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Biomedical subjects

M Bond

Publications and source records attributed to M Bond.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Effect of inotropic stimulation on mitochondrial calcium in cardiac muscle.

Ca(2+)-dependent activation of citric acid cycle enzymes has been demonstrated in isolated cardiac mitochondria. These observations led to the hypothesis that Ca2+ is the signal coupling myofibrillar energy use to mitochondrial energy production in vivo. To test this hypothesis we have measured mitochondrial Ca2+ content during increased energy demand, using electron probe microanalysis. Mitochondrial Ca2+ was measured in hamster papillary muscles rapidly frozen at the peak rate of tension rise under control conditions and after stimulation with the beta-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol (10(-6) M). A third group of muscles was frozen after incubation in low (46.5 mM) Na+ solution to Ca2+ load the cells. Pyruvate dehydrogenase activity was measured in each of the muscles. Isoproterenol caused a 39% increase in force and a 43% increase in pyruvate dehydrogenase activity but no change in mitochondrial Ca2+ (0.46 +/- 0.19 (S.E.) mmol of Ca2+/kg, dry weight) compared with control (0.54 +/- 0.12). In contrast, low Na+ increased pyruvate dehydrogenase activity by 56% and also elevated mitochondrial Ca2+ to 1.28 +/- 0.31 (p less than 0.02). These results demonstrate that mitochondrial Ca2+ is not elevated after inotropic stimulation of cardiac muscle by beta-adrenergic agonists although pyruvate dehydrogenase activity is increased. We conclude that Ca2+ uptake by mitochondria is not a requirement for activation of mitochondrial respiration after increased energy demand.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Fast axonal transport is modulated by altering trans-axolemmal calcium flux.

Factors involved in fast axonal transport (motor proteins, microtubules, organelles, etc.) have been identified but the molecular mechanism controlling transport is unknown. We used video enhanced microscopy to directly evaluate the effect of calcium on fast axonal transport (FAxT). FAxT alterations included rapid speed decreases (within minutes) in Ca2+ free buffer and rapid speed increases (within seconds) when axons were treated with parathyroid hormone, BAY K 8644, or K+ depolarization. The speed increases were blocked by dihydropyridine Ca2+ channel antagonists. Ryanodine (20 microM), known to block calcium release from subcellular stores, caused a decrease in the rate of retrograde FAxT. Calcium ionophore A23187 (at 1 and 20 micrograms/ml) caused increases in FAxT, an effect also noted only in retrograde moving organelle traffic. Hyper- or hypo-tonic solutions produced no alterations making axoplasmic viscosity changes an unlikely explanation for the speed changes. Reproducible alteration of FAxT by manipulation of Ca2+ levels provides evidence that Ca2+ modulates fast axonal transport. Retrograde transport appears more sensitive to changes in Ca2+ and differential effects on antero- and retro-FAxT mechanisms suggest directional specificity for some of these signals which may be based upon the organelle size. Endogenous substances (e.g. PTH) that trigger axonal Ca2+ changes may rapidly modulate the rate of material delivery in axons. The results are discussed within the context of a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent modification of the cytoskeletal matrix.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Calcium is released from the junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum during cardiac muscle contraction.

