Product Citations: 257

Accumulation of senescent cells in tissues contributes to multiple aging-related pathologies. Senescent fibro-adipogenic progenitors (FAPs) contribute to aging-related muscle atrophy. Resistance training can help to maintain skeletal muscle mass, improve mobility, and reduce certain health risks commonly associated with aging. We investigated, using rat model, the impact of resistance training on FAPs in aging skeletal muscle, which remains unclear. Twenty-two-month-old female rats were divided into sedentary and training groups. The training group rodents were trained to climb a ladder while bearing a load for 20 training sessions over 2 months, after which, the flexor hallucis longus muscles were collected and analyzed. Senescent cells were identified using a senescence-associated β-galactosidase stain and p21 immunohistochemistry (IHC), and FAPs were identified using platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha IHC. The results indicate that resistance training in rats prevented aging-associated skeletal muscle atrophy and suppressed M2 polarization of macrophages. The number of senescent cells was significantly reduced in the 24-month-old training group, with most of them being FAPs. Conversely, the number of senescent FAPs increased significantly in the 24-month-old sedentary group compared with that in the 18-month-old sedentary group. The number of senescent FAPs in the 24-month-old training group decreased significantly. Resistance training also suppressed the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). The killer T cell-specific marker, CD8α, was elevated in the skeletal muscles of the aging rats following resistance training, indicating upregulation of recognition and elimination of senescent cells. Overall, resistance training suppressed the accumulation of senescent FAPs and acquisition of SASP in aging skeletal muscles.
© 2024. The Author(s).

  • IHC
  • Rattus norvegicus (Rat)

Prostate cancer is a heterogeneous disease with a slow progression and a highly variable clinical outcome. The tumor suppressor genes PTEN and TP53 are frequently mutated in prostate cancer and are predictive of early metastatic dissemination and unfavorable patient outcomes. The progression of solid tumors to metastasis is often associated with increased cell plasticity, but the complex events underlying TP53-loss-induced disease aggressiveness remain incompletely understood. Using genetically engineered mice, we show that Trp53 deficiency in Pten-null prostatic epithelial cells (PECs) does not impact early cell proliferation and neoplasia formation, nor growth arrest and senescence entry at a later time. However, Trp53-deficiency enhances invasive adenocarcinoma development and promotes metastatic cell dissemination. Importantly, our single-cell transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility analyses combined with histological examinations uncovered an epithelial cell population characterized by an induction of Jak/Stat3 signaling and displaying mesenchymal features. Moreover, we show that the transcriptomic signature of this cell population is prominent in tumors of patients with high-risk prostate cancer or metastatic disease. In addition, our in vivo and organoid-based experiments provide evidence that PEC plasticity occurs through bi-directional communication with cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Thus, our study demonstrates that p53 loss induces a protumorigenic crosstalk between PECs and CAFs, and identifies new vulnerabilities that might be targeted to limit cancer progression.
© 2025. The Author(s).

  • IHC
  • Mus musculus (House mouse)
  • Cancer Research
  • Cell Biology

Cold exposure reinstates NAD+ levels and attenuates hepatocellular carcinoma.

In Cell Stress on 9 January 2025 by Grazioso, T. P., Del Mar Rigual, M., et al.

Cold exposure has been historically used for medicinal purposes, but its benefits and associated mechanisms in mammalian organisms still remain unclear. Here, we explore the chemoprotective properties of cold temperature using a mouse model of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that recapitulates several human features. Chronic cold exposure is shown to prolong lifespan in diseased mice, enhance liver health, and suppress the development of aggressive HCC, preventing hepatocellular hypertrophy, high-grade oval cell hyperplasia, liver steatosis, and aberrant hepatocyte hyperproliferation. Mechanistically, exposure to cold temperatures reinstates NAD+ levels in the HCC mouse models that originally exhibited low NAD+ levels, a contributing process to the development of liver tumors. These findings uncover the role of cold therapy to attenuate HCC development and potentially other existing malignancies involving NAD+ modulation.

  • Cancer Research

Synergistic rescue of temperature-sensitive p53 mutants by hypothermia and arsenic trioxide.

In Molecular Carcinogenesis on 1 November 2024 by Lu, J., Chen, L., et al.

The p53 tumor suppressor is inactivated by mutations in about 50% of tumors. Rescuing the transcriptional function of mutant p53 has potential therapeutic benefits. Approximately 15% of p53 mutants are temperature sensitive (TS) and regain maximal activity at 32°C. Proof of concept study showed that induction of 32°C hypothermia in mice restored TS mutant p53 activity and inhibited tumor growth. However, 32°C is the lower limit of therapeutic hypothermia procedures for humans. Higher temperatures are preferable but result in suboptimal TS p53 activation. Recently, arsenic trioxide (ATO) was shown to rescue the conformation of p53 structural mutants by stabilizing the DNA binding domain. We examined the responses of 17 frequently observed p53 TS mutants to functional rescue by temperature shift and ATO. The results showed that ATO only rescued mild p53 TS mutants with high basal activity at 37°C. Mild TS mutants showed a common feature of regaining significant activity at the semi-permissive temperature of 35°C and could be further stimulated by ATO at 35°C. TS p53 rescue by ATO was antagonized by the cellular redox mechanism and was rapidly reversible. Inhibition of glutathione (GSH) biosynthesis enhanced ATO rescue efficiency and sustained p53 activity after ATO washout. The results suggest that mild TS p53 mutants are uniquely responsive to functional rescue by ATO due to small thermostability deficits and inherent potential to regain active conformation. Combining mild hypothermia and ATO may provide an effective and safe procedure for targeting tumors with p53 TS mutations.
© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.

  • Cancer Research

Transient proliferation by reversible YAP and mitogen-control of the cyclin D1/p27 ratio

Preprint on BioRxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology on 13 October 2024 by Ferrick, K. R., Fan, Y., et al.

ABSTRACT Hippo-YAP signaling orchestrates epithelial tissue repair and is therefore an attractive target in regenerative medicine. Yet it is unresolved how YAP integrates with mitogen signaling and contact inhibition to control the underlying transient proliferative response. Here we show that reduced contact inhibition, increased mitogen signaling, and YAP-TEAD activation converge on increasing the nuclear cyclin D1/p27 protein ratio during G1 phase, towards a threshold ratio that dictates whether individual cells enter or exit the cell cycle. YAP increases this ratio indirectly, in concert with mitogen signaling, by increasing EGFR and other receptors that signal primarily through ERK. After a delay, contact inhibition suppresses YAP activity which gradually downregulates mitogen signaling and the cyclin D1/p27 ratio. Increasing YAP activity by ablating the suppressor Merlin/NF2 reveals a balancing mechanism in which YAP suppression and contact inhibition of proliferation can be recovered but only at higher local cell density. Thus, critical for tissue repair, robust proliferation responses result from the YAP-induced and receptor-mediated prolonged increase in the cyclin D1/p27 ratio, which is only reversed by delayed suppression of receptor signaling after contact inhibition of YAP.

  • Homo sapiens (Human)
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