Saturated free fatty acids,palmitic acid and stearic acid,induce apoptosis by stimulation of ceramide generation in rat testicular Leydig cell

In men, obesity has generally been associated with reduced plasma testosterone levels and with elevation of the plasma free fatty acids (FFAs). In this study, we investigated the effects of saturated FFAs including palmitic acid (PA) and stearic acid (SA), and polyunsaturated FFA arachidonic acid (AA) on the survival of rat testicular Leydig cell cultured in vitro. PA and SA markedly suppressed Leydig cell survival in a time- and dose-dependent manner. In contrast, AA stimulated the cell proliferation at 5-10 times of physiological concentration. The suppressive effect of PA and SA on cell survival was caused by apoptosis evidenced by DNA ladder formation and Annexin V-EGFP/propidium iodide staining of the cells. The apoptotic effect of PA was possibly mediated by ceramide generation because it could be completely blocked by ceramide synthase inhibitor fumonisin B1 and exogenous ceramide itself could directly induce apoptosis in vitro. Surprisingly, the apoptosis induced by PA could be partly prevented by AA. These results indicate that PA and SA induce apoptosis in testicular Leydig cells by ceramide production and these apoptotic effects may be a possible mechanism for reproductive abnormalities in obese men, and AA can partly prevent the apoptotic effect induced by saturated FFA.     

Neuroprotective function of R-(-)-1-(benzofuran-2-yl)-2-propylaminopentane, [R-(-)-BPAP], against apoptosis induced by N-methyl(R)salsolinol, an endogenous dopaminergic neurotoxin, in human dopaminergic neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells

R-(-)-1-(Benzofuran-2-yl)-2-propylaminopentane HCl [R-(-)-BPAP] is one of "catecholaminergic and serotonergic enhancers", which were proposed to improve symptoms through increase in impulse-evoked release of monoamine neurotransmitters for Parkinson's disease. It was reported that (-)-BPAP up-regulated the synthesis of neurotrophic factors in mouse astrocytes, suggesting the neuroprotective potency of (-)-BPAP. In this paper, the neuroprotective function of (-)-BPAP and the related compounds was examined against apoptosis induced by an endogenous neurotoxin, N-methyl(R)salsolinol [NM(R)Sal], a possible pathogenic toxin in Parkinson's disease, in human dopaminergic neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. The anti-apoptotic activity was confirmed with some of (-)-BPAP analogues, and the mechanism was found to be due to the direct stabilization of mitochondrial membrane potential and the induction of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2. The studies on structure-activity relationship demonstrated that the potency to stabilize the mitochondrial membrane potential depended on the absolute stereo-chemical structure of BPAP derivatives. The compounds with dextrorotation prevented the mitochondrial permeability transition, whereas those with levorotation did not. The presence of a propargyl or propyl group at the amino residue of R-(-)-1-(benzofuran-2-yl)-2-propylamine increased potency to stabilize the membrane potential and prevent apoptosis. R-FPFS-1169 and R-FPFS-1180 had more potent to induce Bcl-2 and prevent apoptosis than the corresponding S-enantiomers. These results are discussed with the possible application of BPAP derivatives as neuroprotective agents in Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.     

Spatiotemporal control of cyclic AMP immunomodulation through the PKA-Csk inhibitory pathway is achieved by anchoring to an Ezrin-EBP50-PAG scaffold in effector T cells

A variety of immunoregulatory signals to effector T cells from monocytes, macrophages and regulatory T cells act through cyclic adenosine monophosphate. In the effector T cell, the protein kinase A (PKA) type I isoenzyme localizes to lipid rafts during T cell activation and modulates directly the proximal events that take place after engagement of the T cell receptor. The most proximal target for PKA phosphorylation is C-terminal Src kinase (Csk), which initiates a negative signal pathway that fine-tunes the T cell activation process. The A kinase anchoring protein Ezrin colocalizes PKA and Csk by forming a supramolecular signaling complex consisting of PKA, Ezrin, Ezrin/radixin/moesin (ERM) binding protein of 50 kDa (EBP50), phosphoprotein associated with glycosphingolipid-enriched membrane microdomains (GEMs) (PAG) and Csk.