The highly conserved Hippo signaling pathway is one of the most important pathways involved in tumorigenesis and progress. Previous studies show that YAP, the transcriptional coactivator of Hippo pathway, is expressed highly in many clinical bladder cancer tissues and plays crucial role on bladder cancer progress. To find the YAP-specific target drug and its molecular mechanism in bladder cancer, we apply Verteporfin (VP), a YAP specific inhibitor to function as anti-bladder cancer drug and discover that VP is able to inhibit bladder cancer cell growth and invasion in a dosage dependent manner. Moreover, we demonstrate that VP may inhibit bladder cancer cell growth and invasion via repressing target genes' expression of the Hippo signaling pathway. In further study, we provide evidence that VP is able to inhibit excessive YAP induced bladder cancer cell growth and invasion. To address the repressive function of VP against YAP in bladder cancer, we check the target genes' expression and find VP can dramatically repress YAP overexpression induced Hippo pathway target genes' expression. Taken together, we discover that VP inhibits YAP-induced bladder cancer cell growth and invasion via repressing the target genes' expression of Hippo signaling pathway.

The highly conserved Hippo signaling pathway is an important pathway involved in tumorigenesis and development. In previous studies, YAP, the transcription coactivator of Hippo pathway, is found to be highly expressed in many clinical bladder cancer samples. To investigate the function of YAP and its cofactor Mask2 in bladder cancer, we overexpress YAP in bladder cancer cells and discover that YAP is able to promote bladder cancer cell growth and migration. In addition, we provide evidence that knockdown of Mask2 is able to repress bladder cancer cell growth and migration. Furthermore, we demonstrate knockdown of Mask2 is able to inhibit bladder cancer cell growth and migration induced by the excessive YAP. To explain the function of YAP/Mask2 complex in bladder cancer, we check the target genes' expression of Hippo signaling pathway involved in cell growth and migration and find overexpressed YAP is able to upregulate the target genes' expression while depletion of Mask2 downregulates them. Taken together, we demonstrate that Mask2 is required for the function of bladder cancer cell growth and migration induced by YAP via the target genes of Hippo pathway.

The elevated expression of immune checkpoints by the tumor microenvironment is associated with poor prognosis in several cancers due to the exhaustion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), and the effective suppression of the expression of these genes is key to reversing the exhaustion of TILs. Herein, we determined that serine/arginine-rich splicing factor 2 (SRSF2) is a target for blocking the tumor microenvironment-associated immunosuppressive effects. We found that the expression of SRSF2 was increased in exhausted T cells and that SRSF2 was involved in multiple immune checkpoint molecules mediating TILs' exhaustion. Furthermore, SRSF2 was revealed to regulate the transcription of these immune checkpoint genes by associating with an acyl-transferases P300/CBP complex and altering the H3K27Ac level near these genes, thereafter influencing the recruitment of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) to these gene promoters. Collectively, our data indicated that SRSF2 functions as a modulator of the anti-tumor response of T cells and may be a therapeutic target for reversing the exhaustion of TILs.

BackgroundThe volatile anesthetic isoflurane protects the heart from hypoxia/reperfusion (H/R) injury. However, it is still incompletely understood whether isoflurane exerts its protective role through preventing mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) opening.MethodsPrimary cultured cardiocytes were exposed to H/R in the absence or presence of isoflurane. Cell cytotoxicity and apoptosis were detected by MTT assay and TUNEL staining, respectively. MPTP function was monitored by confocal imaging after reoxygenation. ROS production and activation of caspase-3 were determined by fluorescent reader and western blot, respectively.ResultsAs compared to the control group, H/R led to significant cell cytotoxicity and apoptosis, while application of isoflurane markedly reversed the effects. Furthermore, isoflurane significantly inhibits the formation of H/R-induced excess ROS production. Finally, isoflurane attenuated the onset of mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) occurred during hypoxia/reoxygenation, and in turn inhibited activation of caspase-3.ConclusionsThese data indicate that isoflurane has a protective effect on cardiocytes exposed to H/R by reducing excess ROS production, blocking open of MPTP and further reducing apoptosis.