Effect of ginsenoside Rg1 on hematopoietic stem cells in treating aplastic anemia in mice via MAPK pathway

BACKGROUND Aplastic anemia(AA)presents a significant clinical challenge as a life-threatening condition due to failure to produce essential blood cells,with the current the-rapeutic options being notably limited.AIM To assess the therapeutic potential of ginsenoside Rg1 on AA,specifically its protective effects,while elucidating the mechanism at play.METHODS We employed a model of myelosuppression induced by cyclophosphamide(CTX)in C57 mice,followed by administration of ginsenoside Rg1 over 13 d.The invest-igation included examining the bone marrow,thymus and spleen for pathological changes via hematoxylin-eosin staining.Moreover,orbital blood of mice was collected for blood routine examinations.Flow cytometry was employed to identify the impact of ginsenoside Rg1 on cell apoptosis and cycle in the bone marrow of AA mice.Additionally,the study further evaluated cytokine levels with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and analyzed the expression of key proteins in the MAPK signaling pathway via western blot.RESULTS Administration of CTX led to significant damage to the bone marrow’s structural integrity and a reduction in hematopoietic cells,establishing a model of AA.Ginsenoside Rg1 successfully reversed hematopoietic dysfunction in AA mice.In comparison to the AA group,ginsenoside Rg1 provided relief by reducing the induction of cell apoptosis and inflammation factors caused by CTX.Furthermore,it helped alleviate the blockade in the cell cycle.Treatment with ginsenoside Rg1 significantly alleviated myelosuppression in mice by inhibiting the MAPK signaling pathway.CONCLUSION This study suggested that ginsenoside Rg1 addresses AA by alleviating myelosuppression,primarily through modulating the MAPK signaling pathway,which paves the way for a novel therapeutic strategy in treating AA,highlighting the potential of ginsenoside Rg1 as a beneficial intervention.

Effect of the Tiaobufeishen decoction on Caveolin-1-p38 MAPK signaling pathway and mechanism of improving the tracheobronchomalacia in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Objective: Reliving the rela ti onship of the Caveolin-1-p38 MAPK signaling pathway and COPD tr acheob ronchomalacia, and resea rch the mechanism of Tiaobufeishen decoc tion imp rove the regression of the weasand cartilage cells. Methods: Flow cytometry was used to analyze the apoptosis rate to determine the optimal concentration of Tiaobufeishen decoction and CSE, CCK8 assay was used to dete rmine the op ti mal concent ration of P38-MAPK specific inhibitor. The COPD cell model was created by tracheal chondrocyte which dispose by optimal concent ration CSE, then add the IL-1P set up the chond rocyte degene ration model, use the method of toluidine blue staining and immunohistochemical authenticate degeneration of cartilage. This research included control group, model group, model-Tiaobufeishen group, model-blocker group. When the model was set up succeed, add the Tiaobufeishen decoction and P38-MAPK blocke r in the model-Tiaobufeishen and model-blocke r gr oups, r espectively. Weste rn Blot was used to detect the exp ression of caveolin-1 and p-p38 in the chond rocyte. RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of MMP3 and caveolin-1 in the matrix. Results: The cell activity was not influence by the concentration of Tiaobufeishen decoction and blocker, the concentration of the CSE model was moderation. Compared with control group, the level of caveolin-1, p38MAPK, MMP3 in the model group was significant increase, moreover, the result of toluidine blue staining and immunohistochemical methods show that the chond rocyte has obvious reg ression. The exp ression of caveolin-1, p38MAPK, and MMP3 have significant decrease than the control group, and the reduction of chondrocyte degeneration. Conclusion: The caveolin-1-p38MAPK signaling pathway play an important role in the morbidity of the tracheobronchomalacia. Tiaobufeishen decoction could decrease the exp ression of the caveolin-1, p-p38, MMP3, inhibit the activa tion of the caveolin-1-p38MAPK signaling pathway, therefore, it can improve the tracheobronchomalacia.

BcSDR1 is involved in regulation of glucose transport and cAMP and MAPK signaling pathways in Botrytis cinerea

