Retinoic acid mitigates the NSC319726-induced spermatogenesis dysfunction through cuproptosis-independent mechanisms.

Copper ionophore NSC319726 has attracted researchers' attention in treating diseases, particularly cancers. However, its potential effects on male reproduction during medication are unclear. This study aimed to determine whether NSC319726 exposure affected the male reproductive system. The reproductive toxicity of NSC319726 was evaluated in male mice following a continuous exposure period of 5 weeks. The result showed that NSC319726 exposure caused testis index reduction, spermatogenesis dysfunction, and architectural damage in the testis and epididymis. The exposure interfered with spermatogonia proliferation, meiosis initiation, sperm count, and sperm morphology. The exposure also disturbed androgen synthesis and blood testis barrier integrity. NSC319726 treatment could elevate the copper ions in the testis to induce cuproptosis in the testis. Copper chelator rescued the elevated copper ions in the testis and partly restored the spermatogenesis dysfunction caused by NSC319726. NSC319726 treatment also decreased the level of retinol dehydrogenase 10 (RDH10), thereby inhibiting the conversion of retinol to retinoic acid, causing the inability to initiate meiosis. Retinoic acid treatment could rescue the meiotic initiation and spermatogenesis while not affecting the intracellular copper ion levels. The study provided an insight into the bio-safety of NSC319726. Retinoic acid could be a potential therapy for spermatogenesis impairment in patients undergoing treatment with NSC319726.

Vascular smooth muscle-specific LRRC8A knockout ameliorates angiotensin II-induced cerebrovascular remodeling by inhibiting the WNK1/FOXO3a/MMP signaling pathway.

Hypertensive cerebrovascular remodeling involves the enlargement of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), which activates volume-regulated Cl- channels (VRCCs). The leucine-rich repeat-containing family 8 A (LRRC8A) has been shown to be the molecular identity of VRCCs. However, its role in vascular remodeling during hypertension is unclear. In this study, we used vascular smooth muscle-specific LRRC8A knockout (CKO) mice and an angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced hypertension model. The results showed that cerebrovascular remodeling during hypertension was ameliorated in CKO mice, and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition was reduced. Based on the RNA-sequencing analysis of aortic tissues, the level of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), such as MMP-9 and MMP-14, were reduced in CKO mice with hypertension, which was further verified in vivo by qPCR and immunofluorescence analysis. Knockdown of LRRC8A in VSMCs inhibited the Ang II-induced upregulation of collagen I, fibronectin, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and overexpression of LRRC8A had the opposite effect. Further experiments revealed an interaction between with-no-lysine (K)-1 (WNK1), which is a "Cl--sensitive kinase", and Forkhead transcription factor O3a (FOXO3a), which is a transcription factor that regulates MMP expression. Ang II induced the phosphorylation of WNK1 and downstream FOXO3a, which then increased the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9. This process was inhibited or potentiated when LRRC8A was knocked down or overexpressed, respectively. Overall, these results demonstrate that LRRC8A knockout in vascular smooth muscle protects against cerebrovascular remodeling during hypertension by reducing ECM deposition and inhibiting the WNK1/FOXO3a/MMP signaling pathway, demonstrating that LRRC8A is a potential therapeutic target for vascular remodeling-associated diseases such as stroke.

Extravillous trophoblast cell-derived exosomes induce vascular smooth muscle cell apoptosis via a mechanism associated with miR-143-3p.

The remodeling of uterine spiral arteries is a complex process requiring the dynamic action of various cell types. During early pregnancy, extravillous trophoblast (EVT) cells differentiate and invade the vascular wall, replacing the vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Several in vitro studies have shown that EVT cells play an important role in promoting VSMC apoptosis, however, the mechanism underlying this process is not fully understood. In this study, we demonstrated that EVT-conditioned media and EVT-derived exosomes could induce VSMC apoptosis. Through data mining and experimental verification, it was demonstrated that the EVT exosome miR-143-3p induced VSMC apoptosis in both VSMCs and a chorionic plate artery (CPA) model. Furthermore, FAS ligand was also expressed on the EVT exosomes and may play a co-ordinated role in apoptosis induction. These data clearly demonstrated that VSMC apoptosis is mediated by EVT-derived exosomes and their cargo of miR-143-3p as well as their cell surface presentation of FASL. This finding increases our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of VSMC apoptosis during spiral artery remodeling.

