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Biomedical subjects

Y Akanuma

Publications and source records attributed to Y Akanuma.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) deficiency with a missense mutation in exon 6 of the LCAT gene.

The plasma enzyme, human lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) is responsible for the majority of cholesterol ester formation in human plasma and is a key enzyme of the reverse transport of cholesterol from peripheral tissue to the liver. We sequenced genomic DNA of the LCAT gene from a Japanese male patient who was clinically and biochemically diagnosed as a familial LCAT deficiency. Analysis of all exons and exon-intron boundaries revealed only a single G to A transition within the sixth exon of both allele of the gene, leading to the substitution of methionine for isoleucinle at residue 293 of the mature enzyme. This mutation creates a new hexanucleotide recognition site for the restriction endonuclease Ndel. Familial study of Ndel digestion of the genomic DNA and determination of plasma LCAT activity established that the patient and his sister whose plasma LCAT activity were extremely reduced were homozygous and his children whose plasma LCAT activity were about half of normal controls were heterozygous for this mutation.

Base Sequence↗

Diabetic retinopathy in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients: the role of gliclazide.

Diabetic retinopathy is the most common cause of human blindness between the ages of 30 and 67 in the industrialized world. Retinopathy has a multifactorial etiology. Standard treatment has aimed at correcting only disturbed glucose metabolism, but this may lead only to the partial amelioration of certain hemobiologic factors. In addition to its metabolic action, gliclazide has been shown to have specific hemobiologic properties; studies with gliclazide in animals and humans have shown significant improvements of platelet abnormalities, stimulation of prostaglandin I2 synthesis, and enhancement of fibrinolytic activity. In humans, open-label studies have shown that gliclazide treatment leads to stabilization of background retinopathy in non-insulin-dependent diabetics and, more recently, these beneficial effects have been confirmed in controlled studies lasting up to 37 months in which other sulfonylureas were used. The Japanese Diabetic Retinopathy Program studied the progression of retinopathy over a 5-year period, comparing gliclazide with other sulfonylureas and with placebo. This study showed that, with equivalent metabolic control, there was a trend toward a lower rate of deterioration and a significantly lower incidence of preproliferative retinopathy in the group receiving gliclazide compared with those receiving other sulfonylureas. Overall, the specific hemobiologic actions of gliclazide appear to offset or retard the progression of diabetic retinopathy and may have the advantage of lowering the incidence of preproliferative retinopathy.

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2↗

Substitution of leucine for tryptophan 412 does not abolish cytochalasin B labeling but markedly decreases the intrinsic activity of GLUT1 glucose transporter.

GLUT1 glucose transporter cDNA was modified to introduce a single amino acid substitution of leucine for tryptophan 412, a putative cytochalasin B photo-affinity labeling site. Although the mutated transporter was expressed into plasma membranes of Chinese hamster ovary cells, glucose transport activity of the mutated transporter was observed to be only 15-30% of that of the wild-type GLUT1 when glucose transport activity was assessed by 2-deoxyglucose uptake at 0.1-10 mM concentrations. Analysis of glucose uptake kinetics depict that a mutation induced a 3-fold decrease in turnover number and a 2.5-fold increase in Km compared with the wild-type GLUT1. Importantly, cytochalasin B labeling was not abolished but decreased by 40%, and cytochalasin B binding was also decreased. In addition, the results obtained with side-specific glucose analogs suggested that the outer glucose binding site of the mutant appeared intact but the inner binding site was modulated. These results indicate 1) tryptophan 412 is not a cytochalasin B labeling site(s), although this residue is located in or close to the inner glucose binding site of the GLUT1 glucose transporter, 2) substitution of leucine for tryptophan 412 decreases the intrinsic activity of GLUT1 glucose transporter, which is definable as the turnover number/Km, to approximately 15% of that of the wild-type.

