1.Analysis of transcriptome sequencing and related genes of flavonoid biosynthesis from Anoectochilus roxburghii
Fuxian ZOU ; Wen XU ; Zehao HUANG ; Xun ZHANG ; Shuyun CHEN ; Yu LIN ; Wei XU
Journal of China Pharmaceutical University 2019;50(1):66-74
Transcriptome sequencing was performed for the first time on Anoectochilus roxburghii(AR)in different harvesting periods using RNA-seq high-throughput sequencing technique, and the results were verified and analyzed by Q-PCR and HPLC. A total of 51, 370 genes were obtained by transcriptome sequencing and annotated to the database of Nr, GO, Swiss-Prot, KEGG and KOG. The species that were sequenced according to the homology sequence were the same as AR monocotyledon plants. Through comparison of AR transcriptome in different periods, it was found that the differences were mainly in flavonoid biosynthesis-related genes. The expression levels of flavonoid biosynthesis-related genes(trans-cinnamate 4-monooxygenase, caffeoyl-CoA O-methyltransferase, chalcone synthase, flavonol synthase, shikimate O-hydroxycinnamoyltransferase and flavonoid 3′, 5′-hydroxylase)were verified by Q-PCR, and the results were consistent with those of transcriptome sequencing. The contents of 6 flavonoids(rutin, isoquercitrin, narcissin, quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnrtin)were determined by HPLC. The results showed that the expression of flavonoid synthetic gene in AR increased with the growth time, and the variation trend of flavonoid compound content and gene expression were basically consistent. Combined with transcriptome data, the biosynthetic pathway of flavonoid content in AR was plotted. This study provides important genetic resources for the key genes of flavonoid synthesis in AR and the biosynthesis of flavonoids, as well as the basis for the development of its medicinal value.
2.Expression of p21-activated kinase 2 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and its correlation with clinicopathological characteristics and chemosensitivity
Jiani NIE ; Lianhe LI ; Zhipeng HAN ; Zihui ZHANG ; Fuxian TAN ; Hongmei WANG ; Liangyu ZOU ; Hongmin WANG ; Zhenlei WEN
Cancer Research and Clinic 2023;35(8):561-567
Objective:To investigate the expression of p21-activated kinase 2 (PAK2) in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and its relationship with the clinicopathological characteristics and chemosensitivity of patients.Methods:Transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) data for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma were downloaded from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, and 123 patients were included in the study (12 cases had cancer tissues and normal tissues data, and the remaining 111 only had cancer tissues data). Differential expression of PAK2 in cancer and para-cancer tissues was analyzed by using R software, and the potential function of PAK2 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma was investigated by using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database signaling pathway enrichment. A total of 34 patients with primary laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma tissues and corresponding para-carcinoma 34 tissue specimens who underwent surgical resection were retrospectively selected from Chaoyang Central Hospital between April 2016 and June 2021, and 20 cases of normal laryngeal mucosa tissues were selected as the controls. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of PAK2 in various tissues, and its correlation with clinicopathological factors was analyzed. A total of 35 supraglottic primary laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma patients were retrospectively collected before induction chemotherapy during the same period, including 20 patients sensitive to chemotherapy and 15 patients resistant to chemotherapy. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the relative expression level of PAK2 mRNA in cancer tissues.Results:Analysis of TCGA database data showed that PAK2 expression was increased in cancer tissues compared with that in para-cancer tissues ( P = 0.012); KEGG database signaling pathways showed that the high expression of PAK2 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma was related to signal transduction pathways, cell cycle, and cancer. Immunohistochemistry showed that the proportion of PAK2 positive in 34 cases of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma tissues was higher than that in adjacent tissues and normal tissues [58.82% (20/34) vs. 0.03% (1/34), 0 (0/20), all P < 0.001]. There were statistically significant differences in the proportion of PAK2 positive patients stratified with different degrees of differentiation [high differentiation vs. low or middle differentiation: 33.33% (6/18)vs. 87.50% (14/16)], lymph node metastasis [presence vs. absence: 90.91% (10/11) vs. 43.48% (10/23)], TNM staging [stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ vs. stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ: 82.35% (14/17) vs. 35.29% (6/17)] (all P < 0.05), and PAK2 positive patients were not associated with clinical type, tumor size, smoking history, drinking history, and age (all P > 0.05). qRT-PCR showed that the relative expression level of PAK2 mRNA in the chemotherapy-resistant group was higher than that in the chemotherapy-sensitive group (3.89±0.12 vs. 0.78±0.23, P < 0.001). Conclusions:The expression level of PAK2 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma tissues is increased, and the high expression of PAK2 is closely related to the malignant clinical characteristics of patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. The high expression of PAK2 may indicate the insensitivity to traditional chemotherapy regimens, and PAK2 may be a potential gene that targets and regulates the chemosensitivity of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.