The emerging role of Toll-like receptor 4 in myocardial inflammation

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a family of pattern recognition receptors involved in cardiovascular diseases. Notably, numerous studies have demonstrated that TLR4 activates the expression of several of pro-inflammatory cytokine genes that play pivotal roles in myocardial inflammation, particularly myocarditis, myocardial infarction, ischemia-reperfusion injury, and heart failure. In addition, TLR4 is an emerging target for anti-inflammatory therapies. Given the significance of TLR4, it would be useful to summarize the current literature on the molecular mechanisms and roles of TLR4 in myocardial inflammation. Thus, in this review, we first introduce the basic knowledge of the TLR4 gene and describe the activation and signaling pathways of TLR4 in myocardial inflammation. Moreover, we highlight the recent progress of research on the involvement of TLR4 in myocardial inflammation. The information reviewed here may be useful to further experimental research and to increase the potential of TLR4 as a therapeutic target.

Brief Questionnaire Derived from PANSS Using a General Probability Model to Assess and Monitor the Clinical Features of Schizophrenia

AIM

Patients with schizophrenia require continuous treatment much longer than the duration of their hospitalization, which makes their family members essential in their medical care. However, the evaluation of the disease state could only be done by professionals. This prompted us to seek potent indicators of disease states that are understandable and easy to use for the patients' family.

METHOD

Specific items were firstly extracted from the total PANSS scale. Then 3 096 PANSS scores were analyzed using a nonlinear mixed-effects model (NONMEM). A questionnaire was subsequently developed for family members to assess and monitor the overall severity of schizophrenia. Finally this questionnaire was validated in 33 patients.

RESULTS

2 items (P1 and N4) were extracted from the 8 effective remission items according to the correlation coefficients between the total PANSS score and different combinations of items. P1N4 was defined as the sum of these 2 items. A model was then developed to describe the probability of PANSS≥60, with P1N4 as indicators. The results indicated that P1N4 could make a good predictor of the overall probability of PANSS≥60, which was independent of treatment. A brief questionnaire with 7 questions was developed based on the results. External validation results indicated the questionnaire's suitability for a good assessment.

CONCLUSION

Questionnaire developed based on P1 and N4 may facilitate the patients' family members to better understand the disease state and help to prevent relapse.

Preventive and chronic mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism is highly beneficial in obese SHHF rats

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) activation contributes to heart failure (HF) progression. Its overactivity in obesity is thought to accelerate cardiac remodelling and HF development. Given that MR antagonists (MRA) are beneficial in chronic HF patients, we hypothesized that early MRA treatment may target obesity-related disorders and consequently delay the development of HF.

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH

Twenty spontaneously hypertensive HF dyslipidaemic obese SHHF(cp/cp) rats and 18 non-dyslipidaemic lean SHHF(+/+) controls underwent regular monitoring for their metabolic and cardiovascular phenotypes with or without MRA treatment [eplerenone (eple), 100 mg∙kg(-1) ∙day(-1) ] from 1.5 to 12.5 months of age.

KEY RESULTS

Eleven months of eple treatment in obese rats (SHHF(cp/cp) eple) reduced the obesity-related metabolic disorders observed in untreated SHHF(cp/cp) rats by reducing weight gain, triglycerides and total cholesterol levels and by preserving adiponectinaemia. The MRA treatment predominantly preserved diastolic and systolic functions in obese rats by alleviating the eccentric cardiac hypertrophy observed in untreated SHHF(cp/cp) animals and preserving ejection fraction (70 ± 1 vs. 59 ± 1%). The MRA also improved survival independently of these pressure effects.

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS

Early chronic eple treatment resulted in a delay in cardiac remodelling and HF onset in both SHHF(+/+) and SHHF(cp/cp) rats, whereas SHHF(cp/cp) rats further benefited from the MRA treatment through a reduction in their obesity and dyslipidaemia. These findings suggest that preventive MRA therapy may provide greater benefits in obese patients with additional risk factors of developing cardiovascular complications.

Low nanomolar concentrations of Cucurbitacin-I induces G2/M phase arrest and apoptosis by perturbing redox homeostasis in gastric cancer cells in vitro and in vivo

Cucurbitacin-I (Cu-I, also known as Elatericin B or JSI-124) is developed to inhibit constitutive and abnormal activation of STAT3 in many cancers, demonstrating a potent anticancer activity by targeting disruption of STAT3 function. Here, we for the first time systematically studied the underlying molecular mechanisms of Cu-I-induced gastric cancer cell death both in vitro and in vivo. In our study, we show that Cu-I markedly inhibits gastric cancer cell growth by inducing G2/M phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis at low nanomolar concentrations via a STAT3-independent mechanism. Notably, Cu-I significantly decreases intracellular GSH/GSSG ratio by inhibiting NRF2 pathway to break cellular redox homeostasis, and subsequently induces the expression of GADD45α in a p53-independent manner, and activates JNK/p38 MAPK signaling. Interestingly, Cu-I-induced GADD45α and JNK/p38 MAPK signaling form a positive feedback loop and can be reciprocally regulated by each other. Therefore, the present study provides new insights into the mechanisms of antitumor effects of Cu-I, supporting Cu-I as an attractive therapeutic drug in gastric cancer by modulating the redox balance.

