Th1 cells contribute to retinal ganglion cell loss in glaucoma in a VCAM-1-dependent manner.

Glaucoma is a complex neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the progressive loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGC) and optic nerve axons, leading to irreversible visual impairment. Despite its clinical significance, the underlying mechanisms of glaucoma pathogenesis remain poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to unravel the multifaceted nature of glaucoma by investigating the interaction between T cells and retinas. By utilizing clinical samples, murine glaucoma models, and T cell transfer models, we made several key findings. Firstly, we observed that CD4+ T cells from glaucoma patients displayed enhanced activation and a bias towards T helper (Th) 1 responses, which correlated with visual impairment. Secondly, we identified the infiltration of Th1 cells into the retina, where they targeted RGC and integrated into the pro-inflammatory glial network, contributing to progressive RGC loss. Thirdly, we discovered that circulating Th1 cells upregulated vascular cell adhesion protein 1 (VCAM-1) on retinal microvessels, facilitating their entry into the neural retina. Lastly, we found that Th1 cells underwent functional reprogramming before reaching the retina, acquiring a phenotype associated with lymphocyte migration and neurodegenerative diseases. Our study provides novel insights into the role of peripheral CD4+ T cells in glaucoma pathogenesis, shedding light on the mechanisms underlying their infiltration into the retina and offering potential avenues for innovative therapeutic interventions in this sight-threatening disease.

Synthesis of silyl indenes by ruthenium-catalyzed aldehyde- and acylsilane-enabled C-H alkylation/cyclization.

A ruthenium-catalyzed C-H alkylation/cyclization sequence is presented to prepare silyl indenes with atom and step-economy. This domino reaction is triggered by acyl silane-directed C-H activation, and an aldehyde controlled the following enol cyclization/condensation other than ß-H elimination. The protocol tolerates a broad substitution pattern, and the further synthetic elaboration of silyl indenes allows access to a diverse range of interesting indene and indanone derivatives.

Influenza vaccination features revealed by a single-cell transcriptome atlas.

Emerging and re-emerging viruses like influenza virus pose a continuous global public health threat. Vaccines are one of the most effective public health strategies for controlling infectious diseases. However, little is known about the immunological features of vaccination at the single-cell resolution, including for influenza vaccination. Here, we report the single-cell transcriptome atlas of longitudinally collected peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in individuals immunized with an inactivated influenza vaccine. Overall, vaccination with the influenza vaccine only had a small impact on the composition of peripheral immune cells, but elicited global transcriptional changes in multiple immune cell subsets. In plasma and B cell subsets, transcriptomic changes, which were mostly involved in antibody production as well as B cell activation and differentiation, were observed after influenza vaccinations. In influenza-vaccinated individuals, we found a reduction in multiple biological processes (e.g., interferon response, inflammatory response, HLA-I/II molecules, cellular apoptosis, migration, and cytotoxicity, etc.,) 7 days postvaccination in multiple immune cell subsets. However, 14 days postvaccination, these levels returned to similar levels observed in prevaccination samples. Additionally, we did not observe significant upregulation of pro-inflammatory response genes and key thrombosis-related genes in influenza-vaccinated individuals. Taken together, we report a cell atlas of the peripheral immune response to influenza vaccination and provide a resource for understanding the immunological response mechanisms of influenza vaccination.

Kaempferol and ginsenoside Rg1 ameliorate acute hypobaric hypoxia induced lung injury based on network pharmacology analysis.

