Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) deficiency aggravates dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced intestinal injury by down-regulating IL6, CCL2 and CSF3
ANNALS OF TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
Authors: Shi, Yun-Jie; Hu, Shi-Jie; Zhao, Quan-Quan; Liu, Xiao-Shuang; Liu, Cong; Wang, Hao
Abstract
Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes long-lasting inflammation and ulcers in the human digestive tract. The repair role of TLR4 in the intestinal epithelium is still unknown. Methods: By comparing to wild-type (WT) mice, Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-knockout mice (TLR4-KO) were used as dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis models to explore the role of TLR4 signaling in intestinal injury. High-throughput RNA-Seq, RT-qPCR and ELISA were performed to screen and verify key differences in gut genes between WT and TLR4-KO mice. Functional study of core dysregulated factors was performed in intestinal cell lines. Results: We found that DSS-induced intestinal injury was aggravated by LPS (TLR4 agonist) and TLR4-KO. When compared to WT mice, IL6, CCL2, CSF3, IL11, Ccnb1, Ccnd1 and TNF-alpha significantly decreased and Fas and FasL have increased in the gut of TLR4-KO mice. IL6, CCL2, CSF3, Fas and FasL have all increased in CT-26 cells treated with LPS. Combined with the above data and KEGG enrichment, it can be assumed that TLR4-KO might aggravate DSS-induced intestinal damage by attenuating cell cycle, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, and Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, and enhancing the apoptosis pathway. In the functional study of core dysregulated factors, it was found that LPS, IL6, IL11, CSF3, CCL2, S100A8, S100A9 and Mmp3 have improved viability of colon cancer cell lines and decreased apoptosis rate of mouse colon cancer cells when these were treated with DSS. However, Jo-2 (Fas agonistic monoclonal antibody) played the opposite role in colon cancer cells treated with DSS. Conclusions: TLR4 had a repairing effect on DSS-induced intestinal damage and it up-regulate IL6, CCL2 and CSF3. Fas and FasL enhanced DSS-induced colon injury in mice, but might have little to do with TLR4 signaling.
Bioinformatic and experimental data decipher the pharmacological targets and mechanisms of plumbagin against hepatocellular carcinoma
ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY
Authors: Zhou, Rui; Wu, Ka; Su, Min; Li, Rong
Abstract
Objective: Plumbagin exerts effective anti-hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) benefits, however, the detailed mechanisms behind these effects are not yet completely elucidated. The pharmacological targets and molecular mechanisms of plumbagin against HCC were revealed through conducting network pharmacology approach before experimentative verification. Methods: The web-accessible databases of herbal ingredients' targets (HIT), Swiss-Target-Prediction and Super-Pred were used to predict the therapeutic targets of plumbagin, followed by combined with pathogenic targets of HCC from oncogenomic database of hepatocellular carcinoma (OncoDB.HCC) and Liverome databases to obtain the predominant targets of plumbagin-treating HCC. The database for annotation, visualization and integrated discovery (DAVID) was applied to output the gene ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment by use of all predominant targets for computerized visualization. The validated data of human and cell culture were subjected to a group of medical imaging, biochemical tests and immunostaining, respectively. Results: As revealed in bioinformatic data, 19 predominant targets of plumbagin-treating HCC were obtained, and 5 top targets of TP53, MAPK1, MAP2K1, RAF1 and CCND1 were the most important biomolecules in anti-HCC effects exerted by plumbagin. Other identifiable 102 GO items were showed, including 66 biological processes, and 12 cellular components, 24 molecular functions. And 67 KEGG pathways were mainly involved in neoplastic signaling. In human data, HCC sections showed increased expressions of hepatocellular TP53, MAPK1, accompanied with positive clinical imaging results for HCC. In plumbagin-treated HepG2 cells, reduced TP53, MAPK1 protein expressions were observed, accompanied with cell arrest and apoptosis. Conclusion: Collectively, the pharmacological targets and mechanisms of plumbagin-treating HCC were predicted and integrated through the method of network pharmacology, followed by some investigative validations. Interestingly, these 5 predominant biomolecules may be the potential targets for screening and treating HCC.