Inhibitors of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) chloride channel have potential applications in the therapy of secretory diarrheas and polycystic kidney disease. In a recent study, several highly polar alpha-aminoazaheterocyclic-methylglyoxal adducts were reported to reversibly inhibit CFTR chloride channel activity with IC50 values in the low picomolar range (J Pha...

Most Aristolochiaceae plants are prohibited due to aristolochic acid nephropathy (AAN), except Xixin (Asarum spp.). contains trace amounts of (AA) and is widely used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Methylglyoxal d-lactate regarded as biomarkers for nephrotoxicity. The use spp.) essential controversial. This study aimed evaluate tubulointerstitial injury interstitial renal fibrosis by determini...

Clouds, a key component of the climate system, form when water vapor condenses upon atmospheric particulates termed Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN). Variations in CCN concentrations can profoundly impact cloud properties, with important effects on local and global climate. Organic matter (OM) constitutes a significant fraction of tropospheric aerosol mass, and can influence CCN activity by depr...

Many carbonyl species from either lipid peroxidation or glycoxidation are extremely reactive and can disrupt the function of proteins and enzymes. 4-hydroxynonenal and methylglyoxal are the most abundant and toxic lipid-derived reactive carbonyl species. The presence of these toxics leads to carbonyl stress and cause a significant amount of macromolecular damages in several diseases. Much evide...

BACKGROUND Fructose produces hepatic insulin resistance in humans and animals. We have proposed that the selective metabolism of fructose by the liver can, under conditions of elevated fructose delivery, inflict a metabolic insult that is localized to the hepatocyte. The present study was designed to identify potential cellular effectors of this insult. METHODS Primary hepatocytes were incuba...

It is presumed that proteins encoded by viral oncogenes interact with proteins encoded by cellular genes to bring about the transformed phenotype. To demonstrate the existence of such cellular genes we attempted to isolate mutants with a nontransformed phenotype from an adenovirustransformed rat cell line (F4) which contains multiple copies of the transforming El region. F4 cells were mutageniz...

AIMS Diabetic cardiomyopathy is characterized by the production of a disorganized fibrotic matrix in the absence of coronary atherosclerosis and hypertension. We examined whether adhesion of cardiac fibroblasts to glycated collagens mediates the differentiation of pro-fibrotic myofibroblasts, which may contribute to cardiac fibrosis. METHODS AND RESULTS By microarray, we found that methylglyo...