Loss of Egr-1 sensitizes pancreatic β-cells to palmitate-induced ER stress and apoptosis

Single-cell transcriptomic analysis of canine insulinoma reveals distinct sub-populations of insulin-expressing cancer cells

Canine malignant insulinoma is a rare, highly metastatic and life-threatening neuroendocrine tumour of pancreatic beta cells. To map the single-cell transcriptomic landscape of canine insulinoma for the first time, transcriptomic profiles of 5,532 cells were captured from two spontaneous insulinomas (Patient 1 and 2) and one associated metastasis (Patient 2) in two Boxer dogs. Distinct cancer, endocrine, and immune cell populations were identified. Notably, all three tumour samples contained two transcriptionally distinct insulin-expressing tumour cell populations (INS+ and INS+FOS low ), characterised here for the first time. These two cancer cell populations significantly differed by ~ 8,000 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), particularly tumour suppressor genes (e.g. TP53, EGR1) and cancer-related pathways (e.g., MAPK, p53). In contrast, COX7A2L was one of a few genes ubiquitously expressed and significantly upregulated (> 20-fold) in both insulin-expressing tumour populations compared to other captured populations. Both populations were also characterised by expression of chromogranin/secretogranin neuroendocrine tumour marker genes (e.g. CHGA, SCGN). There were far fewer gene expression differences observed between insulin-expressing tumour cells from the two patients (~ 600 DEGs) than between the two cancer cell populations within each patient. These DEGs included CLTRN, TMSB4X, CSRP2, LGALS2, and C15orf48. Unexpectedly for a tumour of endocrine origin, the metastasis in Patient 2 exhibited > 20-70 fold upregulation of exocrine pancreatic genes including CLPS, PRSS2, PRSS and CTRC. Immune cell analyses identified distinct infiltrating immune populations, including memory T cells and macrophages and revealed likely tumour-immune interactions, including the CD40-CD40L interaction. This study provides the first single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis of naturally occurring insulinoma in any species, revealing tumour cell heterogeneity, novel immune microenvironment features, and potential therapeutic targets. Despite its small scale, the findings highlight the utility of scRNA-seq in veterinary oncology and its translational potential for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours across species.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s44356-025-00026-3.

CDKN1A and EGR1 are key genes for endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced ferroptosis in MASH

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is a complex liver disease whose pathogenesis involving endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and ferroptosis. However, key regulatory genes remain poorly understood, hindering the development of effective therapeutic targets. This study aims to identify genes linked to ER stress and ferroptosis through bioinformatics and experimental validation, providing insights into MASH pathogenesis and potential therapeutic strategies. We first identified ER stress and ferroptosis as key processes in MASH through differential analysis and functional enrichment. This was subsequently validated in a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced MASH model in ApoE-/- mice, where ER stress and ferroptosis were confirmed to occur in the liver tissue of MASH mice. Additionally, daily intraperitoneal injection of the ferroptosis inhibitor ferrostatin-1 (Fer-1) alleviated MASH progression. In vitro, Fer-1 mitigated inflammation, lipid accumulation, and fibrosis in free fatty acid (FFA)-treated HepG2 cells. To identify key genes, we employed bioinformatics analysis and machine learning approaches, which led to the identification of cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor 1A (CDKN1A) and early growth response 1 (EGR1) as feature genes associated with MASH-related ER stress and ferroptosis. Increased expression of CDKN1A and decreased expression of EGR1 were observed in the liver tissue of MASH mice and FFA-treated HepG2 cells. Furthermore, in CDKN1A overexpression and EGR1 silencing cell models, treatment with the ER stress inhibitor 4-Phenylbutyric acid improved the ferroptosis. In summary, all results indicate that CDKN1A and EGR1 are key genes driving ER stress-induced ferroptosis in MASH. Our findings not only provide new evidence for the pathogenesis of MASH but also highlight novel therapeutic targets for intervention.

