The temporal patterns of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory macrophages after peripheral nerve injury.

Studies have shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) mediate posttranscriptional regulation of target genes and participate in various physiological and pathological processes, including peripheral nerve injury. However, it is hard to select key miRNAs with essential biological functions among a large number of differentially expressed miRNAs. Previously, we collected injured sciatic nerve stumps at multiple time points after nerve crush injury, examined gene changes at different stages (acute, sub-acute, and post-acute), and obtained mRNA expression profiles. Here, we jointly analyzed mRNAs and miRNAs, and investigated upstream miRNAs of differentially expressed mRNAs using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis bioinformatic software. A total of 31, 42, 30, and 23 upstream miRNAs were identified at 1, 4, 7, and 14 days after rat sciatic nerve injury, respectively. Temporal expression patterns and biological involvement of commonly involved upstream miRNAs (miR-21, let-7, miR-223, miR-10b, miR-132, miR-15b, miR-127, miR-29a, miR-29b, and miR-9) were then determined at multiple time points. Expression levels of miR-21, miR-132, miR-29a, and miR-29b were robustly increased after sciatic nerve injury. Biological processes involving these miRNAs include multicellular organismal response to stress, positive regulation of the epidermal growth factor receptor signaling pathway, negative regulation of epithelial cell differentiation, and regulation of myocardial tissue growth. Moreover, we constructed mechanistic networks of let-7, miR-21, and miR-223, the most significantly involved upstream miRNAs. Our findings reveal that multiple upstream miRNAs (i.e., let-7, miR-21, and miR-223) were associated with gene expression changes in rat sciatic nerve stumps after nerve injury, and these miRNAs play an important role in peripheral nerve regeneration. This study was approved by the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of Jiangsu Province of China (approval No. 20190303-18) on March 3, 2019.

The aim of this study was to examine effects of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) on rat mesangial cell proliferation, apoptosis and underlying mechanisms. Cultured HBZY-1 rat mesangial cells received the following treatments: group 1: controls (DMSO); group 2: TGF-beta(1) (10 µg/L); groups 3-5: ATRA (0.1, 1.0 and 10 µmol/L) + TGF-beta(1) (10 µg/L). After treatments, the cells were studied by CCK-8 assay, cell cycle assay and TUNEL staining. p21(Waf1/Cip1), p27(Kip1) and Skp2 mRNA levels were measured by real-time PCR. p21(Waf1/Cip1), p27(Kip1) and Skp2 protein levels were detected by Western blot. The localization of p21(Waf1/Cip1) and p27(Kip1) proteins was observed by immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. Compared with controls, TGF-beta(1) significantly enhanced proliferation and inhibited apoptosis of mesangial cells. ATRA dose-dependently reversed both TGF-beta(1)-induced decreases in p21(Waf1/Cip1) mRNA and protein levels and p27(Kip1) protein level and increases in Skp2 mRNA and protein levels, and inhibited TGF-beta(1)-induced proliferation through G(1) arrest. Meanwhile, after ATRA treatments, p21(Waf1/Cip1) and p27(Kip1) proteins mainly localized in the nucleus, and their concentrations in cytoplasm decreased. ATRA inhibited TGF-beta(1)-induced mesangial cell proliferation by up-regulating p21(Waf1/Cip1) mRNA and protein levels, and p27(Kip1) protein level, and down-regulating Skp2 mRNA and protein levels, but it had no significant effect on apoptosis in rat mesangial cells.

CD146 is cell adhesion molecule and is implicated in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. However, the involvement of CD146 in peripheral nerve regeneration has not been studied yet. Here, we examine the spatial and temporal expression pattern of CD146 in injured mouse sciatic nerve via high-throughput data analysis, RT-PCR and immunostaining. By microarray data analysis and RT-PCR validation, we show that CD146 mRNA is significantly up-regulated in the nerve bridge and in the distal nerve stump following mouse sciatic nerve transection injury. By single cell sequencing data analysis and immunostaining, we demonstrate that CD146 is up-regulated in Schwann cells and cells associated with blood vessels following mouse peripheral nerve injury. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that CD146 not only has a key role in promoting of blood vessel regeneration but also regulates cell migration. The biological function of CD146 in Schwann cells was further investigated by knockdown of CD146 in rat primary Schwann cells. Functional assessments showed that knockdown of CD146 decreases viability and proliferation of Schwann cells but increases Schwann cell migration. Collectively, our findings imply that CD146 could be a key cell adhesion molecule that is up-regulated in injured peripheral nerves to regulate peripheral nerve regeneration.