Inhibition of PCSK9 Improves the Development of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Via Down-Regulating Notch3 Expression.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a fatal disease characterized by continuous constriction and occlusion of small pulmonary arteries, leading to the development of right ventricular failure and death. Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a kind of serine protease enzyme that increases low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) levels through degrading low-density lipoprotein cholesterol receptors (LDLr). However, whether inhibition of PCSK9 can alleviate PAH has not been reported. METHODS AND RESULTS: We reported that PCSK9 expression was up-regulated in lung tissues of PAH patients. In addition, we used PCSK9 monoclonal antibody subcutaneously to inhibit PCSK9 expression in mice exposed to chronic hypoxia (10%) in combination with SU5416, a VEGF receptor inhibitor. Hypoxia plus SU5416-induced PAH was attenuated in PCSK9 monoclonal antibody-treated mice compared with wild-type mice. PCSK9 inhibited pulmonary vascular remodeling in mice. Moreover, PCSK9 knockdown significantly altered the proliferation and migration of hypoxia-induced PASMCs. We also found that PCSK9 monoclonal antibody inhibited Notch3 expression in vivo and in vitro. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the PCSK9-Notch3 signaling pathway is critical for the proliferation and migration of PASMCs and provides a potential drug target for the treatment of PAH.

MicroRNA-384-5p protects against cardiac hypertrophy via the ALPK3 signaling pathway.

Heart failure is a condition caused by a variety of pathophysiological factors. One important pathological change of chronic heart failure is myocardial hypertrophy. In recent years, several studies have found that dysregulated microRNAs are involved in regulating the pathological process of heart failure. In this study, cardiac hypertrophy models were constructed using isoproterenol (ISO)-/angiotensin-II (Ang-II) to explore the role of miR-384-5p in cardiac hypertrophy and its molecular mechanism in vivo and in vitro. Echocardiography, invasive pressure-volume analysis and hematoxylin-eosin staining were used to explore cardiac structure and function. ALPK3 mRNA and protein expression were detected using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot analysis and miR-384-5p expression were assessed via RT-qPCR. Our findings determined that miR-384-5p was notably decreased in cardiac hypertrophic tissues and cells, and overexpression of miR-384-5p could ameliorate pressure overload. Furthermore, ALPK3 was determined to downregulate the ALPK3 expression to aggravate cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Our findings provided a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of cardiac hypertrophy.

Swietenine extracted from Swietenia relieves myocardial hypertrophy induced by isoprenaline in mice.

As a traditional plant medicine in tropical areas, Swietenia macrophylla seeds are usually applied for some chronic diseases, including hypertension, diabetes, and so on. Few studies have been carried out to identify the effective elements in seed extract and their indications. In this study, we first investigated the functions of the swietenine, an extract from S. macrophylla seeds, using a model of myocardial hypertrophy induced by isoprenaline (ISO). At cellular level, H9c2 cell hypertrophy was also established through the treatment with ISO. The cardiac pathological remodeling was evaluated by echocardiography and histological analysis. Western blot and RT-qPCR were used to detect the expression of possible hypertrophy-promoting genes. Here, our results indicated that swietenine remarkably attenuated ISO-induced myocardial hypertrophy in vivo and in vitro. Moreover, Akt phosphorylation, ANP and BNP mRNA expression were efficiently decreased. Based on these findings, we concluded that swietenine might be a promising anti-hypertrophic agent against cardiac hypertrophy.

Vitamin D attenuates myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury by inhibiting inflammation via suppressing the RhoA/ROCK/NF-ĸB pathway.

The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effects of vitamin D (VD) against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in hearts. An I/R injury model was induced by left coronary artery ligation in Sprague-Dawley rats (in vivo) and Langendorff perfusion of isolated hearts (in vitro). The infarction areas were determined by triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. Changes in the ST segment, cardiac function, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, creatine kinase (CK) activity, inflammatory cytokine (interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-1ß, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)) levels and the RhoA/ROCK/NF-ĸB pathway were tested in rats with I/R injury treated with or without VD. VD notably alleviated myocardial injury with decreased infarction areas and had a restorative effect on cardiac function, which was specifically manifested as a restored ST segment, increased myocardial contractility and increased coronary blood flow in the isolated hearts. The levels of CK and LDH were also suppressed by VD. In addition, VD significantly decreased the expression of inflammatory cytokines in rat sera and isolated hearts. The RhoA/ROCK/NF-κB pathway in I/R-injured rats was also obviously inhibited with VD treatment. The present study demonstrates that VD plays a protective role against myocardial injury by inhibiting inflammation through repressing the RhoA/ROCK/NF-κB pathway.

