piperidines and Starvation

Corpse-removal behavior of the red imported fire ant (RIFA) and the effects of lethal substances on RIFA signal communication were investigated in this study. The RIFA corpses, obtained through freezing, ether, 0.25 mg/L thiamethoxam, and starvation to death treatments, and naturally dead red fire ants were subjected to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles that had an effect on the corpse-removal behavior. The results showed that lethal toxic substances altered the epidermal compounds of RIFA and affected their corpse-removal behavior. Lethal toxic substances increased the number of worker touches with corpses and identification time of corpses. In addition, the content of piperidine (1,1'-(1,2-ethanediyl)bis-) on the surface of the corpse was different following the various treatments. Contamination with toxic substances resulted in the increased secretion of piperidine and led to increased identification time of corpses, number of touch with corpses, and total time for removal of corpses. Piperidine content was higher under conditions of natural death (4.67 ± 0.55%) and with thiamethoxam (10.43 ± 0.78%), freezing (0.83 ± 0.25%), and ether treatment (12.50 ± 0.70%) than under starvation treatment (0). The higher content of piperidine led to a longer number of touches with corpses and identification time. Piperidine compounds may be an element in warning information, which could affect the occurrence of different corpse-removal behaviors.

Topics: Animals; Ants; Behavior, Animal; Cadaver; Epidermis; Freezing; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Insecticides; Piperidines; Social Behavior; Starvation; Thiamethoxam

Activation of the amino acid starvation response (AAR) increases lifespan and acute stress resistance as well as regulates inflammation. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that activation of AAR pharmacologically by Halofuginone (HF) significantly inhibits production of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and provides protection from intestinal inflammation in mice. HF inhibits IL-1β through general control nonderepressible 2 kinase (GCN2)-dependent activation of the cytoprotective integrated stress response (ISR) pathway, resulting in rerouting of IL-1β mRNA from translationally active polysomes to inactive ribocluster complexes-such as stress granules (SGs)-via recruitment of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) T cell-restricted intracellular antigen-1(TIA-1)/TIA-1-related (TIAR), which are further cleared through induction of autophagy. GCN2 ablation resulted in reduced autophagy and SG formation, which is inversely correlated with IL-1β production. Furthermore, HF diminishes inflammasome activation through suppression of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Our study unveils a novel mechanism by which IL-1β is regulated by AAR and further suggests that administration of HF might offer an effective therapeutic intervention against inflammatory diseases.

Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Amino Acids; Animals; Autophagy; Cells, Cultured; Colitis; Gene Expression Regulation; Inflammasomes; Interleukin-1beta; Lipopolysaccharides; Macrophages; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Piperidines; Protein Biosynthesis; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; Protein Synthesis Inhibitors; Quinazolinones; Reactive Oxygen Species; RNA-Binding Proteins; RNA, Messenger; RNA, Small Interfering; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate; Starvation; Stress, Physiological; T-Cell Intracellular Antigen-1

Cyclin dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitors, such as flavopiridol, demonstrate significant single-agent activity in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), but the mechanism of action in these nonproliferating cells is unclear. Here we demonstrate that CLL cells undergo autophagy after treatment with therapeutic agents, including fludarabine, CAL-101, and flavopiridol as well as the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-inducing agent thapsigargin. The addition of chloroquine or siRNA against autophagy components enhanced the cytotoxic effects of flavopiridol and thapsigargin, but not the other agents. Similar to thapsigargin, flavopiridol robustly induces a distinct pattern of ER stress in CLL cells that contributes to cell death through IRE1-mediated activation of ASK1 and possibly downstream caspases. Both autophagy and ER stress were documented in tumor cells from CLL patients receiving flavopiridol. Thus, CLL cells undergo autophagy after multiple stimuli, including therapeutic agents, but only with ER stress mediators and CDK inhibitors is autophagy a mechanism of resistance to cell death. These findings collectively demonstrate, for the first time, a novel mechanism of action (ER stress) and drug resistance (autophagy) for CDK inhibitors, such as flavopiridol in CLL, and provide avenues for new therapeutic combination approaches in this disease.

Topics: Antineoplastic Agents; Autophagy; Cell Culture Techniques; Cyclin-Dependent Kinases; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress; Flavonoids; Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic; Humans; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell; Piperidines; Protein Kinase Inhibitors; Signal Transduction; Starvation; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Vidarabine

The hypoglycemic agents, glibenclamide and repaglinide, when administered intragastrically to overnight fasted hereditarily diabetic animals, were found to oppose the rise in the plasma insulin/glucose ratio otherwise evoked by refeeding of the GK rats. Such was not the case after oral administration of glimepiride, despite the fact that this sulfonylurea minimized the rise in glycemia associated with refeeding. The altered restoration of a high insulin/glucose ratio in GK rats that received glibenclamide or repaglinide before refeeding suggests that these long-acting hypoglycemic agents may delay the refeeding-induced relief of the B-cell from the fasting-associated refractoriness to glucose.

Topics: Animals; Blood Glucose; Carbamates; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental; Food; Glyburide; Hypoglycemic Agents; Insulin; Male; Piperidines; Rats; Starvation

Topics: Acetates; Adipose Tissue; Animals; Carbon Isotopes; Glucose; Hydroxybutyrates; Mice; Mustard Compounds; Obesity; Piperidines; Starvation