Safranal alleviates pentetrazole-induced epileptic seizures in mice by inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway and mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis through GSK-3ß inactivation.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Saffron, a traditional Chinese medicine, is derived from Crocus sativus L. stigmas and has been reported to possess neuroprotective properties and potentially contribute to the inhibition of apoptosis and inflammation. Safranal, a potent monothyral aldehyde, is a main component of saffron that has been reported to have antiepileptic activity. However, the specific mechanism by which safranal suppresses epileptic seizures via its antiapoptotic and anti-inflammatory properties is unclear. AIM: To evaluate the effect of safranal on seizure severity, inflammation, and postictal neuronal apoptosis in a mouse model of pentetrazole (PTZ)-induced seizures and explore the underlying mechanism involved. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The seizure stage and latency of stage 2 and 4 were quantified to assess the efficacy of safranal in mitigating PTZ-induced epileptic seizures in mice. Electroencephalography (EEG) was employed to monitor epileptiform afterdischarges in each experimental group. The cognitive abilities and motor functions of the mice were evaluated using the novel object recognition test and the open field test, respectively. Neurons were quantified using hematoxylin and eosin staining. Additionally, bioinformatics tools were utilized to predict the interactions between safranal and specific target proteins. Glycogen synthase kinase-3ß (GSK-3ß), mitochondrial apoptosis-related proteins, and inflammatory factor levels were analyzed through western blotting. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) concentrations in brain tissue were assessed by ELISA. RESULTS: Safranal decreased the average seizure stage and increased the lantency of stage 2 and 4 seizures in PTZ-induced epileptic mice. Additionally, safranal exhibited neuroprotective effects on hippocampal CA1 and CA3 neurons and reduced hyperactivity caused by postictal hyperexcitability. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that safranal can bind to five specific proteins, including GSK-3ß. By promoting Ser9 phosphorylation and inhibiting GSK-3ß activity, safranal effectively suppressed the NF-κB signaling pathway. Moreover, the findings indicate that safranal treatment can decrease TNF-α and IL-1ß levels in the cerebral tissues of epileptic mice and downregulate mitochondrial apoptosis-related proteins, including Bcl-2, Bax, Bak, Caspase 9, and Caspase 3. CONCLUSION: Safranal can suppress the NF-κB signaling pathway and mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis through GSK-3ß inactivation, suggesting that it is a promising therapeutic agent for epilepsy treatment.

Long-Term Follow-Up of Combination Therapy with Sintilimab and Anlotinib in Gallbladder Follicular Dendritic Cell Sarcoma: A Rare Case Report.

Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma (FDCS) is a rare malignant neoplasm for which a standardized treatment approach has yet to be established. The prevailing therapeutic strategy typically involves resection followed by adjuvant chemotherapy or radiation. This case report details the long-term follow-up of a 59-year-old Chinese male diagnosed with gallbladder FDCS and liver metastases. The patient received a combination therapy of sintilimab and anlotinib, resulting in a substantial partial response (PR) lasting for a noteworthy duration of 30 months. Notably, this is the first documented instance of gallbladder FDCS with liver metastases being treated with PD-1 antibody and antiangiogenic agents as first-line therapy. These findings suggest that this treatment regimen may offer a potential therapeutic option for patients with gallbladder FDCS and liver metastases, with a duration of PR lasting up to 30 months.

A novel prognostic 6-gene signature for osteoporosis.

Introduction: The incidence of osteoporosis (OP) keeps increasing due to global aging of the population. Therefore, identifying the diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of OP is of great significance. Methods: mRNA data from OP and non-OP samples were obtained from GEO database, which were divided into training set (GSE35959) and testing sets (GSE7158, GSE62402, GSE7429 and GSE56815). Gene modules most significantly related to OP were revealed using weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between OP and normal samples in training set were identified using limma R package. Thereafter, above two gene sets were intersected to obtain the genes potentially related to OP. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) pairs were screened by STRING database and visualized using Cytoscape, while the plug-in cytoHubba was used to screen hub genes by determining their topological parameters. Afterwards, a diagnostic model was constructed using those hub genes, whose creditability was further evaluated by testing sets. Results: The results of WGCNA analysis found the Black module was most significantly related to OP, which included altogether 1286 genes. Meanwhile, 2771 DEGs were discovered between OP patients and the normal controls. After taking the intersection, 479 genes were identified potentially correlated with the development of OP. Subsequently, six hub genes were discovered through PPI network construction and node topological analysis. Finally, we constructed a support vector machine model based on these six genes, which can accurately classified training and testing set samples into OP and normal groups. Conclusion: Our current study constructed a six hub genes-based diagnostic model for OP. Our findings may shed some light on the research of the early diagnosis for OP and had certain practical significance.

