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W Hilgier

Publications and source records attributed to W Hilgier.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Analysis of glutamine accumulation in rat brain mitochondria in the presence of a glutamine uptake inhibitor, histidine, reveals glutamine pools with a distinct access to deamidation.

Rat cerebral nonsynaptic mitochondria were incubated in medium containing 2 mM glutamine (Gln) or 2 mM glutamate (Glu), in the presence of a Gln uptake inhibitor histidine (His) as well as other basic amino acids, lysine and arginine (Lys, Arg) not inhibiting Gln uptake. Subsequently, the mitochondrial contents of Glu and Gln were determined by HPLC. Incubation in the presence of Glu alone increased the Glu content from approximately 3.5 to 15 nmol/mg protein, without affecting the Gln content. On the other hand, incubation with Gln increased the content of Gln from approximately 1.5 to approximately 12 nmol/mg, and that of Glu to 10 nmol/mg. As expected, addition of His did not alter the Glu and Gln content resulting from incubation with Glu. However, His significantly decreased to almost the preincubation level the content of Glu in mitochondria incubated with Gln, without affecting the content of Gln. No other amino acid had any effect on these parameters. The results point to the existence of distinct Gln pools, one of which is accessible to external Gln via a His-sensitive transporter and is accessible for deamidation in the mitochondria.

Amides↗

Ammonia-induced extracellular accumulation of taurine in the rat striatum in vivo: role of ionotropic glutamate receptors.

Accumulation of taurine (Tau), glutamate (Glu) and glutamine (Gln) was measured in vivo in microdialysates of the rat striatum following a direct application to the microdialysis tube of 60 mM ammonium chloride which renders the final ammonia concentration in the extracellular space to approximately 5 mM. The following compounds were coadministered with ammonia to distinguish between the different mechanisms that may underlie the accumulation of amino acids: ion transport inhibitors, diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonate (DIDS) and furosemide, a Glu transport inhibitor L-trans-pyrrolidine-2,4-dicarboxylate (PDC), an NMDA receptor antagonist dizocilpine (MK-801) and an 2-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate (AMPA)/kainate (KA) receptor antagonist 6,7-dinitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (DNQX). Ammonia stimulated Tau accumulation in the microdialysates to approximately 250% of the basal value. Furosemide did not significantly affect the stimulation by ammonia and DIDS only moderately depressed the effect. The ammonia-dependent Tau accumulation was increased by approximately 50% in the presence of PDC and reduced by approximately 35% in the presence dizocilpine and DNQX. In the microdialysates ammonia stimulated Glu and Gln accumulation somewhat less than Tau accumulation. Except for stimulation of Gln accumulation by DNQX, the effects were not modified by any of the cotreatments. The results are consistent with the assumption that ammonia stimulates Tau efflux mainly via activation of ionotropic Glu receptors.

4,4'-Diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-Disulfonic Acid↗

Glutamine transport in C6 glioma cells: substrate specificity and modulation in a glutamine deprived culture medium.

A previous study has shown that glutamine (Gln) uptake in C6 cells grown in a standard medium containing 2 mM Gln, is predominantly mediated by a sodium-dependent system that is inhibited by ASC system substrates alanine (Ala), serine (Ser), cysteine (Cys) and threonine (Thr), shows pH sensitivity and partial tolerance to substitution of Na+ by Li+, features compatible with system ASCT2 that is strongly expressed in cultured astrocytes. The uptake was not inhibited by the model system A substrate alpha-(methylamino)isobutyric acid (MeAiB), and glycine (Gly) or proline (Pro), indicating that the substrate-regulated system A as defined by routine criteria is relatively inactive in these cells (Dolinska et al., 2000). In this study we compared the uptake of radiolabeled Gln and a model ASC substrate -Thr in cells grown to the same density in Gln-containing and Gln-deprived media. Cells grown in the absence of Gln showed a reduced activity of system ASC-mediated Gln uptake, and the system lost tolerance for Li+ and became somewhat more resistant to lowering pH of the medium. In contrast to cultured astrocytes deprived of Gln, the overall Gln uptake activity in C6 cells adapted to grow in a medium without Gln was lower than in cells grown in a Gln containing medium, and the uptake by system A remained inactive. C6 cells cultured both in the presence and absence of Gln expressed ASCT2 mRNA, indicating that system ASCT2-mediated Gln uptake is modulated at a posttranscriptional level. In contrast to Gln uptake, Thr uptake was more active in cells cultured in the absence of Gln and showed neither pH dependence nor lithium tolerance in either medium, which is typical of an uptake mediated by the widespread ASCT1 isoform of system ASC. In C6 cells grown in the presence or absence of Gln alike, approximately 20% of the sodium-dependent Gln uptake was resistant to MeAiB+Thr, indicating contribution of system N. The N system-mediated uptake in C6 cells grown in the absence, but not in the presence of Gln was not inhibited by glutamate (Glu) that conforms to the characteristics of the glial N system variant, SN1.

