JOSD2 mediates isoprenaline-induced heart failure by deubiquitinating CaMKIIδ in cardiomyocytes.

Prolonged stimulation of ß-adrenergic receptor (ß-AR) can lead to sympathetic overactivity that causes pathologic cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis, ultimately resulting in heart failure. Recent studies suggest that abnormal protein ubiquitylation may contribute to the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy and remodeling. In this study, we demonstrated that deficiency of a deubiquitinase, Josephin domain-containing protein 2 (JOSD2), ameliorated isoprenaline (ISO)- and myocardial infarction (MI)-induced cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, and dysfunction both in vitro and in vivo. Conversely, JOSD2 overexpression aggravated ISO-induced cardiac pathology. Through comprehensive mass spectrometry analysis, we identified that JOSD2 interacts with Calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKIIδ). JOSD2 directly hydrolyzes the K63-linked polyubiquitin chains on CaMKIIδ, thereby increasing the phosphorylation of CaMKIIδ and resulting in calcium mishandling, hypertrophy, and fibrosis in cardiomyocytes. In vivo experiments showed that the cardiac remodeling induced by JOSD2 overexpression could be reversed by the CaMKIIδ inhibitor KN-93. In conclusion, our study highlights the role of JOSD2 in mediating ISO-induced cardiac remodeling through the regulation of CaMKIIδ ubiquitination, and suggests its potential as a therapeutic target for combating the disease. Please check and confirm that the authors and their respective affiliations have been correctly identified and amend if necessary. All have been checked.

Toll-like receptor-2 in cardiomyocytes and macrophages mediates isoproterenol-induced cardiac inflammation and remodeling.

Heart failure (HF) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Activation of the innate immune system initiates an inflammatory response during cardiac remodeling induced by isoproterenol (ISO). Here, we investigated whether Toll-like receptor-2 (TLR2) mediates ISO-induced inflammation, hypertrophy, and fibrosis. TLR2 was found to be increased in the heart tissues of mouse with HF under ISO challenge. Further, cardiomyocytes and macrophages were identified as the main cellular sources of the increased TLR2 levels in the model under ISO stimulation. The effect of TLR2 deficiency on ISO-induced cardiac remodeling was determined using TLR2 knockout mice and bone marrow transplantation models. In vitro studies involving ISO-treated cultured cardiomyocytes and macrophages showed that TLR2 knockdown significantly decreased ISO-induced cell inflammation and remodeling via MAPKs/NF-κB signaling. Mechanistically, ISO significantly increased the TLR2-MyD88 interaction in the above cells in a TLR1-dependent manner. Finally, DAMPs, such as HSP70 and fibronectin 1 (FN1), were found to be released from the cells under ISO stimulation, which further activated TLR1/2-Myd88 signaling and subsequently activated pro-inflammatory cytokine expression and cardiac remodeling. In summary, our findings suggest that TLR2 may be a target for the alleviation of chronic adrenergic stimulation-associated HF. In addition, this paper points out the possibility of TLR2 as a new target for heart failure under ISO stimulation.

Isoproterenol induces MD2 activation by ß-AR-cAMP-PKA-ROS signalling axis in cardiomyocytes and macrophages drives inflammatory heart failure.

Cardiac inflammation contributes to heart failure (HF) induced by isoproterenol (ISO) through activating ß-adrenergic receptors (ß-AR). Recent evidence shows that myeloid differentiation factor 2 (MD2), a key protein in endotoxin-induced inflammation, mediates inflammatory heart diseases. In this study, we investigated the role of MD2 in ISO-ß-AR-induced heart injuries and HF. Mice were infused with ISO (30 mg·kg-1·d-1) via osmotic mini-pumps for 2 weeks. We showed that MD2 in cardiomyocytes and cardiac macrophages was significantly increased and activated in the heart tissues of ISO-challenged mice. Either MD2 knockout or administration of MD2 inhibitor L6H21 (10 mg/kg every 2 days, i.g.) could prevent mouse hearts from ISO-induced inflammation, remodelling and dysfunction. Bone marrow transplantation study revealed that both cardiomyocyte MD2 and bone marrow-derived macrophage MD2 contributed to ISO-induced cardiac inflammation and injuries. In ISO-treated H9c2 cardiomyocyte-like cells, neonatal rat primary cardiomyocytes and primary mouse peritoneal macrophages, MD2 knockout or pre-treatment with L6H21 (10 µM) alleviated ISO-induced inflammatory responses, and the conditioned medium from ISO-challenged macrophages promoted the hypertrophy and fibrosis in cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts. We demonstrated that ISO induced MD2 activation in cardiomyocytes via ß1-AR-cAMP-PKA-ROS signalling axis, and induced inflammatory responses in macrophages via ß2-AR-cAMP-PKA-ROS axis. This study identifies MD2 as a key inflammatory mediator and a promising therapeutic target for ISO-induced heart failure.

