Ischemic preconditioning (IP) is a defense program in which exposure to sublethal ischemia followed by a period of reperfusion results in subsequent resistance to severe ischemic insults. Very few in vivo IP models have been established for neonatal brain. We examined whether rapid, intermediate, and delayed IP against hypoxic-ischemia (HI) could be induced in neonatal brain, and if so, whether the IP involved phosphorylation of cAMP response element-binding protein (pCREB) after HI. Postnatal day 7 rat pups were subjected to HI at 2 h (2-h IP), 6 h (6-h IP), or 22 h (22-h IP) after IP. We found all three IP groups had significantly reduced neuronal damage and TUNEL-(+) cells 24 h post-HI than no-IP group. Compared with control, the no-IP group had significant decreases of pCREB and mitochondria Bcl-2 levels in the ipsilateral cortex 24 h post-HI. In contrast, the three IP groups had increased pCREB and mitochondria Bcl-2 levels, and significant differences were found between three IP and no-IP groups. The increases of cleavage of caspase-3 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase and of cells with nuclear apoptosis inducing factor post-HI in no-IP group were all significantly reduced in three IP groups. The increases of caspase-3 and calpain-mediated proteolysis of a-spectrin post-HI were significantly reduced only in 22-h IP group. Furthermore, all three IP groups had long-term neuroprotection at behavioral and pathological levels compared with no-IP group. In conclusion, IP, rapid, intermediate, or delayed, in neonatal rat brain activates CREB, up-regulates Bcl-2, induces extensive brakes on caspase-dependent and -independent apoptosis after HI, and provides long-term neuroprotection.

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The inhibition of PAI-1 by PAI-039 or siRNA could suppress head and neck cancer-TICs within head and neck cancer cell lines through the downregulation of Sox2. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: E895-E904, 2016.

Probiotics are defined as microorganisms with beneficial health effects when consumed by humans, being applied mainly to improve allergic or intestinal diseases. Due to the increasing resistance of pathogens to antibiotics, the abuse of antibiotics becomes inefficient in the skin and in systemic infections, and probiotics may also provide the protective effect for repairing the healing of infected cutaneous wounds. Here we selected two Lactobacillus strains, L. plantarum GMNL-6 and L. paracasei GMNL-653, in heat-killed format to examine the beneficial effect in skin wound repair through the selection by promoting collagen synthesis in Hs68 fibroblast cells. The coverage of gels containing heat-killed GMNL-6 or GMNL-653 on the mouse tail with experimental wounds displayed healing promoting effects with promoting of metalloproteinase-1 expression at the early phase and reduced excessive fibrosis accumulation and deposition in the later tail-skin recovery stage. More importantly, lipoteichoic acid, the major component of Lactobacillus cell wall, from GMNL-6/GMNL-653 could achieve the anti-fibrogenic benefit similar to the heat-killed bacteria cells in the TGF-β stimulated Hs68 fibroblast cell model. Our study offers a new therapeutic potential of the heat-killed format of Lactobacillus as an alternative approach to treating skin healing disorders.

Accumulative evidence has supported the role of iron in the development of atherosclerosis. To test whether iron-mediated oxidative stress influences plaque stability, apoliporotein-E (ApoE)-deficient mice (3 months old) were placed on a chow diet or a low-iron diet for 3 months, and the abundance of interstitial collagen and the expression of the matrix degradation-associated enzyme, matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), in vascular lesions were assessed. A low-iron diet appeared to reduce iron deposition while substantially increasing collagen content of lesions in mice. Immunostaining demonstrated lower expression of MMP-9 in lesions of iron-restricted animals. Likewise, SDS-PAGE zymography revealed lower gelatinolytic activities in aortic tissues and sera of the same group of animals. When older ApoE-deficient mice (5 months old) received a low-iron diet for 2 months, development of the lesion area was not significantly affected. However, the lesional collagen content was much higher in the iron-restricted group of animals, and MMP-9 expression in aortic tissues from the same group of mice was significantly lower. Treatment of murine J774 macrophages with increasing concentrations of ferric ammonium citrate significantly enhanced the amount of MMP-9 secreted. Together, these data indicate that decreased vascular iron content following dietary iron restriction in ApoE-deficient mice leads to lower matrix degradation capacity and increased plaque stability.

Differentiated thyroid carcinomas (DTCs), which have papillary and follicular types, are common endocrine malignancies worldwide. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a particular type of cancer cells within bulk tumors involved in cancer initiation, drug resistance, and metastasis. Cells with high intracellular aldehyde hydrogenase (ALDH) activity are a population of CSCs in DTCs. Disulfiram (DSF), an ALDH inhibitor used for the treatment of alcoholism, reportedly targets CSCs in various cancers when combined with copper. This study reported for the first time that DSF/copper can inhibit the proliferation of papillary and follicular DTC lines. DSF/copper suppressed thyrosphere formation, indicating the inhibition of CSC activity. Molecular mechanisms of DSF/copper involved downregulating the expression of B lymphoma Mo-MLV insertion region 1 homolog (BMI1) and cell cycle-related proteins, including cyclin B2, cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 2, and CDK4, in a dose-dependent manner. BMI1 overexpression diminished the inhibitory effect of DSF/copper in the thyrosphere formation of DTC cells. BMI1 knockdown by RNA interference in DTC cells also suppressed the self-renewal capability. DSF/copper could inhibit the nuclear localization and transcriptional activity of c-Myc and the binding of E2F1 to the BMI1 promoter. Overexpression of c-Myc or E2F1 further abolished the inhibitory effect of DSF/copper on BMI1 expression, suggesting that the suppression of c-Myc and E2F1 by DSF/copper was involved in the downregulation of BMI1 expression. In conclusion, DSF/copper targets CSCs in DTCs by inhibiting c-Myc- or E2F1-mediated BMI1 expression. Therefore, DSF is a potential therapeutic agent for future therapy in DTCs.

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