Journal: Military Medical Research

Article Title: USP18 exacerbates myocardial I/R injury by inhibiting Parkin mitophagy through the deubiquitinase PTEN-L

doi: 10.1016/j.mmr.2026.100004

Figure Lengend Snippet: USP18 aggravates cardiac I/R injury through regulation of mitochondria and inhibition of mitophagy. a Electron microscopy image showing mitophagy in USP18-cKO mouse hearts ( n= 5). Scale bar=3 μm. White arrowheads indicate sites of mitophagy. b Protein levels of PINK1, Parkin, ubiquitinated proteins (Ub), P62, and LC3II in mitochondria from heart tissue in USP18-cKO and WT mice 24 h after I/R injury ( n =4). c Electron microscopy image showing mitophagy in USP18-overexpres (OV) mouse hearts ( n =5). Scale bar=3 μm. White arrowheads indicate sites of mitophagy. d Protein levels of PINK1, Parkin, Ub, P62, and LC3II proteins in mitochondria from the heart tissue of USP18-OV mice 24 h after I/R injury ( n =4). Color shift in mitophagy dye (red) and lysosomal dye (green) in NRVMs showing mitophagy in NRVMs with USP18 siRNA transfection ( e ) or Ad-USP18 infection ( f ) and the quantitative mitophagy index in each group ( n= 5). Scale bar=9 μm. Protein levels of PINK1, Parkin, Ub, P62, and LC3II in mitochondria from NRVMs transfected with USP18 siRNA ( g ) or infected with Ad-USP18 ( h ). ⁎⁎ P <0.01, ⁎⁎⁎ P <0.001 ⁎⁎⁎⁎ P <0.0001. USP18. Ubiquitin-specific protease 18; I/R. Ischemia/reperfusion; WT. Wild-type; KO. Knockout; P62. Sequestosome 1; LC3. Microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3; VDAC. Voltage-dependent anion channel.

Article Snippet: To block mitophagy, the selective dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) inhibitor Mdivi-1 was used (50 μmol/L, MedChemExpress, USA).

Techniques: Inhibition, Electron Microscopy, Transfection, Infection, Ubiquitin Proteomics, Knock-Out

Journal: Materials Today Bio

Article Title: A dual-responsive CO-releasing nanogel ameliorates retinal ischemia–reperfusion injury by restoring mitochondrial homeostasis and attenuating cGAS-STING pathway activation

doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.102974

Figure Lengend Snippet: COPN restores mitochondrial quality control and interrupts the ROS‒cGAS‒inflammation axis in OGD/R-treated R28 cells. a , TEM images showing changes in the mitochondrial ultrastructure of R28 cells subjected to various treatments (PBS, PDNs, COPN-L, and COPN-H) after OGD/R. Scale bar: 500 nm b , Quantitative analyses of mitochondrial length and number in R28 cells as indicated in a . c , Representative fluorescence images showing JC-1 staining of the mitochondrial Δψm: aggregates (red) indicate healthy mitochondria, whereas monomers (green) represent depolarized mitochondria. Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Scale bar: 50 μm d , Intracellular ATP content assay revealing improved energy production after COPN treatment under OGD/R stress conditions. e , mRNA expression analysis of mitochondrial dynamic regulatory genes (Opa1, Mfn2, Drp1, and Fis1) and mitochondrial DNA transcription levels (mt-ND1 and mt-COX1). f , Quantitative analysis of the JC-1 fluorescence ratio (aggregates/monomers) and mitochondrial ROS levels (MitoSOX staining). g–h , Western blot analysis of proteins involved in mitochondrial autophagy (Pink1, Parkin, and P62) (g) and mitochondrial fusion/fission (Opa1, Mfn2, Mfn1, Drp1, and Fis1) (h) . i , Confocal fluorescence microscopy images of mitochondria (green, MitoTracker) and lysosomes (red, LysoTracker) in R28 cells after different treatments. Nuclei were stained with Hoechst (blue). Scale bar: 50 μm ∗ ∗∗∗P < 0.0001. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

Article Snippet: The following primary antibodies were used: Drp1 (CST, #8570, 1:1000, ∼80 kDa), Fis1 (Proteintech, 10956-1-AP, 1:1000, ∼17 kDa), Mfn1 (Abcam, ab104274, 1:1000, ∼84 kDa), Mfn2 (CST, #9482, 1:1000, ∼86 kDa), Opa1 (CST, #80471, 1:1000, ∼100–120 kDa), Pink1 (CST, #6946, 1:1000, ∼63 kDa), cGAS (CST, #15102, 1:1000, ∼60 kDa), STING (CST, #13647, 1:1000, ∼42–45 kDa), TBK1 (CST, #3013, 1:1000, ∼84 kDa), p-TBK1 (CST, #5483, 1:1000, ∼84 kDa), COX IV (Abcam, ab14744, 1:2000, ∼17 kDa), β-actin (Proteintech, 66009-1-Ig, 1:5000, ∼43 kDa), and GAPDH (Proteintech, 60004-1-Ig, 1:5000, After washing, the membranes were incubated with HRP-conjugated secondary antibodies (goat anti-rabbit or goat anti-mouse IgG, CST, 1:5000) for 1 h at room temperature.

Techniques: Control, Fluorescence, Staining, Expressing, Western Blot, Microscopy

Journal: International Journal of Molecular Medicine

Article Title: ZEB1 maintains mitochondrial fission and macrophage efferocytosis by restraining MFN2, thereby limiting inflammation and improving tendon-bone healing

doi: 10.3892/ijmm.2026.5805

Figure Lengend Snippet: ZEB1 affects mitochondrial fission by regulating MFN2. (A) Confocal microscopy results of mitochondrial morphology in macrophages. Mitochondria were labeled with Mito-Tracker Red fluorescent probe (scale bar, 10 µ m; lower panels, ×200 magnification). Western blotting analysis of (B) MFN2 and (C) DRP1 protein expression in macrophages after ZEB1 knockdown. Quantitative density analysis data are presented as mean ± standard deviation (n=3 independent experiments). (D) Immunofluorescence colocalization analysis of MFN2 localization in mitochondria. Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue), MFN2 protein was labeled with Alexa Fluor 488 (green) and mitochondrial membrane protein TOMM20 was labeled with Alexa Fluor 594 (red) (scale bar, 10 µ m). n=3, * P<0.05 vs. NC. DRP1, dynamin-related protein 1; MFN2, Mitofusin-2; ZEB1, zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1; NC, negative control; sh, short hairpin.

Article Snippet: The primary antibodies used were as follows: Anti-β-Actin antibody (1:5,000; cat. no. 81115-1-RR; Proteintech Group, Inc.), anti-ZEB1 antibody (1:1,000; cat. no. ab203829; Abcam), anti-MFN2 antibody (1:5,000; cat. no. ab124773; Abcam), and anti-DRP1 antibody (1:5,000; cat. no. 5391; Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.).

Techniques: Confocal Microscopy, Labeling, Western Blot, Expressing, Knockdown, Standard Deviation, Immunofluorescence, Staining, Membrane, Binding Assay, Negative Control