Evaluating the microRNA-target gene regulatory network in renal cell carcinomas, identification for potential biomarkers and critical pathways
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE
Authors: Li, Jun; Huang, Jian-Hua; Qu, Qing-Hua; Xia, Qier; Wang, Deng-Shan; Jin, Lei; Sheng, Chang
Abstract
Variant microRNA (miRNA) expression is a character of many cancer types. The combined analysis of miRNA and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression profiles is crucial to identifying links between deregulated miRNAs and oncogenic pathways. The aim of this study was to screen several novel genes associated with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and analyze the gene functions and signal pathways which were critical to RCCs with DNA microarray. The gene expression profile of GSE6344 was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus database, including 10 RCC samples and 10 healthy controls. Compared with the control samples, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of RCC was identified. The selected DEGs were further analyzed using bioinformatics methods. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis was performed using Gene Set Analysis Toolkit and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed with prePPI. Then, pathway enrichment analysis to PPI network was performed using WebGestalt software. We found that a total of 521 DEGs were down-regulated and 473 DEGs were up-regulated in RCC samples compared to healthy controls. A total of 15 remarkable enhanced functions and 17 suppressed functions were identified. PPI nodes of high degrees, such as RHCG, RALYL, SLC4A1, UMOD and CA9, were obtained. The DEGs were classified and significantly enriched in cytokine and cytokine receptor pathway. The hub genes we find from RCC samples are not only biomarkers, but also may provide the groundwork for a combination therapy approach for RCCs.
Sulfated vizantin inhibits biofilm maturation by Streptococcus mutans
MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY
Authors: Oda, Masataka; Kurosawa, Mie; Yamamoto, Hirofumi; Domon, Hisanori; Takenaka, Shoji; Ohsumi, Tatsuya; Maekawa, Tomoki; Yamasaki, Naoto; Furue, Yui; Terao, Yutaka
Abstract
Streptococcus mutans is the main pathogen of dental caries and adheres to the tooth surface via soluble and insoluble glucans produced by the bacterial glucosyltransferase enzyme. Thus, the S. mutans glucosyltransferase is an important virulence factor for this cariogenic bacterium. Sulfated vizantin effectively inhibits biofilm formation by S. mutans without affecting its growth. In this study, less S. mutans biofilm formation occurred on hydroxyapatite discs coated with sulfated vizantin than on noncoated discs. Sulfated vizantin showed no cytotoxicity against the human gingival cell line Ca9-22. Sulfated vizantin dose-dependently inhibited the extracellular release of cell-free glucosyltransferase from S. mutans and enhanced the accumulation of cell-associated glucosyltransferase, compared with that observed with untreated bacteria. Sulfated vizantin disrupted the localization balance between cell-associated glucosyltransferase and cell-free glucosyltransferase, resulting in inhibited biofilm maturation. These results indicate that sulfated vizantin can potentially serve as a novel agent for preventing dental caries.