Basic regulatory science behind drug substance and drug product specifications of monoclonal antibodies and other protein therapeutics

In this review,we focus on providing basics and examples for each component of the protein therapeutic specifications to interested pharmacists and biopharmaceutical scientists with a goal to strengthen understanding in regulatory science and compliance.Pharmaceutical specifications comprise a list of important quality attributes for testing,references to use for test procedures,and appropriate acceptance criteria for the tests,and they are set up to ensure that when a drug product is administered to a patient,its intended therapeutic benefits and safety can be rendered appropriately.Conformance of drug substance or drug product to the specifications is achieved by testing an article according to the listed tests and analytical methods and obtaining test results that meet the acceptance criteria.Quality attributes are chosen to be tested based on their quality risk,and consideration should be given to the merit of the analytical methods which are associated with the acceptance criteria of the specifications.Acceptance criteria are set forth primarily based on efficacy and safety profiles,with an increasing attention noted for patient-centric specifications.Discussed in this work are related guidelines that support the biopharmaceutical specification setting,how to set the acceptance criteria,and examples of the quality attributes and the analytical methods from 60 articles and 23 pharmacopeial monographs.Outlooks are also explored on process analytical technologies and other orthogonal tools which are on-trend in biopharmaceutical characterization and quality control.

Neuron-specific Enclose and Myelin Basic Protein in Cerebrospinal Fluid of Patients with First Episode Schizophrenia

In order to study whether patients with schizophrenia have cerebral injury, neuron-specific enolase （NSE） and myelin basic protein （MBP）in cerebrospinal fluid （CSF） of 33 patients with first episode schizophrenia and 9 from the control group were determined by double antibody sandwich enzyme immunoassay method. The results showed that there was significant difference in the NSE contents between the experimental group and control group （P〈0.01）. The NSE contents in CSF in the experimental group were positively correlated with MBP in schizophrenia patients （P〈 0.05）. These findings suggested that patients with schizophrenia had cerebral injury.

Specific Protein Properties of Setcreasea pupurea Boom under Copper Stress

[Objective] This study was to investigate the expression of the specific protein in Setcreasea purpurea Boom under copper stress, with the aim to clarify the copper tolerance mechanism of S. purpurea. [Method] Methods of water culture, elec- trophoresis and chromatography were used to analyze the molecular weight of the specific protein in the copper hyperaccumulator S. purpurea, as well as its expression time and the minimum copper concentration for the expression. And the specific protein was isolated and purified. [Result] Under copper stress, the minimum concentra- tion of copper to induce the expression of the specific protein from S. purpurea was 50 umol/L, and the expression time of the protein was in the 4th week with the molecular weight of 89.4 kDa. [Conclusion] The results show that the copper tolerance of S. purpurea is closely related with the expression of the specific protein.

Expression and role of specificity protein 1 in the sclera remodeling of experimental myopia in guinea pigs

AIM：To study the expression of collagen I and transcription factor specificity protein 1（Sp1）,a transforming growth factor-β1（TGF-β1） downstream target,and reveal the impact of the TGF-β1-Sp1 signaling pathway on collagen remodeling in myopic sclera.METHODS：Seventy-five 1-week-old guinea pigs were randomly divided into normal control,form deprivation myopia（FDM）,and self-control groups.FDM was induced for different times using coverage with translucent latex balloons and FDM recovery was performed for 1wk after 4wk treatment;then,changes in refractive power and axial length were measured.Immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction were used to evaluate dynamic changes in collagen I and Sp1 expression in the sclera of guinea pigs with emmetropia and experimental myopia,and the relationship between collagen I and Sp1 levels was analyzed.RESULTS：In the FDM group,the refractive power was gradually changed（from 2.09±0.30 D at week 0 to-1.23±0.69 D,-4.17±0.59 D,-7.07±0.56 D,and-4.30±0.58 D at weeks 2,4,6,and 1wk after 4wk,respectively;P〈0.05）,indicating deepening of myopia.The axial length was increased（from 5.92±0.39 mm at week 0 to 6.62±0.36 mm,7.30±0.34 mm,7.99±0.32 mm,and 7.41±0.36 mm at weeks 2,4,6,and 1wk after 4wk;P〈0.05）.The m RNA and protein expression of Sp1 and collagen I in the sclera of the FDM group was lower than that of the control groups（P〈0.05）,and the reduction was eye-coverage time-dependent.Furthermore,correlation between Sp1 and collagen I down-regulation in the myopic sclera was observed.CONCLUSION：Our data indicate that transcription factor Sp1 may be involved in the regulation of type I collagensynthesis/degradation during myopic sclera remodeling,suggesting that TGF-β1 signaling plays a role in the development and progression of myopia.

