BAG family proteins contributes to autophagy-mediated multidrug resistance of tumor

Screening and Validation of Key Genes of Autophagy in Acute Myocardial Infarction Based on Bioinformatics

Aims

Autophagy plays a significant role in the development of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and cardiomyocyte autophagy is of major importance in maintaining cardiac function. We aimed to identify key genes associated with autophagy in AMI through bioinformatics analysis and verify them through clinical validation.

Materials and Methods

We downloaded an AMI expression profile dataset GSE166780 from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Autophagy-associated genes potentially differentially expressed in AMI were screened using R software. Then, to identify key autophagy-related genes, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis, protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis, Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and correlation analysis were performed on the differentially expressed autophagy-related genes in AMI. Finally, we used quantificational real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to verify the RNA expression of the screened key genes.

Results

TSC2, HSPA8, and HIF1A were screened out as key autophagy-related genes. qRT-PCR results showed that the expression levels of HSPA8 and TSC2 in AMI blood samples were lower, while the expression level of HIF1A was higher than that in the healthy controls.

Conclusions

TSC2, HSPA8, and HIF1A were identified as key autophagy-related genes in this study. They may influence the development of AMI through autophagy. These findings may help deepen our understanding of AMI and may be useful for the treatment of AMI.

Trends and hotspots for European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry: A bibliometric study

European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (EJMC) has been around for a long time and has gained broad interest from the various individuals working in the field. However, there is no bibliometric analysis on the publications of EJMC to thoroughly assess the scientific output and current status systematically. Therefore, the study was conducted to analyze the various publications of EJMC from 1987 to 2022 to improve their quality. A total of 13,386 papers were retrieved, with the number of publications increasing yearly. Based on the multiple indicators of bibliometrics, the highest impact countries, institutions, authors and representative literature were identified, and visualization networks were constructed using VOSviewer. Keyword co-occurrence analysis reveals a gradual shift from phenotypic drug discovery to target-based drug discovery in the EJMC theme change. Moreover, further discussion of the keyword clustering results is provided to support researchers in defining the scope of their research topics and planning their research directions. At this stage, there is a greater focus on developing antitumor and oxidative stress-related drugs than on the earlier anti-infective activities. In future studies, the main research directions are tumor multidrug resistance, oxidative stress, and dual inhibitors.

Unraveling the mystery: How bad is BAG3 in hematological malignancies?

BAG3, also known as BIS and CAIR-1, interacts with Hsp70 via its BAG domain and with other molecules through its WW domain, PXXP repeats and IPV motifs. BAG3 can participate in major cellular pathways including apoptosis, autophagy, cytoskeleton structure, and motility by regulating the expression, location, and activity of its chaperone proteins. As a multifunctional protein, BAG3 is highly expressed in skeletal muscle, cardiomyocytes and multiple tumors, and its intracellular expression can be stimulated by stress. The functions and mechanisms of BAG3 in hematological malignancies have recently been a topic of interest. BAG3 has been confirmed to be involved in the development and chemoresistance of hematological malignancies and to act as a prognostic indicator. Modulation of BAG3 and its corresponding proteins has thus emerged as a promising therapeutic and experimental target. In this review, we consider the characteristics of BAG3 in hematological malignancies as a reference for further clinical and fundamental investigations.