Dysregulation of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) plays important roles in carcinogenesis and tumor progression, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Small nucleolar RNA host gene 3 (SNHG3) has ...been considered as an lncRNA to be associated with a poor prognosis in patients with HCC. Here, we reported that SNHG3 expression was significantly higher in the highly metastatic HCC (HCCLM3) cells compared with the lowly metastatic HCC cells (Hep3B and PLC/PRF/5). Furthermore, forced expression of SNHG3 promoted cell invasion, epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT), and sorafenib resistance in HCC. Moreover, SNHG3 overexpression induced HCC cells EMT via miR‐128/CD151 cascade activation. Clinically, our data revealed that increased SNHG3 expression is correlated with poor HCC survival outcomes and sorafenib response. These data suggest that SNHG3 may be a novel therapeutic target and a biomarker for predicting response to sorafenib treatment of HCC.
Here, our data revealed that increase in small nucleolar RNA host gene 3 (SNHG3) expression is correlated with poor hepatocellular carcinoma survival outcomes and sorafenib response. These data suggest that SNHG3 may be a novel therapeutic target and a biomarker for predicting response to sorafenib treatment of HCC.
Natural killer (NK) cells play a critical role in the innate antitumor immune response. Recently, NK cell dysfunction has been verified in various malignant tumors, including hepatocellular carcinoma ...(HCC). However, the molecular biological mechanisms of NK cell dysfunction in human HCC are still obscure.
The expression of circular ubiquitin-like with PHD and ring finger domain 1 RNA (circUHRF1) in HCC tissues, exosomes, and cell lines was detected by qRT-PCR. Exosomes were isolated from the culture medium of HCC cells and plasma of HCC patients using an ultracentrifugation method and the ExoQuick Exosome Precipitation Solution kit and then characterized by transmission electronic microscopy, NanoSight and western blotting. The role of circUHRF1 in NK cell dysfunction was assessed by ELISA. In vivo circRNA precipitation, RNA immunoprecipitation, and luciferase reporter assays were performed to explore the molecular mechanisms of circUHRF1 in NK cells. In a retrospective study, the clinical characteristics and prognostic significance of circUHRF1 were determined in HCC tissues.
Here, we report that the expression of circUHRF1 is higher in human HCC tissues than in matched adjacent nontumor tissues. Increased levels of circUHRF1 indicate poor clinical prognosis and NK cell dysfunction in patients with HCC. In HCC patient plasma, circUHRF1 is predominantly secreted by HCC cells in an exosomal manner, and circUHRF1 inhibits NK cell-derived IFN-γ and TNF-α secretion. A high level of plasma exosomal circUHRF1 is associated with a decreased NK cell proportion and decreased NK cell tumor infiltration. Moreover, circUHRF1 inhibits NK cell function by upregulating the expression of TIM-3 via degradation of miR-449c-5p. Finally, we show that circUHRF1 may drive resistance to anti-PD1 immunotherapy in HCC patients.
Exosomal circUHRF1 is predominantly secreted by HCC cells and contributes to immunosuppression by inducing NK cell dysfunction in HCC. CircUHRF1 may drive resistance to anti-PD1 immunotherapy, providing a potential therapeutic strategy for patients with HCC.
Amplification of chromosome 7q21-7q31 is associated with tumor recurrence and multidrug resistance, and several genes in this region are powerful drivers of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed ...to investigate the key circular RNAs (circRNAs) in this region that regulate the initiation and development of HCC.
We used qRT-PCR to assess the expression of 43 putative circRNAs in this chromosomal region in human HCC and matched nontumor tissues. In addition, we used cultured HCC cells to modify circRNA expression and assessed the effects in several cell-based assays as well as gene expression analyses via RNA-seq. Modified cells were implanted into immunocompetent mice to assess the effects on tumor development. We performed additional experiments to determine the mechanism of action of these effects.
circMET (hsa_circ_0082002) was overexpressed in HCC tumors, and circMET expression was associated with survival and recurrence in HCC patients. By modifying the expression of circMET in HCC cells in vitro, we found that circMET overexpression promoted HCC development by inducing an epithelial to mesenchymal transition and enhancing the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Mechanistically, circMET induced this microenvironment through the miR-30-5p/Snail/ dipeptidyl peptidase 4(DPP4)/CXCL10 axis. In addition, the combination of the DPP4 inhibitor sitagliptin and anti-PD1 antibody improved antitumor immunity in immunocompetent mice. Clinically, HCC tissues from diabetic patients receiving sitagliptin showed higher CD8
T cell infiltration than those from HCC patients with diabetes without sitagliptin treatment.
circMET is an onco-circRNA that induces HCC development and immune tolerance via the Snail/DPP4/CXCL10 axis. Furthermore, sitagliptin may enhance the efficacy of anti-PD1 therapy in a subgroup of patients with HCC.
Recently, the dysregulation of circular RNA (circRNA) have been shown to have important regulatory roles in cancer development and progression, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the ...roles of most circRNAs in HCC are still unknown.
