Journal: Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology

Article Title: An MRTF-A–Sp1–PDE5 Axis Mediates Angiotensin-II-Induced Cardiomyocyte Hypertrophy

doi: 10.3389/fcell.2020.00839

Figure Lengend Snippet: Cardiomyocyte deletion of myocardin-related transcription factor A (MRTF-A) attenuates Ang-II-induced cardiac hypertrophy in mice. MRTF-A conditional knockout (CKO) mice and wild-type (WT) mice were induced to develop cardiac hypertrophy by Ang II infusion as described in section “Materials and Methods.” (A) Immunofluorescence staining was performed with anti-MRTF-A and anti-actinin. (B) Heart weight vs. body weight ratio. (C) Heart weight vs. tibia bone length ratio. (D) Echocardiographic measurements of left ventricular systolic dimension (LVSd). (E) Echocardiographic measurements of left ventricular posterior wall dimension (LVPWd). (F) Echocardiographic measurements of ejection fraction (EF). (G) Echocardiographic measurements of fractional shortening (FS). (H) Cardiac sections were stained with wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). Cross-sectional areas were quantified by Image Pro. (I) Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining of cardiac sections with anti-MRTF-A, antibrain natriuretic peptide (anti-BNP), and anti-β-major histocompatibility complex (anti-β-MHC) antibodies, Cross-sectional areas were quantified by Image Pro. N = 3–5 mice for the saline groups and N = 5 mice for the Ang II groups. Error bars represent SD. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001. Scale bar: 50 μm.

Article Snippet: Western analyses were performed with anti-α-tubulin (Proteintech, Wuhan, China 11224-1, 1:2,000), anti-MRTF-A (Proteintech, China 21166-1, 1:1,000), anti-PDE5 (Proteintech, China 22624-1, 1:1,000), anti-BNP primary antibody (BOSTER, China, 1:1,000 dilution), anti-β-MHC primary antibody (Proteintech, China, 1:1,000 dilution), and anti-Sp1 (Abcam, United Kingdom ab13370, 1:1,000).

Techniques: Knock-Out, Immunofluorescence, Staining, Immunohistochemistry

Journal: Translational Psychiatry

Article Title: Astrocytic APOE3-Christchurch expression ameliorates brain amyloid-β pathology in 5xFAD mice

doi: 10.1038/s41398-026-04002-9

Figure Lengend Snippet: ( A - C ) Aβ40 and Aβ42 levels in the soluble TBS fractions ( A ), detergent soluble (TBS-X) fractions ( B ), and insoluble neutralized formic acid (FA) fractions ( C ) of cortical brain homogenates in the 5xFAD mice were measured by ELISA at 8 months of age, normalized to protein concentrations of each fraction. ( D ) Soluble oligomeric Aβ (oAβ) levels in the TBS-X fractions of cortical brain homogenates in the 5xFAD mice were measured by ELISA at 8 months of age, normalized to protein concentrations. ( E, F ) Amounts of full-length APP in the TBS-X fractions of mouse cortical lysates were measured by western blot at 8 months of age, normalized to those of β-actin (ACTB). Data are expressed as means ± SEM (GFP: N = 12; APOE3: N = 18; APOE3Ch: N = 13; Open circles: females, closed circles: males). Injection group differences were analyzed using two-way ANOVA, with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test, adjusting for sex. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01.

Article Snippet: Recombinant Aβ42 monomer (1 mg/ml) (Stressmarq, #SPR-485) was incubated at room temperature for 10 min. To dissolve the peptide, 7.5 μl of cold DMSO (Sigma Aldrich) was added, followed by 92.5 μl of cold PBS (PH 7.4) to reach a final concentration of 220 μM monomeric Aβ42.

