Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Hongwu Meng, Lingfeng Jiang, Pengcheng Jia, Ruowen Niu, Fangtian Bu, Yan Zhu, Xueyin Pan, Juanjuan Li, Jinyu Liu, Yilong Zhang, Cheng Huang, Xiongwen Lv, Jun Li
Summary: This study identified a novel circRNA ASPH (circASPH) that mediates hepatic fibrosis (HF) by targeting the miR-139-5p/Notch1 axis. The expression profile of circASPH in hepatocyte exosomes of mice with HF was found to be upregulated. Downregulation of circASPH expression inhibited hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and proliferation, induced apoptosis, and attenuated mouse liver fibrogenic injury. Thus, circASPH may serve as a potential biomarker for HF diagnosis and therapy.
BIOCHEMICAL PHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Zhikui Liu, Huanye Mo, Runkun Liu, Yongshen Niu, Tianxiang Chen, Qiuran Xu, Kangsheng Tu, Nan Yang
Summary: The study revealed that matrix stiffness can induce HSC activation through E2F3, promoting HCC cell growth and metastasis via FGF2 secretion.
CELL DEATH & DISEASE
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Md Saidur Rahman, Won-Ki Pang, Shehreen Amjad, Do-Yeal Ryu, Elikanah Olusayo Adegoke, Yoo-Jin Park, Myung-Geol Pang
Summary: This study evaluated the effects of exposure to mixtures containing bisphenol A and seven phthalates on liver functions and metabolic homeostasis. The results showed that exposure to EDCs at doses exceeding the human daily exposure limit had detrimental impacts on overall liver function, leading to metabolic abnormalities, steatohepatitis, and hepatic fibrosis. These findings have significant relevance for public health.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yongxiang Shu, Yajun He, Guorong Ye, Xuyou Liu, Jiahuang Huang, Qinghui Zhang, Da Tian, Tengyan Wang, Jianchang Shu
Summary: Curcumin inhibits the activity and promotes apoptosis of LX-2 cells by suppressing autophagy through activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. In addition, lipid recovery and energy deprivation due to autophagy inhibition may be the mechanism by which curcumin attenuates the pro-fibrotic activity of LX-2.
JOURNAL OF CELLULAR BIOCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Review
Cell Biology
Bari Aamna, Aritra Kumar Dan, Raghaba Sahu, Santosh Kumar Behera, Sagarika Parida
Summary: beta-Arrestins are intracellular proteins with various functions, playing roles in GPCR desensitization, receptor endocytosis, and ubiquitylation. They also act as adaptor proteins, controlling the recruitment, activation, and scaffolding of signaling complexes, and participate in cellular processes such as proliferation, migration, apoptosis, and transcription. Additionally, their involvement in cancer onset and progression has been recognized.
JOURNAL OF CELLULAR PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Yanni Zhou, Dan Long, Ying Zhao, Shengfu Li, Yan Liang, Lin Wan, Jingyao Zhang, Fulai Xue, Li Feng
Summary: This study revealed that oxidative stress contributes to enhanced mitochondrial fission, which triggers OxPhos during HSC activation. Importantly, inhibiting mitochondrial fission has huge prospects for alleviating liver fibrosis by eliminating active HSCs.
CELL DEATH & DISEASE
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yufei Yan, Jiefei Zeng, Linhao Xing, Changyong Li
Summary: Hepatic fibrosis is characterized by the accumulation of extracellular matrix in the liver due to persistent injury. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling the fibrotic response is crucial for developing clinical strategies to prevent fibrosis progression. Activation of hepatic stellate cells plays a key role in promoting ECM synthesis, and various external signals contribute to this process.
Article
Cell Biology
Yusuke Kametani, Shota Tanaka, Yuriko Wada, Shota Suzuki, Ayaka Umeda, Kosuke Nishinaka, Yoshiaki Okada, Makiko Maeda, Shigeru Miyagawa, Yoshiki Sawa, Masanori Obana, Yasushi Fujio
Summary: Mammalian cardiomyocytes largely cease to proliferate immediately after birth, limiting the regenerative activity of the heart. Inhibition of GSK-3 promotes cardiomyocyte proliferation, and YAP is endogenously activated. This study addresses the importance of YAP activity in GSK-3 inhibitor-induced cardiomyocyte proliferation.
