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D W Foster

Publications and source records attributed to D W Foster.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Interaction of malonyl-CoA and 2-tetradecylglycidyl-CoA with mitochondrial carnitine palmitoyltransferase I.

Malonyl-CoA and 2-tetradecylglycidyl-CoA (TG-CoA) are potent inhibitors of mitochondrial carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (EC 2.3.1.21). To gain insight into their mode of action, the effects of both agents on mitochondria from rat liver and skeletal muscle were examined before and after membrane disruption with octylglucoside or digitonin. Pretreatment of intact mitochondria with TG-CoA caused almost total suppression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I, with concomitant loss in malonyl-CoA binding capacity. However, subsequent membrane solubilization with octylglucoside resulted in high and equal carnitine palmitoyltransferase activity from control and TG-CoA pretreated mitochondria; neither solubilized preparation showed sensitivity to malonyl-CoA or TG-CoA. Upon removal of the detergent by dialysis the bulk of carnitine palmitoyltransferase was reincorporated into membrane vesicles, but the reinserted enzyme remained insensitive to both inhibitors. Carnitine palmitoyltransferase containing vesicles failed to bind malonyl-CoA. With increasing concentrations of digitonin, release of carnitine palmitoyltransferase paralleled disruption of the inner mitochondrial membrane, as reflected by the appearance of matrix enzymes in the soluble fraction. The profile of enzyme release was identical in control and TG-CoA pretreated mitochondria even though carnitine palmitoyltransferase I had been initially suppressed in the latter. Similar results were obtained when animals were treated with 2-tetradecylglycidate prior to the preparation of liver mitochondria. We conclude that malonyl-CoA and TG-CoA interact reversibly and irreversibly, respectively, with a common site on the mitochondrial (inner) membrane and that occupancy of this site causes inhibition of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I, but not of carnitine palmitoyltransferase II. Assuming that octylglucoside and digitonin do not selectively inactivate carnitine palmitoyltransferase I, the data suggest that both malonyl-CoA and TG-CoA interact with a regulatory locus that is closely juxtaposed to but distinct from the active site of the membrane-bound enzyme.

Acyl Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1985

Incorporation of arachidonic acid by microfilariae of Brugia malayi.

To initiate studies on the significance of filarial arachidonic acid metabolism in the immunopathogenesis of human filariasis, we evaluated the ability of microfilariae of the human filarial parasite Brugia malayi to take up and incorporate exogenous arachidonate. When 4 X 10(5) microfilariae were incubated in vitro with 3 nM [3H]arachidonic acid for 0.2, 24, and 48 hr, 23%, 70%, and 75% of tritium activity were associated with microfilariae, respectively. [3H]arachidonic acid was taken up by viable but not by killed microfilariae. Electron microscopic autoradiographic examination of living microfilariae incubated with [3H]arachidonic acid demonstrated numerous tritium-induced silver grains over sectioned parasites. Chromatographic resolution and quantitation of classes of neutral lipids and phospholipids of parasites established that incorporated [3H]arachidonic acid was rapidly and almost completely esterified into these lipids, predominantly into phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylcholine. Microfilariae, the blood-borne stage of B. malayi, possess the requisite biochemical pathways to rapidly take up and incorporate exogenous arachidonate.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Efficient hepatic glycogen synthesis in refeeding rats requires continued carbon flow through the gluconeogenic pathway.

Intragastric infusion of [1-14C]glucose into awake, fasted rats at rates that produced physiological increases in the circulating glucose concentration resulted in active glycogen deposition in liver. However, degradation of this glycogen revealed extensive randomization of the label among the carbon atoms of glucose. By contrast, muscle glycogen-glucose was labeled primarily in C-1. Treatment of rats with 3-mercaptopicolinic acid, a potent inhibitor of phosphoenol-pyruvate carboxykinase, prior to [1-14C]glucose infusion reduced hepatic glycogen synthesis by 85%; this glycogen contained most of its label in C-1 of glucose. The additional infusion of unlabeled glycerol, which enters the gluconeogenic pathway distal to the 3-mercaptopicolinic acid block, reinstated hepatic glycogen synthesis, but again the label was associated almost exclusively with C-1. In all animals treated with 3-mercaptopicolinic acid, plasma lactate concentrations rose markedly, as did the rate of hepatic lipogenesis. When [1-14C]glucose was infused into pentobarbital-treated rats or administered to awake animals as a large intragastric bolus, the degree of isotopic randomization in liver glycogen-glucose was considerably reduced when compared with that seen in the awake, infused state. The data support the concept that under normal refeeding conditions the bulk of liver glycogen is formed by an indirect pathway involving the sequence glucose ----lactate----glucose-6-P----glycogen, whereas muscle glycogen is formed by the conventional, direct pathway: glucose----glucose-6-P----glycogen. They also establish that a predominantly direct mechanism can be induced in liver, but only under artificial conditions, e.g. chemical blockade of the gluconeogenic sequence, pentobarbital anesthesia, or the administration of massive glucose loads that lead to severe hyperglycemia.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Effects of pH on the interaction of substrates and malonyl-CoA with mitochondrial carnitine palmitoyltransferase I.

