Publications by authors named "Edel Mullen"

In order to increase our understanding of diabetes-related muscle weakness, we carried out a mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis of skeletal muscle preparations from the Goto-Kakizaki rat model of type-2 diabetes. Fluorescence difference in-gel electrophoresis was performed to determine potential differences in the global protein expression profile of muscle extracts. Besides changes in contractile proteins and metabolic enzymes, the abundance of the small stress proteins αB-crystallin and Hsp27 was significantly increased.

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Contractile weakness and loss of muscle mass are critical features of the aging process in mammalians. Age-related fibre wasting has a profound effect on muscle metabolism, fibre type distribution and the overall physiological integrity of the neuromuscular system. This study has used mass spectrometry-based proteomics to investigate the fate of the aging rat muscle proteome.

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Abnormal glucose handling has emerged as a major clinical problem in millions of diabetic patients worldwide. Insulin resistance affects especially one of the main target organs of this hormone, the skeletal musculature, making impaired glucose metabolism in contractile fibres a major feature of type 2 diabetes. High levels of circulating free fatty acids, an increased intramyocellular lipid content, impaired insulin-mediated glucose uptake, diminished mitochondrial functioning and an overall weakened metabolic flexibility are pathobiochemical hallmarks of diabetic skeletal muscles.

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Serious diabetic complications affect millions of patients worldwide. Skeletal muscle represents the largest insulin-regulated glucose sink in the body, making insulin resistance and abnormal glucose disposal in muscle fibres a critical aspect of diabetes mellitus. Advances in the biomedical analysis of the molecular mechanisms underlying diabetic complications rely heavily on the study of suitable disease models.

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