Journal: Acta Neuropathologica Communications

Article Title: Removal or inhibition of transglutaminase 2 decreases cellular stress, supporting tissue preservation, and recovery after SCI

doi: 10.1186/s40478-025-02135-4

Figure Lengend Snippet: TG2 KO modulates oxidative and ER stress as well as apoptotic signaling pathways after SCI. IMC revealed differences in protein expression related to oxidative stress, ER stress, apoptosis, and pro-survival mediators between TG2 intact and KO injured spinal cord tissues at 2 months post-SCI. Representative IMC images from the injured spinal cord sections at 4.8 mm caudal to the injury highlight alterations in multiple signaling factors were acquired using the MCD Viewer (Fluidigm). Panels A – D : Oxidative and ER stress markers, phosphorylated Nrf2 (pNrf2, red), GRP78 (green), and HSP70 (blue), are shown. Panels A and B represent spinal cord images for TG2 + ( A ) and TG2 KO ( B ) animals, respectively. Panels C and D show higher magnifications of the outlined regions, illustrating reduced expression of stress markers in TG2 KO tissues. Panels E – H : Expression of apoptotic pathway factors BNIP3 (red) and Cytochrome C (CytoC, blue) in TG2 + ( E , G ) and TG2 KO ( F , H ) spinal cord sections. Higher-magnification views ( G , H ) highlight differences in apoptotic signaling marker intensity within injured regions. Panels I–L : Pro-survival signaling markers phosphorylated REL-NFκB (pREL-NFκB, red) and apoptosis mediator phosphorylated ERK1/2 (p-ERK1/2, green) are compared between TG2 + ( I , K ) and TG2 KO ( J , L ) groups. Panels K and L show enhanced detail, illustrating differences in inflammation-related signaling activity. The gray matter regions are delineated by dashed white outlines. Results suggest TG2 KO impacts multiple signaling pathways associated with injury progression, potentially favoring a pro-survival and a neuroprotective environment post-SCI. Panels M and N present a quantitative comparison of target protein intensities in TG2 intact and TG2-KO mice (n = 3 per group) at two months post-SCI. Each box plot summarizes the single-cell distribution of metal-tagged antibody signals across the entire neural cell population in injured spinal cord sections, enabling direct side-by-side assessment of key stress, apoptotic, and survival mediators in TG2 intact ( M ) versus TG2 KO ( N ) tissues. Each dot represents the intensity of a metal-tagged antibody in an individual cell, and the overlaying box plots indicate the median, interquartile range, and whiskers (1.5 × IQR). Proteins analyzed include markers associated with cell stress (GRP78, HSP70), oxidative stress (PRDX1, pNrf2), apoptosis (cleaved caspase-3, Bax, Noxa, P53), survival (Bcl-2), and inflammatory signaling (pREL-NFκB, pERK). Ubiquitin levels were also assessed. While some proteins such as GRP78, HSP70, and PRDX1 showed increased expression in TG2 intact tissue, others, including cleaved caspase-3, Bax, Noxa, and P53 did not show significant differential expression between genotypes at this spinal cord level caudal to the lesion. The X-axis labels ( M , N ) correspond to the metal isotopes used to tag each antibody: Sm(149)_CytoC (Samarium-149 for cytochrome c), Sm(150)_pERK (Samarium-150 for pERK1/2), Eu(151)_p53 (Europium-151 for p53), Sm(152)_Ubiquitin (Samarium-152 for ubiquitin), Gd(156)_Bax (Gadolinium-156 for Bax), Tb(159)_HSP70 (Terbium-159 for HSP70), Dy(162)_BNIP3 (Dysprosium-162 for BNIP3), Ho(165)_PRDX1 (Holmium-165 for PRDX1), Er(170)_GRP78 (Erbium-170 for GRP78/BiP), Yb(172)_Casp3 (Ytterbium-172 for cleaved caspase-3), Yb(174)_ pNrf2 (Ytterbium-174 for pNrf2), Lu(175)_Noxa (Lutetium-175 for Noxa), and Yb(176)_pRelA-NFκB (Ytterbium-176 for pRelA/NFκB p65). Panels M and N highlight how TG2 deletion alters the expression of multiple stress-, apoptosis-, and survival-related proteins at the single-cell level. Error bars indicate standard error of the mean. Each dot represents an individual cell-level measurement. Scale bar = 100 µm

Article Snippet: pERK1/2 , Santa Cruz biotechnology , sc-7383 , 150Sm , 1:100.

