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Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and pyruvate carboxylase in developing rat liver

1. Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and pyruvate carboxylase were measured in foetal, newborn and adult rat liver extracts by a radiochemical assay involving the fixation of [¹⁴C]bicarbonate. 2. Pyruvate-carboxylase activity in both foetal and adult liver occurs mainly in mitochondrial and nuclear fractions, with about 10% of the activity in the cytoplasm. 3. Similar studies of the intracellular distribution of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase show that more than 90% of the activity is in the cytoplasm. However, in the 17-day foetal liver about 90% of the activity is in mitochondria and nuclei. 4. Pyruvate-carboxylase activity in both particulate and soluble fractions is very low in the 17-day foetal liver and increases to near adult levels before birth. 5. Phosphoenolpyruvate-carboxykinase activity in the soluble cell fraction increases 25-fold in the first 2 days after birth. This same enzyme in the mitochondria has considerable activity in the foetal and adult liver and is lower in the newborn. 6. Kinetic and other studies on the properties of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase have shown no differences between the soluble and mitochondrial enzymes. 7. It is suggested that the appearance of the soluble phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase at birth initiates the rapid increase in overall gluconeogenesis at this stage.     

Identification of a mitochondrial protein associated with cytoplasmic male sterility in petunia.

The petunia fused gene (pcf), which is associated with cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS), is composed of sequences derived from atp9, coxII, and an unidentified reading frame termed urfS. To determine whether the pcf gene is expressed at the protein level, we produced antibodies to synthetic peptides specified by the coxII and urfS portions of the pcf gene. Anti-COXII peptide antibodies recognized petunia COXII but no other mitochondrial proteins. Anti-URF-S peptide antibodies recognized a 20-kilodalton protein present in both cytoplasmic male sterile and fertile lines and a protein with an apparent molecular mass of 25 kilodaltons present only in cytoplasmic male sterile lines. The 25-kilodalton protein was found to be synthesized by isolated mitochondria and to fractionate into both the soluble and membrane portions of disrupted mitochondria, whereas the 20-kilodalton protein was found only in the membrane fraction. The abundance of the 25-kilodalton protein was much lower in fertile plants carrying the cytoplasmic male sterile cytoplasm and a single dominant nuclear fertility restorer gene, Rf. Thus, the pcf gene is correlated with cytoplasmic male sterility not only by its co-segregation with the phenotype in somatic hybrids, but also by the modification of its expression at the protein level through the action of a nuclear gene that confers fertility.     

Prostacyclin contributes to inhibition of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction by alkalosis

The mechanism by which extracellular alkalosis inhibits hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction is unknown. We investigated whether the inhibition was due to intrapulmonary production of a vasodilator prostaglandin such as prostacyclin (PGI₂). Hypoxic vasoconstriction in isolated salt-solution-perfused rat lungs was blunted by both hypocapnic and NaHCO₃_induced alkalosis (perfusate pH increased from 7.3 to 7.7). The NaHCO₃-induced alkalosis was accompanied by a significant increase in the perfusate level of 6-keto-prostaglandin F_1α (6-keto-PGF_1α), an hydrolysis product of PGI₁. Meclofenamate, an inhibitor of cyclooxygenase, counteracted both the blunting of hypoxic vasoconstriction and the increased level of 6-keto-PGF_1α. In intact anesthetized dogs, hypocapnic alkalosis (blood pH increased from 7.4 to 7.5) blunted hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction before but not after administration of meclofenamate. In separate cultures of bovine pulmonary artery endothelial and smooth muscle cells stimulated by bradykinin, the incubation medium levels of 6-keto-PGF_1α were increased by both hypocapnia and NaHCO₃-induced alkalosis (medium pH increased from 7.4 to 7.7). These results suggest that inhibition of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction by alkalosis is mediated at least partly by PGI_2.     