Swietenine Alleviates Vascular Remodelling by Enhancing Mitophagy of Pulmonary Arterial Smooth Muscle Cells in Experimental Pulmonary Hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Vascular remodelling during pulmonary hypertension (PH) is characterized by the phenotypic transformation of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). Swietenine (Swi), extracted from the seeds of traditional medicine Swietenia mahagoni, has been used to treat cardiac remodelling, but the effect of Swi on PH is unknown. This study aims to evaluate the effect of Swi on hypoxia-induced phenotypic transformation of PASMCs in experimental PH. METHODS: In our research, C57BL/6 mice were treated with SU5416 and exposed to hypoxia for 4 weeks to establish HySu-PH model. Mice in the Swi treatment group were subjected to HySu with daily administration of Swi. Hemodynamic parameters, echocardiography, and degree of vascular muscularization were measured to evaluate the PH model. Proliferation of PASMC was assessed by Ki67 and EdU assay. Cell migration was detected by wound-healing assay. Mitophagy levels were evaluated by mito-tracker and lyso-tracker, autophagic flux, and protein expression of Pink1 and Lc3 II. The molecular docking was used to validate the interaction of Swi with Nrf2. Immunofluorescence and immunohistochemical staining were applied to determine the subcellular localization of Nrf2. RESULTS: The results showed that Swi attenuated hypoxia-induced increase of right ventricle systolic pressure, Fulton index, and vascular remodelling and decreased PASMC proliferation, migration, and enhanced mitophagy. Furthermore, the interaction of Swi with Nrf2 promoted the translocation of Nrf2 into the nucleus, resulting in the induction of Pink1. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that Swi prevents vascular remodelling in experimental PH through inhibition of phenotypic transformation and hyperproliferation of PASMCs caused by reversing hypoxia-induced inhibition of mitophagy.

Umbelliferone Alleviates Myocardial Ischemia: the Role of Inflammation and Apoptosis.

The present study was to investigate cardioprotective effects of umbelliferone (Umb) on coronary artery ligation-induced myocardial ischemia. The model of myocardial ischemia (MI) was induced by ligatured the left anterior descending coronary artery of SD rats. ST-segment elevation, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), catalase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), inflammatory cytokines, Toll-like receptors (TLRs)/nuclear factor (NF)-κBp65 pathway, and apoptosis were evaluated in rats treated with or without Umb. The results showed that Umb treatment could significantly decrease the elevation of the ST segment of electrocardiograph (ECG), the myocardial infarct size of MI significantly. The levels of LDH, CK, and MDA were suppressed, and the content of SOD was enhanced with Umb. The elevated concentration of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1ß), and IL-6 in MI rats was effectively reversed by the Umb administration. Also, TLR/NF-κB and apoptosis-related proteins in MI rats were restored respectively by Umb treatment. The protective effect of Umb against MI injury might be associated with inflammation and apoptosis pathway.

Metformin induces miR-378 to downregulate the CDK1, leading to suppression of cell proliferation in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Metformin is one of the extensively and most commonly used oral antihyperglycemic agents, but it has been shown to exert antineoplastic effects in many cancer cells. Recent studies have confirmed that metformin has an antitumor effect on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the molecular mechanism underlying this effect needs to be further studied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CDK1 and miR-378 expression was analyzed by western blotting and real-time PCR assays. We confirmed the association between miR-378 and CDK1 by dual luciferase reporter assay. The role of the miR-378/CDK1 pathway in proliferation, cell cycle and apoptosis was examined in vitro. The effect of miR-378 on HCC tumor growth was evaluated in nude xenograft mouse model. RESULTS: Our study found that metformin significantly inhibited the HCC cell proliferation via inducing G2/M arrest. At the same time, metformin efficiently decreased CDK1 expression and elevated miR-378 level. Moreover, the upregulation of miR-378 also repressed HCC cell proliferation by causing G2/M arrest and inhibited tumor growth. Additionally, we demonstrated that miR-378 directly targeted CDK1 3'UTR and downregulated CDK1 mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, metformin treatment could not decrease CDK1 expression, suppress HCC cell proliferation, and induce G2/M cell cycle arrest. DISCUSSION: Metformin-suppressed HCC cell proliferation was dependent on the inhibitory effect of miR-378 on CDK1 expression. Taken together, we concluded that metformin inhibited HCC cell proliferation via modulating miR-378/CDK1 axis. CONCLUSION: Collectively, the current results provide the first evidence, to our knowledge, that miR-378/CDK1 axis is involved in metformin modulating the proliferation of HCC cells, which suggests a novel molecular mechanism underlying the thera peutic effect of metformin on HCC.