Botrytis cinerea is a typical necrotrophic pathogenic fungus that causes severe diseases in a wide range of plant species, leading to significant economic losses. Our previous study showed that BcSDR1 positively regulates growth,development, and pathogenicity of B. cinerea. However, the regulation mechanism of BcSDR1 and the relationship between BcSDR1 and cAMP and MAPK signaling pathways are not well understood. In this study, transcriptome data showed that BcSDR1 is involved in glucose transmembrane transport, signal transduction, secondary metabolism, and other biological processes. BcSDR1 mutant(BCt41) showed remarkably weak sensitivity to cAMP and MAPK signaling pathways specific inhibitors, SQ22536 and U0126, and significantly decreased cAMP content. The key genes of cAMP and MAPK signaling pathways, BcGB1, BcBTP1, BcBOS1, BcRAS1, and BcBMP3 were significantly upregulated,whereas BcPLC1, BcBCG1, BcCDC4, BcSAK1, BcATF1, and BcBAP1 were significantly downregulated(P<0.05).BcSDR1 was obviously upregulated in BcBCG2, BcBCG3, BcPKA1, and BcPKAR RNA interference(RNAi) mutants, but significantly downregulated in BcPKA2, BcBMP1, and BcBMP3 RNAi mutants. Thus, BcBCG2, BcBCG3, BcPKA1, and BcPKAR negatively regulate BcSDR1 expression, whereas BcPKA2, BcBMP1, and BcBMP3 positively regulate BcSDR1expression.

Nucleolin Mediates LPS-induced Expression of Inflammatory Mediators and Activation of Signaling Pathways

Summary:In this study,we investigated the effects of nucleolin on lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced activation of MAPK and NF-KappaB(NF-kB)signaling pathways and secretion of TNF-a,IL-1βand HMGB1 in THP-1 monocytes.Immunofluorescence assay and Western blotting were used to identify the nucleolin expression in cell membrane,cytoplasm and nucleus of THP-1 monocytes.Inactivation of nucleolin was induced by neutralizing antibody against nucleolin.THP-1 monocytes were pretreated with anti-nucleolin antibody for 1 h prior to LPS challenge.The irrelevant IgG group was used as control.Secretion of inflammatory mediators(TNF-a,IL-1β and HMGB1)and activation of MAPK and NF-kB/I-kB signaling pathways were examined to assess the effects of nucleolin on LPS-mediated inflammatory response.Nucleolin existed in cell membrane,cytoplasm and nucleus of THP-1 monocytes.Pretreatment of anti-nucleolin antibody significantly inhibited the LPS-induced secretion of TNF-a,IL-1β and HMGB1.P38,JNK,ERK and NF-κB subunit p65 inhibitors could significantly inhibit the secretion of IL-1β,TNF-a and HMGB1 induced by LPS.Moreover,the phosphorylation of p38,JNK,ERK and p65(or nuclear translocation of p65)was significantly increased after LPS challenge.In contrast,pretreatment of anti-nucleolin antibody could significantly inhibit the LPS-induced phosphorylation of p38,JNK,ERK and p65(or nuclear translocation of p65).However,the irrelevant IgG,as a negative control,had no effect on LPS-induced secretion of TNF-a and IL-Iβ and phosphorylation of p38,JNK,ERK and p65(or nuclear translocation of p65).We demonstrated that nucleolin mediated the LPS-induced activation of MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways,and regulated the secretion of inflammatory mediators(TNF-a,IL-1β and HMGB1).

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α–mediated upregulation of CD99 promotes the proliferation of placental mesenchymal stem cells by regulating ERK1/2

BACKGROUND As human placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells(hP-MSCs)exist in a physiologically hypoxic microenvironment,various studies have focused on the influence of hypoxia.However,the underlying mechanisms remain to be further explored.AIM The aim was to reveal the possible mechanisms by which hypoxia enhances the proliferation of hP-MSCs.METHODS A hypoxic cell incubator(2.5%O2)was used to mimic a hypoxic microenvironment.Cell counting kit-8 and 5-ethynyl-20-deoxyuridine incorporation assays were used to assay the proliferation of hP-MSCs.The cell cycle was profiled by flow cytometry.Transcriptome profiling of hP-MSCs under hypoxia was performed by RNA sequencing.CD99 mRNA expression was assayed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.Small interfering RNA-mediated hypoxia-inducible factor 1α(HIF-1α)or CD99 knockdown of hP-MSCs,luciferase reporter assays,and the ERK1/2 signaling inhibitor PD98059 were used in the mechanistic analysis.Protein expression was assayed by western blotting;immunofluorescence assays were conducted to evaluate changes in expression levels.RESULTS Hypoxia enhanced hP-MSC proliferation,increased the expression of cyclin E1,cyclin-dependent kinase 2,and cyclin A2,and decreased the expression of p21.Under hypoxia,CD99 expression was increased by HIF-1α.CD99-specific small interfering RNA or the ERK1/2 signaling inhibitor PD98059 abrogated the hypoxia-induced increase in cell proliferation.CONCLUSION Hypoxia promoted hP-MSCs proliferation in a manner dependent on CD99 regulation of the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway in vitro.

