Glutathione redox cycle enzyme activities in erythrocytes of multiple sclerosis patients

The erythrocytes of multiple sclerosis patients with elevated superoxide dismutase levels were tested for the activities of glutathione redox cycle enzymes. No differences were observed between multiple sclerosis and normal control erythrocytes when the activities were referred to either hemoglobin concentration or lactate dehydrogenase content. Our results indicate that no adaptative changes occur in the activities of glutathione redox cycle enzymes in erythrocytes of multiple sclerosis subjects as a consequence of an elevated superoxide dismutase level.     

New C-nucleoside analogs by dehydration of 1-benzyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-6,6-dimethyl-2-(d-galacto-pentitol-1-yl)-indol-4-one

The reaction between 2-(benzylamino)-2-deoxy-d-glycero-l-gluco-heptose and 5,5-dimethyl-1,3-cyclohexanedione yields 1-benzyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-6,6-dimethyl-2-(d-galacto-pentitol-1-yl)-indol-4-one (2). Acid-catalyzed, intramolecular dehydration of 2 under kinetically controlled conditions gives 1-benzyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-2-α-d-lyxofuranosyl-6,6-dimethylindol-4-one; the anomeric configuration of this compound is only suggested. When the dehydration reaction is conducted under thermodynamically controlled conditions, it produces a 1:1 mixture of the α- and β-d-lyxopyranosyl compounds. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by chemical and physical methods.     

Spontaneously active and ATPMg-dependent protein phosphatase activity in vascular smooth muscle

A spontaneously active (Mr greater than 350,000) and an ATPMg-dependent phosphatase (Mr congruent to 140,000) were identified in bovine aortic smooth muscle. The spontaneously active phosphatase was effective in dephosphorylating both phosphorylase a (240nmol32P/min/mg) and phosphorylated myosin light chains (1000nmol32P/min/mg). In contrast, the ATPMg-dependent phosphatase was only effective in dephosphorylating phosphorylase a (400nmol32P/min/mg). Phosphorylase phosphatase activity of the ATPMg-dependent enzyme was suppressed by the well-characterized modulator protein (inhibitor-2), whereas the activity of the spontaneously active enzyme was unaffected. The aortic spontaneously active phosphatase did not convert to an ATPMg-dependent form when it was stored at 4 degrees or incubated at 30 degrees C in either the presence or absence of modulator protein. These findings suggest that spontaneous and ATPMg-dependent phosphatase activities described in these studies are probably ascribable to different enzymes. Since both phosphorylase and myosin light chains are phosphorylated when smooth muscle contracts these phosphatases may participate in coordinating arterial contractility and metabolism.     

Factors Determining Annual Changes in Bacterial Photosynthetic Pigments in Holomictic Lake Cisó, Spain

The pigments and biomass of anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria were measured during a year cycle in Lake Cisó (Girona, Spain). Two genera, Chromatium and Chlorobium, accounted for most of the bacterial population. The bacteria were present throughout the year despite complete mixing of the lake during fall and winter. This was possible because the sulfide production in the sediment was high enough to make the lake anaerobic to the very surface. Solar radiation, temperature, and biomass of Chromatium sp. were found to be important in determining pigment concentrations by correlation analysis. Sulfide concentration and biomass of Chlorobium spp. were found to be unimportant. A path analysis was performed to determine what percentage of the variability of pigments could be explained by the variables studied. Since a high percentage could be explained, it was possible to conclude that solar radiation, temperature, and biomass of Chromatium sp. were the main variables.     

The met-enkephalin analog FK 33-824 and naloxone do not directly influence cortisol secretion by cultured human adrenocortical cells

Systemic administration of the enkephalin analog FK 33.824 was previously shown to inhibit ACTH secretion in man. In this study, the direct action of this analog on cortisol release was studied. The enkephalin analog (1 uM and 10 uM) did not influence basal or ACTH-stimulated cortisol production by cultured isolated adrenocortical cells prepared from the hyperplastic adrenal glands from three patients with Cushing's disease. Naloxone (10 uM) had also no direct effect on cortisol release. It is concluded that the met-enkephalin analog used in this study and naloxone do affect the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis via a central effect.     

