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Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and aggressive brain tumor with a poor prognosis. The growth of GBM cells depends on the core transcriptional apparatus, thus rendering RNA polymerase (RNA pol) complex as a candidate therapeutic target. The RNA pol II subunit B (POLR2B) gene encodes the second largest subunit of the RNA pol II (RPB2); however, its genomic status and function in GBM remain unclear. Certain GBM data sets in cBioPortal were used for investigating the genomic status and expression of POLR2B in GBM. The function of RPB2 was analyzed following knockdown of POLR2B expression by shRNA in GBM cells. The cell counting kit-8 assay and PI staining were used for cell proliferation and cell cycle analysis. A xenograft mouse model was established to analyze the function of RPB2 in vivo. RNA sequencing was performed to analyze the RPB2-regulated genes. GO and GSEA analyses were applied to investigate the RPB2-regulated gene function and associated pathways. In the present study, the genomic alteration and overexpression of the POLR2B gene was described in glioblastoma. The data indicated that knockdown of POLR2B expression suppressed tumor cell growth of glioblastoma in vitro and in vivo. The analysis further demonstrated the identification of the RPB2-regulated gene sets and highlighted the DNA damage-inducible transcript 4 gene as the downstream target of the POLR2B gene. The present study provides evidence indicating that RPB2 functions as a growth regulator in glioblastoma and could be used as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of this disease. • POLR2B gene is rarely mutated but amplified in a subset of glioblastoma patients which results in the overexpression of RPB2. • Knockdown of POLR2B gene inhibit cell proliferation and cell cycle progression in glioblastoma cell lines. • DNA damage-inducible transcript 4 gene (DDIT4) was found to be a downstream target of POLR2B gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex disease with unclear etiology. Studies have shown that ferroptosis is also related to ASD progression, but the specific mechanism is still unclear. Valproic acid (VPA) induced neuronal ferroptosis in vitro. Mechanistic studies showed that both VPA and ferroptosis inducers promoted the expression of DDIT4 in neurons, thereby inhibiting the activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway. DDIT4 increased the accumulation of ROS, MDA and Fe2+, inhibited neuronal viability and downregulated GPX4 expression by inactivating the PI3K/Akt pathway. Ferroptosis inhibitors reversed the anti-survival effect of DDIT4, indicating that DDIT4 enhances ferroptosis through the PI3K/Akt pathway, thereby inhibiting neuronal viability. Further in vivo experiments found that autistic mice had high levels of ROS, MDA and Fe2+, increased DDIT4 expression, and downregulated expression levels of GPX4, p-PI3K and p-Akt; after downregulation of DDIT4 expression, the accumulation of ROS, MDA and Fe2+ was significantly reduced, while the expression levels of GPX4, p-PI3K and p-Akt were upregulated, indicating that DDIT4 knockdown reduces ferroptosis in autistic mice. In addition, DDIT4 downregulation, PI3K/Akt pathway activation, and ferroptosis inhibitors all improved social behavior deficits, repetitive stereotyped and compulsive behaviors, anxiety and exploratory behaviors in autistic mice, but PI3K/Akt pathway inhibitors significantly blocked the rescue of abnormal behaviors by DDIT4 downregulation in autistic mice. Therefore, downregulation of DDIT4 expression ameliorates abnormal behaviors in autism by inhibiting ferroptosis via the PI3K/Akt pathway, indicating that DDIT4, the PI3K/Akt pathway and ferroptosis have key roles in autism. • VPA induces DDIT4 expression to promote neuronal ferroptosis. • VPA promotes neuronal ferroptosis through the DDIT4/PI3K/Akt pathway. • Downregulation of DDIT4 expression activates the PI3K/Akt pathway to alleviate ferroptosis in autistic mice. • The DDIT4/PI3K/Akt pathway regulates ferroptosis to affect abnormal behaviors in autistic mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Timely reperfusion in acute myocardial infarction has improved clinical outcomes but the benefits are partially offset by ischemia-reperfusion injury (I/R). MiRNA regulates mRNA of multiple effectors within injury and survival cell signaling pathways. We have previously reported the protective effects of miRNA-221 in I/R injury. The purpose of this study was to explore the mechanisms underlying cardioprotection of miR-221. Myoblast H9c2 and neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVM) were subjected to 0.2% O2 hypoxia followed by 2 h of re-oxygenation (H/R). In gain-and-loss function studies through transfections of miR-221 mimic (miR-221) and inhibitor (miR-221-i), the protective effects of miR-221 were confirmed as assessed by increased cell metabolic activity (WST-1) and decreased LDH release. Autophagy was assessed by GFP-LC3 labeling of autophagosome formation, LC3 and p62 measurements. Co-immuno-precipitation and specific gene cloning and function were used to identify the pathways underpinning miR-221 effects. MiR-221 significantly reduced H/R injury in association with inhibition of autophagy. Underlying mechanisms include (1) down-regulation of Ddit4 (disinhibiting the mTORC1/p-4EBP1 pathway) which inhibits autophagosome formation (2) down-regulation of Tp53inp1 (with reduced Tp53inp1/p62 complex formation) which inhibits autophagosome degradation. In conclusion, miRNA-221 exerts cytoprotective effects in hypoxia-reoxygenation injury in association with alterations in autophagic cell injury. Mir-221 may constitute is a novel therapeutic target in the treatment of cardiac I/R injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Since the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) plays a vital role in hepatocyte function, it is not surprising that a variety of liver-related diseases are associated with ER stress. As in other tissues, ER stress in the liver leads to generation of the unfolded-protein response resulting in activation of a transcriptional program that promotes restoration of homeostasis within the lumen of the ER. Previous studies using cells in culture demonstrated that ER stress induces expression of REDD1 (regulated in development and DNA damage responses), a potent repressor of signaling through the protein kinase referred to as the mechanistic target of rapamycin in complex 1 (mTORC1). In the present study, the results from the cell culture experiments were extended to show that tunicamycin-mediated ER stress in the liver in vivo also induces REDD1 gene expression. Moreover, the induction of REDD1 gene expression was shown to require the protein kinase PERK and enhanced phosphorylation of its substrate, the α-subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]