Plasma IL-6 levels and their association with brain health and dementia risk: A population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have associated immune abnormalities with dementia. IL-6 is a crucial cytokine in inflammatory responses, and recent evidence has linked elevated IL-6 levels to changes in brain structure and cognitive decline. However, the connection between IL-6 levels, cognition, brain volumes, and dementia risk requires exploration in large prospective cohorts. METHODS: This study utilized a longitudinal cohort from the UK Biobank to analyze the correlation between IL-6 expression levels, cognitive performance, and cortical and subcortical brain volumes through linear regression. Additionally, we assessed the association between IL-6 levels and long-term dementia risk using Cox regression analysis. We also used one-sample Mendelian randomization to analyze the impact of genetic predisposition of dementia on elevated IL-6 levels. RESULTS: A total of 50,864 participants were included in this study, with 1,391 new cases of all-cause dementia identified. Higher plasma IL-6 levels are associated with cortical and subcortical atrophy in regions such as the fusiform, thalamus proper, hippocampus, and larger ventricle volumes. IL-6 levels are negatively associated with cognitive performance in pair matching, numeric memory, prospective memory, and reaction time tests. Furthermore, elevated IL-6 levels are linked to a 23-35 % increased risk of all-cause dementia over an average follow-up period of 13.2 years. The one-sample Mendelian randomization analysis did not show associations between the genetic predisposition of dementia and elevated IL-6 levels. CONCLUSIONS: Increased IL-6 levels are associated with worse cognition, brain atrophy, and a heightened risk of all-cause dementia. Our study highlights the need to focus on the role of peripheral IL-6 levels in managing brain health and dementia risk.

MucLiPred: Multi-Level Contrastive Learning for Predicting Nucleic Acid Binding Residues of Proteins.

Protein-molecule interactions play a crucial role in various biological functions, with their accurate prediction being pivotal for drug discovery and design processes. Traditional methods for predicting protein-molecule interactions are limited. Some can only predict interactions with a specific molecule, restricting their applicability, while others target multiple molecule types but fail to efficiently process diverse interaction information, leading to complexity and inefficiency. This study presents a novel deep learning model, MucLiPred, equipped with a dual contrastive learning mechanism aimed at improving the prediction of multiple molecule-protein interactions and the identification of potential molecule-binding residues. The residue-level paradigm focuses on differentiating binding from non-binding residues, illuminating detailed local interactions. The type-level paradigm, meanwhile, analyzes overarching contexts of molecule types, like DNA or RNA, ensuring that representations of identical molecule types gravitate closer in the representational space, bolstering the model's proficiency in discerning interaction motifs. This dual approach enables comprehensive multi-molecule predictions, elucidating the relationships among different molecule types and strengthening precise protein-molecule interaction predictions. Empirical evidence demonstrates MucLiPred's superiority over existing models in robustness and prediction accuracy. The integration of dual contrastive learning techniques amplifies its capability to detect potential molecule-binding residues with precision. Further optimization, separating representational and classification tasks, has markedly improved its performance. MucLiPred thus represents a significant advancement in protein-molecule interaction prediction, setting a new precedent for future research in this field.

Human and mouse muscle transcriptomic analyses identify insulin receptor mRNA downregulation in hyperinsulinemia-associated insulin resistance.

Hyperinsulinemia is commonly viewed as a compensatory response to insulin resistance, yet studies have demonstrated that chronically elevated insulin may also drive insulin resistance. The molecular mechanisms underpinning this potentially cyclic process remain poorly defined, especially on a transcriptome-wide level. Transcriptomic meta-analysis in >450 human samples demonstrated that fasting insulin reliably and negatively correlated with INSR mRNA in skeletal muscle. To establish causality and study the direct effects of prolonged exposure to excess insulin in muscle cells, we incubated C2C12 myotubes with elevated insulin for 16 h, followed by 6 h of serum starvation, and established that acute AKT and ERK signaling were attenuated in this model of in vitro hyperinsulinemia. Global RNA-sequencing of cells both before and after nutrient withdrawal highlighted genes in the insulin receptor (INSR) signaling, FOXO signaling, and glucose metabolism pathways indicative of 'hyperinsulinemia' and 'starvation' programs. Consistently, we observed that hyperinsulinemia led to a substantial reduction in Insr gene expression, and subsequently a reduced surface INSR and total INSR protein, both in vitro and in vivo. Bioinformatic modeling combined with RNAi identified SIN3A as a negative regulator of Insr mRNA (and JUND, MAX, and MXI as positive regulators of Irs2 mRNA). Together, our analysis identifies mechanisms which may explain the cyclic processes underlying hyperinsulinemia-induced insulin resistance in muscle, a process directly relevant to the etiology and disease progression of type 2 diabetes.

