Insulin-induced subcellular redistribution of insulin-like growth factor II receptors in the rat adipose cell. Counterregulatory effects of isoproterenol, adenosine, and cAMP analogues

Insulin shifts the steady-state subcellular distribution of insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) receptors from a large intracellular pool to the plasma membrane in the rat adipose cell (Wardzala, L. J., Simpson, I. A., Rechler, M. M., and Cushman, S. W. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 8378-8383). In the present study, the counterregulatory effects of adrenergic stimulation, adenosine deaminase, and cAMP on this process were studied. Both isoproterenol (10(-6) M) and adenosine deaminase reduced insulin sensitivity and also rapidly (t1/2 approximately 1.5 min) decreased the effect of a maximal insulin concentration on the number of cell surface IGF-II receptors by 35-50%, and by 70% when added together. The marked reduction in binding was retained in isolated and solubilized plasma membranes. Both isoproterenol and adenosine deaminase alone increased the EC50 for insulin from 0.06 to 0.17 nM and, when combined, to 0.6 nM. N6-Monobutyryl-cAMP and 8-bromo-cAMP were equally potent in reducing IGF-II binding in the absence of insulin and inhibited maximal insulin-stimulated IGF-II binding by 60 and 30%, respectively. However, only the nonhydrolyzable cAMP analogue, N6-monobutyryl-cAMP, reduced the insulin sensitivity (EC50 0.7 nM). An important stimulatory role for Gi (guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory protein that inhibits adenylate cyclase) was indicated by the altered activities of cells from pertussis toxin-treated animals. The results suggest that beta-adrenergic stimulation through a cAMP-dependent mechanism markedly alters the insulin-stimulated redistribution of IGF-II receptors. This effect is additional to the potent antagonistic action of cAMP on insulin's signalling mechanism.     

Characterization of the stimulatory action of insulin on insulin-like growth factor II binding to rat adipose cells. Differences in the mechanism of insulin action on insulin-like growth factor II receptors and glucose transporters

Insulin is known to increase the number of cell surface insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) receptors in isolated rat adipose cells through a subcellular redistribution mechanism similar to that for the glucose transporter. The effects of insulin on these two processes, therefore, have now been directly compared in the same cell preparations. 1) Insulin increases the steady state number of cell surface IGF-II receptors by 7-13-fold without affecting receptor affinity; however, insulin stimulates glucose transport activity by 25-40-fold. 2) The insulin concentration required for half-maximal stimulation of cell surface IGF-II receptor number is approximately 30% lower than that for the stimulation of glucose transport activity. 3) The half-time for the achievement of insulin's maximal effect at 37 degrees C is much shorter for IGF-II receptor number (approximately 0.8 min) than for glucose transport activity (approximately 2.6 min). 4) Reversal of insulin's action at 37 degrees C occurs more rapidly for cell surface IGF-II receptors (t1/2 congruent to 2.9 min) than for glucose transport activity (t1/2 congruent to 4.9 min). 5) When the relative subcellular distribution of IGF-II receptors is examined in basal cells, less than 10% of the receptors are localized to the plasma membrane fraction indicating that most of the receptors, like glucose transporters, are localized to an intracellular compartment. However, in response to insulin, the number of plasma membrane IGF-II receptors increases only approximately 1.4-fold while the number of glucose transporters increases approximately 4.5-fold. Thus, while the stimulatory actions of insulin on cell surface IGF-II receptors and glucose transport activity are qualitatively similar, marked quantitative differences suggest that the subcellular cycling of these two integral membrane proteins occurs by distinct processes.     

Differential scanning calorimetry of milk fat globule membranes

Differential scanning calorimetry was employed as an aid in examining the structure of the bovine milk fat globule membrane. At least six major endotherms are observed between 10 and 90°C, corresponding to order-disorder transitions of discrete structural domains of the membrane. These endothermic transitions occur at 16, 28, 43, 58, 68, and 75°C. The transitions occurring between 10 and 50°C were reversible, suggesting the involvement of lipid. However, the high temperature transitions were irreversible. The calorimetric C transition, centered at 43°C, was shown to involve neutral lipid, since the endotherm was reversible, insensitive to proteolysis, and similar to the endotherm of the isolated neutral lipid fraction of the milk fat globule membrane. The glycolipid and phospholipid fractions of the milk fat globule membrane yielded endotherms outside of the temperature range of the C transition. Another endotherm, the D transition (58°C), was found to involve the denaturation of the major membrane coat protein, butyrophilin (band 12). Evidence for this assignment included the following observations: (i) the nearly selective proteolysis of butyrophilin resulted in the complete removal of the D transition, (ii) the butyrophilin-enriched, Triton X-100-insoluble pellet of milk fat globule membrane yielded a relatively normal D transition, and (iii) the irreversible, disulfide-stabilized aggregation of butyrophilin occurred in the membrane solely at the temperature of the D transition. Furthermore, no other prominent milk fat globule membrane polypeptide formed these non-native disulfide crossbridges during the D transition. The sources of the other major endotherms of the milk fat globule membrane have not yet been assigned.     

