MAPK Signal Transduction Pathway Regulation: A Novel Mechanism of Rat HSC-T6 Cell Apoptosis Induced by FUZHENGHUAYU Tablet

PAC1 Receptor Mediates Electroacupuncture-Induced Neuro and Immune Protection During Cisplatin Chemotherapy

Platinum-based chemotherapy is an effective treatment used in multiple tumor treatments, but produces severe side effects including neurotoxicity, anemia, and immunosuppression, which limits its anti-tumor efficacy and increases the risk of infections. Electroacupuncture (EA) is often used to ameliorate these side effects, but its mechanism is unknown. Here, we report that EA on ST36 and SP6 prevents cisplatin-induced neurotoxicity and immunosuppression. EA induces neuroprotection, prevents pain-related neurotoxicity, preserves bone marrow (BM) hematopoiesis, and peripheral levels of leukocytes. EA activates sympathetic BM terminals to release pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP). PACAP-receptor PAC1-antagonists abrogate the effects of EA, whereas PAC1-agonists mimic EA, prevent neurotoxicity, immunosuppression, and preserve BM hematopoiesis during cisplatin chemotherapy. Our results indicate that PAC1-agonists may provide therapeutic advantages during chemotherapy to treat patients with advanced neurotoxicity or neuropathies limiting EA efficacy.

P2RX7 in Dopaminergic Neurons of Ventral Periaqueductal Gray Mediates HTWP Acupuncture-Induced Consciousness in Traumatic Brain Injury

The induction of a coma by traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a crucial factor for poor clinical prognoses. We report that acupuncture at the hand 12 Jing-Well points (HTWP) improved consciousness and neurologic function in TBI rats. Gene chip analyses showed that HTWP acupuncture mostly activated genes modulating neuronal projections (P2rx7, P2rx3, Trpv1, Tacr1, and Cacna1d), protein secretion (Exoc1, Exoc3l1, Fgb, and Fgr), and dopamine (DA) receptor D3 (Drd3) in the ventral periaqueductal gray (vPAG), among which the expression rate of P2rx7 was the most obviously increased. Acupuncture also increased the expression and excitability of DA and P2RX7 neurons, and the DA neurons expressed P2RX7, P2RX3, and TRPV1 in the vPAG. Intracerebroventricular administration of P2RX7, P2RX3, or TRPV1 antagonists blocked acupuncture-induced consciousness, and the subsequent injection of a P2RX7 antagonist into the vPAG nucleus also inhibited this effect. Our findings provide evidence that acupuncture alleviates TBI-induced comas via DA neurons expressing P2RX7 in the vPAG, so as to reveal the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the improvement of TBI clinical outcomes by HTWP acupuncture.

Down-regulation of lncRNA LINC00152 Suppresses Gastric Cancer Cell Migration and Invasion Through Inhibition of the ERK/MAPK Signaling Pathway

Purpose

The aim of this study was to explore the regulatory role and mechanism of long noncoding RNA LINC00152 in gastric cancer (GC) cells.

Methods

LINC00152 expression in GC tissues and cells was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). MKN45 and MGC-803 cells were selected and assigned into different groups after transfection with si-LINC00152, activated ERK/MAPK signaling pathway (SA), or negative control. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, cycle, migration and invasion were assessed by CCK-8, flow cytometry, Transwell assay and Scratch test, respectively. Western blot analysis was conducted to detect the expression of E-cadherin, N-cadherin and ERK/MAPK signaling pathway protein.

Results

Compared with the normal tissues, higher expression of LINC00152 was found in GC tissues and LINC00152 was remarkably correlative with clinical stage and lymphatic metastasis. LINC00152 expression in GC cells was higher than that in GES-1 cells. Compared with the NC group, the cell proliferation rate, cells in G2/M phase, migration and invasion abilities as well as the expression of N-cadherin and p-ERK-1/2 were significantly decreased, and the expression of E-cadherin, cells in G0/G1 phase and cell apoptosis rate were significantly increased in the si-LINC00152-1 group. ERK/MAPK signaling pathway activator SA could reverse the biological role of LINC00152 in GC cells.

Conclusion

These results demonstrated that the interference of LINC00152 expression may inhibit the invasion and migration of GC cells by inhibiting the ERK/MAPK signaling pathway.

