The major dog pancreas protein recognized by an antiserum to dog prostate kallikrein is the anionic trypsin

• 1.1. On the basis of its immunoreactivity with a polyclonal antiserum to dog prostate kallikrein in Western blot experiments, a 30 kDa protein was purified from the pancreas of the dog using ion-exchange and gel filtration chromatography.
• 2.2. That protein was identified as the anionic trypsin by its NH₂-terminal amino acid sequence.
• 3.3. The immunoreaction occurred despite an overall amino acid homology which was limited to 39% between the prostate kallikrein and anionic trypsin.
• 4.4. Otherwise, the anti-prostatic kallikrein antiserum was rather specific since it did not react with dog cationic trypsin, dog renal kallikrein and human prostate specific antigen.

f     

Permeability of erythrocytes to glycerol and its acylated derivatives in the camel and dog

• 1.1. Glycerol and glyeerol derivatives transport was compared in human, dog and camel erythrocytes.
• 2.2. The camel erythrocytes had the slowest glyeerol transport, that of the dog erythrocytes was also slow, while the quickest transport occurred in human erythrocytes.
• 3.3. In glyeerol mono-, di- and triacetates the transport in camel and dog erythrocytes increased until in the triacetate the quickest transport was found.
• 4.4. Addition of copper ions had no inhibiting effect on glyeerol transport in camel erythrocytes but a striking effect was seen in human erythrocytes.
• 5.5. Changes in pH greatly affected transport in camel erythrocytes, a decline in pH enhanced and an increase in pH slowed the transport. Storage of camel erythrocytes did not affect the glyeerol transport in camel erythrocytes.
• 6.6. It is concluded that the mechanism of glyeerol transport in camel erythrocytes is one of a non-facilitated diffusion.

     

Reduction of ferrihemoglobin in erythrocytes of birds and mammals

• 1.1. Species differences exist in ferrihemoglobin reduction rates in bird and mammalian red cells, bird erythrocytes being very active reducers.
• 2.2. Glucose and lactate enhance ferrihemoglobin reduction. In horse and quail red cells β-hydroxybutyrate has this effect as well.
• 3.3. Malate and pyruvate do not enhance ferrihemoglobin reduction.
• 4.4. Plasma addition to red cell suspensions enhances ferrihemoglobin reduction; addition of lactate mimics this effect in all species except the dog.
• 5.5. Incubation conditions are very important for measuring ferrihemoglobin reduction. Especially the presence of bicarbonate ions is essential. In our experiments no inhibition of reduction rates by chloride ions is found.
• 6.6. Mitochondrial NADH production does not play a role in ferrihemoglobin reduction in bird red cells.

     

Temperature regulation and metabolic rhythms in populations of the house sparrow,Passer domesticus

• 1.1. The house sparrow, Passer domesticus, has a circadian rhthym of metabolism and body temperature.
• 2.2. Evolutionary adaptation to a hot and humid climate is reflected in the lower metabolism and greater insulation of the Houston population than observed in populations from Ann Arbor, Michigan; Boulder, Colorado and Syracuse, New York.
• 3.3. There are no significant differences in either body temperature or evaporative water loss of all four populations.
• 4.4. The Houston population is able to survive higher ambient temperatures than is found in the Ann Arbor, Michigan or Boulder, Colorado population.

     

The purification of kallikrein from human whole saliva

• 1.1. A quick and simple procedure is described for purifying kallikrein from human whole saliva. The enzyme has been purified about 2700-fold with a yield of approx. 30%.
• 2.2. The procedure is based on the immediate fractionation of saliva by ion exchange chromatography. This is followed by a combination of affinity and high performance liquid chromatography.
• 3.3. The results indicate that another protein component binds to the enzyme at pH 8.0.
• 4.4. The homogeneity of the enzyme has been demonstrated by gel electrophoresis in the absence as well as in the presence of sodium dodecylsulfate.
• 5.5. A mol. wt of 40,100±1800 has been calculated from gel electrophores is experiments.
• 6.6. Sedimentation equilibrium in an analytical ultracentrifuge gave a mol. wt of 39,700.
• 7.7. The amino acid composition has been determined and it confirms that the enzyme has a low isoelectric point.
• 8.8. The presence of tryptophan has been demonstrated by absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy.

     

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Effect of ozone exposure on the compositions of gill and erythrocyte membrane lipids and proteins of Japanese charr (Salvelinus leucomaenis)

• 1.1. Compositions of lipids and proteins of erythrocytes (RBC) and gills from Japanese charr (Salvelinus leucomaenis) which were exposed to 0.4 and 0.7 ppm ozone for 30 min were compared with those of the control.
• 2.2. On exposure to ozone, both RBC and gill membrane phospholipid content, especially phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), dropped.
• 3.3. The decrease of PE was brought about by the decrease of docosahexaenoic acid content which comprised the major component of PE.
• 4.4. RBC membrane protein with 215 and 225 kDa, which is equivalent to cytoskeletal protein, selectively disappeared on exposure to ozone.

