BMP9 maintains the phenotype of HTR-8/Svneo trophoblast cells by activating the SDF1/CXCR4 pathway.

BACKGROUND: Bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP9) has been shown to regulate processes such as angiogenesis, endothelial dysfunction, and tumorigenesis. However, the role of BMP9 in preeclampsia (PE) is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role and mechanism of BMP9 in PE. METHODS: The effects of BMP9 on the viability, migration and invasion of HTR-8/Svneo cells were investigated by CCK-8 assay, wound healing assay and Transwell invasion assay. The effect of BMP9 on apoptosis of HTR-8/Svneo cells was detected by flow cytometry. Plasma levels of BMP9, SDF1 and CXCR4 were detected by ELISA kit. qRT-PCR and Western blot were used to detect the expression levels of each gene in the cells. RESULTS: Overexpression of BMP9 promoted the proliferation and migration of trophoblast cells and inhibited apoptosis. Knockdown of BMP9 had the opposite effect. The levels of BMP9, SDF1 and CXCR4 in the plasma of PE patients were down-regulated, and BMP9 was positively correlated with the levels of SDF1 and CXCR4. BMP9 also significantly upregulated the mRNA and protein levels of SDF1 and CXCR4 in HTR-8/SVneo cells. Further mechanistic studies found that BMP9 promoted the migration and invasion of HTR-8/SVneo cells and inhibited apoptosis by activating the SDF1/CXCR4 pathway. CONCLUSION: We demonstrate for the first time that BMP9 promoted the migration and invasion of HTR-8/SVneo cells and inhibits apoptosis by activating the SDF1/CXCR4 pathway. This suggests that BMP9 may be a biomarker molecule for PE.

Dent disease: classification, heterogeneity and diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: Dent disease is a rare tubulopathy characterized by manifestations of proximal tubular dysfunction, which occurs almost exclusively in males. It mainly presents symptoms in early childhood and may progress to end-stage renal failure between the 3rd and 5th decades of human life. According to its various genetic basis and to clinical signs and symptoms, researchers define two forms of Dent disease (Dent diseases 1 and 2) and suggest that these forms are produced by mutations in the CLCN5 and OCRL genes, respectively. Dent diseases 1 and 2 account for 60% and 15% of all Dent disease cases, and their genetic cause is generally understood. However, the genetic cause of the remaining 25% of Dent disease cases remains unidentified. DATA SOURCES: All relevant peer-reviewed original articles published thus far have been screened out from PubMed and have been referenced. RESULTS: Genetic testing has been used greatly to identify mutation types of CLCN5 and OCRL gene, and next-generation sequencing also has been used to identify an increasing number of unknown genotypes. Gene therapy may bring new hope to the treatment of Dent disease. The abuse of hormones and immunosuppressive agents for the treatment of Dent disease should be avoided to prevent unnecessary harm to children. CONCLUSIONS: The current research progress in classification, genetic heterogeneity, diagnosis, and treatment of Dent disease reviewed in this paper enables doctors and researchers to better understand Dent disease and provides a basis for improved prevention and treatment.

Case report: a Chinese girl with dent disease 1 and turner syndrome due to a hemizygous CLCN5 gene mutation and Isochromosome (Xq).

BACKGROUND: Female Dent disease 1 patients with low-molecular-weight proteinuria (LMWP) due to CLCN5 gene mutation were rarely reported, and these cases that the people were also with Turner syndrome (TS) were even hardly documented before. CASE PRESENTATION: Here we report a 3-year and 11-month old Chinese girl with short stature who had a karyotype of 46,X,i(X)(q10) and a de novo pathogenic variant in the CLCN5 gene on the short arm of X chromosome. Laboratory examinations showed that the patient had LMWP, hypercalciuria, hypophosphatemia, delayed bone age, and genital dysplasia. CONCLUSION: The combination of i(X)(q10) and CLCN5 mutation causes the deletion of the wild-type CLCN5 allele that results in Dent-1 and TS. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case that a female CLCN5 mutation hemizygote is diagnosed with Dent-1 and Turner syndrome due to isochromosome X. Also, our case has indicated that the prevalence of the situation may be largely underestimated because of the mild signs of females with Dent-1.