Glycerol Kinase Drives Hepatic de novo Lipogenesis and Triglyceride Synthesis in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver by Activating SREBP-1c Transcription, Upregulating DGAT1/2 Expression, and Promoting Glycerol Metabolism

Glycerol kinase (GK) participates in triglyceride (TG) synthesis by catalyzing glycerol metabolism. Whether GK contributes to nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) is unclear. The expression of hepatic Gk is found to be increased in diet-induced and genetic mouse models of NAFL and is positively associated with hepatic SREBP-1c expression and TG levels. Cholesterol and fatty acids stimulate GK expression in hepatocytes. In HFD-induced NAFL mice, knockdown of hepatic Gk decreases expression of SREBP-1c and its target lipogenic genes as well as DGAT1/2, increases serum glycerol levels, decreases serum TG levels, and attenuates hepatic TG accumulation. Overexpression of GK in hepatocytes in mice or in culture produces opposite results. Mechanistic studies reveal that GK stimulates SREBP-1c transcription directly by binding to its gene promoter and indirectly by binding to SREBP-1c protein, thereby increasing lipogenic gene expression and de novo lipogenesis. Studies with truncated GK and mutant GKs indicate that GK induces SREBP-1c transcription independently of its enzyme activity. GK contributes to lipid homeostasis under physiological conditions by catalyzing glycerol metabolism rather than by regulating SREBP-1c transcription. Collectively, these results demonstrate that increased hepatic GK promotes de novo lipogenesis and TG synthesis in NAFL by stimulating SREBP-1c transcription and DGAT1/2 expression and catalyzing glycerol metabolism.

Shift work promotes adipogenesis via cortisol-dependent downregulation of EGR3-HDAC6 pathway

The disruption of circadian rhythms caused by long-term shift work can cause metabolic diseases such as obesity. Early growth response 3 (EGR3) is a member of early growth response (EGR) family, which is involved in several cellular responses, had been reported as a circadian rhythm gene in suprachiasmatic nucleus. In this research, EGR3 was found to be widely expressed in the different tissue of human and mice, and downregulated in adipose tissue of obese subjects and high-fat diet mice. Moreover, EGR3 was found negatively regulated by cortisol. In addition, EGR3 is a key negative modulator of hADSCs and 3T3-L1 adipogenesis via regulating HDAC6, which is a downstream target gene of EGR3 and a negative regulator of adipogenesis and lipogenesis. These findings may explain how circadian rhythm disorder induced by shift works can cause obesity. Our study revealed a potential therapeutic target to alleviate metabolic disorders in shift workers and may provide better health guidance to shift workers.

Identification of endoplasmic reticulum stress-related biomarkers of diabetes nephropathy based on bioinformatics and machine learning

Backgrounds

Diabetes nephropathy (DN) is a growing public health concern worldwide. Renal dysfunction impairment in DN is intimately linked to ER stress and its related signaling pathways. Nonetheless, the underlying mechanism and biomarkers for this function of ER stress in the DN remain unknown.

Methods

Microarray datasets were retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and ER stress-related genes (ERSRGs) were downloaded from the MSigDB and GeneCards database. We identified hub ERSRGs for DN progression by intersecting ERSRGs with differentially expressed genes and significant genes in WGCNA, followed by a functional analysis. After analyzing hub ERSRGs with three machine learning techniques and taking the intersection, we did external validation as well as developed a DN diagnostic model based on the characteristic genes. Immune infiltration was performed using CIBERSORT. Moreover, patients with DN were then categorized using a consensus clustering approach. Eventually, the candidate ERSRGs-specific small-molecule compounds were defined by CMap.

Results

Several biological pathways driving pathological injury of DN and disordered levels of immune infiltration were revealed in the DN microarray datasets and strongly related to deregulated ERSRGs by bioinformatics multi-chip integration. Moreover, CDKN1B, EGR1, FKBP5, GDF15, and MARCKS were identified as ER stress signature genes associated with DN by machine learning algorithms, demonstrating their potential as DN biomarkers.

Conclusions

Our research sheds fresh light on the function of ER stress in DN pathophysiology and the development of early diagnostic and ER stress-related treatment targets in patients with DN.

