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J E Shively

Publications and source records attributed to J E Shively.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Reaction of rat liver DT-diaphorase (NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor reductase) with 5'-[p-(fluorosulfonyl)benzoyl]-adenosine.

Rat liver DT-diaphorase is inactivated by 5'-[p-(fluorosulfonyl)benzoyl]adenosine (5'-FSBA), following pseudo-first-order kinetics. A double-reciprocal plot of 1/kobs versus 1/[5'-FSBA] yields a straight line with a positive y intercept, indicative of reversible binding of the inhibitor before an irreversible incorporation. The dissociation constant (Kd) for the initial reversible enzyme-inhibitor complex is estimated at 2.86 mM with k2 = 0.22 min-1 (at pH 7.5 and 25 degrees). A stoichiometry of 2 mol of 5'-FSBA bound/mol of enzyme (i.e., 1 mol of the inhibitor bound/mol of subunit), at 100% inactivation, was determined from inactivation kinetics and from incorporation studies using 5'-[p-(fluorosulfonyl)benzoyl]-[14C]-adenosine. The irreversible inactivation as well as the covalent incorporation could be completely prevented by the presence of NAD(P)H during the incubation. These results indicate that 5'-FSBA inactivated DT-diaphorase by occupying its NAD(P)H binding site. Reverse phase high pressure liquid chromatography of tryptic digests of [14C]5'-FSBA-labeled DT-diaphorase revealed one radioactive peak containing two comigrating peptides. They are 146I-T-T-G-G-S-G-S-M-Y155 and 262S-I-P-A-D-N-Q-I-K270. By comparison of these sequences to those of the nucleotide binding sites of several kinases and dehydrogenases, it is suggested that the peptide I-T-T-G-G-S-G-S-M-Y is the one modified by 5'-FSBA and would be predicted to be the region where the pyrophosphate group of NAD(P)H binds.

Adenosine↗

Identification of serotonin from rabbit upper stomach as a stimulant of in vitro gallbladder contraction.

Using an in vitro rabbit gallbladder bioassay, the distribution and identification of bioactive substances in rabbit gastrointestinal tract were investigated. Comparison of the bioactivities of tissue extracts before and after cholecystokinin was removed by affinity chromatography demonstrated that the distributions of cholecystokinin and non-cholecystokinin substances were different. While cholecystokinin bioactivity per g of tissue was highest in the duodenum, non-cholecystokinin bioactivity was greatest in the upper stomach. The biochemical properties of the non-cholecystokinin substance in the upper stomach could not be distinguished from those of serotonin. These included molecular weights of 176, identical ultraviolet spectra, similar nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, and co-chromatography in HPLC. By weight, serotonin had 1/6th of the bioactivity of cholecystokinin octapeptide. We conclude that the principal gallbladder-contracting substance in rabbit upper stomach is serotonin.

Animals↗

Human placental fibronectin: demonstration of structural differences between the A and B chains in the extra domain-A region.

Fibronectins are a class of cell adhesion proteins produced from a single gene. Soluble plasma fibronectin plays a role in wound healing and the insoluble cellular fibronectin form anchors cells to the substrata. The proteins possess multiple macromolecular binding domains including collagen, fibrin, and heparin. Alternative RNA splicing in at least three regions (ED-A, ED-B, and III CS) is responsible for this fibronectin polymorphism. We have been studying this polymorphism at the protein level in placental fibronectin, a poorly soluble form of cellular fibronectin. Cathepsin D-digested placental fibronectin applied to a heparin-agarose column and eluted with a NaCl stepwise gradient (0.1, 0.3, 0.5 M) gave two polypeptides (80-100 and 65 kDa) in the 0.3 M NaCl peak. Immunoblots with monoclonal antibodies IST-2 (specific for the carboxy-terminal heparin-binding domain) and IST-9 (specific for the ED-A portion of fibronectin) suggest that both peptides contain the carboxy-terminal heparin-binding (Hep-2) domain, but that only the larger fragment possesses the ED-A segment. The two peptides were separated using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, electrotransferred to Polybrene-coated polyvinyl difluoride membranes, and characterized by microsequence analysis. This analysis confirmed that both fragments start with the same amino acid sequence, 17 amino acids before the start of ED-A. These results demonstrate that placental fibronectin is a heterodimer, structurally distinct from plasma fibronectin due to the presence of a unique domain modification that is not seen in the plasma form.