Forensic characteristics and genetic substructure analysis of the Handan Han population, Northern China.

We analysed the forensic characteristics and substructure of the Handan Han population based on 36 Y-STR (short tandem repeat) and Y-SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) markers. The two most dominant haplogroups in Handan Han, O2a2b1a1a1-F8 (17.95%) and O2a2b1a2a1a (21.51%), and their abundant downstream branches, reflected the strong expansion of the precursor of the Hans in Handan. The present results enrich the forensic database and explore the genetic relationships between Handan Han and other neighbouring and/or linguistically close populations, which suggests that the current concise overview of the Han intricate substructure remains oversimplified.

Bioinformatics-based screening of key genes between maternal preeclampsia and offspring schizophrenia.

Converging lines of evidence suggest an association between schizophrenia and prenatal neurodevelopmental disorders. Preeclampsia is a multisystem disease based on the coexistence of pregnancy and elevated blood pressure, which increases the risk for offspring abnormal neurodevelopment. Previous studies have showed maternal preeclampsia is associated with an increased risk of offspring schizophrenia, but the molecular mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we sought to identify key protein-coding genes between maternal preeclampsia and offspring schizophrenia. GSE53987 and GSE166846 datasets from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were analysed to obtain common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between preeclampsia and schizophrenia. GSE62105 dataset was analysed to identify the DEGs' expressions in neural cells from one control and one schizophrenic patient. GSE92845 dataset was analysed to describe the changes of the DEGs in human neural stem cells. In total, we obtained ten common DEGs. All of them expressed differently in neural cells of the control and schizophrenic patient. We chose the six DEGs that had similar trend in both neural cells and UCB from preeclampsia patients and analysed their expressions in human neural stem cells over time. We found the expressions of CKAP5 and SAT1 in day 30 had significant difference comparing with those in day 0. The KEGG pathway analysis of their interaction proteins showed they were involved with metabolism. Our results may provide a new insight for genetic basis of relationship between maternal preeclampsia and offspring schizophrenia.

Effect of lncRNA-ATB/miR-651-3p/Yin Yang 1 pathway on trophoblast-endothelial cell interaction networks.

Our previous studies have confirmed that lncRNA-ATB may be involved in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia, however, it is uncertain whether lncRNA-ATB influence the interaction between trophoblast and endothelial cells, which is crucial to the uterine spiral artery remodelling. Scratch wound healing and transwell invasion assay were conducted to test the migration and invasion of trophoblast cells. Co-culture model was used to simulate the physiological environment in vivo. The expression levels of lncRNA-ATB were analyzed in placenta tissues from healthy pregnant women and preeclampsia patients. Subsequently, the binding site of lncRNA-ATB and miR-651-3p was verified using dual-luciferase reporter assay, and the rescue experiment was used to study the effects of these two on the biological function. The direct effects of miR-651-3p and Yin Yang 1 (YY1) were verified using similar methods. LncRNA-ATB was found to be down-regulated in the placenta of preeclampsia patients. LncRNA-ATB knockdown decreased trophoblast migration, invasion and colocalisation with human umbilical vein endothelial cells. MiR-651-3p was a direct target of lncRNA-ATB and they had opposite effects. Moreover, the expression of lncRNA-ATB and miR-651-3p in placental tissues was negatively correlated. MiR-651-3p has been confirmed to directly target the 3' untranslated region of YY1. The inhibitory effects of YY1 low expression on biological function was rescued by miR-651-3p depletion. Western blot analysis showed that lncRNA-ATB could regulate YY1 expression by sponging miR-651-3p. LncRNA-ATB functioned as a competitive endogenous RNA of miR-651-3p to regulate YY1 on progress of spiral artery remodelling.

miRNAomics analysis reveals the promoting effects of cigarette smoke extract-treated Beas-2B-derived exosomes on macrophage polarization.

