Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a progressive fibrotic disease, the pathogenesis of which has not been fully elucidated. One of the most common models used in NASH research is a nutritional model where NASH is induced by feeding a diet deficient in both methionine and choline. However, the dietary methionine-/choline-deficient model in mice can cause severe weight loss and liver atrophy, which are not characteristics of NASH seen in human patients. Exclusive, long-term feeding with a high-fat diet (HFD) produced fatty liver and obesity in mice, but the HFD for several months did not affect fibrosis. We aimed to establish a mouse model of NASH with fibrosis by optimizing the methionine content in the HFD. Male mice were fed a choline-deficient, L-amino acid-defined, high-fat diet (CDAHFD) consisting of 60 kcal% fat and 0.1% methionine by weight. After 1–14 weeks of being fed CDAHFD, the mice were killed. C57BL/6J mice maintained or gained weight when fed CDAHFD, while A/J mice showed a steady decline in body weight (of up to 20% of initial weight). In both strains of mice, plasma levels of alanine aminotransferase increased from week 1, when hepatic steatosis was also observed. By week 6, C57BL/6J mice had developed enlarged fatty liver with fibrosis as assessed by Masson's trichrome staining and by hydroxyproline assay. Therefore, this improved CDAHFD model may be a mouse model of rapidly progressive liver fibrosis and be potentially useful for better understanding human NASH disease and in the development of efficient therapies for this condition.

TAK1, a member of the mitogen-activated kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK) family, participates in proinflammatory cellular signaling pathways by activating JNK/p38 MAPKs and NF-B. To identify drugs that prevent inflammation, we screened inhibitors of TAK1 catalytic activity. We identified a natural resorcylic lactone of fungal origin, 5Z-7-oxozeaenol, as a highly potent inhibitor of TAK1. This compound did not effectively inhibit the catalytic activities of the MEKK1 or ASK1 MAPKKKs, suggesting that 5Z-7-oxozeaenol is a selective inhibitor of TAK1. In cell culture, 5Z-7-oxozeaenol blocked interleukin-1-induced activation of TAK1, JNK/ p38 MAPK, IB kinases, and NF-B, resulting in inhibition of cyclooxgenase-2 production. Furthermore, in vivo 5Z-7-oxozeaenol was able to inhibit picryl chlorideinduced ear swelling. Thus, 5Z-7-oxozeaenol blocks proinflammatory signaling by selectively inhibiting TAK1 MAPKKK.TAK1 is a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK) 1 family that phosphorylates and activates MKK3, MKK4, MKK6, and MKK7 MAPKKs, which in turn activate the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 MAPKs (1-3). We have recently demonstrated that TAK1 also activates IB kinases (IKKs), ultimately leading to activation of the transcription factor NF-B (4). TAK1 participates in proinflammatory cellular signaling pathways such as the interleukin-1 (IL-1) pathway by activating both JNK/p38 MAPKs and IKKs. Exposure of cells to IL-1 induces the interaction between endogenous TAK1 and TRAF6 (tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor-associated factor 6), a molecule essential for IL-1 activation of both JNK/p38 and NF-B. This interaction in turn leads to TAK1 activation. We have previously identified two TAK1-binding proteins, TAB1 and TAB2 (5, 6). When ectopically co-expressed, TAB1 augments the kinase activity of TAK1, indicating that TAB1 functions as an activator of TAK1 (5, 7). TAB2 functions as an adaptor linking TAK1 to TRAF6 by directly binding to both, thereby mediating TAK1 activation in the IL-1 signaling pathway (6,8).Several lines of evidence suggest that TAK1 is a key molecule in proinflammatory signaling pathways. Various proinflammatory cytokines and endotoxins activate the kinase activity of endogenous TAK1 (4, 9, 10). Overexpression of kinase-dead TAK1 inhibits IL-1-and TNF-induced activation of both JNK/p38 and NF-B (4, 10). The Drosophila homolog of TAK1 was recently identified as an essential molecule for host defense signaling in Drosophila (11). Furthermore, the TAK1 gene-silencing study using the small interfering RNA method defined that TAK1 is essential for both IL-1-and TNF-induced NF-B activation in mammalian cells (12). Therefore, it can be expected that inhibition of TAK1 activity may be effective in preventing inflammation and tissue destruction promoted by proinflammatory cytokines.In this study, we screened for compounds that can inhibit TAK1 kinase activity. This strategy resulted in the isolation of one natural compound 5Z-7-oxozeaenol, a resorcylic lactone of fungal ori...

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Plasma BNP and ANP reflect pressure and volume loads to the pulmonary artery and right ventricle and may help to identify children with ventricular septal defect complicated by pulmonary hypertension that demands early intervention.