Among the most important pathways for liver integrity in the body are the two that synthesize methionine and S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) through methylation of homocysteine. Results of studies in this laboratory have demonstrated ethanolic inhibition of one of these pathways catalyzed by methionine synthetase. It has been shown elsewhere that alcohol per se does not inhibit the enzyme, but that the metabolite of ethanol, acetaldehyde, is responsible through the formation of an inhibiting covalent adduct. Because hepatic SAM has been shown to be essential in the transport of fat from the liver, avoiding steatosis and further liver damage, it is entirely feasible that this repression of methionine synthase is an important site of the injurious action of alcohol metabolism in the liver. This loss of activity is particularly important in human beings who cannot produce methionine and SAM by means of the alternate pathway mediated by betaine:homocysteine:transmethylase, because of the lack of production of the betaine substrate for this enzyme.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0741-8329(01)00201-4 | DOI Listing |
Int J Mol Sci
January 2025
Division of Plant Science and Technology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
Cadmium (Cd) is a pervasive heavy metal pollutant released into the environment through industrial activities such as mining, smelting, and agricultural runoff. This study aimed to investigate the molecular and metabolic impacts of Cd exposure on the silk glands of , a species renowned for producing silk with exceptional mechanical properties. Cd accumulation in spider bodies and silk glands was significantly higher in the low- and high-Cd groups compared to controls, with a dose- and time-dependent increase.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Mol Sci
January 2025
Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, 60-632 Poznań, Poland.
Atherosclerosis is accompanied by inflammation that underlies cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its vascular manifestations, including acute stroke, myocardial infarction, and peripheral artery disease, the leading causes of morbidity/mortality worldwide. The monolayer of endothelial cells formed on the luminal surface of arteries and veins regulates vascular tone and permeability, which supports vascular homeostasis. Endothelial dysfunction, the first step in the development of atherosclerosis, is caused by mechanical and biochemical factors that disrupt vascular homeostasis and induce inflammation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurochem Res
January 2025
Department of Pathophysiology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-090, Lublin, Poland.
Methionine sulfoximine (MSO) is a compound originally discovered as a byproduct of agene-based milled flour maturation. MSO irreversibly inhibits the astrocytic enzyme glutamine synthase (GS) but also interferes with the transport of glutamine (Gln) and of glutamate (Glu), and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) synthesized within the Glu/Gln-GABA cycle, in this way dysregulating neurotransmission balance in favor of excitation. No wonder that intraperitoneal administration of MSO has long been known to induce behavioral and/or electrographic seizures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAppl Environ Microbiol
January 2025
Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), School of Mathematics and Science, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
Vitamin B (cobalamin, herein B) is a key cofactor for most organisms being involved in essential metabolic processes. In microbial communities, B is often scarce, largely because only few prokaryotes can synthesize B and are thus considered B-prototrophs. B-auxotrophy is mostly manifested by the absence of the B-independent methionine synthase, MetE.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Fertil Steril
January 2025
Department of Reproductive Biotechnology, Reproductive Biomedicine Research Centre, Royan Institute for Biotechnology, ACECR, Isfahan, Iran. Email:
Background: Oxidative aggression is a hallmark of varicocele and may depend on decreased reactive ability of the endogenous antioxidant system following heat stress. We aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms. Therefore, the expression of the main enzyme proteins involved in the generation of endogenous antioxidant power, cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS), cystathionine gamma-lyase (CSE), heme oxygenase (HO-1), and also, some of the metabolites (methionine, homocysteine, taurine and vitamin B6) reporting on their activity was investigated using a surgical varicocele model in rats.
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