An autoantibody against Nε-(carboxyethyl)lysine (CEL): Possible involvement in the removal of CEL-modified proteins by macrophages

Circulating antibodies against age-modified proteins in patients with coronary atherosclerosis

Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) are formed in a series of non-enzymatic reactions between reducing sugars and the amino groups of proteins and accumulate during aging, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease and other chronic diseases. Accumulation of AGE-modifications alters protein structure and function, transforming these molecules into potential targets of the immune system, presumably triggering the production of autoantibodies against AGEs. In this study, we detected autoantibodies against AGE-modified proteins with ELISA in plasma samples of 91 patients with documented coronary artery disease (CAD), who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery. Patients with high levels of autoantibodies had a higher body mass index (BMI 28.6 vs 27.1 kg/m²; p = 0.046), were more likely to suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD 30% vs 9.8%; p = 0.018), and more likely to need dialysis after the surgery (10% vs 0%; p = 0.037). Our findings show a weak link between the levels of autoantibodies against AGEs and diabetes mellitus (DM 44% vs 24.4%; p = 0.05). In a small subpopulation of patients, antibodies against native bovine serum albumin (BSA) were detected. A growing body of research explores the potential role of antibodies against AGE-modified proteins in pathogenesis of different chronic diseases; our data confirms the presence of AGE-autoantibodies in patients with CAD and that in parallel to the AGEs themselves, they may have a potential role in concomitant clinical conditions in patients undergoing CABG surgery. Further research is necessary to verify the molecular role of these antibodies in different pathological conditions.

Glucoselysine is derived from fructose and accumulates in the eye lens of diabetic rats

Prolonged hyperglycemia generates advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), which are believed to be involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. In the present study, we developed a polyclonal antibody against fructose-modified proteins (Fru-P antibody) and identified its epitope as glucoselysine (GL) by NMR and LC-electrospray ionization (ESI)- quadrupole TOF (QTOF) analyses and evaluated its potential role in diabetes sequelae. Although the molecular weight of GL was identical to that of fructoselysine (FL), GL was distinguishable from FL because GL was resistant to acid hydrolysis, which converted all of the FLs to furosine. We also detected GL in vitro when reduced BSA was incubated with fructose for 1 day. However, when we incubated reduced BSA with glucose, galactose, or mannose for 14 days, we did not detect GL, suggesting that GL is dominantly generated from fructose. LC-ESI-MS/MS experiments with synthesized [¹³C₆]GL indicated that the GL levels in the rat eye lens time-dependently increase after streptozotocin-induced diabetes. We observed a 31.3-fold increase in GL 8 weeks after the induction compared with nondiabetic rats, and Nϵ-(carboxymethyl)lysine and furosine increased by 1.7- and 21.5-fold, respectively, under the same condition. In contrast, sorbitol in the lens levelled off at 2 weeks after diabetes induction. We conclude that GL may be a useful biological marker to monitor and elucidate the mechanism of protein degeneration during progression of diabetes.

Immunization of AGE-modified albumin inhibits diabetic nephropathy progression in diabetic mice

BACKGROUND

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a serious vascular complication of diabetes and an important cause of end-stage renal disease. One mechanism by which hyperglycemia causes nephropathy is through the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGE). Development of vaccination would be a promising therapy for the future, while to date, anti-AGE therapy is based on medicines that are needed to be consumed lifelong. This study aimed to find out the effect of immunization of AGE-modified albumin against DN pathogenesis in streptozotocin-induced diabetic in mice.

METHODS

We used 24 BALB/c male mice as experimental animals, which were divided into six groups, two nondiabetic groups (negative control and AGE-modified bovine serum albumin [BSA] preimmunized groups) and four streptozotocin-induced diabetic groups (diabetic control group and diabetic preimmunized groups for AGE-BSA, Keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), and AGE-BSA-KLH, respectively).

RESULTS

Diabetic preimmunized groups for AGE-BSA, KLH, and AGE-BSA-KLH showed amelioration in renal function and histopathology compared with the diabetic control group. Preimmunization also maintained nephrin intensity and decreased serum AGE level, kidney AGE deposition, and kidney cells apoptosis.

CONCLUSION

AGE-BSA and AGE-BSA-KLH immunizations inhibit the progression of DN. Our results strengthen the evidence that the anti-AGE antibodies have a protective role against diabetic vascular complication, especially DN. This study provides a basis for the development of DN-based immunotherapy with AGE immunization as a potential candidate.

Immune response to chemically modified proteome

Both enzymatic and nonenzymatic PTMs of proteins involve chemical modifications. Some of these modifications are prerequisite for the normal functioning of cell, while other chemical modifications render the proteins as "neo-self" antigens, which are recognized as "non-self" leading to aberrant cellular and humoral immune responses. However, these modifications could be a secondary effect of autoimmune diseases, as in the case of type I diabetes, hyperglycemia leads to protein glycation. The enigma of chemical modifications and immune response is akin to the "chick-and-egg" paradox. Nevertheless, chemical modifications regulate immune response. In some of the well-known autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and multiple sclerosis, chemically modified proteins act as autoantigens forming immune complexes. In some instances, chemical modifications are also involved in regulating immune response during pathogen infection. Further, the usefulness of proteomic analysis of immune complexes is briefly discussed.

Non-enzymatic glycation and glycoxidation protein products in foods and diseases: an interconnected, complex scenario fully open to innovative proteomic studies

The Maillard reaction includes a complex network of processes affecting food and biopharmaceutical products; it also occurs in living organisms and has been strictly related to cell aging, to the pathogenesis of several (chronic) diseases, such as diabetes, uremia, cataract, liver cirrhosis and various neurodegenerative pathologies, as well as to peritoneal dialysis treatment. Dozens of compounds are involved in this process, among which a number of protein-adducted derivatives that have been simplistically defined as early, intermediate and advanced glycation end-products. In the last decade, various bottom-up proteomic approaches have been successfully used for the identification of glycation/glycoxidation protein targets as well as for the characterization of the corresponding adducts, including assignment of the modified amino acids. This article provides an updated overview of the mass spectrometry-based procedures developed to this purpose, emphasizing their partial limits with respect to current proteomic approaches for the analysis of other post-translational modifications. These limitations are mainly related to the concomitant sheer diversity, chemical complexity, and variable abundance of the various derivatives to be characterized. Some challenges to scientists are finally proposed for future proteomic investigations to solve main drawbacks in this research field.

Inhibition of AGEs formation by natural products

Since advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) inhibitors such as benfotiamine, pyridoxamine and aminoguanidine significantly inhibit the development of retinopathy and neuropathy in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, treatment with AGEs inhibitors is believed to be a potential strategy for preventing lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetic complications and atherosclerosis. Furthermore, preventive medicine is the most important approach to preventing lifestyle-related diseases, and improving daily nutritional intake is thought to prevent the pathogenesis of such diseases. Therefore, AGEs inhibitors that can be obtained from daily meals are preferred to prescribed drugs. In this article, we describe a strategy for developing new AGEs inhibitors from natural products.