Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0038187 (starvation)
 24,951 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Abnormal proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is an important feature of atherosclerosis, restenosis, and hypertension. Although multiple mediators of VSMC growth have been identified, few effective pharmacological tools have been developed to limit such growth. Recent evidence indicating an important role for oxidative stress in cell growth led us to investigate the potential role of aldose reductase (AR) in the proliferation of VSMCs. Because AR catalyzes the reduction of mitogenic aldehydes derived from lipid peroxidation, we hypothesized that it might be a potential regulator of redox changes that accompany VSMC growth. Herein we report several lines of evidence suggesting that AR facilitates/mediates VSMC growth. Stimulation of human aortic SMCs in culture with mitogenic concentrations of serum, thrombin, basic fibroblast growth factor, and the lipid peroxidation product 4-hydroxy-trans-2-nonenal (HNE) led to a 2- to 4-fold increase in the steady-state levels of AR mRNA, a 4- to 7-fold increase in AR protein, and a 2- to 3-fold increase in its catalytic activity. Inhibition of the enzyme by sorbinil or tolrestat diminished mitogen-induced DNA synthesis and cell proliferation. In parallel experiments, the extent of reduction of the glutathione conjugate of HNE to glutathionyl-1,4-dihydroxynonene in HNE-exposed VSMCs was decreased by serum starvation or sorbinil. Immunohistochemical staining of cross sections from balloon-injured rat carotid arteries showed increased expression of AR protein associated with the neointima. The media of injured or uninjured arteries demonstrated no significant staining. Compared with untreated animals, rats fed sorbinil (40 mg. kg(-1). d(-1)) displayed a 51% and a 58% reduction in the ratio of neointima to the media at 10 and 21 days, respectively, after balloon injury. Taken together, these findings suggest that AR is upregulated during growth and that this upregulation facilitates growth by enhancing the metabolism of secondary products of reactive oxygen species.
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PMID:Involvement of aldose reductase in vascular smooth muscle cell growth and lesion formation after arterial injury. 1089 12

The enzyme aldose reductase plays an important role in the osmo-protection mechanism of diverse organisms. Here, we show that yeast aldose reductase is encoded by the GRE3 gene. Expression of GRE3 is carbon-source independent and up-regulated by different stress conditions, such as NaCl, H2O2, 39 degrees C and carbon starvation. Measurements of enzyme activity and intracellular sorbitol in wild-type cells also indicate that yeast aldose reductase is stress-regulated. Overexpression of GRE3 increases methylglyoxal tolerance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Furthermore, high expression of GRE3 complements the deficiency of the glyoxalase system of a glo1delta mutant strain. Consistent with this, in vitro and in vivo assays of yeast aldose reductase activity indicate that methylglyoxal is an endogenous substrate of aldose reductase. Furthermore, addition of NaCl or H2O2 to exponential-phase cells triggers an initial transient increase in the intracellular level of methylglyoxal, which is dependent on the Gre3p and Glo1p function. These observations indicate that the metabolism of methylglyoxal is stimulated under stress conditions; and they support a methylglyoxal degradative pathway, in which this compound is metabolised by the action of aldose reductase.
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PMID:The Saccharomyces cerevisiae aldose reductase is implied in the metabolism of methylglyoxal in response to stress conditions. 1152 99

Copper is an essential micronutrient for plants. Present at a high concentration in soil, copper is also regarded as a major toxicant to plant cells due to its potential inhibitory effects against many physiological and biochemical processes. The interference of germination-related proteins by heavy metals has not been well documented at the proteomic level. In the current study, physiological, biochemical and proteomic changes of germinating rice seeds were investigated under copper stress. Germination rate, shoot elongation, plant biomass, and water content were decreased, whereas accumulation of copper and TBARS content in seeds were increased significantly with increasing copper concentrations from 0.2mM to 1.5mM followed by germination. The SDS-PAGE showed the preliminary changes in the polypeptides patterns under copper stress. Protein profiles analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) revealed that 25 protein spots were differentially expressed in copper-treated samples. Among them, 18 protein spots were up-regulated and 7 protein spots were down-regulated. These differentially displayed proteins were identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The up-regulation of some antioxidant and stress-related proteins such as glyoxalase I, peroxiredoxin, aldose reductase, and some regulatory proteins such as DnaK-type molecular chaperone, UlpI protease, and receptor-like kinase clearly indicated that excess copper generates oxidative stress that might be disruptive to other important metabolic processes. Moreover, down-regulation of key metabolic enzymes like alpha-amylase or enolase revealed that the inhibition of seed germinations after exposure to excess copper not only affects starvation in water uptake by seeds but also results in failure in the reserve mobilization processes. These results indicate a good correlation between the physiological and biochemical changes in germinating rice seeds exposed to excess copper.
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PMID:Excess copper induced physiological and proteomic changes in germinating rice seeds. 1718 80