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Biomedical subjects

F L Bygrave

Publications and source records attributed to F L Bygrave.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

The effect of ionophore A23187 on calcium ion fluxes and alpha-adrenergic-agonist action in perfused rat liver.

The effect of ionophore A23187 on cellular Ca2+ fluxes, glycogenolysis and respiration was examined in perfused liver. At low extracellular Ca2+ concentrations (less than 4 microM), A23187 induced the mobilization of intracellular Ca2+ and stimulated the rate of glycogenolysis and respiration. As the extracellular Ca2+ concentration was elevated, biphasic cellular Ca2+ fluxes were observed, with Ca2+ uptake preceding Ca2+ efflux. Under these conditions, both the glycogenolytic response and the respiratory response also became biphasic, allowing the differentiation between the effects of extracellular and intracellular Ca2+. Under all conditions examined the rate of Ca2+ efflux induced by A23187 was much slower than the rate of phenylephrine-induced Ca2+ efflux, although the net amounts of Ca2+ effluxed were similar for both agents. The effect of A23187 on phenylephrine-induced Ca2+ fluxes, glycogenolysis and respiration is dependent on the extracellular Ca2+ concentration. At concentrations of less than 50 microM-Ca2+, A23187 only partially inhibited alpha-agonist action, whereas at 1.3 mM-Ca2+ almost total inhibition was observed. The action of A23187 at the cellular level is complex, dependent on the experimental conditions used, and shows both differences from and similarities to the hepatic action of alpha-adrenergic agonists.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Characterisation of Ca2+ transport activity by white adipose tissue mitochondria.

Ca2+ transport in mitochondria isolated from rat white adipocytes has been examined and many of the properties found to be similar to those reported for mitochondria isolated from rat liver. Ca2+ transport is ruthenium red-sensitive (Ki approximately 5 pmol . mg protein-1), the affinity for free Ca2+ is high (Km approximately 3.3 microM) and the Vmax is 135 nmol Ca2+ . min-1 . mg protein-1 at 4 degrees C with 0.2 mM Pi present. Ca2+ transport is stimulated by increasing the medium [Pi], and is inhibited when ATP or Mg2+ is added to the incubation system and in contrast to brown adipocyte mitochondria, Ca2+ efflux is not promoted by Na+. White adipocyte mitochondria may play a rôle in the regulation of total cell calcium in this tissue.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1983

Stimulation by alpha-adrenergic agonists of Ca2+ fluxes, mitochondrial oxidation and gluconeogenesis in perfused rat liver.

Glucose output from perfused livers of 48 h-starved rats was stimulated by phenylephrine (2 microM) when lactate, pyruvate, alanine, glycerol, sorbitol, dihydroxyacetone or fructose were used as gluconeogenic precursors. Phenylephrine-induced increases in glucose output were immediately preceded by a transient efflux of Ca2+ and a sustained increase in oxygen uptake. Phenylephrine decreased the perfusate [lactate]/[pyruvate] ratio when sorbitol or glycerol was present, but increased the ratio when alanine, dihydroxyacetone or fructose was present. Phenylephrine induced a rapid increase in the perfusate [beta-hydroxybutyrate]/[acetoacetate] ratio and increased total ketone-body output by 40-50% with all substrates. The oxidation of [1-14C]octanoate or 2-oxo[1-14C]glutarate to 14CO2 was increased by up to 200% by phenylephrine. All responses to phenylephrine infusion were diminished after depletion of the hepatic alpha-agonist-sensitive pool of Ca2+ and returned toward maximal responses after Ca2+ re-addition. Phenylephrine-induced increases in glucose output from lactate, sorbitol and glycerol were inhibited by the transaminase inhibitor amino-oxyacetate by 95%, 75% and 66% respectively. Data presented suggest that the mobilization of an intracellular pool of Ca2+ is involved in the activation of gluconeogenesis by alpha-adrenergic agonists in perfused rat liver. alpha-Adrenergic activation of gluconeogenesis is apparently accompanied by increases in fatty acid oxidation and tricarboxylic acid-cycle flux. An enhanced transfer of reducing equivalents from the cytoplasmic to the mitochondrial compartment may also be involved in the stimulation of glucose output from the relatively reduced substrates glycerol and sorbitol and may arise principally from an increased flux through the malate-aspartate shuttle.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Calcium ion fluxes induced by the action of alpha-adrenergic agonists in perfused rat liver.

