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Abstract Background This study was to explore the effects of Gan-Lu-Yin (GLY) on the migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) induced by fetal bovine serum and on neointima formation in a rat model of carotid artery balloon injury. Methods VSMCs were treated with different concentrations of GLY, and then analyzed with Flow cytometric analysis, zymography, transwell, and western blotting. SD rats received balloon-injury were analyzed with H&E staining. Results Our results showed that GLY significantly decreased the thickness of neointima. The inhibition by non-cytoxic doses of GLY of VSMCs migration was through its negative regulatory effects on phosphorylated ERK1/2, PI3K/AKT, and FAK. The data showed that GLY can inhibit the migration of VSMCs cells, and might block injury-induced neointima hyperplasia via the inhibition of VSMCs migration, without inducing apoptosis. Conclusions These observations provide a mechanism of GLY in attenuating cell migration, thus as a potential intervention for restenosis.

Neointimal hyperplasia (or restenosis) is primarily attributed to excessive proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effects and mechanisms of ugonin J on VSMC proliferation and migration as well as neointimal formation. Cell viability and the cell-cycle distribution were, respectively, analyzed using an MTT assay and flow cytometry. Cell migration was examined using a wound-healing analysis and a transwell assay. Protein expressions and gelatinase activities were, respectively, measured using Western blot and gelatin zymography. Balloon angioplasty-induced neointimal formation was induced in a rat carotid artery model and then examined using immunohistochemical staining. Ugonin J induced cell-cycle arrest at the G0 /G1 phase and apoptosis to inhibit VSMC growth. Ugonin J also exhibited marked suppressive activity on VSMC migration. Ugonin J significantly reduced activations of focal adhesion kinase, phosphoinositide 3-kinase, v-akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog 1, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 proteins. Moreover, ugonin J obviously reduced expressions and activity levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and matrix metalloproteinase-9. In vivo data indicated that ugonin J prevented balloon angioplasty-induced neointimal hyperplasia. Our study suggested that ugonin J has the potential for application in the prevention of balloon injury-induced neointimal formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors regret 'We recently found that two of our figures were mistakenly placed in our accepted paper. Firstly, we accidentally put the same pictures in the different EEAC treatment [...]

1. The aim of the present study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms by which pipoxolan exerts its inhibitory effects and apoptotic activity in human leukaemia HL-60 cells. 2. The effects of pipoxolan on the proliferation of HL-60 cells and on the distribution of cells within different phases of the cell cycle were investigated indirectly using a Trypan blue assay and a flow cytometer, respectively. The effects of pipoxolan on the apoptosis of HL-60 cells was investigated using DNA fragmentation and flow cytometer. The expression of factors affecting the cell cycle and apoptosis, including p53, p21, Bax, Bcl2, cytochrome c, caspase 3 and caspase 9, was examined by western blotting. 3. At 6.25 μg/mL, pipoxolan significantly induced apoptosis in human leukaemia HL-60 cells after 24 h exposure. In addition, HL-60 cells were arrested in the G0/G1 phase via the induction of p53/p21 by pipoxolan. Apoptosis was associated with an increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, cytochrome c release, cleavage of procaspases-9 and -3 and hydrolysis of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) seem to play a key role in the pipoxolan-induced apoptosis, because high levels of ROS were produced early in the drug treatment. Apoptosis was significantly abrogated by the free radical scavenger N-acetylcysteine (NAC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a major form of liver cancer, is characterized by high lethality and a multifactorial etiology that includes hepatitis virus infections, lifestyle factors, and genetic predispositions. This study aimed to explore the impact of ZNF208 gene polymorphisms on the clinicopathological features of Taiwanese HCC patients, focusing on three specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): rs2188971, rs2188972, and rs8105767. Our cohort consisted of 438 HCC patients and 1193 control individuals. Clinical staging was determined using the tumor/node/metastasis (TNM) system, and various clinical indicators were collected. Our analysis revealed a statistically significant increase in ZNF208 expression in HCC patients compared to controls, indicating a potential role in HCC progression. Although no substantial association was observed between ZNF208 SNPs and increased HCC risk, specific clinical features such as distant metastasis and vascular invasion showed significant associations with these SNPs, suggesting their influence on disease aggressiveness. Demographic analyses highlighted the importance of factors like alcohol consumption and viral hepatitis markers in HCC. Our study underscores the complexity of genetic influences on HCC, with ZNF208 polymorphisms potentially affecting tumor progression and patient outcomes., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (© The author(s).)

