BIN ZHANG^1,#, JIANYI ZHAO^3,#, YONGZHI WANG^2,#, HUA XU¹, BO GAO¹, GUANGNING ZHANG¹, BIN HAN¹, GUOHONG SONG¹, JUNCHEN ZHANG^1,*, WEI MENG^1,*

Oncology Research, Vol.31, No.6, pp. 917-927, 2023, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.030425

Abstract Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive cancer of the brain and has a high mortality rate due to the lack of effective treatment strategy. Clarification of molecular mechanisms of GBM’s characteristic invasive growth are urgently needed to improve the poor prognosis. Single-nuclear sequencing of primary and recurrent GBM samples revealed that levels of M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (CHRM3) were significantly higher in the recurrent samples than in the primary samples. Moreover, immunohistochemical staining of an array of GBM samples showed that high levels of CHRM3 correlated with poor prognosis, consistent with The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Knockdown of CHRM3 inhibited… More >

CARL RANDALL HARREL¹, VALENTIN DJONOV², ANA VOLAREVIC³, DRAGICA PAVLOVIC⁴, VLADISLAV VOLAREVIC^4,5,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.8, pp. 1757-1769, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.028567

Abstract Exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSC-Exos) are nano-sized extracellular vesicles enriched with bioactive molecules, such as microRNAs, enzymes, cytokines, chemokines, immunomodulatory, trophic, and growth factors. These molecules regulate the survival, phenotype, and function of malignant and tumor-infiltrated immune cells. Due to their nano-size and bilayer lipid envelope, MSC-Exos can easily bypass biological barriers and may serve as drug carriers to deliver chemotherapeutics directly into the tumor cells. Here, we summarize current knowledge regarding molecular mechanisms responsible for MSC-Exos-dependent modulation of tumor progression and discuss insights regarding the therapeutic potential of MSC-Exos in the treatment of malignant diseases. More > Graphic Abstract

TIANYING CAI^1,2, JUNJIE BAI¹, PENG TAN³, ZHIWEI HUANG¹, CHEN LIU¹, ZIMING WU¹, YONGLANG CHENG¹, TONGXI LI¹, YIFAN CHEN¹, JIAN RUAN⁴, LIN GAO⁵, YICHAO DU^3,*, WENGUANG FU^1,3,*

Oncology Research, Vol.31, No.5, pp. 805-817, 2023, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.029549

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy that is driven by multiple genes and pathways. The aim of this study was to investigate the role and specific mechanism of the actin-interacting protein zyxin (ZYX) in HCC. We found that the expression of ZYX was significantly higher in HCC tissues compared to that in normal liver tissues. In addition, overexpression of ZYX in hepatoma cell lines (PLC/PRF/5, HCCLM3) enhanced their proliferation, migration and invasion, whereas ZYX knockdown had the opposite effects (SK HEP-1, Huh-7). Furthermore, the change in the expression levels of ZYX also altered that of proteins related to cell… More >

CHIWEN BU^1,2, LIGANG ZHAO¹, LISHAN WANG¹, ZEQIAN YU¹, JIAHUA ZHOU^1,*

Oncology Research, Vol.31, No.4, pp. 495-503, 2023, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.029309

Abstract Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive cancers with a median survival time of less than 5 months, and conventional chemotherapeutics are the main treatment strategy. Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors have been recently approved for BRCA1/2-mutant pancreatic cancer, opening a new era for targeted therapy for this disease. However, most pancreatic cancer patients carry wild-type BRCA1/2 with resistance to PARP inhibitors. Here, we reported that mammalian target of rapamycin complex 2 (mTORC2) kinase is overexpressed in pancreatic cancer tissues and promotes pancreatic cancer cell growth and invasion. Moreover, we found that knockdown of the mTORC2 obligate subunit Rictor sensitized… More > Graphic Abstract

MIN WANG^1,#, HAILIANG ZHAO^1,2,#, WEIWEI CHEN^3,#, CAIQUN BIE^4,#, JINYING YANG¹, WENRUI CAI¹, CHUTIAN WU¹, YANFANG CHEN¹, SHUFEN FENG¹, YING SHI¹, YUTING LI¹, HUIJUN TANG⁴, LIXIAN ZHONG¹, LILIANGZI GUO¹, SISI CHEN¹, LINJING LONG⁵, SHAOHUI TANG^1,*

Oncology Research, Vol.31, No.4, pp. 515-541, 2023, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.029101

