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E J Davis

Publications and source records attributed to E J Davis.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1980

Pyruvate carboxylase and propionyl-CoA carboxylase as anaplerotic enzymes in skeletal muscle mitochondria.

Oxygen uptake in skeletal muscle mitochondria respiring on pyruvate or on acetylcarnitine plus propionylcarnitine is stimulated 3--4-fold by bicarbonate. The stimulation is highly dependent on ATP. The respiration rate obtained amounts to 1/4-1/3 of the rate obtained with pyruvate-malate in the presence of ADP. With decreasing ATP/ADP ratios in the medium, a decreasing stimulation by bicarbonate is obtained. Similar results were obtained with heart mitochondria. With ATP added, a pyruvate-dependent build up of citric acid cycle intermediates takes place in incubations with skeletal muscle mitochondria amounting to about 0.5 nmol x min-1 x mg protein-1. In 14CO2-fixation experiments, the activity of pyruvate carboxylase (EC 6.4.2.1) amounts to about 3 nmol x min-1 x mg protein-1 under similar conditions. With propionylcarnitine plus acetylcarnitine a similar stimulation of respiration and fixation of bicarbonate is observed. In this case the respiration and the propionyl-CoA carboxylase (EC 6.4.1.3) is less inhibited by ADP. The results are discussed in relation to the regulation of the level of citric acid cycle intermediates in muscle tissues. It is concluded that pyruvate carboxylase is an important anaplerotic enzyme in skeletal muscle mitochondria.

Acetylcarnitine↗
PubMed1979

Carboxylation and decarboxylation reactions. Anaplerotic flux and removal of citrate cycle intermediates in skeletal muscle.

A system for in situ perfusion of rat hindquarters using a fluorocarbon for oxygen and CO2 exchange, and a polyol to provide oncotic pressure is described. Perfusion with glucose plus insulin resulted in no significant change in the tissue level of citrate cycle intermediates, phosphocreatine, ATP, ADP, AMP, and glycogen. Glucose was consumed at a linear rate, and lactate, pyruvate, alanine, glutamine, glutamate, and citrate were released into the perfusing medium. Inclusion of pyruvate resulted in elevation of citrate cycle intermediates and alanine, whereas acetate elevated the level of cycle intermediates without significant effect on tissue alanine or its release. Radioactivity from NaH[14C]O3 was incorporated into citrate cycle intermediates, glutamate, aspartate, and lactate by glucose-perfused hindquarters, the extent of which was markedly elevated as the tissue pyruvate was increased. When pyruvate was in the physiological range, acetate caused elevation in incorporation of CO2 into these metabolites, increased the concentration of citrate, and doubled the concentration of acetyl-CoA. Thirty-five to forty-four per cent of 14C incorporated into citrate was retained after enzymic degradation to 2-oxoglutarate. Perfusion with [2-14C-]propionate led to elevation in the level of citrate cycle intermediates, and radioactivity was incorporated into the latter, as well as glutamate, aspartate, lactate, pyruvate, alanine, and CO2. Two independent calculations estimated the rate of flux of 4-carbon cycle intermediates to 3-carbon metabolites of about 68 mumol/h (approximately 38 nmol/min/g of tissue), a rate in excess of those reported for alanine release from human or rat muscle during starvation. Arsenite blocked carbohydrate flux through the citrate cycle and effected accumulation of lactate, pyruvate, alanine, and 2-oxoglutarate. Flux from 4- to 3-carbon acids was diminished by arsenite, apparently as a result of lowered substrate concentration for decarboxylation. 3-Mercaptopicolinic acid, an inhibitor of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, was without effect on the parameters studied, suggesting that this enzyme is not involved in the decarboxylation reaction. It is concluded that (a) a constant level of citrate cycle intermediates is maintained in part by continuous flux of carbon into and out of the cycle by carboxylation and decarboxylation reactions; (b) the carbon skeleton of alanine released from skeletal muscle is derived in part from other amino acids which are catabolized to cycle intermediates; and (c) the subsequent removal of these intermediates is probably mediated by malic enzyme(s) (EC 1.1.1.40, or 1.1.1.36, or both.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Home care: a great potential, but there are problems.

"If health care and homemaker service cannot be provided for people who are trying to make a go of it at home, then they are going to end up being institutionalized at great expense--mostly to the taxpayers". Tight interpretation of home care regulations is making it difficult for home care agencies to provide services, states Ms. Davis.

Home Care Services↗
PubMed1979

Determination of amprolium in feeds: collaborative study.

