技术资料

This study aimed to evaluate different combinations of three dietary supplements for potential additive or synergistic effects in an in vitro Parkinson’s Disease model. The complex and diverse processes leading to neurodegeneration in each patient with a neurodegenerative disorder cannot be effectively addressed by a single medication. Instead,various combinations of potentially neuroprotective agents targeting different disease mechanisms simultaneously may show improved additive or synergistic efficacy in slowing the disease progression and allowing the agents to be utilized at lower doses to minimize side effects. We evaluated four possible combinations of the three selected supplements: tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA),co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10),and creatine,chosen for their effects on different targets that had previously shown neuroprotective effects in preclinical models. We evaluated the following combinations: (1) TUDCA+CoQ10,(2) TUDCA+Creatine,(3) CoQ10 + Creatine,and (4) TUDCA+CoQ10 + Creatine. We used induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived human dopaminergic neurons from a patient with Parkinson’s disease and healthy control,as well as microglial cells,to evaluate for an additive or synergistic effect of these combinations on neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation. We used neurofilament heavy chain,tubulin filament,and proinflammatory cytokines as metrics. We have identified a triple combination of these supplements that showed an additive protective effect across all these endpoints. Indeed,the agents in that combination could address the majority of the known pathways leading to neurodegeneration,such as accumulation of misfolded α -synuclein,mitochondrial dysfunction,reactive oxygen species,and neuroinflammation. We demonstrated that the combination of TUDCA,CoQ10,and creatine exerts an additive effect in in vitro models of a neurodegenerative disease,surpassing the efficacy of each compound individually. This combination shows strong potential as a candidate for further preclinical confirmatory studies and clinical trials as a neuroprotective treatment for patients with,or at risk for,Parkinson’s disease. View Publication

The only cure of HIV has been achieved in a small number of people who received a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) comprising allogeneic cells carrying a rare,naturally occurring,homozygous deletion in the CCR5 gene. The rarity of the mutation and the significant morbidity and mortality of such allogeneic transplants precludes widespread adoption of this HIV cure. Here,we show the application of CRISPR/Cas9 to achieve >90% CCR5 editing in human,mobilized hematopoietic stem progenitor cells (HSPC),resulting in a transplant that undergoes normal hematopoiesis,produces CCR5 null T cells,and renders xenograft mice refractory to HIV infection. Titration studies transplanting decreasing frequencies of CCR5 edited HSPCs demonstrate that <90% CCR5 editing confers decreasing protective benefit that becomes negligible between 54% and 26%. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of using CRISPR/Cas9/RNP to produce an HSPC transplant with high frequency CCR5 editing that is refractory to HIV replication. These results raise the potential of using CRISPR/Cas9 to produce a curative autologous HSCT and bring us closer to the development of a cure for HIV infection. Subject terms: HIV infections,CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing,Retrovirus,Translational research View Publication

LRRK2 is a kinase whose activity is linked to Parkinson’s disease. This study identifies a pathway that links LRRK2 activation to lysosome perturbations. This pathway involves the process known as CASM and culminates in an interaction between LRRK2 and GABARAP at the surface of lysosomes. View Publication

