Although the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) was classically considered as a circulating system that regulates blood pressure, many tissues are now known to have a local RAS. Angiotensin, via type 1 receptors, is a major activator of the NADPH-oxidase complex, which mediates several key events in oxidative stress (OS) and inflammatory processes involved in the pathogenesis of major aging-related...

To improve cancer outcomes, investigators are turning increasingly to small molecule medicines that disrupt vital signaling cascades, inhibit malignant growth, or induce apoptosis. One vital signaling molecule is Ras, and a key step in Ras activation is membrane anchoring of Ras through prenylation, the C-terminal addition of a lipid anchor. Small molecule inhibitors of farnesyltransferase (FTI...

background: recurrent aphthous stomatitis (ras) is the most common inflammatory ulcerative condition of oral cavity. the aim of this study was to compare the levels of the salivary malondialdehyde (mda) and total antioxidant capacity (tac) and blood parameter in ras versus healthy controls. methods: this case-control study consisted of 28 patients with ras and 28 age and sex -matched control wi...

background: endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic malignancy that has often proceeded by a premalignant phase. modern molecular and immune staining methods for precancerous lesions diagnosis have been expanded. one of the genetic alternations in the endometrial cancer carcinogenesis is the mutational activation of the k-ras oncogene. k-ras mutation has recognized to occur at an earl...

Prorenin binding to the (pro)renin receptor not only causes a nonproteolytic activation of prorenin leading to the activation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), but also stimulates the receptor's own intracellular signaling pathways independent of the RAS. Within the kidneys, the (pro)renin receptor is present in the glomerular mesangium and podocytes, which play an important role in the ma...

PURPOSE Elevated phospholipase D (PLD) activity provides a survival signal in several human cancer cell lines and suppresses apoptosis when cells are subjected to the stress of serum withdrawal. Thus, targeting PLD survival signals has potential to suppress survival in cancer cells that depend on PLD for survival. Honokiol is a compound that suppresses tumor growth in mouse models. The purpose ...

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) has key regulatory functions for blood pressure and fluid homeostasis. In addition, dysregulation of the system can have maladaptive effects to promote tissue injury in chronic diseases such as hypertension, heart failure, and kidney disease. These actions for the RAS to promote disease pathogenesis are especially apparent in diabetic nephropathy, the most com...

Ras proteins are important signalling hubs situated near the top of networks controlling cell proliferation, differentiation and survival. Three almost identical isoforms, HRAS, KRAS and NRAS, are ubiquitously expressed yet have differing biological and oncogenic properties. In order to help understand the relative biological contributions of each isoform we have optimised a quantitative proteo...