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S D Cederbaum

Publications and source records attributed to S D Cederbaum.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Regulation of mRNA levels for five urea cycle enzymes in rat liver by diet, cyclic AMP, and glucocorticoids.

Adaptive changes in levels of urea cycle enzymes are largely coordinate in both direction and magnitude. In order to determine the extent to which these adaptive responses reflect coordinate regulatory events at the pretranslational level, measurements of hybridizable mRNA levels for all five urea cycle enzymes were carried out for rats subjected to various dietary regimens and hormone treatments. Changes in relative abundance of the mRNAs in rats with varying dietary protein intakes are comparable to reported changes in enzyme activities, indicating that the major response to diet occurs at the pretranslational level for all five enzymes and that this response is largely coordinate. In contrast to the dietary changes, variable responses of mRNA levels were observed following intraperitoneal injections of dibutyryl cAMP and dexamethasone. mRNAs for only three urea cycle enzymes increased in response to dexamethasone. Levels of all five mRNAs increased severalfold in response to dibutyryl cAMP at both 1 and 5 h after injection, except for ornithine transcarbamylase mRNA which showed a response at 1 h but no response at 5 h. Combined effects of dexamethasone and dibutyryl cAMP were additive for only two urea cycle enzyme mRNAs, suggesting independent regulatory pathways for these two hormones. Transcription run-on assays revealed that transcription of at least two of the urea cycle enzyme genes--carbamylphosphate synthetase I and argininosuccinate synthetase--is stimulated approximately four- to fivefold by dibutyryl cAMP within 30 min. The varied hormonal responses indicate that regulatory mechanisms for modulating enzyme concentration are not identical for each of the enzymes in the pathway.

Animals↗

Human arginase isozymes.

Studies in experimental animals and humans demonstrate the existence of two arginase isozymes. One, designated AI (or A1), has a high pI, is located in the cytosol, is most abundant in liver, and is thought to be primarily responsible for ammonia detoxification as urea. The gene coding for this isozyme is mutated in human hyperargininemia. A second isozyme, designated AII (or A4), has a neutral pI, is located in the mitochondrial matrix, and is thought to be involved primarily in the production of ornithine as a precursor of proline and glutamate. It appears to be expressed in most but not all tissues and in more nearly equal amounts. The two isozymes are immunologically distinct and are coded for by two separate genes. The great similarity in all measured kinetic and some physicochemical properties implies a high degree of structural similarity at the active site, but the lack of immunological cross-reactivity and DNA cross-hybridization implies substantial compositional differences in other parts of the enzyme molecules.

Animals↗

Isolation of human liver arginase cDNA and demonstration of nonhomology between the two human arginase genes.

A human liver cDNA library was screened by colony hybridization with a rat liver arginase cDNA. The number of positive clones detected was in agreement with the estimated abundance of arginase message in liver, and the identities of several of these clones were verified by hybrid-select translation, immunoprecipitation, and competition by purified arginase. The largest of these human liver arginase cDNAs was then used to detect arginase message on northern blots at levels consistent with the activities of liver arginase in the tissues and cells studied. The absence of a hybridization signal with mRNA from a cell line expressing only human kidney arginase demonstrated the lack of homology between the two human arginase genes and indicated considerable evolutionary divergence between these two loci.

Arginase↗

Kinetics of inhibition of rat liver and kidney arginases by proline and branched-chain amino acids.

The effects of proline, leucine, isoleucine and valine on kidney and liver arginases were studied. At pH 7.5 and at nearly physiological concentrations, the branched-chain amino acids caused a significant inhibition of liver arginase A1 and only minor effects on kidney arginase A4. Kidney arginase was, however, much more sensitive to inhibition by proline than the liver enzyme. The inhibition of liver and kidney arginases by branched-chain amino acids was partial, indicating the existence of allosteric sites on both enzymes. The function of kidney arginase in proline biosynthesis and a possible role of branched-chain amino acids in the hydrolysis of arginine in liver is discussed.

Amino Acids, Branched-Chain↗

Cloning of rat liver arginase cDNA and elucidation of regulation of arginase gene expression in H4 rat hepatoma cells.

