JIA SHAO^1,2, CAN ZHANG², YAONAN TANG², AIQIN HE², WEIPEI ZHU^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.4, pp. 571-580, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2024.049092

Abstract Objective: Previous studies indicated that aberrant circular RNA (circRNA) expression affects gene expression regulatory networks, leading to the aberrant activation of tumor pathways and promoting tumor cell growth. However, the expression, clinical significance, and effects on cell propagation, invasion, and dissemination of circRNA_001896 in cervical cancer (CC) tissues remain unclear. Methods: The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets (GSE113696 and GSE102686) were used to examine differential circRNA expression in CC and adjacent tissues. The expression of circRNA_001896 was detected in 72 CC patients using fluorescence quantitative PCR. Correlation analysis with clinical pathological features was performed through COX multivariate and univariate analysis.… More >

XIAOYIN LI^1,#, QIAN WANG^2,#, HONGFENG LIANG^3,#, SHISHENG CHEN^4,#, HAIWEN CHEN^1,#, YAOYONG LU^1,*, CHANGFU YANG^1,*

Oncology Research, Vol.30, No.2, pp. 77-87, 2022, DOI:10.32604/or.2022.026511

Abstract In this study, we investigated the functional role of eukaryotic initiation factor 5B (EIF5B) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the underlying mechanisms. Bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that the EIF5B transcript and protein levels as well as the EIF5Bcopy number were significantly higher in the HCC tissues compared with the non-cancerous liver tissues. Down-regulation of EIF5B significantly decreased proliferation and invasiveness of the HCC cells. Furthermore, EIF5B knockdown suppressed epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the cancer stem cell (CSC) phenotype. Down-regulation of EIF5B also increased the sensitivity of HCC cells to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). In the HCC cells, activation of the NF-kappa B signaling… More >

Dongliang Zhu^1,*, Jun Yang², Jiaxin Xu³

Oncologie, Vol.24, No.3, pp. 471-482, 2022, DOI:10.32604/oncologie.2022.024062

Abstract G-protein coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) is a transmembrane receptor that mediates non-genomic effects of estrogen. This study aimed to investigate the role of GPER in the stemness formation and malignancies in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells. Spheroids of MDA-MB-468 cells were induced by mammosphere culture, and the proportion of the CD44⁺ /CD24^−/low stem cell subpopulation was detected. Malignant characteristics, expression of GPER and stemness-related markers, and tumorigenesis in a xenograft assay were compared between the mammospheres and adherent cultured cells. The impacts of 17β-estradiol (E2) and the GPER-specific antagonist G15 were studied in in vitro assays. The proportion of… More >

Meng Wang^*1, Xin Wang^†1, Yuan Li^‡1, Qiang Xiao^§, Xiao-Hai Cui^*, Guo-Dong Xiao^*, Ji-Chang Wang^¶, Chong-Wen Xu^#, Hong Ren^*, Dapeng Liu^*

Oncology Research, Vol.27, No.9, pp. 987-995, 2019, DOI:10.3727/096504018X15424918479652

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the potential biological activities of nutlin-3 in the regulation of growth and proliferation of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) stem cells (CSCs), which may help in sensitizing to axitinib-induced apoptosis. Nutlin-3 induction of p53 expression was used to test its role in controlling the cell division pattern and apoptosis of NSCLC cells. A549 cells and H460 cells were pretreated with nutlin-3 and then treated with either an Akt1 activator or shRNA-GSK3 , to investigate the potential role of p53 sensitization in the biological effects of axitinib. We also determined the expression levels… More >

Majed Al Fayi^*†, Ahmad Alamri^*, Prasanna Rajagopalan^*†

Oncology Research, Vol.28, No.2, pp. 177-189, 2020, DOI:10.3727/096504019X15746768080428

Abstract Drug discovery research to fight lung cancer is incessantly challenged by drug resistance. In this study, we used drug-resistant lung cancer stem like cells (A549-CS) to compare the efficacy of standard drugs like cisplatin (DDP) and gemcitabine (GEM) with a novel arylidene derivative IOX-101. A549-CS was derived from regular A549 cells by growing in special media. Resistance proteins were detected using Western blotting. Cell proliferations were assessed by MTT assay. Cytokine release was enumerated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The effect of drugs on apoptosis and cell cycle was studied with flow cytometry protocols. Apoptosis-related proteins, caspases, and other signaling protein… More >

