[Intervention effect of Jingfang Mixture on urticaria mice based on NF-κB/NLRP3/IL-1ß signaling pathway].

This study explored the curative effect of Jingfang Mixture on urticaria mice induced by aluminum hydroxide/ovalbumin, and discussed its mechanism. Sixty male Kunming mice were randomly divided into a normal group, a model group, three Jingfang Mixture(low-dose, medium-dose, and high-dose) groups, and a positive drug(cetirizine hydrochloride) group. The urticarial model in mice was induced by the intraperitoneal injection of the mixed solution of ovalbumin and aluminum hydroxide. The degrees of pruritus were observed after the second immunization. Pathological changes were detected by hematoxylin and eosin(HE) staining. Levels of interleukin 1ß(IL-1ß) and tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α) in the serum were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). Expressions of NOD-like receptor protein 3(NLRP3) and IL-1ß were detected by immunohistochemistry(IHC). Expressions of nuclear factor kappa-B(NF-κB p65), NLRP3, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD(ASC), cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteases 1(caspase-1), and IL-1ß proteins were detected by Western blot. The results showed that, except for the normal group, the mice in all groups had different degrees of pruritus. Compared with the model group, the Jingfang Mixture groups and the positive drug group prolonged the scratching latency of mice(P<0.05), and significantly reduced the number of scratching(P<0.05). In addition, the Jingfang Mixture groups and the positive drug group improved the pathological morphology of skin tissue. The expression levels of IL-1ß and TNF-α in serum were significantly reduced(P<0.05), and the number of NLRP3 and IL-1ß positive cells was decreased(P<0.01). The expressions of p-NF-κB p65, NLRP3, ASC, cleaved caspase-1, and IL-1ß protein were significantly down-regulated(P<0.05). The results of the above study indicate that Jingfang Mixture inhibit the inflammatory response in urticaria mice, and the mechanism may be related to the inhibition of activating NF-κB/NLRP3/IL-1ß signaling pathway.

[Jingfang Mixture regulates balance of spleen T lymphocyte subsets in urticaria mice by inhibiting JAK2-STAT3 signaling pathway].

Urticaria is an immune-mediated allergic disease. This study explored the effect of Jingfang Mixture on spleen T lymphocyte subsets of urticaria mice. A total of 50 Kunming mice were randomized into normal group(C), model group(V), and low-(JF-L, 0.5 g·kg~(-1)), medium-(JF-M, 1 g·kg~(-1)) and high-dose(JF-H, 2 g·kg~(-1)) Jingfang Mixture groups, with 10 mice in each group. The mixture of ovalbumin and aluminum hydroxide(0.1 mg + 0.1 mL) was used(intraperitoneal injection) to induce urticaria in mice. The administration began 6 days after the first immunization, and the second immunization was carried out 10 days after the first immunization. The pruritus index was detected within 30 min after the second immunization. The administration lasted 21 days. After 21 days, the serum was taken to detect the total IgE level. Based on hematoxylin and eosin(HE) staining, the pathological changes of skin tissue were observed, and Western blot was used to detect the levels of p-Janus kinase 2(JAK2)/JAK2 and p-signal transducer and activator of transcription 3(STAT3)/STAT3 in skin tissue. The spleen was taken to detect the spleen index, and flow cytometry was employed to determine the expression of lymphocyte subsets. The results showed that group V had obvious pathological changes in skin tissue compared with group C. Moreover, group V showed more scratches, higher spleen index, and higher level of total serum IgE than group C. In addition, higher levels of p-JAK2 and p-STAT3, lower proportions of CD4~+T, Th1, and Treg, higher proportions of CD8~+T, Th2, and Th17, and lower ratios of CD4~+/CD8~+, Th1/Th2, and Terg/Th17 were observed in group V than in group C. Compared with group V, each administration group showed alleviation of the pathological morphology of skin tissue, obvious epidermal thickening, relatively intact collagen fiber structure of dermal reticular layer, alleviated edema, and relief of vasodilation and peripheral inflammatory cell infiltration. Moreover, less scratching, lower spleen index, lower p-JAK2/JAK2 and p-STAT3/STAT3 were observed in the administration groups than in group V. JF-M group and JF-H group demonstrated lower levels of total IgE, larger proportions of CD4~+T, Th1, and Treg, smaller proportions of CD8~+ T, Th2, and Th17, and higher ratios of CD4~+/CD8~+, Th1/Th2, and Terg/Th17. In conclusion, Jingfang Mixture may improve the symptoms of urticaria mice by regulating the balance of spleen T lymphocyte subsets through JAK2-STAT3 signaling pathway.

