Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0086543 (cataract)
 29,165 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The response of the poikilothermal lens to various incubation temperatures in vitro was compared with that of the homothermal lens. The rainbow trout lens was used as the poikilothermal lens and the rat lens as the homothermal lens. In contrast to rat lenses, cataract developed at 37 degrees C in rainbow trout lenses, which was called 'warm cataract'. Warm cataract developed not only when lenses were incubated in vitro but also when rainbow trout were kept in water at 37 degrees C. Water, Na+, Ca2+ and insoluble protein increased and K+ and Mg2+ decreased in warm cataract lenses, but GSH and soluble protein sulfhydryl levels did not change. This cataract was irreversible after only 5 min incubation at 37 degrees C. On the other hand, rainbow trout lenses remained transparent without the change of cation balance at 0-25 degrees C while cold cataract developed in rat lenses. Na,K-ATPase activity was detected at 0 degrees C in rainbow trout lens homogenates, but not in rat lens homogenates. Na+-K+ ratio (Na+/K+) increased when the rainbow trout lens was treated with ouabain at 0 degrees C. In the rainbow trout lens, lactic acid was produced continuously for 30 days at 0 degrees C while it was not in the rat lens between 1 hr and 10 days after. These results strongly suggest that Na,K-ATPase acts as a cation pump at 0 degrees C and that ATP is supplied by glycolysis in the rainbow trout lens in order to maintain the transparency. The above results also suggest that enzymes and membrane structures in rainbow trout lens are adapted to a cold-temperature habitat and that Na,K-ATPase and anaerobic glycolysis are important for the maintenance of lens transparency at low temperatures.
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PMID:Studies on the eye lens in poikilothermal animals. I. Comparative studies on cation maintenance systems in rainbow trout and rat lenses. 299 50

The steady-state kinetics of hydrolysis of Mg2+ ATP by the epithelial Na,K-ATPase of individual human lenses were determined. Among the cataract lens population, four distinct kinetic types were observed: negative kinetic co-operativity. Michaelis-Menten kinetics, positive kinetic co-operativity, and substrate inhibition kinetics. Negative kinetic co-operativity and Michaelis-Menten kinetics were also observed in a group of presumably clear lenses from non-diabetic individuals ages 16-42 years. Substrate inhibition kinetics were found to be prevalent in individuals with mature onset diabetes. Substrate inhibition kinetics were also observed for Na,K-ATPase isolated from lenses which had been incubated in high glucose. It would appear that this modification leads to an inhibition of Na,K-ATPase-dependent K+ influx into these cultured lenses.
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PMID:ATP hydrolysis kinetics of Na,K-ATPase in cataract. 301 82

We have investigated the ability of Ca2+ to induce the formation of high molecular weight (HMW) proteins in the intact lens. Ca2+ cataracts were produced in rabbit lenses by culturing the lenses for either four days in medium containing 20 mM Ca2+ or for three days in medium containing 100 mM Ca2+. Lenses cultured in 20 and 100 mM Ca2+ medium became opaque after 20 hr and contained 30 and 200 times higher levels of Ca2+, respectively, than transparent lenses cultured in medium containing 1 mM Ca2+. Lenses exposed to 100 mM Mg2+ did not lose transparency. The opacification of the lenses extended to a depth of 1 mm into the cortical layer and did not involve the nucleus. No significant differences were found in the concentrations of either soluble or insoluble proteins present in freshly excised lenses and Ca2+ cataracts. Soluble HMW proteins, greater than 1.5 X 10(6) daltons, were in two- and five-fold greater amounts in the 20 and 100 mM Ca2+ cataracts, respectively, compared to controls. HMW protein present in the 100 mM Ca2+ cataract amounted to approximately 3% of the total soluble protein in the lens. The amount of Ca2+ present in the HMW fraction was 1 Ca2+ per 5 X 10(5) daltons, no higher than that present in the unaggregated crystallins. No evidence was found for covalent bonding in the aggregate. Results of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and double immunodiffusion indicated the presence of alpha- and beta- but not gamma-crystallin in the HMW protein.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Calcium-induced high molecular weight proteins in the intact rabbit lens. 643 38

Cytoplasmic aldehyde dehydrogenase from bovine lens was purified to apparent homogeneity by using ion-exchange and affinity chromatography. Sedimentation-equilibrium ultracentrifugation, gel-filtration chromatography and sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis show that the enzyme is a dimer of Mr 114000, with subunits of Mr 57000. The enzyme does not dissociate into monomers in the presence of Ca2+ or Mg2+. The enzyme has a pI of 5.0, an activation energy of 35.1kJ/mmol and a pK value of 8.6 with acetaldehyde as substrate. The enzyme is a prolate ellipsoid with a Stokes radius of 4nm. Progesterone, deoxycorticosterone and chlorpropamide inhibited enzyme activity, and this inhibition may play a role in cataract formation in patients maintained on systemic corticosteroids and in tablet-dependent diabetics.
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PMID:Bovine lens aldehyde dehydrogenase. Purification and preliminary characterization. 665 65

