RAN PAN^1,#, JIAYAN MAO^2,#, YUELIANG ZHENG³, WEI CHEN², JUNPING GUO^1,*, LIJUN WANG^3,*

BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.3, pp. 431-441, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.046484

Abstract Background: Sepsis, a type of systemic disease, can impact nearly all organs, tissues and cells. Among them, endothelial cells are amongst the first to be affected and respond to the insult. In this study, we investigated the protective effects of microRNA-30a-5p (miR-30a-5p) on human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMECs) treated with lipolysaccharide (LPS). Methods: An in vitro model of sepsis was established in HPMECs with the use of LPS. Transfecting with different tools (mimetic and inhibitor) to modify miR-30a-5p expression. Cell viability, proliferation and apoptosis were detected by the CCK-8 assay, the EdU kit and fluorescence staining, respectively. The autophagy-related… More >

WEIXUE WANG^#, TONGTONG WANG^#, YAN ZHANG, TING DENG, HAIYANG ZHANG^*, YI BA^*

Oncology Research, Vol.32, No.3, pp. 489-502, 2024, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.046676

Abstract Different from necrosis, apoptosis, autophagy and other forms of cell death, ferroptosis is a mechanism that catalyzes lipid peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids under the action of iron divalent or lipoxygenase, leading to cell death. Apatinib is currently used in the third-line standard treatment of advanced gastric cancer, targeting the anti-angiogenesis pathway. However, Apatinib-mediated ferroptosis in vascular endothelial cells has not been reported yet. Tumor-secreted exosomes can be taken up into target cells to regulate tumor development, but the mechanism related to vascular endothelial cell ferroptosis has not yet been discovered. Here, we show that exosomes secreted by gastric cancer… More >

Aisa Zulibiya^1,2,#, Jing Wen^3,#, Huiqing Yu^3,#, Xiaoming Chen³, Lei Xu³, Xiao Ma^1,2, Baojian Zhang^1,2,*

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.18, No.6, pp. 611-625, 2023, DOI:10.32604/chd.2023.047689

Abstract Background: Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is a very common cyanotic congenital heart disease. Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndoMT) is recognized as a physiological mechanism involved in embryonic heart development and endothelial formation. However, there is still a gap in the reports related to the mechanism of EndoMT development in TOF. Methods: First, transcriptomic data of single cell nuclei of TOF and Donor were obtained based on the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and the data were normalized and clustered by dimensionality reduction using the Seurat package. Subsequently, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between TOF and Donor were screened using the “FindMarkers” function, and… More >

JING LI^1,2, WANWAN FAN⁴, LILI HAO¹, YONGSHENG LI⁵, GUOCHENG YU¹, WEI SUN⁶, XIANQIONG LUO^2,*, JINGXIANG ZHONG^1,3,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.11, pp. 2485-2494, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.044177

Abstract Objective: This study aimed to investigate the potential of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell (hucMSC)-derived exosomes (hucMSC-Exos) in inhibiting hypoxia-induced cell hyper proliferation and overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) in immature human fetal retinal microvascular endothelial cells (hfRMECs). Methods: Exosomes were isolated from hucMSCs using cryogenic ultracentrifugation and characterized through various techniques, including transmission electron microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis, bicinchoninic acid assays, and western blotting. The hfRMECs were identified using von Willebrand factor (vWF) co-staining and divided into four groups: a control group cultured under normoxic condition, a hypoxic model group, a hypoxic group treated with… More > Graphic Abstract

WENLI JIANG^1,#, JUNYI SHEN^1,#, XIAOQIANG DU^1,#, YAN QIU¹, JIAN ZHONG¹, ZHI OUYANG¹, BINGMEI M. FU², YE ZENG^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.10, pp. 2255-2263, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.030880

Abstract Background: Anisodine hydrobromide (AT3), an anti-cholinergic agent, could be delivered to the brain across the blood-brain barrier and has been used clinically for the treatment of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury. Endothelial dysfunction can be caused by hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) via oxidative stress and metabolic alterations. The present study investigated whether AT3 regulates the production of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), and the HIF-1α pathway via regulation of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) in brain microvascular endothelial cells after H/R exposure. Methods: Under H/R conditions, hCMEC/D3 cerebral microvascular endothelial cells were treated with AT3. Specific inhibitors of M2- and M4- mAChRs… More > Graphic Abstract