Novel polymeric nanoparticles targeting the lipopolysaccharides of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Considering outburst of various infectious diseases globally, nanoparticle assisted targeted drug delivery has emerged as a promising strategy that can enhance the therapeutic efficacy and minimize the undesirable side effects of an antimicrobial agents. Molecular imprinting is a newly developed strategy that can synthesize a drug carrier with highly stable ligand-like 'cavity', may serve as a new platform of ligand-free targeted drug delivery systems. In this study, we use the amphiphilic lipopolysaccharides, derived from Pseudomonas aeruginosa as imprinting template and obtained an evenly distributed sub-40 nm polymeric nanoparticles by using inverse emulsion method. These molecularly imprinted nanoparticles (MIPNPs) showed specific binding to the lipopolysaccharide as determined by fluorescence polarization and microscale thermophoresis. MIPNPs showed selective recognition of target bacteria as detected by flow cytometry. Additionally, MIPNPs exhibited the in vivo targeting capabilities in both the keratitis model and meningitis model. Moreover, the photosensitizer methylene blue-loaded MIPNPs presented significantly strong inhibition of bacterial Growth, compared to non-imprinted controls for in vitro model of the photodynamic therapy. Our study shows an attempt to design a magic bullet by molecular imprinting that may provide a novel approach to generate synthetic carrier for targeting pathogen and treatment for a variety of infectious human diseases.

Inducible nitric oxide inhibitor enhances the anti-tumor effect of cisplatin on CNE-2 cells by inducing cell apoptosis

OBJECTIVE

Inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase (iNOS) inhibitor S-methylisothiourea (SMT) has been reported to have anti-tumor effects on several types of cancers.  We aimed to investigate whether SMT can inhibit nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells CNE-2 proliferation through raise chemotherapy effect of diaminodichloroplatinum (DDP).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

CNE-2 cells were treated with SMT, DDP and both of them respectively. MTT and colony-forming assay was performed to detect the proliferation effect of the treatment. Hoechst 33258 staining and apoptosis analysis were performed to investigate the apoptosis effect of chemotherapy. Additionally, the NO level was detected to estimate the activity of iNOS.

RESULTS

CNE-2 cells expressed high level of iNOS. SMT can inhibit CNE-2 cells growth in a dose-dependent manner and have the effect on reducing dosage of DDP as well as enhancing the anti-tumor efficacy by promote cell apoptosis.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggested that SMT play a synergism role in the inhibition process of DDP on nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and SMT could be a promising therapeutic factor for cancer prevention.

Aberrant TAL1 activation is mediated by an interchromosomal interaction in human T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Long-range chromatin interactions control metazoan gene transcription. However, the involvement of intra- and interchromosomal interactions in development and oncogenesis remains unclear. TAL1/SCL is a critical transcription factor required for the development of all hematopoietic lineages; yet, aberrant TAL1 transcription often occurs in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). Here, we report that oncogenic TAL1 expression is regulated by different intra- and interchromosomal loops in normal hematopoietic and leukemic cells, respectively. These intra- and interchromosomal loops alter the cell-type-specific enhancers that interact with the TAL1 promoter. We show that human SET1 (hSET1)-mediated H3K4 methylations promote a long-range chromatin loop, which brings the +51 enhancer in close proximity to TAL1 promoter 1 in erythroid cells. The CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) facilitates this long-range enhancer/promoter interaction of the TAL1 locus in erythroid cells while blocking the same enhancer/promoter interaction of the TAL1 locus in human T-cell leukemia. In human T-ALL, a T-cell-specific transcription factor c-Maf-mediated interchromosomal interaction brings the TAL1 promoter into close proximity with a T-cell-specific regulatory element located on chromosome 16, activating aberrant TAL1 oncogene expression. Thus, our study reveals a novel molecular mechanism involving changes in three-dimensional chromatin interactions that activate the TAL1 oncogene in human T-cell leukemia.

