Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P42345 (mTOR)
 26,049 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Methylglyoxal (MGO) is a major glycating agent that reacts with basic residues of proteins and promotes the formation of advanced glycation end products which are believed to play key roles in a number of pathologies, such as diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and inflammation. We previously showed that MGO treatment targets the thioredoxin and the glyoxalase systems, leading to a decrease in Trx1 and Glo2 proteins in immortalized mouse hippocampal HT22 nerve cells. Here, we propose that autophagy is the underlying mechanism leading to Glo2 and Trx1 loss induced by MGO. The autophagic markers p62, and the lipidated and active form of LC3, were increased by MGO (0.5mM). Autophagy inhibition with bafilomycin or chloroquine prevented the decrease in Trx1 and Glo2 at 6 and 18h after MGO treatment. Proteasome inhibition by MG132 exacerbated the effect of MGO on Trx1 and Glo2 degradation (18h), further suggesting a role for autophagy. ATG5 small interfering RNA protected Trx1 and Glo2 from MGO-induced degradation, confirming Trx1 and Glo2 loss is mediated by autophagy. In the search for the signals that control autophagy, we found that AMPK activation, a known autophagy inducer, was markedly increased by MGO treatment. AMPK activation was confirmed by increased acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase phosphorylation, a direct AMPK substrate and by decreased mTOR phosphorylation, an indirect marker of AMPK activation. To confirm that MGO-mediated Trx1 and Glo2 degradation was AMPK-dependent, AMPK-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) were treated with MGO. Wildtype MEFs presented the expected decrease in Trx1 and Glo2, while MGO was ineffective in decreasing these proteins in AMPK-deficient cells. Overall, the data indicate that MGO activates autophagy in an AMPK-dependent manner, and that autophagy was responsible for Trx1 and Glo2 degradation, confirming that Trx1 and Glo2 are molecular targets of MGO.
 ...
PMID:Methylglyoxal-induced AMPK activation leads to autophagic degradation of thioredoxin 1 and glyoxalase 2 in HT22 nerve cells. 2836 1

Methylglyoxal (MG) accumulation has been observed in human cerebrospinal fluid and body tissues under hyperglycaemic conditions. Recent research has demonstrated that MG-induces neuronal cell apoptosis, which promotes the development of diabetic encephalopathy. Our previous animal study has shown that luteolin, a natural flavonoid, attenuates diabetes-associated cognitive dysfunction. To further explore the neuroprotective properties of luteolin, we investigated the inhibitive effect of luteolin on MG-induced apoptosis in PC12 neuronal cells. We found that MG inhibited cell viability in a dose-dependent manner and induced apoptosis in PC12 cells. Pretreatment with Luteolin significantly elevated cell viability, reduced MG-induced apoptosis, inhibited the activation of the mTOR/4E-BP1 signaling pathway, and decreased pro-apoptotic proteins, Bax, Cytochrome C as well as caspase-3. Furthermore, we found that pretreatment with the mTOR inhibitor, rapamycin, significantly reduced the expression of the pro-apoptotic protein Bax. Therefore, these observations unambiguously suggest that the inhibitive effect of Luteolin against MG-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells is associated with inhibition of the mTOR/4E-BP1 signaling pathway.
 ...
PMID:Luteolin, a natural flavonoid, inhibits methylglyoxal induced apoptosis via the mTOR/4E-BP1 signaling pathway. 2880 5

Methylglyoxal (MGO)-induced cellular apoptosis, oxidative stress, inflammation, and AGE formation are specific events that induce vascular endothelial cell (EC) toxicity in endothelial dysfunction (ED). MGO accumulates quickly in various tissues and plays a prominent role in the pathogeneses of several diabetic complications. Unbalanced angiogenesis is a gateway to the development of diabetic complications. EC apoptosis and autophagy work together to regulate angiogenesis by interacting with different angiogenic factors. In addition to understanding the deep mechanism regarding MGO-dependent autophagy/apoptosis may provide new therapeutic applications to treat diabetes and diabetic complications. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the regulatory effects of MGO-induced autophagy and apoptosis on angiogenesis in HAoEC and to elucidate the molecular mechanisms to discover new target base therapy for diabetes and diabetic complications. In MGO-stimulated HAoEC, protein expression was identified using a western blot, autophagosomes were observed by bio-transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and cell autophagic vacuoles and flux were measured using a confocal microscope. We found that MGO significantly induced autophagy, declined the pro-angiogenic effect, decreased proliferation, migration, and formation of tube-like structures, and increased autophagic vacuoles, flux and autophagosomes in the HAoEC in a dose-dependent manner. We observed that MGO-induced autophagic cell death and inhibited the ROS-mediated Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. MGO also triggered apoptosis by elevating the cleaved caspase-3 to Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and through activation of the ROS-mediated MAPKs (p-JNK, p-p38, and p-ERK) signaling pathway. Collectively, these findings suggest that autophagy and apoptosis inhibit angiogenesis via the ROS-mediated Akt/mTOR and MAPKs signaling pathways, respectively, when HAoEC are treated with MGO.
 ...
PMID:Molecular mechanisms of methylglyoxal-induced aortic endothelial dysfunction in human vascular endothelial cells. 3246 87

Methylglyoxal (MGO), a reactive carbonyl species, causes cellular damage and is closely related to kidney disease, particularly diabetic nephropathy. Although MGO has been reported to induce autophagy and apoptosis, the relationships between the two pathways are unclear. Here, we evaluated whether autophagy may be the underlying mechanism inhibiting MGO-induced apoptosis. MGO treatment induced concentration- and time-dependent apoptosis in HK-2 cells. Moreover, MGO upregulated the autophagy markers p62 and LC3-II. Apoptosis caused by MGO was increased in ATG5-knockdown cells compared to that in wild-type cells. In contrast, autophagy activation by 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide resulted in reduced apoptosis, suggesting that autophagy played a role in protecting against MGO-induced cell death. To examine the mechanisms through which autophagy occurred following MGO stimulation, we investigated changes in AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling. Autophagy induction by MGO treatment was not related to AKT/mTOR signaling; however, it did involve autophagy-related gene expression promoted by AMP-activated protein kinase-mediated transcription factors, such as forkhead box 1. Overall, our findings indicate that MGO-induced cellular damage can be mitigated by autophagy, suggesting that autophagy may be a potential therapeutic target for diseases such as diabetic nephropathy.
 ...
PMID:Autophagy Functions to Prevent Methylglyoxal-Induced Apoptosis in HK-2 Cells. 3256 4