Base Sequence↗

Correlation of DNA hypomethylation with expression of carcinoembryonic antigen in human colon carcinoma cells.

Using an assay based on the binding of a carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)-specific monoclonal antibody, we have examined the expression of carcinoembryonic antigen genes in human colon tumor and normal fibroblast cell lines. CEA expression was not detectable in the normal fibroblast cell lines, whereas varying levels of high CEA expression were found in the colon tumor cell lines LS-174T, GEO, and WIDR. We have used a 550-base pair CEA probe derived from cloned complementary DNA to carry out Southern analysis of the DNA isolated from the normal and colon tumor cell lines. At high stringency, the CEA probe detected seven BamHI fragments in all DNAs analyzed. At low stringency, however, 14 BamHI fragments ranging from 1.5 to 23 kilobases were detected. Results of the Southern analysis demonstrate no amplification or rearrangement of the CEA genes in tumor cells. We used methylation-sensitive restriction endonucleases, HpaII and HhaI, to compare the degree of methylation of CEA family of genes in normal and colon tumor cell lines. Our results demonstrate that the CEA family of genes exists in a state of hypermethylation in the normal cell lines. In contrast, the CEA gene(s) are relatively hypomethylated in the tumor cell lines, suggesting a correlation between the state of methylation and degree of expression of the CEA gene(s). A comparison of the state of methylation of the CEA gene(s) in cells before and after treatment with the gamma-interferon (which up-regulates CEA steady-state mRNA levels) showed no detectable difference in the degree of DNA methylation. The segments of CEA genes that are hypermethylated in normal cells, but are hypomethylated in tumor cells, were also identified. Thus, these studies may help identify the sites of methylation that are crucial for the control of CEA gene regulation.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Hormone-sensitive lipase: sequence, expression, and chromosomal localization to 19 cent-q13.3.

Hormone-sensitive lipase, a key enzyme in fatty acid mobilization, overall energy homeostasis, and possibly steroidogenesis, is acutely controlled through reversible phosphorylation by catecholamines and insulin. The 757-amino acid sequence predicted from a cloned rat adipocyte complementary DNA showed no homology with any other known lipase or protein. The activity-controlling phosphorylation site was localized to Ser563 in a markedly hydrophilic domain, and a lipid-binding consensus site was tentatively identified. One or several messenger RNA species (3.3, 3.5, or 3.9 kilobases) were expressed in adipose and steroidogenic tissues and heart and skeletal muscle. The human hormone-sensitive lipase gene mapped to chromosome 19 cent-q13.3.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Structure-function relationship of NAD(P)H:quinone reductase: characterization of NH2-terminal blocking group and essential tyrosine and lysine residues.

The amino terminal blocked peptide of rat liver NAD(P)H:quinone reductase (DT-diaphorase) was determined by amino acid sequence analysis and by mass spectrometry. The mature protein is composed of 273 amino acids and contains an acetylated amino terminus, which was not identified by previous cDNA analysis. The enzyme was inactivated by p-nitrobenzenesulfonyl fluoride (NBSF) or 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonate (TNBS) with pseudo-first-order kinetics. These studies suggest that essential tyrosine and lysine may be present in the active site of this enzyme. The NBSF inhibition was protected by 1-naphthol and 1-naphthylamine, but not by NAD+. However, TNBS inhibition was not prevented by the naphthalene derivatives or NAD+. Specific peptides labeled with NBSF or TNBS were isolated by high-performance liquid chromatography and were sequenced. These analyses revealed that the NBSF-labeled tyrosine resides in a predominantly hydrophobic region and TNBS-labeled lysine in a predominantly hydrophilic region.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Chromosomal localization of the carcinoembryonic antigen gene family and differential expression in various tumors.

