Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Autoantibodies in Postural Tachycardia Syndrome.

Background: Both the adrenergic and renin-angiotensin systems contribute to orthostatic circulatory homeostasis, which is impaired in postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). Activating autoantibodies to the α1-adrenergic and β1/2-adrenergic receptors have previously been found in sera from patients with POTS. We hypothesized that patients with POTS might also harbor activating autoantibodies to the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) independently of antiadrenergic autoimmunity.

Antiadrenergic autoimmunity in postural tachycardia syndrome.

Aims: Postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a common and debilitating cardiovascular disorder, is characterized by an exaggerated heart rate increase during orthostasis and a wide spectrum of adrenergic-related symptoms. To determine the aetiology of POTS, we examined a possible pathophysiological role for autoantibodies against α1-adrenergic (α1AR) and β1/2-adrenergic receptors (β1/2AR).

Methods And Results: Immunoglobulin G (IgG) derived from 17 POTS patients, 7 with recurrent vasovagal syncope (VVS), and 11 normal controls was analysed for its ability to modulate activity and ligand responsiveness of α1AR and β1/2AR in transfected cells and to alter contractility of isolated rat cremaster arterioles in vitro.

AT2R autoantibodies block angiotensin II and AT1R autoantibody-induced vasoconstriction.

Activating autoantibodies to the angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT1R) are associated with hypertensive disorders. The angiotensin type 2 receptor (AT2R) is known to counter-regulate the actions of AT1R. We investigated whether AT2R autoantibodies produced in immunized rabbits will activate AT2R and suppress the vasopressor responses to angiotensin II and AT1R-activating autoantibodies.

Mapping cancer cell metabolism with(13)C flux analysis: Recent progress and future challenges.

The reprogramming of energy metabolism is emerging as an important molecular hallmark of cancer cells. Recent discoveries linking specific metabolic alterations to cancer development have strengthened the idea that altered metabolism is more than a side effect of malignant transformation, but may in fact be a functional driver of tumor growth and progression in some cancers. As a result, dysregulated metabolic pathways have become attractive targets for cancer therapeutics.

ETA: robust software for determination of cell specific rates from extracellular time courses.

Accurate quantification of cell specific rates and their uncertainties is of critical importance for assessing metabolic phenotypes of cultured cells. We applied two different methods of regression and error analysis to estimate specific metabolic rates from time-course measurements obtained in exponentially growing cell cultures. Using simulated data sets to compute specific rates of growth, glucose uptake, and lactate excretion, we found that Gaussian error propagation from prime variables to the final calculated rates was the most accurate method for estimating parameter uncertainty.

Isotopically nonstationary 13C flux analysis of Myc-induced metabolic reprogramming in B-cells.

We assessed several methods of (13)C metabolic flux analysis (MFA) and found that isotopically nonstationary MFA achieved maximum flux resolution in cultured P493-6 B-cells, which have been engineered to provide tunable expression of the Myc oncoprotein. Comparison of metabolic flux maps obtained under oncogenic (High) and endogenous (Low) Myc expression levels revealed network-wide reprogramming in response to ectopic Myc expression. High Myc cells relied more heavily on mitochondrial oxidative metabolism than Low Myc cells and globally upregulated their consumption of amino acids relative to glucose.