Cancer

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with risk of several common cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Here we have utilized patient derived epithelial organoids (ex vivo) and CRC cell lines (in vitro) to show that calcitriol (1,25OHD) increased the expression of the CRC tumor suppressor gene, CDH1, at both the transcript and protein level. Whole genome expression analysis demonstrated significant differential expression of a further six genes after 1,25OHD treatment, including genes with established links to carcinogenesis GADD45, EFTUD1 and KIAA1199.

Early lung cancer detection remains a clinical challenge for standard diagnostic biopsies due to insufficient tumor morphological evidence.

Dense tumor innervation is associated with enhanced cancer progression and poor prognosis. We observed innervation in breast, prostate, pancreatic, lung, liver, ovarian, and colon cancers. Defining innervation in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) was a focus since sensory innervation was observed whereas the normal tissue contains predominantly sympathetic input. The origin, specific nerve type, and the mechanisms promoting innervation and driving nerve-cancer cell communications in ovarian cancer remain largely unknown.

Oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy is widely used to treat advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but many patients develop drug resistance that leads to tumor recurrence. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are known to contribute to chemoresistance, the underlying mechanism, however, remains largely unknown. In this study, we discovered a specificity protein 1 (SP1)-induced long noncoding RNA--DPPA2 upstream binding RNA (DUBR) and its high expression in HCC tissues and liver CSCs. DUBR was associated with HCC progression and poor chemotherapy response.

The pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) microenvironment contains dense desmoplastic stroma dominated by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and is crucial to cancer development and progression. Several studies have revealed that thrombospondin 2 (THBS2) is a valuable serological-marker in PDAC. However, the detailed mechanism of the cancer-stroma interactome remains unclear. Here we showed that elevated THBS2 expression in PDAC was predominantly restricted to stroma and correlated with tumor progression and poor prognosis by quantitative proteomics and immunohistochemistry analyses.

Dynamic miRNA alteration is known to occur in colitis-associated colon cancer (CAC), while the molecular mechanisms underpinning how miRNAs modulate the development from chronic inflammation to CAC is lacking. For the first time, we constructed knockout (KO) mice for individual miR-148/152 family members and entire miR-148/152 family. Based on these KO mice, we conduct the first comprehensive analysis of miR-148/152 family, demonstrating that deficiency of any member of miR-148/152 family aggravate colitis and CAC.

Metastasis is the main cause of cervical cancer lethality, but to date, no effective treatment has been developed to block metastasis. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) were recently found to be involved in cancer metastasis. In this study, we identified a downregulated circRNA derived from the host gene Gli1 (hsa_circ_0005358) in cervical cancer tissues, which was expressed at lower levels in tissues with extracervical metastasis than in those without extracervical metastasis.

Dietary signals are known to modulate stemness and tumorigenicity of intestinal progenitors; however, the impact of a high-fat diet (HFD) on the intestinal stem cell (ISC) niche and its association with colorectal cancer remains unclear. Thus, we aimed to investigate how a HFD affects the ISC niche and its regulatory factors.Mice were fed a purified diet (PD) or HFD for 2 months. The expression levels of ISC-related markers, ISC-supportive signals, and Wnt2b were assessed with real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, in situ hybridization, and immunofluorescence staining.

The prostate gland produces prostatic fluid, high in zinc and citrate and essential for the maintenance of spermatozoa. Prostate cancer is a common condition with limited treatment efficacy in castration-resistant metastatic disease, including with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Using single-cell RNA-sequencing to perform an unbiased assessment of the cellular landscape of human prostate, we identify a subset of tumor-enriched androgen receptor-negative luminal epithelial cells with increased expression of cancer-associated genes.

PTEN is a crucial tumor suppressor and loss of PTEN protein is involved in various cancers. However, the detailed molecular mechanisms of PTEN loss in cancers remain elusive, especially the involvement of lncRNAs. Here, lncRNA RP11-295G20.2 is found to be significantly upregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and promotes the growth of liver cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, RP11-295G20.2 inhibits autophagy in liver cancer cells. Interestingly, RP11-295G20.2 directly binds to the PTEN protein and leads to its degradation.