Acute hypobaric hypoxia at high altitude can cause fatal non-cardiogenic high altitude pulmonary edema. Anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant treatments appear to be a prospective way to alleviate acute hypoxia lung injury. Kaempferol (KA) and ginsenoside Rg1 (GRg1) can be isolated and purified from ginseng with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, neuroprotective, and antiaging effects. However, their effects and pharmacological mechanisms on lung injury remains unclear. Network pharmacology analyses were used to explore potential targets of KA and GRg1 against acute hypobaric hypoxia induced lung injury. Rat lung tissues were further used for animal experiment verification. Among the putative targets of KA and GRg1 for inhibition of acute hypobaric hypoxia induced lung injury, AKT1, PIK3R1, PTK2, STAT3, HSP90AA1 and AKT2 were recognized as higher interrelated targets. And PI3K-AKT signaling pathway is considered to be the most important and relevant pathway. The rat experimental results showed that KA and GRg1 significantly improved histopathological changes and decreased pulmonary edema in rats with lung injury caused by acute hypobaric hypoxia. The concentrations of IL-6, TNF-α, MDA, SOD and CAT in rats treated with KA and GRg1 were significantly ameliorated. Protein and mRNA levels of PI3K and AKTI were significantly inhibited after KA administration. KA and GRg1 can lower lung water content, improve lung tissue damage, reduce the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the oxidative stress level.

Reliable detection of Burkholderia pseudomallei using multiple cross displacement amplification label-based biosensor.

BACKGROUND: Burkholderia pseudomallei (B. pseudomallei), as a highly pathogenic organism, causes melioidosis, which is a disease of public health importance in many tropical developing countries. Here, we present and validate a novel detection technique, termed multiple cross displacement amplification combined with nanoparticles-based lateral flow biosensor (MCDA-NB), for identifying B. pseudomallei and diagnosing melioidosis. RESULTS: B. pseudomallei-MCDA targets the TTS1 (Type III secretion system gene cluster 1) to specifically design ten MCDA primers. The nanoparticles-based biosensor (NB) can be combined with B. pseudomallei-MCDA for visually, objective, simply and rapidly reporting reaction results. The optimal amplification conditions of B. pseudomallei-MCDA were 66 °C for 30 min. Assay's sensitivity was 100 fg of genomic DNA in the pure cultures, and the analytical specificity was 100% by the examination of 257 strains, including 228 B. pseudomallei and 29 non-B. pseudomallei. As a result, the whole detection procedure was completed within 50 min, including 15 min for genomic DNA preparation, 30 min for l MCDA reaction, and 2 min for the interpretation of the results visually by biosensor. CONCLUSIONS: B. pseudomallei-MCDA assay is a rapid, sensitive and specific method for the detection of B. pseudomallei, and can be used as a potential tool for melioidosis diagnose in basic, field and clinical laboratories.

Single-cell transcriptomic atlas reveals distinct immunological responses between COVID-19 vaccine and natural SARS-CoV-2 infection.

To control the ongoing coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, CoronaVac (Sinovac), an inactivated vaccine, has been granted emergency use authorization by many countries. However, the underlying mechanisms of the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine-induced immune response remain unclear, and little is known about its features compared to (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here, we implemented single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to profile longitudinally collected PBMCs (peripheral blood mononuclear cells) in six individuals immunized with CoronaVac and compared these to the profiles of COVID-19 infected patients from a Single Cell Consortium. Both inactivated vaccines and SARS-CoV-2 infection altered the proportion of different immune cell types, caused B cell activation and differentiation, and induced the expression of genes associated with antibody production in the plasma. The inactivated vaccine and SARS-COV-2 infection also caused alterations in peripheral immune activity such as interferon response, inflammatory cytokine expression, innate immune cell apoptosis and migration, effector T cell exhaustion and cytotoxicity, however, the magnitude of change was greater in COVID-19 patients, especially those with severe disease, than in immunized individuals. Further analyses revealed a distinct peripheral immune cell phenotype associated with CoronaVac immunization (HLA class II upregulation and IL21R upregulation in naïve B cells) versus SARS-CoV-2 infection (HLA class II downregulation and IL21R downregulation in naïve B cells from severe disease individuals). There were also differences in the expression of important genes associated with proinflammatory cytokines and thrombosis. In conclusion, this study provides a single-cell atlas of the systemic immune response to CoronaVac immunization and revealed distinct immune responses between inactivated vaccines and SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Nocardia sputi sp. nov. isolated from the sputum of patients with pulmonary infection.

