bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Control by amino acids of the activity of system A-mediated amino acid transport in isolated rat hepatocytes
Authors: Fafournoux P , Rémésy C , Demigné C
Published: August 2015

The effect of amino acids, in concentrations corresponding to those found in the portal vein of rats given a high-protein diet, was investigated on the activity of system A amino acid transport in hepatocytes from fed rats. Amino acids counteracted the induction of system A by insulin or glucagon. This effect was observed at all concentrations of hormones tested, up to 1 microM. Amino acids did not affect the basal cyclic AMP concentration in hepatocytes, or the large rise in cyclic AMP elicited by glucagon. The reversal of system-A induction was observed at relatively low concentration of amino acids, corresponding to plasma values reported in rats given a basal diet. Amino acids were separately tested: substrates of system A were particularly efficient, but so were glutamine and histidine. Non-metabolizable substrates of system A, such as 2-aminoisobutyrate, were also inhibitory, suggesting that a part of the effect of amino acids is independent of their cellular metabolism. Provision of additional energy substrates such as lactate and oleate did not affect induction of system A or the inhibitory effects of amino acids. Thus amino acids do not act by serving as an energy source and by maintaining the integrity of hepatocytes. Inhibition of mRNA synthesis by actinomycin practically abolished the effect of amino acids on the induction of system A by glucagon. The results suggest that amino acids may promote the synthesis of protein(s) affecting the activity of system A either directly at the carrier unit or at an intermediate stage of its emergence.
Effects of incubation at physiological temperatures on the concentration-dependence of [2-14C]malonyl-CoA binding to rat liver mitochondria
Authors: Zammit V A , Corstorphine C G
Published: August 2015

Specific binding of [2-14C] malonyl-CoA to rat liver mitochondria was measured at different temperatures and after various periods of time of exposure of the mitochondria to the ligand. Incubation of mitochondria at 37 degrees C in the absence of malonyl-CoA resulted in a decrease in their ability to bind malonyl-CoA at all concentrations tested (up to 55 microM). However, incubation of mitochondria in the presence of malonyl-CoA resulted in the loss of the binding only by a low-affinity component. By contrast, there was an increase in the binding that occurred at low, physiological, concentrations of malonyl-CoA. These differences in the response of the two binding components to incubation conditions were used to obtain quantitative data about their respective saturation kinetics. Evidence was obtained that, whereas the high-affinity component approached saturation hyperbolically with respect to malonyl-CoA concentration, the low-affinity component had sigmoidal characteristics. The concentrations of malonyl-CoA required to half-saturate the two components were 2-3 microM and 30 microM for the high- and low-affinity components respectively. Evidence was also obtained for the involvement of a temperature-dependent transition, that occurred at around 25 degrees C, in the modulation of malonyl-CoA binding to the mitochondria. The possible physiological roles of the two components of malonyl-CoA binding in relation to the regulation of overt carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT I) activity in vivo are discussed.
Tracer studies of the interconversion of R- and S-methylmalonic semialdehydes in man
Authors: Manning N J , Pollitt R J
Published: August 2015

Two human subjects were given separate oral doses of sodium [2H6]isobutyrate and [methyl-2H3]thymine and the labelling patterns of urinary metabolites were determined. Ingestion of deuterated isobutyrate resulted in the excretion of 2H5-labelled S-3-hydroxyisobutyric acid, formed on the direct catabolic pathway, and of S- and R-[2H4]-3-hydroxyisobutyric acids, formed by the reduction of S- and R-methylmalonic semialdehydes respectively. Only the R-enantiomer of urinary 3-hydroxyisobutyric acid was labelled by thymine. This labelling pattern indicates a flow from S- to R-methylmalonic semialdehyde, suggesting that the R-enantiomer is the substrate of methylmalonic semialdehyde dehydrogenase.
Assay of protein kinase C with an N-bromosuccinimide-cleavage fragment of histone H1
Authors: Glynn B , Colliton J , McDermott J , Witters L A
Published: August 2015

N-Bromosuccinimide cleavage of a lysine-rich histone fraction (histone III-S) yields a peptide substrate, purified by reverse-phase h.p.l.c., for the Ca2+ + phospholipid-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase C). This substrate displays no reactivity with the cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase, and may prove useful for the detection of protein kinase C activity in crude tissue extracts.
Antilipolytic effects of N6-phenylisopropyladenosine and prostaglandin E2 in fat-cells of obese volunteers before and during energy restriction
Authors: Kather H , Wieland E , Fischer B , Schlierf G
Published: August 2015

The antilipolytic effects of N6-phenylisopropyladenosine and of prostaglandin E2 were studied with adipocytes of obese volunteers before and after 4 weeks of severe energy restriction [1250 kJ (300 cal)/day] in the presence and absence of adenosine deaminase (1.6 micrograms/ml, corresponding to 320 m-units/ml). The studies were undertaken to define more clearly the role that local modulators might play in adaptation of lipid mobilization to starvation in humans. Starvation was associated with an approx. 3-fold increase in non-stimulated lipolysis. Removal of endogenous adenosine resulted in a similar increase in basal glycerol release under both conditions, averaging 2 and 2.2 mumol/180 min per 10(6) cells respectively. The sensitivity of the cells to N6-phenylisopropyladenosine and to prostaglandin E2 was not changed by starvation in the presence of adenosine deaminase. These results are discussed in terms of the possible role that local regulators might play during dietary adaption in human fat-cells in vitro.
Physicochemical studies on turnip-yellow-mosaic virus. Homogeneity, relative molecular masses, hydrodynamic radii and concentration-dependence of parameters in non-dissociating solvents
Authors: Harding S E , Johnson P
Published: August 2015

