Objective Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) in lupus patients is >50% fatal. The cause is unknown. The pathogenesis of DAH in C57BL/6 mice with pristane-induced lupus, a model of human lupus-associated DAH, was examined. Methods Clinical/pathological and immunological manifestations DAH in pristane-lupus were compared with human DAH. Tissue distribution of pristane was examined by mass spectrometry. Cell types responsible for disease were determined by in vivo depletion using clodronate liposomes (CloLip) and anti-neutrophil monoclonal antibodies (GR1). The effect of complement depletion with cobra venom factor (CVF) was examined. Results After i.p. injection, pristane migrated to the lung, causing cell death, small vessel vasculitis, and alveolar hemorrhage similar to human DAH. B-cell-deficient mice were resistant to induction of DAH, but susceptibility was restored by infusing IgM. C3-deficient and CD18-deficient mice also were resistant and DAH was prevented in wild-type mice by CVF. Induction of DAH was independent of TLRs, inflammasomes, and inducible nitric oxide (iNOS). Mortality was increased in IL-10-deficient mice and pristane treatment decreased IL-10 receptor expression in monocytes and Stat3 phosphorylation in lung macrophages. In vivo neutrophil depletion was not protective, whereas treatment with CloLip prevented DAH, suggesting that macrophage activation is central to DAH pathogenesis. Conclusion The pathogenesis of DAH involves opsonization of dead cells by natural IgM and complement followed by complement receptor-mediated lung inflammation. The disease is macrophage-dependent and IL-10 is protective. Complement inhibition and/or macrophage-targeted therapies may reduce mortality in lupus-associated DAH.

BackgroundIn order to identify biomarkers involved in breast cancer, gene expression profiling was conducted using human breast cancer tissues.MethodsTotal RNAs were extracted from 150 clinical patient tissues covering three breast cancer subtypes (Luminal A, Luminal B, and Triple negative) as well as normal tissues. The expression profiles of a total of 50,739 genes were established from a training set of 32 samples using the Agilent Sure Print G3 Human Gene Expression Microarray technology. Data were analyzed using Agilent Gene Spring GX 12.6 software. The expression of several genes was validated using real-time RT-qPCR.ResultsData analysis with Agilent GeneSpring GX 12.6 software showed distinct expression patterns between cancer and normal tissue samples. A group of 28 promising genes were identified with ≥ 10-fold changes of expression level and p-values < 0.05. In particular, MMP11 and HPSE2 were closely examined due to the important roles they play in cancer cell growth and migration. Real-time RT-qPCR analyses of both training and testing sets validated the gene expression profiles of MMP11 and HPSE2.ConclusionsOur findings identified these 2 genes as a novel breast cancer biomarker gene set, which may facilitate the diagnosis and treatment in breast cancer clinical therapies.

One of the keys for successfully developing drugs against the broad spectrum of cancer cell types is structural diversity. In the current study, we focused on a family of isosteviol derivatives as potential novel antitumor agents. Isosteviol is a tetracyclic diterpenoid obtained by acid hydrolysis of steviol glycoside extracts isolated from abundant Stevia rebaudiana plants. In this work, we have designed and synthesized a panel of isosteviol triazole conjugates using “click” chemistry methodology. Evaluation of these compounds against a series of cancer cell lines derived from primary and metastatic tumors demonstrated that these conjugates exhibit cytotoxic activities with IC50 in the low μM range. In addition, their anti-proliferative activities are cancer cell type specific. Taken together, our studies underscore the importance of structural diversity in achieving cancer cell type specific drug development.

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