Biomedical subjects

B Gallwitz

Publications and source records attributed to B Gallwitz.

46 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMed1994

[Differential diagnosis of granulomatous diseases--epithelioid cell granuloma in the intestine and liver in Crohn disease?].

Extraintestinal manifestations of Crohn's disease include a number of inflammatory diseases. The clinical activity of these associated diseases may in some cases parallel that of the intestinal inflammation. The activity of extraintestinal manifestations may however be paramount. A cause and effect relationship has not been shown for extraintestinal manifestations such as eye involvement, arthritis and accompanying hepatitis. The histological changes of extraintestinal manifestations consists of noncaseating granulomas that are difficult to distinguish from granulomas occurring in other systemic inflammatory diseases. This report is on a female patient with lower abdominal pain, fatigue, night-sweat, weight loss, episcleritis and diarrhea without blood and slime. Noncaseating granulomas were found in the colon and liver, but not in the lung. The differential diagnosis between the extrapulmonary manifestation of sarcoidosis and a generalized Crohn's disease is discussed. Hypocalcemia, large bowel involvement and missing histological changes in lung tissue rather support the diagnosis of Crohn's disease, particularly because the high CD4/CD8-quotient found in the bronchial lavage is not only characteristic for sarcoidosis but also found in Crohn's disease. Abdominal pain, diarrhea, night-sweat, weight loss and inflammation parameters like CRP and anaemia normalized under therapy with prednisone within a couple of months.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Dipeptidyl-peptidase IV hydrolyses gastric inhibitory polypeptide, glucagon-like peptide-1(7-36)amide, peptide histidine methionine and is responsible for their degradation in human serum.

Peptides of the glucagon/vasoactive-intestinal-peptide (VIP) peptide family share a considerable sequence similarity at their N-terminus. They either start with Tyr-Ala, His-Ala or His-Ser which might be in part potential targets for dipeptidyl-peptidase IV, a highly specialized aminopeptidase removing dipeptides only from peptides with N-terminal penultimate proline or alanine. Growth-hormone-releasing factor (1-29)amide and gastric inhibitory peptide/glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) with terminal Tyr-Ala as well as glucagon-like peptide-1(7-36)amide/insulinotropin [GLP-1(7-36)amide] and peptide histidine methionine (PHM) with terminal His-Ala were hydrolysed to their des-Xaa-Ala derivatives by dipeptidyl-peptidase IV purified from human placenta. VIP with terminal His-Ser was not significantly degraded by the peptidase. The kinetics of the hydrolysis of GIP, GLP-1(7-36)amide and PHM were analyzed in detail. For these peptides Km values of 4-34 microM and Vmax values of 0.6-3.8 mumol.min-1.mg protein-1 were determined for the purified peptidase which should allow their enzymic degradation also at physiological, nanomolar concentrations. When human serum was incubated with GIP or GLP-1(7-36)amide the same fragments as with the purified dipeptidyl-peptidase IV, namely the des-Xaa-Ala peptides and Tyr-Ala in the case of GIP or His-Ala in the case of GLP-1(7-36)amide, were identified as the main degradation products of these peptide hormones. Incorporation of inhibitors specific for dipeptidyl-peptidase IV, 1 mM Lys-pyrrolidide or 0.1 mM diprotin A (Ile-Pro-Ile), completely abolished the production of these fragments by serum. It is concluded that dipeptidyl-peptidase IV initiates the metabolism of GIP and GLP-1(7-36)amide in human serum. Since an intact N-terminus is obligate for the biological activity of the members of the glucagon/VIP peptide family [e. g. GIP(3-42) is known to be inactive to release insulin in the presence of glucose as does intact GIP], dipeptidyl-peptidase-IV action inactivates these peptide hormones. The relevance of this finding for their inactivation and their determination by immunoassays is discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1993

Binding specificity and signal transduction of receptors for glucagon-like peptide-1(7-36)amide and gastric inhibitory polypeptide on RINm5F insulinoma cells.

