• Toxicological Research
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.193-198
• /
• 2014

Degradation of glucose is aberrantly increased in hyperglycemia, which causes various harmful effects on the liver. Methylglyoxal is produced during glucose degradation and the levels of methylglyoxal are increased in diabetes patients. In this study we investigated whether methylglyoxal induces mitochondrial impairment and apoptosis in HepG2 cells and induces liver toxicity in vivo. Methylglyoxal caused apoptotic cell death in HepG2 cells. Moreover, methylglyoxal significantly promoted the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and depleted glutathione (GSH) content. Pretreatment with antioxidants caused a marked decrease in methylglyoxal-induced apoptosis, indicating that oxidant species are involved in the apoptotic process. Methylglyoxal treatment induced mitochondrial permeability transition, which represents mitochondrial impairment. However, pretreatment with cyclosporin A, an inhibitor of the formation of the permeability transition pore, partially inhibited methylglyoxal-induced cell death. Furthermore, acute treatment of mice with methylglyoxal increased the plasma levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), indicating liver toxicity. Collectively, our results showed that methylglyoxal increases cell death and induces liver toxicity, which results from ROS-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.31 no.5
• /
• pp.573-582
• /
• 2023

Muscle atrophy is characterized by the loss of muscle function. Many efforts are being made to prevent muscle atrophy, and exercise is an important alternative. Methylglyoxal is a well-known causative agent of metabolic diseases and diabetic complications. This study aimed to evaluate whether methylglyoxal induces muscle atrophy and to evaluate the ameliorative effect of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise in a methylglyoxal-induced muscle atrophy animal model. Each mouse was randomly divided into three groups: control, methylglyoxal-treated, and methylglyoxal-treated within aerobic exercise. In the exercise group, each mouse was trained on a treadmill for 2 weeks. On the last day, all groups were evaluated for several atrophic behaviors and skeletal muscles, including the soleus, plantaris, gastrocnemius, and extensor digitorum longus were analyzed. In the exercise group, muscle mass was restored, causing in attenuation of muscle atrophy. The gastrocnemius and extensor digitorum longus muscles showed improved fiber cross-sectional area and reduced myofibrils. Further, they produced regulated atrophy-related proteins (i.e., muscle atrophy F-box, muscle RING-finger protein-1, and myosin heavy chain), indicating that aerobic exercise stimulated their muscle sensitivity to reverse skeletal muscle atrophy. In conclusion, shortness of the gastrocnemius caused by methylglyoxal may induce the dynamic imbalance of skeletal muscle atrophy, thus methylglyoxal may be a key target for treating skeletal muscle atrophy. To this end, aerobic exercise may be a powerful tool for regulating methylglyoxal-induced skeletal muscle atrophy.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.79-91
• /
• 2021

γ-Glutamylcysteine synthetase (Gcs1) and glutathione reductase (Glr1) activity maintains minimal levels of cellular methylglyoxal in Candida albicans. In glutathione-depleted Δgcs1, we previously saw that NAD(H)-linked methylglyoxal oxidoreductase (Mgd1) and alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh1) are the most active methylglyoxal scavengers. With methylglyoxal accumulation, disruptants lacking MGD1 or ADH1 exhibit a poor redox state. However, there is little convincing evidence for a reciprocal relationship between methylglyoxal scavenger genes-disrupted mutants and changes in glutathione-(in)dependent redox regulation. Herein, we attempt to demonstrate a functional role for methylglyoxal scavengers, modeled on a triple disruptant (Δmgd1/Δadh1/Δgcs1), to link between antioxidative enzyme activities and their metabolites in glutathione-depleted conditions. Despite seeing elevated methylglyoxal in all of the disruptants, the result saw a decrease in pyruvate content in Δmgd1/Δadh1/Δgcs1 which was not observed in double gene-disrupted strains such as Δmgd1/Δgcs1 and Δadh1/Δgcs1. Interestingly, Δmgd1/Δadh1/Δgcs1 exhibited a significantly decrease in H2O2 and superoxide which was also unobserved in Δmgd1/Δgcs1 and Δadh1/Δgcs1. The activities of the antioxidative enzymes erythroascorbate peroxidase and cytochrome c peroxidase were noticeably higher in Δmgd1/Δadh1/Δgcs1 than in the other disruptants. Meanwhile, Glr1 activity severely diminished in Δmgd1/Δadh1/Δgcs1. Monitoring complementary gene transcripts between double gene-disrupted Δmgd1/Δgcs1 and Δadh1/Δgcs1 supported the concept of an unbalanced redox state independent of the Glr1 activity for Δmgd1/Δadh1/Δgcs1. Our data demonstrate the reciprocal use of Eapx1 and Ccp1 in the absence of both methylglyoxal scavengers; that being pivotal for viability in non-filamentous budding yeast.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.406-410
• /
• 2004

