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Biomedical subjects

A Ichiyama

Publications and source records attributed to A Ichiyama.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Demonstration of non-neural tryptophan 5-mono-oxygenase in mouse intestinal mucosa.

Tryptophan 5-mono-oxygenase was demonstrated and its activity was measured in mucosal extracts of the mouse digestive tract by means of highly sensitive h.p.l.c. detection. The intestinal enzyme was activated by anaerobic incubation with dithiothreitol, as are the enzymes from mouse mastocytoma cells and bovine pineal gland. The dithiothreitol-enhanced activity was highest at the proximal portion of colon followed by that at the duodenum, where the unenhanced activity/enhanced activity ratio was highest. The enzymic and immunochemical properties of the intestinal tryptophan 5-mono-oxygenase were similar to those of the mastocytoma enzyme. In contrast, the intestinal enzyme was immunochemically different from brain tryptophan 5-mono-oxygenase. The possibility that connective tissue and/or mucosal mast cells are responsible for some of the enzyme activity of the duodenal mucosa was ruled out by the demonstration of the activity in extracts from a mast-cell-deficient mutant mouse (W/Wv). The enzyme in the duodenum was found to reside between the upper villus region and the bottom of the crypt, suggesting that it is mainly of enterochromaffin cell and not of submucosal nerve plexus origin.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

Nucleotide sequence of the cDNA encoding the precursor for mitochondrial serine:pyruvate aminotransferase of rat liver.

The nucleotide sequence of the mRNA coding for the precursor of mitochondrial serine:pyruvate aminotransferase of rat liver was determined from those of cDNA clones. The mRNA comprises at least 1533 nucleotides, except the poly(A) tail, and encodes a polypeptide consisting of 414 amino acid residues with a molecular mass of 45,834 Da. Comparison of the N-terminal amino acid sequence of mitochondrial serine:pyruvate aminotransferase with the nucleotide sequence of the mRNA showed that the mature form of the mitochondrial enzyme consisted of 390 amino acid residues of 43,210 Da. The amino acid composition of mitochondrial serine:pyruvate aminotransferase deduced from the nucleotide sequence of the cDNA showed good agreement with the composition determined on acid hydrolysis of the purified protein. The extra 24 amino acid residues correspond to the N-terminal extension peptide (pre-sequence) that is indispensable for the specific import of the precursor protein into mitochondria. In the extension peptide there are four basic amino acids distributed among hydrophobic amino acids and, as revealed on helical wheel analysis, the putative alpha-helical structure of the peptide was amphiphilic in nature. The secondary structures of the mature serine:pyruvate aminotransferase and three other aminotransferases of rat liver were predicted from their amino acid sequences. Their secondary structures exhibited a common feature and so we propose the specific lysine residue which binds pyridoxal phosphate as the active site of serine:pyruvate aminotransferase.

Amino Acids↗

Immunocytochemical localization of serine: pyruvate aminotransferase in peroxisomes of the human liver parenchymal cells.

The localization of serine:pyruvate aminotransferase (SPT) in human liver was investigated by indirect immunoenzyme and protein A-gold techniques. By light microscopy, diaminobenzidine reaction product was present in cytoplasmic granules of the parenchymal cells. By electron microscopy, gold particles indicating the antigenic sites for SPT were exclusively confined to peroxisomes but not to mitochondria. By double labeling technique, both peroxisomal marker enzyme, catalase and SPT were detected in the same peroxisomes. Quantitative analysis of the labeling density showed that SPT is contained only in peroxisomes. The results indicate that in human liver most of SPT is contained in the peroxisomes.

Humans↗

Reconstitution of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor. Guanine nucleotide-sensitive high affinity binding of agonists to purified muscarinic receptors reconstituted with GTP-binding proteins (Gi and Go).

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors purified from porcine brain were reconstituted with two kinds of GTP-binding proteins (Gi and Go). The binding of agonists was affected by guanine nucleotides when the receptor was reconstituted with either Gi or Go, but not in the absence of one of the GTP-binding proteins. The displacement curves with agonists for the [3H]quinuclidinyl benzylate [( 3H]QNB) binding were explained by assuming there are two sites with different affinities for a given agonist. The proportion of the high affinity site increased with increasing concentrations of the GTP-binding proteins, and the maximum value represented 50-70% of the total [3H]QNB-binding sites. Reconstitution of the receptor with both Gi and Go did not increase the proportion any further. These results indicate that Gi and Go interact with the same site, which rules out the possibility that there are two kinds of muscarinic receptors, one interacting with Gi and the other with Go. GDP as well as GTP decreased the affinity for the agonists of the muscarinic receptors reconstituted with Gi or Go. The conversion of GDP to GTP during the incubation was less than 1%, indicating that the effect of GDP is not due to its conversion to GTP, and that the binding of either GTP or GDP with the GTP-binding proteins suppresses their interaction with the receptor.

