The former conventional belief was that cell death resulted from either apoptosis or necrosis; however, in recent years, different pathways through which a cell can undergo cell death have been discovered. Various types of cell death are distinguished by specific morphological alterations in the cell’s structure, coupled with numerous biological activation processes. Various diseases, such as cancers, can occur due to the accumulation of damaged cells in the body caused by the dysregulation and failure of cell death. Thus, comprehending these cell death pathways is crucial for formulating effective therapeutic strategies. We focused on providing a comprehensive overview of the existing literature pertaining to various forms of cell death, encompassing apoptosis, anoikis, pyroptosis, NETosis, ferroptosis, autophagy, entosis, methuosis, paraptosis, mitoptosis, parthanatos, necroptosis, and necrosis.

Purpose: Colorectal cancer is one of the major leading causes of death worldwide, and available treatments for advanced colorectal cancer are not successful. Therefore, early detection of colorectal cancer is essential to improve patient survival, and biomarkers are potential tools to achieve this goal. Considering the key role of lncRNAs in cancers, the aim of this study is to identify lncRNAs involved in colorectal cancer as new potential prognosis biomarkers for CRC. Methods: In this observational study, gene expression data obtained from the TCGA database were analyzed, Identification of differentially expressed mRNAs, miRNAs, and lncRNAs was performed, and ceRNA network was drawn. Also, survival analysis of patients was performed in order to identify potential biomarkers related to the diagnosis and prognosis of colon cancer. After confirming the results using the GSE39582 dataset, the expression of target lncRNAs in colorectal tumor tissues was also investigated to confirm the bioinformatic data. Results: Analysis of the TCGA data showed that the expression of three lncRNAs—SNHG7, ASMTL-AS1, and LINC02604—that had the highest interaction with other miRNAs and mRNAs identified based on the ceRNA network was increased in colorectal cancer. Also, based on the ceRNA network, three microRNAs, hsa-let-7d-5p, hsa-mir-92a-3p, and hsa-mir-423-5p, and eight mRNAs, including CPA4, MSI2, RRM2, IGF2BP1, ONECUT2, HMGA1, SOX4, and SRM, were associated with all three mentioned lncRNAs, the expression of microRNAs was decreased and the expression of mRNAs was increased. By enrichment analysis, it was found that the target lncRNAs are involved in the processes of cell proliferation, apoptosis, and metastasis, indicating their importance in the development and malignancy of colorectal cancer. Furthermore, Kaplan–Meier analysis showed a significant increase in mortality in patients with higher expression levels of these lncRNAs. Analysis of the GSE39582 dataset, and real-time RT-PCR analysis, confirmed our bioinformatic results. Also, ROC analysis showed that SNHG7 was a relatively good promising biomarker (AUC = 0.73, p value = 0.02), while ASMTL-AS1 (AUC = 0.92, p value < 0.0001) and LINC02604 (AUC = 1.00, p value < 0.0001) emerged as excellent diagnostic biomarkers in colorectal cancer. Conclusion: It seems that increased expression of lncRNAs ASMTL-AS1 and LINC02604 can serve as molecular biomarkers for CRC, possibly through the sponge hsa-let-7d-5p, hsa-mir-92a-3p, and hsa-mir-423 5p, which increases target mRNAs, which are effective in the carcinogenesis process.

Research on genes affecting tumors without lymph node metastasis is limited, hence this study employed both bioinformatic and experimental approaches to identify specific genes associated with lung cancer adenocarcinoma (LUAD) before lymph node metastasis occurs. Expression profiles of mRNAs and lncRNAs and LUAD clinical data were downloaded from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) using R software to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with N0 and N + status. TargetScan, miRTarBase, and miRDB databases were used to identify interactions between miRNAs and mRNAs. The DIANA database and lncBase tool were used to find the association between lncRNA and miRNA. After selecting some genes, the expression of candidate genes was confirmed by real-time RT-PCR technique. Following the knockdown LINC00894 gene using the shRNA technique, its effect on invasion, migration, and apoptosis in the calu-3 cell line was investigated. In total, we found 321 specific DEGs not only in N0 vs. normal but also in N0 Vs. N + in LUAD, most of which were lncRNA and we identified a ceRNA network containing nine lncRNAs with the highest degree of connectivity. Among them, in addition to bioinformatic analyses, LINC00894 and YEATS2-AS1 were significantly increased in tumor tissues compared to normal tissues (P = 0.0001). also, SUGP2 that was shared in both lncRNA-related ceRNA subnetworks was significantly upregulated (P = 0.0001). Additionally, following the knockdown of LINC00894 in Calu-3 cell line, a significant decrease in migration and invasion was observed, but early apoptosis was significantly increased in the shLINC00894(48 h) group (P = 0.007). The findings of the present study show that lncRNAs play an important role in the N0 status of LUAD. Moreover, LINC00894, YEATS2-AS1, and SUGP2 can act as biomarkers in patients with N0 LUAD.

Thrombomodulin (THBD) gene plays an important role in activation and control of protein C. Regulation protein C levels as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Mutations in this gene can affect Thrombomodulin levels. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in rs1042579 THBD gene in patients with cardiovascular disease. The samples of this case-control study consisted of 105 Iranian patients with cardiovascular disease and 95 healthy controls who enrolled from March 2017 to December 2018 in this study. Demographic data, medical history, and para-clinical were measured, and Sanger sequencing was used for allelic discrimination. Control samples were identified and then selected for genotyping of other ARMS-PCR technique. Data analysis revealed that the rs1042579 polymorphism of the THBD gene was associated with a risk of coronary heart disease. Sequencing results confirmed the existence of CC homozygous, heterozygous TC and TT homozygous genotypes. TT genotype is a risk factor in patients compared to healthy controls. The results of this study showed that the rs1042579 polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.