Lipid Alterations in African American Men with Prostate Cancer

African-American (AA) men are more than twice as likely to die of prostate cancer (PCa) than European American (EA) men. Previous in silico analysis revealed enrichment of altered lipid metabolic pathways in pan-cancer AA tumors. Here, we performed global unbiased lipidomics profiling on 48 matched localized PCa and benign adjacent tissues (30 AA, 24 ancestry-verified, and 18 EA, 8 ancestry verified) and quantified 429 lipids belonging to 14 lipid classes. Significant alterations in long chain polyunsaturated lipids were observed between PCa and benign adjacent tissues, low and high Gleason tumors, as well as associated with early biochemical recurrence, both in the entire cohort, and within AA patients. Alterations in cholesteryl esters, and phosphatidyl inositol classes of lipids delineated AA and EA PCa, while the levels of lipids belonging to triglycerides, phosphatidyl glycerol, phosphatidyl choline, phosphatidic acid, and cholesteryl esters distinguished AA and EA PCa patients with biochemical recurrence. These first-in-field results implicate lipid alterations as biological factors for prostate cancer disparities.

Lipid Alterations in African American Prostate Cancer

African-American (AA) men are more than twice as likely to die of prostate cancer (PCa) than European American (EA) men. Previous in-silico analysis revealed enrichment of altered lipid metabolic pathways in pan-cancer AA tumors. Here, we performed global unbiased lipidomics profiling on 48 matched localized PCa and benign adjacent tissues (30 AA, 24 ancestry-verified, and 18 EA, 8 ancestry verified) and quantified 429 lipids belonging to 15 lipid classes. Significant alterations in long chain polyunsaturated lipids was observed between PCa and benign adjacent tissues, low and high Gleason tumors, as well as associated with early biochemical recurrence, both in the entire cohort, and within AA patients. Altered levels of cholesteryl esters, and phosphatidyl inositols delineated AA and EA PCa, while levels of triglycerides, phosphatidyl glycerol, phosphatidyl choline, phosphatidic acid and cholesteryl esters distinguished AA and EA PCa patients with biochemical recurrence. These first-in-field results implicate lipid alterations as biological factors for prostate cancer disparities.

Therapeutic Effects of Specialized Pro-Resolving Lipids Mediators on Cardiac Fibrosis via NRF2 Activation

Heart disease is the number one mortality disease in the world. In particular, cardiac fibrosis is considered as a major factor causing myocardial infarction and heart failure. In particular, oxidative stress is a major cause of heart fibrosis. In order to control such oxidative stress, the importance of nuclear factor erythropoietin 2 related factor 2 (NRF2) has recently been highlighted. In this review, we will discuss the activation of NRF2 by docosahexanoic acid (DHA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and the specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators (SPMs) derived from polyunsaturated lipids, including DHA and EPA. Additionally, we will discuss their effects on cardiac fibrosis via NRF2 activation.

Roles of Membrane Domains in Integrin-Mediated Cell Adhesion

The composition and organization of the plasma membrane play important functional and regulatory roles in integrin signaling, which direct many physiological and pathological processes, such as development, wound healing, immunity, thrombosis, and cancer metastasis. Membranes are comprised of regions that are thick or thin owing to spontaneous partitioning of long-chain saturated lipids from short-chain polyunsaturated lipids into domains defined as ordered and liquid-disorder domains, respectively. Liquid-ordered domains are typically 100 nm in diameter and sometimes referred to as lipid rafts. We posit that integrin β senses membrane thickness and that mechanical force on the membrane regulates integrin activation through membrane thinning. This review examines what we know about the nature and mechanism of the interaction of integrins with the plasma membrane and its effects on regulating integrins and its binding partners.

Structural and Bioactive Studies of Halogenated Constituents from Sponges

: Marine organisms are abundant sources of bioactive natural products. Among metabolites produced by sponges and their associated microbial communities, halogenated natural compounds accounted for an important part due to their potent biological activities. The present review updates and compiles a total of 258 halogenated organic compounds isolated in the past three decades, especially brominated derivatives derived from 31 genera of marine sponges. These compounds can be classified as the following classes: brominated polyunsaturated lipids, nitrogen compounds, brominated tyrosine derivatives and other halogenated compounds. These substances were listed together with their source organisms, structures and bioactivities. For this purpose, 84 references were consulted.

Visible-Light Activated [2+2] Photocycloaddition Reaction Enabled Identification of Carbon-Carbon Double Bonds Position Isomerism in Structural Lipidomics

The photocycloaddition of olefins with carbonyls is of fundamental interest and practical importance in C=C bond location in unsaturated lipids. However, the traditional UV light activated [2+2] photocycloaddition reaction suffers side reactions and potential health damage. Here, we reported the first example of visible-light activated [2+2] photocycloaddition of anthraquinone with unsaturated lipids. This reaction showed great capability for locating the C=C bonds in various kinds of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated lipids by combining with tandem mass spectrometry (MS), such as fatty acids, phospholipids and glycerides. Based on this developed reaction, a workflow with liquid chromatography tandem MS method was developed for the global identification of unsaturated lipids in human serum, and 86 of monounsaturated and complicated polyunsaturated lipids were identified with definitive positions of C=C bonds. This approach provides new insights both on the photocycloaddition reactions and the structural lipidomics.

Visible-Light Activated [2+2] Photocycloaddition Reaction Enabled Identification of Carbon-Carbon Double Bonds Position Isomerism in Structural Lipidomics

The photocycloaddition of olefins with carbonyls is of fundamental interest and practical importance in C=C bond location in unsaturated lipids. However, the traditional UV light activated [2+2] photocycloaddition reaction suffers side reactions and potential health damage. Here, we reported the first example of visible-light activated [2+2] photocycloaddition of anthraquinone with unsaturated lipids. This reaction showed great capability for locating the C=C bonds in various kinds of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated lipids by combining with tandem mass spectrometry (MS), such as fatty acids, phospholipids and glycerides. Based on this developed reaction, a workflow with liquid chromatography tandem MS method was developed for the global identification of unsaturated lipids in human serum, and 86 of monounsaturated and complicated polyunsaturated lipids were identified with definitive positions of C=C bonds. This approach provides new insights both on the photocycloaddition reactions and the structural lipidomics.

Modelling of interactions between Aβ(25–35) peptide and phospholipid bilayers: effects of cholesterol and lipid saturation

Molecular dynamics simulations of Aβ(25–35) peptides in phospholipid bilayers are carried out to investigate the effect of polyunsaturated lipids and cholesterol on aggregation of the peptides.