Project description:Background and Purpose: Cardiotoxicity is a well-known adverse effect of radiation therapy. Measurable abnormalities in the heart function indicate advanced and often irreversible heart damage. Therefore, early detection of cardiac toxicity is necessary to delay and alleviate the development of the disease. The present study investigated long-term serum proteome alterations following local heart irradiation using a mouse model with the aim to detect biomarkers of radiation-induced cardiac toxicity. Materials and Methods: Serum samples from C57BL/6J mice were collected 20 weeks after local heart irradiation with 8 Gy or 16 Gy X-ray; the controls were sham-irradiated. The samples were analyzed by quantitative proteomics based on data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry. The proteomics data were further investigated using bioinformatics and ELISA. Results: The analysis showed radiation-induced changes in the level of several serum proteins involved in the acute phase response, inflammation and cholesterol metabolism. We found significantly enhanced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-, TGF-, IL-1 and IL-6) in the serum of the irradiated mice. The level of free fatty acids, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) and oxidized LDL was increased whereas that of high density lipoprotein was decreased by irradiation. Conclusions: This study provides information on systemic effects of heart irradiation. It elucidates a radiation fingerprint in the serum that may be used to elucidate adverse cardiac effects after radiation therapy.
Project description:Aristolochic acid (AA) is a major ingredient in several Chinese herbs that exhibits a wide range of pharmacological effects. Recently, clinical reports and experimental studies have demonstrated that AA causes renal toxicities, acute renal failure and interstitial fibrosis.However, the molecular mechanism underlying AA nephrotoxicity is not yet fully understood. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are pluripotent cells isolated from early embryos, which have highly undifferentiated potential and are capable of differentiating into all kinds of body tissues and organs. It has been reported that ESCs are sensitive to drug stimulation, and thus may serve as important tools for in vitro assessment of drug toxicity. We aimed to identify accurate biomarkers of AA-induced renal toxicity on ESCs. Genomics analysis was performed to screen the changes in gene expression levels of ESCs following treatment with AA, in order to determine the potential biological processes in which AA induces renal toxicity.
Project description:The aim of this study was to identify miRNAs that regulate AKI and develop their applications as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic agents. First, kidney tissues from two different AKI mouse models, namely, AKI induced by the administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) causing sepsis (LPS-AKI mice) and AKI induced by renal ischemia–reperfusion injury (IRI-AKI mice), were exhaustively screened for their changes of miRNA expression compared with that of control mice by microarray analysis.
Project description:The aim of this study was to identify miRNAs that regulate AKI and develop their applications as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic agents. First, kidney tissues from two different AKI mouse models, namely, AKI induced by the administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) causing sepsis (LPS-AKI mice) and AKI induced by renal ischemia–reperfusion injury (IRI-AKI mice), were exhaustively screened for their changes of miRNA expression compared with that of control mice by microarray analysis.
Project description:Transcriptional analysis of organ-specific toxicity induced by a panPPAR agonist in mice: Identification of organ-specific toxicity biomarkers
Project description:This work aimed to examine the regulation of apoptosis-related genes in kidney cortex and kindey medulla one and seven days after administration of 177Lu-octreotate with and without A1M and of A1M alone. C57BL/6N mice were injected with either 177Lu-octreotate + PBS, A1M + PBS or 177Lu-octreotate + A1M. Also, a control group was sham-treated with saline. Half of the animals in each treatment and control group were terminated by cardiac puncture one-day post-injection (1 dpi), and the remaining animals were terminated at 7dpi. Kidneys were dissected at the time of termination, snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80°C.