JOURNAL OF CELLULAR PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Alessia Parascandolo, Mikko O. Laukkanen
Summary: Superoxide dismutase (SOD) family isoenzymes, including SOD1, SOD2, and SOD3, synthesize hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to regulate signal transduction. The cellular response to SOD3 is dose-dependent, with high concentrations reducing cell survival.
Article
Immunology
Jie Wang, Lina Yang, Jialing You, Dada Wen, Bo Yang, Canhua Jiang
Summary: The study found that PDGF-BB can induce autophagy of oral mucosal fibroblasts through the interaction of Beclin-1 and PI3KC3, promoting cell proliferation, migration, and collagen synthesis. However, the inhibition of this interaction weakened the fibroblasts' activities. Overall, PDGF-BB regulates the biological behavior of oral mucosal fibroblasts by inducing autophagy through the Beclin-1 pathway.
JOURNAL OF INFLAMMATION RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Zhihua Teng, Jie Yao, Ling Zhu, Lufeng Zhao, Gang Chen
Summary: This study revealed that ZNF655 is abundantly expressed in NSCLC, and its knockdown can inhibit the malignant behaviors of tumor cells, leading to decreased tumorigenesis. ZNF655 may regulate apoptosis of NSCLC cells through the PI3K/Akt and p53 signaling pathways.
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Ling-Feng Jiang, Ming Yang, Hong-Wu Meng, Peng-Cheng Jia, Chang-Lin Du, Jin-Yu Liu, Xiong-Wen Lv, Cheng-Huang, Jun Li
Summary: This study investigated the role of IL-11 in hepatic fibrosis and its potential as a therapeutic target. Increased IL-11 levels were found in patients and a mouse model of hepatic fibrosis, and silencing IL-11 reduced its expression. In vitro experiments showed that IL-11 enhanced cell activation and proliferation in LX-2 cells, and promoted apoptosis in LO-2 cells through JNK/ERK signaling pathways.
Article
Oncology
Miao Li, Yan Rui, Wenjia Peng, Junfeng Hu, Anbang Jiang, Zeyu Yang, Linian Huang
Summary: This study investigated a novel molecular therapeutic target, FIGNL1, for lung cancer and found that its high expression was associated with decreased function and enhanced cell death in lung cancer cells.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Edilburga Reyes-Jimenez, Alma Aurora Ramirez-Hernandez, Jovito Cesar Santos-Alvarez, Juan Manuel Velazquez-Enriquez, Socorro Pina-Canseco, Rafael Baltierrez-Hoyos, Veronica Rocio Vasquez-Garzon
Summary: Pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic progressive disease with high incidence rates worldwide. Oxidative stress, characterized by overproduction of 4-HNE, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis, with complex cellular and molecular mechanisms involved.
MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Arshad Husain Rahmani, Ali Yousif Babiker, Shehwaz Anwar
Summary: Cancer is a major cause of death worldwide, and current therapies have side effects. Natural products, containing bioactive ingredients, can modulate oxidative stress, inflammation, and cell signaling to manage diseases. Hesperidin, commonly found in citrus fruits, has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, and cardio-preventive properties. It shows anticancer potential by modulating various cell signaling pathways, such as apoptosis, cell cycle, angiogenesis, and ERK/MAPK. It can also synergistically enhance the effects of anticancer drugs and other natural compounds.
Article
Cell Biology
Ke Mi, Lizhong Zeng, Yang Chen, Jingya Ning, Siyuan Zhang, Peilin Zhao, Shuanying Yang
Summary: In this study, the researchers explored the role of DHX38 in NSCLC and its underlying molecular mechanism. They found that DHX38 was overexpressed in NSCLC and patients with high DHX38 expression had poor prognosis. DHX38 promoted cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in NSCLC and activated the MAPK pathway. The researchers also identified G3BP1 as a target protein that interacted with DHX38 and showed that DHX38 regulated the expression of G3BP1. Silencing G3BP1 reversed the effects of DHX38 overexpression on tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and inhibited the MAPK pathway activation.
