The blood–retinal barrier (BRB) consists of tightly interconnected capillary endothelial cells covered with pericytes and glia, but the role of the pericytes in BRB regulation is not fully understood. Here, we show that platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-B/PDGF receptor beta (PDGFRβ) signalling is critical in formation and maturation of BRB through active recruitment of pericytes onto growing retinal vessels. Impaired pericyte recruitment to the vessels shows multiple vascular hallmarks of diabetic retinopathy (DR) due to BRB disruption. However, PDGF-B/PDGFRβ signalling is expendable for maintaining BRB integrity in adult mice. Although selective pericyte loss in stable adult retinal vessels surprisingly does not cause BRB disintegration, it sensitizes retinal vascular endothelial cells (ECs) to VEGF-A, leading to upregulation of angiopoietin-2 (Ang2) in ECs through FOXO1 activation and triggering a positive feedback that resembles the pathogenesis of DR. Accordingly, either blocking Ang2 or activating Tie2 greatly attenuates BRB breakdown, suggesting potential therapeutic approaches to reduce retinal damages upon DR progression.

The SWI/SNF complex is required for the transcription of several genes and has been shown to alter nucleosome structure in an ATP-dependent manner. The tumor suppressor protein p53 displays growth and transformation suppression functions that are frequently lost in mutant p53 proteins detected in various cancers. Using genetic and biochemical approaches, we show that several subunits of the human SWI/SNF complex bind to the tumor suppressor protein p53 in vivo and in vitro. The transactivation function of p53 is stimulated by overexpression of hSNF5 and BRG-1 and dominant forms of hSNF5 and BRG-1 repress p53-dependent transcription. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay shows that hSNF5 and BRG-1 are recruited to a p53-dependent promoter in vivo. Overexpression of dominant negative forms of either hSNF5 or BRG-1 inhibited p53-mediated cell growth suppression and apoptosis. Molecular connection between p53 and the SWI/SNF complex implicates that (i) the SWI/SNF complex is necessary for p53-driven transcriptional activation, and (ii) the SWI/SNF complex plays an important role in p53-mediated cell cycle control.

The vertebrate retina and optic nerve are strikingly different in terms of their size, organization, and cellular diversity, yet these two structures develop from the same embryonic neuroepithelium. Precursor cells in the most ventral domain of this epithelium give rise only to the astrocytes of the optic nerve, whereas immediately adjacent, more dorsal precursors give rise to the myriad cell types of the retina. We provide genetic evidence that two closely related, ventrally expressed homeodomain proteins—Vax1 and Vax2—control this neuroepithelial segregation. In the absence of both proteins, we find that the optic nerve is transformed in its entirety into fully differentiated retina. We demonstrate that this transformation results from the loss of ventralizing actvity in the developing eye field, and that ventralization is mediated, at least in part, via Vax repression of the Pax6 gene, a potent inducer of retinal development.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a major risk factor for liver cancer; therefore, its prevention is an important clinical goal. Ablation of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) or the protein kinase Hippo signaling pathway induces liver cancer via activation of AKT or the transcriptional regulators YAP/TAZ, respectively; however, the potential for crosstalk between the PTEN/AKT and Hippo/YAP/TAZ pathways in liver tumorigenesis has thus far remained unclear. Here, we have shown that deletion of both PTEN and SAV1 in the liver accelerates the development of NAFLD and liver cancer in mice. At the molecular level, activation of YAP/TAZ in the liver of Pten^–/– Sav1^–/– mice amplified AKT signaling through the upregulation of insulin receptor substrate 2 (IRS2) expression. Both ablation of YAP/TAZ and activation of the Hippo pathway could rescue these phenotypes. A high level of YAP/ TAZ expression was associated with a high level of IRS2 expression in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Moreover, treatment with the AKT inhibitor MK-2206 or knockout of IRS2 by AAV-Cas9 successfully repressed liver tumorigenesis in Pten^–/– Sav1^–/– mice. Thus, our findings suggest that Hippo signaling interacts with AKT signaling by regulating IRS2 expression to prevent NAFLD and liver cancer progression and provide evidence that impaired crosstalk between these 2 pathways accelerates NAFLD and liver cancer.

Background: Basic studies of oncogenesis have demonstrated that either the elevated production of particular oncogene proteins or the occurrence of qualitative abnormalities in oncogenes can contribute to neoplastic cellular transformation. The purpose of our study was to identify an unique gene that shows cancer-associated expression, and characterizes its function related to human carcinogenesis. Methods: We used the differential display (DD) RT-PCR method using normal cervical, cervical cancer, metastatic cervical tissues, and cervical cancer cell lines to identify genes overexpressed in cervical cancers and identified gremlin 1 which was overexpressed in cervical cancers. We determined expression levels of gremlin 1 using Northern blot analysis and immunohistochemical study in various types of human normal and cancer tissues. To understand the tumorigenesis pathway of identified gremlin 1 protein, we performed a yeast two-hybrid screen, GST pull down assay, and immunoprecipitation to identify gremlin 1 interacting proteins. Results: DDRT-PCR analysis revealed that gremlin 1 was overexpressed in uterine cervical cancer. We also identified a human gremlin 1 that was overexpressed in various human tumors including carcinomas of the lung, ovary, kidney, breast, colon, pancreas, and sarcoma. PIG-2-transfected HEK 293 cells exhibited growth stimulation and increased telomerase activity. Gremlin 1 interacted with homo sapiens tyrosine 3-monooxygenase/tryptophan 5-monooxygenase activation protein, eta polypeptide (14-3-3 eta; YWHAH). YWHAH protein binding site for gremlin 1 was located between residues 61–80 and gremlin 1 binding site for YWHAH was found to be located between residues 1 to 67. Conclusion: Gremlin 1 may play an oncogenic role especially in carcinomas of the uterine cervix, lung, ovary, kidney, breast, colon, pancreas, and sarcoma. Over-expressed gremlin 1 functions by interaction with YWHAH. Therefore, Gremlin 1 and its binding protein YWHAH could be good targets for developing diagnostic and therapeutic strategies against human cancers.