Metabolic heterogeneity of glycogen in hepatocytes of patients with liver cirrhosis

Concentrations of the total glycogen (TG) and of its labile and stable fractions (LF and SF, respectively) were determined in hepatocytes of portal and central zones of the normal human liver and in the liver of patients with cirrhosis of viral and alcohol etiology. Using the PAS reaction, TG and its LF and SF were revealed in histological sections of the material obtained by liver punction biopsies. Concentrations of TG and its fractions were measured by television cytophotometry. In liver cirrhosis, concentrations of TG, LF, and SF in both zones of the hepatic lobule were much higher than in the normal liver. The ratio between hepatocyte TG concentration in the portal zone and that in the central zone (P/C ratio), both in norm and in viral cirrhosis, exceeds 1.0 to reach, respectively, 1.26 +/- 0.02 and 1.03 +/- 0.01. The glycogen fraction composition in cells of both liver lobule zones in viral cirrhosis does not significantly differ from that in norm. On the contrary, in the liver of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis, the P/C ratio falls to 0.82 +/- 0.02 to be accompanied by qualitative changes in glycogen composition.     

Cytofluorimetric study of the glycogen content in hepatocytes of varying ploidy in adult rats]

A combined method, that allows measuring glycogen and DNA contents in one of the same cell, was applied for quantitative determination of these in mono- and binucleate hepatocytes with different ploidy obtained from adult rats. The mean glycogen content was shown to increase proportionally to the genome number within the changes of the hepatocyte ploidy from 2 to 8c.     

Conditions of periodic oxidation in the determination of the fluorescent PAS reaction]

The effect of temperature, pH, and concentration of potassium periodate solution on the intensity of fluorescence PAS-reaction was studied. The reaction was shown to be most specific in respect to glycogen at the temperature of oxidizer 4 degrees C (optimal time of oxidation being 10-12 hr). Similar results were also obtained at 20 degrees (optimal time of oxidation being 1.5 hr). Under these conditions the curve of dependence of the reaction intensity on the time of auramine-SO2 treatment double-stepped character which can be due to the presence of two glycogen fractions in hepatic cells. The fluorescence PAS-reaction intensity varied in significantly when the periodate concentration changed from 0.8 to 1.2% (from 0.2 to 0.8%) it gradually increased and pH -from 2.0 to 6.0.     

Changes in the expression of monoaminergic genes under the influence of repeated experience of agonistic interactions: from behavior to gene

The role of genetic and environmental factors as well as brain neurochemistry in regulating aggressive and submissive behaviors in animals are considered. We present a review of data on changes in brain monoaminergic activity (synthesis, catabolism, receptors) and on the expression of monoaminergetic genes under repeated daily agonistic confrontations in male mice. A repeated experience of aggression was shown to result in the total activation of the dopaminergic system and the inhibition of the serotonergic one. This was accompanied by a decrease in the mRNA level of the catechol-O-methyltransferase gene in the midbrain and an increase of the mRNA level of the dopamine transporter and tyrosine hydroxylase genes in the ventral tegmental area of aggressive male mice. Repeated experience of social defeats produced dynamic changes in the serotonergic system of some brain areas and an increase of the mRNA level of the serotonin transporter and monoamine oxidase A genes in the midbrain raphe nuclei. Theoretical and methodological possibilities of the proposed ethological approach for studying molecular mechanisms of agonistic behavior are discussed in the context of the fundamental problem of investigating the ways of regulation from behavior to gene.     

Lorenz was right, or does aggressive energy accumulate?

Evidence supporting the fact that inherited mechanisms of regulation of aggressive behavior as a result of a repeated experience of aggression ending in victories are transformed into pathological mechanisms based on accumulation of neurochemical shifts in the brain, enhancing aggressiveness, and forming aggressive motivation in aggressive winners. This confirms the concept by Lorenz on the existence of a mechanism (but not instinct) of a spontaneous accumulation of aggressive energy that needs a discharge and formation of permanent attraction to manifestation of aggression.     

Na+,K+-ATPase and Ca2+-ATPase isozymes in malignant neoplasms

A current state of researches on mechanisms of ion homeostasis regulation in the specific conditions of the uncontrolled malignant tumor growth (mainly in carcinomas) concerning the contribution of Na+,K+-ATPase, plasma membrane and sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPases has been reviewed. Particular attention has been focused on the molecular and biochemical links providing the redistribution of the transporting ATPases isozyme pattern for the regulatory requirements of the cell signaling pathways at stable proliferation and viability in malignancy.