Real-Time Road Intersection Detection in Sparse Point Cloud Based on Augmented Viewpoints Beam Model.

Road intersection is a kind of important navigation landmark, while existing detection methods exhibit clear limitations in terms of their robustness and efficiency. A real-time algorithm for road intersection detection and location in large-scale sparse point clouds is proposed in this paper. Different from traditional approaches, our method establishes the augmented viewpoints beam model to perceive the road bifurcation structure. Explicitly, the spatial features from point clouds are jointly extracted in various viewpoints in front of the robot. In addition, the evaluation metrics are designed to self-assess the quality of detection results, enabling our method to optimize the detection process in real time. Considering the scarcity of datasets for intersection detection, we also collect and annotate a VLP-16 point cloud dataset specifically for intersections, called NCP-Intersection. Quantitative and qualitative experiments demonstrate that the proposed method performs favorably against the other parallel methods. Specifically, our method performs an average precision exceeding 90% and an average processing time of approximately 88 ms/frame.

PSC subtyping based on TTF-1 and p40 expression reveals distinct molecular characteristics and therapeutic strategies.

Pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma (PSC) is a unique form of poorly differentiated nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and is notorious for its highly malignant nature and dismal prognosis. To introduce effective treatment for PSC patients, precise subtyping of PSC is demanding. In our study, TTF-1 and P40 immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining were applied to 56 PSC patients with multiomics data. According to IHC results, we categorized these patients into three subgroups and profiled their molecular contexture using bioinformatic skills. IHC results classified these patients into three subgroups: TTF-1 positive subgroup (n = 27), P40 positive subgroup (n = 15) and double-negative subgroup (n = 14). Spindle cell samples accounted for 35.71% (5/14) of double-negative patients, higher than others (P = .034). The three subgroups were heterogeneous in the genomic alteration spectrum, showing significant differences in the RTK/RAS pathway (P = .004) and the cell cycle pathway (P = .030). The methylation profile of the double-negative subgroup was between the other two subgroups. In similarity analysis, the TTF-1 and p40 subgroups were closely related to LUAD and LUSC, respectively. The TTF-1 positive subgroup had the highest leukocyte fraction (LF) among several cancer types, and the tumor mutation burden (TMB) of the p40 positive subgroup ranked third in the TMB list, suggesting the applicability of immunotherapy for PSC. The study established a new subtyping method of PSC based on IHC results and reveals three subgroups with distinct molecular features, providing evidence for refined stratification in the treatment of PSC.

Optimized dose selective HDAC inhibitor tucidinostat overcomes anti-PD-L1 antibody resistance in experimental solid tumors.

