scholarly journals Discovery of Therapeutic Candidates for Diabetic Retinopathy Based on Molecular Switch Analysis: Application of a Systematic Process

2022 ◽  
Vol 2022 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Yue Ren ◽  
Yanan Liu ◽  
Kaiyang Liu ◽  
Xiaoqian Huo ◽  
Chaoqun Liu ◽  
...  

The pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy (DR) is complicated, and there is no effective drug. Oxidative stress-induced human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (HRMECs) injury is one of the pathogenic factors for DR. Molecular switches are considered high-risk targets in disease progression. Identification of molecular switch is crucial to interpret the pathogenesis of disease and screen effective ingredients. In this study, a systematic process was executed to discover therapeutic candidates for DR based on HRMECs injury. First of all, the molecular mechanism of HRMECs oxidative stress injury was revealed by transcriptomics and network pharmacology. We found that oxidative stress was one of the pivotal pathogenic factors, which interfered with vascular system development, inflammation, cell adhesion, and cytoskeleton damaged HRMECs through crosstalk. Then, network topology analysis was used to recognize molecular switches. The results indicated that the Keap1-Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway was the molecular switch in HRMECs oxidative stress injury. On this basis, the HEK293-ARE overexpression cell line was applied to obtain 18 active traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) ingredients. Furthermore, andrographolide, one of the 18 candidates, was applied in the HRMECs oxidative stress model to evaluate the accuracy of the systematic process. The efficacy evaluation results showed that andrographolide could regulate oxidative stress, vascular system development, inflammation, adhesion, and skeleton tissue to inhibit HRMECs injury cooperatively. And its mechanism was related to the Nrf2 signaling pathway. Overall, our data suggest that the Nrf2 signaling pathway is the molecular switch in the HRMECs oxidative stress injury. 18 potential Nrf2 agonists are likely to be promising DR candidates.

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiqiang Wang

Objective To investigate the effects of exercise on the myocardial oxidative stress injury of diabetic rats, and discussed the role of Keap1/Nrf2 signaling pathway in this process Methods  Tyep 2 diabetic rat model was established by streptozotocin injection through abdominal cavity and high fat diet. The all the diabetic rats were divided into three groups: control group (NC), diabetes group(T2DM) and diabetes exercise group, NC and T2DM group were kept quiet for 8 weeks, T2DME group was trained for 8 weeks. After the exercise, weight, heart weight and blood were measured. MDA, T-SOD and GSH-PX enzyme were measured by biochemical method. Ho-1, Keap1, Nrf2 gene and protein expression were detected by RT-PCR and WesternBlotting. Results Compared with NC group, the weight of rats in the T2DM group significantly decreased [(528+/-71g vs 362+/-33g), P<0.05], HWI  significantly increased [(2.845+/-0.22 vs 3.841+/-0.21, P <0.05], blood glucose was significantly increased [(6.4±3.8 vs 26±7.5mmol/L), P <0.01],T-SOD and GSH-PX activity decreased significantly (P<0.05), Ho-1 protein expression increased (P<0.01), Keap1 and Nrf2 showed no significant changes, and Nrf2 nuclear transposition decreased (P<0.05). Compared with the T2DM group, no significant change in body weight and heart weight in the T2DME group, with significant decrease in HWI[(3.841±0.21 vs 3.235±0.23),P<0.05], with significant decrease in blood glucose [(26.0±7.5 vs 21.0±6.8),P<0.05]. Ho-1 gene and protein expression increased significantly(P<0.05and P<0.01), with no significant change of Keap1, while Nrf2 expression increased significantly (P < 0.05), and Nrf2 nuclear transposition increased significantly (P < 0.01). Conclusions Exercise activates the myocardial Keap1/Nrf2 signaling pathway in rats, promotes the expression of downstream antioxidant enzymes, increases cardiac antioxidant capacity, and resists diabetic myocardial oxidative stress injury.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Ma ◽  
Xiaohui Ma ◽  
Jie Cui ◽  
Yifeng Guo ◽  
Xiuqin Tang ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoli Xu ◽  
Huimin Huang ◽  
Xiangyi Yin ◽  
Hongmei Fang ◽  
Xiaoyue Shen

Abstract We aimed to investigate the regulatory mechanism of lentivirus-mediated overexpression of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) in oxidative stress injury and inflammatory response in the lung tissue of mouse model of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD mouse model induced by cigarette smoke was established and normal mice were used as control. The mice were assigned into a normal group (control), a model group (untreated), an oe-CFTR group (injection of lentivirus overexpressing CFTR), and an oe-NC group (negative control, injection of lentivirus expressing irrelevant sequences). Compared with the oe-NC group, the oe-CFTR group had higher CFTR expression and a better recovery of pulmonary function. CFTR overexpression could inhibit the pulmonary endothelial cell apoptosis, reduce the levels of glutathione (GSH), reactive oxygen species (ROS), and malondialdehyde (MDA) and increase the values of superoxide dismutase (SOD), GSH peroxidase (GSH-Px), and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC). The overexpression also led to reductions in the white blood cell (WBC) count in alveolus pulmonis, the concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α, and the protein expressions of NF-κB p65, ERK, JNK, p-EPK, and p-JNK related to MAPK/NF-κB p65 signaling pathway. In conclusion, CFTR overexpression can protect lung tissues from injuries caused by oxidative stress and inflammatory response in COPD mouse model. The mechanism behind this may be related to the suppression of MAPK/NF-κB p65 signaling pathway.


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