The kinetics of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I; EC 2.3.1.21) were examined in mitochondria from rat liver, heart and skeletal muscle as a function of pH over the range 6.8-7.6. In all three tissues raising the pH resulted in a fall in the Km for carnitine, no change in the Km for palmitoyl-CoA or Octanoyl-CoA, and a marked decrease in the inhibitory potency of malonyl-CoA. Studies with skeletal-muscle mitochondria established that increasing pH was accompanied by an increase in the Kd of the malonyl-CoA binding site for this ligand, coupled with a decrease in the Kd for fatty acyl-CoA species to compete for malonyl-CoA binding. Three principal conclusions are drawn. (1) The pH-induced shift in malonyl-CoA sensitivity of CPT I is not a phenomenon restricted to liver mitochondria. (2) At any given pH within the range tested, the ability of malonyl-CoA (and closely related compounds) to inhibit enzyme activity is governed by the efficiency of their binding to the malonyl-CoA site. (3) The competitive interaction between fatty acyl-CoA substrates and malonyl-CoA as regards CPT I activity is exerted at the malonyl-CoA binding site. Finally, the possibility is strengthened that the malonyl-CoA binding site is distinct from the active site of CPT I.

Acyl Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1984

Time course and significance of changes in hepatic fructose-2,6-bisphosphate levels during refeeding of fasted rats.

The time course of changes in hepatic fructose-2,6-bisphosphate (F-2,6-P2) and glycogen content was examined in fasted rats infused with glucose intragastrically or allowed to eat a chow diet ad lib. Initial values for the two parameters were approximately 0.4 nmol/g and 2 mg/g of tissue, respectively. Contrary to what might have been expected on the basis of reported studies with hepatocytes exposed to glucose (i.e., a rapid elevation of F-2,6-P2), the rise in F-2,6-P2 levels in vivo was a late event. It began only 4-5 h after glucose administration or refeeding, at which time glycogen content had reached approximately 35 mg/g of tissue. Thereafter, [F-2,6-P2] climbed rapidly, attaining fed values in the region of 10 nmol/g as glycogen stores became maximal (approximately 60 mg/g of tissue). Although the biochemical basis for these changes is still unclear, the delayed increase in [F-2,6-P2] is entirely consistent with the fact that much of the glycogen deposited in liver in the early postprandial phase is gluconeogenic in origin. The later rise in [F-2,6-P2] likely represents a key signal for the attenuation of gluconeogenic carbon flow into glycogen as the latter approaches repletion levels.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Evidence for suppression of hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase with carbohydrate feeding.

The mechanism by which exogenous glucose stimulates the incorporation of hepatic glucose-6-phosphate into glycogen in fasted rats has not been clearly delineated. We gave glucose intragastrically over a 3.5-h period during which liver glycogen was deposited at linear rates. Simultaneous primed continuous infusion of [2-3H] or [3-3H]glucose established that under these conditions absolute carbon flow through hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase was greatly suppressed. After 1 h, hepatic [UDP-glucose] and [glucose-6-phosphate] had fallen by 50-60% and the former remained low throughout the experiment. By contrast, [glucose-6-phosphate] rebounded to its initial value by 2 h and remained at this level during the subsequent hour. We interpret the data as follows. Exogenous glucose, in addition to acting as a precursor of liver glucose-6-phosphate, causes diversion of the latter away from free glucose formation and into glycogen synthesis. The fall in [UDP-glucose] is in accord with a glucose-induced activation of glycogen synthase, as proposed by Hers (Annu. Rev. Biochem. 1976; 45:167-89.). However, the fall-rise sequence of glucose-6-phosphate concentration constitutes the first direct evidence in vivo for simultaneous inhibition at the level of glucose-6-phosphatase.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

A basophil-activating factor from human T lymphocytes.

