CD36: linking lipids to the NLRP3 inflammasome, atherogenesis and atherothrombosis

Uptake of the atherogenic lipid mediator oxLDL by CD36 results in the formation of intracellular cholesterol crystals that caused lyso¬somal destabilization and NLRP3 activation. oxLDL not only primes, via a NF-κB-dependent pathway, but also activates NLRP3. CD36-mediated inflammasome activation provides an early pathogenic pathway that links cholesterol accumulation to the chronic inflammatory process of atherosclerosis. During atherogenesis, activated or injured endothelial cells, leucocytes and platelets release ATP that acts in a paracrine manner to transduce sterile inflammatory signals. Among these signals, P2X7 receptors mediate K+ efflux leading to NLRP3 activation. Since ATP assembles ASC complexes in oxLDL-treated macrophages, P2X7 receptors and CD36 may cooperate in vivo to activate NLRP3 inflammasome, contributing to plaque formation. Besides macrophages, CD36 is expressed on platelets where it mediates oxLDL-dependent platelet activation and potentially further IL-1β release. P2X7 receptors contributes to protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) tissue factor-dependent thrombosis. Consequently, both CD36 and P2X7 receptors may be involved in atherothrombosis upon plaque rupture

Characterization of a novel panel of plasma microRNAs that discriminates between Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and healthy individuals.

Cavities are important in clinical diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) infected by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Although microRNAs (miRNAs) play a vital role in the regulation of inflammation, the relation between plasma miRNA and pulmonary tuberculosis with cavity remains unknown. In this study, plasma samples were derived from 89 cavitary pulmonary tuberculosis (CP-TB) patients, 89 non-cavitary pulmonary tuberculosis (NCP-TB) patients and 95 healthy controls. Groups were matched for age and gender. In the screening phase, Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology was employed to analyze miRNA profiles in plasma samples pooled from CP-TB patients, NCP-TB patients and healthy controls. During the training and verification phases, quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) was conducted to verify the differential expression of selected miRNAs among groups. Illumina high-throughput sequencing identified 29 differentially expressed plasma miRNAs in TB patients when compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, qRT-PCR analysis validated miR-769-5p, miR-320a and miR-22-3p as miRNAs that were differently present between TB patients and healthy controls. ROC curve analysis revealed that the potential of these 3 miRNAs to distinguish TB patients from healthy controls was high, with the area under the ROC curve (AUC) ranged from 0.692 to 0.970. Moreover, miR-320a levels were decreased in drug-resistant TB patients than pan-susceptible TB patients (AUC = 0.882). In conclusion, we identified miR-769-5p, miR-320a and miR-22-3p as potential blood-based biomarkers for TB. In addition, miR-320a may represent a biomarker for drug-resistant TB