Sortilin regulates keratinocyte proliferation and apoptosis through the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway

Shikonin-loaded PLGA nanoparticles: A promising strategy for psoriasis treatment

Psoriasis is an inflammation-based skin illness marked by aggravated proliferation of epidermal cells. Shikonin is a natural naphthoquinone obtained from Arnebiae radix. It exerts anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects. However, the poor water solubility and low bioavailability of shikonin limit its application. In this study, shikosin-loaded PLGA nanoparticle hydrogel was prepared and used to deliver the drug to the epidermis of psoriasis mice through local administration. The results demonstrated that shikosin-loaded PLGA nanoparticles inhibited HaCaT cell multiplication, increased drug uptake, and induced apoptosis of HaCaT cells. Results from Western blotting assays indicated that shikosin down-regulated the protein expressions of p65 and p-p65. Furthermore, shikonin mitigated psoriasis and decreased the concentrations of inflammation-inducing cytokines, i.e., IL17A, IL-17F, IL-22, IL-1β, and TNF-α. Taken together, these results suggest that shikonin-PLGA nanoparticles loaded in hydrogel system possess promising therapeutic potential for psoriasis.

Resistin - A Plausible Therapeutic Target in the Pathogenesis of Psoriasis

Resistin, a cytokine hormone predominantly secreted by adipose tissue, is elevated in various metabolic disorders such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. In addition to its involvement in metabolic regulation, resistin has been implicated in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin disorder. Numerous studies have reported increased resistin levels in psoriatic skin lesions, suggesting a possible association between resistin and psoriasis. Recent studies have suggested the potential involvement of resistin in the development and progression of certain cancers. Resistin is overexpressed in breast, colorectal, and gastric cancers. This suggests that it may play a role in the development of these cancers, possibly by inducing inflammation and cell growth. The link between resistin and cancer raises the possibility of shared underlying mechanisms driving the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Chronic inflammation, one such mechanism, is a hallmark of psoriasis and cancer. Further research is needed to fully understand the relationship between resistin and psoriasis. Identifying potential therapeutic targets is crucial for effective management of psoriasis. By doing so, we may be able to develop more effective treatment options for individuals living with psoriasis and ultimately improve their quality of life. Ultimately, a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms underlying the impact of resistin on psoriasis is essential for advancing our knowledge and finding new ways to treat and manage this challenging condition.

Secoemestrin C Ameliorates Psoriasis-like Skin Inflammation in Mice by Suppressing the TNF-α/NF-κB Signaling Pathway

OBJECTIVE

Secoemestrin C (SC), an epitetrathiodioxopiperazine isolated from Aspergillus nidulans, has been previously reported to have immunomodulatory and hepatoprotective effects against acute autoimmune hepatitis. However, the effect of SC on regulating the inflammation and its underlying mechanisms in the pathogenesis of psoriasis remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of SC on inflammatory dermatosis both in vitro and in vivo.

METHODS

In vitro, HaCaT cells were induced with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α, 10 ng/mL) to establish an inflammatory injury model, and the expression of nuclear transcription factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway components was measured using qRT-PCR and Western blotting. An in vivo mouse model of imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis-like skin inflammation was used to evaluate the effectiveness of SC in alleviating psoriasis.

RESULTS

SC significantly blocked the activation of NF-κB signaling in TNF-α-stimulated HaCaT cells. In addition, systemic and local administration of SC improved psoriatic dermatitis in the IMQ-induced mouse model. SC reduced skin scale and significantly inhibited the secretion of inflammatory factors in skin lesions.

CONCLUSION

The protective effect of SC against psoriatic-associated inflammation reveals its potential therapeutic value for treating psoriasis.

