Journal of Biomedical Science

Retrotransposons are repetitive DNA elements normally suppressed through epigenetic mechanisms. In aging and neurodegenerative diseases, abnormal retrotransposon activation occurs and leads to neurotoxicity. However, whether ischemic stroke induces retrotransposon activation remains unclear. Here, we investigated whether cerebral ischemia triggers dysregulation of retrotransposon in the brain. Since brain ischemia leads to tissue acidosis, we further examined whether acidosis contributes to this response. We performed 45 min of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) followed by reperfusion on adult wild-type mice, then measured expression of retrotransposons LINE-1, IAP, ETn2 and SINE B2 in ipsilateral brain tissue using RT-qPCR. Retroviral GAG protein expression was examined by Western blotting. In vitro, we exposed neuro-2a (N2A) cells to acidic extracellular pH (6.4 or 6.0) and retrotransposon transcripts were analyzed. We found that ischemia-reperfusion increased expression of IAPEz-gag and ETn2 in ipsilateral ischemic brain tissue at 24 h, with stronger induction of LINE-1 Orf1, IAPEz-gag and B2 in infarct than peri-infarct brain regions. Western blotting analysis revealed dynamic changes in GAG proteins, with no detectable changes at 6 h of reperfusion followed by reduced levels of the precursor Pr65 and mature capsid p30 products at 24 h. In N2A cells, extracellular acidosis induced time-dependent increases in LINE-1 Orf1, IAPEz-gag and B2 transcripts. These findings identify retrotransposon dysregulation as a molecular feature of ischemic brain injury and provide a framework for further investigating its role in stroke pathology.

Dengue virus (DENV) infection causes an acute febrile illness that is usually self-limiting but can become fatal. Thrombocytopenia, or a decrease in circulating platelets, is a major clinical feature of dengue and is strongly associated with the progression to dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. In this report, MYH9, a cytoskeletal protein involved in platelets maturation and release, was found to be down-regulated in DENV-infected Huh7 cell lines. The expression of RUNX1, an important transcription factor involved in megakaryopoiesis, was also decreased following DENV-infection. In-silico analysis identified three potential RUNX1 transcription-factor binding site in the promoter-region of MYH9 gene. We therefore investigated whether RUNX1 regulates MYH9 expression during DENV-infection. Luciferase-assay and ChIP assays showed that DENV-infection affect the binding of RUNX1 to the MYH9 promoter, providing insight into the molecular basis underlying the reduced expression of MYH9 expression. Furthermore, the megakaryocyte differentiation markers GATA1, ITGB3, and MYH9 were upregulated in PMA-induced K562-cells. However, DENV infection downregulated these genes and increased the expression of apoptosis marker gene CYCS. These findings suggest that the dengue affects megakaryopoiesis through multiple mechanisms, potentially reducing platelets production while also promoting platelets destruction. Additionally, Fluorescence and electron microscopy revealed that functional defects of MYH9 may affects megakaryopoiesis biogenesis. Overall, this study provides insights into the molecular mechanisms contributing to thrombocytopenia during DENV infection.

Abstract Optic Atrophy 1 (OPA1), an important inner mitochondrial membrane GTPase, regulates mitochondrial fusion, maintains cristae structure, calcium buffering, cellular bioenergetics, preserves mtDNA and controls apoptosis. Here we examined the role of OPA1 variants in DCM using whole-exome sequencing (WES) of 5 familial and 10 sporadic DCM cases. A rare de novo OPA1 variant, c.563C>T (p.Pro188Leu), was identified in a DCM patient, which is absent in 100 healthy controls as well as in the 1000 Genomes, IndiGenomes and GenomeAsia 100k databases while it showed very low MAF (0.000069) in GnomAD. Structural modelling predicted the variant to be highly deleterious and revealed marked conformational distortion of the mutant protein (RMSD = 3.5 Angstrom). Molecular docking further demonstrated enhanced accessibility of mutant OPA1 to mitochondrial protease OMA1, suggesting increased OPA1 proteolytic processing and a consequent increase in mitochondrial fragmentation. Functional analysis in stable H9C2 cardiomyoblast cells, demonstrated significantly reduced OPA1 protein expression, extensive mitochondrial fragmentation in mutant-OPA1 expressing cells. The mutant protein caused significant reduction in mitochondrial membrane potential, ATP generation, and oxygen consumption rate (OCR), together with elevated cytosolic Calcium and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. qRT-PCR analysis further revealed depletion in mtDNA copy number and increased in expression of intrinsic apoptotic markers Caspase3, 9 and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. The above findings collectively highlighted the significant impact of the OPA1 mutation on mitochondrial dynamics and cellular health, suggesting a significant correlation with the pathogenesis of DCM. Collectively, these findings suggest that OPA1-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction represents a potential therapeutic avenue for the management of DCM.

