MicroRNA-224-5p nanoparticles balance homeostasis via inhibiting cartilage degeneration and synovial inflammation for synergistic alleviation of osteoarthritis.

MicroRNAs play a crucial role in regulating cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM) metabolism and are being explored as potential therapeutic targets for osteoarthritis (OA). The present study indicated that microRNA-224-5p (miR-224-5p) could balance the homeostasis of OA via regulating cartilage degradation and synovium inflammatory simultaneously. Multifunctional polyamidoamine dendrimer with amino acids used as efficient vector to deliver miR-224-5p. The vector could condense miR-224-5p into transfected nanoparticles, which showed higher cellular uptake and transfection efficiency compared to lipofectamine 3000, and also protected miR-224-5p from RNase degradation. After treatment with the nanoparticles, the chondrocytes showed an increase in autophagy rate and ECM anabolic components, as evidenced by the upregulation of autophagy-related proteins and OA-related anabolic mediators. This led to a corresponding inhibition of cell apoptosis and ECM catabolic proteases, ultimately resulting in the alleviation of ECM degradation. In addition, miR-224-5p also inhibited human umbilical vein endothelial cells angiogenesis and fibroblast-like synoviocytes inflammatory hyperplasia. Integrating the above synergistic effects of miR-224-5p in regulating homeostasis, intra-articular injection of nanoparticles performed outstanding therapeutic effect by reducing articular space width narrowing, osteophyte formation, subchondral bone sclerosis and inhibiting synovial hypertrophy and proliferation in the established mouse OA model. The present study provides a new therapy target and an efficient intra-articular delivery method for improving OA therapy. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent joint disease worldwide. Gene therapy, which involves delivering microRNAs, has the potential to treat OA. In this study, we demonstrated that miR-224-5p can simultaneously regulate cartilage degradation and synovium inflammation, thereby restoring homeostasis in OA gene therapy. Moreover, compared to traditional transfection reagents such as lipofectamine 3000, G5-AHP showed better efficacy in both microRNA transfection and protection against degradation due to its specific surface structure. In summary, G5-AHP/miR-224-5p was developed to meet the clinical needs of OA patients and the high requirement of gene transfection efficiency, providing a promising paradigm for the future application and development of gene therapy.

Urine protein in patients with type I hypersensitivity is indicative of reversible renal tube injury.

AIMS: In our clinical work, some patients with type I hypersensitivity could be detected protein in their urine. This study focused on the early renal injury in patients with type I hypersensitivity. MAIN METHODS: From 43 type I hypersensitivity patients with proteinuria, 10 patients were randomly selected for mass spectrometry analysis of 24-h urine together with 5 healthy volunteers. Mice were vaccinated with Dermatophagoides farina (Der f) and ovalbumin (OVA) were used as antigen to establish the type I hypersensitivity animal models. KEY FINDINGS: The urine protein of hypersensitivity patients was significantly increased in the alpha-1-microglobulin/ bikunin precursor (Protein AMBP) (t = 3.140, P = 0.008), retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) (t = 2.426, P = 0.031), kininogen-1 (t = 2.501, P = 0.027), and transferrin appeared only in patients' urine. After immunizing mice with antigens, significant increases of the total serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) were observed in both Der f (86.92 ± 36.01 U/mL, t = 5.231, P = 0.0004) and OVA group (34.65 ± 24.72 U/mL, t = 2.891, P = 0.0161) compared with the negative control group (2.68 ± 0.47 U/mL). Meanwhile, definite eosinophil infiltration around the impaired renal tubules as well as the bronchus in Der f mice were observed, and urine protein appeared. After stopping the allergen stimulation, proteinuria disappeared. Instead, when the mice were treated with the antigen again, proteinuria reappeared. SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings suggest that renal tubular damage in patients with type I hypersensitivity is reversible, and proteinuria disappears with allergy symptoms remission.

Magnetic solid-phase extraction of pyrethroid and neonicotinoid insecticides separately in environmental water samples based on alkaline or acidic group-functionalized mesoporous silica.

