Biochemical and physical analysis of subcellular membranes in rat parotid gland enlarged by chronic isoproterenol administration

1. Chronic administration of isoproterenol caused similar alterations of membrane lipid profile in at least two rat parotid subcellular fractions, secretory granular and microsomal. 2. Typical changes in phospholipid classes and fatty-acyl chain groups were an increase of phosphatidylcholine and a decrease of sphingomyelin, and an increase of octadecadienoyl chain and a decrease of eicosatetraenoyl chain, respectively. 3. Electron spin resonance study showed that the isoproterenol-treatment also affected a membrane physical property, which may be through these compositional changes in membrane constituents.     

Hepatotrophic growth factor in blood of mice treated with carbon tetrachloride

The presence of a human hepatocyte growth factor (hHGF)-like DNA-synthesis promoter in platelet-poor serum of mice with liver injury was examined. Activity of the serum for stimulating DNA synthesis in cultured rat hepatocytes was low in untreated or vehicle-treated mice, but markedly increased 24 h after carbon tetrachloride administration and then dropped to normal levels prior to the peak of liver DNA synthesis. The effect of the serum was additive with the maximal effects of mouse and human epidermal growth factors, but not with that of hHGF. The growth-stimulating factor in the mouse serum, like hHGF, had affinity for heparin and was heat-labile. These results indicate that the level of a serum hHGF-like hepatocyte growth factor increased in mice treated with carbon tetrachloride prior to liver regeneration.     

Genetic Screens Identify Host Factors for SARS-CoV-2 and Common Cold Coronaviruses

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Changes in Targeting Efficiencies of Proteins to Plant Microbodies Caused by Amino Acid Substitutions in the Carboxy-terminal Tripeptide

It has been demonstrated that the carboxyl terminus of microbodyenzymes functions as a targeting signal to microbodies in higherplants. We have examined an ability of 24 carboxy-terminal aminoacid sequences to facilitate the transport of a cytosolic passengerprotein, ß-glucuroni-dase, into microbodies in greencotyledonary cells of trans-genic Arabidopsis. Immunoelectronmicroscopic analysis revealed that carboxy-terminal tripeptidesequences of the form [C/A/S/P]-[K/R]-[I/L/M] function as amicrobody-targeting signal, although tripeptides with prolineat the first amino acid position and isoleucine at the carboxylterminus show weak targeting efficiencies. All known micro-bodyenzymes that are synthesized in a form similar in size to themature molecule, except catalase, contain one of these tripeptidesequences at their carboxyl terminus. (Received April 14, 1997; Accepted April 8, 1997)     

Characterization of the heredity of kininogen deficiency in brown Norway Katholiek strain rats.

Brown Norway rat strain has been studied for mode of inheritance of its congenital deficiency in plasma high molecular weight (HMW)-kininogen and low molecular weight (LMW)-kininogen, and low plasma level of prekallikrein. We examined the genetics of the deficiency by performing a mixed breeding experiment between B/N-Katholiek (B/N-Ka, deficient) and B/N-Kitasato (B/N-Ki, normal) strains. Incidence of the deficiency was judged by the plasma level of HMW-kininogen. Plasma level of HMW-kininogen was around 50% of the normal level in all F1 generations of the hybrid between male B/N-Ka and female B/N-Ki (Exp. 1), and between female B/N-Ka and male B/N-Ki (Exp. 2). Incidence of deficiency (plasma HMW-kininogen level less than 5%) in Exp. 1 was 23.8% in male F2 and 20.0% in female F2 generations. By Exp. 2 also the incidence was 25.0% in male and 30.0% in female F2 generations. There was no significant difference of the incidence between the two experiments or sexes. These results indicate the inheritance of the kininogen-deficiency to be Mendelian autosomal recessive, the same as for the reported cases of human kininogen deficiency. Gel filtration study suggests that prekallikrein in the B/N-Ka plasma may be free form, while that in the B/N-Ki plasma may form complex with HMW-kininogen.