Chronic lactate exposure promotes cardiomyocyte cytoskeleton remodelling.

We investigated the effect of growing on lactate instead of glucose in human cardiomyocyte assessing their viability, cell cycle activity, oxidative stress and metabolism by a proteomic and metabolomic approach. In previous studies performed on elite players, we found that adaptation to exercise is characterized by a chronic high plasma level of lactate. Lactate is considered not only an energy source but also a signalling molecule and is referred as "lactormone"; heart is one of the major recipients of exogenous lactate. With this in mind, we used a cardiac cell line AC16 to characterize the lactate metabolic profile and investigate the metabolic flexibility of the heart. Interestingly, our data indicated that cardiomyocytes grown on lactate (72 h) show change in several proteins and metabolites linked to cell hypertrophy and cytoskeleton remodelling. The obtained results could help to understand the effect of this metabolite on heart of high-performance athletes.

Chronic Training Induces Metabolic and Proteomic Response in Male and Female Basketball Players: Salivary Modifications during In-Season Training Programs.

The aim of this study was to characterize the salivary proteome and metabolome of highly trained female and male young basketball players, highlighting common and different traits. A total of 20 male and female basketball players (10 female and 10 male) and 20 sedentary control subjects (10 female and 10 male) were included in the study. The athletes exercised at least five times per week for 2 h per day. Saliva samples were collected mid-season, between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. and away from sport competition. The proteome and metabolome were analyzed by using 2DE and GC-MS techniques, respectively. A computerized 2DE gel image analysis revealed 43 spots that varied in intensity among groups. Between these spots, 10 (23.2%) were differentially expressed among male athletes and controls, 22 (51.2%) between female basketball players and controls, 11 spots (25.6%) between male and female athletes, and 13 spots (30.2%) between male and female controls. Among the proteins identified were Immunoglobulin, Alpha-Amylase, and Dermcidin, which are inflammation-related proteins. In addition, several amino acids, such as glutamic acid, lysine, ornithine, glycine, tyrosine, threonine, and valine, were increased in trained athletes. In this study, we highlight that saliva is a useful biofluid to assess athlete performance and confirm that the adaptation of men and women to exercise has some common features, but also some different sex-specific behaviors, including differential amino acid utilization and expression of inflammation-related proteins, which need to be further investigated. Moreover, in the future, it will be interesting to examine the influence of sport-type on these differences.

Preliminary results indicate that regular training induces high protection against oxidative stress in basketball players compared to soccer.

In elite athlete several metabolic changes occur during regular training. These modifications are associated with changes in blood metabolic profile and can lead to adaptive mechanisms aimed at establish a new dynamic equilibrium, which guarantees better performance. The goal of this study was to characterize the plasma metabolic profile and redox homeostasis, in athletes practicing two different team sports such as soccer and basketball in order to identify potential metabolic pathways underlying the differences in training programs. A cohort of 30 male, 20 professional players (10 soccer and 10 basketballs) and 10 sedentary males as control were enrolled in the study. Plasma redox balance, metabolites and adiponectin were determined. The results show low levels of oxidative species (25.5%), with both high antioxidant capacity (17.6%) and adiponectin level (64.4%) in plasma from basketball players, in comparison to soccer players. Metabolic analysis indicates in basketball players a significant high plasma level of amino acids Valine and Ornithine both involved in redox homeostasis and anti-inflammatory metabolism.

Redox Homeostasis and Metabolic Profile in Young Female Basketball Players during in-Season Training.

BACKGROUND: Most studies on oxidative stress markers and antioxidant levels have been conducted in male athletes, although female participation in sport has increased rapidly in the past few decades. In particular, it could be important to assess oxidative stress markers in relation to the training load because the anaerobic path becomes predominant in high-intensity actions. METHODS: Ten female professional basketball players, performing five 2 h-lasting training sessions per week, and 10 sedentary control women were investigated. Capillary blood and saliva samples were collected in the morning before the training session. The antioxidant capacity and the levels of reactive oxygen metabolites on plasma were determined measuring Reactive Oxygen Metabolite and Biological Antioxidant Potential (d-ROMs and the BAP Test). Salivary cortisol was detected by using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. RESULTS: The antioxidant capacity (BAP value) was significantly higher in elite basketball players (21.2%; p < 0.05). Conversely, cortisol (51%; p < 0.009) and the levels of oxidative species (d-ROM, 21.9%; p < 0.05) showed a significant decrease in elite athletes.

