Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) hyperproliferation is the main pathological process in various cardiovascular diseases, such as vascular restenosis. This process may be repressed by RING finger protein 10 (RNF10) in metabolic syndrome (MetS) rats. The aim of this study is to evaluate the inhibitory effects and molecular mechanisms of RNF10 on VSMC hyperproliferation. Neointimal hyperplasia in MetS and high‐glucose‐induced VSMC hyperproliferation were measured after infection with adenoviruses encoding RNF10 (Ad‐RNF10), short hairpin RNF10 (Ad‐shRNF10), or green fluorescent protein (Ad‐GFP). In vivo and in vitro, we found that overexpression of RNF10 significantly affected neointima formation and VSMC proliferation, and displayed further inhibitory activity by promoting mesenchyme homeobox 2 (Meox2) and suppressing activating protein 1 (AP‐1). In contrast, Ad‐shRNF10 had an opposite effect on neointimal hyperplasia and VSMC hyperproliferation in vivo and in vitro. Our study indicated that RNF10 inhibited the hyperproliferation with the activities of Meox2 and AP‐1 proteins. RNF10 may be a next drug target for treating vascular restenosis and other related cardiovascular diseases. © 2018 IUBMB Life, 71(5):632–642, 2019

Grape berry proanthocyandin (PA) mainly exists in the skin and seeds. Its content and composition determine the intensity of bitterness and astringency. Affected by global warming, the world’s wine-producing regions, in particular in dry-hot regions such as western China, are facing the problem of unsynchronized berry ripening and seed ripening. Therefore, it is urgent to understand the influence of berry ripening progression on the composition and accumulation of seed PA, ultimately providing strategies for grape harvest decisions. In this paper, Vitis vinfera L. cv. Cabernet sauvignon and Marselan grapes from four sub-regions with different maturation processes were used as experimental materials to study the changes of soluble and insoluble PA contents as well as differences in their composition and mean degree of polymers (mDP) in seeds. The results showed that compared with ‘Cabernet sauvignon’ seeds, the mDP of soluble and insoluble PA were higher in ‘Marselan’ seeds. Both varieties showed that the grape berry, with the fastest sugar accumulation, had relatively high soluble PA content in seeds and a high content of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate and (-)-epicatechin in the seed PA composition units. In contrast, the ‘Cabernet sauvignon’ grapes from the YQ vineyard exhibited the slowest sugar accumulation speed among the four studied vineyards, and their seed PA had the highest mDP and the lowest proportion of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate in the composition units when commercially harvested. According to the results, it is suggested that a faster maturation process would bring about higher levels of bitterness composition, such as (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate in seed PA, which is not conducive to the formation of good-tasting tannins.

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