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a glycoprotein which is important as a tumor marker for a number of human cancers. It is a member of a gene family comprising about 10 closely related genes. In order to characterize mRNAs transcribed from individual genes we have identified by DNA and RNA hybridization experiments, gene-specific sequences from the 3' noncoding regions of CEA, and of nonspecific cross-reacting antigen (NCA) mRNAs, which have been recently cloned. With these probes, CEA mRNAs with lengths of 3.5 and 3.0 kilobases and an NCA mRNA species of 2.5 kilobases were identified in various human tumors. A 2.2-kilobase mRNA species, however, could only be detected in leukocytes of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia by hybridization with a probe from the immunoglobulin-like repeat domain of CEA. This region is known to be very similar among the various members of the CEA gene family, and indeed the probe hybridizes with all four mRNA species. In situ hybridization with a cross-hybridizing probe from the NCA gene localized the members of the CEA gene family to the short and to the long arm of chromosome 19. In addition, a CEA cDNA probe was found to hybridize to the long arm of chromosome 19 only.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗

Characterization of a cDNA clone for the nonspecific cross-reacting antigen (NCA) and a comparison of NCA and carcinoembryonic antigen.

NCA (nonspecific cross-reacting antigen), a glycoprotein found in normal lung and spleen, is immunologically related to carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), which is found in over 95% of colon adenocarcinomas. From a human genomic library, we previously cloned part of an NCA gene and showed that the amino-terminal region has extensive sequence homology to CEA (Thompson, J. A., Pande, H., Paxton, R. J., Shively, L., Padma, A., Simmer, R. L., Todd, Ch. W., Riggs, A. D., and Shively, J.E. (1987) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S.A. 84, 2965-2969). We now present the nucleotide sequence of a cDNA clone, containing the entire coding region of NCA (clone 9). The clone was obtained from a lambda gt 10 library made from the colon carcinoma cell line SW 403; the clone contains a 34-amino acid leader sequence, 310 amino acids for the mature protein, and 1.4 kilobases of 3'-untranslated region of the NCA gene. A comparison of the NCA sequence to the CEA sequence (Oikawa, S., Nakazato, H., and Kosaki, G. (1987) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 142, 511-518; Zimmerman, W., Ortlieb, B., Friedrich, R., and von Kleist, S. (1987) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 84, 2690-2694) shows that both proteins contain doublets of an immunoglobulin-like domain, of which there are one copy in NCA and three copies in CEA, a 108-amino acid amino-terminal domain with no cysteine residues, and a carboxyl-terminal hydrophobic domain of sufficient length to anchor the glycoproteins in the cell membrane. Overall, the corresponding coding regions possess 85% sequence homology at the amino acid level and 90% homology at the nucleotide level. Forty nucleotides 3' of their stop codons, the CEA and NCA cDNAs become dissimilar. The 108-amino acid amino-terminal region together with part of the leader peptide sequence corresponds exactly to a single exon described in our previous work. The data presented here further demonstrate the likelihood that CEA recently evolved from NCA by gene duplication, including two duplications of the immunoglobulin-like domain doublet of NCA.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Artifactual CEA elevation due to human anti-mouse antibodies.

