ABSTRACT
As the pace of society increases and lifestyles change， the incidence and mortality rates of breast cancer continue to rise. Targeted therapies are now promising in the treatment of breast cancer， and a variety of protein targets have been identified to play an important role in the development of breast cancer. Among them， signal transducer and activator of transcription （STAT） proteins constitute a crucial group that serves as important targets for transducing cellular transcriptional information， which can regulate downstream cell proliferation， apoptosis， cell migration， invasion， angiogenic factors， etc. and then affect the progression of breast cancer. The STAT family is closely associated with the inflammatory response to tumors and plays a landmark role in tumor development as well as in diagnosis and prognosis. The "inflammation-cancer" transformation refers to the process in which the inflammatory microenvironment caused by uncontrolled inflammation promotes normal cells to become cancerous. According to the theory of Chinese medicine， "heat toxicity" in "cancer toxicity" corresponds to inflammation， which is closely related to tumor development. As a major link associated with the inflammatory response， the STAT family has a promising role in the development and treatment of a variety of tumors， but its relevance to breast cancer remains inadequately explored. Chinese medicine has been shown to have good efficacy in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer， and some current studies have shown that the active ingredients and compounds of Chinese medicine have certain intervention effects on breast cancer-related STAT proteins， but there has not been a systematic review. In order to better sort out and summarize the studies on the effects of Chinese herbal medicines based on the STAT family interventions in breast cancer， this paper reviewed the studies on Chinese herbal medicines acting on the STAT family in recent years， aiming to provide new ideas for clinical applications in breast cancer and to provide thoughts for the development of STAT protein-based drugs.
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ObjectiveTo investigate the protective effect and underlying mechanism of Gandou Fumu decoction （GDFMT） on renal fibrosis in a mouse model of Wilson's disease. MethodSixty adult male toxic milk （TX） mice were randomly divided into a model group， high-， medium-， and low-dose GDFMT groups， and a positive control （penicillamine） group， and another 12 wild-type mice were assigned to the normal group. The high-， medium-， and low-dose GDFMT groups were administered GDFMT at 13.92， 6.96， 3.48 g·kg-1， respectively， and the positive control group received penicillamine at 0.1 g·kg-1， while the model and normal groups were given an equal volume of 0.9% saline solution by gavage once a day for 4 consecutive weeks. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to measure the levels of blood urea nitrogen （BUN）， creatinine （CRE）， type Ⅲ procollagen （PC-Ⅲ）， and type Ⅳ collagen （C-Ⅳ） in the serum. Histological changes in the mouse kidneys were examined by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） and Masson's trichrome staining. Immunofluorescence was used to assess the protein expression of leptin， Janus kinase 2 （JAK2）， and signal transducer and activator of transcription （STAT） in renal cells. Real-time polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） was performed to analyze the mRNA expression levels of leptin， leptin receptor（OB-R）， JAK2， and STAT. Western blot was used to detect the expression of transforming growth factor-β1 （TGF-β1） and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 （MCP-1）. ResultCompared with the normal group， the model mice exhibited a significant increase in BUN， CRE， PC-Ⅲ， and C-Ⅳ levels （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the high- and medium-dose GDFMT groups and the penicillamine groups showed significant decreases in these parameters （P<0.05， P<0.01）， with the high-dose GDFMT group demonstrating the most significant reduction （P<0.01）. The histological examination of renal tissue revealed fibrosis in the model group， while the fibrotic damage was mitigated to varying degrees after drug intervention， with improvement in fibrosis. Immunofluorescence results showed that leptin， JAK2， and STAT3 protein expression levels were significantly upregulated in the renal fibrosis of the model group. After GDFMT intervention， the fluorescence intensity decreased， with the high-dose GDFMT group showing the lowest intensity. Real-time PCR results demonstrated that leptin， OB-R， JAK2， and STAT3 mRNA expression levels were significantly elevated in the model group compared with those in the normal group， while the high- and medium-dose GDFMT groups and the penicillamine group showed significant reductions in their expression levels （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Western blot analysis revealed that TGF-β1 and MCP-1 expression levels were significantly increased in the model group （P<0.01）， and the high- and medium-dose GDFMT groups exhibited significant reductions in their expression levels （P<0.01）. ConclusionGDFMT can alleviate renal fibrosis damage in TX mice， and its mechanism of action may be related to the regulation of leptin and the JAK/STAT signaling pathway.
ABSTRACT
Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a major cause that prevents widespread application of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. GVHD is a complication that can affect all systems of the body, such as skin, liver, lung and gastrointestinal tract, among which skin is the most vulnerable organ. At present, the pathogenesis of skin GVHD has not been fully elucidated, and no effective treatment has been established. Severe or extensive chronic GVHD significantly affects the quality of life of the recipients. Consequently, it is urgent to unravel the pathogenesis of skin GVHD and explore novel therapeutic treatment. Cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-22, IL-17, IL-6 and interferon (IFN)-γ, have been proven to play pivotal roles in the progression of skin GVHD. Nevertheless, the specific mechanism remains elusive. In this article, research progresses at home and abroad on the mechanism underlying the roles of these cytokines in skin GVHD were reviewed, aiming to provide novel ideas for the prevention and treatment of skin GVHD.