CD4-CD8- T cells from mice with collagen arthritis display aberrant expression of type l K+ channels

Expression of voltage-gated K+ channels in mAb-defined T cell subsets from normal mice and mice with experimental autoimmune arthritis was studied with the patch-clamp whole-cell recording technique in combination with fluorescence microscopy. CD4+CD8- Th cells from DBA/1 LacJ mice with type II collagen arthritis expressed low levels of type n K+ channels, and CD4-CD8+ T cells (cytotoxic) showed small numbers of type l or n' K+ channels, like their phenotypic counterparts in normal mice. CD4-CD8-Thy-1.2+ (double negative or DN) T cells from the diseased mice, however, displayed an abundance of type l K+ channels compared to DN T cells in normal mice, or mice immunized with CFA. Furthermore, the aberrant expression of type l K+ channels correlated with the presence of active disease. DN T cells from mice with SLE, type-1 diabetes mellitus, and experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, also exhibited a high number of type l K+ channels. These results suggest that expression of numerous type l K+ channels may be a useful marker for DN T cells associated with these autoimmune disorders.     

Experimental avian PMV-2 infection in a domesticated wild host: daily behavior and effect on activity levels

Paramyxovirus type 2 (PMV-2) isolated from wild birds is often considered non-pathogenic, but nothing is known about its effects on overall behavior and fitness of free-flying birds. Domestically bred, African cut-throat finches (Amadina fasciata), a species from which PMV-2 has been isolated in the wild, were inoculated with a Central American field strain of PMV-2. Patterns of behavior were examined before and after viral challenge to quantify inapparent, sublethal effects of the disease. Infected birds demonstrated a significant decrease in activity (P = 0.01) followed by an apparent recovery period. Antibody titers confirmed infection in inoculated birds and indicated that sentinel birds did not become infected.     

Chemotherapy of experimental visceral leishmaniasis in the opossum

Visceral leishmaniasis is a severe chronic disease of people and animals. The disease is caused by several subspecies of a protozoal organism, Leishmania donovani. If not treated, visceral leishmaniasis is often fatal. The most commonly used chemotherapeutic agents to treat the disease are pentavalent antimonials, which can be toxic, must be administered by parenteral routes, and are sometimes ineffective. In this study, meglumine antimoniate, a pentavalent antimony, was compared with WR 6026, an 8-aminoquinoline derivative, as to antileishmanial efficacy. The results indicate that either of these 2 drugs are effective in the suppression of amastigotes in the liver and spleen of the opossum. Despite the marked parasite suppression in the liver and spleen of the infected opossums, the experimental disease was fatal in all of the infected opossums, regardless of the therapy.     

Effect of hyperoxia (PaO2 50-90 mmHg) on fetal breathing movements in the unanaesthetized fetal sheep

Hypoxia inhibits fetal breathing movements but after birth it stimulates breathing. These differences have long been thought to involve central nervous inhibitory mechanisms. Such mechanisms might exert a tonic inhibition of fetal breathing movements at normal fetal PaO2 and the rise in PaO2 at birth might lift this inhibitory effect. To test this hypothesis 7 fetal sheep were chronically instrumented at 125-130 days for recording electrocortical activity (ECoG), and the electromyograph (EMG) activity of the diaphragm and neck muscles. Catheters were placed in a fetal carotid and a brachial artery and in the fetal trachea. For an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation system a 12 F gauge silastic catheter was placed in the right atrium for draining fetal blood and a 9.6 F gauge catheter was placed in a carotid artery to return oxygenated blood. Three days after operation the fetuses were connected to the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation system and fetal PaO2 was raised to 65.2 +/- 4.4 mmHg (SEM) for 6 to 19 h without changing pH or PaCO2. Neither the incidence of high voltage ECoG (48.5 +/- SEM 2.0% vs 52.8 +/- 3.3%) nor of fetal breathing movements (37.3 +/- 2.6% vs 23.8 +/- 5.9%) changed during the periods of hyperoxia. Since fetal breathing movements did not become continuous, we conclude that the lower PaO2 in the fetus compared to the neonate does not exert a tonic inhibitory influence on fetal breathing movements.