We have used electron-probe microanalysis (EPMA) to address the question of Ca2+ release by junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum (JSR) as well as Ca2+ regulation by mitochondria (MT) during cardiac muscle contraction. Hamster papillary muscles were rapidly frozen during relaxation or at the peak rate of tension rise (+dT/dt). Total Ca2+ content was measured by EPMA in the JSR, within a MT, over the A band, and in the whole cell, in nine cells per animal (five animals per group). JSR Ca2+ content was found to be significantly lower in muscles frozen at the peak of contraction [7.3 +/- 1.3 (mean +/- SE) mmol Ca2+/kg dry wt] than in those frozen during relaxation (12.5 +/- 1.9 mmol Ca2+/kg dry wt; P less than 0.01), suggesting that Ca2+ is released from this storage site during cardiac muscle contraction. In contrast, MT Ca2+ content did not change significantly during contraction (0.4 +/- 0.1 mmol/kg dry wt) compared with relaxation (0.1 +/- 0.2 mmol/kg dry wt). A third group of muscles was frozen during relaxation after pretreatment with 10(-7) M ryanodine. Ca2+ content of the JSR was significantly decreased (P less than 0.01) in this group of muscles, (6.4 +/- 1.8 mmol/kg dry wt) compared with those frozen during relaxation in the absence of the drug. This suggests that the intracellular storage site with a decreased Ca2+ content in muscles frozen at the peak of contraction is the ryanodine-releasable store. These results provide the first direct measurement of the Ca2+ content of both JSR and MT during a normal cardiac muscle contraction and demonstrate that Ca2+ is released from the JSR during muscle contraction.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Inotropic effects of angiotensin II on human cardiac muscle in vitro.

The direct effects of angiotensin II (Ang II) on human cardiac muscle were investigated using isolated trabecular muscles from failing and functionally normal hearts. Atrial and ventricular trabeculae were studied. Results demonstrated a positive inotropic effect of Ang II on human cardiac muscle. Comparison of the effects of Ang II among groups indicated that the responsiveness tended to be greater in atrial and normal muscle compared with failing muscle. Results of this study also demonstrated heterogeneity in the responsiveness to Ang II among human muscles, which was not correlated with patient age, sex, diagnosis, prior treatment with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, or heart function. A significant correlation between response to Ang II and response to isoproterenol was demonstrated in failing ventricular trabeculae, which may suggest that defects in beta-adrenergic responsiveness in the failing human ventricle are accompanied by a loss of responsiveness to Ang II. Studies were extended to the Syrian cardiomyopathic hamster and its control. A dose-dependent inotropic response occurred in normal hamster ventricular muscle but was significantly diminished in cardiomyopathic muscle. Ang II did not shorten the timing of contraction, and pretreatment with adrenergic-blocking agents did not shift the dose-response curve, indicating that the response was not cyclic AMP mediated. This study demonstrates for the first time that Ang II can exert an inotropic effect directly on human cardiac muscle and confirms that there is a direct effect of Ang II on hamster cardiac muscle. The study further suggests, however, that the inotropic response to Ang II in cardiac muscle is heterogeneous and may be diminished by heart failure.

Angiotensin II↗
PubMed1989

Endothelin is a positive inotropic agent in human and rat heart in vitro.

We have investigated the response to endothelin of isolated atrial and ventricular trabeculae from failing human hearts obtained at transplant. Results indicate that endothelin exerts a significant positive inotropic effect on human atrial and ventricular tissue, with increases in developed tension of 74.6 +/- 14.1% (+/- SEM) and 9.9 +/- 4.0%, respectively. Further studies on rat cardiac muscle demonstrate that the greater inotropic effect on atrial than ventricular muscle is also exhibited by the rat heart in vitro, with 39.9 +/- 10.7% and 17.1 +/- 5.9% increases in developed tension for atria and papillary muscle, respectively. Studies in rat atria also provide no evidence for an effect of endothelin on the frequency of spontaneous contractions. These results suggest that the potential exists for regulation of cardiac function in humans and rats by endothelial-derived factors such as endothelin, possibly via augmentation of atrial systole.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Barriers to bicycle helmet use among children. Results of focus groups with fourth, fifth, and sixth graders.

As a preliminary step in the development of a school-based educational intervention to promote bicycle helmet use among children, focus group encounters were conducted with fourth, fifth, and sixth graders at three elementary schools in the Boston, Mass, area. Analysis of transcripts of encounter tape recordings indicated that (1) the prevalence of helmet ownership and use was low, (2) children were concerned that helmet use would invite derision from their peers, and (3) children tended to respect other children who wore helmets. We concluded that focus groups can be useful in conceptualizing health education interventions and suggest that school-based peer-led bicycle helmet programs may be effective in developing normative change toward helmet use among elementary schoolchildren.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Chronic sodium depletion increases myocardial calcium content in normotensive rats.