Cholinergic neurons in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMN) in the brainstem are a key source of efferent vagus nerve fibers that regulate vital functions, including heart rate and inflammation. Whether the integrity of DMN cholinergic neurons is affected during Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unknown. Here, in female and male mice with experimental AD (5xFAD), which exhibit age-dependent memory impairment, basal forebrain cholinergic neurodegeneration, and microglial alterations, we observe a reduction in cholinergic neuron density in the DMN at 6 and 10 months of age. Furthermore, while an important physiological function of DMN cholinergic signaling, such as suppression of heart rate, is preserved in control mice upon electrical DMN stimulation, the extent of suppression diminishes with age in both female and male 5xFAD mice. In addition, while electrical DMN stimulation lowers pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in control mice subjected to endotoxemia, this anti-inflammatory effect is diminished with age in 5xFAD mice, with females showing earlier dysfunction at 6 months. These results reveal previously unrecognized age-dependent cholinergic deficits in the DMN and disrupted brain - to - periphery vagus nerve circuits in experimental AD. These findings advance our understanding of AD mechanisms and are of interest for the development of conceptually novel therapies.

BackgroundSevere dengue remains difficult to predict because patients with different clinical trajectories may present with overlapping features, and conventional severity classifications may not fully capture underlying biological heterogeneity. In this study, we applied an integrated clinical and proteomic endotyping approach to dissect dengue disease heterogeneity and identify molecular signatures associated with severity. MethodsPlasma proteomic profiles were analyzed together with detailed clinical, biochemical, hematological, coagulation, and immunological parameters from healthy controls and dengue patients classified according to WHO 2009 severity criteria. High-throughput proteomic analysis, unsupervised clustering, pathway enrichment, and machine-learning-based classification were used to identify dengue endotypes and define molecular features associated with predicted severe disease. ResultsIncreasing dengue severity was associated with progressive abnormalities in liver function, coagulation parameters, hematological indices, and inflammatory mediators, including IL-6, IL-15, HGF, and MUC-16. However, proteomic profiling revealed substantial overlap across conventional severity categories, indicating that clinical classification alone does not fully resolve dengue host-response heterogeneity. Integrated clinical-proteomic clustering identified distinct dengue endotypes, including a predicted severe endotype enriched for inflammatory, antiviral, and cytotoxic lymphocyte-associated pathways. This high-risk endotype was characterized by elevated IL-15, IFN-{gamma}, and granzymes, consistent with coordinated activation of cytotoxic lymphocyte-associated antiviral responses. Machine-learning analysis further showed that proteomic features were strong discriminators of this endotype, supporting their potential utility as biomarkers of severe host-response states. ConclusionIntegrated clinical-proteomic endotyping provides molecular resolution beyond conventional severity grading and identifies immune pathways associated with severe dengue. This framework may improve biological understanding of dengue progression and support future risk stratification and biomarker development.

