FGF2, PTTG, CCNB1, survivin, FAK, and MVD proteins of pituitary adenoma showed strong expression in invasive tumors. Furthermore, miR-24, miR-93, miR-34a, and miR-126 were under-expressed in invasive Pituitary adenomas compared with non-invasive ones. The results indicated some relationship between the miRNA and protein expression during the pituitary invasion process.

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Osteoarthritis (OA) treatment is a highly unmet medical need. Development of a disease-modifying OA drug (DMOAD) is challenging with no approved drugs on the market. Inhibition of ADATMS-4/5 is a promising OA therapeutics to target cartilage degradation and potentially can reduce joint pain and restore its normal function. Starting from the reported ADAMTS-5 inhibitor GLPG1972, we applied a scaffold hopping strategy to generate a novel isoindoline amide scaffold. Representative compound 18 showed high potency in ADATMS-4/5 inhibition, as well as good selectivity over a panel of other metalloproteases. In addition, compound 18 exhibited excellent druglike properties and showed better pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles than GLPG1972 cross-species. Compound 18 demonstrated dose-dependent efficacy in two in vivo rat osteoarthritis models.

Increasing studies have revealed significant associations between TOP2A with oncogenesis and prognosis of human cancers; however, pan-cancer analysis has not been reported. Here, we explored the potential carcinogenic function, the association with clinical outcomes of TOP2A in 33 different human cancers. The results showed that TOP2A was amplified in 32 investigated cancers; TOP2A expression was significantly associated with metastasis of six different cancers, and significantly associated with the survivals of patients in ten different cancers; TOP2A encoded protein was obviously upregulated in five available cancers; phosphorylated TOP2A protein at S1106 was significantly upregulated in all six available cancers. Moreover, TOP2A expression was found to be associated with the cancer-associated immune cell infiltration, including fibroblasts, Tregs and macrophages. In addition, Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway and Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analyses revealed a most significant association between TOP2A with Wnt signaling pathway, and DNA conformation change. This work provides a comprehensive knowledge of TOP2A in different cancers, including carcinogenic function, prognostic values for metastasis and clinical outcomes.

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an unknown interstitial disease characterized by tissue fibrosis for which there currently is no effective treatment. Macrophages, as the main immune cells in lung tissue, are involved in the whole process of pulmonary fibrosis. In recent years, intercellular transformation has been widespread concerned in pulmonary fibrosis researchers. The macrophages which have flexible heterogeneity and plasticity participate in different physiological processes of the body. Cell chemokine receptor 8 (CCR8) expressed in a variety of cells plays a significant chemotactic role in inducing cell activation and migration. And it could also promote the differentiation of macrophages under certain environmental conditions. The current study is intended to explore the role of CCR8 in macrophage transdifferentiation into myofibroblast cells in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.Methods: We conducted experiments using Ccr8-specific small interfering RNA (siRNA), autophagy inhibitor (3-methyladenine,3-MA) and agonist (rapamycin) to explore the underlying mechanisms of macrophage transdifferentiation into myofibroblast cells in TGF-β induced pulmonary fibrosis. Results: The results indicated that TGF-β treatment increased the CCR8 protein level in a time- and a dose-dependent manner in MH-S, as well as macrophage transdifferentiation-related markers, including Vimentin, Collagen 1, and a-SMA, and cell migration. In addition, levels of autophagy were enhanced in macrophages treated with TGF-β. We found that 3-MA, an autophagy inhibitor decreased the expression levels of macrophage transdifferentiation-related markers and attenuated the cell migration. Furthermore, inhibition of CCR8 through using Ccr8-specific siRNA reduced the levels of autophagy and macrophage transdifferentiation-related markers, and inhibited the cell migration. Enhancing autophagy with rapamycin attenuated the inhibition effect of Ccr8-specific siRNA on macrophage migration and the increase of myofibroblast marker proteins.Conclusions: Our findings showed that the macrophages exposed to TGF-β had the potential to transdifferentiate into myofibroblasts and CCR8 was involved in the process. The effect of CCR8 in TGF-β-induced macrophage transdifferentiation occurs mainly through autophagy. Targeting the CCR8 may become a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of IPF.