Growing evidence shows that the reprogramming of fatty acid (FA) metabolism plays a key role in HER2-positive (HER2 +) breast cancer (BC) aggressiveness,therapy resistance and cancer stemness. In particular,HER2 + BC has been defined as a "lipogenic disease" due to the functional and bi-directional crosstalk occurring between HER2-mediated oncogenic signaling and FA biosynthesis via FA synthase activity. In this context,the functional role exerted by the reprogramming of CD36-mediated FA uptake in HER2 + BC poor prognosis and therapy resistance remains unclear. In this study,we aimed to elucidate whether enhanced CD36 in mesenchymal HER2 + cancer stem cells (CSCs) is directly involved in anti-HER2 treatment refractoriness in HER2 + BC and to design future metabolism-based approaches targeting both FA reprogramming and the “root” of cancer. Molecular,biological and functional characterization of CD36-mediated FA uptake was investigated in HER2 + BC patients,cell lines,epithelial and mesenchymal CSCs. Cell proliferation was analyzed by SRB assay upon treatment with lapatinib,CD36 inhibitor,or Wnt antagonist/agonist. Engineered cell models were generated via lentivirus infection and transient silencing. CSC-like properties and tumorigenesis of HER2 + BC cells with or without CD36 depletion were examined by mammosphere forming efficiency assay,flow cytometry,cell sorting,ALDH activity assay and xenograft mouse model. FA uptake was examined by flow cytometry with FA BODIPY FL C16. Intratumor expression of CSC subsets was evaluated via multiplex immunostaining and immunolocalization analysis. Molecular data demonstrated that CD36 is significantly upmodulated on treatment in therapy resistant HER2 + BC patients and its expression levels in BC cells is correlated with FA uptake. We provided evidence of a consistent enrichment of CD36 in HER2 + epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-like CSCs from all tested resistant cell models that mechanistically occurs via Wnt signaling pathway activation. Consistently,both in vitro and in vivo dual blockade of CD36 and HER2 increased the anti-CSC efficacy of anti-HER2 drugs favoring the transition of the therapy resistant mesenchymal CSCs into therapy-sensitive mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET)-like epithelial state. In addition,expression of CD36 in intratumor HER2 + mesenchymal CSCs is significantly associated with resistance to trastuzumab in HER2 + BC patients. These results support the metabolo-oncogenic nature of CD36-mediated FA uptake in HER2 + therapy-refractory BC. Our study provides evidence that targeting CD36 might be an effective metabolic therapeutic strategy in the treatment of this malignancy. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13046-025-03276-z. View Publication

Lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) can regulate tumorigenesis and cancer progression. Nevertheless,whether the regulation of LDHA is involved in the development of gemcitabine resistance in PDAC has not yet been fully elucidated. Increasing studies have shown that cancer acquired drug resistance led to treatment failure is highly attributed to the cancer stem cell (CSC) properties. Therefore,we aim to demonstrate the functions and regulatory mechanisms of LDHA on cancer stem cell (CSC) properties and gemcitabine resistance in PDAC. We investigate the metabolite profiles by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry between gemcitabine–resistant PDAC and parental PDAC cells. Additionally,gain-of-function and loss-of-function experiments were conducted to examine the roles of LDHA on CSC properties and gemcitabine resistance in the gemcitabine–resistant PDAC and parental PDAC cells. To investigate regulators involved in LDHA-mediated gemcitabine resistance and CSC of pancreatic cancer cells,we further used a combination of the miRNA microarray results and software predictions and confirmed that miR-4259 is a direct target of LDHA by luciferase assay. Furthermore,we constructed serial miR-4259 promoter reporters and searched for response elements using the TESS 2.0/TFSEARCH software to find the transcription factor binding site in the promoter region of miR-4259. We observed that elevated LDHA expression significantly correlates with recurrent pancreatic cancer patients following gemcitabine treatment and with CSC properties. We further identify that FOXO3a-induced miR-4259 directly targets the 3’untranslated region of LDHA and reduced LDHA expression,leading to decreased gemcitabine resistance and a reduction in the CSC phenotypes of pancreatic cancer. Our results demonstrated that LDHA plays a critical role in cancer stemness and gemcitabine resistance of pancreatic cancer,and indicate that targeting the FOXO3a/miR-4259/LDHA pathway might serve as a new treatment for pancreatic cancer patients with a poor response to gemcitabine chemotherapy. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40170-025-00377-3. View Publication

Genetically modified T lymphocytes expressing chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) are becoming increasingly important in the treatment of hematologic malignancies and are also intensively being investigated for other diseases such as autoimmune disorders and HIV. Current CAR T cell therapies predominantly use viral transduction methods which,despite their efficacy,raise safety concerns related to genomic integration and potentially associated malignancies as well as labor- and cost-intensive manufacturing. Therefore,non-viral gene transfer methods,especially mRNA-based approaches,have attracted research interest due to their transient modification and enhanced safety profile. In this study,the optimization of CAR-mRNA for T cell applications is investigated,focusing on the impact of mRNA modifications,in vitro transcription protocols,and purification techniques on the translation efficiency and immunogenicity of mRNA. Furthermore,the refined CAR-mRNA was used to generate transient CAR T cells from acute myeloid leukemia patient samples,demonstrating efficacy in vitro and proof-of-concept for clinically relevant settings. These results highlight the potential of optimized mRNA to produce transient and safe CAR T cells. View Publication