Ultrasound-Guided Radiofrequency Ablation for Primary Hyperparathyroidism Induced by Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia 1-A Case Report.

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) is a syndrome characterized by the occurrence of two or more endocrine gland tumors. Here, we show a case of a 52-year-old man diagnosed with MEN1 through gastrinoma, parathyroid adenoma and gene detection. The MEN1 patient's case was complicated with relapsed primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), and they received ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA). The patient had a remarkable recovery after RFA treatment for the relapsed PHPT. It might be an alternative treatment for MEN1 patients with poor conditions such as high surgical risk, unwillingness to choose parathyroid surgery or those unable to tolerate surgery. Individualized therapy significantly benefits the prognosis of MEN1 patients.

Severe obesity caused by prolactinoma related to the abnormal insulin metabolism-A case report.

The relationship between prolactinoma and obesity has not been well explained yet. This report introduced the diagnosis and treatment course of a severely obese male patient. After a series of examinations, the patient was finally diagnosed as prolactinoma after excluding other endocrine-related diseases, like diabetes. His plasma prolactin level (PRL) dropped after treatment with bromocriptine, and so did his weight. It is indicated that prolactinoma may lead to the occurrence of obesity, especially in male patients. The abnormal insulin metabolism caused by the elevation of PRL may be the main reason for this phenomenon. The case provides a fresh idea to control the weight of obese teenagers.

Case of type 2 diabetes mellitus with edema resulting in subcutaneous insulin resistance syndrome.

Subcutaneous insulin resistance syndrome caused by obesity, induration at the injection site, skin temperature and other factors is common clinically, whereas resistance events caused by edema are relatively rare. This article introduced a case of a woman with type 2 diabetes mellitus with heart failure edema. Her blood glucose control was significantly associated with the level of edema. Excluding other factors, it can be concluded that edema might lead to subcutaneous insulin resistance syndrome, even if the edema at the injection site is not obvious.

Downregulation of miR-497-5p Improves Sepsis-Induced Acute Lung Injury by Targeting IL2RB.

INTRODUCTION: Acute lung injury (ALI) induced by sepsis is a process related to inflammatory reactions, which involves lung cell apoptosis and production of inflammatory cytokine. Here, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was applied to stimulate the mouse or human normal lung epithelial cell line (BEAS-2B) to construct a sepsis model in vivo and in vitro, and we also investigated the effect of miR-497-5p on sepsis-induced ALI. Material and Methods. Before LPS treatment, miR-497-5p antagomir was injected intravenously into mice to inhibit miR-497-5p expression in vivo. Similarly, miR-497-5p was knocked down in BEAS-2B cells. Luciferase reporter assay was applied to predict and confirm the miR-497-5p target gene. Cell viability, apoptosis, the levels of miR-497-5p, IL2RB, SP1, inflammatory cytokine, and lung injury were assessed. RESULTS: In BEAS-2B cells, a significant increase of apoptosis and inflammatory cytokine was shown after LPS stimulation. In septic mice, increased inflammatory cytokine production and apoptosis in lung cells and pulmonary morphological abnormalities were shown. The miR-497-5p inhibitor transfection showed antiapoptotic and anti-inflammatory effects on BEAS-2B cells upon LPS stimulation. In septic mice, the miR-497-5p antagomir injection also alleviated ALI, apoptosis, and inflammation caused by sepsis. The downregulation of IL2RB in BEAS-2B cells reversed the protective effects of the miR-497-5p inhibitor against ALI. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, downregulation of miR-497-5p reduced ALI caused by sepsis through targeting IL2RB, indicating the potential effect of miR-497-5p for improving ALI caused by sepsis.

