Exploring the Role of Extracellular Vesicles in Skeletal Muscle Regeneration.

Skeletal muscle regeneration entails a multifaceted process marked by distinct phases, encompassing inflammation, regeneration, and remodeling. The coordination of these phases hinges upon precise intercellular communication orchestrated by diverse cell types and signaling molecules. Recent focus has turned towards extracellular vesicles (EVs), particularly small EVs, as pivotal mediators facilitating intercellular communication throughout muscle regeneration. Notably, injured muscle provokes the release of EVs originating from myofibers and various cell types, including mesenchymal stem cells, satellite cells, and immune cells such as M2 macrophages, which exhibit anti-inflammatory and promyogenic properties. EVs harbor a specific cargo comprising functional proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids, including microRNAs (miRNAs), which intricately regulate gene expression in target cells and activate downstream pathways crucial for skeletal muscle homeostasis and repair. Furthermore, EVs foster angiogenesis, muscle reinnervation, and extracellular matrix remodeling, thereby modulating the tissue microenvironment and promoting effective tissue regeneration. This review consolidates the current understanding on EVs released by cells and damaged tissues throughout various phases of muscle regeneration with a focus on EV cargo, providing new insights on potential therapeutic interventions to mitigate muscle-related pathologies.

Prediction of carotid intima-media thickness in obese patients with low prevalence of comorbidities by serum copper bioavailability.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Western societies, with growing prevalence, suffer from various metabolic diseases like obesity and hepatic steatosis, better defined as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or cardiovascular (CV) diseases that are strictly linked to each other. The association of their occurrence with the altered homeostasis of metals is an intriguing issue. Copper in particular was identified as key player in various metabolic derangements. On these bases, we aimed at investigating the possible association of serum copper levels with an indicator of early CV risk as the intima-media thickness (IMT) of carotid artery and its predictive value in a selected population of obese patients. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study recruiting 100 obese patients characterized by a low prevalence of comorbidities. Ultrasound investigation for hepatic steatosis and IMT evaluation were performed. Serum samples were collected and then analyzed through atomic absorption spectrometry to evaluate their copper content. Possible correlations between copper bioavailability and biochemical, clinical, and anthropometric characteristics of patients were sought. RESULTS: Age negatively predicted copper serum levels of patients (P = 0.009). However, the most interesting finding is the negative prediction of IMT by the copper serum levels (t = -2.23, P = 0.028, least absolute deviations regression). Factor analysis confirmed the aforementioned inverse correlation and highlighted the strong inverse correlation between smoking and copper serum levels. CONCLUSION: Our data show that an altered copper bioavailability predicts early atherosclerosis as main CV risk in obese patients with hepatic steatosis detected by ultrasound, shedding some light in this pathological scenario.

Oleuropein Induces AMPK-Dependent Autophagy in NAFLD Mice, Regardless of the Gender.

Oleuropein (Ole) is one of the most plentiful phenolic compounds with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-atherogenic, hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects. The aim of our study was to establish whether the positive Ole-related effects on liver steatosis could be associated with autophagy. Female and male C57BL/6J mice were fed normal diet (ND) or high-fat diet (HFD) for eight weeks, and Ole was added or not for the following eight weeks. The autophagy-related proteins Akt, mTOR, AMPK, ULK1, Beclin-1, LC3B and p62/Sqstm1 were analyzed. Interestingly, Ole induced a different regulation of the Akt/mTOR pathway in female compared to male mice, but was able to activate the autophagic process in ND and HFD mice through AMPK-dependent phosphorylation of ULK1 at Ser555, regardless of the gender. Our work reveals the ability of Ole to induce, in liver of ND and HFD mice, autophagy independently by gender-specific mTOR activation. We highlight Ole as a novel therapeutic approach to counteract unhealthy diet-related liver steatosis by targeting autophagy.

Circulating Neutrophils of Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Patients Show an Activated Phenotype and Suppress T Lymphocytes Activity.

Neutrophils or PolyMorphonuclear Neutrophils (PMNs) are key effector cells of the innate immune system and thanks to their remarkable plasticity, establish a cross talk with T cells modulating their survival and effector functions. During Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), the advanced form of hepatic steatosis or NAFL, PMNs infiltrate liver tissue, becoming a histological feature of NASH. Our aim was to evaluate the frequency of PMNs in NAFL and NASH patients in order to understand how they modulate the activity of circulating CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. In our cohort of patients, NASH patients displayed a higher frequency of circulating PMNs that was strongly correlated to liver enzymes, grade of steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis, the hepatocellular ballooning, and NAFLD Activity Score (NAS). Furthermore, even if ex vivo, in both groups of patients, PMNs shared the same phenotype of resting cells, after 24 hours of coculture with autologous CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, PMNs of NASH patients acquired a more active phenotype, becoming able to strongly inhibit proliferation and activation of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. The higher ability of PMNs of NASH patients in suppressing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, over time, might contribute in reducing the immunological defense of liver tissue against damages thus taking part in the progression of the NAFL disease toward NASH.

Is copper a new target to counteract the progression of chronic diseases?

Altered regulation of copper (Cu) homeostasis may contribute to the development of many pathologies, such as metabolic, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and cancerous diseases. Cu serum concentrations are strictly related to oxidative stress. During the past decade, it has been well demonstrated that even marginal deficits of this element contribute to development and progression of a number of chronic diseases. On the other hand, an excess of Cu may become a potent oxidant causing the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and leading to the formation of macromolecules dangerous to health. In this review we will describe several chronic inflammatory diseases pathogenically related to the alteration of serum copper levels. Some considerations on present and future perspectives for use of natural antioxidants as effective drugs for the treatment of chronic diseases will be made to shed a glimmer of light on some of the mechanisms employed by natural antioxidants in controlling the distribution and concentration of biometals.

Copper/MYC/CTR1 interplay: a dangerous relationship in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Free serum copper correlates with tumor incidence and progression of human cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Copper extracellular uptake is provided by the transporter CTR1, whose expression is regulated to avoid excessive intracellular copper entry. Inadequate copper serum concentration is involved in the pathogenesis of Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), which is becoming a major cause of liver damage progression and HCC incidence. Finally, MYC is over-expressed in most of HCCs and is a critical regulator of cellular growth, tumor invasion and metastasis. The purpose of our study was to understand if higher serum copper concentrations might be involved in the progression of NAFLD-cirrhosis toward-HCC. We investigated whether high exogenous copper levels sensitize liver cells to transformation and if it exists an interplay between copper-related proteins and MYC oncogene. NAFLD-cirrhotic patients were characterized by a statistical significant enhancement of serum copper levels, even more evident in HCC patients. We demonstrated that high extracellular copper concentrations increase cell growth, migration, and invasion of liver cancer cells by modulating MYC/CTR1 axis. We highlighted that MYC binds a specific region of the CTR1 promoter, regulating its transcription. Accordingly, CTR1 and MYC proteins expression were progressively up-regulated in liver tissues from NAFLD-cirrhotic to HCC patients. This work provides novel insights on the molecular mechanisms by which copper may favor the progression from cirrhosis to cancer. The Cu/MYC/CTR1 interplay opens a window to refine HCC diagnosis and design new combined therapies.

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Nutritional Implications: Special Focus on Copper.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by excess lipids in hepatocytes, due to excessive fatty acid influx from adipose tissue, de novo hepatic lipogenesis, in addition to excessive dietary fat and carbohydrate intake. Chronic hepatic lipid overload induces mitochondrial oxidative stress and cellular damage leading the development of NAFLD into a more severe liver disease condition, non-alcoholic steato-hepatitis (NASH). In turn, this can progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Among others, copper is one of the main bio-metals required for the preponderance of the enzymes involved in physiological redox reactions, which primarily occurs during mitochondrial respiration. Thus, copper homeostasis could be considered a target point for counteracting the progression of NAFLD. Accordingly, many diseases are correlated to unbalanced copper levels and, actually, some clinical trials are examining the use of copper chelating agents. Currently, no pharmacological interventions are approved for NAFLD, but nutritional and lifestyle modifications are always recommended. Fittingly, antioxidant food agents recognized to improve NAFLD and its complications have been described in the literature to bind copper. Therefore, this review describes the role of nutrition in the development and progression of NAFLD with a particular focus on copper and copper-binding antioxidant compounds against NAFLD.

Small heterodimer partner 1 directly interacts with NS5A viral protein and has a key role in HCV related liver cell transformation.

HCV life cycle is strictly correlated with the hepatocyte lipid metabolism; moreover, the progression of HCV chronic hepatitis is accelerated by the presence of liver steatosis. Among the steatogenic genes deregulated during the HCV infection one of the most attractive is the Small Heterodimer Protein 1 (SHP1; NR0B2), that is involved in a remarkable number of metabolic functions. HCV NS5A is an essential and integral component of the HCV membranous-web replicon complex (RC) and plays an essential role to transfer the viral genome from the RCs to the surface of the lipid droplets (LDs) that, in turn, play a key function during HCV life cycle.With the help of a HCV infection model, we demonstrate a functional interaction between SHP1 and HCV NS5A protein. SHP1 silencing (siSHP1) reversed the pro-oncogenic effects of HCV infection, inducing a significant decrease in liver lipid accumulation and in NS5A protein expression. Moreover, siSHP1 causes a strong modulation of some genes involved in HCV-related EMT, such as: HNF4, a central regulators of hepatocyte differentiation, E-Cadherin, SNAILs.Our data suggest that SHP1 results not only to be strictly connected to the pathogenesis of HCV-related liver steatosis, but also to its progression towards the liver transformation.