Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
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Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. · Oct 2005
Comparative StudyInhibition of hypothalamic fatty acid synthase triggers rapid activation of fatty acid oxidation in skeletal muscle.
Malonyl-CoA functions as a mediator in the hypothalamic sensing of energy balance and regulates the neural physiology that governs feeding behavior and energy expenditure. The central administration of C75, a potent inhibitor of the fatty acid synthase (FAS), increases malonyl-CoA concentration in the hypothalamus and suppresses food intake while activating fatty acid oxidation in skeletal muscle. Closely correlated with the increase in muscle fatty acid oxidation is the phosphorylation/inactivation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase, which leads to reduced malonyl-CoA concentration. ⋯ Thus, the sympathetic nervous system is implicated in the transmission of the "malonyl-CoA signal" from brain to skeletal muscle. Consistent with the up-regulation of UCP3 and PPARalpha is the concomitant increase in the expression of PGC1alpha, transcriptional coactivator of the UCP3 and PPARalpha-activated genes. These findings clarify the mechanism by which the hypothalamic malonyl-CoA signal is communicated to metabolic systems in skeletal muscle that regulate fatty acid oxidation and energy expenditure.
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Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. · Oct 2005
Comparative StudyMechanism of radiation-induced bystander effect: role of the cyclooxygenase-2 signaling pathway.
The radiation-induced bystander effect is defined as "the induction of biological effects in cells that are not directly traversed by a charged particle but are in close proximity to cells that are." Although these bystander effects have been demonstrated with a variety of biological endpoints in both human and rodent cell lines (as well as in 3D tissue samples), the mechanism of the phenomenon is not known. Although gap junction communication and the presence of soluble mediator(s) are both known to play important roles in the bystander response, the precise signaling molecules have yet to be identified. ⋯ Because the critical event of the COX-2 signaling is the activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways, our finding that inhibition of the extracellular signal-related kinase phosphorylation suppressed bystander response further confirmed the important role of mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling cascade in the bystander process. These results provide evidence that the COX-2-related pathway, which is essential in mediating cellular inflammatory response, is the critical signaling link for the bystander phenomenon.
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Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. · Oct 2005
Comparative StudyRapid directional shift of mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmy in animal tissues by a mitochondrially targeted restriction endonuclease.
Frequently, mtDNA with pathogenic mutations coexist with wild-type genomes (mtDNA heteroplasmy). Mitochondrial dysfunction and disease ensue only when the proportion of mutated mtDNAs is high, thus a reduction in this proportion should provide an effective therapy for these disorders. We developed a system to decrease specific mtDNA haplotypes by expressing a mitochondrially targeted restriction endonuclease, ApaLI, in cells of heteroplasmic mice. ⋯ We tested the efficacy of this approach in vivo, by using recombinant viral vectors expressing the mitochondrially targeted ApaLI. We observed a significant shift in mtDNA heteroplasmy in muscle and brain transduced with recombinant viruses. This strategy could prevent disease onset or reverse clinical symptoms in patients harboring certain heteroplasmic pathogenic mutations in mtDNA.
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Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. · Sep 2005
Excitatory monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 signaling is up-regulated in sensory neurons after chronic compression of the dorsal root ganglion.
Neuronal hyperexcitability in both injured and adjacent uninjured neurons is associated with states of chronic injury and pain and is likely subject to neuroinflammatory processes. Chronic inflammatory responses are largely orchestrated by chemokines. One chemokine, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), in the presence of its cognate receptor, the beta chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2), produces neural activity in dissociated neuronal cultures of neonatal dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. ⋯ In addition, the preferred CCR2 ligand, MCP-1, was up-regulated by POD5 in both compressed L4/L5 and noncompressed L3/L6 DRG neurons. Application of MCP-1 to the cell bodies of the intact formerly compressed DRG in vitro produced potent excitatory effects not observed in control ganglia. MCP-1/CCR2 signaling is directly involved with a chronic compression injury and may contribute to associated neuronal hyperexcitability and neuropathic pain.
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Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. · Sep 2005
Neuronal sorting protein-related receptor sorLA/LR11 regulates processing of the amyloid precursor protein.
sorLA (Sorting protein-related receptor) is a type-1 membrane protein of unknown function that is expressed in neurons. Its homology to sorting receptors that shuttle between the plasma membrane, endosomes, and the Golgi suggests a related function in neuronal trafficking processes. Because expression of sorLA is reduced in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), we tested involvement of this receptor in intracellular transport and processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) to the amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta), the principal component of senile plaques. ⋯ Overexpression of sorLA in neurons causes redistribution of APP to the Golgi and decreased processing to Abeta, whereas ablation of sorLA expression in knockout mice results in increased levels of Abeta in the brain similar to the situation in AD patients. Thus, sorLA acts as a sorting receptor that protects APP from processing into Abeta and thereby reduces the burden of amyloidogenic peptide formation. Consequently, reduced receptor expression in the human brain may increase Abeta production and plaque formation and promote spontaneous AD.