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Overexpression of HOTAIR (HOX antisense intergenic RNA) is significantly correlated with tumor progression and poor prognosis in human ovarian cancer. However, the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. In the present study, we investigated the roles of HOTAIR in the initiation and chemoresistance of ovarian cancer. As our data show, HOTAIR overexpression promoted cell cycle progression (and thus cell proliferation) by activating the wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Likewise, knockdown of HOTAIR suppressed cell proliferation and arrested cell cycle at G1 phase via inhibition of wnt/β-catenin signaling. Moreover, the results of primary culture demonstrated that elevated HOTAIR expression correlated positively with chemoresistance in ovarian cancer. In vitro and in vivo, HOTAIR induced cellular resistance to cisplatin by activating the wnt/β-catenin pathway, which could be reversed by pre-treatment with the wnt/β-catenin inhibitor, XAV939. In conclusion, HOTAIR promotes the initiation and chemoresistance of ovarian cancer by activating wnt/β-catenin signaling, suggesting that HOTAIR might be a potent therapeutic target for ovarian cancer treatment.

Dental caries is one of the most prevalent childhood diseases worldwide, but little is known about the dynamic characteristics of oral microbiota in the development of dental caries. To investigate the shifting bacterial profiles in different caries states, 60 children (3-7-year-old) were enrolled in this study, including 30 caries-free subjects and 30 caries-active subjects. Supragingival plaques were collected from caries-active subjects on intact enamel, white spot lesions and carious dentin lesions. Plaques from caries-free subjects were used as a control. All samples were analyzed by 454 pyrosequencing based on 16S rRNA gene V1-V3 hypervariable regions. A total of 572,773 pyrosequencing reads passed the quality control and 25,444 unique phylotypes were identified, which represented 18 phyla and 145 genera. Reduced bacterial diversity in the cavitated dentin was observed as compared with the other groups. Thirteen genera (including Capnocytophaga, Fusobacterium, Porphyromonas, Abiotrophia, Comamonas, Tannerella, Eikenella, Paludibacter, Treponema, Actinobaculum, Stenotrophomonas, Aestuariimicrobium, and Peptococcus) were found to be associated with dental health, and the bacterial profiles differed considerably depending on caries status. Eight genera (including Cryptobacterium, Lactobacillus, Megasphaera, Olsenella, Scardovia, Shuttleworthia, Cryptobacterium, and Streptococcus) were increased significantly in cavitated dentin lesions, and Actinomyces and Corynebacterium were present at significant high levels in white spot lesions (P < 0.05), while Flavobacterium, Neisseria, Bergeyella, and Derxia were enriched in the intact surfaces of caries individuals (P < 0.05). Our results showed that oral bacteria were specific at different stages of caries progression, which contributes to informing the prevention and treatment of childhood dental caries.

, which was introduced in 1999. It became widely adopted as the gold standard for intraocular lens selection at the time of cataract surgery. 1 It is based on partial coherence interferometry (PCI). Good precision of the device has been reported, but the failure rate for axial length measurement is approximately 17.5% to 37.84%. 1-5 Optical low coherence reflectometry and optical low coherence interfer-ABSTRACT PURPOSE: To compare axial length measurements (and failure rate) of three swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT)-based biometers: IOLMaster 700 (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Jena, Germany), OA-2000 (Tomey, Nagoya, Japan), and Argos (Movu Inc., Komaki, Japan) to those provided by a partial coherence interferometry (PCI)-based optical biometer (IOLMaster v5.4 [Carl Zeiss Meditec]). METHODS: A total of 119 patients (171 eyes) undergoing cataract surgery were enrolled. Axial length was measured with the four biometers in a random order. Chi-square analysis was used to determine whether statistically significant differences in success rates were found between biometers. Within-subject standard deviation (S w), test-retest repeatability (TRT), coefficient of variation (CoV), and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated to analyze the intraobserver repeatability. Bland-Altman plots were used for agreement assessment. RESULTS: Axial length measurements were successfully measured in 166 eyes (97.08%) with the IOLMaster 700, 166 eyes (97.08%) with the OA-2000, 170 eyes (99.42%) with the Argos, and 138 eyes (80.70%) with the IOLMaster v5.4. Chisquare analysis indicated a significant difference in the failure rate between PCI-and SS-OCT-based biometers (P < .001). Intraobserver repeatability for the IOLMaster 700, OA-2000, and Argos showed excellent repeatability with low TRT (0.03, 0.06, and 0.05 mm, respectively), low CoV (0.04%, 0.10%, 0.07%, respectively), and high ICC (1.000, 0.999, and 1.000, respectively). The Bland-Altman 95% limits of agreement were as narrow as 0.09 mm, indicating excellent agreement among the three SS-OCT biometers and the PCI biometer. CONCLUSIONS: The three SS-OCT biometers showed a significantly higher success rate for axial length measurement than the IOLMaster v5.4 in various lens opacities. These SS-OCT biometers are likely to become the gold standard for axial measurement.

We previously reported the frequent overexpression of HOX Antisense Intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) in human cervical cancer, which was significantly correlated with tumor progression and poor prognosis. In the present study, we investigated the detailed biological functions of HOTAIR in cervical cancer. In vitro, upregulation of HOTAIR inhibited apoptosis and promoted cellular proliferation, cell cycle progression, migration, and invasion; on the contrast, downregulation of HOTAIR induced more apoptosis, suppressed cellular proliferation, cell cycle, migration, and invasion. Moreover, a high level of HOTAIR was notably associated with radio-resistance and downregulation of p21 in the primary cultured cervical cancer cells. Further, we demonstrated that elevated HOTAIR could induce radio-resistance via inhibiting p21 in HeLa cells, while knockdown of HOTAIR upregulated p21 and consequentially increased the radio-sensitivity of C33A cells. Consistently, stable knockdown of HOTAIR significantly suppressed tumor growth and sensitized cervical cancer to radiotherapy in vivo. In conclusion, HOTAIR served as an onco-lncRNA in cervical cancer which could enhance various aggressive biological behaviors. Moreover, we proved that HOTAIR execute its functions mainly through inhibiting the p21 expression. These results proposed that targeting HOTAIR might be a potent therapeutic strategy in cervical cancer, especially for those patients who accepted radiotherapy.

We recently found that HOTAIR (HOX antisense intergenic RNA) promotes development and induces radioresistance in cervical cancer. In the present study, we investigated the circulating HOTAIR expression and determined its relationships with the clinicopathological parameters in cervical cancer. The sera samples were obtained from 118 pathological diagnosed cervical cancer patients and 100 normal age-matched women. The expression of HOTAIR was measured by quantitative real time PCR. Patients' information were collected and analyzed by the SPSS 17.0 software. Compared with normal control, the expression of HOTAIR was significantly upregulated in the sera of cervical cancer patients (P < 0.0001). In addition, elevated HOTAIR was associated with advanced tumor stages (P < 0.0001), adenocarcinoma (P < 0.0001), lymphatic vascular space invasion (P = 0.0065), and lymphatic node metastasis (P = 0.0259). In addition, our follow-up data showed that high HOTAIR was notably correlated with tumor recurrence (P = 0.013) and short overall survival (P = 0.009). Circulating HOTAIR was commonly upregulated and a potent prognostic marker in cervical cancer.

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microRNA-218 was deregulated in most cervical cancer patients and associated with tumor invasion.