Effects of pressure on uptake and release of calcium by brain synaptosomes

Uptake of radioactive calcium from guinea pig brain fractions enriched in synaptosomes could be significantly and reproducibly decreased by exposure to high pressure. Calcium efflux from preloaded synaptosomes was unaffected by pressure exposure. It was hypothesized that the development of pressure-induced encephalopathy may be related to an effect of pressure on the central nervous system calcium transport system.     

The distribution of repeating [Gal beta 1,4GlcNAc beta 1,3] sequences in asparagine-linked oligosaccharides of the mouse lymphoma cell lines BW5147 and PHAR 2.1

The occurrence and distribution of the repeating disaccharide [Gal beta 1,4GlcNAc beta 1,3] in the different types of Asn-linked oligosaccharides in mouse lymphoma BW5147 cells have been studied. Glycopeptides were prepared from cells grown in medium containing [6-3H]galactose, and the bi-, tri-, and tetraantennary Asn-linked oligosaccharides were fractionated by serial lectin affinity chromatography on concanavalin A-Sepharose, pea lectin -Sepharose, leukoagglutinating phytohemagglutinin-agarose, and Datura stramonium agglutinin-agarose. As described in this report, the latter lectin binds glycopeptides that contain either the repeating N-acetyllactosamine sequence or an outer mannose residue substituted at C-2 and C-6 by N-acetyllactosamine. The isolated glycopeptides were subjected to methylation analysis, specific exoglycosidase treatments, and digestion with Escherichia freundii endo-beta-galactosidase. Our data indicate that approximately two-thirds of the tetraantennary and one-half of the triantennary Asn-linked oligosaccharides contain repeating N-acetyllactosamine sequences in at least one branch. Many of the repeating sequences contain an additional galactose residue linked alpha 1,3 to a penultimate galactose residue. By contrast, less than 10% of the biantennary oligosaccharides contain the repeating disaccharide. The distribution of the repeating N-acetyllactosamine unit was also examined in a cell line ( PHAR 2.1) that is deficient in UDP-GlcNAc:alpha-mannoside beta 1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase. These cells are unable to synthesize tetraantennary and certain triantennary species and instead accumulate biantennary oligosaccharides. The total content of repeating N-acetyllactosamine units is greatly decreased in this line, and those that are present are found predominantly in triantennary Asn-linked oligosaccharides. These results demonstrate that the repeating N-acetyllactosamine sequence occurs commonly in complex-type Asn-linked oligosaccharides in BW5147 cells but is confined primarily to tri- and teraantennary species.     

Effects of phorbol dibutyrate on M currents and M current inhibition in bullfrog sympathetic neurons

1. Effects of bath-applied phorbol dibutyrate (PDBu) on M currents (IM) and on the inhibition of IM by muscarine and luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) were recorded in voltage-clamped bullfrog lumbar sympathetic ganglion cells. 2. PDBu (0.1-30 microM) produced a slowly developing, irreversible and partial (less than or equal to 60%) inhibition of IM. This effect was not replicated by 4-alpha-phorbol or by vehicle. 3. After treatment with PDBu, residual IM showed a reduced sensitivity to inhibition by muscarine or LHRH but not by Ba2+. The reduced response to muscarine appeared to result from a 10-fold shift in the concentration dependence for inhibition. 4. PDBu did not clearly reproduce the ability of muscarine to inhibit the slow, Ca-activated K current IAHP or to increase the leak conductance at hyperpolarized potentials. The latter effect of muscarine was enhanced, rather than inhibited, by PDBu. 5. IM and IAHP were not inhibited by 1 mM dibutyryl cyclic AMP or by 20 microM forskolin. 6. It is concluded that activation of protein kinase C, but not protein kinase A, partly replicates the effect of muscarine on frog sympathetic neurons.     

Concentrations of glandular kallikrein in human nasal secretions increase during experimentally induced allergic rhinitis

We have previously demonstrated that a mixture of bradykinin and lysylbradykinin is generated in nasal secretions during the immediate allergic response to allergen. The present studies were performed to determine whether glandular kallikrein plays a role in kinin formation during the allergic reaction. Allergic individuals (n = 7) and nonallergic controls (n = 7) were challenged intranasally with appropriate allergen, and nasal lavages obtained before and after challenge were assayed for immunoreactive glandular kallikrein as well as for histamine, kinins, and N-alpha-tosyl-L-arginine methyl esterase (TAME-esterase) activity. The increase in postchallenge immunoreactive glandular kallikrein levels above baseline was significantly greater (p less than 0.01) for the allergic group (16.3 +/- 14 ng/ml; means +/- SD) than for the nonallergic controls (1.0 +/- 1.9 ng/ml). Increased levels of immunoreactive glandular kallikrein correlated with increases in kinins, histamine, and TAME-esterase activity and with the onset of clinical symptoms. Characterization of immunoreactive glandular kallikrein purified from postchallenge lavages by immunoaffinity chromatography confirmed the identity of this material as an authentic glandular kallikrein on the basis of its inhibition by protease inhibitors and by monospecific antibody to tissue kallikrein, its chromatographic behavior on gel filtration, and its ability to generate lysylbradykinin from highly purified human low m.w. kininogen. The specific activity of this purified material, in terms of kinin generation from kininogen, was very similar to that for authentic glandular kallikrein, suggesting that most if not all of the immunoreactive material purified from nasal lavages represented active enzyme. Inhibition studies by using pooled postchallenge lavages suggest that the majority of the kinin generating activity in these samples was due to glandular kallikrein. We conclude, therefore, that glandular kallikrein is secreted during the allergic response and can contribute to the formation of the lysylbradykinin produced during the allergic reaction.     