BACKGROUND: Although immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have influenced the treatment paradigm for multiple solid tumors, increasing evidence suggests that primary and adaptive resistance may limit the long-term efficacy of ICIs. New therapeutic strategies with other drug combinations are hence warranted to enhance the antitumor efficacy of ICIs. As a novel tumor suppressor, histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor tucidinostat has been successfully confirmed to act against hematological malignancies. However, the underlying mechanisms of action for tucidinostat and whether it can manipulate the tumor microenvironment (TME) in solid tumors remain unclear. METHODS: Three murine tumor models (4T1, LLC, and CT26) were developed to define the significant role of different doses of tucidinostat in TME. The immunotherapeutic effect of tucidinostat combined with anti-programmed cell death ligand 1 antibody (aPD-L1) was demonstrated. Furthermore, the effect of tucidinostat on phenotypic characteristics of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from lung cancer patients was investigated. RESULTS: With an optimized dose, tucidinostat could alter TME and promote the migration and infiltration of CD8+ T cells into tumors, partially by increasing the activity of C-C motif chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5) via NF-κB signaling. Moreover, tucidinostat significantly promoted M1 polarization of macrophages and increased the in vivo antitumor efficacy of aPD-L1. Tucidinostat also enhanced the expression of the costimulatory molecules on human monocytes, suggesting a novel and improved antigen-presenting function. CONCLUSIONS: A combination regimen of tucidinostat and aPD-L1 may work synergistically to reduce tumor burden in patients with cancer by enhancing the immune function and provided a promising treatment strategy to overcome ICI treatment resistance.

Treatment-related adverse events of PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitor-based combination therapies in clinical trials: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Numerous ongoing trials are testing anti-PD-1-based or anti-PD-L1-based cancer treatment combinations. Understanding the toxicity profiles of treatment-related adverse events is essential. The aim of this study was to comprehensively investigate the incidences and profiles of treatment-related adverse events across different combination therapies. METHODS: We did a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing different chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and radiotherapy combinations with PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors. We searched Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane databases for articles published in English between Jan 1, 2000, and May 21, 2020, investigating globally approved PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor-based combination therapies. Only prospective trials reporting overall incidence or tabulated data of treatment-related adverse events were included. Trials investigating sequential therapies, comprising three or more classes of therapies, and enrolling less than ten patients were excluded. The primary outcomes were overall incidences and profiles for all-grade and grade 3 or higher treatment-related adverse events by random-effect models. Heterogeneity between studies was assessed with I2 statistics. The summary measures for main outcomes are incidences (95% CI). The 95% CI were calculated together with the incidence through a random-effects model with a logit transformation. The protocol is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020189617). FINDINGS: We identified 2540 records, of which 161 studies (17 197 patients) met the inclusion criteria. The overall incidence of treatment-related adverse events in the chemotherapy combination was 97·7% (95% CI 96·4-98·5; I2=75%) for all-grade adverse events and 68·3% (60·7-75·0; I2=93%) for grade 3 or higher adverse events; in the targeted therapy combination was 94·5% (90·7-96·8; I2=86%) for all-grade adverse events and 47·3% (37·3-57·5; I2=93%) for grade 3 or higher adverse events; in the immunotherapy combination was 86·8% (80·9-91·1; I2=94%) for all-grade adverse events and 35·9% (29·5-42·9; I2=92%) for grade 3 or higher adverse events; and in the radiotherapy combination was 89·4% (69·0-96·9; I2=74%) for all-grade adverse events and 12·4% (4·4-30·6; I2=73%) for grade 3 or higher adverse events. For these four combination therapies, the most common all-grade adverse events were anaemia (45.4% [95% CI 32·4-59·1]), fatigue (34·3% [27·5-41·9]), fatigue (26·4% [19·2-35·2]), and dysphagia (30·0% [18·7-44·5]), respectively, and the most common grade 3 or higher adverse events were neutropenia (19·6% [13·5-27·7]), hypertension (9·3% [5·7-14·9]), lipase increased (7·2% [5·2-9·9]), and lymphopenia (10·3% [4·5-21·8]). All included randomised controlled trials had a low risk of bias. INTERPRETATION: Our study provides comprehensive data on treatment-related adverse events of different PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor-based combination therapies. Our results provide an essential reference of toxicity profiles of PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor-based combination therapies for clinicians in routine practice of cancer care. FUNDING: National Key Research and Development Programme, National Natural Science Foundation of China key program, National Natural Science Foundation of China general program, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Initiative for Innovative Medicine, Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, Non-profit Central Research Institute Fund.

A novel tumor mutational burden estimation model as a predictive and prognostic biomarker in NSCLC patients.