Pyrethroids and neonicotinoids are widely used insecticides. However, their residues have unfavorable effects on ecological systems. Magnetic solid phase extraction is a reliable pretreatment method for a better detection of insecticides at low concentrations. In this work, amino- and carboxyl-functionalized magnetic KIT-6 were designed according to the electron-accepting groups of pyrethroid molecules and electron-donating groups with neonicotinoid structures. The characterization of these two materials was conducted using transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis, etc. The aminated composite was applied to the magnetic solid phase extraction of pyrethroid insecticides while the carboxylic one was applied to neonicotinoids, and the adsorption effects were comprehensively compared for the first time. The material dosage, solution pH, and some factors that influenced the recovery were studied and optimized. The adsorption processes of the materials were all spontaneous and exothermic. They also fitted well with pseudo-second order kinetics and Langmuir adsorption isotherms. Both physical (pore function) and chemical (electrostatic interaction) adsorption mechanisms were present in the process. The two nanocomposites were then successfully used to enrich the two kinds of insecticides in environmental water samples. The proposed method has great application potential for insecticide monitoring in complex environmental samples.

Lgr4 Regulates Oviductal Epithelial Secretion Through the WNT Signaling Pathway.

The WNT signaling pathway plays a crucial role in oviduct/fallopian development. However, the specific physiological processes regulated by the WNT pathway in the fallopian/oviduct function remain obscure. Benefiting from the Lgr4 knockout mouse model, we report the regulation of oviduct epithelial secretion by LGR4. Specifically, the loss of Lgr4 altered the mouse oviduct size and weight, severely reduced the number of oviductal epithelial cells, and ultimately impaired the epithelial secretion. These alterations were mediated by a failure of CTNNB1 protein accumulation in the oviductal epithelial cytoplasm, by the modulation of WNT pathways, and subsequently by a profound change of the gene expression profile of epithelial cells. In addition, selective activation of the WNT pathway triggered the expression of steroidogenic genes, like Cyp11a1 and 3ß-Hsd1, through the activation of the transcriptional factor NR5A2 in an oviduct primary cell culture system. As demonstrated, the LGR4 protein modulates a WNT-NR5A2 signaling cascade facilitating epithelial secretory cell maturation and steroidogenesis to safeguard oviduct development and function in mice.

Paternal nicotine exposure promotes hepatic fibrosis in offspring.

Paternal nicotine exposure can alter phenotypes in future generations. The aim of this study is to explore whether paternal nicotine exposure affects the hepatic repair to chronic injury which leads to hepatic fibrosis in offspring. Our results demonstrate that nicotine down regulates mmu-miR-15b expression via the hyper-methylation on its CpG island shore region in the spermatozoa. This epigenetic modification imprinted in the liver of the offspring. The decreased mmu-miR-15b promotes the expression of Wnt4 and activates the Wnt pathway in the offspring mice liver. The activation of the Wnt pathway improves the activation and proliferation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) leading to liver fibrosis. Moreover, the Wnt pathway promotes the activation of the TGF-ß pathway and the two pathways cooperate to promote the transcription of extracellular matrix (ECM) genes. In conclusion, this study found that nicotine promotes hepatic fibrosis in the offspring via the activation of Wnt pathway by imprinting the hyper-methylation of mmu-miR-15b.

Magnetic Solid-Phase Extraction Based on Fe3O4/g-C3N4 Nanocomposite for the Determination of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Polychlorinated Diphenyl Ethers in Environmental Waters.

The graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) and the Fe3O4/g-C3N4 magnetic materials were synthesized in this paper. The structures of the materials were confirmed by a series of analysis. The Fe3O4/g-C3N4 was then used as a sorbent to adsorb polychlorinated diphenyl ethers and polychlorinated biphenyls. Different extraction conditions were examined, including adsorbent amount, salinity, pH of the sample matrix, adsorption time, reaction temperature, elution solvent and preconcentration factor. The maximum recoveries were obtained by employing methanol to desorb pollutants on 40.0 mg Fe3O4/g-C3N4 in 120.0 mL environmental water with a salinity of 5% (w/v) at a pH of 7 at 25 °C within 10 min. Using the optimized parameters, the detection limits of the method are between 0.01 and 0.04 µ · L-1 with a satisfying linear relationship. The adsorbent can be recycled at least 10 times with no significant reduction in the extraction efficiency.

UHRF1-repressed 5'-hydroxymethylcytosine is essential for the male meiotic prophase I.

