Pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor reduces multi-organ injury caused by gut ischemia/reperfusion in mice

TRAUMA AND THE ENTEROCYTE: DISTURBANCE OF COMMUNICATION AND DELINEATION

ABSTRACT

The enterocyte as major building stone of the intestinal barrier plays a central role in maintaining cellular homeostasis and mediating host-environment interactions. Trauma, whether direct or remote, disrupts enterocyte function through complex mechanisms including impaired oxygen delivery, disturbed intercellular communication, and compromised nutrient uptake and metabolite clearance. These changes may lead to barrier dysfunction and altered repair mechanisms, facilitating systemic inflammation and remote organ injury. The failure of communication pathways-both within enterocytes and across epithelial networks-undermines coordinated responses to injury. Understanding these multifaceted perturbations reveals the enterocyte not merely as a passive victim but as an active participant in trauma-induced pathology. Emerging therapeutic strategies focus on enhancing mucosal repair via sealing agents, promoting epithelial proliferation, and restoring metabolic and signaling homeostasis. This review delineates the dynamic response of the enterocyte to trauma, highlighting opportunities for targeted interventions aimed at restoring intestinal integrity and function.

Esculetin Alleviates Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis in Intestinal Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury via Targeting SIRT3/AMPK/mTOR Signaling and Regulating Autophagy

Aim

Intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is a challenging pathological phenomenon accountable for significant mortality in clinical scenarios. Substantial evidence has supported the protective role of esculetin in myocardial I/R injury. This study is designed to reveal the specific impacts of esculetin on intestinal I/R injury and disclose the underlying mechanism.

Methods

First, intestinal I/R injury model and intestinal epithelial cell line hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) model were established. Pathologic damages to intestinal tissues were observed through H&E staining. Serum diamine oxidase (DAO) levels were examined. RT-qPCR and Western blot examined the expression of inflammatory mediators. Commercial kits were used for detecting the levels of oxidative stress markers. TUNEL assay and caspase 3 activity assay measured cell apoptosis. Immunofluorescence (IF) staining measured autophagy levels. Western blot analyzed the expression of apoptosis-, Sirtuin 3 (SIRT3)/AMP activated protein kinase (AMPK)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling- and autophagy-related proteins. Molecular docking verified the interaction of esculetin with SIRT3. Cell viability was explored via CCK-8 assay.

Results

The experimental results revealed that esculetin treatment mitigated pathological damage of intestinal tissues, reduced serum DAO level, ameliorated inflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis and promoted autophagy in intestinal I/R rats. Moreover, esculetin bond to SIRT3 and activated SIRT3/AMPK/mTOR signaling both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, esculetin treatment enhanced cell viability and SIRT3 silencing reversed the impacts of esculetin on autophagy, inflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis in H/R cell model.

Conclusion

In a word, esculetin activated SIRT3/AMPK/mTOR signaling and autophagy to protect against inflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis in intestinal I/R injury.

Culture media from hypoxia conditioned mast cells aggravates hypoxia and reoxygenation injury of human intestinal cells

Intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (II/R) injury is a common clinical and pathological change; however, its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Previous studies have shown that the inflammatory response induced by mast cell degranulation may be involved in the mechanism underlying II/R injury in rats. In this study, we established a human intestinal epithelial adenocarcinoma cell (Caco-2) hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) model and transwell system to investigate the effects of culture media (CM) from hypoxia conditioned human mast cell (HMC-1) and HMC-1 H/R on hypoxia/reoxygenation injury in Caco-2 under H/R conditions. Moreover, we assessed the barrier function of Caco-2 by measuring the 4-kDa fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran (FD4) flux and the tight junction protein expression. The results concluded that Caco-2 exposed to H/R insult showed an increase in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, cell apoptosis index, cell permeability, Bax expression, phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK) and p38, and a decrease in cell viability and expression of Bcl-2, ZO1, and occludin (all P < 0.05). Notably, preincubating Caco-2 with HMC-1CM resulted in an increase in cell injury (increased LDH levels and cell permeability, decreased cell viability), apoptosis index, p-JNK, and p-38 expression and a decrease in ZO1 and occludin expression by co-culture system (all P < 0.05). In conclusion, our results show that HMC-1 hypoxic and reoxygenated CM aggravates hypoxic and reoxygenated injury in Caco-2 by increasing the phosphorylation of JNK and p38 in vitro.

