The role of circRNAs in renal cell carcinoma / 中国医师杂志

Renal cell carcinoma is a malignant tumor originating from renal tubular epithelial cells. Its pathogenesis is complicated, with no typical early clinical symptoms. Most patients are already in the advanced stage at the time of diagnosis and have a high mortality rate. The development mechanism and treatment strategy of renal cell carcinoma are the current research focus. In recent years, non-coding RNA has been proved to play a crucial role in regulating tumor progression. Among them, circular RNA plays a unique role in tumor development due to its nonlinear structure. The dysregulation of circular RNA is closely related to the progression of a series of diseases including metabolic diseases and cancer. Similarly, circular RNA plays a key role in the progression, treatment, and prognosis prediction of renal cell carcinoma. This article briefly reviews role of circular RNA in renal cell carcinoma, hoping to bring new research directions for the diagnosis and treatment of renal cell carcinoma.

Ovarian steroid cell tumor, not otherwise specified: a case report and review of literature / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

We present a case of a postmenopausal women with hyperandrogenic symptoms and virilization signs , such as hirsutism, alopecia, acne and clitoromegaly, which was pathologically confirmed to be an ovarian steroid cell tumor, not otherwise specified(NOS). The levels of testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and estradiol in serum were increased, while the levels of luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone were decreased. Computed tomography(CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) identified a solid, left ovarian tumor and detected an additional tumor of hypodensity in the left adrenal gland. ACTH stimulation test, hCG stimulation test, adrenal and ovarian vein sampling indicated that excessive androgens were derived from the ovary. After the injection of gonadotropin hormone analogues(GnRHa), testosterone levels dropped to the normal range. Laparoscopic bilateral adnexectomy was performed, and pathology indicated NOS. The purpose of this report is to improve the understanding of NOS with hyperandrogenic presentation.

Palbociclib induces cell cycle arrest and senescence of human renal tubular epithelial cells / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the effect of palbociclib on cell cycle progression and proliferation of human renal tubular epithelial cells.@*METHODS@#Human renal tubular epithelial cell line HK-2 was treated with 1, 5, 10, and 20 μmol/L of palbociclib, and the changes in cell proliferation and viability were examined by cell counting and CCK8 assay. EDU staining was used to assess the proliferation of HK-2 cells following palbiciclib treatment at different concentrations for 5 days. The effect of palbociclib on cell cycle distribution of HK-2 cells was evaluated using flow cytometry. SA-β-Gal staining and C12FDG senescence staining were used to detect senescence phenotypes of HK-2 cells after palbociclib treatment at different concentrations for 5 days. The relative mRNA expression levels of P16, P21, and P53 and the genes associated with senescence-related secretion phenotypes were detected by RT-PCR, and the protein expressions of P16, P21 and P53 were detected by Western blotting.@*RESULTS@#Palbociclib inhibited HK-2 cell proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest in G1 phase. Compared with the control cells, HK-2 cells treated with high-dose (10 μmol/L) palbociclib exhibited significantly suppressed cell proliferation activity, and the inhibitory effect was the most obvious on day 5 (@*CONCLUSIONS@#Palbociclib induces HK-2 cell senescence by causing cell growth arrest and delaying cell cycle progression.

Blocking pannexin-1 alleviates cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury in mice by reducing renal inflammatory cell infiltration / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the effect of blocking pannexin-1 against acute kidney injury induced by cisplatin.@*METHODS@#Twenty-six male C57BL/6 mice aged 6-8 weeks were randomly divided into control group, cisplatin model (Cis) group and cisplatin + carbenoxolone treatment group (Cis + CBX). In Cis group and Cis + CBX group, the mice were injected intraperitoneally with 20 mg/kg of cisplatin and with CBX (20 mg/kg) at 30 min before and 24 and 48 h after cisplatin inhjection, respectively. All the mice were sacrificed at 72 h after cisplatin injection, and plasma and kidney samples were collected for testing mRNA and protein expression levels of pannexin-1 in the renal tissue using RT-qPCR and Western blotting and for detecting plasma creatinine and BUN levels; the pathological changes in the renal tissues were observed using Periodic Acid-Schiff staining. The expression of kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1) was examined using immunohistochemistry and the mRNA expressions of KIM-1 and neutrophil gelatinase- related lipid transport protein (NGAL) were detected by RT-qPCR to evaluate the injuries of the renal tubules. The infiltration of F4/80-positive macrophages and CD4-positive T cells were observed by immunofluorescence. In the experiment, human proximal tubule epithelial cell line HK-2 was stimulated with 50 μmol/L cisplatin to establish a cell model of acute kidney injury, and the mRNA and protein expressions of pannexin-1 were detected by RT-qPCR and Western blotting at 4, 6, 12, 18 and 24 h after the stimulation.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the control mice, the cisplatin-treated mice showed significantly up-regulated protein levels ( < 0.05) and mRNA levels ( < 0.005) of pannexin-1 in the kidney tissue. Cisplatin stimulation also caused significant increases in the protein levels ( < 0.005) and mRNA levels ( < 0.005) of pannexin-1 in cultured HK-2 cells. Compared with cisplatin-treated mice, the mice treated with both cisplatin and the pannexin-1 inhibitor CBX showed obviously lessened kidney pathologies and milder renal tubular injuries with significantly reduced plasma BUN and Scr levels ( < 0.01), expressions of KIM-1 and NGAL in the kidney ( < 0.05), and infiltration of F4/80-positive macrophages ( < 0.01) and CD4- positive T cells ( < 0.05) in the kidney tissues.@*CONCLUSIONS@#In cisplatin induced acute kidney injury mice model, Pannexin-1 expression is up-regulated in the kidneys tissue, and blocking pannexin-1 alleviates the acute kidney injury reducing renal inflammatory cell infiltration.

Effects of Saikosaponin-d on Transcriptional Activation of Estrogen Receptor in Rat Hepatic Stellate Cells / 广州中医药大学学报

Objective To observe the effect of saikosaponin-d on transcriptional activation of estrogen receptor in rat hepatic stellate cells(HSC-T6), and to explore its pharmacological mechanism. Methods The rat HSC-T6 were cultured in vitro for the study. After transient transfection of HSC-T6 with the ER-specific reporter gene ERE-tk-Luc by liposome, the effect of saikosaponin-d and estradiol on luciferase activity was observed by Dual-Luciferase Reporter Assay System under the conditions of various drug concentrations, various treatment time and addition of estrogen receptor inhibitor ICI182. 780. Results When the concentrations of saikosaponin-d and estradiol were in the range of 0.01-5 μmol/L, 0.01-1 μmol/L respectively, luciferase activity was increased in a dose-dependent manner . Luciferase activity arrived the highest when saikosaponin-d concentration was 5 μmol/L and estradiol concentration was 1 μmol/L, but the effect was weakening when estradiol concentration reached 5μmol/L. In respect of the effect of treatment time, when HSC-T6 were separately treated with 5μmol/L of saikosaponin-d and 1 μmol/L of estradiol for 24 h, the luciferase activity was the highest. And ICI182.780 could significantly inhibit the induction of saikosaponin-d and estradiol for luciferase activity. Conclusion Saikosaponin-d has an effect on promoting the transcriptional activation of estrogen receptor in HSC-T6.