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Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common type of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Despite the existing extensive research, the molecular and pathogenic mechanisms of ccRCC are elusive. We aimed to identify the immune-related lncRNA signature and molecular subtypes associated with ccRCC. By integrating 4 microarray datasets from Gene Expression Omnibus database, we identified 49 immune-related genes. The corresponding immune-related lncRNAs were further identified in the TCGA dataset. 12-lncRNAs prognostic and independent signature was identified through survival analysis and survival difference between risk groups was further identified based on the risk score. Besides, we identified 3 molecular subtypes and survival analysis result showed that cluster 2 has a better survival outcome. Further, ssGSEA enrichment analysis for the immune-associated gene sets revealed that cluster 1 corresponded to a high immune infiltration level. While cluster 2 and cluster 3 corresponded to low and medium immune infiltration level, respectively. In addition, we validated the 12-lncRNA prognostic signature and molecular subtypes in an external validation dataset from the ICGC database. In summary, we identified a 12-lncRNA prognostic signature which may provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of ccRCC and the molecular subtypes provided a theoretical basis for personalized treatment by clinicians.

Our previous reports demonstrated that the novel peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors α and γ (PPARα/γ) dual agonist propane-2-sulfonic acid octadec-9-enyl-amide (N15) alleviates cognitive ability in the chronic phase of ischemic stroke. However, the potential effects of N15 on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) animal models have not been elucidated. In the present study, we investigated the effects of N15 on scopolamine-induced cognitive dysfunction and cholinergic system ability. N15 (50, 100 or 200 mg/kg) was administered to mice via oral gavage for 21 days, and spatial cognitive dysfunction was induced via an intraperitoneal injection of scopolamine (4 mg/kg) for 6 days. We found that N15 pretreatment markedly ameliorated scopolamine-induced spatial cognitive impairment and enhanced cholinergic system reactivity in the hippocampus. N15 pretreatment also significantly increased the expression levels of growth-associated protein-43, synaptophysin, brain-derived neurotrophic factor and neurotrophin-3 in the hippocampus. Our data demonstrate that N15 has an anti-amnesic effect, which may be mediated by enhancing cholinergic activity and synaptic plasticity. These findings support N15 as a potent neuropharmacological drug against AD.

Background: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is characterized by high metastatic potential, and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been shown to play a key role in multiple cancer progression, migration and metastasis and is the leading cause of poor prognosis. Currently, tumor necrosis factor-α-induced protein 8 (TNFAIP8/TIPE) is a newly discovered tumorigenesis factor, and TNFAIP8 and the EMT influence the migration of renal cancer cells. Methods: In this study, we first analyzed the relationship between TNFAIP8 and ccRCC using bioinformatics, followed by immunohistochemistry to evaluate the relationship between the two in clinical samples. Subsequently, reverse transcription PCR and western blotting confirmed the expression of TNFAIP8 in ccRCC cells. Furthermore, we measured the migration and invasion abilities by using wound healing and transwell assays after overexpression or knockdown of TNFAIP8 in cells. In addition, we verified whether TNFAIP8 affects the EMT process in ccRCC by quantitative real-time PCR, western blotting, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence experiments. Results: Through database analysis, we found that TNFAIP8 was highly expressed in ccRCC patients and was positively correlated with tumor stage and grade, indicating that TNFAIP8 is associated with the development of advanced ccRCC and poor prognosis. We subsequently confirmed that TNFAIP8 was abnormally overexpressed in clinical samples and ccRCC cell lines and that TNFAIP8 promoted ccRCC cell migration and invasion in vitro. Finally, we found that TNFAIP8 regulated EMT-related molecule expression and regulated the EMT process. Conclusion: High expression of TNFAIP8 reinforces migration and regulates the EMT in ccRCC, conferring the metastatic potential of ccRCC and suggesting that TNFAIP8 may be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of advanced ccRCC.