Turnip-yellow-mosaic virus, with its stable, highly spherical and monodisperse character, was chosen as a suitable model substance with which to test hydrodynamic theories of transport. Sedimentation coefficients, diffusion coefficients (obtained through photon correlation spectroscopy) and viscosities were measured accurately as a function of concentration in well-defined and nearly neutral buffer systems. Ancillary information was also obtained from very-low-speed sedimentation-equilibrium experiments. The coefficients expressing the variation in sedimentation and diffusion coefficients with weight concentration were obtained, and by combination with other data it was possible to avoid assumptions concerning solvation and transform such regression coefficients into the form appropriate to volume fractions. Some measure of support for Batchelor's [(1972) J. Fluid Mech. 52, 245-268] calculations was thus obtained, but over most of the pH range the coefficients were significantly smaller than those calculated from his theory. It seems likely that electrostatic interactions are responsible for the discrepancies. Hydrodynamic radii (from diffusion coefficients) were in very fair agreement with those calculated from the thermodynamic excluded-volume term, but were higher than indicated by electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, a discrepancy ascribable to solvation.
Effects of the calcium-channel agonist CGP 28392 on insulin secretion from isolated rat islets of Langerhans
Authors: Morgan N G , Short C D , Rumford G M , Montague W
Published: August 2015

The rate of insulin secretion from isolated rat islets of Langerhans was affected by a number of dihydropyridine derivatives known to interact with voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channels in excitable cells. The channel antagonists nifedipine and nitrendipine were potent inhibitors of glucose-induced insulin secretion in response to both 8 mM- and 20 mM-glucose, although they did not lower the basal secretion rate observed in the presence of 4 mM-glucose. The Ca2+-channel agonist, CGP 28392, also failed to alter the basal rate of insulin secretion. In the presence of 8 mM-glucose, however, 1 microM-CGP 28392 enhanced the insulin-secretion rate to a value approximately double that with 8 mM-glucose alone. This effect was dose-dependent, with half the maximal response elicited by 0.1 microM-CGP 28392, and full enhancement at 10 microM. The response was rapid in onset, with an increase in insulin secretion evident within 2 min of CGP 28392 infusion in perifused islets. Stimulation of insulin secretion by CGP 28392 was correlated with a rapid enhancement of glucose-stimulated 45Ca2+ uptake into islets cells, and with a transiently increased rate of 45Ca2+ efflux from pre-loaded islets. Stimulation of insulin secretion by CGP 28392 was abolished in the presence of noradrenaline, although under these conditions the rapid stimulation of 45Ca2+ influx induced by CGP 28392 was only partially inhibited. In contrast with these results, when islets were incubated in the presence of 20 mM-glucose, CGP 28392 caused a dose-dependent inhibition of insulin secretion. Half-maximal inhibition required approx. 0.2 microM-CGP 28392, with maximal effects observed at 10 microM. Under these conditions, however, the extent of insulin secretion was still only decreased by about 50%, to a value which was similar to that seen in the presence of 8 mM-glucose and CGP 28392. These results suggest that dihydropyridine derivatives can alter the activity of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels in islet cells, and are consistent with the possibility that gating of these channels plays an important role in regulating the rate of insulin secretion after glucose stimulation.
Effects in vivo of food deprivation and 3-mercaptopicolinate in the glycogen-storage-disease (gsd/gsd) rat
Authors: Clark D G , Brinkman M , Neville S D , Haynes W D
Published: August 2015

Intraperitoneal injection of 3-mercaptopicolinate into 24 h-food-deprived 27-week-old female control (GSD/GSD) rats lowered the concentration of circulating glucose by 66%, but glycerol and lactate concentrations were increased up to 3- and 4-fold respectively. In phosphorylase b kinase-deficient (gsd/gsd) rats the corresponding changes for blood glucose, lactate and glycerol were half those observed in the controls. Although the concentration of liver glycogen (approx. 12%, w/w) in the gsd/gsd rats was not altered during food deprivation, total hepatic glycogen was decreased by 17%. It is suggested that the gradual breakdown of the extensive hepatic glycogen stores during starvation assists in the maintenance of normoglycaemia in the gsd/gsd rat.
Endocrine regulation of sex differences in hepatic histidase activity
Authors: Lamartiniere C A
Published: August 2015

Hepatic histidase activity in adult female rats is twice that in adult male rats. Hypophysectomy and thyroidectomy result in a significant increase in hepatic histidase activities in males, but not in females. This effect on histidase is reversed by the exogenous administration of tri-iodothyronine, but not by ectopic pituitary glands or purified pituitary hormones.
3-Phosphonopropionic acids inhibit carboxypeptidase A as multisubstrate analogues or transition-state analogues
Authors: Grobelny D , Goli U B , Galardy R E
Published: August 2015

