Runt-related transcription factor-1 ameliorates bile acid-induced hepatic inflammation in cholestasis through JAK/STAT3 signaling.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Bile acids trigger a hepatic inflammatory response, causing cholestatic liver injury. Runt-related transcription factor-1 (RUNX1), primarily known as a master modulator in hematopoiesis, plays a pivotal role in mediating inflammatory responses. However, RUNX1 in hepatocytes is poorly characterized, and its role in cholestasis is unclear. Herein, we aimed to investigate the role of hepatic RUNX1 and its underlying mechanisms in cholestasis. APPROACH AND RESULTS: Hepatic expression of RUNX1 was examined in cholestatic patients and mouse models. Mice with liver-specific ablation of Runx1 were generated. Bile duct ligation and 1% cholic acid diet were used to induce cholestasis in mice. Primary mouse hepatocytes and the human hepatoma PLC/RPF/5- ASBT cell line were used for mechanistic studies. Hepatic RUNX1 mRNA and protein levels were markedly increased in cholestatic patients and mice. Liver-specific deletion of Runx1 aggravated inflammation and liver injury in cholestatic mice induced by bile duct ligation or 1% cholic acid feeding. Mechanistic studies indicated that elevated bile acids stimulated RUNX1 expression by activating the RUNX1 -P2 promoter through JAK/STAT3 signaling. Increased RUNX1 is directly bound to the promotor region of inflammatory chemokines, including CCL2 and CXCL2 , and transcriptionally repressed their expression in hepatocytes, leading to attenuation of liver inflammatory response. Blocking the JAK signaling or STAT3 phosphorylation completely abolished RUNX1 repression of bile acid-induced CCL2 and CXCL2 in hepatocytes. CONCLUSIONS: This study has gained initial evidence establishing the functional role of hepatocyte RUNX1 in alleviating liver inflammation during cholestasis through JAK/STAT3 signaling. Modulating hepatic RUNX1 activity could be a new therapeutic target for cholestasis.

γδ T cells in oral diseases.

OBJECTIVE: γδ T cells are a distinct subset of unconventional T cells, which link innate and adaptive immunity by secreting cytokines and interacting with other immune cells, thereby modulating immune responses. As the first line of host defense, γδ T cells are essential for mucosal homeostasis and immune surveillance. When abnormally activated or impaired, γδ T cells can contribute to pathogenic processes. Accumulating evidence has revealed substantial impacts of γδ T cells on the pathogenesis of cancers, infections, and immune-inflammatory diseases. γδ T cells exhibit dual roles in cancers, promoting or inhibiting tumor growth, depending on their phenotypes and the clinical stage of cancers. During infections, γδ T cells exert high cytotoxic activity in infectious diseases, which is essential for combating bacterial and viral infections by recognizing foreign antigens and activating other immune cells. γδ T cells are also implicated in the onset and progression of immune-inflammatory diseases. However, the specific involvement and underlying mechanisms of γδ T cells in oral diseases have not been systematically discussed. METHODS: We conducted a systematic literature review using the PubMed/MEDLINE databases to identify and analyze relevant literature on the roles of γδ T cells in oral diseases. RESULTS: The literature review revealed that γδ T cells play a pivotal role in maintaining oral mucosal homeostasis and are involved in the pathogenesis of oral cancers, periodontal diseases, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), oral lichen planus (OLP), and oral candidiasis. γδ T cells mainly influence various pathophysiological processes, such as anti-tumor activity, eradication of infection, and immune response regulation. CONCLUSION: This review focuses on the involvement of γδ T cells in oral diseases, with a particular emphasis on the main functions and underlying mechanisms by which γδ T cells influence the pathogenesis and progression of these conditions. This review underscores the potential of γδ T cells as therapeutic targets in managing oral health issues.

