Biomedical subjects

M Bollen

Publications and source records attributed to M Bollen.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

PubMed1991

Purification and characterization of the glycogen-bound protein phosphatase from rat liver.

Glycogen-bound protein phosphatase G from rat liver was transferred from glycogen to beta-cyclodextrin (cycloheptaamylose) linked to Sepharose 6B. After removal of the catalytic subunit and of contaminating proteins with 2 M NaCl, elution with beta-cyclodextrin yielded a single protein on native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and two polypeptides (161 and 54 kDa) on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Several lines of evidence indicate that the latter polypeptides are subunits of the protein phosphatase G holoenzyme. First, these polypeptides were also present, together with the catalytic subunit, in the extensively purified holoenzyme. Also, polyclonal antibodies against these polypeptides were able to bind the holoenzyme. Further, while bound to cyclodextrin-Sepharose, the polypeptides were able to recombine with separately purified type-1 (AMD) catalytic subunit, but not with type-2A (PCS) catalytic subunit. The characteristics of the reconstituted enzyme resembled those of the nonpurified protein phosphatase G. At low dilutions, the spontaneous phosphorylase phosphatase activity of the reconstituted enzyme was about 10 times lower than that of the catalytic subunit, but it was about 1000-fold more resistant to inhibition by the modulator protein (inhibitor-2). In contrast with the free catalytic subunit, the reconstituted enzyme co-sedimented with glycogen, and it was able to activate purified liver glycogen synthase b. Also, the synthase phosphatase activity was synergistically increased by a cytosolic phosphatase and inhibited by physiological concentrations of phosphorylase alpha and of Ca2+.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Increased synthase phosphatase activity is responsible for the super-activation of glycogen synthase in hepatocytes from fasted obese Zucker rats.

Addition of 60 mM glucose caused a similar partial activation of glycogen synthase in hepatocytes isolated from overnight fasted Wistar rats and from fasted lean Zucker (Fa/fa?) rats. In contrast, the activation went rapidly to completion in cells from fasted obese (fa/fa) rats. Subsequent addition of 4 microM microcystin, a potent inhibitor of type 1 and type 2A protein phosphatases, induced a rapid inactivation of glycogen synthase, which occurred at a similar rate in all three types of hepatocytes. This suggests that the super-activation of glycogen synthase in hepatocytes from fasted obese rats is not due to a lower synthase kinase activity. Glycogen synthase phosphatase was quantitatively assayed in broken-cell preparations from the same livers, with exogenous synthase b as substrate. The synthase phosphatase activity in the fa/fa livers was 3-fold higher than that in the livers from both lean Zucker rats and Wistar rats. This difference has to be attributed to an increased synthase phosphatase activity of the glycogen-bound protein phosphatase-1 in livers of fasted obese rats. The results suggest that in the latter animals the available insulin exceeds the insulin resistance of the liver. The resulting overexpression of the insulin-dependent synthase-phosphatase-1G activity may explain the super-activation of glycogen synthase in response to a glucose challenge.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

The interaction of phosphorylase a with D-glucose displays alpha-stereospecificity.

Half-maximal inhibition of phosphorylase a required a much lower concentration of alpha-D-glucose (4 mM) than of the beta-anomer (14 mM) and of 1-deoxyglucose (about 25 mM). beta-D-Glucose was almost ineffective at concentrations of 1-2.5 mM, but at 50 mM the two anomers were equipotent. A similar picture emerged when the stimulatory effects of the glucose anomers and of 1-deoxyglucose were investigated on the inactivation of phosphorylase by phosphorylase phosphatase. However, upon addition of either glucose anomer (5-20 mM) to a suspension of isolated hepatocytes, the inactivation of phosphorylase occurred at the same rate. It is shown that, in the latter conditions, the rate of intracellular mutarotation considerably exceeds the rate of glucose transport. This results presumably in a rapid anomeric equilibrium in the liver cells.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Oral administration of vanadate to streptozotocin-diabetic rats restores the glucose-induced activation of liver glycogen synthase.

