Insulin processing in primary endosomes is not responsible for insulin resistance observed in parametrial adipocytes from lactating rats

The adaptation of maternal energy metabolism to lactation and its underlying mechanisms

Maternal energy metabolism undergoes a singular adaptation during lactation that allows for the caloric enrichment of milk. Changes in the mammary gland, changes in the white adipose tissue, brown adipose tissue, liver, skeletal muscles and endocrine pancreas are pivotal for this adaptation. The present review details the landmark studies describing the enzymatic modulation and the endocrine signals behind these metabolic changes. We will also update this perspective with data from recent studies showing transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms that mediate the adaptation of the maternal metabolism to lactation. The present text will also bring experimental and observational data that describe the long-term consequences that short periods of lactation impose to maternal metabolism.

Investigation of novel LPS-induced differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs in endothelial cells

The molecular mechanisms responsible for sepsis-induced endothelial dysfunction leading to an elevated risk of cardiovascular diseases remain undefined. Endotoxic or septic shock is a potentially lethal complication of systemic infection by Gram-negative bacteria. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a critical glycolipid component of the outer wall of Gram-negative bacteria, and many of the sepsis-associated cellular signals by Gram-negative bacteria are attributed to LPS. Given that LPS has an established role in the pathophysiology of sepsis and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to critically regulate vascular homeostasis, a systematic transcriptional survey was conducted to evaluate the impact of LPS stimulation on human endothelial lncRNAs and protein-coding transcripts (mRNAs). LncRNAs and mRNAs from LPS-treated (100 ng/mL; 24 h) human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were profiled with the Arraystar Human lncRNA Expression Microarray V3.0. Of the 30,584 lncRNAs screened, 871 were significantly upregulated and 1068 significantly downregulated (p < 0.05) in response to LPS. In the same HUVEC samples, 733 of the 26,106 mRNAs screened were upregulated and 536 were downregulated. Among the differentially expressed lncRNAs, AL132709.5 was the most upregulated (~70 fold) and CTC-459I6.1 the most downregulated (~28 fold). Bioinformatics analyses indicated that the differentially expressed upregulated mRNAs are primarily enriched in cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, infectious diseases, TNF signaling pathway, FoxO signaling pathway, and pathways in cancer. This is the first lncRNA and mRNA transcriptome profile of LPS-mediated changes in human endothelial cells. These observations may reveal novel endothelial targets of LPS that may be involved in the vascular pathology of sepsis.