Amino Acid Transport System ASC↗

Lubeluzole attenuates K(+)-evoked extracellular accumulation of taurine in the striatum of healthy rats and rats with hepatic failure.

Lubeluzole is a newly designed neuroprotectant which has proved effective in the treatment of experimental stroke in rats, mainly by inhibition of the glutamate-activated NO pathway, but also by counteracting osmotic stress by a mechanism associated with the release of the osmotically active amino acid taurine (Tau). Here we show that lubeluzole administered i.p. decreases by 25% the high (50 mM) K+-evoked accumulation of Tau in striatal microdialysates of healthy rats and by 34% in rats with thioacetamide-induced hepatic failure, where the increased extracellular accumulation of Tau signifies ongoing hepatic encephalopathy. Lubeluzole does not affect the nonstimulated accumulation of Tau in either group of rats. The results indicate that lubeluzole may be effective in ameliorating ionic or osmotic stress in a range of pathological conditions involving the rise of extracellular K+, and also in decreasing the vulnerability to stress in rats with hepatic failure.

Animals↗

Modulation of glutamine uptake and phosphate-activated glutaminase activity in rat brain mitochondria by amino acids and their synthetic analogues.

Uptake of L-[14C]Gln and phosphate-activated glutaminase (PAG) activity were measured in nonsynaptic mitochondria isolated from rat cerebral hemispheres, in the presence of protein and nonprotein amino acids and their synthetic structural analogues and derivatives. The uptake was inhibited by > 50% in the presence of a 10-fold excess of His, homocysteine (Hcy), Trp, Leu, Tyr, Ile, Thr, Ala, Phe, Met, Ser, by > 20% in the presence of a 10-fold excess of Val, Arg, Glu, and was not affected by a 10-fold excess of Orn, alpha-ketoglutarate, Tau and Pro. Uptake of L-[14C] Leu differed from Gln uptake by its resistance to Arg, Glu, and a relatively high sensitivity to the reference inhibitor of the plasma membrane transport of large neutral amino acids (L-system)--BCH (2-aminobicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-2-carboxylic acid), and a number of natural L-system substrates. A newly synthesized alanine analogue, 2'-cyano-(biphenyl) alanine, referred to as MRC01, was the only compound tested that inhibited Gln uptake more strongly than Leu uptake. The strongest Gln uptake inhibitors: MRC01, His, Hcy and Leu, inhibited PAG activity by > 50% when added at the inhibitor/Gln concentration ratio of 1:2. PAG activity was not affected by Tau, Lys or Pro, compounds which did affect Gln uptake. The results suggest that a number of natural amino acids function as common endogenous modulators of cerebral mitochondrial Gln uptake and its degradation. MRC01, because of its inhibitory potency towards both mitochondrial Gln uptake and PAG activity, may become a convenient tool in studying the role of Gln transport in its mitochondrial metabolism in intact CNS cell and tissues.

Alanine↗

Extracellular concentrations of taurine, glutamate, and aspartate in the cerebral cortex of rats at the asymptomatic stage of thioacetamide-induced hepatic failure: modulation by ketamine anesthesia.

