The role of mitochondria in metastasis development

Metastasis is a hallmark of cancer and is responsible for the largest number of cancer-related deaths. However, it remains poorly understood. Recently, evidence has accumulated pointing to the role of mitochondria in the metastatic spread of cancer cells. Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that have significant metabolic activity and are considered signaling centers with biosynthetic, bioenergetic, and signaling functions that control key biological pathways. Also, data were presented that mitochondria can influence all processes associated with oncogenesis, from malignant transformation to metastatic dissemination. The role of mitochondria in cancer progression/metastasis includes alteration of glycolysis, regulation of ROS, and suppression of intrinsic apoptosis. This review will summarize the current knowledge on the contribution of mitochondria to tumor cell invasion and dissemination and the possible mechanisms behind this. Mitochondrial-targeted therapeutic strategies to combat metastatic cancer will also be proposed.

Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a widespread systemic disease characterized by a decrease in bone mass and an imbalance of the microarchitecture of bone tissue. Experimental and clinical studies devoted to investigating the main pathogenetic mechanisms of osteoporosis revealed the important role of estrogen deficiency, inflammation, oxidative stress, cellular senescence, and epigenetic factors in the development of bone resorption due to osteoclastogenesis, and decreased mineralization of bone tissue and bone formation due to reduced function of osteoblasts caused by apoptosis and age-depended differentiation of osteoblast precursors into adipocytes. The current review was conducted to describe the basic mechanisms of the development of osteoporosis at molecular and cellular levels and to elucidate the most promising therapeutic strategies of pathogenetic therapy of osteoporosis based on articles cited in PubMed up to September 2023.

Mechanisms of the Wnt Pathways as a Potential Target Pathway in Atherosclerosis

The proteins of the Wnt family are involved in a variety of physiological processes by means of several canonical and noncanonical signaling pathways. Wnt signaling has been recently identified as a major player in atherogenesis. In this review, we summarize the existing knowledge on the influence of various components of the Wnt signaling pathways on the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis and associated conditions. We used the PubMed database to search for recent papers on the involvement of the Wnt pathways in atherosclerosis. We used the combination of "Wnt" and "atherosclerosis" keywords to find the initial papers, and chose papers published after 2018. In the first section of the paper, we describe the general mechanisms of the Wnt signaling pathways and their components. The next section is dedicated to existing studies assessing the implication of Wnt signaling elements in different atherogenic processes, such as cholesterol retention, endothelial dysfunction, vascular inflammation, and atherosclerotic calcification of the vessels. Lastly, various therapeutic strategies based on interference with the Wnt signaling pathways are considered. We also compare the efficacy and availability of the proposed treatment methods. Wnt signaling can be considered a potential target in the treatment and prevention of atherosclerosis. Therefore, in this review, we reviewed evidences showing that wnt signaling is an important signal for developing appropriate treatment strategies for atherosclerosis.

Is There a Relationship between Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes and Future Development of Atherosclerosis?

Cardiovascular disease is one of the main death causes globally. Effective cardiovascular risk management requires a thorough understanding of the mechanisms underlying the disorder. Establishing early markers of the disease allows a timely intervention and prevention of further atherosclerosis development. Multiple studies confirm the correlation between pregnancy disorders and cardiovascular disease in the postpartum period. Moreover, over 30% of women experience adverse pregnancy outcomes. Thus, the examination of the links between these conditions and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease may help to identify gender-specific risk factors. In this review, we will explore the association between several adverse pregnancy outcome conditions and atherosclerosis. The current analysis is based on the data from several recent studies on the mechanisms behind gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, miscarriages, and stillbirths and their implications for the female cardiovascular system.

Tumor Suppressor Properties of Small C-Terminal Domain Phosphatases in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) accounts for 80-90% of kidney cancers worldwide. Small C-terminal domain phosphatases CTDSP1, CTDSP2, and CTDSPL (also known as SCP1, 2, 3) are involved in the regulation of several important pathways associated with carcinogenesis. In various cancer types, these phosphatases may demonstrate either antitumor or oncogenic activity. Tumor-suppressive activity of these phosphatases in kidney cancer has been shown previously, but in general case, the antitumor activity may be dependent on the choice of cell line. In the present work, transfection of the Caki-1 cell line (ccRCC morphologic phenotype) with expression constructs containing the coding regions of these genes resulted in inhibition of cell growth in vitro in the case of CTDSP1 (p < 0.001) and CTDSPL (p < 0.05) but not CTDSP2. The analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data showed differential expression of some of CTDSP genes and of their target, RB1. These results were confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR using an independent sample of primary ccRCC tumors (n = 52). We observed CTDSPL downregulation and found a positive correlation of expression for two gene pairs: CTDSP1 and CTDSP2 (rs = 0.76; p < 0.001) and CTDSPL and RB1 (rs = 0.38; p < 0.05). Survival analysis based on TCGA data demonstrated a strong association of lower expression of CTDSP1, CTDSP2, CTDSPL, and RB1 with poor survival of ccRCC patients (p < 0.001). In addition, according to TCGA, CTDSP1, CTDSP2, and RB1 were differently expressed in two subtypes of ccRCC-ccA and ccB, characterized by different survival rates. These results confirm that CTDSP1 and CTDSPL have tumor suppressor properties in ccRCC and reflect their association with the more aggressive ccRCC phenotype.

