Regulation of autophagy as a therapy for immunosenescence-driven cancer and neurodegenerative diseases: The role of exercise

Aging is one of the risk factors for the development of low-grade inflammation morbidities, such as several types of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, due to changes in the metabolism, hormonal secretion, and immunosenescence. The senescence of the immune system leads to improper control of infections and tissue damage increasing age-related diseases. One of the mechanisms that maintain cellular homeostasis is autophagy, a cell-survival mechanism, and it has been proposed as one of the most powerful antiaging therapies. Regular exercise can reestablish autophagy, probably through AMP-activated protein kinase activation, and help in reducing the age-related senescence diseases. Therefore, in this study, we discuss the effects of exercise training in immunosenescence and autophagy, preventing the two main age-related disease, cancer and neurodegeneration.     

The Implication of Early Chromatin Changes in X Chromosome Inactivation

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mRNA transcription profile of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) exposed to ultrasound during different stages of in vitro plantlet development

Plant Molecular Biology - In response to an ultrasound pulse, several hundred DEGs, including in response to stress, were up- or down-regulated in in vitro potato plantlets. Despite this abiotic...     

Cardiovascular and ventilatory interactions in the facultative air-breathing teleost Pangasianodon hypophthalmus

Journal of Comparative Physiology B - All vertebrates possess baroreceptors monitoring arterial blood pressure and eliciting reflexive changes in vascular resistance and heart rate in response to...     

Antenna to leg transformation: Dynamics of developmental competence

We explore the transformation of antenna to leg in Drosophila melanogaster, using ectopically expressed transgenes with heat shock promoters: heat shock Antennapedia, heat shock Ultrabithorax, and heat shock mouse Hox A5. We determined the frequency of transformation of several leg markers in response to Antennapedia protein delivered by heat shock at different times and doses. We also studied stage-specific responses to the transgene, heat shock mouse Hox A5. Results show that each marker has its own stage and dose-specific pattern of response. The same marker could pass through a period of high-dose inhibition followed by a dose-independent response and then a positive dose-dependent phase. The heat shock-induced transgenes and spineless aristapedia transformed the apterous enhancer trap antenna disc expression pattern toward the pattern found in leg discs. These results are considered in relation to developmental competence—the ability of developing tissue to respond to internal or external influences. The results suggest that all genes tested interact with the same competence system and that at least two classes of mechanisms are associated with antenna to leg transformation: one comprises global mechanisms that permit transformation over approximately 24 hr; the second class of mechanisms act very locally and are responsible for changes in dose response on the order of 4–8 hr. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Follow-up assessment of patients with Pure Neural Leprosy in a reference center in Rio de Janeiro—Brazil

IntroductionPure Neural Leprosy (PNL) is a rare clinical form of leprosy in which patients do not present with the classical skin lesions but have a high burden of the disability associated with the disease. Clinical characteristics and follow up of patients in PNL are still poorly described in the literature.ObjectiveThis paper aims to describe the clinical, electrophysiological and histopathological characteristics of PNL patients, as well as their evolution after multidrug therapy (MDT).MethodsFifty-two PNL patients were selected. Clinical, nerve conduction studies (NCS), histopathological and anti-PGL-1serology were evaluated. Patients were also assessed monthly during the MDT. At the end of the MDT, all of the patients had a new neurological examination and 44 were submitted to another NCS.ResultsParesthesia was the complaint most frequently reported by patients, and in the neurological examination the most common pattern observed was impairment in sensory and motor examination and a mononeuropathy multiplex. Painful nerve enlargement, a classical symptom of leprosy neuropathy, was observed in a minority of patients and in the motor NCS axonal injuries, alone or in combination with demyelinating features, were the most commonly observed. 88% of the patients did not present any leprosy reaction during MDT. There was no statistically significant difference between the neurological examinations, nor the NCS pattern, performed before and after the MDT.DiscussionThe classical hallmarks of leprosy neuropathy are not always present in PNL making the diagnosis even more challenging. Nerve biopsy is an important tool for PNL diagnosis as it may guide therapeutic decisions. This paper highlights unique characteristics of PNL in the spectrum of leprosy in an attempt to facilitate the diagnosis and management of these patients.