Background/Aims: Bone marrow (BM)-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a critical role in angiogenesis and vascular repair. Some environmental insults, like fine particulate matter (PM) exposure, significantly impair cardiovascular functions. However, the mechanisms for PM-induced adverse effects on cardiovascular system remain largely unknown. The present research was to study the detrimental effects of PM on EPCs and explore the potential mechanisms. Methods: PM was intranasal-distilled into male C57BL/6 mice for one month. Flow cytometry was used to measure the number of EPCs, apoptosis level of circulating EPCs and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation. Serum TNF- α and IL-1β were measured using ELISA. To determine the role of PM-induced ROS in EPC apoptosis, PM was co-administrated with the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in wild type mice or used in a triple transgenic mouse line (TG) with overexpression of antioxidant enzyme network (AON) composed of superoxide dismutase (SOD)1, SOD3, and glutathione peroxidase (Gpx-1) with decreased in vivo ROS production. Results: PM treatment significantly decreased circulating EPC population, promoted apoptosis of EPCs in association with increased ROS production and serum TNF-α and IL-1β levels, which could be effectively reversed by either NAC treatment or overexpression of AON. Conclusion: PM exposure significantly decreased circulating EPCs population due to increased apoptosis via ROS formation in mice.

Myocardial infarction is one of the primary causes of mortality in patients with coronary heart disease worldwide. Early treatment of acute myocardial infarction restores blood supply of ischemic myocardium and decreases the mortality risk. However, when the interrupted myocardial blood supply is recovered within a certain period of time, it causes more serious damage to the original ischemic myocardium; this is known as myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (MIRI). The pathophysiological mechanisms leading to MIRI are associated with oxidative stress, intracellular calcium overload, energy metabolism disorder, apoptosis, endoplasmic reticulum stress, autophagy, pyroptosis, necroptosis and ferroptosis. These interplay with one another and directly or indirectly lead to aggravation of the effect. In the past, apoptosis and autophagy have attracted more attention but necroptosis and ferroptosis also serve key roles. However, the mechanism of MIRI has not been fully elucidated. The present study reviews the mechanisms underlying MIRI. Based on current understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms of MIRI, the association between cell death-associated signaling pathways were elaborated, providing direction for investigation of novel targets in clinical treatment.

Oxidative stress plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of retinal degeneration. Gypenosides are the major functional components isolated from Gynostemma pentaphyllum. They have been shown to protect against oxidative stress and inflammation and have also demonstrated a protective effect on experimental optic neuritis. In order to determine the protective properties of gypenosides against oxidative stress in human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, ARPE-19 cells were treated with HO or HO plus gypenosides for 24 h. ARPE-19 cells co-treated with gypenosides had significantly increased cell viability and decreased cell death rate when compared to cells treated with HO alone. The level of GSH, the activities of SOD and catalase, and the expression of NRF2 and antioxidant genes were notably decreased, while there were marked increases in ROS, MDA and pro-inflammatory cytokines in ARPE-19 cells exposed to HO; co-treatment with gypenosides significantly counteract these changes. Our study suggests that gypenosides protect RPE cells from oxidative damage and offer therapeutic potential for the treatment of retinal degeneration.

Pancreatic cancer has the poorest prognosis among all cancer types, due to its late diagnosis and the lack of effective therapies. Therefore, identification of novel gene targets, which are differentially expressed in pancreatic cancer and functionally involved in the malignant phenotype, is critical to achieve early diagnosis and develop effective therapeutic strategies. microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs, which negatively regulate the expression of their targets. Due to their various targets, miRNAs play a key role in a number of physiological processes and in oncogenesis. Therefore, investigating the role of miRNAs in tumor may contribute to the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic tools for various types of cancer, including pancreatic cancer. Here, we investigated the role of miR-193b in pancreatic cancer. Our data showed that the expression of miR-193b is markedly decreased in pancreatic cancer tissues compared to adjacent healthy tissues. The Panc-1 cell line transfected with the miR‑193b exhibited significantly decreased proliferative, migratory, and invasive ability compared to untransfected cells. Moreover, miR-193b inhibited the expression of stathmin 1 (STMN1) and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) in Panc-1 cells. These data suggest that miR-193b acts as a tumor suppressor in pancreatic cancer. Therefore, miR-193b may constitute a promising therapeutic agent for the suppression of pancreatic cancer cell growth and metastasis.

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Corneal wounds usually heal quickly; but diabetic patients have more fragile corneas and experience delayed and painful healing. In the present study, we compared the healing capacity of corneal epithelial cells (CECs) between normal and diabetic conditions and the potential mechanisms. Primary murine CEC derived from wild-type and diabetic (db/db) mice, as well as primary human CEC were prepared. Human CEC were exposed to high glucose (30 mM) to mimic diabetic conditions. Cell migration and proliferation were assessed using Scratch test and MTT assays, respectively. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in the cells was measured using dichlorofluorescein reagent. Western blot was used to evaluate the expression levels of Akt. Transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) expression were used to determine tight junction integrity. We found that the diabetic CEC displayed significantly slower cell proliferation and migration compared with the normal CEC from both mice and humans. Furthermore, ROS production was markedly increased in CEC grown under diabetic conditions. Treatment with an antioxidant N-acetyl cysteine (NAC, 100 μM) significantly decreased ROS production and increased wound healing in diabetic CEC. Barrier function was significantly reduced in both diabetic mouse and human CEC, while NAC treatment mitigated these effects. We further showed that Akt signaling was impaired in diabetic CEC, which was partially improved by NAC treatment. These results show that diabetic conditions lead to delayed wound-healing capacity of CEC and impaired tight junction formation in both mice and human. Increased ROS production and inhibited Akt signaling may contribute to this outcome, implicating these as potential targets for treating corneal wounds in diabetic patients.

Runt-related transcription factor-3 (RUNX3), being a tumor suppressor gene in gastric cancer, plays an important role in inhibiting cellular growth by participating in the transforming growth factor-beta-dependent apoptosis. The aim of this study was to determine the expression of RUNX3 in normal salivary glands and adenoid cystic carcinomas (ACCs), comparing the results with clinicopathological factors and patient survival. The quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis and Western blot analysis revealed the expression of RUNX3 both in normal salivary glands and ACCs. Nuclear and cytoplasmic immunoreactivities against RUNX3 in ductal luminal cells and acinous cells, but immunonegative in myoepithelial cells, were detected in normal salivary glands. In ACC, the RUNX3 immunostaining was shown in the cytoplasm of tumor cells; however, no nuclear location of RUNX3 was found. Lower RUNX3 expression showed significant correlation to distant metastasis and histological growth pattern (P = 0.009 and P = 0.025, respectively). On univariate analysis, low level of RUNX3 immunolabeling (P = 0.012), stage T4 (P = 0.017), lymph node involvement (P = 0.007), and distant metastasis (P < 0.001) were significantly associated with decreased overall survival. Multivariate analysis showed only distant metastasis had an independent prognostic effect on overall survival (P = 0.043). Our results demonstrate the expression of RUNX3 in normal salivary glands and salivary ACCs. The low level of RUNX3 protein in salivary ACCs might play a pivotal role in tumor progression and have prognostic values in ACCs.

As a de-ubiquitin enzyme, ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase (UCH)-L1 has been shown to be overexpressed in several human cancers. However, the function of UCH-L1 in invasion of breast cancers is still unclear. Here we report that the expression of UCH-