scholarly journals CircNFIC Balances Inflammation and Apoptosis by Sponging miR-30e-3p and Regulating DENND1B Expression

Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1829
Author(s):  
Yangfeng Chen ◽  
Zhijun Wang ◽  
Xiaolan Chen ◽  
Xi Peng ◽  
Qinghua Nie

Disordered inflammation and apoptosis are closely related to diseases, and inflammation can also promote cell apoptosis, where growing evidence has shown that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play important roles. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is the main component of the cytoderm of gram-negative bacterium, which can cause inflammatory responses in macrophages. We constructed an inflammatory model by exposing chicken macrophage cell lines (also known as HD11) to LPS for in vitro experiments. In this study, we validated a novel circRNA—circNFIC—which was dramatically up-regulated in tissues infected by coccidia and cells exposed to LPS. Besides, circNFIC could significantly promote the expression levels of pro-inflammation factors, including (IL-1β, TNFα, and IFNγ) and pro-apoptosis maker genes (caspase 3 and caspase 8) in HD11 exposed to LPS or not. In terms of mechanism, circNFIC exerted notable effects on DENND1B to regulate cell inflammation and apoptosis by sponging miR-30e-3p. The molecular functions played by miR-30e-3p and DENND1B have been explored, respectively. In addition, the effects of circNFIC knockdown suppressing the expression of pro-inflammatory and pro-apoptosis functions could be reversed by a miR-30e-3p inhibitor. On the whole, circNFIC promoted cell inflammation and apoptosis via the miR-30e-3p/DENND1B axis.

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Hongmei Lu ◽  
Xinyi Luo ◽  
Yuhua He ◽  
Bo Qu ◽  
Liangbin Zhao ◽  
...  

Background. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common clinically critical illness with serious consequences for the patients. Shenshuaikang enema (SE) is a Chinese herbal compound that is used to treat AKI in clinical practice. However, its mechanism of action remains unclear. Aim. The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic effect of SE and explore the molecular mechanisms using network pharmacology and in vitro experiments. Materials and Methods. The herb-component-target network was constructed based on network pharmacology. The predicted targets and pathways were validated using in vitro experiments. A renal tubular epithelial cell line (HK-2 cells) was exposed to hypoxia and reoxygenation (H/R) using air-tight conditions for five hours and treated with different concentrations of SE (25%, 50%, and 75%) to assess cell viability and apoptosis and determine the optimal experimental dose. Subsequently, H/R-injured HK-2 cells were pretreated with the optimal SE dose and then randomly divided into three groups, the SE, SE-SP600125 (inhibitor of JNK), and SE-NAC (antioxidant) groups. The cell vitality, apoptosis, and death were evaluated using the cell counting kit 8 (CCK8) and carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester/propidium iodide (CFSF/PI) staining. The apoptosis-related protein JNK and Caspase-3 were assessed by Western blot. Expression of JNK and Caspase-3 genes was analyzed using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Results. 123 active components and 226 targets were identified from four herbs that composed the herb-compound-target network based on transcriptomics and network pharmacology analyses. The KEGG pathway analyses revealed that the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway was involved in the therapeutic AKI effects of SE. Cell vitality of H/R-induced HK-2 cells was obviously increased when treating them with SE, and the apoptosis was significantly inhibited, especially in the SE (50%) group at 4 and 12 h after modeling. Pretreatment with antioxidant NAC obviously prevented cell death compared to the SE (50%) group, while no obvious reduction of apoptosis was observed in the SP600125 group. JNK expression level was significantly increased in the SE (50%) group compared to the SP600125 ( P < 0.01 ) and the NAC group ( P < 0.05 ). Caspase-3 was downregulated in the SE (50%) group compared to the SP600125 ( P < 0.01 ) and NAC group ( P < 0.05 ). Caspase-3 activation in the SP600125 group was higher than that in the NAC group ( P < 0.05 ). Moreover, the oxidative damage-dependent JNK/Caspase-3 pathway was identified in the H/R-injured HK-2 cells by inhibiting the JNK activation and oxidative damage. Conclusions. Our findings suggested that the H/R-triggered apoptosis in HK-2 cells was abrogated by SE by upregulating the oxidative damage-dependent JNK to trigger suppression of Caspase-3.


