Autoimmune disease is known to be caused by unregulated self-antigen-specific T cells, causing tissue damage. Although antigen specificity is an important mechanism of the adaptive immune system, antigen non-related T cells have been found in the inflamed tissues in various conditions. Bystander T cell activation refers to the activation of T cells without antigen recognition. During an immune response to a pathogen, bystander activation of self-reactive T cells via inflammatory mediators such as cytokines can trigger autoimmune diseases. Other antigen-specific T cells can also be bystander-activated to induce innate immune response resulting in autoimmune disease pathogenesis along with self-antigen-specific T cells. In this review, we summarize previous studies investigating bystander activation of various T cell types (NKT, γδ T cells, MAIT cells, conventional CD4⁺, and CD8⁺ T cells) and discuss the role of innate-like T cell response in autoimmune diseases. In addition, we also review previous findings of bystander T cell function in infection and cancer. A better understanding of bystander-activated T cells versus antigen-stimulated T cells provides a novel insight to control autoimmune disease pathogenesis.

Regenerative medicine is a research field that develops methods to restore damaged cell or tissue function by regeneration, repair or replacement. Stem cells are the raw material of the body that is ultimately used from the point of view of regenerative medicine, and stem cell therapy uses cells themselves or their derivatives to promote responses to diseases and dysfunctions, the ultimate goal of regenerative medicine. Stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) are recognized as an attractive source because they can enrich exogenous microRNAs (miRNAs) by targeting pathological recipient cells for disease therapy and can overcome the obstacles faced by current cell therapy agents. However, there are some limitations that need to be addressed before using miRNA-enriched EVs derived from stem cells for multiplexed therapeutic targeting in many diseases. Here, we review various roles on miRNA-based stem cell EVs that can induce effective and stable functional improvement of stem cell-derived EVs. In addition, we introduce and review the implications of several miRNA-enriched EV therapies improved by multiplexed targeting in diseases involving the circulatory system and nervous system. This systemic review may offer potential roles for stem cell-derived therapeutics with multiplexed targeting.

Odorant receptors (ORs), the largest subfamily of G protein-coupled receptors, detect odorants in the nose. In addition, ORs were recently shown to be expressed in many nonolfactory tissues and cells, indicating that these receptors have physiological and pathophysiological roles beyond olfaction. Many ORs are expressed by tumor cells and tissues, suggesting that they may be associated with cancer progression or may be cancer biomarkers. This review describes OR expression in various types of cancer and the association of these receptors with various types of signaling mechanisms. In addition, the clinical relevance and significance of the levels of OR expression were evaluated. Namely, levels of OR expression in cancer were analyzed based on RNA-sequencing data reported in the Cancer Genome Atlas; OR expression patterns were visualized using t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE); and the associations between patient survival and levels of OR expression were analyzed. These analyses of the relationships between patient survival and expression patterns obtained from an open mRNA database in cancer patients indicate that ORs may be cancer biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Macrophages are a major cellular component of innate immunity and are mainly known to have phagocytic activity. In the tumor microenvironment (TME), they can be differentiated into tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). As the most abundant immune cells in the TME, TAMs promote tumor progression by enhancing angiogenesis, suppressing T cells and increasing immunosuppressive cytokine production. N-myc downstream-regulated gene 2 (NDRG2) is a tumor suppressor gene, whose expression is down-regulated in various cancers. However, the effect of NDRG2 on the differentiation of macrophages into TAMs in breast cancer remains elusive. In this study, we investigated the effect of NDRG2 expression in breast cancer cells on the differentiation of macrophages into TAMs. Compared to tumor cell-conditioned medium (TCCM) from 4T1-mock cells, TCCM from NDRG2-over-expressing 4T1 mouse breast cancer cells did not significantly change the morphology of RAW 264.7 cells. However, TCCM from 4T1-NDRG2 cells reduced the mRNA levels of TAM-related genes, including MR1, IL-10, ARG1 and iNOS, in RAW 264.7 cells. In addition, TCCM from 4T1-NDRG2 cells reduced the expression of TAM-related surface markers, such as CD206, in peritoneal macrophages (PEM). The mRNA expression of TAM-related genes, including IL-10, YM1, FIZZ1, MR1, ARG1 and iNOS, was also downregulated by TCCM from 4T1-NDRG2 cells. Remarkably, TCCM from 4T1-NDRG2 cells reduced the expression of PD-L1 and Fra-1 as well as the production of GM-CSF, IL-10 and ROS, leading to the attenuation of T cell-inhibitory activity of PEM. These data showed that compared with TCCM from 4T1-mock cells, TCCM from 4T1-NDRG2 cells suppressed the TAM differentiation and activation. Collectively, these results suggest that NDRG2 expression in breast cancer may reduce the differentiation of macrophages into TAMs in the TME.

