Intensive insulin treatment reduces the accumulation of oxidation and glycation end-products in diabetic rat collagen.
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Publications and source records attributed to D Cottalasso.
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Oxidation and glycation are non-enzymatic protein modifications involved in the pathogenesis of aging. We evaluated their possible influences in an in vitro system: albumin was oxidized by gamma-irradiation and then exposed to glycation in vitro. Fluorescence modifications were analysed as signals of protein alterations. Both radiolytic oxidation and in vitro glycation provoked a sharp decrease of tryptophan fluorescence (278 nm ex./340 nm em.); their effects tended to be additive, unless a saturation limit was reached. Both individually and in combination, these two non-enzymatic processes induced the appearance of a new fluorescence (335 nm ex./415 nm em.); in this case as well there was an additive effect, with a trend toward saturation. Radiolytic oxidation and in vitro glycation seem to provoke similar damage to the exposed proteins: the observed fluorescence alterations may be due to similar conformational changes, breaks or the development of fluorophores.
The consequence of direct exposure to HO. radical (chemically generated by Fenton's reaction) of partially purified rat liver PKC has been evaluated in this work. PKC inhibited Fenton-dependent HO. generation, probably due to the binding of copper ions to the enzyme. PKC activity was inhibited by H2O2. Copper ions were able to increase the H2O2-mediated damage to the enzyme, but only beyond a concentration threshold. The possible interactions between PKC and Fenton's reagents, in particular copper ions, is discussed.
Previous studies have demonstrated that acute ethanol intoxication affects various steps of protein glycosylation at the level of rat liver endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus. The aim of this investigation was to demonstrate whether chronic ethanol intake can induce definitive changes of liver glycoprotein processing. Rats were given ethanol by liquid diet for 8 weeks. At the end of this period the triglyceride levels in liver homogenate and microsomes were significantly higher than in controls. Isolated hepatocytes prelabelled with [3H]Na palmitate and [14C]glucosamine showed a significant storage of the lipid and carbohydrate radioactivity in microsomes and Golgi apparatus and a significant impairment of labelled glycolipoprotein secretion. Changes of the glycosylation steps were observed both in endoplasmic reticulum and in Golgi apparatus: in the former the levels of dolichyl phosphate, which is rate-limiting for the synthesis of glycoprotein, showed a significant reduction; in the latter the activity of the main enzymes responsible for the terminal glycosylation process was significantly decreased. These data suggest that an impairment of glycoprotein maturation may be involved in the pathogenesis of liver injury induced by chronic ethanol intake.
Rat intoxication with a single dose of 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) (50 microliters/100 g b.w) is able to induce a significant modification of protein glycosylation in the liver endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus. HPLC analysis shows that within 5-60 min after DCE-intoxication, the levels of total dolichol, free dolichol and dolichyl phosphate strongly decreased in the microsomes and Golgi apparatus. Particularly in total microsomes, dolichyl phosphate, which is rate-limiting for the biosynthesis of the N-linked oligosaccharide chains, drops to values significantly lower than in the control group 15 min after DCE poisoning. In the Golgi apparatus, the total dolichol, essential to enhance the fluidity and permeability of these membranes, early and significantly decreases already 5 min after DCE poisoning. Moreover, in the Golgi apparatus galactosyl- and sialyltransferase activities, the main enzymatic activities of terminal protein glycosylation, are significantly reduced, as measured 15 min after DCE intoxication. These data suggest that the impairment of glycoprotein synthesis, maturation and secretion may be involved in the pathogenesis of liver injury induced by acute DCE-intoxication.
