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- Author: Ying Zhou x
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Department of OB/GYN, Department of OB/GYN, NorthShore University HealthSystem, 2650 Ridge Avenue, Evanston, Illinois 60201, USA
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Department of OB/GYN, Department of OB/GYN, NorthShore University HealthSystem, 2650 Ridge Avenue, Evanston, Illinois 60201, USA
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Parturition is an inflammatory process mediated to a significant extent by macrophages. Progesterone (P4) maintains uterine quiescence in pregnancy, and a proposed functional withdrawal of P4 classically regulated by nuclear progesterone receptors (nPRs) leads to labor. P4 can affect the functions of macrophages despite the reported lack of expression of nPRs in these immune cells. Therefore, in this study we investigated the effects of the activation of the putative membrane-associated PR on the function of macrophages (a key cell for parturition) and discuss the implications of these findings for pregnancy and parturition. In murine macrophage cells (RAW 264.7), activation of mPRs by P4 modified to be active only extracellularly by conjugation to BSA (P4BSA, 1.0×10−7 mol/l) caused a pro-inflammatory shift in the mRNA expression profile, with significant upregulation of the expression of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2 (Ptgs2)), Il1B, and Tnf and downregulation of membrane progesterone receptor alpha (Paqr7) and oxytocin receptor (Oxtr). Pretreatment with PD98059, a MEK1/2 inhibitor, significantly reduced P4BSA-induced expression of mRNA of Il1B, Tnf, and Ptgs2. Inhibition of protein kinase A (PKA) by H89 blocked P4BSA-induced expression of Il1B and Tnf mRNA. P4BSA induced rapid phosphorylation of MEK1/2 and CREB (a downstream target of PKA). This phosphorylation was inhibited by pretreatment with PD98059 and H89, respectively, revealing that MEK1/2 and PKA are two of the components involved in mPR signaling. Taken together, these results indicate that changes in membrane progesterone receptor alpha expression and signaling in macrophages are associated with the inflammatory responses; and that these changes might contribute to the functional withdrawal of P4 related to labor.
The ‘973’ National Basic Research Program of China, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, Jilin, People’s Republic of China
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Endothelial dysfunction contributes to diabetic macrovascular complications. Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) protects against diabetic vasculopathy. SRT2104 is a novel SIRT1 activator and was not previously studied for its effects on diabetes-induced aortic endothelial dysfunction. Additionally, whether or to what extent deacetylation of P53, a substrate of SIRT1, is required for the effects of SIRT1 activation was unclear, given the fact that SIRT1 has multiple targets. Moreover, little was known about the pathogenic role of P53 in diabetes-induced aortic injury. To these ends, diabetes was induced by streptozotocin in C57BL/6 mice. The diabetic mice developed enhanced aortic contractility, oxidative stress, inflammation, P53 hyperacetylation and a remarkable decrease in SIRT1 protein, the effects of which were rescued by SRT2104. In HG-treated endothelial cells (ECs), P53 siRNA and SRT2104 produced similar effects on the induction of SIRT1 and the inhibition of P53 acetylation, oxidative stress and inflammation. Interestingly, SRT2104 failed to further enhance these effects in the presence of P53 siRNA. Moreover, P53 activation by nutlin3a completely abolished SRT2104’s protection against HG-induced oxidative stress and inflammation. Further, forced activation of P53 by nutlin3a increased aortic contractility in the healthy mice and generated endothelial oxidative stress and inflammation in both the normal glucose-cultured ECs and the aortas of the healthy mice. Collectively, the present study demonstrates that P53 deacetylation predominantly mediates SRT2104’s protection against diabetes-induced aortic endothelial dysfunction and highlights the pathogenic role of P53 in aortic endothelial dysfunction.
