Surgical resection may provide better survival and lower recurrence rates than RFA for patients with HCC to the Milan criteria.

ObjectivePatients with renal failure suffer from symptoms caused by uraemic toxins, possibly of gut microbial origin, as deduced from studies in animals. The aim of the study is to characterise relationships between the intestinal microbiome composition, uraemic toxins and renal failure symptoms in human end-stage renal disease (ESRD).DesignCharacterisation of gut microbiome, serum and faecal metabolome and human phenotypes in a cohort of 223 patients with ESRD and 69 healthy controls. Multidimensional data integration to reveal links between these datasets and the use of chronic kidney disease (CKD) rodent models to test the effects of intestinal microbiome on toxin accumulation and disease severity.ResultsA group of microbial species enriched in ESRD correlates tightly to patient clinical variables and encode functions involved in toxin and secondary bile acids synthesis; the relative abundance of the microbial functions correlates with the serum or faecal concentrations of these metabolites. Microbiota from patients transplanted to renal injured germ-free mice or antibiotic-treated rats induce higher production of serum uraemic toxins and aggravated renal fibrosis and oxidative stress more than microbiota from controls. Two of the species, Eggerthella lenta and Fusobacterium nucleatum, increase uraemic toxins production and promote renal disease development in a CKD rat model. A probiotic Bifidobacterium animalis decreases abundance of these species, reduces levels of toxins and the severity of the disease in rats.ConclusionAberrant gut microbiota in patients with ESRD sculpts a detrimental metabolome aggravating clinical outcomes, suggesting that the gut microbiota will be a promising target for diminishing uraemic toxicity in those patients.Trial registration numberThis study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03010696).

Background: N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification, the most abundant internal methylation of eukaryotic RNA transcripts, is critically implicated in RNA processing. As the largest known component in the m6A methyltransferase complex, KIAA1429 plays a vital role in m6A methylation. However, its function and mechanism in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain poorly defined. Methods: Quantitative PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry were used to measure the expression of KIAA1429 in HCC. The effects of KIAA1429 on the malignant phenotypes of hepatoma cells were examined in vitro and in vivo. MeRIP-seq, RIP-seq and RNA-seq were performed to identify the target genes of KIAA1429. Results: KIAA1429 was considerably upregulated in HCC tissues. High expression of KIAA1429 was associated with poor prognosis among HCC patients. Silencing KIAA1429 suppressed cell proliferation and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. GATA3 was identified as the direct downstream target of KIAA1429-mediated m6A modification. KIAA1429 induced m6A methylation on the 3′ UTR of GATA3 pre-mRNA, leading to the separation of the RNA-binding protein HuR and the degradation of GATA3 pre-mRNA. Strikingly, a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) GATA3-AS, transcribed from the antisense strand of the GATA3 gene, functioned as a cis-acting element for the preferential interaction of KIAA1429 with GATA3 pre-mRNA. Accordingly, we found that the tumor growth and metastasis driven by KIAA1429 or GATA3-AS were mediated by GATA3. Conclusion: Our study proposed a complex KIAA1429-GATA3 regulatory model based on m6A modification and provided insights into the epi-transcriptomic dysregulation in hepatocarcinogenesis and metastasis.

From the available evidence, acupuncture may have beneficial effects on improving dependency, global neurological deficiency, and some specific neurological impairments for people with stroke in the convalescent stage, with no obvious serious adverse events. However, most included trials were of inadequate quality and size. There is, therefore, inadequate evidence to draw any conclusions about its routine use. Rigorously designed, randomised, multi-centre, large sample trials of acupuncture for stroke are needed to further assess its effects.

Understanding the roles of noncoding RNAs (ncRNA) in tumorigenesis and metastasis would establish novel avenues to identify diagnostic and therapeutic targets. Here, we aimed to identify hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-specific ncRNA and to investigate their roles in hepatocarcinogenesis and metastasis. RNA-seq of xenografts generated by lung metastasis identified long noncoding RNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 10 (SNHG10) and its homolog SCARNA13 as novel drivers for the development and metastasis of HCC. SNHG10 expression positively correlated with SCARNA13 expression in 64 HCC cases, and high expression of SNHG10 or SCARNA13 was associated with poor overall survival. As SCARNA13 showed significant rise and decline after overexpression and knockdown of SNHG10, respectively, we hypothesized that SNHG10 might act as an upstream regulator of SCARNA13. SNHG10 and SCARNA13 coordinately contributed to the malignant phenotype of HCC cells, where SNHG10 served as a sponge for miR-150-5p and interacted with RPL4 mRNA to increase the expression and activity of c-Myb. Reciprocally, upregulated and hyperactivated c-Myb enhanced SNHG10 and SCARNA13 expression by regulating SNHG10 promoter activity, forming a positive feedback loop and continuously stimulating SCARNA13 expression. SCARNA13 mediated SNHG10-driven HCC cell proliferation, invasion, and migration and facilitated the cell cycle and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of HCC cells by regulating SOX9. Overall, we identified a complex circuitry underlying the concomitant upregulation of SNHG10 and its homolog SCARNA13 in HCC in the process of hepatocarcinogenesis and metastasis. Significance: These findings unveil the role of a noncoding RNA in carcinogenesis and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma.