Methylene blue (MB), as the first fully man-made medicine, has a wide range of clinical applications. Apart from its well-known applications in surgical staining, malaria, and methemoglobinemia, the anti-oxidative properties of MB recently brought new attention to this century-old drug. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been observed in systematic aging that affects many different tissues, including the brain and skin. This leads to increaseding oxidative stress and results in downstream phenotypes under age-related conditions. MB can bypass Complex I/III activity in mitochondria and diminish oxidative stress to some degree. This review summarizes the recent studies on the applications of MB in treating age-related conditions, including neurodegeneration, memory loss, skin aging, and a premature aging disease, progeria.
Nucleotide excision repair (NER) plays a vital role in platinum-induced DNA damage during chemotherapy. We hypothesize that regulatory single nucleotide polymorphisms (rSNPs) of the core NER genes modulate clinical outcome of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with platinum-based chemotherapy (PBS). We investigated associations of 25 rSNPs in eight NER genes with progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in 710 NSCLC patients. We found that ERCC1 rs3212924 AG/GG and XPC rs2229090 GC/CC genotypes were associated with patients’ PFS (HRadj = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.03–1.43, P
adj = 0.021 for ERCC1 and HRadj = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.68–0.94, P
adj = 0.007 for XPC), compared with the AA and GG genotypes, respectively. The association of XPC rs2229090 was more apparent in adenocarcinoma than in squamous cell carcinoma patients. Additionally, ERCC4 rs1799798 GA/AA genotypes were associated with poorer OS (HRadj = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.04–1.69, P
adj = 0.026), compared with the GG genotype. The expression quantitative trait loci analysis revealed that ERCC1 rs3212924 and XPC rs2229090 might regulate transcription of their genes, which is consistent with their associations with survival. Larger studies are needed to validate our findings with further functional studies to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these observed associations.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.