Objective To investigate the optimal dosage of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells （BMSCs） transplantations for treatment of hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats， and to provide prophase experimental basis for it. Methods BMSCs of Wistar rats were isolated and cultivated by bone marrow adherent culture method. BMSCs of the fourth generation were prepared for cell transplantation. Thrity hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury models of maleWistar rats were successfully established， and then were randomly divided into blank control group， 5×105 group， 1×106group， 2×106 group， and 3×106 group， each group enrolled 6 rats. The 200 μL cell suspension of BMSCs were transfusedinto the portal vein with number of 5×105， 1×106， 2×106， and 3×106 separately in rats of later 4 groups， and rats of blank control group were injected with phosphate buffered saline of equal volume. At 24 hours after cell transplantation， blood samples were collected to test aspartate aminotransferase （AST） and alanine aminotransferase （ALT）， liver tissueswere obtained to test malonaldehyde （MDA）， superoxide dismutase （SOD）， and nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB） p65 protein.Liver tissues were also used to perform HE staining to observe the pathological changes. Results Compared with blank control group， 5×105 group， and 3×106 group， the levels of AST， ALT， and MDA were lower （P＜0.05） while activity levels of SOD were higher （P＜0.05） in 1×106 group and 2×106 group， and expression levels of NF-κB p65 protein were lower with the pathological injury of liver tissue improved， but there were no significant differences on levels of AST， ALT， MDA， and SOD （P＞0.05）， and both of the 2 groups had the similar pathological change. Conclusion The optimal dosage of the BMSCs transplantations after hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury is 1×106.
Objective In this study, we present a living biobank of patient-derived tumoroids from advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and show examples of how these tumoroids can be used to simulate cancer behavior ex vivo and provide more evidence for tumoroids could be utilized as a predictive platform during chemotherapy to identify the chemotherapy response. Methods The tumor tissues of CRC patients were collected to isolate and culture tumoroids, and the histomorphology of tumoroids was evaluated. Further, tumoroids were treated with drugs of different chemotherapy schemes, and the drug sensitivity of tumoroids was evaluated by using CellTiter-GIo 3D cell viability assay, and the clinical efficacy was compared with that of patients. Results The tumoroids were still highly consistent with the original tumor histomorphology after continuous passage. The consistency between the drug sensitivity of tumoroids from different patients and the clinical efficacy of corresponding CRC patients was 91.18% (31/34). The drug inhibition rate of tumoroids was positively correlated with the progression free survival (PFS) of CRC patients (rs=0.412, P=0.016), while the area under the cell activity drug concentration curve of tumoroids was negatively correlated with the PFS of CRC patients (rs=–0.479, P=0.004). Conclusion This study established a biological sample bank of tumoroids for CRC patients, and suggested that tumoroids had the potential to be used as preclinical experimental models and predict the chemotherapy effect of CRC patients.
Objective To explore repair role of allogeneic bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells （BM-MSCs） transplantation on treating hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury （HIRI） in rats. Methods Ten rats were executed to get BM-MSCs， then BM-MSCs were cultured in vitro and dyed by 4，6-diamidino-2-phenylindole （DAPI）. Models of 70% hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury were eatablished. Thirty two rats were randomly divided into sham operation group （Sham group）， ischemia reperfusion group （I/R group）， Vitamin C group （VC group）， and BM-MSCs group. Serum samples were analyzed for ALT and AST， and hepatic tissue were for superoxide dismutase （SOD） and malondialdehyde （MDA）. Liver sections were stain with hematoxylin and eosin （HE） for histological analysis， TUNEL staining was applied to detect hepatic apoptosis. Serum and tissues were both collected at 24 h after reperfusion. Results The isolated BM-MSCs maintained vigorous growth in vitro. Specific markers for MSCs antigens CD29 and CD44 were detected by flow cytometry， but antigens CD34 and CD45 were not be detected. Models of HIRI were stable， and BM-MSCs were detected around the periportal area by DAPI staining. Compared with I/R group， levels of ALT， AST， MDA， and AI in the VC group and BM-MSCs group decreased at 24 h after reperfusion （P＜0.05）， meanwhile SOD level increased （P＜0.05）. Compared with VC group， levels of ALT， AST， MDA， and AI in the BM-MSC group decreased at 24 h after reperfusion （P＜0.05）， meanwhile SOD level increased （P＜0.05）. Conclusion BM-MSCs could protect HIRI by alleviating oxidative stress and inhibiting cellular apoptosis.
Objective To investigate whether miRNA (miR)-34a mediates oxaliplatin (OXA) resistance of colon cancer cells by inhibiting macroautophagy via the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β/Smad4 pathway. Methods miR-34a expression levels were detected in colon cancer tissues and colon cancer cell lines by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Computational search, functional luciferase assay, and Western blotting method were used to demonstrate the downstream target of miR-34a in colon cancer cells. Cell viability was measured with cell counting kit-8. Apoptosis and macroautophagy of colon cancer cells were analyzed by flow cytometry and transmission electron microscopy, and expressions of Beclin1 and LC3Ⅱ protein were detected by Western blotting method. Results Expression of miR-34a was significantly reduced while expressions of TGF-β and Smad4 mRNA were increased in colon cancer patients treated with OXA-based chemotherapy. OXA treatment also resulted in decreased miR-34a expression levels and increased TGF-β and Smad4 expression levels in both parental cells and the OXA-resistant colon cancer cells. Activation of macroautophagy contributed to OXA resistance in colon cancer cells. Expression levels of Smad4 and miR-34a in colon cancer patients had a significant inverse correlation and overexpressing miR-34a inhibited macroautophagy activation by directly targeting Smad4 through the TGF-β/Smad4 pathway. OXA-induced downregulation of miR-34a and increased drug resistance by activating macroautophagy in colon cancer cells. Conclusion miR-34a mediates OXA resistance of colon cancer by inhibiting autophagy via the TGF-β/Smad4 pathway.
