B4GALT1-dependent galectin-8 binding with TGF-β receptor suppresses colorectal cancer progression and metastasis.

Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signaling is critical for epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and colorectal cancer (CRC) metastasis. Disruption of Smad-depednent TGF-β signaling has been shown in CRC cells. However, TGF-β receptor remains expressed on CRC cells.

Gut microbiome-based noninvasive diagnostic model to predict acute coronary syndromes.

Background: Previous studies have shown that alterations in the gut microbiota are closely associated with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) development. However, the value of gut microbiota for early diagnosis of ACS remains understudied.

Methods: We recruited 66 volunteers, including 29 patients with a first diagnosis of ACS and 37 healthy volunteers during the same period, collected their fecal samples, and sequenced the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene.

Principle and design of clinical efficacy observation of extracorporeal cardiac shock wave therapy for patients with myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury: A prospective randomized controlled trial protocol.

Background: Acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) remains a serious life threatening event with a poor prognosis due to myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury despite coronary revascularization. Extracorporeal cardiac shock wave (ECSW) is a safe, effective and non-invasive new method for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The current results show that extracorporeal cardiac shock wave provides a new treatment option for patients with severe and advanced coronary heart disease.

ASK1 promotes apoptosis of normal and malignant plasma cells.

Although the overproduction of immunoglobulins by short-lived plasma cells accompanying an immune response links with their apoptosis, how long-lived plasma cells adapt to ensure their longevity in this context is obscure. Here, we show that apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) contributes to apoptosis of plasma cells because ASK1 activity was induced during differentiation of short-lived plasma cells, and, when produced by ASK1-deficient mice, these cells survived better than those of control mice. Moreover, antigen-specific long-lived plasma cells generated by immunization accumulated in ASK1-deficient mice, suggesting ASK1 also plays a negative role in survival of long-lived plasma cells.

Involvement of histone demethylase LSD1 in Blimp-1-mediated gene repression during plasma cell differentiation.

Plasma cell differentiation is orchestrated by the transcriptional repressor B lymphocyte-induced maturation protein-1 (Blimp-1), which silences the gene expression program of mature B cells. The molecular mechanism underlying Blimp-1 suppression of mature B-cell gene expression is not fully understood. Here we report that a proline-rich domain in Blimp-1 directly interacts with LSD1, a histone lysine demethylase.

Induction of apoptosis in plasma cells by B lymphocyte-induced maturation protein-1 knockdown.

B lymphocyte-induced maturation protein-1 (Blimp-1) is a transcriptional repressor that plays an important role during plasmacytic differentiation and is expressed in normal and transformed plasma cells. We here investigated the importance of continuous Blimp-1 expression. We found that knockdown of Blimp-1 expression by lentiviral vector-delivered short hairpin RNA causes apoptosis in multiple myeloma cell lines and plasmacytoma cells, indicating that continued expression of Blimp-1 is required for cell survival.