Abstract. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a well-known etiological factor of colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC) and has a significant role in CAC progression. In addition, hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) serves a primary role in the progression of CAC. However, the association between IL-6 and HIF-1α during the progression of CAC remains unclear. To investigate this association, the present study induced CAC in a mouse model using azoxymethane and dextran sulfate sodium. In addition, an anti-IL-6 receptor antibody was used to inhibit IL-6. In this model, anti-IL-6 receptor antibody treatment significantly inhibited the development of CAC and the expression of HIF-1α, in colorectal adenomas and adenocarcinomas. In patients with CAC, the HIF-1α gene was demonstrated to be overexpressed in tumor tissue compared with adjacent non-malignant tissue. Furthermore, HIF-1α mRNA expression was positively correlated with serum IL-6 concentration. The results of the present study suggest that IL-6 promotes CAC progression, in the early stage of the disease, through HIF-1α regulation.

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation of long non-coding RNA maternally expressed gene 3 (Lnc-MEG3) with disease features, treatment response, and survival in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. Among 92 de novo pediatric AML patients (before treatment and after 1 course of induction) and 40 controls, bone marrow mononuclear cells were obtained. Then, Lnc-MEG3 expression was determined by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. After 1 course of standard induction therapy of pediatric AML patients, complete remission (CR) was assessed. Furthermore, event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were determined according to follow-up data. Lnc-MEG3 was reduced in pediatric AML patients compared with controls. In pediatric AML patients, Lnc-MEG3 was correlated with French-American-Britain subtypes and lower Chinese Medical Association risk stratification, while it was not associated with cytogenetic features, FLT3-ITD mutation, CEBPA mutation, NPM1 mutation, WT1 mutation, or National Comprehensive Cancer Network risk stratification. After 1 course of treatment, Lnc-MEG3 exhibited an up-regulation trend. Furthermore, Lnc-MEG3 was of no difference before treatment between patients with and without CR, while elevated Lnc-MEG3 and change of Lnc-MEG3 after 1 course of treatment were associated with increased CR rate. Additionally, increased Lnc-MEG3 expression before treatment was associated with longer EFS but not OS, while enhanced Lnc-MEG3 expression after 1 course of treatment was correlated with both prolonged EFS and OS. Lnc-MEG3 may have clinical significance as a biomarker for assisting with disease management, treatment optimization, and prognosis improvement in pediatric AML patients.

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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most malignant cancers worldwide. However, the mechanisms of initiation and development of CRC are still largely unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the biological function and prognosis of glutamate receptor ionotropic, kainate 1 (GRIK1) in CRC. GRIK1 expression levels were analyzed in tissue microarrays containing 80 primary CRC samples using immunohistochemistry (IHC). The association between GRIK1 expression levels, clinicopathological factors and the prognosis was also investigated using Spearman's correlation analysis and Kaplan-Meier analysis, respectively. After genetic knockdown or overexpression of GRIK1, invasion/migration assays, proliferation assay, soft agar/colony formation assays, western blotting, reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and tumor xenograft models were used to investigate the function of GRIK1 both in vitro in two CRC cell lines, HCT116 and SW620, and in vivo. The results revealed that the expression levels of GRIK1 were significantly downregulated in CRC samples. Furthermore, IHC analysis indicated that the downregulated expression levels of GRIK1 were significantly associated with lymph node status and tumor size. In addition, patients with CRC with low GRIK1 expression levels demonstrated a consistently poor overall survival. The overexpression of GRIK1 inhibited the proliferation, colony formation, migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of HCT116 cells in vitro. In contrast, the genetic knockdown of GRIK1 promoted the proliferative, colony forming, migratory and invasive abilities of SW620 cells in vitro. Moreover, the overexpression of GRIK1 inhibited tumor growth, and liver and lung metastasis of CRC in vivo. In conclusion, the findings of the present study suggested that GRIK1 may serve as a tumor suppressor in CRC, and upregulated expression levels of GRIK1 may predict an improved prognosis for patients with CRC.

Agricultural cooperatives are effective facilitators of green production technology promotion. What is the role of social capital within agricultural cooperatives with the most competitive advantage in technology promotion? Using the survey data of 465 citrus-planting cooperative members in Sichuan Province, this study uses the IV-probit model and mediating effect model to analyze the impact role of social capital within agricultural cooperatives on its members’ adoption of integrated pest management (IPM) technology. The bootstrap method is also used to test the robustness of the parameter estimates. The results show that: (1) the social capital within agricultural cooperatives has a significant positive impact on IPM adoption; (2) cooperative members’ IPM cognition has a partial mediating effect on the impact of the social capital within agricultural cooperatives on its members’ adoption of IPM technology (more than 51.37%). Therefore, among all the optional IPM technology promotion measures of cooperatives, multi-dimensional accumulation of the social capital within agricultural cooperatives and promotion of IPM technology awareness level of members is a viable path.