Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are important ingredient in tumor microenvironment. The dynamic interplay between CAFs and cancer cells plays essential roles during tumor development and progression. However, the mechanisms of intercellular communication between CAFs and cancer cells remain largely unknown. We characterized exosomes secreted from breast cancer patient-derived CAFs by transmission electron microscopy. The expression of SNHG3, miR-330-5p, and PKM (Pyruvate Kinase M1/ M2) was examined by real-time QPCR and immunoblot. The function of SNHG3 on the growth and metabolism of tumor cells was used by CCK8 and mitochondrial oxygen consumption assays. The binding between SNHG3, miR-330-5p, and PKM was examined by dual luciferase reporter assays. Orthotopical xenograft of breast tumor experiments was performed to determine the function of SNHG3 in vivo. We demonstrated that exosomes secreted from CAFs reprogram the metabolic pathways after tumor cells uptake the exosomes. CAF-secreted exosomal lncRNA SNHG3 served as a molecular sponge for miR-330-5p in breast cancer cells. Moreover, PKM could be targeted by miR-330-5p and was controlled by SNHG3 in breast cancer cells. Mechanistically, SNHG3 knockdown in CAF-secreted exosomes suppressed glycolysis metabolism and cell proliferation by the increase of miR-330-5p and decrease of PKM expression in tumor cells. SNHG3 functions as a miR-330-5p sponge to positively regulate PKM expression, inhibit mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, increase glycolysis carboxylation, and enhance breast tumor cell proliferation. Overall, SNHG3 could play a major role in the development and progression of breast cancer and support the therapeutic potential of targeting communication between cancer cells and tumor microenvironment.

Objective. To summarize the characteristics and analysis of relevant factors and to give references for prevention and further study of liver damage associated with Polygonum multiflorum Thunb. (HSW), we provide a systematic review of case reports and case series about liver damage associated with HSW. Methods. An extensive search of 6 medical databases was performed up to June 2014. Case reports and case series involving liver damage associated with HSW were included. Results. This review covers a total of 450 cases in 76 articles. HSW types included raw and processed HSW decoction pieces and many Chinese patent medicines that contain HSW. Symptoms of liver damage occur mostly a month or so after taking the medicine, mainly including jaundice, fatigue, anorexia, and yellow or tawny urine. Of the 450 patients, two cases who received liver transplantation and seven who died, the remaining 441 cases recovered or had liver function improvement after discontinuing HSW products and conservative care. Conclusion. HSW causes liver toxicity and may cause liver damage in different degrees and even lead to death; most of them are much related to long-term and overdose of drugs. Liver damage associated with HSW is reversible, and, after active treatment, the majority can be cured. People should be alert to liver damage when taking HSW preparations.

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Background: Considering the pivotal role of inflammasome/pyroptosis in biological function, we visually analyzed the research hotspots of inflammasome/pyroptosis related to the brain in this work through the method of bibliometrics from the Web of Science (WOS) Core database over the past two decades.Methods: Documents were retrieved from WOS Core Collection on October 16, 2020. The search terms and strategies used for the WOS database are as follow: # 1, “pyroptosis”; # 2, “pyroptotic”; # 3, “inflammasome”; # 4, “pyroptosome”; # 5 “brain”; # 6, “# 1” OR “# 2” OR “# 3” OR “# 4”; # 7, “# 5” AND “# 6”. We selected articles and reviews published in English from 2000 to 2020. Visualization analysis and statistical analysis were performed by VOSviewer 1.6.15 and CiteSpace 5.7. R2.Results: 1,222 documents were selected for analysis. In the approximately 20 years since the pyroptosis was first presented, the publications regarding the inflammasome and pyroptosis in brain were presented since 2005. The number of annual publications increased gradually over a decade, which are involved in this work, and will continue to increase in 2020. The most prolific country was China with 523 documents but the United States was with 16,328 citations. The most influential author was Juan Pablo de Rivero Vaccari with 27 documents who worked at the University of Miami. The bibliometric analysis showed that inflammasome/pyroptosis involved a variety of brain cell types (microglia, astrocyte, neuron, etc.), physiological processes, ER stress, mitochondrial function, oxidative stress, and disease (traumatic brain injuries, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease).Conclusion: The research of inflammasome/pyroptosis in brain will continue to be the hotspot. We recommend investigating the mechanism of mitochondrial molecules involved in the complex crosstalk of pyroptosis and regulated cell deaths (RCDs) in brain glial cells, which will facilitate the development of effective therapeutic strategies targeting inflammasome/pyroptosis and large-scale clinical trials. Thus, this study presents the trend and characteristic of inflammasome/pyroptosis in brain, which provided a helpful bibliometric analysis for researchers to further studies.

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