Prostate hyperplasia caused by long-term obesity is characterized by high deposition of extracellular matrix and increased content of MMP-9 and VEGF

Recent studies have shown a positive association of cancer and obesity, but the morphological and molecular mechanisms involved in this relationship are still unknown. This study analysed the impact of long-term obesity on rat prostate, focusing on stromal changes. Male adult Wistar rats were treated with high-fat diet to induce obesity, while the control group received a balanced diet. After 30 weeks of feeding, the ventral prostate was analysed by immunohistochemistry for cell proliferation, smooth muscle ��-actin, vimentin, chondroitin sulphate and metalloproteinases (MMP-2 and 9). The content of androgen receptor (AR), oestrogen receptors (ERs) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was measured by Western blotting, and activity of catalase and Glutathione-S-Transferase (GST) were quantified by enzymatic assay. Long-term obesity decreased testosterone plasma levels by 70% and resulted in stromal prostate hyperplasia, as evidenced by increased collagen fibres. Such stromal hyperplasia was associated with increased number of blood vessels and raised VEGF content, and increased expression of chondroitin sulphate, vimentin, ��-actin and MMP-9. In spite of the high cell density in prostate, the proliferative activity was lower in the prostates of obese rats, indicating that hyperplasia was established during the early phases in this obesity model. AR levels increased significantly, whereas the ER�� decreased in this group. Moreover, the levels of catalase and GST were changed considerably. These findings indicate that long-term obesity, besides disturbing the antioxidant control, causes intense stromal remodelling and release of factors that create an environment that can promote proliferative disorders in the gland, culminating with diffuse hyperplasia.

Supported core-shell nanobiosensors for quantitative fluorescence imaging of extracellular pH

Covalent ���click��� cycloaddition was used to functionalize silica substrates with pH-sensitive nanoparticles, thus producing uniform and highly luminescent analytical devices usable in both commercial fluorimeters and fluorescence microscopes. Quantitative and spatially-resolved extracellular pH measurements were successfully achieved on live cardiac fibroblasts with these novel ion-sensitive surfaces.

Identifica����o de Neutrophil Extracellular Traps em les��es tegumentares de pacientes com Paracoccidiodomicose e an��lise da forma����o de NETs in vitro por neutr��filos humanos desafiados com Paracoccidioides brasiliensis

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient��fico e Tecnol��gico (CNPq)

Produ����o de fitase por Rhizopus microsporus var. microsporus: purifica����o, caracteriza����o bioqu��mica e aplica����o

P��s-gradua����o em Biotecnologia - IQ

Monocyte migration driven by galectin-3 occurs through distinct mechanisms involving selective interactions with the extracellular matrix

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)

Extracellular HSP70 levels in diabetic environment in rats

Coordena����o de Aperfei��oamento de Pessoal de N��vel Superior (CAPES)

Alterations in extracellular matrix composition in the aging larynx

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)

Streptococcus mutans-derived extracellular matrix in cariogenic oral biofilms

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)

Chronic stress improves NO- and Ca2+flux-dependent vascular function: a pharmacological study

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)

Cadmium exposure inhibits MMP2 and MMP9 activities in the prostate and testis

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)

The Ca2+-activated K+ channels play a braking role in locus coeruleus neurons during CO2 exposure

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)

Alterations of protein expression in conditions of copper-deprivation for Paracoccidioides lutzii in the presence of extracellular matrix components

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)

Lipid peroxidation: the role or Ca2+ and protection by calcinine

When calcinine (A-23187) (2 mu M), a known Ca2+ ionophore, is present, a significant protection is observed to a mitochondrial suspension undergoing lipid peroxidation by Fe2+-citrate complex. A-23187 can remove Ca2+, which seems to have an important role in the lipid peroxidation process, from its 'lesive sites' and consequently preventing the damage. This information has importance in terms of knowing the mechanisms and avoiding the damages of lipid peroxidation that occur in some pathological cases such as tumor promotion and hemochromatosis.

Changes in cells's secretory organelles and extracellular matrix during endochondral ossification in the mandibular condyle of the growing rat

The mandibular condyle from 20-day-old rats was examined in the electron microscope with particular attention to intracellular secretory granules and extracellular matrix. Moreover, type II collagen was localized by an immunoperoxidase method. The condyle has been divided into five layers: (1) the most superficial, articular layer, (2) polymorphic cell layer, (3) flattened cell layer, (4) upper hypertrophic, and (5) lower hypertrophic cell layers. In the articular layer, the cells seldom divide, but in the polymorphic layer and upper part of the flattened cell layer, mitosis gives rise to new cells. In these layers, cells produce two types of secretory granules, usually in distinct stacks of the Golgi apparatus; type a, cylindrical granules, in which 300-nm-long threads are packed in bundles which appear lucent after formaldehyde fixation; and type b, spherical granules loaded with short, dotted filaments. The matrix is composed of thick banded lucent fibrils in a loose feltwork of short, dotted filaments. The cells arising from mitosis undergo endochondral differentiation, which begins in the lower part of the flattened cell layer and is completed in the upper hypertrophic cell layer; it is followed by gradual cell degeneration in the lower hypertrophic cell layer. The cells produce two main types of secretory granules: type b as above; and type c, ovoid granules containing 300-nm-long threads associated with short, dotted filaments. A possibly different secretory granule, type d, dense and cigar-shaped, is also produced. The matrix is composed of thin banded fibrils in a dense feltwork. In the matrix of the superficial layers, the lucency of the fibrils indicated that they were composed of collagen I, whereas the lucency of the cylindrical secretory granules suggested that they transported collagen I precursors to the matrix. Moreover, the use of ruthenium red indicated that the feltwork was composed of proteoglycan; the dotted filaments packed in spherical granules were similar to, and presumably the source of, the matrix feltwork. The superficial layers did not contain collagen II and were collectively referred to as perichondrium. In the deep layers, the ovoid secretory granules displayed collagen II antigenicity and were likely to transport precursors of this collagen to the matrix, where it appeared in the thin banded fibrils. That these granules also carried proteoglycan to the matrix was suggested by their content of short dotted filaments. Thus the deep layers contained collagen II and proteoglycan as in cartilage; they were collectively referred to as the hyaline cartilage region.

Cardiac dysfunction induced by obesity es not related to beta-adrenergic system impairment at the receptor-signalling pathway

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)