Subclinical hepatic encephalopathy (SHE) was produced in rats by two intraperitoneal injections of TAA at 24 h intervals and the animals were examined 21 days later. Concentrations of the neuroactive amino acids taurine (Tau), glutamate (Glu) and aspartate (Asp), were measured in the cerebral cortical microdialysates of thioacetamide (TAA)-treated and untreated control rats. During microdialysis some animals were awake while others were anesthetized with ketamine plus xylazine. There was no difference in the water content of cerebral cortical slices isolated from control and SHE rats, indicating a recovery from cerebral cortical edema that accompanies the acute, clinical phase of hepatic encephalopathy in this model. When microdialysis was carried out in awake rats, dialysate concentrations of all the three amino acids were 30% to 50% higher in SHE rats than in control rats. Ketamine anesthesia caused a 2.2% increase of water content of cerebral cortical slices and increased Asp, Glu, and Tau concentration in microdialysates of control rats. In SHE rats, ketamine anesthesia produced a similar degree of cerebral edema, however, it did not alter Asp and Glu concentrations in the microdialysates. These data may reflect on one hand a neuropathological process of excitotoxic neuronal damage related to increased Glu and Asp, on the other hand neuroprotection from neuronal swelling indicated by Tau redistribution in the cerebral cortex. The reduction of the effects of SHE on Glu and Asp content in ketamine-anesthesized rats is likely to be due to interference of ketamine with the NMDA receptor-mediated component of the SHE-evoked excitatory neurotransmitter efflux and/or reuptake of the two amino acids. By contrast, the SHE-related increase of Tau content was not affected by ketamine anesthesia, indicating that the mechanism(s) underlying SHE-evoked accumulation of Tau must be different from the mechanism causing release of excitatory amino acids. The results with ketamine advocate caution when using this anesthetic in studies employing the cerebral microdialysis technique for measurement of extracellular amino acids.

Anesthetics, Dissociative↗

Effect of acute hepatic encephalopathy on [3H]dopamine release from rat cerebral cortex and striatum in vitro: role of Ca2+.

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is characterized by motor symptoms associated with disturbed functions of the dopaminergic systems, but the underlying mechanisms are not clear. A previous study from our laboratories revealed that HE, induced in rats by repeated treatment with thioacetamide, enhanced the 50 mM potassium (KCl)-stimulated release of newly loaded [3H]dopamine in both striatal and frontal cerebral cortical slices in the presence of Ca2+. In the present study we compared the effects of HE on dopamine release in striatal and frontal cerebral cortical slices and synaptosomes in the presence and absence of Ca2+. HE enhanced the KCl-stimulated [3H]dopamine release from striatal and frontal cortical synaptosomes in the presence of Ca2+ to the same extent as in slices prepared from the respective brain regions. In the absence of Ca2+ a slight reduction in dopamine release was observed in frontal cortical synaptosomes from HE rats when compared to control rats, while no effect of HE on the release was discernible in frontal cortical and striatal slices and striatal synaptosomes. We conclude that in both brain regions studied HE stimulates dopamine exocytosis triggered by Ca2+ influx without affecting the release mediated by means of plasma membrane transporters or exocytosis involving intraterminal Ca2+.

Acute Disease↗

N-methyl-D-aspartate-evoked changes in the striatal extracellular levels of dopamine and its metabolites in vivo in rats with acute hepatic encephalopathy.

Acute hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is associated with disturbances in motor functions, but the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. Considerable experimental evidence suggests that motor activity is modulated by striatal dopamine neurons whose discharge is under glutamatergic control, mostly through activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. In this study we used intrastriatal microdialysis to compare the effects of infusion of 10 mM NMDA or 50 mM KCl as a general release stimulus, on the extracellular levels of endogenous dopamine (DA) and its metabolites dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA) in control rats and in rats with acute HE induced by repeated administration of thioacetamide. The basal levels of DA and DOPAC were not significantly altered by HE, while the HVA level was reduced. HE did not significantly affect the NMDA- or KCl-evoked increase in extracellular DA. Infusion of NMDA or KCl led to a decrease in extracellular DOPAC, and HE did not modulate these effects. However, HE attenuated the NMDA- but not the KCl-induced reduction in extracellular HVA. The results point to the impairment of modulation of striatal DA discharge and metabolism by glutamate acting at NMDA receptors, contributing to the motor disturbances in HE.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗

Changes in the extracellular profiles of neuroactive amino acids in the rat striatum at the asymptomatic stage of hepatic failure.