CELLULAR SIGNALLING
(2024)
Article
Cell Biology
Tiina A. Jokela, Mark A. Dane, Rebecca L. Smith, Kaylyn L. Devlin, Sundus Shalabi, Jennifer C. Lopez, Masaru Miyano, Martha R. Stampfer, James E. Korkola, Joe W. Gray, Laura M. Heiser, Mark A. Labarge
Summary: Microenvironment signals have a significant impact on cell fate and tissue homeostasis. Understanding how different microenvironment factors regulate cellular phenotype has been challenging. In this study, a high-throughput microenvironment microarray was used to identify factors that support the proliferation and maintenance of primary human mammary luminal epithelial cells. Multiple factors that modulate luminal cell number were identified and their effects were confirmed using RNA sequencing and cell-based functional studies. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) was found to be robust to individual variation and played a role in expanding luminal cells. Our approach demonstrates the power of high-dimensional cell-based approaches in dissecting microenvironmental signals.
CELLULAR SIGNALLING
(2024)
Article
Cell Biology
Chao He, Yongfeng Ding, Yan Yang, Gang Che, Fei Teng, Haohao Wang, Jing Zhang, Donghui Zhou, Yanyan Chen, Zhan Zhou, Haiyong Wang, Lisong Teng
Summary: This study categorized gastric cancer patients into three stemness subtypes, each demonstrating distinct prognoses, components of tumor microenvironment (TME) infiltration, and varying sensitivity or resistance to treatment. A stemness risk model was constructed to predict treatment response and prognosis.
CELLULAR SIGNALLING
(2024)
Article
Cell Biology
Haile Zhao, Lijuan Feng, Rui Cheng, Man Wu, Xiaozhou Bai, Lifei Fan, Yaping Liu
Summary: miR-29c-3p is overexpressed in benign and malignant ovarian carcinoma and is associated with poor prognosis. Its overexpression modulates tumorigenesis in ovarian cancer cells, including epithelial-mesenchymal transition, proliferation, migration, and invasion, through the regulation of DNMT3A, TET1, and HBP1. miR-29c-3p may serve as a potential biomarker for clinical diagnosis or co-diagnosis of ovarian carcinoma.
CELLULAR SIGNALLING
(2024)
Article
Cell Biology
Haiyan Zhao, Fangfang Bi, Mengyuan Li, Yuhan Diao, Chen Zhang
Summary: This study confirmed the tumor suppressor effect of RNF180 on ovarian cancer, elucidated the mechanism of the molecule network related to RNF180 and IPO4 in ovarian cancer, and identified a new therapeutic target for ovarian cancer.
CELLULAR SIGNALLING
(2024)
Article
Cell Biology
Chu Chen, Guanhua Xu, Jiajia Chen, Chunshuai Wu, Jinlong Zhang, Jiawei Jiang, Hongxiang Hong, Zhiming Cui
Summary: This study investigated the role of transcription factor FoxO1 in facet joint osteoarthritis (FJOA) and found that FoxO1 deletion led to severe osteoarthritic changes. Transcriptome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and potential key contributors to FJOA. Additionally, over-expression of certain genes and inhibition of others were shown to counteract the impairments caused by FoxO1 deletion in chondrocyte migration and extracellular matrix synthesis. These findings help unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying FJOA and open up promising therapeutic avenues for its treatment.
CELLULAR SIGNALLING
(2024)
Article
Cell Biology
Wen Deng, Ru Chen, Situ Xiong, Jianqiang Nie, Hailang Yang, Ming Jiang, Bing Hu, Xiaoqiang Liu, Bin Fu
Summary: This study demonstrates that circFSCN1 is upregulated in bladder cancer and associated with cancer-specific survival. CircFSCN1 promotes tumor progression and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in bladder cancer through enhancing MDM2-mediated silencing of p53 by sponging miR-145-5p.
CELLULAR SIGNALLING
(2024)
Article
Cell Biology
Jun Wu, Weibin Hu, Wenhui Yang, Yihao Long, Kaizhao Chen, Fugui Li, Xiaodong Ma, Xun Li
Summary: Cholesterol biosynthesis and metabolism play critical roles in tumor development and microenvironmental conditions. Squalene Epoxidase (SQLE), the second rate-limiting enzyme in cholesterol synthesis, is found to be uniquely expressed in various cancers, and its expression level is closely associated with tumor mutation burden and microsatellite instability. SQLE expression is negatively correlated with immune cell infiltration. Inhibition of SQLE alters the immune response in the tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, protein metabolism and translation are identified as main binding factors with SQLE.
