Novel Variants of HPS6 Cause Suspected Ocular Albinism: A Report of 2 Cases and the Profile of HPS6 Variants.

INTRODUCTION: Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) is a rare autosomal-recessive disease characterized by ocular albinism (OA) or oculocutaneous albinism (OCA), platelet dysfunction, and other symptoms. This study aimed to analyze the molecular defect in two Chinese families with suspected OA, as well as to investigate the profile of HPS6 variants and their genotype-phenotype correlations. METHODS: Seven members from two families were recruited and underwent clinical ophthalmologic examinations. The genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes. Whole-exome sequencing was performed on the proband of family JX. The single coding exon of HPS6 was directly Sanger sequenced based on PCR amplification in all available family members. An additional 46 probands from families or sporadic cases with the pathogenic variants of HPS6 reported in the literature were reviewed. RESULTS: We identified two different compound heterozygous truncating variants of HPS6 in probands with suspected OA from two independent families. The proband of family JX had c.1674dup and c.503-504del variants, and the other proband from family CZ had a nonsense variant of c.1114C>T and a frameshift variant of c.1556del. Among them, c.1674dup and c.1556del variants in HPS6 have not been reported previously. Therefore, our patients were diagnosed as HPS6 disease by molecular diagnostics. In the retrospective cohort of HPS6 patients, we delineated the profile of HPS6 variants and revealed a significant overlap between CpG islands and the variants of HPS6, suggesting a potential link between DNA methylation and HPS6 variants. We also observed a spatial aggregation of the variants in 3D structure of HPS6 protein, implying the possible functional significance of these structural regions. In addition, we did not find any significant genotype-phenotype correlation of HPS6, and neither did we observe a correlation between the truncation length of the HPS6 protein and the phenotype of HPS6 disease. CONCLUSION: Our research expands the spectrum of HPS6 variants, providing a comprehensive delineation of their profile and systematically investigating genotype-phenotype correlations in HPS6. These findings could offer potentially valuable clues for investigating the molecular mechanism underlying HPS6 pathogenesis, as well as aiding the clinical diagnosis of HPS6 patients and improving disease prognosis.

Change of Composition, Source Contribution, and Oxidative Effects of Environmental PM2.5 in the Respiratory Tract.

Fine particulate matter is a leading air pollutant, and its composition profile relates to sources and health effects. The human respiratory tract hosts a warmer and more humid microenvironment in contrast with peripheral environments. However, how the human respiratory tract impacts the transformation of the composition of environmental PM2.5 once they are inhaled and consequently changes of source contribution and health effects are unknown. Here, we show that the respiratory tract can make these properties of PM2.5 reaching the lung different from environmental PM2.5. We found via an in vitro model that the warm and humid conditions drive the desorption of nitrate (about 60%) and ammonium (about 31%) out of PM2.5 during the inhalation process and consequently make source contribution profiles for respiratory tract-deposited PM2.5 different from that for environmental PM2.5 as suggested in 11 Chinese cities and 12 US cities. We also observed that oxidative potential, one of the main health risk causes of PM2.5, increases by 41% after PM2.5 travels through the respiratory tract model. Our results reveal that PM2.5 inhaled in the lung differs from environmental PM2.5. This work provides a starting point for more health-oriented source apportionment, physiology-based health evaluation, and cost-effective control of PM2.5 pollution.

An Integrated Autonomous Dynamic Navigation Approach toward a Composite Air-Ground Risk Construction Scenario.

Unmanned transportation in construction scenarios presents a significant challenge due to the presence of complex dynamic on-ground obstacles and potential airborne falling objects. Consequently, the typical methodology for composite air-ground risk avoidance in construction scenarios holds enormous importance. In this paper, an integrated potential-field-based risk assessment approach is proposed to evaluate the threat severity of the environmental obstacles. Meanwhile, the self-adaptive dynamic window approach is suggested to manage the real-time motion planning solution for air-ground risks. By designing the multi-objective velocity sample window, we constrain the vehicle's speed planning instructions within reasonable limits. Combined with a hierarchical decision-making mechanism, this approach achieves effective obstacle avoidance with multiple drive modes. Simulation results demonstrate that, in comparison with the traditional dynamic window approach, the proposed method offers enhanced stability and efficiency in risk avoidance, underlining its notable safety and effectiveness.

