Reprogramming of dermal fibroblasts from a Duchenne muscular dystrophy patient carrying a deletion of exons 45-50 into an induced pluripotent stem cell line (CCMi005-A).

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked syndrome that affects skeletal and cardiac muscle and is caused by mutation of the dystrophin gene. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were generated from dermal fibroblasts by electroporation with episomal vectors containing the reprogramming factors (OCT4, SOX2, LIN28, KLF4, and l-MYC). The donor carried an out-of-frame deletion of exons 45-50 of the dystrophin gene. The established iPSC line exhibited normal morphology, expressed pluripotency markers, had normal karyotype and possessed trilineage differentiation potential.

The Endocannabinoid System and Cannabidiol: Past, Present, and Prospective for Cardiovascular Diseases.

In the past, cannabis was commonly associated with mysticism and illegality. Fortunately, in recent years perspectives and discourses have changed. More prominence has been given to the rigorous scientific effort that led to the discovery of cannabis' many physiological actions and endogenous signalling mechanisms. The endocannabinoid system is a complex and heterogeneous pro-homeostatic network comprising different receptors with several endogenous ligands, numerous metabolic enzymes and regulatory proteins. Therefore, it is not surprising that alterations and dysfunctions of the endocannabinoid system are observed in almost every category of disease. Such high degree of pathophysiological involvement suggests the endocannabinoid system is a promising therapeutic target and prompted the translation of resurgent scientific findings into clinical therapies. Shifting attitudes toward cannabis also raised other matters such as increased patient awareness, prescription requests, self-medication, recreational use, recognition of new knowledge gaps, renewed scientific activity, and seemingly exponential growth of the cannabis industry. This review, following a general overview of cannabis and the endocannabinoid system, assiduously describes its role within the context of cardiovascular diseases, paying particular attention to the Janus influence that endocannabinoid system modulators can have on the cardiovascular system.

"Betwixt Mine Eye and Heart a League Is Took": The Progress of Induced Pluripotent Stem-Cell-Based Models of Dystrophin-Associated Cardiomyopathy.

The ultimate goal of precision disease modeling is to artificially recreate the disease of affected people in a highly controllable and adaptable external environment. This field has rapidly advanced which is evident from the application of patient-specific pluripotent stem-cell-derived precision therapies in numerous clinical trials aimed at a diverse set of diseases such as macular degeneration, heart disease, spinal cord injury, graft-versus-host disease, and muscular dystrophy. Despite the existence of semi-adequate treatments for tempering skeletal muscle degeneration in dystrophic patients, nonischemic cardiomyopathy remains one of the primary causes of death. Therefore, cardiovascular cells derived from muscular dystrophy patients' induced pluripotent stem cells are well suited to mimic dystrophin-associated cardiomyopathy and hold great promise for the development of future fully effective therapies. The purpose of this article is to convey the realities of employing precision disease models of dystrophin-associated cardiomyopathy. This is achieved by discussing, as suggested in the title echoing William Shakespeare's words, the settlements (or "leagues") made by researchers to manage the constraints ("betwixt mine eye and heart") distancing them from achieving a perfect precision disease model.

Generation of the Becker muscular dystrophy patient derived induced pluripotent stem cell line carrying the DMD splicing mutation c.1705-8 T>C.

Becker Muscular dystrophy (BMD) is an X-linked syndrome characterized by progressive muscle weakness. BMD is generally less severe than Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. BMD is caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene that normally give rise to the production of a truncated but partially functional dystrophin protein. We generated an induced pluripotent cell line from dermal fibroblasts of a BMD patient carrying a splice mutation in the dystrophin gene (c.1705-8 T>C). The iPSC cell-line displayed the characteristic pluripotent-like morphology, expressed pluripotency markers, differentiated into cells of the three germ layers and had a normal karyotype.

Generation of three iPSC lines (IAIi002, IAIi004, IAIi003) from Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome 1 patients carrying CREBBP non sense c.4435G>T, p.(Gly1479*) and c.3474G>A, p.(Trp1158*) and missense c.4627G>T, p.(Asp1543Tyr) mutations.

Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RSTS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by growth retardation, skeletal anomalies and intellectual disability, caused by heterozygous mutations in either CREBBP (RSTS1) or EP300 (RSTS2) genes. We characterized 3 iPSC lines generated by Sendai from blood of RSTS1 patients with unique non sense c.4435G > T, p.(Gly1479*), c.3474G > A, p.(Trp1158*) and missense c.4627G > T, p.(Asp1543Tyr) CREBBP mutations. All lines displayed iPSC morphology, pluripotency markers, trilineage differentiation potential, stable karyotype and specific mutations. Western-blot using a CREB-Binding Protein N-terminus antibody demonstrated the same amount of full length protein as control in the missense mutation line and reduced amount in lines with stop mutations.

Establishment of a Duchenne muscular dystrophy patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cell line carrying a deletion of exons 51-53 of the dystrophin gene (CCMi003-A).