Retrospective analysis of 108 patients who received indium 111-labeled murine monoclonal antibodies for imaging of cancer was performed. Most patients had operative procedures for colorectal carcinoma following completion of scintiscanning. Eleven patients had markedly elevated carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels postoperatively without evidence of residual or recurrent disease. The laboratory method of measuring CEA levels was a commercially available double mouse monoclonal antibody enzyme immunoassay. It was postulated that the unexplained elevation of CEA was a reflection of the presence of human anti-mouse antibody (HAMA) induced by the administration of radiolabeled mouse antibody. A competitive assay for HAMA was undertaken by incubation of these patients' sera with a high dose of nonspecific mouse immunoglobulin prior to CEA determinations, and subsequent CEA levels were normal. The presence of HAMA was confirmed by a noncompetitive solid-phase enzyme immunoassay in 73% of tested patients who received murine monoclonal antibodies for imaging. Identification of artifactual CEA elevations is important in the treatment of cancer patients.

Aged↗

Microsequence analysis of peptides and proteins. VIII. Improved electroblotting of proteins onto membranes and derivatized glass-fiber sheets.

We have quantitatively examined the various parameters affecting the electrotransfer and sequence analysis of proteins from sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) gels to derivatized glass fiber paper or to polyvinyldifluoride (PVDF) membranes. Transfer yields in the range of 90-95% can be obtained for proteins in the molecular weight range of 10-90 kDa for transfer from 12% SDS gels to glass fiber paper derivatized with either QAPS (N-trimethoxysilylpropyl-N,N,N-trimethylammonium chloride) or APS (aminopropyltriethoxysilane). In order to achieve these yields, it was necessary to modify the conditions described by R. Aebersold et al. (J. Biol. Chem. 261, 4229-4238, 1986). We activated the glass fiber paper with dilute ammonia water and derivatized the activated glass fiber paper with QAPS and APS in anhydrous solvents which were allowed to slowly absorb moisture during the derivatization process. The transfer yield varied with transfer time versus molecular weight of the protein for a given percentage gel. Shorter transfer times and higher yields were obtained for higher molecular weight proteins on 8% gels. Lower molecular weight protein gave higher yields from 12% gels under similar transfer conditions. Sequencing yields of the transferred proteins were in the range of 40-80%, but a number of background peaks were observed on HPLC analysis of the phenylthiohydantoin amino acid derivatives. Transfer yields in the range of 85-95% were observed for similar experiments with PVDF membranes. In order to achieve these yields, it was necessary to modify the conditions described by P. Matsudaira (J. Biol. Chem. 262, 10035-10038, 1987). A lower voltage and longer transfer times gave higher transfer yields. In order to achieve consistently high transfer yields, it was also necessary to precoat the PVDF membranes with Polybrene. The PVDF membranes were cut into approximately 1-mm-wide strips and inserted into a continuous flow reactor (J. E. Shively, P. Miller, and M. Ronk, Anal. Biochem. 163, 517-525, 1987) for sequence analysis. Overall yields of samples loaded onto gels, electrotransferred to Polybrene-coated PVDF membranes, and sequenced ranged from 50-60% for beta-lactoglobin (10-50 pmol loaded onto SDS gels) to 20-30% for bovine serum albumin and soybean trypsin inhibitor (50 pmol loaded onto SDS gels). A comparison of the two methods shows clear advantages for the PVDF membranes over the derivatized glass fiber paper, including the ability to directly sequence the Coomassie blue-stained PVDF membranes, and the lower backgrounds observed on subsequent sequence analysis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Microsequence analysis of peptides and proteins. IX. Manual gas-phase microsequencing of multiple samples.

A novel apparatus for performing manual gas-phase Edman chemistry on protein and peptide samples is described. Edman chemistry is performed in 6 to 10 Teflon continuous flow reactors (CFR), previously described by J.E. Shively et al. (1987) Anal. Biochem. 163, 517-529). The CFRs are packed with 10-15 mg of Polybrene-coated spherical silica (Porasil B, Waters Associates). The gas-phase coupling reagent and cleavage reagent are 5% aqueous triethylamine and anhydrous trifluoroacetic acid, respectively, delivered by a stream of argon gas. The delivery of the gas-phase reagents is manually controlled with Hamilton 3-way valves and 2-way valves, and that of the solvents, ethyl acetate and butyl chloride, by syringe pipetting. The average cycle time is 15-20 min for 6 to 10 samples run simultaneously. Conversion of the anilinothiazolinone to phenylthiohydantoin (PTH) amino acid derivatives is accomplished manually with 25% aqueous trifluoroacetic acid. The PTH amino acids are analyzed by reversed-phase HPLC using an autosampler for handling multiple samples. Excellent results were obtained in the 100-200 pmol range. Protein samples can be sequenced from 15-20 cycles, and peptide samples usually to the COOH terminus. Initial yields ranged from 30 to 60% and repetitive yields ranged from 90 to 96%. The sample washout and size of background peaks are significantly reduced, compared to older methods of manual sequence analysis. The yields and background signal to noise are comparable to automated gas-phase Edman chemistry. The improved manual Edman described represents a low cost alternative to automated sequence analysis, and has the advantage being able to process multiple samples simultaneously.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Carcinoembryonic antigen is anchored to membranes by covalent attachment to a glycosylphosphatidylinositol moiety: identification of the ethanolamine linkage site.

The COOH-terminal amino acid of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is shown to covalently link with ethanolamine, evidence consistent with the anchorage of CEA to the plasma membrane through a phosphatidylinositol-glycan tail. Purified CEA was digested with trypsin, and the resulting peptides were isolated by reverse-phase HPLC. Tryptic hexapeptide T12, terminating atypically with alanine, corresponded in sequence (Ser-Ile-Thr-Val-Ser-Ala) with the last six residues (637-642) of the third repeating domain in the mature CEA protein. Mass determination of the hexapeptide by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry suggested the presence of an additional ethanolamine moiety. This finding and the absence of the subsequent 26 hydrophobic residues predicted by cDNA sequence is evidence that hexapeptide T12 is the COOH-terminal peptide of mature CEA. A synthetic peptide identical to hexapeptide T12 was prepared, and ethanolamine was coupled to its COOH-terminal alanine; chromatographic properties of this synthetic ethanolamine-coupled peptide and peptide T12 were the same. B/E-linked-scan mass spectral analysis of the ethanolamine-coupled synthetic peptide and peptide T12 revealed a fragment ion series consistent with the presence of a COOH-terminal ethanolamine. Release of membrane-bound CEA from the CEA-expressing cell line LS 174T was shown by indirect immunofluorescence and flow cytometry after treatment with phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C. We conclude that CEA is processed posttranslationally to remove the hydrophobic COOH-terminal residues (643-668) with subsequent addition of an ethanolamine-glycosylphosphatidylinositol moiety and that treatment of a colonic cell line with phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C releases membrane-bound CEA.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Molecular cloning of a cDNA coding biliary glycoprotein I: primary structure of a glycoprotein immunologically crossreactive with carcinoembryonic antigen.

