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H LeVine

Publications and source records attributed to H LeVine.

53 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Ascorbic acid is an endogenous cytosolic inhibitor of ATP-supported rat liver mitochondrial calcium transport.

ATP-supported but not Site I or Site II respiratory chain-linked 45Ca2+ transport into isolated rat liver mitochondria is profoundly inhibited by a small molecule present in the cytosolic fraction. This inhibitor was purified and shown to be identical with ascorbic acid in a number of chemical properties, cytosolic abundance, susceptibility to ascorbate oxidase, and to agents that otherwise block the effect of authentic ascorbic acid. Experiments with a variety of free radical scavengers and glutathione indicated that ascorbate inhibition of calcium transport is mediated through a 1-electron-free radical mechanism rather than a conventional 2-electron reaction. Calcium transport mechanisms may, therefore, be a target in the pathophysiology of disease processes that influence the intracellular ratios and levels of ascorbate and physiological radical scavengers.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1983

Histones H3 and H4 inhibit protein kinase C specifically.

The lysine-rich histone H1 is a preferred substrate for the Ca2+-phospholipid-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase C). Histones H3 and H4 are poor substrates but potent inhibitors of the enzyme. The inhibitory effect of H3 and H4 seems to result mainly from a decreased sensitivity of protein kinase C to stimulation by phosphatidylserine (PS). These observations suggest that site-specific phosphorylation of one histone type can be regulated by other histones.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Cytosolic activator of adenylate cyclase: Reconstitution, characterization, and mechanism of action.

Rat liver and isolated hepatocytes contain high levels of a soluble adenylate cyclase stimulator, whereas rat erythrocytes lack this activity. Accordingly, a reconstitution system was developed with adenylate cyclase [ATP pyrophosphate-lyase (cyclizing), EC 4.6.1.1] from erythrocyte ghosts and the soluble activator from liver cytosol. Pretreatment of erythrocyte ghosts with the cytosolic factor resulted in a 5- to 15-fold activation of adenylate cyclase in the presence or absence of NaF, 5'-guanylyl imidodiphosphate, or isoproterenol and GTP. The sequence of addition of the cytosolic component and the other activators was critical in determining the maximal activity of the enzyme. The cytosolic factor appears to be a heat-labile Mr 105,000 protein, which activates adenylate cyclase in a saturable reaction involving binding of the protein to the erythrocyte ghosts. This molecular interaction was accompanied by stabilization of a labile thiol group that was essential for catalytic activity. The cytosolic component also unmasks latent adenylate cyclase activity in human erythrocyte ghosts and in cytoskeletal preparations from rat erythrocyte ghosts. These observations suggest that the cytosolic activator may also occur as a native, peripheral membrane component of adenylate cyclase systems and may be required for the expression and stabilization of catalytic activity.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗
PubMed1983

A specific phosphoprotein phosphatase acts on histone H1 phosphorylated by protein kinase C.

A phosphohistone phosphatase from rat liver cytosol acts specifically on histone H1 that is phosphorylated with the Ca2+-phospholipid-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase C). The apparent Km for 32P-labeled H1 is 1 microM; other histones or cytosolic proteins phosphorylated with protein kinase C or with cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase are poor substrates for the phosphatase. The enzyme has been partially purified by gel-permeation chromatography and by utilizing a high-performance liquid chromatography ion-exchange column. The physical properties of this enzyme include a Stokes radius of 5.0 nm, a sedimentation coefficient (s20,w) of 7.0 S, and a Mr of 150,000. The detection of protein kinase as well as the specific phosphohistone phosphatase in purified rat liver nuclei suggests a physiologic role for a histone H1 phosphorylation-dephosphorylation cycle mediated by protein kinase C and the corresponding phosphohistone phosphatase.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Properties of rat erythrocyte membrane cytoskeletal structures produced by digitonin extraction: digitonin-insoluble beta-adrenergic receptor, adenylate cyclase, and cholera toxin substrate.

Rat erythrocyte plasma membranes have been extracted exhaustively with digitonin at low temperature, and the residual, detergent-extracted membrane cytoskeletal material is compared to that prepared with Triton X-100 with respect to protein, glycoprotein, phospholipid, and cholesterol content. Digitonin, a weaker detergent than Triton X-100, solubilizes only 26% of the phospholipids and none of the cholesterol. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis reveals that differences between the proteins extracted by the two detergents are primarily quantitative. In terms of functional preservation, digitonin retains in the cytoskeleton 28% of the beta-adrenergic receptor binding activity (with the balance accounted for in the supernatant), greater than 90% of the adenylate cyclase and greater than 90% of the 45,000 mol wt polypeptide cholera toxin substrate. The cytoskeletal-associated beat-adrenergic receptor retains binding properties for antagonist and agonist which are identical to those of the native membrane receptor. The digitonin-extracted cytoskeleton containing the beta-adrenergic receptor may provide a useful vehicle for the reconstitution of a hormone-sensitive adenylate cyclase.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗
PubMed1982

Formation and identification of cytoskeletal components from liver cytosolic precursors.

