👤 Sara Jafarzadeh

Apelin, a bioactive peptide that serves as an endogenous ligand for the apelin receptor (APJ), is overexpressed in various types of cancers and contributes to cancer cell proliferation, viability, migration, angiogenesis, and metastasis, as well as immune deviation. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) regulate gene expression, and there is growing evidence suggesting a bidirectional crosstalk between ncRNAs (including long noncoding RNAs [lncRNAs], circular RNAs [circRNAs], and microRNAs [miRNAs]) and apelin in cancers. Certain miRNAs can directly target the apelin and inhibit its expression, thereby suppressing tumor growth. It has been indicated that miR-224, miR-195/miR-195-5p, miR-204-5p, miR-631, miR-4286, miR-637, miR-4493, and miR-214-3p target apelin mRNA and influence its expression in prostate cancer, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, chondrosarcoma, melanoma, gastric cancer, glioma, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), respectively. Moreover, circ-NOTCH1, circ-ZNF264, and lncRNA BACE1-AS upregulate apelin expression in gastric cancer, glioma, and HCC, respectively. On the other hand, apelin has been shown to regulate the expression of certain ncRNAs to affect tumorigenesis. It was revealed that apelin affects the expression of circ₀₀₀₀₀₀₄/miR-1303, miR-15a-5p, and miR-106a-5p in osteosarcoma, lung cancer, and prostate cancer, respectively. This review explains a bidirectional interplay between ncRNAs and apelin in cancers to provide insights concerning the molecular mechanisms underlying this crosstalk and potential implications for cancer therapy. Show less

Infection with the same species of Leishmania (L)donovani causes different manifestations including visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL), indicating that the host-related immunological parameters perform a decisive role in the pathogenesis of diseases. As PKDL is a reservoir of the parasite, a better understanding of the host immune responses is necessary to restrict the L. donovani transmission. The proper local production of Th1 cell-related cytokines (including IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-12), Th17 cell-derived cytokines (such as IL-17A, IL-17F and IL-22), and CD8 Show less

Allergic airway disorders such as asthma and allergic rhinitis are mainly caused by inhaled allergen-induced improper activation and responses of immune and non-immune cells. One important response is the production of IL-27 by macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs) during the early stage of airway allergies. IL-27 exerts powerful modulatory influences on the cells of innate immunity [eg neutrophils, eosinophils, mast cells, monocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells (DCs), innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), natural killer (NK) cells and NKT cells)] and adaptive immunity (eg Th1, Th2, Th9, Th17, regulatory T, CD8 Show less

IL-27 is a cytokine that exerts diverse effects on the cells of innate and adaptive immune systems. Chiefly expressed in macrophages and dendritic cells during the early phase of Leishmania infection, IL-27 contributes to the protection against L. major infection but suppresses the protective Th1 response against L. donovani, L. infantum, L. amazonensis and L. braziliensis infections, suggesting its functional duality. During the late stage of Leishmania infection, IL-27 limits the immunopathogenic reactions and tissue damages. Herein, we analyze the mechanism of the functional duality of IL-27 in the resistance or susceptibility to Leishmania infection, prompting IL-27 for anti-Leishmanial therapy. Show less