Fetal growth restriction mice are more likely to exhibit depression-like behaviors due to stress-induced loss of dopaminergic neurons in the VTA.

Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is a severe perinatal complication that can increase risk for mental illness. To investigate the mechanism by which FGR mice develop mental illness in adulthood, we established the FGR mouse model and the FGR mice did not display obvious depression-like behaviors, but after environmental stress exposure, FGR mice were more likely to exhibit depression-like behaviors than control mice. Moreover, FGR mice had significantly fewer dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area but no difference in serotoninergic neurons in the dorsal raphe. RNA-seq analysis showed that the downregulated genes in the midbrain of FGR mice were associated with many mental diseases and were especially involved in the regulation of NMDA-selective glutamate receptor (NMDAR) activity. Furthermore, the NMDAR antagonist memantine can relieve the stress-induced depression-like behaviors of FGR mice. In summary, our findings provide a theoretical basis for future research and treatment of FGR-related depression.

An induced pluripotent stem cell line (SHEHi002-A (5426))from a patient of long QT syndrome type 8 with c.2573G>A mutation in the gene CACNA1C.

Long QT syndrome type 8 is an uncommon inherited condition .An induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line was generated from Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of a 10-year-old patient with heterozygous mutation of p.R858H(c.2573G > A)in the CACNA1C gene. This iPSC model offers a very valuable resource to study the disease pathophysiology and to develop therapeutics for treatment of Long QT syndrome type 8 patients.

Overexpression of miR-126 inhibits the activation and migration of HSCs through targeting CRK.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to play essential roles in HSCs activation which contributes to hepatic fibrosis. Our previous miRNA microarray results suggested that miR-126 might be decreased during HSCs activation as other studies. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of miR-126 during HSCs activation. METHODS: In this study, the expression of miR-126 during HSCs activation was measured and confirmed by qRT-PCR. Then, miR-126 expression was restored by transfection of lentivirus vector encoding miR-126. Futhermore, cell proliferation was assayed by the cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), cell migration was assayed by transwell assay, and the markers of activation of HSCs, α-SMA and collagen type I, were assayed by qRT-PCR, Western Blotting, Immunostaining and ELISA. Luciferase reporter assay was used to find the target of miR-126, and Western Blotting and Immunostaining was used to validate the target of miR-126. Then, the expression and the role of the target of miR-126 during HSCs activation was further assessed. RESULTS: The expression of miR-126 was confirmed to be significantly decreased during HSCs activation. Overexpression of miR-126 significantly inhibited HSCs migration but did not affect HSCs proliferation. The expression of α-SMA and collagen type I were both obviously decreased by miR-126 restoration. CRK was found to be the target of miR-126 and overexpression of miR-126 significantly inhibited CRK expression. And it was found that overexpression of CRK also significantly decreased miR-126 expression and promoted HSCs activation. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that overexpression of miR-126 significantly inhibited the activation and migration of HSCs through targeting CRK which can also decrease miR-126 expression and promote HSCs activation.

Large scale phosphoproteome profiles comprehensive features of mouse embryonic stem cells.

Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent and capable of unlimited self-renewal. Elucidation of the underlying molecular mechanism may contribute to the advancement of cell-based regenerative medicine. In the present work, we performed a large scale analysis of the phosphoproteome in mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells. Using multiplex strategies, we detected 4581 proteins and 3970 high confidence distinct phosphosites in 1642 phosphoproteins. Notably, 22 prominent phosphorylated stem cell marker proteins with 39 novel phosphosites were identified for the first time by mass spectrometry, including phosphorylation sites in NANOG (Ser-65) and RE1 silencing transcription factor (Ser-950 and Thr-953). Quantitative profiles of NANOG peptides obtained during the differentiation of mES cells revealed that the abundance of phosphopeptides and non-phosphopeptides decreased with different trends. To our knowledge, this study presents the largest global characterization of phosphorylation in mES cells. Compared with a study of ultimately differentiated tissue cells, a bioinformatics analysis of the phosphorylation data set revealed a consistent phosphorylation motif in human and mouse ES cells. Moreover, investigations into phosphorylation conservation suggested that phosphoproteins were more conserved in the undifferentiated ES cell state than in the ultimately differentiated tissue cell state. However, the opposite conclusion was drawn from this conservation comparison with phosphosites. Overall, this work provides an overview of phosphorylation in mES cells and is a valuable resource for the future understanding of basic biology in mES cells.

Magnesium Lithospermate B Protects Cardiomyocytes from Ischemic Injury Via Inhibition of TAB1-p38 Apoptosis Signaling.

Danshen has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for hundreds of years to treat cardiovascular diseases. However, its precise cardioprotective components and the underlying mechanism are still unclear. In the present study, we demonstrated that in a rat model of acute myocardial infarction, the treatment with magnesium lithospermate B (MLB), the representative component of phenolic acids in Danshen, significantly reduced the infarct size and the blood lactate dehydrogenase level. In contrast, tanshinone IIA, the representative component of lipophilic tanshinones in Danshen, had no such protective effects. Moreover, in the simulated ischemia cell model, MLB treatment considerably increased the cell viability and reduced the sub-G1 population and the apoptotic nuclei, indicating its anti-apoptotic effect. Further mechanism study revealed that the ischemia-induced p38 phosphorylation was abolished by MLB treatment. Interestingly, MLB specifically inhibited the TGFß-activated protein kinase 1-binding protein 1 (TAB1) mediated p38 phosphorylation through disrupting the interaction between TAB1 and p38, but it did not affect the mitogen-activated protein kinase 3/6 mediated p38 phosphorylation. In conclusion, the present study identifies MLB as an active component of Danshen in protecting cardiomyocytes from ischemic injury through specific inhibition of TAB1-p38 apoptosis signaling. These results indicate TAB1-p38 interaction as a putative drug target in treating ischemic heart diseases.

