RSF1 requires CEBP/β and hSNF2H to promote IL-1β-mediated angiogenesis: the clinical and therapeutic relevance of RSF1 overexpression and amplification in myxofibrosarcomas

DEL-1 suppression attenuates atherosclerosis by modulating macrophagic GSK-3β/CEBP-β signaling pathway

OBJECTIVE

The study aims to investigate the effect of developmental endothelial locus-1(DEL-1) expression in atherosclerotic plaque formation and its mechanism.

METHODS

Human left coronary arteries were collected to detect the DEL-1 expression. The ApoE-/- mice were used to establish the atherosclerosis mice model. The left coronary artery and mouse aorta were stained with HE, Oil Red O, and Movat staining. The DEL-1 levels, chemokines CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) and its ligand stromal cell-derived factor-1alpha (SDF-1α), pathway protein glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), CCAAT enhanced binding protein β (C/EBPβ), and downstream inflammatory factors (C-X-C motif chemokine 2 (MIP-2or CXCL2), macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha (MIP-1α or CCL3),Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-α) were detected by immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between DEL-1 gene expression and inflammatory factors in the lesion group and the correlation between DEL-1 gene expression and structure-related indexes.

RESULTS

Compared with Control group(CON), the intravascular plaque area was widened, accompanied by narrowed lumens. The number of plaque foam cells was significantly increased in the high fat and high cholesterol (AS group) or AAV9-eGFP group (P < 0.05). Compared to CON, the enhanced fluorescence intensity of DEL-1 with CD68 in the AS or AAV9-eGFP groups. Diminished fluorescence of DEL-1 with CD68 expression in AAV9-CXCR4 group compared to AS group or AAV9-eGFP group. The DEL-1 and its downstream proteins in AS group or AAV9-eGFP group were mainly accumulated in the macrophage cytoplasm. The DEL-1 expression level was significantly and positively correlated with plaque area, lumen stenosis, plaque foam cell count, TNFα, CXCL2, and CCL3 levels.

CONCLUSION

DEL-1 inhibition decreases macrophagic inflammatory factors involved in atherosclerotic plaque formation.

MiR-1224 downregulation inhibits OGD/R-induced hippocampal neuron apoptosis through targeting Ku protein

Ischemic cerebrovascular disease is the main cause of disability due to stroke. This study aimed to investigate the function of miR-1224 in OGD/R-induced hippocampal neuron apoptosis, as well as the regulatory mechanism of miR-1224 in ischemic cerebrovascular disease. The oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) model of primary mouse hippocampal neurons was established. RT-qPCR detected miR-1224, Ku70 and Ku86 levels. Western blotting was applied to measure the expression of Ku70/86 and apoptosis related proteins. Flow cytometry was used to assess apoptosis. JC-1 fluorescence was performed to test the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in neurons. The double luciferase reporter assay was performed to investigate the relationship between miR-1224 and Ku70/86. OGD/R induced the apoptosis and mitochondrial injury in neuronal cells, while miR-1224 downregulation or Ku70/86 upregulation reversed this phenomenon. Meanwhile, miR-1224 negatively regulated the expression of Ku70/86 in neuronal cells through directly targeting Ku70/86. Furthermore, knockdown of Ku70/86 significantly reversed the inhibitory effect of miR-1224 silencing on apoptosis and mitochondrial injury in OGD/R-treated neuronal cells. Our findings indicated that miR-1224 downregulation suppressed OGD/R-induced hippocampal neuron apoptosis by targeting Ku protein, suggesting that miR-1224 could serve as a new target for ischemic cerebrovascular disease treatment.

Key Factor Regulating Inflammatory Microenvironment, Metastasis, and Resistance in Breast Cancer: Interleukin-1 Signaling

Breast cancer is one of the top-ranked cancers for incidence and mortality worldwide. The biggest challenges in breast cancer treatment are metastasis and drug resistance, for which work on molecular evaluation, mechanism studies, and screening of therapeutic targets is ongoing. Factors that lead to inflammatory infiltration and immune system suppression in the tumor microenvironment are potential therapeutic targets. Interleukin-1 is known as a proinflammatory and immunostimulatory cytokine, which plays important roles in inflammatory diseases. Recent studies have shown that interleukin-1 cytokines drive the formation and maintenance of an inflammatory/immunosuppressive microenvironment through complex intercellular signal crosstalk and tight intracellular signal transduction, which were found to be potentially involved in the mechanism of metastasis and drug resistance of breast cancer. Some preclinical and clinical treatments or interventions to block the interleukin-1/interleukin-1 receptor system and its up- and downstream signaling cascades have also been proven effective. This study provides an overview of IL-1-mediated signal communication in breast cancer and discusses the potential of IL-1 as a therapeutic target especially for metastatic breast cancer and combination therapy and current problems, aiming at enlightening new ideas in the study of inflammatory cytokines and immune networks in the tumor microenvironment.

RSF1 in cancer: interactions and functions

RSF1, remodelling and spacing factor 1, is an important interphase centromere protein and is overexpressed in many types of cancers and correlated with poor overall survival. RSF1 has functions mainly in maintaining chromosome stability, facilitating DNA repair, maintaining the protein homeostasis of RSF1 and suppressing the transcription of some oncogenes when RSF1 protein is expressed at an optimal level; however, RSF1 overexpression facilitates drug resistance and cell cycle checkpoint inhibition to prompt cancer proliferation and survival. The RSF1 expression level and gene background are crucial for RSF1 functions, which may explain why RSF1 has different functions in different cancer types. This review summarizes the functional domains of RSF1, the overexpression status of RSF1 and SNF2H in cancer based on the TCGA and GTE_X databases, the cancer-related functions of RSF1 in interacting with H2Aub, HDAC1, CENP-A, PLK1, ATM, CENP-S, SNF2H, HB_X, BubR1, cyclin E1, CBP and NF-κB and the potential clinical value of RSF1, which will lay a theoretical foundation for the structural biology study of RSF1 and application of RSF1 inhibitors, truncated RSF1 proteins and SNF2H inhibitors in the treatment of RSF1-overexpressing tumours.