We have isolated and sequenced four overlapping cDNA clones from a normal adult human colon library, which together gave the entire nucleotide sequence for biliary glycoprotein I (BGP I). BGP I is a member of the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) gene family, which is a subfamily in the immunoglobulin gene superfamily. The deduced amino acid sequence of the combined clones for BGP I revealed a 34-residue leader sequence followed by a 108-residue N-terminal domain, a 178-residue immunoglobulin-like domain, a 108-residue region specific to BGP I, a 24-residue transmembrane domain, and a 35-residue cytoplasmic domain. The nucleotide sequence of BGP I exhibited greater than 80% identity with CEA and nonspecific crossreacting antigen (NCA) in the leader peptide, N-terminal domain, and immunoglobulin-like domain. The BGP I-specific domain, designated A', was 56.7% and 55.8% identical at the nucleotide level and 42.6% and 39.6% identical at the amino acid level to the immunoglobulin-like domain of NCA and the first immunoglobulin-like domain of CEA, respectively. Beyond nucleotide position 1375 the 3' region of the BGP I cDNA was found to be specific for BGP I. Hybridization of a probe from this region to electrophoretic blots of RNAs from different human tissues showed a predominant 2.8-kilobase (kb) message accompanied by weaker bands 4.1 and 2.1 kb in size. The same probe gave a single band in Southern blot analysis of restricted total human DNA. Using a coding region probe from the BGP I domain A', we observed 4.1- and 2.1-kb messages. Lack of the 2.8-kb band suggested that different forms of BGP I may be generated by posttranscriptional modification of the same gene. We propose that BGP I diverged from NCA by acquiring an immunoglobulin-like domain substantially different from the domains found in NCA or CEA and also a new cytoplasmic domain. The latter feature should result in a substantially different membrane anchorage mechanism of BGP I compared to CEA, which lacks the cytoplasmic domain and is anchored via a phosphatidylinositol-glycan structure. Protein structural analysis of BGP I isolated from human bile revealed a blocked N terminus, 129 amino acids of internal sequence that are in agreement with the translated cDNA sequence, and five glycosylation sites in the peptides sequenced.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Solid phase synthesis and characterization of two canine gut gastrin-releasing peptides.

Two canine gastrin-releasing peptides originally isolated from gut tissue extracts have been synthesized by solid phase methodology and purified by preparative reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The synthetic gastrin-releasing peptides GRP1-27 and GRP 5-27 were characterized with regard to homogeneity and composition using nine different RP-HPLC systems, mass spectroscopy, amino acid analysis, Edman degradation, methionine oxidation, and peptide mapping with tryptic, Staph. aureus V8 protease and cyanogen bromide cleavage (the latter two systems performed only with GRP 1-27). Although a scarcity of the natural products prevented quantitative biological comparison of the synthetic and natural peptides, they were found to elute identically on RP-HPLC co-chromatography and similar dose dependent biological potencies were observed in canine antral muscle tissue contraction experiments. Indeed, all the peptides containing the bombesin-like carboxyl terminal decapeptide sequence studied to date have similar biological activities.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Processing of mammalian preprogastrin-releasing peptide.

The processing of preprogastrin-releasing peptide in mammalian tissues and in cultured cells takes place at discrete sites (Figure 6). Signal peptidase cleaves away the signal peptide from the amino terminus of gastrin-releasing peptide. An exopeptidase activity may remove dipeptides from the amino terminus. The amidation site (not shown in Fig. 6; see Fig. 2) has the same general sequence (Gly-Lys-Lys) seen for other amidated peptides. Cleavage after single basic residues yields gene-related products from Form I or II preproGRP. A unique non-basic cleavage yields a gene-related product from Form III preproGRP. The processing that occurs to form GRP, GRP, and GRP gene-related peptides is shown in Figure 7. ProGRP is cleaved by a series of enzymes to form GRP with an amidated carboxyl-terminal methionine (indicated by an asterisk in Fig. 7). GRP is cleaved to form the decapeptide GRP. The carboxyl-terminal flanking peptides of all three mRNA translation products are cleaved to form several gastrin-releasing peptide gene-related products. Knowledge of the processing of gastrin-releasing peptide and its gene-related products will allow synthesis of duplicates of the stored forms of these peptides, which can then be used for biological testing.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Hormonal regulation, tissue distribution, and content of aromatase cytochrome P450 messenger ribonucleic acid and enzyme in rat ovarian follicles and corpora lutea: relationship to estradiol biosynthesis.