Increased GH responsiveness to dopamine receptor stimulation in alcohol addicts during the late withdrawal syndrome

In humans the release of growth hormone (GH) elicited by dopamine (DA) and DA agonists may represent a reliable model to assess change in sensitivity of DA receptors. We now report that in chronic alcoholics, 4–7 days after the suspension of alcohol consumption, the increase of GH response to DA infusion was higher than that seen in non alcoholic volunteers. The specificity of this GH response to DA administration was demonstrated by the use of domperidone, a novel peripheral antagonist of DA receptors. These results suggest the development of hyper-responsiveness of DA receptors involved in the control of GH secretion in chronic alcoholics during the later phases of the “withdrawal syndrome”.     

Glucose compensation, serum lipids and thyroid hormones (rT3 and rT3/T3 ratio in non-insulin-dependent (type 2) diabetics: 2

In 45 type 2 diabetics it was unable to be found a relation between the plasma lipids and the fasting blood glucose (G), HbA1c, reverse T3 (rT3), rT3/T3 ratio, and relative body weight (R.B.W.). The conclusion was reached that the alteration of the lipoprotein metabolism and the thyroid hormones in type 2 diabetics could be primitive and independent from the availability of the insulin.     

Non-linear filtering with discontinuous observations and applications to life sciences

In various applications one faces the problem of estimating a signal from discontinuous observations. For example, in biomedical applications the signal may be the ‘state’ of a given organ and one observes through an external counter the amount of radioactivity sequestered by the organ after injection of a radioactive tracer. Here the problem is studied in the context of nonlinear filtering when the signal can be modelled as either a random variable or a diffusion process, and the observations have a continuous and a purely discontinuous component; both components may be affected by the signal. When the signal is a random variable an explicitly computable solution is obtained; for the diffusion case the solution is given as a sequence of approximating filters that can be computed recursively.     

Use of trypsin to monitor conformational changes of mitochondrial adenosinetriphosphatase induced by nucleotides and phosphate

Upon incubation with trypsin, the adenosine-5'-triphosphatase (ATPase) activity of the nucleotide-depleted F1 is first rapidly and slightly activated and then slowly inactivated. The first phase is simultaneous with the conversion of the alpha subunit into an alpha' fragment which migrates between alpha and beta on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The second phase is related to the proteolysis of the three main subunits, alpha', beta, and gamma. Preincubation of the enzyme with low concentrations of adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP) or adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) does not modify the slight increase of activity but efficiently prevents the inactivation induced by trypsin. The alpha leads to alpha' conversion is not affected whereas the further proteolysis of alpha', beta, and gamma does not occur. On the contrary, even high concentrations of GDP only slightly lower the trypsin-induced inactivation. The presence of endogenous tightly bound nucleotides also partially lowers the sensitivity to trypsin since F1 is less rapidly inactivated and proteolyzed than the nucleotide-depleted F1. Phosphate, at high concentrations, both slows down the first phase of activation and simultaneous alpha leads to alpha' conversion and prevents the second phase of inactivation and proteolysis of the main subunits. Pretreatment of the nucleotide-depleted F1 with trypsin under conditions where the ATPase activity is largely inhibited only slightly modifies, however, the hysteretic behavior of the enzyme: the ADP binding and the concomitant hysteretic inhibition of the residual activity are not markedly diminished. The purified ATPase-ATP synthase complex binds very few ADP's and is not hysteretically inhibited. Its ATPase activity is rapidly activated but not further inhibited by trypsin. Preincubation of the complex with ADP does not modify the effects of trypsin.     

Topography of the subunits of Micrococcus lysodeikticus F1-ATPase

Summary The combined use of proteolytic digestion and lactoperoxidase catalyzed labelling with [¹²⁵I] applied to membrane-bound or soluble pure F₁-ATPase from Micrococcus lysodeikticus has allowed us to establish the topography of its , , and subunits within the protein molecule and with respect to the plane of the membrane.The subunit is most externally located to the membrane bilayer looking towards the cytoplasmic face, a position consistent with its proposed catalytic role. The and subunits lie in an intermediate layer between the subunits and the membrane, in which the subunit occupies a central position within the F₁-ATPase molecule in contact with the subunit. The subunit appears to be tightly bound to the F₀ component of the ATPase complex, probably buried in the membrane bilayer. A molecular arrangement of M. lysodeikticus ATPase is proposed that, taking into account the subunit stoichiometry _{3 3 2 2} (MW 420 000), accommodates the role assigned to each subunit and most, if not all, the known properties of this bacterial energy-transducing protein.