Ursodeoxycholic acid protects against secondary biliary cirrhosis in rats by preventing mitochondrial oxidative stress
Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) improves clinical and biochemical indices in primary biliary cirrhosis and prolongs survival free of liver transplantation. Recently, it was suggested that the cytoprotective mechanisms of UDCA may be mediated by protection against oxidative stress, which is involved in the development of cirrhosis induced by chronic cholestasis. The aims of the current study were 1) to identify the mechanisms involved in glutathione depletion, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial impairment during biliary cirrhosis induced by chronic cholestasis in rats; and 2) to determine the mechanisms associated with the protective effects of UDCA against secondary biliary cirrhosis. The find…
Interaction Between Cytokines and Oxidative Stress in Acute Pancreatitis
Acute pancreatitis is an inflammation initially localized in the pancreatic gland which may lead to local and systemic complications. The development of severe acute pancreatitis is mediated by pathophysiological mechanisms involved in the systemic inflammatory response, cytokines and oxidative stress being their components of major importance. Nevertheless, it is still unknown why an episode of acute pancreatitis remains mild or progresses to a severe form. Activated leukocytes are the main source of cytokines. Interleukin 1beta and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) initiate and propagate almost all the consequences of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome, leading to amplifica…
Interleukin-1β Modulation of the Mechanobiology of Primary Human Pulmonary Fibroblasts: Potential Implications in Lung Repair
Pro-inflammatory cytokines like interleukin-1&beta
Obese rats exhibit high levels of isoprostanes in acute pancreatitis
s / Pancreatology 12 (2012) 502–597 538 interference of Sam68 and SRSF1 expression cause a partial recovery of drug sensitivity. Conclusions: Our results show that chronic exposure of PDAC cells to gemcitabine leads to selection of a drug-resistant subpopulation overexpressing Sam68 and SRSF1. Importantly, the depletion of these proteins leads to a partial recovery of the sensibility to gemcitabine, suggesting that they may represent suitable molecular-targets to overcome drug resistance in PDAC. Arumugam T, Ramachandran V, Fournier KF, et al. Epithelial to mesenchymal transition contributes to drug resistance in pancreatic cancer. Cancer Res. 2009 Jul Shapiro IM, Cheng AW, Flytzanis NC, et…
Abstract LB-099: Metabolic vulnerabilities of mesenchymal-like EGFR-mutant NSCLC cells with acquired resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors
Abstract Despite the availability of the effective targeted therapies in lung cancer, such as EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), drug tolerance and acquired resistance are two common problems that negatively impact lung cancer patient survival. Consequently it is important to understand the molecular basis of the drug tolerance and resistance so that we could formulate effective strategies to ameliorate the efficacy of existing drug and to suppress the emergence of drug resistance. A burgeoning body of literature demonstrated that epigenetic changes by the methylation of DNA and histones are critical in acquired drug resistance, especially in those cancer cells with stem cell-like prop…
Mitochondrial function in liver disease.
Oxidative stress is involved in the pathogenesis and progression of different liver diseases, such as alcoholic liver disease and biliary cirrhosis. The increased mitochondrial production of O2(-) at complexes I and III, and consequently of H2O2 and other reactive oxygen species (ROS), triggered by NADH overproduction seems the major cause of mitochondrial and cellular oxidative stress and damage in chronic alcoholism. The mitochondrial oxidative stress renders hepatocytes susceptible to ethanol- or acetaldehyde-induced mitochondrial membrane permeability transition (MMPT) and apoptosis. Nitrosative stress contributes to cell death by peroxynitrite formation. The expression of the death rec…
Obese Rats Exhibit High Levels of Fat Necrosis and Isoprostanes in Taurocholate-Induced Acute Pancreatitis
BACKGROUND: Obesity is a prognostic factor for severity in acute pancreatitis in humans. Our aim was to assess the role of oxidative stress and abdominal fat in the increased severity of acute pancreatitis in obese rats. METHODOLOGY: Taurocholate-induced acute pancreatitis was performed in lean and obese Zucker rats. Levels of reduced glutathione, oxidized glutathione, L-cysteine, cystine, and S-adenosylmethionine were measured in pancreas as well as the activities of serine/threonine protein phosphatases PP1 and PP2A and tyrosin phosphatases. Isoprostane, malondialdehyde, triglyceride, and free fatty acid levels and lipase activity were measured in plasma and ascites. Lipase activity was m…
Epithelial contribution to the profibrotic stiff microenvironment and myofibroblast population in lung fibrosis
