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The mechanisms underlying pregnancy complications caused by advanced maternal age (AMA) remain unclear. We analyzed the cellular signature and transcriptomes of human placentas in AMA women to elucidate these mechanisms. Placental tissues from two AMA women and two controls were used for single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq). Controls consisted of AMA women who did not experience any pregnancy complications and pregnant women below the age of 35 years without pregnancy complications. Trophoblast cells were obtained from the placentas of another six pregnant women (three AMA women and three controls), and in-vitro transwell assays were conducted to observe the cell invasion ability. Thirty additional samples (from 15 AMA women and 15 controls) were analyzed to verify the specific expression of serine protease inhibitor clade E member 1 (SERPINE1). Preliminary study of the role of SERPINE1 in cell invasion was carried out with HTR8-S/Vneo cells. High-quality transcriptomes of 27 ‍607 cells were detected. Three types of trophoblast cells were detected, which were further classified into eight subtypes according to differences in gene expression and Gene Ontology (GO) function. We identified 110 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in trophoblast cells between the AMA and control groups, and the DEGs were enriched in multiple pathways related to cell invasion. In-vitro transwell assays suggested that the invading trophoblast cells in AMA women were reduced. SERPINE1 was specifically expressed in the trophoblast, and its expression was higher in AMA women (P

Background The TM4 (UBAC2) protein, which contains 4 transmembrane domains and one ubiquitin binding domain, is mainly expressed in cell and nuclear membranes. The current research aimed to explore the role of TM4 in metabolic inflammation and to examine whether the ubiquitin–proteasome inhibitor PS-341 could regulate the function of TM4. Methods The metabolic phenotypes of TM4 knockout (KO) mice were studied. We next explored the association between the polymorphisms of TM4 and obesity in a Chinese Han population. TM4 expression in the visceral fat of obese patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy was also analysed. Finally, the effect of PS-341 on the degradation and function of the TM4 protein was investigated in vivo and in vitro. Results TM4 KO mice developed obesity, hepatosteatosis, hypertension, and glucose intolerance under a high-fat diet. TM4 counterregulated Nur77, IKKβ, and NF-kB both in vivo and in vitro. The TM4 SNP rs147851454 is significantly associated with obesity after adjusting for age and sex (OR 1.606, 95% CI 1.065–2.422 P = 0.023) in 3394 non-diabetic and 1862 type 2 diabetic adults of Han Chinese. TM4 was significantly downregulated in the visceral fat of obese patients. PS-341 induced TM4 expression through inhibition of TM4 degradation in vitro. In db/db mice, PS-341 administration led to downregulation of Nur77/IKKβ/NF-κB expression in visceral fat and liver, and alleviation of hyperglycaemia, hypertension, and glucose intolerance. The hyperinsulinaemic-euglycaemic clamp demonstrated that PS-341 improved the glucose infusion rate and alleviated insulin resistance in db/db mice. Conclusions PS-341 alleviates chronic low-grade inflammation and improves insulin sensitivity through inhibition of TM4 degradation.

Endothelial injury plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disorders and metabolic-associated vascular complications which are the leading cause of death worldwide. However, the mechanism underlying endothelial dysfunction is not completely understood. The study is aimed at investigating the role of tubulin polymerization-promoting protein family member 3 (TPPP3) in palmitic acid- (PA-) induced endothelial injury. The effect of TPPP3 on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was determined by evaluating apoptosis, tube formation, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. TPPP3 silencing inhibited PA overload-induced apoptosis and production of ROS, along with the alteration of apoptosis-related key proteins such as BCL-2 and Bax. Mechanically, voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1) was identified as a novel functional binding partner of TPPP3, and TPPP3 promoted VDAC1 protein stability and its activity. Further studies indicated that TPPP3 could promote apoptosis, ROS production, tube formation, and proapoptotic protein expression and reduce antiapoptotic protein expression through increasing VDAC1 expression under mildly elevated levels of PA. Collectively, these results demonstrated that TPPP3 could promote PA-induced oxidative damage in HUVECs via a VDAC1-dependent pathway, suggesting that TPPP3 might be considered as a potential therapeutic target in vascular disease.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) will bring the increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. More and more evidence showed that placentation defects might play important role in GDM. However, it is still very limited of our understanding in human placenta. This study fiestly generated a comprehensive transcriptomic profile of cellular signifures and transcriptomes of human placenta in GDM by single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq), built a comprehensive cell atlas, exploded the cell identities and cell-type-specific marker genes. In addition, it demonstrated the features of placental function and cell interactions for GDM. All these will contrubute to reveal the new molecular mechanism of GDM, and develop innovation to prevent GDM.