CELLULAR SIGNALLING
(2024)
Article
Cell Biology
Zhihong Zhang, Mingyue Li, Yi Tai, Yue Xing, Hongxiang Zuo, Xuejun Jin, Juan Ma
Summary: ZNF70 plays an important role in colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC) by regulating macrophages IL-1 beta secretion to promote HCT116 proliferation. It may serve as a promising target for treating CAC.
CELLULAR SIGNALLING
(2024)
Article
Cell Biology
Zenghong Wu, Gangping Li, Weijun Wang, Kun Zhang, Mengke Fan, Yu Jin, Rong Lin
Summary: This study comprehensively explored the role of immune checkpoints and tumor microenvironment in gastric cancer patients based on genomic data. It constructed an ICIs signature and ICI score to evaluate patient prognosis and heterogeneity.
CELLULAR SIGNALLING
(2024)
Article
Cell Biology
Yantong Wan, Jieshu Zhou, Panpan Zhang, Xuemei Lin, Hao Li
Summary: This study found that Rac1 plays a role in astrocyte activation and attenuates chronic inflammatory pain by blocking the phosphorylation of NLRP3 inflammasome and NF-kappa B.
CELLULAR SIGNALLING
(2024)
Article
Cell Biology
Zhen Wang, Diankun She, Lei Liu, Xianming Hua, Hao Zhu, Lingfeng Yu, Han Wang, Yan Zhu, Gentao Fan, Yicun Wang, Meng Xu, Guangxin Zhou
Summary: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that play a role in the regulation of various cancers, including osteosarcoma (OS). This study identified circSATB2 as a highly expressed circRNA in OS tissues and cell lines, and demonstrated its involvement in promoting OS proliferation and migration. Mechanistically, circSATB2 was found to regulate the progression of OS by sponging miR-661 and FUS to regulate ZNFX1 mRNA. These findings suggest that circSATB2 could serve as a prognostic marker and therapeutic target for osteosarcoma.
CELLULAR SIGNALLING
(2024)
Article
Cell Biology
Kenichi Ogata, Masafumi Moriyama, Tatsuya Kawado, Hiroki Yoshioka, Aiko Yano, Mayu Matsumura-Kawashima, Seiji Nakamura, Shintaro Kawano
Summary: This study found that extracellular vesicles released by induced pluripotent stem cells can reduce inflammatory cell infiltration, increase saliva volume, and decrease the production of antibodies associated with Sjogren's syndrome in a mouse model. The let-7 family in these vesicles may suppress the expression of TLR4 and NF-kappa B, which leads to the inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokine production through the MAPK pathway.
CELLULAR SIGNALLING
(2024)
Article
Cell Biology
Mikayla R. Erdelsky, Sarah A. Groves, Charmi Shah, Samantha B. Delios, M. Bibiana Umana, Donald H. Maurice
Summary: Recent evidence suggests that cAMP signaling within the primary cilium plays a crucial role in promoting adipogenic differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. In this study, the researchers identified the specific cAMP phosphodiesterases expressed by these cells and found that inhibition of PDE4 promotes FFAR4-mediated adipogenesis. This work could potentially lead to the discovery of more targeted therapeutic approaches for controlling adipogenesis and differentiation of other stem cells.
CELLULAR SIGNALLING
(2024)
Article
Cell Biology
Chun-Hui Liu, Jun-Jie Zhang, Qian-Jin Zhang, Yang Dong, Zhen-Duo Shi, Si-Hao Hong, Hou-Guang He, Wei Wu, Cong-Hui Han, Lin Hao
Summary: Bladder cancer, the most common malignant tumor in the urinary system, is associated with significantly up-regulated expression of P3H4, which is regulated by METTL3 and plays a crucial role in the proliferation, metastasis, and EMT progression of bladder cancer. Targeting this METTL3-P3H4 pathway may serve as a potential therapeutic strategy for bladder cancer.
CELLULAR SIGNALLING
(2024)