High Uric Acid Promotes Atherosclerotic Plaque Instability by Apoptosis Targeted Autophagy

Hsa_Circ_002144 Promotes Glycolysis and Immune Escape of Breast Cancer Through miR-326/PKM Axis

Background: Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women worldwide, posing a significant threat to female health. Therefore, it is crucial to search for new therapeutic targets and prognostic biomarkers for breast cancer patients. Method: Bioinformatics analysis, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were employed to investigate the expression of hsa_circ_002144 in breast cancer. Transwell assay, Western blotting, and cell viability assay were utilized to assess the impact of hsa_circ_002144 on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of breast cancer cells. Additionally, a mouse model was established to validate its functionality. Flow cytometry, WB analysis, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), qRT-PCR, exosomes isolation, and co-culture system were employed to elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying macrophage polarization. Result: we have discovered for the first time that hsa_circ_002144 is highly expressed in breast cancer. It affected tumor growth and metastasis and could influence macrophage polarization through the glycolytic pathway. Conclusion: This finding provides a new direction for breast cancer treatment and prognosis assessment.

The microenvironment of the atheroma expresses phenotypes of plaque instability

Data from histopathology studies of human atherosclerotic tissue specimens and from vascular imaging studies support the concept that the local arterial microenvironment of a stable atheroma promotes destabilizing conditions that result in the transition to an unstable atheroma. Destabilization is characterized by several different plaque phenotypes that cause major clinical events such as acute coronary syndrome and cerebrovascular strokes. There are several rupture-associated phenotypes causing thrombotic vascular occlusion including simple fibrous cap rupture of an atheroma, fibrous cap rupture at site of previous rupture-and-repair of an atheroma, and nodular calcification with rupture. Endothelial erosion without rupture has more recently been shown to be a common phenotype to promote thrombosis as well. Microenvironment features that are linked to these phenotypes of plaque instability are neovascularization arising from the vasa vasorum network leading to necrotic core expansion, intraplaque hemorrhage, and cap rupture; activation of adventitial and perivascular adipose tissue cells leading to secretion of cytokines, growth factors, adipokines in the outer artery wall that destabilize plaque structure; and vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypic switching through transdifferentiation and stem/progenitor cell activation resulting in the promotion of inflammation, calcification, and secretion of extracellular matrix, altering fibrous cap structure, and necrotic core growth. As the technology evolves, studies using noninvasive vascular imaging will be able to investigate the transition of stable to unstable atheromas in real time. A limitation in the field, however, is that reliable and predictable experimental models of spontaneous plaque rupture and/or erosion are not currently available to study the cell and molecular mechanisms that regulate the conversion of the stable atheroma to an unstable plaque.