N6022 attenuates cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury-induced microglia ferroptosis by promoting Nrf2 nuclear translocation and inhibiting the GSNOR/GSTP1 axis.

Stroke poses a significant risk of mortality, particularly among the elderly population. The pathophysiological process of ischemic stroke is complex, and it is crucial to elucidate its molecular mechanisms and explore potential protective drugs. Ferroptosis, a newly recognized form of programmed cell death distinct from necrosis, apoptosis, and autophagy, is closely associated with the pathophysiology of ischemic stroke. N6022, a selective inhibitor of S-nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR), is a "first-in-class" drug for asthma with potential therapeutic applications. However, it remains unclear whether N6022 exerts protective effects in ischemic stroke, and the precise mechanisms of its action are unknown. This study aimed to investigate whether N6022 mitigates cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury by reducing ferroptosis and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Accordingly, we established an oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) cell model and a middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) mouse model to mimic cerebral I/R injury. Our data, both in vitro and in vivo, demonstrated that N6022 effectively protected against I/R-induced brain damage and neurological deficits in mice, as well as OGD/R-induced BV2 cell damage. Mechanistically, N6022 promoted Nrf2 nuclear translocation, enhancing intracellular antioxidant capacity of SLC7A11-GPX4 system. Furthermore, N6022 interfered with the interaction of GSNOR with GSTP1, thereby boosting the antioxidant capacity of GSTP1 and attenuating ferroptosis. These findings provide novel insights, showing that N6022 attenuates microglial ferroptosis induced by cerebral I/R injury through the promotion of Nrf2 nuclear translocation and inhibition of the GSNOR/GSTP1 axis.

Exosomal miRNA-92a derived from cancer-associated fibroblasts promote invasion and metastasis in breast cancer by regulating G3BP2.

Cancer-associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) exert a tumor-promoting effect in various cancers, including breast cancer. CAFs secrete exosomes containing miRNA and proteins, influencing the tumor microenvironment. In this study, we identified CAF-derived exosomes that transport functional miR-92a from CAFs to tumor cells, thereby intensifying the aggressiveness of breast cancer. CAFs downregulate the expression of G3BP2 in breast cancer cells, and a significant elevation in miR-92a levels in CAF-derived exosomes was observed. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrate that miR-92a enhances breast cancer cell migration and invasion by directly targeting G3BP2, functioning as a tumor-promoting miRNA. We validated that the RNA-binding proteins SNRPA facilitate the transfer of CAF-derived exosomal miR-92a to breast cancer cells. The reduction of G3BP2 protein by CAF-derived exosomes releases TWIST1 into the nucleus, promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and further exacerbating breast cancer progression. Moreover, CAF-derived exosomal miR-92a induces tumor invasion and metastasis in mice. Overall, our study reveals that CAF-derived exosomal miR-92a serves as a promoter in the migration and invasion of breast cancer cells by reducing G3BP2 and may represent a potential novel tumor marker for breast cancer.

Therapeutic strategies targeting the NLRP3­mediated inflammatory response and pyroptosis in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury (Review).

Ischemic stroke poses a major threat to human health. Therefore, the molecular mechanisms of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury (CIRI) need to be further clarified, and the associated treatment approaches require exploration. The NOD­like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome serves an important role in causing CIRI, and its activation exacerbates the underlying injury. Activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome triggers the maturation and production of the inflammatory molecules IL­1ß and IL­18, as well as gasdermin­D­mediated pyroptosis and CIRI damage. Thus, the NLRP3 inflammasome may be a viable target for the treatment of CIRI. In the present review, the mechanisms of the NLRP3 inflammasome in the intense inflammatory response and pyroptosis induced by CIRI are discussed, and the therapeutic strategies that target the NLRP3­mediated inflammatory response and pyroptosis in CIRI are summarized. At present, certain drugs have already been studied, highlighting future therapeutic perspectives.

