MicroRNA-20b promotes cell growth of breast cancer cells partly via targeting phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN)

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous, small non-coding RNAs that play important roles in multiple biological processes. MiR-20b has been reported to participate in breast cancer tumorigenic progression, however, the functional roles are still unclear and under debating. The aim of this study is to explicit the molecular mechanism of miR-20b underlying breast cancer tumorigenesis. RESULTS: In the present study, we showed that miR-20b was overexpressed in human breast cancer tissues and cell lines compared with paired adjacent normal tissues and normal cell lines, respectively. We identified PTEN, a well-known tumor suppressor, as the functional downstream target of miR-20b. Luciferase assays confirmed that miR-20b could directly bind to the 3′ untranslated region(UTR) of PTEN and suppress translation. Alteration of miR-20b expression changed PTEN protein level but not mRNA expression in ZR-75-30 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells, suggesting miR-20b regulates PTEN gene expression at the posttranscriptional level. Furthermore, upregulation of miR-20b significantly promoted the proliferation, colony formation and DNA synthesis of ZR-75-30 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Conversely, knockdown of miR-20b expression inhibited the growth of breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. CONCLUSION: Dysregulation of miR-20b plays critical roles in the breast cancer tumorigenesis, at least in part via targeting the tumor suppressor PTEN. This microRNA may serve as a potential diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for breast cancer. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2045-3701-4-62) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Aberrant expression of decoy receptor 3 in human breast cancer: relevance to lymphangiogenesis

AbstractBackgroundDecoy receptor 3 (DcR3), a decoy receptor against Fas ligand belonging to the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, is overexpressed in some forms of cancer. It was recently reported that DcR3 could protect endothelial cells from apoptosis, implying a potential role in the development of vessels, whereas its role in the lymphangiogenesis remains unclear. In the present study, we studied the DcR3 expression and its relationship with the lymphatic microvessel density (LMVD) to investigate if it played a role in the lymph metastasis of human breast cancer.Materials and methodsReal-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry were performed to measure the messenger RNA and protein expression of DcR3 in the breast cancer tissues, noncancerous counterparts, and axillary lymph node from 63 patients. LMVD in these specimens was assessed by counting the D2-40 labeled–microvessels. Furthermore, the correlations between DcR3 expression and LMVD and other clinicopathologic parameters were analyzed.ResultsDcR3 was overexpressed in the breast cancer tissue of 58 patients (92.1%) and was also expressed in vascular endothelial cells and tumor cells in the lymph nodes. LMVD in cancer tissue and lymph nodes were both positively correlated to the aberrant expression of DcR3.ConclusionsThe relevance between DcR3 overexpression and LMVD revealed the existence of possible links between DcR3 and lymphangiogenesis. Based on these findings, it is important to further explore the regulation of lymphangiogenesis operated by the reverse tumor necrosis factor signaling of DcR3

Insight into extruded soy protein isolate for improving hardening of high protein-nutrition bars during storage

Most high-protein nutrition bars (HPNBs) would harden during storage, seriously affecting the acceptability of consumers. In this work, soy protein isolate (SPI), extruded at 50, 75, 100, 125, and 150 ℃, was formulated for HPNBs to investigate whether extrusion protein could relieve hardening and improve quality characteristics of HPNBs during 45 days of storage at 37 ℃. HPNBs prepared with extruded SPI were notably softer. And they had higher sensory scores than HPNBs produced with unextruded SPI during storage (P < 0.05). But there were no significant differences in hardness and total color change with the increase of extrusion temperature after 45 days of storage (P > 0.05). According to the correlation analysis, HPNBs prepared by SPI extruded at 50 ℃ had the best physicochemical properties. This study provides an effective way to relieve the hardening of HPNBs during shelf life or even longer

Current perspectives on cell-assisted lipotransfer for breast cancer patients after radiotherapy

