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Objectives: To investigate the feasibility of contralateral lower neck sparing intensity modulation radiated therapy (IMRT) for nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients (NPC) with unilateral cervical lymph node metastasis.Materials and Methods: Retrospective review of 546 patients with unilateral cervical lymph node metastasis treated between November 2009 and February 2012 at one institution. All patients were staged using magnetic resonance imaging and received radical IMRT. Patients were classified into two groups: the inferior border of the negative neck irradiation field only covered Levels III to Va in Group 1; the inferior border covered entire neck down to Levels IV to Vb in Group 2.Results: Median follow-up was 49.9months (range, 1.3-69.2months). Four-year overall survival (OS:89.3% vs. 88.9%, P=0.91), disease-free survival (DFS:81.7% vs. 81.0%, P=0.91), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS:88.2% vs. 87.9%, P=0.95), local relapse-free survival (LRFS:96.7% vs. 94.7%, P=0.70) and nodal relapse-free survival (NRFS: 96.1% vs. 95.9%, P=0.94) were not significantly different between Group 1 and Group 2. Twenty-two patients developed cervical lymph node relapse; of whom 20/22 (91.0%) developed unilateral relapse within pretreatment positive neck. Only one patient developed out-of-field relapse, though this patient also relapsed within the neck irradiation field (Level II). No clinicopathological feature tested had significant prognostic value for NRFS in multivariate analysis.Conclusions: In the IMRT and MRI era, contralateral lower neck sparing IMRT seems to be feasible for NPC patients with unilateral cervical lymph node metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3 Effects of YPEL3 silencing on NPC cell migration and invasion in vitro. a Representative western blotting analysis of YPEL3 silencing in CNE-2 and SUNE-1 cells. Correction to: YPEL3 suppresses epithelial-mesenchymal transition and metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells through the Wnt/ -catenin signaling pathway Correction to: YPEL3 suppresses epithelial-mesenchymal transition and metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells through the Wnt/ -catenin signaling pathway. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Epigenetic abnormalities play important roles in nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC), however, the epigenetic changes associated with abnormal cell proliferation remain unclear. Methods: We detected epigenetic change of ZNF671 in NPC tissues and cell lines by bisulfite pyrosequencing. We evaluated zinc finger protein 671 (ZNF671) expression in NPC cell lines and clinical tissues using real-time PCR and western blotting. Then, we established NPC cell lines that stably overexpressed ZNF671 and knocked down ZNF671 expression to explore its function in NPC in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, we investigated the potential mechanism of ZNF671 by identifying the mitotic spindle and G2/M checkpoint pathways pathway downstream genes using gene set enrichment analysis, flow cytometry and western blotting. Results: ZNF671 was hypermethylated in NPC tissues and cell lines. The mRNA and protein expression of ZNF671 was down-regulated in NPC tissues and cell lines and the mRNA expression could be upregulated after the demethylation agent 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine treatment. Overexpression of ZNF671 suppressed NPC cell proliferation and colony formation in vitro; silencing ZNF671 using a siRNA had the opposite effects. Additionally, overexpression of ZNF671 reduced the tumorigenicity of NPC cells in xenograft model in vivo. The mechanism study determined that overexpressing ZNF671 induced S phase arrest in NPC cells by upregulating p21 and downregulating cyclin D1 and c-myc. Conclusions: Epigenetic mediated zinc finger protein 671 downregulation promotes cell proliferation and enhances tumorigenicity by inhibiting cell cycle arrest in NPC, which may represent a novel potential therapeutic target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(A) Migration ability was measured using a wound healing assay (200 ×) and (B) Transwell assay with Matrigel (200 ×) in CNE2 and SUNE1 cells with the vector or ZNF671 overexpression. Reference 1 Zhang J, Wen X, Liu N. Epigenetic mediated zinc finger protein 671 downregulation promotes cell proliferation and tumorigenicity in nasopharyngeal carcinoma by inhibiting cell cycle arrest. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Metastasis remains the major cause of death in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Yippee-like 3 (YPEL3) plays an important role in tumorigenesis. However, its function and mechanism in NPC has not been systematically explored. Methods: We evaluated YPEL3 expression in NPC cell lines and tissues using real-time PCR and western blotting. Then, we established NPC cell lines that stably overexpressed YPEL3 and knocked down YPEL3 expression to explore its function in NPC in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, we investigated the potential mechanism of YPEL3 action by identifying the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway downstream genes using western blotting. Results: YPEL3 was downregulated in NPC cell lines and tissue samples. Ectopic expression of YPEL3 inhibited NPC cell migration and invasion in vitro; while silencing of YPEL3 promoted NPC cell migration and invasion. Further study indicated that overexpression of YPEL3 inhibited NPC cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and that silencing it enhanced EMT. Overexpression of YPEL3 suppressed NPC cell lung metastasis in vivo. The mechanism study determined that YPEL3 suppressed the expression levels of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway downstream genes and the nuclear translocation of β-catenin. Conclusions: YPEL3 suppresses NPC EMT and metastasis by suppressing the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, which would help better understanding the molecular mechanisms of NPC metastasis and provide novel therapeutic targets for NPC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been demonstrated to contribute to malignant progression