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Background Ferritin plays a key role in the development of prostate cancer (PCa). Our earlier studies showed that the knockdown of ferritin heavy chain (FTH) suppressed the migration and invasion of the prostate cancer cell line (PC3). However, the mechanisms behind FTH in the cell migration regulation of PCa have not been thoroughly investigated. Methods Isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) proteomics was used to analyze the protein expression in PC3 cells with FTH knockdown by small interfering RNAs and negative control cells. We subsequently ranked the differentially expressed proteins according to the change in expression. We further performed Gene Ontology (GO) analysis for the changing-expression protein. Finally, Western blot analysis was performed to determine the expression of the target protein. Results Compared with the negative group, 420 proteins were downregulated, including proteins S100A4, S100P, and S100A2, while the expression of 442 protein was elevated in FTH-silencing PC3 cells (P1.2). The mass spectrometry results showing decreased expression of protein S100A4, S100P, and S100A2 in the cells were further validated by Western blot (P1.6). Conclusions The downregulation of FTH expression reduced the level of protein S100A4, S100A2, and S100P, which all play a key role in the migration and invasion of tumor cells. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that there are correlations between the expression of the S100A4, S100A2, and S100P genes with FTH. Based on this research, FTH may be a new biomarker for the diagnosis of PCa.

BackgroundUrinary extracellular exosomes (uEVs) have been identified as a novel, stable and no-invasive source of biomarkers. However, the potential clinical value of uEVs is limited by the lack of standard quantitative proteomics data. It is necessary to uncover ubiquitous and stable proteins of uEVs as the reference markers in urinary quantification.Samples and methodsThe samples from 210 healthy individuals (3~90 years old), were divided into seven different stages of life. The uEVs samples were identified by LC-MS/MS and data-independent acquisition (DIA) methods. Eight stably expressed uEVs proteins were obtained by bioinformatics analysis. Moreover, 42 samples were used to validate by Western blot, ELISA, and immunofluorescence.ResultsA total of 3,002 proteins and 1,393 co-expression uEVs proteins were identified by LC-MS/MS. The bioinformatics analysis showed 1,393 co-expression proteins mostly enriched in endocytosis. Eight proteins were stably expressed throughout the seven age stages (pConclusionRAB8A, RAB8B, Semaphorin-5A, Plexin-B2, JAMA, and STUB1 were expressed stably proteins throughout the age stages. These six proteins might be the standard reference markers in the analysis of urine exosomal proteomics. RAB8A and RAB8B have been validated are the putative reference markers.

Ferritin is an important molecule in the regulation of cell proliferation, growth inhibition escape, cell death inhibition and angiogenesis. More and more studies have given evidence of abnormal iron metabolism in tumors. Whether ferritin can be a new type of marker for early diagnosis of tumorous diseases remains to be explored. In this study, we verified the expression level of ferritin heavy chain (FTH) in benign prostatic hyperplasia epithelial cell (BPH-1) and three kinds of PCa cells by Western blotting. Lentivirus was used to construct FTH gene overexpression vector, then construct FTH overexpression PCa cell lines. Meanwhile, LNCaP cells and DU145 cells FTH silent expression prostate cancer cell lines were constructed using Crispr Cas9 technology. Next, clone proliferation experiments, transwell experiments, and scratch experiments were used to verify the cell proliferation, invasion, and migration capabilities of each group of cells with different FTH expression levels. The FTH knockout PC-3 cell (LV-shFTH PC3) has been established in our laboratory. Make full use of the existing results from Isobaric Tag for Relative and Absolute Quantitation (iTRAQ) mass spectrometry technology to analyze differentially expressed protein analysis between LV-shFTH PC3 cells and control cells. Combine GO analysis to select the target protein for subsequent cell protein expression level verification. Our results show that FTH overexpression can promote the proliferation, migration and invasion of prostate cancer cell lines, while FTH knockout causes the opposite result. Combined with mass spectrometry (MS) detection, it is speculated that FTH may trigger changes in cell behavior by regulating the expression of the following proteins: S100A4, CRABP1, S100A2, S100P, GDF15, FAM84B, KRT75, LYRM7, OCLN, LCP1, F2RL1. (The study is not a clinical trial, no registration number and registration date are required)

To investigate the therapeutic effect of Toll-like receptor 7( TLR7) agonist imiquimod combined with dendritic cell( DC)-based tumor vaccine on melanoma in mice and the potential mechanism.Melanoma-bearing mouse models were established by subcutanous injection of B16-OVA cells into C57 BL /6 mice. DCs were isolated from mouse bone marrow and propagated in culture medium with recombinant mouse granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor( rm GM-CSF) and recombinant mouse interleukin-4( rm IL-4). DC vaccine( OVA-DC) was prepared by overnight incubation of DCs added with chicken ovalbumin. C57 BL /6 mice were separated into four groups which were treated with PBS,topical imiquimod application,OVA-DC intradermal injection and imiquimod plus OVA-DC,respectively. The tumor size was calculated by digital vernier caliper. Peripheral blood CD4~+FOXP3~+Tregs of the tumor-bearing mice was detected by flow cytometry. The cytotoxicity of splenic lymphocyte against B16-OVA was assessed in vitro by CCK-8 assay.Compared with the other three groups,B16-OVA-bearing mice treated with imiquimod plus DC vaccine had the smallest tumor volume. The percentage of CD4~+FOXP3~+Tregs decreased significantly in the combined treated mice. The combined treatment enhanced significantly cytotoxicity of splenic lymphocytes against B16-OVA cells.Imiquimod combined with antigen-pulsed-DC vaccine could reduce CD4~+FOXP3~+Treg proportion and promote anti-tumor effect in mice with melanoma