Hydra's unlimited life span has long attracted attention from natural scientists. The reason for that phenomenon is the indefinite self-renewal capacity of its stem cells. The underlying molecular mechanisms have yet to be explored. Here, by comparing the transcriptomes of Hydra's stem cells followed by functional analysis using transgenic polyps, we identified the transcription factor forkhead...

RATIONALE Increased neutrophil and monocyte counts are often associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis, but their relationship to insulin sensitivity is unknown. OBJECTIVE To investigate the contribution of forkhead transcription factors (FoxO) in myeloid cells to neutrophil and monocyte counts, atherosclerosis, and systemic insulin sensitivity. METHODS AND RESULTS Genetic ablati...

Myc synergizes with Ras and PI3-kinase in cell transformation, yet the molecular basis for this behavior is poorly understood. We now show that Myc recruits TFIIH, P-TEFb and Mediator to the cyclin D2 and other target promoters, while the PI3-kinase pathway controls formation of the pre-initiation complex and loading of RNA polymerase II. The PI3-kinase pathway involves Akt-mediated phosphoryla...

Transcription factors of the forkhead box, class O (FoxO) family are important regulators of the cellular stress response and promote the cellular antioxidant defense. On one hand, FoxOs stimulate the transcription of genes coding for antioxidant proteins located in different subcellular compartments, such as in mitochondria (i.e. superoxide dismutase-2, peroxiredoxins 3 and 5) and peroxisomes ...

Feeding behavior is one of the most essential activities in animals, which is tightly regulated by neuroendocrine factors. Drosophila melanogaster short neuropeptide F (sNPF) and the mammalian functional homolog neuropeptide Y (NPY) regulate food intake. Understanding the molecular mechanism of sNPF and NPY signaling is critical to elucidate feeding regulation. Here, we found that minibrain (mn...

background: coronary artery disease (cad) is the major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. the aim of this study was to explore the effect of resveratrol (res) on canonical β-catenin/wnt and forkhead box o (foxo) pathways in cad patients.method: we performed this study on 10 metabolic syndrome patients with three-vessel cad and 10 sex-aged matched healthy subjects. the effects of res on...

The functions of the FoxO family proteins, in particular their transcriptional activities, are modulated by post-translational modifications (PTMs), including phosphorylation, acetylation, ubiquitination, methylation and glycosylation. These PTMs occur in response to different cellular stresses, which in turn regulate the subcellular localization of FoxO family proteins, as well as their half-l...

Aging constitutes the key risk factor for age-related diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders. Human longevity and healthy aging are complex phenotypes influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. The fact that genetic contribution to lifespan strongly increases with greater age provides basis for research on which "protective genes" are carried by lo...

OBJECTIVE Increased visceral adiposity has been closely linked to insulin resistance, endothelial dysfunction, and cardiometabolic disease in obesity, but pathophysiological mechanisms are poorly understood. We sought to investigate mechanisms of vascular insulin resistance by characterizing depot-specific insulin responses and gain evidence that altered functionality of transcription factor fo...