Alterations in high-affinity binding characteristics and levels of opioids in invertebrate ganglia during aging: Evidence for an opioid compensatory mechanism

In Mytilus and Leucophaea the high-affinity binding site density is significantly lower in old animals than in young animals, whereas the low-affinity site density remains unchanged. In Mytilus the estimated met-enkephalin and met-enkephalin-Arg6-Phe7 levels are significantly higher in old than in young animals. In Leucophaea only the met-enkephalin level can be determined, and it is also higher in old animals. The decrease in the high-affinity binding site density and the corresponding increase in endogenous enkephalin levels suggest the existence of an opioid compensatory mechanism associated with the aging process. In Mytilus there is a demonstrated decrease with age in intraganglionic dopamine levels in response to applied opiates. In addition, the inhibition of dopamine-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity by opiates also decreases in older animals. In Leucophaea the sex difference in opioid binding densities diminishes with age.     

Inhibitory effect of aspirin on cholera toxin-induced phospholipase and cyclo-oxygenase activity

Cholera toxin (CT) stimulated phospholipase activity and caused [3H]arachidonic acid (3H-AA) release in a murine macrophage/monocyte cell line. Pretreatment of cells with dexamethasone, a phospholipase A2 (PLA2) inhibitor, did not affect CT-induced 3H-AA release. In contrast, aspirin, which is an inhibitor of phospholipase C (PLC), blocked CT-induced 3H-AA release and subsequent prostaglandin (PC) synthesis. The inhibitory effect of aspirin was dose dependent, with 4 mM reducing the CT response by approximately 50%. Similarly, inhibition was time dependent, occurring when the drug was added to the culture medium as late as 30 min after CT. Brief exposure (30 min) of the cells to aspirin did not alter their subsequent response to CT, but 3H-AA release from cells exposed to aspirin for 2.5 h was irreversibly inhibited. The data suggested that CT stimulation of AA metabolism may involve increased PLC activity.     

Mitochondrial phylogeography and population history of pine martens Martes martes compared with polecats Mustela putorius

The flora and fauna of Europe are linked by a common biogeographic history, most recently the Pleistocene glaciations that restricted the range of most species to southern refugial populations. Changes in population size and migration, as well as selection, have all left a signature on the genetic differentiation. Thus, three paradigms of postglacial recolonization have been described, inferred from the patterns of DNA differentiation. Yet some species, especially wide-ranging carnivores, exhibit little population structuring between the proposed refugia, although relatively few have been studied due to the difficulty of obtaining samples. Therefore, we investigated mitochondrial variation in pine martens, Martes martes, in order to understand the extent to which they were affected by glacial cycles, and compared the results with an analysis of sequences from polecats, Mustela putorius. A general lack of ancient lineages, and a mismatch distribution that is consistent with an expanding population, is evidence that the present-day M. martes and Mu. putorius in central and northern Europe colonized from a single European refugium following a recent glaciation. There has also been interspecific mitochondrial introgression between M. martes and the sable M. zibellina in Fennoscandia.     

Variations in Membrane Sensitivity of Brain Region Synaptosomes to the Effects of Ethanol In Vitro and Chronic In Vivo Treatment

