Therapeutic effect of dichloroacetate against atherosclerosis via hepatic FGF21 induction mediated by acute AMPK activation
EXPERIMENTAL AND MOLECULAR MEDICINE
Authors: Min, Byong-Keol; Oh, Chang Joo; Park, Sungmi; Lee, Ji-Min; Go, Younghoon; Park, Bo-Yoon; Kang, Hyeon-Ji; Kim, Dong Wook; Kim, Jeong-Eun; Yoo, Eun Kyung; Kim, Hui Eon; Kim, Mi-Jin; Jeon, Yong Hyun; Kim, Yong-Hoon; Lee, Chul-Ho; Jeon, Jae-Han; Lee, In-Kyu
Abstract
Dyslipidemia-induced atherosclerosis, which has a risk of high morbidity and mortality, can be alleviated by metabolic activation associated with mitochondrial function. The effect of dichloroacetate (DCA), a general pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK) inhibitor, on in vivo energy expenditure in ApoE(-/-) mice fed a western diet (WD) has not yet been investigated. WD-fed ApoE(-/-) mice developed atherosclerotic plaques and hyperlipidemia along with obesity, which were significantly ameliorated by DCA administration. Increased oxygen consumption was associated with heat production in the DCA-treated group, with no change in food intake or physical activity compared with those of the control. These processes were correlated with the increased gene expression of Dio2 and Ucp-1, which represents brown adipose tissue (BAT) activation, in both WD-induced atherosclerosis and high-fat-induced obesity models. In addition, we found that DCA stimulated hepatic fibroblast growth factor 21 (Fgf27) mRNA expression, which might be important for lowering lipid levels and insulin sensitization via BAT activation, in a dose- and time-dependent manner associated with serum FGF21 levels. Interestingly, Fgf27 mRNA expression was mediated in an AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-dependent manner within several minutes after DCA treatment independent of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARa). Taken together, the results suggest that enhanced glucose oxidation by DCA protects against atherosclerosis by inducing hepatic FGF21 expression and BAT activation, resulting in augmented energy expenditure for heat generation.
Evaluation of MiR-1908-3p as a novel serum biomarker for breast cancer and analysis its oncogenic function and target genes
BMC CANCER
Authors: Zhu, Youzhi; Wang, Qingshui; Xia, Yun; Xiong, Xiaoxue; Weng, Shuyun; Ni, Huizhen; Ye, Yan; Chen, Ling; Lin, Junyu; Chen, Yajuan; Niu, Haitao; Chen, Xiangjin; Lin, Yao
Abstract
BackgroundBreast cancer is one of the most common tumors for women globally. Various miRNAs have been reported to play a crucial role in breast cancer, however the clinical significance of miR-1908-3p in breast cancer remains unclear. The present study aimed to explore the role of miR-1908-3p in breast cancer.MethodsThe expression of miR-1908-3p was detected in 50 pairs of breast cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues, 60 breast cancer patient serum and 60 healthy volunteer serum. The functional roles of miR-1908-3p in breast cancer cells such as proliferation, migration and invasion were evaluated using CCK8, SRB, wound healing and transwell chambers. In addition, bioinformatics tools were used to identify potential targets of miR-1908-3p.ResultsThe results showed that the expression of miR-1908-3p were increased in breast cancer tissues and serum compared with normal breast tissues and serum of healthy volunteers respectively. Furthermore, the young breast cancer patients and HER2-positive patients had a higher level of tissues' miR-1908-3p than elder breast cancer patients and HER2-negative patients, respectively. The young breast cancer patients had a higher level of serum miR-1908-3p than elder breast cancer patients, ROC analysis suggested that miR-1908-3p had the potential as a promising serum diagnostic biomarker of breast cancer. Up-regulation of miR-1908-3p promoted the cells proliferation, migration and invasion while knockdown of miR-1908-3p inhibited these processes in breast cancer cell MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231. The potential target genes of miR-1908-3p in breast cancer included ID4, LTBP4, GPM6B, RGMA, EFCAB1, ALX4, OSR1 and PPARA. Higher expression of these eight genes correlated with a better prognosis for breast cancer patients.ConclusionsThese results suggest that miR-1908-3p may exert its oncogenic functions via suppression of these eight genes in breast cancer.