BACKGROUND: 1,2-Dichloroethane (DCE) is a volatile liquid readily absorbed through dermal, digestive, or inhalatory routes. After inhalation or oral administration to rats, death occurs within a narrow range of concentrations (six hour LC50 = 5100 mg/m3). Exposure to single high doses of DCE resulted in adverse effects on the central nervous system, liver, kidneys, adrenals, and lungs. The liver showed fatty changes and hepatocellular necrosis with haemorrhage. These injuries are probably related to changes in several cell functions and constituents. Therefore, it was decided to investigate whether DCE was capable of impairing the secretion of hepatocellular lipoglycoproteins acting both at the level of the Golgi apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum. METHODS: Isolated hepatocytes of Wistar rats were prelabelled with two precursors of lipoglycoproteins 3H-Na-palmitate and 14C-glucosamine, and then exposed to concentrations of DCE from mean (SD) 4.4 (0.03) to 6.5 (0.02) mM for different durations ranging from five to 60 minutes. To measure lipid and sugar bound radioactivity, a preliminary separation of cell homogenate, cytosol, total microsomes, Golgi apparatus, and lipoglycoproteins secreted into cell suspension medium was carried out. RESULTS: After five minutes of exposure, DCE did not induce obvious changes in cell viability or lactic dehydrogenase leakage, but a significant (p < 0.01) depletion of reduced glutathione content was seen (40.10 (4.3) nM/10(6) cells). Furthermore, the cells poisoned by DCE started to show noticeable accumulation of 3H-Na-palmitate in the Golgi apparatus after five minutes (5103 (223) dpm/10(6) cells) and in the microsomes after 15 minutes (85,470 (7190) dpm/10(6) cells). There was a simultaneous significant increase in 14C-glucosamine content in the Golgi apparatus (690 (55) dpm/10(6) cells) and the microsomes (15,975 (2035) dpm/10(6) cells). The specific radioactivity of lipid and sugar moieties incorporated in secreted lipoglycoproteins was already significantly reduced after only five minutes of exposure (480 (57) dpm/10(6) cells for lipids, and 315 (45) dpm/10(6) cells for sugars). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, DCE, like other haloalkanes, produces a block of secretion of hepatocellular lipoglycoproteins as early as five minutes after poisoning. The simultaneous percentage increases into Golgi apparatus and microsomes of lipid and sugar bound radioactivity suggest that lipid retention at the sites of processing of lipoglycoproteins would probably play an important part in the early stages of cellular accumulation of fat after exposure to DCE.
BACKGROUND: Glycation and oxidation are spontaneous chemical modifications of body proteins. Usually these reactions have been studied separately by assessing their fluorescent final products. Glycation of protein and its related fluorescence increases during aging, whereas the level of the fluorescence related to protein adducts from lipoperoxidation side products is unknown. Moreover, no data on the fluorescence, at different wavelengths, connected to the two reactions in the same sample are available. Nevertheless recent in vitro studies support the possibility of an interaction between the two spontaneous reactions. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: In this study, we evaluated the modification of proteins due to glycation and to lipoperoxidation side products, by measuring their specific fluorescence levels in the collagen of 65 healthy Wistar rats during the aging process. The relationships among the fluorescence at different wavelengths were also reported. The fluorescence pattern of insoluble collagen was characterized by a tridimensional study after the incubation of insoluble collagen with probable precursors of protein glycation (ribose) and oxidation (malondialdehyde and hydroxynonenal); the maximum peaks of fluorescence were recognized and compared. RESULTS: An increase of all fluorescence intensities was observed in rat collagen during aging: the glycation-related ones (y370/440 = 28.3 e0.08x, r = 0.808, p < 0.01; y335/385 = 66.7 e0.06x, r = 0.798, p < 0.01) and the hydroxynonenal adduct-related (y356/460 = 44.3 e0.06x, r = 0.810, p < 0.01) were exponential, whereas that derived from MDA-adduct was almost linear (y390/460 = 17.7 + 4.1x, r = 0.661, p < 0.01). A different accumulation rate might explain this result. Significant correlation coefficients were found within the age-adjusted fluorescence intensities of both reactions, suggesting a close relationship between glycation and oxidation, besides a mutual influence due to the broad spectrum area. The in vitro study confirmed a good specificity of collagen fluorescence after incubation with a reducing sugar (ribose 0.5 M for 6 hours) for protein glycation, and after incubation with malondialdehyde (0.1 mM for 3 hours) for lipoperoxidation adducts; surprisingly enough hydroxynonenal (0.5 mM for 3 hours) significantly increased the fluorescence related to pentosidine-like products (335 nm excitation/385 nm emission) suggesting that this compound might be the precursor of products with a fluorescence similar to pentosidine or of pentosidine itself. CONCLUSIONS: The in vivo results of this study confirm that nonenzymatic reactions, glycation and oxidation, significantly modify collagen fluorescence during aging and can play a role in tissue damage related to age. The close relationships among fluorescences may be due to a reciprocal interconnection rather than to a parallel increase of both reactions during aging; this hypothesis is supported by the in vitro findings of this study.