Glucagon-like peptide-1(7-36)amide (GLP-1(7-36) amide) and gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP), peptides of the glucagon family, stimulate insulin secretion in vitro and in vivo. They possess high N-terminal sequence homology. Binding studies with 125I-labelled GIP and 125I-labelled GLP-1(7-36)amide were performed in RINm5F insulinoma cells to investigate receptor specificity and to compare both receptors directly. Both binding sites were highly ligand-specific: GIP did not bind to the GLP-1(7-36)amide receptor and vice versa. Both peptides increased intracellular cyclic AMP levels; GLP-1(7-36)amide was 100-fold more potent in stimulating cyclic AMP production when compared with GIP. At ranges of 1-10 nmol GLP-1(7-36)amide/l and 0.1-10 nmol GIP/l, corresponding to submaximal binding concentrations, the hormones showed an additive effect on cyclic AMP production. The N-terminal portion of GIP was important for binding, as GIP(1-30) showed almost full binding and biological activity. GIP(17-42) bound in a concentration-dependent manner with approximately 500-fold lower potency than GIP. At concentrations of up to 10 mumol GIP(17-42)/l no stimulation of cyclic AMP was observed.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Isolation and primary structure of pituitary human galanin, a 30-residue nonamidated neuropeptide.

Galanin (Gal), a 29-amino acid C-terminally amidated neuropeptide, is widely distributed throughout the central and peripheral nervous system. The primary structures of rat and bovine Gals were derived from the cDNA sequences of their precursors. To elucidate the structure of human Gal (hGal), we extracted 280 postmortem pituitaries in trifluoroacetic acid and purified hGal binding activity, by three successive HPLC steps, to homogeneity based on a radioreceptor assay. The primary structure of hGal was determined by automatic Edman degradation to be Gly-Trp-Thr-Leu-Asn-Ser-Ala-Gly-Tyr-Leu-Leu- Gly-Pro-His-Ala-Val-Gly-Asn-His-Arg-Ser-Phe-Ser-Asp-Lys-Asn-Gly-Leu-Thr- Ser-COOH. The structure was confirmed by plasma desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometry, revealing a mass of 3156.1. Compared to the 29-residue porcine, rat, and bovine Gals, hGal uniquely comprises 30 amino acids possessing an additional nonamidated serine residue as C terminus. The nonamidated carboxylic group at the C terminus was proven by synthesis of amidated and nonamidated hGal and by mass spectrometry after selective methylation of all free carboxylic groups. Synthetic hGal possesses full biological activity on isolated rat fundus muscle strips.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1990

Galanin: structural requirements for binding and signal transduction in RINm5F insulinoma cells.

Receptors for galanin, a neuropeptide inhibiting insulin release, have been described on RINm5F insulinoma cells. To characterize structural requirements for binding and biological activity of galanin, we studied binding and inhibition of hormone stimulated intracellular cAMP-production of N-terminal galanin fragments and -analogues in RINm5F cells. Half-maximal binding and potency were the same for all peptides used. Active peptides had the following rank of potency: galanin = galanin(1-22(23)Cys) greater than galanin(1-29(4)NLe) greater than galanin(1-18) greater than galanin(1-29(7)DAla) greater than galanin(1-29(2)DTrp4NLe7DAla) greater than galanin(1-29(2)DTrp). Galanin(3-29) was inactive. Therefore the first two amino acids of the galanin molecule with the indole side chain of the tryptophane residue in the right steric position are crucial for receptor binding.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Glucagon-like peptide-1(7-36)amide: characterization of the domain responsible for binding to its receptor on rat insulinoma RINm5F cells.

Glucagon-like peptide-1(7-36)amide (GLP-1(7-36)amide) is a potent stimulator of insulin secretion. Receptors for this hormone have been found on different insulinoma-derived cell lines, e.g. the RINm5F cell line which is derived from a radiation-induced rat insulinoma. To characterize the part of the GLP-1(7-36)amide molecule that is responsible for binding to its receptor on RINm5F cells, binding studies with synthetic C-terminal (GLP-1(21-36)amide) and synthetic N-terminal (GLP-1(7-25] GLP-1 fragments were carried out. GLP-1(21-36)amide showed dose-dependent binding to the GLP-1(7-36)amide receptor but was approximately 1500 times less potent in inhibiting binding of 125I-labelled GLP-1(7-36)amide than the intact hormone. GLP-1(7-25) at concentrations up to 10 mumol/l did not inhibit binding of label. Neither fragment changed intracellular cyclic AMP concentrations, in contrast to GLP-1(7-36)amide which increased intracellular cyclic AMP. GLP-1(21-36)amide, however, acted as a weak partial antagonist of GLP-1(7-36)amide with respect to GLP-1(7-36)amide-dependent stimulation of cyclic AMP production.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Pancreastatin: molecular and immunocytochemical characterization of a novel peptide in porcine and human tissues.