Voluntary running wheel exercise induces cognitive improvement post traumatic brain injury in mouse model through redressing aberrant excitation regulated by voltage-gated sodium channels 1.1, 1.3, and 1.6.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) leads to disturbed brain discharge rhythm, elevated excitability, anxiety-like behaviors, and decreased learning and memory capabilities. Cognitive dysfunctions severely affect the quality of life and prognosis of TBI patients, requiring effective rehabilitation treatment. Evidence indicates that moderate exercise after brain injury decreases TBI-induced cognitive decline. However, the underlying mechanism remains unelucidated. Our results demonstrate that TBI causes cognitive impairment behavior abnormalities and overexpression of Nav1.1, Nav1.3 and Nav1.6 proteins inside the hippocampus of mice models. Three weeks of voluntary running wheel (RW) exercise treatments before or/and post-injury effectively redressed the aberrant changes caused by TBI. Additionally, a 10% exercise-conditioned medium helped recover cell viability, neuronal sodium current and expressions of Nav1.1, Nav1.3 and Nav1.6 proteins across cultured neurons after injury. Therefore, the results validate the neuroprotection induced by voluntary RW exercise treatment before or/and post-TBI. The RW exercise-induced improvement in cognitive behaviors and neuronal excitability could be associated with correcting the Nav1.1, Nav1.3, and Nav1.6 expression levels. The current study proves that voluntary exercise is an effective treatment strategy against TBI. The study also highlights novel potential targets for rehabilitating TBI, including the Navs proteins.

Orthogonal genome-wide screens of bat cells identify MTHFD1 as a target of broad antiviral therapy.

Bats are responsible for the zoonotic transmission of several major viral diseases, including those leading to the 2003 SARS outbreak and likely the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While comparative genomics studies have revealed characteristic adaptations of the bat innate immune system, functional genomic studies are urgently needed to provide a foundation for the molecular dissection of the viral tolerance in bats. Here we report the establishment of genome-wide RNA interference (RNAi) and CRISPR libraries for the screening of the model megabat, Pteropus alecto. We used the complementary RNAi and CRISPR libraries to interrogate P. alecto cells for infection with two different viruses: mumps virus and influenza A virus, respectively. Independent screening results converged on the endocytosis pathway and the protein secretory pathway as required for both viral infections. Additionally, we revealed a general dependence of the C1-tetrahydrofolate synthase gene, MTHFD1, for viral replication in bat cells and human cells. The MTHFD1 inhibitor, carolacton, potently blocked replication of several RNA viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. We also discovered that bats have lower expression levels of MTHFD1 than humans. Our studies provide a resource for systematic inquiry into the genetic underpinnings of bat biology and a potential target for developing broad-spectrum antiviral therapy.

Cell Heterogeneity and Variability in Peripheral Nerve after Injury.

With the development of single-cell sequencing technology, the cellular composition of more and more tissues is being elucidated. As the whole nervous system has been extensively studied, the cellular composition of the peripheral nerve has gradually been revealed. By summarizing the current sequencing data, we compile the heterogeneities of cells that have been reported in the peripheral nerves, mainly the sciatic nerve. The cellular variability of Schwann cells, fibroblasts, immune cells, and endothelial cells during development and disease has been discussed in this review. The discovery of the architecture of peripheral nerves after injury benefits the understanding of cellular complexity in the nervous system, as well as the construction of tissue engineering nerves for nerve repair and axon regeneration.

ABC2A: A Straightforward and Fast Method for the Accurate Backmapping of RNA Coarse-Grained Models to All-Atom Structures.

RNAs play crucial roles in various essential biological functions, including catalysis and gene regulation. Despite the widespread use of coarse-grained (CG) models/simulations to study RNA 3D structures and dynamics, their direct application is challenging due to the lack of atomic detail. Therefore, the reconstruction of full atomic structures is desirable. In this study, we introduced a straightforward method called ABC2A for reconstructing all-atom structures from RNA CG models. ABC2A utilizes diverse nucleotide fragments from known structures to assemble full atomic structures based on the CG atoms. The diversification of assembly fragments beyond standard A-form ones, commonly used in other programs, combined with a highly simplified structure refinement process, ensures that ABC2A achieves both high accuracy and rapid speed. Tests on a recent large dataset of 361 RNA experimental structures (30-692 nt) indicate that ABC2A can reconstruct full atomic structures from three-bead CG models with a mean RMSD of ~0.34 Å from experimental structures and an average runtime of ~0.5 s (maximum runtime < 2.5 s). Compared to the state-of-the-art Arena, ABC2A achieves a ~25% improvement in accuracy and is five times faster in speed.

Predicting 3D structures and stabilities for complex RNA pseudoknots in ion solutions.