A series of phosphonic acid analogues of 2-benzylsuccinate were tested as inhibitors of carboxypeptidase A. The most potent of these, (2RS)-2-benzyl-3-phosphonopropionic acid, had a Ki of 0.22 +/- 0.05 microM, equipotent to (2RS)-2-benzylsuccinate and thus one of the most potent reversible inhibitors known for this enzyme. Lengthening by one methylene group to (2RS)-2-benzyl-4-phosphonobutyric acid increased the Ki to 370 +/- 60 microM. The monoethyl ester (2RS)-2-benzyl-3-(O-ethylphosphono)propionic acid was nearly as potent as (2RS)-2-benzyl-3-phosphonopropionic acid, with a Ki of 0.72 +/- 0.3 microM. The sulphur analogue of the monoethyl ester, 2-ambo-P-ambo-2-benzyl-3-(O-ethylthiophosphono)propionic acid, had a Ki of 2.1 +/- 0.6 microM, nearly as active as (2RS)-2-benzyl-3-(O-ethylphosphono)propionic acid. These phosphonic acids and esters could be considered to be multisubstrate inhibitors of carboxypeptidase A by virtue of their structural analogy with 2-benzylsuccinate. Alternatively, the tetrahedral hybridization at the phosphorus atom suggests that they could be mimicking a tetrahedral transition state for the enzyme-catalysed hydrolysis of substrate.
Stimulatory effect of arginine on acetylglutamate synthesis in isolated mitochondria of mouse and rat liver
Authors: Kawamoto S , Sonoda T , Ohtake A , Tatibana M
Published: August 2015

N-Acetyl-L-glutamate synthetase (EC 2.3.1.1) catalyses the synthesis of N-acetyl-L-glutamate, an allosteric activator of carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase I in the liver of ureotelic animals, and the first enzyme is activated specifically by arginine. We have proposed that arginine can stimulate acetylglutamine synthetase in vivo and thereby increase the mitochondrial content of acetylglutamate. The effects of arginine on acetylglutamate synthesis in isolated mitochondria were investigated in detail in the present work. When rat liver mitochondria were isolated and incubated with [14C]glutamate and unlabelled acetate as substrates, acetyl[14C]glutamate synthesis in the mitochondria was more extensive in the presence than in the absence of L-arginine. There was no significant difference between the specific radioactivities of intramitochondrial [14C]glutamate in the presence and absence of arginine. When rat liver mitochondria were incubated with [14C]acetate and unlabelled glutamate as substrates, arginine also stimulated acetyl[14C]glutamate synthesis in the isolated mitochondria. L-Lysine or L-homoarginine, which does not activate acetylglutamate synthetase, had no effect on acetylglutamate synthesis, in the isolated mitochondria. The arginine concentration giving half-maximal synthesis of acetylglutamate in isolated mitochondria was about 50 microM, which is in the range of physiological concentrations of arginine in the liver. As we previously reported [Kawamoto, Ishida, Mori & Tatibana (1982) Eur. J. Biochem. 123, 637-641], the sensitivity of acetylglutamate synthetase to arginine activation undergoes marked changes after food ingestion. The extent of arginine activation of acetylglutamate synthesis in isolated mitochondria correlated well with the sensitivity of acetylglutamate synthetase extracted from the mitochondria to arginine activation. These data lend further support to the idea that arginine itself activates the mitochondrial synthesis of acetylglutamate.
The primary structures of Pseudomonas AM1 amicyanin and pseudoazurin. Two new sequence classes of blue copper proteins
Authors: Ambler R P , Tobari J
Published: August 2015

The amino acid sequences of two blue copper proteins from the pink facultative methylotroph Pseudomonas AM1 (N.C.I.B. 9133) were determined. They each consist of a single polypeptide chain and bind one copper atom. Amicyanin contains 99 and pseudoazurin 123 residues. Copper-binding sites, consisting of the side chains of two histidine, one cysteine and one methionine residues, can be recognized in each protein by analogy with azurin and plastocyanin, but the spacings of the ligand residues are different, and other sequence similarity is limited. Proteins that are in the pseudoazurin sequence class can be recognized in some strains of Alcaligenes, and probably also in Paracoccus denitrificans. Detailed evidence for the amino acid sequences of the proteins has been deposited as Supplementary Publication SUP 50130 (23 pp.) at the British Library (Lending Division), Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7BQ, U.K., from whom copies can be obtained on the terms indicated in Biochem. J. (1985) 225, 5.
Developmental changes in the activity of phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferases in rat brain
Authors: Blusztajn J K , Zeisel S H , Wurtman R J
Published: August 2015

The activity of phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PeMT), an enzymic system that catalyses the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) via sequential methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn) using S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) as a methyl donor, was examined in brain homogenates from rats of various ages. The data thus obtained were consistent with the existence of two distinct enzyme activities within this enzyme system, i.e. one catalysing the methylation of PtdEtn [to form phosphatidyl-N-monomethylethanolamine (PtdMeEtn)], and the other catalysing the methylations of PtdMeEtn and phosphatidyl-NN-dimethylethanolamine (PtdMe2Etn) (to form PtdMe2Etn and PtdCho, respectively). PeMT (PtdEtn-methylating) activity per g of brain was 4-fold higher in neonatal than in adult brains. The enzyme activity in adult brains exhibited Michaelis-Menten kinetics for AdoMet, and its affinity for AdoMet was high (apparent Km 1.6 microM). In neonatal brain the relationships between AdoMet concentrations and PtdMeEtn formation were more complex: a sigmoidal component (with a Hill coefficient of 2.7), requiring 90 microM-AdoMet for half-saturation predominated over the high-affinity component (similar to that of the adult brain). PeMT (PtdMe2Etn-methylating) activity per g of brain increased 2-fold between the 5th and the 20th postnatal days and remained constant thereafter; it was higher than that of PeMT (PtdEtn-methylating) activity at all ages studied, and its affinity for AdoMet was low (apparent Km 99 microM). No sexual dimorphism in brain PeMT activity was observed at any age. We conclude that PeMT (PtdEtn-methylating) catalyses the rate-limiting step in PtdCho synthesis in rat brain, and that PtdCho formation via this pathway may be greatest during the neonatal period.
Cytidine monophosphate-dependent synthesis of phosphatidylglycerol in permeabilized type II pneumonocytes
Authors: Bleasdale J E , Thakur N R , Rader G R , Tesan M
Published: August 2015

