA levels in ovarian tissues. We further showed that direct targets of miR-199a and miR-125b HER2 and HER3 were functionally relevant. Forced expression of HER2 and HER3 rescued miR-199a- and miR-125b-inhibiting angiogenesis responses and Akt/p70S6K1/HIF-1α pathway. This study provides a rationale for new therapeutic approach to suppress tumor angiogenesis using miR-199a, miR-125b, or their mimics for ovarian cancer treatment in the future