Prostate cancer is a common malignant tumor of the male genitourinary system and its incidence increases with age. Studies have shown that resveratrol (Res) inhibits cancer cell proliferation, migration, invasion and promotes apoptosis. The present study evaluated the effect of Res in two human prostate cancer cell lines (the androgen-dependent LNCaP cell line and the non-androgen-independent LNCaP-B cell line) on proliferation and apoptosis. A proliferation assay was used to demonstrate that Res inhibited proliferation of LNCaP and LNCaP-B cells in the range of 25-100 µM, and the effect was time-and dose-dependent. Using flow cytometry, it was reported that various concentrations of Res induced apoptosis in LNCaP and LNCaP-B cells, and that the apoptotic effect of Res was dose-dependent. A chemiluminescence assay showed that Res inhibited prostate specific antigen levels in LNCaP and LNCaP-B cells. Reverse transcription quantitative-PCR showed that Res inhibited the expression of androgen receptor (AR) in LNCaP and LNCaP-B cells at the mRNA level. Western blot analysis showed that Res suppressed the expression of AR protein as well as protein kinase B (AKT) phosphorylation. To study the effect of Res on the expression of AR splicing variant 7 (ARV7) and the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in prostate cancer cells, as well as the underlying molecular mechanisms, the recombinant ARV7 expression vector Pcdna3.1-ARV7 was transfected into LNCaP and LNCaP cells and the aforementioned experiments were repeated. It was revealed that Res acted via the ARV7 and the AKT pathways. Taken together, the present results suggested that Res suppresses the proliferation of prostate cancer cells, promotes apoptosis and inhibits the expression of AR mRNA and protein. These effects likely resulted from inhibition of ARV7 and the AKT signaling pathway.

Metformin (MET) is taken as a principal medication for remedying Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Its anti-tumor effect has been reported increasingly, but the precise mechanism of it remains unclear. This study aims to explore the efficacy of MET and MET combined with nitric oxide donor prodrug JS-K on the proliferation, apoptosis, and DNA damage in human renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cells, and investigate the possible molecular mechanism involved. The cell proliferation was tested through methyl-tetrazolium assay and cell apoptosis was ascertained by flow cytometry. The dihydroethidium and JC-1 fluorescent methods were used to detect Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial transmembrane potential (Δψm), respectively. Proteins associated with apoptosis and DNA damage were evaluated by Western blotting. Results showed that MET and JS-K could suppress cell growth, and the inhibition concentration 50 of treatment with MET combined with JS-K (MET + JS-K) showed more toxicity than individual agents on RCC cells. This augmented toxicity was associated with intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, mitochondrial membrane potential alteration, and induced DNA breaks. The results of Western blotting showed that the expression level of pro-apoptotic proteins, such as Bax, Bak, caspase-3, and caspase-9, was up-regulated, and the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 was down-regulated after treatment using MET alone and MET + JS-K, correspondingly. Moreover, MET + JS-K inhibited the expression of cellular PCNA and Rad51, and immunofluorescence analysis of γH2AX proved that MET + JS-K enhanced DNA damage. In summary, the results of this research indicated that MET and JS-K inhibited RCC cell growth by activating ROS, targeting mitochondria-dependent apoptotic pathways, and inducing DNA breaks.

Circular RNA (circRNA), a member of non-coding RNA, plays an essential regulatory role in many human physiological and pathological processes; however, its role in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) still unclear. This study aims to investigate the effect and mechanisms of circRNA on ccRCC progression. A human circRNA microarray was used to discover differential expression circRNA, and a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to verify the expression of circRNA. The function and mechanism of circRNA were explored by cell transfection, cell counting kit-8, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) Annexin V apoptosis detection, wound healing, transwell, and western blot. The result indicated that circ-APBB1IP was significantly up-regulated in ccRCC. In vitro, knockdown of circ-APBB1IP by siRNA suppressed the proliferation, migration, and invasion and increased the apoptosis of ccRCC cells. Further study found that knockdown of circ-APBB1IP up-regulated protein expression of cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-7, cleaved caspase-8, cleaved caspase-9, Bax, Bad, Bak, E-cadherin and down-regulated expression of Bcl-2, N-cadherin, MMP-2, MMP-9, p-ERK1/2. Our result indicates that circ-APBB1IP has a vital function in ccRCC tumorigenesis. These findings suggest that circ-APBB1IP represents a novel potential biomarker and therapeutic target of ccRCC.

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The brain ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury have a great impact on human life and property safety, as far as we know, mild hypothermia (MH) is an effective measure which reduces neuronal injury. However, the precise mechanism is not extremely clear. The purpose of this study was to explore whether mild therapeutic hypothermia can play a protective role in nerve cells dealing with brain I/R injury and its specific mechanism in vitro. A flow cytometer, cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay were performed to detect apoptotic rate of cells, cell viability and cytotoxicity respectively, while reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay kit, JC-1 fluorescent methods, immunofluorescence, western blot were used to explore ROS, mitochondrial transmembrane potential (Δψm), mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP), expression of proteins respectively. The result indicated that the activity was decreased, while the cytotoxicity and apoptosis rate were increased after treating with OGD/R in PC12, however, MH could antagonize this phenomenon. Strangely, treating with OGD/R increased the release of ROS and the transfer of Cytochrome C (Cyt-C) from mitochondria to cytoplasm, besides, it also upregulated the expression of γH2AX, Bax and Clv-caspase3 but downregulated the expression of PCNA, Rad51, Bcl-2 and inhibited the function of mitochondria in PC12, the opposite trend was observed after MH treatment. Therefore, our results suggest that MH alleviates PC12 against oxygen-glucose deprivation/ reoxygenation-induced injury with the mechanism of inhibiting cell apoptosis by reducing ROS production, improving mitochondrial function, reducing DNA damage, and enhancing DNA repair.