Active Compounds Derived from Fuzheng Huayu Formula Protect Hepatic Parenchymal Cells from Apoptosis Based on Network Pharmacology and Transcriptomic Analysis

Fuzheng huayu formula (FZHY), an antifibrotic traditional Chinese medicine, is frequently used for the treatment of liver fibrosis. In this study, network analysis, transcriptomic analysis, assays of cell apoptosis, viability and protein expression were used for investigating the effects and mechanisms of compounds derived from FZHY on hepatic parenchymal cell (HPC) protection and hepatic stellate cell activation. Network pharmacology analysis found that 6 major compounds and 39 potential targets were important network nodes. Our analysis predicted that the active compounds of FZHY, including hederagenin, luteolin and tanshinone IIA inhibited cell apoptosis (p < 0.05), increased PI3K expression and reduced cleaved caspase 3 expression and the Bax/Bcl-w ratio (p < 0.05) in L02 cells that had apoptosis induced by TNF-α. Few significant changes caused by FZHY, hederagenin, luteolin and tanshinone IIA were observed in hepatic stellate Lx2 cells upon TGF-β1 induction. These data suggest that FZHY is active against liver fibrosis, protects hepatic parenchymal cells from apoptosis, and recovers liver function, possibly through the effects of its active compounds hederagenin, luteolin and tanshinone IIA and is involved in the inhibition of apoptosis in HPCs, possibly through regulating the PI3K, ERK, cleaved caspase 3 and Bax/Bcl-w levels.

Chinese herbal formula Fuzheng Huayu alleviates CCl4-induced liver fibrosis in rats: a transcriptomic and proteomic analysis

Liver fibrosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease that can progress to liver cirrhosis or even hepatocarcinoma. Fuzheng Huayu (FZHY), a Chinese herbal formula, has been shown to exert anti-fibrotic effects. To better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-fibrotic effects of FZHY, we analyzed transcriptomic and proteomic combination profiles in CCl₄-induced liver fibrosis in rats, which were treated with extracted FZHY powder (0.35 g·kg^-1·d^-1, ig) for 3 weeks. We showed that FZHY administration significantly improved liver function, alleviated hepatic inflammatory and fibrotic changes, and decreased the hydroxyproline content in the livers of CCl₄-treated rats. When their liver tissues were examined using microarray and iTRAQ, we found 255 differentially expressed genes (fold change ≥1.5, P<0.05) and 499 differentially expressed proteins (fold change ≥1.2, P<0.05) in the FZHY and model groups. Functional annotation with DAVID (The Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery) showed that 15 enriched gene ontology terms, including drug metabolic process, response to extracellular stimulus, response to vitamins, arachidonic acid metabolic process, response to wounding, and oxidation reduction might be involved in the anti-fibrotic effects of FZHY; whereas KEGG pathway analysis revealed that eight enriched pathways, including arachidonic acid metabolism, retinol metabolism, metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450, and drug metabolism might also be involved. Moreover, the protein-protein interaction network demonstrated that 10 core genes/proteins overlapped, with Ugt2a3, Cyp2b1 and Cyp3a18 in retinol metabolism pathway overlapped to a higher degree. Compared to the model rats, the livers of FZHY-treated rats had significantly higher mRNA and protein expression levels of Ugt2a3, Cyp2b1 and Cyp3a18. Furthermore, the concentration of retinoic acid was significantly higher in the FZHY-treated rats compared with the model rats. The results suggest that the anti-fibrotic effects of FZHY emerge through multiple targets, multiple functions, and multiple pathways, including FZHY-regulated retinol metabolism, xenobiotic metabolism by cytochrome P450, and drug metabolism through up-regulated Ugt2a3, Cyp2b1, and Cyp3a18. These genes may play important anti-fibrotic roles in FZHY-treated rats.

Curative Effects of Fuzheng Huayu on Liver Fibrosis and Cirrhosis: A Meta-Analysis

The Fuzheng Huayu (FZHY) formula is being used in antiliver fibrosis treatment in China. For systemic evaluation of the curative effects of FZHY on liver fibrosis and cirrhosis progress, a total of 1392 subjects (714 cases and 678 controls) were found to be eligible for meta-analysis in this study. Standard mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for changes between FZHY groups and controls by employing fixed effects or random effects model. In the overall analysis, alanine transaminase (ALT) (P = 0.003, SMD = -0.87, 95% CI: -1.46 to -0.29), total bilirubin (TBil) (P = 0.001, SMD = -1.30, 95% CI: -2.10 to -0.50), hyaluronic acid (HA) (P = 0.000, SMD = -0.94, 95% CI: -1.30 to -0.58), laminin (LN) (P = 0.000, SMD = -0.80, 95% CI: -1.20 to -0.41), type III procollagen (PC-III) (P = 0.000, SMD = -1.27, 95% CI: -1.93 to -0.60), and type IV procollagen (IV-C) (P = 0.000, SMD = -0.78, 95% CI: -1.05 to -0.51) were decreased after FZHY treatment; however, albumin (ALB) was increased (P = 0.037, SMD = 1.10, 95% CI: 0.07 to 2.12) significantly. Furthermore, the Child-Pugh score was reduced significantly and the life quality was improved after FZHY treatment in cirrhosis patients. The results of this meta-analysis indicated that FZHY effectively improves the liver function, alleviates hepatic fibrosis, decreases Child-Pugh score, and relieves TCM symptoms caused by liver dysfunction, indicating that FZHY may contribute to the alleviation of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.