Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor and vitamin d receptor signaling pathways in cancer cells

RXR Agonists Enhance Lenalidomide Anti-Myeloma Activity and T Cell Functions while Retaining Glucose-Lowering Effect

Retinoid X receptor (RXR) heterodimerizes with the PPAR nuclear hormone receptor and regulates its downstream events. We investigated the effects of RXR agonists (LG100754, bexarotene, AGN194204, and LG101506) on lenalidomide's anti-myeloma activity, T cell functions, and the level of glucose and lipids in vivo. Genetic overexpression and CRISPR/Cas9 knockout experiments were conducted in multiple myeloma (MM) cell lines and Jurkat T cell lines to determine the roles of CRBN in RXR-agonist mediated effects. A xenograft mouse model of MM was established to determine the combination effect of LG100754 and lenalidomide. The combination of RXR agonists and lenalidomide demonstrated synergistic activity in increasing CRBN expression and killing myeloma cells. Mechanistically, the RXR agonists reduced the binding of PPARs to the CRBN promoter, thereby relieving the repressor effect of PPARs on CRBN transcription. RXR agonists downregulated the exhaustion markers and increased the activation markers of Jurkat T cells and primary human T cells. Co-administration of LG100754 and lenalidomide showed enhanced anti-tumor activity in vivo. LG100754 retained its glucose- and lipid-lowering effects. RXR agonists demonstrate potential utility in enhancing drug sensitivity and T-cell function in the treatment of myeloma.

Transcriptome and metabolome changes induced by bitter melon (Momordica charantia)- intake in a high-fat diet induced obesity model

Background and aim

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a complex disease of physiological imbalances interrelated to abnormal metabolic conditions, such as abdominal obesity, type II diabetes, dyslipidemia and hypertension. In the present pilot study, we investigated the nutraceutical bitter melon (Momordica charantia L) -intake induced transcriptome and metabolome changes and the converging metabolic signaling networks underpinning its inhibitory effects against MetS-associated risk factors.

Experimental procedure

Metabolic effects of lyophilized bitter melon juice (BMJ) extract (oral gavage 200 mg/kg/body weight-daily for 40 days) intake were evaluated in diet-induced obese C57BL/6J male mice [fed-high fat diet (HFD), 60 kcal% fat]. Changes in a) serum levels of biochemical parameters, b) gene expression in the hepatic transcriptome (microarray analysis using Affymetrix Mouse Exon 1.0 ST arrays), and c) metabolite abundance levels in lipid-phase plasma [liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based metabolomics] after BMJ intervention were assessed.

Results and conclusion

BMJ-mediated changes showed a positive trend towards enhanced glucose homeostasis, vitamin D metabolism and suppression of glycerophospholipid metabolism. In the liver, nuclear peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) and circadian rhythm signaling, as well as bile acid biosynthesis and glycogen metabolism targets were modulated by BMJ (p < 0.05). Thus, our in-depth transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis suggests that BMJ-intake lowers susceptibility to the onset of high-fat diet associated MetS risk factors partly through modulation of PPAR signaling and its downstream targets in circadian rhythm processes to prevent excessive lipogenesis, maintain glucose homeostasis and modify immune responses signaling.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors in the pathogenesis and therapies of liver fibrosis

Liver fibrosis is a dynamic wound-healing process associated with the deposition of extracellular matrix produced by myofibroblasts. HSCs activation, inflammation, oxidative stress, steatosis and aging play critical roles in the progression of liver fibrosis, which is correlated with the regulation of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) pathway. As nuclear receptors, PPARs reduce inflammatory response, regulate lipid metabolism, and inhibit fibrogenesis in the liver associated with aging. Thus, PPAR ligands have been investigated as possible therapeutic agents. Mounting evidence indicated that some PPAR agonists could reverse steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis. Consequently, targeting PPARs might be a promising and novel therapeutic option against liver fibrosis. This review summarizes recent studies on the role of PPARs on the pathogenesis and treatment of liver fibrosis.

Vitamin D3-vitamin D receptor axis suppresses pulmonary emphysema by maintaining alveolar macrophage homeostasis and function

Background

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by emphysema and/or obstructive bronchiolitis. Deficiency in vitamin D₃ (VD3), which regulates gene expression through binding to vitamin D receptor (VDR), is associated with high risks of COPD susceptibility. Alveolar macrophages (AM), which are generated during early ontogeny and maintained in alveoli by self-renewal in response to cytokine GM-CSF, are positively correlated with severity of emphysema. However, whether and how VD3, VDR and AM interact to contribute to COPD pathogenesis at the molecular and cellular levels are largely unknown.

