Effect of preparations with antihypoxic properties on ischemic damage to the myocardium

In the experiments on the anesthesized cats sodium hydroxybutyrate and piracetam, in contrast to glyo-6, have been shown to slow down the growth rate of creatine phosphokinase activity in the blood of the coronary sinus during 60-min occlusion of the coronary artery. At the same time, in the experiments on rats with 3-day myocardial infarction GABA derivatives like glyo-6 failed to influence the final size of cardiac necrosis. It may be concluded that anti-ischemic action of some drugs may be expressed only in the reduction of the rate of ischemic lesion development in the heart, but not in the limitation of the infarction size.     

Characteristics of cardiac regulation in ischemic damage to the ventricular myocardium

The evoked potentials produced by the irritation of the heart sinus node zone in the brain cortex and bradycardia have been registered in 5 to 40-min ischemia of the left and right ventricular myocardium during the electrical stimulation of the vagus. Restricted cardiac afferentation and the heart escape from vagus influences have been revealed at the early stages of ischemia.     

Adrenaline-induced damage to the myocardium in rats with genetically determined arterial hypertension

Genetically hypertensive and normotensive rats were subjected to acute myocardial injury by a single subcutaneous injection of adrenaline (0.5 mg/100 g bw). The animals were sacrificed one day later. The lesions showed the signs of focal coagulative necrosis and intracellular myocytolysis. The damaged cardiomyocytes with high sarcolemmal permeability for blood plasma proteins were more widespread in the hypertensive versus normotensive rats. Intracellular myocytolysis, which is not associated with alterations in the cell membrane, was found in both experimental groups at an equal rate. The data agree with the concepts of alterations in biological membranes in genetically determined arterial hypertension.     

Ultrastructural localization of adenylate cyclase and guanylate cyclase activity in the gastric gland cells of rats with hormonal imbalance

Electron histochemical investigation of the rat gastric mucous membrane has demonstrated that an abundant amount of thyroxine administered increases adenylate cyclase (AC) activity in the basal part of plasmolemma of parietal glandulocytes. As a result of the increased AC activity, the level of cyclic adenosine monophosphate cyclic guanylate monophosphate (c GMPh) level decrease. Ultrastructural and biochemical analyses have demonstrated that when hydrocortison is administered on the background of hyperthyroidism, localization of AC and GC activity in glandulocytes, as well as c AMPh and c GMPh contents change towards opposite direction comparing to the case when thyroxine alone is administered.     

Extent of damage in ischemic,nonreperfused, and reperfused myocardium of anesthetized rats

To investigate the localization of the earliest damage in ischemic and ischemic-reperfused myocardium, anesthetized rats were subjected to coronary occlusion for 15, 30, 45, or 90 min. One-half of the animals in each group had no reperfusion, whereas the other half was reperfused for 14 min. With the use of histological methods, preferentially in the periphery of the area at risk, localized zones were detected that lacked the hypoxia-specific increase in NADH fluorescence. The extent of these areas displaying injured tissue was found to be significantly smaller in the ischemic-nonreperfused hearts than in the ischemic-reperfused organs (15-min ischemia: 0.22 +/- 0.12% vs. 43.0 +/- 5.0%; 30-min ischemia: 5.7 +/- 2.7% vs. 64.6 +/- 2.9%; 45-min ischemia: 5.6 +/- 1.2% vs. 66.0 +/- 7.5%; 90-min ischemia: 39.3 +/- 5.5% vs. 86.7 +/- 1.8% of the area at risk). The results point to a localized initiation of the damage close to the surrounding oxygen-supplied tissue during ischemia and an expansion of this injury by intercellular actions into yet-intact areas upon reperfusion.     