Affinity Labels↗

A pilot clinical trial of a new oral hypoglycemic agent, CS-045, in patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

CS-045, (+/-)-5-[4-(6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramkethylchroman-2- ylmethoxy)benzyl]-2,4-thiazolidinedione, lowers plasma glucose in several animal models of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) presumably by increasing insulin sensitivity. Little adverse effect was found in a phase 1 study on healthy male subjects. In order to test its efficacy in lowering plasma glucose in NIDDM in man, a pilot multi-center clinical trial of CS-045 was carried out in 146 patients with NIDDM whose glycemic control was inadequate (FPG greater than 140 mg/dl) on diet and/or other oral hypoglycemic agents. CS-045 was given orally in a daily dose of 200 mg or 400 mg for 12 weeks in addition to the previous treatment. The mean fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and fructosamine began to decrease within 2 weeks and the mean HbA1c within 8 weeks. After 12 weeks, the FPG fell from 192 +/- 41 to 155 +/- 45 mg/dl (P less than 0.01), fructosamine from 3.7 +/- 0.6 to 3.3 +/- 0.6 (P less than 0.01), and HbA1c from 8.9 +/- 1.5 to 8.1 +/- 1.5% (P less than 0.01). The drug was effective in 39% of patients in that FPG fell by more than 20% of the initial value. This rate of efficacy was the same when CS-045 was given alone or together with other oral hypoglycemic agents. The drug was more effective in a dosage of 400 mg than with 200 mg (the rate of efficacy 46% vs 25%) and more effective in obese patients than in lean patients (46% vs 25%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Biomarkers↗

Comparison of 1,5-anhydroglucitol, HbA1c, and fructosamine for detection of diabetes mellitus.

To evaluate the use of serum 1,5-anhydroglucitol (AG) levels in screening for diabetes mellitus, we compared the sensitivity and specificity of HbA1c, fructosamine (FA), and AG in 1620 randomly selected subjects in 11 institutions throughout Japan. Most individuals were receiving diet and/or drug therapy for diabetes. Subjects were separated into four groups based on World Health Organization criteria: nondiabetic control subjects, subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), patients with diabetes, and patients with other disorders without IGT. The overlap of AG values between each group was less than that of HbA1c or FA values. AG levels were significantly correlated with fasting plasma glucose (r = -0.627), HbA1c (r = -0.629), and FA (r = -0.590) levels. If we took 14 micrograms/ml as the normal lower limit, AG level was highly specific (93.1%), and a decreased AG level indicated diabetes mellitus (84.2% sensitivity). According to the selectivity index (sensitivity value times specificity value), AG determinations were superior to both HbA1c and FA measurements for diabetes screening. When combinations of these tests were used, only AG and HbA1c together were slightly better than AG alone. Thus, together with other advantages of AG, e.g., its wide variance with relatively fair glycemic control and the negligible influence of the sampling conditions, AG level has more potential than HbA1c or FA level as a screening criterion for diabetes.

Biomarkers↗

Oxidation-labile subfraction of human plasma low density lipoprotein isolated by ion-exchange chromatography.

We isolated subfractions of human plasma low density lipoprotein (LDL) using ion-exchange chromatography. Plasma LDL from normolipidemic subjects were applied to a DEAE Sepharose 6B column. After elution of the bulk of LDL at 150 mM NaCl (the major fraction), the residual LDL was eluted at 500 mM NaCl and designated as the minor fraction. The minor fraction, only less than 1% of total LDL, tended to be somewhat similar in certain properties to oxidized LDL, e.g., an increased negative charge, higher protein/cholesterol ratio, and a higher flotation density than native LDL. These results were consistent with data reported by Avogaro et al. (1988. Arteriosclerosis. 8: 79-87). However, assays of 125I-labeled LDL binding activity for LDL receptors equal to that of the major fraction. Incorporation of [14C]oleate into cholesteryl ester [acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) activity] in mouse peritoneal macrophages incubated with the minor fraction was only slightly greater than that with the major fraction. Incubation of the minor fraction with 0.5 microM Cu2+ caused a remarkable stimulation of ACAT activity, while stimulation by the major fraction required incubation with 5 microM Cu2+, suggesting that the minor fraction was relatively labile to oxidation. The minor but definite presence of a plasma LDL subfraction more negative and susceptible to oxidation implicates the possibility of its association with atherogenesis.

Arteriosclerosis↗

Overexpression of glucose transporter modulates insulin biosynthesis in insulin producing cell line.

Glucose transporter (GT) has been suggested to be involved in the insulin biosynthesis. However, the functional relationship between GT and insulin biosynthesis is not well understood. In this report, we have generated rat pancreatic B cell lines (RINr) that stably overexpress a cDNA encoding the brain type GT. These cell lines showed 3- to 4-fold increase in insulin mRNA and protein. These results suggest that GT might have some relationship to the insulin biosynthesis in the pancreatic B cells.