Centre for Research in Reproduction and Development, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada
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Centre for Research in Reproduction and Development, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada
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Centre for Research in Reproduction and Development, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada
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Centre for Research in Reproduction and Development, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada
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Pituitary follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) synthesis is regulated by transforming growth factorβsuperfamily ligands, most notably the activins and inhibins. Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) also regulate FSHβ subunit (Fshb) expression in immortalized murine gonadotrope-like LβT2 cells and in primary murine or ovine primary pituitary cultures. BMP2 signals preferentially via the BMP type I receptor, BMPR1A, to stimulate murine Fshb transcription in vitro. Here, we used a Cre–lox approach to assess BMPR1A’s role in FSH synthesis in mice in vivo. Gonadotrope-specific Bmpr1a knockout animals developed normally and had reproductive organ weights comparable with those of controls. Knockouts were fertile, with normal serum gonadotropins and pituitary gonadotropin subunit mRNA expression. Cre-mediated recombination of the floxed Bmpr1a allele was efficient and specific, as indicated by PCR analysis of diverse tissues and isolated gonadotrope cells. Furthermore, BMP2 stimulation of inhibitor of DNA binding 3 expression was impaired in gonadotropes isolated from Bmpr1a knockout mice, confirming the loss of functional receptor protein in these cells. Treatment of purified gonadotropes with small-molecule inhibitors of BMPR1A (and the related receptors BMPR1B and ACVR1) suppressed Fshb mRNA expression, suggesting that an autocrine BMP-like molecule might regulate FSH synthesis. However, deletion of Bmpr1a and Acvr1 in cultured pituitary cells did not alter Fshb expression, indicating that the inhibitors had off-target effects. In sum, BMPs or related ligands acting via BMPR1A or ACVR1 are unlikely to play direct physiological roles in FSH synthesis by murine gonadotrope cells.
Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, First College of Clinical Medicine, Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Clinical Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 197 Ruijin Road II, Shanghai 200025, China
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A series of clinical trials and animal experiments have demonstrated that ginseng and its major active constituent, ginsenosides, possess glucose-lowering action. In our previous study, ginsenoside Rb1 has been shown to regulate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ activity to facilitate adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 cells. However, the effect of Rb1 on glucose transport in insulin-sensitive cells and its molecular mechanism need further elucidation. In this study, Rb1 significantly stimulated basal and insulin-mediated glucose uptake in a time- and dose-dependent manner in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and C2C12 myotubes; the maximal effect was achieved at a concentration of 1 μM and a time of 3 h. In adipocytes, Rb1 promoted GLUT1 and GLUT4 translocations to the cell surface, which was examined by analyzing their distribution in subcellular membrane fractions, and enhanced translocation of GLUT4 was confirmed using the transfection of GLUT4-green fluorescence protein in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells. Meanwhile, Rb1 increased the phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1 and protein kinase B (PKB), and stimulated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) activity in the absence of the activation of the insulin receptor. Rb1-induced glucose uptake as well as GLUT1 and GLUT4 translocations was inhibited by the PI3K inhibitor. These results suggest that ginsenoside Rb1 stimulates glucose transport in insulin-sensitive cells by promoting translocations of GLUT1 and GLUT4 by partially activating the insulin signaling pathway. These findings are useful in understanding the hypoglycemic and anti-diabetic properties of ginseng and ginsenosides.