Rats were treated with a hepatotoxin thioacetamide (TAA) and examined 21 days later, when they showed moderate fatty metamorphosis of the liver and morphological changes in brain indicative of excitotoxic neuronal damage, but no evident biochemical or neurophysiological symptoms of hepatic encephalopathy (HE). High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of extracellular amino acids in striatal microdialysates of TAA-treated rats revealed a significant increase in the excitatory amino acids glutamate (Glu) and aspartate (Asp) and their amino acid metabolites glutamine (Gln) and alanine (Ala). Microdialysis in the presence of 50 mM K+ triggered in TAA-treated rats an accumulation of Asp and Glu, and diminished the accumulation of Gln. These effects were virtually absent in control rats. None of the treatments affected the accumulation of the nontransmitter amino acid leucine (Leu). The above changes mirror those previously described in symptomatic HE and are likely to contribute to excitotoxic damage. The basal microdialysate content of taurine (Tau), an amino acid with antioxidant and volume regulatory properties, was 60% lower in TAA-treated rats than in control rats despite its increased blood-to-brain transport. The decrease in extracellular Tau may thus reflect Tau redistribution to adjacent central nervous system (CNS) cells manifesting a cell-protective response. Stimulation with 50 mM K+ increased extracellular Tau in control rats by 182% and in TAA-treated rats by 322%. Stimulation with 100 microM N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) increased extracellular Tau in control rats by 27 % and in TAA-treated rats by as much as 250%. The increase of K+- or NMDA-dependent Tau release may reflect improved cell volume regulation and neuroprotection and contribute to attenuation of neurologic symptoms in rats with liver failure.

Alanine↗

Effects of ammonia in vitro on endogenous taurine efflux and cell volume in rat cerebrocortical minislices: influence of inhibitors of volume-sensitive amino acid transport.

Rat cerebrocortical minislices were incubated with physiological saline in the absence or presence of 5 mM ammonium acetate ("ammonia") and/or inhibitors of osmosensitive amino acid transport: 50 microM niflumic acid and 100 microM N-ethyl-maleimide for 60 min, with medium changes after 20 min and 40 min. The efflux of endogenous taurine, glutamate and glutamine was assayed by high-performance liquid chromatography, and steady-state cell volumes were monitored in the slices with the [14C]inulin method. In the absence of ammonia, niflumic acid abolished taurine efflux but did not affect glutamate or glutamine efflux at all time-points, and increased cell volume at 20 min and 60 min. N-Ethyl-maleimide increased taurine, glutamine and glutamate efflux at 20 min and 40 min, inhibited taurine and glutamine efflux at 60 min, and increased cell volume at 20 min. Ammonia strongly stimulated taurine (by 380% at 20 min), and only moderately glutamate (30% at 20 min) or glutamine efflux (76% at 20 min). Ammonia increased cell volume above the control level at all time-points. Niflumic acid inhibited, but did not abolish ammonia-dependent taurine and glutamine efflux, and did not change glutamate efflux. The effects of ammonia + niflumic acid on cell volume did not differ from the effects of each compound separately. N-Ethyl-maleimide inhibited ammonia-dependent efflux of all three amino acids except for stimulation of glutamate efflux at 20 min. N-Ethyl-maleimide + ammonia decreased the cell volumes more than did each compound separately. It is concluded that although ammonia-induced taurine efflux is accompanied by an increase in cell volume, the underlying mechanism is not simply a cell volume regulatory response normally observed in hypoosmotic stress. Increased efflux of taurine, which is an inhibitory amino acid and a cell membrane protectant, may serve to counteract the deleterious effects of increased excitatory transmission accompanying acute hyperammonemic insult.

Ammonia↗

Acute ammonia treatment in vitro and in vivo inhibits the synthesis of a neuroprotectant kynurenic acid in rat cerebral cortical slices.

