Melatonin as an adjuvant therapy for cancer led to substantial improvements in tumor remission, 1-year survival, and alleviation of radiochemotherapy-related side effects.

The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, is a competent vector for the majority of arboviruses. The mosquito innate immune response is a primary determinant for arthropod-borne virus transmission, and the midgut is the first barrier to pathogen transmission. Mosquito antiviral immunity is primarily mediated by the small interfering RNA pathway. However, the roles that the P-element induced wimpy testis (PIWI)-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway play in antiviral immunity in Ae. albopictus and its midgut still need further exploration. This study aimed to explore the profiles of both viral-derived and host-originated piRNAs in the whole body and midgut infected with Dengue virus 2 (DENV-2) in Ae. albopictus, and to elucidate gene expression profile differences of the PIWI protein family between adult females and their midguts. A deep sequencing-based method was used to identify and analyze small non-coding RNAs, especially the piRNA profiles in DENV-2-infected Ae. albopictus and its midgut. The top-ranked, differentially-expressed piRNAs were further validated using Stem-loop qRT-PCR. Bioinformatics analyses and reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR) methods were used to detect PIWI protein family members, and their expression profiles. DENV-2 derived piRNAs (vpiRNA, 24–30 nts) were observed in both infected Ae. albopictus and its midgut; however, only vpiRNA in the whole-body library had a weak preference for adenine at position 10 (10A) in the sense molecules as a feature of secondary piRNA. These vpiRNAs were not equally distributed, instead they were derived from a few specific regions of the genome, especially several hot spots, and displayed an obvious positive strand bias. We refer to the differentially expressed host piRNAs after DENV infection as virus-induced host endogenous piRNAs (vepiRNAs). However, we found that vepiRNAs were abundant in mosquito whole-body tissue, but deficient in the midgut. A total of eleven PIWI family genes were identified in Ae. albopictus; however, only AalPiwi5–7 and AalAgo3(1–2) were readily detected in the midgut. The characteristics of piRNAs in DENV-2-infected Ae. albopictus adult females were similar to those previously described for flavivirus infections but were not observed in the midgut. The reduced levels of vepiRNAs and incomplete expression of PIWI pathway genes in midgut samples from DENV-2-infected Ae. albopictus suggests that viral regulation of host piRNAs may not be an important factor in the midgut.

Glioma is the most aggressive malignant tumor in the adult central nervous system. Abnormal long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) FOXD2-AS1 expression was associated with tumor development. However, the possible role of FOXD2-AS1 in the progression of glioma is not known. In the present study, we used in vitro and in vivo assays to investigate the effect of abnormal expression of FOXD2-AS1 on glioma progression and to explore the mechanisms. FOXD2-AS1 was upregulated in glioma tissue, cells, and sphere subpopulation. Upregulation of FOXD2-AS1 was correlated with poor prognosis of glioma. Downregulation of FOXD2-AS1 decreased cell proliferation, migration, invasion, stemness, and epithelialmesenchymal transition (EMT) in glioma cells and inhibited tumor growth in transplanted tumor. We also revealed that FOXD2-AS1 was mainly located in cytoplasm and microRNA (miR)-185-5p both targeted FOXD2-AS1 and CCND2 messenger RNA (mRNA) 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR). miR-185-5p was downregulated in glioma tissue, cells, and sphere subpopulation. Downregulation of miR-185-5p was closely correlated with poor prognosis of glioma patients. In addition, miR-185-5p mimics decreased cell proliferation, migration, invasion, stemness, and EMT in glioma cells. CCND2 was upregulated in glioma tissue, cells, and sphere subpopulation. Upregulation of CCND2 was closely correlated with poor prognosis of glioma patients. CCND2 knockdown decreased cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and EMT in glioma cells. In glioma tissues, CCND2 expression was negatively associated with miR-185-5p, but positively correlated with FOXD2-AS1. FOXD2-AS1 knockdown and miR-185-5p mimics decreased CCND2 expression. Inhibition of miR-185-5p suppressed FOXD2-AS1 knockdown-induced decrease of CCND2 expression. Overexpression of CCND2 suppressed FOXD2-AS1 knockdown-induced inhibition of glioma malignancy. Taken together, our findings highlight the FOXD2-AS1/miR-185-5p/CCND2 axis in the glioma development. K E Y W O R D S CCND2, glioma, LncRNA FOXD2-AS1, miR-185-5p, tumorigenesis J Cell Biochem. 2019;120:9324-9336. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jcb 9324 |