FOC winding defect detection based on improved texture features and low-rank representation model.

The defect detection of fiber-optic coils (FOCs) plays an important role in the quality control of the FOC production. In order to overcome the problems of poor performance and low reliability of existing methods, this paper provides a solution for winding defect detection of FOCs based on low-rank representation (LRR) technology. First, we design a feature matrix, which represents the image. Then the LRR model is employed to formulate the defect detection task as a problem of low rank and sparse matrix decomposition. Meanwhile, Laplacian regularization is introduced as a smoothness constraint to expand the distance between defect regions and low-rank background. Experiments are performed on a real dataset to verify the algorithm. The results show that the proposed winding defect detection method of FOCs achieves the highest detection accuracy and lowest false alarm rate compared to other methods, verifying the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Targeted delivery of inhalable drug particles in a patient-specific tracheobronchial tree with moderate COVID-19: A numerical study.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to severe social and economic disruption worldwide. Although currently no consent has been reached on a specific therapy that can treat COVID-19 effectively, several inhalation therapy strategies have been proposed to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection. These strategies include inhalations of antiviral drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, and vaccines. To investigate how to enhance the therapeutic effect by increasing the delivery efficiency (DE) of the inhaled aerosolized drug particles, a patient-specific tracheobronchial (TB) tree from the trachea up to generation 6 (G6) with moderate COVID-19 symptoms was selected as a testbed for the in silico trials of targeted drug delivery to the lung regions with pneumonia alba, i.e., the severely affected lung segments (SALS). The 3D TB tree geometry was reconstructed from spiral computed tomography (CT) scanned images. The airflow field and particle trajectories were solved using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based Euler-Lagrange model at an inhalation flow rate of 15 L/min. Particle release maps, which record the deposition locations of the released particles, were obtained at the inlet according to the particle trajectories. Simulation results show that particles with different diameters have similar release maps for targeted delivery to SALS. Point-source aerosol release (PSAR) method can significantly enhance the DE into the SALS. A C++ program has been developed to optimize the location of the PSAR tube. The optimized simulations indicate that the PSAR approach can at least increase the DE of the SALS by a factor of 3.2× higher than conventional random-release drug-aerosol inhalation. The presence of the PSAR tube only leads to a 7.12% change in DE of the SALS. This enables the fast design of a patient-specific treatment for reginal lung diseases.

Automated defect detection and classification for fiber-optic coil based on wavelet transform and self-adaptive GA-SVM.

The quality monitoring of fiber-optic coil (FOC) in winding systems is usually done manually. Aiming at the problem of inefficient and low accuracy of manual detection, this article is dedicated to researching a defect detection framework based on machine vision, which provides a reliable method for automatic defect detection of FOC. For this purpose, a defect detection scheme that integrates wavelet transform and nonlocal means filtering is proposed to accurately locate the defect region. Then, based on the features constructed by wavelet coefficients, a support vector machine (SVM) is used as the classifier. Additionally, a self-adaptive genetic algorithm is proposed to optimize the parameters of the SVM to form the final classifier. Through experiments on the data set obtained by our designed imaging system, the results show that our method has good defect detection performance and high classification accuracy, which provides an optimal solution for the automatic detection of FOC.

Modeling of the transport, hygroscopic growth, and deposition of multi-component droplets in a simplified airway with realistic thermal boundary conditions.

