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- Bozek, Katarzyna, et al.
(author)
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Exceptional evolutionary divergence of human muscle and brain metabolomes parallels human cognitive and physical uniqueness.
- 2014
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In: PLoS Biology. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1545-7885. ; 12:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Metabolite concentrations reflect the physiological states of tissues and cells. However, the role of metabolic changes in species evolution is currently unknown. Here, we present a study of metabolome evolution conducted in three brain regions and two non-neural tissues from humans, chimpanzees, macaque monkeys, and mice based on over 10,000 hydrophilic compounds. While chimpanzee, macaque, and mouse metabolomes diverge following the genetic distances among species, we detect remarkable acceleration of metabolome evolution in human prefrontal cortex and skeletal muscle affecting neural and energy metabolism pathways. These metabolic changes could not be attributed to environmental conditions and were confirmed against the expression of their corresponding enzymes. We further conducted muscle strength tests in humans, chimpanzees, and macaques. The results suggest that, while humans are characterized by superior cognition, their muscular performance might be markedly inferior to that of chimpanzees and macaque monkeys.
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| 2. |
- Popov, Sergej, et al.
(author)
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Salt-inducible kinase 1 influences Na+,K+-ATPase activity in vascular smooth muscle cells and associates with variations in blood pressure
- 2011
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In: Journal of Hypertension. - : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 0263-6352 .- 1473-5598. ; 29:12, s. 2395-2403
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVES:Essential hypertension is a complex condition whose cause involves the interaction of multiple genetic and environmental factors such as salt intake. Salt-inducible kinase 1 (SIK1) is a sucrose-nonfermenting-like kinase isoform that belongs to the AMPK (5' adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase) family. SIK1 activity is increased by high salt intake and plays an essential role in regulating the plasma membrane Na(+),K(+)-ATPase. The objective of this study was to examine whether SIK1 is present in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and endothelial cells, whether it affects VSMC Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity and whether human SIK1 (hSIK1) represents a potential candidate for blood pressure regulation.METHODS:Localization of SIK1 was performed using immunohistochemistry, mRNA and western blot. Functional assays (Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity) were performed in VSMCs derived from rat aorta. Genotype-phenotype association studies were performed in three Swedish and one Japanese population-based cohorts.RESULTS:SIK1 was localized in human VSMCs and endothelial cells, as well as a cell line derived from rat aorta. A nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphism in the hSIK1 gene exon 3 (C→T, rs3746951) results in the amino acid change (15)Gly→Ser in the SIK1 protein. SIK1-(15)Ser was found to increase plasma membrane Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity in cultured VSMC line from rat aorta. Genotype-phenotype association studies in three Swedish and one Japanese population-based cohorts suggested that T allele (coding for (15)Ser) was associated with lower blood pressure (P = 0.005 for SBP and P = 0.002 for DBP) and with a decrease in left ventricular mass (P = 0.048).CONCLUSION:The hSIK1 appears to be of potential relevance within VSMC function and blood pressure regulation.
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| 3. |
- Xie, Liang, et al.
(author)
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Counterbalancing angiogenic regulatory factors control the rate of cancer progression and survival in a stage-specific manner
- 2011
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In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 108:24, s. 9939-9944
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Whereas the roles of proangiogenic factors in carcinogenesis are well established, those of endogenous angiogenesis inhibitors (EAIs) remain to be fully elaborated. We investigated the roles of three EAIs during de novo tumorigenesis to further test the angiogenic balance hypothesis, which suggests that blood vessel development in the tumor microenvironment can be governed by a net loss of negative regulators of angiogenesis in addition to the well-established principle of up-regulated angiogenesis inducers. In a mouse model of pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer, administration of endostatin, thrombospondin-1, and tumstatin peptides, as well as deletion of their genes, reveal neoplastic stage-specific effects on angiogenesis, tumor progression, and survival, correlating with endothelial expression of their receptors. Deletion of tumstatin and thrombospondin-1 in mice lacking the p53 tumor suppressor gene leads to increased incidence and reduced latency of angiogenic lymphomas associated with diminished overall survival. The results demonstrate that EAIs are part of a balance mechanism regulating tumor angiogenesis, serving as intrinsic microenvironmental barriers to tumorigenesis.
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