     

The effect of water loss upon the urate,urea and ammonia content of the egg of the Japanese quail Coturnix coturnix japonica

• 1.1. The urate, urea and ammonia content of the whole egg of the Japanese quail was measured in late incubation in eggs subject to different rates of water loss.
• 2.2. High rates of water loss substantially increased egg urate content, but had little or no effect on urea or ammonia content.
• 3.3. Allopurinol, an inhibitor of urate synthesis, reduced egg urate content to low levels, but produced no effect on urea content, and a small reduction in ammonia content.
• 4.4. The urea concentration of the embryo was lower than in allantoic fluid.
• 5.5. It is concluded that urate production by the avian embryo is primarily concerned with the modification of allantoic fluid composition.

     

Gut microflora can modify fatty acid composition in liver and egg yolk lipids of laying japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

• 1.1. The influence of the gut microflora on lipid metabolism was investigated in germ-free (GF) and conventional (CV) laying Japanese quail.
• 2.2. Serum and egg yolk cholesterol concentrations showed comparable values in both GF and CV environments.
• 3.3. The fatty acid compostion of liver lipids was modified by the presence of gut microflora. Notably, in the presence of the gut microflora, proportion of oleic acid was reduced and conversely, stearic and linoleic acids were enhanced.
• 4.4. In egg yolk lipids, the proportion of myristoleic and palmitoleic acids was significantly lowered and that of stearic acid was significantly enhanced by the presence of the gut microflora, though the difference was very small.
• 5.5. It was suggested that oleic acid could be easily either hydrogenated to stearic acid or desaturated to linoleic acid by the action of the gut microflora in Japanese quail.

     

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Purification and immunological characterization of acid β-galactosidase from dog liver

• 1.1. Dog liver acid β-galactosidase was isolated in high yield and purified to homogeneity using a series of chromatographies on Con A-Sepharose, decyl-agarose, anion-exchange HPLC and gel-filtration HPLC.
• 2.2. Non-denaturing gel filtration by HPLC gave a single homogeneous peak corresponding to molecular mass of 180–190 kDa. During SDS-PAGE analysis, the single peak dissociated into a major band corresponding to molecular mass of 32 kDa with minor bands at 18 and 13 kDa.
• 3.3. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the purified enzyme immunoprecipitated β-galactosidase activity specifically from dog liver extracts and recognized a single 32 kDa band in Western blot analysis of dog tissue homogenates. This antibody did not crossreact with any protein band in tissue homogenates from other species examined except cat.
• 4.4. Western blot analysis of tissue extracts from dogs affected with G_MI-gangliosidosis showed the presence of a 32 kDa band similar to that of controls.

     

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Cloning and characterization of rabbit pancreatic colipase

• 1.1. Among the digestive enzymes synthesized by pancreas, lipase is the principle lipolytic enzyme which hydrolyses dietary glycerides.
• 2.2. For its action it requires a coenzyme, colipase.
• 3.3. The molecular mechanisms of the interaction of these two are not fully understood.
• 4.4. Further, molecular events that regulate and influence lipid absorption are ill denned.
• 5.5. The rabbit is the conventional animal model for the study of lipid absorption. We have undertaken the molecular cloning, and characterization of rabbit pancreatic colipase, the coenzyme for pancreatic lipase.
• 6.6. Colipase has been cloned from a gt 11 library of an adult rabbit pancreatic cDNA by probing with an oligonucleotide derived from human colipase sequence.
• 7.7. The total reading frame consists of 321 nucleotides coding for 90 amino acids of the functional protein and 17 nucleotides of the leader peptide.
• 8.8. Northern blot analysis revealed a distinct band around 0.5kb. Comparison with other species revealed an over all homology of 75% at the nucleotide level.
• 9.9. At the amino acid level highest conservation is observed at the lipase-binding region (AA 53–73).
• 10.10. Rabbit enzyme also retained the N-terminal pentapeptide of it preform.
• 11.11. The regions of homology and conservation may aid to define the sites of interaction of colipase with lipase.

     

Purification and characterization of a manganese containing superoxide dismutase from bovine heart mitochondria

• 1.1. A manganese containing superoxide dismutase from bovine heart mitochondria was isolated and characterized.
• 2.2. It has a molecular weight of about 86,000 and is composed of 4 noncovalently bound subunits of equal size.
• 3.It appears to contain 2 mole manganese per mole enzyme.
• 4.The carbohydrate content is very low.
• 5.The specific activity and amino acid composition are similar to those of other mitoehondrial superoxide dismutases.
• 6.The enzyme forms complexes with ampholytes and can therefore not be analysed by isoelectric focusing.