Accurate predictions of the droplet transport, evolution, and deposition in human airways are critical for the quantitative analysis of the health risks due to the exposure to the airborne pollutant or virus transmission. The droplet/particle-vapor interaction, i.e., the evaporation or condensation of the multi-component droplet/particle, is one of the key mechanisms that need to be precisely modeled. Using a validated computational model, the transport, evaporation, hygroscopic growth, and deposition of multi-component droplets were simulated in a simplified airway geometry. A mucus-tissue layer is explicitly modeled in the airway geometry to describe mucus evaporation and heat transfer. Pulmonary flow and aerosol dynamics patterns associated with different inhalation flow rates are visualized and compared. Investigated variables include temperature distributions, relative humidity (RH) distributions, deposition efficiencies, droplet/particle distributions, and droplet growth ratio distributions. Numerical results indicate that the droplet/particle-vapor interaction and the heat and mass transfer of the mucus-tissue layer must be considered in the computational lung aerosol dynamics study, since they can significantly influence the precise predictions of the aerosol transport and deposition. Furthermore, the modeling framework in this study is ready to be expanded to predict transport dynamics of cough/sneeze droplets starting from their generation and transmission in the indoor environment to the deposition in the human respiratory system.

Design, synthesis and α-glucosidase inhibition study of novel embelin derivatives.

Embelin is a naturally occurring para-benzoquinone isolated from Embelia ribes (Burm. f.) of the Myrsinaceae family. It was first discovered to have potent inhibitory activity (IC50 = 4.2 µM) against α-glucosidase in this study. Then, four series of novel embelin derivatives were designed, prepared and evaluated in α-glucosidase inhibition assays. The results show that most of the embelin derivatives synthesised are effective α-glucosidase inhibitors, with IC50 values at the micromolar level, especially 10d, 12d, and 15d, the IC50 values of which are 1.8, 3.3, and 3.6 µM, respectively. Structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies suggest that hydroxyl groups in the 2/5-position of para-benzoquinone are very important, and long-chain substituents in the 3-position are highly preferred. Moreover, the inhibition mechanism and kinetics studies reveal that all of 10d, 12d, 15d, and embelin are reversible and mixed-type inhibitors. Furthermore, docking experiments were carried out to study the interactions between 10d and 15d with α-glucosidase.

Mutation screening of crystallin genes in Chinese families with congenital cataracts.

Purpose: To identify mutations in crystallin genes in Chinese families with congenital cataracts. Methods: Forty-two unrelated families with non-syndromic congenital cataracts were enrolled in this study. The coding exons and adjacent intronic regions of crystallin genes, including CRYAA, CRYAB, CRYBA1, CRYBA4, CRYBB1, CRYBB2, CRYBB3, CRYGC, CRYGD and CRYGS, were analyzed with Sanger sequencing. Novel variants were further evaluated in 112 ethnically matched controls. To confirm the novel mutations, short tandem repeat (STR) haplotypes were constructed to check the cosegregation with congenital cataract. The pathogenic potential of the novel mutations were assessed using bioinformatics tools, including Sorting Intolerant From Tolerant v5.1.1 (SIFT), Polymorphism Phenotyping v2 (PolyPhen-2), and Human Splicing Finder. The pathogenicity of all the mutations was evaluated according to the guidelines of the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) and InterVar software. Results: Seven previously reported mutations in crystallin genes identified in ten unrelated families were associated with the congenital nuclear cataracts. Four novel mutations in crystallin genes, including c.35G>T (p.R12L) in CRYAA, c.463C>A (p.Q155K) in CRYBB2, IVS1 c.10-1G>A in CRYGC, and c.346delT (p.F116Sfsx29) in CRYGD, were identified in four unrelated families with congenital cataracts. These mutations cosegregated with all affected individuals in each family were not observed in the unaffected family members or in the 112 unrelated controls. All four novel mutations were categorized as disease "likely pathogenic" except IVS1 c.10-1G>A in CRYGC "pathogenic" using InterVar software in accordance with the ACMG standard. Mutations in crystallin genes were responsible for 33.33% of the Chinese families with congenital cataracts in this cohort. Conclusions: In this study, we identified four novel mutations in crystallin genes in Chinese families with congenital cataracts. The results expand the mutational spectrum of crystallin genes, which may be helpful for the molecular diagnosis of congenital cataracts in the era of precision medicine.

Active Compounds Derived from Fuzheng Huayu Formula Protect Hepatic Parenchymal Cells from Apoptosis Based on Network Pharmacology and Transcriptomic Analysis.

