👤 Karen Guillemin

Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (iDCM) is a primary myocardial disorder with an unknown aetiology, characterized by reduced contractility and ventricular dilation of the left or both ventricles. Naturally occurring canine iDCM was used herein to identify serum proteomic signature of the disease compared to the healthy state, providing an insight into underlying mechanisms and revealing proteins with biomarker potential. To achieve this, we used high-throughput label-based quantitative LC-MS/MS proteomics approach and bioinformatics analysis of the in silico inferred interactome protein network created from the initial list of differential proteins. To complement the proteomic analysis, serum biochemical parameters and levels of know biomarkers of cardiac function were measured. Several proteins with biomarker potential were identified, such as inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor heavy chain H4, microfibril-associated glycoprotein 4 and apolipoprotein A-IV, which were validated using an independent method (Western blotting) and showed high specificity and sensitivity according to the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Bioinformatics analysis revealed involvement of different pathways in iDCM, such as complement cascade activation, lipoprotein particles dynamics, elastic fibre formation, GPCR signalling and respiratory electron transport chain. Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy is a severe primary myocardial disease of unknown cause, affecting both humans and dogs. This study is a contribution to the canine heart disease research by means of proteomic and bioinformatic state of the art analyses, following similar approach in human iDCM research. Importantly, we used serum as non-invasive and easily accessible biological source of information and contributed to the scarce data on biofluid proteome research on this topic. Bioinformatics analysis revealed biological pathways modulated in canine iDCM with potential of further targeted research. Also, several proteins with biomarker potential have been identified and successfully validated. Show less

Although there are seven mammalian sirtuins (SIRT1-7), little is known about their expression in the aging brain. To characterize the change(s) in mRNA and protein expression of SIRT1-7 and their associated proteins in the brain of "physiologically" aged Wistar rats. We tested mRNA and protein expression levels of rat SIRT1-7, and the levels of associated proteins in the brain using RT-PCR and western blotting. Our data shows that SIRT1 expression increases with age, concurrently with increased acetylated p53 levels in all brain regions investigated. SIRT2 and FOXO3a protein levels increased only in the occipital lobe. SIRT3-5 expression declined significantly in the hippocampus and frontal lobe, associated with increases in superoxide and fatty acid oxidation levels, and acetylated CPS-1 protein expression, and a reduction in MnSOD level. While SIRT6 expression declines significantly with age acetylated H3K9 protein expression is increased throughout the brain. SIRT7 and Pol I protein expression increased in the frontal lobe. This study identifies previously unknown roles for sirtuins in regulating cellular homeostasis and healthy aging. Show less

Infection with Helicobacter pylori is a major risk factor for the development of gastric cancer, and infection with strains carrying the virulence factor CagA significantly increases this risk. To investigate the mechanisms by which CagA promotes carcinogenesis, we generated transgenic zebrafish expressing CagA ubiquitously or in the anterior intestine. Transgenic zebrafish expressing either the wild-type or a phosphorylation-resistant form of CagA exhibited significantly increased rates of intestinal epithelial cell proliferation and showed significant upregulation of the Wnt target genes cyclinD1, axin2 and the zebrafish c-myc ortholog myca. Coexpression of CagA with a loss-of-function allele encoding the β-catenin destruction complex protein Axin1 resulted in a further increase in intestinal proliferation. Coexpression of CagA with a null allele of the key β-catenin transcriptional cofactor Tcf4 restored intestinal proliferation to wild-type levels. These results provide in vivo evidence of Wnt pathway activation by CagA downstream of or in parallel to the β-catenin destruction complex and upstream of Tcf4. Long-term transgenic expression of wild-type CagA, but not the phosphorylation-resistant form, resulted in significant hyperplasia of the adult intestinal epithelium. We further utilized this model to demonstrate that oncogenic cooperation between CagA and a loss-of-function allele of p53 is sufficient to induce high rates of intestinal small cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma, establishing the utility of our transgenic zebrafish model in the study of CagA-associated gastrointestinal cancers. Show less

Rates of cell proliferation in the vertebrate intestinal epithelium are modulated by intrinsic signaling pathways and extrinsic cues. Here, we report that epithelial cell proliferation in the developing zebrafish intestine is stimulated both by the presence of the resident microbiota and by activation of Wnt signaling. We find that the response to microbial proliferation-promoting signals requires Myd88 but not TNF receptor, implicating host innate immune pathways but not inflammation in the establishment of homeostasis in the developing intestinal epithelium. We show that loss of axin1, a component of the β-catenin destruction complex, results in greater than WT levels of intestinal epithelial cell proliferation. Compared with conventionally reared axin1 mutants, germ-free axin1 mutants exhibit decreased intestinal epithelial cell proliferation, whereas monoassociation with the resident intestinal bacterium Aeromonas veronii results in elevated epithelial cell proliferation. Disruption of β-catenin signaling by deletion of the β-catenin coactivator tcf4 partially decreases the proliferation-promoting capacity of A. veronii. We show that numbers of intestinal epithelial cells with cytoplasmic β-catenin are reduced in the absence of the microbiota in both WT and axin1 mutants and elevated in animals' monoassociated A. veronii. Collectively, these data demonstrate that resident intestinal bacteria enhance the stability of β-catenin in intestinal epithelial cells and promote cell proliferation in the developing vertebrate intestine. Show less