Browsing by Author "Valdez, Sinai"

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    Assessment of Diabetes Clinical Trial Candidates Using Systems Pharmacology
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2016-04-08) Ali, Mohammed; Essex, Adam; Pham, Trang; Redmond, Rachael; Valdez, Sinai
    Curating molecular interactions is crucial to understanding how drugs work on molecular systems implicated in a disease and could provide future prospects for applications such as drug repositioning. For this project, we curated disease-specific drugs and protein interactions to help us understand Type II Diabetes in light of systems pharmacology. The pharmacological efficacy of drugs can be assessed based on their ability to regulate gene expressions in diabetic patients to resemble those of a healthy individual at a pathway level. Two drugs with a high level of similarity should share similar pharmacological effects, including drug target, side effects, mechanism of action, structure, and up or down-regulation of genes associated with diabetes. We focused on the relationships between drugs, proteins, and the disease, utilizing drug-drug similarity networks, a disease-specific protein-protein interaction network model, and the standardized curation of protein interactions by mining primary databases to visualize these relationships as they relate to Type II Diabetes. First, drugs were gathered from primary databases using proteins associated with the disease. From there, a drug-drug similarity network was constructed by examining similar targets, structures, side effects, and mechanism of action between drugs. To construct a disease-specific pathway model, proteins associated with Type II Diabetes were gathered from databases, PAG Electronic Repository and Connectivity-Maps, and analyzed from protein studies from the Diabetes Genome Anatomy Project and microarray datasets from Gene Expression Omnibus, generating a validated list of disease-specific proteins. Then, interactions and regulations within the proteins were determined to generate a diseasespecific protein-protein interaction model to provide insights to the disease itself and mechanisms of action of drugs related to Type II Diabetes. In the future, the drug-drug similarity network, the protein-protein interaction network model, and the protein and drug interactions could possibly aid in the repurposing of drugs for Type II Diabetes.
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    Cx43 Overexpression in Osteocytes Prevents Osteocyte Apoptosis and Preserves Cortical Bone Quality in Aging Mice
    (Wiley, 2018-02-26) Davis, Hannah M.; Aref, Mohammad W.; Aguilar‐Perez, Alexandra; Pacheco‐Costa, Rafael; Allen, Kimberly; Valdez, Sinai; Herrera, Carmen; Atkinson, Emily G.; Mohammad, Arwa; Lopez, David; Harris, Marie A.; Harris, Stephen E.; Allen, Matthew; Bellido, Teresita; Plotkin, Lilian I.; Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine
    Young, skeletally mature mice lacking Cx43 in osteocytes exhibit increased osteocyte apoptosis and decreased bone strength, resembling the phenotype of old mice. Further, the expression of Cx43 in bone decreases with age, suggesting a contribution of reduced Cx43 levels to the age-related changes in the skeleton. We report herein that Cx43 overexpression in osteocytes achieved by using the DMP1-8kb promoter (Cx43OT mice) attenuates the skeletal cortical but not trabecular bone phenotype of aged, 14-month-old mice. The percentage of Cx43-expressing osteocytes was higher in Cx43OT mice, whereas the percentage of Cx43-positive osteoblasts remained similar to wild-type (WT) littermate control mice. The percentage of apoptotic osteocytes and osteoblasts was increased in aged WT mice compared with skeletally mature, 6-month-old WT mice, and the percentage of apoptotic osteocytes, but not osteoblasts, was decreased in age-matched Cx43OT mice. Aged WT mice exhibited decreased bone formation and increased bone resorption as quantified by histomorphometric analysis and circulating markers compared with skeletally mature mice. Further, aged WT mice exhibited the expected decrease in bone biomechanical structural and material properties compared with young mice. Cx43 overexpression prevented the increase in osteoclasts and decrease in bone formation on the endocortical surfaces and the changes in circulating markers in the aged mice. Moreover, the ability of bone to resist damage was preserved in aged Cx43OT mice both at the structural and material level. All together, these findings suggest that increased Cx43 expression in osteocytes ameliorates age-induced cortical bone changes by preserving osteocyte viability and maintaining bone formation, leading to improved bone strength. © 2018 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