Inhalation of cigarette smoke induces airway and parenchyma inflammation that predisposes smokers to multiple lung diseases such as COPD. Macrophage polarization, an important specifying feature of inflammation, is involved in the progression of pulmonary inflammation. Exosomes and their loaded miRNAs provide a medium for cross-talk between alveolar macrophages and lung epithelial cells to maintain lung homeostasis. In this study, we treated Beas-2B with CSE to speculate the effects of Beas-2B-derived exosomes on macrophage polarization and performed exosomal miRNAomics analysis to explore the mechanism. We found that CSE-treated Beas-2B-derived exosomes could not only increase the percentages of CD86+, CD80+ CD163+, and CD206+ cells but also induce the secretion of TNF-α, IL-6, iNOS, IL-10, Arg-1, and TGF-ß, indicating both M1 and M2 polarization of RAW264.7 macrophages were promoting. We performed miRNAomics analysis to identify 27 differentially expressed exosomal miRNAs such as miR-29a-3p and miR-1307-5p. Next, we obtained 14942 target genes of these miRNAs such as SCN1A and PLEKHA1 through the prediction of TargetScan and miRanda. We utilized KEGG enrichment analysis for these targets to identify potential pathways such as the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and the MAPK signaling pathway on the regulation of macrophage polarization. We further found that miR-21-3p or miR-27b-3p may play critical roles in the promotion of CSE-Exo on macrophage polarization by miRNA interference. Collectively, this study provided novel information for diagnostic and therapeutic tactics of cigarette smoke-related lung diseases.

Genome-wide characterization and expression profiling of Eucalyptus grandis HD-Zip gene family in response to salt and temperature stress.

BACKGROUND: The HD-Zip transcription factors are unique to plants and play an essential role in plant growth, development and stress responses. The HD-Zip transcription factor family consists of a highly conserved homeodomain (HD) and a leucine zipper domain (LZ) domain. Although the HD-Zip gene family has been extensively studied in many plant species, a systematic study of the Eucalyptus HD-Zip family has not been reported until today. Here, we systematically identified 40 HD-Zip genes in Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus grandis). Besides, we comprehensively analyzed the HD-Zips of Eucalyptus by studying the homology, conserved protein regions, gene structure, 3D structure of the protein, location of the genes on the chromosomes and the expression level of the genes in different tissues. RESULTS: The HD-Zip family in Eucalyptus has four subfamilies, which is consistent with other plants such as Arabidopsis and rice. Moreover, genes that are in the same group tend to have similar exon-intron structures, motifs, and protein structures. Under salt stress and temperature stress, the Eucalyptus HD-Zip transcription factors show a differential expression pattern. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal the response of HD-Zip transcription factors under salt and temperature stresses, laying a foundation for future analysis of Eucalyptus HD-Zip transcription factors.

Haplotype analysis of 36 Y-STR loci in a Chinese Han population from Anhui Province, Eastern China.

We analyzed haplotypes for 36 Y chromosomal STRs (Y-STRs), including 27 Yfiler Plus loci and 9 additional STRs (DYS549, DYS643, DYS508, DYS447, DYS596, DYS444, DYS557, and DYS527a/b) in 2018 unrelated Chinese Han individuals from Anhui Province using DNATyperTM 36Y Kit. Phylogenetic analysis was performed to determine the genetic relationship of the Anhui Han population with other neighboring and/or linguistically close populations.

