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Biomedical subjects

J Ramos

Publications and source records attributed to J Ramos.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Possible involvement of a phosphatidylinositol-type signaling pathway in glucose-induced activation of plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase and cellular proton extrusion in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Addition of glucose to cells of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae causes rapid activation of plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase and a stimulation of cellular H+ extrusion. We show that addition of diacylglycerol and other activators of protein kinase C to intact cells also activates the H(+)-ATPase and causes at the same time a stimulation of H+ extrusion from the cells. Both effects are reversed by addition of staurosporine, a protein kinase C inhibitor. Addition of staurosporine or calmidazolium, an inhibitor of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases, separately, causes a partial inhibition of glucose-induced H(+)-ATPase activation and stimulation of cellular H+ extrusion; together they cause a more potent inhibition. Addition of neomycin, which complexes with phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate, or addition of compound 48/80, a phospholipase C inhibitor, also causes near complete inhibition. Diacylglycerol and other protein kinase C activators had no effect on the activity of the K(+)-uptake system and the activity of trehalase and glucose-induced activation of the K(+)-uptake system and trehalase was not inhibited by neomycin, supporting the specificity of the effects observed on the H(+)-ATPase. The results support a model in which glucose-induced activation of H(+)-ATPase is mediated by a phosphatidylinositol-type signaling pathway triggering phosphorylation of the enzyme both by protein kinase C and one or more Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases.

Alkaloids↗
PubMed1994

Highly efficient DNA synthesis in isolated mitochondria from rat liver.

We have developed a highly efficient DNA-synthesizing system with isolated intact rat liver mitochondria. The ATP requirements for this in organello DNA synthesis are provided by endogenous synthesis in the presence of exogenous ADP and an oxidizable substrate. In this system, mitochondrial DNA synthesis strikingly proceeds at a constant rate for about 5 h at 37 degrees C. Gel electrophoresis, hybridization and restriction enzyme analyses show that intact mitochondria synthesize nucleic acids with a size of 16.5 kb, that correspond to mitochondrial DNA, and that both DNA strands are replicated. This in organello DNA synthesis requires the supply of dNTPs and decreases at high ADP concentration in the incubation medium.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed1994

Effects of paradoxical sleep deprivation and stress on the waking EEG of the rat.

Effects of 72 h of paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) and stress on the waking EEG of rats were studied using the water tank technique. EEG was recorded at left and right parietal cortex and the spectrum was analyzed before PSD, after 24, 48, and 72 h of PSD, and 24 h after recovery. Absolute and relative power and interparietal correlation were obtained. The same analyses were performed on a larger platform group and on a cold water-stressed group. The following significant changes were observed on the waking EEG: PSD produced a decrease in interparietal correlation, an increase in absolute and relative power between 7.3 and 9.3 Hz, and a decrease in the delta band relative power. The PSD effect on relative power was less specific on absolute power; relative power between 7.3 and 9.3 Hz was also increased in the large platform control group. Interparietal correlation was also decreased in both control groups but in the water-stressed animals it followed a different time course. The present findings suggest that PSD may affect brain function by increasing the level of hippocampal arousal, whereas the combination of stress and PSD affects interhemispheric coupling.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Waking electroencephalogram activity as a consequence of sleep and total sleep deprivation in the rat.

Effects of 6 hours of total sleep deprivation (TSD) by gentle handling and 6 hours of sleep on the waking electroencephalogram (EEG) activity of 14 Wistar rats were studied during the lights-on portion of the light-dark cycle under two TSD schedules: a) TSD 0800-1400 hours and sleep 1400-2000 hours, and b) sleep 0800-1400 hours and TSD 1400-2000 hours. EEG was recorded monopolarly from left and right parietals referred to ipsilateral reference electrodes. Spectral analysis was performed on samples of waking EEG during TSD (each 30 minutes) and during sleep (each 60 minutes after enforced awakening). The following significant changes were observed: TSD induced a linear increase in the absolute power of delta (1.46-3.42 Hz) and the full band (1.6-24.9 Hz) and produced a decrease in the interparietal correlation of theta. Sleep induced the opposite results. Theta relative power (power in a band expressed as a percentage of total power between 1.46 and 24.9 Hz) showed a circadian effect. It was higher at 1400 hours than at 0800 and 2000 hours after both sleep and TSD conditions. Six hours of TSD were enough to induce significant changes in the waking EEG regardless of position of TSD in the lights-on period of the light-dark cycle.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Carcinosarcoma of the gallbladder. A case report and review of the literature.

We report a carcinosarcoma (CS) of the gallbladder in an 83-year-old woman. Ultrasonography found an enlarged gallbladder with thickened walls, a 3-cm gallstone, and a polypoid mass in the fundus. Pathological examination revealed neoplastic tissue composed of sarcomatous and glandular components. Twelve months later, the patient is alive. We review 24 other cases in the literature to outline the characteristics of this tumor.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

TRK2 is not a low-affinity potassium transporter in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

TRK1 and TRK2 encode proteins involved in K+ uptake in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A kinetic study of Rb+ influx in trk1 TRK2, trk1 TRK2D, and trk1 trk2 mutants reveals that TRK2 shows moderate affinity for Rb+. K(+)-starved trk1 delta TRK2 cells show a low-affinity component accounting for almost the total Vmax of the influx and a moderate-affinity component exhibiting a very low Vmax. Overexpression of TRK2 in trk1 delta TRK2D cells increases the Vmax of the moderate-affinity component, and this component disappears in trk1 delta trk2 delta cells. In contrast, the low-affinity component of Rb+ influx in trk1 delta TRK2 cells is not affected by mutations in TRK2. Consistent with the different levels of activity of the moderate-affinity Rb+ influx, trk1 delta TRK2 cells grow slowly in micromolar K+, trk1 delta TRK2D cells grow rapidly, and trk1 delta trk2 delta cells fail to grow. The existence of a unique K+ uptake system composed of several proteins is also discussed.

