Elevated plasma angiotensinogen (AGT) levels have been demonstrated in insulin-resistant states such as obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2), conditions that are directly correlated to hypertension. We examined whether hyperinsulinemia or hyperglycemia may modulate fat and liver AGT gene expression and whether obesity and insulin resistance are associated with abnormal AGT regulation. In ...

In response to changes in environmental conditions, animals and humans alike can initiate physiological regulatory mechanisms to assure survival. For example, when food is scarce, the body becomes “thrifty”, and conversely, when it is abundant, physiological “unthrifty” mechanisms are initiated. Recent work has uncovered novel cellular mechanisms of fuel sensing that contribute to these shifts ...

1. Glycosidic linkage of carbohydrate to the primary hydroxyl groups of threonine and serine has been established in human blood-group A and Le(a) substances, bovine submaxillary-gland mucin and human pseudomyxomatous mucin. 2. Treatment of these substances in 0.09n-lithium hydroxide at 100 degrees for 1hr. led to beta-elimination at these glycosidic linkages with the resultant formation of alp...

Escherichia coli subjected to cold osmotic shock released 30 to 40% of their fatty acid esters and 42% of their cellular hexosamine. In contrast, Enterobacter, although they released 40% of fatty acid esters, release only 25% of hexosamine. Proteus released less than 15% of either fatty acid esters or hexosamine. These differences are taken to explain the differences among the Enterobacteriacea...

1. The effect of cholesterol feeding during and after a period of protein malnutrition lasting 4 weeks was examined in the rat. Indices measured were plasma total cholesterol, triglycerides and protein levels, and aorta total cholesterol, triglycerides, hexosamine and hydroxyproline concentrations. 2. In both plasma and aorta, total cholesterol and triglycerides levels were higher in the low-pr...

O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) is a sugar attachment to serine or threonine hydroxyl moieties on nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins. In many ways, O-GlcNAcylation is similar to phosphorylation because both post-translational modifications cycle rapidly in response to internal or environmental cues. O-GlcNAcylated proteins are involved in transcription, translation, cytoskeletal assembl...

Chronic hyperglycemia contributes to the development of diabetes-associated complications. Increases in the concentration of circulating glucose activate the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway (HBP) and promote the O-glycosylation of proteins by O-glycosyl transferase (OGT). We show that OGT triggered hepatic gluconeogenesis through the O-glycosylation of the transducer of regulated cyclic adenosi...

Obesity is the result of an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. Using high-density DNA microarrays and Northern analyses, we demonstrated that the activation of a nutrient-sensing pathway, the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP), rapidly decreased the expression of a cluster of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes involved in skeletal muscle oxidative phosphorylation. Conve...

Glucose uptake into adipose and liver cells is known to up-regulate mRNA levels for various lipogenic enzymes such as fatty acid synthase (FAS) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC). To determine whether the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP) mediates glucose regulation of mRNA expression, we treated primary cultured adipocytes for 18 h with insulin (25 ng/ml) and either glucose (20 mm) or glucos...