4-Octyl itaconate inhibits inflammation to attenuate psoriasis as an agonist of oxeiptosis

Psoriasis is a highly prevalent chronic disease associated with a substantial social and economic burden. Oxeiptosis is a programmed cell death that occurs when cells are in a state of high oxidative stress, which has a potent anti-inflammatory effect. However, there is still no research on oxeiptosis in psoriasis, and the agonists or antagonists of oxeiptosis remain an unclear field. Here, we found that oxeiptosis of keratinocytes was inhibited in psoriasis lesions. KEAP1, as the upstream molecular component of oxeiptosis, is highly expressed in psoriasis lesions. Knockdown of KEAP1 in HaCaT cells caused oxeiptosis in the condition of M5 cocktail stimulation. Next, we found that the cell-permeable derivative of itaconate, 4-octylitaconate (OI) promoted oxeiptosis of keratinocytes by inhibiting KEAP1 and then activating PGAM5 which are two upstream molecular components of oxeiptosis. At the same time, OI can reduce the expression of inflammatory cytokines induced by M5 cocktail stimulation in vitro. Similarly, we found that OI can alleviate IMQ-induced psoriatic lesions in mice and downregulate the levels of inflammatory cytokines in psoriatic lesions. In summary, our findings suggest that oxeiptosis of keratinocytes was inhibited in psoriasis and OI can significantly inhibit inflammation and alleviate psoriasis as an agonist of oxeiptosis, indicating that oxeiptosis may be involved in regulating the progression of psoriasis, which may provide new therapeutic targets for psoriasis treatment.

Improvement of obesity by Liupao tea is through the IRS-1/PI3K/AKT/GLUT4 signaling pathway according to network pharmacology and experimental verification

BACKGROUND

Obesity is a state of accumulating excessive body fat, charactering by a high blood lipid and associating with various metabolic diseases. As a kind of dark tea, many studies revealed that long-term drinking Liupao tea (LT) can reduce weight (Liu et al., 2014). However, the anti-obesity mechanism and active ingredients of LT are not known.

METHODS

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) combined with network pharmacology was used to screen the active components and related targets of Liupao tea water extract (LTWE). The key anti-obesity targets and pathways of LTWE were predicted by protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks, and enrichment analyses using Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Gene Ontology databases. Then, the active components selected by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprinting were used together with LTWE in an adipogenic model and insulin resistance (IR) model in vitro.

RESULTS

Most of the compounds identified from LTWE were flavonofids, esters, and amides. Key targets such as RAC-alpha serine/threonine-protein kinase, insulin, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) were involved in the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase-protein kinase B (PI3K-AKT) signaling pathway, pathways in cancer, and other pathways. Four active components were screened by network pharmacology combined with HPLC fingerprinting. The in vitro experiment of LTWE and its four active components showed that in insulin-resistant 3T3-L1 cells, LTWE, (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and gallic acid (GA) inhibited adipocyte differentiation. Three factors could inhibit the differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells by decreasing gene expression of peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), fatty acid synthase (FAS), CCAAT/enhancer binding proteins-α (C/EBPα) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Caffeine and ellagic acid (EA) showed opposite results, but their effects on promoting adipose differentiation diminished with increasing concentrations of drug. In dexamethasone-induced insulin-resistant 3T3-L1 cells, the fluorescence intensity of 2-Deoxy-2-[(7-nitro-2,1,3-Benzoxadiazol-4-yl)amino]-d-glucose revealed that LTWE, GA, EGCG, caffeine, and EA significantly promoted glucose consumption. LTWE, GA, and EA improved insulin resistance in adipocytes by upregulating gene expression of insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1), PI3K, AKT, and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4).

CONCLUSION

LC-MS combined with network pharmacology preliminarianized that LTWE acts mainly on the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. Cell experiments revealed that the anti-obesity effect of LTWE is the result of multi-component action, which inhibits the proliferation and differentiation of preadipocytes by regulating gene expression of adipogenic transcription factors and proinflammatory factors, and improves IR by activating the IRS-1/PI3K/AKT/GLUT4 pathway.