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is linked to atherosclerosis plaque formation. In pro-inflammatory conditions,human Natural Killer (NK) cell frequencies in blood or plaque decrease; however,NK cells are underexplored in CAD pathogenesis,inflammatory mechanisms,and CAD comorbidities,such as human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection and diabetes. Analysis of PBMC CITE-seq data from sixty-one CAD patients revealed higher blood NK cell SPON2 expression in CAD patients with higher stenosis severity. Conversely,NK cell SPON2 expression was lower in pro-inflammatory atherosclerosis plaque tissue with an enriched adaptive NK cell gene signature. In CAD patients with higher stenosis severity,peripheral blood NK cell SPON2 expression was lower in patients with high HCMV-induced adaptive NK cell frequencies and corresponded to lower PBMC TGFβ transcript expression with dependency on diabetes status. These results suggest that high NK cell SPON2 expression is linked to atherosclerosis pro-homeostatic status and may have diagnostic and prognostic implications in cardiovascular disease. View Publication

Respiratory viruses pose an ongoing threat to human health with excessive cytokine secretion contributing to severe illness and mortality. However,the relationship between cytokine secretion and viral infection remains poorly understood. Here we elucidate the role of CXCL8 as an early response gene to EV-D68 infection. Silencing CXCL8 or its receptors,CXCR1/2,impedes EV-D68 replication in vitro. Upon recognition of CXCL8 by CXCR1/2,the MAPK pathway is activated,facilitating the translocation of nuclear hnRNP-K to the cytoplasm. This translocation increases the recognition of viral RNA by hnRNP-K in the cytoplasm,promoting the function of the 5′ untranslated region in the viral genome. Moreover,our investigations also reveal the importance of the CXCL8 signaling pathway in the replication of both influenza virus and rhinovirus. In summary,our findings hint that these viruses exploit the CXCL8/MAPK/hnRNP-K axis to enhance viral replication in respiratory cells in vitro. Subject terms: Virus-host interactions,Chemokines,Antimicrobial responses,Viral host response View Publication

Psychological stress causes gut microbial dysbiosis and cancer progression,yet how gut microbiota determines psychological stress-induced tumor development remains unclear. Here we showed that psychological stress promotes breast tumor growth and cancer stemness,an outcome that depends on gut microbiota in germ-free and antibiotic-treated mice. Metagenomic and metabolomic analyses revealed that psychological stress markedly alters the composition and abundance of gut microbiota,especially Akkermansia muciniphila ( A. muciniphila ),and decreases short-chain fatty acid butyrate. Supplement of active A. muciniphila,butyrate or a butyrate-producing high fiber diet dramatically reversed the oncogenic property and anxiety-like behavior of psychological stress in a murine spontaneous tumor model or an orthotopic tumor model. Mechanistically,RNA sequencing analysis screened out that butyrate decreases LRP5 expression to block the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway,dampening breast cancer stemness. Moreover,butyrate as a HDAC inhibitor elevated histone H3K9 acetylation level to transcriptionally activate ZFP36,which further accelerates LRP5 mRNA decay by binding adenine uridine-rich (AU-rich) elements of LRP5 transcript. Clinically,fecal A. muciniphila and serum butyrate were inversely correlated with tumoral LRP5/β-catenin expression,poor prognosis and negative mood in breast cancer patients. Altogether,our findings uncover a microbiota-dependent mechanism of psychological stress-triggered cancer stemness,and provide both clinical biomarkers and potential therapeutic avenues for cancer patients undergoing psychological stress. Subject terms: Cancer metabolism,Cancer stem cells View Publication

