GADD45 gene has been implicated in cell cycle arrest, cell survival or apoptosis in a cell type specific and context-dependent manner. Members of GADD45 gene family have been found differentially expressed in several podocyte injury models, but their roles in podocytes are unclear. Using an in vivo zebrafish model of inducible podocyte injury that we have previously established, we found that zebrafish orthologs of gadd45b were induced upon the induction of podocyte injury. Podocyte-specific overexpression of zebrafish gadd45b exacerbated edema, proteinuria and foot-process effacement, whereas knockdown of gadd45b by morpholino-oligos in zebrafish larvae ameliorated podocyte injury. We then explored the role of GADD45B induction in podocyte injury using in vitro podocyte culture. We confirmed that GADD45B was significantly upregulated during the early phase of podocyte injury in cultured human podocytes and that podocyte apoptosis induced by TGF-β and puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN) was aggravated by GADD45B overexpression but ameliorated by shRNA-mediated GADD45B knockdown. We also showed that ROS inhibitor NAC suppressed PAN-induced GADD45B expression and subsequent activation of p38 MAPK pathway in podocytes and that inhibition of GADD45B diminished PAN-induced p38 MAPK activation. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that GADD45B has an important role in podocyte injury and may be a therapeutic target for the management of podocyte injury in glomerular diseases.

Cervical cancer is one of the most common carcinomas in the genital system. In the present study, we report that SBF-1, a synthetic steroidal glycoside, has a strong antigrowth activity against human cervical cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. SBF-1 suppressed the growth, migration and colony formation of HeLa cells. In addition, severe endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress was triggered by SBF-1, and 4-phenyl-butyric acid, a chemical chaperone, partially reversed SBF-1-induced cell death. To uncover the target protein of SBF-1, the compound was labeled with biotin. The biotin-labeled SBF-1 bound to sarco/ER Ca2+-ATPase 2 (SERCA2) and colocalized with SERCA2 in HeLa cells. Moreover, SBF-1 inhibited SERCA activity, depleted ER Ca2+ and increased cytosolic Ca2+ levels. 1,2-Bis(o-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid, a chelator of Ca2+, partially blocked SBF-1-induced ER stress and growth inhibition. Importantly, knockdown of SERCA2 increased the sensitivity of HeLa cells to SBF-1-induced ER stress and cell death, whereas overexpression of SERCA2 decreased this sensitivity. Furthermore, SBF-1 induced growth suppression and apoptosis in HeLa xenografts, which is closely related to the induction of ER stress and inhibition of SERCA activity. Finally, SERCA2 expression was elevated in human cervical cancer tissues (n=299) and lymph node metastasis (n=8), as compared with normal cervix tissues (n=23), with a positive correlation with clinical stages. In all, these results suggest that SBF-1 disrupts Ca2+ homeostasis and causes ER stress-associated cell death through directly binding to SERCA2 and inhibiting SERCA activity. Our findings also indicate that SERCA2 is a potential therapeutic target for human cervical cancer.

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