Testicular Nuclear Receptor 4 Regulates Proliferation and Apoptosis of Bladder Cancer via Bcl-2

Knockdown of integrin β1 inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis in bladder cancer cells

Bladder cancer (BC) is the most common urinary tract malignancy. Identifying biomarkers that predict prognosis and immune function in patients with BC can enhance our understanding of its pathogenesis and provide valuable guidance for diagnosis and treatment. Our findings indicate that increased ITGB1 expression is associated with higher clinical grade and stage, establishing ITGB1 as an independent prognostic risk factor for BC. Enrichment analysis revealed that the function of ITGB1 in BC was linked to the extracellular matrix. The experimental results showed that ITGB1 knockdown in the BC cell lines 5637 and RT112 reduced their proliferation, migration, and invasion. Furthermore, ITGB1 suppression promotes apoptosis in BC cells by inhibiting the PI3K-AKT pathway. A prognostic risk model incorporating CES1, NTNG1, SETBP1, and AIFM3 was developed based on ITGB1, this model can accurately predict patient prognosis based on immunological status. In conclusion, this study shows that knockdown of ITGB1 can restrain the migratory and invasive capabilities of BC cells and accelerate apoptosis, and this role might be associated with PI3K-AKT, highlighting its potential as a diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for BC.

Roles of Nuclear Orphan Receptors TR2 and TR4 during Hematopoiesis

TR2 and TR4 (NR2C1 and NR2C2, respectively) are evolutionarily conserved nuclear orphan receptors capable of binding direct repeat sequences in a stage-specific manner. Like other nuclear receptors, TR2 and TR4 possess important roles in transcriptional activation or repression with developmental stage and tissue specificity. TR2 and TR4 bind DNA and possess the ability to complex with available cofactors mediating developmental stage-specific actions in primitive and definitive erythrocytes. In erythropoiesis, TR2 and TR4 are required for erythroid development, maturation, and key erythroid transcription factor regulation. TR2 and TR4 recruit and interact with transcriptional corepressors or coactivators to elicit developmental stage-specific gene regulation during hematopoiesis.

TR4 worsen urosepsis by regulating GSDMD

BACKGROUND

Urosepsis is a life-threatening organ disease in which pathogenic microorganisms in the urine enter the blood through the vessels, causing an imbalance in the immune response to infection. The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of testicular orphan receptor 4 (TR4) in urosepsis.

METHODS

The role of TR4 in the progression and prognosis of urosepsis was confirmed by analyzing data from online databases and clinical human samples. To mimic urosepsis, we injected E. coli bacteria into the renal pelvis of mice to create a urosepsis model. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to observe histopathological changes in urosepsis. The effects of the upregulation or downregulation of TR4 on macrophage pyroptosis were verified in vitro. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay was used to verify the effect of TR4 on Gasdermin D (GSDMD) transcription.

RESULTS

TR4 was more highly expressed in the nonsurviving group than in the surviving group. Furthermore, overexpressing TR4 promoted inflammatory cytokine expression, and knocking down TR4 attenuated inflammatory cytokine expression. Mechanistically, TR4 promoted pyroptosis by regulating the expression of GSDMD in urosepsis. Furthermore, we also found that TR4 knockdown protected mice from urosepsis induced by the E. coli.

CONCLUSIONS

TR4 functions as a key regulator of urosepsis by mediating pyroptosis, which regulates GSDMD expression. Targeting TR4 may be a potential strategy for urosepsis treatment.