Heme oxygenase-1 drives metaflammation and insulin resistance in mouse and man.

Obesity and diabetes affect more than half a billion individuals worldwide. Interestingly, the two conditions do not always coincide and the molecular determinants of "healthy" versus "unhealthy" obesity remain ill-defined. Chronic metabolic inflammation (metaflammation) is believed to be pivotal. Here, we tested a hypothesized anti-inflammatory role for heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in the development of metabolic disease. Surprisingly, in matched biopsies from "healthy" versus insulin-resistant obese subjects we find HO-1 to be among the strongest positive predictors of metabolic disease in humans. We find that hepatocyte and macrophage conditional HO-1 deletion in mice evokes resistance to diet-induced insulin resistance and inflammation, dramatically reducing secondary disease such as steatosis and liver toxicity. Intriguingly, cellular assays show that HO-1 defines prestimulation thresholds for inflammatory skewing and NF-κB amplification in macrophages and for insulin signaling in hepatocytes. These findings identify HO-1 inhibition as a potential therapeutic strategy for metabolic disease.

Comprehensive Profiling of Modulation of Nitric Oxide Levels and Mitochondrial Activity in the Injured Brain: An Experimental Study Based on the Fluid Percussion Injury Model in Rats.

Nitric oxide (NO) has frequently been associated with secondary damage after brain injury. However, average NO levels in different brain regions before and after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and its role in post-TBI mitochondrial dysfunction remain unclear. In this comprehensive profiling study, we demonstrate for the first time that basal NO levels vary significantly in the healthy cortex (0.44 ± 0.04 µM), hippocampus (0.26 ± 0.03 µM), and cerebellum (1.24 ± 0.08 µM). Within 4 h of severe lateral fluid percussion injury, NO levels almost doubled in these regions, thereby preserving regional differences in NO levels. TBI-induced NO generation was associated with inducible NO synthase (iNOS) increase in ipsilateral but not in contralateral regions. The transient NO increase resulted in a persistent tyrosine nitration adjacent to the injury site. Nitrosative stress-associated cell loss via apoptosis and receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 3 (RIPK3)-mediated necrosis were also observed in the ipsilateral cortex, despite high levels of NO in the contralateral cortex. NO-mediated impairment of mitochondrial state 3 respiration dependent on complex I substrates was transient and confined to the ipsilateral cortex. Our results demonstrate that NO dynamics and associated effects differ in various regions of the injured brain. A potential association between the observed mitochondrial electron flow through complex I, but not complex II, and the modulation of TBI induced NO levels in different brain regions has to be prospectively analyzed in more detail.

Hepatic Deletion of Janus Kinase 2 Counteracts Oxidative Stress in Mice.

Genetic deletion of the tyrosine kinase JAK2 or the downstream transcription factor STAT5 in liver impairs growth hormone (GH) signalling and thereby promotes fatty liver disease. Hepatic STAT5 deficiency accelerates liver tumourigenesis in presence of high GH levels. To determine whether the upstream kinase JAK2 exerts similar functions, we crossed mice harbouring a hepatocyte-specific deletion of JAK2 (JAK2Δhep) to GH transgenic mice (GHtg) and compared them to GHtgSTAT5Δhep mice. Similar to GHtgSTAT5Δhep mice, JAK2 deficiency resulted in severe steatosis in the GHtg background. However, in contrast to STAT5 deficiency, loss of JAK2 significantly delayed liver tumourigenesis. This was attributed to: (i) activation of STAT3 in STAT5-deficient mice, which was prevented by JAK2 deficiency and (ii) increased detoxification capacity of JAK2-deficient livers, which diminished oxidative damage as compared to GHtgSTAT5Δhep mice, despite equally severe steatosis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. The reduced oxidative damage in JAK2-deficient livers was linked to increased expression and activity of glutathione S-transferases (GSTs). Consistent with genetic deletion of Jak2, pharmacological inhibition and siRNA-mediated knockdown of Jak2 led to significant upregulation of Gst isoforms and to reduced hepatic oxidative DNA damage. Therefore, blocking JAK2 function increases detoxifying GSTs in hepatocytes and protects against oxidative liver damage.

Vicious inducible nitric oxide synthase-mitochondrial reactive oxygen species cycle accelerates inflammatory response and causes liver injury in rats.

AIMS: Increasing evidences suggest that, apart from activation of guanylyl cyclase, intracellular nitric oxide (NO) signaling is associated with an interaction between NO and reactive oxygen species (ROS) to modulate physiological or pathophysiological processes. The aim of this study was to understand the contribution of mitochondrial ROS (mtROS) to NO-mediated signaling in hepatocytes on inflammation. RESULTS: In rats treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), mitochondria-targeted antioxidants (mtAOX) (mitoTEMPO and SkQ1) reduced inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene expression in liver, NO levels in blood and plasma, and markers of organ damage (lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase). In cultured hepatocytes, treated with inflammatory mediators, generated ex vivo by incubation of white blood cells with LPS, we observed an increase in NO and mtROS levels. l-NG-monomethyl arginine citrate, a NOS inhibitor, decreased both NO and mtROS levels. mtAOX reduced mtROS, cytoplasmic ROS levels, and expression of iNOS and interleukin (IL)-6. These data suggest that NO, generated by iNOS, elevates mtROS, which, in turn, diffuse into the cytoplasm and upregulate iNOS and IL-6. INNOVATION: Here, for the first time, we show that intracellular signaling pathways mediated by NO and ROS are linked to each other via mtROS and form an iNOS-mtROS feed-forward loop which aggravates liver failure on acute inflammation. CONCLUSION: Our results provide a mechanistic explanation of how NO and mtROS cooperate to conduct inflammatory intracellular signals. We anticipate our results to be the missing mechanistic link between acute systemic inflammation and liver failure.

Cytogenetic and molecular analyses of multiple endocrine neoplasias of the MEN1 syndrome.

A pancreas carcinoid, an adrenocortical adenoma, three parathyroid adenomas and a parathyroid hyperplasia of 5 MEN1 patients were used for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) studies. The MEN1 gene is located in the region 11q13, approximately 30 kb distal to PGYM. Four tumors showed LOH on chromosome 11q13 (D11S11335, PGYM, D11S1883, FGF3, D11S937) however LOH was also found beyond 11q13. The pancreas carcinoid and adrenocortical adenoma, both from the same patient, showed LOH at marker 11q23.3 and 11q25. In the three parathyroid adenomas LOH was detected in five different markers: 11q21, 11q22.3, 11q23.2, 11q23.3 and 11q25. No LOH was found in parathyroid hyperplasia. CGH analysis showed in case of the pancreas carcinoid losses on chromosomes 1p, 2q, 3, 6, 9p, 11 and 12p. Gains were found at 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15q, 18, 19. The parathyroid adenoma of the third patient showed losses only on chromosome 11 in the region 11p12-p15 and 11q12-q23. Our data indicate that other genes are involved in the tumorigenesis of the MEN1 syndrome. Especially the numerous allelic losses between markers 11q23 and 11q25 (D11S938 and D11S910) are a hint for further tumor suppressor genes on chromosome 11.

Impact of mitochondria on nitrite metabolism in HL-1 cardiomyocytes.

Apart from ATP synthesis mitochondria have many other functions, one being nitrite reductase activity. Nitric oxide (NO) released from nitrite has been shown to protect the heart from ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in a cGMP-dependent manner. However, the exact impact of mitochondria on the release of NO from nitrite in cardiomyocytes is not completely understood. Besides mitochondria, a number of non-mitochondrial metalloproteins have been suggested to facilitate this process. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of mitochondria on the bioactivation of nitrite in HL-1 cardiomyocytes. The levels of nitrosyl complexes of hemoglobin (NO-Hb) and cGMP levels were measured by electron spin resonance spectroscopy and enzyme immunoassay. In addition the formation of free NO was determined by confocal microscopy as well as intracellular nitrite and S-nitrosothiols by chemoluminescence analysis. NO was released from nitrite in cell culture in an oxygen-dependent manner. Application of specific inhibitors of the respiratory chain, p450, NO synthases (NOS) and xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) showed that all four enzymatic systems are involved in the release of NO, but more than 50% of NO is released via the mitochondrial pathway. Only NO released by mitochondria activated cGMP synthesis. Cardiomyocytes co-cultured with red blood cells (RBC) competed with RBC for nitrite, but free NO was detected only in HL-1 cells suggesting that RBC are not a source of NO in this model. Apart from activation of cGMP synthesis, NO formed in HL-1 cells diffused out of the cells and formed NO-Hb complexes. In addition nitrite was converted by HL-1 cells to S-nitrosyl complexes. In HL-1 cardiomyocytes, several enzymatic systems are involved in nitrite reduction to NO but only the mitochondrial pathway of NO release activates cGMP synthesis. Our data suggest that this pathway may be a key regulator of myocardial contractility especially under hypoxic conditions.

Mapping of cellular compartments based on ultrastructural immunogold labeling.

Ultrastructural identification of subcellular morphologically inconspicuous compartments is based on detection of specific molecules or by a presence of specific functions. Such compartments are detected using antibodies with attached label, usually gold particles. However, the gold particles have a point pattern, while a compartment is a coherent area. In addition, some background labeling is always present that complicates identification of the labeled compartments. The aim of this study was therefore to develop a stereological method that would enable us to define cellular compartments based on delineating the borders of gold particle clusters, and to test the practical use of the method using biological experimental data. New computer program plug-ins were developed to facilitate the practical use of the stereological method. The kernel estimation method was successfully tested by detection of ribosomal rRNA over morphologically recognizable nucleoli. In a next step, we successfully detected individual chromosomal domains-nuclear compartments that cannot be distinguished in cell nuclei morphologically. The results show that the new stereological/image analysis method is well able to discriminate cellular compartments based on density of immunogold particles. The plug-ins were made available to scientific community at http://nucleus.biomed.cas.cz/gold.