The effects of linolenic acid hydroperoxide (LAPO) on isolated rat lenses were investigated, because they are believed to be cataractogenic in vivo. They were also compared with the effect of linolenic acid (LA), source of LAPO. Rat lenses, which were exposed for 5 hr to either 210 microM or 420 microM LAPO, became cloudy and this change was associated with increases in the level of malondialdehyde (MDA), a breakdown product of lipid peroxide, and decreases in non-protein thiol (NP-SH) content. Concomitantly, there were changes in cation contents: Na+ and Ca2+ were increased whereas K+ and Mg2+ were decreased. The changes in the levels of the above parameters, correlated with the concentration and the treatment time of LAPO to which the lenses were exposed. The increase of MDA was 2-4-fold over normal level and was consistent with those in cataractous lenses of the human and experimental animal models. On the other hand, if the lenses were exposed to LA, the only change observed was a small alteration of cationic content. If the lenses were cultured for an additional 24 hr in the absence of either LA or LAPO, the cation content continued to change only in those lenses which were previously exposed to LAPO. These results show that at concentrations of lipid peroxides, which are associated with the development of cataract in the human and animal models, there are changes in vitro in cation content, MDA and NP-SH levels, which accompany the development of a lens opacity.
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PMID:A study on lipid peroxide-induced lens damage in vitro. 790 84

The ability of parathyroid cells to recognize and respond to (i.e., "sense") small changes in the extracellular Ca2+ concentration (Ca2+o) plays a crucial role in mineral ion homeostasis. Expression cloning in Xenopus laevis oocytes enabled isolation of a cDNA coding for the bovine parathyroid CaR. CaRs were later isolated from human parathyroid and kidney, rat kidney, brain and C-cell, rabbit kidney, and chicken parathyroid. All are tissue and species homologs of the same ancestral gene. The predicted CaR protein has a large extracellular amino-terminus, which binds polycationic CaR agonists; a central core with seven membrane-spanning helices, documenting that it is a G protein-coupled receptor; and an approximately 200 amino acid carboxyl-terminal tail. The CaR is highly expressed in parathyroid and C-cells, along almost the entire nephron and gastrointestinal (GI) tract and within numerous regions of the brain, particularly hippocampus, cerebellum, and hypothalamus. The CaR's physiological importance has been documented by the identification of hyper- and hypocalcemic syndromes due to inactivating or activating CaR mutations, respectively. Familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia (FHH) and neonatal severe hyperparathyroidism (NSHPT) are caused by loss-of-function CaR mutations producing Ca2+o "resistance," while autosomal dominant hypocalcemia is the result of activating mutations rendering CaRs overly sensitive to Ca2+o. In addition to showing altered parathyroid responsiveness to Ca2+o, patients with FHH reabsorb too much urinary Ca2+ and Mg2+ at a given Ca2+o, while those with autosomal dominant hypocalcemia excrete too much, illustrating the CaR's key role in renal handling of divalent cations. Recent in vitro data suggest that the CaR directly regulates renal water handling in the collecting duct. Indeed, patients with FHH concentrate their urine normally, despite their hypercalcemia, while those with autosomal dominant hypocalcemia can exhibit impaired urinary concentration at normal or even low Ca2+o, suggesting that the CaR enables coordination of renal calcium and water handling. In addition to serving these "homeostatic" roles, the CaR likely also enables Ca2+o to serve additional roles as an extracellular messenger. The receptor regulates key Ca2+ and K(+)-permeable ion channels in hippocampal and other brain cells and likely senses local changes in Ca2+o within the brain microenvironment accompanying neuronal activation. It is also present in and regulates ion channels in lens epithelial cells, potentially playing some role in cataract development in hypoparathyroid patients. In keratinocytes and epithelial cells of the gastrointestinal tract, in contrast, the CaR may regulate cellular proliferation and differentiation, processes known to be modulated by Ca2+o in these cell types. Thus, in addition to sensing and regulating systemic Ca2+o, the CaR likely enables Ca2+o to act as a local signal for cells within specific microenvironments, such as the brain or eye.
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PMID:The calcium-sensing receptor (CaR) permits Ca2+ to function as a versatile extracellular first messenger. 976 11

Cataractous lenses have been found to have an altered distribution of the intracellular ionic environment: the concentrations of potassium and magnesium being decreased and the concentrations of sodium and calcium increased. These changes arise as a result of changes to lens membrane characteristics causing an increase in lens membrane permeability. In this study flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) was used for calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc determination, and flame atomic emission spectroscopy (AES) was used for sodium and potassium contents in normal and cigarette smoke-exposed rat lenses. The methods are sensitive enough to detect quantitatively all six cations in a single rat lenses. In this work, six elements, including Ca2+, K+, Na+, Zn2+, Fe2+ and Mg2+ in experimental rat eye lenses and normal transparent lenses were determined. It was found that the concentrations of Ca2+, Na+, Zn2+, and Fe2+ were increased dramatically while K+ and Mg2+ decreased in smoke-exposed rat lenses when compared to the control rat lenses. There were no significant changes between 'smoked' rats supplied with vitamin C and control groups. A positive correlation was found also in the other two groups of 'cigarette smoked' animals supplemented with selenium plus vitamin E and selenium when compared with 'cigarette smoked' without any supplements. These data provide support for the hypothesis that cigarette smoking increases the risk of cataract formation. We investigated whether vitamin C is the most important antioxidant in the body. The roles of diet with optimum amounts of antioxidant vitamins C and vitamin E and the antioxidant mineral selenium are discussed.
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PMID:Protective effects of selenium, vitamin C and vitamin E against oxidative stress of cigarette smoke in rats. 1019 3