Whether the nodal vulnerability in dementia is solely represented by changes in cellular abundance or attrition of cellular transcriptomic landscape attribute to that transition in aging brain is yet to uncover with minutiae. To understand this complication, we have analyzed two snRNA-seq data specific to (I) dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC): A comprehensive study of cellular profiling among cognitively normal and pathological ageing and dementia (AD) brain, (II) occipital cortex (OC) in the context of Nasu-Hakola disease along with a tissue level bulk RNA-seq data corresponds to temporal cortex. We pinpoint cellular subpopulations their proportional changes within the nodal points and their transcriptomic profiling. In DLPFC we observed alteration of mitochondrial and synaptic maintenance program in the pathological manifestation of disease. In OC we noticed depleted upper layer CUX2 neuron, PVALB and SST neurons on the contrary an enrichment of RORB and LAMP5 neurons with compromised metabolic states in the disease context. Glial populations are marked by representation of fibrous astrocyte, neuronal-supporting subpopulations associated with extracellular matrix remodeling programs. Proportional increment of intermediate myelinating oligodendrocyte and a decrease in mature myelinating subpopulation highlighted a compromised myelin repair attempt. In temporal cortex at tissue level we observed transcriptomic landscape adopted a neuroglial phenotypes in dementia brain. Cell-Chat analysis demonstrated a shift in cellular coordination towards glial population from neuron in NHD brain. A single cell-based drug reprofiling approach identified efatutazone and balaglitazone as broad-spectrum candidates for major cell types in occipital cortex, whereas major actionable biological targets belong to CDK subtypes and proteasome subunits. Overall, our findings imply cellular persistence do not necessarily substantiate molecular preservation, also the coexistence of cellular vulnerability alongside selective remodeling features, present a cellular framework on how to cope up with degenerative changes.

Huntington disease is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder caused by CAG repeat expansion encoding polyglutamine in the HTT gene. Recent studies have shown that loss of CAA/CCA interruptions within polyglutamine-coding CAG tracts and adjacent polyproline-coding region are linked to earlier disease onset. It has been hypothesized that somatic repeat instability, influenced by these interrupted CAG tracts, may mediate this effect. Here we demonstrate that HTT CAA/CCA-loss variant linked to early disease onset exacerbates mutant HTT toxicity in cellular models through mechanisms independent of somatic repeat instability. The CAA/CCA-loss variant exhibits significantly higher toxicity than canonical HTT sequences in both transient expression and stable cell line models. Notably, this enhanced toxicity persists in knockout cells of the mismatch repair gene MSH3 where somatic instability is blunted, with a consistent toxicity hierarchy (CAA/CCA-loss > CCA-loss > CAA-loss > canonical HTT) in both wildtype and MSH3 knockout cells. Furthermore, the CAA/CCA-loss variant generates elevated levels of repeat-associated non-AUG (RAN) translation products. In HEK293-based cellular models, these results suggest that the disease-accelerating effects of HTT CAA/CCA-loss variants involve intrinsic properties of the altered sequence context, highlighting the importance of understanding sequence-specific mechanisms in HD pathogenesis beyond polyglutamine length and somatic instability.

Vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) is increasingly recognized as a major contributor to cognitive decline; however, the mechanisms through which vascular dysfunction drives innate immune dysregulation remain poorly understood. In this study, we explore the impact of VCID on the cerebral innate immune landscape, focusing on innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) and neutrophils, two key players in neuroinflammation and brain immune homeostasis. Using a murine model of VCID induced by bilateral common carotid artery stenosis (BCAS) with modifications in C57BL/6 mice, we investigated innate immune cell distribution, polarization, and functional profiles using flow cytometry and immunofluorescence staining. Our findings reveal a compartment-specific shift in ILC populations, with a reduction of ILC2s in the meninges and concurrent expansion in the choroid plexus, accompanied by altered cytokine production. Furthermore, VCID drove a marked shift in neutrophil polarization toward a pro-inflammatory N1-like phenotype in both the meninges and choroid plexus. Critically, immunofluorescence staining of hippocampal brain sections confirmed that activated N1-like neutrophils, characterized by elevated IL-1{beta} and MPO and reduced IL-10, infiltrate the hippocampal parenchyma in VCID, suggesting a spatially progressive innate immune response spanning from CNS border compartments to brain tissue. These results identify a novel innate immune signature in VCID, compartment-specific ILC redistribution, pro-inflammatory neutrophil polarization at CNS borders, and parenchymal neutrophil infiltration in the hippocampus, which may collectively amplify neuroinflammation and accelerate cognitive decline, identifying potential therapeutic targets for vascular-related dementia.