Author(s):  
Yi-Hsuan Lee ◽  
Chao-Min Wang ◽  
Po-Yu Liu ◽  
Ching-Chang Cheng ◽  
Zong-Yen Wu ◽  
...  

Essential oils from the dried spikes ofNepeta tenuifolia(Benth) are obtained by steam distillation. Pulegone was identified as the main component in the spikes ofN. tenuifoliathrough analysis, with greater than 85% purity obtained in this study. The essential oils are extremely active against all Gram-positive and some Gram-negative reference bacteria, particularlySalmonella enterica,Citrobacter freundii, andEscherichia coli. The minimum inhibitory concentration was found to be between 0.08 and 0.78% (againstS. enterica), 0.39 and 0.78% (againstC. freundii), and 0.097 and 0.39% (againstE. coli), whereas the minimum bactericidal concentration varied in range from 0.097% to 1.04%. In general, the essential oils show a strong inhibitory action against all tested reference strains and clinical isolates. However, the antibacterial activity of EOs against bothPseudomonas aeruginosareference strains and clinical isolates was relatively lower than other Gram-negative pathogens. The essential oils ofN. tenuifoliaalso displayed bactericidal activities (MBC/MIC < 4) in this study. These findings reflect the bactericidal activity of the essential oils against a wide range of multidrug-resistant clinical pathogens in an in vitro study. In addition, we propose the fragmentation pathways of pulegone and its derivatives by LC-ESI-MS/MS in this study.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (Supplement_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Xu ◽  
Yue Zhang

Abstract Background and Aims Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is the outcome of an inflammatory process and tubular cell death that is triggered by undergoing a transient reduction or cessation of blood flow and following by reperfusion. Unresolved IRI can contribute to chronic kidney disease even death. Our aims is to investigate the protective effect of hyperin on ischemia-reperfusion renal injury (IRI) and its possible mechanism. Method ① The transcriptome chip data of multiple IRI models were selected from the NCBI GEO DateSets database and a number of key proteins that could participate in IRI were screened out (the fold increase was greater than 2 fold and was statistically significant). Network and transcript binding motif analysis was performed to determine the best binding protein. ② C57BL / 6J mice were selected and randomly divided into normal group, sham operation group, IRI group (bilateral renal pedicle clamping for 45min), hyperin + IRI group (50mg / kg.d per day, 7 days before surgery ), DMSO + IRI group (7 days before the operation, the same amount of DMSO was administered to the stomach every day, and the operation was the same as AKI), with 6 rats in each group. Renal tissue and blood were collected 24 hours after operation for testing. ③ In vitro experiments, human proximal tubule epithelial cells (HK-2) were selected and divided into hypoxia 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 36, and 48h for reoxygenation of 1, 3, and 6h respectively. Relevant indicators for RT-PCR detection were determined Optimal hypoxia time. The drug safe concentration was selected according to 0, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, 400 μg / ml hyperin pre-treatment for 12 hours, and the CCK8 reagent was added for 2 hours to measure the absorbance at 450 nm. The cells were randomly divided into normal group, hypoxia group, hypoxia + DMSO group, hypoxia + hyperin group, and related indexes were detected by RT-PCR and Western Blot. ④ Obtain the tertiary structure of the protein and the three-dimensional structure of the hyperin molecule from the RCSB Protein Data Bank website and the PubChem compound database, and use molecular docking technology to determine the proteins that can bind to hyperin using autodock software and analyze their binding ability. Results Bioinformatics analysis suggested that STK40 protein is one of the key factors of IRI and may be a target for preventing and treating diseases. In vivo experiments showed that compared with the normal group and the sham operation group, the levels of serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, and kim-1 in rats were significantly increased after AKI, and HE staining of pathological sections showed an increase in renal tubular injury scores. Significantly decreased (P&lt;0.05); RT-PCR results showed that kim-1, caspase-3, NF-κB, IL-6, TNF-α increased significantly after AKI, STK40, Bcl2 / BAX decreased, and the above after hyperin The indicators changed in opposite directions (P &lt;0.05). In vitro experiments: The best time for hypoxia is 24h hypoxia + 1h reoxygenation; compared with the control group, the drug concentration is &lt;100 μg / mL and the cell proliferation activity rate is&gt; 90%, so the hyperin concentration was selected as 50 μg / mL (P &lt; 0.05); RT-PCR results showed that Hif1-α, caspase-3, NF-κB, IL-6, TNF-α significantly increased, and STK40, Bcl2 / BAX decreased compared with the normal group. After administration of hyperin, the above indexes changed in opposite directions (P &lt;0.05). Conclusion In this study, using molecular docking technology and constructing IRI mice model, it was confirmed that hyperin can reduce IRI and exert a protective effect on IRI by inhibiting STK40 expression.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shoulong Deng ◽  
Kun Yu ◽  
Baolu Zhang ◽  
Yuchang Yao ◽  
Zhixian Wang ◽  
...  