Results of previous investigations support the proposition that, in type II pneumonocytes, CMP is involved in integration of the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylglycerol for lung surfactant. In the present investigation, the amount of CMP in rat type II pneumonocytes was altered directly and resultant changes in the synthesis of phosphatidylglycerol were examined. Type II pneumonocytes were made permeable to CMP by treatment with Ca2+-free medium, and phosphatidylglycerol synthesis was then assessed by measurement of the incorporation of a radiolabelled precursor, [14C]glycerol 3-phosphate, that was not effectively utilized by cells that resisted permeabilization. Incorporation of [14C]glycerol 3-phosphate into phosphatidylglycerol (but not into other lipids) was stimulated greatly by CMP (half-maximal stimulation at approx. 0.1 mM). CMP stimulated the incorporation of [14C]glycerol 3-phosphate into both the phosphatidyl moiety and the head group of phosphatidylglycerol. Incorporation of [14C]palmitate into phosphatidylglycerol was also stimulated by CMP. myo-Inositol, at concentrations found in foetal-rat serum (0.2-2.0 mM), inhibited CMP-dependent incorporation of [14C]glycerol 3-phosphate into phosphatidylglycerol and promoted, instead, CMP-dependent incorporation into phosphatidylinositol. These data, when extrapolated to foetal type II pneumonocytes, are consistent with the view that the developmental increase in the synthesis of phosphatidylglycerol for surfactant by foetal lungs is promoted by the increase in intracellular CMP and the declining availability of myo-inositol that were found previously to be associated with this period of development.
Microtubules and nucleoside diphosphate kinase. Nucleoside diphosphate kinase binds to co-purifying contaminants rather than to microtubule proteins
Authors: Islam K , Burns R G
Published: August 2015

Nucleoside diphosphate (NDP) kinase has been postulated to generate GTP from the GDP bound to tubulin. The purified chick brain enzyme was studied with respect to its kinetic parameters, and the protein-protein interactions between the NDP kinase and tubulin were examined. No specific interaction is observed between the enzyme and assembled microtubules, tubulin dimers, or tubulin-microtubule-associated protein (MAP) oligomers under a variety of nucleotide conditions. The apparent association is demonstrated to result from NDP kinase binding to a co-purifying contaminant. The absence of detectable NDP kinase-tubulin interactions indicates that NDP kinase does not directly charge up tubulin-GDP.
Regulation of CTP: phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase activity in type II pneumonocytes
Authors: Tesan M , Anceschi M M , Bleasdale J E
Published: August 2015

Phosphatidylcholine synthesis by rat type II pneumonocytes was altered either by depleting the cells of choline or by exposing the cells to extracellular lung surfactant. Effects of these experimental treatments on the activity of a regulatory enzyme, CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase, were investigated. Although choline depletion of type II pneumonocytes resulted in inhibition of phosphatidylcholine synthesis, cytidylyltransferase activity (measured in cell homogenates in either the absence or presence of added lipids) was greatly increased. Activation of cytidylyltransferase in choline-depleted cells was rapid and specific, and was quickly and completely reversed when choline-depleted cells were exposed to choline (but not ethanolamine). Choline-dependent changes in enzymic activity were apparently not a result of direct actions of choline on cytidylyltransferase and they were largely unaffected by cyclic AMP analogues, oleic acid, linoleic acid or cycloheximide. The Km value of cytidylyltransferase for CTP (but not phosphocholine) was lower in choline-depleted cells than in choline-repleted cells. Subcellular redistribution of cytidylyltransferase also was associated with activation of the enzyme in choline-depleted cells. When measured in the presence of added lipids, 66.5 +/- 5.0% of recovered cytidylyltransferase activity was particulate in choline-depleted cells but only 34.1 +/- 4.5% was particulate in choline-repleted cells. An increase in particulate cytidylyltransferase also occurred in type II pneumonocytes that were exposed to extracellular surfactant. This latter subcellular redistribution, however, was not accompanied by a change in cytidylyltransferase activity even though incorporation of [3H]choline into phosphatidylcholine was inhibited by approx. 50%. Subcellular redistribution of cytidylyltransferase, therefore, is associated with changes in enzymic activity under some conditions, but can also occur without a resultant alteration in enzymic activity.
The effect of methylene blue on the hepatocellular redox state and liver lipid content during chronic ethanol feeding in the rat
Authors: Ryle P R , Chakraborty J , Thomson A D
Published: August 2015

Feeding of ethanol in a liquid diet to male Wistar rats caused decreases in the hepatic cytosolic and mitochondrial [NAD+]/[NADH] ratios. This redox-state change was attenuated after 16 days of feeding ethanol as 36% of the total energy intake. Supplementation of the ethanol-containing liquid diet with Methylene Blue largely prevented the ethanol-induced redox state changes, but did not significantly decrease the severity of the hepatic lipid accumulation that resulted from ethanol ingestion. Methylene Blue did not affect body-weight gain, ethanol intake or serum ethanol concentrations in ethanol-fed rats, nor did the compound influence the hepatic redox state or liver lipid content of appropriate pair-fed control animals. These findings suggest that the altered hepatic redox state that results from ethanol oxidation is not primarily responsible for the production of fatty liver after long-term ethanol feeding in the rat.
Large-scale isolation of complement receptor type 1 (CR1) from human erythrocytes. Proteolytic fragmentation studies
Authors: Sim R B
Published: August 2015

