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Previous studies have shown that miR-454 plays an important role in a variety of biological processes in various human cancer cells. However, the underlying mechanisms of this microRNA in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells remain largely unknown. In the present study, we investigated the miR-454 role in CRC cell proliferation. We found that miR-454 expression is markedly upregulated in CRC tissues and CRC cells compared with the matched tumor adjacent tissues and the FHC normal colonic cell line. Ectopic expression of miR-454 promoted the proliferation and anchorage-independent growth of CRC cells, whereas inhibition of miR-454 reduced this effect. Bioinformatics analysis further revealed cylindromatosis (CYLD), a putative tumor suppressor as a potential target of miR-454. Data from luciferase reporter assays showed that miR-454 directly binds to the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of CYLD mRNA and repressed expression at both transcriptional and translational levels. In functional assays, CYLD-silenced in miR-454-in-transfected SW480 cells have positive effect to promote cell proliferation, suggesting that direct CYLD downregulation is required for miR-454-induced CRC cell proliferation. In sum, our data provide compelling evidence that miR-454 functions as an onco-miRNA, playing a crucial role in the promoting cell proliferation in CRC, and its oncogenic effect is mediated chiefly through direct suppression of CYLD expression.

Bevacizumab and panitumumab are human monoclonal antibodies with different targeting antigens, vascular endothelial growth factor, and epidermal growth factor receptor. This study examined the efficacy and safety of combining bevacizumab and panitumumab plus fluorouracil, leucovorin, and irinotecan (FOLFIRI) as the second-line therapy for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Patients with mCRC, and previously failed with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy, were given bevacizumab (3 mg/kg) and panitumumab (3 mg/kg) plus FOLFIRI every other week. From September 2008 to July 2012, 173 patients were included in the study. The response rate was 42.3 %, and the disease-controlled rate was 65.7 %. The median progression-free survival was 6.5 months, and the median overall survival was 15.4 months. Various adverse events (AE) including those known toxicities associated with antibody therapy were recorded. The overall AE rate was 64.5 % for grade 3-4. The treatment of combining bevacizumab and panitumumab plus FOLFIRI is effective and safe as a second-line therapy for patients with mCRC.

AIM: To investigate the therapeutic effects of the combined use of rosiglitazone and aminosalicylate on mild or moderately active ulcerative colitis (UC). METHODS: According to the national guideline for diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in China, patients with mild or moderately active UC in our hospital were selected from July to November, 2004. Patients with infectious colitis, amoebiasis, or cardiac, renal or hepatic failure and those who had received corticosteroid or immunosuppressant treatment within the last month were excluded. Following a quasi-randomization principle, patients were allocated alternatively into the treatment group (TG) with rosiglitazone 4 mg/d plus 5-ASA 2 g/d daily or the control group (CG) with 5-ASA 2 g/d alone, respectively, for 4 wk. Clinical changes were evaluated by Mayo scoring system and histological changes by Truelove-Richards’ grading system at initial and final point of treatment. RESULTS: Forty-two patients completed the trial, 21 each in TG and CG. The Mayo scores in TG at initial and final points were 5.87 (range: 4.29-7.43) and 1.86 (range: 1.03-2.69) and those in CG were 6.05 (range: 4.97-7.13) and 2.57 (range: 1.92-3.22) respectively. The decrements of Mayo scores were 4.01 in TG and 3.48 in CG, with a remission rate of 71.4% in TG and 57.1% in CG, respectively. Along with the improvement of disease activity index (DAI), the histological grade improvement was more significant in TG than in CG (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Combined treatment with rosiglitazone and 5-ASA achieved better therapeutic effect than 5-ASA alone without any side effects. Rosiglitazone can alleviate colonic inflammation which hopefully becomes a novel agent for UC treatment.

To investigate the therapeutic effects of the combination of rosiglitazone, which is peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) ligands used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus, and aminosalicylate on mildly or moderately active ulcerative colitis and on relevant cytokine expressions.According to the national guideline of China for diagnosis and treatment of the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), 42 patients with mild, moderately active ulcerative colitis were selected from the outpatient clinic of West China Hospital from July to November, 2004. Patients with infectious colitis, amoebiasis, or cardiac, renal or hepatic failure were excluded, as well as those who had received corticosteroid or immunosuppressant treatment within the last month. Following a quasi-randomization principle, patients were allocated alternatively into the treatment group with rosiglitazone 4 mg/d plus 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) 2 g/d or sulfasalazine 3 g/d and the control group with 5-ASA or sulfasalazine alone for 4 weeks. Clinical and histological changes were evaluated weekly by the Mayo scoring system for assessment of the activity of ulcerative colitis and the Truelove-Richards' grading system, respectively. PPARgamma and nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB p65 expressions in colonic mucosa were investigated before and after the treatment.Mayo scores decreased 4.01 in treatment group and 3.48 in control group respectively, with a remission rate 71.4% in treatment group and 57.1% in control group respectively. Along with the improvement of the Mayo score, the histological grade improvement was more significant in treatment group than in control group (P0.05). PPARgamma expression was higher, and NF-kappaB p65 positive rate was lower in treatment group than in control group after the treatment, and there was a good negative correlation between PPARgamma and NF-kappaB.Combined treatment with rosiglitazone and 5-ASA achieved better therapeutic effect than 5-ASA alone without any side effects. The PPARgamma expression was lower in active ulcerative colitis. Rosiglitazone alleviate colonic inflammation probably the through blockade of NF-kappaB, which can be a novel approach to the ulcerative colitis treatment.

To study the clinical, pathological features of severe reflux esophagitis (SRE) and Barrett's esophagus (BE) and search for expression and significance of Ki-67 and COX-2 in their tissues.Both SRE (n = 15) and BE (n = 25) cases were retrospectively analyzed for clinical manifestations, endoscopic findings and pathological features. The expression levels of Ki-67 and COX-2 of esophageal epithelium in the two groups were compared with that of normal esophageal (NE) epithelium (n = 10) by immunoperoxidase staining.It was found that the positivity and staining intensity of Ki-67 expression in SRE and BE were higher than those in normal esophageal epithelium (P0.01), but there were no statistical differences between these two groups (P0.05); COX-2 was selectively expressed in some BE epithelium, but not in SRE and normal esophageal epithelium.There were intensified Ki-67 expressions in the epithelium of SRE and BE, which could help us to evaluate the prognosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) patients clinically by surveillance of Ki-67. COX-2 was selectively expressed in BE epithelium, so COX-2 inhibitors may have the potential for treatment of BE and for chemoprevention of its malignant change.