Many groups of Gram-negative bacteria cause diseases that are harmful to sheep. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), which is critical for detecting Gram-negative bacteria by the innate immune system, is activated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to initiate inflammatory responses and oxidative stress. Oxidation intermediates are essential activators of oxidative stress, as low levels of free radicals form a stressful oxidative environment that can clear invading pathogens. NO is an oxidation intermediate and its generation is regulated by nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase (GCHI) is the rate-limiting enzyme for tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) synthesis, which is essential for the production of inducible iNOS. Previously, we made vectors to overexpress the sheepTLR4gene. Herein, first generation (G1) of transgenic sheep was stimulated with LPSin vivoandin vitro, and oxidative stress and GCHI expression were investigated. Oxidative injury caused by TLR4 overexpression was tightly regulated in tissues. However, the transgenic (Tg) group still secreted nitric oxide (NO) when an iNOS inhibitor was added. Furthermore, GCHI expression remained upregulated in both serum and monocytes/macrophages. Thus, overexpression of TLR4 in transgenic sheep might accelerate the clearance of invading microbes through NO generation following LPS stimulation. Additionally, TLR4 overexpression also enhances GCHI activation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Jie Sun ◽  
Shanzhai Wei ◽  
Yilai Zhang ◽  
Jia Li

Objective. To explore the protective roles of Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) on acute renal injury (AKI) induced by sepsis. Methods. Firstly, an animal model of sepsis-induced AKI was established by injecting lipopolysaccharide (LPS) into mice. The mice were pretreated with an intraperitoneal injection of 1, 3, and 5 mg/(kg·d) APS for 3 consecutive days. The severity of kidney injury was then scored by histopathological analysis, and the concentrations of serum urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (SCr) and the levels of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) were determined as well. In in vitro experiments, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used to induce HK-2 cell injury to establish a sepsis-induced AKI cell model, and the cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) method was performed to determine the cytotoxicity and appropriate experimental concentration of APS. Then, cells were divided into the control, LPS, and APS+LPS groups. Cell apoptosis and inflammation-related TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 were determined by flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. The microscope was used to observe the morphological changes of cells, and the cell migration ability was measured by wound healing assay. RT-qPCR and Western blot assay were used to determine the mRNA and protein levels of apoptosis-related factors including caspase-3, caspase-9, Bax, and Bcl-2; endoplasmic reticulum stress- (ERS-) related biomarkers including C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) and glucose-regulated protein78 (GRP78); and epithelial-mesenchymal transition- (EMT-) related biomarkers including E-cadherin, Snail, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMΑ), and Vimentin. Results. In vivo experiments in mice showed that APS can reverse LPS-induced kidney damage in a concentration-dependent manner ( P < 0.05 ); the concentrations of BUN and Scr were increased (all P < 0.05 ); similarly, the levels of TNF-α and IL-1β were increased as well (all P < 0.05 ). In in vitro experiments, the results showed that LPS can significantly cause HK-2 cell damage and induce apoptosis, inflammation, ERS, and EMT. When APS concentration was in the range of 0-200 μg/mL, it had no cytotoxicity in HK-2 cells, and 100 μg/mL APS pretreatment could significantly mitigate the decrease of cell activity induced by LPS ( P < 0.05 ). Compared with the LPS group, APS pretreatment could inhibit the expression of inflammatory factors including TNF-α, IL-1 β, IL-6, and IL-8 (all P < 0.05 ), reducing the number of apoptotic cells ( P < 0.05 ), suppressing the expression of caspase-3, caspase-9, and Bax, but upregulating the expression levels of Bcl-2. In ERS, APS pretreatment inhibited LPS-induced upregulation of CHOP and GRP78. Moreover, in EMT, APS pretreatment could inhibit the morphological changes of cells, downregulate the migration, decrease the expression of EMT biomarkers, and inhibit the process of EMT. Conclusion. APS could alleviate sepsis-induced AKI by regulating inflammation, apoptosis, ERS, and EMT.


eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel A Gottschalk ◽  
Michael G Dorrington ◽  
Bhaskar Dutta ◽  
Kathleen S Krauss ◽  
Andrew J Martins ◽  
...  

Despite existing evidence for tuning of innate immunity to different classes of bacteria, the molecular mechanisms used by macrophages to tailor inflammatory responses to specific pathogens remain incompletely defined. By stimulating mouse macrophages with a titration matrix of TLR ligand pairs, we identified distinct stimulus requirements for activating and inhibitory events that evoked diverse cytokine production dynamics. These regulatory events were linked to patterns of inflammatory responses that distinguished between Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, both in vitro and after in vivo lung infection. Stimulation beyond a TLR4 threshold and Gram-negative bacteria-induced responses were characterized by a rapid type I IFN-dependent decline in inflammatory cytokine production, independent of IL-10, whereas inflammatory responses to Gram-positive species were more sustained due to the absence of this IFN-dependent regulation. Thus, disparate triggering of a cytokine negative feedback loop promotes tuning of macrophage responses in a bacteria class-specific manner and provides context-dependent regulation of inflammation dynamics.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaoxia Wang ◽  
Fengyan Li ◽  
Meiyan Wei ◽  
Sanyuan Zhang ◽  
Tong Wang

Abstract Background Circadian clock protein PERIOD2 (PER2) acts as a tumor suppressor in cancer; however, little is known about its involvement in chemosensitivity. Methods This study aimed to investigate the role and underlying mechanisms of PER2 in ovarian cancer sensitivity to cisplatin. Overexpression and knockdown of PER2 were performed to explore its role in ovarian cancer cell sensitivity to cisplatin both in vitro and in vivo. The protein levels of PI3K, AKT, caspase 3, E-cadherin, and other drug resistance-related molecules were determined in parental SKOV3 and SKOV3/DDP cells as well as in xenograft tumor tissues. Results Compared with parental cells, SKOV3/DDP cells had dramatically decreased PER2 expression, possibly due to hypermethylation in the PER2 promoter. PER2 overexpression significantly inhibited proliferation while promoting cisplatin-induced apoptosis in SKOV3 and SKOV3/DDP cells. In agreement, PER2-overexpressing SKOV3/DPP cells yielded significantly reduced tumor mass in cisplatin-treated mice compared with control cells. Mechanistically, PER2 overexpression remarkably reduced the protein amounts of PI3K, AKT, and MDR1, while increasing those of caspase 3 and E-cadherin in tumor tissues. Knockdown of PER2 exhibited opposite effects. PER2 overexpression also reduced the serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in tumor-bearing mice before the initiation of cisplatin treatment. Conclusion This study suggests that loss of PER2 contributes to cisplatin resistance in SKOV3 cells, possibly by activating the PI3K/AKT pathway and EMT, inhibiting apoptosis, and promoting drug efflux and inflammatory responses. Overexpression of PER2 could reverse these alterations and sensitize both parental SKOV3 and SKOV3/DDP cells to cisplatin.


Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 118 (21) ◽  
pp. 3394-3394
Author(s):  
Kaitlyn Shank ◽  
Yusup Shin ◽  
Carson Wills ◽  
Nicole Cunningham ◽  
Alevtina Domashenko ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 3394 Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) replenish the cellular components of the blood throughout life by a homeostatic process in which the majority of HSCs remain quiescent while a small percentage enter the cell cycle to either self-review or differentiate. During inflammatory responses to infections, Interferons (IFNa, IFNg) perturb HSC homeostasis, presumably in response to the demand for increased numbers of inflammatory cells. Previous studies have highlighted an apparent paradox, i.e. IFNs suppress the proliferation of normally cycling murine hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs), yet increase the fraction of normally quiescent Sca+ HSCs that proliferate. To investigate the mechanisms underlying this paradox, we dissected the dynamics of cell surface phenotypes, cell cycle kinetics, pro- and anti-apoptotic pathways within the HSC and HPC compartments in response to pIpC and IFNs both in vivo and in vitro. Forty-eight hours after pIpC injection, bone marrow (BM) cellularity declined by 60%, the proportion of Sca- kit+ HPCs fell from 0.45% to 0.05%, while the proportion of BM cells with the Sca+ kit+ HSC phenotype increased from 0.17 to 0.26%. To determine whether the increase in Sca+kit+ cells was due to proliferation of HSCs or upregulation of Sca-1 on HPCs, we cultured purified CD150+ Sca-Kit+ HPCs and CD150+Sca+kit+ HSCs in vitro with IFNa, IFNg, or PBS. Sca expression was induced on previously Sca- HPCs, and the level of Sca expression on HSCs was also increased. This induction was detectable as early as 6 hours after treatment and accompanied by an increase in Sca mRNA. BrdU incorporation into both HPC and HSC populations decreased from pre-treatment baselines, further indicating that the increase in cells with the HSC phenotype was not due to HSC proliferation, but rather the appearance of cycling HPCs within the HSC staining gate following IFN-induced upregulation of Sca. Staining with FITC-DEVD-FMK identified active cleaved capase-3 in pIpC- or IFN-treated cells, suggesting that the reduced cellularity following IFN reflected a cellular stress that killed Lin+ precursors cells and some HPCs, but spared HSCs. In contrast to lin+kit- precursors, all kit + HPCs and HSCs expressed bcl-2, suggesting that expression of anti-apoptotic proteins may prevent IFN-induced stress from resulting in HSC/HPC apoptosis despite the initial triggering of caspase-3 cleavage. In summary, acute treatment with IFNs has anti-proliferative effects on all hematopoietic cells, including precursors, HPCs and HSCs, with the apparent increase in HSC proliferation the result of HPCs masquerading as Sca+HSCs after exposure to IFN. Unlike precursors, HSCs and some HPCs survive treatment to IFNs despite activation of cleaved caspase-3, possibly due to their expression of bcl-2, and likely related anti-apoptotic regulators. The previously observed increase in HSC proliferation days and weeks following IFN treatment is most likely due to the homeostatic response of HSCs to the depopulation of the precursor and HPCs caused by acute IFN exposure. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maiwenn Pineau ◽  
Shiny Martis B. ◽  
Raphael Forquet ◽  
Jessica Baude ◽  
Lucie Grand ◽  
...  

DNA supercoiling is an essential mechanism of bacterial chromosome compaction, whose level is mainly regulated by topoisomerase I and DNA gyrase. Inhibiting either of these enzymes with antibiotics leads to global supercoiling modifications and subsequent changes in global gene expression. In previous studies, genes responding to DNA relaxation induced by gyrase inhibition were categorized as "supercoiling-sensitive". Here, we studied the opposite variation of DNA supercoiling in the phytopathogen Dickeya dadantii using the non-marketed antibiotic seconeolitsine, and obtained the first transcriptomic response of a Gram-negative bacterium to topoisomerase I inhibition. We find that the responding genes essentially differ from those observed after DNA relaxation, and further depend on the growth phase. We characterised these genes at the functional level, and also detected distinct patterns in their spatial and orientational organisation along the chromosome. Altogether, these results suggest that the "supercoiling-sensitivity" is not an intrinsic property of promoters, but depends on the action of specific topoisomerases, on the physiological conditions, and on their genomic context. Based on previous in vitro expression data of several promoters, we propose a qualitative model of SC-dependent regulation that accounts for many of the contrasting transcriptomic features observed after gyrase or topoisomerase I inhibition.


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