Vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency during pregnancy has been linked to increased risk of preeclampsia. Placenta dysfunction plays an important role in the pathogenesis of this pregnancy disorder. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that disturbed vitamin D metabolism takes place in preeclamptic placentas. Protein expressions of vitamin D binding protein (VDBP), 25-hydroxylase (CYP2R1), 1α-h...

Signal transduction pathways inactivated during periods of starvation are implicated in the regulation of longevity in organisms ranging from yeast to mammals, but the mechanisms responsible for life-span extension are poorly understood. Chronological life-span extension in S. cerevisiae cyr1 and sch9 mutants is mediated by the stress-resistance proteins Msn2/Msn4 and Rim15. Here we show that m...

The clinical use of doxorubicin (DOX) is limited by a dose-dependent cardiotoxicity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether voluntary exercise training would confer protection against DOX cardiotoxicity in the isolated perfused rat heart. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to standard holding cages (SED) or cages with running wheels (VEX) for 8 weeks. Twenty-four hour...

In this study, some physiological indexes of leaves in transgenic sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas L. cv. Yulmi), which harbors two genes CuZn superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) genes, with the stress-inducible SWPA2 promoter were evaluated under different concentrations of NaCl treatment. The results showed that physiological indexes were no remarkable differences withou...

Fridovich identified CuZnSOD in 1969 and manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) in 1973, and proposed "the Superoxide Theory," which postulates that superoxide (O2 (•-)) is the origin of most reactive oxygen species (ROS) and that it undergoes a chain reaction in a cell, playing a central role in the ROS producing system. Increased oxidative stress on an organism causes damage to cells, the sma...

Clinical reports suggest close interactions between stressors, particularly those of long duration, and liver diseases, such as hepatic inflammation, that is proposed to occur via reactive oxygen species. In the present study we have used 21-day social isolation of male Wistar rats as a model of chronic stress to investigate protein expression/activity of liver antioxidant enzymes: superoxide d...

The effect of exogenous noradrenaline (NA) (1.6 mg x kg(-1) i.p., 35 min prior sacrifice) on the activity of antioxidant enzymes (AOE) copper zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD), manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and catalase (CAT), as well as lipid peroxides (LP) concentration were studied in the rat interscapular brown adipose tissue (IBAT) and heart of saline (controls) and N(omega)-nit...

Copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD, SOD1 protein) is an abundant copper- and zinc-containing protein that is present in the cytosol, nucleus, peroxisomes, and mitochondrial intermembrane space of human cells. Its primary function is to act as an antioxidant enzyme, lowering the steady-state concentration of superoxide, but when mutated, it can also cause disease. Over 100 different mutat...

Studies have implicated active oxygen species (AOS) in the pathogenesis of various lung diseases. Many chemical and physical agents in the environment are potent generators of AOS, including ozone, hyperoxia, mineral dusts, paraquat, etc. These agents produce AOS by different mechanisms, but frequently the lung is the primary target of toxicity, and exposure results in damage to lung tissue to ...

Cu2Zn2-superoxide dismutase (CuZn-SOD) was purified from chicken liver. The liver enzyme had a subunit Mr of 16900 and contained equimolar amounts of copper and zinc [0.260 (w/w) for each]. Aortic CuZnSOD had the same Mr as estimated by gel filtration and cross-reacted with antibodies to the liver enzyme. Both enzymes were inhibited by 1.0 mM-NaCN. Within 24-72 h after hatching, total SOD activ...