JIAWEI YIN¹, YONGSHENG WANG^2,3, GUANGWEI WEI⁴, MINGXIN WEN^3,*

BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.6, pp. 959-970, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2024.049349

Abstract Objectives: This study aimed to reveal the role and possible mechanism of the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme 2T (UBE2T) in the biological activities of breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs). Methods: The specific protein and gene expression were quantified by Western blotting and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, the proportion of BCSCs was examined by flow cytometry, and the self-renewal and proliferation of BCSCs were verified by serial sphere formation and soft agar. Results: Increasing expression of UBE2T was drastically found in breast cancer than that in adjacent tissues. Furthermore, UBE2T overexpression significantly increased the proportion of BCSCs in More >

Su-Hoon Lee, Suh-Kyung Hyun, Hak-Bong Kim, Chi-Dug Kang, Sun-Hee Kim

Oncology Research, Vol.24, No.6, pp. 495-509, 2016, DOI:10.3727/096504016X14685034103950

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies, with a poor prognosis and high recurrence rate. In the present study, we identified CD133, one of the markers of cancer stem cells, as a novel molecular target of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL). In four human HCC cell lines established from primary HCC tumors, we found that CD133-high human liver cancer stem-like cells (CD133^hi) derived from the SNU-475 cell line were highly susceptible to TRAIL compared to other HCC cell lines with a small population of CD133. CD133^hi SNU-475 cells showed upregulation of TRAIL… More >

Qifang Long^*, Weipei Zhu^*, Jundong Zhou^†, Jinchang Wu^†, Weixian Lu^‡, Cui Zheng^‡, Dongmei Zhou^‡, Ling Yu^‡, Ru Yang^‡

Oncology Research, Vol.25, No.4, pp. 595-603, 2017, DOI:10.3727/096504016X14765492198706

Abstract Ovarian cancer is one of the most lethal malignant gynecologic tumors with a high relapse rate worldwide. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified in ovarian cancer and other malignant tumors as a small population of cells that are capable of self-renewal and multidifferentiation. CD133⁺ ovarian CSCs have been reported to be more tumorigenic and more resistant to chemotherapeutic treatment. Thus, CD133 has emerged as one of the most promising therapeutic markers for ovarian cancer treatment. In the current study, we constructed a recombinant adenovirus Cre/loxP regulation system to selectively introduce truncated Bid (tBid) expression specifically… More >

Vinitha Richard, Rajesh Raju, Aswathy Mary Paul, Reshmi Girijadevi, Thankayyan Retnabai Santhosh Kumar, Madhavan Radhakrishna Pillai

Oncology Research, Vol.26, No.1, pp. 17-26, 2018, DOI:10.3727/096504017X14881490607028

Abstract This study is an integrated analysis of the transcriptome profile microRNA (miRNA) and its experimentally validated mRNA targets differentially expressed in the tumorigenic stem-like fraction of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We had previously reported the coexistence of multiple drug-resistant tumorigenic fractions, termed side population (SP1, SP2, and MP2), and a nontumorigenic fraction, termed main population (MP1), in oral cancer. These fractions displayed a self-renewal, regenerative potential and expressed known stemness-related cell surface markers despite functional differences. Flow cytometrically sorted pure fractions of SP1 and MP1 cells were subjected to differential expression analysis of both… More >

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… 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 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.… 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… 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,… 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 More >