Circadian-Hypoxia Link and its Potential for Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease
CURRENT PHARMACEUTICAL DESIGN
Authors: Bartman, Colleen Marie; Eekle, Tobias
Abstract
Throughout the evolutionary time, all organisms and species on Earth evolved with an adaptation to consistent oscillations of sunlight and darkness, now recognized as 'circadian rhythm.' Single-cellular to multisystem organisms use circadian biology to synchronize to the external environment and provide predictive adaptation to changes in cellular homeostasis. Dysregulation of circadian biology has been implicated in numerous prevalent human diseases, and subsequently targeting the circadian machinery may provide innovative preventative or treatment strategies. Discovery of 'peripheral circadian clocks' unleashed widespread investigations into the potential roles of clock biology in cellular, tissue, and organ function in healthy and diseased states. Particularly, oxygen-sensing pathways (e.g. hypoxia inducible factor, HIF1), are critical for adaptation to changes in oxygen availability in diseases such as myocardial ischemia. Recent investigations have identified a connection between the circadian rhythm protein Period 2 (PER2) and HIF1 A that may elucidate an evolutionarily conserved cellular network that can be targeted to manipulate metabolic function in stressed conditions like hypoxia or ischemia. Understanding the link between circadian and hypoxia pathways may provide insights and subsequent innovative therapeutic strategies for patients with myocardial ischemia. This review addresses our current understanding of the connection between light-sensing pathways (PER2), and oxygen-sensing pathways (HIF1A), in the context of myocardial ischemia and lays the groundwork for future studies to take advantage of these two evolutionarily conserved pathways in the treatment of myocardial ischemia.
MiR-125b Loss Activated HIF1 alpha/pAKT Loop, Leading to Transarterial Chemoembolization Resistance in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
HEPATOLOGY
Authors: Wei, Xiyang; Zhao, Lei; Ren, Ruizhe; Ji, Fubo; Xue, Shuting; Zhang, Jianjuan; Liu, Zhaogang; Ma, Zhao; Wang, Xin W.; Wong, Linda; Liu, Niya; Shi, Jiong; Guo, Xing; Roessler, Stephanie; Zheng, Xin; Ji, Junfang
Abstract
Background and Aims Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is a standard locoregional therapy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with a variable overall response in efficacy. We aimed to identify key molecular signatures and related pathways leading to HCC resistance to TACE, with the hope of developing effective approaches in preselecting patients with survival benefit from TACE. Approach and Results Four independent HCC cohorts with 680 patients were used. MicroRNA (miRNA) transcriptome analysis in patients with HCC revealed a 41-miRNA signature related to HCC recurrence after adjuvant TACE, and miR-125b was the top reduced miRNA in patients with HCC recurrence. Consistently, patients with HCC with low miR-125b expression in tumor had significantly shorter time to recurrence following adjuvant TACE in two independent cohorts. Loss of miR-125b in HCC noticeably activated the hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha subunit (HIF1 alpha)/pAKT loop in vitro and in vivo. miR-125b directly attenuated HIF1 alpha translation through binding to HIF1A internal ribosome entry site region and targeting YB-1, and blocked an autocrine HIF1 alpha/platelet-derived growth factor beta (PDGF beta)/pAKT/HIF1 alpha loop of HIF1 alpha translation by targeting the PDGF beta receptor. The miR-125b-loss/HIF1 alpha axis induced the expression of CD24 and erythropoietin (EPO) and enriched a TACE-resistant CD24-positive cancer stem cell population. Consistently, patients with high CD24 or EPO in HCC had poor prognosis following adjuvant TACE therapy. Additionally, in patients with HCC having TACE as their first-line therapy, high EPO in blood before TACE was also noticeably related to poor response to TACE. Conclusions MiR-125b loss activated the HIF1 alpha/pAKT loop, contributing to HCC resistance to TACE and the key nodes in this axis hold the potential in assisting patients with HCC to choose TACE therapy.