Efferocytosis: An Interface between Apoptosis and Pathophysiology

Several cell death modes, each with a unique feature and mode of inducing cell death have been established. Cell death occurring under physiological conditions is primarily caused by apoptosis, which is a non-inflammatory or silent process, whereas necroptosis or pyroptosis is triggered by pathogen invasion, which stimulates the immune system and induces inflammation. In physiology, clearing dead cells and associated cellular debris is necessary since billions of cells die during mammalian embryogenesis and every day in adult organisms. For degradation, dead cells produced by apoptosis are quickly engulfed by macrophages. This chapter will present a description of the phagocytosis of dead and dying cells, by a process known as efferocytosis. Macrophages and, to a lesser degree, other ‘professional’ phagocytes (such as monocytes and dendritic cells) and ‘non-professional’ phagocytes, such as epithelial cells, conduct efferocytosis. Recent discoveries have shed light on this mechanism and how it works to preserve homeostasis of tissue, repair of tissue and health of the organism. Caspases are a large family of proteases of cysteine acting in cascades. A cascade leading to activation of caspase 3 mediates apoptosis and is responsible for killing cells, hiring macrophages, and presenting a “eat me” signal(s). If macrophages do not effectively engulf apoptotic cells, they undergo secondary necrosis and release intracellular materials that reflect a molecular pattern associated with injury, which can lead to autoimmune diseases. Here, the processes of efferocytosis are illustrated and the pathophysiological effects that which occur when this phase is abrogated are highlighted

Setting research priorities to improve global newborn health and prevent stillbirths by 2025.

BACKGROUND: In 2013, an estimated 2.8 million newborns died and 2.7 million were stillborn. A much greater number suffer from long term impairment associated with preterm birth, intrauterine growth restriction, congenital anomalies, and perinatal or infectious causes. With the approaching deadline for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015, there was a need to set the new research priorities on newborns and stillbirth with a focus not only on survival but also on health, growth and development. We therefore carried out a systematic exercise to set newborn health research priorities for 2013-2025. METHODS: We used adapted Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) methods for this prioritization exercise. We identified and approached the 200 most productive researchers and 400 program experts, and 132 of them submitted research questions online. These were collated into a set of 205 research questions, sent for scoring to the 600 identified experts, and were assessed and scored by 91 experts. RESULTS: Nine out of top ten identified priorities were in the domain of research on improving delivery of known interventions, with simplified neonatal resuscitation program and clinical algorithms and improved skills of community health workers leading the list. The top 10 priorities in the domain of development were led by ideas on improved Kangaroo Mother Care at community level, how to improve the accuracy of diagnosis by community health workers, and perinatal audits. The 10 leading priorities for discovery research focused on stable surfactant with novel modes of administration for preterm babies, ability to diagnose fetal distress and novel tocolytic agents to delay or stop preterm labour. CONCLUSION: These findings will assist both donors and researchers in supporting and conducting research to close the knowledge gaps for reducing neonatal mortality, morbidity and long term impairment. WHO, SNL and other partners will work to generate interest among key national stakeholders, governments, NGOs, and research institutes in these priorities, while encouraging research funders to support them. We will track research funding, relevant requests for proposals and trial registers to monitor if the priorities identified by this exercise are being addressed

Setting research priorities to improve global newborn health and prevent stillbirths by 2025

Background In 2013, an estimated 2.8 million newborns died and 2.7 million were stillborn. A much greater number suffer from long term impairment associated with preterm birth, intrauterine growth restriction, congenital anomalies, and perinatal or infectious causes. With the approaching deadline for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015, there was a need to set the new research priorities on newborns and stillbirth with a focus not only on survival but also on health, growth and development. We therefore carried out a systematic exercise to set newborn health research priorities for 2013-2025. Methods We used adapted Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) methods for this prioritization exercise. We identified and approached the 200 most productive researchers and 400 program experts, and 132 of them submitted research questions online. These were collated into a set of 205 research questions, sent for scoring to the 600 identified experts, and were assessed and scored by 91 experts. Results Nine out of top ten identified priorities were in the domain of research on improving delivery of known interventions, with simplified neonatal resuscitation program and clinical algorithms and improved skills of community health workers leading the list. The top 10 priorities in the domain of development were led by ideas on improved Kangaroo Mother Care at community level, how to improve the accuracy of diagnosis by community health workers, and perinatal audits. The 10 leading priorities for discovery research focused on stable surfactant with novel modes of administration for preterm babies, ability to diagnose fetal distress and novel tocolytic agents to delay or stop preterm labour. Conclusion These findings will assist both donors and researchers in supporting and conducting research to close the knowledge gaps for reducing neonatal mortality, morbidity and long term impairment. WHO, SNL and other partners will work to generate interest among key national stakeholders, governments, NGOs, and research institutes in these priorities, while encouraging research funders to support them. We will track research funding, relevant requests for proposals and trial registers to monitor if the priorities identified by this exercise are being addressed

