Recent advances in the functional explorations of nuclear microRNAs.

Approximately 22 nucleotide-long non-coding small RNAs (ncRNAs) play crucial roles in physiological and pathological activities, including microRNAs (miRNAs). Long ncRNAs often stay in the cytoplasm, modulating post-transcriptional gene expression. Briefly, miRNA binds with the target mRNA and builds a miRNA-induced silencing complex to silence the transcripts or prevent their translation.

Liver X receptors agonists suppress NLRP3 inflammasome activation.

Inflammasomes are multiprotein complexes that control the production of IL-1β and IL-18. NLRP3 inflammasome, the most characterized inflammasome, plays prominent roles in defense against infection, however aberrant activation is deleterious and leads to diseases. Therefore, its tight control offers therapeutic promise.

Cytosolic double-stranded DNA induces nonnecroptotic programmed cell death in trophoblasts via IFI16.

The mechanisms underlying the immune defense by trophoblasts against pathogens remain ill defined. We demonstrated that placental cell death was increased upon in vivo exposure to Listeria monocytogenes. The death of infected cells is an important host innate defense mechanism.