Publications by authors named "John O Onukwufor"

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by neuronal dysfunction leading to decreased memory and cognitive function. AD research has largely focused on the potential pathogenic role of two disease hallmarks: amyloid beta and phosphorylated tau. However, pharmacological interventions targeting these disease hallmarks have met with limited clinical trial success.

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Fish in their natural environments possess elaborate mechanisms that regulate physiological function to mitigate the adverse effects of multiple environmental stressors such as temperature, metals, and hypoxia. We investigated how warm acclimation affects mitochondrial responses to Cd, hypoxia, and acute temperature shifts (heat shock and cold snap) in rainbow trout. We observed that state 3 respiration driven by complex I (CI) was resistant to the stressors while warm acclimation and Cd reduced complex I +II (CI + II) driven state 3 respiration.

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Iron is critical for neuronal activity and metabolism, and iron dysregulation alters these functions in age-related neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD is a chronic neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive neuronal dysfunction, memory loss and decreased cognitive function. AD patients exhibit elevated iron levels in the brain compared to age-matched non-AD individuals.

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Iron is critical for neuronal activity and metabolism, and iron dysregulation alters these functions in age-related neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD is a chronic neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive neuronal dysfunction, memory loss and decreased cognitive function. AD patients exhibit elevated iron levels in the brain compared to age-matched non-AD individuals.

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Fish in their natural environments possess elaborate mechanisms that regulate physiological function to mitigate the adverse effects of multiple environmental stressors such as temperature, metals, and hypoxia. We investigated how warm acclimation affects mitochondrial responses to Cd, hypoxia, and acute temperature shifts (heat shock and cold snap) in rainbow trout. We observed that state 3 respiration driven by complex I (CI) was resistant to the stressors while warm acclimation and Cd reduced complex I +II (CI + II) driven state 3 respiration.

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Aging is associated with a decline in stem cell functionality and number across the organism. In this study, we aimed to further unravel Muscle Stem Cells (MuSCs) aging by assessing how systemic factors influence MuSC fate decisions through long-term epigenetic landscape remodelling. As aging is intricately linked to a pro-inflammatory shift, we studied the epigenetic effects of inflammatory signals in MuSCs and measured decreased H4K20me1 levels.

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In nature, mosshead sculpins (Clinocottus globiceps) are challenged by fluctuations in temperature and oxygen levels in their environment. However, it is unclear how mosshead sculpins modulate the permeability of their branchial epithelia to water and O in response to temperature or hypoxia stress. Acute decrease in temperature from 13 to 6 C reduced diffusive water flux rate by 22% and ṀO by 51%, whereas acute increase in temperature from 13 to 25 C increased diffusive water flux rate by 217% and ṀO by 140%, yielding overall Q values of 2.

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Organisms rely on chemical cues in their environment to indicate the presence or absence of food, reproductive partners, predators, or other harmful stimuli. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the bilaterally symmetric pair of ASH sensory neurons serves as the primary nociceptors. ASH activation by aversive stimuli leads to backward locomotion and stimulus avoidance.

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C. elegans react to metabolic distress caused by mismatches in oxygen and energy status via distinct behavioral responses. At the molecular level, these responses are coordinated by under-characterized, redox-sensitive processes, thought to initiate in mitochondria.

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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a devastating progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by neuronal dysfunction, and decreased memory and cognitive function. Iron is critical for neuronal activity, neurotransmitter biosynthesis, and energy homeostasis. Iron accumulation occurs in AD and results in neuronal dysfunction through activation of multifactorial mechanisms.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study examines how zebrafish manage their oxygen (O), water, and ion permeability under varying temperatures and hypoxic conditions, challenging the traditional view of the osmorespiratory compromise.
  • When exposed to higher temperatures, oxygen consumption and sodium loss rates increased, but lower temperatures led to reductions in these rates, indicating temperature sensitivity.
  • In prolonged hypoxic conditions, zebrafish demonstrated an ability to recover oxygen consumption while adjusting their gill permeabilities independently, differing from established patterns in other fish species.
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  • * Research on the tidepool sculpin showed that oxygen uptake and water flux increased with temperature, but water flux decreased under hypoxia at constant temperature, indicating a failure of expected responses during stress conditions.
  • * The findings imply that while tidepool sculpins can usually adjust water permeability in low oxygen conditions, this ability is compromised when faced with multiple stressors like high temperature and hypoxia, pointing to the need for further study on gill permeability regulation for species survival in changing environments.
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  • The osmorespiratory compromise is a balance between effective gas exchange in fish gills and the control of ion and water movement with the environment, particularly under stress like hypoxia.
  • In euryhaline killifish (freshwater, brackish, and seawater species), hypoxia showed varied effects on ion levels; freshwater killifish maintained ion balance while adjusting ion transport activities during low oxygen conditions.
  • The study found that gill permeability in both freshwater and seawater killifish decreased during hypoxia, but fish in isosmotic salinity responded with increased ion movement, aligning with classic models of how fish adapt to oxygen and salinity changes.
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Our understanding is limited on how fish adjust the effective permeability of their branchial epithelium to ions and water while altering O uptake rate (MO) with acute and chronic changes in temperature. We investigated the effects of acclimation temperature (8 °C, 13 °C and 18 °C) and acute temperature challenges [acute rise (acclimated at 8 °C, measured at 13 °C and 18 °C), acute drop (acclimated at 18 °C, measured at 8 °C and 13 °C) and intermediate (acclimated at 13 °C, measured at 8 °C and 18 °C)] on routine MO, diffusive water flux, and net sodium loss rates in 24-h fasted rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). In the temperature challenge tests, measurements were made during the first hour.