RNA pseudoknots are a kind of important tertiary motif, and the structures and stabilities of pseudoknots are generally critical to the biological functions of RNAs with the motifs. In this work, we have carefully refined our previously developed coarse-grained model with salt effect through involving a new coarse-grained force field and a replica-exchange Monte Carlo algorithm, and employed the model to predict structures and stabilities of complex RNA pseudoknots in ion solutions beyond minimal H-type pseudoknots. Compared with available experimental data, the newly refined model can successfully predict 3D structures from sequences for the complex RNA pseudoknots including SARS-CoV-2 programming-1 ribosomal frameshifting element and Zika virus xrRNA, and can reliably predict the thermal stabilities of RNA pseudoknots with various sequences and lengths over broad ranges of monovalent/divalent salts. In addition, for complex pseudoknots including SARS-CoV-2 frameshifting element, our analyses show that their thermally unfolding pathways are mainly dependent on the relative stabilities of unfolded intermediate states, in analogy to those of minimal H-type pseudoknots.

Tumor necrosis factor α upregulates the bile acid efflux transporter OATP3A1 via multiple signaling pathways in cholestasis.

Cholestasis is a common condition in which the flow of bile from the liver to the intestines is inhibited. It has been shown that organic anion-transporting polypeptide 3A1 (OATP3A1) is upregulated in cholestasis to promote bile acid efflux transport. We have previously shown that the growth factor fibroblast growth factor 19 and inflammatory mediator tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) increased OATP3A1 mRNA levels in hepatoma peritoneal lavage cell/PRF/5 cell lines. However, the mechanism underlying TNFα-stimulated OATP3A1 expression in cholestasis is unknown. To address this, we collected plasma samples from control and obstructive cholestasis patients and used ELISA to detect TNFα levels. We found that the TNFα levels of plasma and hepatic mRNA transcripts were significantly increased in obstructive cholestatic patients relative to control patients. A significant positive correlation was also observed between plasma TNFα and liver OATP3A1 mRNA transcripts in patients with obstructive cholestasis. Further mechanism analysis revealed that recombinant TNFα induced OATP3A1 expression and activated NF-κB and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathways as well as expression of related transcription factors p65 and specificity protein 1 (SP1). Dual-luciferase reporter and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays showed that recombinant TNFα upregulated the binding activities of NF-κB p65 and SP1 to the OATP3A1 promoter in peritoneal lavage cell/PRF/5 cells. These effects were diminished following the application of NF-κB and ERK inhibitors BAY11-7082 and PD98059. We conclude that TNFα stimulates hepatic OATP3A1 expression in human obstructive cholestasis by activating NF-κB p65 and ERK-SP1 signaling. These results suggest that TNFα-activated NF-κB p65 and ERK-SP1 signaling may be a potential target to ameliorate cholestasis-associated liver injury.

Receptor-like protein kinase BAK1 promotes K+ uptake by regulating H+-ATPase AHA2 under low potassium stress.

Potassium (K+) is one of the essential macronutrients for plant growth and development. However, the available K+ concentration in soil is relatively low. Plant roots can perceive low K+ (LK) stress, then enhance high-affinity K+ uptake by activating H+-ATPases in root cells, but the mechanisms are still unclear. Here, we identified the receptor-like protein kinase Brassinosteroid Insensitive 1-Associated Receptor Kinase 1 (BAK1) that is involved in LK response by regulating the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) plasma membrane H+-ATPase isoform 2 (AHA2). The bak1 mutant showed leaf chlorosis phenotype and reduced K+ content under LK conditions, which was due to the decline of K+ uptake capacity. BAK1 could directly interact with the AHA2 C terminus and phosphorylate T858 and T881, by which the H+ pump activity of AHA2 was enhanced. The bak1 aha2 double mutant also displayed a leaf chlorosis phenotype that was similar to their single mutants. The constitutively activated form AHA2Δ98 and phosphorylation-mimic form AHA2T858D or AHA2T881D could complement the LK sensitive phenotypes of both aha2 and bak1 mutants. Together, our data demonstrate that BAK1 phosphorylates AHA2 and enhances its activity, which subsequently promotes K+ uptake under LK conditions.

Melatonin attenuates cholestatic liver injury via inhibition of the inflammatory response.