The contribution of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) to the profibrotic stiff microenvironment and myofibroblast accumulation in pulmonary fibrosis remains unclear. We examined EMT-competent lung epithelial cells and lung fibroblasts from control (fibrosisfree) donors or patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), which is a very aggressive fibrotic disorder. Cells were cultured on profibrotic conditions including stiff substrata and TGF-β1, and analyzed in terms of morphology, stiffness, and expression of EMT/myofibroblast markers and fibrillar collagens. All fibroblasts acquired a robust myofibroblast phenotype on TGF-β1 stimulation. Yet IPF myofibroblasts exhibited highe…
Abstract 753: Genomic alterations of autophagy genes disrupts autophagic flux in human lung adenocarcinomas
Abstract Targeted therapy using EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) is a standard therapy for a subset of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with lung adenocarcinomas (LADs) harboring EGFR kinase domain mutations; however, EGFR TKI therapy shows limited efficacy due to de novo and acquired resistance. Consequently, formulating strategies to potentiate the efficacy of EGFR TKI is of great interest. In EGFR TKI sensitive cells harboring EGFR mutation, it has been shown that EGFR inhibition induces autophagy to protect the cells from metabolic stress. Hydroxychloroquine (HQ), an inhibitor of autophagy, has been shown to potentiate EGFR TKIs in preclinical models, however, preliminary…
Haemoglobin in ascitic fluid increases lipid peroxidation in acute pancreatitis
Role of cytokines and oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of acute pancreatitis: therapeutical implications.
Abstract Severe acute pancreatitis causes a high incidence of mortality due to the systemic inflammatory response syndrome leading to multiple organ failure. At present, there is no treatment against severe acute pancreatitis, other than supportive critical care. The relationship between pancreatic injury and the uncontrolled systemic response is not completely understood. Nevertheless, experimental and clinical evidences have shown that pro-inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress are critically involved in the development of local and systemic complications associated with severe acute pancreatitis. Serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-alpha and IL-1beta, increase du…
Pancreatic ascites haemoglobin up-regulates the HIF/VEGF pathway in the lung in severe acute pancreatitis
Extracellular haemoglobin (EHb) is considered a toxic molecule due to its cytotoxicity and peroxidase activity. EHb may release free hemin that increases vascular permeability, leukocyte recruitment, and adhesion molecule expression. Pancreatitis-associated ascitic fluid is reddish and may contain cell-free hemoglobin. Our aim was to determine the role of EHb in the local and systemic inflammatory response during severe acute pancreatitis in rats. To this end, taurocholate-induced necrotizing pancreatitis in rats was used. EHb levels were quantified in ascites and plasma and the hemolytic action of ascitic fluid was tested. Furthermore, we assessed if peritoneal lavage prevented the increas…
Oxidative and nitrosative stress in acute pancreatitis. Modulation by pentoxifylline and oxypurinol
Item does not contain fulltext Reactive oxygen species are considered mediators of the inflammatory response and tissue damage in acute pancreatitis. We previously found that the combined treatment with oxypurinol - as inhibitor of xanthine oxidase- and pentoxifylline - as inhibitor of TNF-alpha production-restrained local and systemic inflammatory response and decreased mortality in experimental acute pancreatitis. Our aims were (1) to determine the time-course of glutathione depletion and oxidation in necrotizing pancreatitis in rats and its modulation by oxypurinol and pentoxifylline; (2) to determine whether TNF-alpha is responsible for glutathione depletion in acute pancreatitis; and (…
Myofibroblast Cell Transition Induced By TGF-b1 Implies An Altered Arachidonic Acid Metabolism In Human Lung
Co-administration of pentoxifylline and thiopental causes death by acute pulmonary oedema in rats
Background and purpose: Pentoxifylline exhibits rheological properties that improve microvascular flow and it is widely used in vascular perfusion disorders. It also exhibits marked anti-inflammatory properties by inhibiting tumour necrosis factor a production. Thiopental is one of the most widely used drugs for rapid induction of anaesthesia. During experimental studies on the treatment of acute pancreatitis, we observed that when pentoxifylline was administered after anaesthesia with thiopental, most of the rats exhibited dyspnea, signs of pulmonary oedema and died. The aim of the work described here was to investigate the cause of the unexpected toxic effect of the combined treatment wit…
Circulating TNF-alpha and its soluble receptors during experimental acute pancreatitis.
