The effect of preganglionic stimulation on the incorporation of l-[U-14C]valine into the protein of the superior cervical ganglion of the guinea pig

The acid glycosaminoglycans were extracted from the skins of young rats less than 1 day post partum. The isolated products were fractionated by a cetylpyridinium chloride-cellulose column technique and identified by chemical analysis, electrophoretic mobility and susceptibility to testicular hyaluronidase digestion. Hyaluronic acid (56%) dermatan sulphate (15.6%) and chondroitin 6-sulphate (9.1%) were the major components, but chondroitin 4-sulphate, heparan sulphate and heparin were also present, together with two further fractions tentatively suggested to be a heparan sulphate-like fraction and a dermatan sulphate fraction, both of short chain length or low degree of sulphation.     

A difference in the incorporation of 14C into hippurate glycine from dl-[2-14C]glutamate and dl-[5-14C]glutamate in guinea pigs

The specific radioactivity of urinary hippurate glycine was determined after injecting guinea pigs with benzoate and either dl-[2-(14)C]glutamate or dl-[5-(14)C]glutamate. The isotope dilution factor for the formation of [(14)C]glycine was significantly greater (30%) with C-2 labelled glutamate. With either form of labelled glutamate the hippurate glycine was largely carboxyl-group labelled. The observations suggest a route for the incorporation of glutamate carbon into glycine that involves C-5 but not C-2. A hypothesis for glycine biosynthesis from l-glutamate is advanced, consistent with these findings, that includes conversion of l-glutamate to 4-hydroxy-2-oxoglutarate, the scission of the latter to glyoxylate and pyruvate, and the formation of glycine by transamination.     

The significance of the incorporation of [14C]leucine into different protein fractions by isolated ox heart mitochondria

The problem of whether isolated mitochondria are able to synthesize specific proteins was investigated, particular consideration being paid to the possible contribution of micro-organisms to this activity. With ox heart mitochondria it was shown that: (1) The medium used for the incubations inhibits the exponential phase of bacterial growth for at least 8h either in the absence or the presence of fresh mitochondria, but the inhibition disappears after 4h when mitochondria damaged by freezing and thawing are used. (2) The incorporation of [¹⁴C]leucine into total proteins is linear up to at least 8h, although part of the radioactivity at the later periods might be due to some incorporation by resting-phase bacteria. (3) A contamination by as little as 800 cells/mg of mitochondrial protein is enough to contribute substantially to the total radioactivity incorporated by the mitochondrial preparations. (4) Purified cytochrome b and cytochrome oxidase are labelled even under conditions of minimal contamination by micro-organisms (less than 60 cells/mg of mitochondrial protein) and the contribution of bacterial proteins to the radioactivity found in cytochromes is negligible, as shown by double-labelling experiments. (5) At 4h the specific radioactivities of cytochrome b and cytochrome oxidase are seven- and 16-fold lower respectively than that of a structural protein-rich fraction, suggesting that the labelling of cytochromes is due to a residual contamination by these proteins.     

Effects of dietary nonspecific nitrogen on [14C]glutamate and [14C]proline incorporation into bone proteins in chicks

The incorporation of [14C]glutamic acid into EDTA-soluble and -insoluble calvaria protein in vitro and [14C]proline into EDTA-insoluble femur protein in vivo was determined in chicks fed inadequate and adequate levels of nonspecific nitrogen (glutamic acid). In each instance, the amount of amino acid incorporated into bone protein was reduced by the low level of nonspecific nitrogen. It was concluded that the high incidence of leg abnormalities observed in chicks fed purified diets containing adequate levels of indispensable amino acids but lacking in total nitrogen might be associated with an inability to form bone matrix protein.     

