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Biomedical subjects

A Cerami

Publications and source records attributed to A Cerami.

At least 253 records · Page 14Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

The reaction of 16 alpha-hydroxyestrone with erythrocytes in vitro and in vivo.

16 alpha-Hydroxyestrone (16 alpha OHE ) has been shown previously to react with albumin, forming stable covalent adducts with lysine residues. The incubation of [3H]16 alpha OHE with whole blood also results in the incorporation of tritium into cells, with the rate of incorporation paralleling that of 16 alpha OHE -protein adduct formation. 32% of erythrocyte acid-precipitable radioactivity was found to be present within membrane proteins and electrophoresis demonstrated that several of these proteins are modified by [3H]16 alpha OHE . Membrane proteins from the red cells of ten individuals were reduced with sodium borohydride, acid hydrolyzed, and the 16 alpha OHE -lysine adducts purified by hydrophobic chromatography and reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography. The amount of these adducts was quantitated by radioimmunoassay and found to be five times higher than the plasma levels of free 16 alpha OHE . This reflects most likely the accumulation of 16 alpha OHE -protein adducts during the course of the red cell life. Quantitation of 16 alpha OHE -protein adducts with other cellular proteins may contribute to our understanding of systemic lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune disease in which elevated levels of 16 alpha OHE occur.

Blood Proteins↗
PubMed1984

Association of insulin pump therapy with raised serum amyloid A in type I diabetes mellitus.

Serum concentrations of serum amyloid A protein, the high-density-lipoprotein-associated tissue amyloid A precursor, were determined in 29 diabetic patients receiving insulin by subcutaneous injection and in 50 receiving subcutaneous infusion pump therapy. Insulin delivered by continuous subcutaneous pumps stimulated serum amyloid A production to levels nearly six times those in normal subjects, nearly twice as much as insulin given by subcutaneous injection. 85% of patients with serum amyloid A levels greater than or equal to 10(4) ng/ml were being treated with insulin pump therapy. The relation between insulin aggregation and amyloid A in diabetes was evaluated in 1 patient; treatment with syringe-aggregated insulin resulted in a nearly 300% increase in serum amyloid A levels. The use of high-potency non-aggregating insulins in the pump treatment of type I diabetic patients may be necessary for optimum therapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

The in vitro trypanocidal activity of N-substituted p-benzoquinone imines: assessment of biochemical structure-activity relationships using the Hansch approach.

It has previously been found that naphthoquinones can potentiate the rate of hydrogen peroxide production by mitochondrial preparations of Trypanosoma brucei brucei and that organisms treated with naphthoquinones are more susceptible to lysis, especially in the presence of compounds such as heme, which promote the homolytic cleavage of hydrogen peroxide. We have evaluated the lytic effect of various N-substituted p-benzoquinone imines both in vitro and in vivo and have attempted to correlate their structure with trypanocidal activity using the Hansch approach. While none of the compounds tested proved to be active in vivo, all caused the lysis of trypanosomes in vitro. The parameters that correlated best with trypanocidal activity were the conditional redox potential, the lipophilicity of the substituent attached to the nitrogen atom and the number of active hydrogens on the quinonoid ring. These findings suggest two possible modes of action, which may in fact be related. Conjugate nucleophilic addition and/or oxidative damage could be responsible for lysis of the parasites. These same compounds were previously found to be active against the ascitic sarcoma 180 in mice. The strong correlation between antineoplastic activity in vivo and trypanocidal activity in vitro suggests a similar mode of action in both cases. Further studies aimed at developing a quinonelike compound that will be active against trypanosomes in vivo are now in progress.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Trypanocidal 1,3-arylene diketone bis(guanylhydrazone)s. Structure-activity relationships among substituted and heterocyclic analogues.

Based on the antitrypanosomal activity of 1,3-diacetylbenzene bis(guanylhydrazone) (4) and 2,6-diacetylpyridine bis(guanylhydrazone) (17), a number of substituted and heterocyclic 1,3-arylene diketone bis(guanylhydrazone)s were prepared and tested against Trypanosoma brucei infections in mice. A wide range of ED50 values was observed among 5-substituted derivatives of 4. The 5-amino analogue 5 and 5-acetamido analogue 6 were about twice as active as 4. 1,3,5-Triacetylbenzene tris(guanylhydrazone) (12) was about 9 times as active as 4 and was approximately one-half as active as the currently used trypanocide diminazene aceturate in this test system. Other 5-derivatives had activity equivalent to or less than that of the parent compound 4. Three new heterocyclic analogues were all less active than 2,6-diacetylpyridine derivative 17 and benzene derivative 4. Ring substitution ortho to the guanylhydrazone side chains was invariably detrimental to activity. Side-chain homologues 1,3-dipentanoylbenzene bis(guanylhydrazone) and 1,3-diacetylbenzene bis(2-imidazolin-2-ylhydrazone) were essentially inactive.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Modification of DNA by reducing sugars: a possible mechanism for nucleic acid aging and age-related dysfunction in gene expression.