Surface electromyography of the pelvic floor at 6-8 weeks following delivery: a comparison of different modes of delivery.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The objective of this study was to compare the impact of different modes of delivery, especially forceps delivery (FD), on pelvic floor muscles (PFMs) through vaginal surface electromyography (sEMG) in primiparous women at early (6-8 weeks) postpartum. METHODS: A total of 1259 primiparous women with full-term singleton births were included in this cross-sectional study. Of these, 98 were delivered by forceps, 865 underwent spontaneous vaginal delivery (SD) and 296 underwent elective cesarean delivery (CD). Clinical demographic characteristics and vaginal sEMG variables of parturients 6-8 weeks after birth were collected and analyzed using SPSS software. One-way ANOVA with Bonferroni correction, Chi-square test or Student's t-test was used according to the variable type. Spearman correlation and binary logistic regression analyses were also used. P/α ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Amplitude of fast and sustained contractions on sEMG in the FD group was significantly lower compared with the CD and SD groups. The sEMG amplitude of all contractions was significantly higher in the CD group compared with the FD and SD groups (P < 0.01). According to binary logistic regression analysis, mode of delivery was a major influencing factor in sEMG. CONCLUSIONS: An early postpartum sEMG test appears to be helpful for the assessment of PFM activity. Mode of delivery was a major influencing factor on sEMG. Forceps delivery significantly inversely influenced PFM activity.

A High Time-Efficient Missing Tag Detection Scheme for Integrated RFID Systems.

Missing tag incidents are common in RFID-enabled supply-chain and warehousing scenarios due to cargo theft and employee error operations, which may lead to serious economic losses or potential safety hazards. On the premise of ensuring the accuracy of missing tag detection, this paper aims to improve the time efficiency in an integrated RFID system. Unlike prior work focusing on detecting missing items from a large number of homogeneous tags that are monitored by a single reader, one integrated RFID system possesses multiple readers to communicate with the heterogeneous tags, which have different categorical attributes. In addition, the prior work required repeating the execution several times to capture the missing tags in assorted categories, which is of low time efficiency. Thus, a protocol called Multi-reader Missing Tag Detection (MMTD) is proposed to capture the missing tag quickly and reliably, which can detect missing tags from different categories in a parallel manner and is much more time-efficient than previous work. MMTD has two major advantages compared to prior work: (i) It leverages the knowledge of the spatial distribution of tags to divide up a difficult detection task into several lightweight tasks, which are shared by multiple readers. (ii) It personalizes the time frame of the reader based on the tag population to optimize the utilization of the communication channel. The final simulation results reveal that MMTD is the best in time-efficiency among the comparison protocols, and MMTD outperforms the other missing tag detection protocols by at least 1.5× in the Integrated RFID scenarios.

The sea cucumber genome provides insights into morphological evolution and visceral regeneration.

Apart from sharing common ancestry with chordates, sea cucumbers exhibit a unique morphology and exceptional regenerative capacity. Here we present the complete genome sequence of an economically important sea cucumber, A. japonicus, generated using Illumina and PacBio platforms, to achieve an assembly of approximately 805 Mb (contig N50 of 190 Kb and scaffold N50 of 486 Kb), with 30,350 protein-coding genes and high continuity. We used this resource to explore key genetic mechanisms behind the unique biological characters of sea cucumbers. Phylogenetic and comparative genomic analyses revealed the presence of marker genes associated with notochord and gill slits, suggesting that these chordate features were present in ancestral echinoderms. The unique shape and weak mineralization of the sea cucumber adult body were also preliminarily explained by the contraction of biomineralization genes. Genome, transcriptome, and proteome analyses of organ regrowth after induced evisceration provided insight into the molecular underpinnings of visceral regeneration, including a specific tandem-duplicated prostatic secretory protein of 94 amino acids (PSP94)-like gene family and a significantly expanded fibrinogen-related protein (FREP) gene family. This high-quality genome resource will provide a useful framework for future research into biological processes and evolution in deuterostomes, including remarkable regenerative abilities that could have medical applications. Moreover, the multiomics data will be of prime value for commercial sea cucumber breeding programs.