Highly purified particulate guanylate cyclase from rat lung: characterization and comparison with soluble guanylate cyclase

Guanylate cyclase was purified 1000-fold from washed rat lung particulate fractions to a final specific activity of 500 nmoles cyclic GMP produced/min/mg protein by a combination of detergent extraction and chromatography on concanavalin A-Sepharose, GTP-agarose, and blue agarose. Particulate guanylate cyclase has a molecular weight of 200 000 daltons, a Stokes radius of 48 A and a sedimentation coefficient of 9.4 while the soluble form has a molecular weight of 150 000 daltons, a Stokes radius of 44 A, and a sedimentation coefficient of 7.0. Whereas the particulate enzyme is a glycoprotein with a specific affinity for concanavalin A and wheat germ agglutinin, the soluble form of guanylate cyclase did not bind to these lectins. Purified particulate guanylate cyclase did not cross-react with a number of monoclonal antibodies generated to the soluble enzyme. While both forms of the enzyme could be regulated by the formation of mixed disulfides, the particulate enzyme was relatively insensitive to inhibition by cystine. With GTP as substrate both forms of the enzyme demonstrated typical kinetics, and with GTP analogues negative cooperativity was observed with both enzyme forms. These data support the suggestion that the two forms of guanylate cyclase possess similar catalytic sites, although their remaining structure is divergent, resulting in differences in subcellular distribution, physical characteristics, and antigenicity.     

Association of guanylate cyclase with the axoneme of retinal rods

Axonemes were isolated from purified bovine retinal rod outer segments by dissolving the outer segment membranes in detergent and separating the axonemes by centrifugation on a linear detergent-containing sucrose density gradient. Guanylate cyclase (GTP pyrophosphate-lyase (cyclizing), EC 4.61.2) activity was concentrated in the axoneme fraction. Guanylate cyclase eluted in the void volume when detergent-solubilized rod outer segments were subjected to exclusion chromatography on Sepharose 4B. Attempts to extract guanylate cyclase from isolated axonemes with salt, EDTA, base and other reagents were successful.     

Covalent coupling of a resact analogue to guanylate cyclase

GGGYG-resact (Gly-Gly-Gly-Tyr-Gly-Cys-Val-Thr-Gly-Ala-Pro-Gly-Cys-Val-Gly-Gly-Gly-Arg -Leu-NH2) was synthesized and shown to possess the same respiration-stimulating activity and receptor-binding ability as resact. The incubation of intact sperm cells with radioiodinated peptide, 125I-GGGYG-resact, and the chemical cross-linking reagent, disuccinimidyl suberate, resulted in the appearance of a single, major radioactive band of apparent molecular weight 160,000 (sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis). The interaction was specific since 150 nM nonradioactive resact but not speract (200 nM) blocked formation of the radioactive band. The radioactive, cross-linked protein co-migrated with 32P-labeled guanylate cyclase and could be immunoprecipitated with a polyclonal antibody raised in rabbits against the sperm guanylate cyclase. The incubation of intact cells with NH4Cl resulted in the partial dephosphorylation of guanylate cyclase and a change in its apparent molecular weight from 160,000 to 150,000; NH4Cl also caused the same conversion in the apparent molecular weight of the cross-linked protein. These data demonstrate that an analogue of resact can be covalently coupled to guanylate cyclase with the specificity predicted for the peptide receptor.     

Human thrombocyte guanylate cyclase in diabetes mellitus

Clear differences in properties of platelet guanylate cyclase from healthy donors and patients with diabetes mellitus were identified; departure from the norm was more pronounced in the case of the II-type of this disease, than the I-type. We have registered the decrease in the Mg-activity (basal) of guanylate cyclase by 30 and 50 per cent, Mn-activity--by 20 and 30 per cent, the state of guanylate cyclase activation by 0.1 mM sodium nitroprusside to 2 and 3-fold in patients with I and II-type of diabetes mellitus, consequently. The possible causative factors of these disturbances are discussed. It is suggested that the decrease in guanylate cyclase activation by nitroprusside is due to the enzyme heme-deficiency rising with the diabetes mellitus.     

Calmodulin-stimulated particulate guanylate cyclase in crayfish hepatopancreas

1. A particulate guanylate cyclase from crayfish hepatopancreas membranes was investigated with respect to its dependence on Ca2+ and calmodulin. Addition of Ca2+ to EGTA-treated membranes increased cyclase activity by 100%. 2. Calmodulin stimulated the activity about 5-fold. 3. This effect could be abolished by the calmodulin antagonist compound 48/80. 4. These results present evidence that the particulate guanylate cyclase of crayfish hepatopancreas is a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent enzyme. 5. The implications of this observation upon glycogen metabolism of crustaceans are discussed.     