Animals↗

Functional interaction of purified muscarinic receptors with purified inhibitory guanine nucleotide regulatory proteins reconstituted in phospholipid vesicles.

The GTP binding regulatory protein (Ni involved in adenylate cyclase inhibition was purified from rat brain and reconstituted, together with muscarinic cholinergic receptors purified from porcine brain, into phospholipid vesicles. Guanosine 5'-O-(3-[35S]thio)-triphosphate ([35S]GTP gamma S) binding and GTP hydrolyzing activities of reconstituted Ni were stimulated by the addition of a muscarinic agonist, carbachol. The effect of carbachol was to increase the Vmax values of these activities, but the Km values were also increased slightly in most cases. Carbachol bound to vesicles with the same order of magnitude of Km as that for stimulation of GTPase. The affinity of this binding was reduced by GTP gamma S, indicating that the high-affinity receptor-Ni complex was formed in a GTP-dependent manner in reconstituted vesicles. Incubation of Ni with NAD and islet-activating protein (IAP), pertussis toxin, caused ADP-ribosylation of the alpha-subunit of Ni. The criteria for the receptor-Ni interaction, i.e. carbachol stimulation of the activities of Ni and the GTP gamma S effect on carbachol binding, were no longer observed, when this IAP-treated Ni, instead of the nontreated Ni, was reconstituted into vesicles, though there was no difference between IAP-treated and nontreated Ni in their basal activities observable without carbachol. No, the protein with a character very similar to Ni in rat brain, was also coupled to muscarinic receptors when they were reconstituted into vesicles under the same conditions. Thus, GTP-binding proteins serving as the substrate of IAP-catalyzed ADP-ribosylation are capable of interaction functionally with muscarinic receptors in phospholipid vesicles.

Adenylate Cyclase Toxin↗

Primary structure of the alpha-subunit of bovine adenylate cyclase-inhibiting G-protein deduced from the cDNA sequence.

The primary structure of the alpha-subunit of the adenylate cyclase-inhibiting G-protein (Gi) has been deduced from the nucleotide sequence of cloned DNA complementary to the bovine cerebral mRNA encoding the polypeptide. A much higher degree of amino acid sequence homology is observed between the alpha-subunits of Gi and transducin (68%) than between those of Gi and the adenylate cyclase-stimulating G-protein (Gs) (43%) or between those of transducin and Gs (42%).

Adenylyl Cyclase Inhibitors↗

Serotonin in the lung. Demonstration of a close correlation to blood platelet.

The dependency of a high level of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5HT) in the lung on blood 5HT was examined. The whole lung excised from NOD/Shi mice (male, 8-12 week old) immediately after being sacrificed by cervical dislocation contained 2.86 +/- 1.21 micrograms/g of 5HT per wet tissue. This amount was much higher than that explained by the included blood which was estimated by the hemoglobin concentration in the lung extract. In order to decrease 5HT level in the blood, platelet was depleted by an exposure to gamma-ray. On the 10th day after the irradiation the amount of 5HT in the lung and blood decreased to about 3.1% and 1.5% of the respective normal values. The progressive decrease in 5HT in the lung and blood of the irradiated mice was prevented by the transplantation of normal bone marrow cells (10(7) cells/mouse). 5HT in the intestine did not change significantly. The correlation between 5HT in the excised lung and the number of platelets in the blood was statistically significant (correlation coefficient r = 0.61). The irradiated, platelet-deficient mice were incapable of accumulating serotonin in the lung, while normal mice increased the lung serotonin more than 3-fold, when high doses of 5HT were administered. The results indicated that the high level of 5HT in the dissected lung was closely related to platelet in the blood. A question remained where the majority of the measured 5HT was located in the lung tissue.

