Background/Aims: Ginkgolide B (GB) is currently used as an anticancer drug for treatment of some malignant cancers. However, whether it may have therapeutic effects on bladder cancer remains unknown. Here, we studied the effects of GB on bladder cancer cells. Methods: Bladder cells were treated with different doses of GB, and the effects on ZEB1 and microRNA-223-3p (miR-223-3p) were analyzed by RT-qPCR and/or Western blot. Prediction of a regulatory relationship between miR-93 and 3'-UTR of Beclin-1 mRNA was performed by a bioinformatics algorithm and confirmed by a dual luciferase reporter assay. Results: We found that GB dose-dependently decreased ZEB1 protein, but not mRNA, in bladder cancer cells, resulting in suppression of cell invasion. Moreover, in bladder cancer cells, GB dose-dependently decreased the levels of miR-223-3p, which suppressed the protein translation of ZEB1 through binding to 3'-UTR of ZEB1 mRNA. Overexpression of miR-223-3p decreased ZEB1 protein, while depletion of miR-223-3p increased ZEB1 protein in bladder cancer cells. Conclusion: GB inhibits bladder cancer cell invasiveness through suppressing ZEB1 protein translation via upregulating miR-223-3p.

This study aimed to identify the differential expression levels of androgen receptor (AR), estrogen receptors (ERα, ERβ), and progesterone receptor (PGR) between normal prostate and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The combination of immunohistochemistry, quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and Western blotting assay was used to identify the distribution and differential expression of these receptors at the immunoactive biomarker, transcriptional, and protein levels between 5 normal human prostate tissues and 40 BPH tissues. The results were then validated in a rat model of BPH induced by testosterone propionate and estradiol benzoate. In both human and rat prostate tissues, AR was localized mainly to epithelial and stromal cell nuclei; ERα was distributed mainly to stromal cells, but not exclusively; ERβ was interspersed in the basal layer of epithelium, but sporadically in epithelial and stromal cells; PGR was expressed abundantly in cytoplasm of epithelial and stromal cells. There were decreased expression of ERα and increased expression of PGR, but no difference in the expression of ERβ in the BPH compared to the normal prostate of both human and rat. Increased expression of AR in the BPH compared to the normal prostate of human was observed, however, the expression of AR in the rat prostate tissue was decreased. This study identified the activation of AR and PGR and repression of ERα in BPH, which indicate a promoting role of AR and PGR and an inhibitory role of ERα in the pathogenesis of BPH.