Homocysteine induced a calcium-mediated disruption of mitochondrial function and dynamics in endothelial cells.

Homocysteine (Hcy) is a sulfur-containing amino acid that originated in methionine metabolism and the elevated level of Hcy in plasma is considered to be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Endothelial dysfunction plays a major role in the development of CVD, while the potential mechanism of Hcy-induced endothelial dysfunction is still unclear. Here, in Hcy-treated endothelial cells, we observed the destruction of mitochondrial morphology and the decline of mitochondrial membrane potential. Meanwhile, the level of ATP was reduced and the reactive oxygen species was increased. The expressions of dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) and phosphate-Drp1 (Ser616) were upregulated, whereas the expression of mitofusin 2 was inhibited by Hcy treatment. These findings suggested that Hcy not only triggered mitochondrial dysfunction but also incurred an imbalance of mitochondrial dynamics in endothelial cells. The expression of mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) was activated by Hcy, contributing to calcium transferring into mitochondria. Interestingly, the formation of mitochondria-associated membranes (MAMs) was increased in endothelial cells after Hcy administration. The inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate receptor (IP3R)-glucose-regulated protein 75 (Grp75)-voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) complex, which was enriched in MAMs, was also increased. The accumulation of mitochondrial calcium could be blocked by inhibiting with the IP3R inhibitor Xestospongin C (XeC) in Hcy-treated cells. Then, we confirmed that the mitochondrial dysfunction and the increased mitochondrial fission induced by Hcy could be attenuated after Hcy and XeC co-treatment. In conclusion, Hcy-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and dynamics disorder in endothelial cells were mainly related to the increase of calcium as a result of the upregulated expressions of the MCU and the IP3R-Grp75-VDAC complex in MAMs.

Monoclonal antibodies and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells in the treatment of colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Besides common therapeutic approaches, such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, novel therapeutic approaches, including immunotherapy, have been an advent in CRC treatment. The immunotherapy approaches try to elicit patients` immune responses against tumor cells to eradicate the tumor. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells are two branches of cancer immunotherapy. MAbs demonstrate the great ability to completely recognize cancer cell-surface receptors and blockade proliferative or inhibitory pathways. On the other hand, T cell activation by genetically engineered CAR receptor via the TCR/CD3 and costimulatory domains can induce potent immune responses against specific tumor-associated antigens (TAAs). Both of these approaches have beneficial anti-tumor effects on CRC. Herein, we review the different mAbs against various pathways and their applications in clinical trials, the different types of CAR-T cells, various specific CAR-T cells against TAAs, and their clinical use in CRC treatment.

LncRNA TUG1 alleviates cardiac hypertrophy by targeting miR-34a/DKK1/Wnt-ß-catenin signalling.

The current study was designed to explore the role and underlying mechanism of lncRNA taurine up-regulated gene 1 (TUG1) in cardiac hypertrophy. Mice were treated by transverse aortic constriction (TAC) surgery to induce cardiac hypertrophy, and cardiomyocytes were treated by phenylephrine (PE) to induce hypertrophic phenotype. Haematoxylin-eosin (HE), wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) and immunofluorescence (IF) were used to examine morphological alterations. Real-time PCR, Western blots and IF staining were used to detect the expression of RNAs and proteins. Luciferase assay and RNA pull-down assay were used to verify the interaction. It is revealed that TUG1 was up-regulated in the hearts of mice treated by TAC surgery and in PE-induced cardiomyocytes. Functionally, overexpression of TUG1 alleviated cardiac hypertrophy both in vivo and in vitro. Mechanically, TUG1 sponged and sequestered miR-34a to increase the Dickkopf 1 (DKK1) level, which eventually inhibited the activation of Wnt/ß-catenin signalling. In conclusion, the current study reported the protective role and regulatory mechanism of TUG1 in cardiac hypertrophy and suggested that TUG1 may serve as a novel molecular target for treating cardiac hypertrophy.

Enhanced Aerobic Glycolysis by S-Nitrosoglutathione via HIF-1α Associated GLUT1/Aldolase A Axis in Human Endothelial Cells.