Correction to: Overexpression of Shrm4 promotes proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells through activation of GABA signaling pathway.

The original publication of the article includes an error in Fig. 2. The correct version of the Fig. 2 is provided in this correction.

Overexpression of Shrm4 promotes proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells through activation of GABA signaling pathway.

Shrm4 is a protein that is exclusively expressed in polarized tissues. The physiological function of Shrm4 in the brain was required to be elucidated. Thus, we aimed to explore how the Shrm4-mediated gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) pathway affected neural stem cells (NSCs). At first, the Nestin expression in cultured NSCs was identified. After determination of the interaction of Shrm4 and GABAB1, a series of in vitro experiment were performed to detect cell proliferation, the ability of cell colony formation, degree that NSCs differentiated into neurons, the apoptosis rate, and cell cycle. The levels of Shrm4, GABAB1, Bcl-2-associated protein x (Bax), B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), cleaved Caspase-3, microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP-2) as well as suppressor of cytokine signaling 2 (SOCS2) were detected to further assess the role of Shrm4 and GABA pathway in NSCs. Initially, we found that Shrm4 could bind to GABAB1, and overexpression of Shrm4 or activation of GABAB1 increased the number of positive cells, and promoted cell viability, colony formation rate and differentiation of NSCs. After overexpression of Shrm4 or activation of GABAB1, cells in the G1 phase were decreased, while those in the S phase were increased with an inhibited cell apoptosis rate in the NSCs. Besides, the overexpression of Shrm4 or activation of GABAB1 upregulated the levels of Shrm4, GABAB1, Bcl-2, MAP-2 and SOCS2, while downregulated Bax and cleaved Caspase-3 in NSCs. Overall, overexpression of Shrm4 activated GABAB1 to stimulate the proliferation and differentiation of NSCs. Thus, Shrm4 might be considered as a novel target for promoting the proliferation and differentiation of NSCs.

Downregulation of MicroRNA-494 inhibits the TGF-ß1/Smads signaling pathway and prevents the development of hypospadias through upregulating Nedd4L.

BACKGROUND: Hypospadias, as a congenital disorder of the urethra, is the second most common birth abnormality of the male reproductive system. This study primarily investigates the effects of microRNA-494 (miR-494) on the transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1)/Smads signaling pathway and on the development of hypospadias by binding to neural precursor cell expressed developmentally downregulated gene 4-like (Nedd4L). METHODS: We induced a mouse model of hypospadias through di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate treatment. The underlying regulatory mechanisms of miR-494 in this model were analyzed upon treatment of miR-494 mimic, miR-494 inhibitor, or small interfering RNA against Nedd4L in urethral epithelial cells isolated from mice with hypospadias. We then verified the binding site between miR-494 and Nedd4L and applied a gain- and loss-of-function approach to determine the effects of miR-494 on cell proliferation, cycle distribution, and apoptosis. RESULTS: Male mice with hypospadias exhibited significantly higher miR-494 expression and lower Nedd4L expression in urethral tissues than normal male mice. Nedd4L was verified as a target gene of miR-494. Treatment with miR-494 inhibitor suppressed the activation of the TGF-ß1/Smads signaling pathway, whereas down-regulation of miR-494 exerted protective effects on urethral epithelial cells by impeding cell proliferation and inducing cell apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: The study indicates that downregulation of miR-494 inhibits the TGF-ß1/Smads signaling pathway and prevents the development of hypospadias through upregulating Nedd4L.