Methods

We used systems biology approaches to analyze gene expression in mouse macrophages from different tissues to identify key transcription factors (TF) for AM and infer COPD disease genes. We used RNA-seq and ChIP-seq to identify genes that are regulated by VD3 in AM. We used VDR-deficient (Vdr^−/−) mice to investigate the role of VD3-VDR axis in the pathogenesis of COPD and characterized the transcriptional and functional alterations of Vdr^−/− AM.

Findings

We find that VDR is a key TF for AM and a COPD disease gene. VDR is highly expressed in AM and in response to VD3 inhibits GM-CSF-induced AM proliferation. In Vdr^−/− AM, genes involved in proliferation and immune response are upregulated. Consistently, Vdr^−/− mice progressively accumulate AM and concomitantly develop emphysema without apparent infiltration of immune cells into the lung tissue. Intratracheal transfer of Vdr^−/− AM into wildtype mice readily induces emphysema. The production of reactive oxygen species at basal level and in response to heme or lipopolysaccharide is elevated in Vdr^−/− AM and suppressed by VD3 in wildtype AM.

Interpretation

These results show that the VD3-VDR axis is critical to counteract GM-CSF-induced AM proliferation and defect in this regulation leads to altered AM homeostasis and function. Our findings identify that VD3 deficiency contributes to emphysema by altering AM function without contributing to bronchiolitis. Our findings also suggest possibilities of modulating the VD3-VDR axis for inhibiting emphysema in COPD patients.

Neuroprotective effects of vitamin D on high fat diet- and palmitic acid-induced enteric neuronal loss in mice

Background

The role of vitamin D in obesity and diabetes is debated. Obese and/or diabetic patients have elevated levels of free fatty acids, increased susceptibility to gastrointestinal symptoms and are suggested to have altered vitamin D balance. The enteric nervous system is pivotal in regulating gastrointestinal activity and high fat diet (HFD) has been shown to cause loss of enteric neurons in ileum and colon. This study investigates the effect of vitamin D on HFD- and palmitic acid-induced enteric neuronal loss in vivo and in vitro.

Methods

Mice were fed either a normal diet (ND) or HFD supplemented with varying levels of vitamin D (from 0x to 20x normal vitamin D level) for 19 weeks. Ileum and colon were analyzed for neuronal numbers and remodeling. Primary cultures of myenteric neurons from mouse small intestine were treated with palmitic acid (4x10^-4M) and/or 1α,25-hydroxy-vitamin D3 (VD, 10^-11- 10^-7M) with or without modulators of lipid metabolism and VD pathways. Cultures were analyzed by immunocyto- and histochemical methods.

Results

Vitamin D supplementation had no effect on enteric neuronal survival in the ND group. HFD caused substantial loss of myenteric neurons in ileum and colon. Vitamin D supplementation between 0-2x normal had no effect on HFD-induced neuronal loss. Supplementation with 20x normal, prevented the HFD-induced neuronal loss. In vitro supplementation of VD prevented the palmitic acid-induced neuronal loss. The VD receptor (VDR) was not identified in enteric neurons. Enteric glia expressed the alternative VD receptor, protein disulphide isomerase family A member 3 (PDIA3), but PDIA3 was not found to mediate the VD response in vitro. Inhibition of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and immune neutralization of isocitrate lyase prevented the VD mediated neuroprotection to palmitic acid exposure.

Conclusions

Results show that VD protect enteric neurons against HFD and palmitic acid induced neuronal loss. The mechanism behind is suggested to be through activation of PPARγ leading to improved neuronal peroxisome function and metabolism of neuronal lipid intermediates.

The roles of PPARs in human diseases

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), as members of nuclear hormone receptor superfamily, can be activated by binding natural or synthetic ligands. The use of related ligands has revealed many potential roles for PPARs in the pathogenesis of some human metabolic disorders and inflammatory-related disease. Based on the previous studies, this review primarily concluded the current progress of knowledge regarding the specific biological activity of PPARs in cancers, atherosclerosis, and type 2 diabetes mellitus, providing a foundation for the potential therapeutic use of PPAR ligands in human diseases.

