SFN promotes renal fibrosis via binding with MYH9 in chronic kidney disease.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a clinical syndrome characterized by persistent renal function decline. Renal fibrosis is the main pathological process in CKD, but an effective treatment does not exist. Stratifin (SFN) is a highly-conserved, multi-function soluble acidic protein.

Ethanol depresses neurons in the lateral parabrachial nucleus by potentiating pre- and postsynaptic GABAA receptors.

As a psychoactive substance, ethanol is widely used in people's life. However, the neuronal mechanisms underlying its sedative effect remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of ethanol on the lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPB), which is a novel component related to sedation.

The role of discoid domain receptor 1 on renal tubular epithelial pyroptosis in diabetic nephropathy.

Pyroptosis, a form of cell death associated with inflammation, is known to be involved in diabetic nephropathy (DN), and discoid domain receptor 1 (DDR1), an inflammatory regulatory protein, is reported to be associated with diabetes. However, the mechanism underlying DDR1 regulation and pyroptosis in DN remains unknown. We aimed to investigate the effect of DDR1 on renal tubular epithelial cell pyroptosis and the mechanism underlying DN.

[Screening potential Chinese materia medica and their monomers for treatment diabetic nephropathy based on caspase-1-mediated pyroptosis].

Objective: To screen potential traditional Chinese medicine and their active monomer ingredients for treatment of diabetic nephropathy (DN) through the mechanism of caspase-1-mediated pyroptosis.

Methods: Using the Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology Analysis Platform (TCMSP), we screened traditional Chinese drugs and their active monomer components targeting caspase-1, and searched for the potential gene targets of the monomer components using GeneCards database. Cytoscape was used to construct the monomer compound-gene target network.

Upregulation of mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor in glial cells is associated with ischemia-induced glial activation.

Background: Mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF), a 20 kDa secreted protein, was originally derived from a rat mesencephalic type-1 astrocyte cell line. MANF belongs to a novel evolutionally conserved family of neurotrophic factors along with conserved dopamine neurotrophic factor. In recent years, ever-increasing evidence has shown that both of them play a remarkable protective role against various injuries to neurons in vivo or in vitro.

Induction profile of MANF/ARMET by cerebral ischemia and its implication for neuron protection.

Cerebral ischemia-induced accumulation of unfolded proteins in vulnerable neurons triggers endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Arginine-rich, mutated in early stage tumors (ARMET) is an ER stress-inducible protein and upregulated in the early stage of cerebral ischemia. The purposes of this study were to investigate the characteristics and implications of ARMET expression induced by focal cerebral ischemia.