Techniques: Protein-Protein interactions, Expressing, Marker, Activity Assay, Comparison, Ubiquitin Proteomics, Quantitative Proteomics

Journal: Cell Communication and Signaling : CCS

Article Title: Natural biased signaling of hydroxycarboxylic acid receptor 3 and G protein-coupled receptor 84

doi: 10.1186/s12964-020-0516-2

Figure Lengend Snippet: Effect of dynasore and sucrose on HCA 3 and GPR84 cAMP inhibitory and ERK signaling. a Scheme summarizing all inhibitors and their targets used in the present study. b, c CHO-K1 cells were transiently transfected with HCA 3 or GPR84. b 80 μM dynasore reduced cAMP inhibitory signaling of HCA 3 upon 3HO and 3HDec and of GPR84 upon C10 but not 3HDec stimulation. Sucrose (0.4 M) significantly inhibited only the 3HDec-induced HCA 3 -mediated reduction of intracellular cAMP levels. cAMP level of HCA 3 - or GPR84-transfected cells in absence of agonist is set to 100%, respectively. c The agonist-induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2 was measured in absence and presence of dynasore or sucrose. All agonists induced an increase in pERK/total ERK levels upon stimulation of HCA 3 and GPR84, respectively. Dynasore blocked the signal of 100 μM 3HO and 100 μM 3HDec completely and sucrose partially in HCA 3 –transfected cells. Dynasore did not fully block the signal of 100 μM C10 and 100 μM 3HDec in GPR84-transfected cells. The residual ERK signals of GPR84 in presence of 3HDec and dynasore or sucrose did not differ. pERK/total ERK of HCA 3 - or GPR84-transfected cells in absence of agonist is set 1. b, c Data is given as mean ± SEM of at least three independent experiments each carried out in triplicates. * P ≤ 0.05; ** P ≤ 0.01

Article Snippet: pErk/total Erk content of cell extracts was determined by the Alpha SureFire Ultra Multiplex p-ERK 1/2 + Total ERK assay according to the manufacturer’s protocol (Perkin Elmer LAS).

Techniques: Transfection, Phospho-proteomics, Blocking Assay

Journal: Cell Communication and Signaling : CCS

Article Title: Natural biased signaling of hydroxycarboxylic acid receptor 3 and G protein-coupled receptor 84

doi: 10.1186/s12964-020-0516-2

Figure Lengend Snippet: Effect of dyn-2 mutants on HCA 3 and GPR84 cell surface expression, cAMP inhibitory signaling and ERK activation. a-c CHO-K1 cells were transiently co-transfected with HCA 3 or GPR84 and dyn-2 wt, dyn-2 K44A or R399A mutants. a In comparison to dyn-2 wt co-transfected cells HCA 3 and GPR84 cell surface expression was significantly reduced when K44A or R399A were co-transfected. b Basal activity of HCA 3 but not GPR84 was diminished in presence of K44A. Agonist-induced (HCA 3 : 6.25 μM 3HO, 25 μM 3HDec; GPR84: 100 μM C10, 25 μM 3HDec) inhibition of forskolin-stimulated cAMP accumulation was reduced in presence of K44A compared to dyn-2 wt whereas R399A did not affect cAMP inhibitory signaling. c Agonist-induced increase of pERK/total ERK level of HCA 3 (25 μM 3HO, 100 μM 3HDec) and GPR84 (25 μM C10, 25 μM 3HDec) was reduced in presence of K44A and R399A compared to dyn-2 wt. a-c Data is given as mean ± SEM of at least three independent experiments each carried out in triplicates. * P ≤ 0.05; ** P ≤ 0.01, *** P ≤ 0.001 ( d ) Images of HEK293-T cells transiently co-expressing HCA 3 -mRuby (red) or GPR84-mRuby and dyn-2-YFP variants (green). In presence of dyn-2 wt, HCA 3 was detected intracellularly and at the plasma membrane where it co-localized with dyn-2 wt. In case of co-expression of HCA 3 with the dyn-2 mutants K44A and R399A, co-localization was detected in perinuclear vesicles as well as certain areas at the plasma membrane. GPR84 was in presence of all dyn-2 variants found mostly at the plasma membrane

Article Snippet: pErk/total Erk content of cell extracts was determined by the Alpha SureFire Ultra Multiplex p-ERK 1/2 + Total ERK assay according to the manufacturer’s protocol (Perkin Elmer LAS).

