Browsing Pathways

Zoledronate (also named zoledronic acid, Zometa or Reclast) is a type of medication that used to treat numbers of bone diseases because of its affinity for hydroxyapatite. Zoledronate targets farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) synthase by inhibiting the function of this enzyme in the mevalonate pathway, which prevent the biosynthesis of Geranyl-PP and farnesyl pyrophosphate. Geranyl-PP and farnesyl pyrophosphate are important for geranylgeranylation and farnesylation of GTPase signalling proteins. Lack of Geranyl-PP and farnesyl pyrophosphate will result in decreased rate of bond resorption and turnover as well as block the osteoclast activity, which lead to an increasing mass gain in bone (i.e. net gain in bone mass).

The discovery of AIDS prompted the search for agents that block the HIV replication process. Zidovudine (AZT) is a nucleoside analogue of thymidine, and was shown to reduce considerably the mortality of patients with AIDS. Zidovudine is toxic to the hemtopoietic system, causing anemia and neutropenia. It is clear, however, that disease progression can occur during continued administration of zidovudine. Moreover, zidovudine is not effective in treating Kaposi sarcoma, a common complication of HIV infection. Zidovudine therapy is also associated with a high incidence of toxicity, primarily bone marrow suppression, that requires dosage reduction or discontinuation of the therapy.

Zellweger syndrome, also known as cerebrohepatorenal syndrome, is an autosomal recessive peroxisome biogenesis disorder that is part of the family of Zellweger spectrum disorders. It is caused by a defect in one of 12 or more of the PEX genes (PEX1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 19 and 26) that produce proteins called peroxins. Peroxins are used in the formation of peroxisomes, and can be involved in recognition of proteins targeted for the peroxisome, as well as their transport into the peroxisome. Peroxisomes typically break down both very long chain and branched fatty acids, but if they aren't present, these fatty acids build up in the blood and body, harming organs such as the brain and liver. Additionally, due to the fact that some processes, such as plasmalogen biosynthesis, occur in or using peroxisomes, and can lead to deficiencies in plasmalogens. These are important in brain and lung function, leading to other symptoms. Zellweger syndrome is characterized by an increase in levels of very long chain fatty acids in the blood plasma, as well as more visible physical symptoms, such as an abnormally large or small head at birth, characteristic facial features and poor muscle tone, which can lead to an inability of infants to feed. Other symptoms include an enlarged liver, skeletal abnormalities and low CNS function. Infants very rarely live longer than one year, and the only treatment is for symptoms the patient is experiencing, not for the syndrome itself.

Zalcitabine (ddc) is a dideoxynucleoside antiretroviral drug that when used in combination with zidovudine improves the viral load and CD4+ cell count of patients infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1). Zalcitabine is phosphorylated to it’s active form metabolite 2′,3′-dideoxycytidine 5′-triphosphate (ddCTP) in both healthy and infected cells. ddCTP competes with deoxycytidine triphosphate inhibiting the enzyme reverse transcriptase from using the substrates to elongate the viral DNA strand ultimately halting HIV replication.

Ximelagatran is an anticoagulant drug used to prevent and treat blood clots, and was the first drug in the anticoagulant drug class to be able to be ingested orally. It was discontinued from distribution by its parent company AstraZeneca in 2006 as it was found to raise liver enzyme levels in patients and cause liver damage as a result. Ximelagatran inhibits prothrombin. Then zooming in even further to the endoplasmic reticulum within the liver, vitamin K1 2,3-epoxide uses vitamin K epoxide reductase complex subunit 1 to become reduced vitamin K (phylloquinone), and then back to vitamin K1 2,3-epoxide continually through vitamin K-dependent gamma-carboxylase. This enzyme also catalyzes precursors of prothrombin and coagulation factors VII, IX and X to prothrombin, and coagulation factors VII, IX and X. From there, these precursors and factors leave the liver cell and enter into the blood capillary bed. Once there, prothrombin is inhibited by ximelagatran, and is catalyzed into the protein complex prothrombinase complex which is made up of coagulation factor Xa/coagulation factor Va (platelet factor 3). These factors are joined by coagulation factor V and ximelagatran inhibits prothrombin. Through the two factors coagulation factor Xa and coagulation factor Va, thrombin is produced and inhibited by ximelagatran, which then uses fibrinogen alphabet, and gamma chains to create fibrin (loose). This is then turned into coagulation factor XIIIa, which is activated through coagulation factor XIII A and B chains. From here, fibrin (mesh) is produced which interacts with endothelial cells to cause coagulation. Plasmin is then created from fibrin (mesh), then joined by tissue-type plasminogen activator through plasminogen and creates fibrin degradation products. These are enzymes that stay in your blood after your body has dissolved a blood clot. Coming back to the factors transported from the liver, coagulation factor X is catalyzed into a group of enzymes called the tenase complex: coagulation factor IX and coagulation factor VIIIa (platelet factor 3). This protein complex is also contributed to by coagulation factor VIII, which through prothrombin is catalyzed into coagulation factor VIIIa. Prothrombin is inhibited by ximelagatran here as well. From there, this protein complex is catalyzed into prothrombinase complex, the group of proteins mentioned above, contributing to the above process ending in fibrin degradation products. Another enzyme transported from the liver is coagulation factor IX which becomes coagulation factor IXa, part of the tense complex, through coagulation factor XIa. Coagulation factor XIa is produced through coagulation factor XIIa which converts coagulation XI to become coagulation factor XIa. Coagulation factor XIIa is introduced through chain of activation starting in the endothelial cell with collagen alpha-1 (I) chain, which paired with coagulation factor XII activates coagulation factor XIIa. It is also activated through plasma prekallikrein and coagulation factor XIIa which activate plasma kallikrein, which then pairs with coagulation factor XII simultaneously with the previous collagen chain pairing to activate coagulation XIIa. Lastly, the previously transported coagulation factor VII and tissue factor coming from a vascular injury work together to activate tissue factor: coagulation factor VIIa. This enzyme helps coagulation factor X catalyze into coagulation factor Xa, to contribute to the prothrombinase complex and complete the pathway.