Secondary Structure and Neurotrophic Effect of a 33.1 kDa Specific Protein (SSP-33.1) in Spinal Sensory Ganglia

Aim To analyze the secondary structure and neurotrophic effect of a specific protein in sensory neurons. Methods Comparison of the proteins expressed in the rat spinal sensory neurons and motor neurons was made by two dimensional electrophoresis. One specific protein in sensory neurons was isolated and purified by DEAE Sephacel ion exchange chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography. A primary analysis of its secondary structure by circular dichroism, and its neurotrophic effects were investigated using the model of dorsal root ganglia(DRG) cultured in vitro . Results The molecular weight and isoelectric point of the protein were 33 1 kDa and 5 52, respectively. Its circular dichroism showed that there were 20 8% α helix, 54 8% β sheet, 7 3% turn, and 17 1% random coil in its secondary structure. Biological experiments showed that the protein could promote the neurite outgrowth of DRG. Conclusion A specific protein in spinal sensory tissue with molecular weight of 33 1 kDa has been purified. There is mainly β sheet in the secondary structure of the protein. And the protein has neurotrophic effects in the model of DRG.

Using position specific scoring matrix and auto covariance to predict protein subnuclear localization

The knowledge of subnuclear localization in eukaryotic cells is indispensable for under-standing the biological function of nucleus, genome regulation and drug discovery. In this study, a new feature representation was pro-posed by combining position specific scoring matrix (PSSM) and auto covariance (AC). The AC variables describe the neighboring effect between two amino acids, so that they incorpo-rate the sequence-order information;PSSM de-scribes the information of biological evolution of proteins. Based on this new descriptor, a support vector machine (SVM) classifier was built to predict subnuclear localization. To evaluate the power of our predictor, the benchmark dataset that contains 714 proteins localized in nine subnuclear compartments was utilized. The total jackknife cross validation ac-curacy of our method is 76.5%, that is higher than those of the Nuc-PLoc (67.4%), the OET- KNN (55.6%), AAC based SVM (48.9%) and ProtLoc (36.6%). The prediction software used in this article and the details of the SVM parameters are freely available at http://chemlab.scu.edu.cn/ predict_SubNL/index.htm and the dataset used in our study is from Shen and Chou’s work by downloading at http://chou.med.harvard.edu/ bioinf/Nuc-PLoc/Data.htm.

Expression and role of specificity protein 1 and collagenⅠin recurrent pterygial tissues

