bims-polyam 2020-11-08 papers

Issue of 2020‒11‒08
five papers selected by
Alexander Ivanov
Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology

Cells. 2020 Oct 29. pii: E2373. [Epub ahead of print]9(11):

Polyamines: Small Amines with Large Effects on Plant Abiotic Stress Tolerance.

Rubén Alcázar, Milagros Bueno, Antonio F Tiburcio.

In recent years, climate change has altered many ecosystems due to a combination of frequent droughts, irregular precipitation, increasingly salinized areas and high temperatures. These environmental changes have also caused a decline in crop yield worldwide. Therefore, there is an urgent need to fully understand the plant responses to abiotic stress and to apply the acquired knowledge to improve stress tolerance in crop plants. The accumulation of polyamines (PAs) in response to many abiotic stresses is one of the most remarkable plant metabolic responses. In this review, we provide an update about the most significant achievements improving plant tolerance to drought, salinity, low and high temperature stresses by exogenous application of PAs or genetic manipulation of endogenous PA levels. We also provide some clues about possible mechanisms underlying PA functions, as well as known cross-talks with other stress signaling pathways. Finally, we discuss about the possible use of PAs for seed priming to induce abiotic stress tolerance in agricultural valuable crop plants.

Keywords: climate change; cold; drought; heat; plant stress; putrescine; salinity; spermidine; spermine; thermospermine

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/cells9112373

Curr Med Chem. 2020 Nov 01.

Synthesis and Biological Activities of Natural Functionalized Polyamines: An Overview.

Sophie Négrel, Jean Michel Brunel.

Recently, extensive researches have emphasized the fact that polyamines conjugates are becoming important in all the biological and medicinal fields. In this review we will focus our attention on natural polyamines and highlight recent progress in both fundamental mechanism studies and interest for the development and application for a therapeutic human use of polyamine derivatives.

Keywords: Natural polyamines; anti-cancer agents. ; anti-infective agents; antimicrobial activities; marine drugs; toxins

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2174/0929867327666201102114544

Gut Microbes. 2020 Nov 09. 12(1): 1-19

Spermidine improves gut barrier integrity and gut microbiota function in diet-induced obese mice.

Lingyan Ma, Yinhua Ni, Zhe Wang, Wenqing Tu, Liyang Ni, Fen Zhuge, Aqian Zheng, Luting Hu, Yufeng Zhao, Liujie Zheng, Zhengwei Fu.

Obesity is associated with impaired intestinal barrier function and dysbiosis of the gut microbiota. Spermidine, a polyamine that acts as an autophagy inducer, has important benefits in patients with aging-associated diseases and metabolic dysfunction. However, the mechanism of spermidine on obesity remains unclear. Here, we show that spermidine intake is negatively correlated with obesity in both humans and mice. Spermidine supplementation causes a significant loss of weight and improves insulin resistance in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice. These effects are associated with the alleviation of metabolic endotoxemia and enhancement of intestinal barrier function, which might be mediated through autophagy pathway and TLR4-mediated microbial signaling transduction. Moreover, spermidine causes the significant alteration of microbiota composition and function. Microbiota depletion compromises function, while transplantation of spermidine-altered microbiota confers protection against obesity. These changes might partly be driven by an SCFA-producing bacterium, Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 group, which was decreased in obese subjects and subsequently increased by spermidine. Notably, the change of Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 group is significantly correlated with enhanced gut barrier function induced by spermidine. Our results indicate that spermidine supplementation may serve as a viable therapy for obesity.

Keywords: Spermidine; gut microbiota; insulin resistance; intestinal barrier function; short-chain fatty acid

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19490976.2020.1832857

Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Nov 03. pii: E8227. [Epub ahead of print]21(21):

Emerging Role for Linear and Circular Spermine Oxidase RNAs in Skeletal Muscle Physiopathology.

Jonathan Fernando Reinoso-Sánchez, Giulia Baroli, Guglielmo Duranti, Silvia Scaricamazza, Stefania Sabatini, Cristiana Valle, Mariangela Morlando, Robert Anthony Casero, Irene Bozzoni, Paolo Mariottini, Roberta Ceci, Manuela Cervelli.

Skeletal muscle atrophy is a pathological condition so far without effective treatment and poorly understood at a molecular level. Emerging evidence suggest a key role for circular RNAs (circRNA) during myogenesis and their deregulation has been reported to be associated with muscle diseases. Spermine oxidase (SMOX), a polyamine catabolic enzyme plays a critical role in muscle differentiation and the existence of a circRNA arising from SMOX gene has been recently identified. In this study, we evaluated the expression profile of circular and linear SMOX in both C2C12 differentiation and dexamethasone-induced myotubes atrophy. To validate our findings in vivo their expression levels were also tested in two murine models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: SOD1G93A and hFUS+/+, characterized by progressive muscle atrophy. During C2C12 differentiation, linear and circular SMOX show the same trend of expression. Interestingly, in atrophy circSMOX levels significantly increased compared to the physiological state, in both in vitro and in vivo models. Our study demonstrates that SMOX represents a new player in muscle physiopathology and provides a scientific basis for further investigation on circSMOX RNA as a possible new therapeutic target for the treatment of muscle atrophy.

Keywords: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis murine models; circRNA; skeletal muscle atrophy; spermine oxidase

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21218227