Psychosocial Stress and Age Influence Depression and Anxiety-Related Behavior, Drive Tumor Inflammatory Cytokines and Accelerate Prostate Cancer Growth in Mice.

Prostate cancer (PCa) prevalence is higher in older men and poorer coping with psychosocial stressors effect prognosis. Yet, interactions between age, stress and PCa progression are underexplored. Therefore, we characterized the effects of age and isolation combined with restraint (2 h/day) for 14 days post-tumor inoculation on behavior, tumor growth and host defense in the immunocompetent, orthotopic RM-9 murine PCa model.

Maternal plasma proteomics in a rat model of pregnancy complications reveals immune and pro-coagulant gene pathway activation.

Problem: The Brown Norway (BN) rat is a model of T-helper 2 immune diseases, and also a model of pregnancy disorders that include placental insufficiency, fetal loss, and pre-eclampsia-like symptoms. The aim of this study was to investigate the plasma proteomic/cytokine profile of pregnant BN rats in comparison to that of the Lewis (LEW) rat strain.

Method Of Study: Plasma proteomics differences were studied at day 13 of pregnancy in pooled plasma samples by differential in-gel electrophoresis, and protein identification was performed by mass spectrometry.

Sympathetic neurotransmission in spleens from aging Brown-Norway rats subjected to reduced sympathetic tone.

Senescence of innate and adaptive responses and low-grade inflammation (inflammaging) hallmarks normal aging, which increases vulnerability to infectious diseases, autoimmunity and cancer. In normal aging, sympathetic dysregulation contributes to the dysregulation of innate and adaptive immunity and inflammaging. Sympathetic innervation of immune cells in secondary immune organs regulates immune responses.

Prevention of Mammary Tumor Development through Neuroimmunomodulation in the Spleen and Lymph Nodes of Old Female Sprague-Dawley Rats by L-Deprenyl.

Background: Development of mammary tumors is an age-associated phenomenon that is likely due to deficits in the neuroendocrine-immune interactions. Previously, we demonstrated that L-deprenyl, a monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) inhibitor, can enhance immune responses and restore noradrenergic (NA) innervation in the spleens of rats with carcinogen-induced and spontaneously developing mammary tumors.

Objectives: To investigate whether (1) treatment of early middle-aged female rats would prevent the spontaneous development of mammary tumors accompanied by restoration of immunity in the spleen and draining lymph nodes (DLN) and sympathetic NA innervation in the spleen and (2) deprenyl can influence the proliferation of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive (MCF-7 and T47D) and ER-negative (MDA-MB-231 and Hs 578T) human breast cancer cells.

Chronically lowering sympathetic activity protects sympathetic nerves in spleens from aging F344 rats.

In the present study, we investigated how increased sympathetic tone during middle-age affects the splenic sympathetic neurotransmission. Fifteen-month-old (M) F344 rats received rilmenidine (0, 0.5 or 1.

Sympathetic innervation of the spleen in male Brown Norway rats: a longitudinal aging study.

Aging leads to reduced cellular immunity with consequent increased rates of infectious disease, cancer, and autoimmunity in the elderly. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) modulates innate and adaptive immunity via innervation of lymphoid organs. In aged Fischer 344 (F344) rats, noradrenergic (NA) nerve density in secondary lymphoid organs declines, which may contribute to immunosenescence with aging.

Sympathetic nervous system and lymphocyte proliferation in the Fischer 344 rat spleen: a longitudinal study.

Unlabelled: Aging is associated with reduced cellular immunity, which leads to increased rates of infectious disease, cancer and autoimmunity in the elderly. Previous findings from our laboratory revealed an age-related decline in sympathetic innervation of immune organs that affects immunity. These studies suggested potential sympathetic nervous system involvement in age-induced immune dysregulation.

Sympathetic modulation of immunity: relevance to disease.

Optimal host defense against pathogens requires cross-talk between the nervous and immune systems. This paper reviews sympathetic-immune interaction, one major communication pathway, and its importance for health and disease. Sympathetic innervation of primary and secondary immune organs is described, as well as evidence for neurotransmission with cells of the immune system as targets.

Involvement of lysosomal cathepsins in the cleavage of DNA topoisomerase I during necrotic cell death.

Objective: Autoantibodies to DNA topoisomerase I (topo I) are associated with diffuse systemic sclerosis (SSc), appear to be antigen driven, and may be triggered by cryptic epitopes exposed during in vivo topo I fragmentation. These autoantibodies recognize topo I and fragments of this autoantigen generated during apoptosis and necrosis. We undertook this study to determine whether lysosomal cathepsins are involved in topo I fragmentation during necrosis.

Fragmentation of Golgi complex and Golgi autoantigens during apoptosis and necrosis.

Anti-Golgi complex autoantibodies are found primarily in patients with Sjögren's syndrome and systemic lupus erythematosus, although they are not restricted to these diseases. Several Golgi autoantigens have been identified that represent a small family of proteins. Common features of all Golgi autoantigens appear to be their distinct structural organization of multiple alpha-helical coiled-coil rods in the central domains flanked by non-coiled-coil N-termini and C-termini, and their localization to the cytoplasmic face of Golgi cisternae.