Clinical features and outcomes of pregnant women with COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The recent COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China, has quickly spread throughout the world. In this study, we systematically reviewed the clinical features and outcomes of pregnant women with COVID-19. METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE and MEDLINE were searched from January 1, 2020, to April 16, 2020. Case reports and case series of pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 were included. Two reviewers screened 366 studies and 14 studies were included. Four reviewers independently extracted the features from the studies. We used a random-effects model to analyse the incidence (P) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic. RESULTS: The meta-analysis included 236 pregnant women with COVID-19. The results were as follows: positive CT findings (71%; 95% CI, 0.49-0.93), caesarean section (65%; 95% CI, 0.42-0.87), fever (51%; 95% CI, 0.35-0.67), lymphopenia (49%; 95% CI, 0.29-0.70), coexisting disorders (33%; 95% CI, 0.21-0.44), cough (31%; 95% CI, 0.23-0.39), fetal distress (29%; 95% CI, 0.08-0.49), preterm labor (23%; 95% CI, 0.14-0.32), and severe case or death (12%; 95% CI, 0.03-0.20). The subgroup analysis showed that compared with non-pregnant patients, pregnant women with COVID-19 had significantly lower incidences of fever (pregnant women, 51%; non-pregnant patients, 91%; P < 0.00001) and cough (pregnant women, 31%; non-pregnant patients, 67%; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The incidences of fever, cough and positive CT findings in pregnant women with COVID-19 are less than those in the normal population with COVID-19, but the rate of preterm labor is higher among pregnant with COVID-19 than among normal pregnant women. There is currently no evidence that COVID-19 can spread through vertical transmission.

Identification of novel Kv1.3 targeting venom peptides by a single round of autocrine-based selection.

Venom peptides are an excellent source of pharmacologically active molecules for ion channels that have been considered as promising drug targets. However, mining venoms that interact with ion channel remains challenging. Previously an autocrine based high throughput selection system was developed to screen venom peptide library but the method includes repetitious selection rounds that may cause loss of valuable hits. To simplify the selection process, next generation sequencing was employed to directly identify the positive hits after a single round of selection. The advantage of the improved system was demonstrated by the discovery of 3 novel Kv1.3 targeting venom peptides among which Kappa-thalatoxin-Tas2a is a potent Kv1.3 antagonist. Therefore, this simplified method is efficient to identify novel venom peptides that target ion channels.

Development and validation of a novel SiFaSTRTM 23-plex system.

Human identification and paternity testing are usually based on the study of STRs depending on their particular characteristics in the forensic investigation. In this paper, we developed a sensitive genotyping system, SiFaSTR™ 23-plex, which is able to characterize 18 expanded Combined DNA Index System STRs (D3S1358, D5S818, D2S1338, TPOX, CSF1PO, TH01, vWA, D7S820, D21S11, D10S1248, D8S1179, D1S1656, D18S51, D12S391, D19S433, D16S539, D13S317, and FGA), three highly polymorphic STRs among Chinese people (Penta D, Penta E, and D6S1043), one Y-chromosome Indel and amelogenin using a multiplex PCR; the PCR amplified products were analyzed using the Applied Biosystems 3500 Genetic Analyzer. Full genotyping profiles were obtained using only 31.25 pg of control DNA; various case-type specimens, as well as ten-year-old samples were also successfully genotyped. Additionally, in the validation studies, this multiplex was demonstrated to be human-specific and compatible with the interference of multiple PCR inhibitors. The system also enabled the detection of mixtures, and complete profiles could be obtained at the mixed ratios of 1:1, 1:3, and 3:1. The development and validation study here illustrated that the SiFaSTR™ 23-plex system is accurate, powerful, and more sensitive than many other systems. What's more, the population data in our study not only illustrated that this 23-plex typing system was straightforward and efficient but also expanded the Chinese STR database, which could facilitate the appropriate application of the 23 genetic markers in forensic genetics, especially in the Chinese population.

Forensic characteristics and phylogenetic structure of Eastern Chinese Han populations residing along the Yangtze Basin revealed by 19 autosomal STR loci.

In present study, forensic parameters based on the population data of nineteen autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) loci were estimated in Chinese Han populations from three riverfront areas of Yangtze Basin in Eastern China. The combined power of discrimination (CPD) were 0.9999999999999999999999883, 0.9999999999999999999999846 and 0.9999999999999999999999863, respectively. The combined power of exclusion (CPE) were 0.999999992248957, 0.999999989800400 and 0.999999989799819, respectively. Furthermore, the genetic relationships among our studied populations and 32 previously investigated populations residing in other areas of China were also analyzed based on pairwise genetic distances (FST). The multidimensional scaling (MDS) plot and phylogenetic tree indicated that our studied populations were majorly clustered with the Han populations along the Yangtze Basin and populations to the north of it. In summary, our results supported that the 19 autosomal STR loci, which were polymorphic and informative in forensic identification, could also be applied in population genetics studies.

