Adiponectin paradox as a therapeutic target of the cancer evolvability in aging

Amyloids and brain cancer: molecular linkages and crossovers

Amyloids are high-order proteinaceous formations deposited in both intra- and extracellular spaces. These aggregates have tendencies to deregulate cellular physiology in multiple ways; for example, altered metabolism, mitochondrial dysfunctions, immune modulation, etc. When amyloids are formed in brain tissues, the endpoint often is death of neurons. However, interesting but least understood is a close connection of amyloids with another set of conditions in which brain cells proliferate at an extraordinary rate and form tumor inside brain. Glioblastoma is one such condition. Increasing number of evidence indicate a possible link between amyloid formation and depositions in brain tumors. Several proteins associated with cell cycle regulation and apoptotic pathways themselves have shown to possess high tendencies to form amyloids. Tumor suppressor protein p53 is one prominent example that mutate, oligomerize and form amyloids leading to loss- or gain-of-functions and cause increased cell proliferation and malignancies. In this review article, we present available examples, genetic links and common pathways that indicate that possibly the two distantly placed pathways: amyloid formation and developing cancers in the brain have similarities and are mechanistically intertwined together.

Prognostic value of p16, p53, and pcna in sarcoma and an evaluation of immune infiltration

Background

p16, p53, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (pcna) genes play significant roles in many chromatin modifications and have been found to be highly expressed in a variety of tumor tissues. Therefore, they have been used as target genes for some tumor therapies. However, the differential expressions of the p16, p53, and pcna genes in human sarcomas and their effects on prognosis have not been widely reported.

Methods

The Oncomine dataset was used to analyze the transcription levels of p16, p53, and pcna genes, and the gene expression profile interactive analysis (GEPIA) dataset was used to analyze the differential expressions of p16, p53, and pcna. The expression levels of p16, p53, and pcna were further analyzed by Western Blotting. GEPIA and Kaplan–Meier analyses were used to analyze the prognostic value of p16, p53, and pcna. Furthermore, p16, p53, and pcna gene mutations and their association with overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were analyzed using cBioPortal datasets. In addition, genes co-expressed with p16, p53, and pcna were analyzed using Oncomine. The DAVID dataset was used to analyze the functional enrichment of p16, p53, pcna, and their co-expressed genes by Gene Ontology (GO) and Metascape were used to construct a network map. Finally, the immune cell infiltration of p16, p53, and pcna in patients with sarcoma was reported by Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER).

Results

p16, p53, and pcna were up-regulated in human sarcoma tissues and almost all sarcoma cell lines. Western Blotting showed that the expression of p16, p53, and pcna was elevated in osteosarcoma cell lines. The expression of pcna was correlated with OS, the expression of p16, p53, and pcna was correlated with relapse-free survival, and the genetic mutation of p16 was negatively correlated with OS and DFS. We also found that p16, p53, and pcna genes were positively/negatively correlated with immune cell infiltration in sarcoma.

Conclusions

The results of this study showed that p16, p53, and pcna can significantly affect the survival and immune status of sarcoma patients. Therefore, p16, p53, and pcna could be used as potential biomarkers of prognosis and immune infiltration in human sarcoma and provide a possible therapeutic target for sarcoma.

Adiponectin preserves metabolic fitness during aging

Adiponectin is essential for the regulation of tissue substrate utilization and systemic insulin sensitivity. Clinical studies have suggested a positive association of circulating adiponectin with healthspan and lifespan. However, the direct effects of adiponectin on promoting healthspan and lifespan remain unexplored. Here, we are using an adiponectin null mouse and a transgenic adiponectin overexpression model. We directly assessed the effects of circulating adiponectin on the aging process and found that adiponectin null mice display exacerbated age-related glucose and lipid metabolism disorders. Moreover, adiponectin null mice have a significantly shortened lifespan on both chow and high-fat diet. In contrast, a transgenic mouse model with elevated circulating adiponectin levels has a dramatically improved systemic insulin sensitivity, reduced age-related tissue inflammation and fibrosis, and a prolonged healthspan and median lifespan. These results support a role of adiponectin as an essential regulator for healthspan and lifespan.

Therapeutic Potential of αS Evolvability for Neuropathic Gaucher Disease

Gaucher disease (GD), the most common lysosomal storage disorder (LSD), is caused by autosomal recessive mutations of the glucocerebrosidase gene, GBA1. In the majority of cases, GD has a non-neuropathic chronic form with adult onset (GD1), while other cases are more acute and severer neuropathic forms with early onset (GD2/3). Currently, no radical therapies are established for GD2/3. Notably, GD1, but not GD2/3, is associated with increased risk of Parkinson's disease (PD), the elucidation of which might provide a clue for novel therapeutic strategies. In this context, the objective of the present study is to discuss that the evolvability of α-synuclein (αS) might be differentially involved in GD subtypes. Hypothetically, aging-associated PD features with accumulation of αS, and the autophagy-lysosomal dysfunction might be an antagonistic pleiotropy phenomenon derived from αS evolvability in the development in GD1, without which neuropathies like GD2/3 might be manifested due to the autophagy-lysosomal dysfunction. Supposing that the increased severity of GD2/3 might be attributed to the decreased activity of αS evolvability, suppressing the expression of β-synuclein (βS), a potential buffer against αS evolvability, might be therapeutically efficient. Of interest, a similar view might be applicable to Niemann-Pick type C (NPC), another LSD, given that the adult type of NPC, which is comorbid with Alzheimer's disease, exhibits milder medical symptoms compared with those of infantile NPC. Thus, it is predicted that the evolvability of amyloid β and tau, might be beneficial for the adult type of NPC. Collectively, a better understanding of amyloidogenic evolvability in the pathogenesis of LSD may inform rational therapy development.