Liver cytosol forms a macroscopic fibrillary network in the presence of low concentrations of MgCl2. This process represents the generation of 3- to 11-nm filaments from soluble precursors, involving selectively at least 12 major polypeptides. Similar polypeptides are enriched in the detergent-insoluble fraction from hepatocytes, suggesting that they may be important constituents of the native cytoskeleton. AcA 34 gel-permeation chromatography resolves the cytosol into three independently "polymerizing" peaks: A, B, and C. The formation of filaments follows biphasic kinetics in peaks B and C, whereas peak A lacks the slow phase. Filament formation in all three systems is inhibited by 1-15 mM inorganic phosphate, 10 mM NaF, or 10 mM sodium molybdate. The polymerization of peak C only is inhibited by 0.2-2 mM ATP. CaCl2 (1-100 microM) has no apparent regulatory effect. Two-dimensional polypeptide analysis and peptide mapping show that actin is a major component of peak C, while peaks A and B contain prominent polypeptides that may be related to intermediate filament subunits. In addition, all three systems contain two or three high molecular weight (greater than 170,000) polypeptides that may participate in modulating and extending the filament network. The filaments from peaks A and B are soluble in 8 M urea and reform on removal of the urea in the presence of 5 mM MgCl2. The polypeptide composition remains constant through three such cycles.

Actins↗
PubMed1981

Specific phospholipids are required to reconstitute adenylate cyclase solubilized from rat brain.

Adenylate cyclase [ATP pyrophosphate-lyase (cyclizing), EC 4.6.1.1] was solubilized from a rat brain homogenate with sodium deoxycholate. This solubilized preparation had no detectable enzymic activity with either Mg-ATP or Mn-ATP as substrate. The activity could be restored by addition of either nonionic detergent or certain specific phospholipids. Maximal restoration of enzyme activity was obtained with Triton X-100, L-alpha-phosphatidylcholine, L-alpha-lysophosphatidylcholine, phosphatidyl-N-monomethylethanolamine, or sphingomyelin. Activity was only partially restored by phosphatidylethanolamine (40-60%) or phosphatidyl-N,N-dimethylethanolamine (10-20%). Other phospholipids tested, including phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidic acid, could not restore enzyme activity but, instead, could inhibit the stimulation of enzyme activity by phosphatidylcholine. The restoration of activity by L-alpha-phosphatidylcholine was inhibited by cholesterol at concentrations above 33 mol %, although this effect was not observed with three different esters of cholesterol. These studies suggest a possible specific role of phospholipids in modulating adenylate cyclase activity.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗
PubMed1981

Molecular complexes involved in the regulation of adenylate cyclase.

Selective extraction of the adenylate cyclase regulatory protein (N-protein) from pigeon erythrocyte plasma membranes provided evidence for its cytoskeletal association. Cholate, but not Triton X-100 or digitonin, was effective in solubilizing the ADP-ribosylated N-protein. The labeled protein complex or components thereof that were associated with the Triton-insoluble cytoskeleton (shells) could be partly released by 0.1 mM EDTA; 1 M KCl in the presence of Triton X-100 achieved complete solubilization. 5'-Guanylyl imidodiphosphate (p[NH]ppG) and NaF, activators of adenylate cyclase, promoted the release of the regulatory protein from the cytoskeleton but MnCl2, an "uncoupler" of the adenylate cyclase system, had the opposite effect. The solubilized, labeled N-protein was able to bind specifically to rat erythrocyte inside-out vesicles in the presence of divalent cations. A proteolytic product of inside-out vesicles inhibited the binding of the N-protein to fresh vesicles. Three molecular species which contained the Mr 45,000 polypeptide component of the N-protein were identified by gel permeation chromatography and by sucrose density gradient velocity sedimentation. p[NH]ppG appeared to convert the two larger molecular complexes to a smaller molecular entity. Such a molecular dissociation might be relevant to the effects of guanyl nucleotides on the activity of adenylate cyclase and on the affinity of hormone receptors.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The role of microglial cells and astrocytes in fibrillar plaque evolution in transgenic APP(SW) mice.

