Jiying Zhong

Intrathecal TRESK gene recombinant adenovirus attenuates spared nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain in rats.

TRESK gene recombinant adenovirus (109 IU/ml), which has been constructed successfully in our previous study, was implemented through an intrathecal injection. The fact that the method can effectively upregulate the expression of TRESK mRNA in the dorsal root ganglia of spared nerve injury in rats was verified. We also investigated the role of TRESK gene recombinant adenovirus in attenuating tactile allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia in spared nerve injury rats. Spared nerve injury to the sciatic nerve induced persistent tactile allodynia, but had no effect on thermal hyperalgesia. Intrathecal injection of TRESK gene recombinant adenovirus (25 µl) into the region of lumbar enlargement in advance reduced tactile allodynia. Moreover, intrathecal injection of TRESK gene recombinant adenovirus (25 µl) significantly alleviated the activation of astrocytes in spinal cord induced by spared nerve injury. The current study shows that an intrathecal injection of the TRESK gene recombinant adenovirus attenuated the activity of astrocytes in spinal cord, which contributed to relieving neuropathic pain in spared nerve injury rats. According to the result reported in our previous study, attenuating the expression of TRESK in dorsal root ganglia was involved in the development of neuropathic pain. On the basis of these results, we theorized that the therapeutic utility of upregulation of TRESK in dorsal root ganglia was effective in relieving neuropathic pain syndromes induced by peripheral nerve injury.

TRESK gene recombinant adenovirus vector inhibits capsaicin-mediated substance P release from cultured rat dorsal root ganglion neurons

The present study was conducted to determine whether the activation of TRESK in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) by the TRESK gene recombinant adenovirus vector inhibits the capsaicin-evoked substance P (SP) release using a radioimmunoassay. TRESK is an outwardly rectifying K+ current channel that contributes to the resting potential and is the most important background potassium channel in DRG. Previous studies have shown that neuropathic pain (NP) is closely related to the regulation of certain potassium channels in DRG neurons, while DRG-released SP is important in the peripheral mechanism of NP. In the present study, the TRESK gene adenovirus vector significantly enhanced the TRESK mRNA and protein of the cultured rat DRG neurons. Radioimmunoassay analysis revealed that the capsaicin-mediated SP release was significantly inhibited by the TRESK gene recombinant adenovirus vector in rat DRG neurons. These findings suggest that TRESK plays a role in adjusting the release of SP in DRG, which is related to NP.

Interleukin-33 signaling contributes to renal fibrosis following ischemia reperfusion

&NA; Acute kidney injury caused by ischemia‐reperfusion injury (IRI) is a major risk factor for chronic kidney disease, which is characterized by renal interstitial fibrosis. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying renal fibrosis induced by IRI are not fully understood. Our results showed that interleukin (IL)−33 was induced markedly after IRI insult, and the kidneys of mice following IRI plus IL‐33 treatment presented more severe renal fibrosis compared with mice treated with IRI alone. Therefore, we investigated whether inhibition of IL‐33 protects against IRI‐induced renal fibrosis. Mice were administrated with soluble ST2 (sST2), a decoy receptor that neutralizes IL‐33 activity, or vehicle by intraperitoneal injection for 14 days after IRI challenge. We revealed that mice treated with sST2 exhibited less severe renal dysfunction and fibrosis in response to IRI compared with vehicle‐treated mice. Inhibition of IL‐33 suppressed bone marrow–derived fibroblast accumulation and myofibroblast formation in the kidneys after IRI stress, which was associated with less expression of extracellular matrix proteins. Furthermore, inhibition of IL‐33 also showed a significant reduction of F4/80+ macrophages and CD3+ T cells in the kidneys of mice after IRI treatment. Finally, Treatment with IL‐33 inhibitor reduced proinflammatory cytokine and chemokine levels in the kidneys of mice following IRI insult. Taken together, our findings indicate that IL‐33 signaling plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of IRI–induced renal fibrosis through regulating myeloid fibroblast accumulation, inflammation cell infiltration, and the expression of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines.

Dexmedetomidine protects against cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury in mice through regulating apoptosis and inflammation

Objective and designCisplatin-based chemotherapy has been widely used in the perioperative period of cancer surgery, which exacerbates the risk of renal injury. In this study, we examined whether dexmedetomidine (DEX), a commonly used anesthetic adjuvant, shows a protective effect against cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury.MaterialsAcute kidney injury in mice was induced by cisplatin.TreatmentsMice were administered with DEX 25xa0μg/kg or atipamezole 250xa0μg/kg (once a day, for 3xa0days) after cisplatin treatment.MethodsThe renal function and tubular damage score were evaluated at 72xa0h following cisplatin administration. Apoptotic tubular cells were detected by TUNEL assay. Caspase-3, p53, Bax, F4/80+ macrophages, CD3+ T cells, and NF-κB were examined by immunohistochemistry staining or Western blot. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 in kidney were measured using real-time polymerase chain reaction.ResultsDEX treatment preserved renal function and reduced tubular damage score of mice after cisplatin administration. Mice treated with DEX exhibited less apoptotic tubular cells in response to cisplatin insult, which was associated with decreased Bax and reduced activation of p53 and caspase-3. DEX suppressed the infiltration of macrophages and T cells into the kidneys following cisplatin treatment, which was involved in the inhibition of NF-κB activation and decreased expression of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and MCP-1. Furthermore, we showed that the renoprotective effect conferred by DEX may be related to α2 adrenoceptor-dependent pathway.ConclusionWe demonstrate that DEX protects the kidney against cisplatin-induced AKI by the regulation of apoptosis and inflammatory response.