Global disparities in cancer prevention,detection,and treatment demand a unified international effort to reduce the disease’s burden and improve outcomes. Despite advances in chemotherapy and radiotherapy,many tumors remain resistant to these treatments. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have shown promise as radiosensitizers,enhancing the effectiveness of low-energy X-rays by emitting Auger electrons that cause localized cellular damage. In this study,spherical AuNPs of 5 nm and 10 nm were characterized and tested on various cell lines,including malignant breast cells (MCF-7),non-malignant cells (CHO-K1 and MCF-10A),and human lymphocytes. Cells were treated with AuNPs and irradiated with attenuated 6 megavoltage (MV) X-rays or p(66)/Be neutron radiation to assess DNA double-strand break (DSB) damage,cell viability,and cell cycle progression. The combination of AuNPs and neutron radiation induced higher levels of γ-H2AX foci and micronucleus formation compared to treatments with AuNPs or X-ray radiation alone. AuNPs alone reduced cellular kinetics and increased the accumulation of cells in the G2/M phase,suggesting a block of cell cycle progression. For cell proliferation,significant effects were only observed at the concentration of 50 μg/mL of AuNPs,while lower concentrations had no inhibitory effect. Further research is needed to quantify internalized AuNPs and correlate their concentration with the observed cellular effects to unravel the biological mechanisms of their radioenhancement. View Publication

Red blood cell development from erythroid progenitors requires profound reshaping of metabolism and gene expression. How these transcriptional and metabolic alterations are coupled is unclear. Nprl3 (an inhibitor of mTORC1) has remained in synteny with the α-globin genes for >500 million years,and harbours most of the a-globin enhancers. However,whether Nprl3 serves an erythroid role is unknown. We found that while haematopoietic progenitors require basal Nprl3 expression,erythroid Nprl3 expression is further boosted by the α-globin enhancers. This lineage-specific upregulation is required for sufficient erythropoiesis. Loss of Nprl3 affects erythroblast metabolism via elevating mTORC1 signalling,suppressing autophagy and disrupting glycolysis. Broadly consistent with these murine findings,human NPRL3-knockout erythroid progenitors produce fewer enucleated cells and demonstrate dysregulated mTORC1 signalling in response to nutrient availability and erythropoietin. Therefore,we propose that the anciently conserved linkage of NprI3,α-globin and their associated enhancers has coupled metabolic and developmental control of erythropoiesis. Subject terms: Differentiation,Genomics,Erythropoiesis View Publication

Designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) are established tools for modulating neuronal activity. Calcium-mobilizing DREADD hM3Dq has been widely used to enhance neuronal activity. hM3Dq activates the Gq protein signaling cascade and mimics the action of native Gq protein-coupled receptors such as muscarinic m1 and m3 receptors leading to calcium release from intracellular storages. Depolarization evoked by increased intracellular calcium levels is an important factor for neuronal maturation. Here,we used repetitive activation of biolistically overexpressed hM3Dq to increase the activity of individual neurons differentiating in organotypic slice cultures of rat visual cortex. HM3Dq was activated by 3 μM clozapine-N-oxide (CNO) dissolved in H 2 O. Transfectants expressing hM3Dq mock-stimulated with H 2 O served as batch-internal controls. Pyramidal cells and multipolar interneurons were analyzed after treatment from DIV 5–10,DIV 10–20,and DIV 15–20 to investigate if Gq signaling is involved in dendritic maturation. Results show that hM3Dq activation accelerated the maturation of apical dendrites of L2/3 pyramidal cells in the early,but no longer in the later time windows. In contrast,dendritic dimensions of L5/6 pyramidal cells and interneurons were not altered at DIV 10. These findings suggest a growth-promoting role of activated Gq signaling selectively for early postnatal L2/3 pyramidal cells. Unexpectedly,hM3Dq activation from DIV 10–20 reduced the dendritic complexity of L5/6 pyramidal cells and multipolar interneurons. Together,results suggest a role of Gq signaling for neuronal differentiation and support evidence that it may also limit dendritic growth. View Publication