The clinical significance and mechanisms of TET2 are not well defined in myeloid malignancies. We detected TET2 mutations and assayed its catalyzing conversion product 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) in 61 Chinese patients with MDS. Ten patients were identified to have TET2 mutations (16.4%). 5-hmC levels in patients with MDS with TET2 mutations were significantly lower than in those without mutations, and CD34+ cells of patients with MDS exhibited a lower 5-hmC content than that of controls. TET2 expression and 5-hmC in patients with MDS with P15 methylation were both significantly lower than in those without P15 methylation. We did not observe a correlation between TET2 mutations and overall survival (OS) in MDS. Interestingly, we found that patients with MDS with higher 5-hmC levels or in lower risk groups of the Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) had a longer overall survival, suggesting that 5-hmC levels may be a new molecular marker for prognostic assessment of MDS and that revised IPSS criteria are also applicable to the risk categories of Chinese patients with MDS.

BackgroundIdiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) can severely damage lung function, which may result in death. Emodin is a major ingredient of rhubarb and has been proven to protect against lung disruptions. Our study focused on the potential medicinal effect of emodin against IPF.Material/MethodsThe experiment subjects were fully-grown male Sprague-Dawley rats with average weight of 180–220 kg. Histological analyses, Western blotting analysis, quantitative real-time PCR, and statistical analysis were used in the study.ResultsWe found that emodin significantly reduced lung structural distortion, collagen overproduction, massive inflammatory cells infiltration, proinflammatory cytokines expansion, and injuries caused by administration of bleomycin (BLM). Additionally, emodin suppressed the accumulation of p-IκBα and NF-κB, while stimulating the Nrf2-antioxidant signaling process in damaged lungs. Emodin inhibited epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) induced by BLM in the lungs. Moreover, emodin suppressed the TGF-β1 expression and the downstream signal molecules p-Smad-2 and p-Smad-3, which are reinforced by BLM. Emodin can also reverse EMT-like shifts induced by recombinant TGF-β1 in alveolar epithelial cultured cells.ConclusionsThe effect of emodin in fibrotic lung injury is closely related to its favorable properties of anti-inflammation and anti-oxidation.

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Mipu1 (myocardial ischemic preconditioning up-regulated protein 1), recently identified in our lab, is a novel zinc-finger transcription factor which is up-regulated during ischemic preconditioning. However, it is not clear what transcription factor contributes to its inducible expression. In the present study, we reported that HIF-1 regulates the inducible expression of Mipu1 which is involved in the cytoprotection of HIF-1α against oxidative stress by inhibiting Bax expression. Our results showed that the inducible expression of Mipu1 was associated with the expression and activation of transcription factor HIF-1 as indicated by cobalt chloride (CoCl2) treatment, HIF-1α overexpression and knockdown assays. EMSA and luciferase reporter gene assays showed that HIF-1α bound to the hypoxia response element (HRE) within Mipu1 promoter region and promoted its transcription. Moreover, our results revealed that Mipu1 inhibited the expression of Bax, an important pro-apoptosis protein associated with the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis, elevating the cytoprotection of HIF-1 against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-mediated injury in H9C2 cells. Our findings implied that Bax may be a potential target gene of transcription factor Mipu1, and provided a novel insight for understanding the cytoprotection of HIF-1 and new clues for further elucidating the mechanisms by which Mipu1 protects cell against pathological stress.