The synthesis of kynurenic acid (KYNA) from kynurenine was measured in the cerebral cortical slices. In vitro, ammonium acetate at the subtoxic to toxic concentration range from 1 mM to 10 mM dose-dependently inhibited KYNA synthesis (IC50=2.99 mM). Ammonia treatment in vivo decreased KYNA synthesis by 30%. These results suggest that impaired neuroprotection exerted by KYNA might be a potential contributor to the glutamate receptor-mediated aspect of acute ammonia neurotoxicity.

Acetates↗

Ammonia stimulates glutamine uptake to the cerebral non-synaptic mitochondria of the rat.

The uptake of [3H]glutamine (GLN) to non-synaptic mitochondria isolated from rat cerebral hemispheres was measured in the absence or presence of 3 mM ammonium ion (ammonium chloride; ammonia). Ammonia increased Vmax of the saturable component of GLN uptake by > 20%, without affecting K(m), but did not change a non-saturable component of GLN transport representing diffusion or uptake mediated by a very low affinity carrier. Since GLN is an idiogenic osmole, its increased uptake may contribute to the swelling of astrocytic mitochondria and, subsequently, to a decrease in cerebral energy metabolism usually associated with acute hyperammonemic states. The result is consistent with the recent view that GLN accumulating in the brain in hyperammonemic conditions contributes to ammonia neurotoxicity.

Ammonia↗

Relation of taurine transport and brain edema in rats with simple hyperammonemia or liver failure.

Taurine (Tau), an amino acid that abounds in brain, has been implicated in inhibitory neuromodulation and osmoregulation, the latter function being manifested by Tau release along with osmotically obligated water in response to brain tissue edema. A previous study (Hilgier and Olson: J. Neurochem. 62:197-204, 1994) had shown that simple hyperammonemia (HA) induced in rats by daily administration of ammonium acetate resulted in a decrease of both tissue specific gravity indicative of edema and Tau content, in basal ganglia (BG) but not in cerebral cortex (CC). By contrast, rats with hepatic encephalopathy (HE) following administration of a hepatotoxin, thioacetamide, were characterized by CC edema and an increased Tau content in both BG and CC. In the present study, we tested the following parameters that may potentially have affected Tau distribution in the two models: a) spontaneous, and stimulated (hypoosmolarity-induced) release of loaded [3H] Tau in vitro from CC and BG slices; b) blood Tau content; and c) uptake of [14C] Tau in vivo from blood to brain corrected for [3H] water passage-the so-called brain uptake index (BUI). The two edema-affected structures: BG in the HA model and CC in the HE model, showed increased spontaneous Tau release. Edema-associated spontaneous release of Tau may favor inhibitory neurotransmission contributing to the pathomechanism of HA or HE. Stimulated release, reflecting the ability of the tissue to reduce water content, was decreased in the BG from HA rats, in agreement with the postulated role of Tau in osmoregulation. Stimulated release was unchanged in CC of HE rats. Neither spontaneous nor stimulated release of Tau were affected in CC of HA rats or in BG of HE rats. HE, but not HA, was associated with elevated blood content and increased BUI for TAU, which in combination, contributed to the increase of Tau content in CC. The latter phenomenon adds to the list of metabolic changes distinguishing simple HA from toxic liver damage, reemphasizing the crucial role of factors other than ammonia in the pathomechanism of HE.

Ammonia↗

Contrasting effects of thioacetamide-induced liver damage on the brain uptake indices of ornithine, arginine and lysine: modulation by treatment with ornithine aspartate.

