Normal levels of zinc and sulfhydryls in morphologically abnormal populations of spermatozoa from moderately zinc-deficient rats

Zinc is required for spermatogenesis in mammals and is concentrated in the dense outer fibers of the sperm tail, where it is associated with cysteine-rich protein. To investigate the effects of marginal zinc deficiency upon dense fiber formation and upon sperm quality in general, weanling Sprague-Dawley rats were administered a commercial low-zinc diet, supplemented with phytate, for approximately 60 days, and were compared with controls fed the same diet plus 50 ppm zinc in their drinking water. The following characteristics of the zinc-deficient rats were significantly lower than in the controls: body weight, testis weight, epididymis weight, seminal vesicle weight, sperm content of the cauda epididy-midis, sperm motility, testis zinc, and hair zinc. By contrast, the levels of sperm zinc and sperm sulfhydryls were the same in the zinc-deficient and control rats. The zinc-deficient rats displayed a highly variable spectrum of sperm defects, which included decapitation, disorganized and redundant tail elements, and superfluous cytoplasm. However, abortive dense fiber development was only rarely observed. Apparently, even when availability of zinc is limited and reduced sperm production ensues, elaboration of dense fibers rich in zinc and sulfhydryls continues to be obligatory for the completion of spermiogenesis.     

Biochemical and morphological characterization of a plasma membrane-enriched fraction from bovine parathyroid cells

A fraction of enriched plasma membranes from bovine parathyroid cells has been prepared by differential centrifugation. Biochemical characterization shows that this fraction has a specific activity enrichment of 7.2-fold in ouabain-sensitive Na+-K+ ATPase, and 3.5-fold in 5'-nucleotidase. Less than 4% of the total mitochondria and lysosomes are present within the plasma membranes, while microsomal contamination accounts for 14% of total specific activity. Parathyroid hormone radioimmunoassay also reveals the presence of some secretory granules within the plasma membrane fraction. The characteristic morphological aspect of the unusual surface membrane is shown by freeze-fracture electron microscopy. In the enriched pellets, vesicles identified as having a plasma membrane origin have variable sizes, and 50% show an inside-out conformation. Even though the plasma membrane fraction described herein is not absolutely free from contamination by other subcellular components, this protocol represents the first attempt to purify surface membrane from parathyroid tissue and provide the starting material for understanding, at a molecular level, the properties of extracellular Ca2+ regulation and its coupling with secretion of parathyroid hormone.     

A method for preparing two-dimensional surface-spreads of synaptonemal complexes from plant meiocytes for light and electron microscopy

A method has been developed for preparing two-dimensional surface spreads of synaptonemal complexes (SCs) from plant meiocytes for examination by light and/or electron microscopy. Clear, well-spread preparations of SCs and unpaired axial cores have been obtained from a range of meiotic prophase I stages (leptotene to pachytene) from Allium and Secale meiocytes.     

Interaction of formycin A-5'-triphosphate with pyruvate carboxylase

Formycin triphosphate (FTP), a fluorescent analogue of ATP, is a competitive inhibitor of chicken liver pyruvate carboxylase with respect to ATP. The chicken liver enzyme is unable to utilise FTP as a substrate at a measureable rate, but FTP is a poor substrate for the sheep liver enzyme. When FTP binds to the enzyme, its fluorescence is enhanced and in this way the formation of enzyme-FTP complexes can be monitored. Using this property of FTP, the effect of Mg2+ and acetyl-CoA on the binding of nucleoside triphosphates to the chicken liver enzyme was examined. Mg2+ was found to enhance the binding of FTP whilst acetyl-CoA reduced the fluorescence intensity of a mixture of Mg2+, enzyme and FTP. Most probably, this was caused by a conformational change in the enzyme which changed the environment of the fluorophore.     

The carboxybiotin complex of pyruvate carboxylase. A kinetic analysis of the effects of Mg2+ ions on its stability and on its reaction with pyruvate.

The enzyme-[14C] carboxybiotin complex of sheep liver pyruvate carboxylase was isolated and the reaction between this and pyruvate was studied by using the quenched-flow rapid-reaction technique. At 0.5 degrees C the reaction was 80% complete within 180 ms. The reaction was monophasic and obeyed pseudo-first-order kinetics. Increasing concentrations of Mg2+ caused a decrease in the magnitude of the observed pseudo-first-order rate constant. Throughout the carboxylation of pyruvate, the rate-limiting step of the reaction occurred after the dissociation of carboxybiotin from the first sub-site, whereas in the slow phase of the reaction with 2-oxobutyrate this dissociation is the rate-limiting step. It is possible, from the reaction scheme proposed, that the inhibition of overall enzymic activity by high concentrations of Mg2+ could be caused by the transfer of the carboxy group from biotin to pyruvate becoming rate-limiting. The efficacy of a substrate as a signal for the movement of carboxybiotin from the first sub-site is reflected by the amount that the effective affinity of the enzyme- carboxybiotin complex for Mg2+ is lowered. In the presence of the substrates tested, the affinities of the carboxybiotin complex can be arranged in order of increasing magnitude, i.e.: (formula; see text). The kinetics of the decay of the enzyme-[14C] carboxybiotin complex at 0 degree C in the absence of substrates are similar to the reaction with pyruvate except that the carboxybiotin is also unstable in the first sub-site, to some degree. This similarity allows for the proposal of a general scheme for the decarboxylation of the enzyme- carboxybiotin complex in the presence or in the absence of substrates.     

Activation of ADP-ribosyltransferase in polyamine-depleted mammalian cells.

Mammalian fibroblasts were cultured in the presence of alpha-methylornithine and/or methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone), which inhibit the synthesis of polyamines. This led to a decrease in the cellular content of the polyamines spermine and spermidine by up to 60% when the cells were grown in the presence of both drugs together. The activity of the chromatin-associated enzyme ADP-ribosyltransferase was enhanced 2-3-fold in the drug-treated cells when measured in cells subsequently rendered permeable to exogenous NAD+, the substrate for the transferase. This is a novel and surprising observation, since the transferase is invariably activated by the addition of polyamines to a suitable incubation system such as permeabilized cells, isolated nuclei or the purified enzyme. We found no evidence that the activation was due to the appearance of DNA strand breaks, by using a variety of procedures including both neutral [the 'nucleoid' technique of Cook & Brazell [(1975) J. Cell Sci. 19, 261-279; (1976) J. Cell Sci. 22, 287-302]] and alkaline sucrose-gradient centrifugation and gel electrophoresis, suggesting that this therefore may not be the only means of regulating the activity of ADP-ribosyltransferase and that polyamines may have a role to play in this regard in vivo.     

Lipid-mediated impairment of normal energy metabolism in the isolated perfused diabetic rat heart studied by phosphorus-31 NMR and chemical extraction

The relationship between extracellular palmitate and the accumulation of long-chain fatty-acyl coenzyme A with that of high-energy phosphate metabolism was investigated in the isolated perfused diabetic rat heart. Hearts were perfused with a glucose/albumin buffer supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1.2 or 2.0 mM palmitate. ³¹P-NMR was used to analyze phosphocreatine and ATP metabolism during 1 h of constant-flow recirculation perfusion. At the end of perfusion, frozen samples were taken for chemical analysis of high-energy phosphates and the free and acylated fractions of coenzyme A and carnitine. Perfusion of diabetic hearts with palmitate, unlike control hearts, caused a time-dependent and concentration-dependent reduction in ATP, despite normal and constant phosphocreatine. Concentrations of acid-soluble coenzyme A, long-chain-acyl coenzyme A and total tissue coenzyme A were elevated in palmitate-perfused diabetic hearts, while the total tissue carnitine pool was decreased. Increases in long-chain-acyl coenzyme A correlated with the reduction in myocardial ATP. This reduction in ATP could not be adequately explained by alterations in heart rate, perfusion pressure or vascular resistance.     

Inhibition of (3H)vitellogenin uptake by isolated amphibian oocytes injected with cytoplasm from progesterone-treated mature oocytes.

Fully grown meiotically immature (germinal vesicle stage) amphibian oocytes incorporate radioactive protein ([³H]vitellogenin) following in vitro culture. In vitro exposure of such oocytes to exogenous progesterone induces germinal vesicle breakdown and inhibits incorporation of vitellogenin. In the present studies, we have investigated the effects of cytoplasm taken from mature and immature oocytes on incorporation of vitellogenin and nuclear breakdown following microinjection of this material into immature oocytes. Vitellogenin incorporation was markedly suppressed in oocytes which underwent nuclear breakdown following injection with cytoplasm from mature oocytes. Incorporation of vitellogenin into oocytes which did not mature after injection with cytoplasm taken from mature oocytes resembled that seen in oocytes injected with immature cytoplasm. The degree of suppression of vitellogenin incorporation following cytoplasmic injections was similar to that seen in uninjected oocytes treated with progesterone. Oocytes injected with cytoplasm obtained from immature oocytes did not undergo either nuclear breakdown or changes in vitellogenin incorporation. The results suggest that cytoplasm obtained from mature oocytes contains a factor(s) which alters directly or indirectly the capacity of the oocyte cell membrane to incorporate vitellogenin. Enucleated immature oocytes also incorporated [³H]vitellogenin, and injection of such oocytes with mature, but not immature, oocyte cytoplasm suppressed vitellogenin incorporation. Suppressive effects of injected cytoplasm thus appear to be mediated through physiological changes in the recipient oocyte cytoplasm rather than the nuclear component.     

Blockade of renin or angiotensin for understanding human hypertension: a comparison of propranolol, saralasin and converting enzyme blockade.

To understand the role of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in the pathogenesis of human hypertension, in serial studies we have blocked the system using three different pharmacologic probes: 1) reduction of renin secretion by administration of the beta receptor blocker, propranolol; 2) blockade of the action of angiotensin II by infusion of saralasin, a competitive antagonist of angiotensin II; and 3) blockade of the enzymatic conversion of angiotensin I to angiotensin II by infusing a nonapeptide competitive inhibitor. The depressor responses induced by either propranolol or the nonapeptide expose a significant to major involvement of excess renin--angiotensin in maintaining the hypertension of some 50 to 70% of common forms of hypertension including "essential" hypertension. This subgroup includes nearly all patients with high or "normal" renin--sodium profiles. The considerably lower estimates for a renin factor in essential hypertension suggested by saralasin testing now appear due to the partial agonism of this drug. Further studies are required to determine whether this relative or absolute excess of renin secretion is primarily involved in the hypertension and if not why it fails to shut itself off. Similar studies of normal subjects are also needed to determine whether renin support of blood pressure is proportionately greater or less than in hypertensive subjects. Meanwhile the validation provided by these three different pharmacologic probes portends a burgeoning clinical role for renin--sodium profiling not only in screening for renal and adrenal cortical hypertensions but also for characterizing the vasoconstrictor and volume elements involved in various individual patients and thus enabling more specific treatments of the various subtypes of essential hypertension.