In order to study the regulation of expression of the two arginase genes in mammalian tissues, we undertook to clone cDNA specific for rat liver arginase. mRNA was isolated from rat liver polysomes enriched for the arginase message by immunopurification and was used to produce an 800-member cDNA library carried in pBR322. Four arginase clones were identified by hybrid selection, and one was used to find two others following colony hybridization. Clonal identity was verified by its enrichment in the cDNA made from immunopurified mRNA; by hybrid selection, immunoprecipitation, and competition by purified arginase; hybridization on Northern analysis with liver-derived RNA (high in arginase) and its absence with mRNA from tissues low in arginase; and independent identification by hybrid selection and colony hybridization. Northern analysis of mRNA from H4-II-E-C3 (H4) rat hepatoma cells in which arginase activity was induced by hydrocortisone demonstrated equal, eightfold augmentation of both arginase activity and arginase mRNA levels. Southern blot analysis of DNA from these cells indicated that no change in arrangement or copy number accompanied induction. Southern analysis also suggested that the gene for rat liver arginase is present in a single copy, without pseudogenes, and that a high degree of homology exists between it and its mouse counterpart.

Animals↗

Differential expression of multiple forms of arginase in cultured cells.

Arginase (EC 3.5.3.1), the final enzyme in the urea cycle, catalyzes the cleavage of arginine to orthinine and urea. At least two forms of this enzyme, AI and AII, have been described and are probably encoded by discrete genetic loci. The expression of these separate genes has been studied in mammalian cells grown in culture. The permanent rat-hepatoma line H4-II-E-C3 contained exclusively the AI enzyme; the form in mammals comprising about 98% of the arginase activity in liver and erythrocytes but catalyzing only about one half of that reaction in kidney, gastrointestinal tract, and brain. By contrast, human-embryonic-kidney and -brain cells, after transformation with the human papovavirus BK, contained only the AII species of arginase, which form contributes the remaining half of that catalysis in those mammalian tissues in vivo. We report here the results of an extensive study on the properties of these two forms of arginase in the three cell lines, including Km values for arginine, behavior on polyacrylamide gels under non-denaturing conditions, and cross-reactivity with lapine antibodies against the arginases from either rat or human liver.

Animals↗

Comparison of arginase activity in red blood cells of lower mammals, primates, and man: evolution to high activity in primates.

Arginase activity in red blood cells (RBC) of various mammalian species including man was determined. In nonprimate species, the activity generally fell below the level of detectability of the assay: less than 1.0 mumol urea/g hemoglobin per hr. Activities in higher nonhuman primates were equal to or of the same order of magnitude as those in man (approximately 950 mumol/g hemoglobin per hr). RBC arginase deficiency with normal liver arginase activity has been shown to segregate as an autosomal codominant trait in Macaca fascicularis established and bred in captivity. This study confirms the presence of this polymorphism in wild populations trapped in several geographic areas and demonstrates the absence of immunologically cross-reactive material in the RBC of RBC arginase-deficient animals. These data when taken together suggest that the expression of arginase in RBC is the result of a regulatory alteration, has evolved under positive selective pressure, and is not an example of the vestigial persistence of an arcane function. The expression of arginase in the RBC results in a marked drop in the arginine content of these cells.

Animals↗

Recombinant DNA in medicine.

Studies in bacteria and bacterial viruses have led to methods to manipulate and recombine DNA in unique and reproducible ways and to amplify these recombined molecules millions of times. Once properly identified, the recombinant DNA molecules can be used in various ways useful in medicine and human biology. There are many applications for recombinant DNA technology. Cloned complementary DNA has been used to produce various human proteins in microorganisms. Insulin and growth hormone have been extensively and successfully tested in humans and insulin has been licensed for sale. Mass production of bacterial and viral antigens with recombinant DNA technology is likely to provide safe and effective vaccines for some disorders for which there is no prevention. The cloned probes for the human alpha- and beta-globin loci, for specific disease genes, such as the Z allele of alpha-antitrypsin, and for random genomic sequences are proving useful for prenatally diagnosing human genetic disorders and preventing their clinical consequences.

Bacterial Infections↗

Regulation of expression of genes for enzymes of the mammalian urea cycle in permanent cell-culture lines of hepatic and non-hepatic origin.

