Neuroscience
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Vestibular schwannoma (VS) is a benign, slow-growing neoplasm, which is an important cause of sensorineural hearing loss. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been widely reported to be dysregulated and participate in multiple biological processes of human diseases. However, roles of most circRNAs still remain explored. ⋯ Additionally, results of mechanism assays demonstrated that circ_0001665 could function as a sponge of microRNA-302a-3p (miR-302a-3p) to enhance Adam9 expression and to activate EGFR signaling pathway in VS cells. Eventually, it was indicated in rescue assays that circ_0001665 expedited proliferation and restrained apoptosis of VS cells via modulation on miR-302a-3p/Adam9. Collectively, our study identified a novel perspective for exploration into molecular mechanisms in VS.
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Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a common disease of the nervous system, including primary and secondary injuries. Neuronal inflammation after SCI is the most important pathological process of SCI and a chemical barrier to nerve function recovery after injury. Ski, an evolutionarily conserved functional transcriptional regulator protein, is upregulated in reactive astrocytes after SCI and regulates the biological characteristics of astrocytes. ⋯ These findings suggest that Ski is a promising therapeutic target for inflammatory responses after SCI. In conclusion, Ski downregulation can effectively inhibit glial inflammation in SCI by inhibiting the activity of the NF-κB pathway. These findings suggest that Ski might serve as a promising target for the treatment of inflammatory responses after SCI.
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Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death. Recently, many studies have reported that the N-methyl D-aspartate receptor 2B (NR2B) subunit is excitotoxic in the pathogenesis of glaucoma, but the molecular mechanism should be further explored. In our present study, we investigated the involvement of the NR2B-postsynaptic density protein-95 (PSD95) complex in RGC apoptosis in an experimental glaucoma animal model and determined whether inhibition of the NR2B-PSD95 interaction protected RGCs. ⋯ Levels of the apoptosis-related proteins Bax and cleaved caspase-3 decreased as the number of surviving RGCs increased. Together, our results suggest that the NR2B-PSD95 complex was involved in RGC death in the retinal I/R injury model. Tat-NR2B9c exerted a neuroprotective effect on RGC survival in the retinal I/R injury model by disrupting the NR2B-PSD95 interaction.
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Perioperative neurocognitive disorder (PND) is a serious nervous system complication characterized by progressive cognitive impairment, especially in geriatric population. However, the neuropathogenesis of PND is complex, and there are no approved disease-modifying therapeutic options. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been demonstrated to contribute to the occurrence and development of PND. ⋯ Our results suggested that tNIR light was an effective treatment of PND through PBMT effect, accompanied by synaptic and neuronal improvement. The improvement of mitochondrial dysfunction mediated by SIRT1/PGC-1α signaling pathway might participate in this process. Those findings might provide a novel and noninvasive therapeutic target for PND.