What Is New for an Old Molecule? Systematic Review and Recommendations on the Use of Resveratrol

Stilbenes are naturally occurring phytoalexins that generally exist as their more stable E isomers. The most well known natural stilbene is resveratrol (Res), firstly isolated in 1939 from roots of Veratrum grandiflorum (white hellebore) (1) and since then found in various edible plants, notably in Vitis vinifera L. (Vitaceae) (2). The therapeutic potential of Res covers a wide range of diseases, and multiple beneficial effects on human health such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activities have been suggested based on several in vitro and animal studies (3). In particular, Res has been reported to be an inhibitor of carcinogenesis at multiple stages via its ability to inhibit cyclooxygenase, and is an anticancer agent with a role in antiangiogenesis (4). Moreover, both in vitro and in vivo studies showed that Res induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in tumor cells (4). However, clinical studies in humans evidenced that Res is rapidly absorbed after oral intake, and that the low level observed in the blood stream is caused by a fast conversion into metabolites that are readily excreted from the body (5). Thus, considerable efforts have gone in the design and synthesis of Res analogues with enhanced metabolic stability. Considering that reduced Res (dihydro- resveratrol, D-Res) conjugates may account for as much as 50% of an oral Res dose (5), and that D-Res has a strong proliferative effect on hormone-sensitive cancer cell lines such as breast cancer cell line MCF7 (6), we recently devoted our synthetic efforts to the preparation of trans-restricted analogues of Res in which the E carbon-carbon double bond is embedded into an imidazole nucleus. To keep the trans geometry, the two aryl rings were linked to the heteroaromatic core in a 1,3 fashion. Based on this design, we successfully prepared a variety of 1,4-, 2,4- and 2,5-diaryl substituted imidazoles including Res analogues 1, 2 and 3, respectively, by procedures that involve transition metal-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions and highly selective N-H or C-H direct arylation reactions as key synthetic steps. The anticancer activity of compounds 1–3 was evaluated against the 60 human cancer cell lines panel of the National Cancer Institute (NCI, USA). The obtained results, that will be showed and discussed along with the protocols developed for the preparation of imidazoles 1–3, confirmed that a structural optimization of Res may provide analogues with improved potency in inhibiting the growth of human cancer cell lines in vitro when compared to their natural lead. (1) Takaoka,M.J.Chem.Soc.Jpn.1939,60,1090-1100. (2) Langcake, P.; Pryce, R. J. Physiological. Plant Patology 1976, 9, 77-86. (3) Vang, O.; et al. PLoS ONE 2011, 6, e19881. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0019881 (4) Kraft, T. E.; et al. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 2009, 49, 782-799. (5) Walle, T. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 2011, 1215, 9-15. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2010.05842.x (6) Gakh,A.A.;etal.Bioorg.Med.Chem.Lett.2010,20,6149-6151

Effect of mouse recombinant leptin on ethanol elicited damage in the mouse hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines

A BSTRACT Obesity is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Leptin, an anti-obesity hormone exerts potent modulatory properties both in vivo and in vitro. We have previously shown the reduction of lipotoxicity with leptin in vivo. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of leptin on ethanol induced fibrogenesis and apoptosis in mouse hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines. Mouse HCC cell lines were treated for 48 h with and without ethanol (500 mM) and leptin (31.2 nM), subsequently analyzed for cell proliferation, flow cytometry, biochemical and molecular studies. Ethanol exposure significantly reduced the cell viability as evidenced by 3-(4,5 dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay (P<0.05). Moreover, ethanol treated cells significantly lowered DNA synthesis as evidenced by thymidine incorporation (P<0.05) and increased DNA fragmentation. Ethanol incubation also significantly increased the % of apoptotic cells (P<0.05). These results were compared with that of untreated control cell lines. Leptin co-treatment with ethanol significantly enhanced (P<0.05) cell viability and DNA synthesis, whereas significantly (P<0.05) decreased apoptotic cells and DNA ladder formation. In addition, ethanol exposure significantly (P<0.05) increased cytokine (TNFα), reactive oxygen species (ROS),TBARS and mRNA expressions of caspase-3, procollagen type I, MMP 2, MMP 9 and TIMP-1 compared to untreated control mouse HCC cell lines. Leptin co-administration significantly (P<0.05) down regulated the above indices when compared to ethanol alone exposed mouse HCC cell lines. Furthermore, ethanol exposure significantly (P<0.05) lowered antioxidant enzymes activities. Leptin co-administration along with ethanol significantly (P<0.05) improved antioxidant enzymes activities. Thus, our experimental data provide evidence that leptin treatment to ethanol exposed mouse HCC cell lines results in attenuating fibrogenesis and apoptosis, thereby warranting further population based mechanistic studies