Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M Kuwajima.
An automated identification system based on the retention prediction concept has been constructed for toxic substances. The system performance has been evaluated for the identification of toxic compounds in poisoned human fluids.
In rats maintained on a fat-free diet, hepatic production of very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) fell by only 18% after 20 hours of fasting (as judged by rates of triglyceride accumulation in plasma following administration of Triton WR1339). Infusion of heparin into fed rats caused a rapid accumulation in plasma of two distinct lipase activities in approximately equal amounts: heparin releasable lipoprotein lipase (HR-LPL) and heparin releasable triglyceride lipase (HR-TGL). Fasting reduced the former by 67%, but the latter by only 20 to 25%. To gain insight into the effects of nutritional status on the interorgan distribution of these enzymes, experiments were designed for the perfusion of liver and heart by standard procedures, and of epididymis, gastrocnemius muscle (red fiber), and psoas muscle (white fiber) by micro techniques. After addition of heparin, perfusates were analyzed for each species of lipase. The objective was to selectively monitor the capillary-bound, physiologically functional lipase without significant contamination by intracellular enzyme. HR-TGL was found only in liver, where it represented the major lipase activity; it was only minimally affected by fasting. In epididymis HR-LPL fell by 85% in fasted animals and, remarkably, rebounded almost to ad libitum fed values after only two hours of refeeding. In both heart and gastrocnemius muscle, directional changes in HR-LPL were exactly reciprocal to those seen in epididymis. By contrast, HR-LPL of psoas muscle was unresponsive to fasting. Qualitatively, the data were in keeping with documented nutritionally-induced shifts in tissue disposal of VLDL-triglycerides.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Inosine and adenosine formation was evaluated in different types of rat skeletal muscle during ischemic and non-ischemic contraction. Extensor digitorum longus (EDL, fast) and soleus (slow) muscles were stimulated electrically via the sciatic nerve (5 Hz, 10 min). Under non-ischemic condition, the concentrations of IMP, inosine, adenosine, and hypoxanthine increased in EDL muscles but not in soleus muscles during stimulation. Under ischemic condition, these metabolites increased in both EDL and soleus muscles, although the increases in IMP and inosine were greater in EDL muscles. The increase in inosine had a strong positive correlation with that in IMP in ischemic EDL and soleus muscles, but the ratio, delta inosine/delta IMP was smaller in EDL muscles. The increase in adenosine under ischemic condition was not significantly different between the two muscles. These findings suggest that ischemia enhances degradation of purine nucleotides in contracting fast and slow muscles, and that although the degradation of purine nucleotides to IMP is greater in fast muscles than in slow muscles, the relative degradation rate of IMP to inosine is rather smaller in fast muscles.
The effects of various inhibitors of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I were examined in mitochondria from rat liver and skeletal muscle. Three types of inhibitors were used: malonyl-CoA (reversible), tetradecylglycidyl-CoA and three of its analogues (irreversible), and 2-bromopalmitoyl-CoA (essentially irreversible when added with carnitine). Competitive binding studies between labeled and unlabeled ligands together with electrophoretic analysis of sodium dodecyl sulfate-solubilized membranes revealed that in mitochondria from both tissues all of the inhibitors interacted with a single protein. While the binding capacity for inhibitors was similar in liver and muscle (6-8 pmol/mg of mitochondrial protein) the proteins involved were of different monomeric size (Mr 94,000 and 86,000, respectively). Treatment of mitochondria with the detergent, octyl glucoside, yielded a soluble form of carnitine palmitoyltransferase and residual membranes that were devoid of enzyme activity. The solubilized enzyme displayed the same activity regardless of whether carnitine palmitoyltransferase I of the original mitochondria had first been exposed to an irreversible inhibitor or destroyed by chymotrypsin. It eluted as a single activity peak through four purification steps. The final product from both liver and muscle migrated as single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide electrophoresis with Mr of approximately 80,000. The data are consistent with the following model. The inhibitor binding protein is carnitine palmitoyltransferase I itself (as opposed to a regulatory subunit). The hepatic monomer is larger than the muscle enzyme. Each inhibitor interacts via its thioester group at the palmitoyl-CoA binding site of the enzyme but also at a second locus that is probably different for each agent and dictated by the chemical substituent on carbon 2. Disruption of the mitochondrial inner membrane by octyl glucoside causes inactivation of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I while releasing carnitine palmitoyltransferase II in active form. The latter is readily purified, is a smaller protein than carnitine palmitoyltransferase I, and has the same molecular weight in liver and muscle. It is insensitive to inhibitors where on or off the mitochondrial membrane.