5'-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), an important 5'-cytosine modification, is altered highly in order in male meiotic prophase. However, the regulatory mechanism of this dynamic change and the function of 5hmC in meiosis remain largely unknown. Using a knockout mouse model, we showed that UHRF1 regulated male meiosis. UHRF1 deficiency led to failure of meiosis and male infertility. Mechanistically, the deficiency of UHRF1 altered significantly the meiotic gene profile of spermatocytes. Uhrf1 knockout induced an increase of the global 5hmC level. The enrichment of hyper-5hmC at transcriptional start sites (TSSs) was highly associated with gene downregulation. In addition, the elevated level of the TET1 enzyme might have contributed to the higher 5hmC level in the Uhrf1 knockout spermatocytes. Finally, we reported Uhrf1, a key gene in male meiosis, repressed hyper-5hmC by downregulating TET1. Furthermore, UHRF1 facilitated RNA polymerase II (RNA-pol2) loading to promote gene transcription. Thus our study demonstrated a potential regulatory mechanism of 5hmC dynamic change and its involvement in epigenetic regulation in male meiosis.

Paternal nicotine exposure induces hyperactivity in next-generation via down-regulating the expression of DAT.

Many substances in cigarette smoke can induce changes in DNA methylation. Our previous studies have confirmed paternal nicotine exposure causes hyperactivity in the offspring via mmu-miR-15b. The main aim of the present study is to explore the molecular mechanism underlying the cross-generation effects of paternal nicotine exposure more comprehensively. The male C57BL/6 mice were exposed to 2 mg/kg/d nicotine for 5 weeks, and then mated with wild-type females. The offspring male mice were subjected to behavioral tests at 8 weeks after birth. The results suggested that, paternal nicotine exposure led to hyperactivity in the offspring. An analysis of the changes in DNA methylation revealed that nicotine exposure induced a rise in the total DNA methylation level of Dat in murine spermatozoa, and the hyper-methylation could imprint in the brains of the offspring mice. Then these epigenetic modifications reduced the expression of DAT in the brain of the offspring, resulting in a rise in the level of extracellular dopamine. The activation of D2 receptors caused the dephosphorylation of AKT, which led to increased activation of GSK3α/ß, and ultimately caused hyperactivity in the offspring mice. Further, in wild-type mice, injection of DAT inhibitors simulated this hyperactive phenotype, while the injection of D2s inhibitors reversed the hyperactivity of the offspring caused by paternal nicotine exposure. In conclusion, all results indicated that paternal nicotine exposure could induce hyperactivity in the offspring via the hyper-methylation of Dat. Consequently, Dat may be one of the genes that mediate the cross-generation effects of nicotine besides mmu-mmiR-15b.

Magnetic adsorbent based on mesoporous silica nanoparticles for magnetic solid phase extraction of pyrethroid pesticides in water samples.

Mesoporous KIT-6-magnetite composite (Fe3O4@SiO2@KIT-6) was successfully prepared and characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scan electron microscopy, elemental mapping, energy dispersive X-ray spectrum, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, X-ray powder diffraction, Brunauer Emmett Teller analysis and magnetic property analysis. It was then applied as adsorbent for magnetic solid phase extraction of fenpropathrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, S-fenvalerate and bifenthrin from water samples before analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detector. A few factors impacting extraction were studied. The optimal results were acquired by using acetonitrile to eluent the targets adsorbed on 40 mg of Fe3O4@SiO2@KIT-6 adsorbent in 100 mL water samples at a pH of 7 at 25 ℃ within 10 min. The experimental limit of detections of fenpropathrin, cyhalothrin, S-fenvalerate and bifenthrin are 0.01 × 10-3, 0.006 × 10-3, 0.01 × 10-3 and 0.005 × 10-3 mg∙L-1, respectively. Good relative recoveries (86.58-98.80%) and reproducibility values are also obtained. The kinetic experiment shows that the adsorption follows pseudo-second order, while the isotherm experiment follows Langmuir isotherm model. Trace pyrethroid pesticides in water samples can be detected by the developed magnetic solid phase extraction technique followed by high performance liquid chromatography, which is simple, easy, environmental friendly and efficient.

Magnetic solid-phase extraction of pyrethroid pesticides in environmental water samples with CoFe2 O4 -embedded porous graphitic carbon nanocomposites.

