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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 21, 2016; 22(27): 6192-6200
Published online Jul 21, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i27.6192
Aberrant post-translational protein modifications in the pathogenesis of alcohol-induced liver injury
Natalia A Osna, Wayne G Carter, Murali Ganesan, Irina A Kirpich, Craig J McClain, Dennis R Petersen, Colin T Shearn, Maria L Tomasi, Kusum K Kharbanda
Natalia A Osna, Murali Ganesan, Kusum K Kharbanda, Research Service, Veterans Affairs Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System, Omaha, NE 68105, United States
Natalia A Osna, Murali Ganesan, Kusum K Kharbanda, Department of Internal Medicine, 982000 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, United States
Wayne G Carter, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Royal Derby Hospital Centre, Derby DE22 3DT, United Kingdom
Irina A Kirpich, Craig J McClain, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, Department of Medicine and Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40202, United States
Dennis R Petersen, Colin T Shearn, University of Colorado Denver, School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Aurora, CO 80045, United States
Maria L Tomasi, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Davis research building, suite 2096/2035 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, United States
Kusum K Kharbanda, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 985870 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, United States
Author contributions: All authors equally contributed to this paper with conception, literature review, drafting and critical revision, editing, and approval of the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Kusum K Kharbanda, PhD, Research Service, Veterans Affairs Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System, 4101 Woolworth Avenue, Omaha, NE 68105, United States. kkharbanda@unmc.edu
Telephone: +1-402-9953752 Fax: +1-402-4490604
Received: March 26, 2016
Peer-review started: March 26, 2016
First decision: May 12, 2016
Revised: May 28, 2016
Accepted: June 15, 2016
Article in press: June 15, 2016
Published online: July 21, 2016
Abstract

It is likely that the majority of proteins will undergo post-translational modification, be it enzymatic or non-enzymatic. These modified protein(s) regulate activity, localization and interaction with other cellular molecules thereby maintaining cellular hemostasis. Alcohol exposure significantly alters several of these post-translational modifications leading to impairments of many essential physiological processes. Here, we present new insights into novel modifications following ethanol exposure and their role in the initiation and progression of liver injury. This critical review condenses the proceedings of a symposium at the European Society for the Biomedical Research on Alcoholism Meeting held September 12-15, 2015, in Valencia, Spain.

Keywords: Alcohol, Acetylation, Liver, Carbonylation methylation, Dysfunction, Methylation, Glycosylation, Phosphorylation, Ubiquitination, Sumoylation, Betaine, Post-translational protein modification

Core tip: A majority of proteins in our body undergo orchestrated post-translational modifications that influence protein structure and function. Chronic ethanol administration causes aberrant post-translational modification of proteins that play a critical role in the pathogenesis of alcoholic-induced liver damage.