Objective To investigate the effect of GSK-137647A, the first non-carboxylic FFA4 agonist, on osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) of db/db mice. Methods Bone mesenchymal stem cells were extracted from 8-week-old db/db mice. Cell Counting Kit-8 was used to evaluate the toxicity of GSK-137647A on BMSCs, and the optimal concentration of GSK-137647A was selected to investigate the osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of BMSCs, and relevant indicators of osteoblasts and adipocytes were detected. Key findings GSK-137647A had no significant toxicity on cell growth and proliferation. Moreover, GSK-137647A showed a significant increase in mineralization of BMSCs differentiated osteoblasts compared to the control group and elevated the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in a time-dependent manner. Meanwhile, the treatment of GSK-137647A decreased the adipogenic differentiation of BMSCs. The expression levels of ALP, runt-related transcription factor 2, bone morphogenetic protein 4, osterix and β-catenin were significantly increased in GSK-137647A-treated group, while the gene and protein levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α were significantly reduced. Conclusions All of these results demonstrated that GSK-137647A suppressed the adipogenic differentiation and promoted osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs, which is partly attributed to the increased expression of β-catenin in wingless/integrated signalling pathway.

Objective To evaluate the pharmacological characteristics of SU-011, a novel sodium-dependent glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor. Methods The in vitro activities of SU-011 were investigated in cell-based assays. The urinary glucose excretion, glucose tolerance and the risk of hypoglycaemia were evaluated in mice. Moreover, the dose-response relationship and chronic pharmacological studies of SU-011 were assessed in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic model, a STZ-treated model with impaired insulin secretion. Key findings SU-011 is a potential SGLT2 inhibitor with 5.6 nm inhibitory activity for SGLT2 and 1137-fold selectivity for SGLT1. In healthy mice, SU-011 improves the tolerance to a glucose load and promotes the urinary glucose excretion. Besides, SU-011 (10 mg/kg) still exhibited less risk of hypoglycaemia. During chronic treatment, SU-011 exhibited sustained glucose-lowering effect without the side effect of weight gain in STZ-induced diabetic mice. The levels of non-fasting and fasting plasma glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin, food and water intake were significantly decreased in SU-011-treated group. Moreover, SU-011 decreases the plasma levels of interleukin-1 beta, tumour necrosis factor-alpha and C-reactive protein even better than that of dapagliflozin. Conclusions All of these results indicated that SU-011 may be effective for the management of diabetes.

Independent component analysis (ICA) is one of the most popular and valid methods to investigate the default mode network (DMN), an intrinsic network which attracts particular attention in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). However, previous studies present inconsistent results regarding the topographical organization of the DMN in aMCI. Therefore, we conducted a quantitative, voxel-wise meta-analysis of resting-state ICA studies using Seed-based d Mapping to establish the most consistent pattern of DMN functional connectivity alterations in aMCI. Twenty studies, comprising 23 independent datasets involving 535 patients and 586 healthy controls, met the inclusion criteria. Patients with aMCI exhibited reliably lower DMN functional connectivity than the healthy controls in the bilateral precuneus/posterior cingulate cortices and medial temporal lobes, which are implicated in episodic memory deficits. Moreover, an exploratory meta-regression analysis revealed that greater severity of global cognitive impairment in the patient groups was associated with stronger functional connectivity in the bilateral medial frontal cortices (including the anterior cingulate cortices), left angular gyrus, and right temporal pole extending to the middle temporal gyrus, likely reflecting a compensatory mechanism for maintaining cognitive efficiency. This meta-analysis identifies a consistent pattern of aberrant DMN functional connectivity in aMCI, which facilitates understanding of the neurobiological substrates of this disease.

We attempted to analyze the effects of miR-1-3p and CCL2 on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of bladder cancer cells. A total of 18 pairs of bladder cancer tissues with corresponding adjacent tissues and the 6 cases of normal tissues were collected. The expressions of miR-1-3p and CCL2 in the cancer tissues were evaluated using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot. The relationship between miR-1-3p and CCL2 was assessed using luciferase reporter assay. The UM-UC-3 bladder cancer cells were transfected with CCL2 small interfering RNA and miR-1-3p mimics. 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, colony formation assay, wound healing assay, Transwell assay, and the flow cytometry test were used to detect the proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis of bladder cancer cells. Bladder cancer tissues had lower levels of miR-1-3p but higher levels of CCL2 than normal tissues (p<0.05). The transfection of miR-1-3p mimics and CCL2 small interfering RNA remarkably suppressed cell proliferation and invasion and promoted apoptosis of cells (p<0.05). Results of the luciferase reporter gene assay demonstrated that miR-1-3p targeted CCL2. MiR-1-3p suppresses the proliferation and invasion of urinary bladder cancer cells by targeting CCL2.

Background: Bladder cancer is of compelling morbidity and mortality due to its high recurrence rate. Little development has been made in the last decades in the therapy methods. Thus, the mechanism of its growth and invasiveness involving novel molecular targets are needed. Objective: Our research objective is to confirm the hypothesis that miR-1-3p suppresses the proliferation, invasion and migration of bladder cancer cells. Methods: The expression levels of miR-1-3p and SFRP1 were evaluated using RT-qPCR in bladder cancer tissues and cells as well as in normal tissues and cells. J82 cell lines were selected as experiment subjects due to their low expression levels of miR-1-3p. Plasmids carrying miR-1-3p mimics, miR-1-3p inhibitors and SFRP1 were transfected into the J82 cell lines. Subsequently, the protein expression of SFRP1 was detected using Western Blot analysis, and cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and migration ability was measured using MTT, the flow cytometry, the Transwell test and wound healing assays, respectively Results: Bladder cancer tissues and cells exhibited significant decrease in the expression of miR-1-3p and SFRP1 compared to normal tissues and cells, and human bladder cancer cell line J82 exhibited the most significant decrease in these expressions (P < 0.05). MiR-1-3p up-regulates SFRP1 expression in bladder cancer cells, and the over-expression of miR-1-3p can suppress the proliferation, invasion and migration ability of bladder cancer cells. This mechanism is similar to the effect of SFRP1 over-expression on bladder cancer cells. Conclusion: MiR-1-3p suppresses the proliferation, invasion and migration of bladder cancer cells by up-regulating SFRP1 expression.

MicroRNAs, a class of small and non-encoding RNAs that transcriptionally or post-transcriptionally modulate the expression of their target genes, have been implicated as critical regulatory molecules in many cardiovascular diseases, including ischemia-/reperfusion-induced cardiac injury. In the present study, we report on the role of miR-146b in myocardial I/R injury and the underlying cardio-protective mechanism. Antagomir-146b was used to explore the effects of miR-146b on cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury (30 min ischemia followed by 180 min reperfusion). As predicted, miR-146b overexpression significantly reduced the infarct size and cardiomyocytes apoptosis and release of creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase. In addition, miR-146b attenuated H9c2 cell apoptosis. Furthermore, Smad4 was predicted and verified as a potential miR-146b target using bioinformatics and luciferase assay. In summary, this study demonstrated that miR-146b plays a critical protective role in cardiac ischemic injury and may provide a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of myocardial I/R injury.