FOCAD/miR-491-5p, downregulated by EGR1, function as tumor suppressor by inhibiting the proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cells

Gastric cancer is a common malignant tumor in China; however, its carcinogenesis remains unknown. Focadhesin (FOCAD) is a tumor suppressor gene in gliomas, its expression, role, and mechanism in gastric cancer have not been defined. The aim of the present study was to explore the expression pattern of FOCAD in human normal tissues and cancer tissues and elucidate the role and regulatory mechanism of Early Growth Response 1 (EGR1) in FOCAD and its intron, miR-491-5p, in gastric cancer. Immuno histochemical staining revealed that FOCAD is widely and highly expressed in normal gastric mucosa, but is absent in gastric cancer tissue. Based on an association analysis FOCAD expression was found to be negatively associated with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.004); higher FOCAD levels were associated with longer survival in patients with gastric cancer (P = 0.001). MTT, colony, Transwell chamber, and flow cytometry assays revealed that siFOCAD promoted cell proliferation, growth, and migration, and inhibited apoptosis. Furthermore, bioinformatic analysis, Fluorescence reporter gene and chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses confirmed that EGR1 binds to the promoter and negatively regulates FOCAD and miR-491-5p at the transcriptional level. The overexpression of EGR1 was also found to promote cell proliferation, growth, and migration, and inhibit apoptosis. Overall, FOCAD is specifically overexpressed in the gastric mucosa and is significantly downregulated in gastric cancer. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that FOCAD is a tumor suppressor, higher FOCAD levels might be a better prognostic marker of gastric cancer, and FOCAD/miR-491-5p may be negatively regulated by EGR1.

Obesity-Induced miR-455 Upregulation Promotes Adaptive Pancreatic β-Cell Proliferation Through the CPEB1/CDKN1B Pathway

Pancreatic β-cells adapt to compensate for increased metabolic demand during obesity. Although the miRNA pathway has an essential role in β-cell expansion, whether it is involved in adaptive proliferation is largely unknown. First, we report that EGR2 binding to the miR-455 promoter induced miR-455 upregulation in the pancreatic islets of obesity mouse models. Then, in vitro gain- or loss-of-function studies showed that miR-455 overexpression facilitated β-cell proliferation. Knockdown of miR-455 in ob/ob mice via pancreatic intraductal infusion prevented compensatory β-cell expansion. Mechanistically, our results revealed that increased miR-455 expression inhibits the expression of its target cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein 1 (CPEB1), an mRNA binding protein that plays an important role in regulating insulin resistance and cell proliferation. Decreased CPEB1 expression inhibits elongation of the poly(A) tail and the subsequent translation of Cdkn1b mRNA, reducing the CDKN1B expression level and finally promoting β-cell proliferation. Taken together, our results show that the miR-455/CPEB1/CDKN1B pathway contributes to adaptive proliferation of β-cells to meet metabolic demand during obesity.

Transcriptional mechanisms of pancreatic β-cell maturation and functional adaptation

Pancreatic β-cells secrete insulin commensurate to circulating nutrient levels to maintain normoglycemia. The ability of β-cells to couple insulin secretion to nutrient stimuli is acquired during a postnatal maturation process. In mature β-cells the insulin secretory response adapts to changes in nutrient state. Both β-cell maturation and functional adaptation rely on the interplay between extracellular cues and cell type-specific transcriptional programs. Here we review emerging evidence that developmental and homeostatic regulation of β-cell function involves collaboration between lineage-determining and signal-dependent transcription factors (LDTFs and SDTFs, respectively). A deeper understanding of β-cell SDTFs and their cognate signals would delineate mechanisms of β-cell maturation and functional adaptation, which has direct implications for diabetes therapies and for generating mature β-cells from stem cells.