Studies had examined the associations between genetic polymorphisms and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). However, conclusions of these studies were controversial due to the smaller sample size and limited statistical power. We carried out a meta-analysis with the aim of providing a more comprehensive summary of the currently available research to evaluate the relationship between FTO, GCKR, CDKAL1 and CDKN2A/B gene polymorphisms and GDM risk. Literature search was carried out in the PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wangfang databases up to November 2017. Data were extracted by two independent reviewers and statistical analyses were performed with STATA software. Pooled odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated by Z test to assess the association between genetic polymorphisms and GDM risk. Stratified analysis was performed based on ethnicity. Heterogeneity and publication bias between studies were evaluated by Cochran’s Q test and Egger regression test, respectively. 14 eligible studies were included. CDKAL1 rs7754840 and rs7756992 showed significant correlation with GDM risk under the allele, recessive, dominant, homozygote and heterozygote models. GCKR rs780094 and CDKN2A/B rs10811661 also showed the same association under the allele, recessive and heterozygote models. No associations between FTO rs9939609 and rs8050136, GCKR rs1260326 and GDM risk were found. Our meta-analysis showed that two SNPs in particular(rs7754840 and rs7756992 in CDKAL1) were very strongly associated with GDM risk. GCKR rs780094 and CDKN2A/B rs10811661 polymorphisms were moderately associated with GDM risk.

Forty-five pregnant women who underwent cesarean section, including 30 cases of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and 15 normal pregnant women, were enrolled in this study to examine the differential expression of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in the placentas of women with GDM by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis. The differentially expressed circRNAs were analyzed bioinformatically using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment and circRNA-microRNA (miRNA) interaction prediction. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to verify the results. A total of 8,321 circRNAs were identified in the human placenta, among which 46 were differentially expressed (fold change ≥2 and p < 0.05), including three that were upregulated and 43 that were downregulated. According to the GO and KEGG enrichment results, these circRNAs may be associated with vital biological processes, cellular components, molecular functions, and signaling pathways. In particular, KEGG analysis shown they may be involved in advanced glycation end products-receptor for advanced glycation end products (AGE-RAGE) signaling pathway in diabetic complications, indicating that these circRNAs might participate in the occurrence and pathogenesis of GDM. qRT-PCR verified that the expression of circ_5824, circ_3636, and circ_0395 was consistent with RNA-seq analysis; their expression levels were significantly lower in the GDM group than in the control group. The circRNA-miRNA interaction was analyzed according to the molecular sponge mechanism, and its potential function is discussed. These results shed light on future functional studies of circRNAs related to GDM.

Our previous studies demonstrated that depletion of tubulin polymerization promoting protein family member 3 (TPPP3) inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis of HeLa cells. However, the expression and roles of TPPP3 in cancers remain largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the expression of TPPP3 in clinicopathological correlations in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) samples by immunohistochemistry. TPPP3 expression was significantly upregulated in NSCLC tissues, and high TPPP3 expression was positively associated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, clinical stage, and poor survival. Furthermore, knockdown of TPPP3 by shRNA significantly inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in vitro. In addition, depletion of TPPP3 inhibited lung cancer growth in vivo in the xenografts of H1299 cells; this effect was accompanied by the suppression of Ki67 expression. Our data suggested that TPPP3 might act as an oncogene in NSCLC. TPPP3 warrants consideration as a therapeutic candidate with anti-tumor potential.

