Insights into circular RNAs: Biogenesis,function and their regulatory roles in cardiovascular disease

As a distinctive member of the noncoding RNA family, circular RNAs (circRNAs) are generated from single-stranded, covalently closed structures and are ubiquitous in mammalian cells and tissues. Due to its atypical circular architecture, it was conventionally deemed insignificant dark matter for a prolonged duration. Nevertheless, studies conducted over the last decade have demonstrated that this abundant, structurally stable and tissue-specific RNA has been increasingly relevant in diverse diseases, including cancer, neurological disorders, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Therefore, regulatory pathways controlled by circRNAs are widely involved in the occurrence and pathological processes of CVDs through their function as miRNA sponges, protein sponges and protein scaffolds. To better understand the role of circRNAs and their complex regulatory networks in CVDs, we summarize current knowledge of their biogenesis and function and the latest research on circRNAs in CVDs, with the hope of paving the way for the identification of promising biomarkers and therapeutic strategies for CVDs.     

PI3K and Notch signal pathways coordinately regulate the activation and proliferation of T lymphocytes in asthma

AimsIn the present study, we determined whether Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and Notch signal pathways are involved in the expression of cyclinD1, cyclinA and p27kip1 which were key molecules in controlling cell cycling from CD4⁺ T lymphocyte in animal model of asthma.Main methodsOvalbumin (OVA) sensitized murine model of asthma was used to investigate the expression of cyclin D1, cyclin A, and p27kip1 by splenic CD4⁺ T lymphocytes. We further observed the effect of specific inhibitor of PI3K(LY294002) and specific inhibitor of Notch(DAPT) on the proliferation of such CD4⁺ T lymphocytes.Key findingsWe found that the expression of cyclinD1 and cyclinA was upregulated at both protein and mRNA levels in asthma group while p27kip1 was down-regulated. Both LY294002 and DAPT inhibit the proliferation of CD4⁺ T lymphocytes in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, LY294002 and DAPT have additive effect in down-regulation of cyclinD1 and upregulation of p27kip1. An upregulation of cyclinA, although not statistically significant, was also observed.SignificanceThese data suggested that PI3K signal pathway and Notch signal pathway may coordinately regulate the cell proliferation and differentiation processes through up-regulating cyclinD1 and down-regulating p27kip1 of CD4⁺ T lymphocytes.     

Novel extracellular and nuclear caspase-1 and inflammasomes propagate inflammation and regulate gene expression: a comprehensive database mining study

Background

Caspase-1 is present in the cytosol as an inactive zymogen and requires the protein complexes named “inflammasomes” for proteolytic activation. However, it remains unclear whether the proteolytic activity of caspase-1 is confined only to the cytosol where inflammasomes are assembled to convert inactive pro-caspase-1 to active caspase-1.

Methods

We conducted meticulous data analysis method?s on proteomic, protein interaction, protein intracellular localization, and gene expressions of 114 experimentally identified caspase-1 substrates and 38 caspase-1 interaction proteins in normal physiological conditions and in various pathologies.

Results

We made the following important findings: (1) Caspase-1 substrates and interaction proteins are localized in various intracellular organelles including nucleus and secreted extracellularly; (2) Caspase-1 may get activated in situ in the nucleus in response to intra-nuclear danger signals; (3) Caspase-1 cleaves its substrates in exocytotic secretory pathways including exosomes to propagate inflammation to neighboring and remote cells; (4) Most of caspase-1 substrates are upregulated in coronary artery disease regardless of their subcellular localization but the majority of metabolic diseases cause no significant expression changes in caspase-1 nuclear substrates; and (5) In coronary artery disease, majority of upregulated caspase-1 extracellular substrate-related pathways are involved in induction of inflammation; and in contrast, upregulated caspase-1 nuclear substrate-related pathways are more involved in regulating cell death and chromatin regulation.

Conclusions

Our identification of novel caspase-1 trafficking sites, nuclear and extracellular inflammasomes, and extracellular caspase-1-based inflammation propagation model provides a list of targets for the future development of new therapeutics to treat cardiovascular diseases, inflammatory diseases, and inflammatory cancers.

