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    Molecular mechanism of HMGA1 deregulation in human neuroblastoma

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    Very soon after their original identification in HeLa cells in 1983, HMGA proteins appeared as interesting cancer-related molecules. Indeed, they were immediately noted as a sub-class of High Mobility Group proteins induced in fibroblast or epithelial cells transformed with sarcoma viruses. After more than 20 years, the association between HMGA protein expressions and cellular transformation has been largely confirmed and HMGA are among the most widely expressed cancer-associated proteins. Nevertheless, their functional contribution to tumour development and progression is far from being completely understood. Furthermore, although HMGA1 expression has been reported to be inducible by a number of factors and circumstances, the question of how their expression is deregulated in cancer is even less clear and somehow has been ignored from most researchers. An active AP1 site is the only characterized element of the HMGA1 human promoter, that remains a rather complicated and unexplored source of information to answer this question. Following the indication that c-Myc might bind and activate the mouse HMGA1 gene promoter, we have demonstrated that HMGA1 is a new target for MYCN in human neuroblastomas. In this report, we overview part of the current information on HMGA I and focus our attention on the analysis of its human promoter. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

    Action of HMGB1 on miR221/222 cluster in neuroblastoma cell lines

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    microRNA (miR/miRNA) are small non-coding RNAs that control gene expression at the post-transcriptional level by targeting mRNAs. Aberrant expression of miRNAs is often observed in different types of cancer. Specific miRNAs function as tumor suppressors or oncogenes and interfere with various aspects of carcinogenesis, including differentiation, proliferation and invasion. Upregulation of miRNAs 221 and 222 has been shown to induce a malignant phenotype in numerous human cancers via inhibition of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) expression. Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid malignancy in children, which is characterized by cellular heterogeneity that corresponds to different clinical outcomes. The different cellular phenotypes are associated with different gene mutations and miRs that control genetic and epigenetic factors. For this reason miRs are considered a potential therapeutic target in neuroblastoma. The aim of the present study was to investigate the mechanisms by which extracellular high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) promotes cell growth in neuroblastoma. SK-N-BE(2) and SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma derived cell lines were transfected with the antisense oligonucleotides, anti-miR-221 and -222, followed by treatment with HMGB1 to investigate the expression of the oncosuppressor PTEN. In this study, it was demonstrated that HMGB1, which is released by damaged cells and tumor cells, upregulates miR-221/222 oncogenic clusters in the two human neuroblastoma derived cell lines. The results revealed that the oncogenic cluster miRs 221/222 were more highly expressed by the most undifferentiated cell line [SK-N-BE(2)] compared with the the less tumorigenic cell line (SH-SY5Y) and that exogenous HMGB1 increases this expression. In addition, HMGB1 modulates PTEN expression via miR-221/222, as demonstrated by transiently blocking miR-221/222 with anti-sense oligonucleotides. These results may lead to the development of novel therapeutic strategies for neuroblastoma

    A functional interaction between TRPC/NCKX induced by DAG plays a role in determining calcium influx independently from PKC activation

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    Ca2+influx might occur through K+-dependent Na +/Ca2+ exchanger operating in reverse mode (rNCKX). In a cellular model different from platelets, an interaction between canonical transient receptor potential cation (TRPC) channels and NCX has been found. The aim of this study was to verify whether the TRPC/NCKX interaction operates in human platelets. Our results showed that the diacylglycerol (DAG) analogue, 1-oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol (OAG) induced rNCKX-mediated Ca2+ influx through TRPC-mediated Na+ influx. DAG-induced activation of TRPC/NCKX occurs independently of protein kinase C (PKC) activation, as PKC inhibitor did not modify OAG-mediated Ca2+ influx. Moreover, as both rNCKX and TRPC inhibitors reduced OAG-induced platelet aggregation which, conversely, was increased by flufenamic acid, known to develop TRPC activity, it could be suggested that the TRPC/NCKX interaction has a role in OAG-dependent platelet aggregation. © 2013 Informa UK Ltd

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    High mobility group Al is a molecular target for MYCN in human neuroblastoma

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    High mobility group A1 (HMGA1) is an architectural transcription factor and a putative protoncogene. Deregulation of its expression has been shown in most human cancers. We have previously shown that the expression of the HMGA family members is deregulated in neuroblastoma cell lines and primary tumors. On retinoic acid (RA) treatment of MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cell lines, HMGA1 decreases with a kinetics that strictly follows MYCN repression. In addition, MYCN constitutive expression abolishes HMGA1 repression by RA. Here we explored the possibility that HMGA1 expression might be sustained by MYCN in amplified cells. Indeed, MYCN transfection induced HMGA1 expression in several neuroblastoma cell lines. HMGA1 expression increased in a transgene dose-dependent fashion in neuroblastoma-like tumors of MYCN transgenic mice. In addition, it was significantly more expressed in MYCN-amplified compared with MYCN single-copy primary human neuroblastomas. MYCN cotransfection activated a promoter/luciferase reporter containing a 1,600 bp region surrounding the first three transcription start sites of the human HMGA1 and eight imperfect E-boxes. By heterodimerizing with its partner MAX, MYCN could bind to multiple DNA fragments within the 1,600 bp. Either 5' or 3' deletion variants of the 1,600 bp promoter/luciferase reporter strongly decreased luciferase activity, suggesting that, more than a single site, the cooperative function of multiple cis-acting elements mediates direct HMGA1 transactivation by MYCN. Finally, HMGA1 repression by RNA interference reduced neuroblastoma cell proliferation, indicating that HMGA1 is a novel MYCN target gene relevant for neuroblastoma tumorigenesis

    HMGB1-Induced Cross Talk between PTEN and miRs 221/222 in Thyroid Cancer

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    High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is an ubiquitous protein that plays different roles in the nucleus, cytoplasm and extra-cellular space. It is an important DAMP molecule that allows communication between damaged or tumor cells and the immune system. Tumor cells exploit HMGB1’s ability to activate intracellular pathways that lead to cell growth and migration. Papillary thyroid cancer is a well differentiated tumor and is often used to study relationships between cells and the inflammatory microenvironment as the latter is characterized by high levels of inflammatory cells and cytokines. Anaplastic thyroid cancer is one of the most lethal human cancers in which many microRNAs and tumor suppressor genes are de-regulated. Up-regulation of microRNAs 221 and 222 has been shown to induce the malignant phenotype in many human cancers via inhibition of PTEN expression. In this study we suggest that extracellular HMGB1 interaction with RAGE enhances expression of oncogenic cluster miR221/222 that in turn inhibits tumor suppressor gene PTEN in two cell lines derived from human thyroid anaplastic and papillary cancers. The newly identified pathway HMGB1/RAGE/miR 221/222 may represent an effective way of tumor escape from immune surveillance that could be used to develop new therapeutic strategies against anaplastic tumors
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