Receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand (RANKL) and its receptor, receptor activator of NF-kappaB (RANK), play a key role in osteoclastogenesis, and osteoprotegerin (OPG) acts as a decoy receptor for RANKL. We investigated the role of the RANKL-RANK-OPG system in renal cell carcinomas (RCCs), which frequently metastasize to bones. Real-time quantitative PCR revealed that RANKL mRNA expression was higher in clear cell RCCs than in papillary and chromophobe RCCs. Similarly, RANKL protein expression level in clear cell RCCs was higher than that in papillary and chromophobe RCCs, showing positive correlations with the primary tumour stage and distant metastasis. There was no significant association between the expression level of RANK, OPG and histological subtypes of RCC. RANKL and RANK expression was observed in metastatic RCCs in the bone and other organs, suggesting that they play a role in metastasis to the bone and other organs. Recombinant RANKL protein stimulated migration of a clear cell RCC cell line, Caki-1, in vitro, and this enhanced migration was inhibited by the administration of recombinant OPG protein. Furthermore, multivariate Cox analysis revealed that elevated RANKL and RANK expression with low-OPG expression was a significant and independent predictor of recurrence, bone metastasis and a poor prognosis. These data suggest that the RANKL-RANK-OPG system is involved not only in the bone metastasis of RCCs but also in metastasis to other organs through the stimulation of cancer cell migration.
Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and the activation of the AhR pathway are involved in xenobiotic-induced toxicity and carcinogenesis. Although xenobiotics, such as cigarette smoke, contribute to the development of urothelial carcinoma (UC), the relationship between AhR and UC is unclear. In the present study, we investigated AhR expression in 209 patients with upper urinary tract UC. The nuclear expression of AhR was significantly associated with histological grade, pathological T stage, lymphovascular invasion and lymph node involvement. A multivariate Cox analysis revealed that nuclear AhR expression was a significant and independent predictor for disease-specific survival (hazard ratio = 2.469, P = 0.013). To determine whether the AhR pathway can be activated in the T24 UC cell line, we examined the expression of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A1 and CYP1B1, which are target genes of the AhR pathway, following exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), a ligand of AhR. TCDD treatment upregulated the expression levels of AhR, CYP1A1 and CYP1B1. TCDD enhanced T24 cell invasion associated with the upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 and MMP-9. Furthermore, targeting AhR messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in T24 cells with small interfering RNA (siRNA) downregulated the mRNA expression of AhR, CYP1A1, CYP1B1, MMP-1, MMP-2 and MMP-9; furthermore, the cells transfected with siRNA for AhR showed decreased invasion activity in comparison with the cells transfected with a non-targeting siRNA. Our results therefore suggest that AhR plays a role in the invasiveness of UC cells and can serve as a marker for the prognosis of upper urinary tract UC.
The iPS-CM is superior to other somatic cell sources in terms of improving regional contractile function and cardiac bioenergetic efficiency, suggesting greater clinical benefits in severely damaged myocardium.This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal.
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