Enhancers are cis-acting elements that can promote the expression of target genes and respond to estrogen to induce the transcription of eRNAs, which are closely associated with cancer development. Further study on eRNAs may lead to a better understanding of the significance of transcriptional regulation and the progression of malignant tumors. SMAD7 enhancer RNA (SMAD7e) is an estrogen-responsive eRNA. However, the relationship between SMAD7e and bladder cancer remains unclear. SMAD7e was significantly upregulated in bladder cancer tissues and estrogen-stimulated cells. Knockdown of SMAD7e by CRISPR-Cas13a suppressed cell proliferation and migration, and induced cell apoptosis and inhibited cell invasion. Estrogen caused overexpression of SMAD7e and played a facilitating role in bladder cancer cells. Furthermore, knockdown of SMAD7e by CRISPR-Cas13a prevented the cancer-promoting effects of estrogen on bladder cancer both in vitro and in vivo . The present study suggested the crucial role of SMAD7e in bladder cancer. Estrogen might promote the development of bladder cancer by inducing SMAD7e production. These findings may provide a potential target for CRISPR-mediated gene therapy for bladder cancer in the future.

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Pasting properties of barley starch are important characteristics from a processing standpoint. The isolation of starch form barley grains is time consuming thus the whole grain flour is always used. To compare pasting properties of starch with those of the whole grain flour, we used a Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA) to measure pasting properties of three types of samples: grain flour and starches isolated using two different extraction methods. We also investigated compositional, morphological and structural properties of the two starch samples. Significant differences in pasting properties were found among the three sample types, but most of the parameters of pasting properties displayed significant correlations between flour and starch. No significant differences were found in amylose/amylopectin ratio, granule morphology, granule size distribution and crystal structure between starches extracted using two different methods. However, the starch isolated from water homogenization had a higher protein content and lower total starch, amylose and amylopectin contents than the starch extracted with homogenized extraction under alkaline conditions. We concluded that the whole grain flour can be used to predict the pasting properties in breeding programs.

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