Project description:Acute liver failure (ALF) implies a severe and rapid liver dysfunction that leads to impaired liver metabolism and hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Recent studies have suggested that several brain alterations such as astrocytic dysfunction and energy metabolism impairment may synergistically interact, playing a role in the development of HE. The purpose of the present study is to investigate early alterations in redox status, energy metabolism and astrocytic reactivity of rats submitted to ALF. Adult male Wistar rats were submitted either to subtotal hepatectomy (92% of liver mass) or sham operation to induce ALF. Twenty-four hours after the surgery, animals with ALF presented higher plasmatic levels of ammonia, lactate, ALT and AST and lower levels of glucose than the animals in the sham group. Animals with ALF presented several astrocytic morphological alterations indicating astrocytic reactivity. The ALF group also presented higher mitochondrial oxygen consumption, higher enzymatic activity and higher ATP levels in the brain (frontoparietal cortex). Moreover, ALF induced an increase in glutamate oxidation concomitant with a decrease in glucose and lactate oxidation. The increase in brain energy metabolism caused by astrocytic reactivity resulted in augmented levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and Poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase 1 (PARP1) and a decreased activity of the enzymes superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). These findings suggest that in the early stages of ALF the brain presents a hypermetabolic state, oxidative stress and astrocytic reactivity, which could be in part sustained by an increase in mitochondrial oxidation of glutamate.
Project description:Polyamines are small cationic molecules that in adult brain are connected to neuronal signaling by regulating inward-rectifier K(+)-channels and different glutamate receptors. Antizyme inhibitors (AZINs) regulate the cellular uptake of polyamines and activate ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the rate-limiting enzyme of polyamine synthesis. Elevated levels of ODC activity and polyamines are detected in various brain disorders including stroke and Alzheimer's disease (AD). We originally reported a novel brain- and testis-specific AZIN, called AZIN2, the distribution of which we have now studied in normal and diseased human brain by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. We found the highest accumulation of AZIN2 in a pearl-on-the-string-like distribution along the axons in both the white and gray matter. AZIN2 was also detected in a vesicle-like distribution in the somas of selected cortical pyramidal neurons. Double-immunofluorescence staining revealed co-localization of AZIN2 and N-methyl D-aspartate-type glutamate receptors (NMDARs) in pyramidal neurons of the cortex. Moreover, we found accumulation of AZIN2 in brains affected by AD, but not by other neurodegenerative disorders (CADASIL or Lewy body disease). ODC activity is mostly linked to cell proliferation, whereas its regulation by AZIN2 in post-mitotically differentiated neurons of the brain apparently serves different purposes. The subcellular distribution of AZIN2 suggests a role in vesicular trafficking.
Project description:Periplakin (PPL) is a rod-shaped cytolinker protein thought to connect cellular adhesion junctional complexes to cytoskeletal filaments. PPL serves as a structural component of the cornified envelope in the skin and interacts with various types of proteins in cultured cells; its level decreases dramatically during tumorigenic progression in human epithelial tissues. Despite these intriguing observations, the physiological roles of PPL, especially in non-cutaneous tissues, are still largely unknown. Because we observed a marked fluctuation of PPL expression in mouse liver in association with the bile acid receptor farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and cholestasis, we sought to characterize the role of PPL in the liver and determine its contributions to the etiology and pathogenesis of cholestasis.Time- and context-dependent expression of PPL in various mouse models of hepatic and renal disorders were examined by immunohistochemistry, western blotting, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactions.The hepatic expression of PPL was significantly decreased in Fxr-/- mice. In contrast, the expression was dramatically increased during cholestasis, with massive PPL accumulation observed at the boundaries of hepatocytes in wild-type mice. Interestingly, the hepatic accumulation of PPL resulting from cholestasis was reversible. In addition, similar accumulation of PPL at cellular boundaries was found in epithelial cells around renal tubules upon ureteral obstruction.PPL may be involved in the temporal accommodation to fluid stasis in different tissues. Further examination of the roles for PPL may lead to the discovery of a novel mechanism for cellular protection by cytolinkers that is applicable to many tissues and in many contexts.
