Metabolic utilization of leucine in a fat and a lean line of chicken

• 1.1. In vivo incorporation into body lipids and breast muscle proteins from l-[U-¹⁴C]leucine was studied in genetically lean or fat male chickens, fed or starved, 1 or 24 hr after intraperitoneal injection.
• 2.2. Lipogensis and portein synthesis from labelled leucine were significantly higher in fat chickens than in lean birds, particularly in those in the fed state.
• 3.3. Radioactivity in the free amino acid pool was greater in fat birds irrespective of the nutritional state.
• 4.4. However, utilization of injected l-[U-¹⁴C]leucine for lipogenesis was no more than 2%.

     

Vitellogenesis in the stable fly,stomoxys calcitrans

• 1.1. No female specific proteins were found in the stable fly hemolymph by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.
• 2.2. Six major yolk polypeptides (YP1, YP2, YP3, YP4, YP5 and YP6) have been identified in the stable fly. Their mol. wt as determined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis are 41,100, 42,600, 44,100, 46,600, 48,900 and 50,600, respectively.
• 3.3. YP3 was purified and antibody made against it. By using the antibody and in vitro organ culture the stable fly yolk polypeptides were shown to be synthesized exclusively by the ovaries and not the fat body.
• 4.4. The stable fly yolk polypeptides are immunologically similar to yolk proteins of other related flies.

     

The metabolic output of avian (Sturnus vulgaris,Calidris alpina) adipose tissue liver and skeletal muscle: Implications for BMR/body mass relationships

• 1.1. The oxygen uptake rate of avian adipose tissue, liver and skeletal muscle slices were measured.
• 2.2. The energy consumption of fat was less than one tenth that of liver and muscle.
• 3.3. Thus, interspecific allometric equations for the prediction of basal metabolic rate from body mass will not be accurate throughout the avian annual cycle unless changes in body composition are taken into account.

     

Synthesis and maturation of the major yolk protein by the ovaries of the firebrat,Thermobia domestica (Insecta,thysanura)

• 1.1. Ovaries of Therobia domestica, dissected from inseminated females and incubated with tritiated amino acids, synthesize labeled proteins, the major fraction of which is indistinguishable from the major vitellogenin secreted by the fat body, when considering the electrophoretic mobility, the polypeptide composition and the immunoreactivity.
• 2.2. Peptide mapping, using two different proteases, shows a striking structural similarity between the proteins of both origins and reveals interrelationships between their subunits.
• 3.3. The ovary synthesizes the 210–212 kD precursors of the major vitellogenin, as does the fat body, and processes them intensively into smaller subunits (176–182, 57 and 46 kD). The follicle cells are tentatively nominated for both roles.
• 4.4. The quantitative contribution of the two ovaries to the vitellogenin pool was found to be much higher than that of the fat body.

     

Synthesis of vitellogenic and non-vitellogenic yolk proteins by the fat body and the ovary of Leptinotarsa decemlineata

• 1.1. Isolated ovaries of egg laying females synthesize and secrete three yolk proteins (two vitellogenins and chromoprotein 2).
• 2.2. The contribution of ovarian tissue to total yolk protein production is very small, the major site of synthesis of the three yolk proteins being the fat body.
• 3.3. There is a time lag between yolk protein synthesis by the fat body and yolk protein sequestration by the ovary.
• 4.4. In egg laying females, within 1 hr after the synthesis of both vitellogenins by the fat body, they appear in the oocytes as vitellins.

     

Development of imaginal competence to adipokinetic hormone in Locusta: Lipid and carbohydrate levels,and glycogen phosphorylase activity in azadirachtin-induced over-aged nymphs

• 1.1. Adipokinetic responses to injection of synthetic adipokinetic hormone I (sAKH) and relevant physiological parameters were studied in azadirachtin-induced 31 to 34-day-old Vth-instar over-aged male nymphs of Locusta migratoria which did not undergo the metamorphic moult to adult.
• 2.2. The resting lipid and carbohydrate levels in the haemolymph and sAKH-induced activation of fat body glycogen phosporylase did not differ markedly between over-aged nymphs, normal nymphs and normal adults.
• 3.3. Total fat body glycogen phosphorylase activity and the effect of sAKH on haemolymph carbohydrate level in over-aged nymphs were similar to those in normal adults and differed from those in normal nymphs.
• 4.4. sAKH-induced elevation of haemolymph lipid level in the over-aged nymphs was higher than in normal nymphs but lower than in normal adults; thus, the over-agad nymphs attained only a partial adult competence in this respect.

