Current pharmaceutical design
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Organelle biogenesis is concomitant to organelle inheritance during cell division. It is necessary that organelles double their size and divide to give rise to two identical daughter cells. Mitochondrial biogenesis occurs by growth and division of pre-existing organelles and is temporally coordinated with cell cycle events [1]. ⋯ Among the promising strategies to ameliorate mitochondrial-based diseases these authors highlight the induction of PGC-1α via activation of PPAR receptors (rosiglitazone, bezafibrate) or modulating its activity by AMPK (AICAR, metformin, resveratrol) or SIRT1 (SRT1720 and several isoflavone-derived compounds). This article also presents a review of the current animal and cellular models useful to study mitochondriogenesis. Although it is known that many neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases are originated in mitochondria, the regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis has never been extensively studied. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)
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Leptin hormone plays a vital role in the pathophysiological changes in heart geometry and function. Nonetheless, the precise mechanism(s) triggering leptin-induced cardiomyocyte contractile dysfunction is not well understood. The present study was designed to examine if autophagy plays a role in leptin-induced cardiac contractile anomalies. ⋯ Pharmacological inhibition of reactive oxygen species (ROS) using tempol significantly attenuated leptin-induced autophagosome formation and cardiac contractile anomalies. In addition, genetic deletion of AMPKα2 or pharmacological inhibition of AMPK using compound C abrogated leptin or superoxide induced cardiac contractile dysfunction and autophagosome formation. In summary, our data revealed that leptin impairs cardiac contractile function through a superoxide generation-AMPK activation-and autophagy dependent mechanism.