neuregulin1-erbb4-signaling-involved-acupuncture-promoting-myelin

Neuregulin1-ErbB4 Signaling Involved in Acupuncture Promoting Myelin Regeneration in Spinal Cord Injury Rats

Spinal cord injury (SCI) often results in severe neurological dysfunction, and myelin repair is a critical step in the recovery of neurological function. ...

Kunming Medical University

Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), a recently domesticated poultry species, is important not only as an agricultural product, but also as a model bird species for genetic research. However, most of the biological questions concerning genomics, phylogenetics, and genetics of some important economic traits have not been answered. It is thus necessary to complete a high-quality genome sequence as well as a series of comparative genomics, evolution, and functional studies.

Population genomic data reveal genes related to important traits of quail.

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a common adverse drug reaction (ADR) and a serious threat to health that affects disease treatments. At present, no targeted clinical drugs are available for DILI. Traditional natural medicines have been widely used as health products. Some natural medicines exert specific hepatoprotective effects, with few side effects and significant clinical efficacy. Thus, natural medicines may be a promising direction for DILI treatment. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge, common drugs and mechanisms of DILI, as well as the clinical trials of natural drugs and their bioactive components in anticipation of the future development of potential hepatoprotective drugs.

Mechanism of drug-induced liver injury and hepatoprotective effects of natural drugs.

Aconitine is a crucial toxic component in Chinese herbal medicines such as Aconitum, Aconitum coreanum, and Aconitum soongaricum. The poisoning symptoms of the central nervous system and cardiovascular system caused by it are relatively common in China, and there are many studies on cardiovascular system diseases caused by aconitine. However, the specific mechanism of neurotoxicity induced by aconitine is still unclear. This study explored the effect and mechanism of mitochondrial calcium uniporter on mitochondrial energy metabolism disorder in aconitine poisoning hippocampal neurons. The results showed that after treatment with 400μmol/L aconitine, mitochondrial energy metabolism was abnormal in rat hippocampal neuron cells, the expression of MCU in mitochondria was up-regulated, calcium overload in mitochondria, ATP production decreased, and mitochondrial membrane potential Changes, increased expression of the apoptosis gene Cleaved-Caspase-3. After treatment with the MCU agonist spermine, mitochondrial energy metabolism was significantly abnormal, and cell apoptosis was increased considerably. However, pretreatment with calcium ion channel inhibitor Ruthenium Red (RR) effectively promoted the generation of ATP, thereby improving mitochondrial energy metabolism disorders and reducing cell apoptosis. These results suggest that aconitine induces mitochondrial energy metabolism dysfunction in hippocampal neurons, which may be related to the increased expression of MCU.

Mechanism of aconitine mediated neuronal apoptosis induced by mitochondrial calcium overload caused by MCU.

The 10-item Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) is a widely used tool for individuals to self-report their self-esteem; however, the factorial structures of translated versions of the RSES vary across different languages. This study aimed to validate the Chinese version of the RSES in the Chinese mainland using a longitudinal design.

Validation of the Chinese version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale: evidence from a three-wave longitudinal study.

Safflower () is widely cultivated around the world for its seeds and flowers. The presence of linoleic acid (LA) in its seeds and hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) in its flowers are the crucial traits that enable safflower to be used for industrial and medicinal purposes. Understanding the genetic control of these traits is essential for optimizing the quality of safflower and its breeding. To further this research, we present a chromosome-scale assembly of the genome of the safflower variety 'Chuanhonghua 1', which was achieved using an integrated strategy combining Illumina, Oxford Nanopore, and Hi-C sequencing. We obtained a 1.17-Gb assembly with a contig N50 of 1.08 Mb, and all assembled sequences were assigned to 12 pseudochromosomes. Safflower's evolution involved the core eudicot γ-triplication event and a whole-genome duplication event, which led to large-scale genomic rearrangements. Extensive genomic shuffling has occurred since the divergence of the ancestor of dicotyledons. We conducted metabolite and transcriptome profiles with time- and part-dependent changes and screened candidate genes that significantly contribute to seed lipid biosynthesis. We also analyzed key gene families that participate in LA and HSYA biosynthesis. Additionally, we re-sequenced 220 safflower lines and carried out a genome-wide association study using high-quality SNP data for eight agronomic traits. We identified SNPs related to important traits in safflower. Besides, the candidate gene  () was shown to be involved in the biosynthesis of HSYA. Overall, we provide a high-quality reference genome and elucidate the genetic basis of LA and HSYA biosynthesis in safflower. This vast amount of data will benefit further research for functional gene mining and breeding in safflower.

Whole-genome and genome-wide association studies improve key agricultural traits of safflower for industrial and medicinal use.