Isolated hepatocytes from streptozotocin-diabetic rats failed to respond to a glucose load with an activation of glycogen synthase. This lesion was associated with severely decreased activities of glycogen-synthase phosphatase and of glucokinase. All these defects were abolished after consumption for 13-18 days of drinking water containing Na3VO4 (0.7 mg/ml), and they were partially restored after 3.5 days, when the blood glucose concentration was already normalized. In all conditions the maximal extent of activation of glycogen synthase in cells closely parallelled the activity of glycogen-synthase phosphatase.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Short-term hormonal control of protein phosphatases involved in hepatic glycogen metabolism.

The prominent protein phosphatases involved in liver glycogen metabolism are the AMD (ATP, Mg-dependent, type-1) and PCS (polycation-stimulated, type-2A) phosphatases. The glycogen synthase phosphatase activity, measured from the rate of activation of liver glycogen synthase, is virtually accounted for by AMD phosphatases; the bulk of the activity belongs to the glycogen-bound protein phosphatase G and a small part is present in the cytosol. The major part of the phosphorylase phosphatase activity present in the post-mitochondrial supernatant is shared by protein phosphatase G and cytosolic enzymes, and a minor part belongs to a microsomal AMD phosphatase. In the liver cytosol, the phosphorylase phosphatase activity is about equally distributed between AMD and PCS phosphatases. Studies in vivo as well as on isolated, perfused livers have shown that glucagon (which raises the level of cyclic AMP) as well as vasopressin (which increases the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration) decrease the phosphorylase phosphatase activity in liver extract or cytosol (filtered through Sephadex G-25) by about 25% within a few minutes. These effects were not additive, and the activity of glycogen synthase phosphatase was not affected. Conversely, insulin as well as glucose increased both phosphatase activities by about 25%, and these effects were additive. Vanadate mimicked the effect of insulin on the perfused liver. All the activity changes were only observed when the assays were performed at high tissue concentration. Upon subcellular fractionation all the effects were well expressed in the cytosol, but not in the particulate fraction (glycogen and microsomes). However, quantitatively the hormonal responses were largely lost during the fractionation procedure; they could be restored by recombination of the liver cytosol from a hormone-treated rat with the particulate fraction from either a treated or an untreated animal. It appears that the effects of glucagon, insulin and glucose are mediated by cytosolic, transferable effectors of the Vmax of protein phosphatases. These effectors are eluted in the void volume of a Sephadex G-25 column. Rats of the gsd/gsd strain, which have a genetic deficiency of hepatic phosphorylase kinase, responded to an injection of insulin plus glucose with a normal increase in the cytosolic phosphorylase phosphatase activity. In contrast, they failed to respond to glucagon as well as vasopressin. A transient 80% inhibition of the phosphorylase phosphatase activity could be induced in vitro in a concentrate liver cytosol from Wistar rats upon addition of MgATP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1989

Decreased activity and impaired hormonal control of protein phosphatases in rat livers with a deficiency of phosphorylase kinase.

1. Livers from gsd/gsd rats, which do not express phosphorylase kinase activity, also contain much less particulate type-1 protein phosphatases. In comparison with normal Wistar rats, the glycogen/microsomal fraction contained 75% less glycogen-synthase phosphatase and 60% less phosphorylase phosphatase activity. This was largely due to a lower amount of the type-1 catalytic subunit in the particulate fraction. In the cytosol, the synthase phosphatase activity was also 50% lower, but the phosphorylase phosphatase activity was equal. 2. Both Wistar rats and gsd/gsd rats responded to an intravenous injection of insulin plus glucose with an acute increase (by 30-40%) in the phosphorylase phosphatase activity in the liver cytosol. In contrast, administration of glucagon or vasopressin provoked a rapid fall (by about 25%) in the cytosolic phosphorylase phosphatase activity in Wistar rats, but no change occurred in gsd/gsd rats. 3. Phosphorylase kinase was partially purified from liver and subsequently activated. Addition of a physiological amount of the activated enzyme to a liver cytosol from Wistar rats decreased the V of the phosphorylase phosphatase reaction by half, whereas the non-activated kinase had no effect. The kinase preparations did not change the activity of glycogen-synthase phosphatase, which does not respond to glucagon or vasopressin. Furthermore, the phosphorylase phosphatase activity was not affected by addition of physiological concentrations of homogeneous phosphorylase kinase from skeletal muscle (activated or non-activated). 4. It appears therefore that phosphorylase kinase plays an essential role in the transduction of the effect of glucagon and vasopressin to phosphorylase phosphatase. However, this inhibitory effect either is specific for the hepatic phosphorylase kinase, or is mediated by an unidentified protein that is a specific substrate of phosphorylase kinase.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

