Compartmentation of glutamate metabolism in brain. Evidence for the existence of two different tricarboxylic acid cycles in brain

1. (14)C from [1-(14)C]glucose injected intraperitoneally into mice is incorporated into glutamate, aspartate and glutamine in the brain to a much greater extent than (14)C from [2-(14)C]glucose. This difference for [1-(14)C]glucose and [2-(14)C]glucose increases with time. The amount of (14)C in C-1 of glutamate increases steadily with time with both precursors. It is suggested that a large part of the glutamate and aspartate pools in brain are in close contact with intermediates of a fast-turning tricarboxylic acid cycle. 2. (14)C from [1-(14)C]acetate and [2-(14)C]acetate is incorporated to a much larger extent into glutamine than into glutamate. An examination of the time-course of (14)C incorporated into glutamine and glutamate reveals that glutamine is not formed from the glutamate pool, labelled extensively by glucose, but from a small glutamate pool. This small glutamate pool is not derived from an intermediate of a fast-turning tricarboxylic acid cycle. 3. It is proposed that two different tricarboxylic acid cycles exist in brain.     

Treatment of Basal Cell Carcinoma by Curettage and Electrosurgery

One hundred and forty-eight basal cell carcinomas were treated by curettage and electrosurgery. Twenty-six recurrent carcinomas were treated and 24 did not recur during a minimum two-year follow-up. Seventy-two newly diagnosed carcinomas were treated by the same method, and a two-year recurrence-free rate of 97.4% was obtained. About 50 new and recurrent lesions were treated in three patients in whom extensive cutaneous changes from actinic atrophy and previous therapy made the distinction between new and recurrent lesions difficult or impossible. This technique has a particular place in the management of multiple lesions. Patient acceptance is good. Lesions at some sites, e.g. on the nose, where closure of a wound is difficult, are better managed by this method than by surgical excision. Secondary infection is rare and the cosmetic results are excellent.     

Identification of a novel proline-directed serine/threonine protein kinase in rat pheochromocytoma

During investigations of the regulation of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) by protein phosphorylation, a novel protein kinase activity has been discovered in rat pheochromocytoma. Originally detected as a trace contaminant in preparations of highly purified TH, this novel kinase activity phosphorylated TH at serine 8 in the proline-rich amino-terminal region of the enzyme. This particular site is not phosphorylated by, nor is the amino acid sequence surrounding this site selective for, any of the classical (i.e. well characterized) protein kinases. In this report, we describe the identification, characterization, and partial purification of this novel protein kinase. By utilizing a synthetic peptide corresponding to the amino-terminal region of TH, a selective assay for this protein kinase was developed. The kinase activity utilized ATP and magnesium, although GTP could also be utilized as a phosphate donor. The kinase activity was found to co-purify with TH activity through ammonium sulfate precipitation and DEAE-cellulose chromatography and could be only partially resolved from TH by heparin-agarose affinity chromatography. Substantial kinase activity could be resolved from TH by phosphocellulose chromatography. The novel kinase migrates as a protein with a molecular mass of approximately 45 kDa on gel permeation chromatography as well as sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Studies of site specificity indicate that this Ser/Thr kinase activity appears to be directed by an adjacent (carboxyl-terminal) proline residue, exhibiting a minimal recognition sequence of -X-Ser/Thr-Pro-X-. In addition to TH, this proline-directed protein kinase will also phosphorylate synapsin I, histone H1, and glycogen synthase, suggesting that this kinase may have multiple substrates in vivo. Additional findings indicate that the activity of proline-directed protein kinase is increased transiently in PC12 pheochromocytoma cells following treatment with nerve growth factor. Distinctions between this novel kinase and other well characterized protein kinases can be made on the basis of phosphorylation site specificity, chromatographic behavior, and physical characteristics.     

Melatonin and the pea aphid,Acyrthosiphon pisum

Pea aphids, Acyrthosiphon pisum, were fed on artificial diet containing various concentrations of melatonin. Under long-day conditions (16h light:8h dark) their progeny included males and virginoparous/oviparous (asexual/sexual) intermediate females, which normally occur only in short days or around critical night-length. Endogenous melatonin in pea aphids was measured by radioimmunoassay and verified by parallelism with a melatonin standard curve and by thin layer chromatography. However, melatonin titres showed large variations and although they tended to be higher during the scotophase than during the photophase they were not significantly different. The possibility of melatonin being involved in photoperiodism is discussed.     

Phosphorylation of rat muscle acetyl-CoA carboxylase by AMP-activated protein kinase and protein kinase A

Winder, W. W., H. A. Wilson, D. G. Hardie, B. B. Rasmussen,C. A. Hutber, G. B. Call, R. D. Clayton, L. M. Conley, S. Yoon, and B. Zhou. Phosphorylation of rat muscle acetyl-CoA carboxylase byAMP-activated protein kinase and protein kinase A. J. Appl. Physiol. 82(1): 219-225, 1997This studywas designed to compare functional effects of phosphorylation of muscleacetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) by adenosine 3,5-cyclicmonophosphate-dependent protein kinase (PKA) and by AMP-activatedprotein kinase (AMPK). Muscle ACC (272 kDa) was phosphorylated and thensubjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresisfollowed by autoradiography. Functional effects of phosphorylation weredetermined by measuring ACC activity at different concentrations ofeach of the substrates and of citrate, an activator of the enzyme. Themaximal velocity(V_max) and theMichaelis constants(K_m) for ATP,acetyl-CoA, and bicarbonate were unaffected by phosphorylation by PKA.Phosphorylation by AMPK increased theK_m for ATP andacetyl-CoA. Sequential phosphorylation by PKA and AMPK, first withoutlabel and second with label, appeared to reduce the extent of label incorporation, regardless of the order. The activation constant (K_a) forcitrate activation was increased to the same extent by AMPKphosphorylation, regardless of previous or subsequent phosphorylation by PKA. Thus muscle ACC can be phosphorylated by PKA but with noapparent functional effects on the enzyme. AMPK appears to be the moreimportant regulator of muscle ACC.