Background. Obesity has been associated with higher risk of dengue virus (DENV) infection and disease, yet its influence on antibody responses to DENV remains undefined. Methods. We evaluated whether nutritional status -- based on BMI z-score (BMIz) -- or blood markers of body fat -- leptin and adiponectin --are associated with binding and/or neutralizing antibody responses to DENV in 85 children in the Nicaraguan Pediatric Dengue Cohort Study who experienced a primary DENV infection in 2019. Associations were estimated using linear models adjusting for age, sex, and DENV infection outcome. Results. Compared to children with normal weight, those with obesity had higher quantities of DENV binding antibodies (fold-change [FC] 1.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02, 3.48) but no difference in neutralizing antibodies. Likewise, leptin concentration was associated with higher quantities of binding antibodies (FC 1.22, 95%CI 1.09, 1.37), while adiponectin was associated with lower quantities (FC 0.79, 95%CI 0.67, 0.94), and neither was associated with neutralizing antibodies. Lower neutralizing efficiency (neutralizing/binding antibodies) was observed in children with obesity (FC 0.67, 95%CI 0.48, 0.93). Conclusions. Our results indicate that obesity is associated with higher antibody quantity (binding) but not higher quality (neutralization) post-primary DENV infection -- implying that antibodies generated by children with obesity have lower neutralization efficiency, requiring greater quantities to reach similar levels of neutralization than children with normal weight. Further, the agreement among the three models using distinct proxies of body fat -- BMIz, leptin, and adiponectin -- demonstrates that adipokines are useful in supplementing BMIz analysis or as independent predictors of immune responses.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder, and its incidence is rising rapidly with population aging. Pathologically, AD is characterized by the accumulation of amyloid-beta (Abeta) plaques and hyperphosphorylated Tau neurofibrillary tangles. Human genomic studies have identified numerous risk alleles, with the APOE4 variant representing the strongest and most common genetic risk factor, present in approximately 75 percent of AD patients. However, APOE4 is neither necessary nor sufficient to cause disease, suggesting that additional genetic and environmental factors contribute to AD pathogenesis. Emerging evidence highlights a central role for oxidized lipid metabolism in AD. Disruption of lipid metabolism leads to lipid accumulation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) toxicity, and neurodegeneration, suggesting that oxidative stress may be a critical factor in enhancing AD susceptibility. To systematically investigate APOE function in vivo, we tested humanized Drosophila expressing the human APOE3 or APOE4 variants in place of the Drosophila ortholog Glial Lazarillo (GLaz). The lifespan of APOE3 and APOE4 flies does not differ under standard housing conditions, but the lifespan of APOE4 flies is significantly reduced when exposed to the ROS-promoting drug rotenone, supporting a multi-hit model of disease pathogenesis. APOE4 flies exposed to rotenone exhibit several AD-associated phenotypes, including age-related memory loss and chemosensory deficits, supporting the use of this model to investigate AD pathogenesis. Furthermore, progressive AD-associated phenotypes are also observed in APOE4 flies maintained on an obesogenic diet, suggesting that enhanced disease susceptibility is not specific to rotenone-induced stress but reflects a broader vulnerability to metabolic challenges. Together, these findings establish a scalable model to dissect APOE-dependent mechanisms and identify therapeutic targets in AD.

Background: Early detection of preeclampsia with noninvasive and reliable biomarkers is the foremost step for minimizing adverse effects during pregnancy. However, none maternal serum analyte evaluated so far is sufficiently accurate to allow recommending their routine use. Methods: Microarray was used to first identify differentially expressed LncRNA and mRNA. Gene ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were performed to determine bio-functions and signaling pathways. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to validate the results of microarray. Finally, the lncRNA-mRNA co-expression network was constructed to find the interaction of genes. Result: A total of 1476 differentially expressed lncRNAs and 594 mRNAs were identified. Both RNA-seq and RT-qPCR showed the expression of T241171,T338586, uc002ywy.3 was up-regulated, and the expression of ENST00000524858, T131416, T357032, uc.335+ was down regulated in the plasma of patients with preeclampsia. Pathway analysis showed the targeted mRNAs were enriched in apoptosis, sulfur metabolism, starch and sucrose metabolism. ceRNA network found that LncRNA-uc002ywy.3 might be the upstream regulator of miRNA-4498. LncRNA-uc002ywy.3/miRNA-4498 was predicted to interplay with genes involved in programmed cell death-1and its ligand (PD-1/PD-L1) pathway by KEGG analysis. Conclusion s PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway may be involved in the development of preeclampsia. The dysregulated LncRNA-uc002ywy.3/miRNA-4498 shed light on a new layer involved in the regulatory network of preeclampsia.