Phenylephrine (2.0 microM) induces an alpha 1-receptor-mediated net efflux of Ca2+ from livers of fed rats perfused with medium containing physiological concentrations (1.3 mM) of Ca2+. The onset of efflux (7.1 +/- 0.5 s; n = 16) immediately precedes a stimulation of mitochondrial respiration and glycogenolysis. Maximal rates of efflux are observed between 35 s and 45 s after alpha-agonist administration; thereafter the rate decreases, to be no longer detectable after 3 min. Within seconds of terminating phenylephrine infusion, a net transient uptake of Ca2+ by the liver is observed. Similar effects were observed with vasopressin (1 m-unit/ml) and angiotensin (6 nM). Reducing the perfusate [Ca2+] from 1.3 mM to 10 microM had little effect on alpha-agonist-induced Ca2+ efflux, but abolished the subsequent Ca2+ re-uptake, and hence led to a net loss of 80-120 nmol of Ca2+/g of liver from the tissue. The administration at 5 min intervals of short pulses (90 s) of phenylephrine under these conditions resulted in diminishing amounts of Ca2+ efflux being detected, and these could be correlated with decreased rates of alpha-agonist-induced mitochondrial respiration and glucose output. An examination of the Ca2+ pool mobilized by alpha-adrenergic agonists revealed that a loss of Ca2+ from mitochondria and from a fraction enriched in microsomes accounts for all the Ca2+ efflux detected. It is proposed that the alpha-adrenergic agonists, vasopressin and angiotensin mobilize Ca2+ from the same readily depleted intracellular pool consisting predominantly of mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum, and that the hormone-induced enhanced rate of mitochondrial respiration and glycogenolysis is directly dependent on this mobilization.

Adrenergic alpha-Agonists↗
PubMed1982

A procedure for the rapid preparation of mitochondria from rat liver.

A technique for the rapid preparation of mitochondria from rat liver is described. Tissue fractionation is performed by a single centrifugation step with a discontinuous Percoll density gradient. Total preparation times of 5--6 min are achieved by using this method. The mitochondrial fraction obtained is relatively free of contaminating organelles, as judged by marker-enzyme activity determinations. Mitochondria isolated by Percoll-density-gradient centrifugation differ from mitochondria obtained by differential centrifugation [Taylor, Prpić, Exton & Bygrave (1980) Biochem. J. 188, 443--450] in that the former exhibit a higher acceptor control ratio and a higher calcium content. Values obtained for the protonmotive force are not significantly different between the two preparations. The technique described may be widely applicable for studies requiring the rapid preparation of functionally intact and relatively uncontaminated mitochondria.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Studies on alpha-adrenergic-induced respiration and glycogenolysis in perfused rat liver.

Phenylephrine (1.5 x 10(-6) M) administered to perfused livers from fed rats gave rise to a rapid, parallel increase in oxygen uptake and glucose output. The time of onset for oxygen uptake was 9.9 +/- 0.4 s following phenylephrine administration, and immediately preceded glucose output which occurred at 11.6 +/- 0.5 s. Near-maximal effects were observed 50 s following alpha-agonist treatment. Both responses appear to be mediated by alpha- 1-adrenergic receptors. The mitochondrial respiratory chain blockers antimycin A and rotenone, inhibited the alpha-agonist-induced oxygen uptake and glycogenolytic responses at inhibitor concentrations similar to those required to block uncoupler-stimulated respiration in the intact perfused liver. Oligomycin and carboxyatractyloside also inhibited the phenylephrine-induced respiratory response. Vasopressin (1 milliunit/ml), and angiotensin II (6 x 10(-9) M) had effects similar to phenylephrine in the perfused liver which also were prevented by the prior administration of antimycin A and rotenone. In contrast, glucagon-induced (10(-8) M) glycogenolysis proceeded in the absence of large changes in respiration, was slower in onset (26.1 +/- 4.2 s following hormone administration), and was not inhibited by mitochondrial respiratory blockers. These data indicate that glycogenolysis induced by alpha-adrenergic agonists, vasopressin, and angiotensin II is associated with a large increase in mitochondrial respiration, that may play a role in a general, as yet undefined mechanism whereby these agents stimulate glycogenolysis in rat liver.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Effects of pentobarbitone on 45Ca2+ transport by rat brain mitochondria.

The effects of pentobarbitone on the transport of 45Ca2+ by rat brain mitochondria were studied, using the Ruthenium Red-EGTA quench technique. In the presence of succinate and inorganic phosphate, mitochondria rapidly accumulate 45Ca2+. Pentobarbitone (0.1-1.0 mM) stimulates the initial rate of Ca2+ transport. In contrast, pentobarbitone (1 mM) did not affect the NaCl (50 mM)-induced efflux of 45Ca2+ from mitochondria. Dibucaine (60 micro M), a clinically used local anaesthetic, inhibits both 45Ca2+ uptake an efflux. The results suggest that barbiturate stimulation of mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake may, in combination with effects on other Ca2+ sequestering processes, contribute to the inhibitor of transmitter release observed at a number of synapses.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Ruthenium red-insensitive calcium transport in ascites-sarcoma 180/TG cells.

