title: Dicarbonyl stress and apoptosis of vascular cells: prevention by alphaB-crystallin.
abstract: Methylglyoxal (MGO) is an alpha-dicarbonyl compound produced from triose phosphate intermediates of glycolysis. It reacts rapidly with proteins to produce advanced glycation products. We have studied the effect of MGO modification of fibronectin on retinal capillary cell viability. Our studies show that pericytes grown on MGO-modified fibronectin (FN) undergo enhanced apoptosis through the p38MAPK-mediated oxidative pathway and that alphaB-crystallin, a stress protein present in pericytes, can protect them from MGO-mediated apoptosis. Our studies with vascular endothelial cells show that hyperglycemia-induced apoptosis is inhibited by overexpression of alphaB-crystallin. These observations suggest a novel role of alphaB-crystallin in hyperglycemia-mediated damage to vascular cells in diabetes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Wearn Building, Room 643, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA. ram.nagaraj@case.edu
authors.forename: Ram H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Nagaraj
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oya-Ito
authors.forename: Manjunatha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bhat
authors.forename: Bingfen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D002196:Capillaries / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002417:Cattle; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004285:Dogs; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D020286:Pericytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D011765:Pyruvaldehyde / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012171:Retinal Vessels; D038203:alpha-Crystallin B Chain / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D038203:alpha-Crystallin B Chain; D011765:Pyruvaldehyde