Aims: Recent studies have shown that the hyperactive Notch pathway is involved in cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development by regulating differentiation of hepatic oval cells (HOCs) into cancer cells. The aim of this study was to investigate whether matrine can alleviate liver injury and promote HOC differentiation into hepatocytes by suppression of Notch pathway.
Main Methods: We evaluated the expression of Notch-1, Jagged-1, and Hes-1 in HCC tissue by immunohistochemistry. Stem cell characteristics of HOCs were evaluated by CCK-8, cell cycle, and apoptosis. The expression of Notch pathway, HOC markers and albumin (ALB) was detected by immunohistochemistry, QRT-PCR and western blotting. The effects of matrine in protecting liver in vivo were investigated in a rat Solt-Farber precancerous model.
Key Findings: We found an abnormal activated Notch pathway in HCC tissue, and the hyperactive Notch pathway was strongly associated with poor liver function in patients with cirrhosis with HCC. Using siNotch-1 to inhibit Notch pathway confirmed that Notch pathway could maintain stem cell characteristics of HOCs. Matrine inhibited stem cell characteristics of HOCs, the expression of Notch pathway and HOC markers but upregulated ALB. Matrine in combined with siNotch-1 RNA decreased the more potently inhibited HOC markers and Notch pathway. In rat Solt-Farber precancerous model, prophylactic application of matrine alleviated liver injury, downregulated Notch pathway and HOC markers, and upregulated ALB in a dose-dependent manner.
Significance: Matrine could promote the differentiation of HOCs into hepatocytes by inhibiting the Notch signalling pathway and alleviate liver injury.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lfs.2020.118354 | DOI Listing |
Elife
January 2025
Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Cigarette smoking is a well-known risk factor inducing the development and progression of various diseases. Nicotine (NIC) is the major constituent of cigarette smoke. However, knowledge of the mechanism underlying the NIC-regulated stem cell functions is limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFElife
January 2025
Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States.
The Notch signaling pathway uses families of ligands and receptors to transmit signals to nearby cells. These components are expressed in diverse combinations in different cell types, interact in a many-to-many fashion, both within the same cell (in cis) and between cells (in trans), and their interactions are modulated by Fringe glycosyltransferases. A fundamental question is how the strength of Notch signaling depends on which pathway components are expressed, at what levels, and in which cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimers Dement
December 2024
John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
Background: Pathogenic variants in Presenilin-1 (PSEN1) cause autosomal dominant forms of early-onset Alzheimer disease (AD). Despite the high penetrance, substantial interindividual variability in age-of-onset (AOO) is observed among different PSEN1 mutations. Attempting to understand the molecular mechanisms leading to variability in AOO in PSEN1 mutations, we focused on three mutations located at codon 206 (G206A, G206S and G206D) of this gene.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMater Horiz
January 2025
College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, 610068, China.
Hydrogels are promising materials for wearable electronics, artificial skins and biomedical engineering, but their limited stretchability, self-recovery and crack resistance restrict their performance in demanding applications. Despite efforts to enhance these properties using micelle cross-links, nanofillers and dynamic interactions, it remains a challenge to fabricate hydrogels that combine high stretchability, self-healing and strong adhesion. Herein, we report a novel hydrogel synthesized the copolymerization of acrylamide (AM), maleic acid (MA) and acrylonitrile (AN), designed to address these limitations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCell Commun Signal
January 2025
Laboratory of Theriogenology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 34134, Republic of Korea.
Background: Although the Notch signaling pathway is known to play an important role in ovarian follicle development in mammals, whether it is involved in oocyte maturation remains unclear. Therefore, this study was performed to elucidate the existence and role of the Notch signaling pathway during oocyte maturation in a porcine model.
Methods: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunocytochemical assays were used to determine the existence of Notch signaling pathway-related transcripts and proteins in porcine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs).
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