scholarly journals Cholesterol Enhances Colorectal Cancer Progression via ROS Elevation and MAPK Signaling Pathway Activation

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 729-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caihua Wang ◽  
Peiwei Li ◽  
Junmei Xuan ◽  
Chunpeng Zhu ◽  
Jingjing Liu ◽  
...  

Background/Aims: Elevated serum cholesterol levels were linked to a higher risk of colorectal adenoma and colorectal cancer (CRC), while the effect of cholesterol on CRC metastasis has not been widely studied. Methods: CRC patients were enrolled to evaluate the association between low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) and CRC metastases, and LDL receptor (LDLR) level of the CRC tissue was assessed by immunohistochemistry. The effects of LDL on cell proliferation, migration and stemness were assessed in CRC cells in vitro, and the effects of high fat diet (HFD) on tumor growth and intestinal tumorigenicity were investigated in vivo. ROS assays, gene expression array analysis and western blot were used to explore the mechanisms of LDL in CRC progression. Results: The level of LDL was positively correlated with liver metastases, and a higher level of LDL receptor (LDLR) expression was associated with advanced N and M stages of CRC. In vitro, LDL promoted the migration and sphere formation of CRC cells and induced upregulated expression of “stemness” genes including Sox2, Oct4, Nanog and Bmi 1. High-fat diet (HFD) significantly enhanced tumor growth in vivo, and was associated with a shorter intestinal length in azoxymethane/dextran sodium sulfate (AOM/DSS)-treated mice. Furthermore, LDL significantly elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and Whole Human Genome Microarray found 87 differentially expressed genes between LDL-treated CRC cells and controls, which were largely clustered in the MAP kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Conclusions: LDL enhances intestinal inflammation and CRC progression via activation of ROS and signaling pathways including the MAPK pathway. Inflammation is strongly associated with cancer initiation, and the role of LDL in intestinal tumorigenicity should be further explored.

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Junhai Ding ◽  
Dubin Sun ◽  
Pengfeng Xie

AbstractBackground: Oral cancer is one of the most frequent solid cancers worldwide, and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) constitutes approximately 90% of oral cancers. The discovery of reliable prognostic indicators would be a potential strategy for OSCC treatment. In the present study, we aim to explore the underlying mechanism by which microRNA-145 (miR-145) affected OSCC. Methods: Forty-eight patients diagnosed with OSCC were enrolled to obtain the OSCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues. The targeting relationship between miR-145 and Homeobox A1 (HOXA1) was verified. In order to assess the effects of miR-145 in OSCC and the detailed regulatory mechanism, the SCC-9 cell line was adopted, in which expression of miR-145 and HOXA1 were altered by transfection. Then, a series of in vitro and in vivo experiments were performed to evaluate the cell viability, migration, invasion, and tumor growth. Results: miR-145 was poorly expressed and HOXA1 was highly expressed in OSCC. HOXA1 was verified as a target of miR-145 to mediate the activation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase/mitogen activated protein kinase (ERK/MAPK) signaling pathway. In the circumstance of miR-145 elevation or HOXA1 depletion, the SCC-9 cell line manifested with inhibited cell viability, invasion, and migration in vitro, coupled with reduced tumor growth in vivo, with a decreased expression of ERK/MAPK signaling pathway-related genes/proteins. Conclusion: These findings suggested that miR-145 can inhibit HOXA1 to inactivate the ERK/MAPK signaling pathway, thereby suppressing OSCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion to further inhibit the development of OSCC, highlighting a novel therapeutic target for the OSCC treatment.


2020 ◽  
Vol Volume 14 ◽  
pp. 2667-2684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xing Zhou ◽  
Xingchun Wu ◽  
Luhui Qin ◽  
Shunyu Lu ◽  
Hongliang Zhang ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Jiao ◽  
Wang Tang ◽  
He Huang ◽  
Zhaofei Zhang ◽  
Donghua Liu ◽  
...  

