| 1. |
- Karpanen, Terhi, et al.
(författare)
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Overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor-B in mouse heart alters cardiac lipid metabolism and induces myocardial hypertrophy
- 2008
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Ingår i: Circulation Research. - : American Heart Association. - 0009-7330 .- 1524-4571. ; 103:9, s. 1018-1026
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-B is poorly angiogenic but prominently expressed in metabolically highly active tissues, including the heart. We produced mice expressing a cardiac-specific VEGF-B transgene via the alpha-myosin heavy chain promoter. Surprisingly, the hearts of the VEGF-B transgenic mice showed concentric cardiac hypertrophy without significant changes in heart function. The cardiac hypertrophy was attributable to an increased size of the cardiomyocytes. Blood capillary size was increased, whereas the number of blood vessels per cell nucleus remained unchanged. Despite the cardiac hypertrophy, the transgenic mice had lower heart rate and blood pressure than their littermates, and they responded similarly to angiotensin II-induced hypertension, confirming that the hypertrophy does not compromise heart function. Interestingly, the isolated transgenic hearts had less cardiomyocyte damage after ischemia. Significantly increased ceramide and decreased triglyceride levels were found in the transgenic hearts. This was associated with structural changes and eventual lysis of mitochondria, resulting in accumulation of intracellular vacuoles in cardiomyocytes and increased death of the transgenic mice, apparently because of mitochondrial lipotoxicity in the heart. These results suggest that VEGF-B regulates lipid metabolism, an unexpected function for an angiogenic growth factor.
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| 2. |
- Pätsi, Jukka, et al.
(författare)
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LHON/MELAS overlap mutation in ND1 subunit of mitochondrial complex I affects ubiquinone binding as revealed by modeling in Escherichia coli NDH-1.
- 2012
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Ingår i: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3002 .- 0005-2728. ; 1817:2, s. 312-318
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Defects in complex I due to mutations in mitochondrial DNA are associated with clinical features ranging from single organ manifestation like Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) to multiorgan disorders like mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) syndrome. Specific mutations cause overlap syndromes combining several phenotypes, but the mechanisms of their biochemical effects are largely unknown. The m.3376G > A transition leading to p.E24K substitution in ND1 with LHON/MELAS phenotype was modeled here in a homologous position (NuoH-E36K) in the Escherichia coli enzyme and it almost totally abolished complex I activity. The more conservative mutation NuoH-E36Q resulted in higher apparent Km for ubiquinone and diminished inhibitor sensitivity. A NuoH homolog of the m.3865A > G transition, which has been found concomitantly in the overlap syndrome patient with the m.3376G > A, had only a minor effect. Consequences of a primary LHON-mutation m.3460G > A affecting the same extramembrane loop as the m.3376G > A substitution were also studied in the E. coli model and were found to be mild. The results indicate that the overlap syndrome-associated m.3376G > A transition in MTND1 is the pathogenic mutation and m.3865A > G transition has minor, if any, effect on presentation of the disease. The kinetic effects of the NuoH-E36Q mutation suggest its proximity to the putative ubiquinone binding domain in 49 kD/PSST subunits. In all, m.3376G > A perturbs ubiquinone binding, a phenomenon found in LHON, and decreases the activity of fully assembled complex I as in MELAS.
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