Rationale : Tumor metastasis is the main cause for cancer-related death. However, the driving molecules of metastasis remain largely unknown. Here, we aim to identify long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) critical for human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis. Methods : Microarrays were used to screen a comprehensive set of lncRNAs with differential expression profiles in sulfatide-treated cells. Mass spectrometry, protein arrays, and RNA pull-down experiments were used to identify proteins that interacted with lncRNA. Epigenetic analysis was used to study lncRNA-mediated regulation mechanisms. Results : We identified lncRNA AY927503 (AY) as a metastasis-associated molecule that was highly expressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and correlated with metastatic events and poor prognosis in patients with HCC. AY promoted HCC cell migration, stemness, 5-fluorouracil resistance, and metastasis in mice. However, knockdown of integrin αV (ITGAV) abolished AY-stimulated migration, cell viability in HCC cells or tube formation. AY strongly promoted ITGAV transcription and αVβ3 expression by interacting with the ITGAV promoter specifically and stimulating its activity. AY was identified to interact with histone 1FX (H1FX), but deletion of the central domain of AY (AY∆371-522) abolished H1FX binding and ITGAV promoter stimulation. AY significantly enriched H3K4Me3 and acH3K9/14 but reduced H3K27Me3 and H1FX occupancy on the ITGAV promoter, which remodeled chromatin structures for RNA polymerase II recruitment. Knockdown of H1FX abrogated ITGAV transcription stimulated by AY. Conclusions : Our findings suggested that lncRNA AY promoted HCC metastasis via induction of chromatin modification for ITGAV transcription as a pioneer factor and was a potential molecular signature for metastasis or poor prognosis in patients with HCC.

In the present study, we constructed a lentivirus vector encoding the miR-29a precursor and established two stably infected cell lines, PLC-29a and 97L-29a. The overexpression of miR-29a was confirmed by TaqMan RT-PCR and significantly suppressed the growth of the hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines MHCC-97L and PLC. Dual-luciferase reporter assays indicated that the SPARC mRNA 3'UTR was directly targeted by miR-29a since the mutated 3'UTR was not affected. Silencing SPARC expression by RNAi knockdown resulted in a similar effect as miR-29a overexpression on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell growth regulation. Anti-miR-29a oligonucleotides (AMOs) upregulated the levels of SPARC in the HCC cells. The phosphorylation of AKT/mTOR downstream of SPARC was inhibited in miR-29a-overexpressing HCC cells. We further examined and compared the expression levels of miR-29a in HCC tissues and the corresponding nearby non-cancerous liver tissues of 110 patients with HCC by qRT-PCR, and significantly lower expression of miR-29a was observed in the tissues affected by HCC. Our findings demonstrate that the expression of miR-29a is important in the regulation of the SPARC-AKT pathway and HCC growth.

In our previous study, we identified 1241 loci with somatic copy number alterations in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using Affymetrix SNP 6.0 arrays, and a putative cancer gene SERPINA5 was uncovered in a novel chromosomal region with recurrent copy number loss at 14q31.1-32.13. The SERPINA5 was reported to be deregulated in renal, breast, prostate and ovarian cancers. However, the roles of SERPINA5 in cancer remain greatly elusive. In this study, we found that the DNA dosage and expression level of the SERPINA5 gene were significantly decreased in HCC by quantitative real-time PCR. Notably, the expression levels of SERPINA5 negatively correlated with malignant progression of HCC. The SERPINA5 gene was further observed to reduce in vitro and in vivo metastatic potential of HCC cells. Moreover, secreted SERPINA5 protein also could inhibit the metastatic ability of HCC cells. Finally, we discovered that one of the mechanisms explaining SERPINA5 inhibition of HCC metastasis is through direct interaction with fibronectin and disruption of the fibronectin-integrin signaling pathway. These findings highlight an important role of SERPINA5 in the regulation of migratory and metastatic potentials of HCC and suggest a potential application of SERPINA5 in cancer treatment.

Tumor metastasis is the major cause of cancer-related death especially in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although microRNAs have been implicated in tumor development, the roles of miR-124 in HCC metastasis are still not well understood. We conducted functional analysis in this study to investigate miR-124. We observed that miR-124 significantly retarded the wound healing and migration of HCC SMMC-7721 and BEL-7404 cells. Further analysis indicated miR-124 directly targeting the transcriptional factor Sp1 which is an important transcription factor for the integrin αV subunit gene transcription. Co-transfection of miR-124 with the luciferase reporter containing Sp1 3′ untranslated region (UTR) significantly suppressed the luciferase activities. While mutation of the binding site of miR-124 in Sp1 mRNA 3′UTR completely abrogated the suppression of miR-124. Overexpression of miR-124 resulted in robust downregulation of Sp1 and integrin αV expression at either mRNA or protein level. Ectopic expression of miR-124 in HCC dramatically repressed the wound healing and migration in vitro and tumor metastasis in mouse experiments. Our findings demonstrated that miR-124 played as an important role in regulation of integrin αV expression in HCC, and reintroduction of miR-124 might be an alternative therapeutic strategy for controlling integrin αV expression in HCC.

Background: After Neisseria gonorrhoeae FC428 was first found in Japan, ceftriaxone-resistant strains disseminated globally, and the gonococcal resistance rate increased remarkably. Epidemiological investigations are greatly significant for the analysis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) trends, molecular features and evolution. Objectives: To clarify the AMR trend from 2016–2019 and reveal the molecular characteristics and evolution of ceftriaxone-resistant penA 60.001 isolates. Methods: The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of antibiotics against 4113 isolates were detected by the agar dilution method. N. gonorrhoeae multiantigen sequence typing (NG-MAST), multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and N.gonorrhoeae sequence typing for antimicrobial resistance (NG-STAR) were used to identify the sequence types. Genome analysis was conducted to analyze resistance genes, virulence factors, and evolutionary sources. Results: Isolates with decreased ceftriaxone susceptibility have increased from 2.05% (2016) to 16.18% (2019). Six ceftriaxone-resistant isolates possessing penA 60.001 appeared in Guangdong Province, and were resistant to ceftriaxone, penicillin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin and cefixime, but susceptible to azithromycin and spectinomycin. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the porB gene were the major cause of different NG-MAST types. ST1903 was the main NG-STAR genotype and only strain-ZH545 was ST7365, with molecular features consistent with the MICs. Furthermore, different MLSTs suggested diverse evolutionary sources. Genome analysis revealed a set of virulence factors along with the resistance genes “ penA ” and “ blaTEM-1B ”. Half of penA 60.001 strains were fully mixed with global FC428-related strains. Conclusions: Global FC428-related clones have disseminated across Guangdong, possibly causing decreased ceftriaxone susceptibility. Enhanced gonococcal surveillance will help elucidate the trajectory of transmission and curb further dissemination.