Two Gram-stain-positive, aerobic and rod-shaped actinomycetes (strains CY18T and CY8) were isolated from the sputum of two patients with pulmonary infections, and their taxonomic status was investigated. The 16S rRNA gene sequences and the results of phylogenetic analyses indicated that CY18T and CY8 were identical (100 %) and were most closely related to Nocardia beijingensis CGMCC 4.1521T (99.9 %) and Nocardia araoensis NBRC 100135T (99.5 %). The predominant cellular fatty acids of CY18T and CY8 were C16 : 0, C18 : 0, C18 : 1ω9c and summed feature 3 (comprising C16 : 1É·7c and/or C16 : 1É·6c), and the major menaquinone was MK-8(H4ω-cycl).The diagnostic diamino acid in the cell-wall peptidoglycan was meso-diaminopimelic acid. The whole-cell hydrolytic sugar pattern consisted of arabinose and glucose. The polar lipid profile contained diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannoside, two unidentified phospholipids, three unidentified glycolipids and two unidentified lipids.The DNA G+C contents of CY18T and CY8 were 67.9 and 68.0 % respectively. The digital DNA-DNA hybridization and average nucleotide identity values between the two novel strains and closely related species were well under the 70 % and 95-96 % thresholds, respectively, but these values between the two novel strains were 95.5 % and 99.5 %, respectively. On the basis of morphological and chemotaxonomic characteristics and the results of phylogenetic analyses, strains CY18T and CY8 represent a novel species of the genus Nocardia, for which the name Nocardia sputi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CY18T (=GDMCC 1.3318T = JCM 33932T).

Development of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay for molecular serotyping of Shigella flexneri Serotypes 2 and Xv.

AIMS: This study developed and evaluated a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay to simply, rapidly and accurately identify Shigella flexneri serotypes 2 and Xv. METHODS AND RESULTS: The LAMP assay based on the O-antigen synthesis and modification genes of S. flexneri including gtrII, gtrX, opt and wzx was developed. Its specificity and sensitivity were evaluated with 19 serotypes of S. flexneri and 96 other Shigella species and bacterial pathogens commonly found in stool samples. This LAMP assay was completed within 20 min at 61°C and could detect boiled DNA samples at concentrations as low as 1 pg/µl. The S. flexneri serotype LAMP assay exhibited 100% specificity for detecting 19 S. flexneri serotypes, no 96 strains of Shigella spp. and other bacterial pathogens. This LAMP assay was used to identify S. flexneri serotypes 2 and Xv from 299 S. flexneri strains isolated in China and results were consistent with that of slide agglutination and multiplex polymerase chain reaction results for the same isolates. CONCLUSIONS: This LAMP assay may facilitate rapid and reliable identifying S. flexneri serotypes 2 and Xv. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF STUDY: The present study was the first LAMP method for identifying serotypes of S. flexneri.

PLCD1 Suppressed Cellular Proliferation, Invasion, and Migration via Inhibition of Wnt/ß-Catenin Signaling Pathway in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Phospholipase C delta 1 (PLCD1) has been found to be abnormally expressed in various cancers. However, the potential roles of PLCD1 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) are still unknown. METHODS: Western blot and qPCR were used to explore PLCD1 expression in various ESCC cells. MTT, colony formation assays, wound-healing assay, and transwell cell invasion assay were used to examine the cell viability in vitro. Western blot, qPCR, and luciferase assays were used to investigate the effects of PLCD1 on Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway. The xenograft models in nude mice were established to explore the roles of PLCD1 in vivo. RESULTS: We found that the expression of PLCD1 in ESCC cells was significantly downregulated than that in normal esophageal epithelial cells. In addition, upregulation of PLCD1 decreased the capacity of TE-1 and EC18 cells in proliferation, invasion, and migration. Then, the expression of ß-catenin/p-ß-catenin, C-myc, cyclin D1, MMP9, and MMP7 was investigated. PLCD1 activity was found to be negatively associated with the expression of ß-catenin, C-myc, cyclin D1, MMP9, and MMP7. Finally, the activity of PLCD1 in inhibiting ESCC proliferation in vivo was validated. CONCLUSION: The inhibitory effects of PLCD1 on the proliferation, invasion, and migration of TE-1 and EC18 cells might be associated with inhibition of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway. PLCD1 played a key role in inhibiting ESCC carcinogenesis and progression in patients with ESCC.

