Increased MFG-E8 expression and its implications in the vascular pathophysiology of cocaine abuse

Cocaine induces vascular smooth muscle cells proliferation via DRP1-mediated mitochondrial fission and PI3K/HIF-1α signaling

Long-term cocaine abuse is associated with cardiovascular and pulmonary vascular complications. The vascular toxicity of cocaine can lead to vascular remodeling characterized by excessive proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells. Though hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) signaling and mitochondrial fission have been suggested to play essential roles in the pathogenesis of hypoxia-induced vascular remodeling, pathogenetic mechanism for cocaine-related vascular remodeling remains to be elucidated. In this study, we explore the effect of cocaine on the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells by in vitro experiments. The findings indicated that the cocaine-induced vascular smooth muscle cell hyperproliferation is achieved by enhancing DRP1-mediated mitochondrial fission and activating PI3K/HIF-1α signaling. Current findings suggested that mitochondrial fission would play a pivotal role in cocaine-related vascular remodeling and would be helpful in understanding the vascular toxicity of cocaine.

Cocaine and coronary artery diseases: a systematic review of the literature

Cocaine is associated with important cardiac complications such as sudden death, acute myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy, life-threatening arrhythmias, and myocardial ischemia as well as infarction. It is well known that cocaine may induce vasospasm through adrenergic stimulation of the coronary arteries. Moreover, cocaine may promote intracoronary thrombosis, triggered by alterations in the plasma constituents, and platelet aggregation, leading to subsequent myocardial infarction. The long-term use of cocaine may stimulate atherosclerosis, probably through endothelial cell dysfunction. Significant and severe coronary atherosclerosis is common in young chronic cocaine users and there is probably a relationship between the duration and frequency of cocaine use and the extent of coronary disease.

Ataxia telangiectasia and rad3 related (ATR)-promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) pathway of the DNA damage response in the brain of rats administered arsenic trioxide

To examine the in vivo responses of promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) to arsenic, rats (male, 6 weeks old, Sprague Dawley) were administered a single intraperitoneal dose of 5 mg/kg arsenic trioxide (ATO). The protein was examined in the heart, lung, liver, and brain 6 and 48 hours after administration: a significant response of PML was observed in the brain. Oxidative DNA modification was also observed in the brain as revealed by increased immunoreactivity to anti-8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) antibody. In contrast, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) stain reactivity was only slightly increased, suggesting oxidative cellular stress without apoptotic cell death in the ATO-administered rat brain. Among the DNA damage response pathways, the ATR-Chk1 axis was activated, while the ATM-Chk2 axis was not, implying that the PML response is associated with activation of the ATR-Chk1 DNA repair pathway in the brain.

Separation and purification of the bovine milk fat globule membrane protein and its effect on improvement of C2C12mouse skeletal muscle cell proliferation

A novel method to improve the proliferation activity of C₂C₁₂cells by the bovine milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) protein was established in this study.