Mechanism of differences in pathogenicity between two variants of a laboratory strain of herpes simplex virus type 1

The mechanisms responsible for the difference in neurovirulence to inbred mice between two variants of the Miyama strain of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) were studied. After intraperitoneal (i.p.) inoculation, the +GC (LPV) variant reached the spinal cord and the brain, and caused death. Conversely, the -GCr variant lacked the ability to gain access to the central nervous system (CNS) after the same route of infection and failed to kill susceptible mice. The initial virus growth after i.p. inoculation, as indicated by the number of infective centers (ICs) produced by the peritoneal exudate cells (PECs), was compared between these two variants. The virulent +GC (LPV) strain induced much more ICs than the attenuated -GCr variant. When the attenuated variant was preinoculated i.p. 24 hr before the challenge inoculation with the virulent variant by the same route, the production of ICs by the pathogenic variant was highly inhibited, and growth of this variant did not occur in the CNS. Thus, mice were protected from lethal infection by the virulent variant by preinoculation with the attenuated one. Moreover, the ability of mice to resist i.p. infection by HSV-1 was shown to be age-dependent.     

Phosphorylation of AMP by inorganic phosphorylating agents

AMP was phosphorylated by inorganic phosphorylating agents: cyclo-triphosphate and diphosphonate, in aqueous solution (70-80 degrees C, pH 6-12). The molecular structures of phosphorylated products were established by use of phosphorus-31 NMR and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The OH groups on AMP were phosphorylated by both phosphorylating agents to form 2'- or 3'-phosphate but an OH group on dAMP was not phosphorylated. Phosphorylation of OH group proceeds in two steps: formation of hydrogen bond between OH group and phosphorylating agent; subsequent nucleophilic attack of OH group on a phosphorus atom. Phosphate group on AMP was phosphorylated by diphosphonate but not by cyclo-triphosphate. The difference in the reactivities is explained in terms of charge repulsion between AMP and agents.     

Intracellular mitochondrial membrane potential as an indicator of hepatocyte energy metabolism: further evidence for thermodynamic control of metabolism

The lipophilic triphenylmethylphosphonium cation (TPMP+) has been employed to measure delta psi m, the electrical potential across the inner membrane of the mitochondria of intact hepatocytes. The present studies have examined the validity of this technique in hepatocytes exposed to graded concentrations of inhibitors of mitochondrial energy transduction. Under these conditions, TPMP+ uptake allows a reliable measure of delta psi m in intracellular mitochondria, provided that the ratio [TPMP+]i/[TPMP+]e is greater than 50:1 and that at the end of the incubation more than 80% of the hepatocytes exclude Trypan blue. Hepatocytes, staining with Trypan blue, incubated in the presence of Ca2+, do not concentrate TPMP+. The relationships between delta psi m and two other indicators of cellular energy state, delta GPc and Eh, or between delta psi m and J0, were examined in hepatocytes from fasted rats by titration with graded concentrations of inhibitors of mitochondrial energy transduction. Linear relationships were generally observed between delta psi m and delta GPc, Eh or J0 over the delta psi m range of 120-160 mV, except in the presence of carboxyatractyloside or oligomycin, where delta psi m remained constant. Both the magnitude and the direction of the slope of the observed relationships depended upon the nature of the inhibitor. Hepatocytes from fasted rats synthesized glucose from lactate or fructose, and urea from ammonia, at rates which were generally linear functions of the magnitude of delta psi m, except in the presence of oligomycin or carboxyatractyloside. Linear relationships were also observed between delta psi m and the rate of formation of lactate in cells incubated with fructose and in hepatocytes from fed rats. The linear property of these force-flow relationships is taken as evidence for the operation of thermodynamic regulatory mechanisms within hepatocytes.     

Decompression outcome following saturation dives with multiple inert gases in rats

This investigation examined the question of whether gas mixtures containing multiple inert gases provide a decompression advantage over mixtures containing a single inert gas. Unanesthetized male albino rats, Rattus norvegicus, were subjected to 2-h simulated dives at depths ranging from 145 to 220 fsw. At pressure, the rats breathed various He-N2-Ar-O2 mixtures (79.1% inert gas-20.9% O2); they were then decompressed rapidly (within 10 s) to surface pressures. The probability of decompression sickness (DCS), measured either as severe bends symptoms or death, was related to the experimental variables in a Hill equation model incorporating parameters that account for differences in the potencies of the three gases and the weight of the animal. The relative potencies of the three gases, which affect the total dose of decompression stress, were determined as significantly different in the following ascending order of potency: He less than N2 less than Ar; some of these differences were small in magnitude. With mixtures, the degree of decompression stress diminished as either N2 or Ar was replaced by He. No obvious advantage or disadvantage of mixtures over the least potent pure inert gas (He) was evident, although limits to the expectation of possible advantage or disadvantage of mixtures were defined. Also, model analysis did not support the hypothesis that the outcome of decompression with multiple inert gases in rats under these experimental conditions can be explained totally by the volume of gas accumulated in the body during a dive.