Reducing sugars react nonenzymatically with protein amino groups to initiate a process called nonenzymatic browning. Long-lived proteins, such as collagen and the lens crystallins, accumulate sufficient modification in vivo that they acquire many of the chemical properties characteristic of aged proteins. We have obtained evidence that nucleic acids also can undergo nonenzymatic modification by sugars. Incubation of DNA or nucleotides with glucose 6-phosphate (Glc-6-P) produces spectral changes similar to those described for nonenzymatic browning proteins. The occurrence of chemical modification was verified by measuring the transfection efficiency of viral DNA after incubation with glucose and Glc-6-P. A loss of transfection potential occurred that was first order with respect to time and sugar concentration. The rate of inactivation by Glc-6-P was 25 times that of glucose; 8 days of incubation with 150 mM Glc-6-P decreased transfection by 4 orders of magnitude. Glc-6-P also produced strand scission in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. We conclude that glucose, Glc-6-P, and possibly other sugars can react with DNA to produce significant structural and biological alterations. Since nucleic acids are long-lived molecules in the resting cell, the accumulation of these addition products might be a mechanism for the decreased genetic viability characteristic of the aged organism.

Aging↗
PubMed1984

Accelerated age-related browning of human collagen in diabetes mellitus.

The nonenzymatic glycosylation reaction that is accelerated in diabetes is the first step of the Maillard or nonenzymatic browning reaction that occurs in stored food. The glucose-protein adduct rearranges and dehydrates to form brown and fluorescent pigments, which can act as crosslinks, resulting in decreased protein solubility and altered mechanical properties. Evidence suggesting that this process occurs in vivo has been found in lens crystallins. The observation that nonenzymatic glycosylation and insolubility increases in collagen with age and diabetes led us to investigate the possible browning of human collagen. Insoluble human dura mater collagen was digested with collagenase. Absorbance at 350 nm and fluorescence at 440 nm (excitation at 370 nm) of the solubilized material was measured. A linear increase in the amounts of yellow and fluorescent material was observed with age. Samples obtained at autopsy from three type I diabetics and a young type II diabetic showed increased fluorescence and had absorbance values that corresponded to the amount of chromophore found in nondiabetics twice their age (P less than 0.025). The collagen adducts from aged and diabetic individuals had absorption and fluorescence spectra identical to those of collagen samples that underwent nonenzymatic browning with glucose in vitro. The structure of these collagen adducts is unknown. However, their likely occurrence throughout the body could explain the correlation between arterial stiffening, decreased joint mobility, and the severity of microvascular complications in type I diabetics.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Aging of proteins: isolation and identification of a fluorescent chromophore from the reaction of polypeptides with glucose.

Proteins exposed to glucose over long periods are known to undergo physicochemical changes including crosslinking and formation of brown fluorescent pigments of poorly characterized structure. Acid hydrolysis of both browned poly(L-lysine) and browned bovine serum albumin is found to release a major fluorescent chromophore, which after alkalinization is extractable into organic solvents and which can be purified by silica gel chromatography. The fluorescence properties of this compound very closely resemble those of the bulk browned polypeptides. By NMR, mass spectroscopy, and chemical derivatization, this compound is assigned the structure 2-(2-furoyl)-4(5)-(2-furanyl)-1H-imidazole (FFI). Confirmation was obtained by independent chemical synthesis from furylglyoxal and ammonia. The incorporation of two peptide-derived amine nitrogens and two glucose residues in FFI strongly suggests that peptide-bound FFI precursors are implicated in the crosslinking of proteins by glucose in vivo. This reaction has potential implications in the understanding of glucose-mediated protein modifications and their role in the complications of diabetes and aging.

Aging↗
PubMed1984

Lipoprotein lipase suppression in 3T3-L1 cells by a haematoprotozoan-induced mediator from peritoneal exudate cells.