Coding mutations in NUS1 contribute to Parkinson's disease.

Whole-exome sequencing has been successful in identifying genetic factors contributing to familial or sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD). However, this approach has not been applied to explore the impact of de novo mutations on PD pathogenesis. Here, we sequenced the exomes of 39 early onset patients, their parents, and 20 unaffected siblings to investigate the effects of de novo mutations on PD. We identified 12 genes with de novo mutations (MAD1L1, NUP98, PPP2CB, PKMYT1, TRIM24, CEP131, CTTNBP2, NUS1, SMPD3, MGRN1, IFI35, and RUSC2), which could be functionally relevant to PD pathogenesis. Further analyses of two independent case-control cohorts (1,852 patients and 1,565 controls in one cohort and 3,237 patients and 2,858 controls in the other) revealed that NUS1 harbors significantly more rare nonsynonymous variants (P = 1.01E-5, odds ratio = 11.3) in PD patients than in controls. Functional studies in Drosophila demonstrated that the loss of NUS1 could reduce the climbing ability, dopamine level, and number of dopaminergic neurons in 30-day-old flies and could induce apoptosis in fly brain. Together, our data suggest that de novo mutations could contribute to early onset PD pathogenesis and identify NUS1 as a candidate gene for PD.

LAMP-CRISPR-Cas12-based diagnostic platform for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex using real-time fluorescence or lateral flow test.

A CRISPR-based nucleic acid detection platform, termed LACD (loop-mediated isothermal amplification coupled with CRISPR-Cas12a-mediated diagnostic) has been developed. In the LACD system, the core primer used in conventional LAMP (forward inner primer or backward inner primer) was engineered to contain a PAM (protospacer adjacent motif) site (TTTT) at the linker region. As a result, the LAMP amplicons contained a specific PAM site for CRISPR-Cas12a recognition. At the CRISPR-mediated detection stage, the resulting LAMP products can activate the corresponding CRISPR-Cas12a effector upon the formation of the CRISPR-Cas12a/gRNA/target DNA complex. The single-strand DNA (ssDNA) reporter molecules are then rapidly cleaved due to the CRISPR-Cas12a's trans-enzyme activity. The ssDNA degradation can then be visualized on a lateral flow biosensor or measured  by a real-time fluorescence instrument. Our LACD assay allows any target sequence to be detected (even targets which do not contain any PAM sites) as long as they met the design requirement for LAMP. The feasibility of the LACD methodology for nucleic acid detection was validated on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC). This proof-of-concept assay can be reconfigured to detect a variety of target sequences by redesigning the engineered LAMP primers.

