Project description:Historically, lower incidence of CVD and related deaths in women compared to men of the same age has been attributed to female sex hormones, particularly estrogen and its receptors. Autologous Bone marrow stem cell (BMSC) clinical trials for cardiac cell therapy overwhelmingly included male patients; however, meta-analysis data on these trials suggest a better functional outcome in women compared to men. Direct comparison of gender-specific cardiac reparative activity and estrogen-independent mechanisms that regulate gender-specific dimorphisms of BMSC has not been studied. This study was designed to identify sex hormone-independent mechanisms that regulate superior reparative properties of female endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) post-MI, particularly epigenetic mechanisms. Male (M), female (F), and ovariectomized female (OVX) mice-derived EPCs were subjected to a series of molecular and epigenetic analyses followed by in vivo functional assessments of cardiac repair. RNA sequencing and other quantitative assays showed a similar genetic profile between F-EPCs and OVX-EPCs, distinct from M-EPCs that displayed significant up-regulation of inflammation-related genes. F-EPCs and OVX EPCs secrete higher levels of proangiogenic factors, lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines and show better cardiac reparative activity after intra-cardiac injections in a male mouse model of myocardial infarction (MI). Epigenetic sequencing revealed a marked difference in the occupancy of the gene repressive H3K9me3 mark, particularly at transcription start sites of key angiogenic and proinflammatory genes in male EPCs compared to female and ovariectomized EPCs. Our study unveiled that functional gender dimorphism in EPCs is, in part, mediated by differential epigenetic regulation of the proinflammatory and anti-angiogenic gene CCL3, orchestrated by the control of H3K9me3 by histone methyltransferase, G9a/Ehmt2. Our research highlights the importance of considering gender of donor cells for progenitor based tissue repair.

Project description:Skeletal muscle mitochondrial dysfunction is secondary to T2DM and can be improved by long-term regular exercise training Mitochondrial dysfunction has long been implicated to play a causative role in development of type 2 diabetes (T2DM). However, a growing number of recent studies provide data that mitochondrial dysfunction is a consequence of T2DM development. The aim of our study is to clarify in further detail the causal role of mitochondrial dysfunction in T2DM by a comprehensive ex vivo analysis of mitochondrial function combined with global gene expression analysis in muscle of pre-diabetic newly diagnosed untreated T2DM subjects and long-standing insulin treated T2DM subjects compared with age- and BMI-matched controls. In addition, we assessed the impact of long-term interval exercise training on physical activity performance, mitochondrial function and glycemic control in long-standing insulin-treated T2DM subjects. Ex vivo mitochondrial density, quality and functioning was comparable between pre-diabetic subjects and matched controls, however, gene expression analysis showed a switch from carbohydrate toward lipids as energy source in pre-diabetes subjects. In contrast, long-term insulin treated T2DM subjects had slightly decreased mitochondrial density and ex vivo function. Expression of Krebs cycle and OXPHOS related genes were decreased, indicating a decreased capacity to use lipids as an energy source. The insulin-treated T2DM subjects had a lower physical activity level than pre-diabetic and normoglycemic subjects. A 52 weeks exercise training of these subjects increased submaximal oxidative efficiency, increased in vivo PCr recovery rate, as well as mildly increased in vitro mitochondrial function. Gene expression of β-oxidation, Krebs cycle and OXPHOS-related genes was increased. Our data demonstrate that mitochondrial dysfunction is rather a consequence than a causative factor in T2DM development as it was only detected in overt diabetes and not in early diabetes. Regular exercise training stabilized exogenous insulin requirement and improved mitochondrial functioning, fatty acid oxidation and general physical work load capacity in long-standing insulin-treated T2DM subjects. As such, the present study shows for the first time that long-term exercise interventions are beneficial in this group of complex diabetes patient and may prevent further metabolic deterioration. Insulin-treated T2DM subjects before and after 52 weeks of exercise training (T2DM_0 and T2DM_52), normoglycemic controls (NGT) and pre-diabetes subjects (IGT) and were selected. RNA was extracted from skeletal muscle biopsies and hybridized on Affymetrix microarrays.

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Postprandial blood glucose and triglyceride metabolism govern bone marrow stem cell transcriptional regulation, premature aging and rejuvenation.

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