• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.13
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• pp.5271-5276
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• 2014

Mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase kinase 3 (MEKK3) is an important protein kinase and a member of the MAPK family, which regulates cellular responses to environmental stress and serves as key integration points along the signal transduction cascade that not only link diverse extracellular stimuli to subsequent signaling molecules but also amplify the initiating signals to ultimately activate effector molecules and induce cell proliferation, differentiation and survival. To explore the relationship between MEKK3 and cell apoptosis, clinicopathology and prognosis, we characterize the expression of MEKK3 and survivin in cervical cancer. MEKK3 and survivin expression was measured by RT-PCR and Western blotting of fresh surgical resections from 30 cases of cervical cancer and 25 cases of chronic cervicitis. Protein expression was detected by tissue microarray and immunochemistry (En Vision) in 107 cases of cervical cancer, 86 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), and 35 cases of chronic cervicitis. Expression patterns were analyzed for their association with clinicopathological factors and prognosis in cervical cancer. Expression of MEKK3 and survivin mRNA was significantly higher in cervical cancer than in the controls (p<0.05). MEKK3 and survivin expression differed significantly between cervical carcinoma, CIN, and cervicitis (p<0.05) and correlated with clinical stage, infiltration depth, and lymph node metastasis (p<0.05). MEKK3 expression was positively correlated with survivin (p<0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that MEKK3 and survivin expression, lymph node metastasis, depth of invasion, and FIGO stage reduce cumulative survival. Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that MEKK3, survivin, and clinical staging are independent prognostic factors in cervical cancer (p<0.05). Expression of MEKK3 and survivin are significantly increased in cervical cancer, their overexpression participating in the occurrence and development of cervical cancer, with protein expression and clinical staging acting as independent prognostic factors for patients with cervical cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.13
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• pp.5249-5252
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• 2014

Nogo protein, encoded by gene reticulon-4 (RTN4), includes three major isoforms by different splicing, named Nogo-A Nogo-B and Nogo-C. Nogo proteins play an important role in the apoptosis of cells, especially in tumor cells. RTN4 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can influence the efficiency of transcription and translation thus being related with an individual's predisposition to cancer. The CAA insertion/deletion polymorphism (rs34917480) within RTN4 3'-UTR has been reported to be associated with many cancer types. In order to investigate the relationship between this polymorphism and susceptibility to non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the Chinese population, we conducted the present case-control study including 411 NSCLC patients and 471 unrelated healthy controls. The genotype distributions were significantly different between cases and controls (p=0.014). We found that the del allele could significantly increase NSCLC risk (ins/ins vs ins/del: p=0.007, OR 1.46, 95%CI=1.11-1.93; dominant model: p=0.004, OR 1.47, 95%CI=1.13-1.92 and allele model: p=0.008, OR 1.35, 95%CI=1.08-1.67). This association was stronger in participants over 60 years old, males and smokers. We therefore conclude that the CAA insertion/deletion polymorphism (rs34917480) contributes to non-small cell lung cancer risk in Chinese population. Age, sex and environmental exposure are also related to carcinogenic effects of rs34917480.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.6159-6164
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• 2013

Background: Phytochemical compounds are emerging as a new generation of anticancer agents with limited toxicity in cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential effcts of thymoquinone, caffeic acid phenylester (CAPE) and resveratrol on inflammatory markers, oxidative stress parameters, mRNA expression levels of proteins and survival of lung cancer cells in Vitro. Materials and Methods: The A549 cell line was treated with benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(a)pyrene plus caffeic acid phenylester (CAPE), benzo(a)pyrene plus resveratrol (RES), and benzo(a)pyrene plus thymoquinone (TQ). Inflammatory markers, oxidative stress parameters, mRNA expression levels of apoptotic and anti-apoptotic proteins and cell viability were assessed and results were compared among study groups. Results: TQ treatment up-regulated Bax and down-regulated Bcl2 proteins and increased the Bax/Bcl2 ratio. CAPE and TQ also up-regulated Bax expression. RES and TQ down-regulated the expression of Bcl-2. All three agents decreased the expression of cyclin D and increased the expression of p21. However, the most significant up-regulation of p21 expression was observed in TQ treated cells. CAPE, RES and TQ up-regulated TRAIL receptor 1 and 2 expression. RES and TQ down-regulated the expression of NF-kappa B and IKK1. Viability of CAPE, RES and TQ treated cells was found to be significantly decreased when compared with the control group (p=0.004). Conclusions: Our results revealed up-regulation of the key upstream signaling factors, which ultimately cause increase in their regulatory p53 levels affecting the induction of G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Overall these results provide mechanistic insights for understanding the molecular basis and utility of the anti-tumor activity of TQ, RES and CAPE.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.1550-1557
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• 2018

Objective: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a newfound class of non-coding RNA in animals and plants. Recent studies have revealed that circRNAs play important roles in cell proliferation, differentiation, autophagy and apoptosis during development. However, there are few reports about muscle development-related circRNAs in livestock. Methods: RNA sequencing analysis was employed to identify and annotate circRNAs from longissimus dorsi of sheep. Reverse transcription followed by real-time quantitative (q) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis verified the presence of these circRNAs. Targetscan7.0 and miRanda were used to analyse the interaction of circRNA-microRNA (miRNA). To investigate the function of circRNAs, an experiment was conducted to perform enrichment analysis hosting genes of circRNAs using gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathways. Results: About 75.5 million sequences were obtained from RNA libraries of sheep skeletal muscle. These sequences were mapped to 729 genes in the sheep reference genome. We identified 886 circRNAs, including numerous circular intronic RNAs and exonic circRNAs. Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and DNA sequencing analysis confirmed the presence of several circRNAs. Real-Time RT-PCR analysis exhibited resistance of sheep circRNAs to RNase R digestion. We found that many circRNAs interacted with muscle-specific miRNAs involved in growth and development of muscle, especially circ776. The GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that hosting genes of circRNAs was involved in muscle cell development and signaling pathway. Conclusion: The study provides comprehensive expression profiles of circRNAs in sheep skeletal muscle. Our study offers a large number of circRNAs to facilitate a better understanding of their roles in muscle growth. Meanwhile, we suggested that circ776 could be analyzed in future study.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.3301-3306
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• 2015

Nucleolin (C23) is an important anti-apoptotic protein that is ubiquitously expressed in exponentially growing eukaryotic cells. In order to understand the impact of C23 in radiation therapy, we attempted to investigate the relationship of C23 expression with the radiosensitivity of human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. We investigated the role of C23 in activating the catalytic subunit of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PKcs), which is a critical protein for DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) repair. As a result, we found that the expression of C23 was negatively correlated with the radiosensitivity of NSCLC cell lines. In vitro clonogenic survival assays revealed that C23 knockdown increased the radiosensitivity of a human lung adenocarcinoma cell line, potentially through the promotion of radiation-induced apoptosis and adjusting the cell cycle to a more radiosensitive stage. Immunofluorescence data revealed an increasing quantity of ${gamma}$-H2AX foci and decreasing radiation-induced DNA damage repair following knockdown of C23. To further clarify the mechanism of C23 in DNA DSBs repair, we detected the expression of DNA-PKcs and C23 proteins in NSCLC cell lines. C23 might participate in DNA DSBs repair for the reason that the expression of DNA-PKcs decreased at 30, 60, 120 and 360 minutes after irradiation in C23 knockdown cells. Especially, the activity of DNA-PKcs phosphorylation sites at the S2056 and T2609 was significantly suppressed. Therefore we concluded that C23 knockdown can inhibit DNA-PKcs phosphorylation activity at the S2056 and T2609 sites, thus reducing the radiation damage repair and increasing the radiosensitivity of NSCLC cells. Taken together, the inhibition of C23 expression was shown to increase the radiosensitivity of NSCLC cells, as implied by the relevance to the notably decreased DNA-PKcs phosphorylation activity at the S2056 and T2609 clusters. Further research on targeted C23 treatment may promote effectiveness of radiotherapy and provide new targets for NSCLC patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.4215-4218
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• 2015

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies in the world. It is the first cause of cancer deaths in both sexes In Iranian population. Circulating insulin-like growth factor-one (IGF-1) levels have been associated for gastric cancer. IGF-1 protein has central roles involved in the regulation of epithelial cell growth, proliferation, transformation, apoptosis and metastasis. Single nucleotide polymorphism in IGF-1 regulatory elements may lead to alter in IGF-1expression level and GC susceptibility. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of IGF-1 gene polymorphism (rs5742612) on risk of GC and clinicopathological features for the first time in Iranian population. In total, 241 subjects including 100 patients with GC and 141 healthy controls were recruited in our study. Genotypes were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay with DNA from peripheral blood. The polymorphism was statistically analyzed to investigate the relationship with the risk of GC and clinicopathological properties. Logistic regression analysis revealed that there was no significant association between rs5742612 and the risk of GC. In addition, no significant association between genotypes and clinicopathological features was observed (p value>0.05). The frequencies of the CC, CT, and TT genotypes were 97%, 3%, and 0%, respectively, among the cases, and 97.9%, 2.1%, and 0%, respectively, among the controls. CC genotype was more frequent in cases and controls. The frequencies of C and T alleles were 98.9% and 1.1% in controls and 98.5% and 1.5% in patient respectively. Our results provide the first evidence that this variant is rare in Iranian population and it may not be a powerful genetic predisposing biomarker for prediction GC clinicopathological features in an Iranian population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.5137-5142
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• 2012

UHRF2 is a member of the ubiquitin plant homeo domain RING finger family, which has been proven to be frequently up-regulated in colorectal cancer cells and play a role as an oncogene in breast cancer cells. However, the role of UHRF2 in glioma cells remains unclear. In this study, we performed real-time quantitative PCR on 32 pathologically confirmed glioma samples (grade I, 4 cases; grade II, 11 cases; grade III, 10 cases; and grade IV, 7 cases; according to the 2007 WHO classification system) and four glioma cell lines (A172, U251, U373, and U87). The expression of UHRF2 mRNA was significantly lower in the grade III and grade IV groups compared with the noncancerous brain tissue group, whereas its expression was high in A172, U251, and U373 glioma cell lines. An in vitro assay was performed to investigate the functions of UHRF2. Using a lentivirus-based RNA interference (RNAi) approach, we down-regulated UHRF2 expression in the U251 glioma cell line. This down-regulation led to the inhibition of cell proliferation, an increase in cell apoptosis, and a change of cell cycle distribution, in which S stage cells decreased and G2/M stage cells increased. Our results suggest that UHRF2 may be closely related to tumorigenesis and the development of gliomas.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.1943-1948
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• 2012

Introduction: Prostate cancer in Indonesia is the $3^{rd}$ ranking cancer among males and the $5^{th}$ rank for their cancer mortality. Prognostic markers that can identify aggressive prostate cancer in early stages and help select appropriate therapy to finally reduce the mortality are therefore urgently needed. It has been suggested that stem cells in the prostate gland have a role in initiation, progression, and metastasis of cancer, although controversy continues to exist. Maintenance of normal stem cell or reserve cell populations in several epithelia including prostate has been shown to be regulated by p63 and alteration of p63 expression is considered to have an oncogenic role in prostate cancer. We hypothesize that the expression of cytoplasmic aberrance of p63 is associated with high ALDH1A1 expression as a cancer stem cell marker, thus leading to progression of prostate cancer. Methods: Using a cross-sectional study during two years (2009-2010), a total of 79 paraffin embedded tissues of benign prostatic hyperplasia, PIN prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, low and high Gleason score prostate cancer were investigated using immunohistochemistry. Associations between cytoplasmic p63 and ALDH1A1, as well as with pathological diagnosis, were analyzed by Chi-Square test using SPSS 15.0. Links of both markers with cell proliferation rate (KI-67) and apoptotic rate (cleaved caspase 3) were also analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: The mean age of patient at the diagnosis is 70.0 years. Cytoplasmic aberrance of p63 was associated with ALDH1A1 expression (p<0.001) and both were found to have significant relationships with pathological diagnosis (including Gleason score), (p=0.006 and p<0.001 respectively). Moreover, it was also found that higher levels of cytoplasmic p63 were significantly associated with the frequency of proliferating cells and cells undergoing apoptosis in prostate cancers (p=0.001 and p=0.016 respectively). Conclusion: p63 cytoplasmic aberrance is associated with high ALDH1A1 expression. These components are suggested to have an important role in prostate cancer progression and may be used as molecular markers.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.509-512
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• 2012