Increased myocardial contractility was found in the perfused heart isolated from sodium depleted Sprague-Dawley rats. Previously, it was reported that in vitro exposure of different cardiac preparations to low Na+ buffers was associated with both an increased contractility and an increased Ca2+ content in the cells. Therefore, this study was designed to examine increases in ventricular Ca2+ content in the hearts of chronically sodium depleted rats. Two groups of 12-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were studied. One group (n = 5) received furosemide (5 mg/kg/day IP for 4 days), a low Na+ diet and distilled drinking water for 6 weeks (low sodium plus diuretics group = LSD). The other group (n = 5) received the same low Na+ diet, but 0.5% NaCl was supplemented in drinking water (regular sodium group = RS). Body weight and blood pressure were measured weekly during the dietary period in all rats. At the end of the 6 weeks, heart weight as well as water and electrolyte contents of the heart were measured in all animals. Results showed that both body weight and heart weight were significantly lower in LSD than in RS. Moreover, ventricular Na+ content was reduced while ventricular Ca2+ content was doubled in LSD compared to RS (8.2 +/- 0.2 units vs. 9.2 +/- 0.3 units, p less than .05 and 0.45 +/- 0.13 units vs. 0.23 +/- 0.01 units, p less than .01, respectively). We conclude that in vivo sodium depletion induces an increase in ventricular calcium content; this increased myocardial calcium may be related to the increased in vitro cardiac contractility observed after chronic in vivo sodium depletion, but its distribution between intracellular and extracellular compartments needs to be determined.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Subcellular calcium content in cardiomyopathic hamster hearts in vivo: an electron probe study.

In the Syrian cardiomyopathic hamster heart, abnormal cellular calcium regulation, resulting in cellular calcium overload, is believed to play a role in the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy and failure. Alternatively, the primary abnormality may be coronary vasospasm, resulting in reperfusion-induced necrosis. According to the latter hypothesis, only those cells that suffer an ischemic insult would contain elevated calcium levels. To determine whether a generalized elevation in myocytic calcium exists in myopathic hamster hearts, we measured cellular and subcellular calcium concentrations by electron probe microanalysis in cryosections of 50-day and 96-day myopathic and control hearts, rapidly frozen in vivo. Total calcium content of ventricular homogenates from each group was also measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. No significant differences in subcellular calcium were found by electron probe microanalysis among 50-day and 96-day myopathics and their age-matched controls. In 50-day myopathic and control hearts, mitochondrial calcium was 0.7 +/- 0.2 and 0.9 +/- 0.2, respectively, and A-band calcium was 3.0 +/- 0.4 and 2.6 +/- 0.4 mmol calcium/kg dry wt(+/- SEM). Results from 96-day animals were similar. Localized regions of elevated calcium were found only at sites of necrotic foci: in Na+-loaded cells (mitochondria: 4.7 +/- 1.3 (SEM) mmol/kg dry wt), in dying cells (mitochondria: 72 +/- 22 (SEM) mmol/kg dry wt) or as extracellular deposits (7-10 mol/kg dry wt). Total calcium content of hearts from myopathic hamsters, as determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry, was also 13 times (50-day) and 50 times (96-day) higher than controls. These results demonstrate that there is a marked heterogeneity in cellular calcium content in myopathic hamster hearts, but the data do not support the hypothesis of a generalized cellular calcium overload.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Referrals to a new regional secure unit--what happens to patients refused admission?

The new Regional Secure Unit for the West Midlands, the Reaside Clinic, had a total of 85 patients referred for admission during the first year of operation, of whom 32 were considered unsuitable for admission. The characteristics and outcome of these patients are discussed, together with the implications for forensic psychiatrists, general psychiatrists and prison medical officers.