Techniques: Expressing, Activation Assay, Transfection, Comparison, Activity Assay, Inhibition, Clinical Proteomics, Membrane

Journal: Cell Communication and Signaling : CCS

Article Title: Natural biased signaling of hydroxycarboxylic acid receptor 3 and G protein-coupled receptor 84

doi: 10.1186/s12964-020-0516-2

Figure Lengend Snippet: Role of β-arrestin-2 for HCA 3 and GPR84 signaling and effect of methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MβCD). a, b CHO-K1 cells were transiently transfected with HCA 3 or GPR84. a MβCD inhibited both, the 3HO- and 3HDec-induced reduction of forskolin (fsk)-induced cAMP levels in HCA 3 -transfected cells. For GPR84, only the C10-induced but not the 3HDec-induced decrease in cAMP was inhibited. Barbardin (100 µM) inhibited only the 3HO-induced HCA 3 -mediated reduction of cAMP levels. cAMP levels of HCA 3 - or GPR84-transfected cells in absence of agonist are set 100%, respectively. b 3 mM MβCD did not affect HCA 3 -mediated activation of ERK by 3HO, but caused a decrease of the signal induced by 100 μM 3HDec. Presence of MβCD caused a decrease in C10-induced GPR84-mediated ERK activation and had no effect on the 3HDec-induced ERK activation. The HCA 3 -mediated activation of ERK by 3HO, but not 3HDec, was inhibited in presence of barbardin. Barbardin had no effect on the GPR84-mediated activation of ERK by 3HDec and C10. pERK/total ERK of HCA 3 - or GPR84-transfected cells in absence of agonist is set 1, respectively. c Live-cell images of HEK293-T cells co-expressing HCA 3 -mRuby (red) and β-arrestin-2-YFP (green) were acquired before stimulation and 30 min post-stimulation with 100 μM 3HO or 100 μM 3HDec. d HEK293-T cells stably expressing β-arrestin-2-EA cells transiently transfected with HCA 3 were stimulated with 3HO and 3HDec. Quantification of β-arrestin-2 recruitment using the PathHunter β-arrestin assay (Eurofins DiscoverX) showed recruitment of β-arrestin-2 by HCA 3 following 3HO but not 3HDec stimulation. Luminescence of HCA 3 or empty vector transfected cells in absence of agonist is set 1, respectively. a, b, d Data is given as mean ± SEM of at least three independent experiments each carried out in triplicates. # P ≤ 0.1* P ≤ 0.05; ** P ≤ 0.01

Article Snippet: pErk/total Erk content of cell extracts was determined by the Alpha SureFire Ultra Multiplex p-ERK 1/2 + Total ERK assay according to the manufacturer’s protocol (Perkin Elmer LAS).

Techniques: Transfection, Activation Assay, Expressing, Stable Transfection, PathHunter β-Arrestin Assay, Plasmid Preparation

Journal: Cell Communication and Signaling : CCS

Article Title: Natural biased signaling of hydroxycarboxylic acid receptor 3 and G protein-coupled receptor 84

doi: 10.1186/s12964-020-0516-2

Figure Lengend Snippet: Effect of gallein, an inhibitor of Gβγ subunits, on agonist-induced reduction of cAMP levels and ERK activation of HCA 3 and GPR84. CHO-K1 cells were transiently transfected with HCA 3 or GPR84. a The HCA 3 -mediated reduction of forskolin (fsk)-induced cAMP levels induced by both, 3HO and 3HDec, was significantly diminished in presence of 50 μM gallein. The GPR84-induced decrease in cAMP levels in presence of gallein was only reduced in case of activation by C10 but not 3HDec. cAMP level of HCA 3 - or GPR84-transfected cells in absence of agonist is set 100%, respectively. b Gallein inhibited the 3HDec-induced HCA 3 -mediated increase in pERK/total ERK levels completely but the 3HO-induced increase only partially. GPR84-mediated activation of ERK by both, C10 and 3HDec, was equally diminished in presence of gallein. pERK/total ERK of HCA 3 - or GPR84-transfected cells in absence of agonist is set 1, respectively. a, b Data is given as mean ± SEM of at least three independent experiments each carried out in triplicates. * P ≤ 0.05; ** P ≤ 0.01; *** P ≤ 0.001

Article Snippet: pErk/total Erk content of cell extracts was determined by the Alpha SureFire Ultra Multiplex p-ERK 1/2 + Total ERK assay according to the manufacturer’s protocol (Perkin Elmer LAS).

