Vitamin D supplementation worsens Alzheimer's progression: Animal model and human cohort studies.

Vitamin D deficiency has been epidemiologically linked to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementias, but no interventional studies have proved causality. Our previous work revealed that the genomic vitamin D receptor (VDR) is already converted into a non-genomic signaling pathway by forming a complex with p53 in the AD brain. Here, we extend our previous work to assess whether it is beneficial to supplement AD mice and humans with vitamin D. Intriguingly, we first observed that APP/PS1 mice fed a vitamin D-sufficient diet showed significantly lower levels of serum vitamin D, suggesting its deficiency may be a consequence not a cause of AD. Moreover, supplementation of vitamin D led to increased Aß deposition and exacerbated AD. Mechanistically, vitamin D supplementation did not rescue the genomic VDR/RXR complex but instead enhanced the non-genomic VDR/p53 complex in AD brains. Consistently, our population-based longitudinal study also showed that dementia-free older adults (n = 14,648) taking vitamin D3 supplements for over 146 days/year were 1.8 times more likely to develop dementia than those not taking the supplements. Among those with pre-existing dementia (n = 980), those taking vitamin D3 supplements for over 146 days/year had 2.17 times the risk of mortality than those not taking the supplements. Collectively, these animal model and human cohort studies caution against prolonged use of vitamin D by AD patients.

Non-genomic rewiring of vitamin D receptor to p53 as a key to Alzheimer's disease.

Observational epidemiological studies have associated vitamin D deficiency with Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, whether vitamin D deficiency would result in some impacts on the vitamin D binding receptor (VDR) remains to be characterized in AD. Vitamin D helps maintain adult brain health genomically through binding with and activating a VDR/retinoid X receptor (RXR) transcriptional complex. Thus, we investigated the role of VDR in AD using postmortem human brains, APP/PS1 mice, and cell cultures. Intriguingly, although vitamin D was decreased in AD patients and mice, hippocampal VDR levels were inversely increased. The abnormally increased levels of VDR were found to be colocalized with Aß plaques, gliosis and autophagosomes, implicating a non-genomic activation of VDR in AD pathogenesis. Mechanistic investigation revealed that Aß upregulated VDR without its canonical ligand vitamin D and switched its heterodimer binding-partner from RXR to p53. The VDR/p53 complex localized mostly in the cytosol, increased neuronal autophagy and apoptosis. Chemically inhibiting p53 switched VDR back to RXR, reversing amyloidosis and cognitive impairment in AD mice. These results suggest a non-genomic rewiring of VDR to p53 is key for the progression of AD, and thus VDR/p53 pathway might be targeted to treat people with AD.

The Healthy Taiwanese Eating Approach is inversely associated with all-cause and cause-specific mortality: A prospective study on the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan, 1993-1996.

BACKGROUND: Few longitudinal studies have investigated the association between foods/dietary pattern and mortality risk in the Asian population. We investigated the prospective association between foods/dietary pattern and risk of death among ethnic Chinese adults in Taiwan. METHODS: The study population included 2475 young and middle-aged adults (aged 18-65 years at baseline) who completed the questionnaires and physical examinations in the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan from 1993 to 1996. A food frequency questionnaire was administered to assess food consumption habits in a face-to-face interview. With survey data linked to the Taiwanese Death Registry, Cox proportional hazard model was used to identify the foods associated with all-cause mortality(followed until 2012), which were then tallied to calculate a dietary pattern score called Taiwanese Eating Approach(TEA) score. The TEA scores were then associated with various kinds of mortality outcomes. In addition, data from 431 elders (aged≥65 yrs) with 288 death endpoints were used to conduct a sensitivity analysis. RESULTS: A total of 385(15.6%) participants died (111 cardiovascular related deaths and 122 cancer related deaths) during the 17.8-year follow-up period(41274 person-years). Twelve foods (9 inverse [vegetables/fish/milk/tea](+1) and 3 positive[fatty meats/fermented vegetables/sweet drinks](-1)) were significantly associated with all-cause mortality risk. All adults were grouped by their cumulative food score into three diet groups: poor diet(29.3% of all subjects), average diet(44.0%), and healthy diet(26.70%). The better the diet, the lower the total, cardiovascular, and other cause mortality outcomes (trend-p < .001). The hazard ratio for the healthy diet was 0.64 (95% confidence interval:0.47-0.87) for total mortality, and 0.52(0.28-0.95) for cardiovascular death, compared with the poor diet in the multivariable models. This phenomenon was also seen in older adults for all-cause, cancer, and other cause mortalities. CONCLUSION: Consuming a healthy Taiwanese Eating Approach (TEA) diet is negatively associated with all-cause, cardiovascular, and other-cause mortalities in Taiwan.