TRIM27 regulates the expression of PDCD4 by the ubiquitin­proteasome pathway in ovarian and endometrial cancer cells.

Programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4) is regarded as an important tumor suppressor that is lowly expressed or deleted in numerous human types of cancer, including ovarian and endometrial cancer. Tripartite motif­containing 27 (TRIM27) is closely related to the occurrence and development of tumors and is highly expressed in numerous types of cancer such as ovarian and endometrial cancer. PDCD4 can be degraded through ubiquitination, while TRIM27 has the E3 ubiquitin ligase activity. However, whether TRIM27 may regulate the expression of PDCD4 by ubiquitination effect remains unclear. In the present study, the expression of PDCD4 and TRIM27 in different ovarian and endometrial cancer cell lines was detected by reverse transcription­quantitative PCR (RT­qPCR), western blotting and immunocytochemistry. The impact of TRIM27 overexpression and knockdown on PDCD4 expression and the effective mechanism of TRIM27 regulating PDCD4 expression were also investigated in vitro by RT­qPCR, western blotting, co­immunoprecipitation assay, Transwell migration and Matrigel invasion assays. The results showed that the expression of TRIM27 and PDCD4 had a negative association at the protein level, and the distribution of TRIM27 and PDCD4 proteins had a phenomenon of co­localization in different ovarian and endometrial cancer cell lines. TRIM27 promoted the degradation of PDCD4 through the ubiquitin­proteasome pathway. To sum up, TRIM27 could increase the migration and invasion of ovarian and endometrial cancer cells by promoting the ubiquitination and degradation of PDCD4. The present findings may provide a new target for the treatment of ovarian and endometrial cancer.

IL-37bΔ1-45 suppresses the migration and invasion of endometrial cancer cells by targeting the Rac1/NF-κB/MMP2 signal pathway.

Endometrial carcinoma is one of the most common malignancies in the female reproductive system. Interleukin-37 (IL-37) is a newly discovered anti-inflammatory factor belonging to the IL-1 family. IL-37 has five different isoforms, and IL-37b is the most biologically functional subtype. In recent years, the protective roles of IL-37 in different cancers, including lung and liver cancers, have been successively reported. IL-37 also plays an important role in some gynecological diseases such as endometriosis, adenomyosis, and cervical cancer. However, the role and mechanism of IL-37b, especially the mature form of IL-37b, in endometrial carcinoma have not been elucidated. The present study demonstrated that IL-37 protein was downregulated in endometrial carcinoma cells compared with the control endometrium. IL-37b did not affect the proliferation and colony-forming ability of endometrial cancer cells. A mature form of IL-37b (IL-37bΔ1-45) effectively suppressed the migration and invasion of endometrial cancer cells by decreasing the expression of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) via Rac1/NF-κB signal pathway. However, it did not affect epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) or filamentous actin (F-actin) depolymerization of endometrial cancer cells. IL-37bΔ1-45 attenuated tumor metastasis in a peritoneal metastatic xenograft model of endometrial cancer. To sum up, these results suggested IL-37b could be involved in the pathogenesis of endometrial carcinoma and provide a novel target for the diagnosis and treatment of endometrial carcinoma.

Extractions and rheological properties of polysaccharide from okra pulp under mild conditions.

This study investigated the extraction of polysaccharide from okra pulp (POP), its chemical components, and rheological properties. The results showed that the optimal extraction temperature, time, and the ration of water to material were 20-30 °C, 30 mins, and 150, respectively, giving a maximum yield of 29.4%. The POP extracted under the mild condition showed different properties. The molecular weight of POP varied from 6436 kDa to 7432 kDa. The GalA/Rha and Gal/Rha in POP suggests the domain of rhamnogalacturonan I with long galactose side chains. The POP presented pseudoplastic shear-thinning behavior, which can be described by the Ostward-DeWaele model. The apparent viscosity of POP decreased with temperature rising from 25 °C to 80 °C. In addition, sucrose, CaCl2, and NaCl led to the reduction of its apparent viscosity which was more sensitive to Ca2+ than to Na+ and sucrose. A closed hysteresis loop was obtained when the POP concentration reached to 6 g/L. The POP showed an elastic behavior (G' > G″) at concentration of 6 g/L, while it showed predominantly viscous response (G' < G″) at concentration of 2 and 4 g/L, over a wide range of frequencies (0.1-10 Hz). These results are potentially useful for the application of POP in food processing.