Objective : The purpose of this study is to evaluate neuroprotective effect of sacral neuromodulation in rat spinal cord injury (SCI) model in the histological and functional aspects. Methods : Twenty-one female Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups : the normal control group (CTL, n=7), the SCI with sham stimulation group (SCI, n=7), and the SCI with electrical stimulation (SCI+ES, n=7). Spinal cord was injured by dropping an impactor from 25 mm height. Sacral nerve electrical stimulation was performed by the following protocol : pulse duration, 0.1 ms; frequency, 20 Hz; stimulation time, 30 minutes; and stimulation duration, 4 weeks. Both locomotor function and histological examination were evaluated as scheduled. Results : The number of anterior horn cell was $12.3{\pm}5.7$ cells/high power field (HPF) in the CTL group, $7.8{\pm}4.9$ cells/HPF in the SCI group, and $6.9{\pm}5.5$ cells/HPF in the SCI+ES group, respectively. Both the SCI and the SCI+ES groups showed severe loss of anterior horn cells and myelin fibers compared with the CTL group. Cavitation and demyelinization of the nerve fibers has no significant difference between the SCI group and the SCI+ES group. Cavitation of dorsal column was more evident in only two rats of SCI group than the SCI+ES group. The locomotor function of all rats improved over time but there was no significant difference at any point in time between the SCI and the SCI+ES group. Conclusion : In a rat thoracic spinal cord contusion model, we observed that sacral neuromodulation did not prevent SCI-induced myelin loss and apoptosis.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.461-469
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• 2017

BACKGROUND/OBSECTIVE: Airway inflammation by eosinophils, neutrophils and alveolar macrophages is a characteristic feature of asthma that leads to pathological subepithelial thickening and remodeling. Our previous study showed that oxidative stress in airways resulted in eosinophilia and epithelial apoptosis. The current study investigated whether glutathione-containing dry yeast extract (dry-YE) ameliorated eosinophilia, goblet cell hyperplasia and mucus overproduction. MATERIALS/METHOD: This study employed $2{\mu}g$/mL lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- or 20 ng/mL eotaxin-1-exposed human bronchial epithelial cells and ovalbumin (OVA)-challenged mice. Dry-YE employed in this study contained a significant amount of glutathione (140 mg in 100 g dry yeast). RESULTS: Human bronchial epithelial cell eotaxin-1 and mucin 5AC (MUC5AC) were markedly induced by the endotoxin LPS, which was dose-dependently attenuated by nontoxic dry-YE at 10-50 ${\mu}g$/mL. Moreover, dry-YE inhibited the MUC5AC induction enhanced by eotaxin-1, indicating that eotaxin-1-mediated eosinophilia may prompt the MUC5AC induction. Oral supplementation with 10-100 mg/kg dry-YE inhibited inflammatory cell accumulation in airway subepithelial regions with a reduction of lung tissue level of intracellular adhesion molecule-1. In addition, ${\geq}50$ mg/kg dry-YE diminished the lung tissue levels of eotaxin-1, eosinophil major basic protein and MUC5AC in OVA-exposed mice. Alcian blue/periodic acid schiff staining revealed that the dry-YE supplementation inhibited goblet cell hyperplasia and mucus overproduction in the trachea and bronchiolar airways of OVA-challenged mice. CONCLUSIONS: Oxidative stress may be involved in the induction of eotaxin-1 and MUC5AC by endotoxin episode and OVA challenge. Dry-YE effectively ameliorated oxidative stress-responsive epithelial eosinophilia and mucus-secreting goblet cell hyperplasia in cellular and murine models of asthma.