Current Issues in Molecular Biology

The GRAS transcription factor family plays a pivotal role in plant stress adaptation, yet its systematic characterization and the underlying drought-responsive mechanisms remain poorly elucidated in Populus deltoides. Here, a genome-wide identification and analysis of GRAS genes in P. deltoides was performed, and a total of 92 family members were identified and classified into 12 distinct subfamilies through phylogenetic analysis. Evolutionary analysis revealed a high degree of conservation between the GRAS proteins of P. deltoides and those of Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa, and Solanum lycopersicum. Genomic duplication events, including 90 segmental and 11 tandem duplications, were identified as the primary drivers of GRAS family expansion. Promoter cis-element analysis uncovered an enrichment of stress-responsive elements (MBS, ABRE) and phytohormone-related motifs (e.g., TATC-box). Transcriptomic profiling further revealed distinct drought-inducible expression patterns of GRAS genes: PdeGRAS49 exhibited rapid upregulation at the early stage of drought exposure (1–3 h), whereas DELLA subfamily members PdeGRAS51 and PdeGRAS59 reached their expression peaks at 6–9 h, and PdeGRAS34 and PdeGRAS77 maintained sustained activation throughout 12–24 h. Moreover, the drought-inducible expression patterns of five DELLA genes were confirmed by qRT-PCR validation. Collectively, this study provides crucial genomic insights into the GRAS family and valuable candidate gene resources, which lay a foundation for molecular breeding of drought-tolerant P. deltoides cultivars via manipulating GRAS-mediated regulatory mechanisms.

Necroptosis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Stevens–Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN), with prior studies demonstrating tissue-level involvement of receptor-interacting protein kinases RIPK1 and RIPK3. However, their systemic expression in the circulatory compartment remains incompletely characterized. The objective of this study is to evaluate circulating levels of RIPK1 and RIPK3 in patients with SJS/TEN and explore their potential association with diseases. Serum samples from patients with SJS/TEN and control groups were analyzed for RIPK1 and RIPK3 levels using ELISA. Group differences were assessed using non-parametric statistical methods. Circulating levels of RIPK1 and RIPK3 were elevated in patients with SJS/TEN compared with controls. These findings were consistent across analyses; however, variability within groups and overlap between cohorts were observed. These results suggest an association between increased circulating RIPK1 and RIPK3 levels and SJS/TEN. Given the limited sample size, heterogeneous control populations, and lack of functional or phosphorylation-specific assays, these findings should be considered exploratory. Further studies incorporating larger cohorts and mechanistic validation are needed to clarify the role of necroptosis-related pathways in the systemic manifestations of SJS/TEN.

Inflammation is increasingly recognized as a dynamic and interconnected regulatory network rather than a linear signaling cascade, in which immune signaling, oxidative stress, metabolic adaptation, and tissue-specific microenvironmental factors collectively shape inflammatory responses [...]