Extracellular purinergic products, particularly ATP, have recently been implicated to regulate immune cell functions and contribute to aberrant inflammatory responses of immune diseases. However, regulation of immune responses of colitis by extracellular ATP and its main receptor, P2 × 7, remains to be elucidated. In the study, we induced murine colitis by feeding mice with 4% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS), and noted dramatically heightened extracellular ATP levels in colon tissues during the progression of experimental colitis. Blockade of ATP release by carbenoxolone (CBX) treatment, or promoting ATP degradation by ATP diphosphohydrolase (apyrase), decreased extracellular ATP levels in colon tissues, attenuated DSS-induced colitis, whereas inhibition of extracellular ATP degradation by sodium metatungstate (POM-1) exacerbated tissue damage in the mice with colitis. Moreover, treatment with inhibitor of P2 × 7 receptor, A438079, decreased NFκB activation and active caspase-1 expression in lamina propria immune cells, downregulated proinflammatory cytokine production in colon tissues, and attenuated murine colitis. Collectively, these data suggest extracellular ATP participates in regulation of inflammatory responses of experimental colitis, through P2 × 7 receptor and inflammasome and NFκB signaling, which provides potential alternatives to the current clinical approaches to suppress extracellular ATP-mediated immune responsiveness.

Chronic exposure to environmental heavy metals is a worldwide health concern. It is acknowledged to be an important cause of lower respiratory tract damage in children. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the heavy metal-induced cellular stress/toxicity are not completely understood. Small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs), such as microRNAs (miRNA) and more recently identified tRNA-derived RNA fragments (tRFs), are critical to the posttranscriptional control of genes. We used deep sequencing to investigate whether cellular sncRNA profiles are changed by environmental heavy metals. We found that the treatment of arsenite, an important groundwater heavy metal, leads to abundant production of tRFs, that are ~30 nucleotides (nts) long and most of which correspond to the 5′-end of mature tRNAs. It is unlikely for these tRFs to be random degradation by-products, as the type of induced tRFs is heavy metal-dependent. Three most inducible tRFs and their roles in arsenite-induced cellular responses were then investigated. We identified that p65, an important transcription factor belonging to NF-κB family and also a key factor controlling inflammatory gene expression, is a regulated target of a tRF derived from 5′-end of mature tRNA encoding AlaCGC (tRF5-AlaCGC). tRF5-AlaCGC activates p65, subsequently leading to enhanced secretion of IL-8 in arsenite response. In this study, we also identified that endonuclease Dicer and angiogenin temporally control the induction of tRF5-AlaCGC, providing an insight into the control of tRF biogenesis and subsequently the prevention of cellular damage.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of respiratory infection in young children and high-risk adults. However, a specific treatment for this viral infection is not currently available. In this study, we discovered that an exchange protein directly activated by cyclic AMP (EPAC) can serve as a potential therapeutic target for RSV. In both lower and upper epithelial cells, treatment with EPAC inhibitor (ESI-09), but not protein kinase A inhibitor (H89), significantly inhibits RSV replication and proinflammatory cytokine/chemokine induction. In addition, RSV-activated transcriptional factors belonging to the NF-κB and IRF families are also suppressed by ESI-09. Through isoform-specific gene knockdown, we found that EPAC2, but not EPAC1, plays a dominant role in controlling RSV replication and virus-induced host responses. Experiments using both EPAC2 knockout and EPAC2-specific inhibitor support such roles of EPAC2. Therefore, EPAC2 is a promising therapeutic target to regulate RSV replication and associated inflammation. RSV is a serious public health problem, as it is associated with bronchiolitis, pneumonia, and asthma exacerbations. Currently no effective treatment or vaccine is available, and many molecular mechanisms regarding RSV-induced lung disease are still significantly unknown. This project aims to elucidate an important and novel function of a protein, called EPAC2, in RSV replication and innate inflammatory responses. Our results should provide an important insight into the development of new pharmacologic strategies against RSV infection, thereby reducing RSV-associated morbidity and mortality.

Keloid, a common dermal fibroproliferative disorder, is benign skin tumors characterized by the aggressive fibroblasts proliferation and excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix. However, common therapeutic approaches of keloid have limited effectiveness, emphasizing the momentousness of developing innovative mechanisms and therapeutic strategies. Epigenetics, representing the potential link of complex interactions between genetics and external risk factors, is currently under intense scrutiny. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that multiple diverse and reversible epigenetic modifications, represented by DNA methylation, histone modification, and non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), play a critical role in gene regulation and downstream fibroblastic function in keloid. Importantly, abnormal epigenetic modification manipulates multiple behaviors of keloid-derived fibroblasts, which served as the main cellular components in keloid skin tissue, including proliferation, migration, apoptosis, and differentiation. Here, we have reviewed and summarized the present available clinical and experimental studies to deeply investigate the expression profiles and clarify the mechanisms of epigenetic modification in the progression of keloid, mainly including DNA methylation, histone modification, and ncRNAs (miRNA, lncRNA, and circRNA). Besides, we also provide the challenges and future perspectives associated with epigenetics modification in keloid. Deciphering the complicated epigenetic modification in keloid is hopeful to bring novel insights into the pathogenesis etiology and diagnostic/therapeutic targets in keloid, laying a foundation for optimal keloid ending.