Temporal metabolic and transcriptomic characteristics crossing islets and liver reveal dynamic pathophysiology in diet-induced diabetes

To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying islet dysfunction and insulin resistance in diet-induced diabetes, we conducted temporal RNA sequencing of tissues responsible for insulin secretion (islets) and action (liver) every 4 weeks in mice on high-fat (HFD) or chow diet for 24 weeks, linking to longitudinal profile of metabolic characteristics. The diverse responses of α, β, and δ cells to glucose and palmitate indicated HFD-induced dynamic deterioration of islet function from dysregulation to failure. Insulin resistance developed with variable time course in different tissues. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis implicated islets and liver jointly programmed β-cell compensatory adaption via cell proliferation at early phase and irreversible islet dysfunction by inappropriate immune response at later stage, and identified interconnected molecules including growth differentiation factor 15. Frequencies of T cell subpopulation showed an early decrement in Tregs followed by increases in Th1 and Th17 cells during progression to diabetes.

EGR-1 plays a protective role in AMPK inhibitor compound C-induced apoptosis through ROS-induced ERK activation in skin cancer cells

Skin cancer is caused by abnormal proliferation, gene regulation and mutation of epidermis cells. Compound C is commonly used as an inhibitor of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which serves as an energy sensor in cells. Recently, compound C has been reported to induce apoptotic and autophagic death in various skin cancer cell lines via an AMPK-independent pathway. However, the signaling pathways activated in compound C-treated cancer cells remain unclear. The present oligodeoxynucleotide-based microarray screening assay showed that the mRNA expression of the zinc-finger transcription factor early growth response-1 (EGR-1), which helps regulate cell cycle progression and cell survival, was significantly upregulated in compound C-treated skin cancer cells. Compound C was demonstrated to induce EGR-1 mRNA and protein expression in a time and dose-dependent manner. Confocal imaging showed that compound C-induced EGR-1 protein expression was localized in the nucleus. Compound C was demonstrated to activate extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation. Inhibition of this compound C-induced ERK phosphorylation downregulated the mRNA and protein expression of EGR-1. In addition, removal of compound C-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) not only decreased ERK phosphorylation, but also inhibited compound C-induced EGR-1 expression. A functional assay showed that knock down of EGR-1 expression in cancer cells decreased the survival rate while also increasing caspase-3 activity and apoptotic marker expression after compound C treatment. However, no difference in autophagy marker light chain 3-II protein expression was observed between compound C-treated control cells and EGR-1-knockdown cells. Thus, it was concluded that that EGR-1 may antagonize compound C-induced apoptosis but not compound C-induced autophagy through the ROS-mediated ERK activation pathway.

Effect of genistein on the gene and protein expressions of CXCL-12 and EGR-1 in the rat ovary

The effect of genistein (GEN) on the gene expression level of stromal cell-derived factor-1/CXCL-12 and early growth response gene-1 was studied in ovarian tissue of young and initially ageing (early stages in the ageing process) female rats. Forty, young female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats of 2-3 months old (200 ±20 g) and forty, initially ageing female SD rats of 10-12 months (490 ± 20 g) old were selected. According to the weight, rats were divided into control group, low-dose group (L), medium-dose group (M) and a high-dose group (H) and were given 15, 30 and 60 mg/kg GEN respectively. The positive control (Oestrogen) group was given 0.5 mg/kg diethylstilbestrol. The treatment lasted for 30 days. The mRNA expression of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL-12) and early growth response factor-1 (EGR-1) was measured by real-time PCR, and protein expression of EGR-1 was detected by Western blot. When compared to the negative control group (NC), the ovary/body weight ratio in the young rats decreased in the GEN group, but the difference was not significant. Similarly, compared with NC, the ovary/body weight ratio in the initially ageing rats also decreased with the increase in GEN concentration, but the decrease was significant in M and H groups (p < .01). The administration of GEN enhanced both the gene and protein expression levels of CXCL-12 and EGR-1 in the ovary. Pearson's correlation analysis showed a synergistic effect between CXCL-12 and EGR-1. Thus, we conclude that the effect of GEN on CXCL-12 and EGR-1 in the initially ageing group was obvious than that in the younger group.

Loss of EGR-1 uncouples compensatory responses of pancreatic β cells

Rationale: Subjects unable to sustain β-cell compensation develop type 2 diabetes. Early growth response-1 protein (EGR-1), implicated in the regulation of cell differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis, is induced by diverse metabolic challenges, such as glucose or other nutrients. Therefore, we hypothesized that deficiency of EGR-1 might influence β-cell compensation in response to metabolic overload.