We discovered that the cataract development in the Shumiya cataract rat (SCR) can be prevented by the administration of deep-sea drinking water (DDW). A standard diet based on the American Institute of Nutrition guidelines (AIN-76) and DDW containing a high mineral concentration such as low, medium and high Mg2+ content (50, 200 and 1000 mg of Mg2+/l, respectively) were used in this study. SCRs were freely fed with combinations of the standard diet and purified water or DDW during 5-15 weeks of age. The opacities of SCR lenses were documented by anterior eye segment analysis system EAS-1000. The onset of opacification of cataractous SCR lenses administered a combination of standard diet and purified water started at 11 weeks of age, and mature cataracts had formed at 13 weeks of age. However, the supplementation of Mg2+ by administration with medium DDW showed the greatest effect of delay of cataract onset in SCR. In addition, even cataractous SCR lenses at 14 weeks of age showed differences in opacity level. The opacification and Ca2+ of the lenses in cataractous SCR administered medium DDW were lower than those administered purified water. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that administration of DDW potently delays cataract development in SCR, and this may be caused by inhibiting the increase in Ca2+ levels in the lens.
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PMID:Delay of cataract development in the Shumiya cataract rat by the administration of drinking water containing high concentration of magnesium ion. 1675 23

Cataractous lenses have an altered distribution of the intracellular ionic environment, and the lens ionic imbalance with increased levels of calcium (Ca2+) and sodium (Na+), coupled with decreased levels of magnesium (Mg2+) and potassium (K+), is related to cataract development in human senile cataracts. We previously found that the decrease of ATP in lenses caused lens ionic imbalance, and probably decrease in ATPase function. In this study, we investigated the effect of Mg2+ deficiency on cataract progression using human lens epithelial (HLE) cells. Expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA in HLE cells were significantly greater in Mg2+-deficient medium (Mg2+ 0.021 mM) than in normal Mg2+ medium (Mg2+ 0.77 mM). The NO release from the HLE cells cultured with Mg2+-deficient medium also increased. On the other hand, the ATP levels in HLE cells 24 h after incubation with Mg2+-deficient medium were lower than that with normal Mg2+ medium. The Ca2+- and Na+/K+-ATPase activities in HLE cells until 24 h incubation with normal Mg2+ or Mg2+-deficient medium did not change. Both diethyldithiocarbamate 10 microM and aminoguanidine 250 microM attenuated the increase of NO release, and caused an increase in ATP levels in HLE cells 24 h after incubation with Mg2+-deficient medium. These results suggest that Mg2+ deficiency enhances NO production via iNOS in the lens. It is possible that the excessive production of NO cause the decrease of ATP levels. These results show that Mg2+ deficiency in the lens may cause an acceleration of the progression of lens opacification.
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PMID:Effect of magnesium deficiency on intracellular ATP levels in human lens epithelial cells. 1720 50

Alpha-crystallin, the major eye lens protein, is a molecular chaperone that plays a crucial role in the suppression of protein aggregation and thus in the long-term maintenance of lens transparency. Zinc is a micronutrient of the eye, but its molecular interaction with alpha-crystallin has not been studied in detail. In this paper, we present results of in vitro experiments that show bivalent zinc specifically interacts with alpha-crystallin with a dissociation constant in the submillimolar range (Kd approximately 0.2-0.4 mM). We compared the effect of Zn2+ with those of Ca2+, Cu2+, Mg2+, Cd2+, Pb2+, Ni2+, Fe2+, and Co2+ at 1 mM on the structure and chaperoning ability of alpha-crystallin. An insulin aggregation assay showed that among the bivalent metal ions, only 1 mM Zn2+ improved the chaperone function of alpha-crystallin by 30% compared to that in the absence of bivalent metal ions. Addition of 1 mM Zn2+ increased the yield of alpha-crystallin-assisted refolding of urea-treated LDH to its native state from 33 to 38%, but other bivalent ions had little effect. The surface hydrophobicity of alpha-crystallin was increased by 50% due to the binding of Zn2+. In the presence of 1 mM Zn2+, the stability of alpha-crystallin was enhanced by 36 kJ/mol, and it became more resistant to tryptic cleavage. The implications of enhanced stability and molecular chaperone activity of alpha-crystallin in the presence of Zn2+ are discussed in terms of its role in the long-term maintenance of lens transparency and cataract formation.
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PMID:Zn2+ enhances the molecular chaperone function and stability of alpha-crystallin. 1809 58


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