We present here the results of investigations conducted by ourselves and others on the regulation of the expression of genes encoding the enzymes of the mammalian urea cycle as manifest in cultured cells of both hepatic and extrahepatic origin. Upon consideration of the recently discovered discrete non-hepatic arginase genetic locus in man and our consequent hypothesis that the form of arginase thus transcribed in such extrahepatic cells functions principally in providing ornithine for protein anabolism and polyamine biosynthesis, rather than in detoxifying ammonia through urea formation, we have chosen instead to study permanent cell lines that are derived from liver and continue to perform a variety of hepatic functions in culture as experimental models for probing the molecular mechanisms underlying the control of ureagenesis within the mature liver cell. Of two such arginase-positive rat-hepatoma lines, we have characterized extensively in one (H4-II-E-C3) the mode of action of glucocorticoids in augmenting the cellular levels of this enzyme as well as of argininosuccinate synthetase. To this end, we have recently demonstrated that these stimulations are both mediated by binding of the hormones to classical cytoplasmic steroid receptors in a specific and saturable fashion and have thus concluded that the H4-II-E-C3 line will provide a suitable cell culture system for subsequent more detailed experiments from which the information garnered will continue to be relevant to the ureagenic pathway as modulated in the differentiated hepatocyte in vivo.

Animals↗

Immunologic studies of arginase in tissues of normal human adult and arginase-deficient patients.

Rabbit antibody to human liver arginase was used to examine the immunologic characteristics of arginase in red blood cells (RBC), liver, kidney, brain, and gastrointestinal tract from normal adults and from patients with hyperargininemia. Greater than 90% of the arginase in RBC and liver was precipitated by this antibody whereas only 50% of the arginase in kidney, brain, and gastrointestinal tract reacted with it. Two siblings and a third patient with hyperargininemia were found to have immunoreactive arginase protein in their RBC that was enzymatically inactive. The amount of arginase protein approximated that found in RBC from normal individuals. A kidney biopsy obtained from one of the patients with hyperargininemia had arginase activity 4-5-fold greater than that found in normal kidney biopsy material. Double immunodiffusion and precipitation-inhibition studies demonstrated two types of arginase protein in this patient's kidney: one enzymatically inactive and precipitated by the antibody, and one enzymatically active but not precipitated by the antibody. These data, in conjunction with biochemical data reported previously demonstrate that there are two gene loci determining arginase in man.

Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors↗

Regulation of glucocorticoids of arginase and argininosuccinate synthetase in cultured rat hepatoma cells.

We have examined and characterized the regulation by glucocorticoids of the levels of arginase and argininosuccinate synthetase in two rat hepatoma cell lines (H4-II-E-C3 and MH1C1). Hydrocortisone elevates the activity of both enzymes in a time- and dose-dependent fashion. This effect was blunted markedly by small amounts of ethanol (0.1 to 0.9% [v/v]) and blocked substantially by a high molar excess of the "anti-inducer" steroid fluoxymesterone. The other "optimal" inducers dexamethasone and corticosterone were as effective as hydrocortisone in elevating the levels of these enzymes at saturating concentrations. Inhibition of these stimulations by cycloheximide indicated that ongoing cellular protein synthesis was required for both effects, and the admixture of extracts from fully stimulated and basal cells gave no evidence for the existence of direct inhibitors or activators of either enzyme. The results corroborate findings from earlier whole-animal studies and provide evidence for the following conclusions. (i) This stimulation by hydrocortisone of urea-cycle enzymes in the cultured hepatoma cells is mediated by a classical glucocorticoid mechanism involving initial binding to specific cytoplasmic steroid receptors and the eventual accumulation of new enzyme molecules. (ii) These cell lines thus constitute valid experimental models for use in further detailed studies on the molecular mechanism(s) through which glucocorticoids and intermediary metabolites effect a selective modulation of arginase and argininosuccinate-synthetase gene expression in the differentiated mammalian liver.

Animals↗

Phenylalanine levels in PKU following minor surgery.

Serum phenylalanine values were measured in 10 PKU patients who had minor operations. No individual value exceeded 17 mg/dl and the interpolated mean did not exceed 10 mg/dl on any postoperative day. These data confirm the consensus that minor surgery does not cause major and long-lived perturbations of serum phenylalanine levels in PKU and requires no special dietary measures.

Child↗