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Recent research has revealed a role for Ambra1, an autophagy-related gene-related (ATG) protein, in the autophagic pro-survival response, and Ambra1 has been shown to regulate Beclin1 and Beclin1-dependent autophagy in embryonic stem cells and cancer cells. However, whether Ambra1 plays an important role in the autophagy pathway in ovarian cancer cells is unknown. In this study, we hypothesized that Ambra1 is an important regulator of autophagy and apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells. We firstly confirmed autophagic activity in ovarian cancer OVCAR-3 cells which were treated with cisplatin by assessing endogenous microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3) localization and the presence of autophagosomes and LC3 protein levels in OVCAR-3 cells. Cell apoptosis and viability were measured by annexin-V and PI staining and MTT assays. We then knocked down Ambra1 expression with transfection with the plasmid expressing the small hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting AMBRA1, then re-evaluated autophagy in the OVCAR-3 cells subject to cisplatin treatment, and re-determined the sensitivity of OVCAR-3 cells to cisplatin. Results demonstrated that cisplatin treatment induced autophagy in OVCAR-3 cells in association with Ambra1 upregulation in the ovarian cancer cells. When Ambra1 expression was reduced by shRNA, the ovarian cancer cells were more sensitive to cisplatin. In conclusion, Ambra1 is a crucial regulator of autophagy and apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells subject to cisplatin to maintain the balance between autophagy and apoptosis. And the Ambra1-targeting inhibition might be an effective method to sensitize ovarian cancer cells to chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of primary extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) of soft tissue is rare, particularly in skeletal muscle. The present study describes a case of diffuse large B cell lymphoma of the right lower extremity and provides a detailed review of the literature associated with this disorder, with the aim of improving the future diagnosis and therapy of extranodal NHL. The present case report was of a 76-year-old woman who presented with a right thigh and calf mass. In view of the tumor's location and the patient's age, soft tissue tumors were considered to be soft tissue sarcoma. Imaging scans were performed to determine the location and size of the tumor, followed by a biopsy of the muscle. Histopathological examination then yielded a diagnosis of diffuse large B cell lymphoma. The patient then underwent 4 cycles of chemotherapy. There was evident relief of pain and swelling in the right extremity; however, positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) determined insufficient treatment efficacy. Chemotherapy was adjusted for 2 cycles; however, the patient suffered an aggravation of edema, so a different chemotherapy regimen of bleomycin, cytarabine, vincristine, cyclosphamide and dexamethasone (BCOAD) was performed for a further 2 cycles. The edema was alleviated and magnetic resonance imaging revealed shrinkage of the lower limb mass and the right thigh mass was undetectable. In conclusion, the present case report demonstrated that PET/CT may help determine the efficacy of chemotherapy treatment and that the BCOAD chemotherapy regimen may be more effective than standard treatments in certain cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current research is mainly trending toward addressing the development of multifunctional nanocarriers that could precisely reach disease sites, release drugs in a controlled-manner, and act as an imaging agent for both diagnosis and targeted therapy. In this study, a pH-sensitive theranostic nanoplatform as a promising dual-functional nanovector for tumor therapy and computed tomography (CT) imaging was developed. The 21-arm star-like triblock polymer of ß-cyclodextrin-{poly(e-caprolactone)-poly(2-aminoethyl methacrylate)-poly[poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate]}21 [ß-CD-(PCL-PAEMA-PPEGMA)21] with stable unimolecular micelles formed in aqueous solution was first synthesized by combined ROP with ARGET ATRP techniques and then was used as a template for fabricating gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with uniform sizes and excellent colloidal stability in situ followed by the encapsulation of doxorubicin (DOX) with maximum entrapment efficiency up to 60% to generate the final product ß-CD-(PCL-PAEMA-PPEGMA)21/AuNPs/DOX. Furthermore, dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations revealed further details of the formation process of unimolecular micelles and the morphologies and distributions of AuNPs and DOX. Almost 80% of DOX was released in 120 h in an acidic tumoral environment in an in vitro drug release experiment, and the experiments both in vitro and in vivo demonstrated the fact that ß-CD-(PCL-PAEMA-PPEGMA)21/AuNPs/DOX exhibited similar antitumor efficacy to free DOX and effective CT imaging performance. Therefore, we believe this structurally stable unimolecular micelle-based nanoplatform synergistically integrated with anticancer drug delivery and CT imaging capabilities hold great promise for future cancer theranostics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With regards to colon cancer, resistance to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy and cancer stem cells (CSCs) are considered important factors underlying therapy failure. Metastasis-associated colon cancer 1 (MACC1) has been associated with poor prognosis and the promotion of metastasis within several types of cancer. However, the biological behavior of MACC1 in chemoresistance and CSC-like properties remains unclear. In the present study, various methods including gene knockdown, gene overexpression, western blotting, quantitative polymerase chain reaction and MTT assay, have been adopted. According to the results of the present study, MACC1 was depleted in two colon cancer cell lines resistant to 5-FU; subsequently, CSC-like properties and 5-FU sensitivity were investigated. Within 5-FU-resistant cells, cell death was facilitated by MACC1 knockdown. Furthermore, sphere formation and the expression levels of pluripotent markers, including cluster of differentiation (CD) 44, CD133 and Nanog were reduced due to MACC1 depletion. Additionally, it was indicated that the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B signaling pathway may be associated with 5-FU resistance and CSC-like properties via MACC1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]