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Biomedical subjects

A Sener

Publications and source records attributed to A Sener.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

Kinetics and specificity of human B-cell glucokinase: relevance to hexose-induced insulin release.

The present study reevaluates the relevance of human B-cell glucokinase activity to the process of hexose-induced insulin release. Taking into account a phenomenon of positive cooperativity (Hill number: 1.34), the Km of the enzyme for glucose ( < or = 5.1 mM) was lower than the concentration of the hexose required to cause half-maximal stimulation of insulin release in intact islets. Likewise, there were obvious discrepancies between the kinetics of glucose, mannose and fructose phosphorylation by B-cell glucokinase, e.g. in terms of maximal velocity, and the secretory and metabolic responses to these hexoses in intact islets. Glucose 6-phosphate decreased, modestly but significantly, B-cell glucokinase activity, such an inhibitory action being of the non-competitive type. Mannoheptulose caused competitive inhibition of B-cell glucokinase. It is concluded that the intrinsic catalytic properties of B-cell glucokinase cannot fully account for the concentration dependency and sugar specificity of the secretory response to D-glucose or other hexoses in pancreatic islets.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1996

Anomeric specificity of the native and mutant forms of human beta-cell glucokinase.

The anomeric specificity of wild-type human beta-cell glucokinase and six of its mutant forms toward alpha- and beta-D-glucose was examined over 6-min incubation at 30 degrees C. When D-[U-14C]glucose at anomeric equilibrium was used as substrate, the wild-type form yielded a maximal velocity of 76 U/mg, a K(m) of 4-5 mM, and a Hill coefficient close to 1.2. The maximal velocity (2 to 89 U/mg) and K(m) (2.4 to 209.8 mM) of the mutant forms both covered a range of about two orders to magnitude. Wild-type glucokinase displayed a higher affinity for alpha-D-glucose but greater maximal velocity with beta-D-glucose. A variance, however, in four mutant forms, the maximal velocity was higher with alpha- than beta-D-glucose. These findings indicate that the higher insulinotropic efficiency of alpha- than beta-glucose cannot be ascribed to the intrinsic catalytic properties of human beta-cell glucokinase. They also suggest that the perturbation of the anomeric specificity of glucose-stimulated insulin release in type-2 diabetes could conceivably be attributable, on occasion and at least in part, to a mutation of the glucokinase gene.

Glucokinase↗
PubMed1996

The coupling of metabolic to secretory events in pancreatic islets. Glucose-induced changes in mitochondrial redox state.

Mitochondrial NAD+, NADH, NADP+ and NADPH were measured in dispersed pancreatic islet cells incubated in the absence or presence of D-glucose and then exposed for 20 s to 0.5 mg/ml digitonin. The latter treatment resulted in the full release of lactate dehydrogenase without any detectable loss of glutamate dehydrogenase. The permeabilized cells were separated from the incubation medium by centrifugation through an oil layer and their content in pyridine nucleotides measured by a radioisotopic procedure coupled to the classical cycling technique. Relative to basal value, D-glucose, in concentrations of 2.8 and 16.7 mM, caused a concentration-related increase in both the NADH/NAD+ and NADPH/NADP+ ratio. These findings provide the first direct evidence for the induction of a more reduced mitochondrial redox state in glucose-stimulated pancreatic islets.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Pancreatic islet mitochondrial glycerophosphate dehydrogenase deficiency in two animal models of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Western blotting of pancreatic islet extracts from either hereditarily diabetic Goto-Kakizaki rats (GK rats) or animals injected with streptozotocin during the neonatal period (STZ rats) demonstrated a pronounced decrease of immunoreactive mitochondrial glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (m-GDH), when compared to results obtained in islets from control rats. By contrast, the islet glucokinase protein content was either unaffected (GK rats) or much less severely decreased than that of m-GDH (STZ rats). These findings indicate that the impaired activity of m-GDH previously documented in islet homogenates from diabetic rats coincides with a decreased content of this enzyme in the endocrine pancreas.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Relevance of lactate dehydrogenase activity to the control of oxidative glycolysis in pancreatic islet B-cells.

The activities of hexokinase isoenzymes, lactate dehydrogenase, cytosolic NAD-linked glycerophosphate dehydrogenase, mitochondrial FAD-linked glycerophosphate dehydrogenase, and glutamate dehydrogenase were measured in homogenates of rat purified pancreatic B and non-B islet cells. In B cell homogenates, the maximal activity of hexokinase and glucokinase was one to two orders of magnitude lower than that of lactate dehydrogenase. The activity of the mitochondrial FAD-linked glycerophosphate dehydrogenase was also much lower than that of the cytosolic NAD-linked glycerophosphate dehydrogenase . A comparable hierarchy in the activity of these enzymes was observed in non-B islet cells. These findings reinforce the view that the preferential stimulation of oxidative glycolysis observed in insulin-producing cells, when exposed to high concentrations of D-glucose, is attributable to a Ca2+-induced activation of the mitochondrial FAD-linked glycerophosphate dehydrogenase, rather than to saturation of the catalytic activity of lactate dehydrogenase.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Nutrient metabolism in pancreatic islets from protein malnourished rats.