Predictive performance of reported population pharmacokinetic models of vancomycin in Chinese adult patients

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE

There are numerous studies on population pharmacokinetics of vancomycin in adult patients. However, there is no such research for Chinese adult patients. This study was conducted to evaluate the predictive performance of reported population pharmacokinetic models of vancomycin in Chinese adult patients and to identify some models appropriate for our population.

METHODS

A literature search was conducted in PubMed to obtain the population pharmacokinetic models of vancomycin published between December 2010 and September 2012. The models were assessed using concentration data collected from Chinese patients for external validation. Models with relatively poor predictability were excluded from further analysis. The performance of the remaining models was evaluated in patients with different levels of creatinine clearance, age, body weight and sex by Bayesian method. This method was also used to compare the predictive performance based on peak concentration and trough concentration and the predictability based on different number of observed concentrations.

RESULTS

One hundred and sixty-five blood concentrations from 72 Chinese adult patients were collected retrospectively to serve as the test data set. The evaluated models included all those reported in the seven publications reviewed by Marsot et al. and three other studies published after December 2010. Three models with poor performance on external validation were excluded from the next Bayesian analysis. The distribution of covariates in the model building data set had an important effect on prediction. The predictability based on peak/trough concentration was similar among the evaluated models, and no significant difference was found using our data set except for Roberts' model. As expected, an increased number of samples improved the performance of the Bayesian prediction.

WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION

With our data set, the performance of the evaluated models varied. The characteristics of the patient population and distribution of covariates should be given more consideration when choosing a model to predict blood concentrations. The model developed by Purwonugroho et al. using a data set from patients similar to ours is appropriate for Bayesian dose predictions for vancomycin concentrations in our population of Chinese adult patients.

Ultrasensitive magnetic field detection using a single artificial atom

Efficient detection of magnetic fields is central to many areas of research and technology. High-sensitivity detectors are commonly built using direct-current superconducting quantum interference devices or atomic systems. Here we use a single artificial atom to implement an ultrasensitive magnetometer with micron range size. The artificial atom, a superconducting two-level system, is operated similarly to atom and diamond nitrogen-vacancy centre-based magnetometers. The high sensitivity results from quantum coherence combined with strong coupling to magnetic field. We obtain a sensitivity of 3.3 pT Hz(-1/2) for a frequency at 10 MHz. We discuss feasible improvements to increase sensitivity by one order of magnitude. The intrinsic sensitivity of this detector at frequencies in the 100 kHz-10 MHz range compares favourably with direct-current superconducting quantum interference devices and atomic magnetometers of equivalent spatial resolution. This result illustrates the potential of artificial quantum systems for sensitive detection and related applications.

Complete Genome Sequence of a Chinese Strain of "Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus"

We report here the complete genome sequence of "Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus" (strain Guangxi-1). The 1,268,237-bp genome with a 36.5% G+C content comprises 1,141 open reading frames, 44 tRNAs, and 3 complete rRNAs in a circular chromosome.

Differentially expressed microRNAs and affected biological pathways revealed by modulated modularity clustering (MMC) analysis of human preeclamptic and IUGR placentas

INTRODUCTION

This study focuses on the implementation of modulated modularity clustering (MMC) a new cluster algorithm for the identification of molecular signatures of preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), and the identification of affected microRNAs

METHODS

Eighty-six human placentas from normal (40), growth-restricted (27), and preeclamptic (19) term pregnancies were profiled using Illumina Human-6 Beadarrays. MMC was utilized to generate modules based on similarities in placental transcriptome. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was used to predict affected microRNAs. Expression levels of these candidate microRNAs were investigated in seventy-one human term placentas as follows: control (29); IUGR (26); and preeclampsia (16).

RESULTS

MMC identified two modules, one representing IUGR placentas and one representing preeclamptic placentas. 326 differentially expressed genes in the module representing IUGR and 889 differentially expressed genes in a module representing preeclampsia were identified. Functional analysis of molecular signatures associated with IUGR identified P13K/AKT, mTOR, p70S6K, apoptosis and IGF-1 signaling as being affected. Analysis of variance of GSEA-predicted microRNAs indicated that miR-194 was significantly down-regulated both in preeclampsia (p = 0.0001) and IUGR (p = 0.0304), and miR-149 was significantly down-regulated in preeclampsia (p = 0.0168).

DISCUSSION

Implementation of MMC, allowed identification of genes disregulated in IUGR and preeclampsia. The reliability of MMC was validated by comparing to previous linear modeling analysis of preeclamptic placentas.

CONCLUSION

MMC allowed the elucidation of a molecular signature associated with preeclampsia and a subset of IUGR samples. This allowed the identification of genes, pathways, and microRNAs affected in these diseases.

