Systemic differential gene regulation of the inter-α-trypsin inhibitor family in acute necrotizing pancreatitis in mice

Urine inter‐alpha‐trypsin inhibitor family‐related proteins may serve as biomarkers for disease activity of lupus

Background

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory disease involving multiple tissues. Inter‐Alpha‐Trypsin Inhibitor (ITI) family proteins have a role in maintaining tissue homeostasis, but their possible clinical significance in the SLE patients has not been reported. The aim of this study was to analyze and verify the expression of ITI‐related proteins in the urine of SLE patients, further explore the features of these proteins in disease activity.

Methods

Based on label‐free proteomics technology and bioinformatics technology, we analyzed the expression of ITI family‐related proteins in the urine of lupus. Subsequently, Western‐blot and targeted proteomics were used to qualitatively and quantitatively verify the expression of these proteins, respectively.

Results

A total of seven ITI family‐related proteins were screened and identified; and six of these proteins were differentially expressed in the urine of SLE patients. Further quantitative analysis showed that the expressions of ITIH2, ECM1, and ITIH5 in urine between active SLE group and stable SLE group were consistent with the preliminary screening results. The expression of ITIH2 and ECM1 in the renal damage group were also consistent with the screening results. Moreover, ITIH2 and ECM1 have a good correlation with disease activity and have a certain correlation with renal damage.

Conclusions

In this exploratory study, we evaluated the expression of ITI family‐related proteins in the urine of SLE and found that urine ITIH2 and ECM1 were closely related to SLE activity, especially kidney damage, providing an experimental basis for further exploration of the potential roles in monitoring lupus and lupus nephritis activity.

Application of nanotechnology in the diagnosis and treatment of acute pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common digestive system disease. The severity of AP ranges from mild edema in the pancreas to severe systemic inflammatory responses leading to peripancreatic/pancreatic necrosis, multi-organ failure and death. Improving the sensitivity of AP diagnosis and developing alternatives to traditional methods to treat AP have gained the attention of researchers. With the continuous rise of nanotechnology, it is being widely used in daily life, biomedicine, chemical energy and many other fields. Studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of nanotechnology in the diagnosis and treatment of AP. Nanotechnology has the advantages of simplicity, rapidity and sensitivity in detecting biomarkers of AP, as well as enhancing imaging, which helps in the early diagnosis of AP. On the other hand, nanoparticles (NPs) have oxidative stress inhibiting and anti-inflammatory effects, and can also be loaded with drugs as well as being used in anti-infection therapy, providing a new approach for the treatment of AP. In this article, we elaborate and summarize on the potential of nanoparticles for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in AP from the current reported literature and experimental results to provide useful guidelines for further research on the application of nanotechnology.

Versatile cationic liposomes for RIP3 overexpression in colon cancer therapy and RIP3 downregulation in acute pancreatitis therapy

Because the induction of strong host antitumor responses plays a very important role in antitumor therapy, identifying effective approaches to elicit immunogenic cell death could have important implications. RIP3-dependent necroptotic cancer cells have been reported to release damage-associated molecular patterns and enhance antitumor immunity. In this study, hyaluronic acid-conjugated cationic liposomes (DOTAP/DOPE/PEG-DSPE/CHOL) (HA-P-LP) were prepared as a vector for mRIP3-pDNA overexpression in tumours. Compared with standard cationic liposomes, this vector markedly increased cellular gene internalisation in vitro, enhanced the tumour-targeting effect in vivo and exhibited a significant antitumor effect in combination with adjuvant chloroquine. Considering the dramatic increase in RIP3 under the pathological condition of pancreatitis and the correlation between pancreatitis and necroptosis, non-HA-conjugated liposomes with the same formulation loaded with shRNA mRIP3-pDNA effectively controlled the disease by decreasing the serum amylase concentration and inflammatory cell infiltration. The versatile cationic liposomes loaded with plasmids with opposing functions in this study provide a new concept and method for both tumour therapy and pancreatitis therapy.

Ontogeny of inter-alpha inhibitor protein (IAIP) expression in human brain

Inter-alpha inhibitor proteins (IAIPs) are naturally occurring immunomodulatory molecules found in most tissues. We have reported ontogenic changes in the expression of IAIPs in brain during development in sheep and abundant expression of IAIPs in fetal and neonatal rodent brain in a variety of cellular types and brain regions. Although a few studies identified bikunin, light chain of IAIPs, in adult human brain, the presence of the complete endogenous IAIP protein complex has not been reported in human brain. In this study, we examined the immunohistochemical expression of endogenous IAIPs in human cerebral cortex from early in development through the neonatal period and in adults using well-preserved postmortem brains. We examined total, nuclear, and cytoplasmic staining of endogenous IAIPs and their expression in neurofilament light polypeptide-positive neurons and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive astrocytes. IAIPs were ubiquitously detected for the first time in cerebral cortical cells at 24-26, 27-28, 29-36, and 37-40 weeks of gestation and in adults. Quantitative analyses revealed that IAIPs were predominately localized in the nucleus in all age groups, but cytoplasmic IAIP expression was more abundant in adult than in the younger ages. Immunoreactivity of IAIPs was expressed in neurons and astrocytes in all age groups. In addition, IAIP co-localization with GFAP-positive astrocytes was more abundant in adults than in the developing brain. We conclude that IAIPs exhibit ubiquitous expression, and co-localize with neurons and astrocytes in the developing and adult human brain suggesting a potential role for IAIPs in development and endogenous neuroprotection.

The predominance of a naive T helper cell subset in the immune response of experimental acute pancreatitis

INTRODUCTION

In necrotizing acute pancreatitis (NAP), systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and the compensatory anti-inflammatory response syndrome (CARS) decide overall outcome and mortality. In patients, low lymphocyte counts were found, but T-helper cells seemed to conversely increase. Our aim was to further categorize T-helper cells within the context of NAP induced SIRS and CARS.

METHODS

NAP was induced by injection of sodium-taurocholate into the common bile duct of male BALB/c mice; sham treated animals received saline infusion. The animals were sacrificed at 6, 12, 24 and 48 h later. Lymphocytes from blood, liver and spleen were isolated and examined by flow cytometry. Staining was performed for CD4, CD8, CD19, CD45RB, CD25, CD69, and CD152. CD4⁺ cells were sorted for their CD45RB expression and sought for gene regulation associated to T_H1/T_H2 cells by quantitative RT-PCR.

RESULTS

In NAP, CD4⁺ was solely increased in all compartments. CD8⁺ remained without substantial alterations. CD45RB showed significant expression in RB^high in T-helper cells, confirmed by the CD45RB^high/low ratio (Liver, 24 h: NAP 2.2, SHAM 0.6; p < 0.001). CD45RB^high and ^-low cells were not associated to patterns of T_H1/T_H2 expression. In NAP, CCR4 expression was significantly decreased within RB^high cells (fold change: 0.04, p < 0.05), while TLR6 showed significant overexpression (fold change: 2.36, p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

T-helper cells increase in NAP, leaning towards CD45RB^high expression. They resemble naive T-cells, in which NAP leads to expression profiles associated with an innate immune response. This suggests new findings in immunological pathomechanisms of NAP.