Project description:Acetaminophen (APAP) is a worldwide commonly used painkiller drug. However, high doses of APAP can lead to acute hepatic failure and, in some cases, death. Previous studies indicated that different factors, including life-style and metabolic diseases, could predispose to the risk of APAP-induced liver failure. However, the molecular process that could favor APAP hepatotoxicity remains understood. Here, we reported that a short-term high fat-enriched diet worsens APAP-induced liver damage, by promoting liver accumulation of lipids that induces the activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-beta (PGC-1?). Therefore, we challenged mice with hepatic-specific PGC-1? overexpression on a chow diet with a subtoxic dose of APAP and we found that PGC-1? overexpression renders the liver more sensitive to APAP damage, mainly due to intense oxidative stress, finally ending up with liver necrosis and mice death. Overall, our results indicated that during high fat feeding, PGC-1? adversely influences the ability of the liver to overcome APAP toxicity by orchestrating different metabolic pathways that finally lead to fatal outcome.
Project description:Parkinson’s disease (PD) is an increasingly common neurodegenerative movement disorder with contributing factors that are still largely unexplored and currently no effective intervention strategy. Epidemiological and pre-clinical studies support the close association between environmental toxicant exposure and PD incidence. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a hazardous mycotoxin commonly present in food and environment, is alarmingly high in many areas of the world. Previous evidence suggests that chronic exposure to AFB1 leads to neurological disorders as well as cancer. However, whether and how aflatoxin B1 contributes to the pathogenesis of PD is poorly understood. Here, oral exposure to AFB1 is shown to induce neuroinflammation, trigger the α-synuclein pathology, and cause dopaminergic neurotoxicity. This was accompanied by the increased expression and enzymatic activity of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) in the mouse brain. Importantly, genetic deletion or pharmacological inhibition of sEH alleviated the AFB1-induced neuroinflammation by reducing microglia activation and suppressing pro-inflammatory factors in the brain. Furthermore, blocking the action of sEH attenuated dopaminergic neuron dysfunction caused by AFB1 in vivo and in vitro. Together, our findings suggest a contributing role of AFB1 to PD etiology and highlight sEH as a potential pharmacological target for alleviating PD-related neuronal disorders caused by AFB1 exposure.
Project description:The prion protein (PrP) is essential for the pathogenesis of prion disease. PrP has been detected in the cytosol of neurons and transgenic mice expressing PrP in the cytosol (cyPrP) under a pan-neuronal promoter developed rapid cerebellar granule neuron degeneration. Yet, it remains unclear whether cyPrP is capable to cause toxicity in other neuronal populations. Here, we report that transgenic mice expressing cyPrP in the forebrain neurons developed behavioral abnormalities including clasping and hyperactivity. These mice had reduced thickness in cortex and developed astrogliosis in hippocampal and cortical regions. Moreover, cyPrP in these mice was recognized by the A11 anti-oligomer antibody and was associated with the hydrophobic lipid core of membranes, indicating that cyPrP oligomer caused membrane perturbation contributes to cyPrP neurotoxicity. Together, our results clearly revealed that cyPrP is able to cause toxicity in different neuronal populations, supporting a role of cyPrP in PrP-mediated neurodegenerative disorders.
