BackgroundCircular RNAs are a new class of endogenous non-coding RNA that can function as crucial regulators of diverse cellular processes. The diverse types of circular RNAs with varying cytogenetics in cancer have also been reported.Main body of the abstractCircular RNAs can act as a microRNA sponge or through other mechanisms to regulate gene expression as either tumor inhibitors or accelerators, suggesting that circular RNAs can serve as newly developed biomarkers with clinic implications. Here, we summerized recent advances on circular RNAs in cancer and described a circular RNA network associated with tumorigenesis. The clinical implications of circular RNAs in cancer were also discussed in this paper.Short conclusionGrowing evidence has revealed the crucial regulatory roles of circular RNAs in cancer and the elucidation of functional mechanisms involving circular RNAs would be helpful to construct a circRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network. Moreover, circular RNAs can be easily detected due to their relative stability, widespread expression, and abundance in exosomes, blood and saliva; thus, circular RNAs have potential as new and ideal clinical biomarkers in cancer.

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer with poor prognosis, and its treatment remains a challenge due to few targeted medicines and high risk of relapse, metastasis, and drug resistance. Thus, more effective drugs and new regimens for the therapy of TNBC are urgently needed. Ilamycins are a kind of cyclic peptides and produced by Streptomyces atratus and Streptomyces islandicus with effective anti-tuberculosis activity. Ilamycin C is a novel compound isolated from the deep South China Seaderived Streptomyces atratus SCSIO ZH16 and exhibited a strong cytotoxic activity against several cancers including breast cancer cell line MCF7. However, the cytotoxic activity of Ilamycin C to TNBC cells and a detailed antitumor mechanism have not been reported. Methods: CCK-8 assays were used to examine cell viability and cytotoxic activity of Ilamycin C to TNBC, non-TNBC MCF7, and nonmalignant MCF10A cells. EdU assays and flow cytometry were performed to assess cell proliferation and cell apoptosis. Transwell migration and Matrigel invasion assays were utilized to assess the migratory and invading capacity of TNBC cells following the treatment of Ilamycin C. The expressions of proteins were detected by western blot. Results: In this study, we found that Ilamycin C has more preferential cytotoxicity in TNBC cells than non-TNBC MCF7 and nonmalignant MCF10A cells. Notably, our studies revealed the mechanism that Ilamycin C can induce Bax/Bcl-2-related caspase-dependent apoptosis and inhibit migration and invasion through MMP2/MMP9/vimentin/ fascin in TNBC by suppressing IL-6-induced STAT3 phosphorylation. Conclusions: This study provides the first evidence that Ilamycin C has significant implications for the potential as a novel IL-6/STAT3 inhibitor for TNBC treatment in the future.

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Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a member of the collectin protein family that binds a broad range of microorganisms and activates the lectin-complement pathway of innate immunity. MBL deficiency is associated with an increased risk for various infections and arises from five polymorphisms in the promoter and first exon of the MBL gene in humans. In this study, three novel single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter region and two previously reported SNPs in exon 2 of the MBL1 gene were detected using PCR single-strand conformation polymorphism, restriction fragment length polymorphism, and DNA sequencing in 537 cattle from three Chinese breeds. Analysis of the genotypes and haplotypes was used to investigate the polymorphisms and their possible implications, especially their association with serum MBL-A levels, complement activity (CH50 and ACH50), and milk production traits was investigated. The g.2651G > A SNP in exon 2 affected the serum MBL-A concentrations and the serum CH50 values, whereas the g.-1330G > A SNP significantly affected CH50 and the somatic cell scores (SCSs). Statistical analysis revealed that cows with the ATGGC/ACAAC combined genotype and those with the AAGGT/ACGGT combined genotype exhibited the lowest and highest SCSs, respectively. Serum antibacterial activities were also conducted to verify the effect of the SNPs on resistance to mastitis pathogens. Results of real-time PCR showed that the liver of cows with clinical mastitis exhibited a higher MBL1 expression compared with healthy ones (P < 0.05). Findings of this study indicate that the MBL1 gene possibly contributes to bacterial infection resistance and can be used as a molecular marker of milk production traits to control mastitis.

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