scholarly journals Artesunate Restrains Maturation of Dendritic Cells and Ameliorates Heart Transplantation-Induced Acute Rejection in Mice through the PERK/ATF4/CHOP Signaling Pathway

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Yuanyang Chen ◽  
Sihao Zheng ◽  
Zhiwei Wang ◽  
Xin Cai ◽  
Yanjia Che ◽  
...  

Background. Heart transplantation (HT) is the only effective treatment for end-stage heart failure because it can effectively improve the survival rate and quality of life of patients with heart failure. Artesunate (ART) is an artemisinin derivative, with good water solubility and higher oral bioavailability. The main aim of this study was to determine the role of ART in HT mice. Methods. In animal experiments, mice were divided into the control group, HT group, low ART+HT group, and high ART+HT group. Next, inflammatory cell infiltration, oxidative stress injury, and myocardial cell apoptosis were determined in heart tissue. The proportion of multiple lymphocytes in spleen and lymph nodes was then determined using flow cytometry. In addition, cell experiments were conducted to determine the changes in expression of surface maturation markers of BMDC and changes in intracellular reactive oxygen species after LPS stimulation. Finally, western blot analysis was performed to determine the levels of endoplasmic reticulum stress-related proteins (CHOP/ATF4/PERK). Results. The survival time of mice in the ART treatment group was significantly prolonged and was positively correlated with the dose. In animal experiments, ART significantly reduced inflammatory cell infiltration in heart tissue and the proportion of CD4+CD8+ T cells in spleens and lymph nodes. Moreover, ART treatment lowered the 8-OHdg in hearts and myocardial apoptosis. In cell experiments, ART treatment slowed down the development and maturation of BMDCs by inhibiting the expression of endoplasmic reticulum stress-related proteins. Furthermore, the treatment alleviated the oxidative stress damage of BMDCs. Conclusion. ART can inhibit maturation of dendritic cells through the endoplasmic reticulum stress signaling pathway, thereby alleviating acute rejection in mice after heart transplantation.

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 665-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenjiao Shi ◽  
Zhixin Guo ◽  
Ruixia Yuan

Background and Objective: This study investigated whether rapamycin has a protective effect on the testis of diabetic rats by regulating autophagy, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and oxidative stress. Methods: Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups: control, diabetic, and diabetic treated with rapamycin, which received gavage of rapamycin (2mg.kg-1.d-1) after induction of diabetes. Diabetic rats were induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ, 65mg.Kg-1). All rats were sacrificed at the termination after 8 weeks of rapamycin treatment. The testicular pathological changes were determined by hematoxylin and eosin staining. The protein or mRNA expression of autophagy-related proteins (Beclin1, microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3), p62), ER stress marked proteins (CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) homologous protein (CHOP), caspase-12), oxidative stress-related proteins (p22phox, nuclear factor erythroid2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)) and apoptosis-related proteins (Bax, B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2)) were assayed by western blot or real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. Results: There were significant pathological changes in the testes of diabetic rats. The expression of Beclin1, LC3, Nrf2, Bcl-2 were significantly decreased and p62, CHOP, caspase12, p22phox, and Bax were notably increased in the testis of diabetic rats (P <0.05). However, rapamycin treatment for 8 weeks significantly reversed the above changes in the testis of diabetic rats (P <0.05). Conclusion: Rapamycin appears to produce a protective effect on the testes of diabetic rats by inducing the expression of autophagy and inhibiting the expression of ER-stress, oxidative stress, and apoptosis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Tengfei Wu ◽  
Hui Yao ◽  
Binghua Zhang ◽  
Shenglai Zhou ◽  
Ping Hou ◽  
...  