The antiglycogenolytic action of 1-deoxynojirimycin results from a specific inhibition of the alpha-1,6-glucosidase activity of the debranching enzyme.

The glucose analogue 1-deoxynojirimycin (dNOJ) and some of its N-substituted derivatives have recently been described as potent inhibitors of the hepatic glycogenolysis induced by glucagon, Ca2+ ionophores or anoxia. The inhibition increased with time, in spite of a persistently high level of phosphorylase a [Bollen, M., Vandebroeck, A. & Stalmans, W. (1988) Biochem. Pharmacol. 37, 905-909]. dNOJ equilibrates within 1 min across the plasma membrane of hepatocytes. It is not phosphorylated or oxidized in the cell. The observation that dNOJ did not affect gluconeogenesis excludes the possibility that glucose-6-phosphatase is the target for the inhibition of glucose production from glycogen. Neither were the catalytic activities of phosphoglucomutase and phosphorylase a affected by the compound. dNOJ and two N-substituted derivatives inhibited instantaneously and completely the alpha-1,6-glucosidase activity of the debranching enzyme, with I50 values in the mumolar range. In contrast, the glucanotransferase activity of the latter enzyme was not inhibited by the compounds at 0.2 mM. The effect of dNOJ was further studied in an in vitro model system of glycogenolysis. The results were compatible with a block of glycogenolysis at the time when phosphorylase has removed the available glucosyl residues from the outer chains of the glycogen particles. This mechanism appears to account for the lag in the response of glycogenolysis to dNOJ.

1,4-alpha-Glucan Branching Enzyme↗

PubMed1989

[Deficiency in hepatic uptake of glucose in chronic diabetes mellitus].

In insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus there is a deficient post-prandial uptake of glucose and storage as glycogen in the liver. This impairment is due to an intrinsic hepatic defect that has been investigated with the use of isolated liver cells. Glycogen synthase catalyzes the rate-limiting step in the synthesis of glycogen. In response to an increased glucose concentration, this enzyme is activated in normal hepatocytes through dephosphorylation of seryl residues by a glycogen-bound "protein phosphatase G". Hepatocytes isolated from alloxan diabetes rats have lost the ability to activate glycogen synthase in response to an increased glucose concentration. The magnitude of the latter defect corresponds to the severity of the diabetes, as judged from the level of glycaemia. The defect is explained by an impaired function of protein phosphatase G. The latter enzyme consists of a catalytic subunit (37 kDa) associated with a large glycogen-binding subunit (161 kDa) and other regulatory polypeptides. It appears that in diabetes an essential regulatory subunit is deficient. Studies in animals with distinct types of spontaneous diabetes revealed that lack of insulin, rather than chronic hyperglycaemia, explains the deficient activity of protein phosphatase G.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

The hepatic glycogenolysis induced by reversible ischaemia or KCN is exclusively catalysed by phosphorylase a.

