We examined the effects of the histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) combined with the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1/2 inhibitor (3Z)-5-hydroxy-3-(1H-pyrrol-2-ylmethylidene)-2,3-dihydro-1H-indol-2-one on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells (triple-negative) in the form of both a cocktail of the separate compounds and a chemically synthesized hyb...

The accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ) peptide in the brain is one of the pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease and is thought to be of primary aetiological significance. In an unbiased genetic screen, we identified puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase (PSA) as a potent suppressor of Aβ toxicity in a Drosophila model system. We established that coexpression of Drosophila PSA (dPSA) in the fli...

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by the death of upper and lower motor neurons. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are reported to be closely related to the development of ALS. However, the precise functions of miRNAs in the pathogenesis of ALS remain largely unknown. In previous studies, we determined that miRNA-193b-3p was significantly downregulated in p...

The present study investigated the role of androgen in the process of androgen-induced prostate hyperplasia in castrated rats and assessed the role of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mechanistic target of rapamycin (PI3K/Akt/mTOR) pathway in this process. Furthermore, the extent to which autophagy may affect the level of androgen-induced benign prostatic hyperplasia was also expl...

The present study was designed to investigate the protective effect of 7,8-dihydroxycoumarin on hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in the rats. The rats were divided in three groups of 10 each; normal control, untreated and the 7,8-dihydroxycoumarin treatment groups. The rats in the treatment group received 7,8-dihydroxycoumarin at doses of 15 mg/kg body weight 1 h prior to ischemia and ...

The tumor suppressor, p53, plays an essential role in the cellular response to stress through regulating the expression of genes involved in cell cycle arrest, apoptosis and autophagy. Here, we used a cell-based reporter system for the detection of p53 response transcription to identify the marine sponge metabolites, ilimaquinone and ethylsmenoquinone, as activators of the p53 pathway. We demon...

Retention of bile acids (BAs) in the liver during cholestasis plays an important role in the development of cholestatic liver injury. Several studies have reported that high concentrations of certain BAs induce cell death and inflammatory response in the liver, and BAs may promote liver tumorigenesis. Macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy) is a lysosomal degradation process that re...

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the leading causes of cancer death in the world. The role of histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) in specific cell and tissue types has been identified. However, its biological roles in the development of gastric cancer remain largely unexplored. Quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blot were used to analyze the expression of HDAC4 in the clinical samples. siR...

DYT1 dystonia (DYT1) is a disabling inherited neurological disorder with juvenile onset. The genetic mutation in DYT1 leads to the deletion of a glutamic acid (ΔE) residue in the protein torsinA. The function of torsinA and how the mutation leads to DYT1 is poorly understood. We hypothesize that how efficiently the disease-linked mutant protein is cleared may be critical for DYT1 pathogenesis. ...

Cognitive impairment is a common finding in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but little attention has been focused on therapeutic intervention for this complication. Chronic intermittent hypoxia hypercapnia (CIHH) exposure is considered to be responsible for the pathogenesis of COPD. Dl-3n-Butylphthalide (NBP), extracted from Apium graveolens Linn, has displayed a bro...