Metabolism of [14C]methamphetamine in man, the guinea pig and the rat

1. The metabolites of (+/-)-2-methylamino-1-phenyl[1-(14)C]propane ([(14)C]methamphetamine) in urine were examined in man, rat and guinea pig. 2. In two male human subjects receiving the drug orally (20mg per person) about 90% of the (14)C was excreted in the urine in 4 days. The urine of the first day was examined for metabolites, and the main metabolites were the unchanged drug (22% of the dose) and 4-hydroxymethamphetamine (15%). Minor metabolites were hippuric acid, norephedrine, 4-hydroxyamphetamine, 4-hydroxynorephedrine and an acid-labile precursor of benzyl methyl ketone. 3. In the rat some 82% of the dose of (14)C (45mg/kg) was excreted in the urine and 2-3% in the faeces in 3-4 days. In 2 days the main metabolites in the urine were 4-hydroxymethamphetamine (31% of dose), 4-hydroxynorephedrine (16%) and unchanged drug (11%). Minor metabolites were amphetamine, 4-hydroxyamphetamine and benzoic acid. 4. The guinea pig was injected intraperitoneally with the drug at two doses, 10 and 45mg/kg. In both cases nearly 90% of the (14)C was excreted, mainly in the urine after the lower dose, but in the urine (69%) and faeces (18%) after the higher dose. The main metabolites in the guinea pig were benzoic acid and its conjugates. Minor metabolites were unchanged drug, amphetamine, norephedrine, an acid-labile precursor of benzyl methyl ketone and an unknown weakly acidic metabolite. The output of norephedrine was dose-dependent, being about 19% on the higher dose and about 1% on the lower dose. 5. Marked species differences in the metabolism of methamphetamine were observed. The main reaction in the rat was aromatic hydroxylation, in the guinea pig demethylation and deamination, whereas in man much of the drug, possibly one-half, was excreted unchanged.     

The incorporation of [14C]palmitic acid into the lipids of mouse brain in vivo

Abstract— The half-life of free [¹⁴C]palmitic acid injected intracerebrally into C57BL/10J mice was less than 5 min. The rapid disappearance of radioactivity as palmitic acid was accompanied by increases in the radioactivity of the phosphatidic acids and the diacyl-glycerols. The peak specific radioactivity of the diacylglycerols occurred at about 6-8 min after injection. The triacylglycerols, phosphatidyl ethanolamines and phosphatidyl cholines exhibited increasing amounts of radioactivity during the first 40 min. At 160 min after injection, the distribution of radioactivity was similar to the pattern observed at 12 h. The biosynthetic pathway through the phosphatidic acids and the diacylglycerols to triacylglycerols, phosphatidyl ethanolamines and phosphatidyl cholines is apparently the major pathway in vivo for the esterification of free fatty acids in the brain.     

The kinetics of incorporation in vivo of [14C]acetate and [14C]carbon dioxide into the fatty acids of glycerolipids in developing leaves

1. The patterns of incorporation of (14)C into glycerolipid fatty acids of developing maize leaf lamina from supplied [1-(14)C]acetate and from (14)CO(2) during steady-state photosynthesis were similar. Oleate of phosphatidylcholine and palmitate of phosphatidylglycerol attained linear rates of labelling more rapidly than did other fatty acids, particularly the linoleate and linolenate of monogalactosyl diacylglycerol. 2. After the transfer of lamina from labelled to unlabelled acetate, there was a decrease in labelled oleate and linoleate of phosphatidylcholine and a concomitant increase in the amount of radioactivity in the linoleate and linolenate of monogalactosyl diacylglycerol. 3. The rapidly labelled phospholipids, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylglycerol, were shown by differential and sucrose-density-gradient centrifugation to be associated with different organelles, the former being mainly in a low-density membrane fraction, probably microsomal, and the latter mainly in chloroplasts. 4. During a 48h period after supplying spinach leaves with [(14)C]acetate, radioactivity was lost from the oleate of phosphatidylcholine present in fractions sedimented at 12000g and 105000g, and accumulated in the linolenate of monogalactosyl diacylglycerol of the chloroplast. 5. It is proposed that the phosphatidylcholine of some non-plastid membranes is intimately involved in the process of oleate desaturation and that this lipid serves as a donor of unsaturated C(18) fatty acids to other lipids, principally monogalactosyl diacylglycerol, of the chloroplasts.