Vasoactive actions of nitroxyl (HNO) are preserved in resistance arteries in diabetes.

Endothelial dysfunction is a major risk factor for the vascular complications of diabetes. Increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, a hallmark of diabetes, reduces the bioavailability of endothelial vasodilators, including nitric oxide (NO·). The vascular endothelium also produces the one electron reduced and protonated form of NO·, nitroxyl (HNO).

Aberrant protein expression in plasma and kidney tissue during experimental obstructive nephropathy.

Kidney failure is a major health problem worldwide. Patients with end-stage renal disease require intensive medical support by dialysis or kidney transplantation. Current methods for diagnosis of kidney disease are either invasive or insensitive, and renal function may decline by as much as 50% before it can be detected using current techniques.

SELDI-TOF mass spectrometry-based protein profiling of kidney tissue.

Protein profiling has numerous applications in renal research including the detection of protein biomarkers with aberrant expression levels during disease development. Such information is essential for early diagnosis and will aid the improvement of patient management and minimise the progression of disease. Further to this, data generated from these studies will assist the elucidation of the precise mechanisms of disease development and can lead to the discovery of potential drug targets.

Prenatal corticosterone exposure results in altered AT1/AT2, nephron deficit and hypertension in the rat offspring.

Maternal treatment with the synthetic glucocorticoid, dexamethasone has been reported to result in a nephron deficit and development of hypertension in the offspring of rats. However, it is not known whether elevated maternal corticosterone (CORT), the natural glucocorticoid, has similar effects on blood pressure and nephron endowment. The present study investigated the effects of CORT (0.

Intrauterine growth restriction delays cardiomyocyte maturation and alters coronary artery function in the fetal sheep.

There is now extensive evidence suggesting that intrauterine perturbations are linked with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Human epidemiological studies, supported by animal models, have demonstrated an association between low birth weight, a marker of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), and adult cardiovascular disease. However, little is known of the early influence of IUGR on the fetal heart and vessels.

Glucocorticoid programming of adult disease.

Fetal exposure to elevated levels of glucocorticoids can occur naturally when maternal glucocorticoids are elevated in times of stress or when exogenous glucocorticoids are administered. Epidemiological studies and animal models have shown that, whereas short-term benefits may be associated with fetal glucocorticoid exposure, long-term deleterious effects may arise. This review compares the effects of exposure to natural versus synthetic glucocorticoids and considers the ways in which the timing of the exposure and the sex of the fetus may influence outcomes.

Angiotensinogen and angiotensin-converting enzyme gene copy number and angiotensin and bradykinin peptide levels in mice.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that changes in gene expression that may accompany angiotensinogen (AGT) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphism cause alteration in angiotensin and bradykinin peptide levels.

Design: Mice with one or two genes for AGT and ACE allow assessment of the effects of modest alteration in AGT and ACE gene expression on angiotensin and bradykinin peptide levels.

Methods: Angiotensin and bradykinin peptides were measured in the blood, kidney, heart, lung, adrenal, brain, and aorta of mice that were either wild-type (+/+), heterozygous (+/-) or null (-/-) for either the AGT or ACE gene.

A comparative analysis of transcribed genes in the mouse hypothalamus and neocortex reveals chromosomal clustering.

The hypothalamus and neocortex are subdivisions of the mammalian forebrain, and yet, they have vastly different evolutionary histories, cytoarchitecture, and biological functions. In an attempt to define these attributes in terms of their genetic activity, we have compared their genetic repertoires by using the Serial Analysis of Gene Expression database. From a comparison of 78,784 hypothalamus tags with 125,296 neocortical tags, we demonstrate that each structure possesses a different transcriptional profile in terms of gene ontological characteristics and expression levels.

Statistical modeling of sequencing errors in SAGE libraries.

Motivation: Sequencing errors may bias the gene expression measurements made by Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE). They may introduce non-existent tags at low abundance and decrease the real abundance of other tags. These effects are increased in the longer tags generated in LongSAGE libraries.

MicroSAGE is highly representative and reproducible but reveals major differences in gene expression among samples obtained from similar tissues.

Background: Serial analysis of gene expression using small amounts of starting material (microSAGE) has not yet been conclusively shown to be representative, reproducible or accurate.

Results: We show that microSAGE is highly representative, reproducible and accurate, but that pronounced differences in gene expression are seen between tissue samples taken from different individuals.

Conclusions: MicroSAGE is a reliable method of comprehensively profiling differences in gene expression among samples, but care should be taken in generalizing results obtained from libraries constructed from tissue obtained from different individuals and/or processed or stored differently.