Several concepts for platinum-based catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are presented that exceed the US Department of Energy targets for Pt-related ORR mass activity. Most concepts ...achieve their high ORR activity by increasing the Pt specific activity at the expense of a lower electrochemically active surface area (ECSA). In the potential region controlled by kinetics, such a lower ECSA is counterbalanced by the high specific activity. At higher overpotentials, however, which are often applied in real systems, a low ECSA leads to limitations in the reaction rate not by kinetics, but by mass transport. Here we report on self-supported platinum-cobalt oxide networks that combine a high specific activity with a high ECSA. The high ECSA is achieved by a platinum-cobalt oxide bone nanostructure that exhibits unprecedentedly high mass activity for self-supported ORR catalysts. This concept promises a stable fuel-cell operation at high temperature, high current density and low humidification.
Skeletal muscle extracts glucose from the blood to maintain demand for carbohydrates as an energy source during exercise. Such uptake involves complex molecular signalling processes that are distinct ...from those activated by insulin. Exercise-stimulated glucose uptake is preserved in insulin-resistant muscle, emphasizing exercise as a therapeutic cornerstone among patients with metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus. Exercise increases uptake of glucose by up to 50-fold through the simultaneous stimulation of three key steps: delivery, transport across the muscle membrane and intracellular flux through metabolic processes (glycolysis and glucose oxidation). The available data suggest that no single signal transduction pathway can fully account for the regulation of any of these key steps, owing to redundancy in the signalling pathways that mediate glucose uptake to ensure maintenance of muscle energy supply during physical activity. Here, we review the molecular mechanisms that regulate the movement of glucose from the capillary bed into the muscle cell and discuss what is known about their integrated regulation during exercise. Novel developments within the field of mass spectrometry-based proteomics indicate that the known regulators of glucose uptake are only the tip of the iceberg. Consequently, many exciting discoveries clearly lie ahead.
Exercise is essential in regulating energy metabolism and whole-body insulin sensitivity. To explore the exercise signaling network, we undertook a global analysis of protein phosphorylation in human ...skeletal muscle biopsies from untrained healthy males before and after a single high-intensity exercise bout, revealing 1,004 unique exercise-regulated phosphosites on 562 proteins. These included substrates of known exercise-regulated kinases (AMPK, PKA, CaMK, MAPK, mTOR), yet the majority of kinases and substrate phosphosites have not previously been implicated in exercise signaling. Given the importance of AMPK in exercise-regulated metabolism, we performed a targeted in vitro AMPK screen and employed machine learning to predict exercise-regulated AMPK substrates. We validated eight predicted AMPK substrates, including AKAP1, using targeted phosphoproteomics. Functional characterization revealed an undescribed role for AMPK-dependent phosphorylation of AKAP1 in mitochondrial respiration. These data expose the unexplored complexity of acute exercise signaling and provide insights into the role of AMPK in mitochondrial biochemistry.
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•Identification of the human muscle acute exercise signaling repertoire•Integrated AMPK substrate prediction in human muscle and cells•Targeted validation of exercise-regulated AMPK substrates•AKAP1 phosphorylation by AMPK that regulates mitochondrial respiration
Combining phosphoproteomics, biochemical, and bioinformatics approaches, Hoffman et al. perform a global analysis of exercise signaling in human skeletal muscle and reveal an interconnected network of kinases and AMPK substrates in response to exercise. Among these, AKAP1 is shown to regulate mitochondrial respiration via AMPK-dependent phosphorylation.
