Background: The American Heart Association (AHA) has recently introduced the concept of Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) syndrome, which is the result of an increasing emphasis on the interplay of metabolic, renal and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Furthermore, there is substantial evidence of a correlation between the triglyceride glucose-body mass index (TyG-BMI ) and CVD as an assessment of insulin resistance (IR). However, it remains unknown whether this correlation exists in population with CKM syndrome. Methods: All data for this study were obtained from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). The exposure was the participants’ TyG-BMI at baseline, which was calculated using a combination of triglycerides (TG), fasting blood glucose (FBG) and body mass index (BMI). The primary outcome was CVD, which were determined by the use of a standardised questionnaire during follow-up. To examine the relationship between TyG-BMI and CVD incidence in population with CKM syndrome, both Cox regression analyses and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression analyses were performed. Results: A total of 7376 participants were included in the final analysis. Of these, 1139, 1515, 1839, and 2883 were in CKM syndrome stages 0, 1, 2, and 3, respectively, at baseline. The gender distribution was 52.62% female, and the mean age was 59.17 ± 9.28 (years). The results of the fully adjusted COX regression analyses indicated that there was a 6.5% increase in the risk of developing CVD for each 10-unit increase in TyG-BMI,95% confidence interval (CI):1.041–1.090. The RCS regression analyses demonstrated a positive linear association between TyG-BMI and the incidence of CVD in the CKM syndrome population (P for overall < 0.001, P for nonlinear = 0.355). Conclusions: This cohort study demonstrated a positive linear association between TyG-BMI index and increased CVD incidence in a population with CKM syndrome stage 0–3. This finding suggests that enhanced assessment of TyG-BMI index may provide a more convenient and effective tool for individuals at risk for CVD in CKM syndrome stage 0–3.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells capable of self-renewal and differentiation. There is increasing evidence of the therapeutic value of MSCs in various clinical situations, however, these cells gradually lose their regenerative potential with age, with a concomitant increase in cellular dysfunction. Stem cell aging and replicative exhaustion are considered as hallmarks of aging and functional attrition in organisms. MSCs do not proliferate infinitely but undergo only a limited number of population doublings before becoming senescent. This greatly hinders their clinical application, given that cultures must be expanded to obtain a sufficient number of cells for cell-based therapy. Here, we review the current knowledge of the phenotypic and functional characteristics of senescent MSCs, molecular mechanisms underlying MSCs aging, and strategies to rejuvenate senescent MSCs, which can broaden their range of therapeutic applications.

Recent studies have demonstrated that plasticity of naturally occurring CD4⁺Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells (nTregs) may account for their inability to control chronic inflammation in established autoimmune diseases. All-trans retinoic acid (atRA), the active derivative of vitamin A, has been demonstrated to promote Foxp3⁺ Treg differentiation and suppress Th17 development. In this study, we report a vital role of atRA in sustaining the stability and functionality of nTregs in the presence of IL-6. We found that nTregs treated with atRA were resistant to Th17 and other Th cell conversion and maintained Foxp3 expression and suppressive activity in the presence of IL-6 in vitro. atRA decreased IL-6R expression and signaling by nTregs. Of interest, adoptive transfer of nTregs even from arthritic mice treated with atRA suppressed progression of established collagen-induced arthritis. We suggest that nTregs treated with atRA may represent a novel treatment strategy to control established chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.

Autophagy contributes to the pathogenesis of cancer, whereas toll-like receptors (TLRs) also play an important role in cancer development and immune escape. However, little is known about the potential interaction between TLR signaling and autophagy in cancer cells. Here we show that autophagy induced by TLR4 or TLR3 activation enhances various cytokine productions through promoting TRAF6 (TNF receptor-associated factor 6, E3 ubiquitin protein ligase) ubiquitination and thus facilitates migration and invasion of lung cancer cells. Stimulation of TLR4 and TLR3 with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid [poly(I:C)] respectively triggered autophagy in lung cancer cells. This was mediated by the adaptor protein, toll-like receptor adaptor molecule 1 (TICAM1/TRIF), and was required for TLR4- and TLR3-induced increases in the production of IL6, CCL2/MCP-1 [chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2], CCL20/MIP-3α [chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 20], VEGFA (vascular endothelial growth factor A), and MMP2 [matrix metallopeptidase 2 (gelatinase A, 72 kDa gelatinase, 72 kDa type IV collagenase)]. These cytokines appeared to be necessary for enhanced migration and invasion of lung cancer cells upon TLR activation. Remarkably, inhibition of autophagy by chemical or genetic approaches blocked TLR4- or TLR3-induced Lys63 (K63)-linked ubiquitination of TRAF6 that was essential for activation of MAPK and NFKB (nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells) pathways, both of which were involved in the increased production of the cytokines. Collectively, these results identify induction of autophagy by TLR4 and TLR3 as an important mechanism that drives lung cancer progression, and indicate that inhibition of autophagy may be a useful strategy in the treatment of lung cancer.

The excessive inflammation triggered by damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) after myocardial infarction (MI) is responsible for the development of cardiac dysfunction and adverse remodeling, while the mechanisms by which inflammation is fine tuned remain to be fully elucidated. MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) has been shown to function in cardiovascular diseases, while its role in inflammatory responses and cardiac function post MI in mice remains unknown. Here, we found that miR-21 expression was markedly increased in border and infarct areas of cardiac tissues during the early inflammatory phase of MI model established by ligating the left-anterior descending coronary artery. MiR-21 knockout mice had decreased survival rates, worse cardiac dysfunction, and increased infarct and scar areas after MI compared with WT mice. MiR-21 knockout mice showed significantly higher levels of inflammatory cytokines including IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in cardiac tissues, as well as infiltration of CD11b⁺ monocytes/macrophages with higher expression level of inflammatory cytokines. MI induced the great release of high mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1) and heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) in cardiac tissue. MiR-21 deficiency significantly promoted the inflammatory cytokine production triggered by DAMPs in macrophages, whereas, miR-21 overexpression markedly inhibited the inflammatory cytokine production. Mechanistically, miR-21 deficiency enhanced p38 and NF-κB signaling activation in cardiac tissue post MI and macrophages treated with DAMPs. MiR-21 was found to directly target kelch repeat and BTB (POZ) domain containing 7 (KBTBD7), which promoted DAMP-triggered inflammatory responses in macrophages. Furthermore, KBTBD7 interacted with MKK3/6 and promoted their activation, which in turn enhanced the activation of downstream p38 and NF-κB signaling induced by DAMPs. Therefore, our findings demonstrate that miR-21 attenuates inflammation, cardiac dysfunction, and maladaptive remodeling post MI through targeting KBTBD7 and inhibiting p38 and NF-κB signaling activation, suggesting that miR-21 may function as a novel potential therapeutic target for MI.