The dibasic amino acids arginine (ARG), ornithine (ORN) and lysine (LYS) are transported by a common saturable transporter (system gamma +) at the blood-brain barrier (BBB). In the present study we compared the brain uptake index (BUI) for radiolabelled ORN, ARG and LYS in control rats and in rats treated with thioacetamide (TAA) to induce hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Some animals received i.v. ornithine aspartate (OA), a drug structurally related to the gamma + substrates that ameliorates neurological symptoms following liver damage by improving detoxification of ammonia in peripheral tissues: the compound was administered either by continuous infusion for 6h at a concentration of 2 g/kg (final blood concentration ranging from 0.19-0.5 mM), or as a 15 sec. bolus together with the radiolabelled amino acids, at a concentration of 0.35 mM. TAA treatment resulted in a delayed and progressive increase of BUI for ORN, to 186% of control at 7d post-treatment and to 345% of control at 21d post-treatment, when despite sustained liver damage, HE symptoms were already absent. In contrast, the BUI for ARG decreased to 30% of control at 7d post-treatment and remained low (42% of control) at 21d post-treatment. A 6h infusion of OA to untreated rats resulted in a reduction of the BUI for ARG and ORN to 51% and 62% of the control levels, respectively. Reductions of a similar magnitude were noted with both amino acids following the 15 sec OA bolus, indicating direct interaction of OA with the transport site in both cases. OA administered by either route abolished the enhancement of BUI for ORN, but did not further inhibit the BUI for ARG in the TAA-treated animals. The results indicate that some as yet unspecified factors released from damaged liver either modify the structure or conformation of the gamma + transporter at the BBB from the normally ARG-preferring to the ORN-preferring state, or activate (induce) a different transporter specific for ORN which is normally latent.

Animals↗

Rat cerebral mitochondrial glutaminase activity is unaffected by moderate hyperammonemia in two models.

The phosphate-dependent (PAG) and phosphate-independent (PIndG) glutaminase activities were measured in cerebral perikaryal mitochondria derived from rats subjected to ammonium acetate- induced "simple" hyperammonemia (SHA) or thioacetamide-induced hepatic encephalopathy (HE). These two moderately hyperammonemic conditions were previously found to be accompanied by pronounced changes in virtually all the enzyme activities coupling the tricarboxylic acid cycle to the synthesis and metabolism of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate. Both PAG and PIndG remained unaffected by SHA or HE, indicating that they do not contribute to the cerebral glutamine/glutamate imbalance associated with both conditions.

Acetates↗

Increase of the brain uptake index for L-ornithine in rats with hepatic encephalopathy.

We measured the brain uptake index (BUI) for radiolabelled L-ornithine (ORN) in rats with acute hepatic encephalopathy (HE) induced by two (onset stage) or three (comatous stage) administrations of a hepatotoxin-thioacetamide (TAA). In the comatose group, an increase of the BUI to 275% of control was measured at 24 h post-treatment. In the onset group, the BUI for ORN increased gradually with time: it reached 220% of control at 7 days post-treatment and 442% of control at 21 days post-treatment. HE did not raise the BUI for a blood-brain barrier (BBB) non-penetrable amino acid L-aspartate (ASP), indicating that HE activates ORN transport but does not produce BBB leakage. ORN transport through BBB was not increased in rats with hyperammonemia comparable to that accompanying HE, but was induced without liver damage. Considering recent evidence that ORN acting intracerebrally ameliorates pathophysiological symptoms of HE, increased transport ORN across BBB should facilitate HE therapy based on systemic administration of this amino acid.

Acetates↗

Similarities of the in vivo and in vitro effects of mercuric chloride on [3H]ouabain binding and potassium activation of Na+/K(+)-ATPase in isolated rat cerebral microvessels.

A previous study revealed that a single i.p. administration of 6 mg/kg body wt. of mercuric chloride (MC) durably inhibits the rat cerebral microvascular Na+/K(+)-ATPase activity [1]. In this study, cerebral microvessels isolated 18 h after MC treatment were compared to those obtained from control rats and subsequently treated or not treated with MC in vitro, with regard to: (a) [3H]ouabain binding to, and (b) K(+)-activation kinetics of, the Na+/K(+)-ATPase. Microvessels from MC-treated rats showed a decrease of [3H]ouabain binding down to 62% of the control binding, and the same degree of inhibition was attained in microvessels treated in vitro with 5 microM MC. Analysis of the K(+)-activation kinetics of Na+/K(+)-ATPase revealed a decrease of Vmax from the control value of 13.1 to 7.67 mumol/mg/h in microvessels from MC-treated rats and 6.07 mumol/mg/h in microvessels treated in vitro with 5 microM MC, with no change in Km in either case. The similarity of the effects of in vivo and in vitro treatments suggests that the inhibition of the cerebromicrovascular Na+/K(+)-ATPase following in vivo administration of MC results from a direct interaction of Hg2+ with the enzyme.

Animals↗