Predicting poor outcomes and the need for surgical treatment in neonates with meconium peritonitis.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to determine factors associated with poor outcomes and the need for surgical treatment in neonates with meconium peritonitis (MP). METHODS: We evaluated the association between prenatal ultrasound features, maternal characteristics, and the likelihood of surgery, mortality, and serious morbidity in 49 neonates with a prenatal diagnosis of MP, who were born in Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center between January 2011 and December 2016. RESULTS: Thirty of 49 neonates (61.2%) required surgical treatment, and 17 (34.7%) had a poor outcome. Independent predictors of need for surgical treatment were polyhydramnios, maternal intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (associated with lower risk), and persistence of peritoneal fluid. The model correctly predicted 70.0% of the neonates who required surgery (at a 10% false-positive rate; area under the curve [AUC]: 0.86 [95% CI, 0.75-0.97]). For poor outcomes, independent predictors were low gestational age at birth, persistence of peritoneal fluid, and polyhydramnios. For the latter, the model only achieved a detection rate of 52.9% (10% false-positive rate, AUC: 0.82 [95% CI, 0.70-0.94]). CONCLUSIONS: A combination of prenatal ultrasound features and maternal characteristics correctly predicted 70.0% the need for neonatal surgery. Prediction of poor outcome-based prenatal ultrasound features and gestational age did not perform well.

[Priligy combined with behavioral therapy and psychological counseling for primary premature ejaculation].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical effect of priligy (dapoxetine hydrochloride) combined with behavioral therapy and psychological counseling in the treatment of primary premature ejaculation (PPE). METHODS: A total of 202 PPE patients diagnosed from 2017 to 2018 were randomized into a control (n = 100) and an experimental group (n = 102), the former treated with oral priligy at 30 mg 1－3 hours before anticipated sexual activity, and the latter by the same medication combined with 30-minute behavioral therapy and psychological counseling once a month for two times. The therapeutic effects were evaluated according to the Premature Ejaculation Profile (PEP) scores of the patients at 1 and 2 months of treatment. RESULTS: After 1 month of treatment, both groups of the patients showed significant improvement, as compared with the baseline, in the PEP scores on personal distress related to ejaculation (P < 0 05), interpersonal difficulty related to ejaculation (P < 0.05) and satisfaction with sexual intercourse (P < 0.05) but not on perceived control over ejaculation (P > 0.05). At 2 months, however, the patients' scores on all the four PEP items were dramatically improved, even more significantly in the experimental than in the control group, as on perceived control over ejaculation (2.73 ± 0.95 vs 2.22 ± 0.68, P < 0.05), personal distress related to ejaculation (2.97 ± 1.07 vs 2.57 ± 0.69, P < 0.05), interpersonal difficulty related to ejaculation (3.19 ± 1.03 vs 2.77 ± 0.69, P < 0 05) and satisfaction with sexual intercourse (2.85 ± 0.99 vs 2.35 ± 0.63, P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence rate of adverse events between the experimental and control groups (21.6% vs 20.0%, P > 0.05), and all the symptoms were relieved within 24 hours. CONCLUSIONS: Priligy combined with behavioral therapy and psychological counseling is more effective than priligy alone in improving the sexual function of PPE patients, raise their interest in sexual life and increase the intimacy between the partners, and can even achieve clinical cure in some patients.

Reduction of glyoxalase 1 (GLO1) aggravates cerebrovascular remodeling via promoting the proliferation of basilar smooth muscle cells in hypertension.

