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Fluvastatin, a cholesterol-lowering drug, radiosensitizes pancreatic cancer (PC) cells partly by inhibiting DNA damage response and/or autophagic flux. Fluvastatin also significantly suppresses intra-tumor radiation-induced fibrosis, as it inhibits radiation/TGF-β-induced activation of pancreatic stellate cells. Together, fluvastatin and radiation co-treatment may be a potential therapeutic approach against PC and warrants further clinical evaluation.
The authors examined the indirect effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on spinal infusion through macrophages. They found that posterior spinal fusion is improved by placental growth factor (PlGF)-expressing MSCs, likely through attraction of macrophages and indution their M2 polarization, which in turn promotes the bone formation.
Cardiac hypertrophy is a common cardiovascular disease worldwide, and this study may provide novel potential therapeutic targets. The authors demonstrate that TINCR improves cardiac hypertrophy by acting as a competitive endogenous RNA for miR-211-3p and thus relieving its suppressive effects on the VEGFB-SDF-1α-CXCR4 signalling axis.
Sustained high circulating levels of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 21 improve obesity/systemic insulin resistance and promote ketone body production as a second hepatic disposal system for excess free fatty acids. Liver-derived ketone bodies may be utilized for energy in skeletal muscle. The potential FGF21-related crosstalk between the liver and extrahepatic organs is a promising strategy against nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
This study investigates the role of c-Abelson (c-Abl) kinase in neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation and inflammation during sepsis. The authors demonstrate that c-Abl kinase plays a pivotal role in NET formation, pulmonary formation of CXC chemokines and lung injury in sepsis. Authors conclude that targeting c-Abl kinase might be a useful strategy to ameliorate local and systemic inflammation in sepsis.
A proposed regulatory model of FABP4 in Hcy-induced macrophage inflammation in atherosclerosis ofApoE−/−mice. FABP4 activates the JAK2/STAT2 pathway via Rap1a in Hcy-induced macrophage inflammatory response and atherosclerosis in ApoE−/− mice, which is attributed to Rap1a-dependent promotion of the c-Src phosphorylation at Tyr416 and membrane translocation. SOCS1 has a negative regulatory role in FABP4-dependent activation of the JAK2/STAT2 pathway and Rap1a in macrophage inflammatory response induced by Hcy.
Aggrecan degradation by ADAMTS (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs) is essential to cartilage destruction in osteoarthritis, but its expression profile and regulation are unclear. The authors show overexpression of ADAMTS4 in osteoarthritis synovium and synergistic upregulation by interleukin-1α, tumor necrosis factor-α, and transforming growth factor-β in osteoarthritis synovial fibroblasts. These findings suggest that concurrent therapy with an anti-TNF-α drug and inhibitor(s) may be useful for prevention against aggrecan degradation in OA.
The mRNA expression levels of phospholipase Cγ1 (PLCG1) are much higher in IDH wild-type (IDHwt) lower-grade gliomas (LGGs) than in that of IDH mutant (IDHmut) LGGs. Higher PLCG1expression in IDHwt LGGs indicates poor clinical outcome. PLCG1 amplification may act as the key mechanism of PLCG1 upregulation. Depletion of PLCG1 expression can inhibits proliferation and invasion of IDHwt LGG cell lines in vitro and in vivo. The PLC inhibitor U73122 may therefore be a potential therapeutical agent for IDHwt LGGs.
Mother-to-child transmission is the major cause of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. This study shows that an unconventional protein secretion pathway that depends on autophagy may be hijacked by HBV to complete the process of intracellular transport. In HBV-infected trophoblasts, AnxA2-S100A10-mediated exocytosis may result in HBV intrauterine transmission.
Pharmacological inhibition of the serine synthesis pathway with a highly selective inhibitor NCT503 synergistically works with temozolomide in inhibiting O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT)-positive glioblastoma cell growth and inducing apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, NCT503 treatment reduces MGMT expression possibly via Wnt/βcatenin pathway. Reactive oxygen species-mediated DNA damage is at least partially involved. Combinational administration of NCT503 and TMZ may represent a novel and promising treatment strategy to enhance TMZ efficacy in patients with MGMT-high glioblastoma.
Adrenomedullin (ADM) significantly stimulates osteoclastogenesis only in the presence of calcitonin. Functional ADM receptor partly composed of osteoclast-specific cell surface Kat1 antigen was detected in cells in the osteoclast-lineage. Expression of ADM receptor was firstly detected in proliferating osteoclast progenitors performing asymmetric cell division and is then expressed in mononuclear osteoclast precursors. Specific regulation of ADM receptors expressed on mononuclear osteoclast precursors could provide an alternative way to modulate bone remodeling therapeutically.
The prevalence and contribution of viruses to heart failure phenotypes are increasingly recognized, while still underappreciated and underreported. We designed a tissue microarray with cardiac muscle tissue from 78 heart failure patients and probed for common cardiotropic viruses via in situ hybridization. Viral RNA was detected in 46.4% of patients, higher than anticipated for these heart failure conditions that include those not previously associated with a viral trigger or an exacerbating role.
This report provides new evidence supporting the role of ATP synthase inhibitory factor subunit 1 (IF1), an endogenous ATP synthase inhibitory protein, in regulating β-cell function. Investigations on genetic mouse models and an β-cell line indicate that IF1 negatively regulates cellular respiration and mitochondrial homeostasis, thus controlling insulin storage and release from islets.
The authors developed a deep convolutional neural network-based algorithm to support pathological muscle diagnosis. The algorithm differentiated idiopathic inflammatory myopathies and outperformed nine human physicians under limited diseases and conditions. These results suggest that the algorithm has the potential to be used directly in clinical settings.
It is unclear how to best classify cancer outcomes using ‘omic data. We developed a multimetric feature-selection based multinomial logistic regression model that outperformed random forest models in classifying 4-category outcome of colorectal cancer. Adding microsatellite instability and oncogenic-driver data to clinical and transcriptomic data improves models’ performances, with pathologic staging, HBS1L, TSPYL4, and TP53TG3B as important features. Interestingly, precision and recall of tuned algorithms change as the feature number changes, but accuracy does not.
Extensive morphological analysis demonstrates the importance of tunneling nanotubes for intercellular communication in osteoclast differentiation, especially in the fusion process of osteoclast precursors. Successful detection of nanotubes was also demonstrated in cultured primary osteoclasts resorbing dentin slices, and in osteoclasts in bone destruction sites of arthritic rats. Tunneling nanotubes are important for the differentiation of osteoclasts, both in vitro and in vivo.
The authors investigated the contribution of yes associated protein (YAP) and transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) in osteocyte mechanotransduction. In a 3-D osteocyte compression model, they show that YAP/TAZ signaling is activated, is required for osteocyte mechano-responsiveness, and regulates the expression profile of target genes as shown by RNAseq analysis and the control of chemokine expression.
In this study, the authors demonstrated that bioactive glass promotes granulation formation, collagen deposition and angiogenesis to accelerate wound healing. Bioactive glass down-regulaties the connexin 43/reactive oxygen species signaling pathway to inhibit endothelial cell pyroptosis in vitro and in vivo.
Chronic mineral-oil intraperitoneal administration induces hepatic inflammation through innate immune responses via myeloid cell activation. Lcn2 null mice develop less inflammation due to defective genes involved in myeloid cell activation, and downregulated gene sets for collagen-containing extracellular matrix, leading to mitigation of the liver fibrosis. Lcn2 null mice show enriched expression of genes responsible for DNA damage and cell cycle DNA replication compared to wild-type upon chronic CCl4 liver injury.