Blood circulation is dependent on heart valves to direct blood flow through the heart and great vessels. Valve development relies on epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), a central feature of embryonic development and metastatic cancer. Abnormal EMT and remodeling contribute to the etiology of several congenital heart defects. Leptin and its receptor were detected in the mouse embryonic heart. Using an ex vivo model of cardiac EMT, the inhibition of leptin results in a signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 and Snail/vascular endothelial cadherin-independent decrease in EMT and migration. Our data suggest that an Akt signaling pathway underlies the observed phenotype. Furthermore, loss of leptin phenocopied the functional inhibition of alphavbeta3 integrin receptor and resulted in decreased alphavbeta3 integrin and matrix metalloprotease 2, suggesting that the leptin signaling pathway is involved in adhesion and migration processes. This study adds leptin to the repertoire of factors that mediate EMT and, for the first time, demonstrates a role for the interleukin 6 family in embryonic EMT.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200708197 | DOI Listing |
Chem Biol Drug Des
January 2025
Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing, People's Republic of China.
Gallbladder cancer is the most prevalent malignancy of the biliary tract and has a dismal overall survival even in the present day. The development of new drugs holds promise for improving the prognosis of this lethal disease. The possible anti-neoplastic role of morusin was investigated both in vitro and in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt Immunopharmacol
January 2025
Pharmacology Division, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir 180001, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh 201002, India. Electronic address:
Melanoma is an aggressive form of malignancy that originates from melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes underlying the basal layer of the epidermis with a poor prognosis, low survival rates, and limited treatment options. Although several specific and effective systematic strategies for treating melanoma have been established, the underlying molecular mechanism of melanoma progression, mortality and the promising therapeutic options remain elusive. Shikonin (SK), a natural naphthoquinone derived from a medicinal herbaceous plant, has been shown to inhibit the proliferation of several cancer cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Transl Res
December 2024
Department of Gastroenterology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University Jinan 250014, Shandong, China.
Objective: To investigate the role of heparan sulfate 6-O-sulfotransferase 2 (HS6ST2) in gastric cancer (GC).
Methods: HS6ST2 expression in GC and adjacent normal gastric mucosa was first detected via immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. The correlation between the expression level of HS6ST2 and clinicopathological parameters were observed.
Histol Histopathol
January 2025
Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Central Hospital of Wuhan, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Introduction: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the deadliest malignancies worldwide, with a low five-year survival rate of less than 10%. Transforming growth factor β regulator 4 (TBRG4) is differentially expressed in PC tissues, but its specific functions and regulatory role in PC have not been clarified.
Methods: TBRG4 mRNA expression in PC cells was measured by qRT-PCR.
Adv Exp Med Biol
January 2025
Stem Cell Research Unit, Biomedical Center, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.
The human breast gland is composed of branching epithelial ducts that culminate in milk-producing units known as terminal duct lobular units (TDLUs). The epithelial compartment comprises an inner layer of luminal epithelial cells (LEP) and an outer layer of contractile myoepithelial cells (MEP). Both LEP and MEP arise from a common stem cell population.
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