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Cardiovascular development is vital for embryonic survival and growth. Early gestation embryo loss or malformation has been linked to yolk sac vasculopathy and congenital heart defects (CHDs). However, the molecular pathways that underlie these structural defects in humans remain largely unknown hindering the development of molecular-based diagnostic tools and novel therapies.Murine embryos were exposed to high glucose, a condition known to induce cardiovascular defects in both animal models and humans. We further employed a mass spectrometry-based proteomics approach to identify proteins differentially expressed in embryos with defects from those with normal cardiovascular development. The proteins detected by mass spectrometry (WNT16, ST14, Pcsk1, Jumonji, Morca2a, TRPC5, and others) were validated by Western blotting and immunoflorescent staining of the yolk sac and heart. The proteins within the proteomic dataset clustered to adhesion/migration, differentiation, transport, and insulin signaling pathways. A functional role for several proteins (WNT16, ADAM15 and NOGO-A/B) was demonstrated in an ex vivo model of heart development. Additionally, a successful application of a cluster of protein biomarkers (WNT16, ST14 and Pcsk1) as a prenatal screen for CHDs was confirmed in a study of human amniotic fluid (AF) samples from women carrying normal fetuses and those with CHDs.The novel finding that WNT16, ST14 and Pcsk1 protein levels increase in fetuses with CHDs suggests that these proteins may play a role in the etiology of human CHDs. The information gained through this bed-side to bench translational approach contributes to a more complete understanding of the protein pathways dysregulated during cardiovascular development and provides novel avenues for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, beneficial to fetuses at risk for CHDs.

The evidence of the multiple beneficial health effects of fish consumption is strong, but physiological mechanisms behind these effects are not completely known. Little information is available on the effects of consumption of different type of fish. The aim of this study was to investigate how fatty fish or lean fish in a diet affect serum lipidomic profiles in subjects with coronary heart disease.A pilot study was designed which included altogether 33 subjects with myocardial infarction or unstable ischemic attack in an 8-week parallel controlled intervention. The subjects were randomized to either fatty fish (n = 11), lean fish (n = 12) or control (n = 10) groups. Subjects in the fish groups had 4 fish meals per week and subjects in the control group consumed lean beef, pork and chicken. A fish meal was allowed once a week maximum. Lipidomics analyses were performed using ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and gas chromatography. Multiple bioactive lipid species, including ceramides, lysophosphatidylcholines and diacylglycerols, decreased significantly in the fatty fish group, whereas in the lean fish group cholesterol esters and specific long-chain triacylglycerols increased significantly (False Discovery Rate q-value

The effect of weight loss on different plasma lipid subclasses at the molecular level is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine whether a diet-induced weight reduction result in changes in the extended plasma lipid profiles (lipidome) in subjects with features of metabolic syndrome in a 33-week intervention.Plasma samples of 9 subjects in the weight reduction group and 10 subjects in the control group were analyzed using mass spectrometry based lipidomic and fatty acid analyses. Body weight decreased in the weight reduction group by 7.8+/-2.9% (p

BackgroundThe acquired component of complex traits is difficult to dissect in humans. Obesity represents such a trait, in which the metabolic and molecular consequences emerge from complex interactions of genes and environment. With the substantial morbidity associated with obesity, a deeper understanding of the concurrent metabolic changes is of considerable importance. The goal of this study was to investigate this important acquired component and expose obesity-induced changes in biological pathways in an identical genetic background.Methods and findingsWe used a special study design of "clonal controls," rare monozygotic twins discordant for obesity identified through a national registry of 2,453 young, healthy twin pairs. A total of 14 pairs were studied (eight male, six female; white), with a mean +/- standard deviation (SD) age 25.8 +/- 1.4 y and a body mass index (BMI) difference 5.2 +/- 1.8 kg/m(2). Sequence analyses of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in subcutaneous fat and peripheral leukocytes revealed no aberrant heteroplasmy between the co-twins. However, mtDNA copy number was reduced by 47% in the obese co-twin's fat. In addition, novel pathway analyses of the adipose tissue transcription profiles exposed significant down-regulation of mitochondrial branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) catabolism (p < 0.0001). In line with this finding, serum levels of insulin secretion-enhancing BCAAs were increased in obese male co-twins (9% increase, p = 0.025). Lending clinical relevance to the findings, in both sexes the observed aberrations in mitochondrial amino acid metabolism pathways in fat correlated closely with liver fat accumulation, insulin resistance, and hyperinsulinemia, early aberrations of acquired obesity in these healthy young adults.ConclusionsOur findings emphasize a substantial role of mitochondrial energy- and amino acid metabolism in obesity and development of insulin resistance.

Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma 2 (PPARg2) is the nutritionally regulated isoform of PPARg. Ablation of PPARg2 in the ob/ob background, PPARg2(-/-) Lep(ob)/Lep(ob) (POKO mouse), resulted in decreased fat mass, severe insulin resistance, beta-cell failure, and dyslipidaemia. Our results indicate that the PPARg2 isoform plays an important role, mediating adipose tissue expansion in response to positive energy balance. Lipidomic analyses suggest that PPARg2 plays an important antilipotoxic role when induced ectopically in liver and muscle by facilitating deposition of fat as relatively harmless triacylglycerol species and thus preventing accumulation of reactive lipid species. Our data also indicate that PPARg2 may be required for the beta-cell hypertrophic adaptive response to insulin resistance. In summary, the PPARg2 isoform prevents lipotoxicity by (a) promoting adipose tissue expansion, (b) increasing the lipid-buffering capacity of peripheral organs, and (c) facilitating the adaptive proliferative response of beta-cells to insulin resistance.

The transcriptional coactivator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1beta (PGC-1beta) has been implicated in important metabolic processes. A mouse lacking PGC-1beta (PGC1betaKO) was generated and phenotyped using physiological, molecular, and bioinformatic approaches. PGC1betaKO mice are generally viable and metabolically healthy. Using systems biology, we identified a general defect in the expression of genes involved in mitochondrial function and, specifically, the electron transport chain. This defect correlated with reduced mitochondrial volume fraction in soleus muscle and heart, but not brown adipose tissue (BAT). Under ambient temperature conditions, PGC-1beta ablation was partially compensated by up-regulation of PGC-1alpha in BAT and white adipose tissue (WAT) that lead to increased thermogenesis, reduced body weight, and reduced fat mass. Despite their decreased fat mass, PGC1betaKO mice had hypertrophic adipocytes in WAT. The thermogenic role of PGC-1beta was identified in thermoneutral and cold-adapted conditions by inadequate responses to norepinephrine injection. Furthermore, PGC1betaKO hearts showed a blunted chronotropic response to dobutamine stimulation, and isolated soleus muscle fibres from PGC1betaKO mice have impaired mitochondrial function. Lack of PGC-1beta also impaired hepatic lipid metabolism in response to acute high fat dietary loads, resulting in hepatic steatosis and reduced lipoprotein-associated triglyceride and cholesterol content. Altogether, our data suggest that PGC-1beta plays a general role in controlling basal mitochondrial function and also participates in tissue-specific adaptive responses during metabolic stress.

BACKGROUND: Aggressive lipid lowering with high doses of statins increases the risk of statin-induced myopathy. However, the cellular mechanisms leading to muscle damage are not known and sensitive biomarkers are needed to identify patients at risk of developing statin-induced serious side effects. METHODOLOGY: We performed bioinformatics analysis of whole genome expression profiling of muscle specimens and UPLC/MS based lipidomics analyses of plasma samples obtained in an earlier randomized trial from patients either on high dose simvastatin (80 mg), atorvastatin (40 mg), or placebo. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: High dose simvastatin treatment resulted in 111 differentially expressed genes (1.5-fold change and p-value