Visualizing and quantifying the differential cleavages of the eukaryotic translation initiation factors eIF4GI and eIF4GII in the enterovirus-infected cell.

Enterovirus (EV) infection has been shown to cause a marked shutoff of host protein synthesis, an event mainly achieved through the cleavages of eukaryotic translation initiation factors eIF4GI and eIF4GII that are mediated by viral 2A protease (2A(pro)). Using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), we developed genetically encoded and FRET-based biosensors to visualize and quantify the specific proteolytic process in intact cells. This was accomplished by stable expression of a fusion substrate construct composed of the green fluorescent protein 2 (GFP(2)) and red fluorescent protein 2 (DsRed2), with a cleavage motif on eIF4GI or eIF4GII connected in between. The FRET biosensor showed a real-time and quantifiable impairment of FRET upon EV infection. Levels of the reduced FRET closely correlated with the cleavage kinetics of the endogenous eIF4Gs isoforms. The FRET impairments were solely attributed to 2A(pro) catalytic activity, irrespective of other viral-encoded protease, the activated caspases or general inhibition of protein synthesis in the EV-infected cells. The FRET biosensors appeared to be a universal platform for several related EVs. The spatiotemporal and quantitative imaging enabled by FRET can shed light on the protease-substrate behaviors in their normal milieu, permitting investigation into the molecular mechanism underlying virus-induced host translation inhibition.

Application of fluorescence resonance energy transfer resolved by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy for the detection of enterovirus 71 infection in cells.

Timely and effective virus infection detection is critical for the clinical management and prevention of the disease spread in communities during an outbreak. A range of methods have been developed for this purpose, of which classical serological and viral nucleic acids detection are the most popular. We describe an alternative, imaging-based approach that utilizes fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) resolved by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) and demonstrate it on the example of enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection detection. A plasmid construct is developed with the sequence for GFP2 and DsRed2 fluorescent proteins, linked by a 12-amino-acid-long cleavage recognition site for the 2A protease (2A(pro)), encoded by the EV71 genome and specific for the members of Picornaviridae family. In the construct expressed in HeLa cells, the linker binds the fluorophores within the Forster distance and creates a condition for FRET to occur, thus resulting in shortening of the GFP2 fluorescence lifetime. On cells infection with EV71, viral 2A(pro) released to the cytoplasm cleaves the recognition site, causing disruption of FRET through separation of the fluorophores. Thus, increased GFP2 lifetime to the native values, manifested by the time-correlated single-photon counting, serves as an efficient and specific indicator of the EV71 virus infection.

Abdominal Obesity and Low Skeletal Muscle Mass Jointly Predict Total Mortality and Cardiovascular Mortality in an Elderly Asian Population.

