Cisplatin is one of the major causes of acute kidney injury (AKI) in clinical practice, and ferroptosis is an essential form of cell death in cisplatin-induced AKI (CP-AKI). WW domain binding protein-2 (WBP2), a molecular chaperon, is involved in the progression of various malignancies, but its role in renal injuries has not been investigated. Our present study employed bioinformatics analysis to identify WBP2 as a potential modulator of AKI and ferroptosis. Preliminary laboratory investigations showed that WBP2, highly expressed in renal proximal tubular cells, was downregulated in CP-AKI. Further studies demonstrated that WBP2 decelerated ferroptosis to alleviate CP-AKI. Mechanistically, WBP2 interacted with glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4, a key detoxicating enzyme for ferroptosis) via its PPXY1 motif to inhibit ferroptosis. Furthermore, the in-depth investigations revealed that WBP2 competed with heat shock cognate protein 70 (HSC70) for the binding with the KEFRQ-like motifs of GPX4, leading to the deceleration of chaperon-mediated autophagy of GPX4. All in all, this study indicated the beneficial effect of WBP2 in CP-AKI and its relevance with ferroptosis, thus providing a novel insight into the modulation of ferroptosis in cisplatin-related nephropathy.

Tic disorders (TDs) are a series of childhood neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by involuntary motor and/or vocal tics and commonly comorbid with several other psychopathological and/or behavioral disorders (e.g., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obsessive–compulsive disorder), which indeed aggravate clinical symptoms and complicate diagnosis and treatment. Micro-RNAs (miRNAs) derived from small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) have been recognized as novel circulating biomarkers of disease. To identify specific miRNAs derived from plasma sEVs for TDs’ diagnosis and prognosis, we used official EV isolation and purification methods to characterize the plasma-derived EV miRNAs from children with different types of TDs. Nanoparticle tracking analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and immunoblot analysis of EV surface markers were applied to confirm the features and quality of sEVs. The RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) approach was adapted to identify novel circulating sEVs-derived miRNAs with altered expression levels in paired comparisons of TDs versus healthy controls (HCs), transient tic disorder (TTD) versus chronic motor or vocal tic disorder (CTD), and TTD versus Tourette Syndrome (TS). GO term and KEGG pathway were performed for functional analysis and the receiver operator curve analysis was followed to test the diagnosis efficacy of differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) derived from plasma sEVs among paired groups, namely, TDs versus HCs, TTD versus CTD, and TTD versus TS. As a result, 10 miRNAs (hsa-let-7a, hsa-let-7b, hsa-let-7c, hsa-let-7e, hsa-let-7f, hsa-miR-25-3p, hsa-miR-29a-3p, hsa-miR-30b-5p, hsa-miR-125b-5p, and hsa-miR-1469) have demonstrated a significantly different expression signature in the TDs group compared to HCs with excellent area under curve (AUC) values of 0.99, 0.973, 0.997, 1, 0.99, 0.997, 0.987, 0.993, 0.977, and 0.997, respectively, and the diagnostic efficacy of miRNAs was also estimated for discriminating TTD from CTD or TS. In our research, we finally obtained several potential sEVs-derived miRNA biomarkers to assess the diagnosis and prognosis of TDs.

Background: The diagnosis of myasthenia gravis (MG) in children remains difficult. Circulating small extracellular vesicle (sEV)-derived miRNAs (sEV-miRNAs) have been recognized as biomarkers of various diseases and can be excreted by different cell types. These biomarker candidates also play a vital role in autoimmune diseases via intercellular communication. Methods: In the present study, we used sEV isolation and purification methods to extract the plasma-derived sEV-miRNAs from children with MG and healthy controls. A small RNA sequencing analysis confirmed the miRNA expression features in plasma-derived sEVs from MG patients. The miRNA expression analysis in vitro was determined using microarray analysis. The enrichment and network analyses of altered sEV-miRNAs were performed using miRNA databases and Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery website. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed for validation of sEV-miRNA. The diagnostic power of altered sEV-miRNAs was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve analyses. Results: Twenty-four sEV-miRNAs with altered expression level were identified between groups by DESeq2 method. The miRNAs were extracted from the sEVs, which were isolated from human primary skeletal muscle cell culture treated with mAb198. The target genes and enriched pathways of sEV-miRNAs partially overlapped between cell supernatant and plasma samples. The significantly downregulated miR-143-3p was validated in quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis. Conclusions: For the first time, we report that plasma-derived sEV-miRNAs may act as novel circulating biomarkers and therapeutic targets in pediatric MG.

Background: In the clinic, pediatric acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE) primarily affects children under 5 years of age and is characterized by severe brain damage and high mortality. However, some challenges remain regarding the diagnosis and treatment of ANE. In the present study, we analyzed the clinical characteristics and related factors of ANE with the aim of providing improved diagnostic and treatment strategies.Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the clinical characteristics and pathophysiology of ANE through a retrospective study, and to provide clinical practitioners with more effective. diagnostic and treatment strategies to improve patient survival rates and quality of life.Methods: Thirty-four pediatric ANE patients admitted to Zhejiang University School of Medicine Hospital between February 2019 and December 2023 were included in this study. To identify the factors associated with mortality, clinical, laboratory and imaging data were analyzed with independent-sample t tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, Fisher exact probability tests and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses.Results: In this cohort of 34 patients, the most common symptoms were fever, seizures, altered consciousness, vomiting, diarrhea and shock. The mortality rate was 55.9%. Laboratory tests revealed that patients who died had higher creatinine, lactate, activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, creatine kinase, and D-dimer than survivors. Imaging examinations predominantly revealed symmetrical lesions in the thalamus. The fatal group displayed lower Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores and severe complications. Other factors related to mortality included the arterial pH, GCS score and hospitalization duration.Conclusion: The most common symptoms of ANE are fever, seizures, altered consciousness, vomiting, diarrhea and shock, and ANE has a high mortality rate. The GCS score and arterial pH are critical biomarkers for assessing the severity of ANE.

Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common extracranial solid tumor in children. MYCN amplification remains a critical indicator of high-risk disease and poor prognosis. Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) carry microRNAs (miRNAs) with promising diagnostic potential. This study identified plasma sEV-derived miRNA biomarkers for NB diagnosis and MYCN status prediction. Using miRNA-seq, we analyzed plasma sEVs from 24 patients with NB (stratified by MYCN status and risk) and 10 healthy controls. Validation was performed in an independent cohort of 87 patients with NB and 47 controls. We identified six miRNAs (miR-150-5p, miR-142-5p, miR-30b-5p, miR-320a-3p, miR-30b, and miR-342-3p) that were significantly dysregulated in patients with NB, all showing excellent diagnostic accuracy (AUC >0.8). Notably, miR-150-5p and miR-342-3p differentiated MYCN-amplified from nonamplified patients (AUC = 0.738). Functional analysis revealed involvement in key NB pathways. Our findings demonstrate that plasma sEV-derived miRNAs represent valuable noninvasive biomarkers for neuroblastoma diagnosis and risk stratification.