Melatonin, an indole neurohormone secreted mainly by the pineal gland, has been found to be involved in a variety of liver diseases. However, the underlying mechanism by which melatonin ameliorates cholestatic liver injury is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the mechanism by which melatonin attenuates cholestatic liver injury via inhibition of the inflammatory response. We measured the levels of serum melatonin in patients with obstructive cholestasis (n = 9), patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) (n = 11), and control patients (n = 7). We performed experiments with C57BL/6 J mice treated with 3,5-diethoxycarbonyl-1,4-dihydrocollidine (DDC) and melatonin to verify the role of melatonin in the mouse model of cholestasis. Primary mouse hepatocytes were used for in vitro studies to study the mechanisms of action of melatonin in cholestasis. The levels of serum melatonin were markedly increased and negatively correlated with serum markers of liver injury in cholestatic patients. As expected, oral administration of melatonin significantly attenuated cholestasis-induced liver inflammation and fibrosis in 0.1% DDC diet-fed mice. Further mechanistic studies in cholestatic mice and primary hepatocytes revealed that melatonin reduced the conjugate BA-stimulated expression of cytokines (e.g. Ccl2, Tnfα, and Il6) through the ERK/Egr1 signalling pathway in these models. The levels of serum melatonin are significantly elevated in cholestatic patients. Melatonin treatment ameliorates cholestatic liver injury by suppressing the inflammatory response in vivo and in vitro. Therefore, melatonin is a promising novel therapeutic strategy for cholestasis.

Ab initio predictions for 3D structure and stability of single- and double-stranded DNAs in ion solutions.

The three-dimensional (3D) structure and stability of DNA are essential to understand/control their biological functions and aid the development of novel materials. In this work, we present a coarse-grained (CG) model for DNA based on the RNA CG model proposed by us, to predict 3D structures and stability for both dsDNA and ssDNA from the sequence. Combined with a Monte Carlo simulated annealing algorithm and CG force fields involving the sequence-dependent base-pairing/stacking interactions and an implicit electrostatic potential, the present model successfully folds 20 dsDNAs (≤52nt) and 20 ssDNAs (≤74nt) into the corresponding native-like structures just from their sequences, with an overall mean RMSD of 3.4Å from the experimental structures. For DNAs with various lengths and sequences, the present model can make reliable predictions on stability, e.g., for 27 dsDNAs with/without bulge/internal loops and 24 ssDNAs including pseudoknot, the mean deviation of predicted melting temperatures from the corresponding experimental data is only ~2.0°C. Furthermore, the model also quantificationally predicts the effects of monovalent or divalent ions on the structure stability of ssDNAs/dsDNAs.

Non-suicidal self-injury and professional psychological help-seeking among Chinese left-behind children: prevalence and influencing factors.

BACKGROUND: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a risk factor for suicide. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of NSSI and professional psychological help-seeking status and influencing factors among left-behind children (LBC) in China. METHODS: We implemented a population-based cross-sectional study in participants aged 10-18 years. Sociodemographic characteristics, NSSI, help-seeking status and coping style were measured by self-reported questionnaires. A total of 16,866 valid questionnaires were collected, including 6096 LBC. Binary logistic regression models were used to analyze the factors influencing NSSI and professional psychological help-seeking. RESULTS: The incidence of NSSI among LBC was 4.6%, significantly higher than that of non-left-behind children (NLBC). This incidence was higher among girls. Moreover, 53.9% of LBC with NSSI did not receive any treatment and only 22.0% sought professional psychological help. LBC often adopt emotion-oriented coping styles, specifically, those with NSSI. LBC with NSSI who seek professional help tend to adopt problem-oriented coping styles. Logistic regression analysis revealed that girls, learning stage, single-parent, remarried families, patience, and emotional venting were risk factors for NSSI in LBC, while problem-solving and social support seeking were protective factors. Moreover, problem-solving was also a predictor for seeking professional psychological help, patience will prevent it. LIMITATIONS: This was an online survey. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of NSSI in LBC is high. Gender, grade, family structure, and coping style affect the occurrence of NSSI among LBC. Only a few LBC with NSSI seek professional psychological help, while the coping style will affect the help-seeking behavior.

RNA 3D Structure Prediction: Progress and Perspective.

