{"title":"Organoids-on-Chips Technology: Unveiling New Perspectives in Rare-Disease Research.","authors":"Xiangyang Li, Hui Wang, Xiaoyan You, Guoping Zhao","doi":"10.3390/ijms26094367","DOIUrl":"10.3390/ijms26094367","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The scarcity of robust models and therapeutic options for rare diseases continues to hamper their preclinical investigation. Traditional animal models and two-dimensional cell cultures are limited in their ability to replicate human heredity-associated traits and complex pathological features. Organoids-on-a-chip approaches open up new frontiers in rare-disease research via the integration of organ chips and organoid technology. This integrative strategy offers immense opportunities for the mimicry of disease-related traits, the clarification of the mechanisms underlying disease, and the prediction of treatment responses in a highly human-related manner. This forward-looking perspective suggests organoids on chips are transformative tools for parsing rare-disease pathogenesis, accelerating therapeutic discovery, and bridging the gap between basic research and precision medicine.</p>","PeriodicalId":14156,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Molecular Sciences","volume":"26 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12072464/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144017823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhangru Qi, Jiaxiang Liu, Jiale Shi, Miaomiao Yin, Jialong Liu, Jiaxuan Fan, Zhenmin Bao, Zhi Ye, Jingjie Hu
{"title":"Integrated Transcriptomic and Epigenomic Analysis Reveals Mechanisms Underlying Melanotic Spot Formation in Red Tilapia (<i>Oreochromis</i> spp.).","authors":"Zhangru Qi, Jiaxiang Liu, Jiale Shi, Miaomiao Yin, Jialong Liu, Jiaxuan Fan, Zhenmin Bao, Zhi Ye, Jingjie Hu","doi":"10.3390/ijms26094370","DOIUrl":"10.3390/ijms26094370","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Red tilapia is highly valued as a premium variety in Asia due to its vibrant red skin coloration. However, during aquaculture production, irregular black pigmentation (melanotic spots) frequently appears on the skin of some individuals, significantly reducing their economic value. Although epigenetic regulation is suspected to play a role, its involvement remains poorly understood. To uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying black spot formation, we employed Cleavage Under Targets and Tagmentation (CUT&Tag) to compare four key histone modifications (H3K4me3, H3K4me1, H3K27me3, and H3K27ac) between red and black pigmented skin regions. Integrated with transcriptomic analysis, our data indicated that red skin regions exhibited high expression of genes suppressing melanin synthesis, whereas melanotic spots likely resulted from localized derepression, allowing upregulation of melanin biosynthetic genes. Furthermore, by combining epigenomic chromatin state analysis and transcriptome data, we identified critical genes consistently active in melanotic spots and their corresponding potential cis-regulatory elements. Motif analysis of transcription factor binding sites upstream of these regulatory elements revealed that Ehf, Klf9, and Egr1 might facilitate melanin production in black regions, while Prdm1 and Sp5 could inhibit melanogenesis in red regions by repressing the Wnt signaling pathway. These findings provide valuable epigenetic insights into the mechanisms driving melanotic spot formation in red tilapia.</p>","PeriodicalId":14156,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Molecular Sciences","volume":"26 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12072769/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143979015","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Beomyeol Baek, Yoon Ho Park, Ju-Mi Jeon, Hee-Young Shim, Eun-Kyoung Lee, Mi-Jeong Hong, Young-Woo Bae, Joong-Heok An, In-Cheol Shin, Hyun Suk Jung
{"title":"Optimizing MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry for the Identification of <i>Bacillus cereus</i>: The Impact of Sporulation and Cultivation Time.","authors":"Beomyeol Baek, Yoon Ho Park, Ju-Mi Jeon, Hee-Young Shim, Eun-Kyoung Lee, Mi-Jeong Hong, Young-Woo Bae, Joong-Heok An, In-Cheol Shin, Hyun Suk Jung","doi":"10.3390/ijms26094355","DOIUrl":"10.3390/ijms26094355","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Bacillus cereus</i> is a significant foodborne pathogen that presents a critical challenge in food safety due to its ability to form resistant spores and produce various toxins. The potential for severe food poisoning makes rapid and accurate identification of this pathogen essential. Conventional microbiological methods for <i>B. cereus</i> identification rely on morphological characteristics and biochemical tests, requiring extensive time and labor. However, even automated biochemical systems like VITEK2, while providing reliable results, still require up to 16 h for analysis and complex sample preparation procedures. MALDI-TOF (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight) mass spectrometry utilizes laser-induced ionization of bacterial proteins and subsequent time-of-flight analysis to generate unique mass spectral patterns. This established analytical technique for bacterial identification offers exceptional speed and simplicity through direct protein profiling. In this study, we optimized MALDI-TOF analysis conditions for <i>B. cereus</i> identification by examining various cultivation times. Our results demonstrated complete species-level identification accuracy with MALDI-TOF scores ≥ 2.0 with 12-h cultures, matching the reliability of VITEK2 while significantly reducing processing time. The identification rates decreased significantly from 100% at 12 h to 73.3% at 24 h and 50% at 48 h of incubation, correlating directly with increased spore formation. Detailed analysis at 4-h intervals revealed that high identification rates (93.3%) were maintained during 16 h of cultivation before declining significantly. This study establishes MALDI-TOF as a reliable and efficient tool for rapid <i>B. cereus</i> identification, representing a significant advancement in food safety diagnostics with potential time savings of more than 50% compared to conventional methods.