Prognostic value of long non-coding RNA CCAT1 expression in patients with cancer: A meta-analysis

<div><p>Background</p><p>LncRNA CCAT1 is significantly overexpressed in various types of cancers, suggesting that it might be associated with prognosis and clinicopathological features in patients with cancer.</p><p>Methods</p><p>A comprehensive search was performed in Pubmed, Web of Science, OVID and CNKI databases. We also retrieved articles from other sources, such as retrieving from the reference lists of relevant articles. Eligible studies were included based on defined exclusion and inclusion criteria to perform a meta-analysis. STATA 14.0 was used to estimate pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI), the heterogeneity among studies and publication bias to judge the prognostic value.</p><p>Results</p><p>A total of 1587 patients from 11 eligible studies were included in the meta-analysis. The results showed that high expression level of CCAT1 was significantly associated with shorter overall survival in cancer patients (HR 2.335, 95% CI:1.551–3.517); in the subgroup analysis, region (China or UK), sample size (more or less than 100), type of cancer (digestive or non-digestive disease) and paper quality (score more or less than 7) did not alter the association between CCAT1 expression and cancer prognosis but preoperative treatment did. And CCAT1 expression was an independent prognostic marker for overall survival in patients with cancer (pooled HR 2.195, 95%CI:1.316–3.664) using Cox multivariate analyses. The clinicopathological parameters analysis further showed that increased expression level of CCAT1 was correlated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, distant metastasis, microvascular invasion and capsular formation in relevant cancers.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>The meta-analysis results from present study suggested that increased expression level of CCAT1 was associated with poor prognosis and can serve as an independent biomarker. And the expression level of CCAT1 was associated with clinicopathological features in relevant cancers.</p></div

Results of meta-analysis of increased CCAT1 expression and clinicopathological features in various cancers.

<p>Results of meta-analysis of increased CCAT1 expression and clinicopathological features in various cancers.</p

Results of subgroup analysis of pooled hazard ratios of overall survival of different types of cancer with increased CCAT1 expression.

<p>Results of subgroup analysis of pooled hazard ratios of overall survival of different types of cancer with increased CCAT1 expression.</p

Association of COL9A3 trp3 polymorphism with intervertebral disk degeneration: a meta-analysis

Abstract Background Intervertebral disk degeneration (IDD) is a common musculoskeletal disease associated with genetic factors. COL9A3 gene encodes the α3 (IX) chain of type IX collagen that is part of the interior structure of the disc. Mutations in COL9A3 gene sequence, leading to an Arg103Trp substitution in its 3 chain (the Trp3 allele at rs61734651 site), respectively, have been found to be connected with IDD occurrence in several studies. However, those studies have showed conflict results. Thus, a meta-analysis has been performed to assess the associations between the COL9A3 trp3 polymorphism and IDD. Methods Data were gathered from the following four electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science (WOS), Embase and Cochrane library up to January 01, 2018. The pooled odds ratio (polled ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to evaluate the strength of relationship between the COL9A3 trp3 polymorphism and IDD. Results Eleven eligible studies with 1631 cases of IDD and 1366 controls were included in this meta-analysis. The results indicated that the COL9A3 trp3 polymorphism was not associated with IDD (trp3 positive versus trp3 negative: OR = 1.31, 95%CI = 0.78–2.21, P = 0.309). Furthermore, the Egger’s test and the Begg funnel plot did not show any evidence of publication bias. Conclusions Our results suggest that the COL9A3 trp3 polymorphism might not be associated with IDD. Nor did we find any relationship in subgroup analyses stratified by gender and ethnicity. Future researches with larger samples are required to verify this outcome

Mesenchymal Stem Cells Protect Nucleus Pulposus Cells from Compression-Induced Apoptosis by Inhibiting the Mitochondrial Pathway

Objective. Excessive apoptosis of nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs) induced by various stresses, including compression, contributes to the development of intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD). Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can benefit the regeneration of NPCs and delay IVDD, but the underlying molecular mechanism is poorly understood. This study aimed to evaluate the antiapoptosis effects of bone marrow-derived MSC (BMSC) on rat NPCs exposed to compression and investigate whether the mitochondrial pathway was involved. Methods. BMSCs and NPCs were cocultured in the compression apparatus at 1.0 MPa for 36 h. Cell viability, apoptosis, mitochondrial function, and the expression of apoptosis-related proteins were evaluated. Results. The results showed that coculturing with BMSCs increased the cell viability and reduced apoptosis of NPCs exposed to compression. Meanwhile, BMSCs could relieve the compression-induced mitochondrial damage of NPCs by decreasing reactive oxygen species level and maintaining mitochondrial membrane potential as well as mitochondrial integrity. Furthermore, coculturing with BMSCs suppressed the activated caspase-3 and activated caspase-9, decreased the expressions of cytosolic cytochrome c and Bax, and increased the expression of Bcl-2. Conclusions. Our results suggest that BMSCs can protect against compression-induced apoptosis of NPCs by inhibiting the mitochondrial pathway and thus enhance our understanding on the MSC-based therapy for IVDD

Meta-analysis of the pooled HRs of OS of different types of cancer with increased CCAT1 expression.

<p>(A) Subgroup analysis of HRs of OS by factor of sample size. (B) Subgroup analysis of HRs of OS by factor of type of cancer. (C) Subgroup analysis of HRs of OS by factor of preoperative treatment. (D) Subgroup analysis of HRs of OS by factor of paper quality.</p

Bond-Energy-Integrated Descriptor for Oxygen Electrocatalysis of Transition Metal Oxides

Unraveling a descriptor of catalytic reactivity is essential for fast screening catalysts for a given reaction. Transition metal (TM) compounds have been widely used for oxygen electrocatalysis. Nevertheless, there is a lack of an exact descriptor to predict their catalytic behavior so far. Herein, we propose that the bond-energy-integrated orbitalwise coordination number (CN̅sd), which takes into account both geometrical and electronic structures around the active site, can serve as a simple and accurate descriptor for catalysts consisting of TM oxides (TMOs) as well as avoid excessive computation burden. This descriptor exhibits a strong scaling relation with the activity in oxygen electrocatalysis, with a goodness of fit higher than those of the usual coordination number (cn), the generalized coordination number (CN̅), and the orbitalwise coordination number (CN^α). Especially, the theoretical prediction made by the CN̅sd descriptor is very consistent with experimental results and universal for various TMOs (e.g., MnO_<i>x</i> and RuO₂), enabling the rational design of novel catalysts

Meta-analysis of the independent role of CCAT1 in OS and recurrence of different types of cancer after excluding the outlier study.

<p>Meta-analysis of the independent role of CCAT1 in OS and recurrence of different types of cancer after excluding the outlier study.</p