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) resulted from intracranial aneurysm (IA) rupture is an especially severe form of stroke. Endothelial dysfunction represents the initiating event of IA pathogenesis. Understanding the role of endothelial cells (ECs) underlying formation of IAs is helpful to seek for pharmaceutical treatment strategy. Based on single-cell RNA sequencing, proteomics, and metabolic analysis, we discovered a change in cell population in IA samples, majorly in ECs and macrophages (MPs). Abnormal ECs exhibit senescence and death in IA samples, which is absent in the control arterial samples. Cross-analysis of multi-omics revealed that CALM1, a calcium detector involved in mechanotransduction, is downregulated in the abnormal ECs. CALM1 knockdown leads to senescence and inhibits the proliferation and maturation of ECs under turbulent flow. Through high-throughput virtual screening, this work identified compound ZC04329651 as a potent CALM1 activator in maintaining the stability of endothelial cell junctions and attenuating cellular senescence. Thus, our findings showed compound ZC04329651 up-regulate the expression of CALM1 to restore ECs, which maybe a promising pharmacological treatment strategy for IAs.

Severe dengue can damage the liver through unestablished mechanisms. We investigated the role of myeloperoxidase (MPO), a neutrophil enzyme, in dengue through patients, fatal liver samples, and mouse infection models. Observations from two independent clinical cohorts revealed elevated plasma MPO levels in dengue and, in one cohort, MPO was further linked to liver injury markers during the critical phase of disease, whereas livers from dengue fatal cases revealed MPO build-up in the vicinity of CD177+ activated neutrophils. In mice, dengue led to MPO overexpression, oxidative damage, and broad activation of innate and systemic inflammatory pathways in livers. Blocking MPO activity alleviated these and improved survival in one model and delayed disease progression without preventing death in another. These findings establish MPO as a functional mediator of severe dengue-associated liver injury and inflammation, which warrants further preclinical investigation into its hepatic pathogenic mechanism and its validity as target for therapeutic intervention.

Subtle variations in the activity and signaling of PERK, an endoplasmic reticulum kinase, can shift stress response outcomes. PERK has three commonly occurring exonic single-nucleotide variants frequently inherited together as part of the PERK haplotype B (PERK B), which occurs in 28% of the global population and is associated with several chronic neurodegenerative diseases, although its impact on PERK activity remains controversial. We hypothesized that PERK-B was associated with increased activity, altering stress response and stress tolerance, and that minorly but consistently elevated PERK activity, in combination with additional environmental or genetic risk factors, would lead to adverse outcomes. Comparison of stress response between PERK A, the major PERK haplotype, and PERK B in neuronal cultures using novel knock-in PERK-B mice alongside wild-type PERK A mice revealed differential, transient changes. Following ER stress, astrocyte-containing neuronal cultures, but not neuron-only cultures expressing PERK B exhibited similar levels of eIF2 phosphorylation, the canonical PERK substrate at PERK peak activation point (2h), but showed higher levels at 4 to 6 h, consistent with altered kinetics of PERK signaling. PERK-B neuronal cultures pretreated with a low dose PERK-specific activator exhibited increased vulnerability to N-methyl-D-aspartate-induced death compared to PERK-A neuronal cultures, indicating impaired acquired stress tolerance. Additionally, neuron-astrocyte coculture experiments revealed that the observed difference in acquired stress tolerance was dependent on the astrocyte genotype. The association of PERK-B with transient changes in stress response and reduced stress tolerance with higher vulnerability to cellular stress, albeit transient and small/moderate in size, has clinical relevance based on its potential contribution to the overall genetic vulnerability in neurodegenerative diseases.