Animals↗

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of glyoxylate in rat liver.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the determination of glyoxylate in the liver. Alpha-keto acids in charcoal-treated acid-extract of the liver were converted to the corresponding 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazones and purified as the derivatives by successive extractions with ethyl acetate and sodium bicarbonate solution. The dinitrophenylhydrazones were then quantitatively converted to the corresponding substituted 2-hydroxyquinoxalines by reaction with o-phenylenediamine, followed by analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. As a control to correct the recovery of tissue glyoxylate, an acid-extract of the liver prepared with the addition of standard glyoxylate (25-50 nmol/g wet weight of tissue) was simultaneously subjected to the analytical procedure. The maximum sensitivity of the glyoxylate measurement as 2-hydroxyquinoxaline (the quinoxaline derivative corresponding to glyoxylate) was defined as the peak area reading five times as high as the blank value obtained without sample and was approximately 10 pmol per injection. Glyoxylate in the addition compound with tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane was quantitatively recovered as 2-hydroxyquinoxaline. The addition compounds of glyoxylate with bisulfite and cysteine did not react with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine under the conditions employed and were not detectable as glyoxylate by this method, while the adduct-forming substances added to the acid-extract of the liver did not interfere with the glyoxylate determination. No glyoxylate was detected when the liver extract had been incubated at neutral pH with a large excess of cysteine, indicating that little artificial production of glyoxylate occurred during the analytical procedure. Among 64 compounds tested for possible artificial production of glyoxylate or possible interference with the chromatographic determination of 2-hydroxyquinoxaline, p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate was the only compound which was converted to glyoxylate during the procedure. However, p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate was easily removed from the acid-extract of the tissue by charcoal treatment. The amount of glyoxylate in the liver of fasted rat was measured by the present method to be approximately 5 nmol per g of wet weight.

Animals↗

Cloning and expression in Escherichia coli of cDNA for serine: pyruvate aminotransferase of rat liver.

Cloned cDNAs for rat liver serine: pyruvate aminotransferase were obtained by screening of a cDNA expression bank of rat liver with an antibody against the enzyme. Nineteen clones were isolated from 33 000 transformants and most of them had common fragments of cDNA on analysis by digestion with some restriction enzymes. These clones were identified as those containing cDNA for serine:pyruvate aminotransferase by the following criteria. (a) At the nucleic acid level, a 500-base-pair fragment of cDNA prepared by digestion of cDNAs with EcoRI and PstI hybridized with the mRNA coding for serine:pyruvate aminotransferase as judged by hybrid-selected and hybrid-arrested translations. (b) Specific proteins were detected in nine bacterial clones, a 40-kDa protein in one clone and a 39-kDa protein in eight clones. Among them only the 40-kDa protein was found to be solubilized from the cell by sonication, and this protein was immunoprecipitated with an antibody against serine:pyruvate aminotransferase of rat liver. (c) High activity of serine:pyruvate aminotransferase was expressed both in whole cell suspension and sonicated extract prepared from the transformant producing the 40-kDa protein, and 99% of the activity was immunoreactive with the antibody. Two types of mRNA for serine:pyruvate aminotransferase were detected on the RNA blot analysis by using cloned cDNA fragment as a probe. The larger mRNA (approximately 1600 nucleotides) was glucagon-inducible while the smaller one (approximately 1500 nucleotides) was not affected by the hormone.

Animals↗

Distribution of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT) in tissue of a mutant mouse deficient in mast cell (W/Wv). Demonstration of the contribution of mast cells to the 5HT content in various organs.

The content of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT) in various tissues of mutant mouse (W/Wv) deficient in mast cells and of control mouse (+/+) was determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The depletion of mast cells in the mutant mouse (W/Wv) was expected to cause a decrease in the 5HT content. In the control mice, 5HT was most densely accumulated in the lung (9.66 +/- 5.23 micrograms/g). Large intestine (6.40 +/- 2.61 micrograms/g) and stomach (6.10 +/- 2.14 micrograms/g) followed the lung in the rating of the 5HT content. The 5HT content of W/Wv mice was only 23.4% and 4.1% that of the control in the stomach (p less than 0.01) and the skin (p less than 0.01), respectively. The results were consistent with the expectation. In other organs (small intestine, caecum, large intestine, brain, lung, blood and salivary gland), the difference between the W/Wv and normal mice was not statistically significant. The difference in the 5HT content of the stomach between the two genotypes was 4.67 micrograms/g and was much larger than the 5HT content (0.49 micrograms/g) of normal mouse skin. With regard to the relatively small number of mast cells present in the stomach, the great difference in the 5HT content in the stomach between the two genotypes cannot be explained by the loss of mast cells. Hence, besides mast cells other cells may contribute to the high 5HT content of the stomach.

Animals↗

Spectrophotometric determination of oxalate in urine and plasma with oxalate oxidase.