Objectives. We aimed to observe the protective effect of κ opioid receptor (κ-OR) agonist on myocardial injury in heart failure (HF) rats and its effect on Ca2+-SERCA2a and to explore the regulatory mechanism with the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway. Methods. 50 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into the following groups: the sham operation group (sham group), HF model group (HF group), HF+κ-OR agonist U50488 group (HU group), HF+U50488H+novel calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) agonist (oleic acid) (HUO group), and HF+U50488H+Nrf2 inhibitor (HUM group). The HF rat’s model was established through surgical ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery and the exhausting swimming exercise. After that, rat’s cardiac function was monitored by echocardiography. HE and MASSON staining was used to detect the myocardial injury, and TUNEL staining was used to detect the myocardial apoptosis. ELISA was performed to detect the biomarkers of oxidative stress. Moreover, the distribution of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and Nrf2 was detected under immunofluorescence. The expression of sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium (Ca2+) ATPase (SERCA) 2a, calmodulin, endoplasmic reticulum stress- (ERS-) related proteins, and Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway-related proteins were detected by Western Blotting. Results. κ-OR agonist U50488H can significantly enhance rat’s cardiac function, reduce the injury and apoptosis of myocardial cells, and alleviate endoplasmic reticulum stress injury in HF rats via upregulating the SERCA2a expression and inhibiting the Ca2+ influx. Furthermore, U50488H could also inhibit the phosphorylation of CaMKII and cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB). Additionally, administration of CaMKII-specific agonist could partially block the therapeutic effect of κ-OR agonist on the myocardium of HF rats. Interestingly, the antagonist of Nrf2 could also significantly reverse the therapeutic effect of κ-OR agonist. Therefore, these results suggested that the effect of U50488H on HF rats is dependent on regulating CaMKII phosphorylation and activating the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway. Conclusion. κ-OR agonists U50488H can improve ERS in cardiomyocytes and relieve myocardial injury in HF rats through activating the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway and regulating Ca2+-SERCA2a to inhibit Ca2+ influx.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 85-86
Author(s):  
William Kurban ◽  
Salma Makhoul Ahwach ◽  
Melanie Thomas ◽  
Luisa Onsteed-Haas ◽  
Michael Haas

Author(s):  
Mohamed Omar Taqi ◽  
Mohammed Saeed-Zidane ◽  
Samuel Gebremedhn ◽  
Dessie Salilew-Wondim ◽  
Ernst Tholen ◽  
...  

AbstractTranscription factors (TFs) are known to be involved in regulating the expression of several classes of genes during folliculogenesis. However, the regulatory role of TFs during oxidative stress (OS) is not fully understood. The current study was aimed to investigate the regulation of the TFs in bovine granulosa cells (bGCs) during exposure to OS induced by H2O2 in vitro. For this, bGCs derived from ovarian follicles were cultured in vitro till their confluency and then treated with H2O2 for 40 min. Twenty-four hours later, cells were subjected to various phenotypic and gene expression analyses for genes related to TFs, endoplasmic reticulum stress, apoptosis, cell proliferation, and differentiation markers. The bGCs exhibited higher reactive oxygen species accumulation, DNA fragmentation, and endoplasmic reticulum stress accompanied by reduction of mitochondrial activity after exposure to OS. In addition, higher lipid accumulation and lower cell proliferation were noticed in H2O2-challenged cells. The mRNA level of TFs including NRF2, E2F1, KLF6, KLF9, FOS, SREBF1, SREBF2, and NOTCH1 was increased in H2O2-treated cells compared with non-treated controls. However, the expression level of KLF4 and its downstream gene, CCNB1, were downregulated in the H2O2-challenged group. Moreover, targeted inhibition of NRF2 using small interference RNA resulted in reduced expression of KLF9, FOS, SREBF2, and NOTCH1 genes, while the expression of KLF4 was upregulated. Taken together, bovine granulosa cells exposed to OS exhibited differential expression of various transcription factors, which are mediated by the NRF2 signaling pathway.


Author(s):  
Hajar Oghbaei ◽  
Leila Hosseini ◽  
Fereshteh Farajdokht ◽  
Sepideh Rahigh Aghsan ◽  
Alireza Majdi ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 455-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Elder ◽  
Steven J. Webster ◽  
David L. Williams ◽  
J. S. Hill Gaston ◽  
Jane C. Goodall

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