Human T lymphocytes stimulated with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) or streptokinase-streptodornase (SK-SD) generate an activity which elicits non-cytotoxic histamine release from human basophils. Filtration of the T lymphocyte-derived activity on columns of Sephadex G-100 and Fractogel 55F sequentially revealed one predominant basophil-activating factor of mol. wt. 70,000-90,000, that was designated BAF-T. BAF-T was composed of two acidic proteins of approximate pI 4.4 and 5.2-5.5, as assessed by isoelectric focusing. The distinction of BAF-T from IgE was confirmed by the failure of BAF-T to bind to an anti-IgE affinity column and the capacity of BAF-T to release histamine maximally from basophils desensitized to IgE-dependent stimuli. The inability of BAF-T to release histamine from human lung mast cells and dog cutaneous mastocytoma cells suggests target cell specificity. The source and activity of BAF-T are consistent with a specific contribution of this mediator to human cellular immune and hypersensitivity responses involving T lymphocytes and basophils.

Basophils↗
PubMed1983

Observations on the affinity for carnitine, and malonyl-CoA sensitivity, of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I in animal and human tissues. Demonstration of the presence of malonyl-CoA in non-hepatic tissues of the rat.

The requirement for carnitine and the malonyl-CoA sensitivity of carnitine palmitoyl-transferase I (EC 2.3.1.21) were measured in isolated mitochondria from eight tissues of animal or human origin using fixed concentrations of palmitoyl-CoA (50 microM) and albumin (147 microM). The Km for carnitine spanned a 20-fold range, rising from about 35 microM in adult rat and human foetal liver to 700 microM in dog heart. Intermediate values of increasing magnitude were found for rat heart, guinea pig liver and skeletal muscle of rat, dog and man. Conversely, the concentration of malonyl-CoA required for 50% suppression of enzyme activity fell from the region of 2-3 microM in human and rat liver to only 20 nM in tissues displaying the highest Km for carnitine. Thus, the requirement for carnitine and sensitivity to malonyl-CoA appeared to be inversely related. The Km of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I for palmitoyl-CoA was similar in tissues showing large differences in requirement for carnitine. Other experiments established that, in addition to liver, heart and skeletal muscle of fed rats contain significant quantities of malonyl-CoA and that in all three tissues the level falls with starvation. Although its intracellular location in heart and skeletal muscle is not known, the possibility is raised that malonyl-CoA (or a related compound) could, under certain circumstances, interact with carnitine palmitoyltransferase I in non-hepatic tissues and thereby exert control over long chain fatty acid oxidation.

Acyl Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1983

Interaction of malonyl-CoA and related compounds with mitochondria from different rat tissues. Relationship between ligand binding and inhibition of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I.

The sensitivity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I; EC 2.3.1.21) to inhibition by malonyl-CoA and related compounds was examined in isolated mitochondria from liver, heart and skeletal muscle of the rat. In all three tissues the same order of inhibitory potency emerged: malonyl-CoA much greater than succinyl-CoA greater than methylmalonyl-CoA much greater than propionyl-CoA greater than acetyl-CoA. For any given agent, suppression of CPT I activity was much greater in skeletal muscle than in liver, with the heart enzyme having intermediate sensitivity. With skeletal-muscle mitochondria a high-affinity binding site for [14C]malonyl-CoA was readily demonstrable (Kd approx. 25 nM). The ability of other CoA esters to compete with [14C]malonyl-CoA for binding to the membrane paralleled their capacity to inhibit CPT I. Palmitoyl-CoA also competitively inhibited [14C]malonyl-CoA binding, in keeping with its known ability to overcome malonyl-CoA suppression of CPT I. For reasons not yet clear, free CoA displayed anomalous behaviour in that its competition for [14C]malonyl-CoA binding was disproportionately greater than its inhibition of CPT I. Three major conclusions are drawn. First, malonyl-CoA is not the only physiological compound capable of suppressing CPT I, since chemically related compounds, known to exist in cells, also share this property, particularly in tissues where the enzyme shows the greatest sensitivity to malonyl-CoA. Second, malonyl-CoA and its analogues appear to interact with the same site on the mitochondrial membrane, as may palmitoyl-CoA. Third, the degree of site occupancy by inhibitors governs the activity of CPT I.

