Abstract
An inevitable consequence of metabolism in cells across all kingdoms of life is the
non-enzymatic formation of toxic metabolites such as reactive oxygen species (ROS)
and reducing sugars, whose reaction products are associated with several diseases
such as clinical complications of diabetes, cataracts, cancer and age-related late-onset
diseases like Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease, amongst others. Yeast has
been used successfully to study the reaction of these toxic metabolites with proteins
in vivo, which I will summarize with exemplified studies on 2 crucial reactions, protein
carbonylation and protein glycation.
Key words
diabetes - yeast - oxidative stress - ROS - methylglyoxal
