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Biomedical subjects

K Yanagibashi

Publications and source records attributed to K Yanagibashi.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Transthoracic resection of esophageal cancer in patients with pulmonary dysfunction. Usefulness of high frequency ventilation during thoracotomy.

Although curative resection of esophageal cancer has become a safe procedure, in patients with pulmonary dysfunction, postoperative complications remain a serious problem. Of 122 patients who had transthoracic resection of esophageal cancer, 27 had pulmonary dysfunction; in six, the forced vital capacity was less than 70% (minimum of 42.8%, mean +/- SD of 56.6 +/- 8.9%); in 18, forced expiratory volume for one second (FEV1%) was less than 70% (minimum of 34.6%, mean +/- SD of 60 +/- 10%); and in three, both forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume was less than 70%. Two patients had undergone hemipneumonectomy before receiving resection of the esophagus. During the intrathoracic operative procedure, high frequency ventilation was used, providing good surgical exposure and contributing to a decrease of postoperative pulmonary complications. There were no deaths during the month after surgery. The survival curve of these patients was not significantly different from that of other patients who had had esophagectomy for cancer of the esophagus. These patients survived for an average of 24 months. The patient who survived the longest has been alive for more than 11 years.

Aged↗

The regulation of intracellular transport of cholesterol in bovine adrenal cells: purification of a novel protein.

We have purified to homogeneity a protein from bovine adrenal (fasciculata) cells that is capable of: 1) stimulating synthesis of pregnenolone (in a concentration-dependent fashion) by mitochondria when added with exogenous cholesterol; 2) increasing the concentration of cholesterol in outer and inner membrane when added to mitochondria with exogenous cholesterol; 3) increasing the rate of transport of cholesterol from outer membrane to inner membrane when the two membranes are incubated together in an aqueous buffer and subsequently separated by centrifugation; and 4) increasing the proportion of molecules of C27 side-chain cleavage P-450 that are bound to the substrate cholesterol. The protein is homogeneous according to two-dimensional polyacrylamide gels, shows a molecular weight of 8200 and is therefore referred to as 8.2 K. It is proposed that 8.2 K may be involved in the regulation of steroid synthesis in bovine fasciculata cells, possibly by stimulating entry of cholesterol into the outer membrane and by altering the intramitochondrial distribution of this substrate.

Adrenal Cortex↗

Affinity alkylation of the active site of C21 steroid side-chain cleavage cytochrome P-450 from neonatal porcine testis: a unique cysteine residue alkylated by 17-(bromoacetoxy)progesterone.

The affinity alkylating progesterone analogue 17-(bromoacetoxy)progesterone has been used to label the active site of a microsomal cytochrome P-450 enzyme from neonatal pig testis. The enzyme causes removal of the C20 and C21 side chains from the substrates progesterone and pregnenolone by catalyzing both 17-hydroxylase and C17,20-lyase reactions, which produce the corresponding C19 steroidal precursors of testosterone. The progesterone analogue causes simultaneous inactivation of the two catalytic activities of the enzyme by a first-order kinetic process that obeys saturation kinetics. Progesterone and 17-hydroxyprogesterone each protect the enzyme against inactivation. The progesterone and analogue is a competitive inhibitor of the enzyme with Ki values of 8.4 microM and 7.8 microM for progesterone and 17-hydroxyprogesterone, respectively. The enzyme inactivation and kinetic data are consistent with a theory proposing that the analogue and the two substrates compete for the same active site. The radioactive analogue 17-[( 14C]bromoacetoxy)progesterone causes inactivation of the enzyme with incorporation of 1.5-2.2 mol of the analogue per mole of inactivated enzyme. When this experiment is carried out in the presence of a substrate, then 0.9-1.2 mol of radioactive analogue is incorporated per mole of inactivated enzyme. The data suggest that the analogue can bind to two different sites, one of which is related to the catalytic site. Radiolabeled enzyme samples, from reactions of the 14C-labeled analogue with the enzyme alone or with enzyme in the presence of a substrate, were subjected to amino acid analysis and also to tryptic digestion and peptide mapping.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Affinity Labels↗

Immunogold cytochemistry of cytochromes P-450 in porcine adrenal cortex. Two enzymes (side-chain cleavage and 11 beta-hydroxylase) are co-localized in the same mitochondria.

