315 results match your criteria: "East Carolina Diabetes and Obesity Institute.[Affiliation]"

The adult mammalian testis is filled with seminiferous tubules, which contain somatic Sertoli cells along with germ cells undergoing all phases of spermatogenesis. During spermatogenesis in postnatal mice, male germ cells undergo at least 17 different nomenclature changes as they proceed through mitosis as spermatogonia (=8), meiosis as spermatocytes (=6), and spermiogenesis as spermatids (=3) [1-6]. Adding to this complexity, combinations of germ cells at each of these stages of development are clumped together along the length of the seminiferous tubules.

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Maternal resistance exercise increases infant energy expenditure.

Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab

December 2024

Department of Kinesiology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA.

Maternal obesity decreases infant energy expenditure, subsequently predisposing infants to greater adiposity and weight gain. Conversely, some findings suggest that maternal exercise may increase infant energy expenditure; however, the impact of maternal exercise mode (i.e.

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The aim of this study was to show the effects of different maternal exercise modes on infant cord blood proteome. We used infant cord blood from two randomized controlled trials where women with a wide range of BMI and free of pregnancy complications participated in controlled and supervised aerobic, resistance, or combination (aerobic+resistance) exercise from <16 weeks of gestation until delivery. Results of this study showed that infant cord blood proteome is altered in a maternal exercise mode specific manner.

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Article Synopsis
  • * CPT1A is found to be most active in quiescent SCs and decreases as these cells become active, with overexpression of CPT1A in muscle cells leading to reduced muscle strength and regeneration capabilities.
  • * Increased levels of acyl-carnitine, resulting from elevated CPT1A, negatively impact SC proliferation and function, suggesting a critical balance of fatty acid metabolism is essential for SC maintenance and muscle repair.
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The Drug Transporter P-Glycoprotein and Its Impact on Ceramide Metabolism-An Unconventional Ally in Cancer Treatment.

Int J Mol Sci

September 2024

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, The East Carolina Diabetes and Obesity Institute, Greenville, NC 27834, USA.

The tumor-suppressor sphingolipid ceramide is recognized as a key participant in the cytotoxic mechanism of action of many types of chemotherapy drugs, including anthracyclines, Vinca alkaloids, the podophyllotoxin etoposide, taxanes, and the platinum drug oxaliplatin. These drugs can activate de novo synthesis of ceramide or stimulate the production of ceramide via sphingomyelinases to limit cancer cell survival. On the contrary, dysfunctional sphingolipid metabolism, a prominent factor in cancer survival and therapy resistance, blunts the anticancer properties of ceramide-orchestrated cell death pathways, especially apoptosis.

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Objective: Abnormal lipid metabolism in mammalian tissues can be highly deleterious, leading to organ failure. Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase 2 (CPT2) deficiency is an inherited metabolic disorder affecting the liver, heart, and skeletal muscle due to impaired mitochondrial oxidation of long-chain fatty acids (mLCFAO) for energy production.

Methods: However, the basis of tissue damage in mLCFAO disorders is not fully understood.

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Paternal obesity decreases infant MSC mitochondrial functional capacity.

Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab

October 2024

Department of Kinesiology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, United States.

Besides the well-recognized influence of maternal health on fetal in utero development, recent epidemiological studies appoint paternal preconception metabolic health as a significant factor in shaping fetal metabolic programming and subsequently offspring metabolic health; however, mechanisms behind these adaptations remain confined to animal models. To elucidate the effects of paternal obesity (P-OB) on infant metabolism in humans, we examined mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which give rise to infant tissue, remain involved in mature tissue maintenance, and resemble the phenotype of the offspring donor. Here, we assessed mitochondrial functional capacity, content, and insulin action in MSC from infants of fathers with overweight [body mass index (BMI: 25-30 kg/m); paternal overweight (P-OW)] or obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m; P-OB) while controlling for maternal intrauterine environment.

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Article Synopsis
  • Maternal exercise during pregnancy is linked to higher REE and better oxygen use in infants, suggesting it may help reduce the risk of obesity later on.
  • The study found that higher maternal BMI negatively impacted infant REE in non-exercising mothers, but this relationship didn't exist in infants of exercising mothers, indicating exercise may promote healthier energy levels in babies.
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Article Synopsis
  • Maternal exercise (ME) has been shown to positively impact infant metabolic health, but most understanding comes from animal studies.
  • Research on infant mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) reveals that ME enhances MSC mitochondrial function and insulin signaling, leading to improved energy use.
  • Infants of mothers who exercised were found to be leaner at 1 month, and there was an inverse relationship between MSC respiration and infant fat levels at 6 months.
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Acute myeloid leukemia mitochondria hydrolyze ATP to resist chemotherapy.

bioRxiv

November 2024

Department of Cancer Biology, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC.

Despite early optimism, therapeutics targeting oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) have faced clinical setbacks, stemming from their inability to distinguish healthy from cancerous mitochondria. Herein, we describe an actionable bioenergetic mechanism unique to cancerous mitochondria inside acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells. Unlike healthy cells which couple respiration to the synthesis of ATP, AML mitochondria were discovered to support inner membrane polarization by consuming ATP.

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Background: Prenatal exercise improves birth outcomes, but research into exercise dose-response effects is limited.

Methods: This study is a retrospective, secondary analysis of pooled data from three blinded, prospective, randomized controlled trials. Prenatal exercise frequency, intensity, type, time, and volume (FITT-V) were assessed in supervised sessions throughout pregnancy.