Inhaled budesonide for the prevention of acute mountain sickness: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Altitude induces acute mountain sickness (AMS), which can affect the health or limit the activities of 15 -80% of climbers and workers. Budesonide has been applied to prevent AMS. However, its prophylactic efficacy is controversial. Our purpose was to conduct a meta-analysis to assess whether budesonide qualifies as a prophylaxis for AMS. METHODS: A literature search was performed in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library in February 2019. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were selected. The main outcome, AMS, was estimated with the relative risk (RR), weighted mean difference (WMD), and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). The statistical analysis was performed using Rev. Man 5.3. RESULTS: Five groups in six articles met the eligibility criteria with 304 participants, including two articles with the same participants but different measurements. Inhaled budesonide showed a potential trend towards preventing AMS, but it was not statistically significant (RR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.41-1.13, p = 0.14). The subgroup analysis based on dosage (200 µg) did not have significant results. A similar trend was observed for severe AMS and in subgroups stratified by the Lake Louise Score (LLC). However, there was a significant improvement in heart rate (HR) (WMD = -5.41, 95% CI: -8.26 to -2.55, p = 0.0002) and pulse oxygen saturation (SPO2) (WMD = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.62-3.1, p < 0.00001) in the group with inhaled budesonide. Additionally, no side effects were reported in any included study. CONCLUSION: The current meta-analysis indicates that inhaled budesonide does not protect against AMS or severe AMS. However, it is successful at reducing HR and increasing SPO2 without any side effects.

JLX001 Modulated the Inflammatory Reaction and Oxidative Stress in pMCAO Rats via Inhibiting the TLR2/4-NF-κB Signaling Pathway.

Inflammatory reactions and oxidative stress play critical roles in cerebral ischemic injuries. Microglia are activated after ischemic injury. Activated microglia produce neurotoxic proinflammatory factors and reactive oxygen species (ROS), which have been demonstrated closely related TLR2/4-NF-κB signal pathways. This study was to evaluate the effect of JLX001 against ischemic injury and investigate the mechanisms. The permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) model was employed in rats. The neurobehavioral score, brain infarction rate, brain water content, pathological changes, immunohistochemical staining, biochemical index (T-AOC, SOD, and MDA), proinflammatory factors (IL-1ß, TNF-α, and NO), expression of TLR2/4 and nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65 were determined. To explore probable underlying mechanism of the neuroprotective effect of JLX001, BV-2 cells were exposed to in oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) for 4 h to mimic ischemic injury in vitro. The result showed that JLX001 significantly decreased neurological deficit score, infarct size, and brain edema, attenuated pathological changes, inhibited the activation of microglia, improved the process of oxidative stress, reduced the release of proinflammatory cytokines and downregulated TLR2/4-NF-κB signal pathway. Moreover, OGD reduced BV2 cell viability, induced oxidative damage, increased the release of proinflammatory factors and activated TLR2/4-NF-κB signal pathway, which was significantly reversed by the intervention of JLX001. This study demonstrates that JLX001 is effective in protecting the brain from ischemic injury, which may be mediated by regulating oxidative stress, inflammation and inhibiting TLR2/4-NFκB signal pathway.

MicroRNA-539 promotes osteoblast proliferation and differentiation and osteoclast apoptosis through the AXNA-dependent Wnt signaling pathway in osteoporotic rats.

This study aims to explore the effects of miR-539 on osteoblast proliferation and differentiation and osteoclast apoptosis in a rat model of osteoporosis, and its mechanism involving the regulation of the AXIN1-mediated wingless-Int (Wnt) signaling pathway. A rat model of osteoporosis was successfully established by ovariectomy. With osteoblasts and osteoclasts of rats not receiving ovariectomy in the sham group as control, those of osteoporotic rats were treated with miR-539 inhibitor, miR-539 mimic, and AXIN1 shRNA. The expression of miR-53, AXIN1, the Wnt pathway related-genes, apoptosis related-genes, and osteogenic markers were measured by RT-qPCR and Western blot analysis, respectively. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in osteoblast and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity in osteoclasts were determined after cell transfection. Osteoblast and osteoclast viability was assayed by CCK-8 assay. Cell cycle and apoptosis of osteoblasts and osteoclasts were detected by flow cytometry. Lastly, alizarin red S staining was used to detect mineralized nodules of osteoblasts. Firstly, we determined that miR-539 was down-regulated in osteoblast and osteoclast of osteoporotic rats and AXIN1 was negatively regulated by miR-539. Additionally, overexpression of miR-539 increased the expressions of ß-catenin, LEF1, c-myc, cyclin D1, RUNX2, BGP, BMP-2 in osteoblast as well as ß-catenin, RhoA, caspase-3, and Bcl-2 in osteoclasts. Finally, overexpression of miR-539 elevated ALP activity, proliferation, and mineralized nodules in osteoblast and osteoclast apoptosis, with reduced TRAP activity in osteoclasts. Our results demonstrate that miR-539 promotes osteoblast proliferation and differentiation as well as osteoclast apoptosis through the AXIN1-dependent Wnt signaling pathway in osteoporotic rats.