The effects of chronic ethanol treatment on the membrane order of synaptosomes from the cerebral cortex, striatum, cerebellum, brainstem, and hippocampus of rats were determined by measuring the fluorescence polarization of diphenylhexatriene (DPH) that had been incorporated into the synaptosomal membranes. Fischer-344 rats either were fed a nutritionally complete ethanol-containing liquid diet for 5 months or pair-fed with a diet that contained sucrose substituted isocalorically for ethanol. Polarization values for synaptosomes from all the brain regions studied were similar except for those from cerebral cortical synaptosomal membranes, which were significantly less ordered. Ethanol in vitro (30-500 mM) decreased the polarization values in synaptosomes from sucrose-control rats for all brain regions, although the sensitivity of cerebellar synaptosomes to the membrane disordering effects of ethanol in vitro was significantly greater that of synaptosomes from other brain regions. Chronic ethanol treatment did not alter baseline polarization for any brain region. Cerebellar and brainstem synaptosomes from the ethanol-fed rats were significantly less susceptible to the membrane disordering effects of ethanol in vitro compared to their sucrose controls, suggesting that chronic ethanol administration results in tolerance to ethanol's membrane effects. Striatal synaptosomes exhibited intermediate tolerance, whereas the sensitivities of cortical and hippocampal synaptosomes to membrane disordering by ethanol in vitro were not significantly affected by the chronic ethanol treatment. These results suggest that synaptosomal membranes have different membrane order requirements depending on the brain region from which they are prepared. Variations in brain regional neuronal membrane sensitivity to ethanol and differential tolerance development may contribute to some of the acute and chronic behavioral effects of ethanol.     

cDNA-directed expression of rat testosterone 7 alpha-hydroxylase using the modified vaccinia virus, T7-RNA-polymerase system and evidence for 6 alpha-hydroxylation and delta 6-testosterone formation

The modified vaccinia virus, T7-RNA-polymerase cDNA-expression system was used to express rat cytochrome P-450a. Various parameters such as host-cell type and density, and duration of infection were tested to optimize the level of expression of cytochrome P-450a enzyme activity. Cytochrome P-450a expressed from the cDNA sequence was exclusively incorporated into the membrane-containing portions of the cell lysates, as expected from its normal association in the liver endoplasmic reticulum. The enzyme displayed a carbon-monoxide-reduced-cytochrome-P-450a difference spectrum with a Soret maximum of 450 nm. Activity measurements revealed that cytochrome P-450a produced three metabolites of testosterone; 7 alpha-hydroxytestosterone and 6 alpha-hydroxytestosterone and delta 6-testosterone at a ratio of about 38:1:1. Under the appropriate conditions, the vaccinia-virus, T7-RNA-polymerase system produces high levels of a single form of cytochrome P-450 in cells that are virtually devoid of endogenous cytochrome P-450. Analysis of the cytochrome P-450 in its natural membrane-bound state, as opposed to artificial-lipid reconstitution studies of purified enzymes, allows accurate and confident measurements of substrate specificities.     

Methylation and expression of the Myo D1 determination gene

Mouse embryo cells induced to differentiate with the demethylating agent 5-azacytidine represent an excellent model system to investigate the molecular control of development. Clonal derivatives of 10T1/2 cells that have become determined to the myogenic or adipogenic lineages can be isolated from the multipotential parental line after drug treatment. These determined derivatives can be cultured indefinitely and will differentiate into end-stage phenotypes on appropriate stimulation. A gene called Myo D1, recently isolated from such a myoblast line, will confer myogenesis when expressed in 10T1/2 or other cell types (Davis et al. 1987). The cDNA for Myo D1 contains a large number of CpG sequences and the gene is relatively methylated in 10T1/2 cells and an adipocyte derivative, but is demethylated in myogenic derivatives. Myo D1 may therefore be subject to methylation control in vitro. On the other hand, preliminary observations suggest that Myo D1 is not methylated at CCGG sites in vivo so that a de novo methylation event may have occurred in vitro. These observations may have significance in the establishment of immortal cell lines and tumours.     

Differential Regulation of Phosphoinositide Phosphodiesterase Activity in Brain Membranes by Guanine Nucleotides and Calcium