Fuzheng huayu formula (FZHY), an antifibrotic traditional Chinese medicine, is frequently used for the treatment of liver fibrosis. In this study, network analysis, transcriptomic analysis, assays of cell apoptosis, viability and protein expression were used for investigating the effects and mechanisms of compounds derived from FZHY on hepatic parenchymal cell (HPC) protection and hepatic stellate cell activation. Network pharmacology analysis found that 6 major compounds and 39 potential targets were important network nodes. Our analysis predicted that the active compounds of FZHY, including hederagenin, luteolin and tanshinone IIA inhibited cell apoptosis (p < 0.05), increased PI3K expression and reduced cleaved caspase 3 expression and the Bax/Bcl-w ratio (p < 0.05) in L02 cells that had apoptosis induced by TNF-α. Few significant changes caused by FZHY, hederagenin, luteolin and tanshinone IIA were observed in hepatic stellate Lx2 cells upon TGF-ß1 induction. These data suggest that FZHY is active against liver fibrosis, protects hepatic parenchymal cells from apoptosis, and recovers liver function, possibly through the effects of its active compounds hederagenin, luteolin and tanshinone IIA and is involved in the inhibition of apoptosis in HPCs, possibly through regulating the PI3K, ERK, cleaved caspase 3 and Bax/Bcl-w levels.

Novel mutations in HSF4 cause congenital cataracts in Chinese families.

BACKGROUND: Congenital cataract, a kind of cataract presenting at birth or during early childhood, is a leading cause of childhood blindness. To date, more than 30 genes on different chromosomes are known to cause this disorder. This study aimed to identify the HSF4 mutations in a cohort from Chinese families affected with congenital cataracts. METHODS: Forty-two unrelated non-syndromic congenital cataract families and 112 ethnically matched controls from southeast China were recruited from the southeast of China. We employed Sanger sequencing method to discover the variants. To confirm the novel mutations, STR haplotypes were constructed to check the co-segregation with congenital cataract. The pathogenic potential of the novel mutations were assessed using bioinformatics tools including SIFT, Polyphen2, and Human Splicing Finder. The pathogenicity of all the mutations was evaluated by the guidelines of American College of Medical Genetics and InterVar software. RESULTS: No previously reported HSF4 mutations were found in all the congenital cataract families. Five novel HSF4 mutations including c.187 T > C (p.Phe63Leu), c.218G > T (p.Arg73Leu), c.233A > G (p.Tyr78Cys), IVS5 c.233-1G > A and c.314G > C (p.Ser105Thr) were identified in five unrelated families with congenital cataracts, respectively. These mutations co-segregated with all affected individuals in each family were not observed in the unaffected family members or in 112 unrelated controls. All five mutations were categorized to be the disease "pathogenic" according to ACMG guidelines and using InterVar software. Mutations in the HSF4 were responsible for 11.90% Chinese families with congenital cataracts in our cohort. CONCLUSIONS: In the study, we identified five novel HSF4 mutations in Chinese families with congenital cataracts. Our results expand the spectrum of HSF4 mutations causing congenital cataracts, which may be helpful for the molecular diagnosis of congenital cataracts in the era of precision medicine.

Identification and bioactivity evaluation of two novel temporins from the skin secretion of the European edible frog, Pelophylax kl. esculentus.

The amphibian temporins, amongst the smallest antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), are α-helical, amphipathic, hydrophobic and cationic and are active mainly against Gram-positive bacteria but inactive or weakly active against Gram-negative bacteria. Here, we report two novel members of the temporin family, named temporin-1Ee (FLPVIAGVLSKLFamide) and temporin-1Re (FLPGLLAGLLamide), whose biosynthetic precursor structures were deduced from clones obtained from skin secretion-derived cDNA libraries of the European edible frog, Pelophylax kl. esculentus, by 'shotgun' cloning. Deduction of the molecular masses of each mature processed peptide from respective cloned cDNAs was used to locate respective molecules in reverse-phase HPLC fractions of secretion. Temporin-1Ee (MIC = 10 µM) and temporin-1Re (MIC = 60 µM) were both found to be active against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, but retaining a weak haemolytic activity. To our knowledge, Single-site substitutions can dramatically change the spectrum of activity of a given temporin. Compared with temporine-1Ec, just one chemically-conservative substitution (Val8 instead of Leu8), temporin-1Ee bearing a net charge of +2 displays broad-spectrum activity with particularly high potency on the clinically relevant Gram-negative strains, Escherichia coli (MIC = 40 µM). These factors bode well for translating temporins to be potential drug candidates for the design of new and valuable anti-infective agents.

