Ischaemic preconditioning and TNF-alpha-mediated preconditioning is associated with a differential cPLA2 translocation pattern in early ischaemia

Preconditioning strategy in stem cell transplantation therapy

Stem cell transplantation therapy has emerged as a promising regenerative medicine for ischemic stroke and other neurodegenerative disorders. However, many issues and problems remain to be resolved before successful clinical applications of the cell-based therapy. To this end, some recent investigations have sought to benefit from well-known mechanisms of ischemic/hypoxic preconditioning. Ischemic/hypoxic preconditioning activates endogenous defense mechanisms that show marked protective effects against multiple insults found in ischemic stroke and other acute attacks. As in many other cell types, a sub-lethal hypoxic exposure significantly increases the tolerance and regenerative properties of stem cells and progenitor cells. So far, a variety of preconditioning triggers have been tested on different stem cells and progenitor cells. Preconditioned stem cells and progenitors generally show much better cell survival, increased neuronal differentiation, enhanced paracrine effects leading to increased trophic support, and improved homing to the lesion site. Transplantation of preconditioned cells helps to suppress inflammatory factors and immune responses, and promote functional recovery. Although the preconditioning strategy in stem cell therapy is still an emerging research area, accumulating information from reports over the last few years already indicates it as an attractive, if not essential, prerequisite for transplanted cells. It is expected that stem cell preconditioning and its clinical applications will attract more attention in both the basic research field of preconditioning as well as in the field of stem cell translational research. This review summarizes the most important findings in this active research area, covering the preconditioning triggers, potential mechanisms, mediators, and functional benefits for stem cell transplant therapy.

IL-10 treatment is associated with prohibitin expression in the Crohn's disease intestinal fibrosis mouse model

Prohibitin, which can inhibit oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, has been shown to have significant anti-inflammatory activities. Here, we investigate the effects of altering prohibitin levels in affected tissues in the interleukin-10 knockout (IL-10KO) mouse model with intestinal fibrosis. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of IL-10 on prohibitin and the role of prohibitin in intestinal fibrosis of murine colitis. After the mice were treated with IL-10, prohibitin expression and localization were evaluated in IL-10KO and wild-type (WT, 129/SvEv) mice. The colon tissue was then investigated and the potential pathogenic molecular mechanisms were further studied. Fluorescence-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR) and immunohistochemistry assays revealed a significant upregulation of prohibitin with IL-10 treatment. Furthermore, IL-10 decreases inflammatory cytokines and TGF-β1 in the IL-10KO model of Crohn's disease and demonstrates a promising trend in decreasing tissue fibrosis. In conclusion, we hypothesize that IL-10 treatment is associated with increased prohibitin and would decrease inflammation and fibrosis in an animal model of Crohn's disease. Interestingly, prohibitin may be a potential target for intestinal fibrosis associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

The potential effects of anti-diabetic medications on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury

Heart disease and stroke account for 65% of the deaths in people with diabetes mellitus (DM). DM and hyperglycemia cause systemic inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, a hypercoagulable state with impaired fibrinolysis and increased platelet degranulation, and reduced coronary collateral blood flow. DM also interferes with myocardial protection afforded by preconditioning and postconditioning. Newer anti-diabetic agents should not only reduce serum glucose and HbA1c levels, but also improve cardiovascular outcomes. The older sulfonylurea agent, glyburide, abolishes the benefits of ischemic and pharmacologic preconditioning, but newer sulfonylurea agents, such as glimepiride, may not interfere with preconditioning. GLP-1 analogs and sitagliptin, an oral dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor, limit myocardial infarct size in animal models by increasing intracellular cAMP levels and activating protein kinase A, whereas metformin protects the heart by activating AMP-activated protein kinase. Both thiazolidinediones (rosiglitazone and pioglitazone) limit infarct size in animal models. The protective effect of pioglitazone is dependent on downstream activation of cytosolic phospholipase A(2) and cyclooxygenase-2 with subsequent increased production of 15-epi-lipoxin A(4), prostacyclin and 15-d-PGJ(2). We conclude that agents used to treat DM have additional actions that have been shown to affect the ability of the heart to protect itself against ischemia-reperfusion injury in preclinical models. However, the effects of these agents in doses used in the clinical setting to minimize ischemia-reperfusion injury and to affect clinical outcomes in patients with DM have yet to be shown. The clinical implications as well as the mechanisms of protection should be further studied.