     

Effects of a purine inhibitor,allopurinol, on urate metabolism in the german cockroach,Blattella germanica L. (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae)

• 1.1. Adult male and female cockroaches (Blattella germanica) were maintained on a positive nitrogen balance diet (66% protein) containing various levels of allopurinol (0–3%) to determine the effects of allopurinol on urate synthesis and storage.
• 2.2. Each insect was injected with [¹⁴C]hypoxanthine and after 1 week was analyzed for whole-body hypoxanthine, xanthine and urate radiolabel.
• 3.3. There was a general trend of decreased whole-body radiolabel retention, radiolabeled body urates and total-body urate content in both sexes with increasing amounts of dietary allopurinol.
• 4.4. Virgin female adults were allowed to feed on diets containing 0, 25 and 66% protein plus 0.1% allopurinol and were injected with [¹⁴C]xanthine.
• 5.5. After 1 week radiolabel content in the whole-body xanthine and urate pools was determined.
• 6.6. Females on the 0% protein diets contained less radiolabel in the whole-body and body urates than those on either 25 or 66% protein diets.

     

Significance of scrotal afferents within the general thermoafferent system

• 1.1.|Switching neurons, in the past referred to as a special scrotal afferent system, intergrate information not only from the scrotum, but from various body areas.
• 2.2.|They are present in male and female rats, as well as in guinea-pigs.
• 3.3.|They are present in midbrain, thalamus, hypothalamus and cortical areas.
• 4.4.|Information processing from the scrotum, is not a special system, but part of the general thermo-and noci-afferent system.
• 5.5.|Switching neurons seem to interact with behavioral, perhaps with autonomic thermoregulatory mechanisms, too.

     

Dose-dependent incorporation of orally infused [1-14C]oleic acid into the lipid classes of midgut,haemolymph and fat body of dragonfly larvae (Aeshna cyanea)

• 1.1. Five different doses of radioactive oleic acid (ranging from 1.87 nmoles to 5.61 μmoles) were administered to Aeshna cyanea larvae.
• 2.2. Its incorporation into the midgut epithelium, haemolymph and fat body increased with the dose and time.
• 3.3. Low doses caused up to 95% phospholipid labelling in the midgut wall, while labelled triacylglycerol was less than 1%, but increased with the doses to a maximum of 68%. The data favour the glycerophosphate pathway of oleic acid esterification.
• 4.4. At low doses oleic acid was mainly released into the haemolymph from the midgut phospholipid pool, and at high doses from the triacylglycerol pool.
• 5.5. Diacylglycerol was the most heavily labelled lipid class of the haemolymph, amounting up to 98% and slightly decreasing with time.
• 6.6. The fat body showed a dose- and time-dependent increase in labelled phospholipid and triacyl-glycerol, maximally amounting to 14 and 90%, respectively.

     

Larval Musca domestica lipophorin biosynthesis

• 1.1. Larval Musca domestica lipophorin biosynthesis was studied in vitro.
• 2.2. The newly synthesized lipophorin has a density a little lower than the circulating lipophorin after 1 hr of incubation. After 3 hr of incubation the fat body cells transfer lipids to the lipophorin that attains the density of circulating lipophorin.
• 3.3. The lipophorin synthesized in vitro is identical to circulating lipophorin in density and in electrophoretical behavior.
• 4.4. However these two molecules must have differences since the circulating lipophorin transfers lipids to fat body cells while the synthesized in vitro does not.
• 5.5. The biosynthesis of Musca lipophorin shows differences with the Manduca sexta lipophorin biosynthesis.