BACKGROUND: A number of agents that produce liver injury also cause the accumulation of an abnormal amount of fat, predominantly triglycerides (TGs) in the parenchymal cells. Fatty liver (FL) is the result of an hepatocyte imbalance between the rate of synthesis and output of TGs into the plasma. TGs are not secreted as such, but combined with a glycoprotein moiety, and particularly with the very low density lipoproteins (VLDLs). This fraction is involved in the transport of hepatic TGs to extrahepatic tissues. FL can be induced by either acute or chronic administration of ethanol (EtOH), and/or several haloalkanes (carbon tetrachloride, CCl4; 1.2-dichloroethane, DCE; 1.1.2.2-tetrachloroethane, TTCE), both in laboratory animals and in man. Since the pathogenesis of this disease is a crucial problem, as yet undefined, the purpose of this article is to summarize the studies which have unraveled some of the mechanisms involved in FL, particularly the role played by impaired lipoglycoproteins (LGP) metabolism in rat liver. DISCUSSION: An important element in the pathogenesis of EtOH- and haloalkanes-induced FL is the impairment of hepatic secretion of VLDLs, which occurs soon after poisoning. Various steps of the secretory pathway are probably involved in the expression of such damage. The intoxication of rats with these xenobiotics leads to an early impairment of the hepatocyte system responsible for terminal glycosylation and maturation of LGP at the level of three different subfractions (F1, F2 and F3) of purified Golgi apparatus (GA). The earliest functional change is a block of LGP transit through the GA cisternae and vesicles, both in isolated hepatocyte model and in the whole animal. The glycosylation of LGP is a multistep process which starts in the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER), and comes to its end in the GA. Dolichols (Dol) are a family of long-chain polyisoprenoid alcohols, present either as neutral free-Dol and dolichyl-phosphate (Dol-P). The latter acts as a glycosyl carrier across the RER membranes in the initial steps of LGP biosynthesis. Nearly all the other reactions occur in GA, where free-Dol have a role either in terminal LGP processing or in their secretion into the blood stream. Several investigations indicated that both EtOH and haloalkanes (CCl4, DCE, and TTCE) may selectively and precociously impair the total microsomes (TM) and GA pool of Dol, particularly in F1. Lipid peroxidation appears to be the fundamental mechanism involved. CONCLUSIONS: Such results, obtained in several works, point out a key role played in FL by selective impairment of MT and GA processes which provide for the synthesis, maturation and release of hepatic LGP.
The effects of acute ethanol intoxication on the glycoprotein metabolism of rat liver Golgi apparatus have been investigated. A marked reduction of the galactosyltransferase and sialyltransferase activities was observed in Golgi membranes 6 h after ethanol administration (6g/Kg body wt) together with the retention of glycoproteins in the hepatocyte. Methylpyrazole, an inhibitor of alcohol dehydrogenase, administrated "in vivo" (10 mg/Kg body wt) prevented the ethanol-induced inhibition of both the transferase activities. Acetaldehyde formed "in vitro" unstable and stable adducts with Golgi membrane proteins and with purified galactosyltransferase. These results suggest that the impairment of glycoprotein metabolism at the level of liver Golgi apparatus may be mediated, at least in part, through the acetaldehyde formation during ethanol oxidation.
The involvement of CCl4 biotransformation mechanism in decreasing the Protein Kinase C activity has been analyzed in hepatocytes isolated from phenobarbital-pretreated rats. A significant inhibition (55%) and an almost total disappearance (87%) of the enzyme activity were observed at 15 min and at 30 min incubation with CCl4, respectively. Cell preincubation with Trolox or desferrioxamine allowed a marked whilst not complete protection of both cytosolic and particulate Protein Kinase C activity. These results show that the CCl4 reactive metabolites play a primary role in hepatocyte Protein Kinase C impairment and suggest that besides lipid peroxidation other mechanisms -possibly a derangement of Ca2+ homeostasis- may be involved in this process.
The onset of the lipoprotein secretory block provoked by CCl4 in the whole animal was monitored after purification of liver Golgi membranes. Both lipid transit through the apparatus and hexosylation of the lipoprotein are markedly inhibited 5-15 min after poisoning. Pre-treating the animal with alpha-tocopherol, shown to prevent lipid peroxidation without modifying the covalent binding due to CCl4 metabolites, affords little protection against lipid accumulation in the Golgi, but total preservation of galactosyl transferase activity. While haloalkylation therefore appears to be the major mechanism of damage in the early phases of CCl4-induced derangement of lipid secretion, lipid peroxidation is probably more involved later; this is indicated by the marked, though never complete, protection against fatty liver afforded at 24 h after CCl4 poisoning by supplementation of the membrane with alpha-tocopherol.
Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) poisoning affects glycoprotein processing and maturation at the level of rat liver microsomes and Golgi apparatus. HPLC analysis showed that within 5-60 min after CCl4 administration the levels of total dolichol, free dolichol and dolichyl-phosphate strongly decreased both in total microsomes and in Golgi apparatus. The most marked and early reduction of total dolichol was observed in the secretory membranes of Golgi area already 15 min after CCl4 poisoning. The incubation of CCl4-pretreated isolated hepatocytes with [3H]-mevalonate showed a significant slowing down of the label incorporation into both free-dolichol and dolichyl-phosphate. Moreover, lipid peroxidation might cause alterations in the molecular structure of both free-dolichol and dolichyl-phosphate. A notable prevention of dolichol decrease was observed in animals pretreated with vitamin E. The results suggest that the prooxidant activity of CCl4 is able to affect the metabolism of dolichol either by increasing the oxidative degradation or impairing the biosynthetic pathway.
Isolated rat hepatocytes exposed to CCl4 showed a dramatic decrease in [32P] incorporation into proteins which was evident as early as 5 min after the haloalkane addition. DEAE cellulose separation of protein kinases present in both particulated and cytosolic fractions of hepatocytes revealed that only the calcium and phospholipids dependent protein kinase C was affected by the treatment with CCl4, while kinases not requiring these factors for their activity were unmodified. Several 4-hydroxyunsaturated aldehydes known to be produced during CCl4-stimulated lipid peroxidation were found to inhibit protein kinase C at micromolar concentrations, suggesting the possibility that peroxidative events might be responsible for the impairment of protein kinase C during CCl4 intoxication.
A sonicated liposome suspension of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and phosphatidylserine (liposome-entrapped GABA), intraperitoneally administered in rats, inhibited EEG epileptic activity induced by penicillin, whereas GABA did not. A significant increase (20.4%) in brain radioactivity accumulation occurred at 5 min after i.p. administration of [14C]GABA associated with phosphatidylserine in comparison with the administration of [14C]GABA; such an increase persisted after 20 min. However, the accumulation of radioactivity into brain synaptosomes demonstrated a 24.1% increase at 5 min and subsequently showed a 43.3% increase at 20 min after injection of liposome-entrapped GABA. The above findings suggest that phosphatidylserine stimulates exogenous GABA uptake into brain GABAergic nerve terminals.
The present report deals with the investigation of the effect of 4-hydroxy-trans 2,3-nonenal (HNE), hexanal (HEX) and malondialdehyde (MDA), the major products of lipid peroxidation, on the glycosylation pathway of rat liver Golgi apparatus. Defined concentrations of the aldehydes were added to isolated fractions of formative (F3) and secretory (F1 + F2) Golgi compartments, then incubated at 37 degrees C for 10 min. At the end of the incubation the activity of galactosyl-(GT) and sialyl-(ST)transferases, the main enzymes of the terminal protein and lipoprotein glycosylation, was evaluated. A significant impairment of both these activities was observed with HNE and HEX but not with MDA. These data suggest that aldehydes generated during peroxidation reactions are able to impair the protein and lipoprotein maturation mechanism which is normally achieved through a complete glycosylation.
The role of ubiquinone in the Golgi apparatus is still unknown, even if it might be considered as a lipid marker of the Golgi compartment because of its high content in these subcellular fractions. In vivo modulation of ubiquinone with ethanol and in vitro pentane extraction show that ubiquinone is not required either for NADH-ferricyanide reductase, acetaldehyde dehydrogenase activity, or Ca2+ and Mg2+ stimulated ATPases. Since ubiquinone does not seem to be involved in these enzymic activities in Golgi compartments, other possible functions are discussed, related to a role in membrane fluidity or as a barrier to the propagation of free radicals.
Functional change of liver Golgi apparatus during carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) poisoning was demonstrated both in rat isolated hepatocytes and in the whole animal. The "in vitro" experimental model provided evidence of Golgi derangement early after giving the haloalkane. The "in vivo" analyses also showed that such an alteration involves both formative and secretory sides of the subcellular structure.
Previous investigations from our laboratory have shown that during acute ethanol intoxication the Golgi apparatus seems involved in impaired dismission of lipoproteins. In the present paper the phospholipid distributions of Golgi subfractions have been analyzed in livers of normal and ethanol intoxicated rats. No significant differences in the phospholipid classes have been observed in this study. On the contrary, a decrease of vitamin A and ubiquinone in Golgi subfractions is evident. The results are briefly discussed in view of the role played by these endogenous antioxidants in the Golgi membranes and in the pathogenesis of ethanol induced fatty liver.