Methods: Mice deficient in EGR-1 (Egr1^-/-) were used to investigate the in vivo roles of EGR-1 in regulation of glucose homeostasis and beta-cell compensatory responses.

Results: In response to a high-fat diet, Egr1^-/- mice failed to secrete sufficient insulin to clear glucose, which was associated with lower insulin content and attenuated hypertrophic response of islets. High-fat feeding caused a dramatic impairment in glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and downregulated the expression of genes encoding glucose sensing proteins. The cells co-expressing both insulin and glucagon were dramatically upregulated in islets of high-fat-fed Egr1^-/- mice. EGR-1-deficient islets failed to maintain the transcriptional network for β-cell compensatory response. In human pancreatic tissues, EGR1 expression correlated with the expression of β-cell compensatory genes in the non-diabetic group, but not in the diabetic group.

Conclusion: These results suggest that EGR-1 couples the transcriptional network to compensation for the loss of β-cell function and identity. Thus, our study highlights the early stress coupler EGR-1 as a critical factor in the development of pancreatic islet failure.

Glucose stimulates microRNA-199 expression in murine pancreatic β-cells

MicroRNA 199 (miR-199) negatively impacts pancreatic β-cell function and its expression is highly increased in islets from diabetic mice as well as in plasma of diabetic patients. Here we investigated how miR-199 expression is regulated in β-cells by assessing expression of miR-199 precursors (primiR-199a1, primiR-199a2, and primiR-199b) and mature miR-199 (miR-199-3p and miR-199-5p) and promoter transcriptional activity assays in mouse islets and mouse insulinoma cells (MIN6) under different stimuli. We found that mouse islets equally express miR-199-3p and miR-199-5p. However, the primiRNA expression levels differed; although primiR-199a1 expression was about 30% greater than that of primiR-199a2, primiR-199b is barely detected in islets. We observed a 2-fold increase in primiR-199a1 and primiR-199a2 mRNA levels in mouse islets cultured in 10 mm glucose compared with 5.5 mm glucose. Similar responses to glucose were observed in MIN6 cells. Exposure to 30 mm KCl to induce membrane depolarization and calcium influx increased expression of primiR-199a2 but not of primiR-199a1 in MIN6 cells, indicating that calcium influx was involved. Transcriptional activity studies in MIN6 cells also revealed that primiR-199a2 promoter activity was enhanced by glucose and reduced by 2-deoxy-D-glucose-induced starvation. KCl and the potassium channel blocker tolbutamide also stimulated primiR-199a2 promoter activity. Calcium channel blockade by nifedipine reduced primiR-199a2 promoter activity in MIN6 cells, and diazoxide-mediated calcium influx inhibition blunted glucose up-regulation of miR-199-3p in islets. In conclusion, we uncover that glucose acutely up-regulates miR-199 family expression in β-cells. Glucose metabolism and calcium influx are involved in primiR-199a2 expression but not primiR-199a1 expression.

Egr-1 transactivates WNT5A gene expression to inhibit glucose-induced β-cell proliferation

Selective β-cell loss is a characteristic of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Inhibition of glucose-stimulated β-cell proliferation is one of the in vivo results of the lipotoxicity of saturated fatty acids (SFAs). However, the mechanism by which lipotoxicity inhibits β-cell proliferation is still unclear. In this study, we found palmitate, a saturated fatty acid, inhibited the β-cell proliferation induced by high glucose through the induction of Wnt5a expression in vitro and in vivo. We also found that Wnt5a was both sufficient and necessary for inhibition of β-cell proliferation. Additionally, Egr-1, but not NF-κB, FOXO1, Smad2, Smad3, SP1 or SP3 mediated the expression of Wnt5a. Deletion and site-directed mutagenesis of the WNT5A promoter revealed that activation of WNT5A gene transcription depends primarily on a putative Egr-binding sequence between nucleotides -52 to -44, upstream of the transcription start site. Furthermore, Egr-1 bound directly to this sequence in response to palmitate treatment, both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, after mice islets were treated with Egr inhibitors, the expression of Wnt5a decreased significantly and the glucose-induced β-cell proliferation inhibited by palmitate was resumed. These findings establish Wnt5a as an Egr-1 target gene in β-cells, uncovering a novel Egr-1/Wnt5a pathway by which saturated free fatty acids block glucose-induced β-cell proliferation. Our study lends support for the potential of Egr-1 inhibitors or Wnt5a antibodies as therapeutics for the treatment of T2DM.

