Smoc2

In tetrapods, BMP signalling coordinates limb outgrowth, skeleton patterning, and apoptosis during the formation of their typical autopod structures, the digits. In addition, inhibition of BMP signalling during mouse limb development leads to the persistence and enlargement of an important signalling center, the apical ectodermal ridge (AER), and consequent digit defects. Interestingly, during fish fin development there is a natural elongation of the AER, rapidly converted into an apical finfold (FF), in which osteoblasts differentiate into dermal fin rays used in aquatic locomotion...

The development and progression of rotator cuff tendinopathy (RCT) is multifactorial and likely to manifest through a combination of extrinsic, intrinsic, and environmental factors, including genetics and epigenetics. However, the role of epigenetics in RCT, including the role of histone modification, is not well established. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing, differences in the trimethylation status of H3K4 and H3K27 histones in late-stage RCT compared to control were investigated in this study...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can self-renew and differentiate into multiple lineages, making MSC transplantation a promising option for bone regeneration. Both matricellular proteins and growth factors play an important role in regulating stem cell fate. In this study, we investigated the effects of matricellular protein SMOC2 (secreted modular calcium-binding protein 2) on bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP9) in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) and revealed a possible molecular mechanism underlying this process...

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) have the ability to differentiate into chondrocytes. In the differentiation of BMSCs into chondrocytes, micro-RNAs (miRNAs) play an important role. rno-miR-90 is a new miRNA discovered by our research team, and its role in chondrogenic differentiation of BMSCs is unknown. This study aimed to investigate whether rno-miR-90 could promote chondrogenic differentiation of BMSCs by regulating secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine-related modular calcium binding 2 (Smoc2)...

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Histological assessment of liver biopsies is the gold standard for diagnosis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the progressive form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), despite its well-established limitations. Therefore, non-invasive biomarkers that can offer an integrated view of the liver are needed to improve diagnosis and reduce sampling bias. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are central in the development of hepatic fibrosis, a hallmark of NASH...

Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs), play a key role in perpetuating synovial inflammation and bone erosion in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), however, the underlying mechanism(s) of RA FLSs activation and aggression remain unclear. Identifying endogenous proteins that selectively target FLSs is urgently needed. Here, we systematically identified that secreted modular calcium-binding protein 2 (SMOC2), was significantly increased in RA FLSs and synovial tissues. SMOC2 knockdown specifically regulated cytoskeleton remodeling and decreased the migration and invasion of RA FLSs...

BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is challenging to reverse and its treatment options are limited. Yishen-Qingli-Huoxue Formula (YQHF) is an effective treatment Chinese formula for CKD, as verified by clinical randomized controlled trial. However, the correlative YQHF therapeutic mechanisms are still unknown. PURPOSE: The current study aimed to investigate the potential anti-renal fibrosis effects of YQHF as well as the underlying mechanism. METHODS: After affirming the curative effects of YQHF on adenine-induced CKD rats, Masson staining, immunohistochemistry, and ELISA were used to assess the effects of YQHF on renal fibrosis...

Background: Some but not all African-Americans (AA) who carry APOL1 nephropathy risk variants ( APOL1 ) develop kidney failure (end-stage kidney disease, ESKD). To identify genetic modifiers, we assessed gene-gene interactions in a large prospective cohort of the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study. Methods: Genotypes from 8,074 AA participants were obtained from Illumina Infinium Multi-Ethnic AMR/AFR Extended BeadChip. We compared 388 incident ESKD cases with 7,686 non-ESKD controls, using a two-locus interaction approach...

Obesity is an established risk factor for hyperuricemia, but the mechanisms are only partially understood. We examined whether BMI-related DNA methylation (DNAm) variation would mediate the association of BMI with serum uric acid (SUA). We first conducted an epigenome-wide association analysis (EWAS) in 64 monozygotic twin pairs to detect BMI-related DNAm variation and then evaluated the mediated effect of DNAm using mediation analysis. Ontology enrichments analysis was performed for CpGs using GREAT tool. The genes where the candidate CpG mediators mapped were validated using gene expression data...

BACKGROUND: The tongue is a muscular fleshy organ in the oral cavity that is anatomically divided into the dorsal, ventral, anterior, and posterior part. The intricate tissue organisation and diverse origins of the tongue make it a complex organ of the oral cavity. OBJECTIVES: To reveal the signalling molecules involved in the formation of the dorsal and ventral parts of the tongue through microarray analysis. METHODS: Dorsal and ventral tongue tissues were isolated from embryonic day 14 mice by micro-dissection...

Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) is the most common form of all renal cancer cases, and well-known for its highly aggressive metastatic behavior. SMOC2 is a recently described non-structural component of the extracellular matrix (ECM) that is highly expressed during tissue remodeling processes with emerging roles in cancers, yet its role in RCC remains elusive. Using gene expression profiles from patient samples, we identified SMOC2 as being significantly expressed in RCC tissue compared to normal renal tissue, which correlated with shorter RCC patient survival...

Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a fibroinflammatory disorder of the pancreas. Our understanding of CP pathogenesis is partly limited by the incomplete characterization of pancreatic cell types. Here, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing on 3825 cells from the pancreas of one control mouse and mice with caerulein-induced CP. An analysis of the single-cell transcriptomes revealed 16 unique clusters and cell type-specific gene expression patterns in the mouse pancreas. Sub-clustering of the pancreatic mesenchymal cells from the control mouse revealed four clusters of cells with specific gene expression profiles (combinatorial expressions of Smoc2 , Cxcl14 , Tnfaip6 , and Fn1 )...

OBJECTIVES: Emerging evidence has demonstrated that LINC01857 exerts a pivotal function in many cancers. However, its function in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) still remains unclear. This study was designed to investigate the regulatory character of LINC01857 in PDAC. METHODS: Bioinformatic tools and databases were used to seek potential miRNAs and mRNAs. Gene expression was evaluated by Reverse Transcription quantitative real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR), and western blot was used for protein level detection...

MicroRNAs are reported to be involved in tumor development. This study aims to investigate the biological functions and molecular mechanisms of microRNA-19a-3p in gastric cancer cells. TCGA-based expression analysis and qRT-PCR assay illustrated that microRNA-19a-3p was overexpressed in gastric cancer. MTT and Transwell assays indicated that microRNA-19a-3p could strengthen the proliferation, migration, and invasion of gastric cancer cells. SMOC2 was bioinformatically predicted as the target of microRNA-19a-3p, followed by identified using a dual-luciferase assay...

Nociceptive information is detected and transmitted by neurons in the DRG. Recently, single-cell RNA sequencing has revealed the molecular profile of various cell types, including fibroblasts in the DRG. However, the role of molecules in fibroblasts needs to be elucidated in nociceptive regulation. Here, we found that secreted modular calcium-binding protein 2 (SMOC2) was secreted by fibroblasts to become a component of basement membrane and envelop the unit consisting of DRG neurons and attached satellite glial cells...

Exosomes-related microRNAs (miRNAs) have been considered to be the significant biomarkers contributing to the development of atrial fibrillation (AF). We observed the implicit mechanism of exosomes-miR-148a derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in AF. The AF cell and mice models were established firstly. QRT-PCR and Western blot analysis were applied to detect the expression of miR-148a, SPARC-associated modular calcium-binding protein 2 (SMOC2), Bcl-2, Bax, and caspase-3. BMSCs were separated from healthy mice and exosomes were obtained from BMSCs...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most frequent neurodegenerative disease with an increasing prevalence in industrialized, aging populations. AD susceptibility has an established genetic basis which has been the focus of a large number of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) published over the last decade. Most of these GWAS used dichotomized clinical diagnostic status, i.e., case vs. control classification, as outcome phenotypes, without the use of biomarkers. An alternative and potentially more powerful study design is afforded by using quantitative AD-related phenotypes as GWAS outcome traits, an analysis paradigm that we followed in this work...

This study aimed to assess the changes of small intestinal morphology, progenitors, differentiated epithelial cells, and potential mechanisms in neonatal piglets. Hematoxylin and eosin staining of samples from 36 piglets suggested that dramatic changes were observed in the jejunum crypts depth and crypt fission index of neonatal piglets ( P  < 0.001). The number of intestinal stem cells (ISC) tended to increase ( P  < 0.10), and a decreased number of enteroendocrine cells appeared in the jejunal crypt on d 7 ( P  < 0...

Objective: To investigate the expression of hsa_circ_0074298 (circular RNA) and the molecular mechanism that promotes tumor growth and enhances the chemoresistance of pancreatic cancer. Methods: Real-time reverse transcription-PCR was used to detect hsa_circ_0074298 expression in pancreatic cancer. The intracellular localization of hsa_circ_0074298 was determined by RNA in situ hybridization. The CCK8 method, colony formation assay, Transwell assay, and flow cytometry were used to evaluate the effects of hsa_circ_0074298 on the proliferation, migration, invasion, cell cycle, apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells...

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease that influences 300 million people all over the world. However, the pathogenesis of asthma has not been fully elucidated. It has been reported that transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) can activate myofibroblasts. Moreover, the fibroblast to myofibroblast transformation (FMT) can be triggered by TGF-β, which is a major mediator of subepithelial fibrosis. Secreted modular calcium-binding protein 2 (SMOC2) is a member of cysteine (SPARC) family and is involved in the progression of multiple diseases...