Pancreastatin, a novel 49-amino acid peptide isolated from porcine pancreas, shows over 70% sequence homology to the central part of bovine and human chromogranin-A. Using an N-terminal and C-terminal synthetic peptide, we developed two sensitive and specific RIAs for the detection of pancreastatin-like immunoreactivity (PLI) in porcine and human tissue extracts. PLI was present throughout the gastrointestinal tract and in most endocrine and neuronal tissues. Highest concentrations were measured in the pituitary, adrenal gland, and pancreas (1200-4000 pmol/g), similar to the distribution of chromogranin-A. PLI was also detected in human endocrine tumors, with large quantities in some carcinoids (up to 14 nmol/g). HPLC revealed that extracts from porcine pituitary and pancreas contained small pancreastatin-like peptides, whereas in adrenal medulla large chromogranin-A-like molecular forms predominated. Human endocrine tumors showed a different pattern, with intermediate forms distinct from chromogranin-A and pancreastatin. Biochemical analysis was confirmed by immunocytochemistry localizing PLI in pancreatic islets, adrenal medulla, pituitary, duodenum, and human endocrine tumors. Pancreastatin is present in a variety of gastrointestinal, endocrine, and neuronal tissues and may represent a novel peptide of unknown physiological function, derived from chromogranin-A by proteolytic cleavage.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1987

Identification of the C-terminally alpha-amidated amino acid in peptides by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A sensitive method for the rapid identification of the C-terminally amidated amino acid in peptides is described. Peptides containing the alpha-amide group at the C-terminus were cleaved with endopeptidases. The fragments released (oligopeptides, amino acids and the C-terminally amidated residue) are coupled to phenylisothiocyanate. The phenylthiocarbamoyl derivative of the amino acid alpha-amide is selectively extracted from the mixture by alkaline butyl acetate and identified by a high-performance liquid chromatography system that enables rapid and complete separation of the derivatives of 17 amino acid amides at a detection limit of 20-50 pmol. The C-terminal alpha-amides of neurokinin-A (Met-NH2), mammalian secretin (Val-NH2), pancreatic polypeptide (Tyr-NH2) and peptide HI (Ile-NH2) are unequivocally determined at a level of 0.5-2 nmol per peptide. This method was used to characterize a crude peptide fraction prepared from porcine brain. Cholecystokinin-58 was identified in this fraction by detection of phenylthiocarbamoyl-phenylalaninamide. The method is suitable for the identification of the C-terminal alpha-amidated residue of purified peptides, but can also be used as a screening strategy to isolate from complex biological extracts novel peptides containing an alpha-amidated amino acid at the C-terminus.

Amides↗

PubMed1987

Commercially available preparations of porcine glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) contain a biologically inactive GIP-fragment and cholecystokinin-33/-39.

Commercially available preparations of natural porcine glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) were subjected to reverse phase HPLC. The material was found to give rise to 4 peaks which were characterized by HPLC-retention time and N-terminal sequence analysis. They represented: intact porcine GIP(1-42), 58% (wt/wt); the GIP-fragment des-tyr-ala-GIP(3-42), 32% (wt/wt); cholecystokinin (CCK)-33 2% (wt/wt); CCK-39 2% (wt/wt). HPLC-pure GIP(1-42) stimulated insulin release in rat isolated pre-cultured pancreatic islets in the presence of 16.7 mM glucose up to 240% vs. control, whereas the fragment des-tyr-ala-GIP(3-42) did neither increase insulin release nor exhibit antagonistic activity to GIP(1-42) at 100 ng/ml. These results indicate that commercially available porcine GIP-preparations may contain the biologically inactive des-tyr-ala-GIP(3-42) in high amounts, and in addition may be contaminated by CCK-peptides. HPLC-characterization of these peptide preparations prior to any biological study is crucial.

Amino Acids↗

PubMed1986

Characterization of an amidated form of pancreatic polypeptide from the daddy sculpin (Cottus scorpius).

The primary structure of pancreatic polypeptide from the teleostean fish, Cottus scorpius (daddy sculpin) was established as: YPPQPESPGGNASPEDWAKYHAAVRHYVNLITRQRYNH2 The presence of a COOH-terminally alpha-amidated amino acid was established using an HPLC method of general applicability. Although the peptide shows strong homology towards anglerfish pancreatic polypeptide (86%), homology towards porcine peptide YY (PYY) (61%) and porcine neuropeptide Y (NPY) (61%) was greater than towards porcine pancreatic polypeptide (PP) (47%). This result supports suggestions that the gene duplication events which led to PP, NPY and PYY formation took place after the time of divergence of fish and mammals.

Amino Acid Sequence↗