Convergent Genomic Signatures of Cashmere Traits: Evidence for Natural and Artificial Selection

Convergent evolution provides powerful opportunities to investigate the genetic basis of complex traits. The Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii) and Siberian ibex (Capra sibirica) belong to different subfamilies in Bovidae, but both have evolved similar superfine cashmere characteristics to meet the cold temperature in plateau environments. The cashmere traits of cashmere goats underwent strong artificial selection, and some traces of domestication also remained in the genome. Hence, we investigated the convergent genomic signatures of cashmere traits between natural and artificial selection. We compared the patterns of convergent molecular evolution between Tibetan antelope and Siberian ibex by testing positively selected genes, rapidly evolving genes and convergent amino acid substitutions. In addition, we analyzed the selected genomic features of cashmere goats under artificial selection using whole-genome resequencing data, and skin transcriptome data of cashmere goats were also used to focus on the genes involved in regulating cashmere traits. We found that molecular convergent events were very rare, but natural and artificial selection genes were convergent enriched in similar functional pathways (e.g., ECM-receptor interaction, focal adhesion, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway) in a variety of gene sets. Type IV collagen family genes (COL4A2, COL4A4, COL4A5, COL6A5, COL6A6) and integrin family genes (ITGA2, ITGA4, ITGA9, ITGB8) may be important candidate genes for cashmere formation and development. Our results provide a comprehensive approach and perspective for exploring cashmere traits and offer a valuable reference for subsequent in-depth research on the molecular mechanisms regulating cashmere development and fineness.

Pathogenesis, multi-omics research, and clinical treatment of psoriasis

Psoriasis is a common inflammatory skin disease involving interactions between keratinocytes and immune cells that significantly affects the quality of life. It is characterized by hyperproliferation and abnormal differentiation of keratinocytes and excessive infiltration of immune cells in the dermis and epidermis. The immune mechanism underlying this disease has been elucidated in the past few years. Research shows that psoriasis is regulated by the complex interactions among immune cells, such as keratinocytes, dendritic cells, T lymphocytes, neutrophils, macrophages, natural killer cells, mast cells, and other immune cells. An increasing number of signaling pathways have been found to be involved in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, which has prompted the search for new treatment targets. In the past decades, studies on the pathogenesis of psoriasis have focused on the development of targeted and highly effective therapies. In this review, we have discussed the relationship between various types of immune cells and psoriasis and summarized the major signaling pathways involved in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, including the PI3K/AKT/mTOR, JAK-STAT, JNK, and WNT pathways. In addition, we have discussed the results of the latest omics research on psoriasis and the epigenetics of the disease, which provide insights regarding its pathogenesis and therapeutic prospects; we have also summarized its treatment strategies and observations of clinical trials. In this paper, the various aspects of psoriasis are described in detail, and the limitations of the current treatment methods are emphasized. It is necessary to improve and innovate treatment methods from the molecular level of pathogenesis, and further provide new ideas for the treatment and research of psoriasis.

NAT10 acetylates BCL-XL mRNA to promote the proliferation of multiple myeloma cells through PI3K-AKT pathway

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a clinically distinctive plasma cell malignancy in the bone marrow (BM), in which epigenetic abnormalities are featured prominently. Epigenetic modifications including acetylation have been deemed to contribute to tumorigenesis. N-acetyltransferase 10 (NAT10) is an important regulator of mRNA acetylation in many cancers, however its function in MM is poorly studied. We first analyzed MM clinical databases and found that elevated NAT10 expression conferred a poor prognosis in MM patients. Furthermore, overexpression of NAT10 promoted MM cell proliferation. The correlation analysis of acRIP-seq screened BCL-XL (BCL2L1) as a significant downstream target of NAT10. Further RNA decay assay showed that increased NAT10 improved the stability of BCL-XL mRNA and promoted protein translation to suppress cell apoptosis. NAT10 activated PI3K-AKT pathway and upregulated CDK4/CDK6 to accelerate cellular proliferation. Importantly, inhibition of NAT10 by Remodelin suppressed MM cell growth and induced cell apoptosis. Our findings show the important role of NAT10/BCL-XL axis in promoting MM cell proliferation. Further explorations are needed to fully define the potential of targeting NAT10 therapy in MM treatment.