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has a higher potential for invasion and metastasis than other types of breast cancer. Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) is the catalytic core protein in the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), which catalyzes the trimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 27 (H3K27me3) and mediates gene silencing of the target genes that are involved in fundamental cellular processes, such as the cell fate decision, cell cycle regulation, senescence, cell differentiation, and cancer formation. A consistent association between TNBC metastasis and EZH2 has not been confirmed. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of EZH2 in the regulation of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMPs) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) to promote metastasis of TNBC cells and to characterize the metastasis-associated genes regulated by EZH2 in TNBC cells. We found that high levels of EZH2 expression induce repression of TIMP2 transcription, leading to increased activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 and thus to increased invasive activity of TNBC cells., Competing Interests: None.

Metastatic cancer attributes to a major cause of cancer death. In this pioneer study, we aimed to investigate how Antrodia cinnamomea (A. cinnamomea), indigenous to Taiwan, affects migration ability of highly metastatic human adenocarcinoma lung cancer cells CL1-5. Our result demonstrated that noncytotoxic ethanol extract of fruiting bodies of A. cinnamomea (EEAC) exhibited a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on motility and migration of the highly metastatic CL1-5 cells. Results of a gelatin zymography assay illustrated that A. cinnamomea repressed the activities of matrix metalloproteinase- (MMP-) 2 and 9 in a dose-dependent manner. A. cinnamomea administration decreased MMP-9 and MMP-2 protein expressions from Western blotting assay, whereas the expression of the tissue inhibitors of MMP (TIMP-1 and TIMP-2) increased. Additional study disclosed that A. cinnamomea suppressed FAK, ERK1/2, p38, AKT, and JNK1/2 phosphorylation, and also PI3K and Rac-1 were found decreased. Further, treatment of CL1-5 cells with inhibitors specific for PI3K (LY294002), ERK1/2 (PD98059), JNK (SP600125), and p38 MAPK (SB203580) decreased the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9. Taken together, EEAC induced FAK phosphorylation and exhibited its antimigration activities via the PI3K/AKT and MAPK signalings in CL1-5 cells. This is the pioneer study verifying the antimigration activity of A. cinnamomea against human lung adenocarcinoma CL1-5 cancer cells [corrected].

The pathological mechanism of restenosis is primarily attributed to excessive proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). The preventive effects of ethanol extract of Dunaliella salina (EDS) on balloon injury-induced neointimal formation were investigated. To explore its molecular mechanism in regulating cell proliferation, we first showed that EDS markedly reduced the human aortic smooth muscle cell proliferation via the inhibition of 5'-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation at 40 and 80 microg/ml. This was further supported by the G0/G1-phase arrest using a flow cytometric analysis. In an in vivo study, EDS at 40 and 80 microg/ml was previously administered to the Sprague-Dawley rats and found that the thickness of neointima, and the ratio of neointima:media were also reduced. EDS inhibited VSMC proliferation in a dose-dependent manner following stimulation of VSMC cultures with 15 % fetal bovine serum (FBS). Suppressed by EDS were 15 % FBS-stimulated intracellular Raf, phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinases (p-Erk) involved in cell-cycle arrest and proliferating cell nuclear antigen. Phosphorylated focal adhesion kinase (p-FAK) was also suppressed by EDS. Also active caspase-9, caspase-3 and cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) protein expression levels were increased by administration with EDS; the apoptotic pathway may play an important role in the regulatory effects of EDS on cell growth. These observations provide a mechanism of EDS in attenuating cell proliferation, thus as a potential intervention for restenosis.