Plants form and emit a wide variety of volatile organic compounds. Volatiles from flowers attract pollinators and increase the fitness of plants by promoting efficient reproduction, and those from fruits attract seed-dispersing animals and help plants to find new habitats (Dudareva et al., 2013). Vegetative organs, such as leaves, stems, and roots, also produce and emit volatiles, and this process generally is induced by various types of biotic and abiotic stresses as a defense response (Pierik et al., 2014).Green leaf volatiles (GLVs) are expressed ubiquitously with other groups of volatile compounds, such as terpenoids and amino acid derivatives. GLVs are derivatives of fatty acids and include six-carbon (C6) aldehydes, alcohols, and esters (Fig. 1; Matsui, 2006; Scala et al., 2013). In intact and healthy plant tissues, GLV levels generally are low, but when tissues suffer stresses associated with the disruption of cells, such as herbivore damage or attack by necrotrophic fungi, GLV-forming pathways are activated rapidly to yield large quantities of GLVs at damaged tissues (Matsui, 2006; Scala et al., 2013; Ameye et al., 2017). GLVs at damaged tissues participate in direct plant defense by preventing the invasion of harmful microbes (Shiojiri et al., 2006a;Kishimoto et al., 2008). GLVs also function

Scope: Diallyl trisulfide (DATS), an organosulfur compound generates in crushed garlic, has various beneficial health effects. A growing body of evidence indicates that miRNAs are involved in the pathology of lifestyle diseases including obesity. The anti-obesogenic effect of garlic is previously reported; however, the effects of DATS on obesity, and the relationship between garlic compounds and the involvement of miRNA remains unclear. Here, the anti-obesogenic activity of DATS and the potential role of miRNA in a diet-induced obesity rat model are investigated. Methods and Results: Oral administration of DATS suppressed body and white adipose tissue (WAT) weight gain in rats fed a high-fat diet compared with vehicle-administered rats. DATS lowered the plasma and liver triglyceride levels in obese rats, and decreased lipogenic mRNA levels including those of Srebp1c, Fasn, and Scd1 in the liver. DATS also suppressed de novo lipogenesis in the liver. Transcriptomic analyses of miRNA and mRNA in the epididymal WAT of obese rats using microarrays revealed that DATS decreased miRNA-335 expression and normalized the obesity-related mRNA transcriptomic signatures in epididymal WAT. Conclusion: The potent anti-obesogenic effects of DATS and its possible mechanism of action was clearly demonstrated in this study.

Introduction: Cardiac lymphangiogenesis has attracted attention as a therapeutic target after myocardial infarction (MI). Lymphangiogenic remodeling has been observed after MI in adult and fetal hearts; however, reparative lymphangiogenic remodeling is only observed in fetal hearts. The factors that determine the fate of this phenomenon have not been fully elucidated. Hypothesis: We demonstrated that a specific population of VCAM1 + human fetal cardiac fibroblasts (fCFs) restore cardiac function post-MI by lymphangiogenesis. Thus, we hypothesize that adult cardiac fibroblasts (aCFs), compared to fCFs, possess a different distribution of fibroblasts with differing lymphangiogenic potential. Furthermore, we also hypothesize that aCFs can be exogenously manipulated to acquire fCFs-like reparative lymphangiogenic potential, which can be used as a cell therapy for heart failure. Methods: Flow cytometry assessed CD90 and VCAM1 expression of aCFs and fCFs. To shift aCFs towards a fCF phenotype, TNF-α and IL-4 were added to culture medium. aCF subpopulations were intramyocardially injected in nude rats and swine post-MI with subsequent echocardiography. Myocardial tissue staining (Sirius Red, LYVE1) and RNA-seq were performed to identify the molecular mechanism. Results: aCFs and fCFs exhibited different distributions of CD90 and VCAM1 expression, where aCFs showed lower CD90 and VCAM1 expression. The addition of TNF-α and IL-4 shifted the localization of VCAM1 + aCFs towards a fCF distribution by activation of NF-κB. VCAM1 + CD90 + fCFs-like aCFs provided a sustained improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction and showed reduced fibrosis and increased lymphangiogenesis. This effect was recapitulated in a large animal model. In terms of the molecular mechanism, 13 candidate genes were identified. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the heterogenous and plastic polarity of aCFs and fCFs determines the fate of the lymphangiogenic response after MI and that this response can be regulated by 13 genes. This artificial creation of the VCAM1 + fCFs-like fibroblast environment after MI has enabled a clinical trial for a new cell therapy for inducing reparative lymphangiogenesis (clinical trial ID: jRCT2033210078).