Metabolic dysfunction and insulin resistance are emerging as hallmarks of cancer and cachexia, and impair cancer prognosis. Yet, the molecular mechanisms underlying impaired metabolic regulation are ...not fully understood. To elucidate the mechanisms behind cancer‐induced insulin resistance in muscle, we isolated extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and soleus muscles from Lewis Lung Carcinoma tumor‐bearing mice. Three weeks after tumor inoculation, muscles were isolated and stimulated with or without a submaximal dose of insulin (1.5 nM). Glucose transport was measured using 2‐3HDeoxy‐Glucose and intramyocellular signaling was investigated using immunoblotting. In soleus muscles from tumor‐bearing mice, insulin‐stimulated glucose transport was abrogated concomitantly with abolished insulin‐induced TBC1D4 and GSK3 phosphorylation. In EDL, glucose transport and TBC1D4 phosphorylation were not impaired in muscles from tumor‐bearing mice, while AMPK signaling was elevated. Anabolic insulin signaling via phosphorylation of the mTORC1 targets, p70S6K thr389, and ribosomal‐S6 ser235, were decreased by cancer in soleus muscle while increased or unaffected in EDL. In contrast, the mTOR substrate, pULK1 ser757, was reduced in both soleus and EDL by cancer. Hence, cancer causes considerable changes in skeletal muscle insulin signaling that is dependent on muscle‐type, which could contribute to metabolic dysregulation in cancer. Thus, the skeletal muscle could be a target for managing metabolic dysfunction in cancer.
The γ subunits of heterotrimeric AMPK complexes contain the binding sites for the regulatory adenine nucleotides AMP, ADP and ATP. We addressed whether complexes containing different γ isoforms ...display different responses to adenine nucleotides by generating cells stably expressing FLAG-tagged versions of the γ1, γ2 or γ3 isoform. When assayed at a physiological ATP concentration (5 mM), γ1- and γ2-containing complexes were allosterically activated almost 10-fold by AMP, with EC50 values one to two orders of magnitude lower than the ATP concentration. By contrast, γ3 complexes were barely activated by AMP under these conditions, although we did observe some activation at lower ATP concentrations. Despite this, all three complexes were activated, due to increased Thr(172) phosphorylation, when cells were incubated with mitochondrial inhibitors that increase cellular AMP. With γ1 complexes, activation and Thr(172) phosphorylation induced by the upstream kinase LKB1 liver kinase B1; but not calmodulin-dependent kinase kinase (CaMKKβ) in cell-free assays was markedly promoted by AMP and, to a smaller extent and less potently, by ADP. However, effects of AMP or ADP on activation and phosphorylation of the γ2 and γ3 complexes were small or insignificant. Binding of AMP or ADP protected all three γ subunit complexes against inactivation by Thr(172) dephosphorylation; with γ2 complexes, ADP had similar potency to AMP, but with γ1 and γ3 complexes, ADP was less potent than AMP. Thus, AMPK complexes containing different γ subunit isoforms respond differently to changes in AMP, ADP or ATP. These differences may tune the responses of the isoforms to fit their differing physiological roles.
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is immune-driven pathologies that are observed in severe cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infection. SARS-CoV emerged in ...2002 to 2003 and led to a global outbreak of SARS. As with the outcome of human infection, intranasal infection of C57BL/6J mice with mouse-adapted SARS-CoV results in high-titer virus replication within the lung, induction of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, and immune cell infiltration within the lung. Using this model, we investigated the role of the complement system during SARS-CoV infection. We observed activation of the complement cascade in the lung as early as day 1 following SARS-CoV infection. To test whether this activation contributed to protective or pathologic outcomes, we utilized mice deficient in C3 (C3
), the central component of the complement system. Relative to C57BL/6J control mice, SARS-CoV-infected
mice exhibited significantly less weight loss and less respiratory dysfunction despite equivalent viral loads in the lung. Significantly fewer neutrophils and inflammatory monocytes were present in the lungs of
mice than in C56BL/6J controls, and subsequent studies revealed reduced lung pathology and lower cytokine and chemokine levels in both the lungs and the sera of
mice than in controls. These studies identify the complement system as an important host mediator of SARS-CoV-induced disease and suggest that complement activation regulates a systemic proinflammatory response to SARS-CoV infection. Furthermore, these data suggest that SARS-CoV-mediated disease is largely immune driven and that inhibiting complement signaling after SARS-CoV infection might function as an effective immune therapeutic.