Objective To explore the influence and mechanism of mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase (mTOR)/ receptor of advanced glycation end products (RAGE) pathway mediated-ferritinophagy on high glucose consumption promoting invasion and migration of colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods① Patients and tissue samples. Clinical data and tissues were collected from CRC patients underwent surgery and completed the dietary questionnaire in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University between October 2022 and October 2023. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to analyzed the expression of nuclear receptor coactivator 4 (NCOA4) and ferritin in CRC and para-carcinoma tissues.② Cell culture and treatment. The HT29 and HCT116 cells were treated by RPMI1640 medium containing 0, 35, 70, 105, 140 mmol/L glucose, and cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity analysis were performed to confirm 105 mmol/L glucose was the optimal concentration in the current study. Then the HT29 and HCT116 cells were randomly divided into: control group, glucose group; control group, glucose group, si-RAGE group, and glucose+si-RAGE group; control group, glucose group, rapamycin group, and glucose+rapamycin group. Untreated HT29 and HCT116 cells were considered as control group. The cells in glucose group were treated with 105 mmol/L glucose for 48 h. The CRC cells in si-RAGE group were transfected with si-RAGE for 6 h. The CRC cells in rapamycin group were treated with 10 nmol/L rapamycin for 48 h. The CRC cells in glucose+si-RAGE group were treated with 105 mmol/L glucose for 48 h combination transfected with si-RAGE for 6 h. The CRC cells in glucose+rapamycin group were treated with 105 mmol/L glucose for 48 h combination treated with 10 nmol/L rapamycin for 48 h. Then electron microscopy and western blot, wound healing assay and transwell assay were exhibited, respectively.③ Azoxymethane (AOM)-induced CRC rat model. The effects of glucose consumption on malignant behavior and ferritinophagy mediated by mTOR/RAGE pathway were evaluated in AOM-induced CRC rat models. A total of 16 rats were randomly divided into control group and glucose group, the colorectal tumor number was record and HE staining of colorectal tumor tissues was further performed. The expression of RAGE, mTOR, NCOA4, and ferritin in colorectal tissues of rats from each group was detected by qRT-PCR. Results① More lymphatic node metastasis and TNM Ⅲ/Ⅳ stages was observed in CRC patients from high glucose consumption group (P=0.004, P=0.004). Moreover, we confirmed that NCOA4 expression was significantly decreased (P<0.001) while ferritin was significantly increased (P<0.001) in CRC tissues especially in the CRC tissues from patients with positive lymph nodes metastasis. Additionally, high glucose consumption of CRC patients was negatively correlated with ferritinophagy flux. ② High glucose treatment significantly decreased autophagosomes in HT29 and HCT116 cells while si-RAGE transfection increased autophagic vacuoles compared to the control group. When compared with the glucose group, autophagosomes were increased in the glucose+si-RAGE group. Moreover, compared to the control group, the expression of RAGE, p-mTOR, and ferritin was increased (P<0.001) while the expression of NCOA4 was decreased (P<0.001) in glucose group, but the expression of RAGE, p-mTOR and ferritin was decreased (P<0.001) while the expression of NCOA4 was increased (P<0.001) in si-RAGE group; when compared with the glucose group, the expression of RAGE, p-mTOR and ferritin was downregulated (P<0.001) while the expression of NCOA4 was upregulated (P<0.001) in HT29 and HCT116 cells from the glucose+siRAGE group. Compared to the control group, the HT29 and HCT116 cells in the glucose group performed enhanced wound scratch healing and migration, invasion viability (P<0.05); but the HT29 and HCT116 cells in the si-RAGE group performed impaired wound scratch healing and migration, invasion viability (P<0.05). When compared with the glucose group, the HT29 and HCT116 cells in the glucose+si-RAGE group performed impaired wound scratch healing and migration, invasion viability (P<0.05).③ Rapamycin treatment significantly inhibited the expression of RAGE, p-mTOR and ferritin (P<0.05) but induced the expression of NCOA4 (P<0.05) compared to the control group. When compared with the glucose group, the expression of RAGE, p-mTOR and ferritin was downregulated (P<0.05) while the expression of NCOA4 was upregulated (P<0.05) in HT29 and HCT116 cells from the glucose+rapamycin group. Additionally, compared to the control group, rapamycin treatment performed inhibited effect on wound scratch healing and migration, invasion viability in the HT29 and HCT116 cells (P<0.05); while the HT29 and HCT116 cells in the glucose+rapamycin group performed impaired wound scratch healing and migration, invasion viability (P<0.05) when compared with the glucose group.④ In the AOM induced CRC rat model, we found the more colorectal tumors, aggravated cellular pleomorphism and upregulate expression of RAGE, p-mTOR, ferritin (P<0.05) while downregulated expression of NCOA4 (P<0.05) in the control group than those of the glucose group. ConclusionHigh glucose consumption promote invasion and migration in CRC through suppressing ferritinophagy via activating the mTOR/RAGE pathway.