1. Ischaemia was applied for 30 min to the liver of Wistar rats and of gsd/gsd rats, which have a genetic deficiency of phosphorylase kinase. The rate of glycogenolysis corresponded closely to the concentration of phosphorylase a. The loss of glycogen from Wistar livers was accounted for by the intrahepatic increase in glucose plus lactate. Further, the accumulation of oligosaccharides was negligible in the gsd/gsd liver. 2. Isolated hepatocytes from Wistar and gsd/gsd rats were incubated for 40 min in the presence of either KCN or glucagon. Again, the production of glucose plus lactate was strictly dependent on the presence of phosphorylase a. However, the catalytic efficiency of phosphorylase a was about 2-fold higher in the presence of KCN. 3. We conclude that the hepatic glycogenolysis induced by anoxia and by KCN is solely mediated by phosphorylase a. The higher catalytic activity of phosphorylase a under these circumstances could be due to an increased concentration of the substrate Pi.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Acute regulation of hepatic protein phosphatases by glucagon, insulin, and glucose.

The intravenous administration of glucagon to anesthetized rats resulted within 5 min in a 20% drop in the hepatic phosphorylase phosphatase activity, as measured in a post-mitochondrial supernatant at low dilution, but it did not affect the activity of glycogensynthase phosphatase. On the other hand, the injection of insulin plus glucose caused increases by about 35% in both phosphatase activities. Upon subcellular fractionation these effects were recovered in the cytosol, but not in the glycogen/microsomal fraction. However, activity changes in the latter fraction were observed after recombination with the liver cytosol from a hormone-treated animal. Preincubation of the liver cytosol with modulator protein (a specific inhibitor of type-1 protein phosphatases) cancelled the activity changes induced by insulin plus glucose. No hormonal effects on hepatic protein phosphatase activities were observed when the fractions were either diluted an additional 10-fold or pretreated with trypsin. An acute hormonal regulation of protein phosphatases could also be demonstrated in the perfused liver. When added to the perfusion medium, glucose as well as insulin increased the cytosolic protein phosphatase activities by about 25%. Their effect was additive, irrespective of the order of addition. On the other hand, the addition of glucagon and/or vasopressin resulted in a 20% drop in the phosphorylase phosphatase activity. The presence of glucagon did not interfere with the effectiveness of insulin, and vice versa. The changes in the phosphorylase phosphatase activities induced by glucagon, insulin, and glucose represented changes in the Vmax only. We propose that the acute control of the hepatic glycogen synthase phosphatase and phosphorylase phosphatase activities is mediated by transferable, cytosolic effector(s).

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Fluorine compounds inhibit the conversion of active type-1 protein phosphatases into the ATPMg-dependent form.

1. The modulator protein slowly converts the glycogen-bound protein phosphatase from liver, as well as its catalytic subunit, into an inactive form that requires protein kinase FA and MgATP for reactivation. The inactivation process could be completely prevented by addition of either 0.3 mM-NaF or 0.3 mM-phenylmethanesulphonyl fluoride (PMSF). The effectiveness of the proteinase inhibitor was not due to production of free fluoride. With the catalytic subunit a half-maximal effect of either fluorine compound was obtained at 25-50 microM. 2. The inactivation process was instantaneously blocked by the addition of NaF or PMSF at any moment during the incubation of the catalytic subunit with modulator. This fluoride effect was reversible. It did not result from a decreased affinity of modulator for the catalytic subunit. The use of analogues of PMSF showed that the fluorine atom was essential, but structural aspects were also an important determinant. 3. The relative efficiency of fluorine compounds in preventing the inactivation of the catalytic subunit by modulator corresponded to their relative potency as inhibitors of the phosphorylase phosphatase activity, but the latter effect required at least 20-fold higher effector concentrations. Incubation of the catalytic subunit with 10 mM-PMSF or -NaF caused an irreversible inhibition of the enzyme. 4. It is possible to prepare stable complexes of catalytic subunit and modulator, either active or ATPMg-dependent. Both species displayed the same molecular size during gel filtration. The inactive complex could be reactivated by incubation with MgATP and protein kinase FA. NaF and PMSF increased the final extent of re-activation at limiting concentrations of the protein kinase.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed1988

Characterization of glycogen-synthase phosphatase and phosphorylase phosphatase in subcellular liver fractions.