Kunitzins: Prototypes of a new class of protease inhibitor from the skin secretions of European and Asian frogs.

Amphibian skin secretions contain biologically-active compounds, such as anti-microbial peptides and trypsin inhibitors, which are used by biomedical researchers as a source of potential novel drug leads or pharmacological agents. Here, we report the application of a recently developed technique within our laboratory to "shotgun" clone the cDNAs encoding two novel but structurally-related peptides from the lyophilised skin secretions of one species of European frog, Rana esculenta and one species of Chinese frog, Odorrana schmackeri. Bioanalysis of the peptides established the structure of a 17-mer with an N-terminal Ala (A) residue and a C-terminal Cys (C) residue with a single disulphide bridge between Cys 12 and 17, which is a canonical Kunitz-type protease inhibitor motif (-CKAAFC-). Due to the presence of this structural attribute, these peptides were named kunitzin-RE (AAKIILNPKFRCKAAFC) and kunitzin-OS (AVNIPFKVHLRCKAAFC). Synthetic replicates of these two novel peptides were found to display a potent inhibitory activity against Escherichia coli but were ineffective at inhibiting the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans at concentrations up to 160 µM, and both showed little haemolytic activity at concentrations up to 120 µM. Subsequently, kunitzin-RE and kunitzin-OS were found to be a potent inhibitor of trypsin with a Ki of 5.56 µM and 7.56 µM that represent prototypes of a novel class of highly-attenuated amphibian skin protease inhibitor. Substitution of Lys-13, the predicted residue occupying the P1 position within the inhibitory loop, with Phe (F) resulted in decrease in trypsin inhibitor effectiveness and antimicrobial activity against Esherichia coli, but exhibits a potential inhibition activity against chymotrypsin.

Real-time mapping of a hydrogen peroxide concentration profile across a polymicrobial bacterial biofilm using scanning electrochemical microscopy.

Quantitative detection of hydrogen peroxide in solution above a Streptococcus gordonii (Sg) bacterial biofilm was studied in real time by scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM). The concentration of hydrogen peroxide was determined to be 0.7 mM to 1.6 mM in the presence of 10 mM glucose over a period of 2 to 8 h. The hydrogen peroxide production measured was higher near the biofilm surface in comparison to Sg grown planktonically. Differential hydrogen peroxide production was observed both by fluorometric as well as by SECM measurements. The interaction between two different species in a bacterial biofilm of Sg and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa) in terms of hydrogen peroxide production was also studied by SECM. One-directional y-scan SECM measurements showed the unique spatial mapping of hydrogen peroxide concentration across a mixed species biofilm and revealed that hydrogen peroxide concentration varies greatly dependent upon local species composition.

Balteatide: a novel antimicrobial decapeptide from the skin secretion of the purple-sided leaf frog, Phyllomedusa baltea.

The skin secretions of Neotropical phyllomedusine leaf frogs have proven to be a rich source of biologically active peptides, including antimicrobials. The major families of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) reported are the dermaseptins and phylloseptins and the minor families are the dermatoxins, phylloxins, plasticins, distinctins, and medusins. Here, we report a novel AMP of 10 amino acid residues (LRPAILVRIKamide), named balteatide, from the skin secretion of wild Peruvian purple-sided leaf frogs, Phyllomedusa baltea. Balteatide was found to exhibit a 90% sequence identity with sauvatide, a potent myotropic peptide from the skin secretion of Phyllomedusa sauvagei. However, despite both peptides exhibiting only a single amino acid difference (I/T at position 9), sauvatide is devoid of antimicrobial activity and balteatide is devoid of myotropic activity. Balteatide was found to have differential activity against the Gram-positive bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus; the Gram-negative bacterium, Escherichia coli; and the yeast, Candida albicans, and unusual for phyllomedusine frog skin AMPs, was most potent (MIC 32 mg/L) against the yeast. Balteatide was also devoid of haemolytic activity up to concentrations of 512 mg/L. Phyllomedusine frog skin secretions thus continue to provide novel AMPs, some of which may provide templates for the rational design of new classes of anti-infective therapeutics.