Clinical and experimental studies have shown increased concentrations of TNF-α and its soluble receptors in serum of patients with acute pancreatitis. In this work, we have investigated the time-course of TNF-α and its soluble receptors during taurocholate-induced acute pancreatitis. In addition, since TNF-α itself could mediate the shedding of its receptors, we have assessed the effect of inhibiting TNF-α production on the release of soluble TNF-α receptors in experimental acute pancreatitis. Our results indicate that soluble receptors are released in the early stages of the disease and this increase is concomitant with the release of TNF-α, which is mainly bound to specific proteins. The …
Telomerase and Telomere Length in Pulmonary Fibrosis
In addition to its expression in stem cells and many cancers, telomerase activity is transiently induced in murine bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis with increased levels of telomerase transcriptase (TERT) expression, which is essential for fibrosis. To extend these observations to human chronic fibrotic lung disease, we investigated the expression of telomerase activity in lung fibroblasts from patients with interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The results showed that telomerase activity was induced in more than 66% of IPF lung fibroblast samples, in comparison with less than 29% from control samples, some of which were obtained from lu…
Role of Redox Signaling, Protein Phosphatases and Histone Acetylation in the Inflammatory Cascade in Acute Pancreatitis: Therapeutic Implications
Acute pancreatitis starts as a local inflammation of the pancreatic tissue but often leads to the systemic inflammatory response syndrome and death by multiple organ failure. Pro-inflammatory cytokines, particularly TNF-alpha and Il-1beta, play a pivotal role together with oxidative stress and glutathione depletion in the inflammatory response in this disease. Most inflammatory mediators act through mitogen activated protein kinases and nuclear factor kB. Nevertheless, elucidation of the precise mechanisms involved in activation and attenuation phases of the inflammatory cascade is still underway. Redox signaling mediated by inactivation of protein phosphatases and histone acetylation trigg…
Glutamate cysteine ligase up-regulation fails in necrotizing pancreatitis
Glutathione depletion is a key factor in the development of acute pancreatitis. Our aim was to study the regulation of glutamate cysteine ligase, the rate-limiting enzyme in glutathione synthesis, in edematous or necrotizing pancreatitis in rats. Glutathione levels were kept low in necrotizing pancreatitis for several hours, with no increase in protein or mRNA levels of glutamate cysteine ligase subunits, despite binding of RNA polymerase II to their promoters and coding regions. The survival signal pathway mediated by ERK and c-MYC was activated, and c-MYC was recruited to the promoters. The failure in gene up-regulation seems to be due to a marked increase in cytosolic ribonuclease activi…
Effect of simultaneous inhibition of TNF-α production and xanthine oxidase in experimental acute pancreatitis: The role of mitogen activated protein kinases
Javier Pereda et al.
The activation of ERK1/2 MAP kinases in glioblastoma pathobiology and its relationship with EGFR amplification.
The ERK1/2 activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway is a critical signaling system that mediates ligand-stimulated signals for the induction of cell proliferation, differentiation and survival, involved in malignant transformation. The purpose of this study was to determine the activation of ERK1/2 in this tumor, and to determine the relationship of ERK1/2 activation with the amplification/overexpression of EGFR as well as with 9p21 locus gene alterations, both of which are genetic factors frequently associated with glioblastoma. We used immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis to analyze the activation of ERK1/2 in 22 patients with glioblastoma, and we studied the amplification/overex…
Protein phosphatases and chromatin modifying complexes in the inflammatory cascade in acute pancreatitis
Acute pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas that may lead to systemic inflammatory response syndrome and death due to multiple organ failure. Acinar cells, together with leukocytes, trigger the inflammatory cascade in response to local damage of the pancreas. Amplification of the inflammatory cascade requires up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and this process is mediated not only by nuclear factor κB but also by chromatin modifying complexes and chromatin remodeling. Among the different families of histone acetyltransferases, the p300/CBP family seems to be particularly associated with the inflammatory process. cAMP activates gene expression via the cAMP-responsive eleme…
RNAPol-ChIP: a novel application of chromatin immunoprecipitation to the analysis of real-time gene transcription.
