MiR‐16, as a potential NF‐κB‐related miRNA,exerts anti‐inflammatory effects on LPS‐induced myocarditis via mediating CD40 expression: A preliminary study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the biological effect of miR‐16 on myocarditis and the underlying molecular mechanism. H9c2 cells were treated with 10 µg/mL lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for 12 hours to form a myocarditis injury model. We observed that LPS treatment distinctly decreased the level of miR‐16 in H9c2 cells. Upregulation of miR‐16 increased cell proliferation and reduced cell apoptosis. Then, CD40 was predicted and verified as a target gene of miR‐16 by TargetScan and luciferase reporter assay, respectively. Furthermore, the messenger RNA and protein expression of CD40 are negatively regulated by miR‐16. The relative expression of inflammatory factors was dramatically decreased by the miR‐16 mimic. Cells cotransfected with miR‐16 mimic and si‐CD40 could significantly abolish the injury of cardiomyocytes caused by myocarditis. Our study illustrated that the upregulation of miR‐16 has a protective effect on LPS‐damaged H9c2 cells, which may be achieved by regulating CD40 and the nuclear factor kappa B pathway.     

6‐O‐(3″, 4″‐di‐O‐trans‐cinnamoyl)‐α‐l‐rhamnopyranosylcatalpol and verbascoside: Cytotoxicity,cell cycle kinetics,apoptosis, and ROS production evaluation in tumor cells

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact that 6‐O‐(3″, 4″‐di‐O‐trans‐cinnamoyl)‐α‐ l ‐rhamnopyranosylcatalpol (Dicinn) and verbascoside (Verb), two compounds simultaneously reported in Verbascum ovalifolium, have on tumor cell viability, apoptosis, cell cycle kinetics, and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level. At 100 µg/mL and 48 hours incubation time, Dicinn and Verb produced good cytotoxic effects in A549, HT‐29, and MCF‐7 cells. Dicinn induced cell‐cycle arrest at the G₀/G₁ phase and apoptosis, whereas Verb increased the population of subG₁ cells and cell apoptosis rates. Furthermore, the two compounds exhibited time‐dependent ROS generating effects in tumor cells (1‐24 hours). Importantly, no cytotoxic effects were induced in nontumor MCF‐10A cells by the two compounds up to 100 µg/mL. Overall, the effects exhibited by Verb in tumor cells were more potent, which can be correlated with its structural features, such as the presence of phenolic hydroxyl groups.     

Galectin‐3 mediates pulmonary vascular endothelial cell dynamics via TRPC1/4 under acute hypoxia

Galectin‐3 (Gal‐3) has been implicated in various biological functions, yet little is known about its role in regulating the dynamics of pulmonary vascular endothelial cells. Gal‐3 was shown to be increased in hypoxic model rats by sequencing analysis. We exposed pulmonary vessel endothelial cells (PVECs) to hypoxia or Gal‐3 stimulation, following which cell apoptosis and autophagy were measured with the relevant methods. The results demonstrated that hypoxia elevated nuclear factor‐κB (NF‐κB) activity and Gal‐3 expression. Gla‐3 decreased the expression of Bcl‐2, Alix, Beclin‐1, Atg5, and LC3A/B. The messenger RNA and protein levels of transient receptor potential channel 1/4 (TRPC1/4) and calpain were reduced after Gal‐3 treatment. Gal‐3 also activated protein kinase B/glycogen synthase kinase‐3 β/mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathways in PVECs. These results suggest that a hypoxia‐mediated increase in Gal‐3 promotes apoptosis and inhibits autophagy by inhibiting the TRPC1/4 pathway and activating the protein kinase B/glycogen synthase kinase‐3 β/mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway in PVECs. Furthermore, these results may provide us with a new direction to explore the pathogenesis of pulmonary artery hypertension.     

Deleterious cardiovascular effect of exosome in digitalis‐treated decompensated congestive heart failure

Heart failure (HF) is a medical condition inability of the heart to pump sufficient blood to meet the metabolic demand of the body to take place. The number of hospitalized patients with cardiovascular diseases is estimated to be more than 1 million each year, of which 80% to 90% of patients ultimately progress to decompensated HF. Digitalis glycosides exert modest inotropic actions when administered to patients with decompensated HF. Although its efficacy in patients with HF and atrial fibrillation is clear, its value in patients with HF and sinus rhythm has often been questioned. A series of recent studies have cast serious doubt on the benefit of digoxin when added to contemporary HF treatment. We are hypothesizing the role and mechanism of exosome and its biological constituents responsible for worsening the disease state and mortality in decompensated HF patients on digitalis.     

Lifting the veil on the correction of double counting incidents in hybrid life cycle assessment

Life cycle assessment (LCA) and environmentally extended input–output analyses (EEIOA) are two techniques commonly used to assess environmental impacts of an activity/product. Their strengths and weaknesses are complementary, and they are thus regularly combined to obtain hybrid LCAs. A number of approaches in hybrid LCA exist, which leads to different results. One of the differences is the method used to ensure that mixed LCA and EEIOA data do not overlap, which is referred to as correction for double counting. This aspect of hybrid LCA is often ignored in reports of hybrid assessments and no comprehensive study has been carried out on it. This article strives to list, compare, and analyze the different existing methods for the correction of double counting. We first harmonize the definitions of the existing correction methods and express them in a common notation, before introducing a streamlined variant. We then compare their respective assumptions and limitations. We discuss the loss of specific information regarding the studied activity/product and the loss of coherent financial representation caused by some of the correction methods. This analysis clarifies which techniques are most applicable to different tasks, from hybridizing individual LCA processes to integrating complete databases. We finally conclude by giving recommendations for future hybrid analyses.     

Eco‐efficiency assessment of calcium sulfoaluminate clinker production

Calcium sulfoaluminate‐based cements (CSA) are proposed as a cement alternative with a low carbon footprint. The nature of CSA makes the manufacturing process to require lower temperature, less fuel, and less calcite. However, it requires aluminum oxide, Al₂O₃, which would be originated from bauxite and bauxite‐derived wastes, and sulfur, coming from calcium sulfate or elemental sulfur. An eco‐efficiency assessment of CSA cements, benchmarked against the conventional Portland cement, has been performed following the principles of ISO 14045 on eco‐efficiency for a total of 240 CSA clinker production scenarios. The eco‐efficiency indicator relates an environmental indicator with a product system value indicator, and it is calculated for each of the studied parameters: bauxite geographical origin, the fuel used for clinkering, the source of sulfur, and the composition of the clinker. Eco‐efficiency results show a strong dependence on the origin of bauxite, while other parameters, as the fuel used, its content in sulfur, or the supply of other raw materials, are of less importance. The most eco‐efficient solutions are those with certain closeness to bauxite sources. To achieve global solutions, that is, cement‐making based on CSA independently of the origin of the raw materials, the amount of bauxite needs to be minimized and CSA composition restricted.