Downregulation of PDCD4 induced by progesterone is mediated by the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in human endometrial cancer cells.

Programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4) has been identified as a tumor­suppressor gene that inhibits neoplastic transformation, tumor progression, and protein translation. It has been reported that multiple factors participate in the regulation of PDCD4 mRNA and protein. The endometrium is regulated by changing concentrations of ovarian hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, and shows periodical changes. However, whether ovarian hormones regulate PDCD4 expression remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the effect and mechanism of estrogen or progesterone on PDCD4 mRNA and protein expression in human endometrial cancer cells. The expression of PDCD4 mRNA and protein in Ishikawa and HEC­1­A cells was detected by quantitative real­time PCR and western blot analysis. The signaling pathway­related proteins were detected by western blot analysis. The results showed that PDCD4 mRNA levels exhibited no significant changes after treatment with estrogen or progesterone in both Ishikawa and HEC­1­A cell lines. Estrogen also had no obvious effect on PDCD4 protein expression. However, progesterone effectively decreased the expression of PDCD4 protein and the PI3K/AKT pathway may be involved in the downregulation of PDCD4 protein induced by progesterone. These results suggest that the downregulation of PDCD4 induced by progesterone affects the therapeutic efficacy of progesterone in human endometrial cancer or endometriosis, which may have important implications for progesterone treatment in the clinic.

PDCD4 suppresses proliferation, migration, and invasion of endometrial cells by inhibiting autophagy and NF-κB/MMP2/MMP9 signal pathway.

Endometriosis (EM) is a kind of estrogen-dependent disease in reproductive-age women. Ovarian EM is the most common type. Although EM is a benign disease, it shares many similar features with cancers. Programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4), a newly identified tumor suppressor, plays an important role in inhibiting tumorigenesis and tumor progression at the transcriptional and translational levels. To explore the roles of PDCD4 in EM, we detected the expression of PDCD4 in control endometrium and eutopic/ectopic endometrium of ovarian EM patients, and analyzed the effects of PDCD4 on the biological behaviors of endometrial cell lines and primary endometrial cells. The results demonstrated that PDCD4 was downregulated in eutopic and ectopic endometrium of EM patients compared with control endometrium. PDCD4 effectively inhibited the proliferation and colony-forming ability of endometrial cells maybe by inhibiting cell autophagy. In addition, PDCD4 also suppressed the migration and invasion ability of endometrial cells, the mechanism may be related to NF-κB/MMP2/MMP9 signal pathway. Taken together, these results suggest that PDCD4 could be involved in the pathogenesis of EM, and provide a novel approach to target the aberrant PDCD4 expression in EM.

The decreased expression of TIPE2 protein in the decidua of patients with missed abortion and possible significance.

BACKGROUND: Missed abortion is a common occurrence for otherwise healthy women. Immunological factor is one of the most important reasons. Tumor necrosis factor-α-induced protein-8 like-2 (TIPE2) is a novel negative immune regulator related to several human diseases. However, the expression level and clinical significance of TIPE2 in missed abortion remain unclear. METHODS: The expression of TIPE2 mRNA and protein in decidua and chorion from 36 missed abortion patients and 36 healthy controls was detected using quantitative real-time PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry. In addition, serum TNF-ɑ and IL-10 levels were measured using flow cytometry. Serum estradiol and progesterone levels were measured by radioimmunoassay test. The correlations of TIPE2 protein levels with TNF-ɑ, IL-10, estradiol and progesterone were further analyzed. RESULTS: TIPE2 protein levels were significantly lower in decidual tissues of missed abortion patients than those in healthy controls. The patients with missed abortion had significantly higher levels of serum TNF-ɑ, and lower levels of serum IL-10, estradiol and progesterone compared with healthy controls. The TIPE2 protein levels were positively related to serum IL-10 levels. CONCLUSION: Our data indicate TIPE2 could play important roles in maintaining the maternal-fetal tolerance and decreased TIPE2 expression in the decidua may be related to the development of missed abortion.