Magnetic CoFe2 O4 -embedded porous graphitic carbon nanocomposites were prepared through a facile solid-phase thermal reaction with NaCl as a template. The material was applied in the magnetic solid-phase extraction process coupled with high performance liquid chromatography with a diode array detector to detect the trace fenpropathrin, cyhalothrin, S-fenvalerate, and bifenthrin in different water samples. The synthesis conditions of nanomaterial including glucose concentration and calcination time on extraction performance for pyrethroid pesticides have been investigated. Different magnetic solid-phase extraction parameters have been studied, such as the nanomaterial amount, solution pH, eluent types, adsorption time, and the reusability. Under the optimum conditions, good recoveries (80.2-110.9%) were achieved with relative standard deviations of 0.2-5.8%. There are probably hydrophobic interactions and dipole-dipole attractions between nanocomposites and the analytes.

Maternal nicotine exposure has severe cross-generational effects on offspring behavior.

Our previous studies showed that paternal nicotine exposure can lead to hyperactivity in the offspring. Nevertheless, the cross-generational effects of maternal and biparental nicotine exposure remain unclear. In this study, female and male mice were exposed respectively by nicotine before pregnancy. The maternal pre-pregnancy nicotine exposure led to depression-like behaviors in the F1 offspring. However, after biparental pre-pregnancy nicotine exposure, seventy percentage of the offspring exhibited a depressive phenotype while 20% were hyperactive, and the remaining exhibited no obvious abnormal behavior. The cross-generational effects appeared to be mediated via disruption of the balance between GSK3 and p-GKS3 by nicotine. These results suggested that pre-pregnancy nicotine exposure can induce alterations in the behavior of the offspring, and the cross-generational effects of maternal nicotine exposure were particularly serious.

Paternal nicotine exposure defines different behavior in subsequent generation via hyper-methylation of mmu-miR-15b.

The neurobehavioral effects of paternal smoking and nicotine use have not been widely reported. In the present study, nicotine exposure induced depression in the paternal generation, but reduced depression and promoted hyperactivity in F1 offspring. While this intergenerational effect was not passed down to the F2 generation. Further studies revealed that nicotine induced the down-regulation of mmu-miR-15b expression due to hyper-methylation in the CpG island shore region of mmu-miR-15b in both the spermatozoa of F0 mice and the brains of F1 mice. As the target gene of mmu-miR-15b, Wnt4 expression was elevated in the thalamus of F1 mice due to the inheritance of DNA methylation patterns from the paternal generation. Furthermore, the increased expression of Wnt4 elevated the phosphorylation level of its downstream protein GSK-3 through the canonical WNT4 pathway which involved in the behavioral alterations observed in F1 mice. Moreover, in vivo stereotaxic brain injections were used to induce the overexpression of mmu-miR-15b and WNT4 and confirm the neurobehavioral effects in vitro. The behavioral phenotype of the F1 mice resulting from paternal nicotine exposure could be attenuated by viral manipulation of mmu-miR-15b in the thalamus.

Nicotine induces Nme2-mediated apoptosis in mouse testes.

In mouse testes, germ cell apoptosis can be caused by cigarette smoke and lead to declining quality of semen, but the exact molecular mechanisms remain unclear. To evaluate the effects of nicotine exposure on apoptosis during spermatogenesis, we first constructed a nicotine-treated mouse model and detected germ cell apoptosis activity in the testes using the TUNEL method. Then we analyzed the variation of telomere length and telomerase activity by real-time PCR and TRAP-real-time PCR, respectively. Further, we investigated a highly expressed gene, Nme2, in mouse testes after nicotine treatment from our previous results, which has close correlation with the apoptosis activity predicted by bioinformatics. We performed NME2 overexpression in Hela cells to confirm whether telomere length and telomerase activity were regulated by the Nme2 gene. Finally, we examined methylation of CpG islands in the Nme2 promoter with the Bisulfite Sequencing (BSP) method. The results showed that apoptosis had increased significantly, and then telomerase activity became weak. Further, telomere length was shortened in the germ cells among the nicotine-treated group. In Hela cells, both overexpression of the Nme2 gene and nicotine exposure can suppress the activity of telomerase activity and shorten telomere length. BSP results revealed that the Nme2 promoter appeared with low methylation in mouse testes after nicotine treatment. We assume that nicotine-induced apoptosis may be caused by telomerase activity decline, which is inhibited by the up expression of Nme2 because of its hypomethylation in mouse germ cells.

