Bioinspired therapeutic platform based on extracellular vesicles for prevention of arterial wall remodeling in hypertension

Arterial stiffness due to the vessel remodeling is closely linked to raised blood pressure,and its physiopathologic mechanism is still not fully understood.We here aimed to explore whether extracellular vesicle(EV)mediated intercellular communication between endothelium and smooth muscle cell contribute to the blood vessel remodeling under hypertension.We here revealed that the arterial endothelial cells robustly secreted EV,which in turn could be circulated and/or directly taken up by the subendothelial smooth muscle cells(SMC).Under hypertension,the EV secretion increased and the miRNA profile changed significantly mainly due to the raised mechanical force and subsequent enhanced reactive oxygen species generation.Among the miRNA cargos in the EV,miR-320d/423-5p were found increased most significantly.In vivo delivery of miR-320d/423-5p mimics via engineered EV increased their expression in arterial vessels,recapitulating the phenotype in hypertension.In contrast,therapeutic delivery of miR-320d/423-5p inhibitors via engineered EV alleviated the phenotype in spontaneous hypertension rat model.Together,we have found that the injured endothelium due to the raised mechanical force in hypertension contributes to the arterial wall remodeling via the secreted EV.Our study has not only provided novel insights on the mechanism of hypertension associated blood vessel wall remodeling,but also shed light on therapeutic intervention of hypertension associated vascular diseases.

Adoptive transfer of metabolically reprogrammed macrophages for atherosclerosis treatment in diabetic ApoE^(-/-) mice

Atherosclerosis is characterized by inflammation in the arterial wall,which is known to be exacerbated by diabetes.Therapeutic repression of inflammation is a promising strategy for treating atherosclerosis.In this study,we showed that diabetes aggravated atherosclerosis in apolipoproteinE knockout(ApoE^(-/-))mice,in which increased expression of long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase 1(Acsl1)in macrophages played an important role.Knockdown of Acsl1 in macrophages(Mφ^(shAcsl1))reprogrammed macrophages to an anti-inflammatory phenotype,especially under hyperglycemic conditions.Injection of Mφ^(shAcsl1) reprogrammed macrophages into streptozotocin(STZ)-induced diabetic ApoE^(-/-) mice(ApoE^(-/-)+STZ)alleviated inflammation locally in the plaque,liver and spleen.Consistent with the reduction in inflammation,plaques became smaller and more stable after the adoptive transfer of reprogrammed macrophages.Taken together,our findings indicate that increased Acsl1 expression in macrophages play a key role in aggravated atherosclerosis of diabetic mice,possibly by promoting inflammation.Adoptive transfer of Acsl1 silenced macrophages may serve as a potential therapeutic strategy for atherosclerosis.

Calibration after bootstrap for accurate uncertainty quantification in regression models

Obtaining accurate estimates of machine learning model uncertainties on newly predicted data is essential for understanding the accuracy of the model and whether its predictions can be trusted.A common approach to such uncertainty quantification is to estimate the variance from an ensemble of models,which are often generated by the generally applicable bootstrap method.In this work,we demonstrate that the direct bootstrap ensemble standard deviation is not an accurate estimate of uncertainty but that it can be simply calibrated to dramatically improve its accuracy.We demonstrate the effectiveness of this calibration method for both synthetic data and numerous physical datasets from the field of Materials Science and Engineering.The approach is motivated by applications in physical and biological science but is quite general and should be applicable for uncertainty quantification in a wide range of machine learning regression models.

HIF1α epigenetically repressed macrophages via CRISPR/Cas9-EZH2 system for enhanced cancer immunotherapy

Immune suppressive microenvironment in tumor emerges as the main obstacle for cancer immunotherapy.In this study,we identified that HIF1α was activated in the tumor associated macrophages and acted as an important factor for the immune suppressive microenvironment.Epigenetically silencing of Hif1αvia histone H3 methylation in the promoter region was achieved by CRISPR/dCas9-EZH2 system,in which histone H3 methylase EZH2 was recruited to the promoter region specifically.The Hif1αsilenced macrophage,namely HERM(Hif1αEpigenetically Repressed Macrophage)manifested as inheritable tumor suppressing phenotype.In the subcutaneous B16-F10 melanoma syngeneic model,intratumoral injection of HERMs reprogrammed the immune suppressive microenvironment to the active one,reducing tumor burden and prolonging overall survival.Additionally,HERMs therapy remarkably inhibited tumor angiogenesis.Together,our study has not only identified a promising cellular and molecular target for reverting immune suppressive microenvironment,but also provided a potent strategy for reprogramming tumor microenvironment via epigenetically reprogrammed macrophages.