Anti-inflammatory properties of the marine plant Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile is an endemic seagrass of the Mediterranean Sea whose use has been documented as a traditional herbal remedy for diabetes and hypertension. Our recently described Posidonia oceanica leaves extract is a phytocomplex endowed with interesting bioactivities, including the inibitory property on human cancer cell migration. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of P. oceanica extract underlying its mechanism of action. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We explored the anti-inflammatory effects of P. oceanica extract on RAW264.7 murine macrophages activated by LPS. We investigated the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) production and the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Then, we examined P. oceanica extract role on the regulation of NF-κB signaling pathway. RESULTS: P. oceanica phytocomplex exhibited a strong ability to inhibit oxidative stress by affecting the production of both ROS and NO and to reduce iNOS and COX-2 levels. In addition, it was evidenced its anti-inflammatory role via inhibiting NF-κB signaling pathway through modulation of ERK1/2 and Akt intracellular cascades. CONCLUSIONS: Our results recognize an anti-inflammatory role of P. oceanica phytocomplex particularly emphasizing its cell safe mechanism of action. In conclusion, the marine plant P. oceanica may be of great interest for scientific research as a source of promising molecules for designing alternative strategies to the conventional treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Oxidative stress in exercise training: the involvement of inflammation and peripheral signals.

The evidence about the health benefits of regular physical activity is well established. Exercise intensity is a significant variable and structured high-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been demonstrated to improve both whole-body and skeletal muscle metabolic health in different populations. Conversely, fatigue accumulation, if not resolved, leads to overwork, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), overtraining syndrome up to alterations of endocrine function, immune, systemic inflammation, and organic diseases with health threat. In response to temporary increases in stress during training, some athletes are unable to maintain sufficient caloric intake, thus suffering a negative energy balance that causes further stress. The regulation of the energy balance is controlled by the central nervous system through an elaborate interaction of the signalling that involves different tissues such as leptin, adiponectin and ghrelin whose provide important feedback to the hypothalamus to regulate the energy balance. Although exercise-induced reactive oxygen species are required for normal force production in muscle, high levels of ROS appear to promote contractile dysfunction. However, a high level of oxidative stress in may induce a rise in inflammatory markers and a disregulation in expression of adiponectin, leptin and grelin.

LMW-PTP modulates glucose metabolism in cancer cells.

BACKGROUND: Low Molecular Weight Phosphotyrosine Protein Phosphatase (LMW-PTP) is an enzyme involved not only in tumor onset and progression but also in type 2 diabetes. A recent review shows that LMW-PTP acts on several RTK (receptor tyrosine kinase) such as PDGFR, EGFR, EphA2, Insulin receptor. It is well described also its interaction with cSrc. It is noteworthy that most of these conclusions are based on the use of cell lines expressing low levels of LMW-PTP. The aim of the present study was to discover new LMW-PTP substrates in aggressive human tumors where the over-expression of this phosphatase is a common feature. METHODS: We investigated, by proteomic analysis, the protein phosphorylation pattern of A375 human melanoma cells silenced for LMW-PTP. Two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) analysis, followed by western blot was performed using anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies, in order to identify differentially phosphorylated proteins. RESULTS: Proteomic analysis pointed out that most of the identified proteins belong to the glycolytic metabolism, such as α-enolase, pyruvate kinase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and triosephosphate isomerase, suggesting an involvement of LMW-PTP in glucose metabolism. Assessment of lactate production and oxygen consumption demonstrated that LMW-PTP silencing enhances glycolytic flux and slow down the oxidative metabolism. In particular, LMW-PTP expression affects PKM2 tyrosine-phosphorylation and nuclear localization, modulating its activity. CONCLUSION: All these findings propose that tumor cells are subjected to metabolic reprogramming after LMW-PTP silencing, enhancing glycolytic flux, probably to compensate the inhibition of mitochondrial metabolism. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: Our results highlight the involvement of LMW-PTP in regulating glucose metabolism in A375 melanoma cells.

Targeting LMW-PTP to sensitize melanoma cancer cells toward chemo- and radiotherapy.

Tumor resistance to apoptosis is one the main causes of anticancer treatment failure. Previous studies showed that LMW-PTP overexpression enhances resistance of cancer cells to traditional anticancer drugs. Today, the role of LMW-PTP in inducing resistance to apoptosis in melanoma cells remains to be elucidated. Experimental setting include MTT assay, Annexin V/Pi method, and colony assay to assess whether silencing of LMW-PTP improves the sensitivity of A375 to dacarbazine, 5-FU, and radiotherapy. Pharmacological targeting of LMW-PTP was obtained using Morin, a LMW-PTP inhibitor. The ability of Morin to improve the effectiveness of anticancer drugs and radiotherapy was also studied. Moreover, PC3 cells were used as an alternative cellular model to confirm the data obtained with melanoma cells. We found that LMW-PTP silencing improves the effectiveness of dacarbazine, 5-FU, and radiotherapy. Identical results were obtained in vivo when Morin was used to target LMW-PTP. We demonstrated that Morin synergizes with dacarbazine, improving its cytotoxic activity. However, we showed that the combined treatment, Morin-anticancer drug, does not affect the viability of noncancerous cells. Knockdown of LMW-PTP sensitizes also PC3 cells to docetaxel and radiotherapy. In conclusion, we showed that LMW-PTP targeting improves effectiveness of anticancer drugs used for treatment of melanoma. Moreover, our results suggest that Morin could be used as adjuvant to improve the outcome of patients affected by metastatic melanoma.

A proteomic approach to identify plasma proteins in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Our aim was to identify the key proteins involved in the pathogenesis of AAAs. To explore the possible pathogenetic mechanisms involved in AAA, we analyzed by proteomics modifications in plasma proteome of patients with AAA. Therefore, the present study analyzed the soluble plasma proteins using two dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and mass spectrometry (MS). We identified 33 protein spots, 31 of which show an up-regulation in AAA patients whilst the expression level of 2 protein spots is reduced. We confirm a number of biomarkers associated with AAA that have been previously identified by various authors. We identified a significant increase of a class of proteins such as fibrinogen, α1-antitrypsin and haptoglobin in plasma from AAA patients. The presence of these proteins in human AAA plasma may be related to the inflammatory processes active in these subjects. We have seen a negative correlation between the vitamin D-binding protein (DBP) and hemoglobin subunit ß and AAA presence. DBP levels have been found to increase in AAA wall tissues by others and this discrepancy with our results could be due to the different analysis source. We wanted to analyze the factors measurable in plasma-associated rather than in tissue-associated markers because the application of circulating biomarkers in diagnostic laboratories would be relatively simple. DBP is very important for vascular remodelling and it may have an important role in the protection of vascular walls. In plasma tissue this protein reduces platelet aggregation and extends coagulation time. No one protein identified in this study has the biologic plausibility to be used singularly as a biomarker of aneurysmal disease due to inadequate specificity. The effect of using multiple biomarkers combined with clinical factors requires investigation in carefully designed population-based studies and these studies need to select the criteria of choice to define healthy controls very carefully. Clearer identification of various markers is needed, possibly using other proteomic techniques to screen for new candidates such as gel-free proteomic technology that enables us to handle larger groups of subject compared to gel-based proteomic technology.

Plasma protein carbonylation and physical exercise.

Regular physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease, as it probably modifies the balance between free-radical generation and antioxidant activity. On the other hand, however, acute physical activity increases oxygen uptake and leads to a temporary imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) and their disposal: this phenomenon is called oxidative stress. Proteins are one of the most important oxidation targets during physical exercise and carbonylation is one of the most common oxidative protein modifications. In cells there is a physiological level of oxidized proteins that doesn't interfere with cell function; however, an increase in oxidized protein levels may cause a series of cellular malfunctions that could lead to a disease state. For this reason the quantification of protein oxidation is important to distinguish a healthy state from a disease state. Several studies have demonstrated an increase of carbonylated plasma proteins in athletes after exercise, but none have identified targets of this oxidation. Recently a process of protein decarbonylation has been discovered, this may indicate that carbonylation could be involved in signal transduction. The aim of our research was to characterize plasma protein carbonylation in response to physical exercise in trained male endurance athletes. We analyzed by proteomic approach their plasma proteins at resting condition and after two different kinds of physical exercise (PE). We used 2D-GE followed by western blot with specific antibodies against carbonylated proteins. The 2D analysis identified Haptoglobin as potential protein target of carbonylation after PE. We also identified Serotransferrin and Fibrinogen whose carbonylation is reduced after exercise. These methods have allowed us to obtain an overview of plasma protein oxidation after physical exercise.

The expression of low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatase is up-regulated in 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-induced colon tumours in rats.

Recent studies have assessed the role of low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatase (LMW-PTP) in cell transformation and tumour onset and progression, observing a significant increase in the expression of LMW-PTP mRNA and protein in human breast, colon, bladder and kidney tumour samples. Moreover, its enhanced expression is generally prognostic of a more aggressive cancer. To better understand the role of this protein during colon carcinogenesis and to study whether its overexpression is also observed in earlier phases of carcinogenesis, we studied its expression in colon tumours, induced in rats by treatment with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH), an animal model that resemble the sequential formation of histopathological lesions of spontaneous carcinogenesis in humans. The results show a significant increase in LMW-PTP expression in adenocarcinomas, suggesting that this phenomenon is associated with the onset of malignancy. Moreover a significant overexpression of LMW-PTP transcript is associated with tumours originating in the proximal (right) part of the colon, confirming an observation already reported for human colon cancer.

Up-regulated expression of low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatases in different human cancers.

Protein tyrosine phosphorylation, mediated by the balanced action of tyrosine kinases and phosphatases, contributes to the regulation of the growth, migration, and invasion of normal and malignant cells. Among tyrosine phosphatases, low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatases (LMW-PTP) have been recognized as a possible "positive factor" in tumour onset and progression. The aim of this work was to assess whether LMW-PTP are differentially expressed in normal and malignant tissues. Using real-time PCR analysis we evaluated the expression levels of total LMW-PTP mRNA in surgical samples of breast, colon and lung cancers (63, 60, and 58, respectively), and in their paired adjacent not affected tissues. Moreover, the same analysis was carried out on a group of neuroblastomas (25 cases). Significant correlations between LMW-PTP overexpression and the most common clinical-pathological features of cancers exist. In colon cancer and neuroblastoma increased total LMW-PTP mRNA expression correlates with unfavourable outcome. While LMW-PTP mRNA expression increases in tumour samples, the relative contribution of the different isoforms does not change. Our findings indicate that LMW-PTP can be considered an oncogene as it is overexpressed in different tumour types and suggests that LMW-PTP enhanced expression is generally prognostic for a more aggressive cancer.

ACYP1 gene possesses two alternative splicing forms that induce apoptosis.

In human cell lines two products of the ACYP1 gene were detected by RT-PCR. In addition to the expected amplicon corresponding to the CT form of acylphosphatase (320 bp) a second unexpected one (400 bp) was characterized as the result of an alternative splicing in which an extra 79 bp long exon is inserted between the two known exons. This new product, indicated as CTsv, was cloned and expressed. We performed the ectopic expression of the two alternative splicing forms. Both CT and CTsv products were able to induce a proapoptotic effect when expressed in HeLa cell line, despite the fact that the CTsv protein did not show any acylphosphatase activity.

Characterization of a novel Drosophila melanogaster acylphosphatase.

Analysis of the Drosophila melanogaster EST database led to the characterization of a novel acylphosphatase (AcPDro2). This is coded by the CG18505 (Acyp2) gene and is clearly distinct from a previously described AcPDro coded by the CG16870 (Acyp) gene from D. melanogaster. The two proteins show a 60% homology with both vertebrate isoenzymes. All the residues involved in the catalytic mechanism are conserved. AcPDro2 is a stable enzyme with a correct globular folded structure. Its activity on benzoylphosphate shows higher K(cat) but lower K(m) with respect to AcPDro. It is possible that AcPDro and AcPDro2 genes are not the direct ancestor of MT and CT vertebrate isoenzymes.