A20 restores phorbol ester-induced differentiation of THP-1 cells in the absence of nuclear factor-κB activation

A neutrophil cell membrane-biomimetic nanoplatform based on L-arginine nanoparticles for early osteoarthritis diagnosis and nitric oxide therapy

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common debilitating disease affecting articular joints for which no effective disease-modifying early diagnosis or medical therapy tools are currently available. The inefficient delivery of drugs into inflamed chondrocytes has restricted the development of anti-OA medication. Evidence has shown that inflammatory neutrophils possess the property of targeting inflammation via inflammatory tissue recruiting. Herein, we report neutrophil-cell-membrane-based biomimetic nanoparticles (NM-LANPs@Ru) as an OA theranostic nanoplatform; they act as a NO delivery system, coating neutrophil cell membrane onto the surface of self-assembled PEGylated L-arginine nanoparticles (LANPs) to act as a NO donor and loading a Ru complex to act as a ROS inducer. NM-LANPs@Ru demonstrated the specific targeting of inflamed OA with low toxicity, good NO release, and excellent fluorescence/photoacoustic (FL/PA) imaging properties. We showed that NM-LANPs@Ru exhibited enhanced cellular association in inflamed chondrocyte cells (C28/I2), much higher than NO release from ROS oxidized LA, and it improved the inhibition of the apoptosis of inflamed C28/I2 cells compared with control treatments. In vivo studies demonstrated that NM-LANPs@Ru effectively targeted inflamed OA, based on real-time dual-modal FL/PA imaging, eventually exhibiting its excellent anti-inflammatory activity. Our study may provide a new approach for the early diagnosis and treatment of osteoarthritis using a neutrophil-cell-membrane-based biomimetic nanoplatform for NO or drug delivery.

Deubiquitinases in hematological malignancies

Deubiquitinases (DUBs) are enzymes that control the stability, interactions or localization of most cellular proteins by removing their ubiquitin modification. In recent years, some DUBs, such as USP7, USP9X and USP10, have been identified as promising therapeutic targets in hematological malignancies. Importantly, some potent inhibitors targeting the oncogenic DUBs have been developed, showing promising inhibitory efficacy in preclinical models, and some have even undergone clinical trials. Different DUBs perform distinct function in diverse hematological malignancies, such as oncogenic, tumor suppressor or context-dependent effects. Therefore, exploring the biological roles of DUBs and their downstream effectors will provide new insights and therapeutic targets for the occurrence and development of hematological malignancies. We summarize the DUBs involved in different categories of hematological malignancies including leukemia, multiple myeloma and lymphoma. We also present the recent development of DUB inhibitors and their applications in hematological malignancies. Together, we demonstrate DUBs as potential therapeutic drug targets in hematological malignancies.

Decreased MiR-128-3p alleviates the progression of rheumatoid arthritis by up-regulating the expression of TNFAIP3

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a inflammatory disease that characterized with the destruction of synovial joint, which could induce disability. Inflammatory response mediated the RA. It has been reported that MiR-128-3p is significantly increased in RA, while the potential role was still unclear.

Methods: T cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) were isolated from the peripheral blood from people of RA and normal person were used. Real-time PCR was performed to detect the expression of MiR-128-3p, while the protein expression of tumor necrosis factor-α-induced protein 3 (TNFAIP3) was determined using Western blot. The levels of IL-6 and IL-17 were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expression of CD69 and CD25 was detected using flow cytometry. The RA mouse model was constructed for verification of the role of MiR-128-3p.

Results: The expression of MiR-128-3p was significantly increased, while TNFAIP3 was decreased, the levels of IL-6 and IL-17 were also increased in the T cells of RA patients. Down-regulated MiR-128-3p significantly suppressed the expression of p-IkBα and CD69, and CD25in T cells. MiR-128-3p targets TNFAIP3 to regulate its expression. MiR-128-3p knockdown significantly suppressed the activity of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) and T cells by up-regulating TNFAIP3, while cells co-transfected with si-TNFAIP3 abolished the effects of MiR-128-3p knockdown. The in vivo experiments verified the potential role of MiR-128-3p on RA.

Conclusion: Down-regulated MiR-128-3p significantly suppressed the inflammation response of RA through suppressing the activity of NF-κB pathway, which was mediated by TNFAIP3.