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4-Hydroxyacids are products of ubiquitously occurring lipid peroxidation (C 9 , C 6 ) or drugs of abuse (C 4 , C 5 ). We investigated the catabolism of these compounds using a combination of metabolomics and mass isotopomer analysis. Livers were perfused with various concentrations of unlabeled and labeled saturated 4-hydroxyacids (C 4 to C 11 ) or 4-hydroxynonenal. All the compounds tested form a new class of acyl-CoA esters, 4-hydroxy-4-phosphoacyl-CoAs, characterized by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, accurate mass spectrometry, and 31 P-NMR. All 4-hydroxyacids with five or more carbons are metabolized by two new pathways. The first and major pathway, which involves 4-hydroxy-4-phosphoacylCoAs, leads in six steps to the isomerization of 4-hydroxyacylCoA to 3-hydroxyacyl-CoAs. The latter are intermediates of physiological ␤-oxidation. The second and minor pathway involves a sequence of ␤-oxidation, ␣-oxidation, and ␤-oxidation steps. In mice deficient in succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase, high plasma concentrations of 4-hydroxybutyrate result in high concentrations of 4-hydroxy-4-phospho-butyryl-CoA in brain and liver. The high concentration of 4-hydroxy-4-phospho-butyryl-CoA may be related to the cerebral dysfunction of subjects ingesting 4-hydroxybutyrate and to the mental retardation of patients with 4-hydroxybutyric aciduria. Our data illustrate the potential of the combination of metabolomics and mass isotopomer analysis for pathway discovery.4-Hydroxy-n-acids are involved in different areas of mammalian metabolism. Some unsaturated 4-hydroxyacids are derived from 4-hydroxynonenal and 4-hydroxyhexenal, which are products of lipid peroxidation (1). The metabolism of 4-hydroxynonenal has been extensively studied, especially its conjugation with glutathione (2), covalent modification of proteins (3, 4), and conversion to 4-hydroxynonenoate, 4-hydroxynonanoate and 1,4-dihydroxynonene, as well as its role in inflammatory processes (1, 5-11). However, the catabolism of its carbon skeleton has not been unraveled. The four-carbon 4-hydroxybutyrate is a physiological neurotransmitter derived from ␥-aminobutyrate. Humans with inborn disorder of succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase have high 4-hydroxybutyrate concentrations in body fluids, mental retardation, and seizures (12). 4-Hydroxybutyrate is also a drug of abuse that impairs the capacity to exercise judgment for unknown reasons. 4-Hydroxybutyrate is used for the treatment of narcolepsy (13). Its known metabolism (14, 15) proceeds via oxidation to succinic semialdehyde and then to succinate, an intermediate of the citric acid cycle. The five-carbon 4-hydroxypentanoate is also a drug of abuse (16). The calcium salt of a compound closely related to 4-hydroxypentanoate, levulinate (4-ketopentanoate, 4-ketovalerate), is used as an oral or intravenous source of calcium in humans.We conducted a study on the catabolism of C 4 to C 11 4-hydroxyacids in perfused rat livers using a combination of metabolomics (17,18) and mass isotopomer analysis 2 (19)....

Vision relies on photoactivation of visual pigments in rod and cone photoreceptor cells of the retina. The human eye structure and the absorption spectra of pigments limit our visual perception of light. Our visual perception is most responsive to stimulating light in the 400-to 720-nm (visible) range. First, we demonstrate by psychophysical experiments that humans can perceive infrared laser emission as visible light. Moreover, we show that mammalian photoreceptors can be directly activated by near infrared light with a sensitivity that paradoxically increases at wavelengths above 900 nm, and display quadratic dependence on laser power, indicating a nonlinear optical process. Biochemical experiments with rhodopsin, cone visual pigments, and a chromophore model compound 11-cis-retinyl-propylamine Schiff base demonstrate the direct isomerization of visual chromophore by a two-photon chromophore isomerization. Indeed, quantum mechanics modeling indicates the feasibility of this mechanism. Together, these findings clearly show that human visual perception of near infrared light occurs by twophoton isomerization of visual pigments.visual pigment | two-photon absorption | rhodopsin | transretinal electrophysiology | multiscale modeling H uman vision is generally believed to be restricted to a visible light range, although >50% of the sun's radiation energy that reaches earth is in the infrared (IR) range (1). Human rod and cone visual pigments with the 11-cis-retinylidene chromophore absorb in the visible range, with absorption monotonically declining from their maxima of 430-560 nm toward longer wavelengths. The spectral sensitivity of human dim light perception matches well with the absorption spectrum of the rod visual pigment, rhodopsin (2, 3). Activation of visual pigments is temperature independent around their absorption peaks (λ max ), but at longer wavelengths, the lower energy photons must be supplemented by heat to achieve chromophore photoisomerization (4). Long wavelength-sensitive visual pigments of vertebrates exhibit maximal absorption at the ∼500-to ∼625-nm range. Pigments with λ max > 700 nm are theoretically possible, but the high noise due to spontaneous thermal activation would render them impractical (5). At human body temperature and with 1,050-nm stimulation, the sensitivity of the peripheral retina to one-photon (1PO) stimulation is less than 10 −12 of its maximum value at 505 nm (4, 6). Indeed, reports about human IR vision can be found in the literature, although they are fragmentary and do not describe the mechanism of this phenomenon.With the invention of radar during World War II, it was immediately questioned if pilots could detect high intensity radiation in the IR range of the spectrum. Wald and colleagues reported that at wavelengths above 800 nm, rod photoreceptors become more sensitive than cones, resulting in perception of IR signals as white light selectively in the peripheral retina (6). They proposed that relative spectral sensitivity declines monotonically toward longer wavele...

Integrins are the adhesion molecules and receptors of extracellular matrix (ECM). They mediate the interactions between cells-cells and cells-ECM. The crosstalk between cancer cells and their microenvironment triggers a variety of critical signaling cues and promotes the malignant phenotype of cancer. As a type of transmembrane protein, integrin-mediated cell adhesion is essential in regulating various biological functions of cancer cells. Recent evidence has shown that integrins present on tumor cells or tumorassociated stromal cells are involved in ECM remodeling, and as mechanotransducers sensing changes in the biophysical properties of the ECM, which contribute to cancer metastasis, stemness and drug resistance. In this review, we outline the mechanism of integrin-mediated effects on biological changes of cancers and highlight the current status of clinical treatments by targeting integrins.