Rationale: Accumulating evidence shows that Rho-GTPase-activating proteins (RhoGAPs) exert suppressive roles in cancer cell proliferation and metastasis. However, no study has systematically investigated the clinical significance of RhoGAPs and analyzed the functions of ARHGAP24 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Background: Ischemia/Reperfusion (I/R) Injury largely limits the efficacy of revascularization in acute myocardial infarction. Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) Oprm1 is protective in cerebral I/R injury. However, the effect of lncRNA Oprm1 on myocardial I/R injury and its mechanism remains unknown.Methods: We ligated and then released the left anterior descending coronary artery of adult male rats to build the I/R model in vivo, while an H9c2 cardiomyocytes hypoxia-reoxygenation (H/R) model was also used. Myocardial infarction area, cardiac function, histology, Tunnel staining, cell viability, and vital protein expression was conducted and compared.Results: lncRNA Oprm1 was significantly down-regulated in the I/R injury model. When administered with the AAV9-Oprm1 vector, the myocardial injury and cardiac function were mitigated and preserved, with apoptosis reduced. The cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE) expression and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) expression were increased. The dual-luciferase reporter gene revealed the targeted relationship between lncRNA Oprm1 and miR-30b-5p. In H9c2 cardiomyocytes models, the miR-30b-5p blocked the protective effect of lncRNA Oprm1 on H/R injury, when Bcl-2, Bcl-xl was down-regulated, and HIF-1α, Bnip-3, Caspase-3, and Caspase-9 up-regulated.Conclusions: lncRNA Oprm1can competitively combines with miR-30b-5p, which down-regulates the expression of CSE. When administered with lncRNA Oprm1, increased endogenous H₂S can reduce apoptosis and protect the myocardium from I/R injury via activating PI3K/Akt pathway and inhibiting HIF1-α activity.

Aims: The study aimed to evaluate the correlation of different microparticle (MP) phenotypes with plaque burden and their diagnostic value and preliminarily explore the role of MPs in atherosclerosis (AS).Methods: Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and maximal plaque area in 23 patients with carotid atherosclerosis (CAS) and 22 healthy subjects were measured by ultrasound. Transmission electron microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis and western blot were used to identify MPs. Flow cytometry assay measured absolute number of MPs, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to assess the relationship between plaque burden and MPs. To study the preliminary mechanism of MPs in AS, MPs were administered to 32 male Kunming mice, which were randomly divided into control, CAS, healthy, and tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) groups. Hematoxylin-eosin staining, immunohistochemistry staining, and Western blot were adopted to detect relevant indexes 24 h after the injection.Results: The plasma levels of CD45⁺ leukocyte-derived microparticle (LMP), CD11a⁺ LMP, CD11a⁺/CD45⁺ LMP, and CD31⁺/CD42b⁺ platelet-derived microparticle (PMP) in CAS patients were significantly higher than those in healthy subjects, and were positively correlated with the maximal plaque area. Moreover, the levels of CD11a⁺ LMP, CD11a⁺/CD45⁺ LMP were also positively correlated with CIMT. The area under the ROC curve of the four MPs was 0.689, 0.747, 0.741, and 0.701, respectively. Compared with healthy subjects, MPs from CAS patients resulted in a significantly lower expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) dimer/monomer, and BH4 could improve eNOS uncoupling. Moreover, the level of VCAM-1 in intima in the CAS group was significantly higher than in the other three groups.Conclusion: CD11a⁺ LMP and CD11a⁺/CD45⁺ LMP might be potential biomarkers for CAS prediction. BH4-related eNOS uncoupling occurs in CAS patients, and circulating MPs from them lead to endothelial dysfunction through eNOS uncoupling.