Abstract
Cachexia, or muscle-wasting syndrome, is one of the major causes of death in patients affected by diseases such as cancer, AIDS and sepsis. However, no effective anti-cachectic treatment is currently available. Here we show that a low dose of pateamine A, an inhibitor of translation initiation, prevents muscle wasting caused by the cytokines interferon γ and tumour necrosis factor α or by C26-adenocarcinoma tumours. Surprisingly, although high doses of pateamine A abrogate general translation, low doses selectively inhibit the expression of pro-cachectic factors such as inducible nitric oxide synthase. This selectivity depends on the 5′UTR of inducible nitric oxide synthase messenger RNA (mRNA) that, unlike the 5′UTR of MyoD mRNA, promotes the recruitment of inducible nitric oxide synthase mRNA to stress granules, where its translation is repressed. Collectively, our data provide a proof of principle that nontoxic doses of compounds such as pateamine A could be used as novel drugs to combat cachexia-induced muscle wasting. © 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.
Original language | English (US) |
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Journal | Nature Communications |
Volume | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Generated from Scopus record by KAUST IRTS on 2022-09-13ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
- General Chemistry
- General Physics and Astronomy