RELAXIN: A MAGICAL THERAPY FOR HEALTHY HEART

Relaxin (a peptide hormone) has emerged as a cardioprotective agent and plays a vital role in normal cardiac function. By activation a complex network of signaling cascade, relaxin is responsible for creating a healthy environment for heart functioning. Under pathological conditions, such as cardiomyopathy and heart failure, expression level of relaxin is increased dramatically to protect heart. By promoting angiogenesis, vasodilatation, improving ischemia/reperfusion injury and remodeling, relaxin has emerged as a magical agent to address cardiac abnormalities. Over the past 3 decades, various cardioprotection strategies are in use to deal with cardiac diseases, however till date no effective therapy is in clinical practice. Relaxin has emerged as a novel therapeutic agent to have beneficial action during various pathological conditions. In this review, we have discussed different cardioprotective roles of relaxin that marks it, as an effective agent to tackle heart related diseases.Â

TARGETING HIF-1 PATHWAY: A THERAPEUTIC APPROACH TO KILL CANCER CELLS

Tumorous growth often faces hypoxic (low oxygen tension) conditions and the adaptations of these cells to hypoxic conditions determine their survival. The cancer cells respond to hypoxia by altering the expression of different genes and Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF)-1 is one of it. HIF-1 is a transcriptional factor that response to hypoxia (low oxygen tension) conditions quickly. Expression of HIF-1 gene is essential for increase in vascularization of hypoxic region such as tumor and thus aid in proliferation and survival of cancerous cells. Moreover, HIF-1 signaling in cancer cells has a diverse influence on the metastatic cascade. Targeting HIF-1 is therefore one of the most promising approach to treat cancer. In this review, we have focused on the potential of targeting HIF-1 pathway as therapeutic intervention to treat cancer. Key words: HIF-1 Pathway, Cancer, Hypoxia-Inducibl

THE WARBURG EFFECT: A POSSIBLE ROLE OF CAP INDEPENDENT TRANSLATION

Cancer is a complex multistep process involving tremendous changes at molecular and cellular properties of a cancerous cell. One of the main characteristics associated with the tumor cells include preferential use of glycolysis over oxidative phosphorylation to meet the high energy needs. This process is observed even in the presence of ample oxygen to fuel mitochondrial respiration and is considered to be the root cause of tumor growth and a potential hallmark of cancer. It has been found that tumor cells shows increased glycolytic capacity than normal cells and produce lactate rather than pyruvate in the process. During cancers, the expression levels of glycolytic enzymes are increased and different mechanisms like increased transcription or altered post-translational regulation has been proposed. Since hypoxia is a well known model in cancers and therefore role of capindependent translation cannot be ignored. Furthermore, elucidation of the underlying reasons behind the increased expression of glycolytic enzymes in cancer will help us to better understand and cure cancer. This review focuses on the possible role of cap independent translation in mediating increased expression of glycolytic enzymes in cancers. Key word: Cancer, Warburg Effect, glycolytic enzymes, Cap independent translation, hypoxi

Role of Selected miRNAs as Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarkers in Cardiovascular Diseases, Including Coronary Artery Disease, Myocardial Infarction and Atherosclerosis

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide in different cohorts. It is well known that miRNAs have a crucial role in regulating the development of cardiovascular physiology, thus impacting the pathophysiology of heart diseases. MiRNAs also have been reported to be associated with cardiac reactions, leading to myocardial infarction (MCI) and ultimately heart failure (HF). To prevent these heart diseases, proper and timely diagnosis of cardiac dysfunction is pivotal. Though there are many symptoms associated with an irregular heart condition and though there are some biomarkers available that may indicate heart disease, authentic, specific and sensitive markers are the need of the hour. In recent times, miRNAs have proven to be promising candidates in this regard. They are potent biomarkers as they can be easily detected in body fluids (blood, urine, etc.) due to their remarkable stability and presence in apoptotic bodies and exosomes. Existing studies suggest the role of miRNAs as valuable biomarkers. A single biomarker may be insufficient to diagnose coronary artery disease (CAD) or acute myocardial infarction (AMI); thus, a combination of different miRNAs may prove fruitful. Therefore, this review aims to highlight the role of circulating miRNA as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in cardiovascular diseases such as coronary artery disease (CAD), myocardial infarction (MI) and atherosclerosis