Techniques: Activation Assay, Transfection

Journal: Cell Communication and Signaling : CCS

Article Title: Natural biased signaling of hydroxycarboxylic acid receptor 3 and G protein-coupled receptor 84

doi: 10.1186/s12964-020-0516-2

Figure Lengend Snippet: Components involved in HCA 3 and GPR84 signal transduction. a, b Agonist-induced phosphorylation of endogenous ERK1/2 in cellular lysates of HCA 3 or GPR84 transfected CHO-K1 cells in absence and presence of 25 μM ZA (zoledronic acid - inhibitor of ras/rho), 100 μM NSC23766 (inhibitor of rac1) and 25 μM Ly294002 (inhibitor of PI3K) was determined. a ZA, NSC23766 and Ly294002 partially inhibited the HCA 3 -induced ERK activation of both agonists. ZA and Ly 294,002 caused a significant reduction of the GPR84-mediated ERK activation by C10, whereas the ERK activation by 3HDec was only affected by presence of Ly294002. NSC23766 did not inhibit the GPR84-induced activation of ERK by either agonist. b Both, the 3HO- and 3HDec-induced ERK activation of HCA 3 did not persist upon removal of agonist. The GPR84-mediated activation of ERK by 3HDec persisted, whereas the C10-induced activation was almost completely diminished 10 min past agonist removal. a, b pERK/total ERK of HCA 3 - or GPR84-transfected cells in absence of agonist is set 1, respectively. Data is given as mean ± SEM of at least three independent experiments each carried out in triplicates. # P ≤ 0.1; * P ≤ 0.05; ** P ≤ 0.01; *** P ≤ 0.001. c 3HO- and 3HDec-induced cAMP inhibitory signaling of HCA 3 was dependent on Gαi, Gβγ subunits and dyn (internalization). Signaling components involved in HCA 3 -mediated ERK activation by 3HO an 3HDec included Gβγ subunits, PI3K, rac1 and ras/rho. HCA 3 activation by 3HO led to β-arrestin-2 recruitment, which was not the case for 3HDec. ERK signaling of HCA 3 by 3HO involved clathrin and by 3HDec caveolin. GPR84 activation by C10 was dependent on Gαi, Gβγ subunits, dyn (internalization), caveolin, ras/rho and PI3K. In contrast, 3HDec-induced cAMP inhibitory signaling was not dependent on Gβγ subunits, dyn, caveolin or clathrin, thus internalization. ERK activation induced by GPR84 upon 3HDec stimulation persisted upon agonist removal and involved PI3K

Article Snippet: pErk/total Erk content of cell extracts was determined by the Alpha SureFire Ultra Multiplex p-ERK 1/2 + Total ERK assay according to the manufacturer’s protocol (Perkin Elmer LAS).

Techniques: Transduction, Phospho-proteomics, Transfection, Activation Assay

Journal: Cell Death Discovery

Article Title: Gadd45g initiates embryonic stem cell differentiation and inhibits breast cell carcinogenesis

doi: 10.1038/s41420-021-00667-x

Figure Lengend Snippet: A Heatmap showing the expression patterns of PB and PB-Gadd45g 46 C mESCs. Genes were ranked according to the level of log2-fold change. B The KEGG analysis of the DEGs regulated by Gadd45g. C Western blot analysis of FLAG, RAF1, P-RAF1, MEK1/2, and P-MEK1/2 in 46 C mESCs overexpressed Gadd45 genes or PB. β-tubulin was used as a loading control. D Western blot analysis of FLAG, ERK1/2, and P-ERK1/2 levels in Gadd45 genes overexpressing 46 C mESCs. β-tubulin was used as a loading control. E Western blot analysis of Gadd45g, MEK1/2, P-MEK1/2, ERK1/2, and P-ERK1/2 levels in scramble and Gadd45g shRNA 46 C mESCs cultured in LIF/serum medium. β-tubulin was used as a loading control. F Heatmap showing the DEGs upregulated by Gadd45g and associated with the MAPK signaling pathway. Genes were ranked according to the level of log2-fold change. G qRT-PCR analysis of the expression of candidates showed in panel F . The data are represented as the means ± s.d. ( N = 3 biological replicates). ** p < 0.01 vs PB. H qRT-PCR analysis of the expression of the indicated genes (showed in panel F ) and Gadd45g in the scramble and Gadd45g shRNA 46 C mESCs cultured in LIF/serum medium. The data are represented as the means ± s.d. ( N = 3 biological replicates). * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 vs scramble. I qRT-PCR analysis of Gadd45g expression level in i-Gadd45g mESCs treated with or without Dox for 12 h. The data are represented as the means ± s.d. ( N = 3 biological replicates). ** p < 0.01 vs NT. NT no treatment. J Western blot analysis of Gadd45g levels in i-Gadd45g ESCs cultured in the presence or absence of 2 μg Dox. β-tubulin was used as a loading control. K qRT-PCR analysis of expression levels of Gadd45g, Csf1r, Igf2, and Fgfr3 in i-Gadd45g ESCs treated with Dox for 1 or 2 h. The data are represented as the means ± s.d. ( N = 3 biological replicates). * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 vs −DOX.

