Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress Enhances Vasoconstriction by Altering Calcium Homeostasis in Cerebrovascular Smooth Muscle Cells under Simulated Microgravity

Objective Exposure to microgravity results in postflight cardiovascular deconditioning in astronauts.Vascular oxidative stress injury and mitochondrial dysfunction have been reported during this process.To elucidate the mechanism for this condition,we investigated whether mitochondrial oxidative stress regulates calcium homeostasis and vasoconstriction in hindlimb unweighted(HU)rat cerebral arteries.Methods Three-week HU was used to simulate microgravity in rats.The contractile responses to vasoconstrictors,mitochondrial fission/fusion,Ca^(2+) distribution,inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor(IP3 R)abundance,and the activities of voltage-gated K+channels(KV)and Ca^(2+)-activated K+channels(BKCa)were examined in rat cerebral vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMCs).Results An increase of cytoplasmic Ca^(2+) and a decrease of mitochondrial/sarcoplasmic reticulum(SR)Ca^(2+) were observed in HU rat cerebral VSMCs.The abundance of fusion proteins(mitofusin 1/2[MFN1/2])and fission proteins(dynamin-related protein 1[DRP1]and fission-mitochondrial 1[FIS1])was significantly downregulated and upregulated,respectively in HU rat cerebral VSMCs.The cerebrovascular contractile responses to vasoconstrictors were enhanced in HU rats compared to control rats,and IP3 R protein/mRNA levels were significantly upregulated.The current densities and open probabilities of KV and BKCa decreased and increased,respectively.Treatment with the mitochondrial-targeted antioxidant mitoTEMPO attenuated mitochondrial fission by upregulating MFN1/2 and downregulating DRP1/FIS1.It also decreased IP3 R expression levels and restored the activities of the KV and BKCa channels.MitoTEMPO restored the Ca^(2+) distribution in VSMCs and attenuated the enhanced vasoconstriction in HU rat cerebral arteries.Conclusion The present results suggest that mitochondrial oxidative stress enhances cerebral vasoconstriction by regulating calcium homeostasis during simulated microgravity.

Mitochondrial oxidative damage and apoptosis induced by high glucose through Rho kinase signal pathway in renal tubular epithelial cells

Objective:To investigate the role of oxidative stress in human renal tubular epithelial cells(HK-2)induced by high glucose and the underlying signal pathway in vitro.Methods:MYPT1,pro-caspase-3,PGC-1α,and Drpl protein expressions were measured by Western blot.MnSOD2,Drp1 and PGC-1αmRNA expressions were detected by real time PCR.Results:Results showed that high glucose significantly up-regulated the protein expressions of MYPT1,pro-caspase-3 and the mRNA expression of MnSOD2 in HK-2 cells;while Rho kinase inhibitor fasudil and ROCK1 siRNA inhibited protein expressions of pro-caspase-3 and the mRNA expression of MnSOD2 in HK-2 cells induced by high glucose.Importantly,fasudil and ROCK1 siRNA markedly inhibited the expressions of mitochondrial motor proteins Drp1 and mitochondrial gene PGC-la in HK-2 cell=s induced by high glucose.Conclusions:Our findings suggest that Rho kinase signal pathway is involved in mitochondrial oxidative damage and apoptosis in high glucose-induced renal tubular epithelial cells by regulating mitochondrial motor proteins Drp1 and mitochondrial gene PGC-1α.Targeting Rho kinase signal pathway might be a potential strategy for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy.

Self-shrinking supramolecular nanoparticles syndicate energy suppression and NIR-II mild photothermal amplification of mitochondrial oxidative stress for breast cancer therapy

Photothermal therapy(PTT)may lead to healthy tissue damage,tumor metastasis,and recurrence,which makes mild photothermal therapy(mild PTT)stand out.However,overcoming heat resistance,insufficient therapeutic effect,and poor photothermal conversion efficiency has become new challenge.Herein,we report a dynamic supramolecular nanocarrier formed from amide-sericin and aldehyde-polyhydroxy glucan(denoted as SDA),the loose cavity of which can be filled by using the pharmaceutical combination of lonidamine(LND)and NIR-II photothermal agent of IR-1061,producing SDLI with a tighter inner hole,smaller and uniform particle size and excellent stability due to multiple pulling forces.Moreover,the intricate internal network structure prevents the hydrophobic IR-1061 from forming aggregates in the small cavity,and the photothermal conversion efficiency(PCE)can reach 48.9%.At the acidic tumor microenvironment of pH 6.5,the controlled release of LND can solve the problem of heat resistance of NIR-II mild PTT and significantly improve the therapeutic effect of NIR-II mild PTT.Meanwhile,SDLI also shows a reasonable tumor inhibition rate,so the synergistic strategy of inhibiting tumor energy metabolism and NIR-II mild PTT to magnify mitochondrial oxidative stress,continuous cell stress state-induced immunogenic cell death to promote the induction of tumor apoptosis is proposed to achieve more effective cancer treatment.

Targeting glutamine utilization to block metabolic adaptation of tumor cells under the stress of carboxyamidotriazole-induced nutrients unavailability

Tumor cells have unique metabolic programming that is biologically distinct from that of corresponding normal cells.Resetting tumor metabolic programming is a promising strategy to ameliorate drug resistance and improve the tumor microenvironment.Here,we show that carboxyamidotriazole(CAI),an anticancer drug,can function as a metabolic modulator that decreases glucose and lipid metabolism and increases the dependency of colon cancer cells on glutamine metabolism.CAI suppressed glucose and lipid metabolism utilization,causing inhibition of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I,thus producing reactive oxygen species(ROS).In parallel,activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor(Ah R)increased glutamine uptake via the transporter SLC1A5,which could activate the ROS-scavenging enzyme glutathione peroxidase.As a result,combined use of inhibitors of GLS/GDH1,CAI could effectively restrict colorectal cancer(CRC)energy metabolism.These data illuminate a new antitumor mechanism of CAI,suggesting a new strategy for CRC metabolic reprogramming treatment.