In order to establish a standard procedure for the spectrophotometric determination of urinary and plasma oxalate with oxalate oxidase (Laker, M.F., et al. (1980) Clin. Chem. 26, 827-830; Sugiura, M., et al. (1980) Clin. Chim. Acta 105, 393-399) and to define the limitations of the method, the procedures and reactions involved in the assay have been examined. Among the chromogenic hydrogen donors for peroxidase tested, a combination of 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone (MBTH) and sodium N-sulfopropylaniline (HALPS) was found to be best for the oxalate determination under the conditions used. Urine contained substance(s) which were inhibitory to the measurement of hydrogen peroxide by the peroxidase-catalyzed oxidative condensation of MBTH and HALPS, but they were largely removed by charcoal treatment at pH 5.6 without significant loss of oxalate. Deproteinization of plasma was carried out by ultrafiltration through a membrane cone (Centriflo CF-25) at neutral pH. The plasma oxalate ultrafiltrability under the conditions employed was calculated to be approximately 95%. A standard assay system for oxalate in these urine and plasma samples was then set up based on a series of studies on the reactions involved in the assay. In the case of normal plasma, however, the absorbance change was very small due to the low concentration of oxalate, and in addition, pretreatment of plasma with excess oxalate decarboxylase followed by the ultrafiltration and oxalate determination did not abolish completely the oxalate oxidase-dependent absorbance increase. It was concluded that the enzymic method was useful for the assay of urinary oxalate and in detecting elevated levels of plasma oxalate such as those in hemodialysis patients but was not sensitive enough to determine accurately the normal or decreased level of oxalate in plasma. The apparent concentration of oxalate in normal human plasma was measured in this work as 3.5 +/- 0.8 microM (mean +/- S.D., n = 8), and this result was interpreted to mean that the concentration of plasma oxalate was less than approximately 3.5 microM, as estimated by the present method.

Blood Proteins↗

Phospholipid (diacyl, alkylacyl, alkenylacyl) and fatty acyl chain composition in murine mastocytoma cells.

The phospholipids from murine mastocytoma FMA3 and P-815 clone cells were quantitatively analyzed, and the major glycerophospholipids were examined for their fatty acyl chain distribution. In these cells, the content of histamine was less than 1/100 of normal mouse mast cells, and FMA3 cells had 1.5-fold as much histamine content as P-815 cells. The predominant phospholipid species of both mastocytoma FMA3 and P-815 were choline-containing glycerophospholipids (48%) and ethanolamine-containing glycerophospholipids (29%). The remaining minor constituents were sphingomyelin (6%, 7%), phosphatidylinositol (7%, 5%), phosphatidylserine (2%, 5%), cardiolipin (4%, 3%), and phosphatidic acid (2%, 1% for FMA3 and P-815, respectively). The choline-containing glycerophospholipids consisted of high amounts of 1-O-alkyl-2-acyl type (31%, 25%) and 1,2-diacyl type (63%, 66%) and a smaller amount of 1-O-alk-1'-enyl-2-acyl type (7%, 8%). In contrast, ethanolamine-containing glycerophospholipids were characterized by high contents of 1-O-alk-1'-enyl-2-acyl type (36%, 31%) and 1,2-diacyl type (55%, 58%), and a lower level of 1-O-alkyl-2-acyl type (12% and 11% for FMA3 and P-815, respectively). Unlike choline-containing glycerophospholipids and sphingomyelin that were rich in palmitic acid, ethanolamine-containing glycerophospholipids, phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositol showed a high proportion of stearic acid in the overall fatty acid composition. The content of arachidonic acid was highest in phosphatidylinositol. Sphingomyelin had a large amount of long chain and polyunsaturated fatty acids. In both choline- and ethanolamine-containing glycerophospholipids, the predominant fatty acids in the sn-1-position were palmitic, stearic, and oleic acid.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acetylglucosaminidase↗

[The determination of oxalate in the urine by a new enzymatic method using oxalate oxidase].

Oxalate is one of the most important constituents in urine of urinary stone. But the determination of oxalate in urine has not been performed as a routine laboratory examination because of difficulty or inaccuracy in measuring oxalate in urine. We tried to measure oxalate in urine by the newly developed enzymic method with oxalate oxidase. This method is not only simple but also accurate enough. The reproducibility S.D./mean was 2.3-9.0%, the recovery rate was 95.2 +/- 4.0% (mean +/- S.D.) With this method, the normal range of urine oxalate in 24 hours was determined to be 11.8 mg-39.4 mg, the upper limit was 40 mg. By taking the regular diet which contains 500 mg of calcium and 1,000 mg of phosphorus a day, the excretion of oxalate in urine was significantly decreased in the stone formers. This suggests that the influence of the diet upon the excretion of oxalate in urine for 24 hours is important especially in stone formers.