Project description:BackgroundPosthepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) represents a life-threatening complication with limited therapeutic options. Neutrophils play a critical and dynamic role during regeneratory processes, but their role in human liver regeneration is incompletely understood, especially as underlying liver disease, detectable in the majority of patients, critically affects hepatic regeneration. Here we explored intrahepatic neutrophil accumulation and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in patients with PHLF and validated the functional relevance of NETs in a murine partial hepatectomy (PHx) model.MethodsWe investigated the influx of neutrophils, macrophages, eosinophils, and mast cells and the presence of their respective extracellular traps in liver biopsies of 35 patients undergoing hepatectomy (10 patients with PHLF) before and after the initiation of liver regeneration by fluorescence microscopy. In addition, NET formation and neutrophil activation were confirmed by plasma analysis of 99 patients (24 patients with PHLF) before and up to 5 days after surgery. Furthermore, we inhibited NETs via DNase I in a murine PHx model of mice with metabolically induced liver disease.ResultsWe detected rapid intrahepatic neutrophil accumulation, elevated levels of myeloperoxidase release, and NET formation in regenerating human livers, with a significantly higher increase of infiltrating neutrophils and NETs in patients with PHLF. Circulating markers of neutrophil activation, including elastase, myeloperoxidase, and citrullinated histone H3, correlated with markers of liver injury. In a murine PHx model, we showed that the inhibition of NET accelerated hepatocyte proliferation and liver regeneration.ConclusionsPatients with PHLF showed accelerated intrahepatic neutrophil infiltration and NET formation, which were associated with liver damage. Further, we identified postsurgical myeloperoxidase levels as predictive markers for adverse outcomes and observed that blocking NETs in a murine PHx model accelerated tissue regeneration.
Project description:Aromatic compounds constitute the second most abundant class of organic substrates and environmental pollutants, a substantial part of which (e.g., phenylalanine or styrene) is metabolized by bacteria via phenylacetate. Surprisingly, the bacterial catabolism of phenylalanine and phenylacetate remained an unsolved problem. Although a phenylacetate metabolic gene cluster had been identified, the underlying biochemistry remained largely unknown. Here we elucidate the catabolic pathway functioning in 16% of all bacteria whose genome has been sequenced, including Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida. This strategy is exceptional in several aspects. Intermediates are processed as CoA thioesters, and the aromatic ring of phenylacetyl-CoA becomes activated to a ring 1,2-epoxide by a distinct multicomponent oxygenase. The reactive nonaromatic epoxide is isomerized to a seven-member O-heterocyclic enol ether, an oxepin. This isomerization is followed by hydrolytic ring cleavage and beta-oxidation steps, leading to acetyl-CoA and succinyl-CoA. This widespread paradigm differs significantly from the established chemistry of aerobic aromatic catabolism, thus widening our view of how organisms exploit such inert substrates. It provides insight into the natural remediation of man-made environmental contaminants such as styrene. Furthermore, this pathway occurs in various pathogens, where its reactive early intermediates may contribute to virulence.
Project description:BackgruoundHepatic steatosis, which involves the excessive accumulation of lipid droplets in hepatocytes, presents a significant global health concern due to its association with obesity and metabolic disorders. Inflammation plays a crucial role in the progression of hepatic steatosis; however, the precise molecular mechanisms responsible for this process remain unknown.MethodsThis study investigated the involvement of the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor pyrin domain-containing-3 (NLRP3) inflammasome and the forkhead box O6 (FoxO6) transcription factor in the pathogenesis of hepatic steatosis. We monitored the NLRP3 inflammasome and lipogenesis in mice overexpressing the constitutively active (CA)-FoxO6 allele and FoxO6-null mice. In an in vitro study, we administered palmitate to liver cells overexpressing CA-FoxO6 and measured changes in lipid metabolism.ResultsWe administered palmitate treatment to clarify the mechanisms through which FoxO6 activates cytokine interleukin (IL)-1β through the NLRP3 inflammasome. The initial experiments revealed that dephosphorylation led to palmitate-induced FoxO6 transcriptional activity. Further palmitate experiments showed increased expression of IL-1β and the hepatic NLRP3 inflammasome complex, including adaptor protein apoptotic speck protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC) and pro-caspase-1. Furthermore, thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP), a key regulator of cellular redox conditions upstream of the NLRP3 inflammasome, was induced by FoxO6 in the liver and HepG2 cells.ConclusionThe findings of this study shed light on the molecular mechanisms underpinning the FoxO6-NLRP3 inflammasome axis in promoting inflammation and lipid accumulation in the liver.