Uncontrollable vascular smooth cell proliferation is responsible for vascular remodeling during hypertension development. Glyoxalase 1 (GLO1), the major enzyme detoxifying methylglyoxal, has a critical role in regulating proliferation of several cell types. However, little is known whether GLO1 is involved in cerebrovascular remodeling and basilar smooth muscle cell (BASMC) proliferation during hypertension. Here we explored the role of GLO1 in angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced cerebrovascular remodeling and proliferation of BASMCs and the underlying mechanisms. The protein expression of GLO1 in basilar arteries from hypertensive mice was decreased, and GLO1 expression was negatively correlated with medial cross-sectional area and blood pressure in basilar arteries during hypertension. Knockdown of GLO1 promoted while overexpression of GLO1 prevented Ang II-induced cell proliferation and cell cycle transition in BASMCs. These results were related to the inhibitory effects of GLO1 on PI3K/AKT/CDK2 cascade activation upon Ang II treatment. In addition, in vivo study, GLO1 overexpression with adeno-associated virus harboring GLO1 cDNA improved cerebrovascular remodeling in basilar artery tissue during Ang II-induced hypertension development. These data indicate that GLO1 reduction mediates cerebrovascular modeling via PI3K/AKT/CDK2 cascade-dependent BASMC proliferation. GLO1 acts as a negative regulator of hypertension-induced cerebrovascular remodeling and targeting GLO1 may be a novel therapeutic strategy to prevent hypertension-associated cardiovascular complications such as stroke.

Ablation of Ggnbp2 impairs meiotic DNA double-strand break repair during spermatogenesis in mice.

Gametogenetin (GGN) binding protein 2 (GGNBP2) is a zinc finger protein expressed abundantly in spermatocytes and spermatids. We previously discovered that Ggnbp2 resection caused metamorphotic defects during spermatid differentiation and resulted in an absence of mature spermatozoa in mice. However, whether GGNBP2 affects meiotic progression of spermatocytes remains to be established. In this study, flow cytometric analyses showed a decrease in haploid, while an increase in tetraploid spermatogenic cells in both 30- and 60-day-old Ggnbp2 knockout testes. In spread spermatocyte nuclei, Ggnbp2 loss increased DNA double-strand breaks (DSB), compromised DSB repair and reduced crossovers. Further investigations demonstrated that GGNBP2 co-immunoprecipitated with a testis-enriched protein GGN1. Immunofluorescent staining revealed that both GGNBP2 and GGN1 had the same subcellular localizations in spermatocyte, spermatid and spermatozoa. Ggnbp2 loss suppressed Ggn expression and nuclear accumulation. Furthermore, deletion of either Ggnbp2 or Ggn in GC-2spd cells inhibited their differentiation into haploid cells in vitro. Overexpression of Ggnbp2 in Ggnbp2 null but not in Ggn null GC-2spd cells partially rescued the defect coinciding with a restoration of Ggn expression. Together, these data suggest that GGNBP2, likely mediated by its interaction with GGN1, plays a role in DSB repair during meiotic progression of spermatocytes.

Ggnbp2-Null Mutation in Mice Leads to Male Infertility due to a Defect at the Spermiogenesis Stage.

Gametogenetin binding protein 2 (GGNBP2) is an evolutionarily conserved zinc finger protein. Although Ggnbp2-null embryos in the B6 background died because of a defective placenta, 6.8% of Ggnbp2-null mice in the B6/129 mixed background were viable and continued to adulthood. Adult Ggnbp2-null males were sterile, with smaller testes and an azoospermic phenotype, whereas mutant females were fertile. Histopathological analysis of 2-month-old Ggnbp2-null testes revealed absence of mature spermatozoa in the seminiferous tubules and epididymides and reduction of the number of spermatids. Ultrastructural analysis indicated dramatic morphological defects of developing spermatids in the Ggnbp2-null testes, including irregularly shaped acrosomes, acrosome detachment, cytoplasmic remnant, ectopic manchette, and ill-formed head shape in both elongating and elongated spermatids. However, the numbers of spermatogonia, spermatocytes, Leydig cells, and Sertoli cells in Ggnbp2-null testes did not significantly differ from the wild-type siblings. Gonadotropins, testosterone, and the blood-testis barrier were essentially unaffected. Western blot analyses showed increases in α-E-catenin, ß-catenin, and N-cadherin, decreases in E-cadherin, afadin, and nectin-3, and no changes in vinculin, nectin-2, focal adhesion kinase, and integrin-ß1 protein levels in Ggnbp2-null testes compared to wild-type siblings. Together, this study demonstrates that GGNBP2 is critically required for maintenance of the adhesion integrity of the adlumenal germ epithelium and is indispensable for normal spermatid transformation into mature spermatozoa in mice.

