A metabolic switch produced by enzymically interconvertible forms of an enzyme

A system of enzymically interconvertible enzyme forms (interconversion cycle) is known to increase the sensitivity to regulators. Here it is shown that this system may also provide a discrete switching mechanism in which the response is maintained when the stimulus is removed. These switches may be important in producing discontinuous metabolic changes such as those associated with cell differentiation.     

Maximal oxygen uptake in Danish adolescents 16-19 years of age

A random sample of schoolchildren, 119 boys and 153 girls, was tested in the fall of 1983. The data presented here are anthropometric data (height, weight, fat % and vital capacity) and oxygen uptake directly measured on a bicycle ergometer. The mean height and weight for boys were 179.1 cm and 67.7 kg, and those for girls were 168.0 cm and 59.6 kg. The mean fat content was 9.1% for boys and 19.1% for girls, and their mean vital capacities were 4.91 and 3.61 respectively. The boys had a high maximal oxygen uptake (51.7 ml X kg-1 X min-1) showing no reduction over the age span studied. The girls' maximal oxygen uptake was lower (overall mean 40.0 ml X kg-1 X min-1) with a small reduction from 16 to 19 years of age. When comparing maximal oxygen uptake per kg lean body mass in the two sexes, the boys had 18.4% higher values than the girls, indicating that girls of this age have the lower fitness level. The results of maximal aerobic power measurement in the boys compare well with findings from other investigations using direct measurements, indicating that the fitness of teenage boys is kept at a high level. Comparable data from various countries for girls show different pictures, but it appears that in general they have a low fitness level.     

Aromatization of androstenedione by normal and neoplastic endometrium of the uterus

The ability of human uterine endometrium to aromatize androstenedione to estrogens was investigated using 10 normal and neoplastic tissues. Normal and neoplastic endometrial homogenates were incubated with [6,7-3H]androstenedione (A) and NADPH. Estrone (E1) and estradiol (E2) were subsequently isolated in amounts ranging from 0-17600 fmol/h/g and 0-377 fmol/h/g, respectively, from the incubates after purifications by using Bio-Rad AG1-X2 column, thin layer chromatographies and co-crystallization. The conversion of A to E1 and E2 was significantly higher in neoplastic tissues.     

Properties of purified colchicine-binding protein from a cultured carrot cell extract

Colchicine-binding protein (CBP) was purified from a cultured carrot cell extract by DEAE-Sephacel, phosphocellulose and Sephadex G200 column chromatographies. The purified CBP separated into three bands on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. One of them reacted with a monoclonal antibody against chick brain alpha-tubulin and the other two with that against beta-tubulin. Colchicine-binding activity of the purified protein was enhanced by tartrate and inhibited little by an excess of podophyllotoxin. It decayed following first order kinetics, but was more stable than the CBP in the crude extract. The binding constant of the purified CBP for colchicine was 0.57 microM-1 and the number of binding sites of colchicine per mg protein was about 2 nmol. This binding constant is about ten times lower than that of porcine brain tubulin under identical conditions.     

Absent aldosterone response to metoclopramide in patients with high spinal cord transection: evidence that metoclopramide stimulates aldosterone secretion through central pathways

This study evaluates dopaminergic regulation of aldosterone secretion in 6 patients with high spinal cord transections. Administration of the dopamine antagonist metoclopramide resulted in a marked rise in plasma aldosterone and 18-hydroxycorticosterone levels in 12 normal individuals, but no change in plasma levels of these zona glomerulosa corticosteroid products in spinal cord patients. Spinal cord transected patients also did not have the rise in plasma renin activity that was observed in normals following metoclopramide administration. Basal levels of aldosterone, 18 hydroxycorticosterone, corticosterone and renin activity as well as the aldosterone responses to graded dose infusion of adrenocorticotropin were similar in the spinal cord patients and the normals. These data suggest that dopaminergic regulation of adrenal zona glomerulosa corticosteroid and renal renin secretion is absent in patients with high spinal cord transections, suggesting that intact neural pathways from the central nervous system are necessary for metoclopramide stimulation of aldosterone and renin secretion in men. Since basal plasma aldosterone levels were normal in spinal cord transected patients, it appears that the absence of dopaminergic control does not result in elevated secretion.