Sex Differences Define the Vulnerability to Atherosclerosis

For several decades, atherosclerosis has attracted the attention of researchers around the world. Even being a major cause of serious cardiovascular disease and events, atherosclerosis is still not fully understood. Despite the fact that the main players in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis are well known, many mechanisms of their implementation and interactions remain unknown. The same can be said about the risk factors for atherosclerosis. Many of them are known, but exactly how they work remains to be seen. The main objective of this review is to summarize the latest data on sex as a biological variable in atherosclerosis in humans and animals; to determine what we do not still know about how sex affects the process of growth and complications of atherosclerosis. In this review, we summarized data on sex differences at 3 atherosclerotic aspects: inflammation, vascular remodeling, and plaque morphology. With all overviewed data, we came to the conclusion on the atheroprotective role of female sex.

Condition "Vasa Vasorum" in Patients with Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm

It is known that vasa vasorum contributes substantially to the blood supply and nutrition of one-third of the wall of the ascending thoracic aorta. Therefore, we focused on studying the relationship between inflammatory cells and vasa vasorum vessels in patients with aortic aneurysm. The material for the study was biopsies of thoracic aortic aneurysms taken from patients during an aneurysmectomy (34 men, 14 women, aged 33 to 79 years). The biopsies belonged to patients with non-hereditary thoracic aortic aneurysm. An immunohistochemical study was carried out using antibodies to antigens of T cells (CD3, CD4, CD8); macrophages (CD68); B cells (CD20); endothelium (CD31, CD34, von Willebrand factor (vWF)); and smooth muscle cells (alpha actin). Samples without inflammatory infiltrates contained less vasa vasorum in the tunica adventitia than samples with inflammatory infiltrates, and this difference was statistically significant p < 0.05. T cell infiltrates in the adventitia of aortic aneurysms were found in 28 of 48 patients. In the vessels of the vasa vasorum, surrounded by inflammatory infiltrates, T cells that adhered to the endothelium were found. The same cells were also localized in the subendothelial area. The number of adherent T cells in patients with inflammatory infiltrates in the aortic wall dominated the number of these cells in patients without inflammation of the aortic wall. This difference was statistically significant, p < 0.0006. Hypertrophy and sclerosis of the arteries of the vasa vasorum system, the narrowing of their lumen, and, as a result, impaired blood supply to the aortic wall, were found in 34 patients with hypertension. In 18 patients (both in patients with hypertension and in patients without hypertension), T cells that adhered to the vasa vasorum endothelium were found. In nine cases, massive infiltrates of T cells and macrophages were found, which surrounded and squeezed the vasa vasorum, preventing blood circulation. In six patients, parietal and obturating blood clots were found in the vasa vasorum vessels, which disrupted the normal blood supply to the aortic wall. We believe that this indicates the importance of the state of the vessels of the vasa vasorum in the development of an aortic aneurysm. In addition, pathological changes in these vessels may not always play a primary role, but always a very important role, in the pathogenesis of this disease.

The Neuroimmune Role of Intestinal Microbiota in the Pathogenesis of Cardiovascular Disease

Currently, a bidirectional relationship between the gut microbiota and the nervous system, which is considered as microbiota-gut-brain axis, is being actively studied. This axis is believed to be a key mechanism in the formation of somatovisceral functions in the human body. The gut microbiota determines the level of activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary system. In particular, the intestinal microbiota is an important source of neuroimmune mediators in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. This review reflects the current state of publications in PubMed and Scopus databases until December 2020 on the mechanisms of formation and participation of neuroimmune mediators associated with gut microbiota in the development of cardiovascular disease.

Heteroplasmic Variants of Mitochondrial DNA in Atherosclerotic Lesions of Human Aortic Intima

Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress are likely involved in atherogenesis. Since the mitochondrial genome variation can alter functional activity of cells, it is necessary to assess the presence in atherosclerotic lesions of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) heteroplasmic mutations known to be associated with different pathological processes and ageing. In this study, mtDNA heteroplasmy and copy number (mtCN) were evaluated in the autopsy-derived samples of aortic intima differing by the type of atherosclerotic lesions. To detect mtDNA heteroplasmic variants, next generation sequencing was used, and mtCN measurement was performed by qPCR. It was shown that mtDNA heteroplasmic mutations are characteristic for particular areas of intimal tissue; in 83 intimal samples 55 heteroplasmic variants were found; mean minor allele frequencies level accounted for 0.09, with 12% mean heteroplasmy level. The mtCN variance measured in adjacent areas of intima was high, but atherosclerotic lesions and unaffected intima did not differ significantly in mtCN values. Basing on the ratio of minor and major nucleotide mtDNA variants, we can conclude that there exists the increase in the number of heteroplasmic mtDNA variants, which corresponds to the extent of atherosclerotic morphologic phenotype.

