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Pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), a rare progressive lung disease associated with mutations of the tuberous sclerosis complex 2 (Tsc2) tumor suppressor gene, manifests by neoplastic growth of LAM cells, induction of cystic lung destruction, and respiratory failure. LAM severity correlates with upregulation in serum of the prolymphangiogenic vascular endothelial growth factor D (VEGF-D) that distinguishes LAM from other cystic diseases. The goals of our study was to determine whether Tsc2 deficiency upregulates VEGF-D, and whether axitinib, the Food and Drug Administration-approved small-molecule inhibitor of VEGF receptor (VEGFR) signaling, will reduce Tsc2-null lung lesion growth in a mouse model of LAM. Our data demonstrate upregulation of VEGF-D in the serum and lung lining in mice with Tsc2-null lesions. Progressive growth of Tsc2-null lesions induces recruitment and activation of inflammatory cells and increased nitric oxide production. Recruited cells isolated from the lung lining of mice with Tsc2-null lesions demonstrate upregulated expression of provasculogenic Vegfa, prolymphangiogenic Figf, and proinflammatory Nos2, Il6, and Ccl2 genes. Importantly, axitinib is an effective inhibitor of Tsc2-null lesion growth and inflammatory cell recruitment, which correlates with reduced VEGF-D levels in serum and lung lining. Our data demonstrate that pharmacological inhibition of VEGFR signaling with axitinib inhibits Tsc2-null lesion growth, attenuates recruitment and activation of inflammatory cells, and reduces VEGF-D levels systemically and in the lung lining. Our study suggests a potential therapeutic benefit of inhibition of VEGFR signaling for treatment of LAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction To investigate the cardioprotective effect of Micro RNA-21 (miR-21) in murine myocardial infarction ( MI). Methods Forty C57 BL/6 male mice were divided into sham group, MI group, LV- GFP group, and miR-21 group. Mice in the MI group, LV- GFP group, and miR-21 group were subjected to MI by left anterior descending artery ( LAD) ligation, while chest was opened/closed without ligation in sham group. In MI group, expression of miR-21 in the MI area and its surrounding areas was detected at 1st, 2nd, and 4th week after experiment. Subsequently, lentivirus expressing miR-21 and lentivirus that did not express miR-21 were transfected into mice left ventricular cavity of miR-21 group and LV- GFP group, respectively. Cardiac function, MI size, miR-21 expression, collagen I level, fibronectin content, number of α- SMA-positive cells, number of apoptotic cells, apoptosis-related factors were compared between the three groups. Results Compared with sham group, miR-21 levels in MI group were significantly decreased in the 1st week and 2nd week, but were almost the same in the 4th week. Left ventricular fractional shortening ( LVFS) and left ventricular ejection fraction ( LVEF) in the miR-21 group improved compared to the LV- GFP group. In miR-21 group, myocardial infarct size reduced by 36.9% in comparison with LV- GFP group. Compared to sham group, miR-21 expression in the miR-21 group and LV- GFP group decreased significantly. In the miR-21 group, collagen I level, fibronectin content and number of α- SMA-positive cells of miR-21 decreased significantly compared to the LV- GFP group. The number of apoptotic cells in the MI areas of the miR-21 group was significantly less than the LV- GFP group. Compared with the LV- GFP group, Bcl-2 level and the ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax were significantly increased, and the levels of Bax and Caspase-3 decreased. Conclusions Our results suggest miR-21 is an important regulatory molecule in the pathophysiology of MI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study generated a novel DNA complex to specifically target endothelial NF-κB to inhibit cerebral vascular inflammation. This DNA complex (GS24-NFκB) contains a DNA decoy which inhibits NF-κB activity, and a DNA aptamer (GS-24), a ligand of transferrin receptor (TfR), which allows for targeted delivery of the DNA decoy into cells. The results indicate that GS24-NFκB was successfully delivered into a murine brain-derived endothelial cell line, bEND5, and inhibited inflammatory responses induced by tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) or oxygen-glucose deprivation/re-oxygenation (OGD/R) via down-regulation of the nuclear NF-κB subunit, p65, as well as its downstream inflammatory cytokines, inter-cellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM-1). The inhibitory effect of the GS24-NFκB was demonstrated by a significant reduction in TNF-α or OGD/R induced monocyte adhesion to the bEND5 cells after GS24-NFκB treatment. Intravenous (i.v.) injection of GS24-‘NFκB (15 mg/kg) was able to inhibit the levels of phoseph-p65 and VCAM-1 in brain endothelial cells in a mouse lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory model in vivo . In conclusion, our approach using DNA nanotechnology for DNA decoy delivery could potentially be utilized for inhibition of inflammation in ischemic stroke and other neuro-inflammatory diseases affecting cerebral vasculature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]