Potassium-induced insulin release and voltage noise measurements in single mouse islets of Langerhans

Summary Insulin release and membrane potential fluctuations in response to increased extracellular potassium [K⁺] _o have been measured in single perifused islets of Langerhans from normal mice. An increase in [K⁺] _o from 5mm to 50mm induced a transient insulin release with a peak at about 1 min. The peak value was [K⁺] _o -dependent but the half-timet _1/2 for the decline was constant at nearly 1 min. 2.5mm cobalt completely inhibited the potassium-induced stimulation of insulin release. The insulin release elicited by 28 and 50mm [K⁺] _o was similar in terms of peak, total release and half-time from maximum release. Stepwise increase in [K⁺] _o from 10 to 28 to 50mm resulted in a normal response to 28mm but no peak of release after the 28 to 50mm increase. The results indicate good correlation between excess voltage noise, thought to reflect calcium channel activity, and insulin release evoked by changing extracellular potassium.     

Structure of diabolic acid-containing phospholipids isolated from Butyrivibrio sp.

The structures of the diabolic acid-containing phospholipids of Buryrivibrio S2 grown in the presence of palmitic acid have been investigated. Generally they consist of two conventional bacterial phospholipid or galactolipid structures linked by esterification through a single diabolic acid residue. The main lipid consists of the butyroyl ester of sn-1-alkenylglycero-3-phospho-1'-sn-glycerol joined in this way to the butyroyl ester of sn-1-alkenyl-3-galactosylglycerol by esterification of the vacant 2-hydroxy groups of the alkenyl-substituted glycerol molecules. A lipid that possess a palmitoyl group rather than one of the butyroyl groups of the latter structure has also been detected. The lipid occurring in the second highest concentration consists of two molecules of sn-1-alkenylglycero-3-phospho-sn-1'-glycerol butyroyl ester linked through diabolic acid in a similar manner to the main lipid. Other lipids with the latter structure either minus a butyroyl group or with palmitoyl group, instead of one of the buryroyl groups, exist as minor components.     

Characteristics of a lipolytic and fatty acid-requiring Butyrivibrio sp. isolated from the ovine rumen.

A naturally occurring fatty acid-requiring Butyrivibrio sp. (strain S2), isolated from the ovine rumen, deacylates plant galactolipids, phospholipids and sulpholipids to obtain sufficient fatty acid for growth. Growth in vitro was promoted by adding to the growth medium a single straight-chain saturated fatty acid (C13 to C18) or vaccenic acid. Palmitoleic and oleic acids also supported growth but gave lengthy lag phases probably due to their toxicity. Linolenic and linoleic acids supported good growth but they were completely hydrogenated to trans-11-octadecenoic acid which was incorporated into the bacterial complex lipids. No chain elongation, chain shortening or desaturation of the added fatty acids occurred and all were substantially incorporated into bacterial lipids of the plasmalogen type, partially as a new type of hydrophobic grouping derived from two molecules of fatty acid. The absence of fatty acid unsaturation poses the question of the maintenance of membrane fluidity within this bacterium.     

THE AFFINITY OF THE FUCOSE-BINDING LECTIN FROM LOTUS TETRAGONOLOBUS FOR GLYCOPEPTIDES AND OLIGOSACCHARIDES ACCUMULATING IN FUCOSIDOSIS

Abstract— The affinity of the fucose-binding lectin from Lotus tetragonolobus for fuco-oligosaccharides accumulating in the brain and other tissues of a patient with fucosidosis was studied by two methods: by inhibition of the co-precipitation of the lectin with porcine stomach mucin and by one-step affinity chromatography on a column of the lectin bound to Sepharose-4B. Both methods indicated that the lectin had greater affinity for the disaccharide Fuc(α, 1-6)GlcNAc than for either the main fucosidosis storage material in brain, a fuco-dekasaccharide, or the heterogeneous fuco-glycopeptide fractions obtained from normal human and rat brain glycoproteins. Our results suggest that the fucose residue linked α(1-6) to the N -acetylglucosamine residue involved in the N -glycosidic linkage to asparagine is not available to the lectin in the intact N -glycosidic chains of normal brain glycopeptide fractions and that the lectin has poor affinity for the Fuc(α, 1-3)Glc N Ac linkage in rat brain glycoproteins.     

Phosphatidylinositol-degrading enzymes in liver lysosomes.

The major pathway by which liver lysosomal enzymes degrade phosphatidylinositol is through an EDTA-insensitive formation of phosphorylinositol. This is in distinct contrast with the Ca2+-dependent production of phosphorylinositol from phosphatidylinositol, which is located in the cytosol. Lysosomal enzymes can also totally deacylate phosphatidylinositol, producing glycerophosphorylinositol.     

The effects of temperature, pH and growth rate on secondary metabolism in Streptomyces thermoviolaceus grown in a chemostat.

Streptomyces thermoviolaceus was grown in a chemostat under conditions of glutamate limitation. The effects of growth rate on production of the antibiotic granaticin, extracellular protein and protease activity as components of secondary metabolism were studied at 37, 45 and 50 degrees C. The amount of each secondary metabolite synthesized was highly dependent on growth rate and temperature. Granaticin yields were highest at growth rates of 0.1 to 0.15 h-1 at 37 degrees C, 0.175 h-1 at 45 degrees C and 0.045 h-1 at 50 degrees C. Protease activity of culture supernatants responded to low nutrient concentration and/or low growth rate. Measurements of extracellular protein revealed complex changes in amount which were dependent on growth rate and temperature. At 45 degrees C and a growth rate of 0.15 h-1, biomass yield was highest between pH 5.5 to 6.5 whereas granaticin synthesis was low at pH 5.5 and rose to highest values at between pH 6.5 and 7.5.     

Intracellular pH regulates basolateral K+ and Cl- conductances in colonic epithelial cells by modulating Ca2+ activation.

The role of intracellular pH as a modulator of basolateral K+ and Cl- conductances in epithelial cells was studied using digitonin-permeabilized colonic cell layers so that cytosolic pH could be clamped at specific values, while basolateral K+ and Cl- conductances were activated by stepwise increases in intracellular free Ca2+. Increasing the intracellular pH from 6.6 to 8.0 enhanced the sensitivity of both ionic conductances to intracellular Ca2+, but changing extracellular pH had no effect. Maximal K+ and Cl- currents activated by Ca2+ were not affected by changes in intracellular pH, suggesting that protons do not alter the conduction properties of the channels. Hill analysis of the Ca2+ activation process revealed that raising the cytosolic pH from 6.6 to 8.0 reduced the K1/2 for Ca2+ activation. In the absence of Ca2+, changes in intracellular pH did not have a significant effect on the basolateral K+ and Cl- conductances. These results are consistent with the notion that changes in cytosolic pH can modulate basolateral conductances by modifying the action of calcium, perhaps by acting at or near the activation site to provide a mechanism of variable "gain control."