AIM:To investigate the expression profiles of the transcription factor specificity protein 1(Sp1)and collagenⅠin recurrent pterygial tissues.What is more,to compare the changes of Sp1 and collagen I among primary pterygial tissue,recurrent pterygial tissue and conjunctival tissue.METHODS:In the prospective study,we collected the pterygial tissues of 40 patients who underwent resection of primary pterygial tissue and recurrent pterygial tissue,and the conjunctival tissues of 10 patients with enucleation due to trauma.The relative expression levels of Sp1 and collagen I were analyzed by reverse transcription quantitative-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot.Paired t-test was performed to compare the Sp1 and collagen I of recurrent pterygial tissues,as well as the primary pterygial tissues and conjunctival tissues.In further,Pearson’s hypothesis testing of correlation coefficients was used to compare the correlations of Sp1 and Collagen I.RESULTS:The content of Sp1 and collagen I m RNA and protein was significantly greater in recurrent pterygial tissue than that was in primary and conjunctival tissue(P<0.05).There was a positive correlation between the m RNA and protein levels of Sp1 and collagen I in recurrent pterygial tissues(protein:r=0.913,P<0.05;m RNA:r=0.945,P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Sp1 and collagen I are expressed in normal conjunctival,primary,and recurrent pterygial tissues,but expression is significantly greater in the latter.Sp1 and collagen I may be involved in the regulation of the development of recurrent pterygium.

Transcription factors specificity protein and nuclear receptor 4A1 in pancreatic cancer

Specificity protein(Sp)transcription factors(TFs)Sp1,Sp3 and Sp4,and the orphan nuclear receptor 4A1(NR4A1)are highly expressed in pancreatic tumors and Sp1 is a negative prognostic factor for pancreatic cancer patient survival.Results of knockdown and overexpression of Sp1,Sp3 and Sp4 in pancreatic and other cancer lines show that these TFs are individually pro-oncogenic factors and loss of one Sp TF is not compensated by other members.NR4A1 is also a prooncogenic factor and both NR4A1 and Sp TFs exhibit similar functions in pancreatic cancer cells and regulate cell growth,survival,migration and invasion.There is also evidence that Sp TFs and NR4A1 regulate some of the same genes including survivin,epidermal growth factor receptor,PAX3-FOXO1,α5-andα6-integrins,β1-,β3-andβ4-integrins;this is due to NR4A1 acting as a cofactor and mediating NR4A1/Sp1/4-regulated gene expression through GC-rich gene promoter sites.Several studies show that drugs targeting Sp downregulation or NR4A1 antagonists are highly effective inhibitors of Sp/NR4A1-regulated pathways and genes in pancreatic and other cancer cells,and the triterpenoid celastrol is a novel dual-acting agent that targets both Sp TFs and NR4A1.

Purification and Analysis of Abscisic Acid-Specifically-Inducible Proteins from Rice Callus

Two ABA-specifically-inducible proteins from rice callus were isolated and purified by precipitation with 65-100% saturated （NH4）2SO4, followed by the DEAE-sepharose, TSK-gel, and two-dimension electrophoresis. Iso-electric points （pl） of the proteins with the same molecular mass （24.5 kD） were 6.1 and 6.9, respectively. The Western blot analysis indicated that the proteins expressed in different tissues were obviously different. The A1 （pl 6.1） protein was only detected in calli treated with ABA and seed embryos （SE）. However, the A2 （pl 6.9） protein was found not only in the calli treated with ABA and SE, but also in the white dry callus. Thus it suggested that the two proteins might play some important roles in the processes of seed embryo （or somatic embryo） formation.

Specific Proteins in the Indirect Somatic Embryogenesis of Freesia Refracta

Using the young inflorescence segments of Freesia refracta as explants, indirect somatic embryogenesis of somatic cells was induced in a N6 medium supplemented with some exogenous hormones. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis（SDS-PAGE） was used for the analysis of soluble proteins produced during the somatic embryogenesis of this plant. There are six polypeptides, which might play some roles in the process of somatic embryo development. Tltree polypeptides（45, 53 and 55 kD） were detected in the stages of embryogenic callus, globular embryoid, and embryoid with coleoptiles, except the embryoid with leaf. One polypeptide（ 83 kD） was specific for the stages of embryoid with eoleoptiles and embryoid with leaf. One polypeptide（37 kD） was detected in the first two stages, namely, embryogenic callus and globular embryoid. One polypeptide（35 kD） was regularly synthesized in each stage, from embryogenic callus to embryoid with leaf.