     

Monoclonal antibodies for radioimmunoscintigraphy of breast cancer

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among females, and it is estimated that each year, one in ten American women will be newly diagnosed as having the disease. It is therefore not surprising, that a great deal of effort has been made to better understand the biology of breast cancer, and that investigators keep up the search for new tools to better characterize, diagnose and treat these tumours. In this regard, the introduction of the hybridoma technique in 1975 by Kohler and Milstein has lead to an extensive work in the characterization of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies against breast cancers. A large number of antibodies has been raised to different epitopes present in normal and neoplastic breast tissue; but unfortunately we have yet to find a highly sensitive and specific monoclonal antibody for breast cancer that can successfully be used for scintigraphic detection of nodal metastases and for radioimmunotherapy treatment of this disease.As possible radioimmunodiagnostics, antibodies are known which react with the following antigens:

• 1.(1) cytoskeletal proteins
• 2.(2) breast cell products
• 3.(3) steroid receptors
• 4.(4) putative tumor-associated antigens
• 5.(5) oncogene products
• 6.(6) pregnancy-related products
• 7.(7) basement membrane antigens
• 8.(8) degradative enzymes
• 9.(9) cell receptors for extracellular matrix molecules
• 10.(10) multidrug resistance gene product (p-glycoprotein)
• 11.(11) proliferative markers.

     

Correlation of water translocation,cuticle dehydration and post-ecdysial sclerotization by the american cockroach

• 1.1. Haemolymph volume decreases during the initial 16 hr post-ecdysial period, increases after water ingestion and subsequently drops until the inter-ecdysial level is reached.
• 2.2. Total body water follows a similar pattern, but the changes are not as pronounced.
• 3.3. Tissue water is inversely proportional to the total body water.
• 4.4. Soluble cuticle protein declines throughout the initial 16 hr period while both β-glucosidase and alkaline phosphatase activity is lost within 6 hr after ecdysis.
• 5.5. Dehydration of the cuticle also occurs during the immediate 6 hr post-ecdysial period.
• 6.6. These data suggest that the formation of the protein-insoluble matrix is linked with water loss.
• 7.7. Water removal may decrease the distance between molecules allowing specific reactions to take place.

     

Histochemical staining of cadmium taken up by the midge larva,Chironomus yoshimatsui (diptera,chironomidae)

• 1.1. The midge larva (Chironomus yoshimatsui) exposed to cadmium (10 μg Cd/ml) for 2 days was histochemically stained with benzothiazolylazo-β-naphthol.
• 2.2. A large portion of cadmium taken up by the larvae was distributed to the digestive tract, epithelial tract and fat bodies.
• 3.3. Cadmium accumulated in the fat bodies was discharged slowly relative to cadmium in the tract contents when the larvae were placed in control water.
• 4.4. Glycogen in the fat bodies of cadmium-exposed larvae was insensitive to PAS staining.

     

Regulated Phosphosignaling Associated with Breast Cancer Subtypes and Druggability,

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Highlights

• •Our search identifies 2,134 kinase-substrate phosphosite pairs in breast cancer.
• •CDKs and MAPKs are dominant regulators of trans substrate-phosphorylation.
• •Druggability, outcomes, and immune signatures related to kinase-substrates.
• •Experimentally validated activated phosphosites of ERBB2, EIF4EBP1, and EGFR.

     

The changes in body temperature,oxygen consumption,CO2 production and muscle protein turnover rate by selection for body size in Japanese quail,Coturnix coturnix japonica

• 1.1. Body temperature, oxygen consumption, CO₂ production and muscle protein degradation rate were measured in the three quail lines selected for body size, a random bred line (RR) and two lines selected for large (LL) or small (SS) body size.
• 2.2. The body temperature at 15 weeks of age was highest for small body size line and lowest for large body size line.
• 3.3. The body temperature, oxygen consumption and CO₂ production of females were significantly higher than that of males.
• 4.4. The fractional degradation rate of muscle protein of SS, RR and LL lines were measured as 2.4, 1.6 and 1.2% per day in male, and 2.6, 1.7 and 1.4% per day in female.

