Deletion of MAPL ameliorates septic cardiomyopathy by mitigating mitochondrial dysfunction.

Aim: Mitochondrial dysfunction is a critical factor in the pathogenesis of septic cardiomyopathy (SCM). Mitochondrial anchored protein ligase (MAPL), a small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) E3 ligase, plays a significant role in mitochondrial function. However, the role of MAPL in SCM remains unclear.

SUMOylation of TEAD1 Modulates the Mechanism of Pathological Cardiac Hypertrophy.

Pathological cardiac hypertrophy is the leading cause of heart failure and has an extremely complicated pathogenesis. TEA domain transcription factor 1 (TEAD1) is recognized as an important transcription factor that plays a key regulatory role in cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to explore the role of TEAD1 in cardiac hypertrophy and to clarify the regulatory role of small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO)-mediated modifications.

Allicin promotes functional recovery in ischemic stroke via glutathione peroxidase-1 activation of Src-Akt-Erk.

Allicin exhibits various pharmacological activities and has been suggested to be beneficial in the treatment of stroke. However, the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we confirmed that allicin protected the brain from cerebral injury, which could be ascribed to its anti‑apoptotic and anti‑inflammatory effects, as well as the regulation of lipid metabolism, using proteomics and metabolomics analysis.

Exercise-derived peptide protects against pathological cardiac remodeling.

Background: Exercise training protects the heart against pathological cardiac remodeling and confers cardioprotection from heart failure. However, the underlying mechanism is still elusive.

Methods: An integrative analysis of multi-omics data of the skeletal muscle in response to exercise is performed to search for potential exerkine.

Myeloid differential protein-2 inhibition improves diabetic cardiomyopathy via p38MAPK inhibition and AMPK pathway activation.

Myeloid differential protein-2 (MD2) has been shown to play a critical role in the progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM). This study aims to explore the non-inflammatory mechanisms mediated by MD2 in DCM and to test the therapeutic effects of MD2 inhibitor C30 on DCM. Streptozotocin (STZ) was used to construct DCM model in wild-type and MD2 knockout mice.

Antifibrotic Effect of a Novel Selective 11β-HSD2 Inhibitor (WZ51) in a rat Model of Myocardial Fibrosis.

Myocardial fibrosis (MF) is one of the leading causes of end-stage heart disease. Many studies have confirmed that inflammation caused by aldosterone may play an important role in the process of MF. A selective 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11β-HSD2) enzyme inhibitor can reduce the inactivation of cortisol, allowing cortisol to compete for mineralocorticoid receptors.

Kaempferol attenuates streptozotocin-induced diabetic nephropathy by downregulating TRAF6 expression: The role of TRAF6 in diabetic nephropathy.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Kaempferia rhizome is a famous traditional herbal medical in tropical and subtropical areas. Kaempferol (KPF) is one of the main bioactive compounds in Kaempferia rhizome, with anti-oxidant/anti-inflammatory effects demonstrated in various disease models, including cancers, obesity and diabetes.

Aim Of The Study: Inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN).

Endothelial microparticles induced by cyclic stretch activate Src and modulate cell apoptosis.

Endothelial microparticles (EMPs) are involved in various cardiovascular pathologies and play remarkable roles in communication between endothelial cells (ECs), which are constantly exposed to mechanical cyclic stretch (CS) following blood pressure. However, the roles of EMPs induced by CS in EC homeostasis are still unclear. Both fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and western blotting revealed the activation of Src in ECs was significantly increased by 5% CS-induced EMPs.

The imidazopyridine derivative X22 prevents diabetic kidney dysfunction through inactivating NF-κB signaling.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is considered a chronic inflammatory renal disease induced by hyperglycemia. Therefore, even meticulous control of blood glucose levels cannot prevent the progression of DKD efficiently. Management of the inflammatory response could be one of the most promising strategies for treatment.

Endothelial microvesicles induced by physiological cyclic stretch inhibit ICAM1-Dependent leukocyte adhesion.

Physiological cyclic stretch (CS), caused by artery deformation following blood pressure, plays important roles in the homeostasis of endothelial cells (ECs). Here, we detected the effect of physiological CS on endothelial microvesicles (EMVs) and their roles in leukocyte recruitment to ECs, which is a crucial event in EC inflammation. The results showed compared with the static treatment, pretreatment of 5%-CS-derived EMVs with ECs significantly decreased the adherence level of leukocytes.

Inhibition of EGFR-STAT3 attenuates cardiomyopathy in streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetes.

Emerging evidence implicates elevated activity of STAT3 transcription factor in driving the development and progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM). We hypothesized that the fibrosis-promoting and hypertrophic actions of STAT3 are linked to the activation by epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). We tested this hypothesis by challenging cultured cardiomyocytes to high-concentration glucose and heart tissues of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetic mice.

Synthesis and Anti-inflammatory Evaluation of ( R)-, ( S)-, and (±)-Sanjuanolide Isolated from Dalea frutescens.

The known chalcone (±)-sanjuanolide (1) can be isolated from Dalea frutescens. This study presents a convergent strategy for the first total synthesis of ( R)-, ( S)-, and (±)-sanjuanolide (1). The key step for synthesizing ( R)- and ( S)-1 was a Corey-Bakshi-Shibata enantioselective carbonyl reduction to construct the C-2″ configuration.

