A new biallelic DNA polymorphism of the human COL5A1 gene

A cDNA probe of the human COL5A1 gene detects a frequent biallelic PstI polymorphism. Allele A has a frequency of 54% whereas that of allele B is 46%. This restriction fragment length polymorphism provides a useful marker for linkage analysis in 9q34.3.     

Rhodamine 123 as a probe of mitochondrial membrane potential: evaluation of proton flux through F(0) during ATP synthesis

Rhodamine 123 (RH-123) was used to monitor the membrane potential of mitochondria isolated from rat liver. Mitochondrial energization induces quenching of RH-123 fluorescence and the rate of fluorescence decay is proportional to the mitochondrial membrane potential. Exploiting the kinetics of RH-123 fluorescence quenching in the presence of succinate and ADP, when protons are both pumped out of the matrix driven by the respiratory chain complexes and allowed to diffuse back into the matrix through ATP synthase during ATP synthesis, we could obtain an overall quenching rate proportional to the steady-state membrane potential under state 3 condition. We measured the kinetics of fluorescence quenching by adding succinate and ADP in the absence and presence of oligomycin, which abolishes the ADP-driven potential decrease due to the back-flow of protons through the ATP synthase channel, F(0). As expected, the initial rate of quenching was significantly increased in the presence of oligomycin, and conversely preincubation with subsaturating concentrations of the uncoupler carbonyl cyanide p-trifluoro-metoxyphenilhydrazone (FCCP) induced a decreased rate of quenching. N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD) behaved similarly to oligomycin in increasing the rate of quenching. These findings indicate that RH-123 fluorescence quenching kinetics give reliable and sensitive evaluation of mitochondrial membrane potential, complementing steady-state fluorescence measurements, and provide a mean to study proton flow from the mitochondrial intermembrane space to the matrix through the F(0) channel.     

Mechanisms of endothelial dysfunction with development of type 1 diabetes mellitus: role of insulin and C-peptide

Complications associated with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (type-1diabetes) primarily represent vascular dysfunction that has its origin in the endothelium. While many of the vascular changes are more accountable in the late stages of type-1diabetes, changes that occur in the early or initial functional stages of this disease may precipitate these later complications. The early stages of type-1diabetes are characterized by a diminished production of both insulin and C-peptide with a significant hyperglycemia. During the last decade numerous speculations and theories have been developed to try to explain the mechanisms responsible for the selective changes in vascular reactivity and/or tone and the vascular permeability changes that characterize the development of type-1diabetes. Much of this research has suggested that hyperglycemia and/or the lack of insulin may mediate the observed functional changes in both endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle. Recent studies suggest several possible mechanisms that might be involved in the observed decreases in vascular nitric oxide (NO) availability with the development of type-1 diabetes. In addition more recent studies have indicated a direct role for both endogenous insulin and C-peptide in the amelioration of the observed endothelial dysfunction. These results suggest a synergistic action between insulin and C-peptide that facilitates increase NO availability and may suggest new clinical treatment modalities for type-1 diabetes mellitus.     

Bone medullary arterioles from ovariectomized rats have smaller baseline diameters but normal eNOS expression and NO-mediated dilation

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that endogenous estrogens decrease the expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in resistance-size bone arterioles, thereby reducing endothelium-dependent vasodilator function. Sexually mature female rats were ovariectomized to reduce endogenous estrogens. Age-matched female rats served as controls. Seven to ten days after ovariectomy, bone marrow tissue was collected from the femoral canal. Immuno-histochemistry was performed to detect expression of estrogen receptors, alpha and beta and eNOS. eNOS protein content in medullary bone arterioles was compared using Western blot analysis. Endothelial cell function was assessed by quantitating the dilation of isolated, pressurized bone arterioles in response to acetylcholine. The results indicate that the endothelium of bone arterioles from ovariectomized and control rats express ER-alpha, ER-beta and eNOS. eNOS protein content in the two groups of arterioles did not differ. However, the baseline diameter of arterioles from ovariectomized rats (63+/-4 microm) was significantly smaller than the diameter of arterioles from control rats (75+/-3 microm, p<0.05). The two groups of arterioles dilated equally in response to acetylcholine. L-NAME, an inhibitor of eNOS, almost completely abolished the dilator responses to acetylcholine, but not to sodium nitroprusside. L-Arginine restored acetylcholine-induced dilation after L-NAME treatment. Thus, arteriole dilation to acetylcholine appears to be mediated almost exclusively by NO. The smaller diameter of arterioles from ovariectomized rats suggests that endogenous estrogens exert a significant dilator influence on bone arterioles. However, the dilator influence does not appear to be mediated by an increase in eNOS expression or enhanced NO-dependent vasodilation. These results indicate that estrogens do not decrease eNOS expression or diminish NO-mediated dilation of bone medullary arterioles.     

