Abnormal expression of non-coding circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been reported in many types of tumors. circRNA have been suggested to be an ideal candidate biomarker for diagnostic and therapeutic implications in cancers. The aim of this study was to assess the circRNA expression profile of laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas (LSCC). The biopsy samples from patients with LSCC were obtained intra-operatively. The circRNA expression was performed using secondary sequencing. Among 10 patients with LSCC, 2 were well differentiated, 3 were moderately differentiated and 5 were adjunctive samples with normal and LSCC tissues. A total of 21,444 distinct circRNA candidates were detected. Among them, we defined the statistical criteria for selecting aberrant-expressed circRNA using a q-value of < 0.001 with a fold change of > 2.0 or < 0.5. A total of 29 circRNA were upregulated and 19 circRNA were downregulated significantly in the LSCC tissues. The intersection of these dysregulated circRNAs of normal-well differentiated set and normal-moderately differentiated set was then assessed to narrow the upregulated and downregulated circRNAs down to 18 and 5 respectively. Furthermore, an association of the circRNA-miRNA-mRNA was investigated, showing that 20 dysregulated circRNA successfully predicted an interaction with several cancer-related miRNAs. Finally, a further KEGG analysis showed that PPAR, Axon guidance, Wnt and Cell cycle signaling pathway were key putative pathways in the process of LSCC. hsa_circ:chr20:31876585–31,897,648 was found to be able to differentiate most of LSCC from the matching normal tissues. This observational study demonstrated dysregulation of circRNA in LSCC, which may have an impact on development of potential biomarkers in this disease. Validation of down-regulation of hsa_circ:chr20:31876585–31,897,648 in LSCC compared to each adjunctive tissue by Q-RT-PCR, indicating that hsa_circ:chr20:31876585–31,897,648 may be a novel promising tumor suppresser in LSCC.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) exert critical functions in tumorigenesis and tumor development, but whether and how circRNAs contribute to laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is unclear. In this study, we explored the function and mechanisms of circRNA_100290 in LSCC. Tissue samples were obtained from 40 patients with LSCC. The expression of circRNA_100290 and other targets was measured through quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. Cell proliferation, colony-forming ability, and apoptosis were tested using CCK-8 assay and EdU assay, colony formation assay, and flow cytometry, respectively. Cell migration and invasion were detected by Transwell assay. Moreover, the interactions between circRNA_100290, miR-136-5p, and RAP2C were analyzed by bioinformatics, and verified by dual-luciferase reporter assays. Here, we found that circRNA_100290 expression was significantly upregulated in LSCC tissues and cell lines compared with the normal controls. Expression of circRNA_100290 positively correlated with advanced TNM stage and lymph node metastasis in LSCC patients. In cell culture, upregulation of circRNA_100290 promoted LSCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, while it inhibited cell apoptosis; downregulating circRNA_100290 exerted the opposite effects. In vivo, circRNA_100290 overexpression dramatically promoted tumor growth. Mechanistically, circRNA_100290 may act as a sponge of miR-136-5p, and inhibiting miR-136-5p in LSCC cells indeed reversed the effects of circRNA_100290 downregulation. The RAS oncogene RAP2C was predicted to be a target of miR-136-5p, and downregulating RAP2C in LSCC cells partially reversed the oncogenic effects of circRNA_100290 overexpression or miR-136-5p decrease. Our findings suggest that circRNA_100290 promotes LSCC progression by targeting the miR-136-5p/RAP2C axis, which may lead to the identification of potential therapeutic targets.

