Articles

Nobiletin (NOB) has significant neuroprotective effects on retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in glaucomatous neurodegeneration, including reducing RGC apoptosis and oxidative stress, partially restoring RGC dysfunction, further enhancing Nrf2/HO-1 pathway in RGCs, and attenuating Müller glial activation. These effects do not depend on lowering intraocular pressure. Intervention to enhance activation of Nrf2/HO-1 pathway are viable therapies for glaucoma.

PAQR3 silencing promotes skin wound healing and angiogenesis, enhanced macrophage M2 polarization and elevated expression of PPARγ in diabetic mice. PAQR3 silencing in macrophages also enhances migration of HaCaT cells and tube formation of HUVECs in vitro. The promotion of diabetic wound healing through M2 macrophage polarization and angiogenesis by PAQR3 silencing is mediated by the inhibition of STUB1-mediated PPARγ protein ubiquitination and degradation.

The authors propose a new role for ADAR1, an RNA editing enzyme, in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Overexpression of ADAR1 ameliorates high-fat diet-induced liver injury and significantly abolishes NLRP3 inflammasome activation in THP-1 cells. Inhibition of ADAR1 expression causes a dramatic enhancement in NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Therefore, ADAR1 is a potential NAFLD suppressor through regulation of NLRP3 inflammasomes.

The replacement and desmoplastic histopathological growth patterns (HGP) were studied in patients with uveal melanoma liver metastases (MUM). L1CAM and laminin vascular network were detected at the advancing front of the high-risk replacement HGP but not in the more prognostically favorable desmoplastic HGP. Any percentage of replacement HGP (rHGP), predominant rHGP, or pure rHGP in MUM had a significant adverse effect on metastasis-specific overall survival (p = 0.038; (p = 0.0058); p = 0.0064

Smurf1 is highly expressed in the livers of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients and NAFLD mode mice. Smurf1 promotes p53 ubiquitynation via stabilizing mouse double minute 2 (MDM2). An decrease in p53 enhances lipogenesis by inducing SREBP-1c, and inhibits lipolysis via repressing malonyl-CoA decarboxylase (MCD) or Lipin1. Overall, Smurf1 deficiency attenuates liver steatosis via the MDM-p53 pathway.

The presence of visceral obesity or type 2 diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor and potential therapeutic target for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). A new murine NAFLD model established in this study had obesity and insulin resistance, and rapidly develop steatohepatitis and fibrosis. This model could be useful as preclinical models for drug development of NAFLD.

Characterization of macrophage polarization into different functional phenotypes is valuable for further investigation of gout pathogenesis, as well as for a better disease management. In this study the authors found that altered macrophage polarization exists in various stages of gouty inflammation. Macrophages in acute gout were polarized into M1 at an early stage and into M2 at later stages while the macrophages in chronic gout were generally polarized towards M2. The number of M1 rose with the progression of inflammation. Early increase of M2 was observed, which might be generated directly from M0.

The antibody drug conjugate (ADC) Trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) has shown activity in breast cancer with low levels of HER2 expression. The historical/conventional assays for HER2 were designed separate high levels of HER2 from intermediate levels and show no expression in the low range. In this study, we determine the optimal dynamic range for unamplified HER2 detection in breast cancer and then design a quantitative assay to stratify HER2 expression in unamplified cases. Assessment of HER2 protein in the optimal dynamic range will ultimately help select the optimal patients for T-DXd and this work can serve as a model for other assays for ADCs where pathology reads may be less accurate that protein measurements.

Apolipoprotein B100 (apoB100) is the structural protein of several of the lipoprotein cholesterol carriers and accumulates in extracellular deposits in the systemic disease atherosclerosis, and the neurodegenerative blinding disease, age-related macular degeneration. Herein, the authors characterized the retinal pathology of transgenic mice expressing mouse apoB100, in order to catalog their functional and morphological ocular phenotypes, as a function of age, and establish measurable endpoints for their use as a pre-clinical mouse model to test potential therapies.

GTSE1 performs oncogenic functions in various tumors; however, its role in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) remains unknown. Here, the authors found that GTSE1 is overexpressed in ccRCC, and its high expression was positively relation with advanced clinical stages and worse prognosis. In additional, GTSE1 knockdown inhibited ccRCC cell malignant phenotype in vitro and vivo. Mechanistically, GTSE1 promotes ccRCC malignance progression by attenuating KLF4 expression.