Serum Cholesteryl Ester Transfer Protein (CETP) and Sortilin (SORT) in Patients with Psoriasis with Relation to Systemic Treatment

Psoriasis is a common inflammatory skin disease, which is tightly associated with metabolic disorders. Cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) and sortilin (SORT) are molecules engaged in lipid metabolism of proatherogenic properties. They have been hardly ever studied in psoriasis before. Serum CETP and SORT concentrations were measured in 33 patients with plaque-type psoriasis before and after 12 weeks of treatment with methotrexate or acitretin. There was no significant difference in CEPT and SORT serum concentrations between patients and controls. Positive correlations between CETP after the treatment with acitretin and activity of transaminases (R = 0.65, R = 0.56, respectively) were noted. CETP was positively related with triglycerides (R = 0.49), glucose (R = 0.54) and CRP (R = 0.64) before the treatment with methotrexate, which all disappeared afterwards. Systemic therapy with methotrexate caused normalization of SORT concentration. There was significant correlation between SORT and WBC (p < 0.01) and CRP (p < 0.05). CETP and SORT cannot be used as individual biomarkers. Nevertheless, they show some interesting relations with other parameters. Increased concentration of CETP perhaps could investigated as a marker of liver side effects of acitretin treatment in psoriatics. SORT could be considered as a new indicator of metabolically induced inflammation in psoriasis. Methotrexate may be preferred in patients with high SORT concentrations. Further studies are needed to establish their exact role in psoriatic patients.

Leucosceptoside A from Devil's Claw Modulates Psoriasis-like Inflammation via Suppression of the PI3K/AKT Signaling Pathway in Keratinocytes

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin condition characterized by abnormal keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation that is accompanied with dysregulated immune response and abnormal vascularization. Devil’s claw (Harpagophytum procumbens (Burch.) DC. ex Meisn.) tubers extract has been used both systemically and topically for treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, osteoporosis, inflammatory bowel disease, among others. However, its potential mechanisms of action against psoriasis remains poorly investigated. The human keratinocyte HaCaT cell line is a well-accepted in vitro model system for inflammatory skin disorders such as psoriasis. The present study involved an exploration of the effect of biotechnologically produced H. procumbens (HP) cell suspension extract and pure phenylethanoid glycosides verbascoside (VER) and leucosceptoside A (LEU) in interferon (IFN)-γ/interleukin (IL)-17A/IL-22-stimulated HaCaT cells as a model of psoriasis-like inflammation. Changes in key inflammatory signaling pathways related to psoriasis development were detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. Treatment with LEU, but not VER and HP extract improved psoriasis-related inflammation via suppression of the PI3K/AKT signaling in IFN-γ/IL-17A/IL-22-stimulated HaCaT cells. Our results suggest that LEU may exhibit therapeutic potential against psoriasis by regulating keratinocyte differentiation through inhibition of the PI3K/AKT pathway.

The TRIM proteins in cancer: from expression to emerging regulatory mechanisms

New clinical evidence suggests that dysregulation of the ubiquitin-mediated destruction of tumor suppressors or oncogene products is probably engaged in the etiology of leukemia and carcinoma. The superfamily of tripartite motif (TRIM)-containing protein family is among the biggest recognized single protein RING finger E3 ubiquitin ligases that are considered vital carcinogenesis regulators, which is not shocking since TRIM proteins are engaged in various biological processes, including cell growth, development, and differentiation; hence, TRIM proteins' alterations may influence apoptosis, cell proliferation, and transcriptional regulation. In this review article, the various mechanisms through which TRIM proteins exert their role in the most prevalent malignancies including lung, prostate, colorectal, liver, breast, brain cancer, and leukemia are summarized.