BACKGROUND: Tumor mutational burden (TMB) has both prognostic value in resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and predictive value for immunotherapy response. However, TMB evaluation by whole-exome sequencing (WES) is expensive and time-consuming, hampering its application in clinical practice. In our study, we aimed to construct a mutational burden estimation model, with a small set of genes, that could precisely estimate WES-TMB and, at the same time, has prognostic and predictive value for NSCLC patients. METHODS: TMB estimation model was trained based on genomic data from 1056 NSCLC samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Validation was performed using three independent cohorts, including Rizvi cohort and our own Asian cohorts, including 89 early-stage and n late-stage Asian NSCLC patients, respectively. TCGA data were obtained on September 3, 2018. The two Asian cohort studies were performed from September 1, 2018, to March 5, 2019. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to assess the performance of estimated TMB with WES-TMB. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was applied to evaluate the association of estimated TMB with disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), and response to anti-programmed death-1 (PD-1) and anti-programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) therapy. RESULTS: The estimation model, consisted of only 23 genes, correlated well with WES-TMB both in the training set of TCGA cohort and validation set of Rizvi cohort and our own Asian cohort. Estimated TMB by the 23-gene panel was significantly associated with DFS and OS in patients with early-stage NSCLC and could serve as a predictive biomarker for anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 treatment response. CONCLUSIONS: The 23-gene panel, instead of WES or the currently used panel-based methods, could be used to assess the WES-TMB with a high relevance. This customized targeted sequencing panel could be easily applied into clinical practice to predict the immunotherapy response and prognosis of NSCLC.

Safety, anti-tumour activity, and pharmacokinetics of fixed-dose SHR-1210, an anti-PD-1 antibody in advanced solid tumours: a dose-escalation, phase 1 study.

BACKGROUND: To assess the safety profile, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and preliminary antitumour activity of fixed-dose SHR-1210, a novel anti-PD-1 antibody, in advanced solid tumours. METHODS: A total of 36 patients with advanced solid tumours received intravenous SHR-1210 at 60 mg, 200 mg and 400 mg (4-week interval after first dose followed by a 2-week schedule) until disease progression or intolerable toxicity. The concentration of SHR-1210 was detected for pharmacokinetics, and receptor occupancy on circulating T lymphocytes was assessed for pharmacodynamics. RESULTS: No dose-limiting toxicities were observed. Maximum administered dose was not reached. Most adverse events were grade 1 or 2. Treatment-related severe adverse events were found in two patients. No treatment-related death was reported. Two complete responses (gastric cancer, bladder carcinoma) and seven partial responses were seen. In responders, the median follow-up time was 16.0 months (range 8.3-19.5), and the median duration of response was not reached (range 2.7-17.5+ months). The half-life of SHR-1210 was 2.94 d, 5.61 d and 11.0 d for 3 dose levels, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrated a promising antitumour activity and a manageable safety profile of SHR-1210, displayed an explicit PK evidence of the feasibility of fixed dose, and established the foundation for further exploration.

All members in the sphingomyelin synthase gene family have ceramide phosphoethanolamine synthase activity.

Sphingomyelin synthase-related protein (SMSr) synthesizes the sphingomyelin analog ceramide phosphoethanolamine (CPE) in cells. Previous cell studies indicated that SMSr is involved in ceramide homeostasis and is crucial for cell function. To further examine SMSr function in vivo, we generated Smsr KO mice that were fertile and had no obvious phenotypic alterations. Quantitative MS analyses of plasma, liver, and macrophages from the KO mice revealed only marginal changes in CPE and ceramide as well as other sphingolipid levels. Because SMS2 also has CPE synthase activity, we prepared Smsr/Sms2 double KO mice. We found that CPE levels were not significantly changed in macrophages, suggesting that CPE levels are not exclusively dependent on SMSr and SMS2 activities. We then measured CPE levels in Sms1 KO mice and found that Sms1 deficiency also reduced plasma CPE levels. Importantly, we found that expression of Sms1 or Sms2 in SF9 insect cells significantly increased not only SM but also CPE formation, indicating that SMS1 also has CPE synthase activity. Moreover, we measured CPE synthase Km and Vmax for SMS1, SMS2, and SMSr using different NBD ceramides. Our study reveals that all mouse SMS family members (SMSr, SMS1, and SMS2) have CPE synthase activity. However, neither CPE nor SMSr appears to be a critical regulator of ceramide levels in vivo.

