Stem cells exhibit pluripotency and self-renewal abilities. Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells can potentially be used to reconstruct various tissues. They possess significant versatility and alleviate various aging-related diseases. Unfortunately, aging leads to senescence, apoptosis, and a decline in regenerative capacity in adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells. These changes necessitate a strategy to mitigate the effects of aging on stem cells.
Abstract Habitual chewing of areca nut increases the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality, but less report demonstrate the toxic mechanism of areca nut on heart. To investigate toxicity of areca nut on cardiomyocytes, we induced the heart injury with arecoline to evaluate the acute damage of areca nut on heart. Different concentrations of are coline (lowdosage: 5 mg/kg/day and high dosage 50 mg/kg/day) were injected into Sprague‐Dawley rat via intra‐peritoneal method for 21 days to create negative effects of arecoline on cardiomyocyte. Themyocardial architecture of the rat heart was observed. The arecoline‐induced apoptotic proteins were analysed via western blotting. The myocardialarchitecture of heart was injured with arecoline and TUNEL stain was also shown are coline‐induced cardiac apoptosis. Arecoline promoted the protein expression of both Fas dependent snd mitochondrial dependent apoptosis. In summary, arecoline induces cardiac toxicity and apoptosis by inducing both death receptor and mitochondria‐dependent apoptotic pathways on heart.
Cardiovascular diseases in post-menopausal women are on a rise. Oxidative stress is the main contributing factor to the etiology and pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. Diosgenin, a member of steroidal sapogenin, is structurally similar to estrogen and has been shown to have antioxidant effects. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effects of diosgenin in preventing oxidation-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and assessed its potential as a substitute substance for estrogen in post-menopausal women. Apoptotic pathways and mitochondrial membrane potential were measured in H9c2 cardiomyoblast cells and neonatal cardiomyocytes treated with diosgenin for 1[Formula: see text]h prior to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) stimulation. H2O2-stimulated H9c2 cardiomyoblast cells displayed cytotoxicity and apoptosis via the activation of both Fas-dependent and mitochondria-dependent pathways. Additionally, it led to the instability of the mitochondrial membrane potential. However, the H2O2-induced H9c2 cell apoptosis was rescued by diosgenin through IGF1 survival pathway activation. This led to the recovery of the mitochondrial membrane potential by suppressing the Fas-dependent and mitochondria-dependent apoptosis. Diosgenin also inhibited H2O2-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis through the estrogen receptor interaction with PI3K/Akt and extracellular regulated protein kinases 1/2 activation in myocardial cells. In this study, we confirmed that diosgenin attenuated H2O2-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis through estrogen receptors-activated phosphorylation of PI3K/Akt and ERK signaling pathways in myocardial cells via estrogen receptor interaction. All results suggest that H2O2-induced myocardial damage is reduced by diosgenin due to its interaction with estrogen receptors to decrease the damage. Herein, we conclude that diosgenin might be a potential substitute substance for estrogen in post-menopausal women to prevent heart diseases.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused 403 million cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and resulted in more than 5.7 million deaths worldwide. Extensive research has identified several potential drug treatments for COVID-19. However, the development of new compounds or therapies is necessary to prevent the emergence of drug resistance in SARS-CoV-2. In this study, a novel compound based on hexaacetotetraaquadihydroxochromium(III)diiron(III) nitrate, which contains small amounts of chromium (III), was synthesised and evaluated for its effectiveness against multiple variants of COVID-19 using both in vitro and in vivo models. This innovative compound demonstrated interference with the interaction between the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Furthermore, in vitro experiments showed that this compound downregulated the expression of ACE2 and transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2). It also exhibited a reduction in the activity of 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CL) and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). Pretreatment with this small chromium (III)-based compound resulted in reduced ACE2-rich cell infection by various variants of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-pseudotyped lentivirus. Finally, the compound effectively inhibited viral infection by multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-pseudotyped lentivirus in both the abdominal and thoracic regions of mice. In conclusion, this compound lowers the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 entry into cells, inhibits viral maturation and replication in vitro, and reduces infection levels of multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-pseudotyped lentivirus in the abdomen and thorax following pretreatment. Small chromium (III)-based compounds have the potential to restrict the progression of SARS-CoV-2 infections.
Hypertension is a severe public health risk factor worldwide. Elevated angiotensin II (Ang II) produced by the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system can lead to hypertension and its complications.In this study, we addressed the cardiac-injury effects of Ang II and investigated the signaling mechanism induced by Ang II. Both H9c2 cardiomyoblast cells and neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were exposed to Ang II to observe hypertension-related cardiac apoptosis.The results of western blotting revealed that Ang II significantly attenuated the IGF1R-PI3K-AKT pathway via the Ang II-AT1 receptor axis and phosphatase and tensin homolog expression. Furthermore, real-time PCR showed that Ang II also activated miR-320-3p transcription to repress the PI3K-Akt pathway. In the heart tissue of spontaneously hypertensive rats, activation of the IGF1R survival pathway was also reduced compared with that in Wistar-Kyoto rats, especially in aged spontaneously hypertensive rats.Hence, we speculate that the Ang II-AT1 receptor axis induces both phosphatase and tensin homolog and miR-320-3p expression to downregulate the IGF1R-PI3K-AKT survival pathway and cause cell apoptosis in the heart.