A large-scale procedure for the isolation of complement receptor type 1 (CR1, the C3b receptor) from human erythrocytes is described. Two of the four known phenotypes of CR1 are detectable in the isolated material. Amino acid and hexosamine analysis of the A phenotype (Mr 240 000) indicates a polypeptide chain length of about 2030 amino acids and a carbohydrate content of 8%. Both N- and O-linked sugars appear to be present. Trypsin digestion of isolated CR1 shows that it is degraded rapidly and extensively, and no stable products of Mr greater than 25000 are found. The ability of the receptor to bind to solid-phase ligand is destroyed after a single cleavage by trypsin. The capacity of the receptor to act as a cofactor for Factor I-mediated cleavage of soluble C3b is, however, only gradually decreased by proteolysis, and 30% of this activity remains after extensive degradation. The same pattern of loss of binding to solid-phase ligand, with partial retention of interaction with soluble ligand, is also characteristic of the complement proteins Factor H and C4bp, which are functionally related to CR1.
Induction of intra- and extra-cellular phospholipids in the lungs of rats exposed to silica
Authors: Dethloff L A , Gilmore L B , Brody A R , Hook G E
Published: August 2015

Intracellular and extracellular compartments of phospholipids in the lungs of rats were examined 28 days after intratracheal injection of silica (200 mg/kg). All compartments containing phospholipids were elevated, but the largest increases were seen in the intracellular and extracellular pulmonary surfactant. Intracellular pulmonary surfactant increased 123-fold from 1.18 +/- 0.65 to 144.9 +/- 53.8 and the extracellular surfactant increased 22-fold from 1.17 +/- 0.04 to 25.1 +/- 7.1 mg per pair of rat lungs respectively. The phospholipid composition of intracellular and extracellular surfactant did not change in response to silica, except for an almost 2-fold increase in the percentage of total phosphatidylinositol in both compartments. The phospholipid content of the lungs increased from 24.9 +/- 4.6 to 268.6 +/- 20.8 mg, with the intracellular and extracellular surfactant accounting for 59.1 and 24.6% of this total increase respectively. These data demonstrate that the major increases in the phospholipid content of the lungs induced by silica is associated with the pulmonary-surfactant system.
1H, 13C and 31P n.m.r. spectra and molecular conformation of myo-inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate
Authors: Lindon J C , Baker D J , Farrant R D , Williams J M
Published: August 2015

Multinuclear n.m.r. spectroscopy has been used to confirm the identify of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and to deduce its molecular conformation as having five equatorial and one axial ring substituents.
Hepatic mitochondrial inner-membrane properties, β-oxidation and carnitine palmitoyltransferases A and B. Effects of genetic obesity and starvation
Authors: Brady L J , Hoppel C L , Brady P S
Published: August 2015

Hepatic mitochondrial carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) properties, beta-oxidation of palmitoyl-CoA and membrane polarization were measured in lean and obese Zucker rats. The Vmax. of the ‘outer’ carnitine palmitoyltransferase (‘CPT-A‘) increased with starvation, with no change in the Km for either carnitine or palmitoyl-CoA. The Ki for malonyl-CoA increased with starvation in lean rats, but not in obese rats. The Vmax. of the ‘inner’ enzyme (‘CPT-B‘), as measured by using inverted submitochondrial vesicles, increased with starvation in obese rats only, with no change in the Km for either carnitine or palmitoyl-CoA. The Ki for malonyl-CoA was 2-5-fold higher in inverted vesicles than in intact mitochondria, and showed no alteration with starvation. The activities of both enzymes correlated positively with each other and with beta-oxidation, and inversely with membrane polarization. Malonyl-CoA had little effect on gross membrane fluidity in the Zucker rat, as reflected by diphenylhexatriene fluorescence polarization. The results indicate that both enzymes are related and respond similarly to alterations in membrane fluidity. Membrane fluidity may provide a mechanism for co-ordinated control of CPT activity on both sides of the mitochondrial inner membrane.
An extended-X-ray-absorption-fine-structure investigation of diferric transferrins and their iron-binding fragments
Authors: Garratt R C , Evans R W , Hasnain S S , Lindley P F
Published: August 2015

Iron K-edge extended-X-ray-absorption-fine-structure (e.x.a.f.s.) spectra were recorded for diferric human and rabbit serum transferrins and for diferric chicken ovotransferrin in aqueous solution; for ovotransferrin e.x.a.f.s. spectra from the N-terminal and C-terminal domain fragments were also measured. The overall spectral profiles closely resemble one another, indicating similar iron-binding sites. The simulation of the diferric ovotransferrin spectrum suggests a first co-ordination shell consisting of six low-Z ligands (nitrogen/oxygen), two ligands at a distance of approx. 0.185 nm (1.85 A) and four ligands at approx. 0.204 nm (2.04 A). The two shorter distances may correspond to Fe-O (tyrosine), whereas the longer distance is consistent with Fe-N (histidine) and Fe-O (water). Detailed analysis of the spectra of the N-terminal and C-terminal fragments indicates a difference in the short ligand distance.
Transport of the aromatic amino acids into isolated rat liver cells. Properties of uptake by two distinct systems
Authors: Salter M , Knowles R G , Pogson C I
Published: August 2015