Ambulatory Care Facilities↗
PubMed1989

The development of defenses in childhood.

The authors review empirical studies of defense mechanisms and suggest that this concept can be operationalized to permit an investigation of the chronology of the development of defense in childhood. Studies on the coping and defense patterns of normal children are compared with studies that attempt to explain defense patterns in disturbed children and adults. It is argued that empirical study of the development of defense in the normal child will help to determine the validity of theoretical psychoanalytic speculations derived from the retrospective reconstruction of defenses that might have existed in the childhood of ill adults. An attempt is made to place our knowledge of the development of defense in childhood into the context of our knowledge of cognitive development. The authors review the research that attempts direct empirical assessment of defenses in childhood, and make suggestions for how such research could be furthered. It is argued that it may be possible to construct a schedule for the early maturation of defense, and to identify how this changes with pathology, gender, and family context. Such a schedule would be fundamental to our understanding of normality, and the role of regression and precocity in pathology.

Child↗
PubMed1986

Immunochemical studies of mouse monoclonal antibodies to dextran B1355S--II. Combining site specificity, sequence, idiotype and affinity.

The specificities of the combining sites of 19 mouse monoclonal antibodies to dextran B1355S have been characterized immunochemically by quantitative precipitin and precipitin inhibition assays; association constants for B1355S were determined by affinity gel electrophoresis. Cross-reactive and individual idiotypes related to the BALB/c B1355S-binding myeloma proteins MOPC104E [IdI(MOPC104E)] and J558 [IdI(J558)], determined by a radioimmunoassay, and heavy-chain variable-region sequences, are presented. Antibodies to B1355S are "alpha (1----3) alpha (1----6)-specific" as determined by precipitin and precipitin inhibition assays with dextrans and oligosaccharides, respectively, containing alternating alpha (1----3) alpha (1----6) linkages compared with oligosaccharides composed solely of alpha (1----3) or alpha (1----6) linkages; all antibodies have low association constants (less than or equal to 10(5) ml/g). However, there is also considerable diversity among the proteins as seen in the five groups of different patterns of reactivity with numerous dextrans having different structures, and the variability in affinity even among antibodies showing the same fine specificity by precipitin assay. There is little observable correlation of heavy-chain variable-region amino-acid sequence with specificity or affinity; however, all proteins having D-region amino acids Tyr,Asp at positions 96,97 express the MOPC104E individual idiotype and belong to precipitin specificity group 5, the group most cross-reactive with numerous dextrans, whereas those proteins having the J558 individual idiotype, Arg,Tyr or Asn,Tyr at 96,97 are found in all five precipitin groups.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1985

Calcium and sodium distribution and movements in smooth muscle.

Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) has been used to study the subcellular distribution of Ca, Na, K, Cl, and Mg in smooth muscle. The EPMA results indicate that the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) is the major intracellular source and sink of activator Ca: norepinephrine decreases the Ca content of the junctional SR in portal vein smooth muscle. Mitochondria do not play a significant role in regulating cytoplasmic free Ca2+, but mitochondrial Ca content can be altered to a degree compatible with suggestions that fluctuations in matrix Ca contribute to the control of mitochondrial metabolism. The rise in total cytoplasmic Ca during a maintained, maximal contraction is very much greater than the rise in free Ca2+, and is probably in excess of the known binding sites available on calmodulin and myosin. Cell Ca is not increased in normal cells that are Na-loaded. The non-Donnan distribution of Cl is not due to compartmentalization, but reflects high cytoplasmic Cl. Na-loading of smooth muscle in K-free solutions is temperature dependent, and may exhibit cellular heterogeneity undetected by conventional techniques. The total cell Mg is equivalent to approximately 12 mM, and less than 50% of it can be accounted for by binding to ATP and to actin. Mitochondrial monovalent cations in smooth muscle are relatively rapidly exchangeable.

Animals↗