Separation/extraction, detection, and interpretation of DNA mixtures in forensic science (review).

Interpreting mixed DNA samples containing material from multiple contributors has long been considered a major challenge in forensic casework, especially when encountering low-template DNA (LT-DNA) or high-order mixtures that may involve missing alleles (dropout) and unrelated alleles (drop-in), among others. In the last decades, extraordinary progress has been made in the analysis of mixed DNA samples, which has led to increasing attention to this research field. The advent of new methods for the separation and extraction of DNA from mixtures, novel or jointly applied genetic markers for detection and reliable interpretation approaches for estimating the weight of evidence, as well as the powerful massively parallel sequencing (MPS) technology, has greatly extended the range of mixed samples that can be correctly analyzed. Here, we summarized the investigative approaches and progress in the field of forensic DNA mixture analysis, hoping to provide some assistance to forensic practitioners and to promote further development involving this issue.

Cytochrome P450 reaction phenotyping and inhibition and induction studies of pinostrobin in human liver microsomes and hepatocytes.

Pinostrobin (PI, 5-hydroxy-7-methoxyflavanone) is a natural flavonoid known for its rich pharmacological activities. The objective of this study was to identify the human liver cytochrome P450 (CYP450) isoenzymes involved in the metabolism of PI. A single hydoxylated metabolite was obtained from PI after an incubation with pooled human liver microsomes (HLMs). The relative contributions of different CYP450s were evaluated using CYP450-selective inhibitors in HLMs and recombinant human CYP450 enzymes, and the results revealed the major involvement of CYP1A2, CYP2C9 and CYP2E1 in PI metabolism. We also evaluated the ability of PI to inhibit and induce human cytochrome P450 enzymes in vitro. High-performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analytical techniques were used to estimate the enzymatic activities of seven drug-metabolizing CYP450 isozymes in vitro. In HLMs, PI did not inhibit CYP 1A2, CYP2B6, CYP2C8, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6 or CYP3A4 (IC50 > 100 µm). In the induction studies, PI had minimal effects on CYP1A2, CYP2B6and CYP3A4 activity. Based on these results, PI would not be expected to cause clinically significant CYP450 inhibition or induction.

Y-STR analysis of highly degraded DNA from skeletal remains over 70 years old.

The goal of the following study is to clarify whether the skeletal remains over 70 years old from missing persons and their alleged relatives shared identical Y-STR loci. Nowadays, advances in ancient DNA extraction techniques and approaches of using multiple different Y-STRs have significantly increased the possibility of obtaining DNA profiles from highly degraded skeletal remains. Given the ages and conditions of the skeletal remains, ancient DNA extraction methods can be used to maximize the probability of DNA recovery. Considering that information about distant relatives is more relevant for long-term missing persons and alleged family members are male, Y-STR loci analysis is considered the most appropriate and informative approach for determining paternal lineage relationship. In this study, Y-STR genotypes obtained from these alleged relatives were identical to each other and to the alleles of missing persons' consensus profiles at more than 22 loci examined, whilst not being found in Y-STR population database from Y-Chromosome STR Haplotype Reference Database. Therefore, Missing Person No.7 and Missing Person No.18 have a patrilineal relationship with reference samples from Family1 and Family2, respectively. In addition, the fact that Y-STR haplotypes obtained from skeletal remains of missing persons and reference samples are not found in the Han Chinese people from East Asian demonstrates its rarity and further supports a paternal lineage relationship amongst them.