BackgroundEfferocytosis, the phagocytic clearance of apoptotic and damaged cells, promotes inflammation resolution and tissue repair following ischemic stroke. This study investigated temporal changes in efferocytosis and phagocytosis-related transcriptional programs during acute experimental stroke, examined the effects of aging on these responses, and assessed whether similar immune signatures are present in human ischemic stroke. MethodsPublicly available transcriptomic datasets from murine transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO; GSE104036 and GSE112348), permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO; GSE137482), and human peripheral blood after ischemic stroke (GSE16561) were analyzed using OmicSoft/Ingenuity-style pathway analysis. Functional validation included in vivo assessment of efferocytosis after tMCAO and in vitro phagocytosis assays using bone marrow-derived macrophages from young and aged mice. ResultsBoth acute tMCAO models exhibited robust inflammatory activation together with sustained activation of phagocyte-related pathways during the first 24 hours after stroke. Human peripheral blood demonstrated similar inflammatory and phagocytic signatures, supporting translational relevance. Increased efferocytosis at 24 hours after tMCAO was associated with neuroprotection. Although both young and aged mice activated phagocytosis-related pathways after pMCAO, aged mice showed reduced phagosome formation. Consistent with these findings, macrophages from aged mice exhibited enhanced inflammatory responses and impaired uptake of apoptotic cells. ConclusionsA conserved post-stroke immune response characterized by inflammatory activation and phagocyte-mediated clearance was identified across murine and human datasets. Efficient efferocytosis was associated with neuroprotection, whereas aging impaired apoptotic cell clearance and promoted a pro-inflammatory macrophage phenotype, highlighting efferocytosis as a potential therapeutic target for ischemic stroke.

IRX4 is a TALE- homeodomain transcription factor which is essential for cardiac development. In murine models, Irx4 deficiency leads to impaired ventricular function and results in cardiomyopathy. To elucidate the role of IRX4 in human congenital heart disease (CHD), Sanger sequencing of the IRX4 gene was performed in 205 individuals with non-syndromic CHD, 24 Down syndrome (DS) cases with CHD, 27 DS cases without CHD, and 150 healthy control individuals. Two novel (p.Ser24Asn and p.Thr217Iso) and one reported variant (rs2232376) were identified in non-syndromic CHD. Concurrently, rs2232376 was also detected in DS with CHD. The first novel (p.Ser24Asn) and reported (rs2232376) variants lie in the N-terminal region while the second novel (Thr217Iso) variant lies within the TALE homeodomain. In silico structural modelling suggested that both the novel variants (p.Ser24Asn and Thr217Iso) induce conformational changes in the IRX4 protein, potentially altering its DNA-binding affinity. A significant reduced expression of IRX4 muteins was noted in Western blotting by both variants (p.Ser24Asn and Thr217Iso). Furthermore, luciferase reporter assays demonstrated decline in the activity of Nanog promoter and HEY2 enhancer in response to both the variants which was further corroborated by decrease mRNA expression in qRT-PCR. Additional downstream targets, including Nfyc, Nppa, and Bmp10, also exhibited anomalous expression due to both the variants (p.Ser24Asn and Thr217Iso). Altogether, the aberrant expression of muteins as well as downstream target genes along with compromised activities of promoters substantiate the pathogenic potential of the identified IRX4 variants and underscore the critical role of IRX4 in regulating multiple stages of cardiogenesis.

Neonatal intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH) is a form of haemorrhagic stroke which is most common in premature infants and can cause mortality and lifelong disability. The reaction of brain tissue to extraneous blood is known to trigger several complications including post-haemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH), furthering the likelihood of neurological disability and death. The molecular response of the neuron-rich cortex to blood within the first 24 hours of injury, and how this may precipitate secondary brain injury or neurodegeneration, remains poorly defined. This lack of understanding may reduce the development of novel therapeutics aiming to limit the injury caused by neonatal IVH. Here, we utilised a proteome and transcriptome cross-omics approach to characterise cortical responses to blood in a neonatal mouse model of IVH to improve understanding of the effects and drivers of IVH-induced brain injury. The pleiotropic proteoglycan decorin, a well-characterised modulator of the inflammatory cytokine transforming growth factor beta 1, was also studied to identify if it can have any beneficial effects in the cortex. Cross-omics analysis between the transcriptome and proteome highlighted ferroptosis-associated signatures as a key post-IVH cortical injury mechanism. IVH caused a marked depletion of cortical neurons, neurofilaments, and synaptic vesicle proteins, observed through transcriptomics, immunostaining, and proteomics, which were attenuated by decorin treatment. Decorin also produced an enhanced phagocytic response potentially through activation of microglia. These findings highlight the vulnerability of cortical neurons to early injury following IVH in neonates and support decorin as a potential neuroprotective agent. They also suggest that ferroptosis-associated pathways may contribute to early cortical injury and represent a potential therapeutic target in this context.