</p>","PeriodicalId":14156,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Molecular Sciences","volume":"26 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12072534/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143986815","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Novel CFEM Effector in <i>Fusarium verticillioides</i> Required for Virulence Involved in Plant Immunity Suppression and Fungal Cell Wall Integrity.","authors":"Huan Li, Shumila Ishfaq, Xiaoyan Liang, Rui Wang, Hailei Wei, Wei Guo","doi":"10.3390/ijms26094369","DOIUrl":"10.3390/ijms26094369","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Common in Fungal Extracellular Membrane (CFEM) effectors, a unique class of fungal-specific proteins, play critical roles in host-pathogen interactions. While CFEM proteins have been extensively characterized in phytopathogens, their presence and functions in <i>Fusarium verticillioides</i> remained unexplored. Here, we systematically identified 19 CFEM-containing proteins in <i>F. verticillioides</i>, among which FvCFEM12 exhibited secretory activity and plant infection-induced expression. Functional characterization revealed that FvCFEM12 suppressed Bax- and INF1-triggered cell death in <i>Nicotiana benthamiana</i> leaves. Furthermore, heterologous expression of FvCFEM12 in maize leaves using <i>P. syringae</i> strain D36E can compromise immune responses against bacterial pathogens. Deletion of FvCFEM12 impaired fungal virulence, altered hyphal morphology, and reduced cell wall stress tolerance. Interestingly, FvCFEM12 physically interacted with the maize wall-associated receptor kinase ZmWAK17ET, and targeted silencing of ZmWAK17 in maize enhanced susceptibility to <i>F. verticillioides</i>. Our findings revealed that FvCFEM12 is a dual-function effector that suppresses plant immunity and maintains fungal cell wall integrity, thereby orchestrating fungal pathogenicity at the host-pathogen interface.</p>","PeriodicalId":14156,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Molecular Sciences","volume":"26 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12072874/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144015998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Chuhao Qin, Dongsheng Li, Jiahui Zhang, Ze Yin, Fasheng Li
{"title":"Scorpion Venom Heat-Resistant Synthetic Peptide Alleviates Neuronal Necroptosis in Alzheimer's Disease Model by Regulating Lnc Gm6410 Under PM<sub>2.5</sub> Exposure.","authors":"Chuhao Qin, Dongsheng Li, Jiahui Zhang, Ze Yin, Fasheng Li","doi":"10.3390/ijms26094372","DOIUrl":"10.3390/ijms26094372","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Recent epidemiological studies have indicated that exposure to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 μm or less in the ambient air (PM<sub>2.5</sub>) is significantly associated with an elevated risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its progression. Scorpion venom heat-resistant synthetic peptide (SVHRSP) exhibits anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties. However, the exact ways in which SVHRSP mitigates the progression of AD induced by PM<sub>2.5</sub> are still unknown. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) plays a crucial role in various biological processes. Necroptosis, a form of programmed cell death, has garnered considerable attention in recent years. This study aims to investigate whether Lnc Gm16410 and neuronal necroptosis are involved in PM<sub>2.5</sub>-exacerbated AD progression and the mechanisms of SVHRSP in alleviating this process. Through the establishment of a PM<sub>2.5</sub> exposure model in AD mice and an in vitro model, it was found that PM<sub>2.5</sub> exposure could promote necroptosis and the down-regulation of Lnc Gm16410, thereby promoting the progression of AD. Behavioral tests showed that SVHRSP alleviated cognitive impairment in PM<sub>2.5</sub>-induced AD mice. WB, qRT-PCR, and other molecular biological assays indicate that Lnc Gm16410 regulates neuronal necroptosis under PM<sub>2.5</sub> exposure via the p38 MAPK pathway. SVHRSP is a potential regulator of AD progression by regulating Lnc Gm16410 to alleviate PM<sub>2.5</sub> exposure-induced necroptosis. These findings offer new insights into the mechanism through which PM<sub>2.5</sub> exposure accelerates the progression of AD, examined from the perspective of LncRNA. Furthermore, we offer new targets for the treatment and prevention of AD following PM<sub>2.5</sub> exposure by investigating the mechanism of action of SVHRSP in alleviating AD.</p>","PeriodicalId":14156,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Molecular Sciences","volume":"26 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12072906/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143987776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Israa H Isawi, Rayan M Obeidat, Soraya Alnabulsi, Rufaida Al Zoubi