The effects of hypophysectomy and human chorionic gonadotropin administration on the in vitro metabolism of progesterone by the rat testis

Changes in the $\text{in}$$\text{vitro}$ capacity to convert progesterone to its metabolites were studied in testes of adult rats hypophysectomized for varying lengths of time. After 30 days of hypophysectomy rats were injected for periods of 10 and 20 days with 100 i.u. of HCG daily to observe what changes could be induced in the testicular conversion of progesterone. Hypophysectomy increased the formation of 20α-hydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one and decreased the formation of testosterone. In hypophysectomized animals injected with HCG there was an immediate decrease in the 20α-hydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one formation, but no appreciable accumulation of testosterone, as the animals demonstrated an immature pattern of testicular function. The results indicate that 20α-hydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one may act as a positive feedback agent to prolong and heighten gonadotropin discharge, and confirm the importance of metabolites of testosterone prior to adulthood.     

Highly Stable Plasmonic Nanostructures on a Nickel-Sputtered Glass and Polymeric Optical Fiber Sensors

Plasmonics - This study shows development of highly sensitive and stable localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)-active U-bent glass and polymeric optical fiber (GOF and POF) sensor probes by a...     

Quantum chemical study of the structure and properties of citrinin

Detailed structures and electronic properties of three tautomeric forms of the toxin citrinin were investigated using several quantum calculation methods. Energetic preference of the predominant p- and o-quinone methide tautomeric forms is dependent on the method of calculation. A previously unstudied carboxylic acid enol tautomer was calculated to be surprisingly stable in vacuo, being within 2.5 kcal mol^? 1 at the B3LYP/6-311++G(2d,2p) level of theory. Despite differences in bond nature and connectivity of tautomers, the natural bond orbital analysis revealed that tautomeric forms share similar natural charges and natural electron configurations. Calculated bond lengths corresponded with experimentally observed values and assignments for the calculated infrared vibrational frequencies are reported.     

Subsarcolemmal and intermyofibrillar mitochondria proteome differences disclose functional specializations in skeletal muscle

Skeletal muscle is a highly specialized tissue that contains two distinct mitochondria subpopulations, the subsarcolemmal (SS) and the intermyofibrillar (IMF) mitochondria. Although it is established that these mitochondrial subpopulations differ functionally in several ways, limited information exists about the proteomic differences underlying these functional differences. Therefore, the objective of this study was to biochemically characterize the SS and IMF mitochondria isolated from rat red gastrocnemius skeletal muscle. We separated the two mitochondrial subpopulations from skeletal muscle using a refined method that provides an excellent division of these unique mitochondrial subpopulations. Using proteomics of mitochondria and its subfractions (intermembrane space, matrix and inner membrane), a total of 325 distinct proteins were identified, most of which belong to the functional clusters of oxidative phosphorylation, metabolism and signal transduction. Although more gel spots were observed in SS mitochondria, 38 of the identified proteins were differentially expressed between the SS and IMF subpopulations. Compared to the SS mitochondrial, IMF mitochondria expressed a higher level of proteins associated with oxidative phosphorylation. This observation, coupled with the finding of a higher respiratory chain complex activity in IMF mitochondria, suggests a specialization of IMF mitochondria toward energy production for contractile activity.     

DFT study of alpha- and beta-D-mannopyranose at the B3LYP/6-311++G** level

Thirty-five conformations of alpha- and beta-d-mannopyranose, the C-2 substituted epimer of glucopyranose, were geometry optimized using the density functional (B3LYP), and basis set (6-311++G**). Full geometry optimization was performed on the hydroxymethyl rotamers (gg/gt/tg) and an analytical hessian program was used to calculate the harmonic vibrational frequencies, zero point energy, enthalpy, and entropy. The lowest energy conformation investigated is the beta-tg in the (4)C(1) chair conformation. The in vacuo calculations showed little energetic preference for either the alpha or beta anomer for mannopyranose in the (4)C(1) chair conformation. Results are compared to similar glucopyranose calculations in vacuo where the alpha anomer is approximately 1kcal/mol lower in electronic energy than the beta anomer. In the case of the generally higher energy (1)C(4) chair conformations, one low-energy, low-entropy beta-gg-(1)C(4) chair conformation was identified that is within approximately 1.4kcal/mol of the lowest energy (4)C(1) conformation of mannopyranose. Other (1)C(4) chair conformations in our investigation are approximately 2.9-7.9kcal/mol higher in overall energy. Many of the (3,O)B, B(3,O), (1,4)B, and B(1,4) boat forms passed through transitions without barriers to (1)S(3), (5)S(1), (1)S(5) skew forms with energies between approximately 3.6 and 8.9kcal/mol higher in energy than the lowest energy conformation of mannopyranose. Boat forms were found that remained stable upon gradient optimization. As with glucopyranose, the orientation and interaction of the hydroxy groups make a significant contribution to the conformation/energy relationship in vacuo.     

Identification of CXCR3 receptor agonists in combinatorial small-molecule libraries

In a high-throughput screen of four million compounds from combinatorial libraries for small-molecule modulators of the chemokine receptor CXCR3, two classes of receptor agonists, based on tetrahydroisoquinoline and piperidinyl diazepanone templates, were identified. Several of these compounds stimulated calcium flux in HEK293 cells expressing the recombinant human CXCR3 receptor with efficacies and kinetics similar to those of native ligand CXCL11/I-TAC and stimulated chemotaxis of activated human T-cells. The agonist small molecules also inhibited binding of another CXCR3 ligand, CXCL10/IP-10, to the receptor. The response to small-molecule agonists was inhibited by a CXCR3-specific small-molecule antagonist previously identified within the same combinatorial compound collection but structurally unrelated to the agonists. Remarkably, while other, non-amino acid substituents were present in the majority of the library compounds screened, the agonists from both classes contained a positively charged amino acid component, with preference for Arg>Lys, as well as a hydrophobic component.