Aurora kinase is a family of serine/threonine kinases intimately associated with mitotic progression and the development of human cancers. Studies have shown that aurora kinases are important for the protein kinase C (PKC)-induced invasion of colon cancer cells. Recent studies have shown that aurora kinase A promotes distant metastasis by inducing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in colon cancer cells. However, the role of aurora kinase A in colon cancer metastasis remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of aurora kinase A on PKC-induced cell invasion, migration, and EMT in human SW480 colon cancer cells. Treatment with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) changed the expression levels of EMT markers, increasing α-SMA, vimentin, and MMP-9 expression and decreasing E-cadherin expression, with changes in cell morphology. TPA treatment induced EMT in a PKC-dependent manner. Moreover, the inhibition of aurora kinase A by siRNAs and inhibitors (reversine and VX-680) suppressed TPA-induced cell invasion, migration, and EMT in SW480 human colon cells. Inhibition of aurora kinase A blocked TPA-induced vimentin and MMP-9 expression, and decreased E-cadherin expression. Furthermore, the knockdown of aurora kinase A decreased the transcriptional activity of NF-κB and AP-1 in PKC-stimulated SW480 cells. These findings indicate that aurora kinase A induces migration and invasion by inducing EMT in SW480 colon cancer cells. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that showed aurora kinase A is a key molecule in PKC-induced metastasis in colon cancer cells.

Lysine methylation is one of the most important histone modifications that modulate chromatin structure. In the present study, the roles of the histone lysine demethylases JMJD2a and LSD1 in CK2 downregulation-mediated senescence were investigated. The ectopic expression of JMJD2a and LSD1 suppressed the induction of senescence-associated β-galactosidase activity and heterochromatin foci formation as well as the reduction of colony-forming and cell migration ability mediated by CK2 knockdown. CK2 downregulation inhibited JMJD2a and LSD1 expression by activating the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)-ribosomal p70 S6 kinase (p70S6K) pathway. In addition, the down-regulation of JMJD2a and LSD1 was involved in activating the p53-p21^Cip1/WAF1-SUV39h1-trimethylation of the histone H3 Lys9 (H3K9me3) pathway in CK2-downregulated cells. Further, CK2 downregulation-mediated JMJD2a and LSD1 reduction was found to stimulate the dimethylation of Lys370 on p53 (p53K370me2) and nuclear import of SUV39h1. Therefore, this study indicated that CK2 downregulation reduces JMJD2a and LSD1 expression by activating mTOR, resulting in H3K9me3 induction by increasing the p53K370me2-dependent nuclear import of SUV39h1. These results suggest that CK2 is a potential therapeutic target for age-related diseases.

Increased mRNA levels of cancer upregulated gene (CUG)2 have been detected in many different tumor tissues using Affymetrix microarray. Oncogenic capability of the CUG2 gene has been further reported. However, the mechanism by which CUG2 overexpression promotes cancer stem cell (CSC)-like phenotypes remains unknown. With recent studies showing that pyruvate kinase muscle 2 (PKM2) is overexpressed in clinical tissues from gastric, lung, and cervical cancer patients, we hypothesized that PKM2 might play an important role in CSC-like phenotypes caused by CUG2 overexpression. The present study revealed that PKM2 protein levels and translocation of PKM2 into the nucleus were enhanced in CUG2-overexpressing lung carcinoma A549 and immortalized bronchial BEAS-2B cells than in control cells. Expression levels of c-Myc, CyclinD1, and PKM2 were increased in CUG2-overexpressing cells than in control cells. Furthermore, EGFR and ERK inhibitors as well as suppression of Yap1 and NEK2 expression reduced PKM2 protein levels. Interestingly, knockdown of β-catenin expression failed to reduce PKM2 protein levels. Furthermore, reduction of PKM2 expression with its siRNA hindered CSC-like phenotypes such as faster wound healing, aggressive transwell migration, and increased size/number of sphere formation. The introduction of mutant S37A PKM2-green fluorescence protein (GFP) into cells without ability to move to the nucleus did not confer CSC-like phenotypes, whereas forced expression of wild-type PKM2 promoted such phenotypes. Overall, CUG2-induced increase in the expression of nuclear PKM2 contributes to CSC-like phenotypes by upregulating c-Myc and CyclinD1 as a co-activator.

Skeletal myogenesis is essential to keep muscle mass and integrity, and impaired myogenesis is closely related to the etiology of muscle wasting. Recently, miR-141-3p has been shown to be induced under various conditions associated with muscle wasting, such as aging, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction. However, the functional significance and mechanism of miR-141-3p in myogenic differentiation have not been explored to date. In this study, we investigated the roles of miR-141-3p on CFL2 expression, proliferation, and myogenic differentiation in C2C12 myoblasts. MiR-141-3p appeared to target the 3'UTR of CFL2 directly and suppressed the expression of CFL2, an essential factor for actin filament (F-actin) dynamics. Transfection of miR-141-3p mimic in myoblasts increased F-actin formation and augmented nuclear Yes-associated protein (YAP), a key component of mechanotransduction. Furthermore, miR-141-3p mimic increased myoblast proliferation and promoted cell cycle progression throughout the S and G2/M phases. Consequently, miR-141-3p mimic led to significant suppressions of myogenic factors expression, such as MyoD, MyoG, and MyHC, and hindered the myogenic differentiation of myoblasts. Thus, this study reveals the crucial role of miR-141-3p in myogenic differentiation via CFL2-YAP-mediated mechanotransduction and provides implications of miRNA-mediated myogenic regulation in skeletal muscle homeostasis.