The chaperonin-containing T-complex protein 1 (CCT) subunits participate in diverse diseases. However, little is known about their expression and prognostic values in human head and neck squamous cancer (HNSC). This article aims to evaluate the effects of CCT subunits regarding their prognostic values for HNSC. We mined the transcriptional and survival data of CCTs in HNSC patients from online databases. A protein–protein interaction network was constructed and a functional enrichment analysis of target genes was performed. We observed that the mRNA expression levels of CCT1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8 were higher in HNSC tissues than in normal tissues. Survival analysis revealed that the high mRNA transcriptional levels of CCT3/4/5/6/7/8 were associated with a low overall survival. The expression levels of CCT4/7 were correlated with advanced tumor stage. And the overexpression of CCT4 was associated with higher N stage of patients. Validation of CCTs’ differential expression and prognostic values was achieved by the Human Protein Atlas and GEO datasets. Mechanistic exploration of CCT subunits by the functional enrichment analysis suggests that these genes may influence the HNSC prognosis by regulating PI3K-Akt and other pathways. This study implies that CCT3/4/6/7/8 are promising biomarkers for the prognosis of HNSC.

Our previous studies have confirmed that α2δ1 has the potential to function as a cancer stem cell marker, and CACNA2D1 is the coding gene of α2δ1. But it is unclear how microRNAs regulate the expression of the CACNA2D1 gene in laryngeal cancer cells. We detected the expressions of α2δ1 protein, microRNA-107, and CACNA2D1 in 40 pairs of laryngeal cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues. Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cells, TU212 and TU686, were cultured and transfected in the blank control group, the agomiR negative control group, the agomiR-107 group, the antagomiR negative control group, or the antagomiR-107 group, and the dual-luciferase reporter assay was employed to assess the regulatory effect of microRNA-107 on CACNA2D1. Then, the effects of microRNA-107 on the biological function of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cells were detected by qRT-PCR, Western blot, MTT, cell migration/invasion assay, and cell colony-formation assay. Our data suggested that the protein level of α2δ1, encoded by CACNA2D1, in laryngeal carcinoma tissues was higher than that in adjacent normal tissues, while the expression of microRNA-107 was significantly decreased in laryngeal carcinoma tissues. The dual-luciferase reporter gene assay confirmed that microRNA-107 bound to the 3′-UTR two positions (202-209, 902-908) of CACNA2D1 mRNA. Moreover, the expression of CACNA2D1 and α2δ1 protein were significantly decreased in TU212 and TU686 cells transfected with microRNA-107 expression vectors (P < 0.05), and proliferation, clone formation, migration, and invasion of these cells were also reduced. Furthermore, after knocking down microRNA-107, exactly opposite results were obtained. Overexpression of microRNA-107 can inhibit the proliferation and invasion of laryngeal carcinoma cells in vitro.

The commonest manifestation of facial nerve tumours was facial paralysis, followed by hearing loss. During tumour resection facial nerve continuity should be maintained and reconstructed in one stage wherever possible. If this is not a viable option, second-stage surgery should be performed as soon as possible after surgery. To summarize the clinical characteristics of tumours of the facial nerve and discuss their diagnosis and treatment. Twenty-two cases of primary facial nerve tumours were reviewed. These cases were confirmed pathologically and treated in the Chinese PLA General Hospital during the period 1986-2003, where the clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of this series were analysed. Among the 22 cases, 14 were facial neurilemmomas, 6 were facial neurofibromas and 2 were facial nerve haemangiomas. The commonest presenting symptom in all cases was facial paralysis (14/22) followed by hearing loss (10/22). Facial paralysis was also the commonest sign of a facial nerve tumour (18/22), followed by a swollen mass in the tympanic cavity (8/22) and a swollen mass in the external auditory canal (5/22). The 22 tumours were totally resected surgically. The function of the facial nerve was normal (grade I) in two cases where the integrity of the nerve was preserved during the operation, grade II in one case and grade III in another case where it was possible to maintain partial continuity of the facial nerve. The facial nerve was reconstructed in one stage when the tumours were resected, with facial-great auricular-facial nerve cable grafting (10 cases) and facial-lateral femoral cutaneous-facial nerve cable grafting (1 case). The facial nerve function consequently recovered to grade II-IV. The second stage facial-hypoglossal nerve anastomosis was carried out in two cases, and facial function consequently recovered to grade II in one case at 3 years and grade III in another with 2 years follow-up. In five cases, the facial nerve remained discontinuous and the facial nerve function showed no recovery (grade VI).

Spandidos Publications is a scientific publisher with a long-standing international reputation for excellent standards and high quality science publications