Abstract The dysregulation of exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) plays a crucial role in the development and progression of cancer. This study investigated the role of a newly identified serum exosomal miRNA miR-4256 in gastric cancer (GC) and the underlying mechanisms. The differentially expressed miRNAs were firstly identified in serum exosomes of GC patients and healthy individuals using next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics. Next, the expression of serum exosomal miR-4256 was analyzed in GC cells and GC tissues, and the role of miR-4256 in GC was investigated by in vitro and in vivo experiments. Then, the effect of miR-4256 on its downstream target genes… More > Graphic Abstract

XIN LI^1,2,#, WENKAI JIANG^3,#, WANCHENG LI^3,#, SHI DONG³, YAN DU³, HUI ZHANG^1,*, WENCE ZHOU^1,3,*

Oncology Research, Vol.31, No.4, pp. 505-514, 2023, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.026959

Abstract Background: The dilemma of pancreatic cancer treatment has become a global challenge. For this reason, effective, feasible, and new medical methods are currently much-needed. Betulinic acid (BA) has been valued as a potential therapy for pancreatic cancer. However, the mechanism by which BA exerts an inhibitory effect on the development of pancreatic cancer remains elusive. Methods: A rat model and two cell models of pancreatic cancer were established, and the effect of BA on pancreatic cancer was verified in vivo and in vitro by using MTT, Transwell, flow cytometry, RT-PCR, Elisa and immunohistochemistry. At the same time, miR-365 inhibitors were… More > Graphic Abstract

Jayashree Shetty¹, Nisha P. Shetty^1,*, Hrushikesh Kothikar¹, Saleh Mowla¹, Aiswarya Anand¹, Veeraj Hegde²

Intelligent Automation & Soft Computing, Vol.37, No.2, pp. 1345-1362, 2023, DOI:10.32604/iasc.2023.039206

Abstract Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an intensifying disorder that causes brain cells to degenerate early and destruct. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is one of the early signs of AD that interferes with people’s regular functioning and daily activities. The proposed work includes a deep learning approach with a multimodal recurrent neural network (RNN) to predict whether MCI leads to Alzheimer’s or not. The gated recurrent unit (GRU) RNN classifier is trained using individual and correlated features. Feature vectors are concatenated based on their correlation strength to improve prediction results. The feature vectors generated are given as the input to multiple different… More >

QIOU GU, TIAN ZHAN, XIAO GUAN, CHUILIN LAI, NA LU, GUOGUANG WANG, LEI XU, XIANG GAO, JIANPING ZHANG^*

Oncology Research, Vol.31, No.3, pp. 287-297, 2023, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.028124

Abstract Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is a malignancy with the worst prognosis that seriously threatens human health, especially in East Asia. Apolipoprotein C1 (apoc1) belongs to the apolipoprotein family. In addition, apoc1 has been associated with various tumors. However, its role in GC remains unclear. Methods: Firstly, we quantified its expression in GC and adjacent tumor tissues, using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Next, we assessed cell invasion and migration abilities. Finally, we revealed the role of apoc1 in the tumor microenvironment (TME), immune cell infiltration and drug sensitivity. Results: Firstly, in TCGA database, it has been shown that elevated expression… More >

YUSEN ZHANG^1,2,3, LIPING LIU^1,2,3, BIWEI LUO^1,2,3, HONGGUI TANG^1,2,3, XIAOFANG YU^1,2,3, SHIYUN BAO^1,2,3,*

Oncology Research, Vol.31, No.3, pp. 317-331, 2023, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.028418

Abstract Background: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) represents the epithelial cell cancer with high aggressiveness whose five-year survival rate is poor with standard treatment. Calcyclin-binding protein (CACYBP) shows aberrant expression within several malignant tumors, but the role of CACYBP in CCA remains unknown. Methods: Immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis was used to identify CACYBP overexpression in clinical samples of CCA patients. Moreover, its correlation with clinical outcome was revealed. Furthermore, CACYBP’s effect on CCA cell growth and invasion was investigated in vitro and in vivo using loss-of-function experiments. Results: CACYBP showed up-regulation in CCA, which predicts the dismal prognostic outcome. CACYBP had an important effect on… More >

TABEA GEWALT^1,2, KA-WON NOH³, LYDIA MEDER^1,2,4,*

Oncology Research, Vol.31, No.2, pp. 101-115, 2023, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.028105

Abstract LIN28B is an RNA-binding protein that targets a broad range of microRNAs and modulates their maturation and activity. Under normal conditions, LIN28B is exclusively expressed in embryogenic stem cells, blocking differentiation and promoting proliferation. In addition, it can play a role in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition by repressing the biogenesis of let-7 microRNAs. In malignancies, LIN28B is frequently overexpressed, which is associated with increased tumor aggressiveness and metastatic properties. In this review, we discuss the molecular mechanisms of LIN28B in promoting tumor progression and metastasis in solid tumor entities and its potential use as a clinical therapeutic target and biomarker. More >