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Hart DA. The Heterogeneity of Post-Menopausal Disease Risk: Could the Basis for Why Only Subsets of Females Are Affected Be Due to a Reversible Epigenetic Modification System Associated with Puberty, Menstrual Cycles, Pregnancy and Lactation, and, Ultimately, Menopause? Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:3866. [PMID: 38612676 PMCID: PMC11011715 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25073866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2024] [Revised: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
For much of human evolution, the average lifespan was <40 years, due in part to disease, infant mortality, predators, food insecurity, and, for females, complications of childbirth. Thus, for much of evolution, many females did not reach the age of menopause (45-50 years of age) and it is mainly in the past several hundred years that the lifespan has been extended to >75 years, primarily due to public health advances, medical interventions, antibiotics, and nutrition. Therefore, the underlying biological mechanisms responsible for disease risk following menopause must have evolved during the complex processes leading to Homo sapiens to serve functions in the pre-menopausal state. Furthermore, as a primary function for the survival of the species is effective reproduction, it is likely that most of the advantages of having such post-menopausal risks relate to reproduction and the ability to address environmental stresses. This opinion/perspective will be discussed in the context of how such post-menopausal risks could enhance reproduction, with improved survival of offspring, and perhaps why such risks are preserved. Not all post-menopausal females exhibit risk for this set of diseases, and those who do develop such diseases do not have all of the conditions. The diseases of the post-menopausal state do not operate as a unified complex, but as independent variables, with the potential for some overlap. The how and why there would be such heterogeneity if the risk factors serve essential functions during the reproductive years is also discussed and the concept of sets of reversible epigenetic changes associated with puberty, pregnancy, and lactation is offered to explain the observations regarding the distribution of post-menopausal conditions and their potential roles in reproduction. While the involvement of an epigenetic system with a dynamic "modification-demodification-remodification" paradigm contributing to disease risk is a hypothesis at this point, validation of it could lead to a better understanding of post-menopausal disease risk in the context of reproduction with commonalities may also lead to future improved interventions to control such risk after menopause.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Hart
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Kinesiology, and McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada
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Wang Y, Hu J, Wu S, Fleishman JS, Li Y, Xu Y, Zou W, Wang J, Feng Y, Chen J, Wang H. Targeting epigenetic and posttranslational modifications regulating ferroptosis for the treatment of diseases. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2023; 8:449. [PMID: 38072908 PMCID: PMC10711040 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-023-01720-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2023] [Revised: 09/16/2023] [Accepted: 11/18/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Ferroptosis, a unique modality of cell death with mechanistic and morphological differences from other cell death modes, plays a pivotal role in regulating tumorigenesis and offers a new opportunity for modulating anticancer drug resistance. Aberrant epigenetic modifications and posttranslational modifications (PTMs) promote anticancer drug resistance, cancer progression, and metastasis. Accumulating studies indicate that epigenetic modifications can transcriptionally and translationally determine cancer cell vulnerability to ferroptosis and that ferroptosis functions as a driver in nervous system diseases (NSDs), cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), liver diseases, lung diseases, and kidney diseases. In this review, we first summarize the core molecular mechanisms of ferroptosis. Then, the roles of epigenetic processes, including histone PTMs, DNA methylation, and noncoding RNA regulation and PTMs, such as phosphorylation, ubiquitination, SUMOylation, acetylation, methylation, and ADP-ribosylation, are concisely discussed. The roles of epigenetic modifications and PTMs in ferroptosis regulation in the genesis of diseases, including cancers, NSD, CVDs, liver diseases, lung diseases, and kidney diseases, as well as the application of epigenetic and PTM modulators in the therapy of these diseases, are then discussed in detail. Elucidating the mechanisms of ferroptosis regulation mediated by epigenetic modifications and PTMs in cancer and other diseases will facilitate the development of promising combination therapeutic regimens containing epigenetic or PTM-targeting agents and ferroptosis inducers that can be used to overcome chemotherapeutic resistance in cancer and could be used to prevent other diseases. In addition, these mechanisms highlight potential therapeutic approaches to overcome chemoresistance in cancer or halt the genesis of other diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yumin Wang
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Aerospace Center Hospital, Peking University Aerospace School of Clinical Medicine, Beijing, 100049, PR China
| | - Jing Hu
- Department of Pathogen Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300060, PR China
| | - Shuang Wu
- Department of Neurology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430000, PR China
| | - Joshua S Fleishman
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. John's University, Queens, NY, 11439, USA
| | - Yulin Li
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Aerospace Center Hospital, Peking University Aerospace School of Clinical Medicine, Beijing, 100049, PR China
| | - Yinshi Xu
- Department of Outpatient, Aerospace Center Hospital, Peking University Aerospace School of Clinical Medicine, Beijing, 100049, PR China
| | - Wailong Zou
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Aerospace Center Hospital, Peking University Aerospace School of Clinical Medicine, Beijing, 100049, PR China
| | - Jinhua Wang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Target and Screening Research, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100050, PR China.
| | - Yukuan Feng
- Department of Pancreatic Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin, 300060, PR China.
| | - Jichao Chen
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Aerospace Center Hospital, Peking University Aerospace School of Clinical Medicine, Beijing, 100049, PR China.
| | - Hongquan Wang
- Department of Pancreatic Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin, 300060, PR China.