Sleep-aiding music therapy for insomnia: Exploring EEG functional connectivity of sleep-related attentional bias.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep-aiding music and sleep-related attentional bias based on electroencephalography (EEG) functional connectivity (FC) in patients with insomnia disorder (ID), to evaluate the effectiveness of music in aiding sleep. METHOD: This study included 30 participants, comprising 15 patients with ID and 15 healthy controls (HCs). Six types of music were selected for sleep aid, and a dot-probe task based on sleep-related attentional bias was utilized to collect behavioral and EEG data. Vigilance bias and disengagement bias were measured using reaction time and EEG FC. Differences in sleep-related attentional bias before and after the intervention of music were explored to evaluate the sleep-aiding effects and identify EEG biomarkers. RESULTS: Compared with HCs, patients with ID showed decreased sleep-related attentional bias of EEG FC between occipital-central and temporal-frontal lobes. Among the six types of music, International Standard Sleep Aid and Lullaby had a greater impact on decreasing vigilance bias in the ID group. Additionally, the International Standard Sleep Aid and Nature Sound were more effective in decreasing disengagement bias in the ID group. This study also examined the resting-state EEG FC of patients with ID before and after the intervention of music. The results showed that the FC in the temporal, frontal, and occipital lobes significantly differed before and after the intervention of music, especially with the use of International Standard Sleep Aid, Lullaby, and Alpha Sound Wave. However, it is worth noting that these three types of music showed no similarities in EEG FC, in contrast to the result of sleep-related attentional bias of EEG FC. CONCLUSION: This study found that the sleep-related attentional bias of EEG FC has more distinct characteristics when compared to resting-state EEG FC. The results suggest that the sleep-related attentional bias of EEG FC could be a potential biomarker for assessing the sleep-aiding effect of music interventions. International Standard Sleep Aid was the most effective for patients with ID among six types of sleep-aiding music. These findings could facilitate the development of personalized therapies for patients with ID. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Register, http://www.chictr.org.cn, ID: ChiCTR2400081608.

Naringenin regulates cigarette smoke extract-induced extracellular vesicles from alveolar macrophage to attenuate the mouse lung epithelial ferroptosis through activating EV miR-23a-3p/ACSL4 axis.

BACKGROUND: Alveolar macrophages are one of the momentous regulators in pulmonary inflammatory responses, which can secrete extracellular vesicles (EVs) packing miRNAs. Ferroptosis, an iron-dependent cell death, is associated with cigarette smoke-induced lung injury, and EVs have been reported to regulate ferroptosis by transporting intracellular iron. However, the regulatory mechanism of alveolar macrophage-derived EVs has not been clearly illuminated in smoking-related pulmonary ferroptosis. Despite the known anti-ferroptosis effects of naringenin in lung injury, whether naringenin controls EVs-mediated ferroptosis has not yet been explored. PURPOSE: We explore the effects of EVs from cigarette smoke-stimulated alveolar macrophages in lung epithelial ferroptosis, and elucidate the EV miRNA-mediated pharmacological mechanism of naringenin. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Differential and ultracentrifugation were conducted to extract EVs from different alveolar macrophages treatment groups in vitro. Both intratracheal instilled mice and treated epithelial cells were used to investigate the roles of EVs from alveolar macrophages involved in ferroptosis. Small RNA sequencing analysis was performed to distinguish altered miRNAs in EVs. The ferroptotic effects of EV miRNAs were examined by applying dual-Luciferase reporter assay and miRNA inhibitor transfection experiment. RESULTS: Here, we firstly reported that EVs from cigarette smoke extract-induced alveolar macrophages (CSE-EVs) provoked pulmonary epithelial ferroptosis. The ferroptosis inhibitor ferrostatin-1 treatment reversed these changes in vitro. Moreover, EVs from naringenin and CSE co-treated alveolar macrophages (CSE+Naringenin-EVs) markedly attenuated the lung epithelial ferroptosis compared with CSE-EVs. Notably, we identified miR-23a-3p as the most dramatically changed miRNA among Normal-EVs, CSE-EVs, and CSE+Naringenin-EVs. Further experimental investigation showed that ACSL4, a pro-ferroptotic gene leading to lipid peroxidation, was negatively regulated by miR-23a-3p. The inhibition of miR-23a-3p diminished the efficacy of CSE+Naringenin-EVs. CONCLUSION: Our findings firstly provided evidence that naringenin elevated the EV miR-23a-3p level from CSE-induced alveolar macrophages, thereby inhibiting the mouse lung epithelial ferroptosis via targeting ACSL4, and further complemented the mechanism of cigarette-induced lung injury and the protection of naringenin in a paracrine manner. The administration of miR-23a-3p-enriched EVs has the potential to ameliorate pulmonary ferroptosis.