Techniques: Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Western Blot, Injection

Journal: Translational Psychiatry

Article Title: Astrocytic APOE3-Christchurch expression ameliorates brain amyloid-β pathology in 5xFAD mice

doi: 10.1038/s41398-026-04002-9

Figure Lengend Snippet: ( A ) Isogenic iPSC-derived astrocytes (iPSC-ACs) with homozygous APOE3 (left) and APOE3Ch (right) were immunostained for GFAP (green) and S100b (red). DAPI (blue) stains nuclei. Scale bars: 100 µm. ( B ) APOE mRNA levels in the iPSC-ACs were measured by RT-qPCR, normalized to those of β-actin ( ACTB ). ( C, D ) Amounts of APOE in the conditioned medium (CM) from iPSC-ACs were measured by western blot, normalized to protein amounts of cell lysates. ( E ) Effects of the CM from iPSC-ACs on Aβ42 aggregation was assessed by western blot using 6E10 antibody. ( F - G ) Populations of Aβ fibrils (F; > 150 kDa), oligomers (G; 37–150 kDa), and monomers ( H ; < 10 kDa) were quantified. Data expressed as means ± SEM (n = 3–5 independent differentiation batches). Group differences were analyzed using two-tailed student t-test or one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test. *, P < 0.05.

Article Snippet: Recombinant Aβ42 monomer (1 mg/ml) (Stressmarq, #SPR-485) was incubated at room temperature for 10 min. To dissolve the peptide, 7.5 μl of cold DMSO (Sigma Aldrich) was added, followed by 92.5 μl of cold PBS (PH 7.4) to reach a final concentration of 220 μM monomeric Aβ42.

Techniques: Derivative Assay, Quantitative RT-PCR, Western Blot, Two Tailed Test

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Article Title: Discovery of another mechanism for the inhibition of particulate guanylyl cyclases by the natriuretic peptide clearance receptor.

doi: 10.1073/pnas.2307882120

Figure Lengend Snippet: Fig. 2. NPRC immunoprecipitates with NPRA and NPRB. HEK 293FT cells were transfected with plasmids expressing Flag-tagged natriuretic peptide receptors. Twenty-four hours after transfection, cell lysates were immunoprecipitated with anti-Flag Affinity agarose. (A) Endogenous NPRC coimmunoprecipitated with hNPRA-Flag, hNPRB-Flag, or VEGFR1-Flag. (B) Endogeneous NPRC coimmunoprecipitated with GC-C-Flag. (C) NPRC band intensity to input of NPRC was calculated through Image J software was presented in the right panel. Šídák’s multiple comparisons test for one-way ANOVA comparing all samples to the negative control VEGFR1 for western blots in A and B are indicated on graph. *P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01, *** P < 0.001. (D) hNPRA-Flag expressing HEK 293FT cells were treated with ANP (ANP1-28, 200 nM) or a truncated form of ANP that preferentially binds NPRC (ANP4-23, 200 nM) for 30 min. Neither ANP1-28 or ANP4-23 affected the ability of endogenous NPRC to coimmunoprecipitate with hNPRA-Flag. (E) Endogenous NPRC coimmunoprecipitated with Flag-rNPRA and a truncated version of Flag- rNPRA lacking the c-terminal amino acids 528-1057 [Flag-rNPRA(1-527)].

Article Snippet: For western blotting the following primary antibodies were used: Flag (Sigma #F1804), NPRA (Novus Biologicals #NBP1- 31333), NPRB (Proteintech #55113- 1- AP), NPRC (Novus Biologicals #NBP1- 31365), NanoLuc® Luciferase (R&D Systems #MAB10026), β- actin (Cell Signaling #4967).

Techniques: Transfection, Expressing, Immunoprecipitation, Software, Negative Control, Western Blot

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Article Title: Discovery of another mechanism for the inhibition of particulate guanylyl cyclases by the natriuretic peptide clearance receptor.

doi: 10.1073/pnas.2307882120

Figure Lengend Snippet: Fig. 3. Endogenous natriuretic peptide receptor expression in cell models used. Expression of NPRA, NPRB, and NPRC were detected by western blot in HeLa, HEK293FT, and HAP-1 cells. β-actin was used as the loading control.

Article Snippet: For western blotting the following primary antibodies were used: Flag (Sigma #F1804), NPRA (Novus Biologicals #NBP1- 31333), NPRB (Proteintech #55113- 1- AP), NPRC (Novus Biologicals #NBP1- 31365), NanoLuc® Luciferase (R&D Systems #MAB10026), β- actin (Cell Signaling #4967).

Techniques: Expressing, Western Blot, Control