In order to study the distribution of mitochondrial cytochromes P-450 in porcine adrenal glands, the glands of anesthetized pigs were fixed in situ. Polyclonal antibodies against two cytochromes P-450, i.e., C27 side-chain cleavage enzyme and 11 beta-hydroxylase, were used to study the distribution of these enzymes in cryosections of the adrenal cortex. Ultrathin cryosections were evaluated by both protein-A/gold/silver immunocytochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy using double labeling with protein-A/colloidal-gold. At light microscopy, the two cytochrome P-450 enzymes were found to be broadly distributed in both the fasciculata and glomerulosa zones of the adrenal cortex. Quantitative immunoelectron microscopy revealed that both enzymes were localized only in mitochondria, in which they were present on the inner aspects of the inner mitochondrial membrane. Both cytochromes P-450 were demonstrable in all of the mitochondria examined, and statistical evaluation of the ratios of the two enzymes present in individual mitochondria yielded a normal distribution curve. Since no evidence was found for the preferential localization of either enzyme in a special population of mitochondria, we conclude that all mitochondria of the adrenal cortex contain both enzymes. We discuss implications of these findings with respect to the regulation of steroidogenesis.

Adrenal Cortex↗

Complete amino acid sequence of 21-hydroxylase cytochrome P-450 from porcine adrenal microsomes.

Adrenal microsomal 21-hydroxylase is essential for biosynthesis or metabolism of various steroid hormones. The complete amino acid sequence of this cytochrome P-450 from pig adrenal was determined by sequence analysis on several sets of proteolytic fragments. The mature protein consists of 492 amino acid residues, corresponding to a molecular weight of 55,484. Seven out of nine total cysteine residues are localized in the amino terminal half of the molecule. The carboxyl terminal half contains only two cysteines, one of which is located at the highly conserved heme-binding region proposed in all cytochromes P-450. A structural comparison between 21-hydroxylase and 17 alpha-hydroxylase reveals that there is a preponderance of sequence homology at the carboxyl terminal region. These studies indicate that a single gene product is expressed for steroid 21-hydroxylase in porcine adrenal glands.

Adrenal Glands↗

Role of electron transport in the regulation of the lyase activity of C21 side-chain cleavage P-450 from porcine adrenal and testicular microsomes.

The C21 side-chain cleavage enzymes from porcine adrenal and testicular microsomes have been purified and shown to resemble each other very closely (Nakajin, S., Shinoda, M., Hanui, M., Shively, J.E., and Hall, P.F. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 3971-3976). We have investigated the reason for the low levels of lyase activity shown by adrenal microsomes as compared to testicular microsomes. Competition for substrate with 21-hydroxylase in adrenal microsomes was excluded by studies showing that antibodies to 21-hydroxylase do not increase lyase activity in spite of almost complete inhibition of 21-hydroxylation. Reconstitution of the purified testicular enzyme in lipids extracted from adrenal and testicular microsomes excluded a specific effect of lipids on lyase activity. On the other hand, addition of porcine hepatic P-450 reductase to microsomes from adrenal and testis increased the activity of lyase relative to hydroxylase. The same effect is seen when reductase is added to the pure enzymes. As the concentration of reductase increases, lyase activity increases relative to hydroxylase until the rates of the activities become almost equal. Vmax is the same for both activities (hydroxylase and lyase) of the two enzymes (6.3-6.5 nmol/min/nmol of P-450). Km for reductase is approximately the same for the hydroxylase activities (0.4-0.6 microM) and for the lyase activities (1.7-2.0 microM) of the two enzymes. Antibodies to reductase, when added to testicular microsomes, inhibit both activities, but inhibition of lyase is greater than that of hydroxylase. The enzyme activity of reductase in testicular microsomes is 3-4 times higher than that of adrenal microsomes (0.29 and 0.08 nmol/min/mg of protein, respectively). These findings may account for the greater activity of lyase in testicular as opposed to adrenal microsomes.

17-alpha-Hydroxyprogesterone↗

The synthesis of aldosterone by the adrenal cortex. Two zones (fasciculata and glomerulosa) possess one enzyme for 11 beta-, 18-hydroxylation, and aldehyde synthesis.

In order to establish the nature of the aldosterone synthetase activity in the adrenal cortex, we have used porcine adrenal, bovine adrenal cortex, highly purified bovine and porcine 11 beta-/18-hydroxylase, and antibodies raised against the latter enzyme. Mitochondria from two zones (glomerulosa and fasciculata) of the bovine cortex synthesize aldosterone, but those from glomerulosa are much more active than those from fasciculata. Partially purified (cholate-extracted plus ammonium sulfate-precipitated) extracts of mitochondria from the two zones are equally active in catalyzing all three steps in the conversion of 11-deoxycorticosterone to aldosterone. 18-Hydroxylase and aldehyde synthetase activities (18-hydroxycorticosterone----aldosterone) were completely precipitated from cholate extracts of mitochondria from bovine adrenal by antibodies to the pure porcine enzyme. No activity corresponding to any of the three steps in the conversion of 11-deoxycorticosterone to aldosterone was found in extramitochondrial fractions of the bovine cortex. Synthesis of aldosterone by the pure porcine enzyme was inhibited by antibodies to this enzyme and by metyrapone (an inhibitor of 11 beta-/18-hydroxylase). When fractions of porcine adrenal, resulting from purification of the enzyme from mitochondria, were exhaustively tested for any of the enzyme activities required for the synthesis of aldosterone, activity was found only in those fractions containing the 11 beta-/18-hydroxylase, i.e. no additional enzyme was discarded during the purification procedure. It is concluded that the only adrenocortical enzyme capable of synthesizing aldosterone in bovine and porcine adrenal is the well known 11 beta-hydroxylase, that the conversion of 18-hydroxycorticosterone to aldosterone is catalyzed by this cytochrome P-450, and that this step (aldehyde synthetase) requires the heme of the P-450 as demonstrated by the photochemical action spectrum.

Adrenal Cortex↗

Preparation and characterization of submitochondrial fractions from adrenal cells.

A method for preparing submitochondrial fractions from adrenocortical cells was developed by adapting a procedure that has been successful with yeast mitochondria. The method is based upon osmotic swelling, sonication and centrifugation in sucrose. The preparation yields highly purified fractions of outer membrane, intermembrane space, inner membrane and a less purified fraction of matrix. Recoveries are good so that 10(7) cells yield approximately 170 micrograms of inner membrane protein and 12 micrograms of outer membrane protein. Electron microscopy shows that the outer membrane fraction consists of vesicles (0.2-0.6 micron diameter) while inner membrane appears as densely packed sheets of membranous material. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gels (isoelectric focusing followed by electrophoresis) of all the fractions give highly reproducible patterns of protein spots with Coomassie staining. Steroidogenic proteins were found only in inner membrane fractions which were shown to contain cytochrome P-450 C27 side-chain cleavage and P-450 11 beta-hydroxylase together with adrenodoxin and adrenodoxin reductase. Inner membrane catalyzes side-chain cleavage of cholesterol (conversions to pregnenolone) and 11 beta-hydroxylation (DOC----corticosterone) when substrate and NADPH are added. The preparation yields highly purified submitochondrial fractions from Y-1 mouse adrenal tumor cells and from porcine and bovine adrenocortical mitochondria. The method has the virtue of yielding highly purified intermembrane fluid which is not true of other methods for fractionation of adrenal mitochondria. The procedure also yields cleaner preparations of the two membranes than two other published methods currently used to prepare submitochondrial fractions from adrenocortical cells.

Adrenal Glands↗

Peptide alignment of the porcine 21-hydroxylase cytochrome P-450 using a cDNA sequence of the corresponding bovine enzyme.

The amino acid sequence deduced from a cDNA clone of the bovine adrenal steroid 21-hydroxylase cytochrome P-450 has been utilized to align peptide sequences derived from the corresponding porcine enzyme. Homology analysis revealed that only fifty percent of the amino acid sequence predicted by the cDNA clone overlapped with peptide sequences from the porcine enzyme. The homology in the remaining portions of the bovine sequence was restored by considering amino acid sequences predicted by the two additional DNA reading frames of the cDNA sequence. Forty eight percent of the bovine sequences predicted by the two alternate reading frames showed strong homology with the porcine peptide sequences. A minimum of 4 nucleotide sequencing errors account for the observed reading frame alterations and the approximate position of each error in the bovine cDNA sequence has been established.

Adrenal Glands↗

A possible role of "steroidogenic factor" in the corticoidogenic response to ACTH; effect of ACTH, cycloheximide and aminoglutethimide on the content of cholesterol in the outer and inner mitochondrial membrane of rat adrenal cortex.

The role of a "steriodogenic factor" in the corticoidogenic response to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) was studied in this experiment. ACTH caused an accumulation of cholesterol within the adrenocortical mitochondria in rat after pretreatment with either cycloheximide (CH) or aminoglutethimide (AG). The cholesterol distribution in these cholesterol-rich mitochondria was examined by measuring the cholesterol concentrations in the outer and inner mitochondrial membranes. In the case of pretreatment with CH, cholesterol was accumulated in the outer membrane and not in the inner membrane. In contrast, in the case of pretreatment with AG, cholesterol was accumulated in the inner membrane and not in the outer membrane. It could be concluded from the presented data that the function of a "steroidogenic factor" in the corticoidogenic response to ACTH might take place at the step of cholesterol translocation from the outer mitochondrial membrane to the inner membrane.

Adrenal Cortex↗

Separation of serum prednisolone and prednisolone-21-hemisuccinate by extraction and their concurrent determination by radioimmunoassay.