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules play vital roles in numerous important biological functions such as catalysis and gene regulation. The functions of RNAs are strongly coupled to their structures or proper structure changes, and RNA structure prediction has been paid much attention in the last two decades. Some computational models have been developed to predict RNA three-dimensional (3D) structures in silico, and these models are generally composed of predicting RNA 3D structure ensemble, evaluating near-native RNAs from the structure ensemble, and refining the identified RNAs. In this review, we will make a comprehensive overview of the recent advances in RNA 3D structure modeling, including structure ensemble prediction, evaluation, and refinement. Finally, we will emphasize some insights and perspectives in modeling RNA 3D structures.

Computational Modeling of DNA 3D Structures: From Dynamics and Mechanics to Folding.

DNA carries the genetic information required for the synthesis of RNA and proteins and plays an important role in many processes of biological development. Understanding the three-dimensional (3D) structures and dynamics of DNA is crucial for understanding their biological functions and guiding the development of novel materials. In this review, we discuss the recent advancements in computer methods for studying DNA 3D structures. This includes molecular dynamics simulations to analyze DNA dynamics, flexibility, and ion binding. We also explore various coarse-grained models used for DNA structure prediction or folding, along with fragment assembly methods for constructing DNA 3D structures. Furthermore, we also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these methods and highlight their differences.

[SGK1 as a therapeutic target for central nervous system diseases].

Serum and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 1 (SGK1) plays an important role in the physiological processes of hormone release, neuronal excitation and cell proliferation. SGK1 also participates in the pathophysiological processes of inflammation and apoptosis in the central nervous system (CNS). Increasing evidence demonstrates that SGK1 may serve as a target of the intervention of neurodegenerative diseases. In this article, we summarize the recent progress on the role and molecular mechanisms of SGK1 in the regulation of the function of the CNS. We also discuss the potential of newly discovered SGK1 inhibitors in the treatment of CNS diseases.

[Risk factors for neonatal asphyxia and establishment of a nomogram model for predicting neonatal asphyxia in Hubei Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture: a multicenter study]. / æ¹–åŒ—æ©æ–½åœŸå®¶æ—è‹—æ—è‡ªæ²»å·žæ–°ç”Ÿå„¿çª’æ¯å±é™©å› ç´ åˆ†æžåŠåˆ—çº¿å›¾é¢„æµ‹æ¨¡åž‹çš„æž„å»ºï¼šä¸€é¡¹å¤šä¸­å¿ƒç ”ç©¶.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the risk factors for neonatal asphyxia in Hubei Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture and establish a nomogram model for predicting the risk of neonatal asphyxia. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted with 613 cases of neonatal asphyxia treated in 20 cooperative hospitals in Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture from January to December 2019 as the asphyxia group, and 988 randomly selected non-asphyxia neonates born and admitted to the neonatology department of these hospitals during the same period as the control group. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify risk factors for neonatal asphyxia. R software (4.2.2) was used to establish a nomogram model. Receiver operator characteristic curve, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis were used to assess the discrimination, calibration, and clinical usefulness of the model for predicting the risk of neonatal asphyxia, respectively. RESULTS: Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that minority (Tujia), male sex, premature birth, congenital malformations, abnormal fetal position, intrauterine distress, maternal occupation as a farmer, education level below high school, fewer than 9 prenatal check-ups, threatened abortion, abnormal umbilical cord, abnormal amniotic fluid, placenta previa, abruptio placentae, emergency caesarean section, and assisted delivery were independent risk factors for neonatal asphyxia (P<0.05). The area under the curve of the model for predicting the risk of neonatal asphyxia based on these risk factors was 0.748 (95%CI: 0.723-0.772). The calibration curve indicated high accuracy of the model for predicting the risk of neonatal asphyxia. The decision curve analysis showed that the model could provide a higher net benefit for neonates at risk of asphyxia. CONCLUSIONS: The risk factors for neonatal asphyxia in Hubei Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture are multifactorial, and the nomogram model based on these factors has good value in predicting the risk of neonatal asphyxia, which can help clinicians identify neonates at high risk of asphyxia early, and reduce the incidence of neonatal asphyxia.

rsRNASP: A residue-separation-based statistical potential for RNA 3D structure evaluation.

