Front Cell Infect Microbiol
September 2025
The innate immune system serves as the first line of defense against viral infections. Type I interferon (IFN-I) signaling, in particular, plays a crucial role in mediating antiviral immunity. Here, we identify Betrixaban (BT), a novel small-molecule compound that activates innate immune responses, leading to broad-spectrum antiviral effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Bull (Beijing)
August 2025
Immune checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized cancer therapy; however, many patients exhibit suboptimal responses, which is due to inadequate T cell priming by the innate immune response. Metal ions play a critical role in modulating the innate immune response. However, the mechanisms by which metal ions facilitate dendritic cell maturation through the activation of interferon remain poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDNA phosphorothioate (PT) modifications, characterized by the replacement of a non-bridging phosphate oxygen atom with a sulfur atom, are widely observed in bacterial genomes. Sensitive detection of phosphorothioate is crucial for elucidating their biological roles and functions. Herein, we developed an innovative method that leverages oligonucleotide-templated reactions (OTRs) and fluorogenic oligonucleotide probes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiophysical cues play a crucial role in T cell biology, yet their implications in adoptive T cell therapy (ACT) remain largely unknown. Here, we investigate the effect of electrical stimuli on CD8 T cells using a charged substrate composed of electroactive nanocomposites with tunable surface charge intensities. Electrical stimuli enhance the persistence and tumor-suppressive efficacy of transferred T cells, with effects dependent on substrate charge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmaceuticals (Basel)
December 2024
Capsaicin is commonly used as a flavoring and a riot control agent. However, long-term exposure or high doses can cause acute lung injury in military and police personnel. The mechanisms underlying capsaicin-induced pulmonary toxicity remain unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRegulation of the immune response is key to promoting bone regeneration by electroactive biomaterials. However, how electrical signals at the micro- and nanoscale regulate the immune response and subsequent angiogenesis during bone regeneration remains to be elucidated. Here, the distinctly different surface potential distributions on charged poly(vinylidene fluoridetrifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) matrix surfaces are established by altering the dimensions of ferroelectric nanofillers from 0D BaTiO nanoparticles (homogeneous surface potential distribution, HOPD) to 1D BaTiO nanofibers (heterogeneous surface potential distribution, HEPD).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Sci (Weinh)
January 2025
The STING pathway plays a critical role in tumor immunosurveillance. However, the precise mechanisms by which STING regulates gamma delta (γδ) T cell function during tumor progression remain unclear. Herein, we find that tumor-derived cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) activates a distinct STING pathway by inducing TBK1-mediated phosphorylation of Eomes in γδ T cells during the early stage of tumor development is demonstrated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Cell Biol
September 2024
Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS), a cytosolic DNA sensor that initiates a STING-dependent innate immune response, binds tightly to chromatin, where its catalytic activity is inhibited; however, mechanisms underlying cGAS recruitment to chromatin and functions of chromatin-bound cGAS (ccGAS) remain unclear. Here we show that mTORC2-mediated phosphorylation of human cGAS serine 37 promotes its chromatin localization in colorectal cancer cells, regulating cell growth and drug resistance independently of STING. We discovered that ccGAS recruits the SWI/SNF complex at specific chromatin regions, modifying expression of genes linked to glutaminolysis and DNA replication.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAppl Environ Microbiol
July 2024
Viral infections pose significant public health challenges, exemplified by the global impact of COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2. Understanding the intricate molecular mechanisms governing virus-host interactions is pivotal for effective intervention strategies. Despite the burgeoning multi-omics data on viral infections, a centralized database elucidating host responses to viruses remains lacking.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Chem Biol
October 2024
A timely inflammatory response is crucial for early viral defense, but uncontrolled inflammation harms the host. Retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) has a pivotal role in detecting RNA viruses, yet the regulatory mechanisms governing its sensitivity remain elusive. Here we identify PTENα, an N-terminally extended form of PTEN, as an RNA-binding protein with a preference for the CAUC(G/U)UCAU motif.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Immunol
April 2024
Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) derived from the long terminal repeat (LTR) family of transposons constitute a significant portion of the mammalian genome, with origins tracing back to ancient viral infections. Despite comprising approximately 8% of the human genome, the specific role of ERVs in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 remains unclear. In this study, we conducted a genome-wide identification of ERVs in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (hPBMCs) and primary lung epithelial cells from monkeys and mice, both infected and uninfected with SARS-CoV-2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSIRT2, a cytoplasmic member of the Sirtuin family, has important roles in immunity and inflammation. However, its function in regulating the response to DNA virus infection remains elusive. Here, we find that SIRT2 is a unique regulator among the Sirtuin family that negatively modulates the cGAS-STING-signaling pathway.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTissue-infiltrating neutrophils (TINs) secrete various signaling molecules to establish paracrine communication within the inflammatory milieu. It is imperative to identify molecular mediators that control this secretory phenotype of TINs. The present study uncovers a secretory neutrophil subset that exhibits increased pro-inflammatory cytokine production and enhanced migratory capacity which is highly related with periodontal pathogenesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOTUD6A is a deubiquitinase that plays crucial roles in various human diseases. However, the precise regulatory mechanism of OTUD6A remains unclear. In this study, we found that OTUD6A significantly inhibited the production of type I interferon.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicroorganisms
June 2023
is an opportunistic human pathogen that is often involved in severe infections such as pneumonia and sepsis in which bacterial virulence factors play a key role. Infections caused by are often difficult to eradicate, particularly when they are associated with biofilm. The physiological roles of the Crp/Fnr family regulator ArcR are elusive in .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are anti-cancer therapeutics often prescribed for long-term treatment. Many of these treatments cause cardiotoxicity with limited cure. We aim to clarify molecular mechanisms of TKI-induced cardiotoxicity so as to find potential targets for treating the adverse cardiac complications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Endocrinol (Lausanne)
March 2023
Introduction: The increased prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and sarcopenia among the elderly are facing a significant challenge to the world's health systems. Our study aims to identify the coexpressed genes in NAFLD and sarcopenia patients.
Methods: We downloaded the transcriptome data of NAFLD tissue from patients, as well as muscle tissues from sarcopenia patients, from the GEO database in order to investigate the shared transcriptional regulation mechanisms between these two diseases.
Plant-derived nanovesicles (PDNVs) have been proposed as a major mechanism for the inter-kingdom interaction and communication, but the effector components enclosed in the vesicles and the mechanisms involved are largely unknown. The plant Artemisia annua is known as an anti-malaria agent that also exhibits a wide range of biological activities including the immunoregulatory and anti-tumor properties with the mechanisms to be further addressed. Here, we isolated and purified the exosome-like particles from A.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenome Biol
February 2023
Background: The CRISPR-Cas13 system is an RNA-guided RNA-targeting system and has been widely used in transcriptome engineering with potentially important clinical applications. However, it is still controversial whether Cas13 exhibits collateral activity in mammalian cells.
Results: Here, we find that knocking down gene expression using RfxCas13d in the adult brain neurons caused death of mice, which may result from the collateral activity of RfxCas13d rather than the loss of target gene function or off-target effects.
Polymeric nanomaterials (APs) are gaining attention as promising clinical antimicrobials with rapidly increasing antibiotic resistance. Infections by zoonotic enterohemorrhagic are a severe global threat to public health. Chitosan nanoparticles-microcin J25 (CNM), a class of APs engineered by bioactive peptides and chitosan nanoparticles, can be used as a novel antimicrobial agent against bacterial infections.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRegulation of chromatin structure and accessibility determines the transcription activities of genes, which endows the host with function-specific patterns of gene expression. Upon viral infection, the innate immune responses provide the first line of defense, allowing rapid production of variegated antiviral cytokines. Knowledge on how chromatin accessibility is regulated during host defense against viral infection remains limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPyroptosis is a gasdermin-mediated programmed necrosis that occurs via membrane perforation and that can be exploited for biomedical applications in cancer therapy. However, inducing specific pyroptotic cancer cell death while sparing normal cells is challenging. Here, we report an acid-activatable nanophotosensitizer library that can be used to spatiotemporally target distinct stages of endosomal maturation, enabling tunable cellular pyroptosis.
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