Inhibition of PTEN Activity Aggravates Post Renal Fibrosis in Mice with Ischemia Reperfusion-Induced Acute Kidney Injury

Background: Renal fibrosis is a common pathophysiological feature of chronic kidney disease. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is defined as an independent causal factor of chronic kidney disease, with a pathological representation of post renal fibrosis. However, the etiopathogenesis underlying post renal fibrosis induced by AKI is not completely understood. Methods: BALB/c mice were treated with bpv or vehicle controls and were, respectively, the ischemia reperfusion (IR) model group and control group. All of the animals had blood taken from the orbital venous plexus at 24 hours after IR. Six mice in each group were randomly chosen and euthanized 7 days after IR treatment, and the remaining six mice in each group were euthanized 14 days after IR treatment. We examined the effect on post kidney fibrosis of inhibiting PTEN activity in mice in an IR induced AKI experimental model. Results: Compared with vehicle mice, bpv-(PTEN specific inhibitor) treated mice accumulated more bone marrow-derived fibroblasts and myofibroblasts in the kidneys. Inhibition of PTEN activity increased the expression of α-smooth muscle actin and extracellular matrix proteins and post kidney fibrosis. Furthermore, inhibition of PTEN activity resulted in more inflammatory cytokines in the kidneys of mice subjected to IR-induced renal fibrosis. Moreover, inhibition of PTEN activity up-regulated PI3K protein expression and Akt phosphorylation. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that PTEN played an important role in post renal fibrosis in mice with ischemia reperfusion-induced AKI. These results indicated that the PTEN/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway may serve as a novel therapeutic target for AKI-induced chronic kidney disease.

One cell model establishment to inhibit CaMKIIγ mRNA expression in the dorsal root ganglion neuron by RNA interfere

Abstract CaMKIIγ in dorsal root ganglion neurons is closely related to the neuropathic pain, neuron injury induced by local anesthetics. To get great insight into the function of CaMKIIγ in dorsal root ganglion neurons, we need one cell model to specially inhibit the CaMKIIγ mRNA expression. The present study was aimed to establish one cell model to specially inhibit the CaMKIIγ mRNA expression. We designed the CaMKIIγ shRNA sequence and connected with pYr-1.1 plasmid. The ligation product of the CaMKIIγshRNA and pYr-1.1 plasmid was recombined with pAd/PL-DEST vector into pAD-CaMKIIγ-shRNA. adenovirus vector. pAD-CaMKIIγ-shRNA. adenovirus vector infected the dorsal root ganglion neuron to inhibit the CaMKIIγ mRNA expression in vitro. The pAD-CaMKIIγ-shRNA adenovirus vector was verified to be correct by the digestion, sequence. And pAD-CaMKIIγ-shRNA. adenovirus vector can infect the DRG cells to inhibit the CaMKIIγ mRNA or protein expression by the real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or western blotting. Those results showed that we successfully constructed one adenovirus vector that can infect the dorsal root ganglion neuron to inhibit the CaMKIIγ mRNA and protein expression. That will supply with one cell model for the CaMKIIγ function study.

Inhibition of PTEN activity aggravates cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury

Cisplatin (cis-Diamminedichloroplatinum II) has been widely and effectively used in chemotherapy against tumors. Nephrotoxicity due to cisplatin is one of the most common clinical causes of acute kidney injury (AKI), which has a poor prognosis and high mortality. The signaling mechanisms underlying cisplatin-induced AKI are not completely understood. Phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) is a tumor suppressor that negatively regulates the cell-survival pathway and is considered a double-edged sword in organ damage. In this study, we examined the effect that inhibiting PTEN activity in experimental models of cisplatin-induced AKI had on the degrees of AKI. Compared with vehicle mice, mice treated with bpV(pic) (specific inhibitor of PTEN) had exacerbated renal damage due to cisplatin-induced AKI. Furthermore, inhibition of PTEN activity increased cell apoptosis in the kidneys of mice induced by cisplatin. More inflammatory cytokines were activated after cisplatin treatment in mice of the bpV(pic)-treated group compared with vehicle mice, and these inflammatory cytokines may be partially derived from bone marrow cells. In addition, inhibiting PTEN activity decreased the phosphorylation of p53 in the pathogenesis of cisplatin-induced AKI. In summary, our study has demonstrated that inhibiting PTEN activity aggravates cisplatin-induced AKI via apoptosis, inflammatory reaction, and p53 signaling pathway. These results indicated that PTEN may serve as a novel therapeutic target for cisplatin-induced AKI.