Current treatments, which mostly aim to restore bowel habits, are ineffective for intestinal pain in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Abnormal gut-derived serotonin metabolism and mucosal neurite outgrowth are linked to visceral hypersensitivity. Enhanced mucosal innervation dependent on 5-HT₇ contributes to hyperalgesia in two IBS-like mouse models. A positive-feedback loop between serotonin and neurotrophin is involved in intensifying nerve fiber elongation. A novel 5-HT₇ receptor antagonist may be administered orally as an intestinal analgesic for IBS-related pain.

Targeting Siglec-15 may be an effective alternative therapy for patients that do not respond to PD-1/PD-L1 inhibition. In this study, the authors show broad expression of this potential immune modulatory target in a wide range of cancer types. These data may inform future clinical development and show potential for future companion diagnostic tests for Siglec-15 therapeutics.

In nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) CREB1 and SRGN are increased while miR-148a-5p is decreased. Silencing of SRGN and CREB1, and miR-148a-5p overexpression represses NPC tumor progression. The authors show that CREB1 promotes SRGN expression by targeting its promoter. In NPC, FoxO1 binds to miR-148a-5p, and miR-148a-5p targets CREB1. FoxO1 knockdown abolishes the downregulation of CREB1 and SRGN induced by STAT3 silencing. In summary, STAT3 regulates SRGN and promotes the growth and metastasis of NPC through the FoxO1-miR-148a-5p-CREB1 axis.

The expression of circRTN4 is significantly enhanced in lupus nephritis. Downregulation of circRTN4 expression alleviates extracellular matrix deposition by targeting the miR-513a-5p/FN axis in cultured human renal mesangial cells and pristane-induced BALB/c mice or MRL/lpr mice. In addition, monocyte circRTN4 participates in mesangial cell dysfunction in an exosome-dependent manner. Exosomal circRTN4 mzytherefore be an effective biomarker for lupus nephritis detection and a novel therapeutic target.

When skeletal muscles undergo ischemia/reperfusion injury, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), a stress regulator, is upregulated and reduces Drp1 levels, which consequently alleviates abnormal mitochondrial fission and apoptosis. This work provides new insight into relationship between FGF21 and mitochondria and provides a possible therapeutic target for amelioration of muscle ischemia/reperfusion injury.

The authors carried out a comparative genetic and histopathological study of 15 patient-derived xenografts (PDX) that were newly established from patients with various types of aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphomas. We have demonstrated that despite keeping the same genetic profiles the PDX models do not recapitulate microenvironmental heterogeneity of the original lymphomas. These findings have implications on the relevance of PDX models in the context of preclinical research.

WISP-2, a recently identified adipokine, plays a role in modulating the turnover of extracellular matrix in the cartilage, and its downregulation may detrimentally alter the inflammatory environment in osteoarthritic cartilage. The authors also show the participation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in these processes. Thus, targeting WISP-2 might represent a potential therapeutical approach for degenerative and/or inflammatory diseases of musculoskeletal system, such as osteoarthritis.

This study describes how HOTAIRM1 transferred by alveolar epithelial cell (AEC)-derived Exos promotes proliferation and transdifferentiation of lung fibroblasts. The authors reveal the mechanism by which HOTAIRM1 competitively binds to miR-30d-3p and YY1 to upregulate the expression of HSF1. Furthermore, AEC-Exosomes harboring HOTAIRM1 accelerates interstitial pulmonary fibrosis through disrupting miR-30d-3p-mediated HSF1 inhibition and inducing HSF1.

Leukemia/lymphoma-related factor (LRF) in mouse and osteoclast zinc finger protein (OCZF) in rats are members of the zinc finger and BTB domain-containing protein (zBTB) family of transcriptional regulators and are highly expressed in mature osteoclasts, and enhance the expression of Bcl-xl mRNA. OCZF overexpression significantly promotes bone loss in ovariectomy-induced osteolytic mice. Protein levels of RNA binding splicing regulator of Bcl-x mRNA and Src substrate associated in mitosis of 68 kDa (Sam68) protein were markedly decreased in OCZF-Tg mouse-derived osteoclasts, suggesting that OCZF promotes osteoclast survival via Sam68.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play important roles in many lung diseases. This study investigated the role of circHECTD1 in acute lung injury (ALI). circHECTD1 attenuates the apoptosis of alveolar epithelial cells in lipopolysaccharide-induced ALI through the miR-320a/PIK3CA and miR-136/Sirt1 pathways, indicating a novel therapeutic target for ALI.