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Burggren WW, Mendez-Sanchez JF. "Bet hedging" against climate change in developing and adult animals: roles for stochastic gene expression, phenotypic plasticity, epigenetic inheritance and adaptation. Front Physiol 2023; 14:1245875. [PMID: 37869716 PMCID: PMC10588650 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1245875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Animals from embryos to adults experiencing stress from climate change have numerous mechanisms available for enhancing their long-term survival. In this review we consider these options, and how viable they are in a world increasingly experiencing extreme weather associated with climate change. A deeply understood mechanism involves natural selection, leading to evolution of new adaptations that help cope with extreme and stochastic weather events associated with climate change. While potentially effective at staving off environmental challenges, such adaptations typically occur very slowly and incrementally over evolutionary time. Consequently, adaptation through natural selection is in most instances regarded as too slow to aid survival in rapidly changing environments, especially when considering the stochastic nature of extreme weather events associated with climate change. Alternative mechanisms operating in a much shorter time frame than adaptation involve the rapid creation of alternate phenotypes within a life cycle or a few generations. Stochastic gene expression creates multiple phenotypes from the same genotype even in the absence of environmental cues. In contrast, other mechanisms for phenotype change that are externally driven by environmental clues include well-understood developmental phenotypic plasticity (variation, flexibility), which can enable rapid, within-generation changes. Increasingly appreciated are epigenetic influences during development leading to rapid phenotypic changes that can also immediately be very widespread throughout a population, rather than confined to a few individuals as in the case of favorable gene mutations. Such epigenetically-induced phenotypic plasticity can arise rapidly in response to stressors within a generation or across a few generations and just as rapidly be "sunsetted" when the stressor dissipates, providing some capability to withstand environmental stressors emerging from climate change. Importantly, survival mechanisms resulting from adaptations and developmental phenotypic plasticity are not necessarily mutually exclusive, allowing for classic "bet hedging". Thus, the appearance of multiple phenotypes within a single population provides for a phenotype potentially optimal for some future environment. This enhances survival during stochastic extreme weather events associated with climate change. Finally, we end with recommendations for future physiological experiments, recommending in particular that experiments investigating phenotypic flexibility adopt more realistic protocols that reflect the stochastic nature of weather.
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Affiliation(s)
- Warren W. Burggren
- Developmental Integrative Biology Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, United States
| | - Jose Fernando Mendez-Sanchez
- Laboratorio de Ecofisiología Animal, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Toluca, Mexico
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Wojtasińska A, Frąk W, Lisińska W, Sapeda N, Młynarska E, Rysz J, Franczyk B. Novel Insights into the Molecular Mechanisms of Atherosclerosis. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:13434. [PMID: 37686238 PMCID: PMC10487483 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241713434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2023] [Revised: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Atherosclerosis is one of the most fatal diseases in the world. The associated thickening of the arterial wall and its background and consequences make it a very composite disease entity with many mechanisms that lead to its creation. It is an active process, and scientists from various branches are engaged in research, including molecular biologists, cardiologists, and immunologists. This review summarizes the available information on the pathophysiological implications of atherosclerosis, focusing on endothelium dysfunction, inflammatory factors, aging, and uric acid, vitamin D, and miRNA expression as recent evidence of interactions of the molecular and cellular elements. Analyzing new discoveries for the underlying causes of this condition assists the general research to improve understanding of the mechanism of pathophysiology and thus prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Armanda Wojtasińska
- Department of Nephrocardiology, Medical University of Lodz, ul. Zeromskiego 113, 90-549 Lodz, Poland (W.L.)
| | - Weronika Frąk
- Department of Nephrocardiology, Medical University of Lodz, ul. Zeromskiego 113, 90-549 Lodz, Poland (W.L.)
| | - Wiktoria Lisińska
- Department of Nephrocardiology, Medical University of Lodz, ul. Zeromskiego 113, 90-549 Lodz, Poland (W.L.)
| | - Natalia Sapeda
- Department of Nephrocardiology, Medical University of Lodz, ul. Zeromskiego 113, 90-549 Lodz, Poland (W.L.)
| | - Ewelina Młynarska
- Department of Nephrocardiology, Medical University of Lodz, ul. Zeromskiego 113, 90-549 Lodz, Poland (W.L.)
| | - Jacek Rysz
- Department of Nephrology, Hypertension and Family Medicine, Medical University of Lodz, ul. Zeromskiego 113, 90-549 Lodz, Poland
| | - Beata Franczyk
- Department of Nephrocardiology, Medical University of Lodz, ul. Zeromskiego 113, 90-549 Lodz, Poland (W.L.)
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