The urinary bladder is innervated by parasympathetic preganglionic neurons (PPNs) that express μ-opioid receptors (MOR) in the sacral parasympathetic nucleus (SPN) at lumbosacral segments L6-S1. The SPN also contains endomorphin 2 (EM2)-immunoreactive (IR) fibers and terminals. EM2 is the endogenous ligand of MOR. In the present study, retrograde tract-tracing with cholera toxin subunit b (CTb) or wheat germ agglutinin-conjugated horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP) via the pelvic nerve combined with immunohistochemical staining for EM2 and MOR to identify PPNs within the SPN as well as synaptic connections between the EM2-IR terminals and MOR-expressing PPNs in the SPN of the rat. After CTb was injected into the pelvic nerve, CTb retrogradely labeled neurons were almost exclusively located in the lateral part of the intermediolateral gray matter at L6-S1 of the lumbosacral spinal cord. All of the them also expressed MOR. EM2-IR terminals formed symmetric synapses with MOR-IR, WGA-HRP-labeled and WGA-HRP/MOR double-labeled neuronal cell bodies and dendrites within the SPN. These results provided morphological evidence that EM2-containing axon terminals formed symmetric synapses with MOR-expressing PPNs in the SPN. The present results also show that EM2 and MOR might be involved in both the homeostatic control and information transmission of micturition.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a prevalent class of blood disease with a high occurrence rate and relapse rate. The role of dysregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) in AML is emerging. MiR-4260 was identified to be a carcinogenic miRNA in colorectal cancer, but never has it been reported in AML. We aimed to study the function and mechanism of miR-4260 in AML. The miR-4260 level was higher in AML cell lines than the normal cell lines. Inhibition of miR-4260 hindered proliferation and increased apoptosis of AML cells. Mechanistically, long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 1128 (LINC01128) competed with nuclear receptor subfamily 3 group C member 2 (NR3C2) for miR-4260 so as to upregulate NR3C2. We identified the reduced levels of LINC01128 and NR3C2 in AML and it was suggested through rescue assays that LINC01128 repressed AML progression through regulating miR-4260/NR3C2 axis. In conclusion, we firstly uncovered that LINC01128 resisted acute myeloid leukemia through regulating miR-4260/NR3C2, providing novel clues for the treatment improvement of AML.
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