Dietary AGEs and ALEs and risk to human health by their interaction with the receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE)--an introduction.

The receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) has a well-substantiated role in cell dysfunction and mechanisms of inflammatory disease. The physiological agonists of RAGE are less certain: S100/calgranulin proteins, high mobility group-1 protein HMGB1 and other proteins are candidate agonists. It increasingly appears unlikely proteins modified by advanced glycation endproducts are effective agonists in vivo. In the following debate, Professors Ann Marie Schmidt and Claus Heizmann gave arguments and evidences for and against the motion. Recent evidence suggesting the activation of RAGE impairs the enzymatic defence against glycation provided by glyoxalase 1 (Glo 1) suggests that studies of RAGE will continue to be of importance to our understanding of the physiological significance of protein glycation.