Somatic FGFR3 Mutations Distinguish a Subgroup of Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancers with Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy.

The administration of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) preceding radical cystectomy benefits overall survival for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). However, the relationship between the genetic profiling of MIBC and NAC response remains unclear. Here, a mutation panel of six cancer-associated genes (TSC1, FGFR3, TERT, TP53, PIK3CA and ERBB2) and an immunohistochemistry (IHC) panel containing eight bladder cancer (BC) biomarkers (EGFR, RRM1, PD-L1, BRCA1, TUBB3, ERCC, ERCC1, aberrantly glycosylated integrin α3ß1 (AG) and CK5/6) were developed. BC samples from patients who showed a pathologic response (n = 39) and non-response (n = 13) were applied to the panel analysis. ERBB2, FGFR3 and PIK3CA exclusively altered in the responders group (19/39, 48.7%), in which FGFR3 mutations were significantly enriched in patients with a response in the cohort (14/39, 35.9%; P = 0.01). Additionally, strong expression of ERCC1 was associated with a pathologic response (P = 0.01). However, positive lymph node metastasis (P < 0.01) and lymph-vascular invasion (LVI) (P = 0.03) were correlated with a non-response. Overall, the data show that FGFR3 mutations and elevated expression of ERCC1 in MIBCs are potential predictive biomarkers of the response to NAC.

Bladder cancer stem cells: clonal origin and therapeutic perspectives.

In this article, we review the origin and therapeutic perspectives of bladder cancer stem cells (BCSCs), which are integral to the initiation, high recurrence and chemoresistance of bladder cancer. BCSCs are heterogenous and originate from multiple cell types, including urothelial stem cells and differentiated cell types, including basal, intermediate stratum and umbrella cells. Cell surface markers, including CD44, CD67LR, EMA, ALDH1A1 and BCMab1, are used to identify and isolate BCSCs. The Hedgehog, Notch, Wnt and JAK-STAT signaling pathways play key roles in maintaining the stemness, self-renewal and proliferative potential of BCSCs. High expression of ABC transporters, acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, antioxidants and apoptosis resistance proteins in BCSCs play a critical role in chemoresistance. Consequently, a greater understanding of the biology of BCSCs will be important for identifying effective therapeutic targets to improve clinical outcomes for bladder cancer patients.

α-Mangostin induces apoptosis and suppresses differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells via inhibiting fatty acid synthase.

α-Mangostin, isolated from the hulls of Garcinia mangostana L., was found to have in vitro cytotoxicity against 3T3-L1 cells as well as inhibiting fatty acid synthase (FAS, EC 2.3.1.85). Our studies showed that the cytotoxicity of α-mangostin with IC(50) value of 20 µM was incomplicated in apoptotic events including increase of cell membrane permeability, nuclear chromatin condensation and mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) loss. This cytotoxicity was accompanied by the reduction of FAS activity in cells and could be rescued by 50 µM or 100 µM exogenous palmitic acids, which suggested that the apoptosis of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes induced by α-mangostin was via inhibition of FAS. Futhermore, α-mangostin could suppress intracellular lipid accumulation in the differentiating adipocytes and stimulated lipolysis in mature adipocytes, which was also related to its inhibition of FAS. In addition, 3T3-L1 preadipocytes were more susceptible to the cytotoxic effect of α-mangostin than mature adipocytes. Further studies showed that α-mangostin inhibited FAS probably by stronger action on the ketoacyl synthase domain and weaker action on the acetyl/malonyl transferase domain. These findings suggested that α-mangostin might be useful for preventing or treating obesity.