Search results for "Cyc"
showing 10 items of 11160 documents
Understanding the implication of autophagy in the activation of hepatic stellate cells in liver fibrosis: are we there yet?
2021
Liver fibrosis (LF) occurs as a result of persistent liver injury and can be defined as a pathologic, chronic, wound-healing process in which functional parenchyma is progressively replaced by fibrotic tissue. As a phenomenon involved in the majority of chronic liver diseases, and therefore prevalent, it exerts a significant impact on public health. This impact becomes even more patent given the lack of a specific pharmacological therapy, with LF only being ameliorated or prevented through the use of agents that alleviate the underlying causes. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are fundamental mediators of LF, which, activated in response to pro-fibrotic stimuli, transdifferentiate from a quies…
Molecular similarities and differences from human pulmonary fibrosis and corresponding mouse model: MALDI imaging mass spectrometry in comparative me…
2017
Animal models can reproduce some model-specific aspects of human diseases, but some animal models translate poorly or fail to translate to the corresponding human disease. Here, we develop a strategy to systematically compare human and mouse tissues, and conduct a proof-of-concept experiment to identify molecular similarities and differences using patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and a bleomycin-induced fibrosis mouse model. Our novel approach employs high-throughput tissue microarrays (TMAs) of humans and mice, high-resolution matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-FT-ICR-MSI) to spatially resolve ma…
Cannabinoid Control of Learning and Memory through HCN Channels
2016
The mechanisms underlying the effects of cannabinoids on cognitive processes are not understood. Here we show that cannabinoid type-1 receptors (CB1Rs) control hippocampal synaptic plasticity and spatial memory through the hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels that underlie the h-current (Ih), a key regulator of dendritic excitability. The CB1R-HCN pathway, involving c-Jun-N-terminal kinases (JNKs), nitric oxide synthase, and intracellular cGMP, exerts a tonic enhancement of Ih selectively in pyramidal cells located in the superficial portion of the CA1 pyramidal cell layer, whereas it is absent from deep-layer cells. Activation of the CB1R-HCN pathway impairs d…
Pharmacological modulation of protein kinases as a new approach to treat addiction to cocaine and opiates.
2016
Drug addiction shares brain mechanisms and molecular substrates with learning and memory processes, such as the stimulation of glutamate receptors and their downstream signalling pathways. In the present work we provide an up-to-date review of studies that have demonstrated the implication of the main memory-related calcium-dependent protein kinases in opiate and cocaine addiction. The effects of these drugs of abuse in different animal models of drug reward, dependence and addiction are altered by manipulation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family, particularly extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK), calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII), the protein kinase C…
Unusual roles of caspase-8 in triple-negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231
2015
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a clinically aggressive form of breast cancer that is unresponsive to endocrine agents or trastuzumab. TNBC accounts for ~10-20% of all breast cancer cases and represents the form with the poorest prognosis. Patients with TNBC are at higher risk of early recurrence, mainly in the lungs, brain and soft tissue, therefore, there is an urgent need for new therapies. The present study was carried out in MDA-MB-231 cells, where we assessed the role of caspase-8 (casp-8), a critical effector of death receptors, also involved in non‑apoptotic functions. Analysis of casp-8 mRNA and protein levels indicated that they were up-regulated with respect to the normal…
In vitro antileishmanial activity of trans-stilbene and terphenyl compounds
2016
Leishmaniasis are globally widespread parasitic diseases which often leads to death if left untreated. Currently available drugs present different drawbacks, so there is an urgent need to develop new, safe and cost-effective drugs against leishmaniasis. In this study we tested a small library of trans-stilbene and terphenyl derivatives against promastigote, amastigotes and intramacrophage amastigote forms of Leishmania infantum. Two compounds of the series, the trans-stilbene 3 and the terphenyl 11, presented the best activity and safety profiles. Terphenyl 11 showed a leshmanicidal activity higher than pentostam and the ability to induce apoptosis selectively in Leishmania infantum while s…
An Attachment-Independent Biochemical Timer of the Spindle Assembly Checkpoint.
2017
The spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) generates a diffusible protein complex that prevents anaphase until all chromosomes are properly attached to spindle microtubules. A key step in SAC initiation is the recruitment of MAD1 to kinetochores, which is generally thought to be governed by the microtubule-kinetochore (MT-KT) attachment status. However, we demonstrate that the recruitment of MAD1 via BUB1, a conserved kinetochore receptor, is not affected by MT-KT interactions in human cells. Instead, BUB1:MAD1 interaction depends on BUB1 phosphorylation, which is controlled by a biochemical timer that integrates counteracting kinase and phosphatase effects on BUB1 into a pulse-generating incohe…
p38α regulates actin cytoskeleton and cytokinesis in hepatocytes during development and aging.
2017
[Background]: Hepatocyte poliploidization is an age-dependent process, being cytokinesis failure the main mechanism of polyploid hepatocyte formation. Our aim was to study the role of p38α MAPK in the regulation of actin cytoskeleton and cytokinesis in hepatocytes during development and aging. [Methods]: Wild type and p38α liver-specific knock out mice at different ages (after weaning, adults and old) were used. [Results]: We show that p38α MAPK deficiency induces actin disassembly upon aging and also cytokinesis failure leading to enhanced binucleation. Although the steady state levels of cyclin D1 in wild type and p38α knock out old livers remained unaffected, cyclin B1- a marker for G2/M…
Use of Cardioprotective Dexrazoxane Is Associated with Increased Myelotoxicity in Anthracycline-Treated Soft-Tissue Sarcoma Patients
2019
<b><i>Background:</i></b> Dexrazoxane (DEX) is indicated as a cardioprotective agent for breast cancer patients receiving the anthracycline doxorubicin. Two meta-analyses in metastatic breast cancer reported an apparent increase in the severity of myelosuppression when DEX was used. So far, no data in soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) patients are available. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We retrospectively analyzed hematological toxicity data from 133 consecutive STS patients who received a chemotherapy regimen containing an anthracycline and ifosfamide (AI) in the perioperative or metastatic settings between January 2006 and December 2017. Of these, 46 rece…
Impact of NADPH oxidase functional polymorphisms in acute myeloid leukemia induction chemotherapy.
2016
Efficacy and toxicity of anthracycline treatment in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS). NADPH oxidase is the major endogenous source of ROS and a key mediator of oxidative cardiac damage. The impact of NADPH oxidase polymorphisms (CYBA:rs4673, NCF4:rs1883112, RAC2:rs13058338) was evaluated in 225 adult de novo AML patients. Variant alleles of NCF4 and RAC2 were related to higher complete remission (P=0.035, P=0.016), and CYBA homozygous variant showed lower overall survival with recessive model (P=0.045). Anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity was associated to NCF4 homozygous variant (P=0.012) and CYBA heterozygous genotype (P=0.027). Novel associations…