Safety of catheter-delivered plasmin in patients with acute lower extremity arterial or bypass graft occlusion: phase I results

BACKGROUND

Current treatment of acute peripheral artery or bypass graft occlusion utilizes catheter-directed thrombolysis of a plasminogen activator (PA). Plasmin is a direct-acting thrombolytic with a striking safety advantage over PA in preclinical models.

OBJECTIVES

To report the first use of purified plasmin for acute lower extremity arterial or bypass graft thrombosis in a phase I dose-escalation study of a catheter-delivered agent.

METHODS

Eighty-three patients with non-embolic occlusion of infrainguinal native arteries or bypass grafts were enrolled (safety population) into seven sequential dose cohorts to receive 25-175 mg of plasmin by intrathrombus infusion over 5 h. Arteriograms were performed at baseline, 2 h, and 5 h, and subjects were monitored for 30 days for clinical outcomes and laboratory parameters of systemic fibrinolysis.

RESULTS

Major bleeding occurred in four patients (4.8%), and minor bleeding alone in 13 (15.7%), with no trend towards more bleeding at higher dosages of plasmin. There was a trend towards lower plasma concentrations of fibrinogen, α(2) -antiplasmin and α(2) -macroglobulin with increasing doses of plasmin, but the nadir fibrinogen concentration was > 350 mg dL(-1) at the highest plasmin dose. Individual nadir values were above 200 mg dL(-1) in 82 of 83 subjects, and were not different in patients with or without bleeding. Thrombolysis (≥ 50%) occurred in 79% of subjects receiving 125-175 mg of plasmin, as compared with 50% who received 25-100 mg.

CONCLUSIONS

Catheter-delivered plasmin can be safely administered to patients with acute lower extremity arterial occlusion at dosages of 25-175 mg.

Subclinical endothelial dysfunction and low-grade inflammation play roles in the development of erectile dysfunction in young men with low risk of coronary heart disease

The purpose of this study is to investigate the possible underlying pathogenesis of erectile dysfunction(ED) in young men with low risk of coronary heart disease and no well-known aetiology. To conduct this study, 122 patients with ED under the age of 40 were enrolled, along with 33 age-matched normal control subjects. The patients with ED had significantly higher levels of systolic blood pressure (SBP), total cholesterol and triglyceride, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), greater carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and Framingham risk score (FRS) than the control group, though all of these values were within the respective normal range. Further, the brachial artery flow- mediated vasodilation (FMD) values were significantly lower in ED patients and correlated positively with the severity of ED (r = 0.714, p < 0.001). When these significant factors were studied in the multivariate logistic regression model, FMD, SBP, hs-CRP and FRS remained the statistical significance. The receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrated that FMD had a high ability to predict ED in young male with low FRS [area under the curve (AUC) 0.921, p < 0.001]. The cutoff value of FMD <10.25% had sensitivity of 82.8% and specificity of 100% for diagnosis of ED. FRS and hs- CRP were also proven to be predictors of ED (AUC 0.812, p < 0.001; AUC 0.645, p = 0.011, respectively). The results of this study validated that subclinical endothelial dysfunction and low-grade inflammation may be the underlying pathogenesis of ED with no well-known aetiology. Young patients complaining of ED should be screened for cardiovascular risk factors and possible subclinical atherosclerosis. Measurement of FMD, hs-CRP and FRS can improve our ability to predict and treat ED, as well as subclinical cardiovascular disease early for young male.

Exploring serological classification tree model of active pulmonary tuberculosis by magnetic beads pretreatment and MALDI-TOF MS analysis

Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease disturbing status of public health, and accurate diagnosis of TB would effectively help control the disturbance. Our study tried to establish a classification tree model that distinguished active TB from non-TB individuals. We used matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) combined with weak cationic exchange (WCX) magnetic beads to analyse 178 serum samples containing 75 patients with active TB and 103 non-TB individuals (43 patients with common pulmonary diseases and 60 healthy controls). Samples were randomly divided into a training set and a test set. Statistical softwares were applied to construct this model. An amount of 48 differential expressed peaks (P < 0.05) were identified by the training set, and our model was set up by three of them, m/z 7626, 8561 and 8608. This model can discriminate patients with active TB from patients with non-TB with a sensitivity of 98.3% and a specificity of 84.4%. The test set was used to verify the performance, which demonstrated good sensitivity and specificity: 85.7% and 83.3%, respectively. Differential expressed peaks between smear-positive and smear-negative active TB also have been analysed. It came out that m/z 8561 and 8608 not only acted as vital factors in the pathogenesis of active TB but also played an important role in regulating different active TB status. In conclusion, MALDI-TOF MS combined with WCX magnetic beads was a powerful technology for constructing classification tree model, and the model we built could serve as a potential diagnostic tool for active TB.