Duchenne's muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a neuromuscular disorder affecting skeletal and cardiac muscle function, caused by mutations in the dystrophin (DMD) gene. Dermal fibroblasts, isolated from a DMD patient with a reported deletion of exons 51 to 53 in the DMD gene, were reprogramed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by electroporation with episomal vectors containing the reprograming factors: OCT4, SOX2, LIN28, KLF4, and L-MYC. The obtained iPSC line showed iPSC morphology, expression of pluripotency markers, possessed trilineage differentiation potential and was karyotypically normal.

Fibrosis Rescue Improves Cardiac Function in Dystrophin-Deficient Mice and Duchenne Patient-Specific Cardiomyocytes by Immunoproteasome Modulation.

Patients affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) develop a progressive dilated cardiomyopathy characterized by inflammatory cell infiltration, necrosis, and cardiac fibrosis. Standard treatments consider the use of ß-blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors that are symptomatic and unspecific toward DMD disease. Medications that target DMD cardiac fibrosis are in the early stages of development. We found immunoproteasome dysregulation in affected hearts of mdx mice (murine animal model of DMD) and cardiomyocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem cells of patients with DMD. Interestingly, immunoproteasome inhibition ameliorated cardiomyopathy in mdx mice and reduced the development of cardiac fibrosis. Establishing the immunoproteasome inhibition-dependent cardioprotective role suggests the possibility of modulating the immunoproteasome as new and clinically relevant treatment to rescue dilated cardiomyopathy in patients with DMD.

Dystrophin Cardiomyopathies: Clinical Management, Molecular Pathogenesis and Evolution towards Precision Medicine.

Duchenne's muscular dystrophy is an X-linked neuromuscular disease that manifests as muscle atrophy and cardiomyopathy in young boys. However, a considerable percentage of carrier females are often diagnosed with cardiomyopathy at an advanced stage. Existing therapy is not disease-specific and has limited effect, thus many patients and symptomatic carrier females prematurely die due to heart failure. Early detection is one of the major challenges that muscular dystrophy patients, carrier females, family members and, research and medical teams face in the complex course of dystrophic cardiomyopathy management. Despite the widespread adoption of advanced imaging modalities such as cardiac magnetic resonance, there is much scope for refining the diagnosis and treatment of dystrophic cardiomyopathy. This comprehensive review will focus on the pertinent clinical aspects of cardiac disease in muscular dystrophy while also providing a detailed consideration of the known and developing concepts in the pathophysiology of muscular dystrophy and forthcoming therapeutic options.

Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells from a Becker muscular dystrophy patient carrying a deletion of exons 45-55 of the dystrophin gene (CCMi002BMD-A-9 ∆45-55).

Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) is a dystrophinopathy caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene on chromosome Xp21. BMD mutations result in truncated semi-functional dystrophin isoforms. Consequently, less severe clinical symptoms become apparent later in life compared to Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Dermal fibroblasts from a BMD patient were electroporated with episomal plasmids containing reprogramming factors to create the induced pluripotent stem cell line: CCMi002BMD-A-9 that showed pluripotent markers, were karyotypically normal and capable of trilineage differentiation. MLPA analyses performed on DNA extracted from CCMi002BMD-A-9 showed an in-frame deletion of exons 45 to 55 (CCMi002BMD-A-9 Δ45-55).

Derivation of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cell line lacking DMD exons 49 and 50 (CCMi001DMD-A-3, ∆49, ∆50).

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is caused by abnormalities in the dystrophin gene and is clinically characterised by childhood muscle degeneration and cardiomyopathy. We produced an induced pluripotent stem cell line from a DMD patient's dermal fibroblasts by electroporation with episomal vectors containing: hL-MYC, hLIN28, hSOX2, hKLF4, hOCT3/4. The resultant DMD iPSC line (CCMi001DMD-A-3) displayed iPSC morphology, expressed pluripotency markers, possessed trilineage differentiation potential and was karyotypically normal. MLPA analyses performed on DNA extracted from CCMi001DMD-A-3 showed a deletion of exons 49 and 50 (CCMi001DMD-A-3, ∆49, ∆50).

In vitro anticancer activity evaluation of new cationic platinum(II) complexes based on imidazole moiety.

The development and the synthesis of cationic platinum(II) complexes were realized and their cytotoxic activity was tested on triple negative breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cell line and in two cell lines poorly responsive to cisplatin (DLD-1 and MCF-7). The complex 2c resulted the most potent cytotoxic agent in MDA-MB-231 (IC50=61.9µM) and more effective than cisplatin on both DLD-1 (IC50=57.4µM) and MCF-7 (IC50=79.9µM) cell lines. 2c showed different cellular uptake and pharmacodynamic properties than cisplatin, interfering with the progression of the M phase of the cell cycle. Thus, 2c represents a lead compound of a new class of cytotoxic agents with promising antitumor activity.