A systemic inflammatory response complicates the evaluation of iron status during pregnancy. We investigated the magnitude of this effect on indices of iron status in late pregnancy.We retrospectively interrogated laboratory data and hospitalisation records from April 2016 to March 2017 and obtained results from pregnant women in which serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) or albumin had been examined together with indicators of iron status (serum ferritin [SF] and serum transferrin [ST], n = 11,571). We assessed the association of the inflammatory response, as evidenced by hsCRP and albumin, with iron status indicators by general linear regression analysis.Compared to women with an hsCRP of ≤ 5 mg/L, the median SF level in those with an hsCRP of 6-10, 11-20, and20 mg/L significantly increased by 2.24 μg/L (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.22, 3.26), 4.04 μg/L (95 % CI: 2.05, 6.04), and 13.49 μg/L (95 % CI: 10.44, 16.53); while the ST level decreased by 0.10 g/L (95 % CI: 0.13, 0.06), 0.16 g/L (95 % CI: 0.23, 0.09), and 0.21 g/L (95 % CI: 0.32, 0.11), respectively (all P 0.001). With regard to the association of inflammation with SF and ST, no significant interaction between albumin (35 and ≥ 35 g/L) and hsCRP was observed (SF: P for interaction = 0.426; ST: P for interaction = 0.872).Measurement of hsCRP in late pregnancy is necessary to correct the levels of SF and ST. The impact of the inflammatory response on indices of iron status in late pregnancy could not be adjusted by albumin.

Background We examined the associations between Down's serum screening analytes and pregnancy outcomes in Chinese women. Methods A retrospective cohort study of 2470 pregnant women was conducted. Maternal serum triple tests (AFP, fβ-hCG, uE3), maternal characteristics and pregnancy outcomes were recorded from our prenatal screening and hospitalization information system, respectively. Results The elevated concentration of uE3 in the early-second trimester was associated with increased risk of LGA infants and macrosomia, decreased risk of PE and small SGA infants (for LGA: OR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.09–1.65; for macrosomia: OR:1.39, 95% CI: 1.08–1.78; for PE: OR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.40–0.95; for SGA: OR: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.25–0.49). The increased ratio of AFP/uE3 was associated with reduced risk of GDM in the study populations (BMI ≥ 25; OR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.0.93–1.00). The higher ratio of AFP/fβ-hCG + uE3 associated with increased risk of SGA infants and ICP in these subjects (BMI ≥ 25) was also observed (for SGA: OR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.03–1.18; for ICP: OR: 1.27, 95% CI: 1.06–1.53). Conclusions Down's serum screening analytes were associated with pregnancy outcomes in Chinese population and might provide an alternative tools for risk estimates on these unfavorable outcomes.

To identify the spectrum and prevalence of thirteen causative genes mutations in congenital hypothyroidism (CH) patients, we collected blood samples and extracted genomic DNA of 106 CH patients, and designed a customized targeted next-generation sequencing panel containing 13 CH-causing genes to detect mutations. A total of 132 mutations were identified in 65.09% of patients (69/106) on the following nine genes: DUOX2, TG, TPO, TSHR, TTF1, TTF2, NKX2-5, PAX8 and GNAS. 69.70% (92/132) mutations related to thyroid dyshormonogenesis genes, including DUOX2 (n = 49), TG (n = 35), and TPO (n = 8). 21.21% (28/132) mutations related to thyroid dysgenesis genes, including TSHR (n = 19), TTF1 (n = 5), TTF2 (n = 1), PAX8 (n = 2), and NKX2-5 (n = 1). 9.09% (12/132) mutations related to GNAS, which was associated with thyrotropin resistance. No mutation of THRA, TSHB, IYD or SLC5A5 was detected. Among 69 mutations detected patients, 41 (59.42%) patients were two or more mutations detected, and mutations of 30 (43.48%) patients related to two or three genes. According to the pathomechanism of the mutant genes, 57.97% CH patients were classified as thyroid dyshormonogenesis. Overall, DUOX2, TG and TSHR mutations were the most common genetic defects in Chinese CH patients, and thyroid dyshormonogenesis could be the first genetic etiology of CH in Chinese. Besides, multiple mutations accounts for a part of genetic pathogenesis.

