AIMTo investigate whether Dihydromyricetin (DHM) inhibits cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis by downregulating Notch1 expression.METHODSThe correlation between Notch1 and Hes1 (a Notch1 target molecule) expression in hepatoma samples was confirmed by qRT-PCR. In addition, MTT assays, flow cytometry and TUNEL analysis showed that DHM possessed strong anti-tumor properties, evidenced not only by reduced cell proliferation but also by enhanced apoptosis in QGY7701 and HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. The expressions of Notch1, Hes1, Bcl-2 and Bax were determined by Western blot.RESULTSAmong the tested samples (n = 64), the expression levels of Notch1 (75% of patients) and Hes1 (79.7% of patients) mRNA in tumor tissues were higher than in the normal liver tissues. There was a negative correlation between the expression of Notch1 and the degree of differentiation and positively correlated with the Alpha Fetal Protein concentration. The viability of HCC cells treated with DHM was significantly inhibited in a dose and time-dependent manner. Apoptosis was induced in HepG2 and QGY7701 cell lines following 24 h of DHM treatment. After treatment with DHM, the protein expression of Notch1 was downregulated, the apoptosis-related protein Bax was upregulated and Bcl2 was downregulated. Notch1 siRNA further enhanced the anti-tumor properties of DHM.CONCLUSIONNotch1 is involved in the development of HCC and DHM inhibits cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis by down-regulating the expression of Notch1.

F10 is a novel hydatidiform mole (HM)-associated gene that was initially identified during a study into the pathogenesis of HMs. However, the role of the F10 gene requires further investigation. Our, previous studies have indicated that F10 may be involved in the malignant transformation of HMs and the development of certain types of adenocarcinoma, and that the overexpression of F10 may lead to excessive proliferation and decreased apoptosis of A549 cells. The present study aimed to investigate whether F10 may suppress the sensitivity of A549 lung cancer cells to paclitaxel therapy. A previously established F10-overexpressing A549 cell line (A549-F10) was treated with paclitaxel, using untransfected A549 cells and A549-mock cells (non-carrier A549) as the controls. These three groups of cells were subsequently examined by an MTT cell proliferation assay and a TUNEL-fluorescein isothiocyanate/Hoechst 33258 apoptosis assay. A western blot analysis was used to determine the expression levels of the pro-apoptotic genes B-cell lymphoma-2-associated X protein (BAX) and caspase-3. The effects of paclitaxel treatment on the proliferation and apoptosis of A549 cells were compared between the aforementioned cell lines. It was revealed that F10 inhibited the chemosensitivity of A549 cells to paclitaxel, as demonstrated by the decreased rates of growth inhibition and apoptosis in the A549-F10 group compared with the two control groups. Furthermore, the A549-F10 cells treated with paclitaxel exhibited significantly lower expression levels of the pro-apoptotic genes. The results of the current study demonstrate that F10 may inhibit the chemosensitivity of A549 cells to paclitaxel and that this inhibitory effect may be mediated by the downregulation of BAX and caspase-3 expression, which subsequently inhibits cell apoptosis.

Background The prevalence of stroke in young adults is increasing. We investigated the monogenic basis of young adult cryptogenic stroke patients. Methods This multicenter study enrolled cryptogenic stroke patients under 55 years old, and individuals with nonstroke diseases were included as controls. Targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) was applied with a custom-designed gene panel that included 551 genes. Rare variants were classified into 2 groups: pathogenic variants and variants of unknown significance. Results A total of 153 individuals, including 30 (21 males, 70%; mean age 36.1±10.2 years) in the disease group and 123 (59 males, 48.0%; mean age 40.4±13.1 years) in the control group, were recruited. In the disease group, 32 rare variants were identified. Among these individuals, 18 pathogenic variants in 16 patients were detected, with a 53.3% (16/30) diagnostic yield of monogenic causes for cryptogenic stroke. None of these mutations were observed in the control group. Among the mutant genes, the most prevalent were Notch receptor 3 ( NOTCH3 ), protein kinase AMP-activated noncatalytic subunit gamma 2 ( PRKAG2 ), and ryanodine receptor 2 ( RYR2 ). Genes associated with cardiogenic diseases showed the highest mutation frequency (10/18, 55.6%) followed by genes associated with small-vessel diseases (SVDs) and coagulation disorders. None of the patients with mutations had evident abnormalities in the heart or other systems checked by routine tests. For the imaging phenotype–genotype association analysis, infarctions in both the anterior and posterior cerebral circulation were only observed in patients with genes related to cardiogenic disease. Conclusions In this study, pathogenic variants were identified in nearly half of the young-onset cryptogenic stroke patients, with genes related to cardiogenic diseases being the most frequently mutated. This may have implications for future clinical decision-making, including the development of finer and more sensitive examinations.