Molecular Mechanisms of Curcumin Renoprotection in Experimental Acute Renal Injury

As a highly perfused organ, the kidney is especially sensitive to ischemia and reperfusion. Ischemia-reperfusion (IR)-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) has a high incidence during the perioperative period in the clinic and is an important link in ischemic acute renal failure (IARF). Therefore, IR-induced AKI has important clinical significance and it is necessary to explore to develop drugs to prevent and alleviate IR-induced AKI. Curcumin [diferuloylmethane, 1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxiphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione)] is a polyphenol compound derived from Curcuma longa (turmeric) and was shown to have a renoprotective effect on ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in a previous study. However, the specific mechanisms underlying the protective role of curcumin in IR-induced AKI are not completely understood. APPL1 is a protein coding gene that has been shown to be involved in the crosstalk between the adiponectin-signaling and insulin-signaling pathways. In the study, to investigate the molecular mechanisms of curcumin effects in kidney ischemia/reperfusion model, we observed the effect of curcumin in experimental models of IR-induced AKI and we found that curcumin treatment significantly increased the expression of APPL1 and inhibited the activation of Akt after IR treatment in the kidney. Our in vitro results showed that apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cells was exacerbated with hypoxia-reoxygenation (HR) treatment compared to sham control cells. Curcumin significantly decreased the rate of apoptosis in renal tubular epithelial cells with HR treatment. Moreover, knockdown of APPL1 activated Akt and subsequently aggravated apoptosis in HR-treated renal tubular epithelial cells. Conversely, inhibition of Akt directly reversed the effects of APPL1 knockdown. In summary, our study demonstrated that curcumin mediated upregulation of APPL1 protects against ischemia reperfusion induced AKI by inhibiting Akt phosphorylation.

TAK1 mediates excessive autophagy via p38 and ERK in cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury

The ability of cisplatin (cis‐diamminedichloroplatinum II) toxicity to induce acute kidney injury (AKI) has attracted peoples attention and concern for a long time, but its molecular mechanisms are still widely unknown. We found that the expression of transforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β)‐activated kinase 1 (TAK1) could be increased in kidneys of mice administrated with cisplatin. Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved catabolic pathway and is involved in various acute and chronic injuries. Moreover, p38 MAPK (mitogen‐activated protein kinase) and ERK regulate autophagy in response to various stimuli. Therefore, our hypothesis is that cisplatin activates TAK1, which phosphorylates p38 and ERK, leading to excessive autophagy of tubular epithelial cells and thus exacerbating kidney damage. Here, BALB/c mice were intraperitoneally injected with a TAK1 inhibitor and were then administrated with sham or cisplatin at 20 mg/kg by intraperitoneal injection. Compared with mice in the vehicle cisplatin group, mice intraperitoneally injected with a TAK1 inhibitor were found to have lower serum creatinine and less tubular damage following cisplatin‐induced AKI. Furthermore, inhibition of TAK1 reduced p38 and Erk phosphorylation, decreased expression of LC3II and reversed the down‐regulation of P62 expression induced by cisplatin. The hypothesis was verified with tubular epithelial cells administrated with cisplatin in vitro. Finally, p38 inhibitor or ERK inhibitor abated autophagy activation and cell viability reduction in tubular epithelial cells treated with cisplatin plus TAK1 overexpression vector. Taken together, our results show that cisplatin activates TAK1, which phosphorylates p38 and ERK, leading to excessive autophagy of tubular epithelial cells that exacerbates kidney damage.

TAK1 mediates apoptosis via p38 involve in ischemia-induced renal fibrosis

Abstract Renal fibrosis is a common and characteristic symptom of chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the molecular mechanisms of renal fibrosis remain elusive. Ischemia injury, as a major cause of AKI, deserves more attention in order to improve the knowledge of AKI-induced fibrosis. Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) interacts directly with TGF-β, which play a critical role in the progression of fibrosis. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the role of TAK1 in the pathogenesis of ischemia-induced renal fibrosis. Compared with mice in the vehicle group, mice intraperitoneally injected with TAK1 inhibitor were found to have lower serum creatinine, less tubular damage and more mild fibrosis following ischemia-induced AKI. Furthermore, inhibition of TAK1 reduced p38 phosphorylation, decreased expression of Bax and caspase 3 and apoptosis cells in kidneys of mice treated with IR-induced AKI. Compared with vehicle-treated renal tubular epithelial cells, TAK1 overexpression cells were found to have a higher apoptosis and fibrosis index level and p38 phosphorylation following hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) treatment. Furthermore, the p38 inhibitor combined with TAK1 overexpression verified the role of TAK1/p38 signaling pathway in apoptosis and fibrosis index level of renal tubular epithelial cells treated with H/R. Thus, our results show that TAK1 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of ischemia-induced renal fibrosis and may mediate p38-regulated cell apoptosis.