The expression of circular tripartite motif containing 33-12 (circTRIM33-12) in HCC tissues and cell lines was detected by qRT-PCR. The role of circTRIM33-12 in HCC progression was assessed by western blotting, CCK-8, flow cytometry, transwell and a subcutaneous tumor mouse assays both in vitro and in vivo. In vivo circRNA precipitation, RNA immunoprecipitation, luciferase reporter assays were performed to evaluate the interaction between circTRIM33-12 and miR-191.
Here, we found that circTRIM33-12, is downregulated in HCC tissues and cell lines. The downregulation of circTRIM33-12 in HCC was significantly correlated with malignant characteristics and served as an independent risk factor for the overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) of patients with HCC after surgery. The reduced expression of circTRIM33-12 in HCC cells increases tumor proliferation, migration, invasion and immune evasion. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that circTRIM33-12 upregulated TET1 expression by sponging miR-191, resulting in significantly reduced 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) levels in HCC cells.
These results reveal the important role of circTRIM33-12 in the proliferation, migration, invasion and immune evasion abilities of HCC cells and provide a new perspective on circRNAs in HCC progression.
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) system provides adaptive immunity against plasmids and phages in prokaryotes. This system inspires the development of a powerful ...genome engineering tool, the CRISPR/CRISPR-associated nuclease 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) genome editing system. Due to its high efficiency and precision, the CRISPR/Cas9 technique has been employed to explore the functions of cancer-related genes, establish tumor-bearing animal models and probe drug targets, vastly increasing our understanding of cancer genomics. Here, we review current status of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology in oncological research. We first explain the basic principles of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing and introduce several new CRISPR-based gene editing modes. We next detail the rapid progress of CRISPR screening in revealing tumorigenesis, metastasis, and drug resistance mechanisms. In addition, we introduce CRISPR/Cas9 system delivery vectors and finally demonstrate the potential of CRISPR/Cas9 engineering to enhance the effect of adoptive T cell therapy (ACT) and reduce adverse reactions.
•A novel convolutional neural networks has been constructed to predict irradiance.•The chaotic hybrid algorithm is applied to optimize hyperparameters of framework.•The chaotic hybrid algorithm ...alleviates the imperfect performance of framework.•The novel framework can be further applied into other areas of renewable energy.
As an important part of solar power system, photovoltaic grid-connected system and solar thermal system, solar irradiance has the inherent characteristics of variability and uncertainty. Existing data analysis methods are difficult to demonstrate better generalization. Hence, resource planners must be adaptable to accommodate these uncertainties while conducting planning. To improve the accuracy of solar energy prediction and efficiently organize the utilization of solar energy, a novel convolutional neural networks framework has been constructed. Firstly, we have established a convolutional neural network framework for solar prediction based on meteorological data from surrounding sites and different sampling times. Secondly, the chaotic GA/PSO1Genetic Algorithm/Particle Swarm Optimization.1 hybrid algorithm is applied to optimize the hyper parameters of the novel framework, which alleviates the imperfect performance caused by improper hyper parameters. At the meantime, the hybrid algorithm can reduce the manpower and resources of manual parameter adjustment. Excitability of the novel framework has been verified by benchmark tests. In the solar irradiance prediction studies, the annual average Mean Absolute Error of the proposed method is reduced by 0.1463 MJ·m-2 compared with single CNN2Convolutional neural network.2 framework. The annual average Mean Absolute Error of the proposed method is reduced by 49.47%, 47.6%, 20.34%, respectively, compared with ANN3Artificial Neural Network.3, K-means-RBF4kmeans-Radical Basis Function.4 and GBRT.5Gradient Boosted Regression Trees.5 The superiority has been fully illustrated through all the simulation test results. Therefore, the proposed method provides a basis for accurate estimation of solar power, which can promote further development of the whole power system.
Chemokines play a key role in orchestrating the recruitment and positioning of myeloid cells within the tumor microenvironment. However, the tropism regulation and functions of these cells in ...hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are not completely understood. Herein, by scrutinizing the expression of all chemokines in HCC cell lines and tissues, we found that CCL15 was the most abundantly expressed chemokine in human HCC. Further analyses showed that CCL15 expression was regulated by genetic, epigenetic, and microenvironmental factors, and negatively correlated with patient clinical outcome. In addition to promoting tumor invasion in an autocrine manner, CCL15 specifically recruited CCR1+ cells toward HCC invasive margin, approximately 80% of which were CD14+ monocytes. Clinically, a high density of marginal CCR1+CD14+ monocytes positively correlated with CCL15 expression and was an independent index for dismal survival. Functionally, these tumor‐educated monocytes directly accelerated tumor invasion and metastasis through bursting various pro‐tumor factors and activating signal transducer and activator of transcription 1/3, extracellular signal‐regulated kinase 1/2, and v‐akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog signaling in HCC cells. Meanwhile, tumor‐derived CCR1+CD14+ monocytes expressed significantly higher levels of programmed cell death‐ligand 1, B7‐H3, and T‐cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain‐3 that may lead to immune suppression. Transcriptome sequencing confirmed that tumor‐infiltrating CCR1+CD14+ monocytes were reprogrammed to upregulate immune checkpoints, immune tolerogenic metabolic enzymes (indoleamine and arginase), inflammatory/pro‐angiogenic cytokines, matrix remodeling proteases, and inflammatory chemokines. Orthotopic animal models confirmed that CCL15‐CCR1 axis forested an inflammatory microenvironment enriched with CCR1+ monocytes and led to increased metastatic potential of HCC cells. Conclusion: A complex tumor‐promoting inflammatory microenvironment was shaped by CCL15‐CCR1 axis in human HCC. Blockade of CCL15‐CCR1 axis in HCC could be an effective anticancer therapy.