BACKGROUND: We investigated the combined impact of abdominal obesity and low skeletal muscle mass on cardiovascular and total mortality in an elderly Asian population. METHODS: A total of 1,485 elderly individuals (≥65 years) from Elderly Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (1999-2000) were enrolled, and their survival status was followed using data from the National Death Registry. Skeletal muscle mass index (SMMI) was calculated by dividing skeletal muscle mass (kg) by height squared (m(2)). Low skeletal muscle mass was defined as the first quartile of SMMI. Abdominal obesity (high triglycerides plus waist circumference [HTGWC]) was defined as triglycerides ≥150mg/dL and waist circumference ≥90cm (men) and ≥80cm (women). The Cox proportional hazard model was used to evaluate the combined impact of abdominal obesity and low SMMI on cardiovascular and total mortality. RESULTS: During follow-up (median 9.2 years), one third (n = 493) of subjects died from any cause, of which 34% (n = 168) were cardiovascular-related. Total and cardiovascular mortality were 4.2 and 1.4 per 100 person-years, respectively. Low SMMI and HTGWC were independently associated with total mortality in men, but only low SMMI was significantly associated in women. Those with both HTGWC and low SMMI had the highest mortality risk, with the cardiovascular mortality risk increased by >6.8-fold and 3.2-fold in men and women, respectively, compared with controls having normal SMMI and TGWC. CONCLUSIONS: Elderly individuals with abdominal obesity and low skeletal muscle mass have higher all-cause and cardiovascular mortality risk.

In vivo dynamics of enterovirus protease revealed by fluorescence resonance emission transfer (FRET) based on a novel FRET pair.

An in vivo protease assay suitable for analysis by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) was developed on the basis of a novel FRET pair. The specifically designed fusion substrate consists of green fluorescent protein 2 (GFP2)-peptide-red fluorescent protein 2 (DsRed2), with a cleavage motif for the enterovirus 2A protease (2Apro) embedded within the peptide region. FRET can be readily visualized in real-time from cells expressing the fusion substrate until a proteolytic cleavage by 2Apro from the input virus. The level of FRET decay is a function of the amount and infection duration of the inoculated virus as measured by a fluorometer assay. The FRET biosensor also responded well to other related enteroviruses but not to a phylogenetically distant virus. Western blot analysis confirmed the physical cleavage of the fusion substrate upon the infections. The study provides proof of principle for applying the FRET technology to diagnostics, screening procedures, and cell biological research.

Selective inhibition of enterovirus 71 replication by short hairpin RNAs.

RNA interference (RNAi) is a sequence-specific, post-transcriptional process of mRNA degradation induced by small interfering RNA molecules. In this report, RNAi strategy was exploited to treat the infection of enterovirus 71 (EV71), considered as one of the most virulent pathogens that can cause severe complications in the family of Picornaviridae. We developed short hairpin RNA (shRNA) expression plasmids that significantly inhibited viral protein expression in a sequence-specific and dose-dependent fashion after transient transfection in cell cultures. Stable expression of shRNAs in cultured cells exhibited marked viral resistance in every step assessed in the viral replication. Using cytotoxicity of shRNA-expressing cells as a surrogate marker, it was shown that replication of EV71 was specifically attenuated by these plasmid-derived shRNAs, while replications of other related enteroviruses examined were not. These proof-of-concept studies demonstrated the feasibility of this approach for the therapy of EV71-associated diseases.

Infection with enterovirus 71 or expression of its 2A protease induces apoptotic cell death.

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is the causative agent of human diseases with distinct severity, from mild hand-foot-and-mouth disease to severe neurological syndromes, such as encephalitis and meningitis. Infection of several different cell lines with EV71 causes extensive cytopathic effect, leading to destruction of the entire monolayer and the death of infected cells. In this study, cell death processes during EV71 infection and the underlying mechanisms of them were investigated. The hallmarks of apoptosis, nuclear condensation and fragmentation, were observed 24 h after infection. Apoptosis in infected cells was also confirmed by detectable cleavage of cellular DNA and degradation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Transient expression of EV71 2A protease (2A(pro)) alone resulted in the induction of apoptotic change. Infection of EV71 or expression of EV71 2A(pro) leads to cleavage of the eukaryotic initiation factor 4GI, a key factor for host protein synthesis. This study added one more example to the growing list of human viruses that induce apoptosis by a virus-encoded protein.