Effects of okadaic acid on insulin-sensitive cAMP phosphodiesterase in rat adipocytes. Evidence that insulin may stimulate the enzyme by phosphorylation.

Okadaic acid, a potent inhibitor of Type 1 and Type 2A protein phosphatases, was used to investigate the mechanism of insulin action on membrane-bound low Km cAMP phosphodiesterase in rat adipocytes. Upon incubation of cells with 1 microM okadaic acid for 20 min, phosphodiesterase was stimulated 3.7- to 3.9-fold. This stimulation was larger than that elicited by insulin (2.5- to 3.0-fold). Although okadaic acid enhanced the effect of insulin, the maximum effects of the two agents were not additive. When cells were pretreated with 1-(5-isoquinolinylsulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (H-7), the level of phosphodiesterase stimulation by okadaic acid was rendered smaller, similar to that attained by insulin. In cells that had been treated with 2 mM KCN, okadaic acid (like insulin) failed to stimulate phosphodiesterase, suggesting that ATP was essential. Also, as reported previously, the effect of insulin on phosphodiesterase was reversed upon exposure of hormone-treated cells to KCN. This deactivation of previously-stimulated phosphodiesterase was blocked by okadaic acid, but not by insulin. The above KCN experiments were carried out with cells in which A-kinase activity was minimized by pretreatment with H-7. Okadaic acid mildly stimulated basal glucose transport and, at the same time, strongly inhibited the action of insulin thereon. It is suggested that insulin may stimulate phosphodiesterase by promoting its phosphorylation and that the hormonal effect may be reversed by a protein phosphatase which is sensitive to okadaic acid. The hypothetical protein kinase thought to be involved in the insulin-dependent stimulation of phosphodiesterase appears to be more H-7-resistant than A-kinase.     

Effects of winter flooding on phosphorus dynamics in rice fields

Limnology - Controlling phosphorous (P) loads from rice fields is important for the conservation of aquatic ecosystems, in part because P is relatively concentrated at its sources. Recently, winter...     

The carpal tunnel syndrome as a probable primary deficiency of vitamin B6 rather than a deficiency of a dependency state

The mean basal specific activities and the mean % deficiencies of the activity of the glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase of the erythrocytes were identical (n.s.) for a group of eight patients with a severe carpal tunnel syndrome and for a group of eight university students. There was no significant difference in the increases in the specific activities for the patients and the students at 4 concentrations of pyridoxal 5′-phosphate. The apparent K_m for the patients and the students was 95 μM and 61 μM (n.s.) respectively. It is concluded from these data in conjunction with previous findings that the carpal tunnel syndrome is a deficiency disease of vitamin B₆, which is probably primary rather than one of a dependency state.     

Adaptations for feeding on rock surfaces and sandy sediment by the fiddler crabs (Brachyura: Ocypodidae) Uca tetragonon(Herbst, 1790) and Uca vocans(Linnaeus, 1758)

Two species of fiddler crab, Uca tetragonon(Herbst, 1790) and Uca vocans(Linnaeus, 1758), which belong to the subgenus Gelasimus, dwell on rocky shores and muddy–sandy tidal flats, respectively, in Phuket Is., Thailand. We investigated their feeding ecology in relation to the morphology of their feeding organs: minor food-handling chelipeds and maxillipeds. U. tetragononfed chiefly on rocks covered by filamentous green algae. U. vocansfed on the emerged sand and in shallow water along the shoreline and in pools. While feeding, both crabs made sand pellets beneath their mouthparts and discarded them, indicating that they divided the matter scooped up with their minor chelipeds into edible and inedible fractions by using the maxillipeds in the water passing through their buccal cavity. The morphology of maxillipeds hardly differed between the two species, which means that both species are flotation-feeders. The morphology of their minor chelipeds, however, differed: the tips of the dactyl and pollex were flat in U. tetragononand pointed in U. vocans.When the minor cheliped was closed, U. tetragononhad a hemispherical space in the distal one-fourth of the gape, which was closed by the framing keratin layers and a few setae of the dactyl and pollex. On the other hand, U. vocanshad an ellipsoidal space in the distal half of the gape. We consider these morphological characters to be adaptations to the different feeding substrates for retaining more food-laden sediment. We discuss the role of the setae on the minor chelipeds on the basis of the morphological differences between populations of U. tetragononin Phuket Is. and East Africa where the crab inhabits muddy–sandy tidal flats.     

Location and dynamics of alpha-tocopherol in model phospholipid membranes with different charges.

Studies were made on the position and dynamics of the OH-group of alpha-tocopherol in phospholipid membranes. There was no difference in the spin-lattice (T1) relaxation times at the 5a-position of alpha-tocopherol labeled with 13C- or C19F3-determined from the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of liposomes positively charged with stearylamine (SA) and negatively charged with dicetylphosphate (DCP). The zeta-potentials of egg yolk phosphatidylcholine (EYPC) liposomes with and without SA or DCP were not affected by incorporation of 20 mol% alpha-tocopherol, though incorporation of 10 mol% ascorbyl-palmitate decreased the zeta-potentials of EYPC and EYPC-SA liposomes. The P==O stretching band (1235 cm-1) of the phosphate group and C==O stretching band (1734 cm-1) of the acyl ester linkage in dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) liposomes, measured by Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, were not changed by incorporation of alpha-tocopherol. These results suggest that no specific interaction occurred between the OH-group of alpha-tocopherol and the polar interfacial region of the bilayer. The dynamic quenching effects of n-(N-oxy-4,4'-dimethyloxazolidine-2-yl)stearic acids (n-NSs) on the intrinsic fluorescence of alpha-tocopherol were in the order 5-NS > 7-NS = 12-NS > 16-NS. Acrylamide, a water-soluble fluorescence quencher with a very low capacity to penetrate through phospholipid bilayers, had very low quenching efficiency. These results indicate that the bulk of the chromanol moiety of alpha-tocopherol is located in a position close to that occupied by the nitroxide group of 5-NS in the membranes and is poorly exposed at the membrane surface.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Cross-sectional Area-corrected Compression Modulus of Food Gel

The linearity of the stress-strain relationship for food gel is limited to a very narrow range of the strain (usually less than 0.1 as a Cauchy measure). The reason is thought due to the change in cross-sectional area of the gel upon deformation. In this report, the cross-sectional area was approximately corrected of the compressed gel on the assumption that the gel expanded uniformly without changing its volume upon compression. In cases when the initial Young’s modulus was calculated from the thus-corrected area for some food gels, the linearity was increased for a wider range of strain.