Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) exhibits reactive oxygen species (ROS)-generating NADH oxidase activity of unknown significance, which is dispensable for apoptosis. We knocked out the aif gene in two human colon carcinoma cell lines that displayed lower mitochondrial complex I oxidoreductase activity and produced less ROS, but showed increased sensitivity to peroxide-or drug-induced apoptosis. AIF knockout cells failed to form tumors in athymic mice or grow in soft agar. Only AIF with intact NADH oxidase activity restored complex I activity and anchorage-independent growth of aif knockout cells, and induced aif-transfected mouse NIH3T3 cells to form foci. AIF knockdown in different carcinoma cell types resulted in lower superoxide levels, enhanced apoptosis sensitivity and loss of tumorigenicity. Antioxidants sensitized AIF-expressing cells to apoptosis, but had no effect on tumorigenicity. In summary, AIF-mediated resistance to chemical stress involves ROS and probably also mitochondrial complex I. AIF maintains the transformed state of colon cancer cells through its NADH oxidase activity, by mechanisms that involve complex I function. On both counts, AIF represents a novel type of cancer drug target.

Current approaches in tissue engineering are geared toward generating tissue-specific stem cells. Given the complexity and heterogeneity of tissues, this approach has its limitations. An alternate approach is to induce terminally differentiated cells to dedifferentiate into multipotent proliferative cells with the capacity to regenerate all components of a damaged tissue, a phenomenon used by salamanders to regenerate limbs. 5-Azacytidine (AZA) is a nucleoside analog that is used to treat preleukemic and leukemic blood disorders. AZA is also known to induce cell plasticity. We hypothesized that AZA-induced cell plasticity occurs via a transient multipotent cell state and that concomitant exposure to a receptive growth factor might result in the expansion of a plastic and proliferative population of cells. To this end, we treated lineage-committed cells with AZA and screened a number of different growth factors with known activity in mesenchyme-derived tissues. Here, we report that transient treatment with AZA in combination with platelet-derived growth factor–AB converts primary somatic cells into tissue-regenerative multipotent stem (iMS) cells. iMS cells possess a distinct transcriptome, are immunosuppressive, and demonstrate long-term self-renewal, serial clonogenicity, and multigerm layer differentiation potential. Importantly, unlike mesenchymal stem cells, iMS cells contribute directly to in vivo tissue regeneration in a context-dependent manner and, unlike embryonic or pluripotent stem cells, do not form teratomas. Taken together, this vector-free method of generating iMS cells from primary terminally differentiated cells has significant scope for application in tissue regeneration.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSEIschemia-reperfusion injury plays an important role in the development of primary allograft failure after heart transplantation. Inhibition of the Na+/H+ exchanger is one of the most promising therapeutic strategies for treating ischemia-reperfusion injury. Here we have characterized the cardioprotective efficacy of zoniporide and the underlying mechanisms in a model of myocardial preservation using rat isolated working hearts. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHRat isolated hearts subjected to 6 h hypothermic (1-4°C) storage followed by 45 min reperfusion at 37°C were treated with zoniporide at different concentrations and timing. Recovery of cardiac function, levels of total and phosphorylated protein kinase B, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, glycogen synthase kinase-3b and STAT3 as well as cleaved caspase 3 were measured at the end of reperfusion. Lactate dehydrogenase release into coronary effluent before and post-storage was also measured. KEY RESULTSZoniporide concentration-dependently improved recovery of cardiac function after reperfusion. The functional recovery induced by zoniporide was accompanied by up-regulation of p-extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and p-STAT3, and by reduction in lactate dehydrogenase release and cleaved caspase 3. There were no significant differences in any of the above indices when zoniporide was administered before, during or after ischemia. The STAT3 inhibitor, stattic, abolished zoniporide-induced improvements in functional recovery and up-regulation of p-STAT3 after reperfusion. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONSZoniporide is a potent cardioprotective agent and activation of STAT3 plays a critical role in the cardioprotective action of zoniporide. This agent shows promise as a supplement to storage solutions to improve preservation of donor hearts.

rhNRG-1 given together with other activators of prosurvival pathways improves preservation of the rat heart and shows promise for increasing the cold-ischemic life of donor hearts in transplantation.

Smokers have an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease but the origin(s) of this increased risk are incompletely defined. Considerable evidence supports an accumulation of the oxidant-generating enzyme MPO (myeloperoxidase) in the inflamed artery wall, and smokers have high levels of SCN(-), a preferred MPO substrate, with this resulting in HOSCN (hypothiocyanous acid) formation. We hypothesized that this thiol-specific oxidant may target the Zn(2+)-thiol cluster of eNOS (endothelial nitric oxide synthase), resulting in enzyme dysfunction and reduced formation of the critical signalling molecule NO•. Decreased NO• bioavailability is an early and critical event in atherogenesis, and HOSCN-mediated damage to eNOS may contribute to smoking-associated disease. In the present study it is shown that exposure of isolated eNOS to HOSCN or MPO/H2O2/SCN(-) decreased active dimeric eNOS levels, and increased inactive monomer and Zn(2+) release, compared with controls, HOCl (hypochlorous acid)- or MPO/H2O2/Cl(-)-treated samples. eNOS activity was increasingly compromised by MPO/H2O2/Cl(-) with increasing SCN(-) concentrations. Exposure of HCAEC (human coronary artery endothelial cell) lysates to pre-formed HOSCN, or MPO/H2O2/Cl(-) with increasing SCN(-), increased eNOS monomerization and Zn(2+) release, and decreased activity. Intact HCAECs exposed to HOCl and HOSCN had decreased eNOS activity and NO2(-)/NO3(-) formation (products of NO• decomposition), and increased free Zn(2+). Exposure of isolated rat aortic rings to HOSCN resulted in thiol loss, and decreased eNOS activity and cGMP levels. Overall these data indicate that high SCN(-) levels, as seen in smokers, can increase HOSCN formation and enhance eNOS dysfunction in human endothelial cells, with this potentially contributing to increased atherogenesis in smokers.

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Activation of the prosurvival phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt pathway was involved in the protective action of PARP inhibition in this model of donor heart procurement and hypothermic storage. Importantly for the logistics of clinical organ procurement, maximum protection is observed when the PARP inhibitor is included in the cardioplegic storage solution.

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