     

Isolation of three cyclic-AMP-independent acetyl-CoA carboxylase kinases from lactating rat mammary gland and characterization of their effects on enzyme activity

Three cyclic AMP-independent acetyl-CoA carboxylase kinases (A, B1 and B2) have been isolated from lactating rat mammary gland, using phosphocellulose chromatography, high performance gel filtration, and affinity chromatography on casein-Sepharose and phosvitin-Sepharose. These protein kinases have been identified with previously described kinases by the following criteria. Kinase A phosphorylates the same sites on rabbit mammary acetyl-CoA carboxylase as acetyl-CoA carboxylase kinase 2, which was originally described as a contaminant of rabbit mammary acetyl-CoA carboxylase purified by the poly(ethylene glycol)procedure. Kinase A will henceforth be referred to as acetyl-CoA carboxylase kinase-2. Kinase B1 has been identified with casein kinase II by its heparin sensitivity, elution behaviour on phosphocellulose, molecular mass, substrate specificity and subunit composition. Kinase B2 has been identified with casein kinase I by its elution behaviour on phosphocellulose, molecular mass, substrate specificity and subunit composition. The three kinases phosphorylate distinct sites on acetyl-CoA carboxylase. Phosphorylation by either casein kinase I or II does not affect enzyme activity. However, acetyl-CoA carboxylase kinase 2 inactivates acetyl-CoA carboxylase reversibly, in an identical manner to cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase, and phosphorylates sites located on identical peptides. Acetyl-CoA carboxylase kinase-2 can, however, be distinguished from the free catalytic subunit of cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase by its molecular mass, its substrate specificity, its elution behaviour on phosphocellulose, and its complete lack of sensitivity to the protein inhibitor of cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase. We also present evidence that phosphorylation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase by cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase occurs directly and not via a bicyclic cascade system as proposed by other laboratories.     

Identifying sites of simultaneous DNA replication in eukaryotes by N-methyl-N''-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine multiple mutagenesis.

Summary N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (NG) induces certain classes of multiple mutations in yeast at high frequency. By selecting for mutation at one locus (his4 or leu1) one frequently obtains double mutants where another mutation to temperature sensitivity has also been induced. This multiple mutagenesis exhibits a considerable specificity: for mutation at one particular locus there is a high chance that another mutation will be found in the same cell at one of a restricted number of other loci. For any given locus (e.g. his4) there is a spectrum of sites at which temperature-sensitivity mutations are coinduced. This spectrum differs for different loci, such that the spectrum of sites co-mutating with leul differs completely from that for sites co-mutating with his4. This NG-induced co-mutation is interpreted in terms of NG acting to enhance mutagenesis at sites of simultaneous DNA replication within the cell. The results so obtained indicate a very strict control over the order and timing of gene replication in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and it is suggested that it is now possible to use NG double mutagenesis to try and locate origins of replication in yeast.     

Evidence against a role for phosphorylation/dephosphorylation in the regulation of acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyl transferase.

1. As detailed below, we have been able to reproduce observations of time-dependent changes in the activity of acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyl transferase (ACAT) in rat liver microsomes, that were suggested to represent evidence of a role for reversible phosphorylation in the regulation of cholesterol ester formation. 2. ACAT in washed rat liver microsomes was inactivated in a time-dependent manner in the presence of Mg2+. However, this effect of Mg2+ appears to be caused by aggregation of microsomal vesicles rather than dephosphorylation, since it could be abolished by rehomogenization, and was mimicked by Ca2+, another agent which causes aggregation. Fluoride did not prevent this effect of Mg2+, but masked it by causing a rapid activation that appeared to be a non-specific effect of increased ionic strength. 3. Under conditions where other proteins were rapidly dephosphorylated, microsomal ACAT activity from rat liver was not affected by incubation with the purified catalytic subunits of protein phosphatases 1, 2A or 2C. Similar results were obtained using protein phosphatases 1 or 2A on microsomes from a macrophage cell line (J774.2 cells). Incubation of cultured J774.2 cells with a cell-permeable inhibitor of these two protein phosphatases, okadaic acid, also had no effect on cholesterol ester formation. 4. A high-speed-centrifugation supernatant fraction (S303) from rat liver activated ACAT in the presence of MgATP. This effect was not abolished by prior heat-treatment of the fraction, and the supernatant fraction could not be replaced by purified AMP-activated protein kinase or a variety of other protein kinases. 5. The results above were obtained using assays involving endogenous cholesterol as the substrate. The MgATP-dependent activation by S303 was reduced or abolished when the assays were carried out in the presence of the detergent Triton WR-1339 plus cholesterol, or detergent alone. 6. These results do not support the idea that ACAT is regulated by reversible phosphorylation. The most likely explanation for the effect of S303 is that it is an artefact caused by changes in the availability of endogenous cholesterol to the enzyme.