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Article Synopsis
  • Fluorescent proteins, like KillerRed and SuperNova, can produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) when exposed to light, impacting their use in biological research.
  • The study involved cloning and purifying these proteins along with mCherry, measuring their efficiency in generating superoxide and singlet oxygen upon light exposure using HPLC techniques.
  • Results indicated that SuperNova has the highest quantum yield for both types of ROS, improving our understanding and potential applications of these fluorescent proteins in redox biology research.
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Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) can be either detrimental or beneficial depending on the amount, duration, and location of their production. Mitochondrial complex I is a component of the electron transport chain and transfers electrons from NADH to ubiquinone. Complex I is also a source of ROS production.

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In the context of the osmorespiratory compromise, hypoxia and temperature have been little studied relative to exercise, and diffusive water flux rates (as assessed by HO efflux) have received almost no attention. We investigated the effects of fish size, hypoxia, exercise and acute temperature increase on diffusive water flux rates and net sodium loss rates in juvenile rainbow trout. Trout weighing 13-50 g were used to determine the effects of fish size under normoxia.

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Although aquatic organisms face multiple environmental stressors that may interact to alter adverse outcomes, our knowledge of stressor-stressor interaction on cellular function is limited. We investigated the combined effects of cadmium (Cd), hypoxia-reoxygenation (H-R) and temperature on mitochondrial function. Liver mitochondria from juvenile rainbow trout were exposed to Cd (0-20μM) and H-R (0 and 5min) at 5, 13 and 25°C followed by measurements of mitochondrial Cd load, volume, complex І active (A)↔deactive (D) transition, membrane potential, ROS release and ultrastructural changes.

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Hypoxia-reoxygenation (H-R) transitions and temperature fluctuations occur frequently in biological systems and likely interact to alter cell function. To test how H-R modulates mitochondrial function at different temperatures we measured the effects of H-R on isolated fish liver mitochondrial oxidation rates over a wide temperature range (5-25°C). Subsequently, the mechanisms underlying H-R induced mitochondrial responses were examined.

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The mitochondrial ATP-sensitive K(+) (mitoKATP) channel plays a significant role in mitochondrial physiology and protects against ischemic reperfusion injury in mammals. Although fish frequently face oxygen fluctuations in their environment, the role of the mitoKATP channel in regulating the responses to oxygen stress is rarely investigated in this class of animals. To elucidate whether and how the mitoKATP channel protects against hypoxia-reoxygenation (H-R)-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in fish, we first determined the mitochondrial bioenergetic effects of two key modulators of the channel, diazoxide and 5-hydroxydecanoate (5-HD), using a wide range of doses.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study examined how different temperatures affect the impact of cadmium (Cd) on the mitochondrial function and volume in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), using various Cd concentrations and substrates.
  • Results showed that temperature influences respiration rates, with lower efficiency at extreme temperatures, while Cd exposure hampers the positive effects of temperature on state 3 respiration and increases state 4.
  • The research also found that Cd accumulation in mitochondria was higher at elevated temperatures, causing mitochondrial volume changes that correlate with Cd uptake through specific ion channels, indicating a complex interaction between temperature, Cd toxicity, and mitochondrial dynamics.
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The goal of the present study was to elucidate the modulatory effects of cadmium (Cd) on hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in light of the limited understanding of the mechanisms of multiple stressor interactions in aquatic organisms. Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) liver mitochondria were isolated and energized with complex I substrates (malate-glutamate), and exposed to hypoxia (0>PO2<2 Torr) for 0-60 min followed by reoxygenation and measurement of coupled and uncoupled respiration and complex I enzyme activity. Thereafter, 5 min hypoxia was used to probe interactions with Cd (0-20 μmol l(-1)) and to test the hypothesis that deleterious effects of hypoxia/reoxygenation on mitochondria were mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS).

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