Exposure of rat liver mitochondrial membranes to octyl glucoside, Triton X-100, or Tween 20 solubilized an active and tetradecylglycidyl-CoA (TG-CoA)-insensitive carnitine palmitoyltransferase (presumed to be carnitine palmitoyltransferase II). The residual membranes after octyl glucoside or Triton X-100 treatment were devoid of all transferase activity. By contrast, Tween 20-extracted membranes were still rich in transferase; this was completely blocked by TG-CoA and thus was presumed to be carnitine palmitoyltransferase I. The residual carnitine palmitoyltransferase activity disappeared from the membranes upon subsequent addition of octyl glucoside or Triton X-100 and could not be recovered in the supernatant fraction. Antibody raised against purified rat liver transferase II (Mr 80,000) recognized only this protein in immunoblots from untreated liver mitochondrial membranes containing both transferases I and II. Tween 20-extracted membranes, which contained only transferase I, did not react with the antibody. Purified transferase II from skeletal muscle (also of Mr 80,000) was readily recognized by the antiserum, suggesting antigenic similarity with the liver enzyme. These and other studies on the effects of detergents on the mitochondrial [3H]TG-CoA binding protein provide further support for the model of carnitine palmitoyltransferase proposed in the preceding paper. They suggest that: 1) carnitine palmitoyltransferases I and II in rat liver are immunologically distinct proteins; 2) transferase I is more firmly anchored into its membrane environment than transferase II; 3) association of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I with a membrane component(s) is necessary for catalytic activity. While carnitine palmitoyltransferase I is a different protein in liver and muscle, it seems likely that both tissues share the same transferase II.
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In the fasted to fed transition liver glycogen derives mainly from gluconeogenic precursors. Why glucose is not used efficiently as a direct precursor of glycogen has become a controversial issue, in part because of disagreement over the question of how well liver can phosphorylate glucose under conditions prevailing postprandially. To try to resolve the matter the relative merits of two recently described assays, one spectrophotometric (A), the other isotopic (B), for monitoring rates of glucose phosphorylation in the high speed supernatant fraction of liver have been rigorously evaluated. A third method, also isotopic (C), was developed for use with unfractionated as well as fractionated liver homogenates. Using fasted rats and mice from different nutritional backgrounds the glucose-phosphorylating capacity of liver extracts was measured and compared with rates of hepatic glycogen synthesis observed during refeeding. Two of the assays (A and C) provided reliable data at all concentrations of glucose tested (5-100 mM), while method B exhibited shortcomings at lower substrate concentrations. The results clearly establish that in both rats and mice the ability of the liver to phosphorylate glucose at physiological concentrations is sufficient to support only 25-30% of postprandial glycogen synthesis. A limited capacity for glucose phosphorylation probably accounts for the fact that two-thirds of glycogen synthesized with refeeding after a fast is formed by the indirect (gluconeogenic) pathway.
When fasted rats ate regular lab chow there was a lag time of about 2 h before the concentration of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (Fru-2,6-P2) in liver began to rise from its low basal level. By contrast, in animals refed on a sucrose-based diet hepatic [Fru-2,6-P2] increased 20-fold (to a value of approximately 12 nmol/g wet weight) during the first hour. These responses correlated with differences in the ability of the two diets to increase the circulating [insulin]/[glucagon] ratio and thus to elevate the ratio of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase to fructose-2, 6-bisphosphatase. Liver glycogen was deposited briskly in both groups of rats. To assess its mechanism of synthesis (directly from glucose versus indirectly via the gluconeogenic pathway), animals eating the chow or sucrose diets received intravenous infusions of [14C]bicarbonate, [1-14C] fructose, and 3H2O. After isolation, the glycogen was subjected to positional isotopic analysis of its glucose residues. The results established that regardless of the diet the bulk of liver glycogen was gluconeogenic in origin. The fact that with sucrose feeding carbon flow through hepatic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase remained active despite high levels of Fru-2,6-P2 (a potent inhibitor of this enzyme in vitro) presents a metabolic paradox. Conceivably, the suppressive effect of Fru-2, 6-P2 on hepatic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase is overridden in vivo by some unknown factor or factors generated in response to sucrose feeding. Alternatively, metabolic zonation in liver might result in the coexistence of hepatocytes rich in Fru-2,6-P2 (high glycolytic, low gluconeogenic, low glycogenic capacitites) with cells depleted of Fru-2,6-P2 (low glycolytic, high gluconeogenic, high glycogenic capacities).