Pneumonic-type lung adenocarcinoma with KRAS G12V mutation and sustained response to Afatinib.

BACKGROUND: Pneumonic-type lung adenocarcinoma (P-ADC) is a rare and challenging subtype of primary lung cancer that can be difficult to distinguish from pneumonia based on radiological images. Furthermore, no drugs are currently available that specifically target KRAS G12V. CASE PRESENTATION: Here we report a case of P-ADC with typical and informative imaging features throughout the course of the disease, including patchy shadows, high-density lesions with aerated bronchus, diffuse ground-glass opacities, and nodular shadows from computed tomography (CT) scan. The KRAS G12V mutation was detected using Next-generation sequencing (NGS). An individualized Afatinib-based therapeutic schedule was prescribed and achieved sustained response after multiple lines of treatment had failed. CONCLUSION: Our case highlights the typical and dynamic changes in imaging features of P-ADC and provides an indicative treatment strategy for KRAS G12V-mutated lung adenocarcinoma.

Impact of doxycycline on Clostridioides difficile infection in patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic use is a significant risk factor associated with Clostridioides difficile (C difficile) infection (CDI). Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common infection leading to hospital admission and the use of antibiotics that are highly associated with CDI. It has been proposed that doxycycline, a tetracycline antibiotic, may be protective against CDI. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted in hospitalized patients in Veterans Affairs Hospitals across the United States to determine if doxycycline was associated with a decreased risk of CDI. The primary outcome was the development of CDI within 30 days of initiation of doxycycline or azithromycin, as part of a standard pneumonia regimen. RESULTS: Approximately 156,107 hospitalized patients who received care at a Veterans Affairs Hospital and were diagnosed with CAP during the study timeframe were included. A 17% decreased risk of CDI was identified with doxycycline compared to azithromycin when used with ceftriaxone for the treatment of pneumonia (P = .03). In patients who had a prior history of CDI, doxycycline decreased the incidence of CDI by 45% (odds ratio 0.55; P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: Doxycycline is associated with a lower risk of CDI compared to azithromycin when used for atypical coverage in CAP. Thus, patients who are at such risk may benefit from doxycycline as a first-line agent for atypical coverage, rather than the use of a macrolide antibiotic, if Legionella is not of concern.

Serum untargeted metabolomics analysis of the preventive mechanism of TAETEA Prebiotea on non-alcoholic fatty liver in rats.

Pu-erh tea belongs to the six tea categories of black tea, according to the processing technology and quality characteristics, is divided into two types of raw tea and ripe tea. Raw tea is made from fresh leaves of tea as raw materials, through the process of greening, kneading, sun drying, steam molding and other processes made of tightly pressed tea. Ripe tea is made from Yunnan large-leafed sun green tea, using a specific process, post-fermentation (rapid post-fermentation or slow post-fermentation) processing of loose tea and tightly pressed tea. TAETEA Prebiotea is Puerh Ripe Tea, TAETEA Prebiotea has the effect of increasing insulin level and improving hyperglycemia in mice, and it also has the effect of regulating blood lipids, which can reduce the level of serum total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG), increase the level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and improve the metabolism of lipids. Therefore, further experiments were conducted by us, and TAETEA Prebiotea was formulated into a suitable dose for the intervention of non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) model rats, and at the end of the experiments, the samples of each group of experiments were analyzed and detected by the method of UHPLC-Q-Exactive LC-MS liquid-mass spectrometry methodology, and the relevant metabolites as well as metabolic pathways were analyzed by the method of Non targeted metabolomics analysis. As a result, 71 differential metabolites could be screened, of which 35 differential metabolites were up-regulated after intervention and 36 differential metabolites were down-regulated after intervention. Based on the KEGG pathway enrichment and Pathway Impact bubble diagram analysis, glycine, serine, threonine metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, protein digestion and absorption, and central carbon metabolism in cancer may be the main metabolic pathways in which TAETEA Prebiotea exerted preventive effects on NAFLD rats, C00148 (Proline), C00300 (Creatine) and C00719 (Betaine) are the differential metabolites that play important regulatory roles.