Article Snippet: The primary antibodies are FLAG (SG110-26, GNI, Japan, 1:1000), Nanog (14295-1-AP, Proteintech, USA, 1:1000), Gadd45g (SC-33173, Santa Cruz, USA, 1:500), Gadd45a (UPA06635, Gene Universal, China, 1:500), Gadd45b (UPA01987, Gene Universal, China, 1:500), MEK1/2 (380797, ZENBIO, China, 1:1000), Phospho-MEK1/2 (Ser217/221) (310050, ZENBIO, China, 1:1000), ERK1/2 (201245-4A4, ZENBIO, China, 1:500), Phospho-ERK1 (Thr202/Tyr204)/ERK2 (Thr185/Tyr187) (301245, ZENBIO, China, 1:500), Raf1 (251817, ZENBIO, China, 1:1000), Phospho- Raf1 (Ser338) (D155090, BBI, China, 1:1000), β-tubulin (200608, ZENBIO, China, 1:2000), E-cadherin (201283, ZENBIO, China, 1:1000), and N-cadherin (383341, ZENBIO, China, 1:1000).

Techniques: Expressing, Western Blot, shRNA, Cell Culture, Quantitative RT-PCR

Journal: Cell Death Discovery

Article Title: Gadd45g initiates embryonic stem cell differentiation and inhibits breast cell carcinogenesis

doi: 10.1038/s41420-021-00667-x

Figure Lengend Snippet: A Western blot analysis of ERK1/2 and P-ERK1/2 levels in i-Gadd45g ESCs cultured in LIF/CHIR/Dox condition in the presence or absence of PD03. β-tubulin was used as a loading control. B The CCK8 assay was performed to analyze the proliferation of i-Gadd45g ESCs cultured in LIF/CHIR/Dox condition in the presence or absence of PD03. The data are represented as the means ± s.d. ( N = 3 independent biological experiments). ** p < 0.01 vs LIF + CHIR + Dox. C qRT-PCR analysis of Gadd45g, self-renewal (Oct4 and Nanog) and differentiation (Gata6, Sox17, and Elf5) gene expression levels in i-Gadd45g ESCs cultured in the indicated conditions. The data are represented as the means ± s.d. ( N = 3 biological replicates). * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 vs LIF + 2i. D Morphology and alkaline phosphatase (AP) staining of i-Gadd45g ESCs cultured in the indicated conditions. Bar, 100 μM. E Western blot analysis of Oct4 and Nanog protein levels in i-Gadd45g ESCs cultured in the indicated conditions. β-tubulin was used as a loading control. F Actin-Tracker Green-488 fluorescent probe staining of i-Gadd45g ESCs cultured in the indicated conditions. Bar, 100 μM. G qRT-PCR analysis of the expression levels of Gadd45g and EMT marker genes in i-Gadd45g ESCs cultured in the indicated conditions. The data are represented as the means ± s.d. ( N = 3 biological replicates). * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 vs LIF + 2i.

Article Snippet: The primary antibodies are FLAG (SG110-26, GNI, Japan, 1:1000), Nanog (14295-1-AP, Proteintech, USA, 1:1000), Gadd45g (SC-33173, Santa Cruz, USA, 1:500), Gadd45a (UPA06635, Gene Universal, China, 1:500), Gadd45b (UPA01987, Gene Universal, China, 1:500), MEK1/2 (380797, ZENBIO, China, 1:1000), Phospho-MEK1/2 (Ser217/221) (310050, ZENBIO, China, 1:1000), ERK1/2 (201245-4A4, ZENBIO, China, 1:500), Phospho-ERK1 (Thr202/Tyr204)/ERK2 (Thr185/Tyr187) (301245, ZENBIO, China, 1:500), Raf1 (251817, ZENBIO, China, 1:1000), Phospho- Raf1 (Ser338) (D155090, BBI, China, 1:1000), β-tubulin (200608, ZENBIO, China, 1:2000), E-cadherin (201283, ZENBIO, China, 1:1000), and N-cadherin (383341, ZENBIO, China, 1:1000).

Techniques: Western Blot, Cell Culture, CCK-8 Assay, Quantitative RT-PCR, Expressing, Staining, Marker