Journal: Genes & Diseases

Article Title: TGIF2-mediated HMGB3 overexpression promotes esophageal squamous cell carcinoma proliferation and metastasis through TLR3/TGF-β signaling

doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2025.101987

Figure Lengend Snippet: HMGB3 interacts with TLR3 and triggers the Smad-dependent TGF-β signaling pathway via NF-kB signaling in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). (A) Immunohistochemistry analysis reveals TLR3 expression in 20 pairs of ESCC tissues and the corresponding paratumor tissues. (B) Western blotting analysis of EC9706 cells treated with different concentrations of poly (I:C) reveals that TLR3 positively regulates the Smad-dependent TGF-β pathway. (C) Quantitative PCR reveals the RNA expression correlation between HMGB3 and TLR3 in ESCC cell lines. (D) The co-immunoprecipitation test was conducted to explore the direct interaction between TLR3 and HMGB3. (E) The effect of HMGB3 down-regulation on NF-κB P65 nuclear expression in ECA109 was analyzed by Western blotting. (F) Quantitative PCR demonstrates the RNA levels of TGF-β and TLR3 after NF-κB P65 was up-regulated by plasmid or down-regulated by siRNA. (G) Western blotting analysis illustrates the protein levels of TGF-β and TLR3 after NF-κB P65 was up-regulated by plasmid or down-regulated by siRNA. (H, I) Chromatin immunoprecipitation and quantitative PCR assays demonstrate that TGF-β and TLR3 promoters could be directly bound by NF-κB P65. All data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Statistical significance is indicated as ∗ P < 0.05, ∗∗ P < 0.01, and ∗∗∗ P < 0.001.

Article Snippet: Afterward, before incubation with primary antibodies overnight at 4 °C, membranes were blocked with 5% non-fat milk at 37 °C for 1 h. Subsequently, membranes were treated with horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies against rabbit or mouse IgG (Abcam, Massachusetts, USA, 1:5000) at 37 °C for 1 h. The following primary antibodies were used to assess the expression of proteins: anti-β-actin (#3700; Cell Signaling Technology, Massachusetts, USA, 1:5000), anti-TGIF2 (#ab190152; Abcam, 1:1000), anti-p-TGIF2 and TGIF2 (#sc-390870; Santa Cruz, CA, USA), anti-HMGB3 (#ab75782; Abcam, 1:1000), anti-TLR3 (#ab62566; Abcam, 1:1000), anti-TGF-β (#ab215715; Abcam , 1:1000), anti-SMAD2/3 (#8685; Cell Signaling Technology, 1:1000), anti-SMAD2 (#5339; Cell Signaling Technology, 1:1000), anti-p-SMAD2 (#3108; Cell Signaling Technology, 1:1000), anti-SMAD3 (#9523; Cell Signaling Technology, 1:1000), anti-p-SMAD3 (#9520; Cell Signaling Technology, 1:1000), anti-extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) (#4695; Cell Signaling Technology, 1:1000), anti-p-ERK1/2 (#4370; Cell Signaling Technology, 1:1000), anti-nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-kB) P65 (#8242S; Cell Signaling Technology, 1:1000), and anti-His-tag (#66005-1-Ig; protein-tech, 1:1000).

Techniques: Immunohistochemistry, Expressing, Western Blot, Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction, RNA Expression, Immunoprecipitation, Plasmid Preparation, Chromatin Immunoprecipitation, Standard Deviation

Journal: Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy

Article Title: Bioengineered iPSC-derived human macrophages with increased angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) expression suppress solid tumor growth

doi: 10.1038/s41392-026-02650-3

Figure Lengend Snippet: Determination of M1 vs. M2 polarization in iMac. a Pro-inflammatory M1 cytokines IL-1β, TNFα, IL-6, and IL-8 measured by ELISA. b Anti-inflammatory M2 cytokines IL-4, IL-10, IL-13, CCL5, CCL17, and CCL20 measured by ELISA. For a , b iMac were cultured in 6-well plates (3 × 10 6 cells/well). To challenge with tumor factors, iMac were co-cultured with 50% fresh supernatant from SK-MEL-28 cells every 24 h for 3 days. Supernatants were collected during the final 24 h for cytokine measurement. c Activation (phosphorylation) of NF-kB p65, STAT1, STAT3, and STAT6 in iMac was determined using Western blotting after conditioning with melanoma (SK-MEL-28) supernatant for 72 h. Protein band intensity was quantified using Odyssey version 3.0 software. After adjusting for loading using the β-actin band, data are presented as fold change to the iMac (Dox-) group, which is set as 1. For a – c , one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni’s correction for multiple comparisons was used to analyze group comparisons. Data are presented as means ± SD. Each experiment was performed three times, with triplicate samples each time. * p < 0.05, *** p < 0.001, and **** p < 0.0001

Article Snippet: The polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membranes were incubated with specific primary antibodies against ACE (R&D Systems, MAB9291, 1:1,000), GAPDH (Sigma-Aldrich, SAB5600208, 1:2,000), β-actin (Sigma-Aldrich, A3854; 1:1000), phosphorylated NF-kB p65 (Novus, NB100-82086, 1:500), phosphorylated STAT1 (R&D Systems, AF2894, 1 μg/ml), phosphorylated STAT3 (Novus, NBP2-24463, 0.5 μg/ml), or phosphorylated STAT6 (Millipore, 06-937, 1:1000).

Techniques: Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Cell Culture, Activation Assay, Phospho-proteomics, Western Blot, Software