[A case of scleroderma associated with pancytopenia].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to N Katoh.
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Effects of melittin, an amphipathic polypeptide, on various species of protein kinases were investigated. It was found that melittin inhibited the newly identified phospholipid-sensitive Ca2+-dependent protein kinase (from heart, brain, spleen and neutrophils) and the cardiac myosin light-chain kinase, a calmodulin-sensitive Ca2+-dependent enzyme. In contrast, melittin had little or no effect on either the holoenzymes of the cardiac cyclic AMP-dependent and cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinases or the catalytic subunit of the former. Kinetic analysis indicated that melittin inhibited phospholipid-sensitive Ca2+-dependent protein kinase non-competitively with respect to ATP (Ki = 1.3 microM); although exhibiting complex kinetics, its inhibition of the enzyme was overcome by phosphatidylserine (a phospholipid cofactor), but not by protein substrate (histone H1) or Ca2+. On the other hand, melittin inhibited myosin light-chain kinase non-competitively with respect to ATP (Ki = 1.4 microM) or Ca2+ (Ki = 1.9 microM), and competitively with respect to calmodulin (Ki = 0.08 microM); although exhibiting complex kinetics, its inhibition of the enzyme was reversed by myosin light chains (substrate protein). The present findings indicate the presence of functionally important hydrophobic or hydrophilic loci on the Ca2+-dependent protein kinases, but not on the cyclic nucleotide-dependent class of protein kinase, with which melittin can interact. Moreover, the kinetic data suggest that melittin inhibited myosin light-chain kinase by interacting with a site on the enzyme the same as, or proximal to, the calmodulin-binding site, thus interfering with the formation of active enzyme-calmodulin-Ca2+ complex.
Regulation of Ca2+-dependent (peak I) and Ca2+-independent (peak II) phosphodiesterases from the heart by various fatty acyl esters and phospholipids were studied. DL-Palmitoylcarnitine stimulated the basal activity (in the absence of Ca2+) of peak I enzyme, while non-competitively inhibiting peak II enzyme with respect to cyclic AMP. It had no effect on other species of Ca2+-independent phosphodiesterases, including cyclic AMP- and cyclic GMP-specific enzymes from the lung, and cyclic CMP enzyme from the liver Palmitoyl-CoA and phosphatidylserine also stimulated the basal activity of peak I enzyme, but they were without effect on peak II enzyme. In comparison, DL-palmitoylcarnitine inhibited Ca2+-dependent activity of cardiac myosin light chain kinase, whereas phosphatidylserine was without effect. It is conceivable that differential regulation of phosphodiesterases by these lipids could profoundly alter the levels or effects, or both, of cyclic nucleotides and Ca2+ in the myocardium.
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The occurrence of endogenous substrate proteins for calcium-dependent protein kinase, augmented by either phospholipid or calmodulin, was examined in extracts of several rat tissues. Pancreas, vas deferens, adrenal and liver were found to contain substrate proteins for phospholipid-sensitive protein kinase. Under the conditions utilized, only vas deferens exhibited substrate proteins for calmodulin-sensitive protein kinase. Phosphorylation of pancreatic substrate protein for phospholipid-sensitive protein kinase was rapid and highly sensitive to Ca2+, being detectable within 15 s following exposure to Ca2+ and phosphatidylserine and at concentrations of Ca2+ as low as 0.5 muM. These findings suggest that phospholipid-sensitive protein kinase system may serve to mediate some effects of Ca2+ in a variety of mammalian cell types.
Adriamycin, a lipid-interacting anti-cancer agent, was found to inhibit phospholipid-sensitive Ca2+-dependent phosphorylation of endogenous proteins from the cytosol of the guinea-pig heart. The drug, unexpectedly, also inhibited phosphorylation of separate endogenous proteins in the cardiac cytosol and membranes catalysed by the calmodulin-sensitive species of Ca2+-dependent protein kinase. In both phosphorylation systems, the inhibition by adriamycin was reversed by either phospholipid (phosphatidylserine or cardiolipin) or calmodulin respectively. Adriamycin also inhibited phosphorylation of histone (exogenous protein) catalysed by purified cardiac phospholipid-sensitive Ca2+-dependent protein kinase, but not that by cyclic AMP-dependent and cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinases. It appears that Ca2+-dependent protein phosphorylation systems, regulated either by phospholipid or calmodulin, may represent hitherto unrecognized sites of action of adriamycin. It remains to be seen whether inhibition by adriamycin of these systems is related to the severe cardiotoxicity, the major adverse effect of the drug that limits its clinical usefulness.