Receptor tyrosine kinases positively regulate BACE activity and Amyloid-beta production through enhancing BACE internalization.

Amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptide, the primary constituent of senile plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD), is generated by beta-secretase- and gamma-secretase-mediated sequential proteolysis of the amyloid precursor protein (APP). The aspartic protease, beta -site APP cleavage enzyme (BACE), has been identified as the main beta-secretase in brain but the regulation of its activity is largely unclear. Here, we demonstrate that both BACE activity and subsequent Abeta production are enhanced after stimulation of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), such as the receptors for epidermal growth factor (EGF) and nerve growth factor (NGF), in cultured cells as well as in mouse hippocampus. Furthermore, stimulation of RTKs also induces BACE internalization into endosomes and Golgi apparatus. This enhancement of BACE activity and Abeta production upon RTK activation could be specifically inhibited by Src family kinase inhibitors and by depletion of endogenous c-Src with RNAi, and could be mimicked by over-expressed c-Src. Moreover, blockage of BACE internalization by a dominant negative form of Rab5 also abolished the enhancement of BACE activity and Abeta production, indicating the requirement of BACE internalization for the enhanced activity. Taken together, our study presents evidence that BACE activity and Abeta production are under the regulation of RTKs and this is achieved via RTK-stimulated BACE internalization, and suggests that an aberration of such regulation might contribute to pathogenic Abeta production.

Quercetin and trichostatin A cooperatively kill human leukemia cells.

Quercetin (QU) and trichostatin A (TSA) are promising anticancer drugs. While QU mainly exerts its anticancer activity through scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS), the anticancer activity of TSA was attributed to its inhibition on histone deacetylases (HDAC). In the present study it was investigated, whether the combination of QU and TSA could improve their anticancer activity against human leukemia cells (HL-60). The cytotoxicity of QU and TSA increased in a time and dose-dependent manner. QU (10, 20 and 40 microM) was able to diminish the ROS generation (indicated by the level of malondialdehyde, MDA) but showed no influence on the histone acetylation in HL-60 cells; on the contrary, TSA (20, 40, 80 and 160 nM) showed no inhibition on ROS generation but significantly increased the histone acetylation, indicating the possible role of both scavenging ROS and increasing histone acetylation in the induction of cell death in HL-60 cells. This conclusion was confirmed by the findings that the combinations of QU and TSA at different concentrations could not only diminish ROS generation, but also increase histone acetylation, and hence showed more significant cytotoxicity in HL-60 cells than either of its components. Collectively, the present data indicate that a combination of QU and TSA can cooperatively kill HL-60 cells through the combination of their activities of scavenging ROS and increasing histone acetylation.

NADPH oxidase produces reactive oxygen species and maintains survival of rat astrocytes.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by activated astrocytes have been considered to be involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, while NADPH oxidase is an essential enzyme involved in ROS-mediated signal transduction. The goal of the present study was to determine whether NADPH oxidase plays a role in ROS generation and cell survival in rat astrocytes. We found that the release of ROS in rat astrocytes was significantly increased by stimulation with calcium ionophore or opsonized zymosan, which are known to trigger a respiration burst in phagocytes by the NADPH oxidase pathway. Further study indicated that diphenylene iodonium (DPI), an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase, significantly suppressed the increase of ROS release caused by the calcium ionophore or opsonized zymosan. Cell survival assay and fluorescence double dyeing with acridine orange and ethidium bromide showed that DPI dose- and time-dependently decreased the viability of normal astrocytes, whereas exogenous supplementation of H2O2 can reverse the survival of DPI-treated astrocytes. For the first time, our results suggest that NADPH oxidase is an important enzyme for the generation of ROS in astrocytes, and the ROS generated by NADPH oxidase play an essential role in astrocyte survival.

Coadjustment of quercetin and hydrogen peroxide: the role of ROS in the cytotoxicity of quercetin.

Quercetin (QU) displays antioxidant and cell protective effects in most cell culture models, yet in some studies it is reported that QU shows prooxidant and cytotoxic effects. In order to explore the real role of ROS in QU's cytotoxicity, the cytotoxicity of QU and/or H2O2, as indicated by the proliferation and viability of HL-60 cells, was examined in this study. Both H2O2 and QU dose-dependently induced cell proliferation arrest and cell death. The cytotoxicity of QU could be diminished by the supplement of H2O2 in the culture medium, at the same time, the addition of QU also significantly attenuated H2O2- caused cytotoxicity. These results indicated that certain amounts of ROS are critical for the proliferation and viability of HL-60 cells, QU scavenged the necessary ROS, and hence led to the proliferation arrest and cell death; on the contrary, the excessive ROS, such as H2O2, are obviously harmful to HL-60 cells, under these conditions, QU protected cells through diminishing the excessive ROS in vivo. Thus QU exerted its effects on cells, including its cytotoxic and protective effects, mainly through its antioxidant activity. The malondialdehyde (MDA, an index of ROS level) assay further confirmed this conclusion, as the effects of QU, H2O2, or their combination on HL-60 cells were closely related with the variation of MDA amounts in vivo.