Vitamin D receptor-targeted treatment to prevent pathological dedifferentiation of pancreatic β cells under hyperglycaemic stress

Dedifferentiation has been identified as one of the causes of β-cell failure resulting in type 2 diabetes (T2D). This study tested whether increasing vitamin D receptor (VDR) expression prevents dedifferentiation of β cells in a high-glucose state in vitro. Culturing a mouse insulinoma cell line (MIN6) in a high-glucose environment decreased VDR expression. However, increased VDR following vitamin D3 (VD3) treatment improved insulin release of early-passage MIN6 and insulin index of db/- (heterozygous) islets to levels seen in normal functional islets. Treatment with VD3, its analogues and derivatives also increased the expression of essential transcription factors, such as Pdx1, MafA and VDR itself, ultimately increasing expression of Ins1 and Ins2, which might protect β cells against dedifferentiation. VD3 agonist lithocholic acid (LCA) propionate was the most potent candidate molecule for protecting against dedifferentiation, and an e-pharmacophore mapping model confirmed that LCA propionate exhibits a stabilizing conformation within the VDR binding site. This study concluded that treating db/+ islets with a VD3 analogue and/or derivatives can increase VDR activity, preventing the pathological dedifferentiation of β cells and the onset of T2D.

Skin aging: are adipocytes the next target?

Dermal white adipose tissue (dWAT) is increasingly appreciated as a special fat depot. The adipocytes in this depot exert a variety of unique effects on their surrounding cells and can undergo massive phenotypic changes. Significant modulation of dWAT content can be observed both in intrinsically and extrinsically aged skin. Specifically, skin that has been chronically photo-damaged displays a reduction of the dWAT volume, caused by the replacement of adipocytes by fibrotic structures. This is likely to be caused by the recently uncovered process described as "adipocyte-myofibroblast transition" (AMT). In addition, contributions of dermal adipocytes to the skin aging processes are also indirectly supported by spatial correlations between the prevalence of hypertrophic scarring and the appearance of signs of skin aging in different ethnic groups. These observations could elevate dermal adipocytes to prime targets in strategies aimed at counteracting skin aging.

Computational Identification of Key Regulators in Two Different Colorectal Cancer Cell Lines

Transcription factors (TFs) are gene regulatory proteins that are essential for an effective regulation of the transcriptional machinery. Today, it is known that their expression plays an important role in several types of cancer. Computational identification of key players in specific cancer cell lines is still an open challenge in cancer research. In this study, we present a systematic approach which combines colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines, namely 1638N-T1 and CMT-93, and well-established computational methods in order to compare these cell lines on the level of transcriptional regulation as well as on a pathway level, i.e., the cancer cell-intrinsic pathway repertoire. For this purpose, we firstly applied the Trinity platform to detect signature genes, and then applied analyses of the geneXplain platform to these for detection of upstream transcriptional regulators and their regulatory networks. We created a CRC-specific position weight matrix (PWM) library based on the TRANSFAC database (release 2014.1) to minimize the rate of false predictions in the promoter analyses. Using our proposed workflow, we specifically focused on revealing the similarities and differences in transcriptional regulation between the two CRC cell lines, and report a number of well-known, cancer-associated TFs with significantly enriched binding sites in the promoter regions of the signature genes. We show that, although the signature genes of both cell lines show no overlap, they may still be regulated by common TFs in CRC. Based on our findings, we suggest that canonical Wnt signaling is activated in 1638N-T1, but inhibited in CMT-93 through cross-talks of Wnt signaling with the VDR signaling pathway and/or LXR-related pathways. Furthermore, our findings provide indication of several master regulators being present such as MLK3 and Mapk1 (ERK2) which might be important in cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of 1638N-T1 and CMT-93, respectively. Taken together, we provide new insights into the invasive potential of these cell lines, which can be used for development of effective cancer therapy.

Dermal adipocytes and hair cycling: is spatial heterogeneity a characteristic feature of the dermal adipose tissue depot?

Adipocytes are widely distributed in the dermis, in a unique fat depot referred to as dermal white adipose tissue (dWAT). In rodents, dWAT is present as widespread thin layers, whereas in pigs and humans, it is present in clusters referred to as 'dermal cones' around the pilosebaceous units. This distinct layer of fat cells located above the subcutaneous white adipose tissue is important for proper hair follicle (HF) cycling in rodents. Murine HFs produce spatially restricted synchronous patches after their second postnatal cycle which correlates with the spatial heterogeneity of murine dWAT. Similarly, the cycling of HFs in humans may also be related to the spatial distribution of dWAT, making the difference between murine and human HF cycling of more quantitative than of qualitative nature. This should allow the production of small spatially correlated HF patches in human skin, and we propose that this process can be regulated by paracrine signalling involving a number of signalling modules, including the hedgehog pathway. This pathway is an established player in HF cycling, but is also involved in the regulation of adipogenesis and may therefore be a key regulator of the process across species. We also suggest that the spatial heterogeneity of dWAT is connected not only to HF cycling, but may also be related to other physiological and pathological processes in the skin.