Comparison of efficacy discrepancy between early-phase clinical trials and phase III trials of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors.

BACKGROUND: Phase III clinical trials are pivotal for evaluating therapeutics, yet a concerning failure rate has been documented, particularly impacting oncology where accelerated approvals of immunotherapies are common. These failures are predominantly attributed to a lack of therapeutic efficacy, indicating overestimation of results from phase II studies. Our research aims to systematically assess overestimation in early-phase trials involving programmed cell death-1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death-ligand 1(PD-L1) inhibitors compared with phase III trials and identify contributing factors. METHODS: We matched 51 pairs of early-phase and phase III clinical trials from a pool of over 9,600 PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor trials. The matching criteria included identical treatment regimens, cancer types, treatment lines, and biomarker enrichment strategies. To assess overestimation, we compared the overall response rates (ORR) between early-phase and phase III trials. We established independent variables related to eligibility criteria, and trial design features of participants to analyze the factors influencing the observed discrepancy in efficacy between the two phases through univariable and multivariable logistic analyses. RESULT: Early-phase trial outcomes systematically overestimated the subsequent phase III results, yielding an odds ratio (OR) comparing ORR in early-phase versus phase III: 1.66 (95% CI: 1.43 to 1.92, p<0.05). This trend of inflated ORR was consistent across trials testing PD-1/PD-L1 monotherapies and combination therapies involving PD-1/PD-L1. Among the examined factors, the exclusion of patients with autoimmune diseases was significantly associated with the disparity in efficacy between early-phase trials and phase III trials (p=0.023). We calculated a Ward statistic of 2.27 to validate the effectiveness of the model. CONCLUSION: These findings underscore the tendency of overestimation of efficacy in early-phase trials involving immunotherapies. The observed differences could be attributed to variations in the inclusion of patients with autoimmune disorders in early-phase trials. These insights have the potential to inform stakeholders in the future development of cancer immunotherapies.

OTUD1 promotes isoprenaline- and myocardial infarction-induced heart failure by targeting PDE5A in cardiomyocytes.

Heart failure represents a major cause of death worldwide. Recent research has emphasized the potential role of protein ubiquitination/deubiquitination protein modification in cardiac pathology. Here, we investigate the role of the ovarian tumor deubiquitinase 1 (OTUD1) in isoprenaline (ISO)- and myocardial infarction (MI)-induced heart failure and its molecular mechanism. OTUD1 protein levels were raised markedly in murine cardiomyocytes after MI and ISO treatment. OTUD1 deficiency attenuated myocardial hypertrophy and cardiac dysfunction induced by ISO infusion or MI operation. In vitro, OTUD1 knockdown in neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVMs) attenuated ISO-induced injuries, while OTUD1 overexpression aggravated the pathological changes. Mechanistically, LC-MS/MS and Co-IP studies showed that OTUD1 bound directly to the GAF1 and PDEase domains of PDE5A. OTUD1 was found to reverse K48 ubiquitin chain in PDE5A through cysteine at position 320 of OTUD1, preventing its proteasomal degradation. PDE5A could inactivates the cGMP-PKG-SERCA2a signaling axis which dysregulate the calcium handling in cardiomyocytes, and leading to the cardiomyocyte injuries. In conclusion, OTUD1 promotes heart failure by deubiquitinating and stabilizing PDE5A in cardiomyocytes. These findings have identified PDE5A as a new target of OTUD1 and emphasize the potential of OTUD1 as a target for treating heart failure.

Organic-Inorganic Heterointerface-Expediting Electron Transfer Realizes Efficient Plasmonic Catalytic Sterilization via a Carbon-Dot Nanozyme.

