Role of noncoding RNAs in regulation of cardiac cell death and cardiovascular diseases

Loss of functional cardiomyocytes is a major underlying mechanism for myocardial remodeling and heart diseases, due to the limited regenerative capacity of adult myocardium. Apoptosis, programmed necrosis, and autophagy contribute to loss of cardiac myocytes that control the balance of cardiac cell death and cell survival through multiple intricate signaling pathways. In recent years, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have received much attention to uncover their roles in cell death of cardiovascular diseases, such as myocardial infarction, cardiac hypertrophy, and heart failure. In addition, based on the view that mitochondrial morphology is linked to three types of cell death, ncRNAs are able to regulate mitochondrial fission/fusion of cardiomyocytes by targeting genes involved in cell death pathways. This review focuses on recent progress regarding the complex relationship between apoptosis/necrosis/autophagy and ncRNAs in the context of myocardial cell death in response to stress. This review also provides insight into the treatment for heart diseases that will guide novel therapies in the future.     

Observations on spontaneous hemolysis in shed blood

Résumé Le traitement des érythrocytes de buf (Bos banteng), de singe (Macaca cynomologus), de cheval et de sujets humains avec du nitrite de sodium n'a pas d'influence sur la rapidité de l'hémolyse spontanée.     

GPR120: a critical role in adipogenesis,inflammation, and energy metabolism in adipose tissue

It is well known that adipose tissue has a critical role in the development of obesity and metabolic diseases and that adipose tissue acts as an endocrine organ to regulate lipid and glucose metabolism. Accumulating in the adipose tissue, fatty acids serve as a primary source of essential nutrients and act on intracellular and cell surface receptors to regulate biological events. G protein-coupled receptor 120 (GPR120) represents a promising target for the treatment of obesity-related metabolic disorders for its involvement in the regulation of adipogenesis, inflammation, glucose uptake, and insulin resistance. In this review, we summarize recent studies and advances regarding the systemic role of GPR120 in adipose tissue, including both white and brown adipocytes. We offer a new perspective by comparing the different roles in a variety of homeostatic processes from adipogenic development to adipocyte metabolism, and we also discuss the effects of natural and synthetic agonists that may be potential agents for the treatment of metabolic diseases.     

Aquaglyceroporins: implications in adipose biology and obesity

Aquaporins (AQPs) are membrane water/glycerol channels that are involved in many physiological processes. Their primary function is to facilitate the bidirectional transfer of water and small solutes across biological membranes in response to osmotic gradients. Aquaglyceroporins, a subset of the AQP family, are the only mammalian proteins with the ability to permeate glycerol. For a long time, AQP7 has been the only aquaglyceroporin associated with the adipose tissue, which is the major source of circulating glycerol in response to the energy demand. AQP7 dysregulation was positively correlated with obesity onset and adipocyte glycerol permeation through AQP7 was appointed as a novel regulator of adipocyte metabolism and whole-body fat mass. Recently, AQP3, AQP9, AQP10 and AQP11 were additionally identified in human adipocytes and proposed as additional glycerol pathways in these cells. This review contextualizes the importance of aquaglyceroporins in adipose tissue biology and highlights aquaglyceroporins’ unique structural features which are relevant for the design of effective therapeutic compounds. We also refer to the latest advances in the identification and characterization of novel aquaporin isoforms in adipose tissue. Finally, considerations on the actual progress of aquaporin research and its implications on obesity therapy are suggested.     

Pseudocholinesterase in obesity: Hypercaloric diet induced changes in experimental obese mice

Summary Pseudocholinesterase activity is significantly higher in liver and serum, but lower in adipose tissue of genetically obese, diabetic and gold thioglucose treated mice. Similar enzyme changes were also observed in lean mice on a high carbohydrate diet. A marked reduction (40%) in PChE activity occurred in the liver of genetically diabetic mice when starved for 24 h. These observations suggest that pseudocholinesterase induction in the liver and repression in the adipose tissue is affected by excessive calorie intake in obesity. This provides a model to study the biological function of PChE in health and disease.Acknowledgments. We thank Dr Charles A. Janeway Child Health Centre and Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland for financial support.     

Insect photoperiodism: various ways of regulating univoltinism in lacewings (Planipennia: Chrysopidae)

Summary Reproduction inTjederina gracilis adults depends on short-day followed by long-day conditions. InNineta pallida, development of overwintering first-instar larvae is retarded by short days; later on, that of second-and third-instar by long days.Nineta flava andChrysopa perla prepupae automatically enter diapause, but inN. flava, photoperiod regulates diapause eermination, and long days may retard egg laying     

Induction of obesity in obese-hyperglycaemic mice on normal food intake

Zusammenfassung Nachweis, dass bei einem Mäusestamm, welcher eine genetisch bedingte Fettsucht aufweist, die Fettsucht auch bei Nahrungseinschränkung auftritt, wenn diese Tiere homozygot sind, dies im Gegensatz zu heterozygoten Tieren. Daraus wird der Schluss gezogen, dass diese Fettsucht nicht primär alimentär, sondern durch einen genetischen, metabolischen Defekt bedingt ist.     

A new view on an old drug: Pilocarpine

Zusammenfassung Pilocarpin ist ein geeignetes Beispiel einer parasympathischen Substanz mit dualistischer Wirkung. Auf Grund der Variationen in der Eigenaktivität (intrinsic activity) des Pilocarpins an verschiedenen Organen und Arten tritt entweder die parasympathomimetische oder die parasympatholytische Wirkung in den Vordergrund.     

A possible genetic component of obesity in childhood. Observations on acid phosphatase polymorphism

Summary Phenotypes of acid phosphatase with low enzymatic activity (ACP₁ A and BA) are correlated with the highest degree of body mass increase observed in a sample of obese children. Since acid phosphatase probably functions as a flavin-mononucleotide phosphatase, differential modulation of flavo-enzyme activity and energy metabolism due to acid phosphatase genetic variability may explain the observed association.     

A possible genetic component of obesity in childhood. Observations on acid phosphatase polymorphism

Phenotypes of acid phosphatase with low enzymatic activity (ACP1 A and BA) are correlated with the highest degree of body mass increase observed in a sample of obese children. Since acid phosphatase probably functions as a flavin-mononucleotide phosphatase, differential modulation of flavo-enzyme activity and energy metabolism due to acid phosphatase genetic variability may explain the observed association.     

The Russell Archives: Some new light on Russell's logicism

This paper describes the materials in the Russell Archives relevant to Russell's work on logic and the foundations of mathematics, and suggests the kinds of information that may and may not be drawn about the historical development of his ideas. By way of illustration, a couple of episodes are described. The first (arts. 2–4) concerns a logical system closely related to his theory of denoting, which preceeds the system used in Principia mathematics, while the second (arts. 5) describes a delay in publishing the second volume of that work due to the discovery by Whitehead of a conceptual error.     

Lack of effect of exercise on serum cholesterol levels in two types of experimental obesity

Résumé Divers auteurs ont supposé récemment que la pratique journalière d'exercices physiques peut abaisser le taux du cholestérol du sang. Cette hypothèse a été testée chez des souris normales et chez des souris représentant deux classes d'obésité: des souris porteuses du syndrome héréditaire d'obésité-hyperglycémie (qui est accompagnée d'une hypercholestérémie génétique), représentant l'obesité «de métabolisme», et des souris rendues obèses par les lésions hypothalamiques causées par l'administration d'aurothioglucose, représentant l'obésité «de régulation». Trente jours d'exercice (une heure de course sur tapis roulant par jour) n'eurent aucun effet sur le taux du cholestérol du serum ni chez les souris normales, ni chez les deux groupes de souris obèses, et ceci en dépit du fait que la durée et l'intensité de l'exercice quotidien étaient suffisantes pour réduire de façon significative le poids des souris obèses.

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This work was supported in part by grants from the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases (grant No. A-49), National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, Bethesda; and the Fund for Research and Teaching, Department of Public Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston.     

Satellite RNA (RNA3) of tomato black ring virus is found with one of the 2 major RNAs (RNA2) in a new capsid nucleoprotein]

Tomato Black Ring Virus (TBRV) like other NEPOviruses posseses two nucleoproteins M and B and two major RNAs, RNA1 and RNA2 respectively distributed in B and M. A new nucleoprotein has just been discovered and comprises one molecule of RNA2 associated with one molecule of RNA3. RNA3 is a small RNA of molecular weight 500,000 d considered to be a satellite RNA. Its level appears to depend on the infection stage, local or systemic. RNA3 is able to modify the relative proportions of nucleoproteins M and B and their respective RNAs. The satellite RNA, might be part of the genome and represent a monocistronic mRNA for protein capsid synthesis. However it seems perhaps more tempting to correlate TBRV-RNA3 with satellite RNA5 of certain strains of Cucumber mosaic virus.