Combining non-invasive liquid biopsy and a methylation analysis to assess surgical risk for early esophageal cancer.

Background: While the widespread use of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has significantly reduced the incidence of early esophageal cancer (ESCA), the limited ability of ESD to strip deep infiltrating esophageal lesions results in a considerable risk of intraoperative perforation. Circulating-free DNA (cfDNA) is widely used in modern tumor screening due to its non-invasive detection capabilities. A methylation analysis offers vital insights into the condition and advancement of malignancies due to its unique positioning, such as a marker of cancer. This study investigated the potential of combining a non-invasive liquid biopsy technique, along with a methylation analysis, to assess the surgical perforation risk of ESCA patients. Methods: In this study, we conducted an analysis of gene expression differences between stage I esophageal squamous carcinoma samples and healthy tissue samples using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. We also identified the genes associated with progression-free survival (PFS) in esophageal squamous carcinoma. Integrating the framework of the methylation analysis, we explored the methylated sites of these distinct genes. To refine this process, we used the Shiny Methylation Analysis Resource Tool (SMART) to conduct a comprehensive analysis of these sites. We then confirmed the stability of the methylation sites in different lesion conditions using methylation-specific quantitative polymerase chain reaction (MS-qPCR) with paraffin tissue samples collected after ESD. Results: We analyzed RNA-sequencing data from 42 early stage ESCA patients and 17 controls, identifying 1,263 up-regulated and 460 down-regulated genes. Functional analyses revealed involvement in key pathways such as cell cycle regulation and immune responses. Furthermore, we identified 38 differentially expressed genes associated with PFS. Using SMART analysis, we found 217 hyper-methylated regions in 38 genes, suggesting potential early markers for ESCA. Validation experiments confirmed the reliability of 29 hyper-methylated regions in FFPE tissue samples and 6 regions in cfDNA. A LunaCAM model showed high accuracy [area under the curve (AUC) =0.89] in discriminating early ESCA. Integrated assessment of six highly methylated regions significantly improved predictive performance, with 90.56% sensitivity, highlighting the importance of combinatorial biomarker evaluation for early cancer detection. Conclusions: This study established a novel approach that integrates non-invasive testing with a methylation analysis to assess the surgical risk of early ESCA patients. The significance of changes in methylation sites in relation to lesion status should not be underestimated, as they have the potential to offer vital insights for proactive risk assessments before surgery.

Fabrication of caffeoylquinic acid-loaded burdock polysaccharide nanoparticles and their antioxidant activity in hydrogen peroxide-damaged HepaRG cells.

Herein, burdock polysaccharide (BP) and modified burdock polysaccharide (MBP) were prepared, followed by the fabrication of chlorogenic acid (CA)-BP, CA-MBP, isochlorogenic acid A (ICA)-BP, and ICA-MBP nanoparticles. Afterward, the structural characteristics, physical stability, digestive characteristics, and antioxidant activity of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-damaged HepaRG cells were evaluated. The result indicated that the loading capacities of CA in BP-CA and MBP-CA were 0.14 and 0.53 µg/mg, respectively. Conversely, the loading capacities of ICA in BP-ICA and MBP-ICA were 0.36 and 0.60 µg/mg, respectively. Four complex nanoparticles exhibited excellent physical stability under different pH values, temperatures, and ionic concentrations, especially MBP-CA and MBP-ICA. Moreover, four complex nanoparticles could protect caffeoylquinic acid from being released in gastric fluid. All six samples exhibited high antioxidant activity in H2O2-induced HepaRG cells, especially BP and MBP-CA. These findings indicated that caffeoylquinic acid-polysaccharide complexes were successfully prepared and highlighted the potential of polysaccharides as natural carriers for hydrophobic bioactive molecules.

