Effects of lactation and removal of pups on the rate of triacyglycerol/fatty acid substrate cycling in white adipose tissue of the rat.

The rate of the triacylglycerol/fatty acid substrate cycle was measured in vivo in adipose tissue of virgin and lactating rats with pups removed. The rate decreased by 70% in adipose tissue of lactating rats and increased 9-fold on removal of the pups. Similar differences in cycling rate were seen in adipose tissue incubated in vitro in the presence of isoprenaline.     

GTP-mediated Ca2+ release in rough endoplasmic reticulum. Correlation with a GTP-sensitive increase in membrane permeability.

Guanine nucleotides have been reported to stimulate reticular Ca2+ release. By using the structure-linked latency of microsomal mannose-6-phosphate phosphatase as an index of microsomal permeability [Arion, Ballas, Lange & Wallin (1976) J. Biol. Chem. 251, 4901-4907], the effects of GTP on Ca2+ release and membrane permeability were compared in liver microsomes. In a stripped rough-microsome preparation, GTP caused a dose-dependent increase in mannose 6-phosphate permeability. Half-maximal and maximal effects were observed at 3 microM- and 10 microM-GTP respectively. The time course of the change in membrane permeability coincided with the time course of GTP-dependent Ca2+ release. This increase in microsomal permeability displayed positive to-operativity with respect to GTP (Hill coefficient = 1.8). By analogy to the GTP-dependent Ca2+ release process, guanosine 5'-[gamma-thio]triphosphate and guanosine 5'-[beta gamma-imido]-triphosphate inhibited the ability of GTP to alter microsomal permeability, but were without effect when added alone. In the presence of 50 microM-GTP, complete inhibition of the GTP-dependent increase in microsomal permeability was achieved with 10 microM-guanosine 5'-[gamma-thio]triphosphate, whereas a 25% inhibition was observed with 10 microM-guanosine 5'-[beta gamma-imido]triphosphate. In contrast with previous observations in crude microsomal preparations, GTP-dependent Ca2+ release in the stripped rough-microsome preparation did not require the addition of poly(ethylene glycol), although the latter did stimulate the rate of Ca2+ release. The ability of GTP to alter microsomal permeability was blocked by prior treatment with the thiol reagent p-hydroxymercuribenzoate; complete inhibition was observed after a 10 min exposure to 50 microM. Inhibition was reversed by subsequent treatment with dithiothreitol. The marked similarities between the two GTP-sensitive processes indicate that they may function via the same mechanism.     

Electronegativity of aromatic amines as a basis for the development of ground state inhibitors of lysyl oxidase

Benzylamine derivatives containing para substituents of differing electronegativity as well as isomers of aminomethylpyridine have been assessed for their substrate and inhibitor potentials toward lysyl oxidase. Substituted benzylamines with increasingly electronegative para substituents had the lowest KI values and thus were the most effective inhibitors of the oxidation of elastin by lysyl oxidase. The kcat values for these compounds as substrates of lysyl oxidase were also reduced with increasingly electronegative para substituents. Both the Dkcat and D(kcat/Km) kinetic isotope effects decreased with increasingly electronegative p-substituents in [alpha, alpha'-2H]benzylamines. In contrast, there was no Dkcat solvent isotope effect with [2H] H2O while the D(kcat/Km) solvent isotope effect tended to increase with increasingly electronegative p-substituents. These results are consistent with the stabilization of an enzyme-generated substrate carbanion and thus the retardation of substrate oxidation by electronegative substituents. Such ground state stabilization thus can result in compounds with increased potential for the inhibition of the oxidation of protein substrates of lysyl oxidase.     

Patterns of polymorphism and linkage disequilibrium for cystic fibrosis

Four polymorphic markers that map within 80 kb of an HTF island which is genetically very close to the cystic fibrosis locus have been identified. We have analyzed the linkage disequilibrium between each of these markers and the cystic fibrosis mutation in 89 families from four European countries, Denmark, Finland, Spain, and Great Britain. Strong linkage disequilibrium between three polymorphic sites and cystic fibrosis was observed. The markers on the J3.11 (D7S8) side of the HTF island show stronger disequilibrium than those on the met side. Linkage disequilibrium between markers and disease alters the probability that a person of a given haplotype is a carrier in some populations and helps to identify regions of a sequence that are most likely to contain the cystic fibrosis mutation.     

