DNA methylation modification in Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive, and irreversible interstitial lung disease with a prognosis worse than lung cancer. It is a fatal lung disease with largely unknown etiology and pathogenesis, and no effective therapeutic drugs render its treatment largely unsuccessful. With continuous in-depth research efforts, the epigenetic mechanisms in IPF pathogenesis have been further discovered and concerned. As a widely studied mechanism of epigenetic modification, DNA methylation is primarily facilitated by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), resulting in the addition of a methyl group to the fifth carbon position of the cytosine base, leading to the formation of 5-methylcytosine (5-mC). Dysregulation of DNA methylation is intricately associated with the advancement of respiratory disorders. Recently, the role of DNA methylation in IPF pathogenesis has also received considerable attention. DNA methylation patterns include methylation modification and demethylation modification and regulate a range of essential biological functions through gene expression regulation. The Ten-Eleven-Translocation (TET) family of DNA dioxygenases is crucial in facilitating active DNA demethylation through the enzymatic conversion of the modified genomic base 5-mC to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC). TET2, a member of TET proteins, is involved in lung inflammation, and its protein expression is downregulated in the lungs and alveolar epithelial type II cells of IPF patients. This review summarizes the current knowledge of pathologic features and DNA methylation mechanisms of pulmonary fibrosis, focusing on the critical roles of abnormal DNA methylation patterns, DNMTs, and TET proteins in impacting IPF pathogenesis. Researching DNA methylation will enchance comprehension of the fundamental mechanisms involved in IPF pathology and provide novel diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for pulmonary fibrosis based on the studies involving epigenetic mechanisms.

NMDA receptor activation induces damage of alveolar type II cells and lung fibrogenesis through ferroptosis.

Ferroptosis, a newly discovered type of regulated cell death, has been implicated in numerous human diseases. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and ultimately fatal interstitial lung disease with poor prognosis and limited treatment options. Emerging evidence has linked ferroptosis and glutamate-determined cell fate which is considered a new light on the etiology of pulmonary fibrosis. Here, we observed that N-methyl d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) activation promoted cell damage and iron deposition in MLE-12 cells in a dose-, time-, and receptor-dependent manner. This mediated substantial Ca2+ influx, upregulated the expression levels of nNOS and IRP1, and affected intracellular iron homeostasis by regulating the expression of iron transport-related proteins (i.e., TFR1, DMT1, and FPN). Excessive iron load promoted the continuous accumulation of total intracellular and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species, which ultimately led to ferroptosis. NMDAR inhibition reduced lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis in bleomycin-induced mice. Bleomycin stimulation upregulated the expression of NMDAR1, nNOS, and IRP1 in mouse lung tissues, which ultimately led to iron deposition via regulation of the expression of various iron metabolism-related genes. NMDAR activation initiated the pulmonary fibrosis process by inducing iron deposition in lung tissues and ferroptosis of alveolar type II cells. Our data suggest that NMDAR activation regulates the expression of iron metabolism-related genes by promoting calcium influx, increasing nNOS and IRP1 expression, and increasing iron deposition by affecting cellular iron homeostasis, ultimately leading to mitochondrial damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, and ferroptosis. NMDAR activation-induced ferroptosis of alveolar type II cells might be a key event to the initiation of pulmonary fibrosis.

[Urinary metabolomics study of the effects of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi ethanol extract on D-galactose-induced rats].

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the anti-aging effects and reveal the underlying mechanism of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi ethanol extract (SBG) in D-galactose-induced rats. Fifty rats were randomly divided into five groups: vehicle control group, D-galactose group, and D-galactose combined with 50, 100, 200 mg x kg(-1) SBG. A rat aging model was induced by injecting subcutaneously D-galactose (100 mg x kg(-1)) for ten weeks. At the tenth week, the locomotor activity (in open-field test) and the learning and memory abilities (in Morris water maze test) were examined respectively. The urine was collected using metabolic cages and analyzed by high-resolution 1H NMR spectroscopy combined with multivariate statistical analyses. The SBG at doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg x kg(-1) treatments groups could significantly ameliorate aging process in rats' cognitive performance. The 50, 100, 200 mg x kg(-1) SBG regulated citrate, pyruvate, lactate, trimethylamine (TMA), pantothenate, ß-hydroxybutyrate in urine favorably toward the control group. These biochemical changes are related to the disturbance in energy metabolism, glycometabolism and microbiome metabolism, which is helpful to further understanding the D-galactose induced aging rats and the therapeutic mechanism of SBG.

Survival and Growth of Epiphytic Ferns Depend on Resource Sharing.

Locally available resources can be shared within clonal plant systems through physiological integration, thus enhancing their survival and growth. Most epiphytes exhibit clonal growth habit, but few studies have tested effects of physiological integration (resource sharing) on survival and growth of epiphytes and whether such effects vary with species. We conducted two experiments, one on individuals (single ramets) and another on groups (several ramets within a plot), with severed and intact rhizome treatments (without and with physiological integration) on two dominant epiphytic ferns (Polypodiodes subamoena and Lepisorus scolopendrium) in a subtropical montane moist forest in Southwest China. Rhizome severing (preventing integration) significantly reduced ramet survival in the individual experiment and number of surviving ramets in the group experiment, and it also decreased biomass of both species in both experiments. However, the magnitude of such integration effects did not vary significantly between the two species. We conclude that resource sharing may be a general strategy for clonal epiphytes to adapt to forest canopies where resources are limited and heterogeneously distributed in space and time.