1. Ruthenium Red-insensitive Ca2+ transport in the mouse ascites sarcoma 180/TG is enriched in a 'heavy' microsomal fraction (microsomes) sedimented at 35 000 g for 20 min. The subcellular distribution of this Ca2+ transport differed from that of Ruthenium Red-sensitive Ca2+ transport and (Na+ + K+)-dependent ATPase activity, but was similar to that of glucose 6-phosphatase. 2. The affinity of this transport system for 'free' Ca2+ is high (Km approx. 6 microM) and that for MgATP somewhat lower (Km approx. 100 microM). Ca2+ transport by the tumour microsomes, by contrast with that by liver microsomes, was greatly stimulated by low concentrations of P1. 3. Although incubation of intact ascites cells with glucagon led to an increase in intracellular cyclic AMP, no stable increase in the initial rate of Ca2+ transport in the subsequently isolated 'heavy' microsomes could be detected as in similar experiments carried out previously with rat liver cells. Reconstitution experiments suggest that a deficiency exists in the tumour microsomal membrane such that an action of glucagon that is normally present in rat liver microsomes is not evoked.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Maturation in liver mitochondria of Ruthenium Red-sensitive calcium-ion-transport activity and the influence of glucagon administration in vivo and in utero.

The maturation of Ca(2+) transport in mitochondria isolated from rat liver was examined, from 5 days before birth. The mitochondria used were isolated from liver homogenates by centrifugation at 22000g-min. Ca(2+) transport by mitochondria isolated from foetal liver is energy-dependent and Ruthenium Red-sensitive. The transmembrane pH gradient in these mitochondria is higher by about 7mV and the membrane potential lower by about 20mV than in adult mitochondria. The inclusion of 2mm-P(i) in the incubation medium enhances the protonmotive force by approx. 30mV. The rate of Ca(2+) influx in foetal mitochondria measured in buffered KCl plus succinate is low until about 2-3h after birth, when it increases to about 60% of adult values; approx. 24h later it has reached near-adult values. Higher rates of Ca(2+) influx are observed in the presence of 2mm-P(i); 3-5 days before birth the rates are about one-third of adult values and decline slightly as birth approaches. By 2-3h post partum they have reached adult values. The inclusion of 12.5mum-MgATP with the P(i) stimulates further the initial rate of Ca(2+) influx in foetal mitochondria. The rates observed are constant over the prenatal period examined and are 50-60% of those observed in adult mitochondria. Mitochondria isolated from foetal livers 4-5 days before birth retain the accumulated Ca(2+) for about 50min in the presence of 2mm-P(i). In the period 2 days before birth to birth, this ability is largely lost, but by 2-3h after birth Ca(2+) retention is similar to that of adult mitochondria. The presence of 12.5mum-MgATP progressively enhances the Ca(2+) retention time as development proceeds until 2-3h after birth, when it becomes less sensitive to added MgATP. Glucagon administration to older foetuses in utero enhances both the rate of mitochondrial Ca(2+) influx assayed in the presence of 2mm-P(i) and the time for which mitochondria retain accumulated Ca(2+) in the presence of 12.5mum-MgATP and 2mm-P(i). Its administration to neonatal animals leads to an increase in mitochondrial Ca(2+) retention similar to that seen in adult mitochondria. The data provide evidence that the Ruthenium Red-sensitive Ca(2+) transporter is potentially as active in foetal mitochondria 5 days before birth as it is in adult mitochondria. They also show that foetal mitochondria have an ability to retain accumulated Ca(2+) reminiscent of mitochondria from tumour cells and from hormone-challenged rat liver.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Glucagon stimulation of ruthenium red-insensitive calcium ion transport in developing rat liver.

