Glioblastoma (GBM) is still one of the most lethal forms of brain tumor despite of the improvements in treatments. TRAIL (TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand) is a promising anticancer agent that can be potentially used as an alternative or complementary therapy because of its specific antitumor activity. To define the novel pathways that regulate susceptibility to TRAIL in GBM cells, we performed a genome-wide expression profiling of microRNAs in GBM cell lines with the distinct sensitivity to TRAIL-induced apoptosis. We found that the expression pattern of miR-7 is closely correlated with sensitivity of GBM cells to TRAIL. Furthermore, our gain and loss of function experiments showed that miR-7 is a potential sensitizer for TRAIL-induced apoptosis in GBM cells. In the mechanistic study, we identified XIAP is a direct downstream gene of miR-7. Additionally, this regulatory axis could also exert in other types of tumor cells like hepatocellular carcinoma cells. More importantly, in the xenograft model, enforced expression of miR-7 in TRAIL-overexpressed mesenchymal stem cells increased apoptosis and suppressed tumor growth in an exosome dependent manner. In conclusion, we identify that miR-7 is a critical sensitizer for TRAIL-induced apoptosis, thus making it as a promising therapeutic candidate for TRAIL resistance in GBM cells.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a special class of non-coding RNAs with the ring structure. They are stable, abundant and conservative across mammals. The biogenesis and molecular properties of circRNAs are being elucidated, which exert regulatory functions not only through miRNA and protein sponge, but also via translation and exosomal interaction. Accumulating studies have demonstrated that circRNAs are aberrantly expressed in various diseases, especially in cancer. Glioma is one of the most common malignant cerebral neoplasms with poor prognosis. The accurate diagnosis and effective therapies of glioma have always been challenged, there is an urgent need for developing promising therapeutic intervention. Therefore, exploring novel biomarkers is crucial for diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of the glioma which can provide better assistance in guiding treatment. Recent findings found that circRNAs are systematically altered in glioma and may play critical roles in glioma tumorigenesis, proliferation, invasion and metastasis. Due to their distinct functional properties, they are considered as the potential therapeutic targets, diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. This review elaborates on current advances towards the biogenesis, translation and interaction of circRNAs in many diseases and focused on the role of their involvement in glioma progression, highlighting the potential value of circRNAs in glioma.

Hair removal is necessary before operating on animals with dense hair layers. To provide an appropriate hair removal method and maintain animal welfare, we introduced four commonly used depilation methods—namely, scissors shearing, electric shaving, depilatory cream, and sodium sulfide, and made systematic comparisons, instead of only examining one or two methods, as reported in the past. To further assess convenience and possible effects on skin wound healing, we performed a skin trauma model after depilation in C57BL/6J mice and recorded wound healing time. Meanwhile, the skin tissues around the wound were stained with H&E and Masson. The results showed that the wound contraction rate of the sodium sulfide group was significantly lower than other groups at different points in time. Furthermore, depilatory cream and sodium sulfide methods could induce a topical inflammatory response on the third day after the operation and delay the regeneration of collagen fibers. We concluded that sodium sulfide depilatory has a significant negative effect on wound healing. Depilatory cream is gentler, with mild skin irritation and symptoms of inflammation. The electric shaving method is more convenient and safer, and thus could be the best choice for preoperative depilation.

Immunotherapy has shown strong anti-tumor activity in a subset of patients. However, many patients do not benefit from the treatment, and there is no effective method to identify sensitive immunotherapy patients. Cuproptosis as a non-apoptotic programmed cell death caused by excess copper, whether it is related to tumor immunity has attracted our attention. In the study, we constructed the prognostic model of 9 cuproptosis-related LncRNAs (crLncRNAs) and assessed its predictive capability, preliminarily explored the potential mechanism causing treatment sensitivity difference between the high-/low-risk group. Our results revealed that the risk score was more effective than traditional clinical features in predicting the survival of HCC patients (AUC = 0.828). The low-risk group had more infiltration of immune cells (B cells, CD8⁺ T cells, CD4⁺ T cells), mainly with anti-tumor immune function (p < 0.05). It showed higher sensitivity to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) treatment (p < 0.001) which may exert the effect through the AL365361.1/hsa-miR-17-5p/NLRP3 axis. In addition, NLRP3 mutation-sensitive drugs (VNLG/124, sunitinib, linifanib) may have better clinical benefits in the high-risk group. All in all, the crLncRNAs model has excellent specificity and sensitivity, which can be used for classifying the therapy-sensitive population and predicting the prognosis of HCC patients.