Early life social stress induced changes in depression and anxiety associated neural pathways which are correlated with impaired maternal care

Exposures to various types of early life stress can be robust predictors of the development of psychiatric disorders, including depression and anxiety. The objective of the current study was to investigate the roles of the translationally relevant targets of central vasopressin, oxytocin, ghrelin, orexin, glucocorticoid, and the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) pathway in an early chronic social stress (ECSS) based rodent model of postpartum depression and anxiety. The present study reports novel changes in gene expression and extracellular signal related kinase (ERK) protein levels in the brains of ECSS exposed rat dams that display previously reported depressed maternal care and increased maternal anxiety. Decreases in oxytocin, orexin, and ERK proteins, increases in ghrelin receptor, glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptor mRNA levels, and bidirectional changes in vasopressin underscore related work on the adverse long-term effects of early life stress on neural activity and plasticity, maternal behavior, responses to stress, and depression and anxiety-related behavior. The differences in gene and protein expression and robust correlations between expression and maternal care and anxiety support increased focus on these targets in animal and clinical studies of the adverse effects of early life stress, especially those focusing on depression and anxiety in mothers and the transgenerational effects of these disorders on offspring

Integrin α6 Activity in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Although castration-resistant prostate cancers no longer respond to anti-androgen therapies, the androgen receptor (AR) is still required to promote tumor survival. However, the signaling pathways downstream of AR that promote this survival are not well known. We recently identified an AR-dependent survival pathway whereby AR induction of integrin α6β1 and adhesion to laminin activates NF-κB/RelA signaling and Bcl-xL. This pathway acts in parallel with the PI3K/Akt pathway in Pten-null tumor cells such that combined inhibition of both PI3K and integrin α6β1 is required to effectively kill tumor cells adherent to laminin. However, PTEN-null castration-resistant tumors were not effectively killed by this combination. I discovered that BNIP3, a hypoxia-induced BH3-only, pro-mitophagic Bcl-2 family member, is induced by androgen in castration-resistant cells through integrin α6β1 and HIF1α. Furthermore, castration-resistant cells adherent to laminin were much more efficient at inducing autophagy in response to androgen. Androgen blocked the ability of the PI3K inhibitor PX866 to kill castration-resistant tumors, but this was reversed by loss of BNIP3. Although BNIP3 was dispensable for androgen-induced autophagy, its mitophagy function was required for BNIP3 to promote resistance to PX866. Thus, enhanced hypoxia signaling in cooperation with AR/α6β1/HIF1α signaling on laminin in castration-resistant cells drives the expression of BNIP3 and enhances autophagy, both of which contribute to PX866 resistance through induction of mitophagy

Aerobic exercise in adult neuromuscular rehabilitation: A survey of healthcare professionals

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the current application of aerobic exercise in adult neuromuscular rehabilitation. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. PARTICIPANTS: Dutch rehabilitation specialists and physical therapists in specialized centres for slowly progressive neuromuscular diseases and in primary care. METHODS: Participants received a self-designed, web-based, questionnaire, including 27 close-ended questions covering 4 categories: respondent profile, application of aerobic exercise, barri-ers to prescribing aerobic exercise, and need for support to improve the application of aerobic exercise. RESULTS: All respondents (n = 52) prescribed aerobic exercise and in a wide variety of neuromuscular diseases, mostly applying sessions of more than 20 min, 2 days per week, over a period of 9-16 weeks, using different exercise modes and methods to target intensity. The majo-rity (81%) agreed that aerobic exercise should be incorporated into neuromuscular rehabilitation. However, all respon-dents perceived barriers to the application of aerobic exercise in one or more domains, and 77% of the respondents indicated needing support to improve application of this type of training, mostly with respect to screening procedures (54%) and dosing of exercise programmes (48%). CONCLUSION: Aerobic exercise is widely applied, yet our results raise awareness of the necessity of more evidence based knowledge, in order to develop and implement guidelines in adult neuromuscular rehabilitation

Correction: Aerobic Exercise Training in Post-Polio Syndrome: Process Evaluation of a Randomized Controlled Trial

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159280.

Androgen receptor-induced integrin α6β1 and Bnip3 promote survival and resistance to PI3K inhibitors in castration-resistant prostate cancer

The androgen receptor (AR) is the major driver of prostate cancer growth and survival. However, almost all patients relapse with castration-resistant disease (CRPC) when treated with anti-androgen therapy. In CRPC, AR is often aberrantly activated independent of androgen. Targeting survival pathways downstream of AR could be a viable strategy to overcome CRPC. Surprisingly, little is known about how AR drives prostate cancer survival. Furthermore, CRPC tumors in which Pten is lost are also resistant to eradication by PI3K inhibitors. We sought to identify the mechanism by which AR drives tumor survival in CRPC to identify ways to overcome resistance to PI3K inhibition. We found that integrins alpha 6 beta 1 and Bnip3 are selectively elevated in CRPC downstream of AR. While integrin alpha 6 promotes survival and is a direct transcriptional target of AR, the ability of AR to induce Bnip3 is dependent on adhesion to laminin and integrin alpha 6 beta 1-dependent nuclear translocation of HIF1 alpha. Integrins alpha 6 beta 1 and Bnip3 were found to promote survival of CRPC cells selectively on laminin through the induction of autophagy and mitophagy. Furthermore, blocking Bnip3 or integrin alpha 6 beta 1 restored sensitivity to PI3K inhibitors in Pten-negative CRPC. We identified an AR driven pathway that cooperates with laminin and hypoxia to drive resistance to PI3K inhibitors. These findings can help explain in part why PI3K inhibitors have failed in clinical trials to overcome AR-dependent CRPC.6 month embargo; published online: 21 June 2020This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

The Bland-Altman graphs with the differences between test sessions 2 and 1 (test 2 minus test 1) plotted against the means of the 2 test sessions for the five studied variables, for patients with PPS (o) and healthy subjects (•).

<p>The Bland-Altman graphs with the differences between test sessions 2 and 1 (test 2 minus test 1) plotted against the means of the 2 test sessions for the five studied variables, for patients with PPS (o) and healthy subjects (•).</p

Subject characteristics.

<p>Subject characteristics.</p

Sample size estimation for an effect study to detect improvement in fatigue resistance between 2 independent groups of individuals with PPS.

<p>Sample size estimation for an effect study to detect improvement in fatigue resistance between 2 independent groups of individuals with PPS.</p