Construction of Fluorescent G-Quadruplex Nanowires for Label-Free and Accurate Monitoring of Circular RNAs in Breast Cancer Cells and Tissues with Low Background.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) represent an emerging category of endogenous transcripts characterized by long half-life time, covalently closed structures, and cell-/tissue-specific expression patterns, making them potential disease biomarkers. Herein, we demonstrate the construction of fluorescent G-quadruplex nanowires for label-free and accurate monitoring of circular RNAs in breast cancer cells and tissues by integrating proximity ligation-rolling circle amplification cascade with lighting up G-quadruplex. The presence of target circRNA facilitates the SplintR ligase-mediated ligation of the padlock probe. Upon the addition of primers, the ligated padlock probe can serve as a template to initiate subsequent rolling circle amplification (RCA), generating numerous long G-quadruplex nanowires that can incorporate with thioflavin T (ThT) to generate a remarkably improved fluorescence signal. Benefiting from good specificity of SplintR ligase-mediated ligation reaction and exponential amplification efficiency of RCA, this strategy can sensitively detect target circRNA with a limit of detection of 4.65 × 10-18 M. Furthermore, this method can accurately measure cellular circRNA expression with single-cell sensitivity and discriminate the circRNA expression between healthy para-carcinoma tissues and breast cancer tissues, holding great potential in studying the pathological roles of circRNA and clinic diagnostics.

RNA methylation-driven assembly of fluorescence-encoded nanostructures for sensitive detection of m6A modification writer METTL3/14 complex in human breast tissues.

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is an ubiquitous post-transcriptional modification catalyzed by METTL3/14 complex in eukaryotic mRNAs. The abnormal METTL3/14 complex activity affects multiple steps of RNA metabolism and may induce various diseases. Herein, we demonstrate the RNA methylation-driven assembly of fluorescence-encoded nanostructures for sensitive detection of m6A modification writer METTL3/14 complex in human breast tissues. METTL3/14 complex can catalyze the methylation of RNA probe to prevent it from being cleaved by MazF. The intact RNA probe is recognized by the magnetic bead (MB)-capture probe conjugates to induce duplex-specific nuclease (DSN)-assisted cyclic digestion, exposing numerous shorter ssDNAs with 3'-OH end. The shorter ssDNAs on the MB surface can act as the primers to initiate terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-enhanced tyramide signal amplification (TSA), forming the Cy5 fluorescence-encoded nanostructures. After magnetic separation, the Cy5 fluorescence-encoded nanostructures are digested by DNase I to release abundant Cy5 fluorophores that can be simply quantified by fluorescence measurement. This assay achieves good specificity and high sensitivity with a detection limit of 58.8 aM, and it can screen METTL3/14 complex inhibitors and quantify METTL3/14 complex activity at the single-cell level. Furthermore, this assay can differentiate the METTL3/14 complex level in breast cancer patient tissues and healthy volunteer tissues.

Tumor-derived exosomal miR-148b-3p mediates M2 macrophage polarization via TSC2/mTORC1 to promote breast cancer migration and invasion.

