Age-related changes in matching novel objects across viewpoints

Peer reviewedPreprin

Regulation of expression of the rat orthologue of mouse double minute 2 (MDM2) by H2O2-induced oxidative stress in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes.

The Mdm2 ubiquitin ligase is an important regulator of p53 abundance and p53-dependent apoptosis. Mdm2 expression is frequently regulated by a p53 Mdm2 autoregulatory loop whereby p53 stimulates Mdm2 expression and hence its own degradation. Although extensively studied in cell lines, relatively little is known about Mdm2 expression in heart where oxidative stress (exacerbated during ischemia-reperfusion) is an important pro-apoptotic stimulus. We demonstrate that Mdm2 transcript and protein expression are induced by oxidative stress (0.2 mm H(2)O(2)) in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes. In other cells, constitutive Mdm2 expression is regulated by the P1 promoter (5' to exon 1), with inducible expression regulated by the P2 promoter (in intron 1). In myocytes, H(2)O(2) increased Mdm2 expression from the P2 promoter, which contains two p53-response elements (REs), one AP-1 RE, and two Ets REs. H(2)O(2) did not detectably increase expression of p53 mRNA or protein but did increase expression of several AP-1 transcription factors. H(2)O(2) increased binding of AP-1 proteins (c-Jun, JunB, JunD, c-Fos, FosB, and Fra-1) to an Mdm2 AP-1 oligodeoxynucleotide probe, and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays showed it increased binding of c-Jun or JunB to the P2 AP-1 RE. Finally, antisense oligonucleotide-mediated reduction of H(2)O(2)-induced Mdm2 expression increased caspase 3 activation. Thus, increased Mdm2 expression is associated with transactivation at the P2 AP-1 RE (rather than the p53 or Ets REs), and Mdm2 induction potentially represents a cardioprotective response to oxidative stress

Elicitation of Neutralizing Antibodies Directed against CD4-Induced Epitope(s) Using a CD4 Mimetic Cross-Linked to a HIV-1 Envelope Glycoprotein

The identification of HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) structures that can generate broadly neutralizing antibodies (BNAbs) is pivotal to the development of a successful vaccine against HIV-1 aimed at eliciting effective humoral immune responses. To that end, the production of novel Env structure(s) that might induce BNAbs by presentation of conserved epitopes, which are otherwise occluded, is critical. Here, we focus on a structure that stabilizes Env in a conformation representative of its primary (CD4) receptor-bound state, thereby exposing highly conserved “CD4 induced” (CD4i) epitope(s) known to be important for co-receptor binding and subsequent virus infection. A CD4-mimetic miniprotein, miniCD4 (M64U1-SH), was produced and covalently complexed to recombinant, trimeric gp140 envelope glycoprotein (gp140) using site-specific disulfide linkages. The resulting gp140-miniCD4 (gp140-S-S-M64U1) complex was recognized by CD4i antibodies and the HIV-1 co-receptor, CCR5. The gp140-miniCD4 complex elicited the highest titers of CD4i binding antibodies as well as enhanced neutralizing antibodies against Tier 1 viruses as compared to gp140 protein alone following immunization of rabbits. Neutralization against HIV-27312/V434M and additional serum mapping confirm the specific elicitation of antibodies directed to the CD4i epitope(s). These results demonstrate the utility of structure-based approach in improving immunogenic response against specific region, such as the CD4i epitope(s) here, and its potential role in vaccine application

Multifaceted link between cancer and inflammation

10.1042/BSR20100136Bioscience Reports3211-15BRPT

Sustained proliferation in cancer: mechanisms and novel therapeutic targets

Proliferation is an important part of cancer development and progression. This is manifest by altered expression and/or activity of cell cycle related proteins. Constitutive activation of many signal transduction pathways also stimulates cell growth. Early steps in tumor development are associated with a fibrogenic response and the development of a hypoxic environment which favors the survival and proliferation of cancer stem cells. Part of the survival strategy of cancer stem cells may manifested by alterations in cell metabolism. Once tumors appear, growth and metastasis may be supported by overproduction of appropriate hormones (in hormonally dependent cancers), by promoting angiogenesis, by undergoing epithelial to mesenchymal transition, by triggering autophagy, and by taking cues from surrounding stromal cells. A number of natural compounds (e.g., curcumin, resveratrol, indole-3-carbinol, brassinin, sulforaphane, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, genistein, ellagitannins, lycopene and quercetin) have been found to inhibit one or more pathways that contribute to proliferation (e.g., hypoxia inducible factor 1, nuclear factor kappa B, phosphoinositide 3 kinase/Akt, insulin-like growth factor receptor 1, Wnt, cell cycle associated proteins, as well as androgen and estrogen receptor signaling). These data, in combination with bioinformatics analyses, will be very important for identifying signaling pathways and molecular targets that may provide early diagnostic markers and/or critical targets for the development of new drugs or drug combinations that block tumor formation and progression

Mid-Infrared Selection of Brown Dwarfs and High-Redshift Quasars

We discuss color selection of rare objects in a wide-field multiband survey spanning from the optical to the mid-infrared. Simple color criteria simultaneously identify and distinguish two of the most sought after astrophysical sources: the coolest brown dwarfs and the most distant quasars. We present spectroscopically confirmed examples of each class identified in the IRAC Shallow Survey of the Boötes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey. IRAC J142950.8+333011 is a T4.5 brown dwarf at a distance of approximately 30-40 pc, and IRAC J142738.5+331242 is a radio-loud quasar at redshift z = 6.12. Our selection criteria identify a total of four candidates over 8 deg^2 of the Boötes field. The other two candidates are both confirmed 5.5 < z < 6 quasars, previously reported by Cool et al. (2006). We discuss the implications of these discoveries and conclude that there are excellent prospects for extending such searches to cooler brown dwarfs and higher redshift quasars

Molecular mechanisms of cell death: recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death 2018.

Over the past decade, the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death (NCCD) has formulated guidelines for the definition and interpretation of cell death from morphological, biochemical, and functional perspectives. Since the field continues to expand and novel mechanisms that orchestrate multiple cell death pathways are unveiled, we propose an updated classification of cell death subroutines focusing on mechanistic and essential (as opposed to correlative and dispensable) aspects of the process. As we provide molecularly oriented definitions of terms including intrinsic apoptosis, extrinsic apoptosis, mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT)-driven necrosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, parthanatos, entotic cell death, NETotic cell death, lysosome-dependent cell death, autophagy-dependent cell death, immunogenic cell death, cellular senescence, and mitotic catastrophe, we discuss the utility of neologisms that refer to highly specialized instances of these processes. The mission of the NCCD is to provide a widely accepted nomenclature on cell death in support of the continued development of the field

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference