1H NMR is used to detect alterations in metabolites and their linkage to metabolic processes in a number of pathological conditions including breast cancer. Inositol 1, 4, 5 trisphosphate (IP3R) receptor is an intracellular calcium channel known to regulate metabolism and cellular bioenergetics. Its expression is up regulated in a number of cancers. However, its linkage to metabolism in disease conditions has not been evaluated. This study was designed to determine the association if any, of these metabolites with altered expression of IP3R in breast cancer. We used 1H NMR to identify metabolites in the serum of breast cancer patients (n = 27) and performed Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction analysis for quantifying the expression of IP3R type 3 and type 2 in tissues from breast cancer patients (n = 40). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Square-Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) clearly distinguished patients with high/low IP3R expression from healthy subjects. The present study revealed high expression of IP3R type 2 and type 3 in human breast tumor tissue compared to adjacent non-tumorous tissue. Moreover, patients with ≥ 2-fold increase in IP3R (high IP3R group) had significantly higher concentration of metabolic intermediates compared to those with < 2-fold increase in IP3R (low IP3R group). We observed an increase in lipoprotein content and the levels of metabolites like lactate, lysine and alanine and a decrease in the levels of pyruvate and glucose in serum of high IP3R group patients when compared to those in healthy subjects. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to show the clinical utility of metabolites. In addition to the human studies, functional relevance of IP3Rs in causing metabolic disruption was observed in MCF-7 and MDA MB-231 cells. Results from our studies bring forth the importance of metabolic (or metabolomics) profiling of serum by 1H NMR in conjunction with tissue expression studies for characterizing breast cancer patients. The results from this study provide new insights into relationship of breast cancer metabolites with IP3R.

The kidney is an important organ for arterial blood pressure (BP) maintenance. Reduced NO generation in the kidney is associated with hypertension in insulin resistance. NO is a critical regulator of vascular tone; however, whether insulin regulates NO production in the renal inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD), the segment with the greatest enzymatic activity for NO production in kidney, is not clear. Using an NO-sensitive 4-amino-5-methylamino-2',7'-difluorofluorescein (DAF-FM) fluorescent dye, we found that insulin increased NO production in mouse IMCD cells (mIMCD) in a time- and dose-dependent manner. A concomitant dose-dependent increase in the NO metabolite (NOx) was also observed in the medium from insulin-stimulated cells. NO production peaked in mIMCD cells at a dose of 100 nm insulin with simultaneously increased NOx levels in the medium. At this dose, insulin significantly increased p-eNOS(Ser1177) levels in mIMCD cells. Pretreatment of cells with a PI 3-kinase inhibitor or insulin receptor silencing with RNA interference abolished these effects of insulin, whereas insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) silencing had no effect. We also showed that chronic insulin infusion to normal C57BL/6J mice resulted in increased endothelial NOS (eNOS) protein levels and NO production in the inner medulla. However, insulin-infused IRKO mice, with targeted deletion of insulin receptor from tubule epithelial cells of the kidney, had ∼50% reduced eNOS protein levels in their inner medulla along with a significant rise in BP relative to WT littermates. We have previously reported increased baseline BP and reduced urine NOx in IRKO mice. Thus, reduced insulin receptor signaling in IMCD could contribute to hypertension in the insulin-resistant state.

Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors (IP Rs) regulate autophagy in normal cells and are associated with metastasis in cancer cells. In breast cancer, however, the regulation and role of IP Rs is not clear. To study this, we used MCF-7 breast cancer cell line and mouse model of breast cancer. Inhibiting IP R sub types resulted in compromised bioenergetics both in terms of glucose and mitochondrial metabolism. The siRNA mediated silencing of IP R or its blocking by its inhibitors Xestospongin C and 2-Amino-ethoxy diphenyl borate increased cell death and LC3II expression in MCF-7 cells as well as attenuated cellular bioenergetics. The level of Autophagy related gene, Atg5 was found to be up regulated after pharmacological as well as siRNA blocking of IP R. The specificity of its role in autophagy was confirmed through specific shRNA knockdown of the Atg5 along with IP R inhibitor. Inhibiting as well as silencing of IP R receptor also resulted in increase in ROS production which was abolished after pretreatment with N-acetyl cysteine. Its role in autophagy was confirmed through decrease in the levels of LC3 II after pretreatment with IP R inhibitor and N acetyl cysteine.Moreover, inhibiting as well as silencing IP R-induced cell death in MCF-7 cells was attenuated by autophagic inhibitors (Bafilomycin A1 or 3-Methyladeneine). In mice, blocking of IP Rs by 2-Amino-ethoxy diphenyl borate arrested tumor growth. Overall our findings indicate that IP R blocking resulted in autophagic cell death in breast cancer cells and provides a role of IP Rs in determining the breast cancer cell fate. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 2333-2346, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

No abstract

Mitochondrial injury significantly contributes to the neuronal death under cerebral ischemia and reperfusion. Within several signaling pathways, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling plays a substantial role in mitochondrial injury and cell death. Traditionally, the source of cellular cAMP has been attributed to the membrane-bound adenylyl cyclase, whereas the role of the intracellular localized type 10 soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) in neuronal pathology has not been considered. Since neurons express an active form of sAC, we aimed to investigate the role of sAC in reperfusion-induced neuronal apoptosis. For this purpose, the in vitro model of oxygen/glucose deprivation (simulated ischemia, 1 h), followed by recovery (simulated reperfusion, 12 h) in rat embryonic neurons, was applied. Although ischemia alone had no significant effect on apoptosis, reperfusion led to an activation of the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis, hallmarked by mitochondrial depolarization, cytochrome c release, and mitochondrial ROS formation. These effects were accompanied by significantly augmented sAC expression and increased cellular cAMP content during reperfusion. Pharmacological suppression of sAC during reperfusion reduced cellular cAMP and ameliorated reperfusion-induced mitochondrial apoptosis and ROS formation. Similarly, sAC knockdown prevented neuronal death. Further analysis revealed a role of protein kinase A (PKA), a major downstream target of sAC, in reperfusion-induced neuronal apoptosis and ROS formation. In conclusion, the results show a causal role of intracellular, sAC-dependent cAMP signaling in reperfusion-induced mitochondrial injury and apoptosis in neurons. The protective effect of sAC inhibition during the reperfusion phase provides a basis for the development of new strategies to prevent the reperfusion-induced neuronal injury.