At least two substrate proteins for phospholipid-sensitive Ca2+-dependent protein kinase and at least six substrates for calmodulin-sensitive Ca2+-dependent protein kinase were identified in the cytosol of the guinea pig heart. In the particulate subfractions enriched in nuclei, mitochondria, microsome, or plasma membrane, no substrates for the phospholipid-sensitive enzyme were demonstrated but at least four substrates for the calmodulin-sensitive enzyme were identified. The present studies suggest that phospholipid, acting independently of calmodulin, is likely to be involved in the regulation of Ca2+-dependent protein phosphorylation in the heart. Phosphorylation of endogenous substrates for the two enzyme systems was effectively inhibited by palmitoylcarnitine. When histone was used as exogenous substrate, the carnitine ester inhibited the cardiac phospholipid-sensitive Ca2+-dependent protein kinase but not the cardiac cyclic AMP-dependent and cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinases. It is suggested that inhibition of the Ca2+-dependent phosphorylation of cardiac proteins, regulated by either phospholipid or calmodulin, is probably related in part to the great increase in this fatty acid metabolic intermediate in the ischemic heart.
The role of alcohol intake and withdrawal in so-called alcoholic epilepsy is discussed and illustrated by case reports. A classification is made which includes definitions of withdrawal convulsions, tetany-like withdrawal convulsions and alcohol-induced epileptic fits, with or without predisposing features.
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The significance of C-reactive protein (CRP) elevation in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in the pretreatment stage was assessed with reference to other laboratory data obtained simultaneously. Sixteen of 31 cases were CRP-positive, and the CR-positive group contained significantly more cases with urinary cellular casts and with a high anti-DNA antibody titer, compared with the CRP-negative group. We suggest that CRP in patients with SLE, as measured at the time of the first consultation, reflects the severity of the disease. This includes those cases complicated by nephropathy.
Antisera against the isozymes of heavy meromyosin from chicken breast muscle myosin were prepared by immunizing rabbits. Both antisera against heavy meromyosin containing g1 light chain (HMM(g1) and that containing g3 light chain (HMM(g3)) reacted with both heavy meromyosin isozymes and myosin, but not with whole light chain mixture. This indicates that only antibodies against the heavy chain of heavy meromysin were elicited. The antisera were applied successively to two columns, one coupled with subfragment-2 and the other with heterologous subfragment-1 isozymes. When the antiserum against HMM(g3) was absorbed with subfragment-1 containing g1 (S-1(g1)), it did not react with HMM(g1), but reacted with HMM(g3). On the other hand, when the antiserum against HMM(g1) was absorbed with subfragment-1 containing g3 (S-1(g3)), it lost its ability to react with both heavy meromyosin isozymes. This indicates the presence of a specific antibody against the heavy chain of HMM(g3). The head portion of myosin containing g3 may hold an unique antigenic determinant which is not present in the head of a myosin containing g1.
The Ca2+-dependent phosphorylation of a number of proteins in the cytosol of the rat or guinea pig cerebral cortex was profoundly stimulated by phosphatidylserine; calmodulin, on the other hand, had only a minimal effect. The Ca2+-dependent phosphorylation of different proteins from the total particulate fraction of the same tissue, in comparison, was specifically stimulated by either phosphatidylserine or calmodulin. The present findings, in line with the phospholipid-sensitive Ca2+-dependent protein kinase recently recognized, suggest an involvement of phospholipid in regulating Ca2+-dependent phosphorylation of endogenous substrate proteins. This new system presumably functions independent or in a complementary manner with the calmodulin-sensitive Ca2+-dependent protein phosphorylation system previously reported by others.
A widespread occurrence of Ca2+-dependent protein kinase was shown in various tissues and phyla of the animal kingdom. Phosphatidylserine appeared to be more effective than calmodulin in supporting the Ca2+-dependent phosphotransferase activity. The phospholipid-sensitive Ca2+-dependent protein kinase activity, distributed in both the cytosolic and particulate fractions, was not inhibited by trifluoperazine, a specific inhibitor of calmodulin-sensitive, Ca2+-dependent reactions or processes. The enzyme activity levels, compared to those of cyclic AMP-dependent and cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinases, were exceedingly high in certain tissues (such as brain and spleen) and exhibited a much greater disparity among tissues. The Ka for Ca2+ was about 100 microM in the presence of phosphatidylserine; the value was as low as 2 microM in the presence of phosphatidylserine and diolein. It is suggested that phospholipid-sensitive Ca2+-dependent protein kinase may mediate certain actions of Ca2+ in tissues, acting independently or in a complementary manner with other protein phosphorylation systems stimulated by calmodulin-Ca2+, cyclic AMP, or cyclic GMP.