Protein profile screening: reduced expression of Sord in the mouse epididymis induced by nicotine inhibits tyrosine phosphorylation level in capacitated spermatozoa.

Many studies have revealed the hazardous effects of cigarette smoking and nicotine exposure on male fertility, but the actual, underlying molecular mechanism remains relatively unclear. To evaluate the detrimental effects of nicotine exposure on the sperm maturation process, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry analyses were performed to screen and identify differentially expressed proteins from the epididymal tissue of mice exposed to nicotine. Data mining analysis indicated that 15 identified proteins were mainly involved in the molecular transportation process and the polyol pathway, indicating impaired epididymal secretory functions. Experiments in vitro confirmed that nicotine inhibited tyrosine phosphorylation levels in capacitated spermatozoa via the downregulated seminal fructose concentration. Sord, a key gene encoding sorbitol dehydrogenase, was further investigated to reveal that nicotine induced hyper-methylation of the promoter region of this gene. Nicotine-induced reduced expression of Sord could be involved in impaired secretory functions of the epididymis and thus prevent the sperm from undergoing proper maturation and capacitation, although further experiments are needed to confirm this hypothesis.

Nicotine Induced Murine Spermatozoa Apoptosis via Up-Regulation of Deubiquitinated RIP1 by Trim27 Promoter Hypomethylation.

Nicotine significantly promoted apoptosis in stages I, VII, VIII, and XI spermatogonia, stages I, VII, VIII, X, and XI spermatocytes, and stages I-V, VII, and VIII elongating spermatids. To explore the underlying molecular mechanisms, sperm mRNA next-generation sequencing of nicotine-treated mice was conducted. Out of the 86 genes related to apoptosis, Tnf (tumor necrosis factor alpha) was screened to be the most significant varied transcript, and the Onto-pathway analysis indicated that the TNF apoptotic pathway was especially activated by nicotine exposure. The TNF pathway was further studied at the gene and protein levels. The results showed that RIP1, the key component in the TNF apoptotic pathway, was up-expressed in its deubiquitinated form in nicotine-treated mice testis. TRIM27, an E3 ubiquitin ligase that activated TNF apoptotic pathway through up-regulating deubiquitinated RIP1, was also overexpressed in nicotine-treated spermatocytes; moreover, four consecutive CpG sites near the Trim27 transcription start site were less frequently methylated. Finally, in vitro experiments of Trim27 overexpression and RNA interference in GC-1 spermatogonial cells confirmed that the RIP1 deubiquitination and TRIM27 hyopmethylation were both positively correlated with spermatocyte apoptosis. In summary, our study suggests that nicotine may induce murine spermatozoal apoptosis via the TNF apoptotic pathway through up-regulation of deubiquitinated RIP1 by Trim27 promoter hypomethylation.

Estimated diversity of messenger RNAs in each murine spermatozoa and their potential function during early zygotic development.

To study the diversity of mRNAs in murine spermatozoa and their potential function during zygotic development, total RNAs in murine spermatozoa were sequenced via RNA-Seq and analyzed through bioinformatics techniques. The delivery and translation of sperm-borne mRNA in fertilized oocyte were detected using RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction), Western blot, and immunofluorescence. A total of 35 288 825 reads matching 33 039 transcripts, including 27 310 coding transcripts, were obtained. Based on our analyses, we hypothesized that the transcripts with RPKM (reads per kilobase of exon model per million mapped reads) higher than six may exist in each sperm cell as consistently retained transcripts. There were 4885 consistent transcripts in each sperm, and the remainder were randomly retained. If the baseline RPKM increased, the remaining coding transcripts were more likely related to reproduction and development. The sperm-borne transcripts Wnt4 and Foxg1 were delivered into fertilized oocytes on fertilization. Furthermore, Wnt4 was translated into protein in zygotes, whereas Foxg1 was not translated. In conclusion, approximately 4885 mRNAs were present in each murine spermatozoon, and the spermatozoal mRNAs related to reproduction and development were more likely retained. The sperm-borne mRNA Wnt4 was delivered into the fertilized oocyte and translated, evidence of a paternal effect on zygotic development.