Comparative Analysis of Protein Expression Concomitant with DNA Methyltransferase 3A Depletion in a Melanoma Cell Line

DNA methyltransferase 3A (Dnmt3a), a de novo methyltransferase, has attracted a great deal of attention for its important role played in tumorigenesis. We have previously demonstrated that melanoma is unable to grow in-vivo in conditions of Dnmt3a depletion in a mouse model. In this study, we cultured the Dnmt3a depletion B16 melanoma (Dnmt3a-D) cell line to conduct a comparative analysis of protein expression con-comitant with Dnmt3a depletion in a melanoma cell line. After two-dimensional separation, by gel electro-phoresis and liquid chromatography, combined with mass spectrometry analysis (1DE-LC-MS/MS), the re-sults demonstrated that 467 proteins were up-regulated and 535 proteins were down-regulated in the Dnmt3a-D cell line compared to the negative control (NC) cell line. The Genome Ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway were used to further analyze the altered proteins. KEGG pathway analysis indicated that the MAPK signaling pathway exhibited a greater alteration in proteins, an interesting finding due to the close relation-ship with tumorigenesis. The results strongly suggested that Dnmt3a potentially controls the process of tu-morigenesis through the regulation of the proteins (JNK1, p38α, ERK1, ERK2, and BRAF) involved in tu-mor-related pathways, such as the MAPK signaling pathway and melanoma pathway.

Enhancive effect of N,N'-dinitrosopiperazine on inducing precancerous lesion on nasal and/or nasopharyngeal epithelia of TgN(p53mt-LMP1)/HT mice

Objective： To investigate the enhancive effect ofN, N′-dinitrosopiperazine （DNP） on induced carcinogenesis in nasal and/or nasopharyngeal epithelia among TgN（p53mt-LMP1）/HT transgenic mice to examine the underlying mechanism for the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma （NPC）. Methods： TgN（p53mt-LMP1）/HT transgenic mice and the same strain of C57BL/6J wild-type mice both at the age of 5 months were randomly divided into 2 groups in parallel, respectively, i.e., TgN（p53mt-LMP1）/HT cancerous lesion-inducing group （T1）, TgN（p53mt-LMP1）/HT control group （TC）, C57BL/6J cancerous lesion-inducing group （CI）, and C57BL/6J control group （CC）. TI and CI mice were treated only with DNP for 16 weeks, twice each week, while TC and CC mice were given the same volume of saline as controls.At the end of treatment, animals were sacrificed to collect epithelial tissue samples from nasal cavity and nasopharynx for pathohistological evaluation by hacmatoxylin and eosin （HE） staining and for determination on the expression ofTRAF2, c-Jun, and p 16 by immunohistochemistry. Results： Atypical hyperplasia was more significant in the samples of TI than in those of TC, CI, and CC, with the rates of lesions being 90%, 10%, 0, and 0 （P〈0.01） respectively, though DNP was used alone in a much shortened inducing period at less dosage and without the use of carcinogenic promoter 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate as usual. The expressions of tumor necrosis factor （TNF） receptor-associated factor 2 （TRAF2） and c-Jun in these samples were significantly up-regulated in TI （P〈0.0 I）, while tbe expression of p16 was significantly lower in TI than in the other groups （P〈0.01）. Conclusion： TgN（p53mt-LMPI）/HT mice hold inherited constitutional defect in immune surveillance function, which can be aggravated by environmental carcinogens, such as DNP used even though in a much less strength. The enhanced carcinogenesis-inducing effect of DNP on TgN（p53mt-LMP1）/HT mice should be closely associated with abnormal signaling of activator protein-1 （AP-1） pathway, especially up-regulated expressions of TRAF2 and c-Jun, and down-regulated expression of p l6.

The functional analysis of transiently upregulated miR-101 suggests a “braking” regulatory mechanism during myogenesis

Skeletal muscle differentiation is a highly coordinated process that involves many cellular signaling pathways and microRNAs(miRNAs).A group of muscle-specific miRNAs has been reported to promote myogenesis by suppressing key signaling pathways for cell growth.However,the functional role and regulatory mechanism of most non-muscle-specific miRNAs with stage-specific changes during differentiation are largely unclear.Here,we describe the functional characterization of miR-101a/b,a pair of non-muscle-specific miRNAs that show the largest change among a group of transiently upregulated miRNAs during myogenesis in C2C12 cells.The overexpression of miR-101a/b inhibits myoblast differentiation by suppressing the p38/MAPK,Interferon Gamma,and Wnt pathways and enhancing the C/EBP pathway.Mef2a,a key protein in the p38/MAPK pathway,was identified as a direct target of miR-101a/b.Interestingly,we found that the long non-coding RNA(lncRNA)Malat1,which promotes muscle differentiation,interacts with miR-101a/b,and this interaction competes with Mef2a mRNA to relieve the inhibition of the p38/MAPK pathway during myogenesis.These results uncovered a“braking”role in differentiation of transiently upregulated miRNAs and provided new insights into the competing endogenous RNA(ceRNA)regulatory mechanism in myoblast differentiation and myogenesis.