Human gastrointestinal cancer (e.g., gastric cancer and colorectal cancer) has been a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide and has imposed a great threat to the public health. Although early-stage gastrointestinal cancer can be effectively treated by surgery, followed by postoperative chemotherapy, patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer often exhibit poor prognosis and cancer relapse due to the absence of effective personalized treatment strategies. Patient-derived cancer organoid technology has been rapidly developed in recent years, and its emergence has opened up an unprecedented approach to model human cancers in vitro. Patient-derived cancer organoids involve the ex vivo culture of fragments of freshly resected human tumors that retain the histological features of original tumors. This review thoroughly discussed the evolutionary process of human gastrointestinal organoids cultured since 2009, and highlighted the potentials of patient-derived cancer organoids in clinical management of gastrointestinal cancer in terms of advances achieved in cancer modelling compared with conventional modelling methods, high-throughput drug screening, and development of personalized treatment selection. Additionally, the current limitations of patient-derived cancer organoids and the potential solutions to overcome these problems were summarized.

Objective. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) exerts a key function in cancer initiation and progression. Herein, we aimed to develop an EMT-based prognostic signature in gastric cancer. Methods. The gene expression profiles of gastric cancer were obtained from TCGA dataset as a training set and GSE66229 and GSE84437 datasets as validation sets. By LASSO regression and Cox regression analyses, key prognostic EMT-related genes were screened for developing a risk score (RS) model. Potential small molecular compounds were predicted by the CMap database based on the RS model. GSEA was employed to explore signaling pathways associated with the RS. ESTIMATE and seven algorithms (TIMER, CIBERSORT, CIBERSORT-ABS, QUANTISEQ, MCPCOUNTER, XCELL, and EPIC) were applied to assess the RS and immune microenvironment. Results. This study developed an EMT-related gene signature comprised of SERPINE1, PCOLCE2, MATN3, and DKK1. High-RS patients displayed poorer survival outcomes than those with low RS. ROC curves demonstrated the robustness of the model in predicting the prognosis. After external validation, the RS model was an independent risk factor for gastric cancer. Several compounds were predicted for gastric cancer treatment based on the RS model. ECM receptor interaction, focal adhesion, pathway in cancer, TGF-beta, and WNT pathways were distinctly activated in high-RS samples. Also, high RS was significantly associated with increased stromal and immune scores and increased infiltration of CD4+ T cell, CD8+ T cell, cancer-associated fibroblast, and macrophage in gastric cancer tissues. Conclusion. Our findings suggested that the EMT-related gene model may robustly predict gastric cancer prognosis, which could improve the efficacy of personalized therapy.

Osteosarcoma is the second leading cause of cancer-associated mortality worldwide in children and adolescents. ZC3H12D has been shown to negatively regulate Toll-like receptor signaling and serves as a possible tumor suppressor gene. MicroRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) are known to play an important role in the proliferation of human osteosarcoma cells. However, whether miRNAs can affect tumor development by regulating the expression of ZC3H12D has not yet been investigated. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of miR128-3p in regulating ZC3H12D expression, as well as its function in tumor cell proliferation, apoptosis, and metastasis. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR, western blotting and dual luciferase reporter assays were performed to analyze the regulation of ZC3H12D expression by miR-128-3p. MTT, colony formation and flow cytometry assays were also used to analyze the effect of miR-128-3p on cell proliferation and apoptosis. A wound healing assay was performed to investigate the cell migration ability. The results demonstrated that miR-128-3p directly targeted ZC3H12D and downregulated its expression, thereby promoting cell proliferation and migration. miR-128-3p overexpression also improved resistance to cisplatin in MG-63 and 143B cell lines, supporting the hypothesis that miR-128-3p may function as an oncogene in osteosarcoma cells. The potential clinical significance of miR-128-3p as a biomarker and therapeutic target provides rationale for further investigation into the miR-128-3p-mediated molecular pathway and how it is associated with osteosarcoma development.

The transcription factor AP-2 β (TFAP2B) serves an important role in kidney development. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate carcinogenic pathways and have gained increasing attention owing to their association with human clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) tumorigenesis. However, whether miRNAs could affect renal cell tumorigenesis by regulating TFAP2B expression has not been identified. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of miRNA on TFAP2B and its potential role in cell growth, invasion and migration. PCR, western blot and dual luciferase reporter assays were performed to analyze the effects of miR-142-5p on TFAP2B. Furthermore, MTT, flow cytometry, wound healing and Transwell migration assays were used to analyze the effect of miR-142-5p on cell proliferation and migration. The results demonstrated that miR-142-5p targeted TFAP2B and downregulated the expression of TFAP2B at the mRNA and protein levels, promoting cell proliferation and migration in two ccRCC cell lines, 786-O and A-498. This phenomenon supported the theory that miR-142-5p may function as an oncogene in ccRCC. The potential clinical significance of miR-142-5p as a biomarker and a therapeutic target provides rationale for further investigation into miR-142-5p-mediated molecular pathways and how these may be associated with ccRCC development.