BackgroundMeasurement of intraocular pressure (IOP) is essential for glaucoma patients. Many factors such as central corneal thickness (CCT) can affect the accuracy of IOP measurement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the agreement of IOP measured by non-contact tonometer (NCT), iCare pro rebound tonometer (iCare), and Goldmann applanation tonometer (GAT) in different IOP group.MethodsThis was a Hospital-based cross-sectional study. Two hundred subjects were enrolled in this study. All subjects underwent IOP measurement using an NCT–iCare–GAT sequence. Bland-Altman, Pearson correlation and intraclass correlation analysis were performed using SPSS 17.0 software. The influence of CCT on each IOP measurement methods was evaluated by linear regression analysis.ResultsThe mean difference (Δ) of NCT–GAT did not differ from (Δ) iCare–GAT in IOP < 10 and 10–21 mmHg group. However, (Δ) NCT–GAT was significantly higher than (Δ) iCare–GAT in IOP 22–30 and > 30 mmHg group (P < 0.05). Bland–Altman analysis showed significant agreement between the three devices (P < 0.01). IOP measurements of the three methods were significantly correlated with CCT (P < 0.01).ConclusionsICare pro shows a higher agreement with GAT over a wide range of IOP compared with NCT. The consistency between the three tonometers was similar in a low and normal IOP range. However, NCT shows a greater overestimate of IOP in moderate and higher IOP group. The variability of IOP measurement affected by CCT is NCT > iCare pro > GAT.

Leukocyte invasion (neutrophils and monocytes/macrophages) is closely related to the severity of acute pancreatitis (AP) and plays an important role in the systemic inflammatory response and other organ injuries secondary to AP. Increased and sustained activation of neutrophils are major determinants of pancreatic injury and inflammation. After the onset of AP, the arrival of the first wave of neutrophils occurs due to a variety of triggers and is critical for the exacerbation of inflammation. In this review, we summarize the functional characteristics of neutrophils, elastase, and heparin-binding proteins in granules, the mechanisms of neutrophil recruitment and the role of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in AP.

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a major cause of lower respiratory infection in young children. Repeated infections occur throughout life, but its immune evasion mechanisms are largely unknown. We recently found that hMPV M2-2 protein elicits immune evasion by targeting mitochondrial antiviral-signaling protein (MAVS), an antiviral signaling molecule. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying such inhibition are not known. Our mutagenesis studies revealed that PDZ-binding motifs, 29-DEMI-32 and 39-KEALSDGI-46, located in an immune inhibitory region of M2-2, are responsible for M2-2-mediated immune evasion. We also found both motifs prevent TRAF5 and TRAF6, the MAVS downstream adaptors, to be recruited to MAVS, while the motif 39-KEALSDGI-46 also blocks TRAF3 migrating to MAVS. In parallel, these TRAFs are important in activating transcription factors NF-kB and/or IRF-3 by hMPV. Our findings collectively demonstrate that M2-2 uses its PDZ motifs to launch the hMPV immune evasion through blocking the interaction of MAVS and its downstream TRAFs.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common digestive disease characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. MiR-155 plays a role in promoting inflammation and inhibiting the activation of anti-inflammatory pathways. Impaired autophagy could promote zymogen activation, abnormal acinar cell secretion, cell death, and the inflammatory response to aggravate AP. The aim of this study was to ascertain the effect of silencing miR-155 on AP through its effects on inflammation and impaired autophagy in vivo. In this study, AAV(adeno-associated virus)-mediated miR-155 and miR-155 sponge were injected through the tail vein of mice. After 3 weeks, AP was induced by intraperitoneal (IP) injections of cerulein. Pancreatic and pulmonary tissues were analyzed after 24 h. Silencing of miR-155 ameliorated pancreas and lung damage in three AP models of mice by preventing accumulation of autophagosomes that are unable to fuse with lysosomes and decreasing pancreatic inflammation by targeting TAB2. 3-MA could reduce the aberrant accumulation of autophagosomes, which alleviates the pancreas damage that was aggravated by increasing miR-155 levels. These findings demonstrate that the inhibition of miR-155 holds promise for limiting pancreatitis.