Mechanical stress induces lung fibrosis, and epithelia-mesenchymal transition may play an important role in mediating the ventilator-induced lung fibrosis.

Machado-Joseph disease (MJD)/spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by polyglutamine expansion in the ataxin-3 protein that confers a toxic gain of function. Because of the late onset of the disease, we hypothesize that the accumulated oxidative stress or/and defective antioxidant enzyme ability may be contributory factors in the pathogenesis of MJD. In this study, we utilized SK-N-SH and COS7 cells stably transfected with full-length MJD with 78 polyglutamine repeats to examine any alterations in the antioxidant activity. We demonstrated a significant reduction in the ratio of GSH/GSSG and total glutathione content (GSH + 2x GSSG) in mutant MJD cells compared with the wild-type cells under normal or stressful conditions. We also showed that both SK-N-SH-MJD78 and COS7-MJD78-GFP cell lines have lower activities of catalase, glutathione reductase, and superoxide dismutase compared with the wild-type cell lines. In addition, it is known that, when cells are under oxidative stress, the mitochondrial DNA is prone to damage. Our results demonstrated that mitochondrial DNA copy numbers are decreased in mutant cells and SCA3 patients' samples compared with the normal controls. Furthermore, the amount of common mitochondrial DNA 4,977-bp deletion is higher in SCA3 patients compared with that in normal individuals. Overall, mutant ataxin-3 may influence the activity of enzymatic components to remove O(2)(-) and H(2)O(2) efficiently and promote mitochondrial DNA damage or depletion, which leads to dysfunction of mitochondria. Therefore, we suggest that the cell damage caused by greater oxidative stress in SCA3 mutant cells plays an important role, at least in part, in the disease progression.

BackgroundThe transfer of whole mitochondria that occurs during cell contact has been found to support cancer progression. However, the regulatory role of mitochondria alone is difficult to elucidate due to the complex microenvironment. Currently, mitochondrial transplantation is an available approach for restoring mitochondrial function in mitochondrial diseases but remains unclear in breast cancer. Herein, effects of mitochondrial transplantation via different approaches in breast cancer were investigated.MethodsWhole mitochondria (approximately 10.5 μg/ml) were transported into MCF-7 breast cancer cells via passive uptake or Pep-1-mediated delivery. Fresh mitochondria isolated from homeoplasmic 143B osteosarcoma cybrids containing mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) derived from health individuals (Mito) or mtDNA with the A8344G mutation (Mito8344) were conjugated with cell-penetrating peptide Pep-1 (P-Mito) or not conjugated prior to cell co-culture. Before isolation, mitochondria were stained with MitoTracker dye as the tracking label. After 3 days of treatment, cell viability, proliferation, oxidative stress, drug sensitivity to Doxorubicin/Paclitaxel and mitochondrial function were assessed.ResultsCompared with P-Mito, a small portion of Mito adhered to the cell membrane, and this was accompanied by a slightly lower fluorescent signal by foreign mitochondria in MCF-7 cells. Both transplantations induced cell apoptosis by increasing the nuclear translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor; inhibited cell growth and decreased oxidative stress in MCF-7 cells; and increased the cellular susceptibility of both the MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines to Doxorubicin and Paclitaxel. Mitochondrial transplantation also consistently decreased Drp-1, which resulted in an enhancement of the tubular mitochondrial network, but a distinct machinery through the increase of parkin and mitochondrial fusion proteins was observed in the Mito and P-Mito groups, respectively. Furthermore, although there were no differences in energy metabolism after transplantation of normal mitochondria, metabolism was switched to the energetic and glycolytic phenotypes when the mitochondria were replaced with dysfunctional mitochondria, namely, Mito8344 and P-Mito8344, due to dramatically induced glycolysis and reduced mitochondrial respiration, respectively. Consequently, transplant-induced growth inhibition was abolished, and cell growth in the Mito8344 group was even higher than that in the control group.ConclusionThis study reveals the antitumour potential of mitochondrial transplantation in breast cancer via distinct regulation of mitochondrial function.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13046-019-1028-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Data from a number of researchers have shown that conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has some beneficial health activities in animal models. Because inflammatory responses are associated with pathophysiology of many diseases, the aim of this study is to explore the effect and mechanism of CLA in the regulation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory responses in RAW 264.7 macrophages. The addition of increasing levels of CLA proportionally augmented the incorporation of CLA in cultures. CLA diminished LPS-induced mRNA and protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) as well as subsequent production of nitric oxide and prostaglandin E(2), respectively. We further examined the effect of CLA on LPS-induced NF-kappaB activation by Western blot and the electrophoretic mobility shift assay. The addition of CLA at 200 microM significantly diminished LPS-induced protein expression of the cytoplasmic phosphorylated inhibitor kappaBalpha and nuclear p65 as well as NF-kappaB nuclear protein-DNA binding affinity. In conclusion, our data suggest that CLA may inhibit LPS-induced inflammatory events in RAW 264.7 macrophages and this inhibitory activity of CLA, at least in part, occurs through CLA modulating the NF-kappaB activation and therefore negatively regulating expression of inflammatory mediators.

Background Diabetes, obesity, and cigarette smoke, consistent risk factors for pancreatic cancer, are sources of oxidative stress in humans that could cause mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage and increase mtDNA copy number. Methods To test whether higher mtDNA copy number is associated with increased incident pancreatic cancer, we conducted a nested case-control study in the Alpha-Tocopherol Beta Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study cohort of male smokers, aged 50-69 years at baseline. Between 1992 and 2004, 203 incident cases of pancreatic adenocarcinoma occurred (follow-up: 12 years) among participants with whole blood samples used for mtDNA extraction. For these cases and 656 controls, we calculated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals using unconditional logistic regression, adjusting for age, smoking, and diabetes history. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results Higher mtDNA copy number was significantly associated with increased pancreatic cancer risk (highest vs. lowest mtDNA copy number quintile, OR=1.64, 95%CI=1.01-2.67, continuous OR=1.14, 95% CI 1.06-1.23), particularly for cases diagnosed during the first 7 years of follow-up (OR=2.14,95% CI=1.16-3.96, p-trend=0.01, continuous OR=1.21, 95% CI 1.10-1.33), but not for cases occurring during follow-up of 7 years or greater (OR= 1.14, 95% CI=0.53-2.45, continuous OR=1.05, 95% CI 0.93-1.18). Conclusion Our results support the hypothesis that mtDNA copy number is associated with pancreatic cancer and could possibly serve as a biomarker for pancreatic cancer development.