Preparation of Polyclonal Antibody against Human MxA Protein and Its Specificity to Diversified Myxovirus Resistant Protein A

Objective To study the human myxovirus resistant protein A （MxA）, a specifically induced peptide by interferon I, and to use its level as a diagnostic criterion for viral infections. Methods Anti-MxA antisera from immunized mice were prepared with the expressed MxA protein of pET32a-MxA in E. coli BL-21（DE3）. To confirm the antiserum activity and specificity, the expression product of BL21, wild type MxA pEGFP-CI-wMxA and site-directed mutant MxA pEGFP-Cl-mMxA（N589S） stably transfected 3T3 cells and induced A549 cells were detected by Western blot with the antisera using non-MxA transfected or non-IFN-[3 induced cells, intact A549, NIH 3T3 cells transfected with pEGFP-CI and pET32a （＋）-transformed BL-21 as controls. Results The antisera had specific positive immunoreactivity to the NIH3T3 cells transformed with pEGFP-CI-wMxA and pEGFP-CI-mMxA, INF-β induced A549 cells and BL21 proteins expressed with pET32a （＋）-MxA. The hybridization signals from IFN-β induced A549 cells depended on the IFN-β inducing concentrations. Meanwhile, immunohistochemical assay showed that NIH 3T3 cells with pEGFP-C 1-wMxA and pEGFP-C 1-mMxA had 〉 98% of positive cells at 1：50 dilution of the serum and A549 cells induced by 20 ng/mL IFN-[3 for 48 h showed 95% positive cells. pEGFP-Cl-transfected NIH 3T3 cells were all negative. Conclusion Anti-sera are highly specific to diversified MxAs. The antibody is detectable by Western blot, immunocytochemistry and immunofluorescence assay.

Detection of cardiac myosin binding protein-C (cMyBP-C) by a phospho-specific PKD antibody in contracting rat cardiomyocytes

Protein phosphorylation plays an important role in physiological processes, such as muscle contraction. Phospho-specific antibodies have become powerful tools to study these processes. Cardiac myosin binding protein-C (cMyBP-C) is one of the proteins that make up the contractile apparatus of cardiomyocytes. Phosphorylation of cMyBP-C is essential for normal cardiac function, since dephosphorylation of this protein leads to its degradation and has been associated with cardiomyopathy. One of the upstream kinases, which phosphorylate cMyBP-C, is protein kinase D (PKD). While studying the role of PKD in cMyBP-C phosphorylation, we tried to analyze phosphorylation of PKD with a phospho-specific PKD-Ser744/748 antibody. Contrary to the expected 115 kDa, a signal was found for a 150-kDa protein. By MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, we identified this protein to be cMyBP-C. These data were confirmed by immunostaining using the p-PKD-Ser744/748 antibody, which displayed a striated pattern similar to the one observed for a regular cMyBP-C antibody. To our knowledge there are no antibodies commercially available for phosphorylated cMyBP-C. Thus, the p-PKD-Ser744/748 antibody can accelerate research into the role of cMyBP-C phosphorylation in cardiomyocytes.

Preliminary Identification of Human Nonserum Oviduct Specific Proteins by Using Electrophoresis and Immunoblotting Analysis

The present paper reported the preliminary results of identification of humannonserum oviduct specific proteins. The 1D-SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and 2D-SDS-PAFE in conjunction with the immunoblotting assay were used in the present study. The results showed that the nonserum oviduct specific proteins with MW130, 100 and 80 kD existed in human oviduct fluid or oviductal extract. In addition, the antibody against pig oviduct antigens could more strongly cross-react with human oviduct antigens, mainly recognizing 130,116 and 100 kD proteins from human oviduct. It is suggested that in human oviduct there are some specific antigens possessing some similar epitopes to those in pig oviducts. This result seems to be consistent with predominant cross reactivity existing in antigens of porcine and human zona pellucida.

