Dietary Blueberry and Bifidobacteria Attenuate Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Rats by Affecting SIRT1-Mediated Signaling Pathway

NAFLD model rats were established and divided into NAFLD model (MG group), SIRT1 RNAi (SI group), blueberry juice (BJ group), blueberry juice + bifidobacteria (BJB group), blueberry juice + SIRT1 RNAi (BJSI group), and blueberry juice + bifidobacteria + SIRT1 RNAi groups (BJBSI group). A group with normal rats was a control group (CG). BJB group ameliorated NAFLD, which was better than BJ group (P<0.05). The lipid accumulation was lower in CG, BJ, and BJB groups than that in MG, SI, BJSI, and BJBSI groups (P<0.05). The levels of SIRT1 and PPAR-α were higher in CG, BJ, and BJB groups than those in MG, SI, BJSI, and BJBSI groups (P<0.05). The levels of SREBP-1c were lower in CG, BJ, and BJB groups than those in MG, SI, BJSI, and BJBSI groups (P<0.05). The biochemical indexes SOD, GSH, and HDL-c were improved from CG to BJB group (P<0.05). Inversely, the levels of AST and ALT, TG, TC, LDL-c, and MDA were decreased from CG to BJB group (P<0.05). These changes enhance antioxidative capability and biochemical index of rats. Blueberry juice and bifidobacteria improve NAFLD by activating SIRTI-mediating signaling pathway

Thymosin-β4 Mediates Hepatic Stellate Cell Activation by Interfering with CircRNA-0067835/miR-155/FoxO3 Signaling Pathway

Background/Aims: Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are the primary cell type responsible for liver fibrosis. Our study proved that thymosin beta 4 (Tβ4) has anti-fibrogenic effects in HSCs through PI3K/AKT pathway. However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully elucidated. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play important roles in fine-tuning gene expression and are often deregulated in cancers. However, the expression profile and clinical significance of in liver fibrosis is still unknown. Therefore, we hypothesize that Tβ4 influences circRNAs in liver fibrosis. Methods: Circular RNA microarray was conducted to identify Tβ4-related circRNAs. Pathway analysis and miRNA response elements analysis was conducted to predict the potential roles of differentially expressed circRNAs in liver fibrosis. CCK8 assays and flow cytometric assays were conducted to clarify the role of circRNA in liver fibrosis. Bioinformatics analysis and in vitro experiments were conducted to clarify the mechanism of circRNA-mediated gene regulation in liver fibrosis. Results: A total of 644 differentially expressed circRNAs were identified between the Tβ4-depleted LX-2 cells and the control LX2 cells. The expression of circRNA-0067835 was significantly increased in the Tβ4-depleted LX-2 cells compared with control. Knockdown of circRNA-0067835 observably decreased LX-2 cell proliferation by causing G1 arrest and promoting apoptosis. Bioinformatics online programs predicted that circRNA-0067835 acted as miR-155 sponge to regulate FOXO3a expression, which was validated using luciferase reporter assay. Conclusion: Our experiments showed that circRNA-0067835 regulated liver fibrosis progression by acting as a sponge of miR-155 to promote FOXO3a expression, indicating that circRNA-0067835 may serve as a potential therapeutic target for patients with liver fibrosis

Tailoring Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in a transition metal dichalcogenide by dual-intercalation

Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) is vital to form various chiral spin textures, novel behaviors of magnons and permits their potential applications in energy-efficient spintronic devices. Here, we realize a sizable bulk DMI in a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) 2H-TaS2 by intercalating Fe atoms, which form the chiral supercells with broken spatial inversion symmetry and also act as the source of magnetic orderings. Using a newly developed protonic gate technology, gate-controlled protons intercalation could further change the carrier density and intensely tune DMI via the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida mechanism. The resultant giant topological Hall resistivity of 1.4 uohm.cm at -5.2V (about 460% of the zero-bias value) is larger than most of the known magnetic materials. Theoretical analysis indicates that such a large topological Hall effect originates from the two-dimensional Bloch-type chiral spin textures stabilized by DMI, while the large anomalous Hall effect comes from the gapped Dirac nodal lines by spin-orbit interaction. Dual-intercalation in 2HTaS2 provides a model system to reveal the nature of DMI in the large family of TMDs and a promising way of gate tuning of DMI, which further enables an electrical control of the chiral spin textures and related electromagnetic phenomena.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure