Asperuloside Enhances Taste Perception and Prevents Weight Gain in High-Fat Fed Mice.

Asperuloside is an iridoid glycoside found in many medicinal plants that has produced promising anti-obesity results in animal models. In previous studies, three months of asperuloside administration reduced food intake, body weight, and adipose masses in rats consuming a high fat diet (HFD). However, the mechanisms by which asperuloside exerts its anti-obesity properties were not clarified. Here, we investigated homeostatic and nutrient-sensing mechanisms regulating food intake in mice consuming HFD. We confirmed the anti-obesity properties of asperuloside and, importantly, we identified some mechanisms that could be responsible for its therapeutic effect. Asperuloside reduced body weight and food intake in mice consuming HFD by 10.5 and 12.8% respectively, with no effect on mice eating a standard chow diet. Fasting glucose and plasma insulin were also significantly reduced. Mechanistically, asperuloside significantly reduced hypothalamic mRNA ghrelin, leptin, and pro-opiomelanocortin in mice consuming HFD. The expression of fat lingual receptors (CD36, FFAR1-4), CB1R and sweet lingual receptors (TAS1R2-3) was increased almost 2-fold by the administration of asperuloside. Our findings suggest that asperuloside might exert its therapeutic effects by altering nutrient-sensing receptors in the oral cavity as well as hypothalamic receptors involved in food intake when mice are exposed to obesogenic diets. This signaling pathway is known to influence the subtle hypothalamic equilibrium between energy homeostasis and reward-induced overeating responses. The present pre-clinical study demonstrated that targeting the gustatory system through asperuloside administration could represent a promising and effective new anti-obesity strategy.

Ethics of animal research in human disease remediation, its institutional teaching; and alternatives to animal experimentation.

Animals have been used in research and teaching for a long time. However, clear ethical guidelines and pertinent legislation were instated only in the past few decades, even in developed countries with Judeo-Christian ethical roots. We compactly cover the basics of animal research ethics, ethical reviewing and compliance guidelines for animal experimentation across the developed world, "our" fundamentals of institutional animal research ethics teaching, and emerging alternatives to animal research. This treatise was meticulously constructed for scientists interested/involved in animal research. Herein, we discuss key animal ethics principles - Replacement/Reduction/Refinement. Despite similar undergirding principles across developed countries, ethical reviewing and compliance guidelines for animal experimentation vary. The chronology and evolution of mandatory institutional ethical reviewing of animal experimentation (in its pioneering nations) are summarised. This is followed by a concise rendition of the fundamentals of teaching animal research ethics in institutions. With the advent of newer methodologies in human cell-culturing, novel/emerging methods aim to minimise, if not avoid the usage of animals in experimentation. Relevant to this, we discuss key extant/emerging alternatives to animal use in research; including organs on chips, human-derived three-dimensional tissue models, human blood derivates, microdosing, and computer modelling of various hues.

Cardiac-specific overexpression of the human short CLC-3 chloride channel isoform in mice.

1. ClC-3 has been proposed as a molecular candidate responsible for volume-sensitive outwardly rectifying anion channels (VSOAC) in cardiac and smooth muscle cells. To further test this hypothesis, we produced a novel line of transgenic mice with cardiac-specific overexpression of the human short ClC-3 isoform (hsClC-3). 2. Northern and western blot analyses demonstrated that mRNA and protein levels of the short isoform (sClC-3) in the heart were significantly increased in hsClC-3-overexpressing (OE) mice compared with wild-type (WT) mice. Heart weight : bodyweight ratios for OE mice were significantly smaller compared with age-matched WT mice. 3. Electrocardiogram recordings indicated no difference at rest, whereas echocardiographic recordings revealed consistent reductions in left ventricular diastolic diameter, left ventricular posterior wall thickness at end of diastole and interventricular septum thickness in diastole in OE mice. 4. The VSOAC current densities in atrial cardiomyocytes were significantly increased by ClC-3 overexpression compared with WT cells. No differences in VSOAC current properties in OE and WT atrial myocytes were observed in terms of outward rectification, anion permeability (I(-) > Cl(-) > Asp(-)) and inhibition by 4,4'-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulphonic acid and glibenclamide. The VSOAC in atrial myocytes from both groups were totally abolished by phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate (a protein kinase C activator) and by intracellular dialysis of an N-terminal anti-ClC-3 antibody. 5. Cardiac cell volume measurements revealed a significant acceleration of the rate of regulatory volume decrease (RVD) in OE myocytes compared with WT. 6. In conclusion, enhanced VSOAC currents and acceleration of the time-course of RVD in atrial myocytes of OE mice is strong evidence supporting an essential role of sClC-3 in native VSOAC function in mouse atrial myocytes.

Loss of the alpha7 integrin promotes extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation and altered vascular remodeling.

Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation and migration are underlying factors in the development and progression of cardiovascular disease. Studies have shown that altered expression of vascular integrins and extracellular matrix proteins may contribute to the vascular remodeling observed after arterial injury and during disease. We have recently shown that loss of the alpha7beta1 integrin results in VSMC hyperplasia. To investigate the cellular mechanisms underlying this phenotype, we have examined changes in cell signaling pathways associated with VSMC proliferation. Several studies have demonstrated the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway is activated in response to vascular injury and disease. In this study, we show that loss of the alpha7 integrin in VSMCs results in activation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase and translocation of the activated kinase to the nucleus. Forced expression of the alpha7 integrin or use of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1 inhibitor U0126 in alpha7 integrin-deficient VSMCs suppressed extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation and restored the differentiated phenotype to alpha7 integrin-null cells in a manner dependent on Ras signaling. Alpha7 integrin-null mice displayed profound vascular remodeling in response to injury with pronounced neointimal formation and reduced vascular compliance. These findings demonstrate that the alpha7beta1 integrin negatively regulates extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation and suggests an important role for this integrin as part of a signaling complex regulating VSMC phenotype switching.

Role for the alpha7beta1 integrin in vascular development and integrity.

The alpha7beta1 integrin is a laminin receptor that has been implicated in muscle disease and the development of neuromuscular and myotendinous junctions. Studies have shown the alpha7beta1 integrin is also expressed in nonskeletal muscle tissues. To identify the expression pattern of the alpha7 integrin in these tissues during embryonic development, alpha7 integrin chain knockout mice were generated by a LacZ knockin strategy. In these mice, expression from the alpha7 promoter is reported by beta-galactosidase. From embryonic day (ED) 11.5 to ED14.5, beta-galactosidase was detected in the developing central and peripheral nervous systems and vasculature. The loss of the alpha7 integrin gene resulted in partial embryonic lethality. Several alpha7 null embryos were identified with cerebrovascular hemorrhages and showed reduced vascular smooth muscle cells and cerebral vascularization. The alpha7 null mice that survived to birth exhibited vascular smooth muscle defects, including hyperplasia and hypertrophy. In addition, altered expression of alpha5 and alpha6B integrin chains was detected in the cerebral arteries of alpha7 null mice, which may contribute to the vascular phenotype. Our results demonstrate for the first time that the alpha7beta1 integrin is important for the recruitment or survival of cerebral vascular smooth muscle cells and that this integrin plays an important role in vascular development and integrity.

Targeted inactivation of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator chloride channel gene prevents ischemic preconditioning in isolated mouse heart.

BACKGROUND: Recent evidence suggests that chloride channels may be involved in ischemic preconditioning (IPC). In this study, we tested whether the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) chloride channels, which are expressed in the heart and activated by protein kinase A and protein kinase C, are important for IPC in isolated heart preparations from wild-type (WT) and CFTR knockout (CFTR-/-) mice. METHODS AND RESULTS: Hearts were isolated from age-matched WT or CFTR-/- (B6.129P2-Cftr(tm1Unc) and STOCKCftr(tm1Unc)-TgN 1Jaw) mice and perfused in the Langendorff or working-heart mode. All hearts were allowed to stabilize for 10 minutes before they were subjected to 30 or 45 minutes of global ischemia followed by 40 minutes of reperfusion (control group) or 3 cycles of 5 minutes of ischemia and reperfusion (IPC group) before 30 or 45 minutes of global ischemia and 40 minutes of reperfusion. Hemodynamic indices were recorded to evaluate cardiac functions. Release of creatine phosphate kinase (CPK) in the samples of coronary effluent and infarct size of the ventricles were used to estimate myocardial tissue injury. In WT adult hearts, IPC protected cardiac function during reperfusion and significantly decreased ischemia-induced CPK release and infarct size. A selective CFTR channel blocker, gemfibrozil, abrogated the protective effect of IPC. Furthermore, targeted inactivation of the CFTR gene in 2 different strains of CFTR-/- mice also prevented IPC's protection of cardiac function and myocardial injury against sustained ischemia. CONCLUSIONS: CFTR Cl- channels may serve as novel and crucial mediators in mouse heart IPC.