scholarly journals Mitochondrial health, the epigenome and healthspan

2016 ◽  
Vol 130 (15) ◽  
pp. 1285-1305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel A. Aon ◽  
Sonia Cortassa ◽  
Magdalena Juhaszova ◽  
Steven J. Sollott
Keyword(s):  
Damage Accumulation ◽  
Mitochondrial Network ◽  
Regulate Gene Expression ◽  
Network Function ◽  
Functional Interactions ◽  
Disease States ◽  
Gene Environment ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Transcriptional Process ◽  
Regulate Gene

Food nutrients and metabolic supply–demand dynamics constitute environmental factors that interact with our genome influencing health and disease states. These gene–environment interactions converge at the metabolic–epigenome–genome axis to regulate gene expression and phenotypic outcomes. Mounting evidence indicates that nutrients and lifestyle strongly influence genome–metabolic functional interactions determining disease via altered epigenetic regulation. The mitochondrial network is a central player of the metabolic–epigenome–genome axis, regulating the level of key metabolites [NAD+, AcCoA (acetyl CoA), ATP] acting as substrates/cofactors for acetyl transferases, kinases (e.g. protein kinase A) and deacetylases (e.g. sirtuins, SIRTs). The chromatin, an assembly of DNA and nucleoproteins, regulates the transcriptional process, acting at the epigenomic interface between metabolism and the genome. Within this framework, we review existing evidence showing that preservation of mitochondrial network function is directly involved in decreasing the rate of damage accumulation thus slowing aging and improving healthspan.

Biopsychosocial pathways to mental health and disease across the lifespan: The emerging role of epigenetics

2020 ◽  
pp. 190-206
Author(s):  
Charlotte A.M. Cecil
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Regulate Gene Expression ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Regulate Gene ◽  
Epigenetic Processes

The biopsychosocial (BPS) model of psychiatry has had a major impact on our modern conceptualization of mental illness as a complex, multi-determined phenomenon. Yet, interdisciplinary BPS work remains the exception, rather than the rule in psychiatry. It has been suggested that this may stem in part from a failure of the BPS model to clearly delineate the mechanisms through which biological, psychological, and social factors co-act in the development of mental illness. This chapter discusses how epigenetic processes that regulate gene expression, such as DNA methylation, are fast emerging as a candidate mechanism for BPS interactions, with potentially widespread implications for the way that psychiatric disorders are understood, assessed, and, perhaps in future, even treated.

scholarly journals Dietary microRNA—A Novel Functional Component of Food

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 711-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Zhang ◽  
Ting Chen ◽  
Yulong Yin ◽  
Chen-Yu Zhang ◽  
Yong-Liang Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Small Rnas ◽  
Biological Significance ◽  
Circulatory System ◽  
Physiological Effects ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Regulate Gene Expression ◽  
Functional Component ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Regulate Gene

ABSTRACT MicroRNAs are a class of small RNAs that play essential roles in various biological processes by silencing genes. Evidence emerging in recent years suggests that microRNAs in food can be absorbed into the circulatory system and organs of humans and other animals, where they regulate gene expression and biological processes. These food-derived dietary microRNAs may serve as a novel functional component of food, a role that has been neglected to date. However, a significant amount of evidence challenges this new concept. The absorption, stability, and physiological effects of dietary microRNA in recipients, especially in mammals, are currently under heavy debate. In this review, we summarize our current understanding of the unique characteristics of dietary microRNAs and concerns about both the mechanistic and methodological basis for studying the biological significance of dietary microRNAs. Such efforts will benefit continuing investigations and offer new perspectives for the interpretation of the roles of dietary microRNA with respect to the health and disease of humans and animals.

scholarly journals miRetrieve—an R package and web application for miRNA text mining

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Friedrich ◽  
Hans-Peter Hammes ◽  
Guido Krenning
Keyword(s):  
Text Mining ◽  
Web Application ◽  
R Package ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Regulate Gene Expression ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Regulate Gene

Abstract microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression and thereby influence biological processes in health and disease. As a consequence, miRNAs are intensely studied and literature on miRNAs has been constantly growing. While this growing body of literature reflects the interest in miRNAs, it generates a challenge to maintain an overview, and the comparison of miRNAs that may function across diverse disease fields is complex due to this large number of relevant publications. To address these challenges, we designed miRetrieve, an R package and web application that provides an overview on miRNAs. By text mining, miRetrieve can characterize and compare miRNAs within specific disease fields and across disease areas. This overview provides focus and facilitates the generation of new hypotheses. Here, we explain how miRetrieve works and how it is used. Furthermore, we demonstrate its applicability in an exemplary case study and discuss its advantages and disadvantages.