Separation and Identification of Stage-specific Proteins in Pistillate Flowers of Mulberry

In order to excavate the function genes of stage-specific proteins in the development process of mulberry pistillate flowers, using fruit mulberry cuhivar ＇ Da 10＇ as experiment material, two-dimensional electrophoresis and mass-spectrometric technology were used to investigate specifically expressed proteins of mul- berry pistillate flowers in different flowering periods. The results showed that 471 ± 4,450 ± 15 and 446 ± 14 protein spots were determined in mulberry pistil- late flowers at full-bloom stage, initial flowering stage and terminal flowering stage respectively, including nine protein spots with characteristics of stage-specific ex- pression and clear electrophoretic bands.. By mass spectrometry analysis, database retrieval and bioinformatics analysis, five components were successfully identi- fied as lactoylglutathione lyase-like protein, perchloric acid soluble translation inhibitor protein, ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme 1 like protein, putative ethylene re- sponse protein and 3-hydroxyisobutyrate dehychngenase, which were involved in stress resistance reaction, protein catabolism, signal transduction, glycometabolism and other biological processes in plants, which indicated that these proteins might play an important biological function in the normal development and pollination fertilization of mulberry pistillate flowers.

Studies on Physiological and Biochemical Properties of Female Specific Serum Protein and Its Immunocytochemical Localization in Carassius auratus cuvieri(Temminck & Schlegel)

Female-specific serum protein(FSSP)is normally present in the sera of female fish,but it is notfound in males.However,estradiol benzoate(EB)was found to induce the appearance of FSSP inmale fish and immature female fish.Massive doses of FSSP caused a rapid increase in FSSP.Ultrastructural examination of the liver indicated an extensive proliferation of the rough endoplasmicreticulum and a decrease in glycogen and lipid droplets after EB injection.A preparative PAGE for isolating highly purified FSSP from the serum of EB-treated fish,Carassiusauratus cuvieri(Temminck & Schlegel),is described.Purified FSSP obtained from EB-induced O-crucian fish has a molecular weight of 466,000±4,000(n=10),while that in mature female serumis 480,000±40,000(n=2).FSSP appears to be a dimer,with the size of the possible monomerbeing 240,000±8,000(n=6).SDS-PAGE on gradient gels indicated that sera from males given multiple(12)injections of EBcontain a main band with a molecular weight of 147,000±6,000(n=6).However,the same serumsamples provided three bands of protein on the PAGE gels.Antiserum was raised against the electrophoretically purified FSSP.The resulting antibody formeda single,continuous precipitation line with sera from EB-treated males and vitellogenic females,butnot with that from normal males.lmmunocytochemistry(PAP method)was used to locate FSSP in the liver and ovary of maturefemales and the liver of EB-treated males.Strongly positive particles were found clustered in groupsaround liver cell nuclei under light microscopy,and the yolk granules in the oocytes were also filledwith positive particles.

Combined Detection of Serum Heat Shock Protein-90<i>α</i>and Prostate Specific Antigen for Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