Naringenin attenuated airway cilia structural and functional injury induced by cigarette smoke extract via IL-17 and cAMP pathways.

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoke impairs mucociliary clearance via mechanisms such as inflammatory response and oxidative injury, which in turn induces various respiratory diseases. Naringenin, a naturally occurring flavonoid in grapes and grapefruit, has exhibited pharmacological properties such as anti-inflammatory, expectorant, and antioxidant properties. However, it is still unclear whether naringenin protects airway cilia from injury caused by cigarette smoke. PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the effect of naringenin on cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-induced structural and functional abnormalities in airway cilia and highlight the potential regulatory mechanism. METHODS: Initially, network pharmacology was used to predict the mechanism of action of naringenin in ciliary disease. Next, HE staining, immunofluorescence, TEM, qRT-PCR, western blot, and ELISA were performed to assess the effects of naringenin on airway cilia in tracheal rings and air-liquid interface (ALI) cultures of Sprague Dawley rats after co-exposure to CSE (10% or 20%) and naringenin (0, 25, 50, 100 µM) for 24 h. Finally, transcriptomics and molecular biotechnology methods were conducted to elucidate the mechanism by which naringenin protected cilia from CSE-induced damage in ALI cultures. RESULTS: The targets of ciliary diseases regulated by naringenin were significantly enriched in inflammation and oxidative stress pathways. Also, the CSE decreased the number of cilia in the tracheal rings and ALI cultures and reduced the ciliary beat frequency (CBF). However, naringenin prevented CSE-induced cilia damage via mechanisms such as the downregulation of cilia-related genes (e.g., RFX3, DNAI1, DNAH5, IFT88) and ciliary marker proteins such as DNAI2, FOXJ1, and ß-tubulin IV, the upregulation of inflammatory factors (e.g., IL-6, IL-8, IL-13), ROS and MDA. IL-17 signaling pathway might be involved in the protective effect of naringenin on airway cilia. Additionally, the cAMP signaling pathway might also be related to the enhancement of CBF by naringenin. CONCLUSION: In this study, we first found that naringenin reduces CSE-induced structural disruption of airway cilia in part via modulation of the IL-17 signaling pathway. Furthermore, we also found that naringenin enhances CBF by activating the cAMP signaling pathway. This is the first report to reveal the beneficial effects of naringenin on airway cilia and the potential underlying mechanisms.

Durable protective efficiency provide by mRNA vaccines require robust immune memory to antigens and weak immune memory to lipid nanoparticles.

The Pegylated lipids in lipid nanoparticle (LNPs) vaccines have been found to cause acute hypersensitivity reactions in recipients, and generate anti-LNPs immunity after repeated administration, thereby reducing vaccine effectiveness. To overcome these challenges, we developed a new type of LNPs vaccine (SAPC-LNPs) which was co-modified with sialic acid (SA) - lipid derivative and cleavable PEG - lipid derivative. This kind of mRNA vaccine can target dendritic cells (DCs) and rapidly escape from early endosomes (EE) and lysosomes with a total endosomal escape rate up to 98 %. Additionally, the PEG component in SAPC-LNPs was designed to detach from the LNPs under the catalysis of carboxylesterase in vivo, which reduced the probability of PEG being attached to LNPs entering antigen-presenting cells. Compared with commercially formulated vaccines (1.5PD-LNPs), mice treated with SAPC-LNPs generated a more robust immune memory to tumor antigens and a weaker immune memory response to LNPs, and showed lower side effects and long-lasting protective efficiency. We also discovered that the anti-tumor immune memory formed by SAPC-LNPs mRNA vaccine was directly involved in the immune cycle to rattack tumor. This immune memory continued to strengthen with multiple cycles, supporting that the immune memory should be incorporated into the theory of tumor immune cycle.