The normal cellular prion protein (PrPC) is an essential substrate in all forms of prion diseases and a receptor for A{beta} oligomers in Alzheimers disease. However, it is not fully understood how cells regulate PrPC levels. Recently, we identified glycogen synthase kinase-3{beta} (GSK-3{beta}) as a potential regulator of PrPC levels in a whole genome knockout screen. Here, we show that both cell surface and total PrPC levels can be reduced either by siRNA-mediated Gsk3b (but not Gsk3a) knockdown or by CRISPR-mediated Gs3b knockout. Whole cell mass spectrometric analysis showed that PrPC was the 60th most significantly reduced protein (out of 7227 total proteins detected) in Gsk3b knockout cells, compared to wild-type cells. Two different GSK-3 inhibitors, laduviglusib (CHIR-99021) and AZD-1080, reduced PrPC levels in mouse CAD5 and human BE(2)-C cells, both in undifferentiated and differentiated states. PrPC levels were similarly reduced by cycloheximide treatment in both Gsk3b knockout and WT cells, indicating that GSK-3{beta} regulates PrPC levels through a post-translational mechanism. Finally, treatment with either laduviglusib or AZD-1080 reduced PrPSc levels in CAD5 cells infected with three different rodent prion strains. Overall, the results reveal that GSK-3{beta} activity controls PrPC levels in living cells, revealing a novel regulatory mechanism and promising therapeutic target.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is particularly aggressive and difficult to treat. Due to the lack of early clinical diagnosis and the unsatisfactory clinical treatment effect, it is particularly important to identify novel markers that can predict tumor behavior in HCC. biogenesis of ribosomes BRX1 (BRIX1) is abundant in various tissues of the human body. However, the regulatory mechanisms and its role in various tissues are not fully understood. Here, we analyzed the expression pattern of BRIX1 in HCC from public gene expression databases and tissue samples from clinical HCC. We confirmed that BRIX1 was upregulated in both HCC cell lines and HCC paraffin section samples. BRIX1 depletion significantly dicreased the capacity of cells to grow and migrate in vitro, and knockdown BRIX1 suppressed tumor growth in xenograft tumor model. Mechanistically, BRIX1 depletion suppressed the MAPK/ERK pathway, as reflected by reduced phosphorylated ERK (p-ERK) levels. In summary, we provide a rational clue for the further investigation of BRIX1 as an invaluable biological marker for diagnosing and predicting prognosis of patients with HCC.

Dysfunction of maternal UBE3A leads to Angelman syndrome (AS), which is characterized by significant intellectual and motor debilities. However, the molecular underpinnings of the behavioral deficits associated with UBE3A dysfunction remain obscure. In this study, we utilized a model mouse of AS and report, for the first time, that the aberrant accumulation of -synuclein may be linked to the development of AS. Firstly, we demonstrated a progressive deterioration of various motor functions in AS mice beginning from the early adolescent phase. Subsequently, we observed an age-dependent increase in the accumulation of both soluble and insoluble -synuclein, including its pathological variant (pSer129), in the striatum and substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons of AS mice. We also found that Ube3a interacts with -synuclein and promotes its proteasome-mediated degradation, as evidenced by decreased levels of K48-linked polyubiquitinated -synuclein in the brain samples of AS mice in comparison to wild-type animals. Finally, using an RT2 Profiler PCR Array that analysed 84 genes specifically related to dopamine and serotonin pathways, we identified altered transcript level of various genes in the striatal tissues of AS mice that are commonly associated with nigrostriatal dysfunctions in Parkinson's disease. These findings highlight -synuclein as a novel target of Ube3a and suggest that -synuclein pathology may contribute to the progressive motor and other behavioral abnormalities witnessed in AS mice.