Disulfidptosis, a new form of cell death triggered by disulfide stress, is characterized by the collapse of cytoskeleton proteins and F-actin due to the intracellular accumulation of disulfides. This discovery will eventually aid in the development of therapeutic strategies against cancer.
SHARPIN is a tumor‐associated gene involved in the growth and proliferation of many tumor types. A function of SHARPIN in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is so far unclear. Here, we studied the role and function of SHARPIN in CCA and revealed its relevant molecular mechanism. The expression of SHARPIN was analyzed in cholangiocarcinoma tissues from patients using immunohistochemistry, quantitative PCR, and western blot analysis. Expression of SHARPIN was suppressed/overexpressed by siRNA silencing or lentiviral overexpression vector, and the effect on cell proliferation was determined by the CCK‐8 assay and flow cytometry. Accumulation of reactive oxygen species was measured with MitoTracker, and JC‐1 staining showed mitochondrial fission/fusion and mitochondrial membrane potential changes as a result of the silencing or overexpression. The ferroptosis marker solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11), glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), and the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD‐1) and SOD‐2 were analyzed by western blot. The results showed that SHARPIN expression was increased in CCA tissue, and this was involved in cell proliferation. SHARPIN silencing resulted in accumulated reactive oxygen species, reduced mitochondrial fission, and a reduced mitochondrial membrane potential. Silencing of SHARPIN inhibited the ubiquitination and degradation of p53, and downregulated levels of SLC7A11, GPX4, SOD‐1, and SOD‐2, all of which contributed to excessive oxidative stress that leads to ferroptosis. Overexpression of SHARPIN would reverse the above process. The collected data suggest that in CCA, SHARPIN‐mediated cell ferroptosis via the p53/SLC7A11/GPX4 signaling pathway is inhibited. Targeting SHARPIN might be a promising approach for the treatment of CCA.
Background: NOTCH signaling has been shown to play a role in the production of interleukin-22 (IL-22) by CD4+ T cells. Multiple T-helper (Th) cell populations secrete IL-22. Th22 (CD4+IL22+IFNγ−IL17A−) cells are a subgroup of CD4+ effector T cells that primarily generate IL-22. The regulatory mechanisms of the NOTCH signaling pathway involved in differentiation of the Th22 cell subset have not been completely elucidated. This study aimed to further explore the involvement of NOTCH signaling in Th22 differentiation. Methods: In vitro combination of IL-6, IL-23, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) treatment with naïve CD4+ T cells established the Th22 cell induced model. NOTCH signaling was activated by jagged-1 and inhibited by (2S)-N-[(3,5-difluorophenyl) acetyl]-L-alanyl-2-phenyl]glycine 1,1-dimethylethyl ester (DAPT). HES-1 siRNA and HES-1 vector were employed to knock down and induce overexpression of HES-1 to investigate the effect of NOTCH signaling on the differentiation of CD4+T cells into Th22 cells. Results: We observed that the proportion of Th22 cells, along with Hes-1, Ahr, and Il-22 mRNA and protein expression, was increased by both jagged-1 and overexpression of HES-1. On the other hand, after the combined cytokine treatment of cells, and exposure to jagged-1 and DAPT or HES-1 siRNA, there was a decrease in the Th22 cell proportion, mRNA and protein expression of HES-1, AHR, and IL-22. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that HES-1 enhancement in AHR and IL-22 up-regulation of NOTCH signaling can promote the skewing of naïve CD4+T cells toward Th22 cells. Also, the results of our study show that HES-1 is a crucial factor in Th22 cell differentiation.
The prognostic significance of ferroptosis-related genes is well known. However, survival- and ferroptosis-related genes are not currently considered in risk scoring models for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Ferroptosis regulators and markers were downloaded from the FerrDb database. The transcriptome profiling data were collected from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA). Transcriptome data and corresponding clinical information of DLBCL were downloaded from the gene expression omnibus (GEO). The validation data were downloaded using the UCSC Xena browser. ConsensusClusterPlus was used to categorize DLBCL samples according to gene expression profiles. The survival function was plotted with the Kaplan-Meier plots. The nomogram was built using multivariate logistic regression analysis and the Cox proportional hazards regression model. Based on the GSE11318 dataset of 203 samples and 267 ferroptosis-related gene expression profiles, we identified four clusters. A total of 19 survival-related genes were found associated with ferroptosis. The prognostic risk scoring model was constructed based on the regression coefficients. The obtained area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values were 0.769, 0.801, and 0.791 for 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival, respectively. DLBCL samples with cluster 2 or cancer stage IV have shorter survival. Correlations between the immune infiltration and risk scores of the 12 immune cells were demonstrated. The response of DLBCL to doxorubicin was effectively validated by the risk scoring model. In this study, a ferroptosis-based risk scoring model for patients with DLBCL was constructed and validated in an independent dataset. This risk score model has a better efficacy in predicting survival compared to clinical characteristics.
Psoriasis is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by epidermal keratinocyte hyperproliferation and persistent immune activation. Histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3), a member of the class I HDAC family, plays critical roles in regulating immunity and inflammation. However, its precise expression profile and functional contribution to psoriasis pathogenesis remain poorly defined. We first performed bioinformatics analysis of HDAC3 expression using the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Subsequently, we employed a combination of cellular and molecular techniques, including hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), western blotting, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), to analyze the role of HDAC3 in IMQ-induced psoriasis-like inflammation in mice and in vitro psoriasis models. HDAC3 expression was significantly upregulated in psoriasis lesions of patients and in both in vitro and in vivo models of psoriasis. Pharmacological inhibition of HDAC3 using the specific inhibitor RGFP966 alleviated IMQ-induced skin inflammation in mice and suppressed psoriasis-like phenotypes in vitro. Mechanistically, HDAC3 upregulation in an inflammatory microenvironment promoted oxidative stress, disrupted mitochondrial structural integrity, and triggered mitochondrial DNA leakage into the cytosol, thereby activating the cGAS-STING pathway in keratinocytes. Our findings establish HDAC3 as a pivotal mediator of psoriasis pathogenesis through the cGAS-STING pathway via mitochondrial dysfunction. The role of HDAC3 in exacerbating epidermal hyperproliferation and inflammation highlights its potential as a therapeutic target. Targeting HDAC3 in keratinocytes may offer a novel strategy for preventing and treating psoriasis by modulating epigenetic regulation, mitochondrial homeostasis, and innate immune responses.