Exosomes (exos) are primarily responsible for the process of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) treatment for acute lung injury (ALI), but the mechanism remains unclear, particularly in altered microenvironment. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the potential mechanism of exos derived from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hucMSCs) primed with interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) on ALI and to propose a promising and cell-free strategy. This study extracted exos from hucMSCs supernatant primed and unprimed with IFN-γ marked with IFN-γ-exos and CON-exos, which were identified and traced. IFN-γ-exos administration to ALI models suppressed the NF-κB signaling pathway compared to CON-exos, which were quantified through western blot and immunohistochemical staining. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction validated miR-199b-5p expression in the IFN-γ-exos and CON-exos treatment groups. Data analysis, a dual-luciferase reporter assay, and cell transfection were conducted to investigate the target binding between miR-199b-5p and Aftiphilin (AFTPH), with AFTPH expression analyzed via cell immunofluorescence and western blot. Co-immunoprecipitation was conducted for the interaction between AFTPH and NF-κB p65. The result revealed that miR-199b-5p was down-regulated in the IFN-γ-exos treatment group, which had a target binding site with AFTPH, and an interaction with NF-κB p65. Consequently, IFN-γ-exos inhibited the NF-κB signaling pathway in ALI in vitro and in vivo through the miR-199b-5p/AFTPH axis. Our results demonstrated new directions of novel and targeted treatment for ALI.

Exosomes Derived from hucMSCs Primed with IFN-γ Suppress the NF-κB Signal Pathway in LPS-Induced ALI by Modulating the miR-199b-5p/AFTPH Axis.

Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (HUC-MSCs) are pluripotent stem cells with anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties used in the treatment of acute lung injury (ALI). However, the treatment of ALI using exosomes derived from HUC-MSCs (HUC-MSC-exos) primed with interferon-gamma (IFN-γ-exos) has not been described. This study investigated the effects of IFN-γ-exos on ALI.

Therapeutic potential of HUC-MSC-exos primed with IFN-γ against LPS-induced acute lung injury.

Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) is a clinical investigational new drug for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. It has a unique quinochalcone di-C-glycoside structure and is exclusively found in the flowers of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius). To date, little is known about the biosynthesis of HSYA. In this work, we characterize four key biosynthetic enzymes from C. tinctorius: CtF6H (6-hydroxylation of naringenin to produce carthamidin), CtCHI1 (isomerization between carthamidin and isocarthamidin), CtCGT (flavonoid di-C-glycosyltransferase), and Ct2OGD1 (2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase). Notably, Ct2OGD1 coordinates with CtCGT to convert carthamidin or isocarthamidin to HSYA. Functions of these genes are confirmed by VIGS (virus-induced gene silencing) in C. tinctorius, de novo biosynthesis of HSYA in Nicotiana benthamiana, semi-synthesis in yeast, and in vitro enzyme assays. We further find that the simultaneous presence and high expression of the above four key genes, together with the absence of F2H (flavanone 2-hydroxylase) genes, are essential for the biosynthesis of HSYA, and thus interpret mechanisms for the unique presence of HSYA in safflower. This work elucidates the biosynthetic pathway of HSYA and provides a foundation for the green and efficient production of this valuable medicinal natural product.

Elucidation of the biosynthetic pathway of hydroxysafflor yellow A.

Predicting interactions between microRNAs (miRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) is crucial for understanding gene expression regulation mechanisms and their roles in diseases. Existing prediction methods face significant limitations in simultaneously handling RNA sequence complexity and graph structural information.

Article	Year
Population genomic data reveal genes related to important traits of quail. GigaScience\| PubMed ID: 29762663	2018
Mechanism of drug-induced liver injury and hepatoprotective effects of natural drugs. Chinese medicine\| PubMed ID: 34895294	2021
Mechanism of aconitine mediated neuronal apoptosis induced by mitochondrial calcium overload caused by MCU. Toxicology letters\| PubMed ID: 37506855	2023
Validation of the Chinese version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale: evidence from a three-wave longitudinal study. BMC psychology\| PubMed ID: 37853499	2023
Whole-genome and genome-wide association studies improve key agricultural traits of safflower for industrial and medicinal use. Horticulture research\| PubMed ID: 38023481	2023
Exosomes Derived from hucMSCs Primed with IFN-γ Suppress the NF-κB Signal Pathway in LPS-Induced ALI by Modulating the miR-199b-5p/AFTPH Axis. Cell biochemistry and biophysics\| PubMed ID: 38216808	2024
Therapeutic potential of HUC-MSC-exos primed with IFN-γ against LPS-induced acute lung injury. Iranian journal of basic medical sciences\| PubMed ID: 38333754	2024
Elucidation of the biosynthetic pathway of hydroxysafflor yellow A. Nature communications\| PubMed ID: 40368986	2025
Incorporating graph representation and mutual attention mechanism for MiRNA-MRNA interaction prediction. Frontiers in genetics\| PubMed ID: 40747104	2025

Chen Jiang

Biography

JoVE Journal Publications

Other Publications