Interstitial Cells of Cajal (ICC) plays a critical role in the peristaltic contractions of the gastrointestinal and urinary tract. The dysfunction and loss of ICC contributes to hypokinetic disease, such as gallstoneand ureteropelvic junction obstruction . In the present study, we identified the underlying driving molecular signals of oxidative stress and apoptosis in ICC. ICC was isolated from small intestine of Balb/c mice, and stimulated with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). MTT and flow cytometry were performed to assess cell viability, apoptosis, and the level of reactive oxygen species in ICC, respectively. The level of malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase in cells were measured to assess oxidative stress. The expression of inflammatory factors (interleukin, IL-1 and IL-6) and apoptosis-related proteins were detected by western blot. We observed that TNF-αinduced inflammation, oxidative stress and cell apoptosis in ICC. By using quantitative real-time PCR , we verified that the expression of long non-coding RNAMEG3 was elevated by TNF-α in ICC. Silencing MEG3 reversed inflammation, oxidative stress, and cell apoptosisin TNF-α-treated ICC. Subsequently, we confirmed that MEG3 sponged cytoprotective miR-21 to upregulate the expression of I-kappa-B-kinase beta (IKKB) and activate the nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) pathway. Both miR-21 overexpression and IKKB knockdown reduced TNF-α-induced above symptoms in ICC. Taken together, we can conclude that MEG3 mediates inflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis in TNF-α-treated ICC via the miR-21/IKKB-NF-κB axis. The study improves our understanding of the molecular mechanism of ICC reduction related diseases.
Objective: To observe the pathological changes of different anatomical sites in the specimens obtained from ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) caused by UPJ stenosis. Materials and Methods: A total of 34 cases of UPJO were performed. The lesion of the ureteropelvic junction was visualized as the center, the 1.5cm renal pelvis segment was taken along the upper edge of the lesion segment (as the control group). Along the lower edge of the ureteral stricture, 1cm of ureteral stricture tissue was taken downward. Different dyeing methods were used to observe the tissue arrangement of different parts, the ratio of muscle to fiber tissue and the distribution of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) . Results: The number of ICCs in the lesion segment was reduced or even absent, disordered arrangement of muscle tissue was seen, the fibrous tissue proliferated to varying degrees. The pathological changes were statistically different from those of normal segment and ureteral stricture segment. Conclusion: The decrease of ICCs cells and the degree of tissue fibrosis are closely related to the pathogenesis and disease progression of UPJO caused by UPJ stenosis.
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