Palmitic acid stimulates interleukin-8 via the TLR4/NF-κB/ROS pathway and induces mitochondrial dysfunction in bovine oviduct epithelial cells

PROBLEM

We investigated the effect of palmitic acid (PA), a major saturated fatty acid in NEFA, on bovine oviduct epithelial cells (OECs) during in vitro cell culture.

METHOD OF STUDY

Bovine oviductal tissues ipsilateral to the corpus luteum were collected 1-3 days after ovulation; the OECs were isolated and cultured.

RESULTS

PA increased lipid accumulation and activated caspase-3 in OECs, resulting in decreased cell proliferation. PA also stimulated the secretion of inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-8 depending on TLR4, NF-κB activation, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Moreover, PA induced mitochondrial dysfunction, including mitochondrial fission, ATP production, and mitochondrial ROS production. It also increased levels of LC3 and p62 proteins, suggesting autophagy induction in OECs.

CONCLUSION

We suggest that bovine OECs recognize an excessive increase in endogenous and sterile danger signals, such as PA, which may contribute to chronic oviductal inflammation, resulting in infertility associated with oviductal dysfunction.

Egr-1 regulates irradiation-induced autophagy through Atg4B to promote radioresistance in hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Although hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is usually response to radiation therapy, radioresistance is still the major obstacle that limits the efficacy of radiotherapy for HCC patients. Therefore, further investigation of underlying mechanisms in radioresistant HCC cells is warranted. In this study, we determined the effect of early growth response factor (Egr-1) on irradiation-induced autophagy and radioresistance in HCC cell lines SMMC-7721 and HepG2. We showed that autophagy-related gene 4B (Atg4B) is induced by Egr-1 upon ionizing radiation (IR) in HCC cells. Luciferase reporter assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) revealed that Egr-1 binds to the Atg4B promoter to upregulate its expression in HCC cells. Suppression of Egr-1 function by dominant-negative Egr-1 dampens IR-induced autophagy, cell migration, and increases cell sensitivity to radiotherapy. Together, these results suggest that Egr-1 contributes to HCC radioresistance through directly upregulating target gene Atg4B, which may serve as a protective mechanism by preferential activation of the autophagy.

Clair DK, Rangnekar VM, Bondada S. Radiation Induced Apoptosis of Murine Bone Marrow Cells Is Independent of Early Growth Response 1 (EGR1)

An understanding of how each individual 5q chromosome critical deleted region (CDR) gene contributes to malignant transformation would foster the development of much needed targeted therapies for the treatment of therapy related myeloid neoplasms (t-MNs). Early Growth Response 1 (EGR1) is a key transcriptional regulator of myeloid differentiation located within the 5q chromosome CDR that has been shown to regulate HSC (hematopoietic stem cell) quiescence as well as the master regulator of apoptosis—p53. Since resistance to apoptosis is a hallmark of malignant transformation, we investigated the role of EGR1 in apoptosis of bone marrow cells; a cell population from which myeloid malignancies arise. We evaluated radiation induced apoptosis of Egr1^+/+ and Egr1^-/- bone marrow cells in vitro and in vivo. EGR1 is not required for radiation induced apoptosis of murine bone marrow cells. Neither p53 mRNA (messenger RNA) nor protein expression is regulated by EGR1 in these cells. Radiation induced apoptosis of bone marrow cells by double strand DNA breaks induced p53 activation. These results suggest EGR1 dependent signaling mechanisms do not contribute to aberrant apoptosis of malignant cells in myeloid malignancies.

