Direct activation of tachykinin receptors within baroreflex afferent pathway and neurocontrol of blood pressure regulation.

Aim: Substance P (SP) causes vasodilation and blood pressure (BP) reduction. However, the involvement of tachykinin receptors (NKRs) within baroreflex afferent pathway in SP-mediated BP regulation is largely unknown.

Methods: Under control and hypertensive condition, NKRs' expressions were evaluated in nodose (NG) and nucleus of tractus solitary (NTS) of male, female, and ovariectomized (OVX) rats; BP was recorded after microinjection of SP and NKRs agonists into NG; Baroreceptor sensitivity (BRS) was tested as well.

Aspirin Reduces Cardiac Interstitial Fibrosis by Inhibiting Erk1/2-Serpine2 and P-Akt Signalling Pathways.

Background/aims: Cardiac interstitial fibrosis is an abnormality of various cardiovascular diseases, including myocardial infarction, hypertrophy, and atrial fibrillation, and it can ultimately lead to heart failure. However, there is a lack of practical therapeutic approaches to treat fibrosis and reverse the damage to the heart. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of long-term aspirin administration on pressure overload-induced cardiac fibrosis in mice and reveal the underlying mechanisms of aspirin treatment.

A novel mechanism of mTORC1-mediated serine/glycine metabolism in osteosarcoma development.

Osteosarcoma is the major malignant primary bone cancer in children and adolescents, which is highly aggressive with frequent acquisition of chemoresistance phenotypes. Although much progress has been made, mechanisms of osteosarcoma rapid growth and chemoresistance are still not well elucidated. Generally, alternated metabolic characterization has been proposed to be a hallmark of cancer, yet it is lack of a systematic characterization of cancer metabolic networks.

BMP7 enhances the effect of BMSCs on extracellular matrix remodeling in a rabbit model of intervertebral disc degeneration.

Intervertebral discs (IVDs) provide stability and flexibility to the spinal column; however, IVDs, and in particular the nucleus pulposus (NP), undergo a degenerative process characterized by changes in the disc extracellular matrix (ECM), decreased cell viability, and reduced synthesis of proteoglycan and type II collagen. Here, we investigated the efficacy and feasibility of stem cell therapy using bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) over-expressing bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7) to promote ECM remodeling of degenerated IVDs. Lentivirus-mediated BMP7 over-expression induced differentiation of BMSCs into an NP phenotype, as indicated by expression of the NP markers collagen type II, aggrecan, SOX9 and keratins 8 and 19, increased the content of glycosaminoglycan, and up-regulated β-1,3-glucuronosyl transferase 1, a regulator of chondroitin sulfate synthesis in NP cells.

Angelica Sinensis attenuates inflammatory reaction in experimental rat models having spinal cord injury.

This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of Angelica Sinensis on experimental rat models in which spinal cord injury was induced by studying different factors. Different factors causing inflammation play a key role in pathophysiology of SCI. Here three groups of rats (n=15, each was used).

Decreased expression of follicular dendritic cell-secreted protein correlates with increased immunoglobulin A production in the tonsils of individuals with immunoglobulin A nephropathy.

Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) is characterized by a qualitative abnormality of IgA in the circulation and IgA deposition in the renal mesangium. Recent research has indicated that pathogenic IgA may originate from affected tonsils. Follicular dendritic cell-secreted protein (FDC-SP), a small novel secretory protein that may regulate the induction of B-cell responses, has been suggested to control IgA production.