A feedforward circuit between KLF5 and lncRNA KPRT4 contributes to basal-like breast cancer.

Basal-like breast cancer (BLBC) is the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer with a poor prognosis. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play critical roles in human cancers. Krüppel-like Factor 5 (KLF5) is a key oncogenic transcription factor in BLBC.

Interaction between retinoic acid and FGF/ERK signals are involved in Dexamethasone-induced abnormal myogenesis during embryonic development.

Despite the common application in pregnancy at clinical practice, it remains ambiguous whether dexamethasone (Dex) exposure can affect embryonic myogenesis. In this study, firstly we showed that 10 M Dex (Cheng et al., 2016; 2017) treatment resulted in abnormal myogenesis in chicken embryos.

Dysbacteriosis induces abnormal neurogenesis via LPS in a pathway requiring NF-κB/IL-6.

In this study, we identified elevated levels of LPS and suppressed neurogenesis in a successfully established mouse model of gut microbiota dysbiosis. We mimicked these phenotypes using mouse and chicken embryos exposed to LPS and found that dramatic variation in gene expression was due to changes in the dorsal-ventral patterning of the neural tube. Cell survival and excess ROS were also involved in this process.

Reversine suppresses osteosarcoma cell growth through targeting BMP-Smad1/5/8-mediated angiogenesis.

Reversine, or 2-(4-morpholinoanilino)-6cyclohexylaminopurine, is a 2,6-disubstituted purine derivative. This small molecule exhibits tumor-suppressive activities through different molecular mechanisms. In this study, in vitro and in vivo angiogenic models were used to elucidate the effect of Reversine on angiogenesis in the tumor suppression.

Baicalin rescues hyperglycemia-induced neural tube defects via targeting on retinoic acid signaling.

We, in this study, studied whether or not antioxidant activities of Baicalin could reduce the incidence of neural tube defects (NTDs) in the presence of hyperglycemia. Using early chick embryos, we demonstrated that Baicalin at 6 μM dramatically reduced NTDs rate and impaired neurogenesis in E4.5-day and HH10 chick embryo neural tubes induced by high glucose (HG).

Dysbacteriosis-Derived Lipopolysaccharide Causes Embryonic Osteopenia through Retinoic-Acid-Regulated DLX5 Expression.

Growing evidence suggests an adverse impact of gut microbiota dysbiosis on human health. However, it remains unclear whether embryonic osteogenesis is affected by maternal gut dysbacteriosis. In this study, we observed that elevated lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels led to skeletal developmental retardation in an established mouse model of gut microbiota dysbiosis.

Dysbacteriosis-induced LPS elevation disturbs the development of muscle progenitor cells by interfering with retinoic acid signaling.

Whether myogenesis is affected by the maternal gut dysbacteriosis still remains ambiguous. In this study, first we show the elevated level of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in a gut microbiota dysbiosis mouse model. Second, we demonstrate that the diameter of muscle fibers, limb development, and somitogenesis were inhibited in both the gut microbiota dysbiosis and LPS exposed mice and chicken embryos.