Knowledge-based statistical potentials have been shown to be rather effective in protein 3-dimensional (3D) structure evaluation and prediction. Recently, several statistical potentials have been developed for RNA 3D structure evaluation, while their performances are either still at a low level for the test datasets from structure prediction models or dependent on the "black-box" process through neural networks. In this work, we have developed an all-atom distance-dependent statistical potential based on residue separation for RNA 3D structure evaluation, namely rsRNASP, which is composed of short- and long-ranged potentials distinguished by residue separation. The extensive examinations against available RNA test datasets show that rsRNASP has apparently higher performance than the existing statistical potentials for the realistic test datasets with large RNAs from structure prediction models, including the newly released RNA-Puzzles dataset, and is comparable to the existing top statistical potentials for the test datasets with small RNAs or near-native decoys. In addition, rsRNASP is superior to RNA3DCNN, a recently developed scoring function through 3D convolutional neural networks. rsRNASP and the relevant databases are available to the public.

FebRNA: An automated fragment-ensemble-based model for building RNA 3D structures.

Knowledge of RNA three-dimensional (3D) structures is critical to understanding the important biological functions of RNAs. Although various structure prediction models have been developed, the high-accuracy predictions of RNA 3D structures are still limited to the RNAs with short lengths or with simple topology. In this work, we proposed a new model, namely FebRNA, for building RNA 3D structures through fragment assembly based on coarse-grained (CG) fragment ensembles. Specifically, FebRNA is composed of four processes: establishing the library of different types of non-redundant CG fragment ensembles regardless of the sequences, building CG 3D structure ensemble through fragment assembly, identifying top-scored CG structures through a specific CG scoring function, and rebuilding the all-atom structures from the top-scored CG ones. Extensive examination against different types of RNA structures indicates that FebRNA consistently gives the reliable predictions on RNA 3D structures, including pseudoknots, three-way junctions, four-way and five-way junctions, and RNAs in the RNA-Puzzles. FebRNA is available on the Web site: https://github.com/Tan-group/FebRNA.

Transcriptomic analysis reveals process of autolysis of Kluyveromyces marxianus in vacuum negative pressure and the higher temperature.

Kluyveromyces marxianus is expected to be used in the production of yeast extracts due to its good fermentation ability and nutritional properties. Yeast autolysis is a key process to produce yeast extract and vacuum negative pressure stress can be used as an effective way to assist autolysis. However, the molecular mechanism of initiating Kluyveromyces marxianus autolysis induced by vacuum negative pressure and the higher temperature is still unclear. In this study, RNA-seq technology was performed mainly to analyze autolytic processes in Kluyveromyces marxianus strains. Considerable differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of downregulation were significantly enriched in 7 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways related to synthesis and transport of RNA and ribosome, which indicated that abnormal protein translations had already occurred in autolytic process. Interestingly, due to obvious change of related DEGs, endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD) and autophagy were activated and cell wall integrity pathway was hindered. Under the continuous influence of the external stress environment, the long-term changes of the above pathways triggered a vicious circle of gradual damage to yeast cells, which is the main cause of yeast autolysis. These results may provide important clues for the in-depth interpretation of the yeast autolytic mechanism.

T cell-derived exosomes containing cytokines induced keratinocytes apoptosis in oral lichen planus.

OBJECTIVE: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a T cell-mediated inflammatory disease with uncertain etiology. Exosomes are cell-derived vesicles containing biological cargo, being associated with the development of multiple inflammatory diseases. The present study aims to investigate the role of T cell-derived exosomes in the pathogenesis of OLP. METHODS: Exosomal marker CD63 was detected in OLP lesions by immunohistochemistry. Twenty-three cytokines in T cell-derived exosomes were assessed using luminex xMAP-based assay. After co-incubating with exosomes, the apoptosis of keratinocytes and the proliferation of Jurkat cells were assessed via flow cytometry and cell counting kit-8 assay, respectively. RESULTS: CD63 was highly expressed in the lymphocyte infiltrated areas of OLP lesions. OLP T cell-derived exosomes contained upregulated interleukin-7, -10, -12, -17 and downregulated interleukin-1ß, -5, and interferon-γ. Both exosomes from OLP patients and controls induced the apoptosis of keratinocytes and altered their morphology. Moreover, healthy control-derived exosomes markedly inhibited the proliferation of Jurkat cells, whereas OLP-derived exosomes exhibited no inhibitory effect. CONCLUSIONS: OLP T cell-derived exosomes have an aberrant cytokine profile and could trigger the apoptosis of keratinocytes in vitro, which may be involved in the pathogenesis of OLP.