Interactions of amiloride and small monovalent cations with the epithelial sodium channel. Inferences about the nature of the channel pore.

The voltage dependence of amiloride-induced inhibition of current flow through apical membrane sodium channels in toad urinary bladder was studied at different ionic conditions. The "inert" salt N-methyl-D-glucamine HCl (NMDG HCl) affected neither the apparent inhibition constant (Kl) for the amiloride-induced current inhibition nor the apparent fraction of the transmembrane voltage that falls between the mucosal solution and the amiloride-binding site (delta). When NMDG+ was replaced with Na+, Kl increased, reflecting amiloride-Na+ competition, whereas delta was unchanged. Similar results were obtained with another permeant cation, Li+. When NMDG+ was replaced by K+, an impermeant but channel-blocking cation, Kl increased whereas delta decreased. Similar results were obtained using another impermeant, channel-blocking cation guanidinium. The results are interpreted on the premise that Na+ and K+ compete with amiloride by binding to cation binding sites within the channel lumen such that ion occupancy of these sites vary with voltage. Occupancy by K+, which cannot traverse the channel, will increase as the mucosal solution becomes positive, relative to the serosal solution. Occupancy by Na+, which can traverse the channel, is comparatively voltage independent. Ion movement through the channels was simulated using discrete-state kinetic models. Two types of models could describe the shape of the current-voltage relationship and the voltage dependence of the amiloride-induced channel block. One model had a single ion-binding site with a broad energy barrier at the inner (cytoplasmic) side of the site. The other model had two binding sites separated from each other and from the aqueous solutions by sharp energy barriers.     

Fluorescence lifetime studies with staphylococcal nuclease and its site-directed mutant. Test of the hypothesis that proline isomerism is the basis for nonexponential decays.

Using frequency domain methods, the fluorescence decay of Trp-140 in staphylococcal nuclease and its site-directed mutant (Pro-117----Gly) has been examined. Based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies (Evans, P. A., C. M. Dobson, R. A. Kautz, G. Hatfull, and R. O. Fox. 1987. Nature [Lond.]. 329:266-268), it is believed that nuclease exists in two macroscopic, native conformations and that the slow interconversion of these conformations is controlled by the cis----trans isomerization of Pro-117. The above mutant shows only one native conformation in NMR experiments. To test the hypothesis that the biexponential fluorescence decay of Trp-140 of nuclease can also be related to the existence of these conformational states of the protein, we have compared the decay patterns of the wild type and mutant. Essentially no difference was observed, which indicates that there is some other basis for the nonexponential decay of Trp-140. We have used global nonlinear least squares analysis to link the fit of data at several temperatures.     

The effect of enzyme concentration on the rate of the hydrolysis of cellulose

The relationship among extent of hydrolysis, reaction time, and enzyme dosage was investigated. For this, Sigmacell 50 and pretreated poplar wood (20 g/L) was hydrolyzed with varying dosages of cellulases from three different sources (5 to 100 FPU/g) for time periods ranging from 2 to 94 h. It was found that the formation of glucose can be described by summation of two parallel first order reactions. The extent of hydrolysis at fixed time increases with increasing enzyme dosage in a hyperbolic function. From the empirical data it is possible to calculate the fractions of easily and difficult hydrolyzable cellulose and the digestability which could maximally be obtained at infinite enzyme loadings. In the system Sigmacell 50 and Celluclast the easily and difficult hydrolyzable components are 43.0 and 57.0%, respectively, and the maximum digestability at 94 h is 82.6%. Poplar wood, steam treated at 200 degrees , 220 degrees , and 240 degrees C, showed with Celluclast at 24 h a maximum digestability (weight percentage of wood degraded to glucose) of 43.9, 64.9, and 68.0%. The relationships derived from experimental data allow one to compare objectively the effectiveness of different cellulase enzymes and different pretreatments.     

A new species of pagamea (Rubiaceae) from the Brazilian Guayana

Pagamea aracaënsis Boom, endemic to Serra Aracá, Brazil is described and illustrated, and its relationship toP. anisophylla Standley & Steyerm, is discussed.     

Brown adipose tissue, liver, and diet-induced thermogenesis in cafeteria diet-fed rats

Diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT) in young rats overeating a "cafeteria" (CAF) diet of palatable human foods is characterized by a chronic, propranolol-inhibitable elevation in resting metabolic rate (VO2) and is associated with various changes in brown adipose tissue (BAT) that have been taken as evidence for BAT as the effector of DIT. But direct evidence for participation of BAT in DIT has been lacking. By employing a nonocclusive cannula to sample the venous effluent of interscapular BAT (IBAT) for analysis of its O2 content and measuring tissue blood flow with microspheres, we accomplished direct determination (Fick principle) of the O2 consumption of BAT in conscious CAF rats. In comparison with normophagic controls fed chow, the CAF rats exhibited a 43% increase in metabolizable energy intake, reduced food efficiency, a 22% elevation in resting VO2 at 28 degrees C (thermoneutrality) or 24 degrees C (housing temperature), and characteristic changes in the properties of their BAT (e.g., increased mass, protein content and mitochondrial GDP binding). They also exhibited the greater metabolic response to exogenous noradrenaline characteristic of CAF rats and the near elimination by propranolol of their elevation in VO2. By the criterion of their elevated VO2, the CAF rats were exhibiting DIT at the time of the measurements of BAT blood flow and blood O2 levels. However, BAT O2 consumption was found to be no greater in the CAF rats than in the controls at either 28 or 24 degrees C. At 28 degrees C it accounted for less than 1% of whole body VO2; at 24 degrees C it increased to about 10% of overall VO2 in both diet groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Experimental autoimmune thyroiditis in mice chronically treated from birth with anti-IgM antibodies

The role of T lymphocytes in the pathogenesis of experimental autoimmune thyroiditis in mice is well established while the role of B lymphocytes is unclear. Mice with thyroid lesions have thyroglobulin antibodies whereas these antibodies can occur in mice immunized with Tg that do not develop thyroid lesions. To determine whether thyroglobulin antibodies are necessary for the development of the thyroid infiltrates with mononuclear cells, which are characteristic for experimental autoimmune thyroiditis, AKR mice chronically treated from birth with goat anti-mouse IgM antibodies were immunized with mouse thyroglobulin in Freund's complete adjuvant when they were 7 weeks old. Control mice, similarly immunized, were chronically injected from birth with normal goat gamma-globulin. Three weeks after immunization, all mice were sacrificed, thyroglobulin antibodies in the serum were measured by hemagglutination assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and thyroid pathology was assessed. The serum concentration of IgG and IgM, the percentage of B and T lymphocytes in the spleen (flow cytometry), and the in vitro proliferative response of spleen lymphocytes to stimulation by PHA, LPS, and Tg were also measured. All mice treated with anti-IgM antibodies did not have detectable thyroglobulin antibodies but 63% of these mice and 88% of control mice (all of which had thyroglobulin antibodies) had thyroid lesions. Mice treated with anti-IgM antibodies that did not have thyroid lesions had a more pronounced depression of B lymphocytes than similarly treated mice that had thyroid lesions. These experiments suggest that thyroglobulin antibodies are not necessary for the development of thyroid infiltrates with mononuclear cells. B lymphocytes could still participate in the production of experimental autoimmune thyroiditis by presenting thyroglobulin to helper T lymphocytes.