Five Easy Pieces

A novel mechanism of plasminogen activation in epithelial and mesenchymal cells

Cancer dissemination is initiated by the movement of cells into the vasculature which has been reported to be triggered by EMT (epithelial to mesenchymal transition). Cellular dissemination also requires proteases that remodel the extracellular matrix. The protease, plasmin is a prominent player in matrix remodeling and invasion. Despite the contribution of both EMT and the plasminogen activation (PA) system to cell dissemination, these processes have never been functionally linked. We reveal that canonical Smad-dependent TGFβ1 signaling and FOXC2-mediated PI3K signaling in cells undergoing EMT reciprocally modulate plasminogen activation partly by regulating the plasminogen receptor, S100A10 and the plasminogen activation inhibitor, PAI-1. Plasminogen activation and plasminogen-dependent invasion were more prominent in epithelial-like cells and were partly dictated by the expression of S100A10 and PAI-1.

Effects of dietary medium-chain triglyceride on weight loss and insulin sensitivity in a group of moderately overweight free-living type 2 diabetic Chinese subjects

Prior studies of medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) suggest that MCT might be a useful tool for body fat mass management in obese nondiabetic humans. We now report a pilot study that tests if MCT is beneficial for moderately overweight subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The study was conducted in a group of 40 free-living subjects in an urban area of China. The subjects were randomized into 2 test groups, with one given MCT and the other corn oil as control for long-chain triglycerides (LCTs). The test oil (18 g/d) was administered as part of daily food intake for 90 days. All subjects completed the study with self-reported full compliance. Body weight, waist circumference (WC), and serum samples were analyzed on days 0, 45, and 90. The MCT group showed an across-time reduction in body weight and WC, an increase in serum C-peptide concentration, a reduction in homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, and a decrease in serum cholesterol concentration (P < .05, repeated measures). No significant across-time difference for the above parameters was detected for the LCT group. These changes were associated with an involuntary reduction in energy intake in the MCT group (P < .05, repeated measures). A between-group comparison also shows reduced body weight, WC, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance in the MCT group compared with the LCT group at the end of the study. Collectively, our results suggest a link between moderate consumption of MCT and improved risk factors in moderately overweight humans in a low-cost, free-living setting.