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles are known to be atherogenic agents in coronary artery diseases. They adjust to other electronegative forms and can be the subject for the enhancement of inflammatory events in vessel subendothelial spaces. The LDL uptake is related to the membrane scavenger receptors, including LDL receptor (LDLR). The LDLR expression is closely associated with LDL uptake and occurrence of diseases, such as atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. Our findings identified USP16 as a novel regulator of LDLR due to its ability to prevent ubiquitylation-dependent LDLR degradation, further promoting the uptake of LDL. The enhancement of USP16-mediated deubiquitination andthe suppressive degradation of the LDLR cause the presentation of a potential strategy to increase LDL cholesterol clearance.

Background Miscellaneous memory cell populations that exist before organ transplantation are crucial barriers to transplantation. In the present study, we used a skin-primed heart transplantation model in mouse to evaluate the abilities of Thalidomide (TD), alone or in combination with co-stimulatory blockade, using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against memory T cells and alloantibodies to prolong the second cardiac survival. Results In the skin-primed heart transplantation model, TD combined with mAbs significantly prolonged the second cardiac survival, accompanied by inhibition of memory CD8+ T cells. This combined treatment enhanced the CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells ratio in the spleen, restrained the infiltration of lymphocytes into the allograft, and suppressed the allo-response of spleen T cells in the recipient. The levels of allo-antibodies also decreased in the recipient serum. In addition, we detected low levels of the constitutions of the lytic machinery of cytotoxic cells, which cause allograft damage. Conclusions Our study indicated a potential synergistic action of TD in combination with with mAbs to suppress the function of memory T cells and increase the survival of second allografts in alloantigen-primed mice.

Our previous studies showed that propane-2-sulfonic acid octadec-9-enyl-amide (N15), a novel peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors α and γ (PPARα/γ) dual agonist, protected against ischaemia-induced acute brain damage in mice and improved cognitive ability in the chronic phase of ischaemic stroke. It is well known that hippocampal neurogenesis is closely related to cognitive function. In the present study, we investigated the effect of N15 on hippocampal neurogenesis and neuroplasticity in a middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) rat model. The middle cerebral artery of rats was blocked for 2 hours. Oral administration of 100 mg/kg N15 or vehicle was given once daily for days 2-13 after MCAO. The newly mature neurons were detected by staining. The expressions of synapse-related proteins were observed by qRT-PCR or western blotting. We found that N15-treated rats showed improved survival post-MCAO. In addition, N15 treatment markedly increased the newly mature neurons and enhanced the expression levels of growth-associated protein-43, synaptophysin, brain-derived neurotrophic factor and neurotrophin-3 in the hippocampus. Moreover, N15 promoted the activation of PPARα and PPARγ on day 7 and 14 after cerebral ischaemia. These results reveal that N15 may promote neurogenesis and neuroplasticity in MCAO rats through the activation of the PPARα/γ dual signal pathway.

The humanized cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 immunoglobulin (CTLA-4-Ig) has been used to treat Lupus nephritis (LN) based on CTLA-4s negative regulation of T-cell activation through competent to binding with CD80/CD86, the inherent genetic factors influencing the CTLA-4-Ig treatment efficacy are widely unknown. Here, 62 nonsynonymous single nucleotide variants (nsSNVs) of CTLA-4 gene, 184 of CD80 and 201 of CD86 were identified and validated within both EMBL-EBI and dbSNP databases. Next, the nsSNVs rs1466152724 in CTLA-4, rs1196816748, rs765515058, rs1157880125, rs1022857991, and rs142547094 in CD80 and rs1203132714 in CD86 were consistently suggested to be deleterious by SIFT, PolyPhen-2, PROVEAN and meta LR. Based on the 3D structure stability analysis, the variant rs765515058 causing G167V in CD80 was found to reduce the protein's stability through changing the characters of constructed structure of complete CD80 apo form and stabilizing amino acid residues of CD80 holo form in a great degree. Furthermore, the interaction energy analysis results suggested that rs1022857991 causing C50F may reduce the binding energy of CTLA-4 with CD80. Along with the increasing variants, these nsSNVs' effects on the interaction of CTLA-4 with CD80/CD86 will increase, and thus influence the CTLA-4-Ig treatment efficacy against LN.