Cirrhosis is a recognized risk factor for developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Few studies have reported the expression profile of circRNAs in HCC samples compared to paratumour dysplastic ...nodule (DN) samples.
The Arraystar Human circRNA Array combined with laser capture microdissection (LCM) was used to analyse the expression profile of circRNAs in HCC samples compared to paratumour DN samples. Then, both in vitro and in vivo HCC models were used to determine the role and mechanism of key circRNA in HCC progression and treatment sensitivity.
We found that circMEMO1 was significantly downregulated in HCC samples and that the level of circMEMO1 was closely related to the OS and disease-free survival (DFS) of HCC patients. Mechanistic analysis revealed that circMEMO1 can modulate the promoter methylation and gene expression of TCF21 to regulate HCC progression by acting as a sponge for miR-106b-5p, which targets the TET family of genes and increases the 5hmC level. More importantly, circMEMO1 can increase the sensitivity of HCC cells to sorafenib treatment.
Our study determined that circMEMO1 can promote the demethylation and expression of TCF21 and can be considered a crucial epigenetic modifier in HCC progression.
Immune checkpoint blockade resistance narrows the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Delineating the inherent mechanisms of anti-PD1 resistance is ...important to improve outcome of patients with advanced HCC.
The level of cricTMEM181 was measured in HCC patients with anti-PD1 therapy by RNA sequencing and then confirmed by qPCR and Sanger sequencing. Immune status in tumor microenvironment of HCC patients or mice models was evaluated by flow cytometry and IHC. Exosomes from HCC cell lines were isolated by ultracentrifugation, and their internalization by macrophage was confirmed by immunofluorescence. The underlying mechanism of HCC-derived exosomal circTMEM181 to macrophage was confirmed by SILAC, RNA FISH and RNA immunoprecipitation. The ATP-ADO pathway amplified by HCC-macrophage interaction was evaluated through ATP, AMP and ADO measurement and macrophage-specific CD39 knockout mice. The role of circTMEM181 in anti-PD1 therapy and its clinical significance were also determined in our retrospective HCC cohorts.
Here, we found that circTMEM181 was elevated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients responding poorly to anti-PD1 therapy and in HCC patients with a poor prognosis after operation. Moreover, we also found that high exosomal circTMEM181 favored the immunosuppressive microenvironment and endowed anti-PD1 resistance in HCC. Mechanistically, exosomal circTMEM181 sponged miR-488-3p and upregulated CD39 expression in macrophages. Using macrophage-specific CD39 knockout mice and pharmacologic approaches, we revealed a novel mode of anti-PD1 resistance in HCC. We discovered that cell-specific CD39 expression in macrophages and CD73 expression in HCC cells synergistically activated the eATP-adenosine pathway and produced more adenosine, thereby impairing CD8
T cell function and driving anti-PD1 resistance.
In summary, HCC-derived exosomal circTMEM181 contributes to immunosuppression and anti-PD1 resistance by elevating CD39 expression, and inhibiting the ATP-adenosine pathway by targeting CD39 on macrophages can rescue anti-PD1 therapy resistance in HCC.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most fatal cancers with common features of invasion and metastasis. Recent evidence indicate that the long noncoding RNA NORAD is a potential oncogene and ...is significantly upregulated in several cancers. However, the general biological role and clinical value of NORAD in HCC remains unknown. Here, NORAD expression was measured in 29 paired tumor and paratumor tissues via quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The effects of NORAD on HCC cell malignant potential were investigated via NORAD overexpression and knockdown both in vitro and in vivo. The mechanism of competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) was acquired and identified by bioinformatics analyses and luciferase assays. Moreover, the impact of NORAD level on the transforming growth factor β (TGF‐β) pathway was further determined by qPCR. We found that HCC tissues had a high level of NORAD compared with the paratumor tissues, and NORAD upregulation was associated with the shorter overall survival of patients with HCC. Furthermore, NORAD overexpression was demonstrated to promote HCC cell migration and invasion. Mechanically, NORAD might function as a ceRNA to regulate miR‐202‐5p, which served as a tumor‐suppressing microRNA via the TGF‐β pathway. We address that NORAD has a tumor‐promoting effect in HCC and describes a novel mechanism whereby NORAD regulates the TGF‐β pathway as a ceRNA of Homo sapiens (hsa)‐miR‐202‐5p.
Here, we reported a novel axis that NORAD could act as a competitive endogenous RNA to modulate miR‐202‐5p expression, which targets the 3′‐untranslated regions of transforming growth factor β receptors to regulate the transforming growth factor β pathway. It indicated an oncogenic role of NORAD in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and may contribute to HCC research and treatment.
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