RGS16 regulated by let-7c-5p promotes glioma progression by activating PI3K-AKT pathway

Gliomas are the most common central nervous system tumours;they are highly aggressive and have a poor prognosis. RGS16 belongs to the regulator of G-protein signalling (RGS) protein family, which plays an important role in promoting various cancers, such as breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and colorectal cancer. Moreover, previous studies confirmed that let-7c-5p, a well-known microRNA, can act as a tumour suppressor to regulate the progression of various tumours by inhibiting the expression of its target genes. However, whether RGS16 can promote the progression of glioma and whether it is regulated by miR let-7c-5p are still unknown. Here, we confirmed that RGS16 is upregulated in glioma tissues and that high expression of RGS16 is associated with poor survival. Ectopic deletion of RGS16 significantly suppressed glioma cell proliferation and migration both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, RGS16 was validated as a direct target gene of miR let-7c-5p. The overexpression of miR let-7c-5p obviously downregulated the expression of RGS16, and knocking down miR let-7c-5p had the opposite effect. Thus, we suggest that the suppression of RGS16 by miR let-7c-5p can promote glioma progression and may serve as a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in glioma.

Net primary production in three bioenergy crop systems following land conversion

Aims Identifying the amount of production and the partitioning to above-and belowground biomass is generally the first step toward select-ing bioenergy systems.There are very few existing studies on the dynamics of production following land conversion.The objectives of this study were to(i)determine the differences in aboveground net primary production(ANPP),belowground net primary produc-tion(BNPP),shoot-to-root ratio(S:R)and leaf area index in three bioenergy crop systems and(ii)evaluate the production of these three systems in two different land use conversions.Methods This investigation included biometric analysis of NPP on three agri-cultural sites converted from conservation reserve program(CRP)management to bioenergy crop production(corn,switchgrass and prairie mix)and three sites converted from traditional agriculture production to bioenergy crop production.Important findings The site converted from conventional agriculture produced smaller ANPP in corn(19.03±1.90 standard error[SE]Mg ha^(−1) year^(−1))than the site converted from CRP to corn(24.54±1.43 SE Mg ha^(−1) year^(−1)).The two land conversions were similar in terms of ANPP for switchgrass(4.88±0.43 SE for CRP and 2.04±0.23 SE Mg ha^(−1) year^(−1) for agriculture)and ANPP for prairie mix(4.70±0.50 SE for CRP and 3.38±0.33 SE Mg ha^(−1) year^(−1) for agriculture).The BNPP at the end of the growing season in all the bioenergy crop systems was not significantly different(P=0.75,N=8).