ZHUO YANG^#, WEN QIN^#, DI CHEN, JUNSHENG HUO, JINGBO WANG, LIYUAN WANG, QIN ZHUO, JIYONG YIN^*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.1, pp. 125-131, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.022937

Abstract Emodin is an effective component of rhubarb with positive pharmacological effects on human health. However, it is also toxic to different cells or tissues to varying degrees. The effects of emodin on glomerular endothelial cells (GECs) remain to be tested, and the documented works were always performed in vitro and hardly reflect the real physiological situation. To study the effects of emodin on GECs in a biomimetic environment, we utilized a microfluidic chip to assess the physiological reaction of human renal glomerular endothelial cells to various concentrations of emodin in this work. The results showed that emodin caused cytotoxicity, impaired… More >

Anupam Krishnan¹, Anjana P. Anantharaman^2,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.19, No.2, pp. 77-88, 2022, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2022.018369

Abstract Computational Fluid Dynamics has become relevant in the study of hemodynamics, where clinical results are challenging to obtain. This paper discusses a 2-Dimensional transient blood flow analysis through an arterial bifurcation for patients infected with the Coronavirus. The geometry considered is an arterial bifurcation with main stem diameter 3 mm and two outlets. The left outlet (smaller) has a diameter of 1.5 mm and the right outlet (larger), 2 mm. The length of the main stem, left branch and right branch are fixed at 35 mm, 20 mm and 25 mm respectively. Viscosity change that occurs in the blood leads… More >

LONG SU^#, ZHEXUAN LIN^#, HUI LI, HONGJUN LUO, WENHONG LUO^*

BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.7, pp. 1725-1732, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.018508

Abstract Divicine is an active pyrimidine aglycone, generated from vicine by the enzyme β-glucosidase upon ingestion of fava beans. In this study, we investigated the effect of divicine on cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and explored the potential mechanisms. Incubation HUVECs with 18.5–85.1 μM divicine resulted in a concentration and time dependent decrease of cell viability, followed by decrease of cellular reduced glutathione, as well as increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), and labile iron pool. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed that the divicine treated HUVECs’ mitochondria had shrunk. Importantly, the administration of desferrioxamine, an iron chelator, to… More >

FEI CHENG^1,#, YIQIAN DING^2,#, QING XU³, WEI ZHANG³, YULAN ZHEN⁴, JING LIU⁵, SHICHENG LI¹, CHANG TU¹, GUOHUA LAI¹, JUN LAN^1,*, JINGFU CHEN^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.4, pp. 1053-1066, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.012901

Abstract Previous reports have suggested that Ang-(1-7) may have a protective effect in endothelial cells against high glucose (HG)-induced cell injury thanks to a modulatory mechanism in the NF-κB signaling pathway. In this study, we have examined whether NF-κB-IL-1β and Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) pathways contribute to the protection of Ang-(1-7) against hyperglycemia-induced inflammation and oxidative stress in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Our results indicate that time-varying exposures of HUVECs, from 1 h to 24 h, to high glucose concentrations result in an increased expression of phosphorylated (p)-p65 and HO-1 in a time-dependent manner. As an inhibitor of NF-κB, pyrrolidinedithiocarbamic… More >

Liping Wang, Mingjie Zhang, Xi Chen, Yachang Pang, Jiaqi Liu, Zhuoming Xu^*

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.17, No.1, pp. 87-97, 2022, DOI:10.32604/CHD.2022.018452

Abstract Background: Reversibility of pulmonary hypertension (PH) is closely related to the treatment options for and prognosis of children with congenital heart disease. Objective: We combined patient-specific clinical features including diagnosis, age and echocardiographic results, and biomarkers of pulmonary vascular dysfunction to explore the noninvasive methods that can be used to accurately evaluate the reversibility of pulmonary hypertension in congenital heart disease (PH-CHD). Methods: Based on the preoperative systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (sPAP), 70 CHD patients were divided into normal, PH-CHD suspected, and confirmed groups. Additionally, biomarkers of circulating endothelial cells (CECs), endothelin-1 (ET-1), and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) were… More >