Circ_0001495 influences the development of endometriosis through the miRNA-34c-5p/E2F3 axis

Down-regulated circ_0001853 inhibits lipopolysaccharide-induced endometritis progression via sponging miR-34c-5p

BACKGROUND

To investigate the diagnostic value and mechanism of action of circular RNA (circ_) circ_0001853 and microRNA (miR) miR-34c-5p in patients with endometritis.

METHODS

189 patients with endometritis and 176 healthy individuals were included in this study. Venous blood serum was collected from the study subjects and stored temporarily at -80 °C. Real-time quantitative chain polymerase reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to detect circ_0001853 and miR-34c-5p expression, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves assessed the diagnostic value of both in predicting endometritis. Cell counting kit (CCK8) observed cell proliferation, flow cytometry recorded apoptosis, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) monitored inflammatory factor expression, and dual luciferase reporter assay and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) verified the relationship between circ_0001853 and miR-34c-5p targeting interactions.

RESULTS

High levels of circ_0001853 and low levels of miR-34c-5p were present in endometritis patients, and they were negatively correlated. Both circ_0001853 and miR-34c-5p alone or in combination had diagnostic value in predicting the progression of endometritis. Transfection of si-circ_0001853 promoted cell proliferation and reduced apoptosis and cellular inflammation levels induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. There was a direct reciprocal targeting relationship between miR-34c-5p and circ_0001853, and the use of miR-34c-5p inhibitor resisted silencing circ_0001853 promoted cell proliferation and increased the number of apoptotic cells and cellular inflammation levels.

CONCLUSIONS

circ_0001853 is involved in endometritis progression through miR-34c-5p, i.e., low circ_0001853 promotes miR-34c-5p-induced proliferation of epithelial cells, reduces apoptosis, and suppresses inflammation levels, preventing disease progression.

FOXL2 Knockdown Inhibits the Progression of Endometriosis

PROBLEM

Endometriosis (EM) is known as a common estrogen-dependent chronic inflammatory disease. Elevated levels of Forkhead box L2 (FOXL2) have been observed in uterine diseases, including EM. However, the molecular mechanism of FOXL2 in EM needs to be further illustrated. This study aimed to investigate the regulatory role of FOXL2 in EM rats and isolated ectopic endometrial stromal cells (EC-ESCs).

METHOD OF STUDY

FOXL2 knockdown were designed to evaluate the effects of FOXL2 in EM model rats and EC-ESCs. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was used to evaluate the pathological morphology of ectopic endometrium. Reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were applied to detect the expression of FOXL2, EM-related genes, and epithelial to mesenchymal transition-related proteins. The proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis of EC-ESCs were determined by 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EDU) assay, Transwell assay, and flow cytometry.

RESULTS

The FOXL2 level was remarkably higher in the ectopic endometrial tissue than that in the normal endometrial tissue. Knockdown of FOXL2 notably improved the pathological morphology of EM in rats, and decreased expression levels of ER-α, ER-ß, and Cyp19a. Additionally, down-regulation of FOXL2 suppressed cells proliferation, migration and invasion, and stimulated more apoptotic cells in EC-ESCs. Besides, FOXL2-small interfering RNA (FOXL2-siRNA) treatment resulted in enhanced cleaved-Caspase3 protein expression and cleaved-Caspase3/Caspase3 ratio in EC-ESCs.

CONCLUSION

FOXL2 participates in the occurrence and development of EM through promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition procession and enhancing the migration and invasion of EC-ESCs, suggesting that FOXL2 may be a new therapeutic target for the EM therapy.

Effect of MSX1 on the cellular function of cardiomyocytes

MSX1 (Muscle Segment Homeobox 1) has pleiotropic effects in various tissues, including cardiomyocytes, while the effect of MSX1 on cardiomyocyte cellular function was not well known. In this study, we used AC16 cell culture, real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qPCR), protein blotting (Western blot), flow cytometry apoptosis assay and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbnent Assay) to investigate the effect of the MSX1 gene on cardiomyocyte function. The results showed that MSX1 plays a protective role against hypoxia of cardiomyocytes. However, further studies are required to fully understand the role of MSX1 in the regulation of LDH expression in different cell types and under different conditions.