RESUMO
In black porgy (Acanthopagrus schlegelii), the brain-pituitary-testis (Gnrh-Gths-Dmrt1) axis plays a vital role in male fate determination and maintenance, and then inhibiting female development in further (puberty). However, the feedback of gonadal hormones on regulating brain signaling remains unclear. In this study, we conducted short-term sex steroid treatment and surgery of gonadectomy to evaluate the feedback regulation between the gonads and the brain. The qPCR results show that male phase had the highest gths transcripts; treatment with estradiol-17ß (E2) or 17α-methyltestosterone (MT) resulted in the increased pituitary lhb transcripts. After surgery, apart from gnrh1, there is no difference in brain signaling genes between gonadectomy and sham fish. In the diencephalon/mesencephalon transcriptome, de novo assembly generated 283,528 unigenes; however, only 443 (0.16%) genes showed differentially expressed between sham and gonadectomy fish. In the present study, we found that exogenous sex steroids affect the gths transcription; this feedback control is related to the gonadal stage. Furthermore, gonadectomy may not affect gene expression of brain signaling (Gnrh-Gths axis). Our results support the communication between ovotestis and brain signaling (Gnrh-Gths-testicular Dmrt1) for the male fate.
Assuntos
Perciformes , Processos de Determinação Sexual , Animais , Feminino , Masculino , Maturidade Sexual , Gônadas/metabolismo , Perciformes/metabolismo , Hormônio Liberador de Gonadotropina/genética , Hormônio Liberador de Gonadotropina/metabolismo , Estradiol/farmacologia , Estradiol/metabolismo , Peixes/metabolismo , Hormônios Esteroides Gonadais/metabolismo , Encéfalo/metabolismo , Expressão GênicaRESUMO
Targeting ferritin via autophagy (ferritinophagy) to induce ferroptosis, an iron- and reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent cell death, provides novel strategies for cancer therapy. Using a ferroptosis-specific inhibitor and iron chelator, the vulnerability of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) MDA-MB-231 cells to ferroptosis was identified and compared to that of luminal A MCF-7 cells. Saponin formosanin C (FC) was revealed as a potent ferroptosis inducer characterized by superior induction in cytosolic and lipid ROS formation as well as GPX4 depletion in MDA-MB-231 cells. The FC-induced ferroptosis was paralleled by downregulation of ferroportin and xCT expressions. Immunoprecipitation and electron microscopy demonstrated the involvement of ferritinophagy in FC-treated MDA-MB-231 cells. The association of FC with ferroptosis was strengthened by the results that observed an enriched pathway with differentially expressed genes from FC-treated cells. FC sensitized cisplatin-induced ferroptosis in MDA-MB-231 cells. Through integrated analysis of differentially expressed genes and pathways using the METABRIC patients' database, we confirmed that autophagy and ferroptosis were discrepant between TNBC and luminal A and that TNBC was hypersensitive to ferroptosis. Our data suggest a therapeutic strategy by ferroptosis against TNBC, an aggressive subtype with a poor prognosis.
RESUMO
This study explored the effects of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) on the testicular functions of male mice exposed to cigarette smoke. Eight-week-old BALB/c male mice were divided into the following groups: the AV group (air with a vehicle), the AQ group (air with CoQ10), the SV group (smoke with a vehicle), and the SQ group (smoke with CoQ10). The results showed that the CoQ10 concentrations in the sera and testes were decreased in the groups subjected to smoke but they were improved after the administration of CoQ10. Neither smoke nor CoQ10 supplementation affected the serum or testis testosterone concentrations. Regarding the antioxidant system in the testis, the exposure to smoke induced malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide production and decreased the catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities. Oral CoQ10 administration reversed the oxidative damage. In apoptosis, the cytochrome c, c-caspase 9, and c-caspase 3 proteins were increased in the groups exposed to smoke but they were decreased after the CoQ10 administration. In mitochondrial biogenesis, smoke exposure led to decreases in the PGC1-α, NRF1, and NRF2 levels, but CoQ10 increased the expressions of these proteins. Additionally, oral CoQ10 administration improved the mitochondrial copy numbers that were reduced following the exposure to smoke. In summary, CoQ10 administration reduces smoke-induced testicular damage by regulating the antioxidant capacity, the cell apoptosis, the mitochondrial biogenesis, and the copy numbers in the testes.
RESUMO
Curcumin, a major yellow pigment and spice in turmeric and curry, has been demonstrated to have an anticancer effect in human clinical trials. Mutation of KRAS has been shown in 35%-45% of colorectal cancer, and regorafenib has been approved by the US FDA to treat patients with colorectal cancer. Synthetic lethality is a type of genetic interaction between two genes such that simultaneous perturbations of the two genes result in cell death or a dramatic decrease of cell viability, while a perturbation of either gene alone is not lethal. Here, we reveal that curcumin significantly enhanced the growth inhibition of regorafenib in human colorectal cancer HCT 116 cells (KRAS mutant) to a greater extent than in human colorectal cancer HT-29 cells (KRAS wild-type), producing an additive or synergistic effect in HCT 116 cells and causing an antagonistic effect in HT-29 cells. Flow cytometric analysis showed that the addition of curcumin elevated apoptosis and greatly increased autophagy in HCT 116 cells but not in HT-29 cells. Mechanistically, curcumin behaved like MEK-specific inhibitor (U0126) to enhance regorafenib-induced growth inhibition, apoptosis and autophagy in HCT 116 cells. Our data suggest that curcumin may target one more gene other than mutant KRAS to enhance regorafenib-induced growth inhibition (synthetic lethality) in colorectal cancer HCT 116 cells, indicating a possible role of curcumin in regorafenib-treated KRAS mutant colorectal cancer.
Assuntos
Protocolos de Quimioterapia Combinada Antineoplásica/farmacologia , Neoplasias Colorretais/tratamento farmacológico , Curcumina/farmacologia , MAP Quinase Quinase Quinases/antagonistas & inibidores , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas p21(ras)/genética , Apoptose/efeitos dos fármacos , Apoptose/genética , Butadienos/farmacologia , Neoplasias Colorretais/genética , Curcumina/administração & dosagem , Regulação Neoplásica da Expressão Gênica/efeitos dos fármacos , Células HCT116 , Células HT29 , Humanos , Mutação , Nitrilas/farmacologia , Compostos de Fenilureia/administração & dosagem , Inibidores de Proteínas Quinases/farmacologia , Piridinas/administração & dosagemRESUMO
Donors of nitroxyl (HNO) have shown promise for treatment of stroke, heart failure, alcoholism and cancer. However, comparing the pharmacological capacities of various donors is difficult without first quantifying the amount of HNO released from each donor. Detection and quantitation of HNO has been complicated by the rapid self-consumption of HNO through irreversible dimerization, poor selectivity of trapping agents against other nitrogen oxides, and/or low sensitivity towards HNO. Here, an assay is described for the trapping of HNO by glutathione (GSH) followed by labeling of GSH with the fluorogenic agent, naphthalene-2,3-dicarboxaldehyde (NDA), and subsequent quantitation by fluorescence difference. The newly developed assay was used to validate the pH-dependence of HNO release from isopropylamine NONOate (IPA/NO), which is a dual donor of HNO and NO at physiological pH. Furthermore, varied assay conditions were utilized to suggest the ratios of the products of the reaction of GSH with HNO. At intracellular concentrations of GSH, the disulfide (GSSG) was the major product, but significant concentrations of glutathione sulfinamide (GS(O)NH2) were also detected. This suggests that GS(O)NH2, which is a selective biomarker of HNO, may be produced in concentrations that are amenable to in vivo analysis.