Analysis of the Renal Protection and Antioxidative Stress Effects of Panax notoginseng Saponins in Diabetic Nephropathy Mice.

Objective: Diabetic nephropathy (DN), a diabetes-induced chronic complication, is the major trigger of end-stage renal disease. As the main active ingredient of Panax notoginseng (PNG), Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) are crucial in treating renal diseases. This study is aimed at investigating the role played by PNS in renal protection and antioxidative stress (OS) in DN mice. Methods: A DN mouse model was constructed, and then low, medium, and high doses of PNS were used to intervene the model group mice. Eight weeks after intervention, the 24 h urine protein (UPro) and urinary albumin (UAlb) were quantitatively examined, and the related blood biochemical indices were measured. HE and PAS staining were performed for pathological changes of renal tissue. ELISA and western blotting were carried out to quantify the levels of OS indexes and inflammatory factors (IFs) in mouse kidney tissues and the expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), respectively. Results: The weight of DN mice decreased first compared with control animals and then gradually increased after different doses of PNS treatment. Besides, DN mice presented elevated urine volume, UPro, and UAlb, all of which were reversed by PNS intervention. SOD activity and GSH content in renal tissues of the model group mice decreased markedly versus the control group, and MDA, CRP, IL-6, and TGF-ß1 contents elevated statistically, while different doses of PNS effectively reduced the OS injury and IFs in mice. Compared with the model group, PNS dose-dependently increased Nrf2 and HO-1 levels in DN mice. Conclusions: PNS is protective of HFF + STZ-induced DN mice against kidney tissue damage and can reduce the excretion of UPro and relieve the OS state of mice, possibly by activating Nrf2/HO-1 axis to play an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory role.

Prediction of acute GVHD and relapse by metabolic biomarkers after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

BACKGROUND: There are very few studies investigating metabolic biomarkers to predict acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Metabolic models can provide a framework for analyzing the information-rich omics data sets in this setting. METHODS: Four hundred and fifty-six samples from one hundred and fourteen consecutive patients who underwent HSCT from January 2012 to May 2014 were collected for this study. The changes in serum metabolite levels were investigated using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolomics approach and underwent statistical analysis. RESULTS: Significant metabolic changes were observed on day 7. The stearic acid/palmitic acid (SA/PA) ratio was effective in the diagnosis of grade II-IV aGVHD. Multivariate analysis showed that patients with high SA/PA ratios on day 7 after HSCT were less likely to develop II-IV aGVHD than patients with low SA/PA ratios (odds ratio [OR] = 0.06, 95% CI 0.02-0.18, P < 0.001). After the adjustment for clinical characteristics, the SA/PA ratio had no significant effect on overall survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.95, 95% CI 0.92-4.14, P = 0.08), and patients in the high SA/PA ratio group were significantly more likely to relapse than those in the low ratio group (HR = 2.26, 95% CI 1.04-4.91, P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the SA/PA ratio on day 7 after HSCT is an excellent biomarker to predict both aGVHD and relapse. The serum SA/PA ratio measured on day 7 after transplantation may improve risk stratification for aGVHD and relapse after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. FUNDING: National Natural Science Foundation of China (81470346, 81773361), Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Jiangsu Natural Science Foundation (BK20161204), Innovation Capability Development Project of Jiangsu Province (BM2015004), Jiangsu Medical Junior Talent Person award (QNRC2016707), and NIH (AI129582 and NS106170).

Characterizing the Tumor Suppressor Role of CEACAM1 in Multiple Myeloma.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1), also known as CD66a, is a member of the immunoglobulin (Ig) superfamily that belongs to the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) family which plays a dual role in cancer. Previous studies showed high expression of CEACAM1 in multiple myeloma (MM). The aim of this study was to investigate the biological consequences of CEACAM1 overexpression in MM. METHODS: pEGFP-N1-CEACAM1 and pcDNA3.1-CEACAM1 expression plasmids were transfected into U-266 and RPMI8266 cell lines . Effect of CEACAM1 overexpression on the proliferation of two cell lines were tested by the CCK8 assay. Cell cycle and Apoptotic changes after CEACAM1 transfection were examined with AnnexinV-FITC/PI by flow cytometry. Hochest staining assay was used to confirm the apoptotic changes. Caspase-3 activity was examined by Western blotting. The cell invasion and migration activity change after CEACAM1 transfection were performed by well chamber assays and a wound healing, respectively. MMP-2 and MMP-9 proteins expression were detected by Western blotting. Flow cytometry immunophenotyping was be evaluated on myeloma cells from bone marrow taken from 50 patients with symptomatic MM newly diagnosed. The correlations between CEACAM1 expression levels and the clinical features across all groups were investigated. RESULTS: CEACAM1 overexpression significantly suppressed MM cell proliferation, induced cell apoptosis, and inhibited cell invasion and migration possibly through activation of caspase-3 and downregulation of MMP-2 and MMP-9. CEACAM1 expression in patients with DS stage I was more frequent (61.5%) than those with DS stage II (21.1%) or III (22.2%). Furthermore, patients with ß2-microglobulin levels equal to or less than 3.5 mg/L had higher CEACAM1 expression than those with ß2-microglobulin levels greater than 3.5 mg/L. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that CEACAM1 may act as a tumor suppressor in MM.

Oxidation of HRas cysteine thiols by metabolic stress prevents palmitoylation in vivo and contributes to endothelial cell apoptosis.

Here we demonstrate a new paradigm in redox signaling, whereby oxidants resulting from metabolic stress directly alter protein palmitoylation by oxidizing reactive cysteine thiolates. In mice fed a high-fat, high-sucrose diet and in cultured endothelial cells (ECs) treated with high palmitate and high glucose (HPHG), there was decreased HRas palmitoylation on Cys181/184 (61±24% decrease for cardiac tissue and 38±7.0% in ECs). This was due to oxidation of Cys181/184, detected using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight (MALDI TOF)-TOF. Decrease in HRas palmitoylation affected its compartmentalization and Ras binding domain binding activity, with a shift from plasma membrane tethering to Golgi localization. Loss of plasma membrane-bound HRas decreased growth factor-stimulated ERK phosphorylation (84±8.6% decrease) and increased apoptotic signaling (24±6.5-fold increase) after HPHG treatment that was prevented by overexpressing wild-type but not C181/184S HRas. The essential role of HRas in metabolic stress was made evident by the similar effects of expressing an inactive dominant negative N17-HRas or a MEK inhibitor. Furthermore, the relevance of thiol oxidation was demonstrated by overexpressing manganese superoxide dismutase, which improved HRas palmitoylation and ERK phosphorylation, while lessening apoptosis in HPHG treated ECs.