Xanthinuria Type II is a rare inborn error of metabolism (IEM) and autosomal recessive disorder and caused by a defective xanthine dehydrogenase. Xanthine dehydrogenase catalyzes the conversion of hypoxanthine into xanthine and conversion of xanthine into uric acid. This disorder is characterized by a large accumulation of xanthine and hypoxanthine; as well as dissipation of uric acid. Symptoms of the disorder include blood in the urine, recurrent urinary tract infections and abdominal pain. It is estimated that xanthinuria types I and II affects 1 in 69,000 individuals.

Xanthinuria Type I is a condition caused by an autosomal recessive mutation. The condition was discovered (though not diagnosed) in 1817, when stones formed of almost pure xanthine were first identified by Marcet. The symptoms arise because of a malfunction in the production of xanthine oxidase. It is a rare . It is characterized by a loss of oxidase such as in serum and the uric acid found in peepee. As a result, the opposite is true for the presence of xanthine and hypoxanthine. They will be found in the latter and former in increased quantities. Although the condition can cause a wide range of symptoms including renal xanthine stones, what occurs most of the time is that xanthinuria is asymptomatic and diagnosis is product of chance.

The rare genetic disorder, Xanthinuria (also referred to as xanthine oxidase deficiency) results from a deficiency of the enzyme xanthine oxidase. This enzyme deficiency causes the accumulation of: xanthine in the plasma, uric acid in serum or hypoxanthine, uric acid and xanthine in the urine. The disorder has symptoms including arthralgia, hematuria, mental retardation, stomatisis, and urolithiasis.

In Wolman's disease excessive amounts of cholesterol ester in the liver are present mainly in the macrophages of the reticuloendo- thelial system. The livler in Wiolman's disease contains triglyceride at 10 to 20 times the normal concentratlon, most of whilch is present in hepatocytes. The first case of Wolman's disease was published in 1956 by M. Wolman, M.D., reporting a case of a 2 month old girl who had been admitted to the Hadassah University Hospital. Lysosomal acid lipase/acid cholesteryl ester hydrolase (LAL/ACEH) plays an important role in cellular processing of plasma lipoproteins and thus contributes to both the homeostatic control of plasma lipoprotein levels and the prevention of cellular lipid overload. Wolman's Disease results from severely reduced levels of the enzyme lysosomal acid lipase/acid cholesteryl ester hydrolase.

Warfarin is a drug part of the anticoagulant drug class, used to dissolve or break down blood clots. Warfarin inhibits vitamin K epoxide reductase complex subunit 1. In the endoplasmic reticulum within the liver, vitamin K1 2,3-epoxide would regularly use vitamin K epoxide reductase complex subunit 1 to become reduced vitamin K (phylloquinone), and then back to vitamin K1 2,3-epoxide continually through vitamin K-dependent gamma-carboxylase, but as warfarin inhibits vitamin K epoxide reductase complex subunit 1, this causes a decreased amount of the reduced form of vitamin K, which in turn causes a decreased coagulability of the blood. The enzyme vitamin K-dependent gamma carboxylase catalyzes precursors of prothrombin and coagulation factors VII, IX and X to prothrombin, and coagulation factors VII, IX and X. From there, these precursors and factors leave the liver cell and enter into the blood capillary bed. Once there, prothrombin is catalyzed into the protein complex prothrombinase complex which is made up of coagulation factor Xa/coagulation factor Va (platelet factor 3). These factors are joined by coagulation factor V. Through the two factors coagulation factor Xa and coagulation factor Va, thrombin is produced, which then uses fibrinogen alpha, beta, and gamma chains to create fibrin (loose). This is then turned into coagulation factor XIIIa, which is activated through coagulation factor XIII A and B chains. From here, fibrin (mesh) is produced which interacts with endothelial cells to cause coagulation. Plasmin is then created from fibrin (mesh), then joined by tissue-type plasminogen activator (reteplase) through plasminogen, and creates fibrin degradation products. These are enzymes that stay in your blood after your body has dissolved a blood clot. Coming back to the factors transported from the liver, coagulation factor X is catalyzed into a group of enzymes called the tenase complex: coagulation factor IX and coagulation factor VIIIa (platelet factor 3). This protein complex is also contributed to by coagulation factor VIII, which through prothrombin is catalyzed into coagulation factor VIIIa. From there, this protein complex is catalyzed into prothrombinase complex, the group of proteins mentioned above, contributing to the above process ending in fibrin degradation products. Another enzyme transported from the liver is coagulation factor IX which becomes coagulation factor IXa, part of the tense complex, through coagulation factor XIa. Coagulation factor XIa is produced through coagulation factor XIIa which converts coagulation XI to become coagulation factor XIa. Coagulation factor XIIa is introduced through chain of activation starting in the endothelial cell with collagen alpha-1 (I) chain, which paired with coagulation factor XII activates coagulation factor XIIa. It is also activated through plasma prekallikrein and coagulation factor XIIa which activate plasma kallikrein, which then pairs with coagulation factor XII simultaneously with the previous collagen chain pairing to activate coagulation XIIa. Lastly, the previously transported coagulation factor VII and tissue factor coming from a vascular injury work together to activate tissue factor: coagulation factor VIIa. This enzyme helps coagulation factor X catalyze into coagulation factor Xa, to contribute to the prothrombinase complex and complete the pathway.