The transport of the aromatic amino acids into isolated rat liver cells was studied. There was a rapid and substantial binding of the aromatic amino acids, L-alanine and L-leucine to the plasma membrane. This has important consequences for the determination of rates of transport and intracellular concentrations of the amino acids. Inhibition studies with a variety of substrates of various transport systems gave results consistent with aromatic amino acid transport being catalysed by two systems: a 2-aminobicyclo(2,2,1)heptane-2-carboxylic acid (BCH)-insensitive aromatic D- and L-amino acid-specific system, and the L-type system (BCH-sensitive). The BCH-insensitive component of transport was Na+-independent and facilitated non-concentrative transport of the aromatic amino acids; it was unaffected by culture of liver cells for 24 h, by 48 h starvation, dexamethasone phosphate or glucagon. Kinetic properties of the BCH-inhibitable component were similar to those previously reported for the L2-system in liver cells. The BCH-insensitive component was a comparatively low-Km low-Vmax. transport system that we suggest is similar to the T-transport system previously seen only in human red blood cells. The results are discussed with reference to the importance of the T- and L-systems in the control of aromatic L-amino acid degradation in the liver.
Characteristics of complement subcomponents C1r and C1s synthesized by Hep G2 cells
Authors: Reboul A , Bensa J C , Colomb M G
Published: August 2015

The association and activation states of complement subcomponents C1r and C1s biosynthesized by Hep G2 cells were studied. C1r and C1s are secreted in stoichiometric amounts; in the presence of Ca2+ they are associated in a complex that sediments similarly to plasma C1r2-C1s2. Both compounds are synthesized as monomer proteins of apparent Mr 86 000. C1r is secreted as a dimer. Secreted C1r is not autoactivatable but undergoes proteolysis by exogenous C1r; secreted C1s is also proteolysed by exogenous C1r. In the presence of immune-complex-bound C1q, secreted C1r and C1s are able to reconstitute C1, but normal activation requires extrinsic C1r2-C1s2.
Effect of insulin on low-density-lipoprotein metabolism in human lymphocytes in vitro
Authors: Suresh S , Warty V , Virji M , Sanghvi A
Published: August 2015

The metabolism of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) in vitro in the presence of insulin was studied in freshly isolated human peripheral-blood lymphocytes. Insulin appeared to decrease the binding affinity of 125I-LDL to its cell-surface receptor, without any change in apparent Vmax or in the number of LDL receptors. As a consequence, the absolute amounts of 125I-LDL internalized and degraded were lower in the presence of insulin than in its abscence, although the fraction of internalized 125I-LDL degraded in either instance was quite similar. 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase activity, and hence cholesterol synthesis, were stimulated by insulin. This effect of insulin was independent of the inhibitory effect of LDL on cholesterol synthesis. At the same time, acid cholesterol esterase and acyl-CoA: cholesterol O-acetyltransferase activities were lower in cells incubated with insulin than in controls. The net effect of these metabolic alterations seems to be that cells accumulate greater quantities of free and esterified cholesterol when treated with insulin.
Studies on the bivalent-cation-activated ATPase activities of highly purified human platelet surface and intracellular membranes
Authors: Hack N , Croset M , Crawford N
Published: August 2015

Membrane-bound Ca2+-ATPases are responsible for the energy-dependent transport of Ca2+ across membrane barriers against concentration gradients. Such enzymes have been identified in sarcoplasmic reticulum of muscle tissues and in non-muscle cells in both surface membranes and endoplasmic-reticulum-like intracellular membrane complexes. In a previous study using membrane fractionation by density-gradient and free-flow electrophoresis, we reported that the intracellular membranes of human blood platelets were a major storage site for Ca2+ and involved in maintaining low cytosol [Ca2+] in the unactivated cell. In the present report we demonstrated that the intracellular membranes also exhibit a high-affinity Ca2+-ATPase which appears to be kinetically associated with the Ca2+-sequestering process. We found that both the surface membrane and the intracellular membrane exhibited a basal Mg2+-ATPase activity, but Ca2+ activation of this enzyme was confined only to the intracellular membrane. Use of Ca2+-EGTA buffers to control the extravesicle [Ca2+] allowed a direct comparison of the Ca2+-ATPase and the Ca2+-uptake process over a Ca2+ range of 0.01 microM to 1.0 mM, and it was found that both properties were maximally expressed in the range of external [Ca2+] 1-50 microM, with concentrations greater than 100 microM showing substantial inhibition. Double-reciprocal plots for the Ca2+-ATPase activity and Ca2+ uptake gave apparent Km values for Ca2+ of 0.15 and 0.13 microM respectively. However, similar plots for ATP with the enzyme revealed a discontinuity (two affinity sites, with Km 20 and 145 microM), whereas plots for the Ca2+ uptake gave a single Km value for Ca2+, 1.1 microM. Phosphorylation studies during Ca2+ uptake using [gamma-32P]ATP revealed two components of 90 and 95 kDa phosphorylated at extravesicle [Ca2+] of 3 microM. The Ca2+-ATPase activity, Ca2+ uptake and phosphorylation were all almost completely inhibited in the presence of 500 microM-Ca2+. Similar studies using mixed membranes revealed four other phosphoproteins (50, 40, 20 and 18 kDa) formed in addition to the 90 and 95 kDa components. The findings are discussed in the context of platelet Ca2+ mobilization for function and the mechanisms whereby Ca2+ homoeostasis is controlled in the unactivated cell.
Arachidonate mobilization in diacyl, alkylacyl and alkenylacyl phospholipids on stimulation of rat platelets by thrombin and the Ca2+ ionophore A23187
Authors: Colard O , Breton M , Bereziat G
Published: August 2015

