Diagnostic and prognostic value of three micrornas in environmental asbestiform fibers-associated malignant mesothelioma
Fluoro-edenite (FE) is an asbestiform fiber identified in Biancavilla (Sicily, Italy). Environmental exposure to FE has been associated with a higher incidence of malignant mesothelioma (MM). The present study aimed to validate the predicted diagnostic significance of hsa-miR-323a-3p, hsa-miR-101-3p, and hsa-miR-20b-5p on a subset of MM patients exposed to FE and matched with healthy controls. For this purpose, MM tissues vs. nonmalignant pleura tissues were analyzed through droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) to evaluate differences in the expression levels of the selected miRNAs and their MM diagnostic potential. In addition, further computational analysis has been performed to establish the corr…
Roles of GSK-3 and microRNAs on epithelial mesenchymal transition and cancer stem cells.
// James A. McCubrey 1 , Timothy L. Fitzgerald 2 , Li V. Yang 3 , Kvin Lertpiriyapong 4 , Linda S. Steelman 1 , Stephen L. Abrams 1 , Giuseppe Montalto 5,6 , Melchiorre Cervello 6 , Luca M. Neri 7 , Lucio Cocco 8 , Alberto M. Martelli 8 , Piotr Laidler 9 , Joanna Dulinska-Litewka 9 , Dariusz Rakus 10 , Agnieszka Gizak 10 , Ferdinando Nicoletti 11 , Luca Falzone 11 , Saverio Candido 11 and Massimo Libra 11 1 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA 2 Department of Surgery, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA 3 Department of Internal Medicine, Hematology/Oncology Section, Brody Sc…
GSK-3? Can Regulate the Sensitivity of MIA-PaCa-2 Pancreatic and MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells to Chemotherapeutic Drugs, Targeted Therapeutics and Nutraceuticals
Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) is a regulator of signaling pathways. KRas is frequently mutated in pancreatic cancers. The growth of certain pancreatic cancers is KRas-dependent and can be suppressed by GSK-3 inhibitors, documenting a link between KRas and GSK-3. To further elucidate the roles of GSK-3β in drug-resistance, we transfected KRas-dependent MIA-PaCa-2 pancreatic cells with wild-type (WT) and kinase-dead (KD) forms of GSK-3β. Transfection of MIA-PaCa-2 cells with WT-GSK-3β increased their resistance to various chemotherapeutic drugs and certain small molecule inhibitors. Transfection of cells with KD-GSK-3β often increased therapeutic sensitivity. An exception was observed wi…
Current molecular and clinical insights into uveal melanoma (Review)
Uveal melanoma (UM) represents the most prominent primary eye cancer in adults. With an incidence of approximately 5 cases per million individuals annually in the United States, UM could be considered a relatively rare cancer. The 90.95% of UM cases arise from the choroid. Diagnosis is based mainly on a clinical examination and ancillary tests, with ocular ultrasonography being of greatest value. Differential diagnosis can prove challenging in the case of indeterminate choroidal lesions and, sometimes, monitoring for documented growth may be the proper approach. Fine needle aspiration biopsy tends to be performed with a prognostic purpose, often in combination with radiotherapy. Gene expres…
Effects of the MDM2 inhibitor Nutlin-3a on sensitivity of pancreatic cancer cells to berberine and modified berberines in the presence and absence of WT-TP53
Abstract Approaches to improve pancreatic cancer therapy are essential as this disease has a very bleak outcome. Approximately 80% of pancreatic cancers are pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC). A key regulatory gene frequently mutated (∼75%) in PDAC is the TP53 tumor suppressor gene which controls the transcription of multiple genes involved in cell cycle progression, apoptosis, cancer progression and other growth regulatory processes. The mouse double minute 2 homolog (MDM2) gene product is a nuclear-localized E3 ubiquitin ligase and negatively regulates the TP53 protein which results in its proteasomal degradation. Various MDM2 inhibitors have been isolated and examined in clinical t…
Integrated analysis of colorectal cancer microRNA datasets: Identification of microRNAs associated with tumor development
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Currently, no effective early diagnostic biomarkers are available for colorectal carcinoma. Therefore, there is a need to discover new molecules able to identify pre-cancerous lesions. Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been associated with the onset of specific pathologies, thus the identification of miRNAs associated to colorectal cancer may be used to detect this pathology at early stages. On these bases, the expression levels of miRNAs were analyzed to compare the miRNAs expression levels of colorectal cancer samples and normal tissues in several miRNA datasets. This analysis revealed a group of 19 differentia…