To evaluate the predictive value of second-trimester maternal serum screening biomarkers for preeclampsia, we analyzed the second-trimester serum prenatal screening data of pregnant women, and identified preeclampsia diagnosis by hospitalization records. 198 cases who developed preeclampsia and 1171 healthy controls were included in this study. In 15~20 gestational weeks, the cases who developed into preeclampsia had lower serum levels of uE

Animals have developed adaptive strategies to survive tough situations such as food shortage. However, the underlying molecular mechanism is not fully understood. Here, we provided evidence that the regulatory peptide prokineticin 2 (PK2) played an important role in such an adaptation. The PK2 expression was rapidly induced in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) after fasting, which can be mimicked by 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) injection. The fasting-induced arousal was absent in the PK2-deficient (PK2(-/-)) mice. Furthermore, PK2(-/-) mice showed less energy expenditure and body weight loss than wild-type (WT) controls upon fasting. As a result, PK2(-/-) mice entered torpor after fasting. Supply of limited food (equal to 5% of body weight) daily during fasting rescued the body weight loss and hypothermal phenotype in WT mice, but not in PK2(-/-) mice. Our study thus demonstrated PK2 as a regulator in the thermoregulation and energy expenditure.

Previous studies on the apoptotic effect of aspirin mainly focus on colorectal cancer and breast carcinoma. Few studies have been designed to explore the effect of aspirin on hepatocellular carcinoma. In the present study, we observed that aspirin caused G0/G1 phase cell cycle arrest and reduced etoposide induced caspase-3 activation in hepatocellular carcinoma G2 (HepG2) cells. Further investigation demonstrated that aspirin notably enhanced the activity of Akt and ERK1/2. Blocking the activation of Akt by the PI3-K-selective inhibitor wortmannin abrogated the anti-apoptotic effect of aspirin while the MEK inhibitor U0126 did not. p21(cip), an important substrate of Akt, is involved in the regulation of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Our data showed that the protein expression and ser146 phosphorylation levels of p21(cip) were significantly increased after treatment with aspirin, whereas p53 or p27 showed no change. The increase of p21(cip) protein levels was also scavenged by wortmannin but not by U0126. Moreover, reduction of caspase-3 activity induced by aspirin was attenuated by silencing p21(cip) expression. These results indicated that the anti-apoptotic effect of aspirin was dependent on activation of Akt which inhibited cell apoptosis by up-regulating p21(cip) and blocking caspase-3 activation. These findings could have clinical relevance in anticancer therapy and aspirin co-treatment of human malignancies.

The family with sequence similarity 172, member A (FAM172A) is a hypothetical protein. We recently cloned the FAM172A gene from normal human aortic tissues. In a previous study we also showed that the FAM172A gene was up-regulated by high glucose levels in macrophages. In the present study, we further identified the FAM172A protein at the level of translation and studied the effects of high glucose levels on its expression in human aortic smooth muscle cells. The FAM172A gene was subcloned into the eukaryotic expression vectors, PDC315 and pEGFP-N2. The cloned sequence shows an open reading frame of 1251 nucleotides encoding a protein of 416 amino acids. We further expressed the recombinant FAM172A protein and generated rabbit anti-human FAM172A polyclonal antibodies. The FAM172A protein was identified for the first time at the translation level by Western blot analysis. Western blotting also demonstrated that the FAM172A protein could be detected in human aortic endothelial, human aortic smooth muscle cells and THP-1-derived macrophages, the highest expression being observed in the human aortic smooth muscle cells. By a combination of bioinformatics and confocal laser scanning microscopy, we found that the FAM172A protein in HEK293 cells, was mainly located in the nucleus, and that there was an Arb2 conserved domain in the FAM172A protein sequence. We also presented evidence that the FAM172 protein expression in human aortic smooth muscle cells was up-regulated by high glucose levels in a concentration-dependent and time-course manner. We speculated that as a novel protein, FAM172A could be involved in the pathogenesis of high glucose-induced vascular damage.

