Delta 5-3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in the bovine corpus luteum of estrous cycle: a quantitative histochemical study

Genital organs and blood were obtained from dairy cows at a local abattoir. 3 recently ovulated follicles and 20 corpora lutea of estrous cycle (CLC) were used for the quantitative enzyme histochemical demonstration of delta 5-3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3 beta-OHSDH), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PDH) activity, employing a computerized microscope photometer. Progesterone was determined in blood serum by radioimmunoassay. Luteal tissue was grouped into several stages of development according to micromorphological criteria. Activities per volume unit of 3 beta-OHSDH and SDH in large luteal cells (LLC), as well as in small luteal cells (SLC), and luteal tissue (LT), relative amounts of the 3 beta-OHSDH-positive tissue fraction (PLCC), and progesterone concentrations in blood serum exhibited a significant pattern corresponding to the morphological development of the endocrine gland. G-6-PDH showed an increase in activity per volume unit during tissue development lasting until the beginning of regressive changes, and as significant in LLC and LT. Activities per volume unit of 3 beta-OHSDH (p less than or equal to 0.001) and SDH (p less than or equal to 0.01) were higher in LLC than in SLC, indicating superior steroidogenic capacities, while G-6-PDH activity was distinctly higher in the latter (p less than or equal to 0.001). Almost all parameters tested were correlated positively. 3 beta-OHSDH and SDH exhibited a significantly positive correlation in LLC (p less than or equal to 0.01) and LT (p less than or equal to 0.001) during periods of measureable progesterone secretion. In SLC this correlation was nonsignificant (p greater than 0.05). G-6-PDH showed a relative poor correlation to 3 beta-OHSDH (LLC, p less than or equal to 0.05; LT, p less than or equal to 0.01) and SDH (LT, p less than or equal to 0.05). Enzyme activities in LLC as well as in SLC were generally positively correlated (p less than or equal to 0.001). All enzymes tested exhibited a significantly positive correlation with progesterone concentrations in blood serum. This was significant for SDH only during measurable progesterone secretion, and less marked for G-6-PDH.     

Absence of hepatic cytochrome P450bufI causes genetically deficient debrisoquine oxidation in man

The common genetic deficiency of drug oxidation known as debrisoquine/sparteine-type polymorphism was investigated with bufuralol as prototype substrate. In human liver microsomes the 1'-hydroxylation of bufuralol is catalyzed by two functionally distinct P-450 isozymes, the high-affinity/highly stereoselective P450bufI and the low-affinity/nonstereoselective P450bufII. We demonstrate that P450bufI is unique in hydroxylating bufuralol in a cumene hydroperoxide (CuOOH) mediated reaction whereas P450bufII is active only in the classical NADPH- and O2-supported monooxygenation. In microsomes of liver biopsies of in vivo phenotyped poor metabolizers of debrisoquine or sparteine, the CuOOH-mediated activity was drastically reduced. Rabbit antibodies against a rat P-450 isozyme with high bufuralol 1'-hydroxylase activity (P450db1) precipitated exclusively P450bufI-type activity from solubilized microsomes. Western blotting of microsomes with these antibodies revealed a close correlation between the immunoreactive protein and CuOOH-mediated (+)-bufuralol 1'-hydroxylation. No immunoreactive protein was detected in liver microsomes of in vivo phenotyped poor metabolizers. These data provide evidence for a specific deficiency of P450bufI and are consistent with the complete or almost complete absence of this protein in the liver of poor metabolizers.     