S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO)-induced apoptosis is associated with reactive oxygen species and loss of mitochondrial Omi/HtrA2 in human endothelial cells (ECs). But its upstream regulation is still not elucidated. Here, we demonstrate that hypoxia induced factor-1α (HIF-1α)-linked aerobic glycolysis is associated with mitochondrial abnormality by treatment of human EC-derived EA.hy926 cells with GSNO (500 µM) for 6 h. GSNO exposure increased the levels of Aldolase A and glucose transporter-1 (GLUT1) mRNAs and proteins. And selectively enhanced aldolase A activity to form glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, dihydroxyacetone phosphate, which subsequently increased intracellular levels of methylglyoxal and reactive oxygen species in parallel. Using the biotin switch assay, we found that GSNO increased the S-nitrosylating levels of total protein and HIF-1α. Knockdown of HIF-1α with siRNA attenuated its target aldolase A and GLUT1 expression but not VEGF. In contrast, nitrosylation scanvenger dithiothreitol could decrease all the protein levels. It suggested that aerobic glycolytic flux was more dependent on HIF-1α level, and that HIF-1α S-nitrosylation was crucial for its target expression under the normoxic condition. Moreover, GSNO-induced PI3 K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase)/Akt phosphorylation might contribute to HIF-1α stabilization and nucleus translocation, thereby aiding aldolase A and GLUT1 mRNAs upregulation. Taken together, higher concentration GSNO promotes glycolytic flux enhancement and methylglyoxal formation via HIF-1α S-nitrosylation. These findings reveal the mechanism of enhanced glycolysis-associated mitochondrial dysfunction in ECs by GSNO exposure under normoxic and non-hyperglycemic condition. And offer the early potential targets for vascular pathophysiological evaluation. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 2443-2453, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[Protective effect of ginsenoside Rg1 again PC-12 cells in OGD injury through mTOR/Akt/FoxO3 signaling pathway].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the protective effect of ginsenoside Rg1 on oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) in PC-12 cells, and preliminarily discuss the potential molecular mechanism of mTOR/Akt/FoxO3 signaling pathway. METHOD: The OGD PC-12 cell model was established. The cell viability was measured by MTT assay. After the pretreatment with Rg1 with the concentration of 10, 20, 40 micromol x L(-1) for 24 h, the cell viability was observed. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, superoxide dismutase (SOD) ac- tivity and malondialdehyde (MDA) level were detected by colorimetry assay. mTOR, p-Akt(ser473), p-Akt(tjr308), Akt, p-FoxO3, FoxO3 in cytoplasm and nucleus, and total FoxO3 protein expression were detected by Western blot assay. RESULT: OGD could significantly in- hibit cell proliferation in 4-24 h in a time-dependent manner. After pretreatment for 24 h, Rg1 (20, 40 micromol x L(-1)) could notably elevate the cell viability and SOD viability and reduce the LDH release and MDA content. Besides, Rg1 also inhibited OGD-induced mTOR and p-Akt(ser473) decreases. After treatment for 6 h, OGD could reduce FoxO3 phosphorylation and promote FoxO3 in cytoplasm. This data suggested that Rg1 could protect PC-12 cell injury through mTOR/p-Akt/FoxO3 signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: Ginsenoside Rg1 could attenuate OGD-induced PC-12 cell injury. Its action mechanism may be closely related to activation of mTOR/p-Akt/FoxO3 signaling pathway.

Activating glucocorticoid receptor-ERK signaling pathway contributes to ginsenoside Rg1 protection against ß-amyloid peptide-induced human endothelial cells apoptosis.