Palmitic acid induces interleukin-1β secretion via NLRP3 inflammasomes and inflammatory responses through ROS production in human placental cells

Maternal obesity, a major risk factor for adverse pregnancy complications, results in inflammatory cytokine release in the placenta. Levels of free fatty acids are elevated in the plasma of obese human. These fatty acids include obesity-related palmitic acids, which is a major saturated fatty acid, that promotes inflammatory responses. Increasing evidence indicates that nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasomes mediate inflammatory responses induced by endogenous danger signals. We hypothesized that inflammatory responses associated with gestational obesity cause inflammation. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the effect of palmitic acid on the activation of NLRP3 inflammasomes and inflammatory responses in a human Sw.71 trophoblast cell line. Palmitic acid stimulated caspase-1 activation and markedly increased interleukin (IL)-1β secretion in Sw.71 cells. Treatment with a caspase-1 inhibitor diminished palmitic acid-induced IL-1β release. In addition, NLRP3 and caspase-1 genome editing using a CRISPR/Cas9 system in Sw.71 cells suppressed IL-1β secretion, which was stimulated by palmitic acid. Moreover, palmitic acid stimulated caspase-3 activation and inflammatory cytokine secretion (e.g., IL-6 and IL-8). Palmitic acid-induced cytokine secretion were dependent on caspase-3 activation. In addition, palmitic acid-induced IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 secretion was depended on reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. In conclusion, palmitic acid caused activation of NLRP3 inflammasomes and inflammatory responses, inducing IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 secretion, which is associated with ROS generation, in human Sw.71 placental cells. We suggest that obesity-related palmitic acid induces placental inflammation, resulting in association with pregnancy complications.

Overexpression of miR-223 Tips the Balance of Pro- and Anti-hypertrophic Signaling Cascades toward Physiologic Cardiac Hypertrophy

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been extensively examined in pathological cardiac hypertrophy. However, few studies focused on profiling the miRNA alterations in physiological hypertrophic hearts. In this study we generated a transgenic mouse model with cardiac-specific overexpression of miR-223. Our results showed that elevation of miR-223 caused physiological cardiac hypertrophy with enhanced cardiac function but no fibrosis. Using the next generation RNA sequencing, we observed that most of dys-regulated genes (e.g. Atf3/5, Egr1/3, Sfrp2, Itgb1, Ndrg4, Akip1, Postn, Rxfp1, and Egln3) in miR-223-transgenic hearts were associated with cell growth, but they were not directly targeted by miR-223. Interestingly, these dys-regulated genes are known to regulate the Akt signaling pathway. We further identified that miR-223 directly interacted with 3'-UTRs of FBXW7 and Acvr2a, two negative regulators of the Akt signaling. However, we also validated that miR-223 directly inhibited the expression of IGF-1R and β1-integrin, two positive regulators of the Akt signaling. Lastly, Western blotting did reveal that Akt was activated in miR-223-overexpressing hearts. Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of miR-223 in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes induced cell hypertrophy, which was blocked by the addition of MK2206, a specific inhibitor of Akt Taken together, these data represent the first piece of work showing that miR-223 tips the balance of promotion and inactivation of Akt signaling cascades toward activation of Akt, a key regulator of physiological cardiac hypertrophy. Thus, our study suggests that the ultimate phenotype outcome of a miRNA may be decided by the secondary net effects of the whole target network rather than by several primary direct targets in an organ/tissue.

The progress of early growth response factor 1 and leukemia

Early growth response gene-1 (EGR1) widely exists in the cell nucleus of such as, zebrafish, mice, chimpanzees and humans, an it also can be observed in the cytoplasm of some tumors. EGR1 was named just after its brief and rapid expression of different stimuli. Accumulating studies have extensively demonstrated that the widespread dysregulation of EGR1 is involved in hematological malignancies such as human acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chronic myelogenous leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma, and B cell lymphoma. With the deep research on EGR1, its expression, function and regulatory mechanism has been gradually elucidated, and provides more possibilities for treatment strategies of patients with leukemia. Herein, we summarize the roles of EGR1 in its biological function and relationship with leukemia.