State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, People’s Republic of China
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State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, People’s Republic of China
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State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, People’s Republic of China
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State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, People’s Republic of China
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State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, People’s Republic of China
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State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, People’s Republic of China
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The timing of puberty is a complex trait which is regulated by environmental and genetic factors, but the detailed regulatory mechanism remains elusive. Maternal nutrition administration during late gestation in rats revealed that the time of onset of puberty in daughter rats was influenced by the mother’s nutritional and physiological status during the embryonic development period. In this study, the potential effects of the maternal nuclear genome on the timing of puberty of offspring were investigated. Two inbred strains of mice (C3H/HeJ (C3H) and C57BL/6J (B6)) were used to set up two pedigrees (direct and reciprocal crosses), and the timing of puberty in all these mice (parent, F1 and F2) was recorded (the females were assessed by vaginal opening (VO) and the males by balano preputial separation (BPS)). The results from data of 822 mice showed that: 1) in female mice, the heritability of the timing of puberty in direct and reciprocal crosses is 68.51% and 63.97% respectively; 2) in female mice, a significant difference in the timing of puberty is observed between B6 and C3H (P = 3.7 × 10−13) mice as well as between direct and reciprocal F1 hybrids (P = 5.4 × 10−3), but not between direct and reciprocal F2 hybrids (P = 0.0941); 3) in male mice, direct and reciprocal F1 hybrids differ significantly from each other in the timing of BPS (P = 2.7 × 10−7), while such differences vanish in their male progenitor and progeny. The significant discrepancy between direct and reciprocal crosses in F1 but not in either cross of F2 hybrids reveals that the maternal nuclear genome has effects on the timing of puberty in mice progeny, probably through imprinting genes or the genes associated with intra-uterine physiological status.
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Estradiol (E2) level in stroma of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) increases with age, and this increase was associated with an elevated expression of aromatase in prostatic stromal cells (PrSCs). Here, we showed that conditioned medium (CM) of BPH-1 (a benign hyperplastic prostatic epithelial cell line), but not of prostate cancer cell lines (LNCaP, DU-145, and PC-3), stimulates aromatase expression in PrSCs. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) mRNA level in BPH-1, as well as prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) concentration in BPH-1 CM, was significantly higher than that of prostate cancer cell lines. CM of BPH-1 treated with NS-398 (a specific inhibitor of COX-2) failed to stimulate aromatase expression in PrSCs. And PGE2 can stimulate aromatase expression in PrSCs. Our data suggested that BPH-1 induced aromatase expression in PrSCs through the production of PGE2 in a paracrine mechanism.
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SIRT1, a class III histone/protein deacetylase (HDAC), has been associated with autoimmune diseases. There is a paucity of data about the role of SIRT1 in Graves’ disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of SIRT1 in the pathogenesis of GD. Here, we showed that SIRT1 expression and activity were significantly decreased in GD patients compared with healthy controls. The NF-κB pathway was activated in the peripheral blood of GD patients. The reduced SIRT1 levels correlated strongly with clinical parameters. In euthyroid patients, SIRT1 expression was markedly upregulated and NF-κB downstream target gene expression was significantly reduced. SIRT1 inhibited the NF-κB pathway activity by deacetylating P65. These results demonstrate that reduced SIRT1 expression and activity contribute to the activation of the NF-κB pathway and may be involved in the pathogenesis of GD.
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Shanghai Yinuo Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China
Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is an insulinotropic hormone and plays an important role in regulating glucose homeostasis. GLP-1 has a short half-life (t1/2 < 2 min) due to degrading enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase-IV and rapid kidney clearance, which limits its clinical application as a therapeutic reagent. We demonstrated recently that supaglutide, a novel GLP-1 mimetic generated by recombinant fusion protein techniques, exerted hypoglycemic and β-cell trophic effects in type 2 diabetes db/db mice. In the present study, we examined supaglutide’s therapeutic efficacy and pharmacokinetics in diabetic rhesus monkeys. We found that a single subcutaneous injection of supaglutide of tested doses transiently and significantly reduced blood glucose levels in a dose-dependent fashion in the diabetic monkeys. During a 4-week intervention period, treatment of supaglutide of weekly dosing dose-dependently decreased fasting and random blood glucose levels. This was associated with significantly declined plasma fructosamine levels. The repeated administration of supaglutide remarkably also decreased body weight in a dose-dependent fashion accompanied by decreased food intake. Intravenous glucose tolerance test results showed that supaglutide improved glucose tolerance. The intervention also showed enhanced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and improved lipid profile in diabetic rhesus monkeys. These results reveal that supaglutide exerts beneficial effects in regulating blood glucose and lipid homeostasis in diabetic rhesus monkeys.