The metabolism of D-[5-3H]glucose, D-[3,4-14C]glucose, [2-3H]glycerol, L-[U-14C]glutamine, L-[1-14C]-leucine, and L-[U-14C]leucine was investigated in pancreatic islets isolated from either control rats or animals fed a low-protein isocaloric diet, containing 8% instead of 20% protein, during both fetal and postnatal life. In the latter animals, decreases in body weight, plasma insulin concentration, and insulinogenic index were associated with two major anomalies of islet nutrient metabolism. First, an imbalance between oxidative and anaerobic glycolysis was found in the islets of rats fed the low-protein isocaloric diet. It coincided with a decreased circulation in the glycerol phosphate shuttle, as judged by the generation of 3HOH from [2-3H]glycerol, and was probably attributable to the deficiency of mitochondrial FAD-linked glycerophosphate dehydrogenase previously documented in islet homogenates of the rats fed low protein. Second, the transamination of L-leucine to 2-ketoisocaproate was decreased in the low-protein-fed rats, while the oxidative decarboxylation of the 2-keto acid and the further catabolism of isovaleryl CoA occurred at normal rates when expressed relative to the initial transamination rate. These metabolic anomalies may account, in part at least, for the impairment of insulin release in protein malnutrition.

Acyl Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1996

Hexose metabolism in pancreatic islets: apparent dissociation between the secretory and metabolic effects of D-fructose.

In rat pancreatic islets, D-fructose causes a concentration-related shift to the left of the sigmoidal relationship between insulin release and D-glucose concentration. For instance, when D-fructose is tested at a 80 mM concentration, which is close to the threshold value for stimulation of insulin release by the ketohexose in the absence of D-glucose, a close-to-maximal secretory response is recorded in islets concomitantly exposed to as little as 6.0 to 8.3 mM D-glucose. Under these conditions, however, D-fructose fails to affect the utilization of D-[5-3H]glucose, the oxidation of D-[U-14C]glucose, or its conversion to either 14C-labeled acidic metabolites or amino acids. Under the same experimental conditions, the oxidation of D-[U-14C]fructose and its conversion to 14C-labeled amino acids represent no more than 80-85% of the corresponding values found with 6 mM D-[U-14C]glucose. Actually, the total output of 14CO2 attributable to the oxidation of both D-[U-14C]glucose (6 mM) and D-[U-14C]fructose (80 mM) remains lower than that found in the sole presence of 8.3 mM D-[U-14C]glucose, despite the much higher rate of insulin secretion found in the former compared to the latter situation. These findings suggest that the insulinotropic action of D-fructose cannot be fully accounted for by its capacity to act as a fuel in islet cells, as if it were to involve the generation of a second messenger distinct from those coupling factors currently implied in the process of nutrient-stimulated insulin release.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

FAD-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase activity in lymphocytes of type-2 diabetic patients and their relatives.

The activities of FAD-linked glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (m-GDH), glutamate dehydrogenase (GlDH), glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (GPT) and glutamate-oxalacetate transaminase (GOT) were measured in purified populations of CD3+ lymphocytes from 55 control subjects, 62 type-2 diabetics and 50 non-diabetic relatives of the latter patients. The activity of m-GDH was measured by both a radioisotopic procedure and colourimetric technique. As judged from these measurements and relative to the paired value for GlDH, the incidence of abnormally low m-GDH activity was significantly higher in type-2 diabetics than in control subjects. Moreover, the paired ratio in reaction velocity between the colourimetric and radioisotopic assay of m-GDH was abnormally high in patients with low m-GDH activity. Low m-GDH activity often coincided with increased GPT activity in plasma or high GPT/GOT ratio in lymphocytes. No obvious clustering of these anomalies was found in relatives of diabetic patients. These findings suggest that an inherited or acquired genomic defect of m-GDH in lymphocytes, and possibly in pancreatic B-cells, may participate to the pathogenesis of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Effects of chronically elevated glucose levels on the functional properties of rat pancreatic beta-cells.