Protective effects of curcumin on ischemia/reperfusion injury

Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is a term used to describe phenomena connected to the dysfunction of various tissue damage due to reperfusion after ischemic injury. While I/R may result in systemic inflammatory response syndrome or multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, there is still a long way to improve therapeutic outcomes. A number of cellular metabolic and ultrastructural alterations occur by prolonged ischemia. Ischemia increases the expression of proinflammatory gene products and bioactive substances within the endothelium, such as cytokines, leukocytes, and adhesion molecules, even as suppressing the expression of other "protective" gene products and substances, such as thrombomodulin and constitutive nitric oxide synthase (e.g., prostacyclin, nitric oxide [NO]). Curcumin is the primary phenolic pigment derived from turmeric, the powdered rhizome of Curcuma longa. Numerous studies have shown that curcumin has strong antiinflammatory and antioxidant characteristics. It also prevents lipid peroxidation and scavenges free radicals like superoxide anion, singlet oxygen, NO, and hydroxyl. In our study, we highlight the mechanisms of protective effects of curcumin against I/R injury in various organs.

Serine protease inhibitor Kazal type 1 (SPINK1) promotes proliferation, migration, invasion and radiation resistance in rectal cancer patients receiving concurrent chemoradiotherapy: a potential target for precision medicine

Serine peptidase inhibitor Kazal type-1 (SPINK1), a trypsin kinase inhibitor, is known to be associated with inflammation and pathogenesis. The aim in this study was to demonstrate the clinicopathological role and progression of SPINK1 in rectal cancer (RC) patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). Immunohistochemical staining for SPINK1 protein expression in 111 RC cases revealed high SPINK1 expression was significantly associated with perineural invasion and poor CCRT response in pre-CCRT specimens. In addition, multivariable analyses showed that pre-CCRT SPINK1 expression was a significant prognostic marker of both overall and disease-free survival in RC patients receiving pre-operative CCRT; furthermore, in vitro studies demonstrated SPINK1 interacted with EGFR to promote the abilities of proliferation, migration and invasion attenuated by SPINK1 si-RNA via ERK, p38, and JNK pathways. SPINK1 was also found to regulate radio-resistance in CRC cell lines. In conclusion, SPINK1 expression is an independent prognostic marker in patients receiving pre-operative CCRT, and SPINK1 regulates proliferation, migration and invasion via EGFR-downstream ERK, p38 and JNK pathways. The phenotypes of radiosensitivity that could be reversed with attenuation of SPINK1 levels suggest that targeting SPINK1 might offer a strategy for optimal precision medicine.

The Protective Effect of miR-27-3p on Ischemia-Reperfusion-Induced Myocardial Injury Depends on HIF-1α and Galectin-3

Cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury usually results in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). MiRNAs have been identified as key regulators of AMI. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of miR-27-3p on cardiomyocyte injury in AMI. CCK-8 and flow cytometry assays were used to evaluate cell viability and apoptosis. The expression levels of miR-27-3p, galectin-3, and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α were measured by qRT-PCR. The relationship among miR-27-3p, galectin-3, and HIF-1α was assessed by bioinformatics analysis and luciferase assay. The effects of miR-27-3p and/or galectin-3 and HIF-1α on the inhibition of cell viability and apoptosis induced by H/R were explored. The expression levels of apoptosis-related proteins were determined by Western blot analysis. The expression levels of miR-27-3p were reduced in both ischemia-reperfusion myocardium and HL-1 cells during hypoxia. Overexpression of miR-27-3p reduced I/R-induced myocardial injury, and HIF-1α can reduce this effect. H/R reduced the expression levels of miR-27-3p in HL-1 cardiomyocytes, and HIF1-α reduced this effect, indicating that HIF1-α could regulate the expression of miR-27-3p, and galectin-3 was a target of miR-27-3p. Finally, overexpression of galectin-3 reduced the protective effect of miR-27-3p on cardiomyocyte injury. The expression levels of HIF1-α were increased, and miR-27-3p was downregulated after AMI. HIF-1α promoted myocardial protection by upregulating miR-27-3p, and downregulation of miR-27-3p promoted myocardium cell injury by targeting galectin-3.