Search

Objective: To investigate the role of hepatocyte growth factor and its receptor c-Met (HGF/ c-Met) signaling pathway in early follicular development in mice via detecting the expression of HGF/c-Met in early mouse ovarian tissue and then analyze the biological process of HGF/c-Met signaling pathway and its possible involvement in intracellular signaling pathways by using bioinformatics for the purpose of further studying the molecular mechanism of the signaling pathway in the early follicle development. Methods. Thirty-five female Kunming mice and 15 male ones were fed in 15 cages with the female-to-male ratio of 2,1. The ovaries of mice at 3, 7, 14 and 21 days after birth were collected. Immunohistochemical staining and Western blotting were applied to detect the expression levels of HGF and c-Met protein in the ovarian tissues. Quantitative Real-time PCR,q-PCR, was used to detect the expression levels of HGF and C-Met mRNA in the early ovarian tissues of mice. Results, HGF and c-Met proteins were expressed in the ovarian tissues of the mice at 3, 7, 14 and 21 days, presenting an increasing trend with the increase of age by day,P < 0.05,. The mRNA levels of HGF and c-Met also showed the same trend,P < 0.05,. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the HGF/c-Met signaling pathway involved in a variety of biological processes and signaling pathways such as PI3K/AKT. Conclusions,HGF/c-Met signaling pathway is involved in early follicular development in mice. It may regulate primal follicular initiation and follicular develop, ment through intracellular signaling pathway PI3K/AKT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recurrent Pregnancy Loss (RPL) and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) are both common diseases involving women of childbearing age, and their pathogenesis is still not sufficiently known., Objective: This study aimed to explore the relationship between RPL and PCOS in bioinformatics., Methods: Two expression chips, GSE86241 (obtained from 8 PCOS patients and 9 healthy controls) and GSE73025 (obtained from 5 RPL patients and 5 healthy controls), were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. We used the GEO database to analyze the gene expression profiles of PCOS and RPL to identify the intersection of abnormal miRNA expression, predicted the target genes of the intersecting miRNAs from miRDB, miRTarBase, and TargetScan databases, and then incorporated the miRNA-mRNA modulation network. By using the string database, the PPI network was built, which could screen the Hub genes and enrich them for analysis. Ultimately, the critical miRNA-mRNA regulatory network was set on the basis of the relationship between hub genes and miRNA., Results: A total of 39 significantly altered miRNAs of PCOS and 137 significantly altered miRNAs of RPL were obtained, three miRNAs (miR-767-5p, miR-3196, and miR-187-3p), five signaling pathways (PI3K-Akt, p53, Toll-like receptor, C-type lectin receptor, and TNF signaling pathways), and six Hub genes (CASP8, PIK3R1, ADAMTS2, ADAMTS3, COL3A1, and MDM2) were found to be related to the development and progression of two diseases. More importantly, all Hub genes were regulated by miR-767-5p., Conclusion: This research clarifies the possible relationship between miRNA and mRNA with PCOS and RPL for the first time. It provides a basis for illustrating the pathogenic mechanism and a target of therapies for these two diseases., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Background and Objectives: Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) is a disease suffered by women under the age of 40 when ovarian function has declined, seriously affecting both the physical and mental health of women. Guiluoshi Anzang decoction (GLSAZD) has been used for a long time and has a unique therapeutic effect on improving ovarian function. This study aims to investigate the mechanism of GLSAZD in treating POI through network pharmacology, molecular docking, and experimental verification., Methods: In this study, the active ingredients of Guiluoshi Anzang Decoction and the targets of POI were obtained from TCMSP, BATMANN-TCM, Uniprot, GeneCards, and other databases, and network pharmacology analysis was performed. Molecular docking was conducted to validate the affinity of the main active ingredient of GLSAZD to key POI targets. A POI SD rat model was established, and HE staining, ELISA, Real-time PCR, and Western blot experiments were performed to verify the predicted core targets and the therapeutic effects., Results: 10 core targets and the top 5 ingredients were screened out. Molecular docking showed core targets AKT1, CASP3, TNF, TP53, and IL6 had stable binding with the core 5 ingredients quercetin, kaempferol, beta-sitosterol, luteolin, and Stigmasterol. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis demonstrated the mechanism involved in the positive regulation of gene expression, PI3K-AKT signaling pathway, and apoptosis signaling pathways. Animal experiments indicated GLSAZD could up-regulate the protein expression of p-PI3K and p-AKT1 and the mRNA expression of STAT3 and VEGF, down-regulate TP53 and Cleaved Caspase-3 protein expression in rat`s ovarian tissues and serum TNF-α and IL-6 protein levels, activate PI3K-AKT signaling pathway and inhibit the apoptosis signaling pathway., Conclusion: GLSAZD treats POI through multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway approaches. This study provided evidence for its clinical application in treating POI and shed light on the study of traditional medicine of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Biofouling deteriorates the performance of sensors operated in biofluids. Protein adsorption is believed to be the first step of biofouling, which also reduces biocompatibility by further inducing cell adhesion, platelet activation, and even inflammation. Current studies of antifouling coatings are focused on polymers and hydrogels, which have succeeded in remaining resistant to protein adsorption, but their application on sensor electrodes is limited due to low conductivity and biocompatibility. Here, we report a spontaneous antibiofouling strategy for sensor electrodes by controlling oxygen vacancies in WO 3 nanosheets. Irreversible adsorption of proteins was reduced by 76% in unprocessed human plasma when electrodes were coated with WO 3 rich in surface oxygen vacancy. These electrodes maintained 91% of the initial current density after 1 month of incubation in human plasma.