A Promising Microtubule Inhibitor Deoxypodophyllotoxin Exhibits Better Efficacy to Multidrug-Resistant Breast Cancer than Paclitaxel via Avoiding Efflux Transport.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a common limitation for the clinical use of microtubule-targeting chemotherapeutic agents, and it is the main factor for poor prognoses in cancer therapy. Here, we report on deoxypodophyllotoxin (DPT), a promising microtubule inhibitor in phase 1, as a promising candidate to circumvent this obstacle. DPT remarkably suppressed tumor growth in xenograft mice bearing either paclitaxel (PTX)-sensitive MCF-7/S or acquired resistance MCF-7/Adr (MCF-7/A) cells. Also, DPT exhibited similar accumulation in both tumors, whereas PTX displayed much a lower accumulation in the resistant tumors. In vitro, DPT exhibited a much lower resistance index (0.552) than those of PTX (754.5) or etoposide (38.94) in both MCF-7/S and MCF-7/A cells. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that DPT (5 and 10 nM) caused arrest of the G2/M phase in the two cell lines, whereas PTX (up to 10 nM) had no effect on cell-cycle progression of the MCF-7/A cells. Microtubule dynamics assays revealed that DPT destabilized microtubule assembly in a different mode. Cellular pharmacokinetic assays indicated comparable intracellular and subcellular accumulations of DPT in the two cell lines but a much lower retention of PTX in the MCF-7/A cells. Additionally, transport assays revealed that DPT was not the substrate of P-glycoprotein, breast cancer resistance protein, or MDR-associated protein 2, indicating a lower occurrence rate of MDR. DPT might be a promising microtubule inhibitor for breast cancer therapy, especially for treatment of drug-resistant tumors.

First Report of Klebsiella oxytoca Strain Simultaneously Producing NDM-1, IMP-4, and KPC-2 Carbapenemases.

The nucleotide sequences of five plasmids from one Klebsiella oxytoca isolate were determined using the PacBio RS II system. Plasmid analysis revealed that blaNDM-1 was carried on an IncX3 plasmid. The blaIMP-4 and blaKPC-2 genes were located on IncN and IncP-6 plasmids, respectively. Comparative sequence analysis highlighted the successful spread of carbapenemase-harboring plasmids among different enterobacterial species. We report for the first time, to our knowledge, coproducing NDM-1, KPC-2, and IMP-4 carbapenemases on a K. oxytoca isolate.

Identification of LRP5 mutations in families with familial exudative vitreoretinopathy.

Familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) is a hereditary eye disease characterized by defects in the development of periphery retinal vessels. However, the clinical phenotypes of FEVR vary widely from asymptomatic to complete blindness. We analyzed patients from three Chinese families and one sporadic patient with FEVR to investigate the clinical features and disease-causing mutations. Ocular phenotypes included increased ramification of the peripheral retinal vessels, a peripheral avascular zone, inferotemporal dragging of the optic disc and macula, and retinal folds. Peripheral blood DNA samples were obtained from patients with FEVR and their family members. Primers were designed to amplify the coding exons and adjacent intronic regions of the FEVR-causing genes FZD4, LRP5, NDP and TSPAN12. By polymerase chain reactions, each amplicon was subjected to direct Sanger sequencing analysis. Potential pathogenic changes of the sequence variants were analyzed by the orthologous protein sequence alignment and computational prediction software. We identified five LRP5 mutations: three novel heterozygous mutations-p.M181R, p.R399S and p.G503R and two known mutations that were never reported in FEVR patients: p.R494Q and p.G876S. All five mutations involved highly conserved residues and were predicted to be damaging by SIFT and PolyPhen-2. None was present in 500 normal individuals. To assess the pathogenesis of these mutations, wild-type and all five mutant LRP5 proteins were assayed for the ability to activate the Norrin/ß-catenin pathway by established luciferase reporter assays, and all mutants failed to activate the pathway. This study extends the genetic database of the FEVR disease in China and provides a basis for molecular diagnosis of the disease.