Glyoxal or methylglyoxal was incubated with catalase in 0.24 M sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) at 37$^{\circ}C$. Dicarbonyls modify and inactivate catalase. Plasmid DNA that is directly incubated with glycation propagators, glyoxal and methylglyoxal, showed different DNA mobility shift compared to nomal plasmid DNA. When plasmid DNA is added in Fenton reaction with glycated catalase, plasmid DNA was significantly strand broken and 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine production was time dependently increased. These results suggest that glycation of antioxidant is synergistic effect to oxidative stress.

• Proceedings of the Korean Biophysical Society Conference
• /
• 1997.07a
• /
• pp.36-36
• /
• 1997

Protein glycation was studied with bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model protein and methylglyoxal, a 3-carbon ${\alpha}$-ketoaldehyde. Methylglyoxal reacted with BSA, forming a radical as observed in the reaction of methylglyoxal wtih L-alanine or N-acetyl-L-lysine.(omitted)

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.103-108
• /
• 1990

The enzymatic studies on the methylglyoxal metabolism in yeast and bacterial cells indicated that organisms are equipped with the common and manifold systems for the detoxification of methylglyoxal. Among these systems, the glyoxalase I is the most important route for methylglyoxal detoxification. The molecular structure of glyoxalase I is apparently distinct from the enzyme sources, and zinc ion is an essential cofactor in enzyme activity. The gene for Pseudomonas putida glyoxalase I functioned as a scavenger of methylglyoxal and regulated the cell size of the bacterium. Comparison of the nucleotide sequence of the P. putida glyoxalase I gene with the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified enzyme revealed that the N-terminal methionine residue was removed after translation. Possible physiological role of glyoxalase I was also discussed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Biophysical Society Conference
• /
• 1996.07a
• /
• pp.46-46
• /
• 1996

To elucidate the mechanism for the cross-linking reaction in the glycation or Maillard reaction, we studied the reaction between proteins, and a three-carbon ${\alpha}$-ketoaldehyde, methylglyoxal. When Cu, Zn-SOD was incubated with 200 mM of methylglyoxal, the peroxidase activity as well as the superoxide dismutase activity was reduced. This reduction is accompanied by the decrease of the anion binding affinity of the enzyme. (omitted)

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.45 no.4
• /
• pp.339-343
• /
• 2007

Methylglyoxal (MG) is a reactive metabolite known to accumulate in certain physiological conditions. We attempted to isolate genes associated with this metabolite by genome-wide mutagenesis with TnphoA derivative. After screening on methylglyoxal-containing plate, we obtained insertions in three different genes, ydbD, yjjQ, and yqiI, which gave rise to reproducible MG-sensitive phenotypes in glyoxalase-deficient strain. In addition to its MG sensitivity, the insertion in yqiI exhibited an impaired motility resulting from a reduced flagellar expression.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Toocicology Conference
• /
• 2000.12a
• /
• pp.77-77
• /
• 2000

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.503-509
• /
• 2022

Methylglyoxal is a highly reactive precursor which forms advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGEs and methylglyoxal are known to induce various diseases such as diabetes, vascular disorders, Diabetes Mellitus (DM), and neuronal disorders. Juglans regia L is an important food commonly used worldwide, having nutritious components, including phenolic compounds. Since ancient times, Juglans regia L have been differently applied by various countries for health and in diverse diseases, including arthritis, asthma, skin disorders, cancer, and diabetes mellitus. However, the effect of diabetes-induced renal damage against AGEs remains unclear. This study evaluates the anti-glycation and renal protective effects of ethanol extract of Juglans regia L against methylglyoxal-induced renal tubular epithelial cell death. Exposure to methylglyoxal resulted in reduced cell viability in NRK-52E cells, but co-treatment with Juglans regia L extracts significantly increased the cell viability. In addition, we examined the anti-glycation effect of Juglans regia L extracts. Compared to the positive control aminoguanidine and Alagebrium, treatment with Juglans regia L extracts significantly inhibited the formation of AGEs, collagen cross-linking, and breaking collagen cross-linking. Taken together, our results indicate that Juglans regia L is a potential therapeutic agent for regulating diabetic complications by exerting anti-glycation and renal protective activities.