Publications by authors named "Benjamin Kugler"

Article Synopsis
  • Aerobic fitness and exercise positively influence bile acid (BA) metabolism and help manage diet-induced fatty liver disease (hepatic steatosis).
  • Research showed that rats with high aerobic capacity produced more cholesterol and specific BAs when on a high-fat diet compared to those with low capacity.
  • In mice with a gene deletion affecting BA synthesis, exercise did not reduce liver fat, indicating that increased BA metabolism from exercise is crucial for combating fatty liver conditions.
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Purpose: To examine the effects of voluntary exercise training on tumor growth and explore the underlying intratumoral molecular pathways and processes responsible for the beneficial effects of VWR on tumor initiation and progression in a mouse model of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (CRPC).

Methods: Male immunodeficient mice (SCID) were castrated and subcutaneously inoculated with human CWR-22RV1 cancer cells to construct CRPC xenograft model before randomly assigned to either voluntary wheel running (VWR) or sedentary (SED) group (n=6/group). After three weeks, tumor tissues were collected.

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  • Low aerobic capacity is linked to higher risks of all-cause mortality and Alzheimer's disease, with early dementia individuals showing lower aerobic capacity than age-matched peers.
  • Research using rats bred for different aerobic capacities revealed that low-capacity runners had increased markers of Alzheimer’s associated with aging, particularly in females.
  • Differences in mitochondrial function were observed between high and low-capacity rats, highlighting the impact of sex on mitochondrial health and Alzheimer's pathology as they age.
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Age-associated declines in aerobic capacity promote the development of various metabolic diseases. In rats selectively bred for high/low intrinsic aerobic capacity, greater aerobic capacity reduces susceptibility to metabolic disease while increasing longevity. However, little remains known how intrinsic aerobic capacity protects against metabolic disease, particularly with aging.

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Dysfunctional mitochondria are removed via multiple pathways, such as mitophagy, a selective autophagy process. Here, we identify an intracellular hybrid mitochondria-lysosome organelle (termed the mitochondria-lysosome-related organelle [MLRO]), which regulates mitochondrial homeostasis independent of canonical mitophagy during hepatocyte dedifferentiation. The MLRO is an electron-dense organelle that has either a single or double membrane with both mitochondria and lysosome markers.

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Mitochondrial quality control processes are essential in governing mitochondrial integrity and function. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of 10 weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on the regulatory protein machinery of skeletal muscle mitochondrial quality control and whole-body glucose homeostasis in diet-induced obese mice. Male C57BL/6 mice were assigned to low-fat diet (LFD) or high-fat diet (HFD) group.

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Article Synopsis
  • High and low aerobic capacity in rats affects their metabolism and risk for metabolic diseases, particularly in response to high-fat diets (HFDs).
  • The study tested the effects of a bile acid sequestrant (BA-Seq) on male rats selectively bred for high (HCR) or low (LCR) aerobic capacities while on a 1-week HFD.
  • Results showed that BA-Seq improved lipid and bile acid excretion in both groups; however, HCR rats exhibited better adaptability in their metabolism, leading to greater energy loss compared to LCR rats.
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Objective: Dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) is the key regulator of mitochondrial fission. We and others have reported a strong correlation between enhanced Drp1 activity and impaired skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity. This study aimed to determine whether Drp1 directly regulates skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity and whole-body glucose homeostasis.

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Article Synopsis
  • Mitochondrial quality control is crucial for maintaining proper mitochondrial function, and the study aimed to investigate how 10 weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) impacts this process in obese mice.
  • HIIT improved mitochondrial respiration in diet-induced obese mice but did not affect overall insulin sensitivity, suggesting targeted benefits for muscle function rather than whole-body metabolic health.
  • Key findings include reduced mitochondrial fission protein Drp1 activity and restored autophagy indicators (p62 and LC3B) in the HIIT group compared to the high-fat diet group, indicating enhanced mitochondrial quality control.
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Exercise is a physiological stress that disrupts tissue and cellular homeostasis while enhancing systemic metabolic energy demand mainly through the increased workload of skeletal muscle. Although the extensive focus has been on skeletal muscle adaptations to exercise, the liver senses these disruptions in metabolic energy homeostasis and responds to provide the required substrates to sustain increased demand. Hepatic metabolic flexibility is an energetically costly process that requires continuous mitochondrial production of the cellular currency ATP.

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Dynamin-related protein-1 (Drp1) is a key regulator in mitochondrial fission. Excessive Drp1-mediated mitochondrial fission in skeletal muscle under the obese condition is associated with impaired insulin action. However, it remains unknown whether pharmacological inhibition of Drp1, using the Drp1-specific inhibitor Mitochondrial Division Inhibitor 1 (Mdivi-1), is effective in alleviating skeletal muscle insulin resistance and improving whole-body metabolic health under the obese and insulin-resistant condition.

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Background: Skeletal muscle from lean and obese subjects elicits differential adaptations in response to exercise/muscle contractions. In order to determine whether obesity alters the adaptations in mitochondrial dynamics in response to exercise/muscle contractions and whether any of these distinct adaptations are linked to alterations in insulin sensitivity, we compared the effects of electrical pulse stimulation (EPS) on mitochondrial network structure and regulatory proteins in mitochondrial dynamics in myotubes from lean humans and humans with severe obesity and evaluated the correlations between these regulatory proteins and insulin signaling.

Methods: Myotubes from human skeletal muscle cells obtained from lean humans (body mass index, 23.

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The purpose of this study was to determine whether intramyocellular glucose partitioning was altered in primary human myotubes derived from severely obese women with type 2 diabetes. Human skeletal muscle cells were obtained from lean nondiabetic and severely obese Caucasian females with type 2 diabetes [body mass index (BMI): 23.6 ± 2.

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Background/objectives: Impaired insulin-mediated glucose partitioning is an intrinsic metabolic defect in skeletal muscle from severely obese humans (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m). Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery has been shown to improve glucose metabolism in severely obese humans. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of RYGB surgery on glucose partitioning, mitochondrial network morphology, and the markers of mitochondrial dynamics skeletal muscle from severely obese humans.

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Healthy mitochondrial networks are maintained via balanced integration of mitochondrial quality control processes (biogenesis, fusion, fission, and mitophagy). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of severe obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) on mitochondrial network morphology and expression of proteins regulating mitochondrial quality control processes in cultured human myotubes. Primary human skeletal muscle cells were isolated from biopsies from lean, severely obese nondiabetic individuals and severely obese type 2 diabetic individuals ( = 8-9/group) and were differentiated to myotubes.

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