We describe a procedure, RNAPol-ChIP, to measure actual transcriptional rate. It consists of the detection, by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), of RNA polymerase II within the coding region of genes. To do this, the DNA immunoprecipitated with polymerase antibodies is analysed by PCR, using an amplicon well within the coding region of the desired genes to avoid interferences with polymerase paused at the promoter. To validate RNAPol-ChIP, we compare our results to those obtained by classical methods in several genes induced during either liver regeneration or acute pancreatitis. When short half-life mRNA genes are studied (e.g. c-fos and egr1), RNAPol-ChIP gives results similar to thos…
Epigenetic Regulation of Early- and Late-Response Genes in Acute Pancreatitis
Abstract Chromatin remodeling seems to regulate the patterns of proinflammatory genes. Our aim was to provide new insights into the epigenetic mechanisms that control transcriptional activation of early- and late-response genes in initiation and development of severe acute pancreatitis as a model of acute inflammation. Chromatin changes were studied by chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis, nucleosome positioning, and determination of histone modifications in promoters of proinflammatory genes in vivo in the course of taurocholate-induced necrotizing pancreatitis in rats and in vitro in rat pancreatic AR42J acinar cells stimulated with taurocholate or TNF-α. Here we show that the upregulat…
Cross-talk between oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory cytokines in acute pancreatitis: a key role for protein phosphatases.
Acute pancreatitis is an acute inflammatory process localized in the pancreatic gland that frequently involves peripancreatic tissues. It is still under investigation why an episode of acute pancreatitis remains mild affecting only the pancreas or progresses to a severe form leading to multiple organ failure and death. Proinflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress play a pivotal role in the early pathophysiological events of the disease. Cytokines such as interleukin 1beta and tumor necrosis factor alpha initiate and propagate almost all consequences of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome. On the other hand, depletion of pancreatic glutathione is an early hallmark of acute pancreat…
Redox signaling in acute pancreatitis
Acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory process of the pancreatic gland that eventually may lead to a severe systemic inflammatory response. A key event in pancreatic damage is the intracellular activation of NF-κB and zymogens, involving also calcium, cathepsins, pH disorders, autophagy, and cell death, particularly necrosis. This review focuses on the new role of redox signaling in acute pancreatitis. Oxidative stress and redox status are involved in the onset of acute pancreatitis and also in the development of the systemic inflammatory response, being glutathione depletion, xanthine oxidase activation, and thiol oxidation in proteins critical features of the disease in the pancreas. On th…
Redox signaling and histone acetylation in acute pancreatitis
Histone acetylation via CBP/p300 coordinates the expression of proinflammatory cytokines in the activation phase of inflammation, particularly through mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), and signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) pathways. In contrast, histone deacetylases (HDACs) and protein phosphatases are mainly involved in the attenuation phase of inflammation. The role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the inflammatory cascade is much more important than expected. Mitochondrial ROS act as signal-transducing molecules that trigger proinflammatory cytokine production via inflammasome-independent and inflammasome-dependent pathways. …
Lung myofibroblasts are characterized by down-regulated cyclooxygenase-2 and its main metabolite, prostaglandin E2.
Background: Prostaglandin E2 (PGE(2)), the main metabolite of cyclooxygenase (COX), is a well-known anti-fibrotic agent. Moreover, myofibroblasts expressing alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA), fibroblast expansion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) are critical to the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Our aim was to investigate the expression of COX-2 and PGE(2) in human lung myofibroblasts and establish whether fibroblast-myofibroblast transition (FMT) and EMT are associated with COX-2 and PGE(2) down-regulation. Methods: Fibroblasts obtained from IPF patients (n = 6) and patients undergoing spontaneous pneumothorax (control, n = 6) and alveolar epithelial ce…
Pentoxifylline Prevents Loss of PP2A Phosphatase Activity and Recruitment of Histone Acetyltransferases to Proinflammatory Genes in Acute Pancreatitis
Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are considered major signal transducers early during the development of acute pancreatitis. Pentoxifylline is a phosphodiesterase inhibitor with marked anti-inflammatory properties through blockade of extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation and tumor necrosis factor alpha production. Our aim was to elucidate the mechanism of action of pentoxifylline as an anti-inflammatory agent in acute pancreatitis. Necrotizing pancreatitis induced by taurocholate in rats and taurocholate-treated AR42J acinar cells were studied. Phosphorylation of ERK and ERK kinase (MEK1/2), as well as PP2A, PP2B, and PP2C serine/threonine phosphatase activiti…
Cellular basis of abnormal tissue hardening in lung fibrosis examined with atomic force microscopy
Disulfide stress: a novel type of oxidative stress in acute pancreatitis.