{"title":"Identification of Novel HPK1 Hit Inhibitors: From In Silico Design to In Vitro Validation.","authors":"Israa H Isawi, Rayan M Obeidat, Soraya Alnabulsi, Rufaida Al Zoubi","doi":"10.3390/ijms26094366","DOIUrl":"10.3390/ijms26094366","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hematopoietic progenitor kinase 1 (HPK1), a negative regulator of T-cells, B-cells, and dendritic cells, has gained attention in antitumor immunotherapy research over the past decade. No HPK1 inhibitor has yet reached clinical approval, largely due to selectivity and drug-like limitations. Leveraging the available structural insights into HPK1, we conducted a rational hit identification using a structure-based virtual screening of over 600,000 drug-like molecules from ASINEX and OTAVA databases. A series of molecular docking studies, in vitro kinase assays, and molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to identify viable HPK1 inhibitor hits. This approach resulted in two promising novel hit scaffolds, 4H-Pyrido[1,2-a] thieno[2,3-d] pyrimidin-4-one (ISR-05) and quinolin-2(1H)-one (ISR-03), neither of which has previously been reported as an HPK1 inhibitor. ISR-05 and ISR-03 exhibited IC<sub>50</sub> values of 24.2 ± 5.07 and 43.9 ± 0.134 µM, respectively, in kinase inhibition assays. These hits constitute tractable starting points for future hit-to-lead optimization aimed at developing more effective HPK1 inhibitors for cancer therapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":14156,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Molecular Sciences","volume":"26 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12072202/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143966234","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Transfer Learning Framework for Predicting and Interpreting Drug Responses via Single-Cell RNA-Seq Data.","authors":"Yujie He, Shenghao Li, Hao Lan, Wulin Long, Shengqiu Zhai, Menglong Li, Zhining Wen","doi":"10.3390/ijms26094365","DOIUrl":"10.3390/ijms26094365","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chemotherapy is a fundamental therapy in cancer treatment, yet its effectiveness is often undermined by drug resistance. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying drug response remains a major challenge due to tumor heterogeneity, complex cellular interactions, and limited access to clinical samples, which also hinder the performance and interpretability of existing predictive models. Meanwhile, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has emerged as a powerful tool for uncovering resistance mechanisms, but the systematic collection and utilization of scRNA-seq drug response data remain limited. In this study, we collected scRNA-seq drug response datasets from publicly available web sources and proposed a transfer learning-based framework to align bulk and single cell sequencing data. A shared encoder was designed to project both bulk and single-cell sequencing data into a unified latent space for drug response prediction, while a sparse decoder guided by prior biological knowledge enhanced interpretability by mapping latent features to predefined pathways. The proposed model achieved superior performance across five curated scRNA-seq datasets and yielded biologically meaningful insights through integrated gradient analysis. This work demonstrates the potential of deep learning to advance drug response prediction and underscores the value of scRNA-seq data in supporting related research.</p>","PeriodicalId":14156,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Molecular Sciences","volume":"26 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12072357/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144017807","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jiarui Wang, Rangzhuoma Cai, Zhaozhao Hu, Liqun Cai, Jun Wu
{"title":"Study on the Interaction Effect of Heavy Metal Cadmium in Soil-Plant System Controlled by Biochar and Nano-Zero-Valent Iron.","authors":"Jiarui Wang, Rangzhuoma Cai, Zhaozhao Hu, Liqun Cai, Jun Wu","doi":"10.3390/ijms26094373","DOIUrl":"10.3390/ijms26094373","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The accumulation of heavy metal cadmium (Cd) in farmland soil in edible parts of crops seriously threatens plant growth, human health, and even the global ecological environment. Finding stabilization remediation technology is an important means to treat Cd-contaminated soil. This study comprehensively evaluated the synergistic effects of independent or combined application of biochar (BC) (10, 30 g kg<sup>-1</sup>) and nano zero-valent iron (nZVI) (0.1% <i>w</i>/<i>w</i>) on soil properties and morphological and physiological traits of pakchoi (<i>Brassica rapa</i> L. subsp. <i>chinensis</i>) under Cd (1, 3 mg kg<sup>-1</sup>) stress by pot experiments. It was shown that Cd toxicity negatively affected soil properties, reduced pakchoi biomass and total chlorophyll content, and increased oxidative stress levels. On the contrary, the combined application of BC (30 g kg<sup>-1</sup>) and nZVI (0.1%, <i>w</i>/<i>w</i>) reduced the Cd accumulation in