Pancreatic cancer (PC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related mortalities in the USA and the sixth leading cause of mortality in China. Recent studies have shown that lncRNAs play important roles in carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to explore the role of lncRNA HULC in PC. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to investigate the expression of HULC in tumor tissues and corresponding normal tissues from 304 patients with PC. The higher expression of HULC was significantly correlated with large tumor size, advanced lymph node metastasis and vascular invasion. Multivariate analyses revealed that HULC expression served as an independent predictor for overall survival (P = 0.032). Further experiments revealed that HULC knockdown significantly repressed cell proliferation of PC in vitro. In conclusion, our results suggest that HULC may serve as a candidate prognostic biomarker through growth regulation in human PC.

Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) gives rise to tumor neovascularization that is critical for tumor growth and metastasis. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been implicated in diverse and fundamental biological processes. LINC00312 is associated with lung adenocarcinoma. In this study, we found that LINC00312 induced migration, invasion and VM of lung cancer cells by direct binding to the transcription factor Y-Box Binding Protein 1 (YBX1). Moreover, we demonstrated that YBX1 is associated with different fragments within 0–2410 nt 5’region of LINC00312. In addition, LINC00312 is associated with VM in 124 lung adenocarcinoma clinical specimens. The results suggest that LINC00312 is a promising therapeutic and diagnostic target for lung adenocarcinoma.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12943-018-0920-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

To clarify the roles of claudins in endometrial tumorigenesis, we determined levels of protein and messengerRNA (mRNA) expression of claudin-3 and claudin-4 in human endometrial tissue (proliferative phase [PE, n= 25]; secretory phase [SE, n= 25]; simple hyperplasia [SH, n= 20]; complex hyperplasia [CH, n= 12]; atypical hyperplasia [AH, n= 15]; endometrioid adenocarcinoma [EEC, n= 30]) using immunohistochemistry, western blotting, and real-time polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Morphologic changes of tight junctions (TJs) were also observed in normal, hyperplastic, and malignant endometrial tissue. Absence or weak staining for claudin-3 and claudin-4 was observed in PE, SE, SH, and CH, while medium to intense staining was detected in AH and EEC. Staining of claudin-3 and claudin-4 was predominantly localized to the glandular epithelial cell membrane. Expression of claudin-3 and claudin-4 was significantly increased in the groups of AH and EEC in comparison with the groups of CH, SH, and normal cyclic endometrium at both protein and mRNA levels. The highest expression was observed in EEC. Although no relevance was found with regard to FIGO stage and histologic grade, overexpression of claudin-3 and claudin-4, especially claudin-4, significantly correlated with myometrial invasion. Transmission electron microscopy analysis indicated morphologic disruptions of TJs may lag behind the increase of claudins expression. These results demonstrate that claudin-3 and claudin-4 are strongly expressed in AH and EEC, but less frequently in normal endometrium. The upregulation of claudins expression during endometrial carcinogenesis suggests their potential utility as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers.

We found a strong association between HLA-B*1502 and CBZ-induced SJS/TEN in the Han Chinese population from central and northern China. Combined with previous studies of the southern Han Chinese subpopulation, our results suggest that HLA-B*1502 is strongly associated with CBZ-induced SJS/TEN in the whole Han Chinese population.

The effect of different cooking methods on the flavour of mushroom soup was assessed. The results indicated that the levels of free amino acids and 5'-nucleotides in the microwaved mushroom soup were (P < 0.05) higher than those in boiled and autoclaved mushroom soup. The number of volatile compounds identified in the boiled mushroom soup was (P < 0.05) higher than those in autoclaved and microwaved mushroom soup. The main aroma-active compounds found in mushroom soup were 1-octen-3-one (mushroom-like), 3-octen-2-one (cooked mushroom-like), 2,6-dimethyl pyrazine (roast nut), benzeneacetaldehyde (floral), dihydro-5-methyl-2(3H)-furanone (sweet) and some unknown compounds with popcorn and sauce flavour. In addition, boiled, autoclaved and microwaved mushroom soup possessed thirteen, ten and nine aromaactive compounds (with flavour dilution factors > 1), respectively. Thus the flavour of mushroom soup is dependent on the cooking methods as proved by gas chromatography and olfactometry analysis.

Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) have been reported to modulate oncogenesis and be used to be target for tumor. The role of lncRNA NEAT1 (nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1, Gene ID: 283131) in colorectal cancer (CRC) keeps unknown. This work was to investigate the pattern of lncRNA NEAT1 (NEAT1) expression in CRC and its functional value and biological significance. NEAT1 expression was analyzed in 56 cancer tissues and cell lines in CRC cases. Results showed that NEAT1 was significantly overexpressed in CRC cells and tissues. Clinicpathologic detection verified that high NEAT1 expression associated with bulk in CRC. The serum contents of NEAT1 were observably elevated comparing with healthy cases (P < 0.05). The levels of NEAT1 were elevated in distinguishing CRC from normal (ROC = 0.9471; P < 0.01). Moreover, Kaplan-Meier analysis found that NEAT1 elevation led to adverse survival (P < 0.05). Further experiments illustrated that of NEAT1 knockdown signally inhibited growth and facilitated apoptosis. Importantly, we confirmed that Akt signaling pathway was inactivated after loss of NEAT1 in CRC. Taken together, this work support the first evidence that NEAT1 can be used to be a promising biomarker and target for novel treatment for human CRC.

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Aging is an inevitable biological process characterized by the loss of functional capacity and associated with changes in all phases of pharmacokinetic processes. Naringin, a dietary flavanone glycoside, has been proved to be beneficial for the treatment of multiple age-associated chronic diseases. To date, the pharmacokinetic processes of naringin in aged individuals are still unknown. Thus, a rapid resolution liquid chromatography tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (RRLC-QQQ-MS/MS) method was established for the determination of naringin and its metabolite naringenin in rat plasma, urine, feces, and tissue homogenate. The pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated and a higher exposure of naringin and naringenin were observed in aged rats. Naringin and naringenin were mostly distributed in gastrointestinal tract, liver, kidney, lung, and trachea. Furthermore, a total of 39 flavonoid metabolites (mainly glucuronides and sulfates) and 46 microbial-derived phenolic catabolites were screened with ultra-fast liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UFLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS). Naringenin, hippuric acid, and 3-(4’-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid were predominated metabolites. This study systemically investigated the pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution, metabolism, and excretion of naringin in aged rats, revealing age- and gender-related changes in the in vivo behavior of naringin. These results would be helpful for the interpretation of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of naringin in aged population.