Antiproliferative, Antiangiogenic, and Antimetastatic Therapy Response by Mangiferin in a Syngeneic Immunocompetent Colorectal Cancer Mouse Model Involves Changes in Mitochondrial Energy Metabolism

In spite of the current advances and achievements in cancer treatments, colorectal cancer (CRC) persists as one of the most prevalent and deadly tumor types in both men and women worldwide. Drug resistance, adverse side effects and high rate of angiogenesis, metastasis and tumor relapse remain one of the greatest challenges in long-term management of CRC and urges need for new leads of anticancer drugs. We demonstrate that CRC treatment with the phytopharmaceutical mangiferin (MGF), a glucosylxanthone present in Mango tree stem bark and leaves (Mangifera Indica L.), induces dose-dependent tumor regression and decreases lung metastasis in a syngeneic immunocompetent allograft mouse model of murine CT26 colon carcinoma, which increases overall survival of mice. Antimetastatic and antiangiogenic MGF effects could be further validated in a wound healing in vitro model in human HT29 cells and in a matrigel plug implant mouse model. Interestingly, transcriptome pathway enrichment analysis demonstrates that MGF inhibits tumor growth, metastasis and angiogenesis by multi-targeting of mitochondrial oxidoreductase and fatty acid β-oxidation metabolism, PPAR, SIRT, NFκB, Stat3, HIF, Wnt and GP6 signaling pathways. MGF effects on fatty acid β-oxidation metabolism and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1) protein expression could be further confirmed in vitro in human HT29 colon cells. In conclusion, antitumor, antiangiogenic and antimetastatic effects of MGF treatment hold promise to reduce adverse toxicity and to mitigate therapeutic outcome of colorectal cancer treatment by targeting mitochondrial energy metabolism in the tumor microenvironment.

Montelukast Has no Impact on the Systemic Production of TGFβ-1 in Patients with Nasal Polyposis Associated with Aspirin Intolerance

Introduction  Nasal polyposis is a disease characterized by a mechanical dysfunction of the nasal mucosa, closely related to the unique makeup of its extracellular matrix, which develops as the result of an anomalous tissue remodeling process.

Transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) is reduced not only in the nasal polypoid tissue, but also in the plasma of aspirin-intolerant patients. These patients exhibit an imbalance in the production of eicosanoids characterized by an increase in leukotrienes. Thus, it is important that the relationship between the production of leukotrienes and TGF-β1 be assessed.

Objective  To evaluate the effects of the cysteinyl leukotriene (CysLT) receptor antagonist montelukast on the systemic production of TGF-β1 in patients with nasal polyposis, with or without concomitant aspirin intolerance.

Methods  The sample comprised 48 individuals with diagnosis of nasal polyposis and 15 healthy controls for comparison of the baseline TGF-β1 levels in the peripheral blood and after treatment with CysLT receptor antagonist montelukast in the nasal-polyposis group.

Results  There was no difference in the change in TGF-β1 levels after the treatment with montelukast in the subgroup of patients with polyposis and asthma ( p  = 0.82) and in the subgroup with polyposis, asthma, and aspirin intolerance ( p  = 0.51).

Conclusion  we found no impact of the therapy with a leukotriene receptor blocker on the production of TGF-β1, making the antileukotriene therapy a highly questionable choice for the treatment of nasal polyposis, particularly from the standpoint of seeking to modify the remodeling process in this disease.

Semi-synthetic sapogenin exerts neuroprotective effects by skewing the brain ischemia reperfusion transcriptome towards inflammatory resolution

Stroke represents one of the first causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. We evaluated the therapeutic potential of a novel semi-synthetic spirosteroid sapogenin derivative "S15" in a transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) focal ischemia model in rat. S15-treated rats had significantly reduced infarct volumes and improved neurological functions at 24h post-reperfusion, compared with ischemia. Corresponding gene expression changes in brain were characterized by mRNA sequencing and qPCR approaches. Next, we applied geneset, pathway and transcription factor motif enrichment analysis to identify relevant signaling networks responsible for neuronal damage upon ischemia-reperfusion or neuroprotection upon pretreatment with S15. As expected, ischemia-reperfusion brain damage strongly modulates transcriptional programs associated with immune responses, increased differentiation of immune cells as well as reduced (cat)ion transport and synaptic activity. Interestingly, S15-dependent neuroprotection regulates inflammation-associated genes involved in phagosome specific resolution of tissue damage, chemotaxis and anti-inflammatory alternative activation of microglia. Altogether our transcriptome wide RNA sequencing and integrated pathway analysis provides new clues in the neuroprotective properties of a novel spirosteroid S15 or neuronal damage in rat brains subjected to ischemia, which opens new perspectives for successful treatment of stroke.

Differential release and deposition of S100A8/A9 proteins in inflamed upper airway tissue

Intracellular Ca2+-binding S100A8/A9 proteins gain novel functions when released during inflammation. The exact outcome of their extracellular function depends on the local tissue environment in which they are released; both anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory responses are described, modulating the immune system by binding Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4 or the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE). However, the contribution of the proteins in the pathophysiology of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) remains unclear.

Homomeric S100A8 and S100A9, and heteromeric S100A8/A9 proteins were evaluated in CRS with/without nasal polyps (CRSw/sNP) and controls. Functional responses were assessed in polyp tissue stimulated with S100 proteins in the presence of TLR-4 and RAGE blocking antibodies.