Dataset of mitochondrial genome variants associated with asymptomatic atherosclerosis

This dataset report is dedicated to mitochondrial genome variants associated with asymptomatic atherosclerosis. These data were obtained using the method of next generation pyrosequencing (NGPS). The whole mitochondrial genome of the sample of patients from the Moscow region was analyzed. In this article the dataset including anthropometric, biochemical and clinical parameters along with detected mtDNA variants in patients with carotid atherosclerosis and healthy individuals was presented. Among 58 of the most common homoplasmic mtDNA variants found in the observed sample, 7 variants occurred more often in patients with atherosclerosis and 16 variants occurred more often in healthy individuals.

Analysis of mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmic mutations A1555G, C3256T, T3336C, С5178А, G12315A, G13513A, G14459A, G14846А and G15059A in CHD patients with the history of myocardial infarction

The present study was undertaken in order to advance our earlier studies directed to define genetic risk of atherosclerotic vascular lesion development on a base on the analysis of sets of mutational load relevant to the mitochondrial genome mutations. A comparative evaluation of the two study participants' populations (that included coronary heart disease (CHD) patients who underwent myocardial infarction and apparently healthy donors with no clinical manifestations of coronary heart disease) on heteroplasmy levels of nine mutations of the mitochondrial genome (A1555G, C3256T, T3336C, С5178А, G12315A, G13513A, G14459A, G14846А and G15059A) that were shown previously to be associated with risk factors for atherosclerosis was performed. Close associations with the risk of cardiovascular disease were confirmed for mutation C3256T (gene MT-TL1), G12315A (gene MT-TL2), G13513A (gene MT-ND5) and G15059A (gene MT-CYB) by RT-PCR.

Mutations of mitochondrial DNA in atherosclerosis and atherosclerosis-related diseases

Atherosclerosis, the primary cause of cardiovascular disease, is a complex and multifactorial pathology resulted from the harmful interactions between genetic and environmental factors. There is a growing body of evidence in support of the role of mitochondrial factors in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Impaired mitochondrial function and structural and qualitative changes in mitochondrial components such as mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage may be directly involved in the development of multiple mechanisms of atherogenesis. Recent findings show that several heteroplasmic mutations of mtDNA are related to atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease and several atherosclerosis-related diseases such as arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Therefore, heteroplasmic mtDNA mutations could represent a promising molecular biomarker of genetic susceptibility to atherosclerosis and related pathologies. This review is focused on the latest findings in the studies of mutations of mitochondrial genome, which are associated with atherosclerosis and atherosclerosis- related diseases.

Mutations of mitochondrial genome in carotid atherosclerosis

With aim of detection the spectrum of mitochondrial DNA mutations in patients with carotid atherosclerosis from Moscow Region, we used a Roche 454 high-throughput sequencing of the whole mitochondrial genome. We have found that the presence of a number of homoplasmic mitochondrial DNA mutations in genes of 16S ribosomal RNA, subunits 2, 4, and 5 NADH dehydrogenase, subunits 1 and 2 cytochrome C oxidase, subunit 6 ATP-synthase, tRNA- Leu 2 and cytochrome B differed between conventionally healthy participants of the study and patients with carotid atherosclerosis. We also found heteroplasmic mutations, including insertions one or several nucleotides, that occurred more frequently in mitochondrial DNA of conventionally healthy participants of the study or patients with atherosclerotic lesions.

Association of mitochondrial genetic variation with carotid atherosclerosis

In human pathology, several diseases are associated with somatic mutations in the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA). Even though mitochondrial dysfunction leads to increased oxidative stress, the role of mitochondrial mutations in atherosclerosis has not received much attention so far. In this study we analyzed the association of mitochondrial genetic variation with the severity of carotid atherosclerosis, as assessed by carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and the presence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in 190 subjects from Moscow, Russia, a population with high CHD occurrence. cIMT was measured by high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography and mtDNA heteroplasmies by a pyrosequencing-based method. We found that heteroplasmies for several mutations in the mtDNA in leukocytes, including C3256T, T3336C, G12315A, G13513A, G14459A, G14846A, and G15059A mutations, were significantly (p<0.001) associated with both the severity of carotid atherosclerosis and the presence of CHD. These findings indicate that somatic mitochondrial mutations have a role in the development of atherosclerosis.

