Binzhou Medical College

About: Binzhou Medical College is a education organization based out in Yantai, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Apoptosis & Cancer. The organization has 959 authors who have published 619 publications receiving 7642 citations.

Early VEGF inhibition attenuates blood-brain barrier disruption in ischemic rat brains by regulating the expression of MMPs.

Abstract: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibition has been demonstrated to be an effective strategy in preserving the integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Loss of the BBB is the key event associated with morbidity and mortality in these patients. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In the present study, the effects of VEGF inhibition and the possible mechanism that underlies acute cerebral ischemia in rats was investigated. Following the induction of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion for a 90‑min period, either an anti‑VEGF neutralizing antibody (RB‑222; 5 or 10 µg), or IgG (control), was administered by intracerebroventricular injection at 1 h following reperfusion. Functional outcomes, BBB leakage, brain edema, microvessel numbers and the relative protein levels of VEGF, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, MMP-9, occludin and collagen-IV were then determined using neurological assessments, Evans Blue staining, brain water content, CD31 staining and western blotting. Treatment with RB‑222 at a dose of 5 and 10 µg significantly improved neurological functional outcomes and diminished infarct size, BBB leakage and brain edema compared with the MCAO and IgG groups at 24 h following reperfusion; 10 µg RB‑222 was more effective than a 5 µg dose of the antibody. In addition, RB‑222 reduced the number of immature microvessels, which subsequently attenuated BBB permeability. RB‑222 significantly repressed VEGF expression as well as decreased MMP‑2 and MMP‑9 expression. However, it enhanced occludin and collagen‑IV levels in the ischemic rat brain compared with the MCAO and IgG groups. Taken together, the results indicate that early inhibition of VEGF may have significant potential against cerebral ischemia, partly by regulating the expression of MMPs.

The immune response-related mutational signatures and driver genes in non-small-cell lung cancer.

Abstract: Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy has achieved remarkable clinical benefit in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but our understanding of biomarkers that predict the response to ICB remain obscure. Here we integrated somatic mutational profile and clinicopathologic information from 113 NSCLC patients treated by ICB (CTLA-4/PD-1). High tumor mutation burden (TMB) and neoantigen burden were identified significantly associated with improved efficacy in NSCLC immunotherapy. Furthermore, we identified apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide-like (APOBEC) mutational signature was markedly associated with responding of ICB therapy (log-rank test, P = .001; odds ratio (OR), 0.18 [95% CI, 0.06-0.50], P < .001). The association with progression-free survival remained statistically significant after controlling for age, sex, histological type, smoking, PD-L1 expression, hypermutation, smoking signature and mismatch repair (MMR) (HR, 0.30 [95% CI, 0.12-0.75], P = .010). Combined high TMB with APOBEC signature preferably predict immunotherapy responders in NSCLC cohort. The CIBERSORT algorithm revealed that high APOBEC mutational activity samples were associated with increased infiltration of CD4 memory activated T cells, CD8+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells, but reduced infiltration of regulatory T cells. Besides, individual genes mutation of IFNGR1 or VTCN1 were only found in responders; however, the PTEN mutation was only found in non-responders (Fisher's exact test, all P < .05). These findings may be applicable for guiding immunotherapy for patients with NSCLC.

MicroRNA-486-5p targeting PIM-1 suppresses cell proliferation in breast cancer cells.

Abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as critical regulators in carcinogenesis and tumor progression. Recently, miR-486-5p has been proved to play an important role in several cancers, but its functions in the context of breast cancer (BC) remain unknown. In this study, we found that miR-486-5p expression is significantly downregulated in BC tissues and cell lines. Overexpression of miR-486-5p dramatically suppressed BC cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo, induced G0/G1 arrest, and promoted apoptosis. We subsequently identified the oncogene PIM-1 as a direct target of miR-486-5p in BC. Overexpression of PIM-1 attenuated the function of miR-486-5p in BC cells. Together, we conclude that miR-486-5p exerts its antiproliferative function by directly downregulating PIM-1 expression. This novel miR-486-5p/PIM-1 axis provides insight into the pathogenesis of BC and might be therapeutic targets for prevention or treatment of BC.

Antioxidative and cardioprotective effects of total flavonoids extracted from Dracocephalum moldavica L. against acute ischemia/reperfusion-induced myocardial injury in isolated rat heart.

Abstract: This study evaluates antioxidative and cardioprotective effects of total flavonoids extracted from Dracocephalum moldavica L. (DML). The total flavonoids showed remarkable scavenging effects against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, hydroxyl and superoxide anion radicals in vitro. Compared with the ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) group as demonstrated by the use of improved Langendorff retrograde perfusion technology, the total flavonoids (5 μg/mL) pretreatment improved the heart rate and coronary flow, rised left ventricular developed pressure and decreased creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase levels in coronary flow. The infarct size/ischemic area at risk of DML-treated hearts was smaller than that of I/R group; the superoxide dismutase activity and glutathione/glutathione disulfide ratio increased and malondialdehyde content reduced obviously (P < 0.01) in total flavonoids treatment groups. In conclusion, the total flavonoids possess obvious protective effects on myocardial I/R injury, which may be related to the improvement of myocardial oxidative stress states.

MicroRNA-204 targets JAK2 in breast cancer and induces cell apoptosis through the STAT3/BCl-2/survivin pathway.

Abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as important regulators that potentially play critical roles in cancer cell biological processes. Previous studies have shown that miR-204 plays an important role in various human cancers. However, the underlying mechanisms of this microRNA in breast cancer remain largely unknown. In the present study, we investigated that miR-204 expression level was markedly reduced in both the human breast cancer tissue and cultured breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231). Overexpression of miR-204 inhibited the proliferation and promoted the apoptosis in breast cancer cells, which were reversed by co-transfection of miR-204 inhibitor. We validated that Janus kinase 2 (JAK2), as a direct target of miR-204, is overexpressed in breast cancer. Knockdown of JAK2 suppressed cell viability and induced apoptosis in breast cancer cells. Moreover, the level of miR-204 is negatively correlated with p-STAT3 and anti-apoptotic genes BCl-2 and surviving in breast cancer. In conclusions, miR-204 targets JAK2 and suppressed JAK2 and p-JAK2 expression in breast cancer, which further inhibit the activation of STAT3, BCl-2 and survivin. These findings indicate that manipulation of miR-204 expression may represent a novel therapeutic strategy in the treatment of breast cancer.