Objective: To explore the relationship between heat shock protein-90α (HSP-90α) and occurrence of prostate cancer, and clinical value of combined detection of serum HSP-90α and prostate specific antigen (PSA) in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. Method: A total of 30 patients with prostate cancer, 30 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and 30 healthy men (control group) were selected from September 2018 to September 2019, then to detect levels of serum HSP-90α, total PSA and free PSA (FPSA) by ELISA, serum testosterone level by radioimmunoassay, prostate cancer tissue was removed by operation, and relative expression of tissue HSP-90α protein by Western blot. Results: The levels of serum HSP-90α and total PSA in prostate cancer group were significantly higher than other two groups, and testosterone level was lower than other two groups (P < 0.05);there was no difference of serum FPSA level between the three groups (P > 0.05). It was found by Pearson test that serum HSP-90α was positively correlated with total PSA level (r = 0.659, P = 0.005), while negatively correlated with testosterone level (r = -0.549, P = 0.006). According to TNM stage of prostate cancer, there were 17 cases of stage I - II, 13 cases of stage III - IV, 6 cases of Gleason score 1 - 4, 13 cases of 5 - 7, 11 cases of 8 - 10, tumor diameter range from 0.8 to 6.2 cm, with average of (3.9 ± 1.5) cm. The relative expression of HSP-90α protein in tumor tissue was closely related to TNM stage, Gleason score and tumor diameter (P < 0.05). By ROC analysis, it was found that accuracy of combined detection of serum HSP-90α and PSA levels for prostate cancer diagnosis was 0.896, and that of single PSA detection was 0.852. Conclusion: Higher expressions of HSP-90α in prostate cancer tissue and serum may be closely related to occurrence and development of prostate cancer, and combined detections of serum HSP-90α and PSA levels are of great significance in improving early diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Neuron specific enolase,p53蛋白和proliferating-cell nuclear antigen在肺癌组织中的表达及意义

目的：研究神经元特异性烯醇化酶（neuronspecificenolase，NSE）的表达，与p53蛋白和增殖细胞核抗原（prolif－erating－cellnuclearantigen，PCNA）表达的关系及意义．方法：用特异性鼠抗人单克隆抗体，按LSAB免疫组织化学方法检测石蜡包埋的肺癌标本中NSE，p53蛋白和PCNA的表达．结果：在小细胞性肺癌（SmallCellLungCancer，SCLC）中，NSE阳性表达者，PCNA标记指数（LabellingIndex，LI）高于NSE阴性者，而p53蛋白的表达与NSE的表达无关．在非小细胞性肺癌（non－smallcelllungcancr，non－SCLC）中，p53蛋白的表达和PCNALI均与NSE的表达无关．结论：在SCLC的发生及发展过程中，神经内分泌功能可能起了部分作用．而p53抑癌基因在SCLC的发生中并不起着重要的作用．

A larval specific OBP able to bind the major female sex pheromone component in Spodoptera exigua(Hübner)

Odorant binding proteins （OBPs） in insects are postulated to solubilize and transport the hydrophobic odorants across the hydrophilic antennal lymph to the olfactory receptors （ORs） located on the dendrite membrane of the sensory neurons. OBPs in adult insects have been intensively reported, but those in larvae are rarely addressed. In our study, a full-length OBP cDNA, namely SexiOBP13, was cloned by RT-PCR and RACE strategy from the heads of Spodoptera exigua larvae. The quantitative real-time PCR （qPCR） measurement indicated that SexiOBP13 was highly expressed in larval head, but very low in other parts of larva and was not detected in any tissues of adult. The binding affinities of SexiOBP13 to plant volatiles and female sex pheromone components were measured by competitive binding assays. Interestingly, SexiOBP13 displayed a high binding affinity （Ki=3.82 IJmol L-1） to Z9,E12-14：Ac, the major sex pheromone component of S. exigua, while low affinities to the tested host plant volatiles （Ki〉27 μmol L-l）. The behavioral tests further confirmed that Z9,E12-14：Ac was indeed active to elicit the behavioral activity of the third instar larvae of S. exigua. Taken together, our results suggest that SexiOBP13 may play a role in reception of female sex pheromone in S. exigua larvae. The ecological significance of the larvae preference to the adult female sex pheromone was discussed.

