Antirheumatic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Arthritis, Juvenile ; therapy ; Biological Factors ; therapeutic use ; Humans

Primary liver cancer has various potential causes and insidious onset, and its progression is affected by many factors. Immunotherapy and targeted drug therapy have been used as non-radical treatment methods for primary liver cancer, but they cannot achieve a satisfactory effect and may lead to drug resistance. In recent years, the wide application of 16s high-throughput sequencing and the in-depth studies of microbiology have revealed the key role of microorganisms in the development and progression of liver cancer. The association of the liver with oral and intestinal flora is gradually clarified, and the regulation of oral and intestinal flora has brought new treatment methods for the disease. This article reviews the microbial theory of the oral-gut-liver axis and its application and development in the treatment of primary liver cancer.

As a classic prescription for invigorating spleen and replenishing qi, Sijunzi Decoction has a good clinical efficacy in the treatment of gastric cancer. It can improve chemotherapy resistance, reduce the toxic and side effects of chemotherapy, promote postoperative recovery, enhance immunity, improve the nutritional status of patients, improve the quality of life of patients and prevent precancerous lesions. Network pharmacology studies have shown that Sijunzi Decoction exerts anti-gastric cancer effects through multiple active ingredients, multiple targets and multiple pathways, and quercetin may be the main active component in Sijunzi Decoction to exert anti-gastric cancer effects. The main mechanisms of Sijunzi Decoction in the treatment of gastric cancer include regulating the expression of cell cycle and apoptosis-related gene proteins, and inhibiting the proliferation, migration, invasion and gastric cancer stem cell characteristics of gastric cancer cells.

Objective:To investigate the effect of estrogen-related receptor α (ESRRA)-mediated lipophagy on the proliferation and migration abilities of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells.Methods:A total of 16 clinical samples diagnosed by pathology in the Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University from 2021 to 2023 were selected, including 8 normal nasopharyngeal mucosa tissues and 8 nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues. Immortalized normal nasopharyngeal epithelial cell line NP69 and nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines C666-1, CNE2, TW03-EBV and TW03 were selected. The cell lines C666-1 and CNE2 were divided into the siR-NC group (transfected with small interfering RNA negative control sequence) and siR-ESRRA group (transfected with small interfering RNA against ESRRA gene). The relative expression levels of ESRRA were detected by Western blotting and immunohistochemical assay. EdU assay was used to detect the proliferation ability of C666-1 and CNE2 cells, and Transwell assay was used to detect the migration ability. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the relative expression levels of ESRRA and perilipin 3 (PLIN3) mRNA. The formation of lipophagy in C666-1 and CNE2 cells was observed by transmission electron microscopy. The co-localization of LC3, PLIN3 and LAMP2 with lipid droplets labeling with Bodipy was detected by immunofluorescence assay. Dual-luciferase reporter gene assay was used to verify the targeting relationship between ESRRA and PLIN3.Results:The relative expression level of ESRRA in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues was higher than that in normal nasopharyngeal mucosa tissues(1.15±0.75 vs. 0.32±0.21, t = 3.02, P = 0.009). The relative expression level of ESRRA in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines C666-1 (1.539±0.044), CNE2 (1.420±0.030), TW03-EBV (2.867±0.044), and TW03 (1.323±0.022) were higher than that in normal nasopharyngeal epithelial cell line NP69 (0.094±0.002), and the difference was statistically significant ( F = 34.08, P < 0.001).The results of EdU assay showed that the proportions of EdU labeled positive cells in CNE2 cells of siR-NC group and siR-ESRRA group were (70.44±4.06)% and (51.51±0.92)% ( t = 7.88, P = 0.001), and the proportions in C666-1 cells were (62.25±3.89)% and (54.91±0.27)% ( t = 3.26, P = 0.031). The results of Transwell assay showed that the number of migrating cells in CNE2 and C666-1 cells was less than that in siR-NC group [CNE2 cells: (181±7) cells vs. (261±21) cells; C666-1 cells: (201±16) cells vs. (256±7) cells], and the differences were statistically significant ( t = 6.30, P = 0.003; t = 5.43, P = 0.006). According to qRT-PCR results, the relative expression level of PLIN3 mRNA in the siR-ESRRA group was higher than that in the siR-NC group (CNE2 cells: 1.58±0.16 vs. 0.83±0.17, t = 5.59, P = 0.005; C666-1 cells: 1.37±0.12 vs. 1.06±0.06, t = 3.86, P = 0.018). The dual-luciferase reporter gene assay results indicated a targeted binding interaction between PLIN3 and ESRRA. Transmission electron microscopy observation showed that the lipid droplets in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells increased and the binding to autophagosomes decreased after knockdown of ESRRA. The results of immunofluorescence assay demonstrated that, in contrast to the siR-NC group, there was a decrease in the co-localization of LC3 and LAMP2 and an increase in the co-localization of lipid droplets with PLIN3. Conclusions:ESRRA is highly expressed in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues and cells. As a transcription repressor, ESRRA may work to prevent PLIN3 from being transcribed, decrease lipid droplet stability, mediate lipophagy, and promote proliferation and migration of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells.

Multidrug resistance （MDR） has been a main culprit behind the failure of chemotherapy in patients with malignant tumors and a major obstacle to improving the life quality and prolonging the survival of patients. Hepatocellular carcinoma cells， the innate drug-resistant cells， are generally insensitive to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Moreover， as the early symptoms of hepatocellular carcinoma are atypical， most patients are diagnosed at the advanced stage， with short survival period and high recurrence rate. Thus， the sensitivity to chemotherapy drugs is decreased. This explains how MDR becomes one of the important reasons for the failure of primary hepatocellular carcinoma （PHC） treatment. Therefore， it is an urgent task to search for safe and effective chemosensitizers with little adverse effect in the research on the drug resistance of hepatocellular carcinoma. As Chinese medicine has been widely applied in the treatment of tumors， the mechanisms of compound Chinese medicine prescriptions， Chinese medicine injections， and single Chinese medicinal in reversing chemotherapy resistance in liver cancer have attracted the interest of scholars. According to previous reports， the mechanisms can be summarized as increasing intracellular drug concentration， influencing changes in enzyme activity， inducing apoptosis， reversing abnormalities in cellular signaling pathways， and regulating the tumor microenvironment. Traditional Chinese medicine reduces the chemotherapy resistance of hepatocellular carcinoma cells through multiple targets and multiple pathways， thereby improving the chemotherapy sensitivity of the cancer cells and enhancing the toxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs to hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Therefore， exploring the mechanism of MDR of hepatocellular carcinoma from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine is important for reversing the MDR and is of great reference value for clinical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. However， there are few experimental types and adverse effects available. Thus， the multi-mechanism and multi-target experiments and clinical research should be carried out in the future.