Upon fractionation of a postmitochondrial supernatant from rat liver, the synthase phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.42) activity (assayed at high tissue concentrations) was largely recovered in the glycogen fraction and to a minor extent in the cytosol. In contrast, the phosphorylase phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.17) activity was approximately equally distributed between these two fractions, a lesser amount being recovered in the microsomal fraction. The phosphatase activities in the microsomal and glycogen fractions were almost completely inhibited by a preincubation with the modulator protein, a specific inhibitor of type-1 (ATP,Mg-dependent) protein phosphatases. In the cytosolic fraction, however, type-2A (polycation-stimulated) phosphatase(s) contributed significantly to the dephosphorylation of phosphorylase and of in vitro phosphorylated muscular synthase. Liver synthase b, used as substrate for the measurement of synthase phosphatase throughout this work, was only activated by modulator-sensitive phosphatases. Trypsin treatment of the subcellular fractions resulted in a dramatically increased (up to 1000-fold) sensitivity to modulator, a several-fold increase in phosphorylase phosphatase activity and a complete loss of synthase phosphatase activity. Similar changes occurred during dilution of the glycogen-bound enzyme. A preincubation with the deinhibitor protein, which is known to counteract the effects of inhibitor-1 and modulator, increased several-fold the phosphorylase phosphatase activity, but exclusively in the cytosolic and microsomal fractions. It did not affect the synthase phosphatase activity. Taken together, the results indicate the existence of distinct, multi-subunit type-1 phosphatases in the cytosolic, microsomal and glycogen fractions.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

The modulator protein dissociates the catalytic subunit of hepatic protein phosphatase G from glycogen.

1. The phosphorylase phosphatase and glycogen-synthase phosphatase activities associated with the glycogen particles from rat liver were progressively inhibited by incubation with modulator protein. However, the phosphorylase phosphatase activity of the catalytic subunit was entirely recovered after destruction of the modulator and the regulatory subunit(s) by trypsin. 2. Inhibition of protein phosphatase G by modulator was associated with a translocation of the phosphorylase phosphatase activity (measured after incubation with trypsin) from glycogen to the soluble fraction. The degree of inhibition of phosphatase G corresponded closely to the extent to which the phosphorylase phosphatase activity was released from the glycogen particles. Incubation of glycogen-free protein phosphatase G with modulator did not change the affinity of the enzyme for added glycogen, but decreased the amount of phosphatase that could be bound to glycogen. 3. The phosphorylase phosphatase activity that was released from the glycogen particles by modulator migrated on gel filtration as a complex (Mr 106,000) of the catalytic subunit with modulator. Phosphorylase phosphatase activity could be transferred from glycogen-bound protein phosphatase G to modulator that was covalently bound to Sepharose. After elution from the column, the enzyme was identified as the free catalytic subunit (Mr 37,000).

Animals↗

PubMed1988

1-Deoxynojirimycin and related compounds inhibit glycogenolysis in the liver without affecting the concentration of phosphorylase a.

Administration in vivo of the alpha-glucosidase inhibitors 1-deoxynojirimycin and its derivatives BAY m 1099 (miglitol) and BAY o 1248 resulted in a dose- and time-dependent decrease in the rate of hepatic glycogenolysis induced by glucagon. This represents a direct effect on the liver, since it could be reproduced on isolated hepatocytes. The amount of glucose produced by hepatocytes over a period of 10-20 min after addition of glucagon was decreased by about 70, 60 and 45% in the presence of maximally effective concentrations of BAY o 1248, deoxynojirimycin, and BAY m 1099, respectively. Half-maximal effects were observed at inhibitor concentrations between 20 and 100 microM. The concentrations of phosphorylase a and glycogen synthase a were not affected by inclusion of the alpha-glucosidase inhibitors in the hepatocyte suspensions. Thus, the antiglycogenolytic action of these compounds is not mediated by an altered activation state of the rate-limiting enzymes of glycogenolysis and of glycogen synthesis.