MENGMENG LIU^1,#, YUE PAN^1,2,#, XUFENG TAO¹, WENLI KANG¹, YINGJIE LIU¹, YONGJIE YANG^3,4,*, GARY GUISHAN XIAO^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.10, pp. 2257-2265, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.020325

Abstract Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is universally acknowledged as the cancer with the highest mortality rate. Berberine has high medicinal value and has been used as an anti-cancer agent. Hence the purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-cancer effect of berberine in PDAC. Berberine was shown to have a selective anti-cancer effect on PDAC by MTT assay in vitro. Pancreatic cancer stem cells (PCSCs), regulated by epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), could promote the proliferation of PDAC cells. However, berberine suppressed the proliferation and stemness of PCSCs through immunofluorescence staining, stem cell sphere assays and so forth in vitro. In vivo,… More >

AJIT C. DHADVE^1,2, PRITHA RAY^1,2

BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.1, pp. 75-86, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.016346

Abstract Progression, relapse, and therapy resistance are the most challenging features of cancer therapy that have been postulated to be driven by Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) population. This enigmatic subpopulation of cancer cells has therefore emerged as promising therapeutic candidate. We earlier reported enrichment of CSC-like side population (SP) with increasing resistance towards Cisplatin and Paclitaxel either alone or in combination in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cells. This SP population is a small proportion of the total population of cancer cells characterised with high expression of drug transporters, a unique feature of stem cells and thereby can be isolated through their… More >

MAJA MILOSEVIC^1,2, MILOS LAZAREVIC^1,2, BOSKO TOLJIC¹, MILAN PETROVIC², MIROSLAV VUKADINOVIC², ZORAN JEZDIC², BOBAN ANICIC², DRAGO JELOVAC², SVETLANA JOVANOVIC³, JELENA MILASIN^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.6, pp. 1543-1550, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015060

Abstract Specific cell subpopulations identified as cancer stem cells (CSCs) can be found in basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Generally, CSCs have a marked trans-differentiation potential that could potentially be used in differentiation therapies. However, there are no studies regarding BCC CSCs multipotency. The aim of the study was to analyze the characteristic of CSCs of BCC with emphasis on their differentiation potential upon specific induction. Specific staining and cell morphology were used for differentiation confirmation, along with the expression analysis of osteogenic (ALP, BSP, Runx2, OCN, BMP2), chondrogenic (COL1 and COL2A1), adipogenic (PPAR-γ) and neurogenic (Nestin and MAP2) markers. BCC CSCs… More >

Mengyue Wang¹, Runze Zhao¹, Fan Feng¹, Tingting Xia^1,*, Li Yang^1,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, Suppl.2, pp. 130-130, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.07154

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third most common cancer in the world. Previous studies have shown that hard matrix promotes the proliferation of liver tumor cells. However, the role of matrix stiffness on hepatic cancer stem cells (HCSCs) is still unclear. Three-dimensional hydrogels with different stiffness were used to mimic the normal liver tissue (4kPa) and cancerous liver tissue (26kPa) stiffness. The proliferation, stemness and invasion properties of HCSCs under 3D different stiffness were detected. METHOD: HSCSs were screened and cultured by enrichment method, and the effect of matrix stiffness on HCSCs was studied by three-dimensional culture of HCSCs in… More >

SARA SOLTANIAN¹, HELIA RIAHIRAD¹, ATHAREH PABARJA¹, MOHAMMAD REZA KARIMZADEH², KOLSOUM SAEIDI^3,4

BIOCELL, Vol.41, No.2-3, pp. 33-40, 2017, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2017.41.033

Abstract Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small subpopulation of cancer cells whose resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy plays a pivotal role in treatment failure, tumor recurrence and metastasis. Today, the ability of many phytochemicals in targeting of CSCs has been identified. Kaempferol is a plant phytoestrogen that was recognized as a useful agent for targeting cancer cells by apoptosis induction, cell cycle arrest and inhibition of angiogenesis, migration, and invasion of cancer cells. In this study, we compared the effect of docetaxel as a common breast cancer chemotherapy drug and kaempferol on MCF-7 breast CSCs. Results showed that both docetaxel… More >