Synthesis, biological evaluation, and molecular docking study of novel allyl-retrochalcones as a new class of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B inhibitors.

We describe herein the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of a series of novel protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) inhibitor retrochalcones having an allyl chain at the C-5 position of their B ring. Biological screening results showed that the majority of these compounds exhibited an inhibitory activity against PTP1B. Thus, preliminary structure-activity relationship (SAR) and quantitative SAR analyses were conducted.

CTGF regulates cyclic stretch-induced vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation via microRNA-19b-3p.

Cyclic stretch regulates proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) during hypertension-induced vascular remodeling, but the underlying mechanisms remain to be studied. Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) has been reported associated with several cellular function such as proliferation，migration and adhesion. Herein, the role of CTGF in VSMCs was investigated in response to mechanical cyclic stretch.

Single-cell analyses reveal functional classification of dendritic cells and their potential roles in inflammatory disease.

Dendritic cells (DCs) have crucial roles in immune-related diseases. However, it is difficult to explore DCs because of their rareness and heterogeneity. Although previous studies had been performed to detect the phenotypic characteristics of DC populations, the functional diversity has been ignored.

Schisandrin B alleviates diabetic nephropathy through suppressing excessive inflammation and oxidative stress.

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a progressive kidney disease due to glomerular capillary damage in diabetic patients, with inflammation and oxidative stress implicated as crucial pathogenic factors. There is an urgent need to develop effective therapeutic drug. Natural medicines are rich resources for active lead compounds.

Platelet-derived microparticles promote endothelial cell proliferation in hypertension via miR-142-3p.

Endothelial cells (ECs) are located at the interface between flowing blood and the vessel wall, and abnormal EC proliferation induced by pathologic environments plays an important role in vascular remodeling in hypertensive conditions. Exchanges of information between blood components and ECs are important for EC function. Hence, the present study sought to determine how platelets induce EC dysfunction under hypertensive conditions.

Hydrogen Sulfide Promotes Learning and Memory and Suppresses Proinflammatory Cytokines in Repetitive Febrile Seizures.

Objective: Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), as a novel gasotransmitter, plays important roles in a number of physiological and pathological processes. Its effectiveness has been demonstrated in different types of brain disorders but not in repetitive febrile seizure (febrile status epilepticus; FSE) models. This study aims to test whether a donor of H2S sodium sulfhydrate (NaHS) is also effective for FSE in rats.

Calmodulin regulates KCNQ2 function in epilepsy.

Epilepsy is linked to mutations in KCNQ channels. KCNQ channels including KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 are enriched in neurons, regulating action potential generation and modulation. Here, we showed that properties of KCNQ2 channel in rat hippocampal cultured neurons are regulated by ubiquitous calcium sensor calmodulin.

Quantitative study on propagation and healing of Airy beams under experimental conditions.

We investigate the propagation and healing of Airy beams in two dimensions that are obtainable under practical experimental conditions. We introduce an intensity similarity factor to quantitatively describe how an Airy beam retains its original shape. Based on such a figure of merit, we define a shape-retaining distance to quantify how far an Airy beam can keep the shape of its main lobe upon propagation and a healing distance to quantify how soon an initially partially blocked Airy beam can restore its main lobe profile.

Propagation and modulation of Airy beams through a four-level electromagnetic induced transparency atomic vapor.

We study the propagation properties of an Airy beam through a four-level electromagnetic induced transparency (EIT) atomic vapor. The analytical expression for the Airy beam passing through the ABCD optical system of the EIT vapor is deduced and employed to analyze the propagation characteristics of the beam. It is shown that both the deflection position and the intensity of the Airy beam can be modulated by the Rabi frequency of the control light.

Evolution of Airy beams in a chiral medium.

We study the evolution of Airy beams in chiral media. We numerically demonstrate that the circularly polarized Airy beams of opposite handedness can be separated when traveling through the chiral media. The constructive interference of the Airy beams in the near- and far-zone is explicitly analyzed by varying the chirality parameter of the medium.

Molecular responses of human lung epithelial cells to the toxicity of copper oxide nanoparticles inferred from whole genome expression analysis.

This study proposes a molecular mechanism for lung epithelial A549 cell response to copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) related to Cu ions released from CuO-NPs. Cells that survived exposure to CuO-NPs arrested the cell cycle as a result of the downregulation of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), cell division control 2 (CDC2), cyclin B1 (CCNB1), target protein for Xklp2 (TPX2), and aurora kinase A (AURKA) and B (AURKB). Furthermore, cell death was avoided through the induced expression of nuclear receptors NR4A1 and NR4A3 and growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible 45 β and γ (GADD45B and GADD45G, respectively).

Polarization modulation for a stochastic electromagnetic beam passing through a chiral medium.

We study the propagation of a stochastic electromagnetic beam through a chiral medium. The cross-spectral density matrix is deduced and employed to calculate the changes in the spectral degree of polarization of the beam on propagation. It is shown that the spectral degree of polarization can be modulated by changing the chiral parameter of the medium and the coherent parameter of the beam.