Development of an in vitro model of myotube ischemia

Critical limb ischemia causes severe damage to the skeletal muscle. This study develops a reproducible model of myotube ischemia by simulating, in vitro, the critical parameters that occur in skeletal muscle ischemia. Monolayers of C2C12 myoblasts were differentiated into mature myotubes and exposed to nutrition depletion, hypoxia and hypercapnia for variable time periods. A range of culture media and gas mixture combinations were used to obtain an optimum ischemic environment. Nuclear staining, cleaved caspase-3 and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay were used to assess apoptosis and myotube survival. HIF-1α concentration of cell lysates, pH of conditioned media as well as partial pressures of oxygen (PO₂) and carbon dioxide (PCO₂) in the media were used to confirm ischemic simulation. Culturing myotubes in depleted media, in a gas mixture containing 20% CO+80% N₂ for 6-12 h increased the PCO₂ and decreased the pH and PO₂ of culture media. This attempts to mimic the in vivo ischemic state of skeletal muscle. These conditions were used to study the potential tissue-protective effects of erythropoietin (EPO) in C2C12 myotubes exposed to ischemia. EPO (60 ng/ml) suppressed LDH release, decreased cleaved caspase-3 and reduced the number of apoptotic nuclei, suggesting significantly decreased ischemia-induced apoptosis in myotubes (P<0.01) and a potential role in tissue protection. Additional therapeutic agents designed for tissue protection can also be evaluated using this model.

Myomegalin is a novel A-kinase anchoring protein involved in the phosphorylation of cardiac myosin binding protein C

Background

Cardiac contractility is regulated by dynamic phosphorylation of sarcomeric proteins by kinases such as cAMP-activated protein kinase A (PKA). Efficient phosphorylation requires that PKA be anchored close to its targets by A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs). Cardiac Myosin Binding Protein-C (cMyBPC) and cardiac troponin I (cTNI) are hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM)-causing sarcomeric proteins which regulate contractility in response to PKA phosphorylation.

Results

During a yeast 2-hybrid (Y2H) library screen using a trisphosphorylation mimic of the C1-C2 region of cMyBPC, we identified isoform 4 of myomegalin (MMGL) as an interactor of this N-terminal cMyBPC region. As MMGL has previously been shown to interact with phosphodiesterase 4D, we speculated that it may be a PKA-anchoring protein (AKAP).

To investigate this possibility, we assessed the ability of MMGL isoform 4 to interact with PKA regulatory subunits R1A and R2A using Y2H-based direct protein-protein interaction assays. Additionally, to further elucidate the function of MMGL, we used it as bait to screen a cardiac cDNA library. Other PKA targets, viz. CARP, COMMD4, ENO1, ENO3 and cTNI were identified as putative interactors, with cTNI being the most frequent interactor.

We further assessed and confirmed these interactions by fluorescent 3D-co-localization in differentiated H9C2 cells as well as by in vivo co-immunoprecipitation. We also showed that quantitatively more interaction occurs between MMGL and cTNI under β-adrenergic stress. Moreover, siRNA-mediated knockdown of MMGL leads to reduction of cMyBPC levels under conditions of adrenergic stress, indicating that MMGL-assisted phosphorylation is requisite for protection of cMyBPC against proteolytic cleavage.

Conclusions

This study ascribes a novel function to MMGL isoform 4: it meets all criteria for classification as an AKAP, and we show that is involved in the phosphorylation of cMyBPC as well as cTNI, hence MMGL is an important regulator of cardiac contractility. This has further implications for understanding the patho-aetiology of HCM-causing mutations in the genes encoding cMyBPC and cTNI, and raises the question of whether MMGL might itself be considered a candidate HCM-causing or modifying factor.