Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma-irradiated cysteine protects cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury by preserving supersulfides.

Ischemic heart disease is the main global cause of death in the world. Abnormal sulfide catabolism, especially hydrogen sulfide accumulation, impedes mitochondrial respiration and worsens the prognosis after ischemic insults, but the substantial therapeutic strategy has not been established. Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma irradiation therapy is attracted attention as it exerts beneficial effects by producing various reactive molecular species.

Identification of a pancreatic juice-specific fluorescent probe through 411 probes activated by aminopeptidases/proteases or phosphatases/phosphodiesterases.

Background: This study is a retrospective review aimed to identify pancreatic juice-specific fluorescent probes to visualize pancreatic juice using a library of 381 aminopeptidase/protease-activatable fluorescent probes and 30 phosphatase/phosphodiesterase probes. In 2013, we developed a fluorescence imaging technique using a chymotrypsin probe to visualize pancreatic juice, linked to postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF). This probe required addition of trypsin to convert pancreatic chymotrypsinogen to chymotrypsin.

γ-Secretase Cleaves Bifunctional Fatty Acid-Conjugated Small Molecules with Amide Bonds in Mammalian Cells.

Connecting two small molecules, such as ligands, fluorophores, or lipids, together via a linker with amide bonds is a widely used strategy to generate synthetic bifunctional molecules for various biological and biomedical applications. Such bifunctional molecules have been used in live-cell experiments under the assumption that they should be stable in cells. However, we recently found that a membrane-targeting bifunctional molecule, composed of a lipopeptide and the small-molecule ligand trimethoprim, referred to as mgcTMP, underwent amide-bond cleavage in mammalian cells.

Barcoding of small extracellular vesicles with CRISPR-gRNA enables comprehensive, subpopulation-specific analysis of their biogenesis and release regulators.

Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) are important intercellular information transmitters in various biological contexts, but their release processes remain poorly understood. Herein, we describe a high-throughput assay platform, CRISPR-assisted individually barcoded sEV-based release regulator (CIBER) screening, for identifying key players in sEV release. CIBER screening employs sEVs barcoded with CRISPR-gRNA through the interaction of gRNA and dead Cas9 fused with an sEV marker.

Inorganic sulfides prevent osimertinib-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in human iPS cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

Despite the widespread recognition of the global concern regarding the onset of cardiovascular diseases in a significant number of patients following cancer treatment, definitive strategies for prevention and treatment remain elusive. In this study, we established systems to evaluate the influence of anti-cancer drugs on the quality control of mitochondria, pivotal for energy metabolism, using human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs). Osimertinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor used for treatment in lung cancer, reportedly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.