The maturation of glucagon-stimulated Ruthenium Red-insensitive Ca2+-transport activity was determined in livers of rats ranging in age from 5 days preterm to 10 weeks of adult life. Previous indications are that this activity is confined to vesicles derived mainly from the endoplasmic reticulum. Perinatal-rat liver contains near-adult values of Ruthenium Red-insensitive Ca2+-transport activity, and exhibits large transient increases in the rate of this activity at two stages of development, immediately after birth, and at 2-5 days after birth. The administration of glucagon to foetal rats, at developmental stages after 19.5 days of gestation (2.5 days before birth), results in a large stable increase (greater than 100%) of Ca2+-transport activity in a subsequently isolated 'heavy' microsomal fraction. That this fraction was enriched in vesicles derived from the rough endoplasmic reticulum was indicated by both an electron-microscopic examination and a marker-enzyme analysis of the subcellular fractions. The administration of glucagon into newborn animals only hours old does not enhance further the initial rate of Ca2+-transport activity, and from day 1 to 10 weeks after birth the administration of the hormone results in the moderate enhancement of Ca2+ transport. Experiments with cyclic AMP and inhibitors of phosphodiesterase activity suggest that cyclic AMP plays a key role in the enhancement by glucagon of Ruthenium Red-insensitive Ca2+ transport, and arguments are presented that this transport system has an important metabolic role in the redistribution of intracellular Ca2+ in liver tissue.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Stable changes to calcium fluxes in mitochondria isolated from rat livers perfused with alpha-adrenergic agonists and with glucagon.

Mitochondria isolated from rat liver after a short-term perfusion with the alpha-adrenergic agonist phenylephrine or with glucagon exhibited enhanced rates of uptake of Ca2+ and prolonged retention of Ca2+ in the presence of 4mm-P(i). The effect of Ca2+ retention was apparent after perfusion with phenylephrine for only 1min and was maximal after 7min of treatment. The changes induced by glucagon, although similar, were less rapid. Adrenaline caused similar changes to phenylephrine and its effects were blocked by the alpha-adrenergic antagonist phenoxybenzamine, but not by the beta-antagonist propranolol. The Ca2+ content of the isolated mitochondria decreased by 30% 1min after the onset of perfusion with phenylephrine; by 6min it had begun to return to the original value which was reached at 10min. A similar loss in calcium content was induced by glucagon but the changes were not as great and occurred more slowly. Mitochondria from phenylephrine-treated livers exhibited decreased rates of Ca2+ efflux induced by addition of 2mm-EGTA, a 50% increase in the contents of ADP and total adenine nucleotides, a small increase in the transmembrane pH gradient, and a reduced rate of oxaloacetate-induced NADPH oxidation. This study thus shows that stimulation of liver by alpha-adrenergic agonists, like that by glucagon, induces within minutes a stable modification of mitochondria leading to alterations in the Ca2+-translocation cycle (increased Ca2+ uptake and retention) and alterations in mitochondrial energy-linked reactions.

Adenine Nucleotides↗
PubMed1978

Stable enhancement of calcium retention in mitochondria isolated from rat liver after the administration of glucagon to the intact animal.

1. Mitochondria isolated from rat liver by centrifugation of the homogenate in buffered iso-osmotic sucrose at between 4000 and 8000g-min, 1h after the administration in vivo of 30mug of glucagon/100g body wt., retain Ca(2+) for over 45min after its addition at 100nmol/mg of mitochondrial protein in the presence of 2mm-P(i). In similar experiments, but after the administration of saline (0.9% NaCl) in place of glucagon, Ca(2+) is retained for 6-8min. The ability of glucagon to enhance Ca(2+) retention is completely prevented by co-administration of 4.2mg of puromycin/100g body wt. 2. The resting rate of respiration after Ca(2+) accumulation by mitochondria from glucagon-treated rats remains low by contrast with that from saline-treated rats. Respiration in the latter mitochondria increased markedly after the Ca(2+) accumulation, reflecting the uncoupling action of the ion. 3. Concomitant with the enhanced retention of Ca(2+) and low rates of resting respiration by mitochondria from glucagon-treated rats was an increased ability to retain endogenous adenine nucleotides. 4. An investigation of properties of mitochondria known to influence Ca(2+) transport revealed a significantly higher concentration of adenine nucleotides but not of P(i) in those from glucagon-treated rats. The membrane potential remained unchanged, but the transmembrane pH gradient increased by approx. 10mV, indicating increased alkalinity of the matrix space. 5. Depletion of endogenous adenine nucleotides by P(i) treatment in mitochondria from both glucagon-treated and saline-treated rats led to a marked diminution in ability to retain Ca(2+). The activity of the adenine nucleotide translocase was unaffected by glucagon treatment of rats in vivo. 6. Although the data are consistent with the argument that the Ca(2+)-translocation cycle in rat liver mitochondria is a target for glucagon action in vivo, they do not permit conclusions to be drawn about the molecular mechanisms involved in the glucagon-induced alteration to this cycle.

Adenine Nucleotides↗