Lipid raft proteins have been confirmed to be important in cell signal transduction. Some reports have shown that the aberrant expression of lipid raft proteins is associated with malignant phenotypes in some cancers. However, the role of the lipid raft protein flotillin-2 (Flot-2) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains to be comprehensively characterized. Here, overexpression of Flot-2 in NPC tissues and cell lines was detected by immunostaining, and Flot-2 expression was found to be positively associated with NPC metastasis. Furthermore, inhibiting Flot-2 expression impaired the malignancy of the highly metastatic NPC cell line 5-8F by constraining its growth and proliferation, mobility and migration, and decreasing the capacity of 5-8F cells to metastasize in nude mice. In contrast, forced overexpression of Flot-2 increased the malignancy of 6-10B, a non-metastatic NPC cell line that weakly expresses Flot-2. Moreover, in 5-8F-shFlot-2 cells, which have inhibited Flot-2 expression, the NF-κB and PI3K/Akt3 pathways were inactivated. Subsequently, MMPs expression were decreased, and Foxo1 activity was increased. In addition, enhanced NF-κB and PI3K/Akt3 activities were observed in Flot-2 overexpressing 6-10B cells. Thus, Flot-2 exerts a pro-neoplastic role in NPC and is involved in tumor progression and metastasis. Moreover, Flot-2 exerts its role through NF-κB and PI3K/Akt3 signaling.

Aim: To investigate exosomal RNAs (long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs)) profiling and their related networks in endometriosis (EMs). Materials & methods: RNA sequence was performed in exosomes from ovarian endometriomas (EC), eutopic endometria (EU) and normal endometria (Control) stromal cells. The bioinformatics algorithms evaluated competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks. The top-ranked ceRNA networks were confirmed by RT-PCR. Results: Overlapped differentially expressed 938 lncRNAs, 39 miRNAs and 1449 mRNAs were identified. 13 co-expression modules and 61 ceRNA networks were constructed. Conclusion: This study for the first time shows exosomal RNA biomarkers and lncRNA-related networks in EMs, which reveals a novel molecular mechanism of EMs and provides new resources for EM diagnosis and treatment.

Circulating miRNAs may be useful as detection biomarkers for the early diagnosis of minimal-mild endometriosis.

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Cervical cancer (CC) is the second most common malignant cancer in women. CC is difficult to diagnose, has a high recurrence rate, and is resistant to systemic therapies; as a result, CC patients have a relatively poor prognosis. One potential link to CC is the Wnt signaling pathway and its downstream effectors, which regulate cell differentiation, proliferation, migration, and fate. The aberrant activation of Wnt signaling is associated with various cancers, including CC. Recent studies have shown that activating or inhibiting the intracellular signal transduction in this pathway can regulate cancer cell growth and viability. This review will summarize the experimental evidence supporting the significance of the Wnt signaling pathway in CC, and will also discuss the current clinical role of Wnt signaling in CC diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis.

No abstract

Aberrant histone modification may play an important role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the most prevailing cancers in southern China and southern Asia. Because of the nonspecific symptoms and lack of effective biomarker, most patients are diagnosed at advanced stages, resulting in poor 5-year survival rate. To identify a novel NPC biomarker facilitating early detection and effective therapy of NPC, a two-step strategy consisting of cancer cell-Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment (cell-SELEX) procedure and aptamer-based purification approach was developed. Using cell-SELEX procedure, four aptamers (S3, S5, S12 and S27) differentiating the molecular differences between NPC cells and NP cells were successfully screened. Then, using aptamer-based protein purification, membrane protein CD109 was identified as the target of aptamer S3. CD109 protein was further identified to be over-expressed in NPC cell lines and clinic tissues, but not or low in NP cell line and clinic NP tissues, detected by western blot and immunohistochemistry experiments. Our study demonstrated that CD109 identified by cell-SELEX and aptamer-based purification strategy might be used as a potential NPC biomarker for early diagnosis and targeted therapy.