Glutathione oxidation and protein glutathionylation are considered hallmarks of oxidative stress in cells because they reflect thiol redox status in proteins. Our aims were to analyze the redox status of thiols and to identify mixed disulfides and targets of redox signaling in pancreas in experimental acute pancreatitis as a model of acute inflammation associated with glutathione depletion. Glutathione depletion in pancreas in acute pancreatitis is not associated with any increase in oxidized glutathione levels or protein glutathionylation. Cystine and homocystine levels as well as protein cysteinylation and γ-glutamyl cysteinylation markedly rose in pancreas after induction of pancreatitis…
Pancreatic ascites hemoglobin contributes to the systemic response in acute pancreatitis.
Upon hemolysis extracellular hemoglobin causes oxidative stress and cytotoxicity due to its peroxidase activity. Extracellular hemoglobin may release free hemin, which increases vascular permeability, leukocyte recruitment, and adhesion molecule expression. Pancreatitis-associated ascitic fluid is reddish and may contain extracellular hemoglobin. Our aim has been to determine the role of extracellular hemoglobin in the local and systemic inflammatory response during severe acute pancreatitis in rats. To this end we studied taurocholate-induced necrotizing pancreatitis in rats. First, extracellular hemoglobin in ascites and plasma was quantified and the hemolytic action of ascitic fluid was …
Gamificación como herramienta docente aplicada a las tutorías de grupo en la Educación Superior
[EN] Our general objective consists in using gamification as a teaching tool in order to get a higher level of students’ involvement in the tutorials, as well as, increasing the motivation to learn Pathophysiology in the Pharmacy Degree. Not all the students groups are uniform, and also the teachers have nonconscious prejudices for each group. Hence, every student group has its own idiosyncrasy. We have the hypothesis that the game can give us really valuable information to let us develop suitable teaching techniques to enhance the motivation for each particular group. Games offers a more relaxed scenario compared to master class or exam, therefore we can ask questions as a team contest tha…
Age-associated oxidative damage leads to absence of γ-cystathionase in over 50% of rat lenses: Relevance in cataractogenesis
Oxidative damage to lens proteins and glutathione depletion play a major role in the development of senile cataract. We previously found that a deficiency in gamma-cystathionase activity may be responsible for glutathione depletion in old lenses. The aims of this study were: (1) to investigate the mechanism that causes the age-related deficiency in gamma-cystathionase activity in the eye lens, and (2) to determine the role of gamma-cystathionase deficiency in cataractogenesis. Two populations of old rats were found, one (56%) whose lenses lacked gamma-cystathionase activity and the rest that exhibited detectable enzyme activity. gamma-Cystathionase protein was absent in lenses from old rats…
ACTIVIDAD DE LA SER/THR FOSFATASA PP2A Y REGULACIÓN EPIGENÉTICA DE GENES PRO-INFLAMATORIOS EN LA PANCREATITIS AGUDA
Objetivos 1) Estudiar el papel de las serin/treonin protein fosfatasas en la induccion de genes pro-inflamatorios en el pancreas en la pancreatitis aguda, 2) Investigar el papel de las serin/treonin fosfatasas en el mecanismo de accion de la pentoxifilina como agente inflamatorio en la PA. Diseno Modelo de PA necrotica en ratas inducida por taurocolato sodico al 3,5%. Determinacion en pancreas de ratas de la fosforilacion de ERK y MEK1/2 (western blotting), las actividades de las serin/treonin fosfatasas PP2A, PP2B y PP2C, la induccion de genes pro-inflamatorios (RT-PCR e immunoprecipitacion de la cromatina) y el reclutamiento de factores de transcripcion e histonas acetiltransferasas/deace…