The complement system is a critical part of host defense to many bacterial, viral, and fungal infections. It works alongside pattern recognition receptors to stimulate host defense systems in advance of activation of the adaptive immune response. In this study, we directly test the role of complement in SARS-CoV pathogenesis using a mouse model and show that respiratory disease is significantly reduced in the absence of complement even though viral load is unchanged. Complement-deficient mice have reduced neutrophilia in their lungs and reduced systemic inflammation, consistent with the observation that SARS-CoV pathogenesis is an immune-driven disease. These data suggest that inhibition of complement signaling might be an effective treatment option following coronavirus infection.
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) act as intracellular compartmentalized second messengers, mediating metabolic stress-adaptation. In skeletal muscle fibers, ROS have been suggested to stimulate glucose ...transporter 4 (GLUT4)-dependent glucose transport during artificially evoked contraction ex vivo, but whether myocellular ROS production is stimulated by in vivo exercise to control metabolism is unclear. Here, we combined exercise in humans and mice with fluorescent dyes, genetically-encoded biosensors, and NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2) loss-of-function models to demonstrate that NOX2 is the main source of cytosolic ROS during moderate-intensity exercise in skeletal muscle. Furthermore, two NOX2 loss-of-function mouse models lacking either p47phox or Rac1 presented striking phenotypic similarities, including greatly reduced exercise-stimulated glucose uptake and GLUT4 translocation. These findings indicate that NOX2 is a major myocellular ROS source, regulating glucose transport capacity during moderate-intensity exercise.
Purpose The significance of radiotherapy (RT) -associated cardiac injury for stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is unclear, but higher heart doses were associated with worse overall ...survival in the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0617 study. We assessed the impact of heart dose in patients treated at our institution on several prospective dose-escalation trials. Patients and Methods From 1996 to 2009, 127 patients with stage III NSCLC (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, 0 to 1) received dose-escalated RT to 70 to 90 Gy (median, 74 Gy) in six trials. RT plans and cardiac doses were reviewed. Records were reviewed for the primary end point: symptomatic cardiac events (symptomatic pericardial effusion, acute coronary syndrome, pericarditis, significant arrhythmia, and heart failure). Cardiac risk was assessed by noting baseline coronary artery disease and calculating the WHO/International Society of Hypertension score. Competing risks analysis was used. Results In all, 112 patients were analyzed. Median follow-up for surviving patients was 8.8 years. Twenty-six patients (23%) had one or more events at a median of 26 months to first event (effusion n = 7, myocardial infarction n = 5, unstable angina n = 3, pericarditis n = 2, arrhythmia n = 12, and heart failure n = 1). Heart doses (eg, heart mean dose; hazard ratio, 1.03/Gy; P = .002,), coronary artery disease ( P < .001), and WHO/International Society of Hypertension score ( P = .04) were associated with events on univariable analysis. Heart doses remained significant on multivariable analysis that accounted for baseline risk. Two-year competing risk-adjusted event rates for patients with heart mean dose < 10 Gy, 10 to 20 Gy, or ≥ 20 Gy were 4%, 7%, and 21%, respectively. Heart doses were not associated with overall survival. Conclusion Cardiac events were relatively common after high-dose thoracic RT and were independently associated with both heart dose and baseline cardiac risk. RT-associated cardiac toxicity after treatment of stage III NSCLC may occur earlier than historically understood, and heart doses should be minimized.
The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant BA.2 sublineage is rapidly replacing earlier Omicron lineages, suggesting BA.2 has increased vaccine evasion properties. We measured neutralization titers of authentic ...BA.1 and BA.2 isolates in serum samples from persons who received the BNT162b2 booster vaccine. All samples neutralized BA.1 and BA.2 at equal median values.
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