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This study purposed to explore the correlation between miR‐129‐5p and TGIF2 and their impacts on glioma cell progression. Differentially expressed miRNA was screened through microarray analysis. MiR‐129‐5p expression levels in glioma tissues and cells were measured by qRT‐PCR. CCK‐8 assay, flow cytometer, transwell assay and wound‐healing assay were employed to detect cell proliferation, apoptosis and cycle, invasiveness and migration, respectively. Dual‐luciferase reporting assay was performed to confirm the targeted relationship between miR‐129‐5p and TGIF2. The effects of TGIF2 expression on cell biological functions were also investigated using the indicated methods. Tumour xenograft was applied to explore the impact of miR‐129‐5p on tumorigenesis in vivo. MiR‐129‐5p expression was down‐regulated in both glioma tissues and glioma cells, while TGIF2 expression was aberrantly higher than normal level. Dual‐luciferase reporter assay validated the targeting relation between miR‐129‐5p and TGIF2. Overexpression of miR‐129‐5p or down‐regulation of TGIF2 inhibited the proliferation, invasion and migration capacity of glioma cells U87 and U251, and meanwhile blocked the cell cycle as well as induced cell apoptosis. MiR‐129‐5p overexpression repressed the tumour development in vivo. MiR‐129‐5p and TGIF2 had opposite biological functions in glioma cells. MiR‐129‐5p could inhibit glioma cell progression by targeting TGIF2, shining light for the development of target treatment for glioma.

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This study aims to evaluate microRNA-383 (miR-383) expression level in glioma cells and its influences on proliferation, migration, invasion, apoptosis, and cell cycle in glioma cells. miR-383 expression levels were determined by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Thirty BALB/c-nu mice were randomly assigned into three groups: U87-miR-383 group, vector-control group, and blank group. Tumorigenicity experiment was conducted to confirm the function of miR-383. U251 and U87 glioma cells were divided into three groups: non-transfected control cells (NT group), glioma cells transfected with miR-383 (miR-383 group), and glioma cells transfected with negative sequence (NC group). Transfection efficiency was measured by qRT-PCR. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to detect cell proliferation. Cell migration and invasion were examined by utilizing a Transwell chamber. Cell cycle and apoptosis were analyzed by flow cytometry. The qRT-PCR results revealed that miR-383 expression was down-regulated in human glioma cells, and was negatively related to the pathological grading of glioma. The rates of tumor growth in vector-control group and blank group were significantly faster than that in U87-miR-383 group, and the average tumor volume and weight in vector-control group and blank group were increased as compared with U87-miR-383 group. Additionally, miR-383 levels in miR-383 group were higher than those in NT group and NC group. CCK-8 assay indicated lower cell viability in miR-383 group as compared with NT group and NC group. Flow cytometry implied that the percentages of cells in miR-383 group reduced, while the cell apoptosis rate enhanced compared with NT group and NC group. In conclusion, our findings suggest that miR-383 expression is down-regulated in glioma cells, inhibiting cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, affecting the cell cycle, and inducing cell apoptosis.

LncRNA taurine upregulated gene 1 (TUG1) is reportedly dysregulated in various cancers. We performed this meta-analysis to clarify the usefulness of TUG1 as a prognostic marker in malignant tumors. The PubMed, Medline, OVID, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched from inception to Jan 11, 2017. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to explore the relationship between TUG1 expression and overall survival (OS). Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated to assess the association between TUG1 expression and pathological parameters. Thirteen original studies covering 1,274 cancer patients were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled HR suggested that high TUG1 expression correlated with poor OS (pooled HR=1.41, 95% CI: 1.01-1.98) in cancer types other than non-small cell lung cancer. TUG1 expression was also related to distant metastasis (OR=3.24, 95% CI: 1.18-8.93), large tumor size (OR=4.07, 95% CI: 1.08-15.28) and advanced tumor stage (OR=3.45, 95% CI: 2.19-5.44). Begg’s funnel plot and Egger’s test showed no evidence of obvious asymmetry for overall survival or tumor stage. Thus high TUG1 expression appears predictive of poor OS, distant metastasis, advanced tumor stage and large tumor size. This suggests TUG1 expression could serve as a biomarker for poor prognosis in cancers.