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Exercise and citrulline (CIT) are both regulators of muscle protein metabolism. However, the combination of both has been under-studied yet may have synergistic effects on muscle metabolism and performance. Three-month-old healthy male rats were randomly assigned to be fed for 4 weeks with either a citrulline-enriched diet (1 g·kg·day) () or an isonitrogenous standard diet (by addition of nonessential amino acid) () and trained (running on treadmill 5 days·week) () or not. Maximal endurance activity and body composition were assessed, and muscle protein metabolism (protein synthesis, proteomic approach) and energy metabolism [energy expenditure, mitochondrial metabolism] were explored. Body composition was affected by exercise but not by CIT supplementation. Endurance training was associated with a higher maximal endurance capacity than sedentary groups (<0.001), and running time was 14% higher in the group than the group (139±4 min versus 122±6 min, <0.05). Both endurance training and CIT supplementation alone increased muscle protein synthesis (by +27% and +33%, respectively, versus ,<0.05) with an additive effect (+48% versus ,<0.05). Mitochondrial metabolism was modulated by exercise but not directly by CIT supplementation. However, the proteomic approach demonstrated that CIT supplementation was able to affect energy metabolism, probably due to activation of pathways generating acetyl-CoA. CIT supplementation and endurance training in healthy male rats modulates both muscle protein and energy metabolisms, with synergic effects on an array of parameters, including performance and protein synthesis.

title Click here to download Manuscript: 05-R_AcGef_01_Title-page-revision.docx Click here to view linked References 42 44 57 proteins: upstream neighbors of apoptosis Metabolic process Cell cycle/Chromosome segregation Development process /Cell death … proteins

Base excision repair (BER) is the major mechanism for the correction of damaged nucleobases resulting from the alkylation and oxidation of DNA. The first step in the BER pathway consists of excision of the abnormal base by several specific DNA N-glycosylases. A decrease in BER activity was found to be related to an increased risk of carcinogenesis and aging. To investigate BER activities we set up a new device for DNA repair analysis based on surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi). Oligonucleotides bearing an abnormal nucleoside, namely 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine and (5'S)-5',8-cyclopurine-2'-deoxynucleoside, were grafted by a pyrrole electro-copolymerization process on a glass prism coated with a gold layer. The latter label-free DNA sensor chip permits the detection of N-glycosylase/AP-lyase activity as well as the binding of repair proteins to DNA damage without cleavage activity. Thus, the Fapy DNA N-glycosylase (Fpg) protein is shown as expected to bind and then cleave its natural substrate, namely 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-guanine, together with the resulting abasic site. Using the current SPR imaging-based DNA array we observed an original binding activity of Fpg towards the (5'S)-5',8-cyclodAdenosine residue. These results altogether show that SPR imaging may be used to simultaneously and specifically detect recognition and excision of several damaged DNA nucleobases, and constitutes an interesting technique to screen inhibitors of DNA repair proteins.

Mistletoe (Viscum album L.) is used in German-speaking European countries in the field of integrative oncology linking conventional and complementary medicine therapies to improve quality of life. Various companies sell extracts, fermented or not, for injection by subcutaneous or intra-tumoral route with a regulatory status of anthroposophic medicinal products (European Medicinal Agency (EMA) assessment status). These companies as well as anthroposophical physicians argue that complex matrices composed of many molecules in mixture are necessary for activity and that the host tree of the mistletoe parasitic plant is the main determining factor for this matrix composition. The critical point is that parenteral devices of European mistletoe extracts do not have a standard chemical composition regulated by EMA quality guidelines, because they are not drugs, regulatory speaking. However, the mechanism of mistletoe’s anticancer activity and its effectiveness in treating and supporting cancer patients are not fully understood. Because of this lack of transparency and knowledge regarding the matrix chemical composition, we undertook an untargeted metabolomics study of several mistletoe extracts to explore and compare their fingerprints by LC-(HR)MS(/MS) and 1H-NMR. Unexpectedly, we showed that the composition was primarily driven by the manufacturer/preparation method rather than the different host trees. This differential composition may cause differences in immunostimulating and anti-cancer activities of the different commercially available mistletoe extracts as illustrated by structure–activity relationships based on LC–MS/MS and 1H-NMR identifications completed by docking experiments. In conclusion, in order to move towards an evidence-based medicine use of mistletoe, it is a priority to bring rigor and quality, chemically speaking.

Mutations in the X-linked MECP2 gene are responsible for Rett syndrome (RTT), a severe neurological disorder. MECP2 is a transcriptional modulator that finely regulates the expression of many genes, specifically in the central nervous system. Several studies have functionally linked the loss of MECP2 in astrocytes to the appearance and progression of the RTT phenotype in a non-cell autonomous manner and mechanisms are still unknown. Here, we used primary astroglial cells from Mecp2-deficient (KO) pups to identify deregulated secreted proteins. Using a differential quantitative proteomic analysis, twenty-nine proteins have been identified and four were confirmed by Western blotting with new samples as significantly deregulated. To further verify the functional relevance of these proteins in RTT, we tested their effects on the dendritic morphology of primary cortical neurons from Mecp2 KO mice that are known to display shorter dendritic processes. Using Sholl analysis, we found that incubation with Lcn2 or Lgals3 for 48 h was able to significantly increase the dendritic arborization of Mecp2 KO neurons. To our knowledge, this study, through secretomic analysis, is the first to identify astroglial secreted proteins involved in the neuronal RTT phenotype in vitro, which could open new therapeutic avenues for the treatment of Rett syndrome.

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