The time course of changes in hepatic fructose-2,6-bisphosphate (F-2,6-P2) and glycogen content was examined in fasted rats infused with glucose intragastrically or allowed to eat a chow diet ad lib. Initial values for the two parameters were approximately 0.4 nmol/g and 2 mg/g of tissue, respectively. Contrary to what might have been expected on the basis of reported studies with hepatocytes exposed to glucose (i.e., a rapid elevation of F-2,6-P2), the rise in F-2,6-P2 levels in vivo was a late event. It began only 4-5 h after glucose administration or refeeding, at which time glycogen content had reached approximately 35 mg/g of tissue. Thereafter, [F-2,6-P2] climbed rapidly, attaining fed values in the region of 10 nmol/g as glycogen stores became maximal (approximately 60 mg/g of tissue). Although the biochemical basis for these changes is still unclear, the delayed increase in [F-2,6-P2] is entirely consistent with the fact that much of the glycogen deposited in liver in the early postprandial phase is gluconeogenic in origin. The later rise in [F-2,6-P2] likely represents a key signal for the attenuation of gluconeogenic carbon flow into glycogen as the latter approaches repletion levels.
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The concentrations of glycolytic intermediates and adenine nucleotides were determined in erythrocytes from patients with diabetic ketoacidosis before and during insulin treatment. Ketoacidosis resulted in an increase in the levels of intermediates above the phosphofructokinase (PFK) step and a marked decrease in the levels of those below this step. Thus, a "crossover" point was seen at the PFK step in a crossover plot. This indicated that the rate of glycolytic flow during ketoacidosis was controlled by PFK and that the reduced level of 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate (2, 3-BPG) was attributed to the inhibition of this enzyme. In vitro studies revealed that acidemia is mainly responsible for the inhibition of PFK, whereas elevated levels of ketone bodies and free fatty acids have no direct bearing on it. Insulin administration produced hypophosphatemia within 8-12 h and it persisted for 24 h or longer. The levels of fructose-6-phosphate and glucose-6-phosphate were decreased transiently during this hypophosphatemic phase, while those of fructose bisphosphate and triose phosphates were increased. This indicated that PFK was activated. Thus, it is no longer reasonable to think that the inhibition of PFK is a factor responsible for a delay in normalization of the 2, 3-BPG level during the recovery phase. The levels of these glycolytic intermediates, including 2, 3-BPG, were normalized within 4 days by appropriate therapy.
Specific deficiency of erythrocyte phosphofructokinase (PFK) activity in Type VII glycogenosis presents a good model for the analysis of the relationship between 2,3 diphosphoglycerate (2,3 DPG) level and glycolysis in erythrocytes since glycolytic flow is partially blocked at the regulatory step. Enzymatic analyses of glycolytic intermediates of erythrocytes from a patient with Type VII glycogenosis demonstrated that 2,3 DPG is markedly decreased in parallel with fructose-1,6-phosphate (FDP). In acidosis including diabetic ketoacidosis and uremic acidosis a fall in 2,3 DPG is also associated with a marked reduction in FDP. On the other hand, in respiratory alkalosis glycolytic intermediates shift to the opposite direction and forward crossover at PFK step appears, being associated with an elevation of 2,3 DPG. These data indicate a close relationship between 2,3 DPG level and PFK activity in erythrocytes. At least in acidosis and alkalosis the alteration in 2,3 DPG level may well be explained by changes in PFK activity caused mainly through allosteric mechanism. In addition, twelve cases with hereditary PFK deficiency in muscle and erythrocytes reported in the world are reviewed and discussed briefly.
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