Hydrogen-1 nuclear magnetic resonance of the nitrogenase iron protein (Cp2) from Clostridium pasteurianum

Proton NMR spectra (250 MHz) of the nitrogenase iron protein from Clostridium pasteurianum (Cp2) were found to display 9 or 10 paramagnetically shifted resonances in the 15-50 ppm range. The most shifted resonances belonged to two approximately equal subsets having temperature dependences of opposite sign. The latter occurrence is consistent with the interaction of the corresponding protons with an antiferromagnetically coupled metal center. The number of proton resonances of Cp2, their positions, and their temperature dependences were similar to those observed in spectra of (4Fe-4S)+ ferredoxins, particularly those of the latter that contain a single tetranuclear cluster, such as the ferredoxin from Bacillus stearothermophilus. The effects of several adenine nucleotides on the paramagnetically shifted proton resonances of Cp2 have been investigated. Whereas MgAMP had no effect at all, MgADP and MgATP were found to induce different modifications, which in both cases involved approximately half only of the shifted proton resonances. These data suggest that nucleotide binding affects mainly one part of the iron-sulfur cluster. A remarkable feature of the spectra of Cp2 in the presence of MgATP is the grouping of the shifted proton resonances in sets of two or four having identical chemical shifts and temperature dependences. A nearly perfect 2-fold symmetry is thus suggested for the arrangement of the cysteine protons around the active site. These observations lend support to the proposal that the (4Fe-4S) cluster is held symmetrically between the two identical subunits and are consistent with the existence of two MgATP binding sites on nitrogenase iron proteins.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Developmental modulation of a glial cell-associated glycoprotein, 5B12, in an insect, Acheta domesticus

The expression of an insect (Acheta domesticus) adult glial cell-specific antigen, 5B12 undergoes major changes during development. The 5B12 antigen is detected as early as 20-25% of embryonic development, when immunoreactivity is distributed throughout the periphery, present at the luminal surface of epithelial cells which compose developing limb buds, sensory appendages, and the body cavity. The antigen is also localized on the cell surface of neural elements within commissural tracts in the embryonic CNS. 5B12 is secreted extracellularly in the periphery, where it is associated with the embryonic basal lamina in developing cercal sensory appendages. Luminal surface expression is transient, and disappears by 95% of embryonic development. As development proceeds, 5B12 distribution becomes more restricted, so that in the adult the antigen is predominantly associated with specific glial elements within the nervous system where it occurs as a specialized component of the extracellular matrix. The 5B12 antigen is also associated with discrete central and peripheral fiber tracts. Antigen 5B12 is present in whole embryos and in the adult CNS as a Mr 185-kDa glycoprotein. Distinct carbohydrate moieties with chondroitin sulfate-like properties are situated on the 5B12 epitope. Thus the glia-associated 5B12 macromolecule has the characteristics of a small proteoglycan. Based upon features of its distribution, pattern of spatiotemporal expression, and biochemical properties, it is speculated that 5B12 participates in events related sequentially to the development and the function of the insect nervous system.     

Separate neural systems mediate the steroid-dependent and steroid-independent suppression of tonic luteinizing hormone secretion in the anestrous ewe

In the ewe, two types of seasonal fluctuations in secretion of tonic luteinizing hormone (LH) have been described: a steroid-dependent change whereby estradiol gains the capacity to suppress LH pulse frequency in anestrus, and a steroid-independent decrease in pulse frequency in ovariectomized animals during anestrus. We have proposed that the former reflects activation, in anestrus, of estradiol-sensitive catecholaminergic neurons that inhibit gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Three results reported here support this hypothesis: dopaminergic (pimozide) and alpha-adrenergic (phenoxybenzamine) antagonists increased LH in intact anestrous ewes without altering pituitary responses to GnRH; other dopaminergic (fluphenazine) and alpha-adrenergic (dibenamine) antagonists also increased LH in anestrus; agonists for dopaminergic (apomorphine) and alpha-adrenergic (clonidine) receptors suppressed LH secretion in both seasons, suggesting that the appropriate receptors are present in breeding-season ewes. In contrast, catecholamines do not appear to mediate the steroid-independent suppression of pulse frequency; neither pimozide nor phenoxybenzamine increased LH pulse frequency in ovariectomized ewes during anestrus. When antagonists for 6 other neurotransmitter receptors (muscarinic and nicotinic cholinergic, GABAnergic, serotonergic, opioid, and beta-adrenergic) were tested in anestrus, only cyproheptadine, the serotonergic antagonist, increased pulse frequency in ovariectomized ewes. Cyproheptadine had no effect on frequency during the breeding season. On the basis of these results, we propose that the steroid-dependent and -independent actions of anestrous photoperiod occur via catecholaminergic and serotonergic neurons, respectively.     

