Macrophage polarization is a highly plastic physiological process that responds to a variety of environmental factors by changing macrophage phenotype and function. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are generally recognized as promoting tumor progression. As universal regulators, microRNAs (miRNAs) are functionally involved in numerous critical cellular processes including macrophage polarization. Let-7b, a miRNA, has differential expression patterns in inflamed tissues compared with healthy controls. However, whether and how miRNA let-7b regulates macrophage phenotype and function is unclear. In this report, we find that up-regulation of let-7b is characteristic of prostatic TAMs, and down-regulation of let-7b in TAMs leads to changes in expression profiles of inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-12, IL-23, IL-10 and TNF-α. As a result, TAMs treated with let-7b inhibitors reduce angiogenesis and prostate carcinoma (PCa) cell mobility. Let-7b may play a vital role in regulating macrophage polarization, thus modulating the prognosis of prostate cancer.

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We previously reported that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated apoptosis participated in vascular calcification. Importantly, a novel paracrine/autocrine peptide intermedin1-53 (IMD1-53) in the vasculature inhibited vascular calcification in rats. But the mechanisms needed to be fully elucidated. Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) calcification was induced by CaCl2 and β-glycerophosphate. Tunicamycin (Tm) or dithiothreitol (DTT) was used to induce ER stress. We found that IMD1-53 (10(-7)mol/L) treatment significantly alleviated the protein expression of ER stress hallmarks activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), ATF6, glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) and GRP94 induced by Tm or DTT. ER stress occurred in early and late calcification of VSMCs but was inhibited by IMD1-53. These inhibitory effects of IMD1-53 were abolished by treatment with the protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor H89. Pretreatment with IMD1-53 decreased the number of apoptotic VSMCs and downregulated protein expression of cleaved caspase 12 and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) in calcified VSMCs. Concurrently, IMD1-53 restored the loss of VSMC lineage markers and ameliorated calcium deposition and alkaline phosphatase activity in calcified VSMCs as well. The observation was further verified by Alizarin Red S staining, which showed that IMD1-53 reduced positive red nodules among calcified VSMCs. In conclusion, IMD1-53 attenuated VSMC calcification by inhibiting ER stress through cAMP/PKA signalling.