Withdrawal Notice: Targeting lncRNAs for Cardiovascular Therapeutics in Coronary Artery Disease

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Crocetin attenuates DHT-induced polycystic ovary syndrome in mice via revising kisspeptin neurons.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), the most common endocrine disorder of women in reproductive age, is typical with hyperandrogenism and disturbance of the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary (HPO) axis, i.e. abnormal expression of hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) followed by the elevated ratio of serum luteinizing hormone (LH) level to follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) level. This derangement might have a close relationship with hypothalamic kisspeptin expression that is thought to be a key regulator of GnRH. Crocetin, one of the main components of Saffron clinically used as traditional medicine in gynecology diseases, was evaluated for its therapeutic effects on PCOS induced by prenatally exposure to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in mice. Herein, we found that DHT-treated mice showed a similar phenotype to human PCOS such as heavier ovary, prolonged diestrus, multiple enlarged follicles with fewer corpus luteum, and higher LH and testosterone levels. Kisspeptin expression was lower in anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV) but higher in arcuate nucleus (ARC). Treatment of crocetin prevented the prolongation of diestrus and reduction in corpora luteum, recover the levels of GnRH, FSH, LH, progesterone (P4), estradiol (E2) and testosterone (T), and increase the kisspeptin level in AVPV but reduce that in ARC. The present study provides in vivo evidence that crocetin improved the PCOS in mice via increasing AVPV-kisspeptin and reducing ARC-kisspeptin expression.

Wogonin Attenuates Isoprenaline-Induced Myocardial Hypertrophy in Mice by Suppressing the PI3K/Akt Pathway.

Many studies have focused on identifying therapeutic targets of myocardial hypertrophy for the treatment of correlative cardiac events. Wogonin is a natural flavonoid compound that displays a potent anti-hypertrophic effect. Knowledge of its pharmacological mechanisms might reveal an effective way to search for therapeutic targets. Myocardial hypertrophy was replicated by the subcutaneous implantation of an isoprenaline mini-pump in mice or isoprenaline treatment of H9C2 cells. Pathologic changes in cardiac structure were assessed by echocardiographic and histological examinations. The signaling transduction in hypertrophy-promoting pathways and the genes involved were detected by western blot and RT-qPCR. Wogonin significantly attenuated isoprenaline-induced myocardial hypertrophy in vivo and in vitro by suppressing phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) hypertrophy-promoting pathway. Wogonin promoted the ubiquitination and degradation of PI3K catalytic subunit alpha (Pik3ca), the catalytic subunit of PI3K, which was upregulated by isoprenaline treatment. Wogonin also increased the expression of neural precursor cells expressing developmentally down-regulated gene 4-like (Nedd4l), the ubiquitin E3 ligase of Pik3ca. Therefore, wogonin targets Nedd4l to induce the degradation of Pik3ca, which reverses the over-activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway and consequently relieves the isoprenaline-induced myocardial hypertrophy.

microRNA-133 inhibits cell proliferation, migration and invasion in prostate cancer cells by targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor.

It has been shown that regulation of EGFR expression in prostate cancer cells is mostly at the transcriptional level. microRNA-133 (miR-133) has long been recognized as a muscle-specific miRNA which may regulate myoblast differentiation and participate in many myogenic diseases. Recently, it has been reported that miR-133 is also involved in other tumors, such as bladder cancer, esophageal cancer and may regulate cell motility in these cancer cells. In the present study, we examined the expression and effects of miR-133 in two hormone-insensitive prostate cancer cell lines. The expression of miR-133a and miR-133b were analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR. After transfection of miR-133a and miR-133b, cell viability assay, luciferase assay, western blot analysis, cell migration and invasion assay were conducted in Du145 and PC3 cells. In this study, we showed that miR­133a and miR-133b are expressed at the detection limit in two hormone-insensitive prostate cancer cell lines, PC3 and DU145. Ectopic expression of miR-133 inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion in these cells. We also provide the first evidence that miR-133 may target EGFR. Our study provided the first glimpse of the functional role of miR-133 in two hormone-independent prostate cancer cell lines. These results may add to our knowledge on the molecular basis of prostate cancer progression.