Search

Background: Autophagy, a highly conserved cellular catabolic process by which the eukaryotic cells deliver autophagosomes engulfing cellular proteins and organelles to lysosomes for degradation, is critical for maintaining cellular homeostasis in response to various signals and nutrient stresses. The dysregulation of autophagy has been noted in the pathogenesis of cancers. Our study aims to investigate the prognosis-predicting value of autophagy-related genes (ARG) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Results: The signature was constructed based on eight ARGs, which stratified HCC patients into high- and low-risk groups in terms of overall survival (OS) (Hazard Ratio, HR=4.641, 95% Confidential Interval, CI, 3.365-5.917, P=0.000). The ARG signature is an independent prognostic indicator for HCC patients (HR = 1.286, 95% CI, 1.194-1.385; P < 0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) for 5-year survival is 0.765. Conclusion: This study provides a potential prognostic signature for predicting the prognosis of HCC patients and molecular insights into the significance of autophagy in HCC. Methods: Sixty-two differentially expressed ARGs and the clinical characteristics and basic information of the 369 enrolled HCC patients were retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. the Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was adopted to identify survival-related ARGs, based on which a prognosis predicting signature was constructed.

BackgroundLiver cancer is an extremely heterogeneous malignant disease among tumors identified to date. In recent years, a large number of studies have found that low-concentration hydrogen or hydrogen-rich water or hydrogen-saturated physiological saline has a protective effect on many diseases. Observing the intervention effect of hydrogen-rich water and speculate whether its effect is regulated by GP73/TGF-β signaling pathway would provide a basis for clinical treatment using hydrogen in liver cancer.MethodThe(N-nitrosodiethylamine) DEN-induced LX-2 hepatocyte injury model, hepatocarcinoma cell(HepG2 cells), and normal hepatic stellate cell LX-2 and HepG2 co-culture system were treated with hydrogen-rich water, and the cell viability was measured by the Cell Counting Kit-8(CCK-8)method. Also, the supernatant was collected to determination the transforming growth factor (TGF-β), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), and osteopontin (OPN) content. Subsequently, qPCR method was employed to detect the expression of GP73, TGF-β, and Smad2 mRNA in the cell. Total cell protein was extracted, and the level of GP73, TGF-β, and Smad2 proteins in the cells was detected by Western blot.ResultAfter the intervention of hydrogen-rich water, DEN increases the activity of LX-2 hepatocytes, inhibits the secretion of TGF-β, downregulate the expression of GP73, TGF-β, and Smad2 mRNA in the injured LX-2 cells, inhibits the expression of GP73 and TGF-β proteins, and exerts a protective effect on injured cells. The intervention with hydrogen-rich water in HepG2 liver cancer cells inhibits the expression of GP73 mRNA and protein in the cells, upregulates the expression of TGF-β mRNA and protein, inhibits the expression of OPN, and exerts an anti-proliferation effect on liver cancer cells. In the co-culture system of LX-2 and HepG2, the effect of hydrogen-rich water showed different effects with the altered ratio of the two cells in the system.ConclusionHydrogen-rich water has a protective effect on liver cell damage and an inhibitory effect on liver cancer cells, which is effectuated by regulating the GP73/TGF-β signaling pathway.

Background Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly malignant brain tumor with poor survival and prognosis. Randomized trials have demonstrated that chemotherapy improves survival in patients with GBM. This study aims to examine the clinical characteristics that are potentially associated with the efficacy of chemotherapy and the risk factors of GBM. Methods A total of 25,698 patients diagnosed with GBM were identified between 2004 and 2015 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER). The clinical and demographic variables between groups were examined by Student’s t-test and Pearson’s chi-square test. GBM-specific survival (GBMSS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method with the log-rank test. Univariable and multivariable analyses were also performed using the Cox proportional hazards model to identify statistically significant prognostic factors. Results Patients who received chemotherapy had better overall survival (median OS 13 vs. Three months, HR = 1.9224, 95%CI 1.8571–1.9900, p p Conclusion Patients with GBM who were younger (