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Limited oxygen in standard cell culture alters metabolism and function of differentiated cells.

EMBO J

June 2024

Metabolic Research Laboratories, Wellcome-Medical Research Council Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK.

The in vitro oxygen microenvironment profoundly affects the capacity of cell cultures to model physiological and pathophysiological states. Cell culture is often considered to be hyperoxic, but pericellular oxygen levels, which are affected by oxygen diffusivity and consumption, are rarely reported. Here, we provide evidence that several cell types in culture actually experience local hypoxia, with important implications for cell metabolism and function.

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BACKGROUNDWhile the benefits of statin therapy on atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease are clear, patients often experience mild to moderate skeletal myopathic symptoms, the mechanism for which is unknown. This study investigated the potential effect of high-dose atorvastatin therapy on skeletal muscle mitochondrial function and whole-body aerobic capacity in humans.METHODSEight overweight (BMI, 31.

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Ablation of skeletal muscle estrogen receptor alpha impairs contractility in male mice.

J Appl Physiol (1985)

April 2024

Division of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.

Estradiol and estrogen receptor α (ERα) have been shown to be important for the maintenance of skeletal muscle strength in females; however, little is known about the roles of estradiol and ERα in male muscle. The purpose of this study was to determine if skeletal muscle ERα is required for optimal contractility in male mice. We hypothesize that reduced ERα in skeletal muscle impairs contractility in male mice.

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Article Synopsis
  • Resveratrol, a natural compound in plants, is being studied for its potential to treat obesity-related issues like insulin resistance.
  • A study analyzed how obesity status (lean vs. severely obese) affects responses to resveratrol in skeletal muscle cells, revealing that lean women showed greater improvements in insulin action with resveratrol than severely obese women.
  • The findings suggest that while resveratrol enhances insulin-stimulated glucose metabolism in both groups, the mechanisms may differ, with AMPK activation playing a key role in severely obese individuals.
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Fasting plasma lactate as a possible early clinical marker for metabolic disease risk.

Diabetes Metab Syndr

February 2024

Departments of Kinesiology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA; Surgery, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA; Human Performance Laboratory, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA; East Carolina Diabetes and Obesity Institute, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA.

Background And Aim: Elevated fasting plasma lactate concentrations are evident in individuals with metabolic diseases. However, it has yet to be determined if these associations exist in a young, healthy population as a possible early marker for metabolic disease risk. The purpose of this study was to determine if indices of the metabolic syndrome are related to plasma lactate concentrations in this population.

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Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global health epidemic that significantly increases mortality due to cardiovascular disease. Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is an important mechanism of cardiac injury in CKD. High serum levels of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 23 in patients with CKD may contribute mechanistically to the pathogenesis of LVH by activating FGF receptor (FGFR) 4 signaling in cardiac myocytes.

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Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive hematologic malignancy requiring urgent treatment advancements. Ceramide is a cell-death-promoting signaling lipid that plays a central role in therapy-induced cell death. We previously determined that acid ceramidase (AC), a ceramide-depleting enzyme, is overexpressed in AML and promotes leukemic survival and drug resistance.

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Pyruvate modulation of redox potential controls mouse sperm motility.

Dev Cell

January 2024

East Carolina Diabetes and Obesity Institute at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834, USA; Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834, USA. Electronic address:

Sperm gain fertilization competence in the female reproductive tract through a series of biochemical changes and a requisite switch from linear progressive to hyperactive motility. Despite being essential for fertilization, regulation of sperm energy transduction is poorly understood. This knowledge gap confounds interpretation of interspecies variation and limits progress in optimizing sperm selection for assisted reproduction.

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High Fat Diet-Induced Obesity Dysregulates Splenic B Cell Mitochondrial Activity.

Nutrients

November 2023

Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health and School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.

Diet-induced obesity impairs mitochondrial respiratory responses in tissues that are highly metabolically active, such as the heart. However, less is known about the impact of obesity on the respiratory activity of specific cell types, such as splenic B cells. B cells are of relevance, as they play functional roles in obesity-induced insulin resistance, inflammation, and responses to infection.

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The foundation of spermatogenesis and lifelong fertility is provided by spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs). SSCs divide asymmetrically to either replenish their numbers (self-renewal) or produce undifferentiated progenitors that proliferate before committing to differentiation. However, regulatory mechanisms governing SSC maintenance are poorly understood.

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Targeting mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) to treat cancer has been hampered due to serious side-effects potentially arising from the inability to discriminate between non-cancerous and cancerous mitochondria. Herein, comprehensive mitochondrial phenotyping was leveraged to define both the composition and function of OXPHOS across various murine cancers and compared to both matched normal tissues and other organs. When compared to both matched normal tissues, as well as high OXPHOS reliant organs like heart, intrinsic expression of the OXPHOS complexes, as well as OXPHOS flux were discovered to be consistently lower across distinct cancer types.

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A narrative review of exercise dose during pregnancy.

Birth Defects Res

October 2023

Department of Kinesiology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

The current recommendations for prenatal exercise dose align with those from the American College of Sports Medicine; 150 min of moderate intensity every week of pregnancy. However, recent works suggest there may be a dose-dependent beneficial effect for mother and offspring; maternal and offspring health outcomes respond differently to low, medium, and high doses of prenatal exercise. It is, therefore, our aim to summarize the published evidence (years 1950-2023) for five metrics of prenatal exercise training commonly reported, that is, "FITT-V": Frequency (number of sessions), Intensity (metabolic equivalents "METs"), Time (duration of sessions), Type (exercise mode), Volume (exercise MET*mins).

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