Ultrastructural reconstruction of 27 fibrillar plaques in different stages of formation and maturation was undertaken to characterize the development of fibrillar plaques in the brains of human APP(SW) transgenic mice (Tg2576). The study suggests that microglial cells are not engaged in Abeta removal and plaque degradation, but in contrast, are a driving force in plaque formation and development. Fibrillar Abeta deposition at the amyloid pole of microglial cells appears to initiate three types of neuropil response: degeneration of neurons, protective activation of astrocytes, and attraction and activation of microglial cells sustaining plaque growth. Enlargement of neuronal processes and synapses with accumulation of degenerated mitochondria, dense bodies, and Hirano-type bodies is the marker of toxic injury of neurons by fibrillar Abeta. Separation of amyloid cores from neurons and degradation of amyloid cores by cytoplasmic processes of hypertrophic astrocytes suggest the protective and defensive character of astrocytic response to fibrillar Abeta. The growth of cored plaque from a small plaque with one microglial cell with an amyloid star and a few dystrophic neurites to a large plaque formed by several dozen microglial cells seen in old mice is the effect of attraction and activation of microglial cells residing outside of the plaque perimeter. This mechanism of growth of plaques appears to be characteristic of cored plaques in transgenic mice. Other features in mouse microglial cells that are absent in human brain are clusters of vacuoles, probably of lysosomal origin. They evolve into circular cisternae and finally into large vacuoles filled with osmiophilic, amorphous material and bundles of fibrils that are poorly labeled with antibody to Abeta. Microglial cells appear to release large amounts of fibrillar Abeta and accumulate traces of fibrillar Abeta in a lysosomal pathway.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A model for intracellular translocation of protein kinase C involving synergism between Ca2+ and phorbol esters.

The activation of protein kinase C by diacylglycerol and by tumour promoters has implicated this enzyme in transmembrane signalling and in the regulation of the cell cycle. In vitro studies revealed that catalytic activity requires the presence of calcium and phospholipids with a preference for phosphatidylserine. Diacylglycerol and tumour promoters such as phorbol esters bind to the enzyme, leading to its activation while sharply increasing its affinity for Ca2+ and phospholipid. Addition of diacylglycerol analogues or phorbol esters to intact cells results in the phosphorylation of specific polypeptides. Several cellular processes, including hormone and neurotransmitter release and receptor down-regulation, are modulated by the activation of protein kinase C, while phorbol ester-induced stimulation of the enzyme in whole cells has been associated with its translocation from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane. Moreover, the use of Ca2+ ionophores has revealed an apparent synergism between Ca2+ mobilization and protein kinase C activation. This synergism has recently also been found to apply to receptor down-regulation (ref. 23 and accompanying paper). Here we describe a reconstitution system in which intracellular translocation of protein kinase C and the synergism between Ca2+ and enzyme activators can be studied. The results suggest a rationale for concomitant Ca2+ mobilization and diacylglycerol formation in response to some hormones, neurotransmitters and growth factors.

Calcium↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The cerebral proteopathies: neurodegenerative disorders of protein conformation and assembly.

The abnormal assembly and deposition of specific proteins in the brain is the probable cause of most neurodegenerative disease afflicting the elderly. These "cerebral proteopathies" include Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD), prion diseases, and a variety of other disorders. Evidence is accumulating that the anomalous aggregation of the proteins, and not a loss of protein function, is central to the pathogenesis of these diseases. Thus, therapeutic strategies that reduce the production, accumulation, or polymerization of pathogenic proteins might be applicable to a wide range of some of the most devastating diseases of old age.

Amyloid beta-Peptides↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Molecular analysis of the functional role of beta-adrenergic receptor kinase 1 amino-terminal.

Receptor phosphorylation is a key step in the process of rapid desensitization. beta-adrenergic receptor kinase (betaARK) is a specific receptor kinase that is known to phosphorylate and induce desensitization of several G-coupled receptors only when they are occupied by their agonists. In the present study we have done several modifications to the amino-terminal of betaARK1, in order to clarify its functional role. The recombinant mutants were tested for their ability to phosphorylate rhodopsin present in purified bovine ROS membranes which serves as a substrate for betaARK1. Their expression levels were detected by Western blot analysis. We found that when the amino-terminal of betaARK1 is modified its expression level is very low, hence it is not able to phosphorylate over the basal. These findings suggest that this region is crucial for the normal processing of the protein.

Animals↗