Platelet stimulation by thrombin or Ca2+ ionophore induces mobilization of arachidonate from lipid stores. We have previously shown that, in [14C]arachidonic acid-prelabelled resting platelets, [14C]arachidonate was transferred from diacyl-sn-glycerophosphocholine to ethanolamine and choline-containing ether phospholipids. This transfer reached an equilibrium after 5 h incubation [Colard, Breton & Bereziat (1984a) Biochem. J. 222, 657-662]. [14C]Arachidonate-prelabelled platelets having reached this transfer equilibrium were used to study the mobilization of arachidonate in etheracyl and diacyl phospholipids. Upon thrombin stimulation, arachidonate decreased in diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoinositol, in alkylacyl- and diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and increased in alkenylacyl- and diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine. Upon challenge with Ca2+ ionophore A23187, arachidonate decreased in diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine, in diacyl- and alkylacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and increased in alkenylacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine. We also compared arachidonate mobilization in platelets stimulated immediately after [14C]arachidonic acid chase with platelets stimulated after 5 h reincubation. We observed that the arachidonate newly incorporated into diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and triacylglycerols was rapidly released upon stimulation. This suggests the presence in these two lipids of a rapidly-turning-over arachidonate pool.
High-Mr glycoprotein profiles in human milk serum and fat-globule membrane
Authors: Shimizu M , Yamauchi K , Miyauchi Y , Sakurai T , Tokugawa K , McIlhinney R A J
Published: August 2015

Gradient-polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis of human milk serum separated three high-Mr glycoprotein bands. The properties of the components corresponding to the three bands (tentatively termed ‘Components C, B and A’ in their order of migration) were compared by staining with four monoclonal antibodies and lectins. Components B and C both reacted with the four antibodies, but Component A did not. Components B and C were stained with peanut (Arachis hypogaea) agglutinin (PNA) and wheat (Triticum)-germ agglutinin (WGA), Component A being stained with soya-bean (Glycine max) agglutinin as well as PNA and WGA. These results suggest that Components B and C were related molecules, whereas Component A was markedly different from them. The reactivities of Components B and C were the same as those of PAS-0, a high-Mr periodate/Schiff (PAS)-positive glycoprotein previously isolated from human milk fat-globule membrane (MFGM). Component C, whose electrophoretic mobility was the same as PAS-0, could have been a soluble form of PAS-0. A high-Mr glycoprotein having the same properties as Component A was also observed in MFGM. The amino acid composition of the isolated Component A was significantly different from that of Component C and PAS-0, high threonine and serine contents being characteristic of Component A. The carbohydrate content of Component A was 65-80%, and was much higher than that of Component C and PAS-0. Fucose, galactose, N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylgalactosamine and sialic acid were each detected as constituent sugars of Component A. Component A represents, therefore, a new high-Mr glycoprotein species in human milk serum and MFGM. Since these glycoproteins were high-Mr mucin-like glycoproteins, the names ‘HM glycoprotein-A’ and ‘HM glycoprotein-C’ were proposed for Component A and Component C (PAS-O) respectively.
UDP-glucosamine as a substrate for dolichyl monophosphate glucosamine synthesis
Authors: McDowell W , Weckbecker G , Keppler D O R , Schwarz R T
Published: August 2015

The sugar nucleotide analogue UDP-glucosamine was found to function as a sugar donor in microsomal preparations of both chick-embryo cells and rat liver, yielding dolichyl monophosphate glucosamine (Dol-P-GlcN). This was characterized by t.l.c. and retention by DEAE-cellulose. Glucosamine was the only water-soluble product released on mild acid hydrolysis. Dol-P-GlcN did not serve as substrate by transferring its glucosamine moiety to dolichol-linked oligosaccharide. Competition experiments between UDP-[3H]glucose and UDP-glucosamine showed Dol-P-[3H]glucose synthesis to be depressed by 56 or 73% in microsomes from chick-embryo cells and rat liver respectively. The concentrations of the UDP-sugars in this experiment were comparable with those occurring in galactosamine-metabolizing liver. These findings suggest that Dol-P-GlcN, formed as a metabolite of D-galactosamine, may interfere with Dol-P-dependent reactions.
Removal of haem from lipids extracted from intact erythrocytes with particular reference to polyphosphoinositides
Authors: Christensen S
Published: August 2015

With the use of a modified acid version of a current lipid-extraction technique [Bligh & Dyer (1959) Can. J. Biochem. Physiol. 37, 911-917], 92% of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate obtained by means of three sequential extractions from intact human erythrocytes was obtained during the first one. Some 95% of the haem co-extracted with the lipids could then be removed, with a maximal loss of polyphosphoinositides of less than 3%. About 58 nmol of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate was found per ml of erythrocytes.
Decreased tyrosine kinase activity of insulin receptor isolated from rat adipocytes rendered insulin-resistant by catecholamine treatment in vitro
Authors: Häring H , Kirsch D , Obermaier B , Ermel B , Machicao F
Published: August 2015