The influence of dolichols on fluidity of mouse synaptic plasma membranes

Dolichols are isoprenologues which constitute an important component of biological membranes. However, an understanding of the effects of dolichols on the organization and dynamics of biological membranes has not been forthcoming. The experiments reported here are aimed at understanding the effects of dolichols on the physical properties of mouse brain synaptic plasma membranes. The effect of dolichols incorporated into mouse brain synaptic plasma membranes on fluorescent and electron spin resonance probes sensing the hydrophobic core differed from that of probes reporting closer to the surface of membrane bilayers. Dolichols significantly (P less than 0.01) lowered the polarization, limiting anisotropy, and order parameter of diphenylhexatriene in synaptic plasma membranes and liposomes extracted from synaptic plasma membranes, without changing the rotational relaxation time. Similarly, dolichol increased the fluidity reported by 16-doxylstearic acid in synaptic plasma membranes or liposomes extracted from synaptic plasma membranes. In contrast, dolichols exerted no effect on those properties for trans-parinaric acid or 5-doxylstearic acid in synaptic plasma membranes or liposomes derived therefrom. Dolichols can dramatically alter the structure and dynamics of lipid motion in synaptic plasma membranes and these effects are dependent on the location of the probe in the membrane.     

Crossovers in two German cystic fibrosis families determine probe order for MET, 7C22 and XV-2c/CS.7

Summary We have followed the segregation of the probes pJ3.11, 7C22, pB79a, and MET through cystic fibrosis families in the German Democratic Republic with two affected sibs. Two families with a crossover between MET and the CF phenotype were detected. In one of these families recombination was also observed between the DNA probe 7C22 and CF, and between the markers XV-2c and CF, which suggests that XV-2c, MET and 7C22 are all on the same side of CF. The other MET recombinant family is informative with XV-2c and does not recombine, which excludes the genetic order XC-2c-MET-CF if multiple recombinant events are disregarded. These two families together demonstrate that recombinations may occur in a very small genetic interval, which has important implications for prenatal diagnosis based on data from linked markers.     

O dealkylation and aliphatic and aromatic hydroxylation of 3-methoxy-17 beta-estradiol by Aspergillus alliaceus

Aspergillus alliaceus UI 315 was examined for its ability to metabolize 3-methoxy-17 beta-estradiol. Preparative-scale incubations with this substrate afforded good yields of 6 beta-hydroxy-17 beta-estradiol, 4-hydroxy-17 beta-estradiol, and 4,6 beta-dihydroxy-17 beta-estradiol, which were identified by high-pressure liquid chromatography, 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance, and high-resolution mass spectrometry.     

Lipid metabolism during the initiation of lactation in the rat. The effects of starvation and tumour growth.

1. The effects of starvation post partum (24 h) and tumour growth pre partum on the initiation of lactation in the rat were studied. 2. Tumour growth decreased food intake at 24 h, but not at 2 days post partum. 3. Pup growth rate increased with hyperphagia; starvation and tumour burden decreased pup growth, and starvation decreased maternal body weight. 4. Starvation decreased gastrointestinal-tract mass; tumour growth decreased gastrointestinal-tract and mammary-gland mass. 5. Mammary-gland DNA-synthesis rate was high immediately post partum, but decreased by day 3 of lactation; starvation and tumour burden decreased this rate, and also decreased gastrointestinal-tract DNA-synthesis rate. 6. Arteriovenous differences for glucose and lactate across the mammary gland did not change with time, nor were they affected by the tumour. Starvation decreased arterial glucose and lactate, and the gland extracted less glucose but produced lactate. 7. Mammary-gland lipogenesis was sensitive to starvation and to tumour growth. 8. In contrast with the gradual development of mammary-gland lipogenic enzyme activities, lipoprotein lipase activity was high in the gland by 2 days post partum; starvation or tumour burden decreased the activity. 9. The mammary gland is sensitive post partum to decreased food intake, and to tumour presence. The effects of the latter are apparently independent of hypophagia.