Acyl Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1983

Studies on the mechanism by which exogenous glucose is converted into liver glycogen in the rat. A direct or an indirect pathway?

To quantify the extent to which exogenous glucose is used directly or indirectly for hepatic glycogen synthesis, fasted rats were given [U-14C,3-3H] glucose intragastrically, intravenously, or as a component of a solid diet eaten ad libitum. In all cases liver glycogen was deposited at high linear rates over a 3-h period. Portal vein glucose levels seldom exceeded 8 mM. At a time when the specific activities of 3H and 14C in circulating glucose were identical with those in the administered material their values in newly synthesized glycogen were reduced by 72-88% and 50-65%, respectively. An intragastric load of unlabeled glucose sufficient to suppress completely hepatic glucose output greatly stimulated the incorporation of intravenously infused [14C]bicarbonate, [14C]lactate, [14C]alanine, and [14C] glutamine into liver glycogen. Using an improved assay the ability of liver homogenates to phosphorylate glucose at concentrations of 5-10 mM was found to be far short of what would be needed if glucose were used directly to support hepatic glycogen synthesis in vivo. These data support the notion that in the rat a major fraction of liver glycogen deposited in response to exogenous carbohydrate is formed by a pathway involving glucose leads to C3 unit leads to glycogen, although the site of the initial steps in the sequence is not yet known. The limited capacity of the liver to utilize intact glucose for glycogen synthesis might reside in its limited capacity to phosphorylate the sugar at physiological concentrations.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Generation and metabolism of 5-lipoxygenase pathway leukotrienes by human eosinophils: predominant production of leukotriene C4.

5-Lipoxygenase pathway-derived products of arachidonic acid released by human eosinophils activated in vitro have been measured by using radioimmunoassays specific for leukotriene B4 (LTB4) and for sulfidopeptide leukotrienes including leukotriene C4 (LTC4). Eosinophil-enriched leukocytes (mean, 85% eosinophils) from five hypereosinophilic donors activated with 5.0 microM ionophore A23187 for 15 min at 37 degrees C in the presence of 50 mM L-serine released 69 +/- 28 and 1.5 +/- 0.8 (mean +/- SEM) ng of LTC4 and LTB4, respectively, per 10(6) cells; ratios of LTC4 to LTB4 ranged from 16 to 149. Eosinophils stimulated with ionophore (2.5 microM) or phorbol myristate acetate (1 microgram per ml) metabolized exogenously added LTC4 to products that coeluted on reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with synthetic S-diastereoisomeric LTC4 sulfoxides and 6-trans-LTB4 diastereoisomers, and this metabolic inactivation was inhibited by L-serine or catalase. Ionophore-activated eosinophils purified from three normal donors also preferentially generated LTC4 (38 +/- 3 ng per 10(6) cells) relative to LTB4 (6.0 +/- 3.1 ng per 10(6) cells), whereas neutrophils from the same donors released LTB4 (48 +/- 21 ng per 10(6) cells) in a greater than 7-fold excess to LTC4. The predominant production by human eosinophils of LTC4 with its potent smooth muscle spasmogenic and vasoactive properties may contribute to the pathobiology of allergic and other diseases associated with eosinophilia.

Arachidonate Lipoxygenases↗
PubMed1982

The regulation of ketogenesis.

Ketone bodies accumulate in the plasma in conditions of fasting and uncontrolled diabetes. The initiating event is a change in the molar ratio of glucagon:insulin. Insulin deficiency triggers the lipolytic process in adipose tissue with the result that free fatty acids pass into the plasma for uptake by liver and other tissues. Glucagon appears to be the primary hormone involved in the induction of fatty acid oxidation and ketogenesis in the liver. It acts by acutely dropping hepatic malonyl-CoA concentrations as a consequence of inhibitory effects exerted in the glycolytic pathway and on acetyl-CoA carboxylase (EC 6.4.1.2). The fall in malonyl-CoA concentration activates carnitine acyltransferase I (EC 2.3.1.21) such that long-chain fatty acids can be transported through the inner mitochondrial membrane to the enzymes of fatty acid oxidation and ketogenesis. The latter are high-capacity systems assuring that fatty acids entering the mitochondria are rapidly oxidized to ketone bodies. Thus, the rate-controlling step for ketogenesis is carnitine acyltransferase I. Administration of food after a fast, or of insulin to the diabetic subject, reduces plasma free fatty acid concentrations, increases the liver concentration of malonyl-CoA, inhibits carnitine acyltransferase I and reverses the ketogenic process.

Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase↗
PubMed1982

Kinetics of carnitine-dependent fatty acid oxidation: implications for human carnitine deficiency.

The relationship between the concentration of carnitine and the oxidation of oleate was examined in homogenates prepared from skeletal muscle, liver, kidney, and heart of the rat, and from canine and human skeletal muscle. the carnitine content of these tissues in situ spanned a wide range, from about 0.1 mumol per gram in rat liver to about 3.0 mumol per gram in human muscle. The concentration of carnitine required for half-maximal rates of fatty acid oxidation in vitro also varied greatly (10 to 15 microM for rat liver to 200 to 400 microM for human muscle), and in rough proportion to the normal carnitine content of the tissues. For any given tissue, the carnitine content seems to be set at a level necessary for optimal rates of fatty acid oxidation. The data provide a plausible explanation for the fact that muscle fatty acid metabolism is severely impaired in the syndrome of human carnitine deficiency, since measured carnitine levels are in the range expected to limit substantially the capacity for fatty acid oxidation.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Importance of experimental conditions in evaluating the malonyl-CoA sensitivity of liver carnitine acyltransferase. Studies with fed and starved rats.

The experiments reconfirm the powerful inhibitory effect of malonyl-CoA on carnitine acyltransferase I and fatty acid oxidation in rat liver mitochondria (Ki 1.5 microM). Sensitivity decreased with starvation (Ki after 18 h starvation 3.0 microM, and after 42 h 5.0 microM). Observations by Cook, Otto & Cornell [Biochem. J. (1980) 192, 955--958] and Ontko & Johns [Biochem. J. (1980) 192, 959--962] have cast doubt on the physiological role of malonyl-CoA in the regulation of hepatic fatty acid oxidation and ketogenesis. The high Ki values obtained in the cited studies are shown to be due to incubation conditions that cause substrate depletion, destruction of malonyl-CoA or generation of excessively high concentrations of unbound acyl-CoA (which offsets the competitive inhibition of malonyl-CoA towards carnitine acyltransferase I). The present results are entirely consistent with the postulated role of malonyl-CoA as the primary regulatory of fatty acid synthesis and oxidation in rat liver.

Acyl Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1981

Isolation and partial characterization of membrane protein constituents of human neutrophil receptors for chemotactic formylmethionyl peptides.

Plasma membranes of human neutrophils were solubilized in buffer containing a nonionic detergent and applied to a formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine (fMet-Leu-Phe)-Sepharose column that was washed and eluted with the chemotactic peptide fMet-Leu-Phe. Analysis of the eluate by filtration on Bio-Gel P150 in sodium dodecyl sulfate (NaDodSO4) buffer and by NaDodSO4-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed three predominant membrane proteins of approximate molecular weight 94 000 (MP-1), 68 000 (MP-2), and 40 000 (MP-3), of which MP-2 accounted for 74--93% of the total protein. Purified MP-1 and MP-2 contained an above average content of hydrophobic amino acids, while MP-2 and MP-3 had an above average content of acid and/or amide amino acids and a below average content of basic amino acids. MP-2 and MP-3, but not MP-1, bound [3H]fMet-Leu-Phe in equilibrium dialysis chambers. Both MP-2 and MP-3 exhibited high-affinity sites with a valence of 0.2--0.3 and mean KA values of 9 x 10(8) and 2 x 10(7) M-1, respectively, and low-affinity sites with a valence of 0.3--0.5 and mean KA values of 3 x 10(7) and 2 x 10(6) M-1 (n = 3). The specificity of the binding of fMet-Leu-Phe was suggested by the failure of MP-2 and MP-3 to bind lipid chemotactic factors and to adhere to a Sepaharose column to which had been coupled chemotactic fragments of the fifth component of complement. A series of synthetic formylmethionyl peptides exhibited the same rank order of potency as inhibitors of the binding of [3H]fMet-Leu-Phe by MP-2 and as stimuli of neutrophil chemotaxis. Membrane proteins isolated by fMet-Leu-Phe-Sepharose affinity chromatography may represent constituents of specific human neutrophil receptors for chemotactic peptides.

Amino Acids↗