Novel mechanistic study of HDAC6 regulation of rheumatoid arthritis via CMA: exploring potential therapeutic targets.

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease. Its pathogenesis has not yet been clarified, so it is urgent to explore therapeutic targets. Here, we clarified the role of HDAC6 in the mechanism of action of RA through mediating chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) to provide a clinical treatment of RA. Methods: We used rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synoviocytes (RA-FLS) and collagen-induced arthritis mice (CIA mice) as models of RA and pharmacological inhibitors as well as genetic interference with adeno-associated viruses to reduce the expression of HDAC6. We explored the influence of CAY10603 on RA-FLS proliferation and inflammation, as well as the expression of proteins related to the CMA signaling pathway. CIA model was constructed using DBA/1J mice. Arthritis symptoms in CIA mice were evaluated, and the expression and localization of CMA-related proteins in mouse ankle joints were examined. Results: CAY10603 inhibited proliferation as well as the level of the molecular chaperone autophagy in RA-FLS. HDAC6 shRNA significantly reduced the clinical signs of arthritis in CIA mice, as did the expression of HDAC6 in the serum and ankle synovial tissues of CIA mice. Finally, it significantly inhibited the level of Hsc70 and LAMP-2A, which are involved in the CMA signaling pathway, in ankle joint tissues. Conclusion: Downregulation of HDAC6 may inhibit CMA and thereby ameliorate RA.

Mutation analysis of RHO in patients with non-syndromic retinitis pigmentosa.

PURPOSE: To identify RHO mutations in patients with non-syndromic retinitis pigmentosa (NS-RP). METHODS: A total of 143 probands (46 family history and 97 sporadic cases) with NS-RP were recruited from Southeast China. The coding exons and adjacent intronic regions of RHO were PCR-amplified and sequenced by Sanger sequencing. The candidate variant was evaluated by the guidelines of American College of Medical Genetics and further validated through co-segregation analysis within the family. RESULTS: Five heterozygous mutations in RHO were detected in 5 out of 143 probands, where the frequency of RHO mutations in our cohort was approximately 3.5% (5/143) and 10.8% (5/46) for probands and families with NS-RP, respectively. Three known disease-causing mutations including c.C1030T (p.Q344X), c.C173G (p.T58R), and c.G266A (p.G89D) were identified in three unrelated families. The other two previously unreported mutations c.557C>A (p.S186X) and c.944delA (p.N315TfsX43) were confirmed in Family RP-087 and Family RP-139, respectively. These mutations co-segregated with available affected individuals in each family were not observed in the unaffected family members or in the 112 unrelated controls. CONCLUSIONS: This report expands the mutational spectrum of RHO gene associated with NS-RP and demonstrates the frequency of RP RHO mutations in Southeast Chinese populations.

A novel single domain bispecific antibody targeting VEGF and TNF-α ameliorates rheumatoid arthritis.

Anti-TNF-α therapy fails in 30% of patients, where TNF-α may not be the key causative factor in these patients. We developed a bispecific single-domain antibody block TNF-α and VEGF (V5-3).The experiments showed that V5-3 effectively activated proliferation and migration of RA-FLS and HUVEC, tube-forming role of HUVEC, and expression of inflammatory factors in vitro. Besides, the experiments indicated that the anti-RA activity of V5-3 was superior to Anbainuo in vivo. Application of V5-3 reduced the expression of inflammatory factors, extent of synovial inflammation and angiogenesis and attenuated the severity of autoimmune arthritis in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mice. Mechanistically, V5-3 suppressed p65, AKT and VEGFR2 phosphorylation, as well as production of TNF-α and VEGF in joint tissues. These results demonstrated that V5-3 displayed a superior effect of anti-RA, may be a new therapy to overcome the limitations of anti-TNF-α monoclonal antibody.