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are widely used in tissue engineering for regenerative medicine due to their multipotent differentiation potential. However, their poor migration ability limits repair effects. Icariin (ICA), a major component of the Chinese medical herb Herba Epimedii, has been reported to accelerate the proliferation, osteogenic, and chondrogenic differentiation of BMSCs. However, it remains unknown whether ICA can enhance BMSC migration, and the possible underlying mechanisms need to be elucidated. In this study, we found that ICA significantly increased the migration capacity of BMSCs, with an optimal concentration of 1 μmol/L. Moreover, we found that ICA stimulated actin stress fiber formation in BMSCs. Our work revealed that activation of the MAPK signaling pathway was required for ICA-induced migration and actin stress fiber formation. In vivo, ICA promoted the recruitment of BMSCs to the cartilage defect region. Taken together, these results show that ICA promotes BMSC migration in vivo and in vitro by inducing actin stress fiber formation via the MAPK signaling pathway. Thus, combined administration of ICA with BMSCs has great potential in cartilage defect therapy.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ansarullah ◽  
Selvaraj Jayaraman ◽  
Anandwardhan A. Hardikar ◽  
A. V. Ramachandran

Oreocnide integrifolia(OI) leaves are used as folklore medicine by the people of northeast India to alleviate diabetic symptoms. Preliminary studies revealed hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic potentials of the aqueous leaf extract. The present study was carried out to evaluate whether the OI extract induces insulin secretionin vivoandin vitroand also whether it is mediated through the insulin-signaling pathway. The experimental set-up consisted of three groups of C57BL/6J mice strain: (i) control animals fed with standard laboratory diet, (ii) diabetic animals fed with a high-fat diet for 24 weeks and (iii) extract-supplemented animals fed with 3% OI extract along with high-fat diet for 24 weeks. OI-extract supplementation lowered adiposity and plasma glucose and insulin levels. Immunoblot analysis of IRS-1, Akt and Glut-4 protein expressions in muscles of extract-supplemented animals revealed that glucoregulation was mediated through the insulin-signaling pathway. Moreover, immunostaining of pancreas revealed increased insulin immunopositive cells in OI-extract-treated animals. In addition, the insulin secretogogue ability of the OI extract was demonstrated when challenged with high glucose concentration using isolated pancreatic isletsin vitro. Overall, the present study demonstrates the possible mechanism of glucoregulation of OI extract suggestive of its therapeutic potential for the management of diabetes mellitus.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guolin Zhang ◽  
Xin Luo ◽  
Jianbin Xu ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Engeng Chen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: 5-Fluorouracil (5-Fu) is the first-line chemotherapeutic drug in the treatment of colorectal cancer. The efficiency of 5-Fu is limited by drug resistance in colorectal cancer patients. This study was aimed to define the functions of tissue inhibitor metalloproteinases 2 (TIMP-2) in the 5-Fu resistance to colorectal cancer and investigate its potential mechanism.Methods: Cytokine array, ELISA and RT-qPCR were performed to detect cytokine expression levels. Western blot and immunohistochemistry were used to show the differential expression of proteins. In addition, cell viability was detected by CCK-8.Results: We established that there is an up-regulation in the expression of the TIMP-2 in colorectal cancer patients. This up-regulation in TIMP-2 expression was evident in 5-Fu resistant colorectal cancer patients and resulted in a poor prognosis. Besides, in vivo, clinical studies and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models confirmed that TIMP-2 was highly expressed in the 5-Fu-resistant colorectal cancer. We deduced an autocrine mechanism through which elevated TIMP-2 protein levels sustained colorectal cancer cell resistance to 5-Fu by constitutively activating the ERK/MAPK signaling pathway via an autocrine mechanism. The 5-Fu resistance could overcome by the inhibition of TIMP-2 by anti-TIMP-2 antibody or ERK/MAPK by U0126.Conclusion: Our findings identify a TIMP-2-ERK/MAPK mediated 5-Fu resistance mechanism in colorectal cancer. Moreover, we recommend the use of an ERK/MAPK signal pathway inhibitor or TIMP-2-mediated immunotherapy for 5-Fu resistant colorectal cancer.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai-wang Wu ◽  
Yi-hui Feng ◽  
Dong-ying Wang ◽  
Wei-yu Qiu ◽  
Qing-ying Yu ◽  
...  