S100A8, S100A9 and S100A8/A9 protein levels were significantly higher in CRSwNP patients, showing increased deposition on extracellular matrix (ECM) structures of CRSwNP tissue in contrast to CRSsNP and controls. In the presence ofStaphylococcus aureus, S100A8/A9 is released from neutrophils and from the ECM. Extracellular S100A8 and S100A9 proteins induced increased levels of diverse inflammatory mediatorsviaTLR-4 engagement.

The inflammatory/remodelling characteristics of CRSwNP specifically allow increased retention of S100A8, S100A9 and S100A8/A9 proteins in the ECM of CRSwNP tissue. Upon release, homodimeric proteins act as a local danger signal inducing inflammatory mediators, predominantlyviaTLR-4 activation.

Mixed T helper cell signatures in chronic rhinosinusitis with and without polyps

In chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) different phenotypes have been reported based on cytokine profile and inflammatory cell patterns. The aim of this study was to characterize the intracytoplasmatic cytokines of T cells infiltrating the inflamed sinonasal mucosa.

METHODS

Infiltrated T cells and tissue homogenates from sinonasal mucosal samples of 7 healthy subjects, 9 patients with CRS without nasal polyp (CRSsNP), 15 with CRS with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) and 5 cystic fibrosis patients (CF-NP) were analyzed for cytokine expression using flow cytometry and multiplex analysis respectively. Intracytoplasmic cytokinesin T cells were analyzed after stimulation of nasal polyps with Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin B for 24 hours.

RESULTS

The number of T cells per total living cells was significantly higher in patients with CRSwNP vs. CRSsNP and controls. 85% of the CD4(+) T cells showed to be memory T cells. The effector T cells present in all tissues have a predominant Th1 phenotype. Only in CRSwNP, a significant fraction of T cells produced the Th2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-5, while nasal polyps from CF patients were characterized by a higher CD4/CD8 T cell ratio and an increased number of Th17 cells. 24 h stimulation with SEB resulted in a significant induction of CD4(+) T cells producing IL-10 (Tr1 cells).

CONCLUSION

T cell cytokine patterns in healthy and inflamed sinonasal mucosa revealed that Th2 cells (IL-4 and IL-5 producing cells) are significantly increased in CRSwNP mucosal inflammation. Exposure to SEB stimulates Tr1 cells that may contribute to the Th2 bias in CRSwNP.

The need for transparency and good practices in the qPCR literature

Two surveys of over 1,700 publications whose authors use quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) reveal a lack of transparent and comprehensive reporting of essential technical information. Reporting standards are significantly improved in publications that cite the Minimum Information for Publication of Quantitative Real-Time PCR Experiments (MIQE) guidelines, although such publications are still vastly outnumbered by those that do not.

Influence of phosphorus on Cu sorption kinetics: stirred flow chamber experiments

A stirred flow reactor was used to study the influence of phosphorus on the adsorption and desorption kinetics of copper in two acid soils on granite and amphibolite. The presence of P was found to significantly increase Cu adsorption in both soils, albeit at different types of sites (mainly in slow adsorption sites in the soil on granite, and both in fast and slow adsorption sites in that on amphibolite). The increased Cu sorption at fast sites in the amphibolite soil was due to its high content in Fe oxyhydroxides, which bound P and released OH(-) as a result, thereby raising the pH and leading to a higher sorption capacity during fast reactions. On the other hand, the increased Cu sorption at slow adsorption sites was due to Cu(2+) acting as a bridging element between P and organic matter.

Copper fractionation and release from soils devoted to different crops

We studied copper release as a function of pH in eight samples of acid soils under vine and maize crops containing variable concentrations of total copper (Cu(t)) from 55 to 112 mg kg(-1). Although both types of soil had similar Cu(t) values, the origin of the copper was essentially anthropogenic in the vineyard soils and natural (as result of weathering of parent material) in those under maize. The disparate origin of the metal resulted in marked differences in its fractions, particularly as regards organically bound copper, which was much more abundant in the vineyard soils. This had a strong effect on copper release as a function of pH, which was one order of magnitude greater in the vineyard soils than in those under maize.

Adsorption and desorption of copper and zinc in the surface layer of acid soils

The environmental and health effects of the contamination of soils by heavy metals depend on the ability of the soils to immobilize these contaminants. In this work, the adsorption and desorption of Cu and Zn in the surface layers of 27 acid soils were studied. Adsorption of Cu(II) from 157-3148 mumol L(-1) solutions was much greater than adsorption of Zn(II) from solutions at the same concentration. For both Cu and Zn, the adsorption data were fitted better by the Freundlich equation than by the Langmuir equation. Multiple regression analyses suggest that Cu and Zn adsorption depends to a significant extent on pH and CEC: for both metals these variables accounted for more than 80% of the variance in the Freundlich pre-exponential parameter K(F), and pH also accounted for 57% of the variance in 1/n for Zn and, together with carbon content, for 41% of the variance in 1/n for Cu. The percentage of adsorbed metal susceptible to desorption into 0.01 M NaNO3 was greater for Zn than for Cu, but in both cases depended significantly on pH, decreasing as pH increased. In turn, both pH(H2O) and pH(KCl) are significantly correlated with cation exchange capacity. Desorption of metal adsorbed from solutions at relatively low concentration (787 mumol L(-1)) exhibited power-law dependence on Kd, the quotient expressing distribution between soil and soil solution in the corresponding adsorption experiment, decreasing as increasing Kd reflected increasing affinity of the soil for the metal. The absence of a similarly clear relationship when metal had been adsorbed from solutions at relatively high concentration (2361 mumol L(-1)) is attributed to the scant between-soil variability of Kd at these higher concentrations. In general, adsorption was greater and subsequent desorption less in cultivated soils than in woodland soils.