Immunotherapy of hepatoma with a monoclonal antibody against murine endoglin

AIM: To explore the capability of a monoclonal antibody (mAb) against murine endoglin to inhibit tumor angiogenesis and suppression of hepatoma growth in murine models. METHODS: A monoclonal antibody against murine endoglin was purified by affinity chromatography and passively transfused through tail veins in two murine hepatoma models. Tumor volume and survival time were observed at three-day intervals for 48 d. Microvessels in tumor tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry against CD31, and angiogenesis in vivo was determined by alginate encapsulated assay. In addition, tumor cell apoptosis was detected by TUNEL assay. RESULTS: Passive immunotherapy with anti-endoglin mAb could effectively suppress tumor growth, and prolonged the survival time of hepatoma-bearing mice. Angiogenesis was apparently inhibited within the tumor tissues, and the vascularization of alginate beads was also reduced in the mice passively transfused with anti- endoglin mAb. In addition, increased apoptotic cells were observed within the tumor tissues from the mice passively transfused with anti-endoglin mAb. CONCLUSION: Passive immunotherapy with anti- endoglin mAb effectively inhibits tumor growth via inhibiting tumor angiogenesis and increasing tumor cell apoptosis, which may be highly correlated with the blockage of endoglin-related signal pathway induced bya nti-endoglin mAb.

Mechanism of Liangxue Huayu decoction in treatment of age-related macular degeneration based on network pharmacology and clinical validation

Background:This paper investigates the mechanism of Liangxue Huayu decoction treating age-related macular degeneration through network pharmacology and clinical verification.Methods:The potential targets of Liangxue Huayu decoction were retrieved by the BATMAN-TCM database,and age-related macular degeneration-related disease targets were collected using the OMIM,GeneCards,and CTD databases.The intersection of targets for Liangxue Huayu decoction for age-related macular degeneration was performed using the online tool Venny2.1.0.Protein-protein interaction network was drawn using the String database.And core targets were obtained with the CytoNCA plugin.The gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses were performed using the Metascape database.Finally,targets of Liangxue Huayu decoction for age-related macular degeneration were identified in clinical research.Results:In this study,832 potential action targets and 9,475 age-related macular degeneration-related disease targets were screened,and 575 intersection targets of Liangxue Huayu decoction and age-related macular degeneration were obtained.Protein-protein interaction network analysis showed that 15 core targets include chemokine 8,interleukin 1,histone deacetylase 2,estrogen receptor 2,and glutamate ionotropic receptor NMDA type subunit 1,et al.Gene ontology enrichment analysis included 2,727 biological processes,434 molecular functions,and 206 cellular components.Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis selected 107 signaling pathways.Clinical validation showed that peripheral blood chemokine 8 and interleukin 1 levels were significantly lower after age-related macular degeneration patients compared with before treatment,and the difference was statistically significant(t chemokine 8=12.684,t interleukin 1=11.405,all P<0.001).Conclusion:By treating age-related macular degeneration with multiple targets and multiple pathways,Liangxue Huayu decoction can down-regulate the expression of inflammatory factors and treat age-related macular degeneration,which provides a basis for further studying the action mechanism of regulating age-related macular degeneration.

Acute histopathological responses and long-term behavioral outcomes in mice with graded controlled cortical impact injury

While animal models of controlled cortical impact often display short-term motor dysfunction after injury, histological examinations do not show severe cortical damage. Thus, this model requires further improvement. Mice were subjected to injury at three severities using a Pin-Point^(TM)-controlled cortical impact device to establish secondary brain injury mouse models. Twenty-four hours after injury, hematoxylin-eosin staining, Fluoro-Jade B histofluorescence, and immunohistochemistry were performed for brain slices. Compared to the uninjured side, we observed differences of histopathological findings, neuronal degeneration, and glial cell number in the CA2 and CA3 regions of the hippocampus on the injured side. The Morris water maze task and beam-walking test verified long-term(14–28 days) spatial learning/memory and motor balance. To conclude, the histopathological responses were positively correlated with the degree of damage,as were the long-term behavioral manifestations after controlled cortical impact. All animal procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine.

RNA interference against interleukin-5 attenuates airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness in an asthma model

Interleukin-5 (IL-5) accompanies the development of airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness through the activation of eosinophils. Therefore, interference of IL-5 expression in lung tissue seems to be an accepted approach in asthma therapy. In this study, we designed a small interfering RNA (siRNA) to inhibit the expression of IL-5. The siRNAs against IL-5 were constructed in a lentivirus expressing system, and 1.5×106 IFU (inclusion-forming unit) lentiviruses were administered intratracheally to ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized murine asthmatic models. Our results show that lentivirus-delivered siRNA against IL-5 efficiently inhibited the IL-5 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression and significantly attenuated the inflammation in lung tissue. Significant decrease of eosinophils and inflammatory cells were found in peripheral blood, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and lung tissue. In addition, significant inhibition of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) was found in the mice treated with siRNA against IL-5. These observations demonstrate that siRNA delivered by means of the lentivirus system is possibly an efficacious therapeutic approach for asthma.