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ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of gallic acid （GA） on human colon cancer HCT-116 and Caco-2 cell activities， intracellular Janus kinase （JAK）/signal transducer and activator of transcription factor （STAT） signaling pathway， and the expression of anti-apoptotic protein B-cell lymphoma-2 （Bcl-2） and pro-apoptotic protein B-cell lymphoma-2-associated X protein （Bax）， so as to explore its underlying molecular mechanism. MethodFollowing the classification of cells into GA group， blank group， and 5-fluorouracil （5-FU， 0.05 g·L-1） group， the HCT-116 and Caco-2 cells were treated with GA （0.02， 0.05， 0.1， 0.15， 0.2 g·L-1） for 12， 24， 48， and 72 h， respectively， and the cell proliferation inhibition rats were determined by cell counting kit-8 （CCK-8） assay to select the GA concentration that effectively inhibited proliferation. The colony formation ability was detected by crystal violet staining and the migration of cells by scratch test. The level of reactive oxygen species （ROS） was measured using a fluorescent probe （DCFH-DA）. The expression of interleukin-6 （IL-6） and tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） in cell supernatant were determined using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） kits. The expression levels of JAK2， phosphorylated （p）-JAK2， STAT3， p-STAT3， Bcl-2， and Bax were assayed by Western blot. ResultCCK-8 assay showed that after 12， 24， 48， and 72 h of treatment， GA （0.02， 0.05， 0.1， 0.15， 0.2 g·L-1） inhibited the proliferation of HCT-116 and Caco-2 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner， and the inhibition rates were higher than those in the blank control group. Compared with the 5-FU group， GA （0.2 g·L-1） enhanced the inhibition of cell proliferation in a time-dependent manner. Compared with the blank control group， GA （0.1， 0.15， and 0.2 g·L-1） significantly decreased the number of cell colonies （P<0.01）， increased the inhibition rate of cell colony formation （P<0.01）， diminished the scratch healing rate （P<0.05， P<0.01）， elevated the fluorescence intensity of intracellular ROS （P<0.01）， and down-regulated the expression of IL-6 and TNF-α in the supernatant （P<0.01） in a dose-dependent manner. Compared with the 5-FU group， GA （0.2 g·L-1） decreased the scratch healing rate （P<0.01）， enhanced the fluorescence intensity of intracellular ROS （P<0.01）， and down-regulated the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in cell supernatant （P<0.01）. According to Western blot analysis， compared with the blank control group， GA （0.1， 0.15， 0.2 g·L-1） obviously lowered the expression of p-JAK2， p-STAT3， Bcl-2， p-JAK2/JAK2， p-STAT3/STAT3， and Bcl-2/Bax （P<0.01） and raised Bax protein expression （P<0.05， P<0.01） in a dose-dependent manner. Compared with the 5-FU group， GA （0.2 g·L-1） down-regulated the expression of p-JAK2， p-STAT3， Bcl-2， p-JAK2/JAK2， p-STAT3/STAT3， and Bcl-2/Bax （P<0.05， P<0.01） and up-regulated the expression of Bax protein （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionGA significantly inhibits the proliferation of HCT-116 and Caco-2 cells， which may be related to the increased accumulation of intracellular ROS， down-regulation of inflammatory factors IL-6 and TNF-α， p-JAK2 and p-STAT3 protein expression in JAK/STAT signaling pathway， and Bcl-2， and up-regulation of Bax.
ABSTRACT
Long-term use of immunosuppressant in kidney transplant recipients leads to poor immune function and infection with various pathogens. In recent years, along with the advancement of detection technique of human parvovirus B19 (HPV-B19) infection and the increasing quantity of kidney transplantation, the infection rate of HPV-B19 after kidney transplantation has been elevated year by year, becoming one of the major causes of pure red cell aplasia (PRCA), affecting the recovery of renal allograft function, and even leading to the injury or poor prognosis of renal allograft. To further standardize the diagnosis and treatment of HPV-B19 infection in kidney transplant recipients, Branch of Organ Transplantation of Chinese Medical Association and National Kidney Transplantation Quality Control Center jointly organized experts to formulate the clinical diagnosis and treatment specification for HPV-B19 infection after kidney transplantation from the perspectives of etiology, epidemiological characteristics, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, existing problems and prospects of HPV-B19, aiming to provide guidance for standardized prevention and treatment of HPV-B19 infection post-kidney transplantation in China.
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PURPOSE: Our previous studies have shown that oncostatin M (OSM) promotes trophoblast invasion activity through increased enzyme activity of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and -9. We further investigated OSM-induced intracellular signaling mechanisms associated with these events in the immortalized human trophoblast cell line HTR8/SVneo. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We investigated the effects of OSM on RNA and protein expression of MMP-2 and -9 in the first-trimester extravillous trophoblast cell line (HTR8/SVneo) via Western blot. The selective signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)3 inhibitor, stattic, STAT3 siRNA, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) siRNA were used to investigate STAT3 and ERK activation by OSM. The effects of STAT3 and ERK inhibitors on OSM-induced enzymatic activities of MMP-2 and -9 and invasion activity were further determined via Western blot and gelatin zymography. RESULTS: OSM-induced MMP-2 and -9 protein expression was significantly suppressed by STAT3 inhibition with stattic and STAT3 siRNA silencing, whereas the ERK1/2 inhibitor (U0126) and ERK silencing significantly suppressed OSM-induced MMP-2 protein expression. OSM-induced MMP-2 and MMP-9 enzymatic activities were significantly decreased by stattic pretreatment. The increased invasion activity induced by OSM was significantly suppressed by STAT3 and ERK1/2 inhibition, though to a greater extent by STAT3 inhibition. CONCLUSION: Both STAT3 and ERK signaling pathways are involved in OSM-induced invasion activity of HTR8/SVneo cells. Activation of STAT3 appears to be critical for the OSM-mediated increase in invasiveness of HTR8/SVneo cells.