bims-polyam 2024-11-10 papers

Issue of 2024–11–10
two papers selected by
Sebastian J. Hofer, University of Graz

J Nutr Biochem. 2024 Nov 02. pii: S0955-2863(24)00223-7. [Epub ahead of print] 109792

Maternal Supplementation Spermidine During Gestation Improves Placental Angiogenesis and Reproductive Performance of High Prolific Sows.

Bingbing Duan, Sijiao Ran, Lin Wu, Tianci Dai, Jian Peng, Yuanfei Zhou.

Spermidine (SPD) is a widely recognized polyamine compound found in mammalian cells and plays a key role in various cellular processes. We propose that SPD may enhance placental vascular development in pregnant sows, leading to increased birth weight of piglets. Six hundred and nine sows at 60 days of gestation were randomly assigned into a basal diet (CON group), basal diet supplemented 10 mg/kg of SPD (SPD1 group), and basal diet supplemented 20 mg/kg of SPD (SPD2 group), respectively. Compared with the CON, SPD1 significantly increased the average number of healthy piglets per litter and the placental efficiency (P < 0.05), while the average number of mummified fetus per litter and the percentage of weak piglets significantly decreased (P < 0.05). In the plasma metabolomics, SPD content in plasma of sows (P = 0.075) and umbilical cord plasma of piglets (P = 0.078) had an increasing trend in response to SPD1. Furthermore, SPD1 increased the expression of the vascular endothelial cell marker protein, platelet endothelial cell adhesionmolecule-1 (PECAM-1/CD31) and the density of placental stromal vessels (P < 0.05). Moreover, as compared to CON, SPD2 significantly decreased the average number of mummified fetus per litter (P < 0.05), while the placental efficiency and the expression of amino acid transporter solute carrier (SLC) family 7, member7 (SLC7A7) and glucose transporters SLC2A2) and SLC5A4 in placental tissue significantly increased (P < 0.05). These results suggest that maternal supplementation of SPD during pregnancy increased healthy litter number, and promoted placental tissue development. Our findings provide evidence that maternal SPD has the potential to improve the production performance of sows.

Keywords: angiogenesis; nutrient transport; placenta; spermidine

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnutbio.2024.109792

J Korean Neurosurg Soc. 2024 Nov 05.

Spermine Synthase : A Potential Prognostic Marker for Lower-Grade Gliomas.

Chen Liu, Hongqi Li, Xiaolong Hu, Maohui Yan, Zhiguang Fu, Hengheng Zhang, Yingjie Wang, Nan Du.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between spermine synthase (SMS) expression, tumor occurrence, and prognosis in lower-grade gliomas (LGGs).
Methods: A total of 523 LGG patients and 1152 normal brain tissues were included as controls. Mann-Whitney U test was performed to evaluate SMS expression in the LGG group. Functional annotation analysis was conducted to explore the biological processes associated with high SMS expression. Immune cell infiltration analysis was performed to examine the correlation between SMS expression and immune cell types. The association between SMS expression and clinical and pathological features was assessed using Spearman correlation analysis. In vitro experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of overexpressing or downregulating SMS on cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, invasion, and key proteins in the protein kinase B (AKT)/epithelialmesenchymal transition signaling pathway.
Results: The study revealed a significant upregulation of SMS expression in LGGs compared to normal brain tissues. High SMS expression was associated with certain clinical and pathological features, including older age, astrocytoma, higher World Health Organization grade, poor disease-specific survival, disease progression, non-1p/19q codeletion, and wild-type isocitrate dehydrogenase. Cox regression analysis identified SMS as a risk factor for overall survival. Bioinformatics analysis showed enrichment of eosinophils, T cells, and macrophages in LGG samples, while proportions of dendritic (DC) cells, plasmacytoid DC (pDC) cells, and CD8+ T cells were decreased.
Conclusion: High SMS expression in LGGs may promote tumor occurrence through cellular proliferation and modulation of immune cell infiltration. These findings suggest the prognostic value of SMS in predicting clinical outcomes for LGG patients.

Keywords: AKT/EMT signaling; Lower-grade gliomas; Prognosis immune cell infiltration; Spermine synthase; Tumor occurrence

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3340/jkns.2024.0080