in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). We previously reported that miR-93 was significantly upregulated in NPC based on a microarray analysis. However, the potential role and mechanism of action of miR-93 in the initiation and progression of NPC remain largely unknown. Quantitative RT-PCR demonstrated that miR-93 was significantly upregulated in NPC cell lines and clinical specimens. The MTT assay, colony formation assay, anchorage-independent growth, and Transwell migration and invasion assays showed that depletion of miR-93 inhibited NPC cell growth, invasion and migration in vitro and suppressed tumor growth in vivo . Disabled homolog-2 ( Dab2 ) was verified as a miR-93 target gene using Luciferase reporter assays, quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting and was involved in miR-93-regulated NPC cell growth, invasion and migration. These results indicated that miR-93 plays an important role in the initiation and progression of NPC by targeting Dab2 and the miR-93/ Dab2 pathway may contribute to the development of novel therapeutic strategies for NPC in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Based on our recent microarray analysis, we found that miR-145 was obviously downregulated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tissues. However, little is known about its function and mechanism involving in NPC development and progression. Methods: Quantitative RT-PCR was used to detect miR-145 expression in NPC cell lines and clinical samples. Wound healing, Transwell migration and invasion, three-dimension spheroid invasion assays, and lung metastasis model were performed to test the migratory, invasive, and metastatic ability of NPC cells. Luciferase reporter assay, quantitative RT-PCR, and Western blotting were used to verify the target of miR-145. Results: MiR-145 was obviously decreased in NPC cell lines and clinical samples (P<0.01). Ectopic overexpression of miR-145 significantly inhibited the migratory and invasive ability of SUNE-1 and CNE-2 cells. In addition, stably overexpressing of miR-145 in SUNE-1 cells could remarkably restrain the formation of metastatic nodes in the lungs of mice. Furthermore, fascin actin-bundling protein 1 (FSCN1) was verified as a target of miR-145, and silencing FSCN1 with small RNA interfering RNA could suppress NPC cell migration and invasion. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that miR-145 function as a tumor suppressor in NPC development and progression via targeting FSCN1, which could sever as a potential novel therapeutic target for patients with NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Alternative polyadenylation (APA) is a widespread phenomenon in the posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression that generates mRNAs with alternative 3′-untranslated regions (3'UTRs). APA contributes to the pathogenesis of various diseases, including cancer. However, the potential role of APA in the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains largely unknown. Methods: A strategy of sequencing APA sites (SAPAS) based on second-generation sequencing technology was carried out to explore the global patterns of APA sites and identify genes with tandem 3'UTRs in samples from 6 NPC and 6 normal nasopharyngeal epithelial tissue (NNET). Sequencing results were then validated using quantitative RT-PCR in a larger cohort of 16 NPC and 16 NNET samples. Results: The sequencing data showed that the use of tandem APA sites was prevalent in NPC, and numerous genes with APA-switching events were discovered. In total, we identified 195 genes with significant differences in the tandem 3'UTR length between NPC and NNET; including 119 genes switching to distal poly (A) sites and 76 genes switching to proximal poly (A) sites. Several gene ontology (GO) terms were enriched in the list of genes with switched APA sites, including regulation of cell migration, macromolecule catabolic process, protein catabolic process, proteolysis, small conjugating protein ligase activity, and ubiquitin-protein ligase activity. Conclusions: APA site-switching events are prevalent in NPC. APA-mediated regulation of gene expression may play an important role in the development of NPC, and more detailed studies targeting genes with APA-switching events may contribute to the development of novel future therapeutic strategies for NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Increasing evidence recognizes that DNA methylation abnormalities play critical roles in cancer development. Our previous genome-wide methylation profile showed that tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced protein 8 like 3 (TIPE3) was hypermethylated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, the relationship between TIPE3 methylation and its mRNA expression, as well as its biological roles in NPC are unknown. Methods: Bisulfite pyrosequencing and quantitative RT-PCR were performed to quantify the TIPE3 methylation and expression levels. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analysis were used to estimate the correlation between TIPE3 methylation levels and survival in two patient cohorts collected from two hospitals (n = 441). The MTT, colony formation, Transwell migration and invasion assays, and xenograft tumor growth and lung metastatic colonization models were used to identify the functions of TIPE3 on NPC cells. Results: We found that TIPE3 CpG island (CGI) was hypermethylated and its mRNA levels were downregulated in many cancers, including NPC. TIPE3 downregulation was associated with its CGI hypermethylation. Furthermore, NPC patients with high TIPE3 CGI methylation levels had poorer clinical outcomes than those with low methylation levels. The TIPE3 CGI methylation level was an independent prognostic factor. Moreover, restoring TIPE3 expression significantly inhibited NPC cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro, and suppressed tumor growth and lung metastatic colonization in vivo, while silencing TIPE3 acted in an opposite way. Conclusions: TIPE3 downregulation correlates with its CGI hypermethylation in several solid cancers. TIPE3 acts as a tumor suppressor in NPC, providing a further insight into NPC progression and representing a potential prognostic biomarker for NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]