Lysates of the haematoprotozoa Trypanosoma brucei or Plasmodium berghei stimulated murine peritoneal exudate cells to release a mediator, which suppressed lipoprotein lipase activity in differentiating 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. The parasite-induced mediator suppressed the activity of cell surface lipoprotein lipase up to 39% in a dose dependent manner. By impairing the activity of cell surface lipoprotein lipase, this mediator acts to inhibit the uptake of fatty acid, and ultimately the accumulation of lipid by the adipocyte. In vivo this defect in triglyceride removal may explain the hypertriglyceridemia commonly observed in haematoprotozoan infections. We suggest that the lipoprotein lipase suppression mediator is produced as a consequence of the immune response to these parasitic protozoa.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1984

Nonenzymatic addition of glucocorticoids to lens proteins in steroid-induced cataracts.

A frequent manifestation of long-term glucocorticoid administration is the occurrence of posterior subcapsular cataracts. The molecular basis for this effect has not yet been elucidated. The addition of prednisolone to the rat lens in culture results in a time- and concentration-dependent lens opacification that correlates with the formation of covalent prednisolone-lens protein adducts. Prednisolone adduct formation was analyzed by [3H]prednisolone incorporation and by immunoprecipitation with antiserum specific for proteins modified by the nonenzymatic addition of prednisolone. In the rat lens, these adducts were localized in both the water-soluble and urea-soluble lens protein fractions. Gel electrophoresis and fluorography revealed that the most extensively modified proteins were two crystallins subunits. Lens proteins from 33 normal and cataractous human lenses were fractionated and analyzed for the presence of prednisolone-protein adducts by competitive radioimmunoassay. Adducts were detected only in those samples derived from glucocorticoid-induced cataractous lenses. We conclude that elevated glucocorticoid levels lead to the formation of glucocorticoid-lens protein adducts both in vitro and in vivo. Lens protein modification by glucocorticoids may lead to sufficient biochemical or structural alterations so as to result in cataract formation. The ability of glucocorticoids to form adducts with proteins in vivo also may play a role in some of the other toxic manifestations of long-term glucocorticoid therapy.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Collagen aging in vitro by nonenzymatic glycosylation and browning.

Aging and diabetes mellitus are associated with cross-linking and nonenzymatic glycosylation of collagen. Incubation of tendon fibers with reducing sugars results in increased breaking time in urea similar to that seen in aging, and in nonenzymatic glycosylation and browning. Effect of a sugar is proportional to the amount of sugar available in the open chain form. The increase in breaking time correlates with the appearance of chromophores characteristic of crosslinked browning products. Collagen altered by nonenzymatic browning may play a role in some age-like major complications of diabetes.

Aging↗
PubMed1984

Inhibition of heparin-catalyzed human antithrombin III activity by nonenzymatic glycosylation. Possible role in fibrin deposition in diabetes.

The effect of nonenzymatic glycosylation on the biologic function of human antithrombin III was evaluated using a chromogenic thrombin substrate assay in the presence of catalytic amounts of heparin. Experimental conditions that increased the rate of nonenzymatic protein glycosylation were associated with decreases in the thrombin-inhibiting activity of antithrombin III. This glycosylation-induced inhibition of heparin-catalyzed antithrombin III activity was completely reversible by preassay incubation with excess sodium heparin. These observations provide a biochemical explanation for the heparin-reversible, accelerated fibrinogen disappearance rate induced by hyperglycemia in diabetic patients. Defective inhibition of the coagulation cascade induced by excessive nonenzymatic glycosylation of antithrombin III in vivo could contribute to accumulation of fibrin in various diabetic tissues.

Antithrombin III↗
PubMed1984

Nonenzymatic glycosylation and the pathogenesis of diabetic complications.

Glucose chemically attaches to proteins and nucleic acids without the aid of enzymes. Initially, chemically reversible Schiff base and Amadori product adducts form in proportion to glucose concentration. Equilibrium is reached after several weeks, however, and further accumulation of these early nonenzymatic glycosylation products does not continue beyond that time. Subsequent reactions of the Amadori product slowly give rise to nonequilibrium advanced glycosylation end-products which continue to accumulate indefinitely on longer-lived molecules. Excessive formation of both types of nonenzymatic glycosylation product appears to be the common biochemical link between chronic hyperglycemia and a number of pathophysiologic processes potentially involved in the development of long-term diabetic complications. The major biological effects of excessive nonenzymatic glycosylation include: inactivation of enzymes; inhibition of regulatory molecule binding; crosslinking of glycosylated proteins and trapping of soluble proteins by glycosylated extracellular matrix (both may progress in the absence of glucose); decreased susceptibility to proteolysis; abnormalities of nucleic acid function; altered macromolecular recognition and endocytosis; and increased immunogenicity.