This study examines the effects of chronically elevated glucose levels on the survival and function of purified rat beta-cells. Prolonged exposure (9 days) of beta-cell aggregates to 20 mmol/l glucose did not lead to cell losses, but reduced the amount of insulin secreted in response to glucose. This decrease was not caused by cellular desensitization but resulted from the lower cellular insulin content after a prolonged imbalance between stimulated rates of insulin synthesis and release. Virtually all beta-cells exhibited a state of metabolic and biosynthetic activation, which was maintained for at least 2 h in glucose-depleted media. Their rates of protein and insulin synthesis were amplified by glucose, reaching (half-) maximal stimulation at lower glucose concentrations (2 and 5 mmol/l, respectively) than control cells cultured at 10 mmol/l glucose (5 and 10 mmol/l, respectively). As for insulin release, the net glucose effect on insulin synthesis was markedly reduced as compared with that in control cells. This was also the case after culture at 6 mmol/l glucose. In the latter condition, the lower glucose-inducible activities were caused by cellular desensitization, with 50% of the beta-cells unresponsive to glucose and the other 50% responding with a lower sensitivity (half-maximal stimulation at 7 mmol/l glucose). Comparison of beta-cells cultured at the three glucose concentrations indicated that prolonged exposure to elevated glucose levels increases the number of degranulated cells, of cells with a high proportion of immature insulin granules, and of cells with glycogen deposition-morphologic features previously described in conditions of hyperglycemia. It is concluded that chronic exposure (9 days) of rat beta-cells to elevated glucose levels induces a prolonged state of beta-cell activation and glucose hypersensitivity rather than a glucotoxicity or glucose desensitization. This shift in the functional state of the beta-cell population is responsible for a reduced insulin release in response to glucose, as observed in other conditions of prolonged exposure to high glucose levels.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Methodology for assaying iodide conductance in proteoliposomes: specific induction by thyroid membrane protein.

A sensitive assay is developed to assess the existence of an iodide channel in a fraction of solubilized membrane proteins. This step is critical when considering various procedures for purification of this channel. Sodium cholate is used as a detergent as it does not denature the iodide channel. A simple and rapid method involving gel-filtration chromatography is used simultaneously to remove the detergent and to adjust the buffer composition, before protein insertion into liposomes. The presence of an iodide channel is investigated by measuring the iodide conductance of these proteoliposomes at 4 degrees C. An outward iodide gradient is set up across the proteoliposomal membrane by anion-exchange chromatography, allowing uptake of radiolabelled iodide. This uptake is conductive as it is abolished by valinomycin in the presence of potassium. It is specifically mediated by a thyroid plasma-membrane protein inserted into liposomes, as its denaturation before insertion totally abolished uptake. It was observed only within a well-defined fraction of thyroid membrane proteins collected by size-exclusion chromatography (molecular mass between 100 and 200 kDa). Furthermore, it was not observed with other membrane proteins such as ileal brush-border-membrane proteins or bacteriorhodopsin. Like many anion channels, this conductance was also inhibited by N-phenylanthranilic acid. Optimization of the assay is described, validating the measurement of conductive iodide uptake at 30 s by proteoliposomes reconstituted in a ratio of 10 micrograms of protein to 90 micrograms of lipid, with an outward iodide gradient (KI 15 mM inside and 1 microM outside). This assay provides a test of the biological activity of the iodide channel at each step of the purification; it can be applied to any anionic channel.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Hexose metabolism in pancreatic islets: effect of D-glucose on the mitochondrial redox state.

The mitochondrial NADH/NAD+ ratio for free nucleotides in rat pancreatic islets was judged from the cell content in L-glutamate and L-alanine, 2-ketoglutarate and pyruvate, and NH4+. At a physiological concentration of D-glucose, such a ratio averaged 9.6 +/- 1.1%. A rise in hexose concentrations, above a threshold value in excess of 5.6 mM, caused a rapid, sustained and rapidly reversible decrease in the mitochondrial NADH/NAD+ ratio. It is speculated that in the process of glucose-stimulated insulin release, the latter change participates in the coupling between metabolic and secretory events by favouring both the activity of key mitochondrial dehydrogenases and the translocation of Ca2+ from the mitochondria into the cytosol.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Hexose metabolism in pancreatic islets: regulation of the mitochondrial NADH/NAD+ ratio.

In rat pancreatic islets, D-glucose in concentrations exceeding 5.6 mM caused a concentration-related decrease of the mitochondrial NADH/NAD+ ratio, as judged from the changes in the islet content of glutamate, NH4+, and 2-ketoglutarate, and assuming that the glutamate dehydrogenase reaction is near equilibrium with the mitochondrial NAD system. The concentration dependency of the response to D-glucose was vastly different in islet and parotid cells, respectively. L-Leucine, 2-ketoisocaproate, BCH (a nonmetabolized but insulinotropic analog of L-leucine) and 3-phenylpyruvate also lowered the mitochondrial NADH/NAD+ ratio. In the presence of D-glucose, the latter ratio was also decreased by NH4+ or the absence of extracellular Ca2+, but dramatically increased by aminooxyacetate. Taking into account prior metabolic findings, the nutrient-induced fall in the mitochondrial redox state is thought to reflect an increased clearance of mitochondrial NADH through both the respiratory chain and malate-aspartate shuttle. The nutrient-induced decrease in the mitochondrial NADH/NAD+ ratio might favor both the circulation of metabolites in the Krebs cycle and the exit of Ca2+ from the mitochondria.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1995

Hydrolysis of succinic acid dimethyl ester in rat pancreatic islets.

