Vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV (vEDS) is a connective tissue disorder characterised by skin hyperextensibility, joint hypermobility and fatal vascular rupture caused by mutations that affect collagen III expression, homo-trimer assembly and secretion. Along with collagens I, II, V and XI, collagen III plays an important role in the extracellular matrix, particularly in the inner organs. To date, only symptomatic treatment for vEDS patients is available. Fibroblasts derived from vEDS patients carrying dominant negative and/or haploinsufficiency mutations in deposit reduced collagen III in the extracellular matrix. This study explored the potential of an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO)-mediated splice modulating strategy to bypass disease-causing mutations reported in the in-frame exons 10 and 15. Antisense oligonucleotides designed to redirect pre-mRNA processing and excise exons 10 or 15 were transfected into dermal fibroblasts derived from vEDS patients and a healthy control subject. Efficient exon 10 or 15 excision from the mature mRNA was achieved and intracellular collagen III expression was increased after treatment with ASOs; however, collagen III deposition into the extracellular matrix was reduced in patient cells. The region encoded by exon 10 includes a glycosylation site, and exon 15 encodes hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine-containing triplet repeats, predicted to be crucial for collagen III assembly. These results emphasize the importance of post-translational modification for collagen III homo-trimer assembly. In conclusion, while efficient skipping of target exons was achieved, the induced collagen III isoforms generated showed defects in extracellular matrix formation. While therapeutic ASO-mediated exon skipping is not indicated for the patients in this study, the observations are restricted to exons 10 and 15 and may not be applicable to other collagen III in-frame exons.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms25168816 | DOI Listing |
Liver Int
February 2025
Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA.
Background And Aims: Maternal obesity increases the risk of the paediatric form of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), affecting up to 30% of youth, but the developmental origins remain poorly understood.
Methods: Using a Japanese macaque model, we investigated the impact of maternal Western-style diet (mWSD) or chow diet followed by postweaning WSD (pwWSD) or chow diet focusing on bile acid (BA) homeostasis and hepatic fibrosis in livers from third-trimester fetuses and 3-year-old juvenile offspring.
Results: Juveniles exposed to mWSD had increased hepatic collagen I/III content and stellate cell activation in portal regions.
Chin Med J (Engl)
January 2025
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, National Clinical Research Center for Obstetric & Gynecologic Diseases, Beijing 100730, China.
Background: Fibrosis of the connective tissue in the vaginal wall predominates in pelvic organ prolapse (POP), which is characterized by excessive fibroblast-to-myofibroblast differentiation and abnormal deposition of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Our study aimed to investigate the effect of ECM stiffness on vaginal fibroblasts and to explore the role of methyltransferase 3 (METTL3) in the development of POP.
Methods: Polyacrylamide hydrogels were applied to create an ECM microenvironment with variable stiffness to evaluate the effects of ECM stiffness on the proliferation, differentiation, and expression of ECM components in vaginal fibroblasts.
Nutrients
January 2025
Department of Pharmacy and Master Program, Collage of Pharmacy and Health Care, Tajen University, Yanpu Township 90741, Taiwan.
: This study investigated the wound-healing potential of hispolon, a polyphenolic pigment derived from medicinal mushrooms, under diabetic conditions using both in vitro and in vivo models. : In the in vitro assays, L929 fibroblast cells exposed to high glucose (33 mmol/L) were treated with hispolon at concentrations of 2.5, 5, 7.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Mol Sci
January 2025
College of Animal Science, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu 030801, China.
Bee venom (BV) and its main compound melittin (MLT) have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-aging activities; however, very little research has been conducted on their effects on skin aging. In this study, a mouse skin aging model induced by D-galactose was constructed via subcutaneous injection into the scruff of the neck, and different doses of BV and MLT were used as interventions. The anti-aging effects and mechanisms of BV and MLT were explored by detecting the skin morphology and structure, and anti-aging-related factors and performing non-targeted metabolomics of mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomolecules
January 2025
Department of Surgery and Specialties, Central University Hospital of Asturias, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Oviedo, 33011 Oviedo, Spain.
The aim of the circular economy is to treat waste as a valuable raw material, reintegrating it into the industrial economy and extending the lifecycle of subsequent products. Efforts to reduce the production of hard-to-recycle waste are becoming increasingly important to manufacturers, not only of consumer goods but also of specialized items that are difficult to manufacture, such as medical supplies, which have now become a priority for the European Union. The purpose of the study is to manufacture a novel human-purified type I collagen membrane from bone remnants typically discarded during the processing of cortico-cancellous bones in tissue banks and to evaluate its mechanical properties and effectiveness in regenerating bone-critical mandibular defects in rabbits.
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