绿尾虹雉生态学研究

绿尾虹雉Lophophorus lhuysti生态和生物学研究是中国科学院重点科研课题——“中国珍稀濒危难类生态生物学”——部分工作。 本文为作者对绿尾虹雉所作的生态和生物学系统研究首次报道。绿尾虹雉主要牺息于海拔3,500—4,000米亚高山灌丛和草甸。杂食性鸟类,以植物性食物为主,亦食昆虫。营巢于岩洞或灌丛地面上,每窝产3—4,多达11枚卵。种群密度1.32—1.58只/km~2。目前数量急剧下降,处于濒危,急待保护。     

Epithelial-mesenchymal interactions: effects of a dental biomatrix on odontoblasts

The functional differentiation of odontoblasts requires specific interactions between these cells and the extracellular matrix. To further analyze these phenomena we studied the effects of a "dental papillae biomatrix" on isolated dental papillae cultured in vitro. The dental papillae biomatrix was extracted from EDTA-dissociated day-18 mouse dental papillae by homogenization, NaCl and enzymatic treatments, and deposited on Millipore filters. This biomatrix was studied by means of transmission electron microscopy and indirect immunofluorescence: it contained collagen fibrils, type IV collagen, fibronectin and laminin; cellular residues were also observed. The dental papillae were isolated by trypsin treatment of homologous tooth germs and cultured on uncoated (control) and coated filters. As shown by histological and cytological data, odontoblast-like cells never differentiated in control cultures. In presence of biomatrix and serum, polarized functional cells were observed. The functional state of these cells was enhanced by the addition of ascorbic acid to the culture media. Study of the incorporation of 3H-proline in cultured dental papillae and in macromolecules secreted into the culture media corroborated the morphological findings.     

Microbiological evaluation of the intraruminal in sacculus digestion technique.

The influence of nature of the feed sample, feeding frequency and pore size on the influx of bacteria and protozoa into synthetic fiber bags suspended in the rumens of sheep fed different diets was studied. Counts of total culturable bacteria in bags with a pore size of 10 microns were less than 30% of the ruminal counts for animals that were fed the lucerne hay and high-roughage diets. The maximum count (62 and 82% of the ruminal count) for these specific diets was obtained by using bags with a pore size of 53 microns. Protozoal counts in bags with pore sizes of 30 and 53 microns were equal to or higher than the ruminal counts for the lucerne hay and high-roughage diets but less than half of the ruminal count for the low-roughage diet. An interaction between incubation time, feeding frequency of the host animals, and the microbial populations developing inside the bags was also demonstrated. The results clearly show that the microbial population inside the bag differed from that of the surrounding ruminal ingesta and that caution must be taken in interpreting results on feed evaluation and especially on rates of degradation when using the in sacculus technique. Factors influencing the influx of bacteria and protozoa into bags with different pore sizes and containing a variety of substrates are discussed together with suggestions for the use of this technique.     

Dihydropyridine calcium antagonists depress the amplitude of the plasma melatonin cycle in baboons

An investigation into the effects of verapamil and some dihydropyridine derivatives on plasma melatonin levels was undertaken in baboons. In a number of separate experiments, groups of young male chacma baboons (mean body weight 13 kg) received intraperitoneal injections of the drugs, under ketamine anaesthesia, roughly 30 minutes prior to the following time points: 1200, 1800, 0000, 0200, 0600 and 1200 h. Lights went off at 1800 h and came on at 0600 h. The drugs used, and their respective dosages (expressed per kg body mass), were verapamil up to 4 mg/kg, nifedipine at 0.2 mg/kg, nitrendipine at 0.5 mg/kg and nisoldipine at 0.1 mg/kg. Blood samples, taken at the said time points, were assayed for melatonin. The nighttime peak of the plasma melatonin cycle was significantly depressed by all three dihydropyridine calcium antagonists (up to 40%), while verapamil, even at the relatively high total dose of 24 mg/kg per day, had no significant effect on the circulating plasma melatonin levels.