Macrophages affect immune inflammation and proliferation in benign prostatic hyperplasia via androgen receptor and CD40/CD40L signaling pathway

YAP/TEAD-induced PRIM1 contributes to the progression and poor prognosis of gastric carcinoma

Gastric carcinoma has a poor prognosis and low survival rate. PRIM1 is closely associated with the origin of DNA replication and serves as a carcinogenic factor in multiple tumors. This study aimed to explore the functions of PRIM1 in the progression of gastric carcinoma. The luciferase reporter assay examined the regulatory effect of YAP1/TEAD4 on PRIM1. A xenograft tumor mouse model was constructed to observe cancer cell proliferation in vivo. The upregulation of PRIM1 was found in gastric carcinoma cells and tissues, and it was associated with poor prognosis. Silencing PRIM1 inhibited cell proliferation, arrested the cell cycle, and upregulated Cdc25, Cyclin B, and Cdc2 expression. In addition, apoptosis was increased upon PRIM1 knockdown, accompanied by increased protein levels of cleaved caspase-3 and caspase-8. In vivo, knockdown of PRIM1 suppressed the growth of xenograft tumors formed by gastric carcinoma cells. Moreover, PRIM1 silencing elevated the chemosensitivity of gastric carcinoma cells. By investigating molecular events downstream of the Hippo signaling pathway, we found that PRIM1 was a target gene of the YAP1/TEAD4 transcriptional regulatory complex. PRIM1 represents a novel target for gastric carcinoma therapeutic approaches.

PD-L1 Inhibits T Cell-Induced Cytokines and Hyaluronan Expression via the CD40-CD40L Pathway in Orbital Fibroblasts From Patients With Thyroid Associated Ophthalmopathy

Thyroid associated ophthalmopathy (TAO), characterized by T cell infiltration and orbital fibroblast activation, is an organ-specific autoimmune disease which is still short of effective and safety therapeutic drugs. The PD-1/PD-L1 pathway has been reported hindering the progression of Graves’ disease to some extent by inhibiting T cell activity, and tumor therapy with a PD-1 inhibitor caused some adverse effects similar to the symptoms of TAO. These findings suggest that the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway may be associated with the pathogenesis of TAO. However, it remains unknown whether the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway is involved in orbital fibroblast activation. Here, we show that orbital fibroblasts from patients with TAO do not express PD-L1. Based on in vitro OF-T cell co-culture system, exogenous PD-L1 weakens T cell-induced orbital fibroblast activation by inhibiting T cell activity, resulting in reduced production of sICAM-1, IL-6, IL-8, and hyaluronan. Additionally, exogenous PD-L1 treatment also inhibits the expression of CD40 and the phosphorylation levels of MAPK and NF-κB pathways in orbital fibroblasts of the OF-T cell co-culture system. Knocking down CD40 with CD40 siRNA or down-regulating the phosphorylation levels of MAPK and NF-κB pathways with SB203580, PD98059, SP600125, and PDTC can both reduce the expression of these cytokines and hyaluronan. Our study demonstrates that the orbital immune tolerance deficiency caused by the lack of PD-L1 in orbital fibroblasts may be one of the causes for the active orbital inflammation in TAO patients, and the utilization of exogenous PD-L1 to reconstruct the orbital immune tolerance microenvironment may be a potential treatment strategy for TAO.

Osteocyte exosomes accelerate benign prostatic hyperplasia development

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the most common diseases in elderly men. BPH patients exhibit an increased risk of vertebral and hip fractures, which are most attributable to pre-existing osteoporosis. However, the relationship between BPH and osteoporosis is still unknown. Here we found that osteocytes, the most abundant bone cells, promoted BPH development by secreting exosomes. In vitro, osteocyte exosomes (OCY-Exo) directly promoted cell proliferation of a prostate epithelial cell line BPH-1 and a macrophage cell line RAW264.7, OCY-Exo also stimulated macrophage-induced proliferation of BPH-1 cells. In vivo, intramedullary injection of OCY-Exo accumulated in prostate. Intravenous administration of OCY-Exo exacerbated testosterone-induced BPH in C57BL/6J mice. Our study uncovers the role of OCY-Exo as a stimulator of BPH, suggesting a novel mechanism in bone-prostate communication.

Overexpression of GDNF and FGF-1 in Canine Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: Evidence for a Pathogenetic Role of Neural Growth Factor

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is common in aged dogs, but the pathogenesis has not been clearly elucidated. A total of 33 male Iranian dogs of mixed breed and in three age groups (under 3 years [n = 10]; 3-6 years [n = 15]; over 6 years [n = 8]), were investigated. BPH was confirmed by ultrasonography and histopathology in 13 cases. The highest prevalence of BPH was in the 3-6 years age group (8/15; 53.3%). Examination of sections of prostate that had been stained with Masson's trichrome revealed that the intensity of stromal smooth muscle cell staining (P <0.05) and the number of fibroblasts (P = 0.002) were significantly increased in BPH compared with normal prostate glands. Prostate cells from dogs with BPH (n = 13) had a significantly higher intensity of cytoplasmic immunolabelling with antibodies against glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), cytokeratin (CK) AE1/AE3, vimentin, fibroblast growth factor-1 (FGF-1) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA), compared with normal prostate glands (n = 20) (P = 0.001), except for PSA, which was negative in both normal and BPH affected prostates. The overexpression of GDNF and FGF-1 in stromal and epithelial cells of prostate glands of dogs with BPH suggests that GDNF has a paracrine or autocrine role in stimulating cellular proliferation. GDNF overexpression may also play a pathogenetic role in promoting chronic prostatitis and increasing fibrosis and the smooth muscle component of the prostate gland in BPH.

Identification of genes related to dexamethasone-induced immunosuppression in chicken thymus using transcriptome analysis

The molecular mechanism of stress-induced immunosuppression (SIS) in certain poultry immune organs is not completely clear. In this study, we constructed a stress immunosuppression model by selecting 180 healthy 7-day-old Gushi chickens and dividing them randomly into two groups: a D_T group and a B_T group. The D_T group was given dexamethasone, and the B_T group was given normal saline, according to the treatment method established and reported in our previous study. Thymus samples were subsequently taken from both groups. RNA-seq was used to sequence the transcriptomes of the thymus samples from both groups, and 1278 significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained, of which 845 genes were up-regulated and 433 genes were down-regulated (padj<0.05, |FC| ≥ 2, FPKM>1). We identified immune-related gene ontology (GO) terms including immune system processes, immune system process regulation, and T cell activation. The results of KEGG (http: //www.kegg.jp) analysis showed that the DEGs are involved in a variety of immune-related pathways, such as cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions, Jak-STAT signaling pathways, and cell adhesion molecules (CAMs). The cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction pathway involves the DEGs CCR6, CCR5, CD40LG and FAS. The DEGs in the Jak-STAT signaling pathway were SPRY2, BCL2L1. These DEGS play an important role in cell apoptosis. CD40L, CD8, among other genes, are involved in the CAMs pathway. The results of this study add to existing data on the genomic study of stress affecting immune function, and provide a basis for further studies of the molecular mechanisms of stress-influenced immune function.