Design and synthesis of novel 4'-demethyl-4-deoxypodophyllotoxin derivatives as potential anticancer agents.

A group of podophyllotoxin (PPT) derivatives (7a-j) were synthesized by conjugating aryloxyacetanilide moieties to the 4'-hydroxyl of 4'-demethyl-4-deoxypodophyllotoxin (DDPT), and their anticancer activity was evaluated. It was found that the most potent compound 7d inhibited the proliferation of three cancer cell lines with sub to low micromolar IC50 values. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that 7d induced cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase in MGC-803 cells, and regulated the expression of cell cycle check point proteins, such as cyclin A, cyclin B, CDK1, cdc25c, and p21. Finally, 4 mg/kg of 7d reduced the weights and volumes of HepG2 xenografts in mice. Our findings suggest that 7d might be a potential anticancer agent.

Antitumor effect of Deoxypodophyllotoxin on human breast cancer xenograft transplanted in BALB/c nude mice model.

Recently, biologically active compounds isolated from plants used in herbal medicine have been the center of interest. Deoxypodophyllotoxin (DPT), structurally closely related to the lignan podophyllotoxin, was found to be a potent antitumor and antiproliferative agent, in several tumor cells, in vitro. However, DPT has not been used clinically yet because of the lack of in vivo studies. This study is the first report demonstrating the antitumor effect of DPT on MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer xenografts in nude mice. DPT, significantly, inhibited the growth of MDA-MB-231 xenograft in BALB/c nude mice. The T/C value (the value of the relative tumor volume of treatment group compared to the control group) of groups treated with 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg of intravenous DPT-HP-ß-CD was 42.87%, 34.04% and 9.63%, respectively, suggesting the positive antitumor activity of DPT. In addition, the antitumor effect of DPT-HP-ß-CD (20 mg/kg) in human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 xenograft was more effective than etoposide (VP-16) (20 mg/kg) and docetaxel (20 mg/kg). These findings suggest that this drug is a promising chemotherapy candidate against human breast carcinoma.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) agonist inhibits collagen synthesis in human hypertrophic scar fibroblasts by targeting Smad3 via miR-145.

The transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) functions to regulate cell differentiation and lipid metabolism. Recently, its agonist has been documented to regulate extracellular matrix production in human dermal fibroblasts. This study explored the underlying molecular mechanisms and gene interactions in hypertrophic scar fibroblasts (HSFBs) in vitro. HSFBs were cultured and treated with or without PPAR-γ agonist or antagonist for gene expression. Bioinformatical analysis predicted that miR-145 could target Smad3 expression. Luciferase assay was used to confirm such an interaction. The data showed that PPAR-γ agonist troglitazone suppressed expression of Smad3 and Col1 in HSFBs. PPAR-γ agonist induced miR-145 at the gene transcriptional level, which in turn inhibited Smad3 expression and Col1 level in HSFBs. Furthermore, ELISA data showed that Col1 level in HSFBs was controlled by a feedback regulation mechanism involved in PPAR-γ agonist and antagonist-regulated expression of miR-145 and Smad3 in HSFBs. These findings indicate that PPAR-γ-miR-145-Smad3 axis plays a role in regulation of collagen synthesis in HSFBs.