     

Purification and characterization of hatching enzyme of the pike (Esox lucius)

• 1.1. A choriolytic enzyme was isolated from the hatching medium of the pike, Esox lucius.
• 2.2. The enzyme is defined as hatching enzyme.
• 3.3. The molecular weight of the enzyme is 24,000.
• 4.4. The enzyme is a glycoprotein containing 2% carbohydrate.
• 5.5. Its isoelectric point is 6.5.
• 6.6. The pH optimum is around pH 8.
• 7.7. The enzyme molecule contains two disulfide bonds but no free cysteine.
• 8.8. Inhibitor studies and metal analysis show that the enzyme is a zinc-metalloprotease.

     

Amino acid composition and the protein form of procarboxypeptidase a purified from the pancreas of the sei whale Balaenoptera bolealis

• 1.1. Procarboxypeptidase (W-PCPA) was purified from the pancreas of the sei whale Balaenoptera bolealis.
• 2.2. W-PCPA was obtained as a homogeneous protein in polyacylamide gel disc electrophoresis.
• 3.3. W-PCPA has a molecular weight of 75,000.
• 4.4. Amino acid composition of W-PCPA was compared with that of bovine procarboxypeptidase as A S5 (PCPA-S5).
• 5.5. W-PCPA may be two subunits, and the aggregate form may resemble PCPA-S5.

     

Breast,hips, and buttocks revisited: Honest fatness for honest fitness

This paper comments on: Low, B. S., Alexander, R. D., and Noonan, K.M. Human hips, breast, and buttocks: Is fat deceptive? Ethology and Sociobiology 8: 249-247, 1987. In it I argue that:

• 1.1. Sexual selection has probably not been the most important selection pressure on
• 2.female human body shape.
• 3.2. Male humans in different cultures find different aspects of the female body attractive
• 4.and therefore are unlikely to have exerted consistent directional sexual selection on
• 5.the female body.
• 6.3. Breast size is not correlated with lactation success.
• 7.4. Visible hip width is not correlated with parturition success.
• 8.5. Women would lower their fitness if they tried to deceive men about their internal
• 9.pelvic dimensions.
• 10.6. There are many alternative hypothesis to explain the existence of fat onwomen's
• 11.breast, hips, and buttocks.

     

Multiplicity of dog kidney high-Km aldose reductase and conversion mechanism into aldose reductase

• 1.1. High-K_m, aldose reductase purified from dog kidney inner medulla was easily converted into aldose reductase by incubation in the neutral buffer solution.
• 2.2. High-K_m, aldose reductase was found to be in multiple forms, and was separated into three kinds of species designated as a-, b- and c-forms by HPLC.
• 3.3. The a-form observed as a single peak by HPLC was assumed to be present in three forms (al-, a2- and a3-forms), one was aldose reductase (a 1-form) and the others were the precursors of aldose reductase (a2- and a3-form).
• 4.4. The b-form was rapidly converted into the a3-form, followed slowly by the a2-form and finally into the a 1-form.
• 5.5. The c-form was either directly converted into the al-form, or indirectly into the a2-form followed by the al-form.
• 6.6. Four kinds of species (a2-, a3-, b- and c-forms) of high-Ap, aldose reductase were finally converted into aldose reductase (al-form).

     

Effects of niacin deficiency on the relative turnover rates of proteins in various tissues of Japanese quail

• 1.1. The effects of niacin deficiency on the relative turnover rates of proteins in various tissues of Japanese quail were investigated.
• 2.2. The level of liver NAD was not affected by niacin deficiency whereas the level of pectoral muscle NAD was markedly reduced.
• 3.3. In all dietary treatments the liver had the highest turnover rates of proteins, heart and brain had intermediate rates, and pectoral muscle had the lowest rates.
• 4.4. Relative turnover rates of proteins in all tissues (particularly pectoral muscle) of the niacin deficient group were significantly higher than those of pair-fed control group, although there were no significant differences in turnover rate between pair-fed control and control groups.
• 5.5. The high turnover rate of proteins in niacin deficiency was primarily attributed to enhanced degradation rate of proteins rather than enhanced synthesis rate of proteins.
• 6.6. Optical density scanning (or densitometric) of water-soluble pectoral muscle proteins separated by isoelectric focusing revealed several additional minor protein bands between major protein bands in the niacin deficient group which were more pronounced in the acidic region of the gel.
• 7.7. These results suggest that proteins with a low pI value in pectoral muscle of the niacin deficient animal are highly sensitive to protein degradation.