The official final action method, 42.028--42.032, for determining amprolium in feeds was modified by a change in the preparation of aluminum oxide for chromatography. A premix containing 0.5% amprolium was collaboratively studied by the modified and the official methods. Compared with the modified method, 87.7% of the drug was recovered from the premix by using the official method. The modification makes possible the assay of premixes as well as finished feeds. The official final action method has been modified to incorporate this change.

Amprolium↗
PubMed1978

The effects of coenzyme A and carnitine on steady-state ATP/ADP ratios and the rate of long-chain free fatty acid oxidation in liver mitochondria.

1. Conditions for the optimal coupled oxidation by rat liver mitochondria of long-chain free fatty acids were defined. The fatty acids studied were in the omega9 series: oleic (18 : 1), gondoic (20 : 1) and erucic (22 : 1) acids. Carnitine (about 0.1 mM) maximally stimulated State 3 respiration due to oleic and gondoic acids about three-fold (coenzyme A present), and coenzyme A (10--20 micrometer) stimulated about two-fold (carnitine present). When neither coenzyme A nor carnitine was added, respiration was very slow. 2. When respiration was limited by ADP, concentrations of added CoA only slightly in excess of that required for fatty acid oxidation very significantly decreased the ATP/ADP ratio maintained at a given rate of respiration imposed by externally added ATPase, and increased the level of membrane-associated acyl-CoA. This effect was most pronounced with oleic acid, and least with erucic acid. When excess ADP was present, higher concentrations of added coenzyme A (50--200 micrometer) inhibited to oxidation of oleic acid in a concentration-dependent manner, whereas the oxidation of substrates other than fatty acids was essentially unaffected. 3. It is concluded that, in addition to its requirement for fatty acid oxidation, coenzyme A exerts two independent effects on mitochondrial metabolism as here determined in vitro: (a) under conditions mimicking those in the intact cell with respect to phosphorylation-dependent respiration (ADP limiting), acyl-CoA formed from added coenzyme A and fatty acid inhibits the adenine nucleotide translocase, resulting in a lowering in the extramitochondrial ATP/ADP ratio obtained at any given rate of phosphorylation-limited respiration, and (b) under State 3 conditions (ADP in excess) coenzyme A ( less than 50--200 micrometer) specifically suppresses oxidation of long-chain fatty acids by limiting the rate of formation of intramitochondrial acyl-CoA.

Acyl Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1978

The effect of acylcarnitines on the oxidation of branched chain alpha-keto acids in mitochondria.

The oxidation of 14C-labelled branched-chain alpha-keto acids corresponding to the branched-chain amino acids valine, isoleucine and leucine has been studied in isolated mitochondria from heart, liver and skeletal muscle. 1. Heart and liver mitochondria have similar capacities to oxidize these alpha-keto acids based on protein content. Skeletal muscle mitochondria also show significant activity. 2. Half maximum rates are obtained with approximately 0.1 mM of the alpha-keto acids under optimal conditions. Added NAD and CoA had no effect on the oxidation rate, showing that endogenous mitochondrial NAD and CoA are required for the oxidation. 3. Addition of carnitine esters of fatty acids (C6--C16), succinate, pyruvate, or alpha-ketoglutarate inhibited the oxidation of the branched chain alpha-keto acids, especially in a high-energy state (no ADP added). In heart mitochondria the addition of AD (low-energy state) decreased the inhibitory effects of acylcarnitines of medium chain length or of pyruvate, and abolished the inhibitory effect of succinate. It is suggested that the oxidation rate is regulated mainly by the redox state of the mitochondria under the conditions used. 4. The results are discussed in relation to the regulation of branched-chain amino acid metabolism in the body.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Suppression of the mitochondrial oxidation of (-)-palmitylcarnitine by the malate-aspartate and alpha-glycerophosphate shuttles.