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D increases the gene expression of enzymes protecting from glucolipotoxicity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and human primary endothelial cells

Besides its classical function as an orchestrator of calcium and phosphorus homeostasis, vitamin D also affects insulin secretion and tissue efficiency. A number of studies have consistently reported the inverse relationship between vitamin D deficiency and type 2 diabetes. Activation of certain metabolic pathways and down-stream transcription factors may protect from glucolipotoxicity and their targeted activation -e.g. by vitamin D - might explain the detrimental role of vitamin D deficiency in diabetes. The aim of the study was to quantify gene and protein expression of selected enzymes involved in the protection from glucolipotoxicity, specifically glyoxalase 1 (GLO1), and other enzymes with antioxidant activity - hemoxygenase (HMOX), thiamin pyrophosphokinase (TPK1) and transketolase (TKT), under normo- and hyperglycemic conditions and upon addition of vitamin D in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). The results of our study indicate that the active form of vitamin D regulates gene expression of enzymes opposing the harmful effect of glucolipotoxicity whose activities appear to be suppressed by hyperglycemia. However, we were unable to confirm this effect on protein expression. While we cannot speculate on the effect of vitamin D on diabetes itself our results support its role in the protection against existing glucolipotoxicity therefore possibly translating into the prevention of development of diabetic complications.

Drug-disease association and drug-repositioning predictions in complex diseases using causal inference-probabilistic matrix factorization

The high incidence of complex diseases has become a worldwide threat to human health. Multiple targets and pathways are perturbed during the pathological process of complex diseases. Systematic investigation of complex relationship between drugs and diseases is necessary for new association discovery and drug repurposing. For this purpose, three causal networks were constructed herein for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, and neoplasms, respectively. A causal inference-probabilistic matrix factorization (CI-PMF) approach was proposed to predict and classify drug-disease associations, and further used for drug-repositioning predictions. First, multilevel systematic relations between drugs and diseases were integrated from heterogeneous databases to construct causal networks connecting drug-target-pathway-gene-disease. Then, the association scores between drugs and diseases were assessed by evaluating a drug's effects on multiple targets and pathways. Furthermore, PMF models were learned based on known interactions, and associations were then classified into three types by trained models. Finally, therapeutic associations were predicted based upon the ranking of association scores and predicted association types. In terms of drug-disease association prediction, modified causal inference included in CI-PMF outperformed existing causal inference with a higher AUC (area under receiver operating characteristic curve) score and greater precision. Moreover, CI-PMF performed better than single modified causal inference in predicting therapeutic drug-disease associations. In the top 30% of predicted associations, 58.6% (136/232), 50.8% (31/61), and 39.8% (140/352) hit known therapeutic associations, while precisions obtained by the latter were only 10.2% (231/2264), 8.8% (36/411), and 9.7% (189/1948). Clinical verifications were further conducted for the top 100 newly predicted therapeutic associations. As a result, 21, 12, and 32 associations have been studied and many treatment effects of drugs on diseases were investigated for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, and neoplasms, respectively. Related chains in causal networks were extracted for these 65 clinical-verified associations, and we further illustrated the therapeutic role of etodolac in breast cancer by inferred chains. Overall, CI-PMF is a useful approach for associating drugs with complex diseases and provides potential values for drug repositioning.

Prostacyclin analogue beraprost inhibits cardiac fibroblast proliferation depending on prostacyclin receptor activation through a TGF β-Smad signal pathway

Previous studies showed that prostacyclin inhibited fibrosis. However, both receptors of prostacyclin, prostacyclin receptor (IP) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR), are abundant in cardiac fibroblasts. Here we investigated which receptor was vital in the anti-fibrosis effect of prostacyclin. In addition, the possible mechanism involved in protective effects of prostacyclin against cardiac fibrosis was also studied. We found that beraprost, a prostacyclin analogue, inhibited angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced neonatal rat cardiac fibroblast proliferation in a concentration-dependent and time-dependent manner. Beraprost also suppressed Ang II-induced collagen I mRNA expression and protein synthesis in cardiac fibroblasts. After IP expression was knocked down by siRNA, Ang II-induced proliferation and collagen I synthesis could no longer be rescued by beraprost. However, treating cells with different specific inhibitors of PPAR subtypes prior to beraprost and Ang II stimulation, all of the above attenuating effects of beraprost were still available. Moreover, beraprost significantly blocked transforming growth factor β (TGF β) expression as well as Smad2 phosphorylation and reduced Smad-DNA binding activity. Beraprost also increased phosphorylation of cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) at Ser133 in the nucleus. Co-immunoprecipitation analysis revealed that beraprost increased CREB but decreased Smad2 binding to CREB-binding protein (CBP) in nucleus. In conclusion, beraprost inhibits cardiac fibroblast proliferation by activating IP and suppressing TGF β-Smad signal pathway.