Hypoxic Pulmonary Vasoconstriction and Chronic Lung Disease

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik R. Swenson
Keyword(s):  
Pulmonary Hypertension ◽  
Lung Disease ◽  
Hypoxic Pulmonary Vasoconstriction ◽  
World Health ◽  
Disease States ◽  
Pulmonary Vasoconstriction ◽  
Local Ventilation ◽  
Pulmonary Vascular Endothelium ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Health Organization

Hypoxic vasoconstriction in the lung is a unique and fundamental characteristic of the pulmonary circulation. It functions in health and disease states to better preserve ventilation-perfusion matching by diverting blood flow to better ventilated regions when local ventilation is compromised. As more areas of lung become hypoxic either with high altitude or global lung disease, then hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) becomes less effective in ventilation-perfusion matching and can lead to pulmonary hypertension. HPV is intrinsic to the vascular smooth muscle and its mechanisms remain poorly understood. In addition, the pulmonary vascular endothelium, red cells, lung innervation, and numerous circulating vasoactive agents also affect the strength of HPV. This review will discuss the pathophysiology of HPV and address its role in pulmonary hypertension associated with World Health Organization Group 3 diseases. When sustained beyond many hours, HPV may initiate pulmonary vascular remodeling and lead to more fixed and less oxygen-responsive pulmonary hypertension if the hypoxic stimulus is maintained.

In Vitro Immunodetection of Prothymosin Alpha in Normal and Pathological Conditions

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (29) ◽  
pp. 4840-4854 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chrysoula-Evangelia Karachaliou ◽  
Hubert Kalbacher ◽  
Wolfgang Voelter ◽  
Ourania E. Tsitsilonis ◽  
Evangelia Livaniou
Keyword(s):  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Prothymosin Alpha ◽  
Disease States ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Tissue Extracts ◽  
Biologic Response ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Almost All

Prothymosin alpha (ProTα) is a highly acidic polypeptide, ubiquitously expressed in almost all mammalian cells and tissues and consisting of 109 amino acids in humans. ProTα is known to act both, intracellularly, as an anti-apoptotic and proliferation mediator, and extracellularly, as a biologic response modifier mediating immune responses similar to molecules termed as “alarmins”. Antibodies and immunochemical techniques for ProTα have played a leading role in the investigation of the biological role of ProTα, several aspects of which still remain unknown and contributed to unraveling the diagnostic and therapeutic potential of the polypeptide. This review deals with the so far reported antibodies along with the related immunodetection methodology for ProTα (immunoassays as well as immunohistochemical, immunocytological, immunoblotting, and immunoprecipitation techniques) and its application to biological samples of interest (tissue extracts and sections, cells, cell lysates and cell culture supernatants, body fluids), in health and disease states. In this context, literature information is critically discussed, and some concluding remarks are presented.

Human cytomegalovirus US3 and UL36-38 immediate-early proteins regulate gene expression.

1992 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
A M Colberg-Poley ◽  
L D Santomenna ◽  
P P Harlow ◽  
P A Benfield ◽  
D J Tenney
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Human Cytomegalovirus ◽  
Immediate Early ◽  
Regulate Gene Expression ◽  
Early Proteins ◽  
Immediate Early Proteins ◽  
Regulate Gene

scholarly journals Arabidopsis heat shock transcription factor HSFA7b positively mediates salt stress tolerance by binding to an E-box-like motif to regulate gene expression

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (19) ◽  
pp. 5355-5374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dandan Zang ◽  
Jingxin Wang ◽  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Zhujun Liu ◽  
Yucheng Wang
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Transcription Factors ◽  
Heat Shock ◽  
Salt Tolerance ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Ion Homeostasis ◽  
Cellulose Synthase ◽  
Regulate Gene Expression ◽  
E Box ◽  
Regulate Gene

Abstract Plant heat shock transcription factors (HSFs) are involved in heat and other abiotic stress responses. However, their functions in salt tolerance are little known. In this study, we characterized the function of a HSF from Arabidopsis, AtHSFA7b, in salt tolerance. AtHSFA7b is a nuclear protein with transactivation activity. ChIP-seq combined with an RNA-seq assay indicated that AtHSFA7b preferentially binds to a novel cis-acting element, termed the E-box-like motif, to regulate gene expression; it also binds to the heat shock element motif. Under salt conditions, AtHSFA7b regulates its target genes to mediate serial physiological changes, including maintaining cellular ion homeostasis, reducing water loss rate, decreasing reactive oxygen species accumulation, and adjusting osmotic potential, which ultimately leads to improved salt tolerance. Additionally, most cellulose synthase-like (CSL) and cellulose synthase (CESA) family genes were inhibited by AtHSFA7b; some of them were randomly selected for salt tolerance characterization, and they were mainly found to negatively modulate salt tolerance. By contrast, some transcription factors (TFs) were induced by AtHSFA7b; among them, we randomly identified six TFs that positively regulate salt tolerance. Thus, AtHSFA7b serves as a transactivator that positively mediates salinity tolerance mainly through binding to the E-box-like motif to regulate gene expression.

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