The Golgi complex: An organelle that determines urothelial cell biology in health and disease

Vitamin A-Enriched Diet Increases Urothelial Cell Proliferation by Upregulating Itga3 and Areg After Cyclophosphamide-Induced Injury in Mice

Vitamin A (VitA) is an essential nutrient, affecting many cell functions, such as proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation, all of which are important for the regeneration of various tissues. In this study, we investigated the effects of a VitA-enriched diet on the regeneration of the urothelium of the urinary bladder in mice after cyclophosphamide (CP)-induced injury. Female mice were fed VitA-enriched and normal diet for 1 week before receiving an intraperitoneal injection of CP (150 mg/kg). Urinary bladders were removed 1 and 3 days after CP. On Day 1, RNA sequencing showed that VitA upregulated two Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) signaling pathways: the cell cycle and the PI3K-Akt pathway. This was confirmed by qPCR, which showed significantly increased expression of the Itga3 and Areg genes. In addition, the effect of VitA on the proliferation of urothelial cells was analyzed by immunohistochemistry of Ki-67, which confirmed an increased proliferation rate. No significant effects of the VitA-enriched diet were observed on the expression of apoptosis-related genes and on differentiation-related markers of superficial urothelial cells. Our results suggest that a VitA-enriched diet improves early urothelial regeneration after CP-induced injury by promoting cell proliferation.

Reevaluating Golgi fragmentation and its implications in wound repair

The Golgi Apparatus (GA) is pivotal in vesicle sorting and protein modifications within cells. Traditionally, the GA has been described as a perinuclear organelle consisting of stacked cisternae forming a ribbon-like structure. Changes in the stacked structure or the canonical perinuclear localization of the GA have been referred to as "GA fragmentation", a term widely employed in the literature to describe changes in GA morphology and distribution. However, the precise meaning and function of GA fragmentation remain intricate. This review aims to demystify this enigmatic phenomenon, dissecting the diverse morphological changes observed and their potential contributions to cellular wound repair and regeneration. Through a comprehensive analysis of current research, we hope to pave the way for future advancements in GA research and their important role in physiological and pathological conditions.

Progress and challenges in intravesical drug delivery

INTRODUCTION

Intravesical drug delivery (IDD) has gained recognition as a viable approach for treating bladder-related diseases over the years. However, it comes with its set of challenges, including voiding difficulties and limitations in mucosal and epithelial penetration. These challenges lead to drug dilution and clearance, resulting in poor efficacy. Various strategies for drug delivery have been devised to overcome these issues, all aimed at optimizing drug delivery. Nevertheless, there has been minimal translation to clinical settings.

AREAS COVERED

This review provides a detailed description of IDD, including its history, advantages, and challenges. It also explores the physical barriers encountered in IDD, such as voiding, mucosal penetration, and epithelial penetration, and discusses current strategies for overcoming these challenges. Additionally, it offers a comprehensive roadmap for advancing IDD into clinical trials.

EXPERT OPINION

Physical bladder barriers and limitations of conventional treatments result in unsatisfactory efficacy against bladder diseases. Nevertheless, substantial recent efforts in this field have led to significant progress in overcoming these challenges and have raised important attributes for an optimal IDD system. However, there is still a lack of well-defined steps in the workflow to optimize the IDD system for clinical settings, and further research is required to establish more comprehensive in vitro and in vivo models to expedite clinical translation.

Functional Materials for Subcellular Targeting Strategies in Cancer Therapy: Progress and Prospects

Neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies have made significant progress in cancer treatment. However, tumor adjuvant therapy still faces challenges due to the intrinsic heterogeneity of cancer, genomic instability, and the formation of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Functional materials possess unique biological properties such as long circulation times, tumor-specific targeting, and immunomodulation. The combination of functional materials with natural substances and nanotechnology has led to the development of smart biomaterials with multiple functions, high biocompatibilities, and negligible immunogenicities, which can be used for precise cancer treatment. Recently, subcellular structure-targeting functional materials have received particular attention in various biomedical applications including the diagnosis, sensing, and imaging of tumors and drug delivery. Subcellular organelle-targeting materials can precisely accumulate therapeutic agents in organelles, considerably reduce the threshold dosages of therapeutic agents, and minimize drug-related side effects. This review provides a systematic and comprehensive overview of the research progress in subcellular organelle-targeted cancer therapy based on functional nanomaterials. Moreover, it explains the challenges and prospects of subcellular organelle-targeting functional materials in precision oncology. The review will serve as an excellent cutting-edge guide for researchers in the field of subcellular organelle-targeted cancer therapy.