     

Vitellogenin synthesis in female larvae of the gypsy moth,Lymantria dispar (L.): suppression by juvenile hormone

• 1.1. Fat body from feeding-phase, last instar gypsy moth females incorporates l-[³⁵S]methionine in vitro into two vitellogenins with the same molecular masses (165 and 180 kDa) as the apo-vitellogenins found in teh hemolymph and the apo-vitellins in teh eggs.
• 2.2. Both apo-vitellogenins are observed in the medium of fat body cultures, but only the 180 kDa apo-vitellogenin is observed in extracts of cultured tissue.
• 3.3. Synthesis and accumulation of the apo-vitellogenins are suppressed in a dose-dependent manner by topical treatment with the juvenile hormone analog, methoprene, prior to day 4.
• 4.4. This suppression suggests that a declining juvenile hormone titre is involved in the initiation of vitellogenin synthesis.

     

k tibial nerve stimulation: Normative values

Cortical somatosensory evoked potentials to posterior tibial nerve stimulation were obtained in 29 normal controls varying in age and body height. In obtaining these potentials we varied recording derivations and frequency settings. Our recordings demonstrated the following points:

• 1.(1) N20 (dorsal cord potential) and the early cortical components (P2, N2) were the only potentials that were consistently recorded. All other subcortical components (N18, N24, P27, N30) were of relatively low amplitude and not infrequently absent even in normals.
• 2.(2) All absolute latencies other than N2 were correlated with body height. However, interpeak latency differences were independent of body height.
• 3.(3) Below the age of 20, subcortical but not cortical peak latencies correlated with age, but this appeared to be due to changes in body height in this age group.
• 4.(4) Absolute amplitudes and amplitude ratios (left/right and uni/bilateral) showed marked interindividual variability and have very limited value in defining abnormality.
• 5.(5) The use of restricted filter windows facilitated the selective recording of postsynaptic potentials (30–250 Hz) and action potentials (150–1500 Hz).

     

The energetics of shedding: Energy content of snake skin

• 1.1. The weight and energy content of sloughed skins of 92 individual snakes of 22 different species in three families were measured.
• 2.2. Weight and total energy content of shed skins were highly correlated with body weight.
• 3.3. The heat of combustion (kJ/g) of sloughed skins varied significantly among families and was higher in species having unkeeled scales than in those with keeled scales.
• 4.4. The presence of keels significantly affected weight of skins, even when skin weight is adjusted for covariance with body weight.
• 5.5. Neither body weight nor ambient temperature significantly affected the heat of combustion of sloughed skins.
• 6.6. The energy content of shed skin, expressed as a proportion of daily metabolism, decreased with ambient temperature, but the effect is minimized in large snakes.
• 7.7. Small snakes expended relatively less energy in sloughed skins than large snakes when the expenditure is expressed in terms of total daily metabolized energy.

     

Purification and characterization of vitellogenin from the American cockroach,Periplaneta americana

• 1.1. Vitellogenin (VG) was isolated and purified from the hemolymph of female American cockroaches.
• 2.2. The purification method used in this study comprises two steps: the first step is based on the method originally developed for purifying lipophorin from hemolymph, and the second step is the separation of VG from lipophorin by a KBr density gradient ultracentrifugation.
• 3.3. The purified VG was characterized according to molecular weight, substructure, shape and size, and lipid composition.
• 4.4. The VG molecule is almost globular in shape with the diameter of about 15.5 nm and is indistinguishable from lipophorin in shape and size.
• 5.5. The native molecular weight determined by light scattering method was 560 kDa.
• 6.6. The VG consists of four subunits with molecular weights of approximately 102, 81, 49 and 40 kDa, respectively.
• 7.7. VG is a lipoprotein and comprises 92% protein and 8% lipid.
• 8.8. Major lipid components were found to be diacylglycerol (25%) and phospholipids (71%).