Qian Jiang

Periodontal ligament derived stem cells (PDLSC) are adult multipotent mesenchymal-like stem cells (MSCs) that can induce a promising immunomodulation to interact with immune cells for disease treatment. Metabolic reconfiguration has been shown to be involved in the immunomodulatory activity of MSCs. However, the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown, and it remains a challenging to establish a therapeutic avenue to enhance immunomodulation of endogenous stem cells for disease management. In the present study, RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis explores that curcumin significantly promotes PDLSC function through activation of MSC-related markers and metabolic pathways. In vitro stem cell characterization further confirms that self-renewal and multipotent differentiation capabilities are largely elevated in curcumin treated PDLSCs. Mechanistically, RNA-seq reveals that curcumin activates ERK and mTOR cascades through upregulating growth factor pathways for metabolic reconfiguration toward glycolysis. Interestingly, PDLSCs immunomodulation is significantly increased after curcumin treatment through activation of prostaglandin E2-Indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase (PGE2-IDO) signaling, whereas inhibition of glycolysis activity by 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) largely blocked immunomodulatory capacity of PDLSCs. Taken together, this study provides a novel pharmacological approach to activate endogenous stem cells through metabolic reprogramming for immunomodulation and tissue regeneration.

Inflammation has recently been attributed to dysbiosis of the gut microbiome, which has been linked to proteinuria in chronic kidney disease. Since Adriamycin® (ADR) is widely used to induce proteinuria in mouse models, the aim of this study was to explore the potential effect of gut microbiome on this process. Both ADR resistant (C57BL/6) and susceptible (BALB/C) strains were part of the induced nephropathy with ADR injection. BALB/C mice significantly presented increased urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR) with renal lesions in pathology, but C57BL/6 mice were absent from kidney damage. Species and genus level resolution analysis showed a shift in gut microbial profile between BALB/C and C57BL/6 mice. ADR further altered the stool microbiome in BALB/C mice, particularly with enrichment of Odoribacter and depletion of Turicibacter, Marvinbryantia and Rikenella. Moreover, the level of UACR in BALB/C mice was marked related to the abundance of Marvinbryantia, Odoribacter and Turicibacter in stool. Meanwhile, ADR remarkably increased the serum levels of interleukin (IL)-2 in BALB/C mice, but not in C57BL/6 mice. It is suggested that the favorably altered stools as shown in the microbiome might promote the inflammation and proteinuria in ADR-sensitive mice, which provides a new insight on the pathogenicity of chronic kidney disease.