Developmental changes in rat liver alcohol dehydrogenase

Hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase activity and mass content change coordinately during development in male rats. Enzyme activity and mass content increase continuously after birth to 100 and 80% of maximal values within 6 weeks (2.6 ± 0.4 μmole/min/g liver and 92 ± 20 μg/g liver), respectively. When expressed per milligram of soluble proteins, both parameters peak at 3 weeks (0.052 ± 0.002 μmole/min/mg protein and 2.0 ± 0.4 μg/mg protein) and then decrease gradually to plateau levels. These decreases probably arise from a “surge” in soluble liver protein levels that occurs after weaning. Similar developmental patterns also occur in female rats. These findings are the first quantitative measurements of this enzyme in developing animals.     

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Ligand requirements for the relaxation of adenylate cyclase from activated and inhibited states

The turkey erythrocyte adenylate cyclase system binds tightly the inhibitory nucleotide GDP, and a pretreatment step with isoproterenol and GMP is required to restore activation. Under identical pretreatment conditions, the release of labeled nucleotide is complete within 1 min whereas the restoration of activation by Gpp(NH)p requires 15 min. A study of the ligand requirements of the slow step shows the following: (a) The role of GMP is that of an obligatory allosteric regulator. (b) Cholera toxin modification of the system abolishes the requirement for GMP with a considerable enhancement in the reaction rate. (c) GMP is without effect on the relaxation process with the activator Gpp(NH)p as the resident nucleotide. In sharp contrast, ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid (without effect in a GDP-occupied complex) markedly potentiates alterations from the Gpp(NH)p-occupied state. (d) Formation of a GDP/guanosine 5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate) (GDP beta S) hybrid leads to the suppression of both F- and Gpp(NH)p activation. F- activation is restored by isoproterenol alone, while GMP is still required to restore Gpp(NH)p activation. The results suggest that covalent modification or nucleotide analogue occupancy of the regulatory complex can modify the allosteric role for GMP, with consequences for the rate of the slow step.     

Effects of GTP on binding of (3H) glucagon to receptors in rat hepatic plasma membranes.

In this study, we report the preparation of [3H]glucagon and its characteristics of binding to receptors in the rat liver plasma membrane. Binding of the labeled hormone is optimal at pH 7.0. In the absence of GTP, [3H]glucagon binding to receptors is slow and the time of equilibration is inversely proportional to the hormone concentration. In the presence of GTP, equilibrium is reached within 30 s regardless of hormone levels, and the kinetics of binding are in accord with the kinetics of activation of adenylate cyclase by native glucagon in the presence of the nucleotide. Equilibrium binding measurements indicate that, in the absence of GTP, the binding isotherm is sigmoidal with an apparent Kd of 2 nM. The addition of GTP results in a complex binding isotherm with about 90% of the binding sites having a considerably lower apparent dissociation constant (greater than 10 nM) and a small population of sites having high affinity for the hormone. The binding properties of [3H]glucagon are compared with those of 125I-glucagon, and the implications of the actions of GTP on glucagon binding are discussed in relation to the overall regulation of adenylate cyclase by hormone and the nucleotide.     

The pericentriolar material in Chinese hamster ovary cells nucleates microtubule formation

The structure and function of the centrosomes from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were investigated by electron microscopy of negatively stained wholemount preparations of cell lysates. Cells were trypsinized from culture dishes, lysed with Triton X-100, sedimented onto ionized, carbon-coated grids, and negatively stained with phosphotungstate. The centrosomes from both interphase and dividing cells consisted of pairs of centrioles, a fibrous pericentriolar material, and a group of virus-like particles which were characteristic of the CHO cells and which served as markers for the pericentriolar material. Interphase centrosomes anchored up to two dozen microtubules when cells were lysed under conditions which preserved native microtubules. When Colcemid-blocked mitotic cells, initially devoid of microtubules, were allowed to recover for 10 min, microtubules formed at the pericentriolar material, but not at the centrioles. When lysates of Colcemid-blocked cells were incubated in vitro with micotubule protein purified from porcine brain tissue, up to 250 microtubules assembled at the centrosomes, similar to the number of microtubules that would normally form at the centrosome during cell division. A few microtubules could also be assembled in vitro onto the ends of isolated centrioles from which the pericentriolar material had been removed, forming characteristic axoneme- like bundles. In addition, microtubules; were assembled onto fragments of densely staining, fibrous material which was tentatively identified as periocentriolar material by its association of CHO can initiate and anchor microtubules both in vivo and in vitro.     

Effect of alamethicin, gramicidin S and melittin upon the particulate guanylate cyclase from rat lung.

The channel-forming antibiotic alamethicin activated rat lung particulate guanylate cyclase (GTP pyrophosphate-lyase (cyclizing) EC 4.6.1.2), and the activated enzyme was further stimulated by sodium nitroprusside when a thiol such as 2-mercaptoethanol was present. Similar effects were seen with the antibiotic gramicidin S and with melittin, a polypeptide purified from bee venom. All of these agents are amphiphilic polypeptides. Nitroprusside was not able to stimulate both particulate and soluble enzyme treated with the nonionic amphiphile, Lubrol PX, suggesting that the membrane-active polypeptides had a different mechanism of action. These polypeptides are known to alter the membrane matrix by binding to phospholipid, and we suggest that this alteration allowed greater access of substrate and of nitroprusside to the enzyme. Lubrol PX, however, may interact preferentially with the enzyme, and thus block nitroprusside activation. The most potent of these agents was melittin, which stimulated nitroprusside activation at a concentration which had little effect by itself (7 microns), and at which others have demonstrated lytic effects on cells.     

Activation of soluble guanylate cyclase from rat lung by incubation or by hydrogen peroxide.

A 37,000 X g supernatant fraction prepared from fat lung homogenate demonstrated a 2- to 3-fold increase in guanylate cyclase activity after incubation at 30 degrees for 30 min (preincubation). Treatment of the supernatant fraction with Triton X-100 increased activity to approximately the same extent as preincubation, but would not increase the activity after preincubation. By chromatography on Sepharose 2B, before and after preincubation, it was demonstrated that the increase in activity was only associated with the soluble guanylate cyclase, and not the particulate enzyme. Activation by preincubation required O2. It was completely inhibited by thiols such as 2-mercaptoethanol, and by bovine serum albumin, KCN, and sodium diethyldithiocarbamate. These inhibitors suggested a copper requirement for activation, and this was confirmed by demonstrating that 20 to 60 muM CuCl2 could relieve the inhibition by 0.1 mM sodium diethyldithiocarbamate. 2-Mercaptoethanol inhibition could also be reversed by removal of the thiol on a Sephadex G-25 column, however, this treatment partially activated the enzyme. Addition of 2-mercaptoethanol to a preincubated preparation would not reverse the activation. H2O2 was found to activate guanylate cyclase, either by its generation in the lung supernatant with glucose oxidase and glucose, or by its addition to a preparation in which the catalase was inhibited with KCN. KCN or bovine serum albumin was able to partially inhibit activation by glucose oxidase plus glucose, however, larger amounts of glucose oxidase could overcome that inhibition, indicating a catalytic role for Cu2+ at low H2O2 concentrations. No direct evidence for H2O2 formation during preincubation could be found, however, indirect evidence was obtained by the spectrophotometric detection of choleglobin formation from hemoglobin present in the lung supernatant fluid. The H2O2 is believed to result from the reaction of oxyhemoglobin with ascorbate.