The deposition of ß-amyloid (Aß) in neurons and vascular cells of the brain has been characterized in Alzheimer's disease. Ginsenoside Rg1 (Rg1) is an active components in Panax ginseng, a famous traditional Chinese medicines recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica. Present study attempted to evaluate the potential mechanisms of Aß-mediated insult and the protective effects of Rg1 on human endothelial cells. Rg1 attenuated the Aß25-35-associated mitochondrial apoptotic events, accompanied by inhibiting HIF-1α expression followed by intracellular reactive nitrogen species generation, and protein nitrotyrosination. These protective effects were abolished by glucocorticoid receptor (GR) antagonist RU486 or p-ERK inhibitor U0126 rather than estrogen receptor α antagonist ICI 82,780. Taken together, our results suggested that Rg1 protected against Aß25-35-induced apoptosis at least in part by two complementary GR-dependent ERK phosphorylation pathways: (1) down-regulating HIF-1α initiated protein nitrotyrosination, and (2) inhibiting mitochondrial apoptotic cascades. These data provided a novel insight to the mechanisms of Rg1protective effects on Aß25-35-induced endothelial cells apoptosis, suggesting that GR-ERK signaling pathway might play an important role in it.

Skeletal muscle aldolase an overexpression in endotoxemic rats and inhibited by GSNO via potential role for S-nitrosylation in vitro.

BACKGROUND: Hepatic aldolase (ALD) A mRNA transcription and ALD B S-nitrosylation have been confirmed in endotoxemic rats and mice, respectively. In the present study we investigated whether the skeletal muscle ALD A shared potential for S-nitrosylation to act as a hypoxia-related signaling mechanism in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenged rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male Sprague Dawley rats were treated (i.p.) as follows, control group (n = 6) with 0.9% NaCl, tested group (n = 6) with a single dose of 2 mg/kg LPS. Protein S-nitrosylation was determined by biotin switch and dot blotting analysis. ALD A, hypoxia-inducible factor 1α and vascular endothelial growth factor were determined by western blotting. ALD A catalytic activity treated with S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), an exogenous NO-donor, was examined in vitro. RESULTS: There were several S-nitrosylated proteins under basal conditions. ALD A was over-expressed in a hypoxia-related way in the skeletal muscle of LPS challenged rats. Importantly, treatment of ALD A with GSNO at concentration 50 µmol/L ∼ 1000 µmol/L that inhibited catalytic activity, increased the number of S-nitrosylated bands and led to hyper-nitrosylation of basally S-nitrosylated proteins of ALD A. Quantization of enzyme S-nitrosothiol showed that a maximal of four cysteines per subunit was modified by S-nitrosylation in the presence of GSNO. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggested that S-nitrosylation of ALD A might serve as a novel mechanism for controlling ALD A activity at the post-translational level in endotoxemic rats.

PPAR-beta facilitating maturation of hepatic-like tissue derived from mouse embryonic stem cells accompanied by mitochondriogenesis and membrane potential retention.

Relatively little is known about mitochondria metabolism in differentiating embryonic stem (ES) cells. Present research focused on several elements of cellular energy metabolism in hepatic-like tissue derived from mouse ES cells. We demonstrated that mitochondrial location patterns and mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsi(m)) existed in subsequent differentiation of the tissue. Mitochondriogenesis appeared at the early stage and kept a normal DeltaPsi(m) in differentiated mature hepatocytes. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-alpha) expression was transitorily increased at the beginning, and kept a relatively low level later, which accompanied by expression of PPAR-gamma coactivator (PGC)-1alpha, a master regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis. PPAR-beta expression showed robust up-regulation in the late differentiation course. Enhanced co-expressions of PPAR-beta and albumin with catalysis of UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) were observed at mature stage. While PPAR-gamma expression changed little before and after differentiation. Mitochondriogenesis could be accelerated by PPAR-alpha specific agonist WY14643 and abolished by its antagonist GW6471 at the early stage. Neither of them affected mitochondrial DeltaPsi(m) and albumin generation in the differentiated hepatocytes. Furthermore, maturation of hepatic-like tissue and mitochondriogenesis in hepatocyte could be efficiently stimulated by PPAR-beta specific agonist L165041 and abolished by PPAR-beta specific antagonist GSK0660, but not affected by PPAR-gamma specific agonist GW1929. In conclusion, the derived hepatic tissue morphologically possessed cellular energy metabolism features. PPAR-alpha seemed only necessary for early mitochondriogenesis, while less important for DeltaPsi(m) retention in the mature tissue derived. The stimulation of PPAR-beta but not -gamma enhanced hepatogenesis, hepatocytes maturation, and mitochondriogenesis. PPAR-beta took an important role in cellular energy metabolism of hepatogenesis.