Comprehensive pan-cancer analysis of expression profiles and prognostic significance for NUMB and NUMBL in human tumors.

NUMB has been initially identified as a critical cell fate determinant that modulates cell differentiation via asymmetrical partitioning during mitosis, including tumor cells. However, it remains absent that a systematic assessment of the mechanisms underlying NUMB and its homologous protein NUMBLIKE (NUMBL) involvement in cancer. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic significance for NUMB and NUMBL in pan-cancer. In this study, using the online databases TIMER2.0, gene expression profiling interactive analysis, cBioPortal, the University of ALabama at Birmingham CANcer data analysis Portal, SearchTool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins, and R software, we focused on the relevance between NUMB/NUMBL and oncogenesis, progression, mutation, phosphorylation, function and prognosis. This study demonstrated that abnormal expression of NUMB and NUMBL were found to be significantly associated with clinicopathologic stages and the prognosis of survival. Besides, genetic alternations of NUMB and NUMBL focused on uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma, and higher genetic mutations of NUMBL were correlated with more prolonged overall survival and disease-free survival in different cancers. Moreover, S438 locus of NUMB peptide fragment was frequently phosphorylated in 4 cancer types and relevant to its phosphorylation sites. Furthermore, endocytosis processing and neurogenesis regulation were involved in the functional mechanisms of NUMB and NUMBL separately. Additionally, the pathway enrichment suggested that NUMB was implicated in Hippo, Neurotrophin, Thyroid hormone, and FoxO pathways, while MAPK, Hippo, Rap1, mTOR, and Notch pathways were related to the functions of NUMBL. This study highlights the predictive roles of NUMB and NUMBL in pan-cancer, suggesting NUMB and NUMBL might be served as potential biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis in various malignant tumors.

Bellidifolin ameliorates isoprenaline-induced cardiac hypertrophy by the Nox4/ROS signalling pathway through inhibiting BRD4.

To date, there is no effective therapy for pathological cardiac hypertrophy, which can ultimately lead to heart failure. Bellidifolin (BEL) is an active xanthone component of Gentianella acuta (G. acuta) with a protective function for the heart. However, the role and mechanism of BEL action in cardiac hypertrophy remain unknown. In this study, the mouse model of cardiac hypertrophy was established by isoprenaline (ISO) induction with or without BEL treatment. The results showed that BEL alleviated cardiac dysfunction and pathological changes induced by ISO in the mice. The expression of cardiac hypertrophy marker genes, including ANP, BNP, and ß-MHC, were inhibited by BEL both in mice and in H9C2 cells. Furthermore, BEL repressed the epigenetic regulator bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) to reduce the ISO-induced acetylation of H3K122 and phosphorylation of RNA Pol II. The Nox4/ROS/ADAM17 signalling pathway was also inhibited by BEL in a BRD4 dependent manner. Thus, BEL alleviated cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac dysfunction via the BRD4/Nox4/ROS axes during ISO-induced cardiac hypertrophy. These findings clarify the function and molecular mechanism of BEL action in the therapeutic intervention of cardiac hypertrophy.

ITGB1 Suppresses Autophagy Through Inhibiting The mTORC2/AKT Signaling Pathway In H9C2 Cells.

Cardiomyocyte autophagy is closely related to myocardial infarction and hypertrophy. To study the molecular mechanism of autophagy is helpful for the prevention and treatment of these diseases. As a cell surface receptor, the function of ITGB1 gene in cardiomyocyte autophagy is not clear. The purpose of this research was to investigate the function and molecular mechanism of ITGB1 on autophagy. The autophagy-related marker proteins and signaling molecules were detected using western blot with knockdown and overexpression of ITGB1 in H9C2 cells. The results suggested that ITGB1 could inhibit autophagy and the mTORC2/Akt pathway molecules. To further investigate whether the effect of ITGB1 on autophagy might affect myocardial hypertrophy, we constructed AngII induced H9C2 cells and TAC induced rats models. The results showed that ITGB1 inhibited myocardial hypertrophy in both H9C2 cells and heart tissues of disease model. These data highlight the regulation mechanism on autophagy by ITGB1 and the potential usefulness of the gene as a potential target for preventing heart disease.