BACKGROUND: Emerging evidence has revealed that tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and exosomes play a crucial role in the microenvironment for tumor growth. However, the mechanisms through which exosomal miRNAs modulate TAMs and tumor development in breast cancer are not fully understood. METHODS: We constructed a macrophage model and an indirect coculture system consist of breast cancer cells and macrophages. Exosomes were isolated from BC cells culture supernatant and identified by transmission electron microscopy, Western blot and Nanosight LM10 system. The expression of miR-148b-3p in exosomes was determined by qRT-PCR and the effect of exosomal miR-148b-3p on macrophage polarization was measured using qRT-PCR and ELISA. The proliferation, migration and invasion of BC cells were estimated by EdU, wound healing assay and transwell assay. We employed bioinformatics, luciferase reporter assay and Western blot to identify the target gene of miR-148b-3p. Western blot was used to clarify the mechanism of exosomal miR-148b-3p mediated the crosstalk between BC cells and M2 macrophages. RESULTS: Cancer-derived exosomes could induce M2 polarization of macrophages, which promoted the migration and invasion of breast cancer cells. We found that exosomal miR-148b-3p was overexpressed in breast cancer cell-derived exosomes and correlated with lymph node metastasis, late tumor stage and worse prognosis. Upregulated miR-148b-3p expression in exosomes modulated macrophage polarization by targeting TSC2, which promoted the proliferation and might affect migration and invasion of breast cancer cells. Interestingly, we found that exosomal miR-148b-3p could induce M2 macrophage polarization via the TSC2/mTORC1 signaling pathway in breast cancer. CONCLUSION: Overall, our study elucidated that miR-148b-3p could be transported by exosomes from breast cancer cells to surrounding macrophages and induced M2 polarization by targeting TSC2, providing novel insights for breast cancer therapy.

Cancer-associated fibroblast-derived exosomal miR-18b promotes breast cancer invasion and metastasis by regulating TCEAL7.

Studies have shown that cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play an irreplaceable role in the occurrence and development of tumors. Therefore, exploring the action and mechanism of CAFs on tumor cells is particularly important. In this study, we compared the effects of CAFs-derived exosomes and normal fibroblasts (NFs)-derived exosomes on breast cancer cells migration and invasion. The results showed that exosomes from both CAFs and NFs could enter into breast cancer cells and CAFs-derived exosomes had a more enhancing effect on breast cancer cells migration and invasion than NFs-derived exosomes. Furthermore, microRNA (miR)-18b was upregulated in CAFs-derived exosomes, and CAFs-derived exosomes miR-18b can promote breast cancer cell migration and metastasis by specifically binding to the 3'UTR of Transcription Elongation Factor A Like 7 (TCEAL7). The miR-18b-TCEAL7 pathway promotes nuclear Snail ectopic activation by activating nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), thereby inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and promoting cell invasion and metastasis. Moreover, CAFs-derived exosomes miR-18b could promote mouse xenograft model tumor metastasis. Overall, our findings suggest that CAFs-derived exosomes miR-18b promote nuclear Snail ectopic by targeting TCEAL7 to activate the NF-κB pathway, thereby inducing EMT, invasion, and metastasis of breast cancer. Targeting CAFs-derived exosome miR-18b may be a potential treatment option to overcome breast cancer progression.

[CCL18 Promotes the Invasion of Lung Adenocarcinoma through ANXA2].

BACKGROUND: ANXA2 plays a very important role in cancer progression. chemokine ligand 18 (CCL18) is associated with the invasion, migration, metastasis and poor prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). In this study, we aimed to explore whether CCL18 promotes LUAD invasion through ANXA2, and its role and molecular mechanism in LUAD invasion. METHODS: Western blot was used to detect ANXA2 expression in LUAD tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues, the transfection efficiency of SiANXA2#2 in cells and the role of ANXA2 as an upstream regulator in the AKT/cofilin signaling pathway. In vitro cytological experiments such as chemotaxis experiment and transwell invasion test was used to explore the mechanism of ANXA2 on LUAD metastasis. F-actin polymerization experiment and Western blot were used to detect whether invasion ability alteration of SiANXA2#2 A549 cells are related to F-actin. RESULTS: Western blot analysis showed that compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues, the protein expression level of ANXA2 in cancer tissues increased (P<0.05). In the chemotaxis experiment and invasion experiment, the chemotaxis and invasion ability induced by CCL18 decreased when ANXA2 knockdowned (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, F-actin polymerization was significantly lower in ANXA2 knockdown group, while phosphorylation of AKT at Ser473 and Thr308 and phosphorylation of Cofilin and LIMK were reduced in ANXA2 knockdown group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: ANXA2 knockdown can reduce the invasive effect of CCL18 on LUAD cells by reducing phosphorylation of AKT and downstream pathways.