Overexpression of the glucose transporter 1 in renal mesangial cells protects against cellular stress via Nrf2/NQO1

Introduction: Diabetic patients have been shown to be susceptible to the formation and accumulation of triose phosphates and the reactive metabolite methylglyoxal (MG), formed by non-enzymatic degradation on these intermediates, suggesting that it is not the condition of hyperglycemia, but how glucose is handled, which underlies the development of diabetic complications. In this study, this was addressed by characterizing rat mesangial cells which stably overexpress the glucose transporter-1 protein, the rate-limiting step for the movement of glucose into the cell. In such cells, glucose uptake and utilization i…