For centuries, the Chinese herb Cuscuta chinensis has been applied clinically for abortion prevention in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Total flavones extracted from Cuscuta chinensis (TFCC) are one of the active components in the herb and also display anti-abortion effect similar to the unprocessed material. However, how TFCC exerts the anti-abortion effect remains largely unknown. In this study, we aim at characterizing the anti-abortion effects of TFCC and its underlying molecular mechanism in vitro and in vivo using human primary decidua cells and a mifepristone-induced abortion model in rat, respectively. The damage to the decidua caused by mifepristone in vivo was reversed by TFCC treatment in a dosage-dependent manner. High dosage of TFCC significantly upregulated the expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and prolactin receptor (PRLR) in decidua tissue but downregulated the expression of p-ERK. Furthermore, we detected higher level of p-ERK and p-p38 in primary decidua cells from spontaneous abortion while treatment by TFCC downregulated their expression. Our results suggest TFCC mediates its anti-abortion effect by interfering with MAPK signaling pathway.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya Lu ◽  
Yuan Zhang ◽  
Hui Zhang ◽  
Yue Zhu ◽  
Junying Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a serious threat to human health, and its underlying mechanisms needs further explored. Aldolase A (ALDOA) has received increasing attention for its reported association with multiple cancers, but the function and mechanism of ALDOA in CRC remain unclear. We aimed to evaluate the biological role of ALDOA in CRC.Methods: The stable ALDOA knockdown or overexpression cell lines were established for subsequent experiments. The qRT-PCR and western blotting were used to detect the expression of ALDOA and COPS6 and the relative protein levels of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and MAPK signaling pathway. Immunofluorescence (IF) assay was applied to determine ALDOA localization. CCK-8, transwell, and wound healing assays were performed to evaluate CRC cell proliferation, invasion, and migration. Mouse xenograft models were established to verify the effect of ALDOA on CRC cell growth in vivo. Immunoprecipitation (IP) assay and mass spectrometry (MS) analysis were conducted to identify the interactions between ALDOA and COPS6.Results: ALDOA was overexpressed in CRC tissues and cell lines. Silencing ALDOA significantly impaired the proliferation, invasion and migration of CRC cells in vitro, and obviously decreased the growth of CRC cells in vivo. Mechanically, ALDOA bound to and regulated COPS6, and the promoting effects of upregulated ALDOA on CRC cell proliferation and metastasis were inhibited by the depletion of COPS6. Besides, EMT program and MAPK signaling pathway were activated by ALDOA overexpression.Conclusion: ALDOA facilitated the proliferation, invasion and migration of CRC through binding and regulating COPS6, inducing EMT and activating MAPK signaling pathway.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiguo Xu ◽  
Bin Zhou ◽  
Juan Wang ◽  
Li Tang ◽  
Qing Hu ◽  
...  

Transfer RNA-derived RNA fragments (tRFs) belong to non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) discovered in most carcinomas. Although some articles have demonstrated the characteristics of tRFs in gastric carcinoma (GC), the underlying mechanisms still need to be elucidated. Meanwhile, it was reported that the MAPK pathway was momentous in GC progression. Thus we focused on investigating whether tRF-Glu-TTC-027 could act as a key role in the progression of GC with the regulation of the MAPK pathway. We collected the data of the tRNA-derived fragments expression profile from six paired clinical GC tissues and corresponding adjacent normal samples in this study. Then we screened tRF-Glu-TTC-027 for analysis by using RT-PCR. We transfected GC cell lines with tRF-Glu-TTC-027 mimics or mimics control. Then the proliferation, migration, and invasion assays were performed to assess the influence of tRF-Glu-TTC-027 on GC cell lines. Fluorescence in situ hybridization assay was conducted to confirm the cell distribution of tRF-Glu-TTC-027. We confirmed the mechanism that tRF-Glu-TTC-027 influenced the MAPK signaling pathway and observed a strong downregulation of tRF-Glu-TTC-027 in clinical GC samples. Overexpression of tRF-Glu-TTC-027 suppressed the malignant activities of GC in vitro and in vivo. MAPK signaling pathway was confirmed to be a target pathway of tRF-Glu-TTC-027 in GC by western blot. This is the first study to show that tRF-Glu-TTC-027 was a new tumor-suppressor and could be a potential object for molecular targeted therapy in GC.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 2043-2050 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fenglin Zhang ◽  
Wei Ai ◽  
Xiaoquan Hu ◽  
Yingying Meng ◽  
Cong Yuan ◽  
...  

In vivo and in vitro studies show that phytol stimulates the browning of mice iWAT and formation of brown-like adipocytes in the differentiated 3T3-L1 through the activation of the AMPKα signaling pathway.


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