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    High mobility group box 1 protein regulates osteoclastogenesis through direct actions on osteocytes and osteoclasts in vitro
    (Wiley, 2019-05-20) Davis, Hannah M.; Valdez, Sinai; Gomez, Leland; Malicky, Peter; White, Fletcher A.; Subler, Mark A.; Windle, Jolene J.; Bidwell, Joseph P.; Bruzzaniti, Angela; Plotkin, Lilian I.; Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine
    Old age and Cx43 deletion in osteocytes are associated with increased osteocyte apoptosis and osteoclastogenesis. We previously demonstrated that apoptotic osteocytes release elevated concentrations of the pro-inflammatory cytokine, high mobility group box1 protein (HMGB1) and apoptotic osteocyte conditioned media (CM) promotes osteoclast differentiation. Further, prevention of osteocyte apoptosis blocks osteoclast differentiation and attenuates the extracellular release of HMGB1 and RANKL. Moreover, sequestration of HMGB1, in turn, reduces RANKL production/release by MLO-Y4 osteocytic cells silenced for Cx43 (Cx43def), highlighting the possibility that HMGB1 promotes apoptotic osteocyte-induced osteoclastogenesis. However, the role of HMGB1 signaling in osteocytes has not been well studied. Further, the mechanisms underlying its release and the receptor(s) responsible for its actions is not clear. We now report that a neutralizing HMGB1 antibody reduces osteoclast formation in RANKL/MCSF treated bone marrow cells (BMC). In bone marrow macrophages (BMMs), TLR4 inhibition with LPS-RS, but not RAGE inhibition with Azeliragon attenuated osteoclast differentiation. Further, inhibition of RAGE but not of TLR4 in osteoclast precursors reduced osteoclast number, suggesting that HGMB1 produced by osteoclasts directly effects differentiation by activating TLR4 in BMMs and RAGE in pre-osteoclasts. Our findings also suggest that increased osteoclastogenesis induced by apoptotic osteocytes CM is not mediated through HMGB1/RAGE activation and that direct HMGB1 actions in osteocytes stimulate pro-osteoclastogenic signal release from Cx43def osteocytes. Based on these findings, we propose that HMGB1 exerts dual effects on osteoclasts, directly by inducing differentiation through TLR4 and RAGE activation and indirectly by increasing pro-osteoclastogenic cytokine secretion from osteocytes.
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    Short-term pharmacologic RAGE inhibition differentially affects bone and skeletal muscle in middle-aged mice
    (Elsevier, 2019-04-24) Davis, Hannah M.; Essex, Alyson L.; Valdez, Sinai; Deosthale, Padmini J.; Aref, Mohammad W.; Allen, Matthew R.; Bonetto, Andrea; Plotkin, Lilian I.; Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine
    Loss of bone and muscle mass are two major clinical complications among the growing list of chronic diseases that primarily affect elderly individuals. Persistent low-grade inflammation, one of the major drivers of aging, is also associated with both bone and muscle dysfunction in aging. Particularly, chronic activation of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) and elevated levels of its ligands high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), AGEs, S100 proteins and Aβ fibrils have been linked to bone and muscle loss in various pathologies. Further, genetic or pharmacologic RAGE inhibition has been shown to preserve both bone and muscle mass. However, whether short-term pharmacologic RAGE inhibition can prevent bone and muscle early loss in aging is unknown. To address this question, we treated young (4-mo) and middle-aged (15-mo) C57BL/6 female mice with vehicle or Azeliragon, a small-molecule RAGE inhibitor initially developed to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Azeliragon did not prevent the aging-induced alterations in bone geometry or mechanics, likely due to its differential effects [direct vs. indirect] on bone cell viability/function. On the other hand, Azeliragon attenuated the aging-related body composition changes [fat and lean mass] and reversed the skeletal muscle alterations induced with aging. Interestingly, while Azeliragon induced similar metabolic changes in bone and skeletal muscle, aging differentially altered the expression of genes associated with glucose uptake/metabolism in these two tissues, highlighting a potential explanation for the differential effects of Azeliragon on bone and skeletal muscle in middle-aged mice. Overall, our findings suggest that while short-term pharmacologic RAGE inhibition did not protect against early aging-induced bone alterations, it prevented against the early effects of aging in skeletal muscle.