Elevated plasma free fatty acid (FFA) levels in obesity may play a pathogenic role in the development of insulin resistance. However, molecular mechanisms linking FFA to insulin resistance remain poorly understood. Oxidative stress acts as a link between FFA and hepatic insulin resistance. NADPH oxidase 3 (NOX3)-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS) may mediate the effect of TNF-␣ on hepatocytes, in particular the drop in cellular glycogen content. In the present study, we define the critical role of NOX3-derived ROS in insulin resistance in db/db mice and HepG2 cells treated with palmitate. The db/db mice displayed increased serum FFA levels, excess generation of ROS, and upregulation of NOX3 expression, accompanied by increased lipid accumulation and impaired glycogen content in the liver. Similar results were obtained from palmitate-treated HepG2 cells. The exposure of palmitate elevated ROS production and NOX3 expression and, in turn, increased gluconeogenesis and reduced glycogen content in HepG2 cells. We found that palmitate induced hepatic insulin resistance through JNK and p38 MAPK pathways, which are rescued by siRNA-mediated NOX3 reduction. In conclusion, our data demonstrate a critical role of NOX3-derived ROS in palmitate-induced insulin resistance in hepatocytes, indicating that NOX3 is the predominant source of palmitate-induced ROS generation and that NOX3-derived ROS may drive palmitate-induced hepatic insulin resistance through JNK and p38 MAPK pathways.

Dysfunction of β-cell is one of major characteristics in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. The combination of obesity and type 2 diabetes, characterized as ‘diabesity’, is associated with elevated plasma free fatty acids (FFAs). Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of FFA-induced β-cell dysfunction. However, molecular mechanisms linking between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and FFA-induced β-cell dysfunction and apoptosis are less clear. In the present study, we test the hypothesis that NOX2-derived ROS may play a critical role in dysfunction and apoptosis of β-cells induced by FFA. Our results show that palmitate and oleate (0.5 mmol/L, 48 h) induced JNK activation and AKT inhibition which resulted in decreased phosphorylation of FOXO1 following nuclear localization and the nucleocytoplasmic translocation of PDX-1, leading to the reducing of insulin and ultimately dysfunction of pancreatic NIT-1 cells. We also found that palmitate and oleate stimulated apoptosis of NIT-1 cells through p38MAPK, p53 and NF-κB pathway. More interestingly, our data suggest that suppression of NOX2 may restore FFA-induced dysfunction and apoptosis of NIT-1 cells. Our findings provide a new insight of the NOX2 as a potential new therapeutic target for preservation of β-cell mass and function.

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Ultraconserved (uc) RNAs, a class of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), are conserved across humans, mice, and rats, but the physiological significance and pathological role of ucRNAs is largely unknown. Here we show that uc.372 is upregulated in the livers of db/db mice, HFD-fed mice, and NAFLD patients. Gain-of-function and loss-of-function studies indicate that uc.372 drives hepatic lipid accumulation in mice by promoting lipogenesis. We further demonstrate that uc.372 binds to pri-miR-195/pri-miR-4668 and suppresses maturation of miR-195/miR-4668 to regulate expression of genes related to lipid synthesis and uptake, including ACC, FAS, SCD1, and CD36. Finally, we identify that uc.372 is located downstream of the insulinoma-associated 2 (INSM2) gene that is transcriptionally activated by upstream transcription factor 1 (USF1). Our findings reveal a novel mechanism by which uc.372 drives hepatic steatosis through inhibition of miR-195/miR-4668 maturation to relieve miR-195/miR-4668-mediated suppression of functional target gene expression.

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Background. Doxorubicin, a potent chemotherapeutic agent, is associated with acute and chronic cardiotoxicity, which is cumulatively dose-dependent. Astragalus polysaccharide (APS), the extract of Astragalus membranaceus with strong antitumor and antiglomerulonephritis activity, can effectively alleviate inflammation. However, whether APS could ameliorate chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity is not understood. Here, we investigated the protective effects of APS on doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity and elucidated the underlying mechanisms of the protective effects of APS. Methods. We analyzed myocardial injury in cancer patients who underwent doxorubicin chemotherapy and generated a doxorubicin-induced neonatal rat cardiomyocyte injury model and a mouse heart failure model. Echocardiography, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, TUNEL, DNA laddering, and Western blotting were performed to observe cell survival, oxidative stress, and inflammatory signal pathways in cardiomyocytes. Results. Treatment of patients with the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin led to heart dysfunction. Doxorubicin reduced cardiomyocyte viability and induced C57BL/6J mouse heart failure with concurrent elevated ROS generation and apoptosis, which, however, was attenuated by APS treatment. In addition, there was profound inhibition of p38MAPK and activation of Akt after APS treatment. Conclusions. These results demonstrate that APS could suppress oxidative stress and apoptosis, ameliorating doxorubicin-mediated cardiotoxicity by regulating the PI3k/Akt and p38MAPK pathways.

Doxorubicin (adriamycin), an anthracycline antibiotic, is commonly used to treat many types of solid and hematological malignancies. Unfortunately, clinical usage of doxorubicin is limited due to the associated acute and chronic cardiotoxicity. Previous studies demonstrated that Astragalus polysaccharide (APS), the extracts of Astragalus membranaceus, had strong anti-tumor activities and anti-inflammatory effects. However, whether APS could mitigate chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity is unclear thus far. We used a doxorubicin-induced neonatal rat cardiomyocyte injury model and a mouse heart failure model to explore the function of APS. GFP-LC3 adenovirus-mediated autophagic vesicle assays, GFP and RFP tandemly tagged LC3 (tfLC3) assays and Western blot analyses were performed to analyze the cell function and cell signaling changes following APS treatment in cardiomyocytes. First, doxorubicin treatment led to C57BL/6J mouse heart failure and increased cardiomyocyte apoptosis, with a disturbed cell autophagic flux. Second, APS restored autophagy in doxorubicin-treated primary neonatal rat ventricular myocytes and in the doxorubicin-induced heart failure mouse model. Third, APS attenuated doxorubicin-induced heart injury by regulating the AMPK/mTOR pathway. The mTOR inhibitor rapamycin significantly abrogated the protective effect of APS. These results suggest that doxorubicin could induce heart failure by disturbing cardiomyocyte autophagic flux, which may cause excessive cell apoptosis. APS could restore normal autophagic flux, ameliorating doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity by regulating the AMPK/mTOR pathway.