Palmitylcarnitine oxidation by isolated liver mitochondria has been used to investigate the interaction of fatty acid oxidation with malate, glutamate, succinate, and the malate-aspartate shuttle. Mitochondria preincubated with fluorocitrate were added to a medium containing 2mM ATP and ATPase. This system, characterized by a high energy change, allowed titration of respiration to any desired rate between States 4 and 3 (Chance, B., and Williams, G. R. (1956) Adv. Enzymol. Relat. Areas Mol. Biol. 17, 65-134). When respiration (reference, with palmitylcarnitine and malate as substrates) was set at 75% of State 3, the oxidation of palmitylcarnitine was limited by acetoacetate formation. The addition of malate or glutamate approximately doubled the rate of beta oxidation. Malate circumvented this limitation by citrate formation, but the effect of glutamate apparently was due to enhancement of the capacity for ketogenesis. The rate of beta oxidation was curtailed when malate and glutamate were both present. This curtailment was more pronounced when the malate-aspartate shuttle was fully reconstituted. Among the oxidizable substrates examined, succinate was most effective in inhibiting palmitylcarnitine oxidation. Mitochondrial NADH/NAD+ ratios were correlated positively with suppression of beta oxidation. The degree of suppression of beta oxidation by the malate-aspartate shuttle (NADH oxidation) or by succinate oxidation was dependent on the respiratory state. Both substrates extensively reduced mitochondrial NAD+ and markedly suppressed beta oxidation as respiration approached State 4. Calculations of the rates of flux of hydrogen equivalents through beta oxidation show that the suppression of beta oxidation by glutamate or by the malate-aspartate shuttle is accounted for by increased flux of reducing equivalents through mitochondrial malic dehydrogenase. This increased Flux is accompanied by an increase in the steady state NADH/NAD+ ratio and a marked decrease in the synthesis of citrate. The alpha-glycerophosphate shuttle was reconstituted with mitochondria isolated from rats treated with L-thyroxine. This shuttle was about equal to the reconstructed malate-aspartate shuttle in supression of palmitylcarnitine oxidation. This interaction could not be demonstrated in euthyroid animals owing to the low activity of the mitochondrial alpha-glycerol phosphate dehydrogenase. It is concluded that beta oxidation can be regulated by the NADH/NAD+ ratio. The observed stimulation of flux through malate dehydrogenase both by glutamate and by the malate-aspartate shuttle results in an increased steady state NADH/NAD+ ratio, and is linked to a stoichiometric outward transport of aspartate. We suggest, therefore, that some of the reducing pressure exerted by the malate-aspartate shuttle and by glutamate plus malate is provided through the energy-linked, electrogenic transport of aspartate out of the mitochondria. These results are discussed with respect to the mechanism of the genesis of ethanol-induced fatty liver.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Replenishment and depletion of citric acid cycle intermediates in skeletal muscle. Indication of pyruvate carboxylation.

The effects of various substrates on the concentrations of free amino acids, citric acid cycle intermediates and acylcarnitines were studies in perfused hindquarter of rat in presence of glucose and insulin in order to assess regulatory mechanisms of the level of citric acid cycle intermediates in skeletal muscle. 1. Acetate and acetoacetate effected a significant increase in the level of citrate cycle intermediates and accumulation of acetylcarnitine. These changes were accompanied by a reduction in the level of alanine. The concentration of AMP was significantly elevated. 2. Muscle mitochondria fixed 14CO2 in the presence of pyruvate. The products were identified as malate or citrate when whole and disintegrated mitochondria were used respectively. The fixation was greatly stimulated by acetylcarnitine. 3. Acetylcarnitine inhibited the production of pyruvate from malate by muscle mitochondria. 4. Perfusion with 2-oxoisocaproate and 2-oxoisovalerate promoted increases in the level of citric cycle intermediates, a drop in both alanine and glutamate, and accumulation of branched-chain acylcarnitines. 2-Oxoisocaproate also caused a reduction of alanine released from the muscle. 5. Perfusion with leucine and valine did not change the concentration of citric acid cycle intermediates, but elevated glutamate and still more the concentration of alanine. 6. It is concluded that citric cycle intermediate level in the perfused resting muscle is modified by a) conditions which change the concentration of acetyl-CoA and thereby modify the rate of pyruvate carboxylation and decarboxylation of malate via malic enzyme b) conditions which change the concentration of pyruvate cause changes in alanine and cycle intermediates in the same direction via transamination reactions c) conditions which change the concentrations of 2-oxoacids which are converted to cycle intermediates via oxidation.

Acetyl Coenzyme A↗
PubMed1975

Studies on the active transfer of reducing equivalents into mitochondria via the malate-aspartate shuttle.

1. The effects of mitochondrial energy states onthe extramitochondrial NADH/NAD ratio via a reconstituted malate-aspartate shuttle have been investigated. 2. The transfer of reducing equivalents into isolated mitochondria is stimulated by ATP and by electron transport. The effect of ATP is inhibited by oligomycin. The effect of electron transport is inhibited by uncouplers. 3. Uncoupling of the mitochondria is required for rapid transfer of reducing equivalents out of the mitochondria. 4. A glutamate-stimulated entry of aspartate into energized mitochondria suggests that the malate-aspartate shuttle is to some extent reversible even in a high energy state of the mitochondria. 5. It is concluded that the malate-aspartate shuttle contributes to the formation of the skewed redox situation across the inner mitochondrial membrane, which has a more reduced inside.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