Substrate-induced conformational changes of the mitochondrial oxoglutarate carrier: a spectroscopic and molecular modelling study

The structural and dynamic properties of the oxoglutarate carrier were investigated by introducing a single tryptophan in the Trp-devoid carrier in position 184, 190 or 199 and by monitoring the fluorescence spectra in the presence and absence of the substrate oxoglutarate. In the absence of substrate, the emission maxima of Arg190Trp, Cys184Trp and Leu199Trp are centered at 342, 345 and 348 nm, respectively, indicating that these residues have an increasing degree of solvent exposure. The emission intensity of the Arg190Trp and Cys184Trp mutants is higher than that of Leu199Trp. Addition of substrate increases the emission intensity of Leu199Trp, but not that of Cys184Trp and Arg190Trp. A 3D model of the oxoglutarate carrier was built using the structure of the ADP/ATP carrier as a template and was validated with the experimental results available in the literature. The model identifies Lys122 as the most likely candidate for the quenching of Trp199. Consistently, the double mutant Lys122Ala-Leu199Trp exhibits a higher emission intensity than Leu199Trp and does not display further fluorescence enhancement in response to substrate addition. Substitution of Lys122 with Cys and evaluation of its reactivity with a sulphydryl reagent in the presence and absence of substrate confirms that residue 122 is masked by the substrate, likely through a substrate-induced conformational change.     

5-Alkyl-2-alkylamino-6-(2,6-difluorophenylalkyl)-3,4-dihydropyrimidin-4(3H)-ones, a new series of potent, broad-spectrum non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors belonging to the DABO family

2-Alkylamino-6-[1-(2,6-difluorophenyl)alkyl]-3,4-dihydro-5-alkylpyrimidin-4(3H)-ones (F(2)-NH-DABOs) 4, 5 belonging to the dihydro-alkoxy-benzyl-oxopyrimidine (DABO) family and bearing different alkyl- and arylamino side chains at the C(2)-position of the pyrimidine ring were designed as active against wild type (wt) human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and some relevant HIV-1 mutants. Biological evaluation indicated the importance of the further anchor point of compounds 4, 5 into the non-nucleoside binding site (NNBS): newly synthesized compounds were highly active against both wild type and the Y181C HIV-1 strains. In anti-wt HIV-1 assay the potency of amino derivatives did not depend on the size or shape of the C(2)-amino side chain, but it associated with the presence of one or two methyl groups (one at the pyrimidine C(5)-position and the other at the benzylic carbon), being thymine, alpha-methyluracil or alpha-methylthymine derivatives almost equally active in reducing wt HIV-1-induced cytopathogenicity in MT-4 cells. Against the Y181C mutant strain, 2,6-difluorobenzyl-alpha-methylthymine derivatives 4d, 5h'-n' showed the highest potency and selectivity among tested compounds, both a properly sized C(2)-NH side chain and the presence of two methyl groups (at C(5) and benzylic positions) being crucial for high antiviral action.     

Adiponectin expression in human epicardial adipose tissue in vivo is lower in patients with coronary artery disease

BACKGROUND: Intra-peritoneal adipose tissue is recognized as a predictor of metabolic syndrome and may contribute to the risk for cardiovascular disease by the production of adipocytokines, including adiponectin. Nevertheless, there is no knowledge on whether other visceral depots of adipose tissue, including the epicardial fat, have any metabolically active role, including production of adiponectin. AIM OF THE STUDY: We sought to evaluate adiponectin protein expression in epicardial adipose tissue in vivo both in patients with severe coronary artery disease (CAD) and in subjects without CAD. METHODS: Twenty-two patients were enrolled for the study. We selected 16 patients who underwent elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery for critical CAD, 5 who underwent surgery for valve replacement and 1 for correction of an interatrial defect. Epicardial adipose tissue biopsy samples were obtained before the initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass. Adiponectin protein level in epicardial adipose tissue was evaluated by Western blotting. RESULTS: Adiponectin protein value, expressed as adiponectin/actin ratio, in epicardial adipose tissue was significantly lower in patients with severe CAD than in those without CAD (1.42 +/- 0.77 vs 2.36 +/- 0.84 p = 0.02, 95% CI 0.64-1.74). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed for the first time that human epicardial adipose tissue expresses adiponectin. Adiponectin expression is significantly lower in epicardial fat isolated from patients with CAD.     

Extracellular Muscle Myosin II Promotes Sensory Axon Formation

Myosin II is an intracellular force-generating enzyme with no known extracellular action. In the course of experiments involving trituration loading of skeletal myosin II into embryonic sensory neurons we observed that extracellular application of myosin II to neurons resulted in a robust increase in the number of axons initiated by each neuron, but did not alter the rate of axon extension. Substratum bound myosin II in the presence of laminin was sufficient to elicit increases in axon formation. However, in the absence of laminin, extracellular myosin II alone was not sufficient to promote axon formation, although it allowed neuron survival in the presence of neurotrophin. Myosin II promoted the attachment of neurons to the substratum in the absence or presence of laminin. In addition to promoting the initiation of axons, extracellular myosin II also increased the frequency of axon collateral branching. Finally, extracellular myosin II did not affect growth cone collapse in response to semaphorin-IIIA, but attenuated the inhibitory action of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans on axon extension. Surprisingly, these results demonstrate that extracellular myosin II promotes attachment of neurons and increases axon formation and branching. The potential significance of these observations is discussed in the context of myosin II release from injured muscle and a previous demonstration of extracellular myosin II association with the extracellular matrix.