Pharmacological properties of the central antihypertensive agent, moxonidine.

The sympathetic nervous system plays a central role in the pathophysiology not only of hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases but also metabolic disorders including disturbances of glucose and lipid homeostasis. A centrally acting sympathetic agent is therefore attractive not only for lowering blood pressure, but also intervening with multiple disease processes. Older agents such as clonidine and guanabenz have numerous side effects, including sedation and dry mouth that limit their acceptability to patients.

Alternative splicing and caspase-mediated cleavage generate antagonistic variants of the stress oncoprotein LEDGF/p75.

There is increasing evidence that an augmented state of cellular oxidative stress modulates the expression of stress genes implicated in diseases associated with health disparities such as certain cancers and diabetes. Lens epithelium-derived growth factor p75 (LEDGF/p75), also known as DFS70 autoantigen, is emerging as a survival oncoprotein that promotes resistance to oxidative stress-induced cell death and chemotherapy. We previously showed that LEDGF/p75 is targeted by autoantibodies in prostate cancer patients and is overexpressed in prostate tumors, and that its stress survival activity is abrogated during apoptosis.

Involvement of lysosomal cathepsins in the cleavage of DNA topoisomerase I during necrotic cell death.

Objective: Autoantibodies to DNA topoisomerase I (topo I) are associated with diffuse systemic sclerosis (SSc), appear to be antigen driven, and may be triggered by cryptic epitopes exposed during in vivo topo I fragmentation. These autoantibodies recognize topo I and fragments of this autoantigen generated during apoptosis and necrosis. We undertook this study to determine whether lysosomal cathepsins are involved in topo I fragmentation during necrosis.