Plasmonic nanozymes bring enticing prospects for catalytic sterilization by leveraging plasmon-engendered hot electrons. However, the interface between plasmons and nanozymes as the mandatory path of hot electrons receives little attention, and the mechanisms of plasmonic nanozymes still remain to be elucidated. Herein, a plasmonic carbon-dot nanozyme (FeCG) is developed by electrostatically assembling catalytic iron-doped carbon dots (Fe-CDs) with plasmonic gold nanorods. The energy harvesting and hot-electron migration are remarkably expedited by a spontaneous organic-inorganic heterointerface holding a Fermi level-induced interfacial electric field. The accumulated hot electrons are then fully utilized by conductive Fe-CDs to boost enzymatic catalysis toward overproduced reactive oxygen species. By synergizing with localized heating from hot-electron decay, FeCG achieves rapid and potent disinfection with an antibacterial efficiency of 99.6% on Escherichia coli within 5 min and is also effective (94.2%) against Staphylococcus aureus. Our work presents crucial insights into the organic-inorganic heterointerface in advanced plasmonic biocidal nanozymes.

Oncolytic mineralized bacteria as potent locally administered immunotherapeutics.

Oncolytic bacteria can trigger innate immune activity. However, the antitumour efficacy of inactivated bacteria is poor, and attenuated live bacteria pose substantial safety risks. Here we show that intratumourally injected paraformaldehyde-fixed bacteria coated with manganese dioxide potently activate innate immune activity, modulate the immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment and trigger tumour-specific immune responses and abscopal antitumour responses. A single intratumoural administration of mineralized Salmonella typhimurium suppressed the growth of multiple types of subcutaneous and orthotopic tumours in mice, rabbits and tree shrews and protected the cured animals against tumour rechallenge. We also show that mineralized bacteria can be administered via arterial embolization to treat orthotopic liver cancer in rabbits. Our findings support the further translational testing of oncolytic mineralized bacteria as potent and safe antitumour immunotherapeutics.

Compound SJ-12 attenuates streptozocin-induced diabetic cardiomyopathy by stabilizing SERCA2a.

Heart failure (HF) is one of the major causes of death among diabetic patients. Although studies have shown that curcumin analog C66 can remarkably relieve diabetes-associated cardiovascular and kidney complications, the role of SJ-12, SJ-12, a novel curcumin analog, in diabetic cardiomyopathy and its molecular targets are unknown. 7-week-old male C57BL/6 mice were intraperitoneally injected with single streptozotocin (STZ) (160 mg/kg) to develop diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM). The diabetic mice were then treated with SJ-12 via gavage for two months. Body weight, fast blood glucose, cardiac utrasonography, myocardial injury markers, pathological morphology of the heart, hypertrophic and fibrotic markers were assessed. The potential target of SJ-12 was evaluated via RNA-sequencing analysis. The O-GlcNAcylation levels of SP1 were detected via immunoprecipitation. SJ-12 effectively suppressed myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis, thereby preventing heart dysfunction in mice with STZ-induced heart failure. RNA-sequencing analysis revealed that SJ-12 exerted its therapeutic effects through the modulation of the calcium signaling pathway. Furthermore, SJ-12 reduced the O-GlcNAcylation levels of SP1 by inhibiting O-linked N-acetylglucosamine transferase (OGT). Also, SJ-12 stabilized Sarcoplasmic/Endoplasmic Reticulum Calcium ATPase 2a (SERCA2a), a crucial regulator of calcium homeostasis, thus reducing hypertrophy and fibrosis in mouse hearts and cultured cardiomyocytes. However, the anti-fibrotic effects of SJ-12 were not detected in SERCA2a or OGT-silenced cardiomyocytes, indicating that SJ-12 can prevent DCM by targeting OGT-dependent O-GlcNAcylation of SP1.These findings indicate that SJ-12 can exert cardioprotective effects in STZ-induced mice by reducing the O-GlcNAcylation levels of SP1, thus stabilizing SERCA2a and reducing myocardial fibrosis and hypertrophy. Therefore, SJ-12 can be used for the treatment of diabetic cardiomyopathy.