Probing domain interactions in soluble guanylate cyclase

Eukaryotic nitric oxide (NO) signaling involves modulation of cyclic GMP (cGMP) levels through activation of the soluble isoform of guanylate cyclase (sGC). sGC is a heterodimeric hemoprotein that contains a Heme-Nitric oxide and OXygen binding (H-NOX) domain, a Per/ARNT/Sim (PAS) domain, a coiled-coil (CC) domain, and a catalytic domain. To evaluate the role of these domains in regulating the ligand binding properties of the heme cofactor of NO-sensitive sGC, we constructed chimeras by swapping the rat β1 H-NOX domain with the homologous region of H-NOX domain-containing proteins from Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis, Vibrio cholerae, and Caenorhabditis elegans (TtTar4H, VCA0720, and Gcy-33, respectively). Characterization of ligand binding by electronic absorption and resonance Raman spectroscopy indicates that the other rat sGC domains influence the bacterial and worm H-NOX domains. Analysis of cGMP production in these proteins reveals that the chimeras containing bacterial H-NOX domains exhibit guanylate cyclase activity, but this activity is not influenced by gaseous ligand binding to the heme cofactor. The rat-worm chimera containing the atypical sGC Gcy-33 H-NOX domain was weakly activated by NO, CO, and O(2), suggesting that atypical guanylate cyclases and NO-sensitive guanylate cyclases have a common molecular mechanism for enzyme activation. To probe the influence of the other sGC domains on the mammalian sGC heme environment, we generated heme pocket mutants (Pro118Ala and Ile145Tyr) in the β1 H-NOX construct (residues 1-194), the β1 H-NOX-PAS-CC construct (residues 1-385), and the full-length α1β1 sGC heterodimer (β1 residues 1-619). Spectroscopic characterization of these proteins shows that interdomain communication modulates the coordination state of the heme-NO complex and the heme oxidation rate. Taken together, these findings have important implications for the allosteric mechanism of regulation within H-NOX domain-containing proteins.     

黄芪注射液对缺血性心肌病大鼠心肌的保护作用*

目的: 探究黄芪注射液对缺血性心肌病大鼠心肌保护作用及其机制。方法: 将36只雄性鼠随机分成:对照组(12只)、缺血性心肌病组(12只)及黄芪注射液组(12只);缺血性心肌病组和黄芪注射液组的大鼠开胸结扎冠状动脉,建立缺血心肌病大鼠模型;建立心肌缺血模型后,黄芪注射液组术后注射黄芪注射液(每周一次,剂量:10 g/kg体重),共注射4次,其他两组腹腔均注射相同剂量的生理盐水;4周后给予3组大鼠麻醉后行心电图及心脏彩超后,处死大鼠取心肌标本行电镜检查,观察其心肌病理超微结构的变化,检测大鼠心肌细胞线粒体Ca²⁺浓度和心肌细胞线粒体融合蛋白mitofusin 1(Mfn1)及凋亡因子C/EBP 同源蛋白(chop)表达,以及黄芪注射液对大鼠心肌细胞ATP敏感钾通道电流的作用。结果: 与对照组比较,缺血性心肌病组中大鼠出现心律失常现象;心室扩大,EF值降低;心肌排列紊乱,线粒体空泡化严重;线粒体Ca²⁺浓度增加(P＜0.01);Mfn1表达减低(P＜0.05),chop表达增加(P＜0.01); 与缺血性心肌病组比较,黄芪注射液组中大鼠心律失常发生率明显减少,心肌细胞动作电位时程缩短,心脏彩超及心肌病理明显改善并存在大量线粒体融合,心肌线粒体Ca²⁺浓度和chop表达明显减少(P＜0.01),而Mfn1表达明显增加(P＜0.01),心肌细胞ATP敏感钾电流明显增加(P＜0.01),该作用可被ATP敏感钾通道特异性阻断剂格列本脲阻断。结论: 黄芪注射液明显减少缺血性心肌病大鼠心律失常的发生率,继而改善缺血性心肌病大鼠心脏功能、减轻心肌病理损伤,其作用机制可能通过心肌细胞ATP敏感钾通道所介导。     

Evolution of the membrane guanylate cyclase transduction system

Almost four decades of research in the field of membrane guanylate cyclases is discussed in this review. Primarily, it focuses on the chronological development of the field, recognizes major contributions of the original investigators, corrects certain misplaced facts, and projects its future trend.