Project description:Therapeutic angiogenesis based on gene therapies is a potential peripheral artery disease (PAD) treatment approach. Here, we developed a graphene nanoparticle-based IL-4 plasmid delivery system (GNPs-pIL-4) to reprogram macrophage polarization and activate the OSM/GSNOR/ENG axis to improve angiogenesis and tissue repair in ischemic limbs. Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis revealed that GNPs-pIL-4 treatment significantly enhanced the number and strength of intercellular communications in ischemic tissues, with enrichment of pathways associated with endothelial sprouting and neovascularization.
Project description:The intermediate filament protein Nestin serves as a biomarker for stem cells and has been used to identify subsets of cancer stem-like cells. However, the mechanistic contributions of Nestin to cancer pathogenesis are not understood. Here we report that Nestin binds the hedgehog pathway transcription factor Gli3 to mediate the development of medulloblastomas of the hedgehog subtype. In a mouse model system, Nestin levels increased progressively during medulloblastoma formation resulting in enhanced tumor growth. Conversely, loss of Nestin dramatically inhibited proliferation and promoted differentiation. Mechanistic investigations revealed that the tumor-promoting effects of Nestin were mediated by binding to Gli3, a zinc finger transcription factor that negatively regulates hedgehog signaling. Nestin binding to Gli3 blocked Gli3 phosphorylation and its subsequent proteolytic processing, thereby abrogating its ability to negatively regulate the hedgehog pathway. Our findings show how Nestin drives hedgehog pathway-driven cancers and uncover in Gli3 a therapeutic target to treat these malignancies. Nestin+ and Nestin- GNPs (granule neuron precursors) were purified from Nestin-CFP/Math1-Cre/Ptch1-loxp cerebella at postnatal day 4 by FACs, and total RNA from these two cell populations were extracted, and then labeled and hybridized to Affymetrix Mouse Genome 430 2.0 arrays.