Amyloid neurotoxicity is attenuated by metallothionein: dual mechanisms at work.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a progressive loss of memory and cognition. One of the hallmarks of AD is the accumulation of beta-amyloid (Aß). Although endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress have been implicated in Aß toxicity, the molecular mechanism(s) of Aß-induced neurotoxicity are not fully understood. In this study, we present evidence that the glia-derived stress protein metallothionein (MT) attenuates Aß-induced neurotoxicity by unique mechanisms. MT expression was increased in brain astrocytes of a NSE-APPsw transgenic mouse model of AD. Astrocyte-derived MT protected N2a neuroblastoma cells and primary cortical neurons against Aß toxicity with concurrent reduction of reactive oxygen species levels. MT reversed Aß-induced down-regulation of Bcl-2 and survival signaling in neuroblastoma cells. Moreover, MT inhibited Aß-induced proinflammatory cytokine production from microglia. The neurotoxicity of Aß-stimulated microglia was significantly attenuated by MT-I. The results indicate that MT released from reactive astrocytes may antagonize Aß neurotoxicity by direct inhibition of Aß neurotoxicity and indirect suppression of neurotoxic microglial activation. These findings broaden the understanding of neurotoxic mechanisms of Aß and the crosstalk between Aß and MT in AD.

Panel of candidate biomarkers for renal cell carcinoma.

The timely diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of human renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is limited by the lack of specific biomarkers. To identify candidate RCC biomarkers, we used 2-DE gel electrophoresis with mass spectrometry and 2-DE spot intensity-based ROC analysis to analyze 18 sets of paired normal and RCC tumor tissue including conventional, papillary, and chromophobe subtypes. Validation was performed with RCC patient plasma samples and confirmed by clustergram, shRNA, and immunohistochemistry assays. Cardinal candidates were evaluated by ELISA. The leading candidate biomarker that was upregulated in RCC samples according to the clustergram and validation analysis was nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT) (13/15, P < 0.0001). Other upregulated candidate biomarkers that were identified by this method include ferritin, hNSE, NM23, secretagogin, and L-plastin. The upregulation of NNMT in RCC was confirmed by immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. Analysis of fractionated membrane-associated proteins identified CAP-G, mitofillin, tubulin alpha, RBBP7, and HSP27. Of these, RBBP7 and HSP27 were highly expressed in the chromophobe subtype of RCC (3/3) but were absent from conventional RCC (0/3). The triple combination of the NNMT, FTL, and hNSE biomarkers had the highest predictive capacity of 0.993, while NNMT was the single, most powerful candidate diagnostic biomarker for all types of RCC.