Publications by authors named "Kaitlyn Vitangcol"

Article Synopsis
  • Coenzyme Q (CoQ) is super important for helping our cells create energy, especially in special fat tissues called brown adipose tissues (BAT).
  • When there’s not enough CoQ, it can cause problems in the body, and scientists are still figuring out how this affects different tissues.
  • Surprisingly, even with low levels of UCP1 (a protein in BAT), CoQ deficiency can actually boost metabolism and prevent weight gain when eating high-fat diets, showing CoQ's important role in managing energy in our bodies.
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Aging is a major risk factor to develop neurodegenerative diseases and is associated with decreased buffering capacity of the proteostasis network. We investigated the significance of the unfolded protein response (UPR), a major signaling pathway activated to cope with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, in the functional deterioration of the mammalian brain during aging. We report that genetic disruption of the ER stress sensor IRE1 accelerated age-related cognitive decline.

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Declining tissue nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) levels are linked to ageing and its associated diseases. However, the mechanism for this decline is unclear. Here, we show that pro-inflammatory M1-like macrophages, but not naive or M2 macrophages, accumulate in metabolic tissues, including visceral white adipose tissue and liver, during ageing and acute responses to inflammation.

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