The hydrolysis of the dimethyl ester of [1,4-14C]succinic acid and/or [2,3-14C]succinic acid was measured in homogenates of rat pancreatic islets, liver, jejunum, brain, BC3H1 mouse myocytes, NG108-19 mouse neuroblastoma x rat glioma hybrid cells, and Caco-2 human colon adenocarcinoma cells. The specific activity of the enzyme was much higher in liver, jejunum, and Caco-2 cells than in the other cell types. The affinity of the enzyme for succinic acid dimethyl ester (SAD) was also much higher in liver than in islet homogenates. In the latter case, both particulate and cytosolic activity were observed upon subcellular fractionation. The activity found in islet homogenates was commensurate with the rate of SAD hydrolysis in intact cells. While the intracellular pool of acidic metabolites generated from SAD remained fairly stable over a 15- to 120-min incubation and was mainly located in the cytosolic compartment, the amount of acidic metabolites released in the extracellular milieu progressively increased with the length of incubation. Such metabolites included both monocarboxylic and dicarboxylic acids, the latter consisting mainly of succinic acid and, to a much lesser extent, of fumaric acid and malic acid. However, at variance with SAD, succinic acid failed to be taken up by intact islets. There was no close parallelism between the specific activity of the SAD esterase and the extent of SAD utilization in distinct cell types.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Apparent starvation-induced repression of pancreatic islet glucokinase.

Conflicting data were previously reported concerning the effect of starvation upon the glucokinase protein and glucokinase mRNA content of pancreatic islets. In the present study, conducted in fed rats and animals starved for 48 h, the catalytic activity of glucokinase in islet homogenates and the content of this enzyme in islets were both decreased by starvation to the same relative extent. These findings support the view that the altered metabolic and secretory response to D-glucose found in islets from starved rats may be attributable, in part at least, to an apparent repression of glucokinase.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Standardized procedure for the assay and identification of hypoglycemic sulfonylureas in human plasma.

A standardized procedure for the assay and identification of hypoglycemic sulfonylureas in plasma is presented. External standards and plasma extracts containing glibenclamide, gliquidone, glipizide, or gliclazide were examined by high-performance liquid chromatography. The four sulfonylureas could be identified and measured with a precision of 5%-7% and a limit of detection close to 1-2 ng in injected external standards and 10-40 ng/ml in plasma samples. This method is suitable to study the pharmacokinetics of hypoglycemic sulfonylureas, for blood drug monitoring in diabetic patients, for diagnostic purposes in factitious hypoglycemia, and in cases relevant to forensic medicine.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗
PubMed1995

Restricted effect of formycin A and non-glucidic nutrients upon insulin release in islets from rats with hereditary or acquired non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

Pancreatic islets isolated from control rats, Goto-Kakizaki rats and adult rats that were injected with streptozotocin during the neonatal period were incubated for two successive period of 90 min each in the presence of D-glucose (11.1 mM) with or without formycin A (1.0 mM), and in the presence of the dimethyl ester of succinic acid (SAD, 10.0 mM) with or without palmitate (1.0 mM). Although formycin A augmented glucose-stimulated insulin release in both control and diabetic rats, it failed to compensate for the impaired secretory response to D-glucose in the latter animals. Likewise, non-glucidic nutrients such as SAD and/or palmitate failed to display a more efficient insulinotropic action, relative to basal insulin output, in diabetic than control rats. These results indicate that both formycin A and non-glucidic nutrients are unable, through their immediate insulinotropic action, to restore a normal output of insulin in islets of animals with inherited or acquired non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Dual effect of formycin A upon the hydrolysis of phosphoinositides in perifused pancreatic islets.

Formycin A (1.0 mM) caused a rapid, sustained and rapidly reversible inhibition of effluent radioactivity in rat pancreatic islets prelabelled with myo-[2-3H]inositol and perifused in the presence of 8.3 mM D-glucose. This coincided with a progressive decrease in islet ATP content and transient inhibition of insulin release. Thereafter, however, formycin A increased glucose-induced insulin release. Moreover, in islets that were preincubated with myo-[2-3H]inositol and then exposed during perifusion to a rise in D-glucose concentration from 2.8 to 16.7 mM, the release of insulin and 3H fractional outflow rate at both the low and high hexose concentrations were much higher when both the preincubation and perifusion were conducted in the presence, rather than absence, of formycin A. It is concluded that formycin A first inhibits and later enhances both the hydrolysis of phosphoinositides and release of insulin, these effects being possibly related to changes in the islet cell content of adenosine and/or formycin A triphosphates.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