Diet↗

Uptake and processing of serine: pyruvate aminotransferase precursor by rat liver mitochondria in vitro and in vivo.

Processing and uptake of the precursor of serine: pyruvate aminotransferase [EC 2.6.1.51] by mitochondria were studied in vitro and in vivo. Serine: pyruvate aminotransferase was synthesized mainly on free ribosomes as judged by immunoprecipitation of puromycin-labeled nascent peptides prepared from free and bound ribosomes. The precursor of rat liver serine:pyruvate aminotransferase (pSPT) synthesized in vitro was post-translationally processed to an apparently mature form by isolated rat liver mitochondria. Available evidence indicated that the processed product was localized in the matrix of mitochondria. Mature serine:pyruvate aminotransferase did not inhibit the in vitro processing, suggesting that the extra peptide was necessary for the mitochondrial uptake of the precursor. In the livers of rats fed a vitamin B6-deficient high-protein diet, the induction by glucagon of serine:pyruvate aminotransferase occurred and most of the induced enzyme existed in mitochondria as the apo-form, suggesting that pSPT was taken up by mitochondria and processed in the apo-form under the conditions employed. In the in vitro system, on the other hand, the processing of pSPT proceeded both in the absence and presence of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. Should the precursor also bind the prosthetic molecule, therefore, it would be transported into mitochondria in both the apo- and holo-forms. When isolated rat hepatocytes were labeled with [35S]methionine, labeled pSPT appeared in the cytosolic fraction and was transported rapidly into mitochondria in association with the processing. This uptake and processing were inhibited by a fluorescent laser dye, rhodamine 123, and the precursor accumulated in the cytosol in the presence of the dye.

Animals↗

Assay of tryptophan hydroxylase and aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase based on rapid separation of the reaction product by high performance liquid chromatography.

A rapid separation of 5-hydroxytryptophan by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was achieved for the assay of tryptophan hydroxylase. "Bulk separation" of the product from all other components in the reaction mixture by HPLC was achieved by 1) the choice of a suitable column-solvent system so as to elute the reaction product ahead of other components in the sample mixture, 2) the use of a monitor selective for the reaction product, 3) minimization of the column length so as to achieve rapid separation of the product from the substrate. The method finally employed a reversed phase column of 5 cm length, relatively rapid elution at 2 ml/min and fluorescence detection at 350 nm with an excitation at 302 nm. The assay is convenient and as sensitive as the radioisotope method. The advantages of the method are 1) almost no pretreatment of samples, 2) repeatability every 2 min, 3) wide latitude of product determination from picomole to nanomole amounts per assay. The method was extended to the assay of 5-hydroxytryptophan decarboxylase by essentially the same procedures.

Animals↗

Lactate dehydrogenase A-subunit and B-subunit deficiencies: comparison of the physiological roles of LDH isozymes.

Different clinical features exist for lactate dehydrogenase A-subunit and B-subunit deficiencies. The metabolic basis for these clinical differences was elucidated by investigating carbohydrate metabolism in the affected tissues. Glycolysis was markedly retarded at the position of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and significant increases of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, dihydroxyacetone phosphate, and fructose 1,6-diphosphate were observed. The physical and kinetic properties of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase prepared from human erythrocytes and skeletal muscle were almost identical, but the mode of inhibition of the enzyme was slightly different in erythrocytes and in skeletal muscle. In erythrocytes, impaired reoxidation of NADH followed by the deficiency of substrate NAD+ causes a reduction of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity. However, in skeletal muscle, the increased level of NADH markedly inhibits the enzyme under anaerobic conditions. A flux of triose phosphates from glycolysis occurred in skeletal muscle of a patient with A-subunit deficiency. This flux is attributable to the high cytosol alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase activity in skeletal muscle. for these reasons the ATP production was significantly impaired in the patient and the damage to muscle cells brings about the release of cytosolic enzymes and muscle rigidity after hard exercise. In contrast in the erythrocytes, the level of alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase is very low and another red cell-specific NADH reoxidizing system such as NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase (NADH-methemoglobin reductase) is operating. In this manner, the NAD+ level in erythrocytes is compensated for without the flux of triose phosphates derived from glucose. Therefore, the ATP production in erythrocytes is sufficiently maintained by glycolysis even in a patient with complete lactate dehydrogenase B-subunit deficiency. Thus, impaired ATP production in anaerobic stage is a condition which is specific for lactate dehydrogenase A-subunit deficiency but does not occur for B-subunit deficiency. The different clinical features of the A- and B-subunit deficiencies have been clearly elucidated.

Erythrocytes↗