Gastric cancer is one of the most common types of cancer worldwide.1) Proliferation and metastasis of cancer cells remains the main cause of gastric cancer-related death.2) Better knowledge of changes in gene expression during proliferation and metastasis may lead to improvements in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous noncoding, double-stranded small RNA molecules 3,4) that are synthesized as primary miRNA hairpins, and cleaved by two RNAase III enzymes, Drosha and Dicer. The mature miRNAs negatively regulate gene expression by targeting mRNAs for translational repression or promotion of RNA degradation. In this way, miRNAs are important in the regulation of most central cellular processes, including cellular proliferation and apoptosis. 5-7)Recently, some miRNAs have been demonstrated to have crucial functions in cancer proliferation and metastasis. [8][9][10][11][12][13] To date, more than 800 miRNAs have been identified in humans, although most of the miRNAs involved in tumor proliferation and metastasis, especially in gastric cancer, are not well defined. Recently, Uedo et al. 14) investigated the relationship between miRNA expression, and progression and prognosis of gastric cancer. By miRNA expression analysis, they found that 22 microRNAs were upregulated, and 13 were downregulated in gastric cancer, including miR-199a-1/2. Here, we investigated the role and mechanism of miR199a-1/2 in proliferation and metastasis of gastric cancer. We find a possible connection between miR-199a and the putative tumor suppressor mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 11 (MAP3K11), previously associated with metastatic properties of gastric cancer cells. 15) MATERIALS AND METHODS Human Cell Lines and Clinical SamplesThe human gastric cancer cell lines BGC823 and AGS were maintained in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum and 2 mM L-glutamine (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, U.S.A.), and grown at 37°C in 10% CO 2 . Tissues from 8 patients with metastatic, from 8 patients with non-metastatic cancer, from 8 patients with normal gastric mucosa and from 5 adjacent noncancerous counterparts were snap-frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen after collection. Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded samples were obtained from non-metastatic gastric cancer tissue, and metastatic gastric cancer tissue, from 80 patients who underwent surgery at the first affiliated hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China. All patients provided written informed consent for the use of their tissues. All cases of gastric cancer were clinically and pathologically proven (data not shown). Study protocols were approved by the hospital's Protection of Human Subjects Committee.RNA Extraction and Quantitative Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) RNA extraction and quantitative reverse transcriptase (qRT) real-time PCR were performed as previously described. 16) Total RNA was isolated from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimens as...

Intravenously transplanted MSCs migrate and distribute to the colon to effectively alleviate the symptoms of UC, while G-CSF enhances this effect via an anti-inflammatory effect and improvement in the pathologic features of UC. G-CSF may be a promising therapeutic regulator of MSCs that can improve therapeutic outcomes in patients with UC.

Purpose Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a malignancy with poor prognosis and controversial treatment options. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is a significant factor in the development of PC. In the current study, the possible effects of HOTAIR on the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) of PC and the related mechanisms were investigated. Methods The PC models were induced by 10 mg/100 g dimethylbenzoanthracene (DMBA) in pancreas. Mice were injected with the HOTAIR mimic and HOTAIR shRNA to determine the role of HOTAIR in PC. Subsequently, the expression of HOTAIR in PC cells was assayed. To determine the mechanism of HOTAIR in PC, human PC cell line PANC-1, Miapaca-2 and human normal pancreatic ductal epithelial cell line HPDE6-C7 were transfected with the HOTAIR mimic, the shRNA against HOTAIR, the Wnt/b-catenin activator (LiCl), and the Wnt/b-catenin inhibitor (XAV939), respectively. Moreover, the expressions of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway-related genes (β-catenin, cyclinD1, c-myc, LEF-1 and c-Jun) and the levels of the EMT markers (E-cadherin, N-cadherin and Vimentin) were determined. Finally, the cell biological processes were evaluated by functional experiments. Results HOTAIR was found to be highly expressed in the PC cells in mice. The expression of β-catenin, cyclinD1, c-myc, LEF-1 and c-Jun, N-cadherin and Vimentin was found to be decreased, while the expression of E-cadherin was found to be increased subsequent to the silencing of HOTAIR in human PC cell lines PANC-1 and Miapaca-2. Additionally, it was observed that the silencing of HOTAIR could inhibit the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway to alleviate EMT of tumor cells and inhibit the capacities of cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Conclusion The key finding of the present study is that the silencing of HOTAIR could potentially inhibit EMT and growth of PC through the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, providing a novel therapy for PC.

The association between intestinal flora and ulcerative colitis (UC) was studied in order to provide a basis and method for clinical treatment. Fresh fecal samples were collected from 30 active UC patients and 10 healthy controls. The intestinal flora DNA from each sample was extracted and 16S rRNA gene sequencing was carried out using HiSeq platform to identify the intestinal flora in fecal samples. The richness and diversity of intestinal flora in UC patients were significantly lower than those in healthy control group (P < 0.05). Significant differences were observed between the intestinal flora-species of UC patients and healthy controls. Synergistetes (P < 0.01) and Firmicutes (P < 0.05), along with probiotics Veillonella (P < 0.01), Ruminococcus and Coprococcus (P < 0.05) in the UC patients were lower than that in the healthy controls significantly. Furthermore, compared with the control group, Tenericutes (P < 0.01) and intestinal pathogenic bacteria, including Bacteroides (P < 0.01), Escherichia and Sutterella (P < 0.05) were significantly increased. The incidence of UC is significantly associated with the changes in intestinal flora. Changes in intestinal flora may lead to a decrease in the diversity of intestinal flora or to the enrichment of a particular intestinal flora.

These results suggested that the MDM2 SNP309 might influence the risk of developing HBV-related HCC in a northeast Han Chinese population.