Azides↗
PubMed1994

EEG oscillations during menstrual cycle.

12 sessions of EEG activity, one every second day, were recorded at F3, F4, C3, C4, P3, P4, O1 and O2 in 9 women with regular menstrual cycles. The following significant oscillations were observed: 1) absolute power was lower during periovulatory period; 2) absolute power of delta theta and alpha 1 was higher during premenstrual period whereas absolute power of alpha 2, beta 1 and beta 2 was higher during menstruation; 3) relative power of low alpha frequencies was lower and that of high frequencies was higher during premenstrual period; 4) interhemispheric correlation between frontals was higher during ovulation and between occipitals was higher during premenstrual phase; 5) no significant power asymmetries were observed. The present findings suggest higher activation of centro-parietal regions during menstruation and lower activation of frontal regions during premenstrual phase.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Abdominal tuberculosis. A report of 3 cases.

Three patients admitted to the surgical wards of Johannesburg Hospital in whom abdominal tuberculosis was suspected are presented. In every case difficulties were encountered in diagnosis and treatment. Each case presentation is followed by a short commentary on relevant aspects of abdominal tuberculosis.

Abdominal Abscess↗
PubMed1994

[Acute hepatitis caused by Listeria monocytogenes infection].

We report the case of a 40 year-old woman, pregnant for 4 months, with acute hepatitis revealed by jaundice, fever and high serum aminotransferase levels. Infection by Listeria monocytogenes was demonstrated by blood cultures. The course of the disease was characterized by abortion and complete recovery of hepatitis within 4 weeks after antibiotic administration. This report shows that listeriosis can cause acute severe hepatitis.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1994

[Pseudo-Horton disease caused by angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia].

A case of angiolymphoid hyperplasia with intravascular eosinophilia is reported. The histologic pattern is characterized by an atypical vascular proliferation with an infiltrate composed of lymphocytes, eosinophils and mast cells. A possible intravascular proliferative process and histogenesis are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Several routes of activation of the potassium uptake system of yeast.

K+ uptake in yeast is activated by glucose and other fermentable sugars, and by cytoplasmic acidification. In sugar kinase mutants, fermentable sugars and 2-deoxyglucose produced activation if the sugar could be phosphorylated, indicating that phosphorylation of the sugar is sufficient to trigger the activating pathway. Activation by cytoplasmic acidification was mimicked by neomycin, suggesting that a phosphatidylinositol-type pathway could be involved.

Cyclic AMP↗
PubMed1993

Disruption of the Kluyveromyces lactis GGS1 gene causes inability to grow on glucose and fructose and is suppressed by mutations that reduce sugar uptake.

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae the GGS1 gene is essential for growth on glucose or other readily fermentable sugars. GGS1 is the same gene as TPS1 which was identified as encoding a subunit of the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase/phosphatase complex and it is allelic to the fdp1, byp1, glc6 and cif1 mutations. Its precise function in the regulation of sugar catabolism is unknown. We have cloned the GGS1 homologue from the distantly related yeast Kluyveromyces lactis. The KlGGS1 gene is 74% and 79% identical at the nucleotide and amino acid sequence level, respectively, to the S. cerevisiae counterpart. We also compared the sequence with the partly homologous products of the S. cerevisiae genes TPS2 and TSL1 which code for the larger subunits of the trehalose synthase complex and with a TSL1 homologue, TPS3, of unknown function. Multiple alignment of these sequences revealed several particularly well conserved elements. Disruption of GGS1 in K. lactis caused the same pleiotropic phenotype as in S. cerevisiae, i.e. inability to grow on glucose or fructose and strongly reduced trehalose content. We have also studied short-term glucose-induced regulatory effects related to cAMP and cAMP-dependent protein kinase, i.e. the cAMP signal, trehalase activation, trehalose mobilization and inactivation of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase. These effects occur very rapidly in S. cerevisiae and are absent in the Scggs1 mutant. In K. lactis all these effects were much slower and largely unaffected by the Klggs1 mutation. On the other hand, glucose strongly induced pyruvate decarboxylase and activated the potassium transport system in K. lactis and both effects were absent in the Klggs1 mutant. Addition of glucose to galactose-grown cells of the Klggs1 mutant caused, as in S. cerevisiae, intracellular accumulation of free glucose and of sugar phosphates and a rapid drop of the ATP and inorganic phosphate levels. Glucose transport kinetics were the same for the wild type and the Klggs1 mutant in both derepressed cells and in cells incubated with glucose. We have isolated phenotypic revertants of the Klggs1 mutant for growth on fructose. The suppressors that we characterized had, to different extents, diminished glucose uptake in derepressed cells but cells incubated in glucose showed very different characteristics. The suppressor mutations prevented deregulation of glycolysis in the Klggs1 mutant but not the accumulation of free glucose. The mutants with higher residual uptake activity showed partially restored induction of pyruvate decarboxylase and activation of potassium transport.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Amino Acid Sequence↗