Additional file 1:Â Formula S1. The formal structural formula of the hydrogen bonds. Figure S1. Ex vivo fluorescence intensity of brains and normal organs harvested from nude mice intravenously treated with the OEA-Cy 5.5 or OEA(-Cy 5.5)-SPC NPs at 24Â h post-injection. Figure S2. Iba-1+ cells in cortex. Figure S3. Quantitative analysis of Iba-1+ cells in cortex. Figure S4. Iba-1+ cells hippocampal CA1. Figure S5. Quantitative analysis of Iba-1+ cells hippocampal CA1.

A combination of chemotherapy and photothermal therapy (PTT) against cancer, overcoming the intrinsic limitations of single-modal chemotherapy or PTT, has emerged as a promising strategy to achieve synergistic therapeutic effect. However, the lack of precise drug delivery and intelligent drug release based on photo-chemotherapy at specific tumor sites remained a challenge. Hence, the both tumor-specific targeting molecule (methotrexate) and ligand (hyaluronic acid)-introduced, glutathione-responsive amphiphiles (deoxycholic acid-hyaluronic acid-methotrexate, DA-SS-HA-MTX) were developed for synchronous delivery of indocyanine green (ICG) and doxorubicin (DOX). The as-synthesized DOX/ICG@DSHM remarkably improved the intracellular drug uptake and accumulation owing to both the CD44/folate receptors-mediated synergistic targeting and the glutathione-triggered rapid drug release. Moreover, DOX/ICG@DSHM efficiently accumulated at the tumor sites, realizing the notable tumor ablation under the guidance of dual-modal optical imaging. Taken together, this study provided a promising nanotheranostic agent for imaging-guided chemo-photothermal combination therapy.

Background Leading to more and more deaths and disabilities, stroke has become a serious threat to human health. What’s more, few effective drugs are available in clinic till now. Results In this research, we prepared a novel neuroprotective nanoformation (OEA–SPC NPs) via the combination of the nanoparticle drug delivery system with the endogenous N-oleoylethanolamine (OEA). By forming hydrogen bond between OEA and the carrier—soybean phosphatidylcholine (SPC), the form of OEA was turned into amorphus state when loading to the nanoparticles, which greatly improved its bioavailability. Then the following systematic experiments revealed the efficient neuroprotective effect of OEA–SPC NPs in vivo. Compared with the MCAO group, the cerebral infarct volume was reduced by 81.1%, and the edema degree by 78.4% via the oral administration of OEA–SPC NPs. And the neurological deficit scores illustrated that the MCAO rats treated with OEA–SPC NPs exhibited significantly less neurological dysfunction. The Morris water maze test indicated that the spatial learning and memory of cerebral ischemia model rats were almost recovered to the normal level. Besides, the OEA–SPC NPs could inhibit the inflammation of reperfusion to a very slight level. Conclusions These results suggest that the OEA–SPC NPs have a great chance to be a potential anti-stroke formation for clinic application and actually bring hope to thousands of stroke patients. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12951-019-0442-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Bisphenol A (BPA), an environmental endocrine-disrupting compound, has drawn a great attention for its adverse effect on behavioral development. Maternal exposure to this compound has been reported to induce anxiety and depression in offspring, but the effect of its paternal \ud exposure is rarely discussed. This study investigated whether preconception paternal BPA exposure can affect the emotions of male rats and their offspring. Eighteen adult male rats (F0) received either a vehicle or 50 μg/kg/day BPA diet for 21 weeks and were then mated with non-exposed females to produce offspring (F1). The affective behaviors of F0 and F1 rats were evaluated in the open-field test, the elevated-plus maze and the forced swimming test, and their serum corticosterone were then examined. BPA exposure induced increased anxiety behaviors along with increased serum corticosterone in F0 rats. This paternal exposure also led to increased anxiety behaviors in F1 females and aggravated depression behaviors in both sexes of F1 rats. Furthermore, only F1 females exhibited increased serum corticosterone. Overall, these data indicate that preconception paternal\ud exposure to a low dose of BPA may induce transgenerational sex-specific impairments in the affection of adult rats.