Pivotal role of long non-coding ribonucleic acid-X-inactive specific transcript in regulating immune checkpoint programmed death ligand 1 through a shared pathway between miR-194-5p and miR-155-5p in hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND Anti-programmed death therapy has thrust immunotherapy into the spotlight.However,such therapy has a modest response in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).Epigenetic immunomodulation is a suggestive combinatorial therapy with immune checkpoint blockade.Non-coding ribonucleic acid(ncRNA)driven regulation is a major mechanism of epigenetic modulation.Given the wide range of ncRNAs that co-opt in programmed cell-death protein 1(PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1(PD-L1)regulation,and based on the literature,we hypothesized that miR-155-5p,miR-194-5p and long non-coding RNAs(lncRNAs)X-inactive specific transcript(XIST)and MALAT-1 are involved in a regulatory upstream pathway for PD-1/PD-L1.Recently,nutraceutical therapeutics in cancers have received increasing attention.Thus,it is interesting to study the impact of oleuropein on the respective study key players.AIM To explore potential upstream regulatory ncRNAs for the immune checkpoint PD-1/PD-L1.METHODS Bioinformatics tools including microrna.org and lnCeDB software were adopted to detect targeting of miR-155-5p,miR-194-5p and lncRNAs XIST and MALAT-1 to PD-L1 mRNA,respectively.In addition,Diana tool was used to predict targeting of both aforementioned miRNAs to lncRNAs XIST and MALAT-1.HCC and normal tissue samples were collected for scanning of PD-L1,XIST and MALAT-1 expression.To study the interaction among miR-155-5p,miR-194-5p,lncRNAs XIST and MALAT-1,as well as PD-L1 mRNA,a series of transfections of the Huh-7 cell line was carried out.RESULTS Bioinformatics software predicted that miR-155-5p and miR-194-5p can target PDL1,MALAT-1 and XIST.MALAT-1 and XIST were predicted to target PD-L1 mRNA.PD-L1 and XIST were significantly upregulated in 23 HCC biopsies compared to healthy controls;however,MALAT-1 was barely detected.MiR-194 induced expression elevated the expression of PD-L1,XIST and MALAT-1.However,overexpression of miR-155-5p induced the upregulation of PD-L1 and XIST,while it had a negative impact on MALAT-1 expression.Knockdown of XIST did have an impact on PD-L1 expression;however,following knockdown of the negative regulator of X-inactive specific transcript(TSIX),PD-L1 expression was elevated,and abolished MALAT-1 activity.Upon co-transfection of miR-194-5p with siMALAT-1,PD-L1 expression was elevated.Co-transfection of miR-194-5p with siXIST did not have an impact on PD-L1 expression.Upon co-transfection of miR-194 with siTSIX,PD-L1 expression was upregulated.Interestingly,the same PD-L1 expression pattern was observed following miR-155-5p cotransfections.Oleuropein treatment of Huh-7 cells reduced the expression profile of PD-L1,XIST,and miR-155-5p,upregulated the expression of miR-194-5p and had no significant impact on the MALAT-1 expression profile.CONCLUSION This study reported a novel finding revealing that opposing acting miRNAs in HCC,have the same impact on PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint by sharing a common signaling pathway.

Encouraging specific biomarkers-based therapeutic strategies for hepatocellular carcinoma

The prevention,early discovery and effective treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)remain a global medical challenge.At present,HCC is still mainly treated by surgery,supplemented by vascular embolization,radio frequency,radiotherapy,chemotherapy and biotherapy.The application of multikinase inhibitor sorafenib,chimeric antigen receptor T cells,or PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors can prolong the median survival of HCC patients.However,the treatment efficacy is still unsatisfactory due to HCC metastasis and postoperative recurrence.During the process of hepatocyte malignant transformation,HCC tissues can express and secrete many types of specific biomarkers,or oncogenic antigen molecules into blood,for example,alpha-fetoprotein,glypican-3,Wnt3a(one of the key signaling molecules in the Wnt/β-catenin pathway),insulin-like growth factor(IGF)-II or IGF-I receptor,vascular endothelial growth factor,secretory clusterin and so on.In addition,combining immunotherapy with noncoding RNAs might improve anti-cancer efficacy.These biomarkers not only contribute to HCC diagnosis or prognosis,but may also become molecular targets for HCC therapy under developing or clinical trials.This article reviews the progress in emerging biomarkers in basic research or clinical trials for HCC immunotherapy.