Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0002871 (anemia)
 52,094 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cobalt has been widely used in the treatment of anemia and as a hypoxia mimic in cell culture and it is known to activate hypoxic signaling by stabilizing the hypoxia inducible transcription factor 1alpha (HIF1alpha). However, cobalt exposure can lead to tissue and cellular toxicity. These studies were conducted to determine the role of HIF1alpha in mediating cobalt-induced toxicity. Mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) that were null for the HIF1alpha protein were used to show that HIF1alpha protein plays a major role in mediating cobalt-induced cytotoxicity. Previous work from our lab and others has shown that two BH3 domain containing cell death genes, BNip3 and NIX, are targets of hypoxia signaling. These experiments document that BNip3 and NIX expression is HIF1alpha-dependent, and cobalt induces their expression in a time and dose dependent manner. In addition, their expression is correlated with an increase in BNIP3 and NIX protein. Characteristically, the elevated level of BNIP3 was correlated with an increased presence of chromatin condensation, one marker for cell injury. Interestingly, this increased chromosomal condensation was not coupled to caspase-3 activation as usually seen in a typical apoptotic response. These results show that HIF1alpha is playing a major role in mediating cobalt-induced toxicity in mouse embryonic fibroblasts and may offer a possible mechanism for the underlying pathology of injuries seen in workers exposed to environmental contaminants that can influence the hypoxia signaling system, such as cobalt.
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PMID:The role of hypoxia inducible factor 1alpha in cobalt chloride induced cell death in mouse embryonic fibroblasts. 1537 94

Erythroid cells undergo enucleation and the removal of organelles during terminal differentiation. Although autophagy has been suggested to mediate the elimination of organelles for erythroid maturation, the molecular mechanisms underlying this process remain undefined. Here we report a role for a Bcl-2 family member, Nix (also called Bnip3L), in the regulation of erythroid maturation through mitochondrial autophagy. Nix(-/-) mice developed anaemia with reduced mature erythrocytes and compensatory expansion of erythroid precursors. Erythrocytes in the peripheral blood of Nix(-/-) mice exhibited mitochondrial retention and reduced lifespan in vivo. Although the clearance of ribosomes proceeded normally in the absence of Nix, the entry of mitochondria into autophagosomes for clearance was defective. Deficiency in Nix inhibited the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsi(m)), and treatment with uncoupling chemicals or a BH3 mimetic induced the loss of DeltaPsi(m) and restored the sequestration of mitochondria into autophagosomes in Nix(-/-) erythroid cells. These results suggest that Nix-dependent loss of DeltaPsi(m) is important for targeting the mitochondria into autophagosomes for clearance during erythroid maturation, and interference with this function impairs erythroid maturation and results in anaemia. Our study may also provide insights into molecular mechanisms underlying mitochondrial quality control involving mitochondrial autophagy.
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PMID:Essential role for Nix in autophagic maturation of erythroid cells. 1845 33

Erythrocyte production is regulated by balancing precursor cell apoptosis and survival signaling. Previously, we found that BH3-only proapoptotic factor, Nix, opposed erythroblast-survival signaling by erythropoietin-induced Bcl-xl during normal erythrocyte formation. Since erythropoietin treatment of human anemia has limitations, we explored the therapeutic potential of abrogating Nix-mediated erythroblast apoptosis to enhance erythrocyte production. Nix gene ablation blunted the phenylhydrazine-induced fall in blood count, enhanced hematocrit recovery, and reduced erythroblast apoptosis, despite lower endogenous erythropoietin levels. Similar to erythropoietin, Nix ablation increased early splenic erythroblasts and circulating reticulocytes, while maintaining a pool of mature erythroblasts as erythropoietic reserve. Erythrocytes in Nix-deficient mice showed morphological abnormalities, suggesting that apoptosis during erythropoiesis not only controls red blood cell number, but also serves a "triage" function, preferentially eliminating abnormal erythrocytes. These results support the concept of targeting erythroblast apoptosis to maximize erythrocyte production in acute anemia, which may be of value in erythropoietin resistance.
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PMID:Targeting erythroblast-specific apoptosis in experimental anemia. 1858 27

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogeneous group of clonal stem cell disorders characterized by cytopenia and dysplasia. Anemia is the most common symptom in patients with MDS. Mitophagy and mitochondrial dysfunction might be involved in the development of MDS. In this study, we investigated the change of mitophagy in erythroid precursors in MDS patients. We found that NIX-mediated mitophagy was impaired in bone marrow nucleated red blood cells (NRBC) of MDS patients, associated with an increased amount of damaged mitochondria and increased ROS level which might lead to apoptosis and ineffective erythropoiesis. The results showed that the amount of mitochondria in GlycoA+ NRBC positively correlated with the count of ring sideroblasts in bone marrow samples. Meanwhile, the level of autophagy-associated marker LC3B in GlycoA+ NRBC had a positive correlation with hemoglobin (Hb) levels, and the amount of mitochondria in GlycoA+ NRBC had a negative correlation with Hb levels in high-risk MDS patients. Our results indicated that mitophagy might involve the pathogenesis of anemia associated with MDS. Autophagy might be a novel target in treatments of MDS patients.
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PMID:Impaired Mitophagy of Nucleated Erythroid Cells Leads to Anemia in Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndromes. 2996 62