Background Emerging evidence continues to highlight the significant role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the regulation of cancer growth and metastasis. Herein, the current study aimed to elucidate the role of exosomal miR-183 in prostate cancer development. Methods Initially, public microarray-based gene expression profiling of prostate cancer was employed to identify differentially expressed miRNAs. The putative target gene TPM1 of miR-183 was subsequently predicted, followed by the application of a luciferase reporter assay and examination of the expression patterns in prostate cancer patients and cell lines. The effects of miR-183 and TPM1 on processes such as cell proliferation, invasion and migration were evaluated using in vitro gain- and loss-of-function experiments. The effect of PC3 cells-derived exosomal miR-183 was validated in LNCaP cells. In vivo experiments were also performed to examine the effect of miR-183 on prostate tumor growth. Results High expression of miR-183 accompanied with low expression of TPM1 was detected in prostate cancer. Our data indicated that miR-183 could target and downregulate TPM1, with the overexpression of miR-183 and exosomal miR-183 found to promote cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in prostate cancer. Furthermore, the tumor-promoting effect of exosome-mediated delivery of miR-183 was subsequently confirmed in a tumor xenograft model. Conclusions Taken together, the key findings of our study demonstrate that prostate cancer cell-derived exosomal miR-183 enhance prostate cancer cell proliferation, invasion and migration via the downregulation of TPM1, highlighting a promising therapeutic target against prostate cancer.

Objective To study the expressions of VEGF and VEGFR2 at protein level in the epididymis of rats with arsenism. Methods Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: the high dose arsenic infected group (60.0 mg/L in water), the middle dose arsenic infected group (12.0 mg/L in water), the low dose arsenic infected group (2.4 mg/L in water), and the control group (distilled water). Rats were treated with arsenic through drinking water for 6 consecutive months. At the end of the experiment, the average densitometry values of apoptotic cells in epididymis tubules were determined by TUNEL method; the protein and mRNA levels of VEGF and VEGFR2 were observed by immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and real time fluorescent quantitative PCR, respectively. Results Compared with the control group, in each infected group, the average densitometry values of apoptotic cells in the epididymis tubules were significantly lower. Compared with control group, protein and mRNA levels of VEGF and VEGFR2 in each infected group were obviously declined. The correlations between protein and mRNA levels of VEGF and VEGFR2 were positively exhibited (r = 0.843, 0.869, p < 0.05). Conclusions Arsenism affects the expressions of VEGF and VEGFR2 in the epididymis of rats and results in apoptosis of pathophysiology of male infertility.

Sertoli cells (SCs) are an important component of spermatogenic tubules. The blood-testis barrier (BTB) is composed of SCs and is necessary for the development and maturity of spermatogenic cells. When the tight connection between SCs is destroyed, the BTB loses its integrity, leading to impaired spermatogenesis. Polypyrimidine tract-binding protein 1 (PTBP1) is a key protein involved in precursor mRNA splicing and selective splicing events, which directly affects tumor cell proliferation and influences the formation of the blood-tumor barrier by regulating the expression levels of tight junction-associated proteins. The present study revealed that the expression of PTBP1 was downregulated following a decrease in spermatogenic activity at the phase of senescence. TM4 cells were transfected with lentivirus-short hair-pinRNA-PTBP1 to evaluate the effect of silencing PTBP1 on the expression levels of tight junction proteins and the integrity of tight junctions between adjacent SCs. Western blot analysis indicated that the expression levels of Zonula occludens 1, occludin and claudin-5 decreased significantly due to silencing of PTBP1 in SCs. Through detecting trans-epithelial electrical resistance, it was revealed that silencing of PTBP1 broke the integrity of tight junctions between adjacent SCs. The results suggested that PTBP1 maintained the integrity of the BTB by promoting the expression levels of tight junction-associated proteins and revealed the possible mechanism of PTBP1 in regulating spermatogenesis.

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RNA interference (RNAi) was used to investigate the role of epididymal vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene expression on sperm hyaluronidase (HYD) in a rat model of arsenic poisoning and to identify a new gene therapy target for male infertility caused by arsenic poisoning. The Rat model of chronic arsenic poisoning was established. And we found that positive expression of VEGF and VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2) was observed by Immunohistochemical staining in the epididymal tissues of arsenic-exposed rats. Subsequently, VEGF-shRNA-1, VEGF-shRNA-2 and VEGF shRNA-3 expression vectors containing epididymal VEGF-shRNA lentivirus were constructed and injected into the bilateral epididymis of each group of rats (Control group, NC-shRNA negative infection group, VEGF-shRNA-1 group, VEGF-shRNA-2 group, VEGF-shRNA-3 group) (n = 10 per group). Compared with the negative infection group and the normal control group, the expression of VEGF and VEGFR2 mRNA and protein levels were significantly decreased following epididymal infection. In addition, the HYD activity was all significantly lower than that in the normal control group and the negative infection group. Taken together, epididymal VEGF gene silencing may inhibit the activity of sperm HYD through downregulating VEGFR2.