No abstract

SummaryDiabetes mellitus is characterized by hyperglycemia and its associated complications, including cardiomyopathy. Metformin, in addition to lowering blood glucose levels, provides cardioprotection for diabetic subjects. Glycolysis is essential to cardiac metabolism and its reduction may contribute to diabetic cardiomyopathy. Hexokinase (HK) and phosphofructokinase (PFK), rate-limiting enzymes of glycolysis, are downregulated in cardiac muscle from diabetic subjects, playing a central role on the decreased glucose utilization in the heart of diabetic subjects. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine whether metformin modulates heart HK and PFK from diabetic mice. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin injection on male Swiss mice, which were treated for three consecutive days with 250 mg/kg metformin before evaluating HK and PFK activity, expression, and intracellular distribution on the heart of these subjects. We show that metformin abrogates the downregulation of HK and PFK in the heart of streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice. This effect is not correlated to alteration on the enzymes' transcription and expression. However, the intracellular distribution of both enzymes is altered in diabetic hearts that show increased activity of the soluble fraction when compared to the particulate fraction. Moreover, this pattern is reversed upon the treatment with metformin, which is correlated with the effects of the drug on the enzymes activity. Altogether, our results support evidences that metformin alter the intracellular localization of HK and PFK augmenting glucose utilization by diabetic hearts and, thus, conferring cardiac protection to diabetic subjects.

The hormone 20‐hydroxyecdysone is fundamental for regulating moulting and metamorphosis in immature insects, and it plays a role in physiological regulation in adult insects. This hormone acts by binding and activating a receptor, the ecdysone receptor, which is part of the nuclear receptor gene superfamily. Here, we analyse the genome of the kissing bug Rhodnius prolixus to annotate the nuclear receptor superfamily genes. The R. prolixus genome displays a possible duplication of the HNF4 gene. All the analysed insect organs express most nuclear receptor genes as shown by RT‐PCR. The quantitative PCR analysis showed that the RpEcR and RpUSP genes are highly expressed in the testis, while the RpHNF4‐1 and RpHNF4‐2 genes are more active in the fat body and ovaries and in the anterior midgut, respectively. Feeding does not induce detectable changes in the expression of these genes in the fat body. However, the expression of the RpHNF4‐2 gene is always higher than that of RpHNF4‐1. Treating adult females with 20‐hydroxyecdysone increased the amount of triacylglycerol stored in the fat bodies by increasing their lipogenic capacity. These results indicate that 20‐hydroxyecdysone acts on the lipid metabolism of adult insects, although the underlying mechanism is not clear.

Food additives are compounds used in order to improve food palatability, texture, and shelf life. Despite a significant effort to assure safety of use, toxicological analysis of these substances, generally, rely on their direct toxicity to target organs (liver and kidney) or their genotoxic effects. Much less attention is paid to the effects of these compounds on cells of the immune system. This is of relevance given that metabolic dysregulation and obesity have a strong immune-mediated component. Obese individuals present a state of chronic low-grade inflammation that contributes to the establishment of insulin resistance and other metabolic abnormalities known as the metabolic syndrome. Obesity and metabolic syndrome are currently recognized as worldwide epidemics that pose a profound socioeconomic impact and represent a concern to public health. Cells of the immune system contribute to both the maintenance of “lean homeostasis” and the metabolic dysregulation observed in obese individuals. Although much attention has been drawn in the past decades to obesity and metabolic syndrome as a result of ingesting highly processed food containing large amounts of fat and simple sugars, mounting evidence suggest that food additives may also be important contributors to metabolic derangement. Herein, we review pieces of evidence from the literature showing that food additives have relevant effects on cells of the immune system that could contribute to immune-mediated metabolic dysregulation. Considering their potential to predispose individuals to develop obesity and metabolic syndrome, their use should be taken with caution or maybe revisited.

Melanoma is the most aggressive and fatal type of skin cancer due to being highly proliferative. Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA; Aspirin) and salicylic acid (SA) are ancient drugs with multiple applications in medicine. Here, we showed that ASA and SA present anticancer effects against a murine model of implanted melanoma. These effects were also validated in 3D- and 2D-cultured melanoma B16F10 cells, where the drugs promoted pro-apoptotic effects. In both in vivo and in vitro models, SA and ASA triggered endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, which culminates with the upregulation of the pro-apoptotic transcription factor C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP). These effects are initiated by ASA/SA-triggered Akt/mTOR/AMPK-dependent activation of nitric oxide synthase 3 (eNOS), which increases nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species production inducing ER stress response. In the end, we propose that ASA and SA instigate anticancer effects by a novel mechanism, the activation of ER stress.

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We recently generalized the formerly alignment-dependent multivariate image analysis applied to quantitative structure-activity relationships (MIA-QSAR) method through the application of the discrete Fourier transform (DFT), allowing for its application to noncongruent and structurally diverse chemical compound data sets. Here we report the first practical application of this method in the screening of molecular entities of therapeutic interest, with human aromatase inhibitory activity as the case study. We developed an ensemble classification model based on the two-dimensional (2D) DFT MIA-QSAR descriptors, with which we screened the NCI Diversity Set V (1593 compounds) and obtained 34 chemical compounds with possible aromatase inhibitory activity. These compounds were docked into the aromatase active site, and the 10 most promising compounds were selected for in vitro experimental validation. Of these compounds, 7419 (nonsteroidal) and 89 201 (steroidal) demonstrated satisfactory antiproliferative and aromatase inhibitory activities. The obtained results suggest that the 2D-DFT MIA-QSAR method may be useful in ligand-based virtual screening of new molecular entities of therapeutic utility.