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.

Long noncoding RNA X-inactive specific transcript regulates NLR family pyrin domain containing 3/caspase-1-mediated pyroptosis in diabetic nephropathy

BACKGROUND NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis is recognized as an essential modulator of renal disease pathology.Long noncoding RNAs(lncRNAs)are active participators of diabetic nephropathy(DN).X inactive specific transcript(XIST)expression has been reported to be elevated in the serum of DN patients.AIM To evaluate the mechanism of lncRNA XIST in renal tubular epithelial cell(RTEC)pyroptosis in DN.METHODS A DN rat model was established through streptozotocin injection,and XIST was knocked down by tail vein injection of the lentivirus LV sh-XIST.Renal metabolic and biochemical indices were detected,and pathological changes in the renal tissue were assessed.The expression of indicators related to inflammation and pyroptosis was also detected.High glucose(HG)was used to treat HK2 cells,and cell viability and lactate dehydrogenase(LDH)activity were detected after silencing XIST.The subcellular localization and downstream mechanism of XIST were investigated.Finally,a rescue experiment was carried out to verify that XIST regulates NLR family pyrin domain containing 3(NLRP3)/caspase-1-mediated RTEC pyroptosis through the microRNA-15-5p(miR-15b-5p)/Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4)axis.RESULTS XIST was highly expressed in the DN models.XIST silencing improved renal metabolism and biochemical indices and mitigated renal injury.The expression of inflammation and pyroptosis indicators was significantly increased in DN rats and HG-treated HK2 cells;cell viability was decreased and LDH activity was increased after HGtreatment. Silencing XIST inhibited RTEC pyroptosis by inhibiting NLRP3/caspase-1. Mechanistically,XIST sponged miR-15b-5p to regulate TLR4. Silencing XIST inhibited TLR4 by promotingmiR-15b-5p. miR-15b-5p inhibition or TLR4 overexpression averted the inhibitory effect ofsilencing XIST on HG-induced RTEC pyroptosis.CONCLUSIONSilencing XIST inhibits TLR4 by upregulating miR-15b-5p and ultimately inhibits renal injury inDN by inhibiting NLRP3/caspase-1-mediated RTEC pyroptosis.

Factors affecting early embryonic development in cattle:relevance for bovine cloning

Female infertility represents a major challenge for improving the production ef?ciency in the dairy industry. Historically, fertility has declined whereas milk yield has increased tremendously due to intensive genetic selection. In vivo evidence reveals about 60% pregnancy loss takes place during the ?rst month following fertilization. Meanwhile, early embryo development is signi?cant for somatic cell nuclear transfer in cattle as a large proportion of cloned embryos fail to develop beyond periimplantation stage. Oocyte quality is of utmost importance for the early embryo to develop to term for both fertilized and cloned embryos. Epigenetic reprogramming is a key process occurring after fertilization and critical roles of epigenetic modi?ers during preimplantation development are now clear. Incomplete epigenetic reprogramming is believed to be a major limitation to cloning ef?ciency.Treatment of cloned embryos with epigenetic modifying drugs(e.g., Trichostatin A) could greatly improve cloning ef?ciency in both mice and cattle. Recently, the rapid progress in high-throughput sequencing technologies has enabled detailed deciphering of the molecular mechanisms underlying these events. The robust ef?ciency of genomic editing tools also presents an alternative approach to the functional annotation of genes critical to early development.