1-Deoxynojirimycin↗

PubMed1988

Differences in liver glycogen-synthase phosphatase activity in rodents with spontaneous insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

The activation of glycogen synthase after addition of glucose to isolated hepatocytes became impaired in BB rats after the development of insulin-dependent diabetes. This defect was associated with a decreased hepatic synthase phosphatase activity. Both features correspond closely to previous observations on alloxan-diabetic rats. In contrast, in hyperinsulinaemic db/db mice with a similarly increased plasma glucose concentration (non-insulin-dependent diabetes), the synthase phosphatase activity was essentially normal. We conclude that the decreased hepatic synthase phosphatase activity in insulin-dependent diabetes in rodents is due to the lack of insulin, rather than to the increased intrahepatic glucose concentration.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Karyotype analysis and marker chromosomes of renal cell carcinoma.

Karyotyping was performed in 46 human renal cell carcinomas of various histological grades. Controls included chromosome analysis of normal renal parenchymal cells from the same patients. Various numerical chromosome aberrations were found as well as marker chromosomes. They are specific of the individual tumor but no single marker was identified occurring in all tumors tested. Only trisomy 3 was found in different tumors (31%), suggesting a more general character of this aberration. Histological dedifferentiation and large tumor size correlate with focusing of the karyotype towards distinct chromosomal modes indicative of distinct tumor cell subclones within these tumors. Their rapid growth, reflecting biological aggressiveness, is most probably responsible for the patients' poor prognosis.

Carcinoma, Renal Cell↗

PubMed1988

The effect of the thyroid status on the activation of glycogen synthase in liver cells.

Isolated hepatocytes from hyperthyroid and euthyroid rats showed the same rate and extent of activation of glycogen synthase after addition of glucose (10 mM or 60 mM). In liver cells from hypothyroid rats this activation occurred at a 7-fold lower rate. However, complete activation of glycogen synthase occurred eventually in broken-cell preparations from either source during incubation in vitro. Glycogen synthase phosphatase was then quantitatively assayed in liver homogenates with exogenous synthase b as substrate. These assays revealed an increased synthase phosphatase activity (approximately 160%) in the hyperthyroid liver and a decreased activity (to approximately 60%) in the livers from hypothyroid rats. These activity changes involved both the cytosolic and the glycogen-bound synthase phosphatase. The increase in the activity of synthase phosphatase after the administration of T3 became maximal after 48 h. We conclude that thyroid hormones control hepatic glycogen synthesis, at least partly by an effect on synthase phosphatase.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Substrate specificity of phosphorylase kinase: effects of heparin and calcium.

Phosphorylase b and two peptides with sequences homologous to phosphorylation site 2 (syntide 2) and site 3 (syntide 3) of glycogen synthase were compared as substrates for purified muscle phosphorylase kinase. The substrate specificity of phosphorylase kinase varied according to whether heparin (at pH 6.5) or Ca2+ (at pH 8.2) was used as a stimulator of its activity. Phosphorylase b was preferentially phosphorylated in the presence of Ca2+; the rate of syntide 2 phosphorylation was the same for both stimulators; and the phosphorylation of syntide 3 was completely dependent on the presence of heparin. A kinetic analysis confirmed this stimulator-dependent substrate specificity since both the Vmax and Km for these substrates were affected diversely by heparin and Ca2+. Heparin stimulated phosphorylase kinase maximally at pH 6.5, whereas the effect of Ca2+ was optimal at a pH above 8. However, the stimulator-related substrate specificity could not be explained by the different pH values at which the effects of the stimulators were assessed. Nor did substrate-directed effects by heparin or Ca2+ apparently play a role. No indications were found for a stimulator-dependent specificity in the phosphorylation of sites in protein substrates of phosphorylase kinase (phosphorylase b, the alpha- and beta-subunits of phosphorylase kinase, or glycogen synthase). The diverse substrate specificity of the calcium- and heparin-dependent activities of phosphorylase kinase could be explained in two ways: either by the existence of separate calcium- and heparin-stimulated catalytic sites, or by just one catalytic site with two active conformations. The second possibility is favored by the observation that both calcium and heparin stimulated the isolated gamma-subunit (gamma X calmodulin complex) of phosphorylase kinase.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