We have shown previously that calcium and guanine nucleotides stimulate the activity of a phosphoinositide (PI) phosphodiesterase in membranes from rat cerebral cortex and that their effects are additive. To understand further guanine nucleotide- and calcium-stimulated PI phosphodiesterase activity, we have investigated the pH sensitivity and effects of inhibitors on the two modes of stimulation. NaF stimulates PI hydrolysis in brain membranes with an EC50 of 2 mM and a maximal effect at 10 mM, suggesting that a guanine nucleotide binding protein can regulate PI phosphodiesterase. Neomycin inhibited guanylylimidodiphosphate (GppNHp)-stimulated PI phosphodiesterase activity in a concentration-dependent manner, with 90% inhibition at 0.3 mM. Neomycin was not as effective at inhibiting calcium-dependent PI hydrolysis (32% inhibition at 0.3 mM). Chloroquine also had a greater inhibitory effect against GppNHp-stimulated PI phosphodiesterase activity compared to calcium-dependent activity. Guanine nucleotide- and NaF-dependent activations of PI phosphodiesterase were strongly pH-dependent, with greatest stimulation observed at pH 5-6 and inhibition at more alkaline pH. Calcium-stimulated PI hydrolysis was not as sensitive to changes in pH and had a peak of activity at pH 9. Our findings of different pH optima and differential sensitivity to inhibitors suggest that calcium and guanine nucleotides may regulate PI phosphodiesterase in rat cortical membranes through independent mechanisms.     

N5-Formyltetrahydrofolate counteracts methotrexate toxicity in tobacco cell culture

N5-Formyltetrahydrofolate (leucovorin) counteracted methotrexate toxicity in suspension cultures of Nicotiana tabacum var. Xanthi. Methotrexate at 50 nM inhibited growth of the tobacco cell cultures by 87%. Leucovorin at 200 uM reduced growth inhibition in methotrexate-treated cultures to 37%, but only if exogenous adenine and thymidine were simultaneously provided. In the absence of leucovorin, neither adenine plus thymidine, nor adenine plus thymidine plus methionine gave appreciable relief from methotrexate toxicity. Uptake of radioactive methotrexate at 50 nM was linear for at least 7 h. Uptake of methotrexate appeared to be saturable, with a K_m of 50 uM and a V_max of 1 nmol h^–1 g^–1 fresh weight. Leucovorin showed competitive inhibition of methotrexate uptake, having a K_i of 400 uM.Abbreviations ade adenine - MS Murashige and Skoog - MTX methotrexate - thd thymidine     

Functional cloning of BUD5, a CDC25-related gene from S. cerevisiae that can suppress a dominant-negative RAS2 mutant

By searching for genes that behave like CDC25 of S. cerevisiae in their ability to counteract a dominant-negative RAS2 mutant in a wild-type RAS-dependent manner, we have isolated a CDC25-like homolog, BUD5. BUD5 is tightly linked to the MAT locus. Although overexpressed BUD5 cannot substitute for CDC25 function, we present evidence that its gene product can bind to the guanine nucleotide binding-deficient RAS2val19ala22 gene product and thereby counteract its dominant-negative effect. We propose that BUD5 is a member of a family of CDC25-related genes that encode activators of RAS and RAS-like proteins.     

A guinea-pig hereditary cataract contains a splice-site deletion in a crystallin gene

A congenital cataract present in guinea pigs provided a unique opportunity to study a hereditary lens diseases at the molecular level. ζ-crystallin, one of the most abundant guinea pig lens proteins, was found to be altered in the lens of cataractous animals. Several ζ-crystallin cDNA clones were isolated from a cataractous lens library and found to contain a 102-bp deletion towards the 3′ end of the coding region. The deletion does not interfere with the reading frame but results in a protein 34 amino acids shorter. Sequence analysis of a normal genomic ζ-crystallin clone revealed that the missing 102-bp fragment corresponds to an entire exon (exon 7). PCR analysis of the genomic DNA isolated from cataractous animals showed that exon 7, though missing from the mRNA, is intact in the cataractous genome. Further sequence analysis of the α-crystallin gene disclosed a dinucleotide delection of the universal AG at the acceptor splice-site of intron 6 of the mutant gene. The presence of this mutation results in the skipping of exon 7 during the mRNA processing which in turn results in the altered ζ-crystallin protein. This if the first time a genomic mutation in an enzyme/crytallin gene has been directly linked to a congenital cataract.