     

SubCellBarCode: Proteome-wide Mapping of Protein Localization and Relocalization

1. Download high-res image (255KB)
2. Download full-size image

     

入侵性杂草皱匕果芥在中国的适生区预测及分析

[目的]对入侵性杂草皱匕果芥在我国的适生区进行预测,为入侵风险评估和损失预测提供数据支撑,同时为控制预案制定提供科学依据。[方法]先用ENMTools和SPSS分别对分布数据和环境变量进行筛选,再调用R程序包Kuenm校准MaxEnt模型确定最优参数设置,然后使用MaxEnt和ArcMap对皱匕果芥在中国的适生区进行预测,并将已公布的进境粮食指定监管场地、进口粮食加工企业地理位置与皱匕果芥在中国的适生区进行匹配分析。[结果]最冷月份最低温度、温度季节变化标准差和最冷季度降水量是对MaxEnt模型拟合重要性排名前3位的环境变量,最冷月份最低温度可能是影响皱匕果芥发生分布的最重要的自然因素;皱匕果芥在中国的中度适生区占中国陆地总面积的15.13%,主要集中在秦岭-淮河以南、龙门山-大凉山以东的亚热带季风气候区域;高度适生区占中国陆地总面积的1.67%,主要形成川渝、湖北-湖南和长三角3个中心。在皱匕果芥的中、高度适生区分布有901个进口粮食加工企业和57个进境粮食指定监管场地。[结论]皱匕果芥的中、高度适生区内存在我国粮棉等作物的重要产区,一旦该杂草大面积发生,将给我国粮棉等作物种植造成非常不利的影响。进口粮食的国际贸易是皱匕果芥入侵中国的主要途径,应当加强对进口粮食接卸、运输、加工等高风险区域和环节的监管力度,并积极实施外来入侵杂草的监测和调查,确保做到早发现、早防除,防止进一步扩散和危害。     

Analysis of Biomolecular Interaction Process Based on SPR Imaging Method in Microfluidic Chips

Plasmonics - Molecular dynamics characteristics have important significance in studying the interaction between biomolecules, such as drug screening, environmental monitoring and evaluation of...     

山豆根地上部分的酪氨酸酶抑制活性成分筛选研究

壮药山豆根,为豆科植物越南槐(Sophora tonkinensis)的干燥根和根茎,是非常重要的广西道地药材。为了更加合理地开发利用山豆根的地上部分,阐明其化学物质基础,该研究采用多种现代色谱分离方法对山豆根地上部分进行了系统分离,并通过现代波谱学方法对分离得到的单体化合物进行了结构鉴定,同时测试了单体化合物对酪氨酸酶的抑制活性。结果表明:(1)从山豆根地上部分分离得到10个化合物,分别为水杨酸(1)、对羟基苯甲酸(2)、木犀草素(3)、8-异戊烯基山萘酚(4)、槲皮素(5)、大豆素(6)、芒柄花素-7-O-β-D-葡萄糖苷(7)、刺芒柄花素(8)、鸢尾黄素(9)、金雀异黄素(10),所有化合物均首次从山豆根的地上部分中分离得到;(2)酪氨酸酶抑制活性的试验测试结果表明化合物4、7和9对酪氨酸酶均具有较强的抑制作用,其中化合物4的酪氨酸酶抑制活性最强,IC₅₀值为(1.58 ± 0.31)× 10^-5 mol·L^-1。该研究丰富了山豆根地上部分的化学物质基础及其生物活性,为山豆根非药用部位的深入开发利用奠定了基础。     

Synthesis and in Vitro Antiviral Activities of [(Dihydrofuran‐2‐yl)oxy]methyl‐phosphonate Nucleosides with 2‐Substituted Adenine as Base

The synthesis of [(2′,5′‐dihydrofuran‐2‐yl)oxy]methyl‐phosphonate nucleosides with a 2‐substituted adenine base moiety starting from 2‐deoxy‐3,5‐bis‐O‐(4‐methylbenzoyl)‐α‐L ‐ribofuranosyl chloride and 2,6‐dichloropurine is described. The key step is the regiospecific and stereoselective introduction of a phosphonate synthon at C(2) of the furan ring. None of the synthesized compounds showed significant in vitro activity against HIV, BVDV, and HBV.     

MicroRNA Expression Profile during Aphid Feeding in Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium)

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression, affecting many biological processes. As yet, their roles in the response of chrysanthemum to aphid feeding have not been explored. Here, the identity and abundance of miRNAs induced by aphid infestation have been obtained using high-throughput Illumina sequencing platform. Three leaf small RNA libraries were generated, one from plants infested with the aphid Macrosiphoniella sanbourni (library A), one from plants with mock puncture treatment (library M), and the third from untreated control plants (library CK). A total of 7,944,797, 7,605,251 and 9,244,002 clean unique reads, ranging from 18 to 30 nucleotides (nt) in length, were obtained from library CK, A and M, respectively. As a result, 303 conserved miRNAs belonging to 276 miRNAs families and 234 potential novel miRNAs were detected in chrysanthemum leaf, out of which 80, 100 and 79 significantly differentially expressed miRNAs were identified in the comparison of CK-VS-A, CK-VS-M and M-VS-A, respectively. Several of the differentially abundant miRNAs (in particular miR159a, miR160a, miR393a) may be associated with the plant''s response to aphid infestation.