Abstract Background Cell-assisted lipotransfer (CAL), a technique of autologous adipose transplantation enriched with adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs), has the potential to improve cosmetic outcomes at irradiated sites. However, many concerns have been raised about the possibility of ADSCs increasing oncological risk in cancer patients. With the increasing demand for CAL reconstruction, there is an urgent need to determine whether CAL treatment could compromise oncological safety after radiotherapy, as well as to evaluate its efficacy in guiding clinical decisions. Methods A PRISMA-compliant systematic review of the safety and efficacy of CAL in breast cancer patients after radiotherapy was conducted. The PubMed, Ovid, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were comprehensively searched from inception to 31 December 2021. Results The search initially yielded 1185 unique studies. Ultimately, seven studies were eligible. Based on the limited outcome evidence, CAL did not increase recurrence risk in breast cancer patients but presented aesthetic improvement and higher volumetric persistence in a long-term follow-up. Although breast reconstruction with CAL also had oncological safety after radiotherapy, these patients needed more adipose tissue and had relatively lower fat graft retention than the non-irradiated patients (P < 0.05). Conclusions CAL has oncological safety and does not increase recurrence risk in irradiated patients. Since CAL doubles the amount of adipose required without significantly improving volumetric persistence, clinical decisions for irradiated patients should be made more cautiously to account for the potential costs and aesthetic outcomes. There is limited evidence at present; thus, higher-quality, evidence-based studies are required to establish a consensus on breast reconstruction with CAL after radiotherapy

Performance and Stability Enhancement of Perovskite-Type Nanomaterials Applied for Carbon Capture Utilizing Oxyfuel Combustion

A new series of Ba-Co-Operovskite-type oxygen carriers has been successfully synthesized by the microwave-assisted sol-gel method and further applied for producing an O2/CO2 mixture gas. The oxygen adsorption/desorption performance of synthesized samples was studied in a fixed-bed reactor system. Effects of A/B-site substitution on the oxygen desorption performance of Ba-Co-O–based perovskites are also included. Furthermore, the effects of operating conditions including the adsorption time and temperature as well as the desorption temperature on oxygen production performance were investigated in detail. The results indicated that BaCoO3-δ exhibited an excellent oxygen desorption performance among the synthesized A/B-site–substituted ACoO3-δ and BaBO3-δ samples, and that the optimal adsorption time, adsorption temperature and desorption temperatureforBaCoO3-δ were determined to be 20min, 850◦Cand850◦C, respectively, in this study

Extracellular matrix protein 1 is correlated to carcinogenesis and lymphatic metastasis of human gastric cancer

Background: Tumor-induced lymphangiogenesis is a crucial step in malignant invasion and metastasis. Extracellular matrix protein 1 (ECM1) was recently reported to play a role in lymphangiogenesis. In the present work, we aimed to evaluate the role of ECM1 in gastric cancer and examined whether aberrant expression of ECM1 increased the tumorigenic and metastatic potential of human gastric cancer. Methods: The mRNA and protein expression of ECM1 in gastric cancer specimen and the noncancerous counterparts from 77 patients were detected by real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry staining. Lymphatic microvessel density (LMVD) in the corresponding serial sections was assessed by counting the lymphatic microvessels labelled by D2-40. The correlations between ECM1 expression, LMVD, and the clinicopathological parameters were examined. Results: ECM1 protein expression was detected in 70.1% (54/77) of gastric cancer specimen, significantly higher than that in the corresponding counterparts (P < 0.01). ECM1 mRNA in tumor specimen was also dramatically amplified. Elevated LMVD and ECM1 were positively correlated (P < 0.01). In addition, ECM1 protein expression was also closely associated with depth of tumor invasion and TNM stage (P < 0.05, respectively). Conclusions: ECM1 expression is aberrant elevated in tumor specimen and is closely related to the tumorigenic and metastatic potential of human gastric cancer. Thus, carrying out the protein examination may be beneficial to predict carcinogenesis and metastatic spread of human gastric cancer