The following study was undertaken to compare the content of aromatase cytochrome P450 (P450arom) mRNA with the content of the enzyme in rat ovarian tissues and to relate these changes with estradiol biosynthesis by follicles and corpora lutea isolated throughout pregnancy. A deoxyoligonucleotide (62 mer) probe derived from an amino acid sequence of purified human placental P450arom was used to screen a rat granulosa cell lambda gt11 cDNA expression library. Seven cDNA clones, ranging in size from 0.6-2.0 kilobases (kb), were identified and plaque purified. In vitro translation using mRNA that had been selected by hybridization to a 1.2-kb rat P450arom cDNA insert yielded an 35S-labeled translation product that bound antihuman aromatase immunoglobulin and comigrated with purified human placental aromatase on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, thus verifying that the clones do encode for P450arom. Using the 1.2-kb cDNA insert as a radiolabeled probe, the hormonal regulation, tissue distribution, content, and size of mRNA for P450arom were analyzed. Filter hybridization assays demonstrated that P450arom mRNA was low in small antral (SA) follicles, increased 16-fold in preovulatory (PO) follicles, and reached a peak in granulosa cells within 1 h after an ovulatory dose of hCG. In the corpus luteum of pregnancy, P450arom mRNA content was low on day 4, and increased 3-fold on days 7-11 and 10-fold on days 15-19 of gestation. P450arom mRNA then decreased on days 21 and 23, the day of parturition. Northern analyses of RNA from PO follicles and corpora lutea revealed three bands of P450arom mRNA that were 3.3, 2.6, and 1.9 kb in size. Immunoblots of soluble cell extracts of SA, PO, and luteinizing (PO plus hCG) follicles and corpora lutea of pregnancy demonstrated that aromatase enzyme was low in SA follicles, increased 1.5- to 3-fold in PO follicles, and decreased within 3-5 h after an ovulatory dose of hCG. Changes in the content of P450arom enzyme in luteal cells during pregnancy exhibited a pattern similar to that observed for P450arom mRNA. In contrast, changes in estradiol biosynthesis by follicles and corpora lutea were not directly related to the contents of P450arom mRNA and enzyme. For example, although corpora lutea isolated on days 15-21 of gestation contain the highest amount of P450arom mRNA and enzyme, these tissues did not produce the most estradiol when incubated for 5 h at 37 C in the presence of aromatizable androgen substrate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗

Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) binding protein complementary deoxyribonucleic acid from human HEP G2 hepatoma cells: predicted protein sequence suggests an IGF binding domain different from those of the IGF-I and IGF-II receptors.

The primary structure of an insulin-like growth factor (IGF) binding protein produced by human HEP G2 hepatoma cells has been deduced from the cDNA sequence. The 234 amino acid protein has a predicted molecular mass of 25,274 and contains a single, distinctive cysteine-rich region. The N-terminal sequence of this protein is quite similar to the limited sequence data available for a rat IGF binding protein produced by BRL-3A cells and suggests a common ancestral origin. In contrast, the HEP G2 IGF binding protein sequence bears no similarity to the N-terminal 15 amino acids of a 53 kilodalton binding protein purified from human plasma. Comparison of full-length protein sequences for the IGF-I and IGF-II receptors with that of the HEP G2 IGF binding protein also fails to demonstrate any significant similarities among these three proteins, and suggests that each contains a unique binding domain for the IGF peptides.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Tumor uptake as a function of tumor mass: a mathematic model.

Inverse correlations of tumor uptake (u), measured in percent injected dose per gram, with tumor mass (m) are demonstrated for phospholipid vesicle, nonspecific and specific monoclonal antibody tracers. Correlation coefficients implied u = B mA in 11 different animal experiments. Experimental exponent (A) values lay in the range -0.28-0.64 with a mean of -0.43 while intercept (B) values varied from 3 to 18. Spherical and cylindrical tumor models implied exponents of -0.33 and -0.5, respectively. Comparison of three implantation sites of the human LS174T xenograft revealed a narrow range of exponents (-0.38- -0.46) indicating a consistent geometry for this tumor. Blood flow to the lesion site and inside its volume (as dictated by tumor size) are factors in tumor uptake. Our results indicate that biodistribution data should include the variation of tumor uptake with mass. For less than 10 g lesions, we predict that radiation absorbed dose will be highly dependent upon tumor size.

Animals↗