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Astaxanthin is an oxygen-containing derivative of carotenoids that effectively suppresses reactive oxygen and has nutritional and medicinal value. The mechanisms underlying the effects of astaxanthin on isoflurane-induced neuroapoptosis remain to be fully understood. The present study was conducted to evaluate the protective effect of astaxanthin to reduce isoflurane-induced neuroapoptosis and to investigate the underlying mechanisms. The results demonstrated that isoflurane induced brain damage, increased caspase-3 activity and suppressed the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway in an in vivo model. However, treatment with astaxanthin significantly inhibited brain damage, suppressed caspase-3 activity and upregulated the PI3K/Akt pathway in the isoflurane-induced rats. Furthermore, isoflurane suppressed cell growth, induced cell apoptosis, enhanced caspase-3 activity and downregulated the PI3K/Akt pathway in organotypic hippocampal slice culture. Administration of astaxanthin significantly promoted cell growth, reduced cell apoptosis and caspase-3 activity, and upregulated the PI3K/Akt pathway and isoflurane-induced neuroapoptosis. The present study demonstrated that downregulation of the PI3K/Akt pathway reduced the effect of astaxanthin to protect against isoflurane-induced neuroapoptosis in the in vitro model. The results of the current study suggested that the protective effect of astaxanthin reduces the isoflurane-induced neuroapoptosis via activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, cancer research has focused on protein-coding genes, which are considered the principal effectors and regulators of tumorigenesis. Non-coding RNAs, in particular microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), have been widely reported to be important in the regulation of tumorigenesis and cancer development. However, to the best of our knowledge, investigation of the expression profiles of lncRNAs and a comparison of the involvement of lncRNAs, miRNAs and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in esophageal tumorigenesis and development have not previously been performed. In the current study, intrinsic associations among the expression profiles of lncRNAs, miRNAs and mRNAs from normal esophageal tissues and those from cancer tissues were investigated. Oligonucleotide microarrays were used to detect the expression profiles of the three types of RNA in the canceration processes of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissues. It was demonstrated that the different RNAs exhibit associated patterns of expression among normal esophageal epithelium, low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (LGIN), high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGIN), and carcinoma tissues, particularly in the critical period of canceration (HGIN to ESCC). Furthermore, the results indicated a high level of similarity in the potential function of lncRNAs, miRNAs and mRNAs in the processes of ESCC development. In the current study, a first generation atlas of lncRNA profiling and its association with miRNAs and mRNAs in the canceration processes of ESCC were presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to identify key genes associated with atopic dermatitis (AD) using microarray data and bioinformatic analyses. The dataset GSE6012, downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, contains gene expression data from 10 AD skin samples and 10 healthy skin samples. Following data preprocessing, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using the limma package of the R project. Interaction networks were constructed comprising DEGs that showed a degree of node of >3, >5 and >10, using the Osprey software. Functional enrichment and pathway enrichment analysis of the network comprising all DEGs and of the network comprising DEGs with a high degree of node, were performed with the DAVID and WebGestalt toolkits, respectively. A total of 337 DEGs were identified. The functional enrichment analysis revealed that the list of DEGs was significantly enriched for proteins related to epidermis development (P=2.95E-07), including loricrin (LOR), keratin 17 (KRT17), small proline-rich repeat proteins (SPRRs) and involucrin (IVL). The chemokine signaling pathway was the most significantly enriched pathway (P=0.0490978) in the network of all DEGs and in the network consisting of high degree node DEGs (>10), which comprised the genes coding for chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7), chemokine ligand (CCL19), signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1), and phosphoinositide-3-kinase regulatory subunit 1 (PIK3R1). In conclusion, the list of AD-associated proteins identified in this study, including LOR, KRT17, SPRRs, IVL, CCR7, CCL19, PIK3R1 and STAT1 may prove useful for the development of methods to treat AD. From these proteins, PIK3R1 and KRT17 are novel and promising targets for AD therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]