We describe a simple, sensitive, and reliable radioimmunoassay for prednisolone and prednisolone-21-hemisuccinate in serum. The antiserum produced in rabbits to prednisolone-21-hemisuccinate/bovine serum albumin was specific for prednisolone and prednisolone-21-hemisuccinate. A simple dichloromethane extraction permitted the separation of prednisolone from prednisolone-21-hemisuccinate in the serum samples. Interference by cortisol, although not insignificant, is minimized in this assay. We used the method to measure prednisolone and prednisolone-21-hemisuccinate concentrations after a bolus injection of prednisolone-21-hemisuccinate into human beings and mice.

Animals↗

Calcium ion as "second messenger" in corticoidogenic action of ACTH.

The correlation between corticoidogenesis and Ca2+-influx in the cell was investigated using isolated rat or bovine adrenocortical cells. 1) ACTH-induced corticoidogenesis in both rat and bovine adrenocortical cells was enhanced in parallel with increasing concentration of external Ca2+. In the bovine cells but not in the rat cells, moreover, the marked stimulatory effect of external Ca2+ on the corticoidogenesis was observed despite the absence of ACTH. 2) Ca2+-influx and corticoidogenesis always occurred unitedly. 3) Verapamil markedly inhibited either corticoidogenesis or Ca2+-influx in response to ACTH. 4) The stimulatory effect of Ca2+ on corticoidogenesis was completely blocked by cycloheximide. It was therefore suggested that Ca2+ could regulate corticoidogenesis as a primary "second messenger" of ACTH through biosynthesis of so-called steroidogenic protein.

Adrenal Cortex↗

Studies on adrenocorticotropic hormone receptor using isolated rat adrenocortical cells.

To clarify the function of ACTH receptors, the actions of ACTH on cyclic AMP formation, Ca2+-influx across cell membrane, and corticoidogenesis were examined using dispersed adrenocortical cells prepared from the rat adrenal gland. 1) There are two types of ACTH receptors from Scatchard analysis of 125I-ACTH1-24 binding to the cell, the one receptor is of high affinity and low capacity (dissociation constant (Kd1) = 2.6 x 10(-19) M and 7,350 sites per cell), and the other one is of low affinity and high capacity (dissociation constant (Kd2) = 7.1 x 10(-9)M and 57,400 sites per cell). 2) Both apparent dissociation constants derived from the effects of ACTH on corticoidogenesis and Ca2+ influx well correspond with Kd1 of the high affinity receptor, 3) Apparent dissociation constant obtained from the effect of ACTH on cyclic AMP formation is in good agreement with Kd2 of the low affinity receptor. Thus it could be deduced from these data that the high affinity receptor is concerned with an increased Ca2+-influx to regulate corticoidogenesis at physiological levels of ACTH, whereas the low affinity receptor is coupled to adenylate cyclase at supraphysiological concentrations of ACTH.

Adrenal Cortex↗

[Surgical treatment of hemifacial spasm associated with tortuous vertebrobasilar system (author's transl)].

Surgical treatment of hemifacial spasm associated with tortuous vertebrobasilar system was reported. A patient was 63-year-old female, who first experienced mild and intermittent muscle twitching around her left eye twenty years prior to admission. Five years later, the twitching extended to all the facial muscles on the left side. She was treated with facial nerve block, which resulted in facial palsy for about one year. Because of recurrence of the hemifacial spasm, she was admitted to the Neurosurgical Department of Bokuto Municipal Hospital on October 12, 1977. Neurological examination revealed no abnormalities except for left hemifacial spasm with slight muscular weakness. Electromyogram showed severe twitching and synkinesis of all the muscles of facial expression. Vertebral angiogram on the left side disclosed pronounced elongation of the vertebral and basilar arteries, which extended into the left cerebellopontine angle. Compression of the facial nerve root exit zone at the brainstem by the vertebral artery was considered to be the cause of the hemifacial spasm. Suboccipital craniectomy was carried out on November 29, 1977. The vertebral artery extended into the cerebellopontine angle, and adhered to the facial nerve. After mobilization of the vertebral artery from the facial nerve, a small prosthesis of non-absorbable spongy material (Teflon felt) was interposed between the vertebral artery and brainstem. Postoperatively, the hemifacial spasm disappeared, but the facial palsy, which had been observed preoperatively probably due to previous facial nerve block and long-standing hemifacial spasm, remained. The function of the acoustic nerve was preserved. Recently vascular compression of the facial nerve root exit zone has been reported as a major cause of hemifacial spasm, but such abnormal vessels are rarely demonstrated angiographically.

Basilar Artery↗