Catecholamine treatment of isolated rat adipocytes decreases insulin binding and inhibits insulin stimulation of the glucose-transport system. There is increasing evidence that the insulin signal is transmitted after insulin is bound to the receptor via a tyrosine kinase, which is an intrinsic part of the receptor. To find whether the receptor kinase is modified by catecholamines, we solubilized and partially purified the insulin receptor of isoprenaline-treated adipocytes and studied the effect of insulin on its kinase activity. (1) Insulin increased the tyrosine autophosphorylation of the insulin receptor kinase from catecholamine-treated cells only 4-fold, compared with a 12-fold stimulation in control cells. (2) The rate of insulin-stimulated 32P incorporation into the receptor of isoprenaline-treated cells at non-saturating [32P]ATP concentrations (5 muM) was decreased to 5-8% of the values for receptor from control cells. (3) 125I-insulin binding to the partially purified receptor from catecholamine-treated cells was also markedly decreased. The insulin receptor from catecholamine treated cells bound 25-50% of the amount of insulin bound by the receptor from control cells at insulin concentrations of 10 pM-0.1 muM. Part of the impaired insulin-responsiveness of the receptor kinase of catecholamine-treated cells is therefore explained by impaired binding properties; however, an additional inhibition of the kinase activity of the insulin receptor from catecholamine-treated cells is evident. (4) This inhibition of kinase activity decreased when the concentration of [gamma-32P]ATP in the phosphorylation assay was increased. A Lineweaver-Burk analysis revealed that the Km for ATP of the receptor kinase from isoprenaline-treated cells was increased to approx. 100 muM, compared with approx. 25 muM for receptor of control cells. (5) We conclude from the data that catecholamine treatment of rat adipocytes modulates the kinase activity of the insulin receptor by increasing its Km for ATP and that this is part of the mechanism leading to insulin-resistance in these cells.
Purification and characterization of β-N-acetylhexosaminidase I2 from human liver
Authors: Dewji N N , De-Keyzer D R , Stirling J L
Published: August 2015

beta-N-Acetylhexosaminidase I2 was purified from human liver by a combination of concanavalin A chromatography, DEAE-cellulose chromatography, gel filtration and affinity chromatography on 2-acetamido-N-(6-aminohexanoyl)-2-deoxy-beta-D-glucopyranosylamine coupled to CNBr-activated Sepharose 4B. Its specific activity was 130 mumol/min per mg of protein compared with values of 150 and 320 mumol/min/mg of protein for beta-N-acetylhexosaminidases A and B purified from the same tissue. Km values for I2, A and B were 1.0 mM, 0.8 mM and 0.74 mM respectively. On gradient gel electrophoresis under non-denaturing conditions, hexosaminidase I2 behaved similarly to A and appeared to have an Mr between 100 000 and 110 000. beta-N-Acetylhexosaminidase I2 was resolved into two major polypeptides, of Mr 56 000 and 29 000, on SDS/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis under denaturing conditions. Immunoblotting with anti-(hexosaminidase alpha-subunit) serum confirmed that the 56 000-Mr component was the alpha-subunit and anti-(hexosaminidase B) serum reacted with the 29 000 Mr component. beta-N-Acetylhexosaminidase I2 more closely resembles form A than B, but the features of its structure that allow it to be separated from A on the basis of net charge have not yet been found.
Lithium-induced reduction in intracellular inositol supply in cholinergically stimulated parotid gland
Authors: Downes C P , Stone M A
Published: August 2015

The effects of lithium and cholinergic stimulation on inositol phospholipid metabolism have been assessed using rat parotid gland slices and isolated acinar cells labelled with 32Pi. Cholinergic stimulation using carbachol caused substantial breakdown of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PtdInsP2) and enhanced labelling of phosphatidate (PA) and phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns). Lithium alone had little effect upon 32Pi incorporation, but in combination with carbachol it greatly reduced the PtdIns labelling response to the agonist. Instead the label accumulated in a lipid identified as cytidine monophosphorylphosphatidate. There was also an enhancement of the PA labelling response to carbachol. These lithium-induced alterations in agonist-stimulated phospholipid metabolism were reversed if 10-30 mM-inositol was included in the incubation medium. Despite reduced PtdIns synthesis, lithium had relatively little effect on polyphosphoinositide labelling in stimulated cells. Resynthesis of polyphosphoinositides was monitored in acinar cells that had been stimulated with carbachol and then treated with atropine to block muscarinic receptors. Treatment with lithium during the carbachol-stimulation phase reduced the rate of phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate synthesis, but had no significant effect upon PtdInsP2. The results suggest that an active inositol phosphatase pathway is essential to maintain intracellular inositol levels, but that PtdInsP2 synthesis is not markedly reduced by a substantial fall in intracellular inositol. This implies a close control over the rates of PtdInsP2 breakdown and resynthesis during agonist stimulation.
The regulatory properties of yeast pyruvate kinase. Effect of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate
Authors: Morris C N , Ainsworth S , Kinderlerer J
Published: August 2015

The kinetics of pyruvate kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied in assays at pH 6.2 at 25 degrees C as a function of the concentrations of the substrates ADP, phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ and the concentration of the effector fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. The enzyme was activated by 100 mM-K+ and 32 mM-NH4+ throughout. It was found that an increase in the fructose bisphosphate concentration from 24 microM to 1.2 mM brings about a transition from a sigmoidal to a non-inflected form in the relationships v = f([phosphoenolpyruvate]) and v = f([Mg2+]) together with a large increase in the affinity of these substrates for the enzyme. The binding behaviour of ADP is barely affected by the same change in effector concentration. By contrast, increase in fructose bisphosphate concentration below 24 microM increases the affinity of the enzyme for all its substrates and the sigmoidicity of the corresponding velocity-substrate-concentration relationships. As a result of this change in behaviour it has been found impossible to represent all the data by the exponential model for a regulatory enzyme, and it is suggested (supported by comparisons with previous work) that the failure may reflect a secondary action of the effector upon the enzyme.