Effect of lentiviral vector-mediated KSR1 gene silencing on the proliferation of renal tubular epithelial cells and expression of inflammatory factors in a rat model of ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Renal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) is a common cause of acute renal failure in many clinical settings. Our study aimed to elucidate the role of lentiviral vector-mediated KSR1 gene silencing in inflammatory factor expression and proliferation of renal tubular epithelial cells (RTECs) in a rat model of I/R injury. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were used for I/R model establishment and subject to different treatments, followed by the measurement of neurological severity score (NSS), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1ß, 47-kDa heat-shock protein (HSP47), KSR1, and factors related to the Ras/MAPK pathway, as well as cell apoptosis. As compared with the blank group, the neurologic impairment induced by I/R in the siKSR1, U0126, and siKSR1 + U0126 groups was alleviated. Compared with the control group, the other five groups showed increased levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1ß, HSP47, N-ras, Raf-1, c-fos, TNF-α, IL-6, p38 MAPK, and cell apoptosis, accompanied by a declined mRNA and protein level of Bcl-2. As compared with the blank and NC groups, the siKSR1, U0126, and siKSR1 + U0126 groups showed decreased levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1ß, HSP47, N-ras, Raf-1, c-fos, TNF-α, IL-6, p38 MAPK, cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-9, p53, and cell apoptosis, accompanied by an increased mRNA and protein level of Bcl-2. Our findings demonstrated that KSR1 gene silencing might inhibit the expression of inflammatory factors in RTECs and promote their proliferation by inactivating the Ras/MAPK pathway in the rat model of I/R injury.

[Relationship of MTHFR gene polymorphisms with infertility].

The folate metabolic pathway plays important roles in cellular physiology by participating in nucleotide synthesis, DNA repair and methylation, and maintenance and stability of the genome. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a key regulatory enzyme involved in folate metabolism. Polymorphisms of MTHFR may change the level of homocysteine and affect DNA synthesis and methylation, leading to an increased oxidative stress and disturbed methylation reactions and consequently affecting reproductive function. This article presents an overview on MTHFR gene polymorphisms, proposing that multicentered, large-sample and long-term prospective studies are needed to reveal the relationship between MTHFR gene polymorphisms and infertility.

[Protective effect of lycopene on human spermatozoa during cryopreservation and its mechanism].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the protective effect of lycopene against cryopreservation injury of post-thawing human sperm and its mechanism. METHODS: Semen samples were collected from 25 volunteers, each sample equally divided into four parts to be cryopreserved with cryoprotectant only (Ly0 control) or cryoprotectant + lycopene at the concentrations of 2 (Ly2), 5 (Ly5), and 10 µmol/L (Ly10), respectively. Before and after thawing, the semen samples were subjected to computer-assisted semen analysis ( CASA) for sperm kinematics, flow cytometry for sperm apoptosis, thiobarbituric acid assay for malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration, and JC-1 fluorescent staining for the sperm mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). RESULTS: After cryopreservation, sperm motility was markedly decreased in all the groups (P < 0.01). The rate of sperm apoptosis was significantly lower in the Ly5 group than in the Ly0 control ([25.68 ± 4.36]% vs [33.26 ± 4.78]%, P < 0.05), while sperm MMP remarkably higher in the former than in the latter ([66.18 ± 14.23]% vs [55.24 ± 12.31]%, P < 0.05). The Ly2, Ly5 and Ly10 groups showed no statistically significance differences in the MDA level from the Ly0 control (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Addition of lycopene at a proper concentration to cryoprotectant may reduce oxidative damage to sperm mitochondria in the freezing-thawing process, attenuate oxidative stress injury induced by reactive oxygen species to sperm plasma membrane, and improve the anti-apoptosis ability of sperm.

GALNT2 targeted by miR-139-5p promotes proliferation of clear cell renal cell carcinoma via inhibition of LATS2 activation.