Leading to more and more deaths and disabilities, stroke has become a serious threat to human health. What's more, few effective drugs are available in clinic till now. In this research, we prepared a novel neuroprotective nanoformation (OEA-SPC NPs) via the combination of the nanoparticle drug delivery system with the endogenous N-oleoylethanolamine (OEA). By forming hydrogen bond between OEA and the carrier - soybean phosphatidylcholine (SPC), the form of OEA was turned into amorphus state when loading to the nanoparticles, which greatly improved its bioavailability. Then the following systematic experiments revealed the amazing neuroprotective effect of OEA-SPC NPs in vivo. Compared with the MCAO group, the cerebral infarct volume was reduced by 81.1%, and the edema degree by 78.4% via the oral administration of OEA-SPC NPs. And the neurological deficit scores illustrated that the MCAO rats treated with OEA-SPC NPs exhibited significantly less neurological dysfunction. The Morris water maze test indicated that the spatial learning and memory of cerebral ischemia model rats were almost recovered to the normal level. Besides, the OEA-SPC NPs could inhibit the inflammation of reperfusion to a very slight level. These results suggest that the OEA-SPC NPs have a great chance to be a potential anti-stroke formation for clinic application and actually bring hope to thousands of stroke patients. Funding Statements: This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81373407 and 81402921), the Health Science Research Personnel Training Program of Fujian Province (2018-CXB-30), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 20720180042), the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian, China (No. 2016D018) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2017M622080 and 2018M632584). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: The experimental protocols were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of Medical College of Xiamen University in compliance with the NIH Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NIH Publications No. 80-23).

CD8(+) memory T (Tm) cells are a significant barrier to transplant tolerance induction in alloantigen-primed recipients, and are insensitive to existing clinical immunosuppressants. Here, we studied the inhibition of CD8(+) Tm cells by arsenic trioxide (As2O3) for the first time. Alloantigen-primed CD8(+) Tm cells were transferred to T cell immunodeficient nude mice. The mice were subjected to heart allotransplantation, and treated with As2O3. The transplant survival time was determined, and the inhibitory effects of As2O3 on CD8(+) Tm cell-mediated immune rejection were assessed through serological studies and inspection of the transplanted heart and lymphoid organs. We found that As2O3 treatment prolonged the mean survival time of the graft and reduced the number of CD8(+) Tm cells in the spleen and lymph nodes. The expression of the genes encoding interleukin (IL)-2, and IFN-γ was reduced, while expression of IL-10 and transforming growth factor-β was increased in the transplant. Our findings show that As2O3 treatment inhibits allograft rejection mediated by alloreactive CD8(+) Tm cells in the mouse heart transplantation model.

Background Delayed xenograft rejection (DXR) is an insurmountable barrier for xenotransplantation. Previous studies reported that hamster hearts transplanted into rats undergo DXR and stop functioning after the cessation of immunosuppression. Herein, we investigated the effects of resveratrol on preventing DXR in a hamster-to-rat vascularized cardiac xenograft model. Methods Hamster hearts were engrafted into Lewis rat recipients. Recipient rats received a graft acceptance-inducing treatment of leflunomide and FK506 for 2 weeks to prevent acute xenograft rejection (AXR). Then, all recipient rats were randomly divided into two groups: one group was treated with 1% carboxymethyl cellulose vehicle (control group) and one group was treated with resveratrol (RES group). Results After cessation of FK506 and Lef in recipient rats, treatment with resveratrol prolonged the mean survival time from 8.5 days in the control group to 23.5 days. Compared with the control group, neutrophil infiltration in both cardiac muscle and blood vessel tissues of the grafts after resveratrol treatment was significantly reduced. Meanwhile, resveratrol treatment also significantly inhibited T-cell response along with increased production of cytokines including interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10, and decreased interferon (IFN)-gamma of recipients. Furthermore, in the RES group, immunoglobulin (Ig)M antibody production was markedly inhibited, while the production of IgG antibody and the frequency of B cells did not vary. Conclusion Administration of resveratrol can markedly delay the emergence of DXR by inhibiting IgM secretion.

Xenotransplantation is an effective way to solve the problem of donor shortage in clinical transplantation. However, clinical use of xenotransplantation is currently limited due to immunological challenges such as acute vascular rejection and cell-mediated rejection. To finally surpass this immunological barrier, more preclinical research is needed into the molecular mechanisms of rejection and the possible effects of new immunosuppressants. Our aim was to create a refined, highly reproducible protocol to establish the most suitable rat-to-mouse heterotopic heart transplantation model using the cuff technique.