Mendelian Disorders in an Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome Cohort

Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is a chronic pain disorder causing symptoms of urinary frequency, urgency, and bladder discomfort or pain. Although this condition affects a large population, little is known about its etiology. Genetic analyses of whole exome sequencing are performed on 109 individuals with IC/BPS. One family has a previously reported SIX5 variant (ENST00000317578.6:c.472G>A, p.Ala158Thr), consistent with Branchiootorenal syndrome 2 (BOR2). A likely pathogenic heterozygous variant in ATP2A2 (ENST00000539276.2:c.235G>A, p.Glu79Lys) is identified in two unrelated probands, indicating possible Darier-White disease. Two private heterozygous variants are identified in ATP2C1 (ENST00000393221.4:c.2358A>T, p.Glu786Asp (VUS/Likely Pathogenic) and ENST00000393221.4:c.989C>G, p.Thr330Ser (likely pathogenic)), indicative of Hailey-Hailey Disease. Sequence kernel association test analysis finds an increased burden of rare ATP2C1 variants in the IC/BPS cases versus a control cohort (p = 0.03, OR = 6.76), though does not survive Bonferroni correction. The data suggest that some individuals with IC/BPS may have unrecognized Mendelian syndromes. Comprehensive phenotyping and genotyping aid in understanding the range of diagnoses in the population-based IC/BPS cohort. Conversely, ATP2C1, ATP2A2, and SIX5 may be candidate genes for IC/BPS. Further evaluation with larger numbers is needed. Genetically screening individuals with IC/BPS may help diagnose and treat this painful disorder due to its heterogeneous nature.

Molecular, morphological and functional properties of tunnelling nanotubes between normal and cancer urothelial cells: New insights from the in vitro model mimicking the situation after surgical removal of the urothelial tumor

Tunnelling nanotubes (TNTs) are membranous connections that represent a unique type of intercellular communication in different cell types. They are associated with cell physiology and cancer pathology. The possible existence of tunnelling nanotubes communication between urothelial cancer and normal cells has not yet been elucidated. Therefore, we analyzed TNTs formed by T24 cells (human invasive cancer urothelial cells) and normal porcine urothelial (NPU) cells, which serve as surrogate models for healthy human urothelial cells. Monocultures and cocultures of NPU and T24 cells were established and analyzed using live-cell imaging, optical tweezers, fluorescence microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. TNTs of NPU cells differed significantly from tunnelling nanotubes of T24 cells in number, length, diameter, lipid composition, and elastic properties. Membrane domains enriched in cholesterol/sphingomyelin were present in tunnelling nanotubes of T24 cells but not in NPU cells. The tunnelling nanotubes in T24 cells were also easier to bend than the tunnelling nanotubes in NPU cells. The tunnelling nanotubes of both cell types were predominantly tricytoskeletal, and contained actin filaments, intermediate filaments, and microtubules, as well as the motor proteins myosin Va, dynein, and kinesin 5B. Mitochondria were transported within tunnelling nanotubes in living cells, and were colocalized with microtubules and the microtubule-associated protein dynamin 2. In cocultures, heterocellular tunnelling nanotubes were formed between NPU cells and T24 cells and vice versa. The presence of connexin 43 at the end of urothelial tunnelling nanotubes suggests a junctional connection and the involvement of tunnelling nanotube in signal transduction. In this study, we established a novel urothelial cancer-normal coculture model and showed cells in the minority tend to form tunnelling nanotubes with cells in the majority. The condition with cancer cells in the minority is an attractive model to mimic the situation after surgical resection with remaining cancer cells and may help to understand cancer progression and recurrence. Our results shed light on the biological activity of tunnelling nanotubes and have the potential to advance the search for anticancer drugs that target tunnelling nanotubes.

A Comprehensive Pan-Cancer Analysis of the Tumorigenic Effect of Leucine-Zipper-Like Transcription Regulator (LZTR1) in Human Cancer

The elucidation of the action site, mechanism of Leucine-Zipper-like Transcription Regulator-1 (LZTR1) and its relationship with RAS-MAPK signaling pathway attracts more and more scholars to focus on the researches of LZTR1 and its role in tumorigenesis. However, there was no pan-cancer analysis between LZTR1 and human tumors reported before. Therefore, we are the first to investigate the potential oncogenic roles of LZTR1 across all tumor types based on the datasets of TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) and GEO (Gene Expression Omnibus). LZTR1 plays a double-edged role in tumor development and prognosis. We found that the high expression of LZTR1 brings better outcomes in esophageal carcinoma (ESCA) and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC) but brings worth outcomes in uveal melanoma (UVM), adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC), liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC), and prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD). Moreover, the expression of LZTR1 also strongly associated with pathological in ACC and bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA). We also found that the LZTR1 expression was associated with some immune cell infiltration including endothelial cells, regulatory T cells (Tregs), T cell CD8+, natural killer cells (NK cell), macrophages, neutrophil granulocyte, and cancer-associated fibroblasts in different cancers. Missense mutation in LZTR1 was detected in most cancers from TCGA datasets. Finally, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway and Gene Body (GO) method was used to explain the pathogenesis of LZTR1. Our pan-cancer study provides a relatively comprehensive understanding of the carcinogenic role of LZTR1 in human tumors.