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In this study, we examined the effect of MC1568, a selective class IIa histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, on the development and progression of renal fibrosis in a murine model of renal fibrosis induced by unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). All 4 class IIa HDAC isoforms, in particular HDAC4, were up‐regulated in renal epithelial cells of the injured kidney. Administration of MC1568 immediately after UUO injury reduced expression of α–smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA), fibronectin, and collagen 1. MC1568 treatment or small interfering RNA–mediated silencing of HDAC4 also suppressed expression of those proteins in cultured renal epithelial cells. Mechanistically, MC1568 abrogated UUO‐induced phosphorylation of Smad3, NF‐κB, and up‐regulation of integrin a Vβ6 in the kidney and inhibited TGF‐β1‐induced responses in cultured renal epithelial cells. MCI568 also increased renal expression of klotho, bone morphogenetic protein 7, and Smad7. Moreover, delayed administration of MC1568 at 3 d after ureteral obstruction reversed the expression of α‐SMA, fibronectin, and collagen 1 and increased expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)‐2 and ‐9. Collectively, these results suggest that selectively targeting class IIa HD AC isoforms (in particular HDAC4) may inhibit development and progression of renal fibrosis by suppressing activation and expression of multiple prof ibrotic molecules and increasing expression of antif ibrotic proteins and MMPs.—Xiong, C., Guan, Y., Zhou, X., Liu, L., Zhuang, M. A., Zhang, W., Zhang, Y., Masucci, M. V., Bayliss, G., Zhao, T. C., Zhuang, S. Selective inhibition of class IIa histone deacetylases alleviates renal fibrosis. FASEB J. 33,8249–8262 (2019). http://www.fasebj.org

Using panel data for 49 countries from 2000 to 2013, this paper empirically examines the impacts of ICT on exports and imports of ten service categories. Unlike most previous studies, seven different ICT variables are used to construct a comprehensive ICT development index (IDI) that captures the access, use, and skill aspects of the technology. The results indicate that overall ICT development has significant positive impacts on the exports of 'other business services' and 'transportation services' and the imports of 'insurance services', 'telecommunication services', and 'travel services'. This result is robust under different estimation methods. Among the three ICT components, ICT use is found to be more important than access and skills for trade in a number of services. Furthermore, when the models are estimated separately for advanced economics (AEs) and emerging market economies (EMEs), ICT development appears to be more important for exports from AEs and for imports by EMEs. Finally, ICT use is more important in EMEs than in AEs, particularly for imports. These results provide important policy insights for ICT development and growth of services trade.

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We examine the effects of information and communications technology (ICT) on international trade in emerging markets. Using panel data for forty emerging market economies (EMEs) from 1995 to 2010, we estimate fixed effects models of exports and imports with ICT as the main explanatory variable of interest. The empirical results overwhelmingly suggest that Internet subscriptions and Internet hosts have significant positive effects on both exports and imports in EMEs. Thus, the trade-enhancing effect of ICT does not depend on ICT infrastructure or ICT capability per se but on its use. This result is robust to a number of sensitivity checks.