Caloric restriction has consistently been shown to extend life span and ameliorate aging-related diseases. These effects may be due to diet-induced reactive oxygen species acting to up-regulate sirtuins and related protective pathways, which research suggests may be partially inhibited by dietary anti-oxidant supplementation. Because caloric restriction is not sustainable long term for most humans, we investigated an alternative dietary approach, intermittent fasting (IF), which is proposed to act on similar biological pathways. We hypothesized that a modified IF diet, where participants maintain overall energy balance by alternating between days of fasting (25% of normal caloric intake) and feasting (175% of normal), would increase expression of genes associated with aging and reduce oxidative stress and that these effects would be suppressed by anti-oxidant supplementation. To assess the tolerability of the diet and to explore effects on biological mechanisms related to aging and metabolism, we recruited a cohort of 24 healthy individuals in a double-crossover, double-blinded, randomized clinical trial. Study participants underwent two 3-week treatment periods—IF and IF with anti-oxidant (vitamins C and E) supplementation. We found strict adherence to study-provided diets and that participants found the diet tolerable, with no adverse clinical findings or weight change. We detected a marginal increase (2.7%) in SIRT3 expression due to the IF diet, but no change in expression of other genes or oxidative stress markers analyzed. We also found that IF decreased plasma insulin levels (1.01 μU/mL). Although our study suggests that the IF dieting paradigm is acceptable in healthy individuals, additional research is needed to further assess the potential benefits and risks.

Objective. To achieve ultrasound‐controlled drug delivery using echogenic liposomes (ELIPs), we assessed ultrasound‐triggered release of hydrophilic and lipophilic agents in vitro using color Doppler ultrasound delivered with a clinical 6‐MHz compact linear array transducer. Methods. Calcein, a hydrophilic agent, and papaverine, a lipophilic agent, were each separately loaded into ELIPs. Calcein‐loaded ELIP (C‐ELIP) and papaverine‐loaded ELIP (P‐ELIP) solutions were circulated in a flow model and treated with 6‐MHz color Doppler ultrasound or Triton X‐100. Treatment with Triton X‐100 was used to release the encapsulated calcein or papaverine content completely. The free calcein concentration in the solution was measured directly by spectrofluorimetry. The free papaverine in the solution was separated from liposome‐bound papaverine by spin column filtration, and the resulting papaverine concentration was measured directly by absorbance spectrophotometry. Dynamic changes in echogenicity were assessed with low‐output B‐mode ultrasound (mechanical index, 0.04) as mean digital intensity. Results. Color Doppler ultrasound caused calcein release from C‐ELIPs compared with flow alone (P < .05) but did not induce papaverine release from P‐ELIPs compared with flow alone (P > .05). Triton X‐100 completely released liposome‐associated calcein and papaverine. Initial echogenicity was higher for C‐ELIPs than P‐ELIPs. Color Doppler ultrasound and Triton X‐100 treatments reduced echogenicity for both C‐ELIPs and P‐ELIPs (P < .05). Conclusions. The differential efficiency of ultrasound‐mediated pharmaceutical release from ELIPs for water‐ and lipid‐soluble compounds suggests that water‐soluble drugs are better candidates for the design and development of ELIP‐based ultrasound‐controlled drug delivery systems.

Skeletal muscle wasting is a devastating consequence of cancer that contributes to increased complications and poor survival, but is not well understood at the molecular level. Herein, we investigated the role of Myocilin (Myoc), a skeletal muscle hypertrophy-promoting protein that we showed is downregulated in multiple mouse models of cancer cachexia. Loss of Myoc alone was sufficient to induce phenotypes identified in mouse models of cancer cachexia, including muscle fiber atrophy, sarcolemmal fragility, and impaired muscle regeneration. By 18 months of age, mice deficient in Myoc showed significant skeletal muscle remodeling, characterized by increased fat and collagen deposition compared with wild-type mice, thus also supporting Myoc as a regulator of muscle quality. In cancer cachexia models, maintaining skeletal muscle expression of Myoc significantly attenuated muscle loss, while mice lacking Myoc showed enhanced muscle wasting. Furthermore, we identified the myocyte enhancer factor 2 C (MEF2C) transcription factor as a key upstream activator of Myoc whose gain of function significantly deterred cancer-induced muscle wasting and dysfunction in a preclinical model of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Finally, compared with noncancer control patients, MYOC was significantly reduced in skeletal muscle of patients with PDAC defined as cachectic and correlated with MEF2c. These data therefore identify disruptions in MEF2c-dependent transcription of Myoc as a novel mechanism of cancer-associated muscle wasting that is similarly disrupted in muscle of patients with cachectic cancer. Significance: This work identifies a novel transcriptional mechanism that mediates skeletal muscle wasting in murine models of cancer cachexia that is disrupted in skeletal muscle of patients with cancer exhibiting cachexia.

Under pressure overload, initial adaptive hypertrophy of the heart is followed by cardiomyocyte elongation, reduced contractile force, and failure. The mechanisms governing the transition to failure are not fully understood. Pressure overload reduced cardiac myosin light chain kinase (cMLCK) by ∼80% within 1 week and persists. Knockdown of cMLCK in cardiomyocytes resulted in reduced cardiac contractility and sarcomere disorganization. Thus, we hypothesized that acute reduction of cMLCK may be causative for reduced contractility and cardiomyocyte remodelling during the transition from compensated to decompensated cardiac hypertrophy. To mimic acute cMLCK reduction in adult hearts, the floxed-Mylk3 gene that encodes cMLCK was inducibly ablated in Mylk3^flox/flox/merCremer mice (Mylk3-KO), and compared with two control mice (Mylk3^flox/flox and Mylk3^+/+/merCremer) following tamoxifen injection (50 mg/kg/day, 2 consecutive days). In Mylk3-KO mice, reduction of cMLCK protein was evident by 4 days, with a decline to below the level of detection by 6 days. By 7 days, these mice exhibited heart failure, with reduction of fractional shortening compared with those in two control groups (19.8 vs. 28.0% and 27.7%). Severely convoluted cardiomyocytes with sarcomeric disorganization, wavy fibres, and cell death were demonstrated in Mylk3-KO mice. The cardiomyocytes were also unable to thicken adaptively to pressure overload. Our results, using a new mouse model mimicking an acute reduction of cMLCK, suggest that cMLCK plays a pivotal role in the transition from compensated to decompensated hypertrophy via sarcomeric disorganization.