Association of the level of heteroplasmy of the 15059G>A mutation in the MT-CYB mitochondrial gene with essential hypertension

AIM

To examine whether the heteroplasmy level for 15059G>A mutation in the mitochondrial genome might be associated with essential hypertension.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study involved 196 unrelated participants randomly selected from general population (90 males and 106 females) who underwent a regular medical check-up at the Institute for Atherosclerosis Research (Moscow, Russia). One hundred and twenty of them (61%) had essential hypertension, and 76 (39%) were apparently healthy normotensive persons. The level of heteroplasmy for 15059G>A mutation occurring in the coding region of cytochrome b gene (MT-CYB) of mtDNA isolated from the blood leukocytes, was quantified using DNA pyrosequencing method.

RESULTS

The 15059G>A heteroplasmy level ranged between 4% and 83%, with a median level of 31%. Between the upper and lower quartiles of 15059G>A heteroplasmy distribution, significant differences were observed for patients' age, systolic blood pressure, and triglyceride levels. 15059G>A heteroplasmy correlated both with age (r = 0.331, P < 0.001) and the presence of hypertension (r = 0.228, P = 0.002). Regression analysis revealed that the age explains 12% variability of 15059G>A heteroplasmy, and hypertension independently explains more 5% variability. The 15059G>A heteroplasmy exceeding 31% was found to be significantly associated with a higher risk of essential hypertension (odds ratio 2.76; P (Fisher) 0.019]. The study participants with high 15059G>A heteroplasmy level were found to have significantly higher age (P < 0.001) and the prevalence of essential hypertension (P = 0.033), as compared to those with low 15059G>A heteroplasmy level. These observations suggested a positive correlation between the level of 15059G>A heteroplasmy and essential hypertension.

CONCLUSION

This study provides the evidence of association of mtDNA 15059G>A mutation heteroplasmy with essential hypertension.

Changes of mitochondria in atherosclerosis: possible determinant in the pathogenesis of the disease

Electron-microscopic analysis of atherosclerotic lesions demonstrated a high variability in the ultrastructural appearance of mitochondria in human aortic atherosclerotic lesions compared with the appearance of mitochondria in the normal parts of the aortic intima. This prompted us to suggest that the structural variations in the appearance of mitochondria might reflect the existence of somatic mutations in the human mitochondrial genome which could be a determinant of atherosclerosis. To test this hypothesis, we have compared the levels of heteroplasmy for several mitochondrial mutations previously proposed to be associated with different types of atherosclerotic lesions. The homogenates of unaffected aortic intimae and lipofibrous plaques of 12 male aortas were compared to reveal the average level of heteroplasmy for A1555G, C3256T, T3336T, G12315A, G14459A, and G15059A mutations of human mitochondrial genome. It has been shown at least four mutations of mitochondrial genome, namely, A1555G in MT-RNR1 gene, C3256T in MT-TL1 gene, G12315A in MT-TL2 gene, and G15059A in MT-CYB gene have significantly higher prevalence and mean value in lipofibrous plaques as compared to non-atherosclerotic intima, and therefore are associated with atherosclerosis. Somatic mutations in the human mitochondrial genome might play a role in the development of atherosclerosis. The mitochondrial mutations observed in our study should encourage further exploration of the concept that mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmy might be used as a biomarker of atherogenesis.

Mutation C3256T of mitochondrial genome in white blood cells: novel genetic marker of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease

This study was undertaken to examine the association between the level of heteroplasmy for the mutation C3256T in human white blood cells and the extent of carotid atherosclerosis, as well as the presence of coronary heart disease (CHD), the major clinical manifestation of atherosclerosis. Totally, 191 participants (84 men, 107 women) aged 65.0 years (SD 9.4) were recruited in the study; 45 (24%) of them had CHD. High-resolution B-mode ultrasonography of carotids was used to estimate the extent of carotid atherosclerosis by measuring of the carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). DNA samples were obtained from whole venous blood, and then PCR and pyrosequencing were carried out. On the basis of pyrosequencing data, the levels of C3256T heteroplasmy in DNA samples were calculated. The presence of the mutant allele was detected in all study participants; the level of C3256T heteroplasmy in white blood cells ranged from 5% to 74%. The highly significant relationship between C3256T heteroplasmy level and predisposition to atherosclerosis was revealed. In individuals with low predisposition to atherosclerosis the mean level of C3256T heteroplasmy was 16.8%, as compared to 23.8% in moderately predisposed subjects, and further to 25.2% and 28.3% in significantly and highly predisposed subjects, respectively. The level of C3256T heteroplasmy of mitochondrial genome in human white blood cells is a biomarker of mitochondrial dysfunction and risk factor for atherosclerosis; therefore, it can be used as an informative marker of genetic susceptibility to atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease and myocardial infarction.