JIP3 knockout protects mice against high fat diet-induced liver injury.

Multiple pathways contribute to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in response to high fat diets (HFD). A homolog of mammalian JNK-interacting protein 3 (JIP3), also known as JSAP-1, activates different components in various signaling pathways to modulate cellular processes. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of JIP3 in obesity-related pathologies pathway. Wild-type (WT) C57BL/6 and JIP3-knockout (JIP3-/-) mice were randomized to chow or HFD. HFD-fed WT mice increased hepatic JIP3 expression. Mice lacking JIP3 exhibited reduced weight gain, hepatic steatosis, insulin resistance, lipid accumulation, oxidative stress and inflammatory response in mice fed a HFD, which were, importantly, dependent on various signaling pathways. Lipogenesis-linked pathway was inhibited in JIP3-/- mice after HFD, while PPARα/γ were increased. Additionally, JIP3-/- inhibited hepatic oxidative stress, evidenced by down-regulation of total reactive oxygen species (ROS), H2O2, O2.-, malondialdehyde (MDA), xanthine oxidase (XO), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and up-regulation of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in mice after HFD feeding, which might be related to nuclear respiratory factor 2 (Nrf-2) pathway activation. Further, inflammatory response was blocked in JIP3-/- mice fed with HFD. The process might be attributed to the suppression of toll-like receptors (TLRs), p-nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and p-c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK). Thus, JIP3 absence is associated with decreased lipogenesis, oxidative stress and inflammation, supplying a new target for NAFLD treatment.

Long Non-Coding RNA THOR Depletion Inhibits Human Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cell Growth.

Long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) THOR (Lnc-THOR) is expressed in testis and multiple human malignancies. Lnc-THOR association with IGF2BP1 (IGF2 mRNA-binding protein 1) is essential for stabilization and transcription of IGF2BP1 targeted mRNAs. We tested its expression and potential functions in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In primary NSCLC cells and established cell lines, Lnc-THOR shRNA or CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout (KO) downregulated IGF2BP1 target mRNAs (IGF2, Gli1, Myc and SOX9), inhibiting cell viability, growth, proliferation, migration and invasion. Significant apoptosis activation was detected in Lnc-THOR-silenced/-KO NSCLC cells. Conversely, ectopic overexpression of Lnc-THOR upregulated IGF2BP1 mRNA targets and enhanced NSCLC cell proliferation, migration and invasion. RNA-immunoprecipitation and RNA pull-down assay results confirmed the direct binding between Lnc-THOR and IGF2BP1 protein in NSCLC cells. Lnc-THOR silencing and overexpression were ineffective in IGF2BP1-KO NSCLC cells. Forced IGF2BP1 overexpression failed to rescue Lnc-THOR-KO NSCLC cells. In vivo, intratumoral injection of Lnc-THOR shRNA adeno-associated virus potently inhibited A549 xenograft tumor growth in nude mice. At last we show that Lnc-THOR is overexpressed in multiple NSCLC tissues and established/primary NSCLC cells. Collectively, these results highlighted the ability of Lnc-THOR in promoting NSCLC cell growth by associating with IGF2BP1, suggesting that Lnc-THOR represents a promising therapeutic target of NSCLC.

Metformin Decreases Insulin Resistance in Type 1 Diabetes Through Regulating p53 and RAP2A in vitro and in vivo.

PURPOSE: Patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are associated with a high risk of multiple complications, so the development of T1D treatment is urgently needed. This study was set out to explore the molecular mechanism of metformin in the treatment of T1D insulin resistance. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Subcutaneous adipose tissues were collected from 68 T1D patients and 51 healthy controls. Insulin resistance model rats and cells were constructed and treated with metformin respectively. Western blot was used to detect p53 and RAP2A protein levels, and qPCR was utilized to measure p53 and RAP2A mRNA levels. SiRNA and RAP2A siRNA vectors were constructed to observe their effects on insulin resistance model cells. RESULTS: In T1D, p53 was up-regulated, while RAP2A was down-regulated. Metformin could effectively improve insulin resistance and inflammatory response while down-regulating p53 and up-regulating RAP2A. P53 induced insulin resistance and inflammatory response by inhibiting RAP2A and promoted apoptosis. CONCLUSION: Metformin improves T1D insulin resistance and inflammatory response through p53/RAP2A pathway, and the regulation of p53/RAP2A pathway is conducive to improving the efficacy of metformin in the treatment of insulin resistance.

Expression of eosinophils be beneficial to early clinical diagnosis of brucellosis.

OBJECTIVE: Investigate the expression and significance of eosinophils in brucellosis. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of clinical data for 151 brucellosis patients (BR group), complete blood count and blood bacterial culture etc.; in addition, 150 general bacterial infection patients (BI group) and 135 persons in healthy physical condition upon testing (NC group) are selected respectively as the control groups to comparatively study expression of white blood cells and eosinophils for brucellosis patients. Adopt t test to compare measurement data. RESULTS: In comparison with BI group, WBC, NE, EO, MO, NE% and EO% in BR group are reduced but LY, LY% and MO% are increased and such difference shows statistical significance (P<0.01). In comparison with NC group, difference of WBC and NE in BR group shows no statistical significance (P>0.05). NE%, EO and EO% are reduced but MO, LY% and MO% are increased and such difference shows statistical significance (P<0.01). LY is increased and the difference shows statistical significance (P<0.05). White blood cell count is normal or is reduced among most of Brucellosis patients, accounting for 90.73% (137/151); the patients whose eosinophils are reduced account for 75.50% (114/151) and those whose eosinophils disappear are about 18.54% (28/151). CONCLUSION: There is an incidence rate of eosinophils decrease or disappearance in Brucellosis and it shows the indication significance in the diagnosis of early disease.