Polypeptide N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferase (GALNTs) are critical enzymes that initiate mucin type-O glycosylation, and are closely associated with the occurrence and development of multiple cancers. However, the significance of GALNT2 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) progression remains largely undetermined. Based on public multi-omics analysis, GALNT2 was strongly elevated in ccRCC versus adjoining nontumor tissues, and it displayed a relationship with poor overall survival (OS) of ccRCC patients. In addition, GALNT2 over-expression accelerated proliferation of renal cancer cell (RCC) lines. In contrast, GALNT2 knockdown using shRNAs suppressed cell proliferation, and this was rescued by LATS2 knockdown. Similarly, GALNT2 deficiency enhanced p-LATS2/LATS2 expression. LATS2 is activated by phosphorylation (p-LATS2) and, in turn, phosphorylate the downstream substrate protein YAP. Phosphorylated YAP (p-YAP) stimulated its degradation and cytoplasmic retention, as it was unable to translocate to the nucleus. This resulted in reduced cell proliferation. Subsequently, we explored the upstream miRNAs of GALNT2. Using dual luciferase reporter assay, we revealed that miR-139-5p interacted with the 3' UTR of GALNT2. Low miR-139-5p expression was associated with worse ccRCC patient outcome. Based on our experiments, miR-139-5p overexpression inhibited RCC proliferation, and this phenotype was rescued by GALNT2 overexpression. Given these evidences, the miR-139-5p-GALNT2-LATS2 axis is critical for RCC proliferation, and it is an excellent candidate for a new therapeutic target in ccRCC.

Inhibition of vascular calcification by Compound Danshen Dripping Pill through multiple mechanisms.

BACKGROUND: Vascular calcification refers to the abnormal accumulation of calcium in the walls of blood vessels and is a risk factor often overlooked in cardiovascular disease. However, there is currently no specific drug for treating vascular calcification. Compound Danshen Dripping Pill (CDDP) is widely used to treat cardiovascular diseases, but its effect on vascular calcification has not been reported. PURPOSE: We investigated the effects of CDDP on vascular calcification in ApoE-/- mice and in vitro and elucidated its mechanism of action. STUDY DESIGN: Firstly, we found that CDDP has the potential to improve calcification based on network pharmacology analysis. Then, we performed the following experiments: in vivo, ApoE-/- mice were fed a high-fat diet randomly supplemented with CDDP for 16 weeks. Atherosclerosis and vascular calcification were determined. In vitro, human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs), human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), and human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) were used to determine the mechanisms for CDDP-inhibited vascular calcification. RESULTS: In this study, we observed that CDDP reduced intimal calcification in atherosclerotic lesions of ApoE-deficient mice fed a high-fat diet, as well as the calcification in cultured SMCs and ECs. Mechanistically, CDDP inhibited the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway by up-regulating the expression of DKK1 and LRP6, which are upstream inhibitors of Wnt, leading to a reduction in the expression of osteoblastic transition markers (ALP, OPN, BMP2, and RUNX2). Furthermore, CDDP enhanced the secretion of DKK1, which plays a role in mediating EC-SMC crosstalk in calcification. Additionally, VC contributes to vascular aging by inhibiting Sirt1 and increasing senescence parameters (SA-ß-gal, p21, and p16). However, CDDP reversed these changes by activating Sirt1. CDDP also reduced the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the senescence-associated secretory phenotype in vivo and in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that CDDP reduces vascular calcification by regulating the DKK1/LRP6/ß-catenin signaling pathway in ECs/SMCs and interactions with the crosstalk of ECs and SMCs. It also reduces the senescence of ECs/SMCs, contributing to the Sirt1 activation, indicating CDDP's novel role in ameliorating vascular calcification.

A rare case of bilateral sequential spermatocytic seminoma.

Spermatocytic seminoma (SS) is a rare testicular neoplasm characterized by a palpable, painless, slowly enlarging mass in the testis. Even more rare is a synchronous bilateral presentation. Only eight cases of bilateral SS have been reported in the literature, of which three cases were present with synchronous testis enlargement, and five were sequential. Here, we report an additional case of synchronous bilateral SS and present a comprehensive relevant literature review concerning clinical features, histopathology, and treatment.