Tubulin polymerization promoting protein 3 (TPPP3), a member of the TPPP family, can induce tubulin polymerization and microtubule bundling. Previously, it has been shown that TPPP3 plays an important role in cell proliferation. Depletion of TPPP3 by microRNA-based RNA interference (RNAi) inhibits cell growth, arrests cell cycles, and causes mitotic abnormalities in HeLa cells. In the present study, we knocked down TPPP3 in Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells with the same RNAi construct, and observed a retarded tumor cell growth in vitro. Furthermore, C57BL/6 mice that received subcutaneously injected LLC cells in which TPPP3 was knocked down showed a pronounced reduction in tumor progression. The migration/invasion activity of TPPP3-knockdown LLC cells was significantly suppressed in a transwell chamber migration assay. When these cells were injected into the tail veins of C57BL/6 mice, they exhibited milder lung metastasis compared with control tumor cells. Taken together, these findings suggested that the TPPP3 gene played an important role in tumorigenesis and metastasis, and it could potentially become a novel target for cancer therapy.

We reported the identification of a novel gene termed TDRP (encoding testis development-related protein) that might be involved in spermatogenesis. The human TDRP gene had two distinct transcripts, TDRP1 and TDRP2, which encoded proteins of 183 aa and 198 aa respectively. Tdrp mRNA was predominantly expressed in testis tissue. We generated rabbit polyclonal antibodies specific against human TDRP1. Immunohistochemistry analysis showed TDRP1 was expressed in spermatogenic cells, especially with high expression in spermatocytes. We provided evidence that TDRP1 distributed in both cytoplasm and nuclei of spermatogenic cells. Expression patterns of Tdrp1 mRNA and its protein were investigated in the rat testis tissues of different developmental stages. Both Tdrp1 mRNA and its protein were barely detected in the testis of neonatal rats, increased remarkably at 3weeks postpartum, and peaked at 2months postpartum. We also investigated TDRP1 expressions in testis tissues of azoospermic men with defective spermatogenesis. Western blot analysis showed that TDRP1 expressions were significantly lower in the testis tissues of azoospermic men compared with normal controls. These current data demonstrated that as a nuclear factor, TDRP1 might play an important role in spermatogenesis.

We report the identification of a novel secreted peptide, INM02. The mRNA transcript of human INM02 gene is about 3.0 kb. Its open-reading frame contains 762 bps and encodes a protein of 254 amino acids. Northern blot analysis demonstrates that INM02 mRNA is widely expressed in rat tissues, especially with abundant quantities in pancreatic islets, testis, and bladder tissue. We have expressed recombinant INM02 protein and generated rabbit anti-INM02 polyclonal antibodies. We show here that INM02 could be detectable in human serum by ELISA. We also present evidence that INM02 mRNA expression could be regulated by glucose. Experiments on both MIN6 cells and intact isolated islets demonstrate that INM02 mRNA levels are increased more than threefold by high glucose (25 mM) when compared with low glucose (5.5 mM). ELISA analysis shows that secretion of INM02 is significantly augmented by high glucose in vitro. It is speculated that as a novel secreted protein, INM02 is associated with functions of pancreatic islets, especially of β-cells.

Microtubules (MTs) play an important role in cell division, and their functions are regulated by a set of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs). Tubulin polymerization promoting protein family member 3 (TPPP3), also known as p20, is a new member of the tubulin polymerization promoting protein (TPPP) family. Previous studies have demonstrated that TPPP3 specifically binds to MTs and positively regulates MTs assembly, which leads to significant ultrastructural alterations of the MTs network. However, the physiological function of TPPP3 is still largely unknown. In the present study, we showed that knockdown of endogenous TPPP3 by RNA interference (RNAi) suppressed cell proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest in HeLa cells. Furthermore, we showed that the depletion of TPPP3 caused mitotic abnormalities, such as the formation of multipolar spindles and chromosome segregation errors, which lead to apoptosis in HeLa cells. Our study suggested that TPPP3 played a crucial role in cell mitosis by regulating centrosomes amplification and/or spindles translocation processes.

e22009 Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the world. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 85% of all lung cancers. Tubulin polymerization promoting protein ...