the shoot parts of pakchoi from 0.78 mg·kg<sup>-1</sup> to 0.11 mg·kg<sup>-1</sup>, which was lower than the Cd limit standard of leafy vegetables (0.20 mg kg<sup>-1</sup>) in GB 2762-2017 \"National Food Safety Standard\". Compared with the control, the treatment group achieved a 61.66% increase in biomass and a 105.56% increase in total chlorophyll content. At the same time, the activities of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) increased by 34.86% and 44.57%, respectively, and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) decreased by 71.27%. In addition, the application of BC alone (30 g·kg<sup>-1</sup>) increased the soil pH value by 0.43 units and the organic carbon (SOC) content by 37.82%. Overall, the synergistic effect of BC (30 g kg<sup>-1</sup>) and nZVI (0.1% <i>w</i>/<i>w</i>) helped to restore soil homeostasis and inhibit the biotoxicity of Cd, which provided a new option for soil heavy metal remediation and crop toxicity mitigation.</p>","PeriodicalId":14156,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Molecular Sciences","volume":"26 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12072827/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144016547","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nataliia P Antonova, Sofia D Abdullaeva, Daria V Vasina, Igor V Grigoriev, Evgeny V Usachev, Olga V Usacheva, Vladimir A Gushchin
{"title":"Modifying Pharmacokinetic Properties of the Gram-Negative Bacteria Targeting Endolysin ML06 Without Affecting Antibacterial Activity.","authors":"Nataliia P Antonova, Sofia D Abdullaeva, Daria V Vasina, Igor V Grigoriev, Evgeny V Usachev, Olga V Usacheva, Vladimir A Gushchin","doi":"10.3390/ijms26094376","DOIUrl":"10.3390/ijms26094376","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>With the rise of antibiotic resistance, there is a need for innovative drugs with alternative mechanisms of action. Endolysins meet most of the requirements, but are limited for parenteral use due to their short blood circulation time. In this article, a number of modifications to the ML06-engineered, lysin-targeting Gram-negative bacteria are proposed to improve its pharmacokinetic parameters. Genetic modification with albumin-binding and dimerization domains ranging from 11-12 aa to 45 aa at both the C- and N-termini has resulted in six enzymes that do not exhibit critically reduced antibacterial properties in vitro, and in the case of the ABP1 modification, an improved antibacterial rate and spectra of enzymes. The ML06-ABP1, ML06-ABP2, and HDD-ML06 modifications also retained activity in blood serum and significantly increased serum stability. A pharmacokinetic study of the three modifications in mice showed that ML06-ABP2 and HDD-ML06 have a prolonged half-life compared to the ML06 half-life. In addition, the serum C<sub>max</sub> concentration for HDD-ML06 (22.2 μg/mL) was significantly increased compared to ML06 (C<sub>max</sub> < 5 μg/mL). Our results allow for a comparison of the different types of modifications that are useful in the development of parenteral antibacterials.</p>","PeriodicalId":14156,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Molecular Sciences","volume":"26 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12072273/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143994652","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anna Hronova, Eliska Pritulova, Lucie Hejnova, Jiri Novotny
{"title":"An Investigation of the RNA Modification m<sup>6</sup>A and Its Regulatory Enzymes in Rat Brains Affected by Chronic Morphine Treatment and Withdrawal.","authors":"Anna Hronova, Eliska Pritulova, Lucie Hejnova, Jiri Novotny","doi":"10.3390/ijms26094371","DOIUrl":"10.3390/ijms26094371","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>N6-methyladenosine (m<sup>6</sup>A) is one of the most prevalent methylated modifications of mRNA in eukaryotes. This reversible alteration can directly or indirectly influence biological functions, including RNA degradation, translation, and splicing. This study investigates the impact of chronic morphine administration and varying withdrawal durations (1 day, 1 week, 4 weeks, and 12 weeks) on the m<sup>6</sup>A modification levels in brain regions critical to addiction development and persistence. Our findings indicate that in the prefrontal cortex, the m<sup>6</sup>A levels and METTL3 expression decrease, accompanied by an increase in FTO and ALKBH5 expression, followed by fluctuating, but statistically insignificant changes in methylation-regulating enzymes over prolonged withdrawal. In the striatum, reductions in m<sup>6</sup>A levels and METTL3 expression are observed at 4 weeks of withdrawal, preceded by non-significant fluctuations in enzyme expression and the m<sup>6</sup>A modification levels. In contrast, no changes in the m<sup>6</sup>A modification levels or the expression of related enzymes are detected in the hippocampus and the cerebellum. Our data suggest that m<sup>6</sup>A modification and its regulatory enzymes undergo region-specific and time-dependent changes in response to chronic morphine exposure and subsequent withdrawal.</p>","PeriodicalId":14156,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Molecular Sciences","volume":"26 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12072463/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144001046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}