Blood Glucose↗
PubMed1983

Covalent attachment of soluble proteins by nonenzymatically glycosylated collagen. Role in the in situ formation of immune complexes.

The chronic tissue damage associated with long-term diabetes mellitus may arise in part from in situ immune complex formation by accumulated immunoglobulins and/or antigens bound to long-lived structural proteins that have undergone excessive nonenzymatic glycosylation. In this report, we have tested this hypothesis using nonenzymatically glycosylated collagen. Binding of both albumin and IgG averaged four times the amount bound to unmodified collagen. Both albumin and IgG (anti-BSA) bound to nonenzymatically glycosylated collagen retained their ability to form immune complexes in situ with free antibody and antigen.

Antigen-Antibody Complex↗
PubMed1983

Detection of nonenzymatic browning products in the human lens.

The nonenzymatic browning or Maillard reaction is an aging process in stored foods. The initial stage of this reaction, nonenzymatic glycosylation, has been shown to occur in the human lens. The possible occurrence of further steps of the Maillard reaction involving lysine residues and glucose has been investigated. A lipid-free protein extract from a pool of human cataractous lenses was reduced, alkylated, and digested with pronase. The digest was reduced with [3H]borohydride, acid hydrolyzed and fractionated by Sephadex G-15 chromatography. The fractions eluting ahead of epsilon-1-deoxyglucitolyllysine were pooled and separated with an amino acid analyzer. Four fluorescent, yellow, and radioactive peaks were obtained. One of these, which co-eluted with tyrosine, was isolated, acetylated, and further analyzed by reverse phase chromatography using HPLC. Two new peaks were separated which co-chromatographed with lysine derivatives isolated from the nonenzymatic browning reaction of alpha-tert-butyloxycarbonyllysine with glucose. Control experiments showed that they were not artifacts due to acid hydrolysis of epsilon-glucitolyllysine. These results suggest that dehydration and rearrangement of the Amadori product, epsilon-fructosyllysine, has occurred in vivo, thus leading to the formation of at least two nonenzymatic browning products.

Borohydrides↗
PubMed1983

Cytotoxicity of a perfluorocarbon blood substitute to macrophages in vitro.

Murine macrophage and macrophage-depleted splenocyte cultures were incubated under ambient oxygen with a commercially available perfluorocarbon blood substitute. The perfluorocarbon preparation was found to be selectively cytotoxic to macrophages. This finding may be significant in view of the preliminary therapeutic usage of these preparations. In addition, perfluorocarbons may be useful as a means of selectively removing macrophages from tissue and organ cultures.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Secretion of a proteolytic anticoagulant by Ancylostoma hookworms.

Hookworms of the genus Ancylostoma secrete an anticoagulant that both inhibits the clotting of human plasma and promotes fibrin clot dissolution. This anticoagulant activity is attributable to a 36,000 dalton proteolytic enzyme. The protease can degrade fibrinogen into five smaller polypeptides that intrinsically have anticoagulating properties, covert plasminogen to a mini-plasminogen-like molecule, and hydrolyze a synthetic peptide substrate with specificity for elastolytic enzymes. It is hypothesized that the parasite uses this enzyme to prevent blood clotting while feeding on villous capillaries.

Ancylostoma↗
PubMed1983

Studies of insulin resistance in adipocytes induced by macrophage mediator.

An apparent insulin resistance is noted in 3T3-L1 adipocytes after the addition of an endotoxin-induced mediator from macrophages. Examination at the level of the insulin receptor has revealed that the mediator does not effect either the functional ability of the cells to bind insulin or the ability of insulin to stimulate the uptake of glucose. The resistance appears to reflect a post-receptor interference with the insulin-induced biosynthesis of the anabolic enzymes, acetyl Co-A carboxylase and fatty acid synthetase, which are required for the conversion of glucose into storage lipid. These studies offer a new in vitro model for investigating the molecular basis of insulin resistance.

Adipose Tissue↗