Animals↗

Phosphorylation state and biological function of a mutant human insulin receptor Val996.

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell transfectants that expressed human insulin receptors whose glycine 996 was substituted by valine were studied. Receptor processing and insulin binding were unaffected by this mutation; however, this mutant insulin receptor had little or no tyrosine kinase activity. Nevertheless, the Val996 mutant exhibited seryl and threonyl phosphorylation in both the basal and insulin-stimulated state in intact cells. This is in contrast to the Lys----Ala1018 tyrosine kinase deficient mutant (Russell, D. S., Gherzi, R., Johnson, E. L., Chou, C-K., and Rosen, O. M. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 11833-11840). Cells expressing the normal human receptor were 10-fold more sensitive to insulin than the untransfected CHO cells with respect to phosphorylation of a cellular substrate (pp 185) on tyrosyl residues, glucose incorporation into glycogen, thymidine incorporation into DNA, and phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6. Cells expressing the mutant receptor exhibited the same insulin sensitivity as the untransfected CHO cells. Insulin was rapidly internalized in cells expressing the normal human receptor and the number of receptors expressed on the cell surface was decreased in response to exposure to insulin. However, little insulin was internalized in cells expressing the mutant receptor, and the number of receptors on the cell surface was not significantly diminished in response to exposure to insulin. It is concluded that despite the occurrence of seryl and threonyl phosphorylations, post-receptor effects of insulin described above are not mediated by the tyrosine kinase-deficient receptor, Val996.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

C-terminal truncated glucose transporter is locked into an inward-facing form without transport activity.

The facilitated glucose transporters comprise a structurally related family of proteins predicted to have 12 membrane-spanning domains, with the amino terminus, a relatively large middle loop and the carboxy-terminus all oriented towards the cytoplasm. An alternating conformation model has been proposed to explain the mechanism of facilitated glucose transport. To understand the structure-function relationships, especially the role of the intracellular C-terminal domain, we have modified the rabbit equivalent of the erythroid-type transporter, GLUT1 (ref. 18), using complementary DNA to code for a deletion mutant that lacks most (37 out of 42 amino acids) of the intracellular C-terminal domain. This deletion mutant is expressed at the cell surface of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, but is functionally inactive, probably because it has lost its capacity to alternate in conformation and so is locked into an inward-facing form.

Animals↗

Concanavalin A-induced receptor aggregation stimulates the tyrosine kinase activity of the insulin receptor in intact cells.

Concanavalin A (ConA) stimulated the phosphorylation of the beta-subunit of the insulin receptor and an Mr-185,000 protein on serine and tyrosine residues in intact H-35 rat hepatoma cells. This Mr-185,000 protein whose phosphorylation was stimulated by ConA was identical to pp185, a protein reported previously to be a putative endogenous substrate for the insulin receptor tyrosine kinase in rat hepatoma cells. In Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with cDNA of the human insulin receptor, tyrosine-phosphorylation of pp185 was strongly enhanced by ConA compared with the controls, suggesting that the induction of tyrosine-phosphorylation of pp185 was due to stimulation of the insulin receptor kinase by ConA. Moreover, monovalent ConA only slightly induced the tyrosine-phosphorylation of pp185, which was enhanced by the addition of anti-ConA IgG, suggesting that ConA stimulated the insulin receptor kinase mainly by the receptor cross-linking or aggregation in intact cells. These data suggest that the insulin-mimetic action of ConA is related to the autophosphorylation and activation of the insulin receptor tyrosine kinase, as well as the subsequent phosphorylation of pp185 in intact cells.

Animals↗

Mechanism for acute reduction of 1,5-anhydroglucitol in rats treated with diabetogenic agents.

The mechanism for acute reduction of plasma 1,5-anhydroglucitol (AG) in experimental diabetic rats was studied. Acute AG decrease was induced not only by diabetogenic agents, such as streptozotocin (STZ) and alloxan, but also by phloridzin, which caused glucosuria but not hyperglycemia. A similar reduction also occurred in hyperglycemia induced by glucose injection. The AG reduction induced by STZ was completely abolished by bilateral nephrectomy or by euglycemia with insulin treatment. The decrease of plasma AG was well correlated with the degree of urinary excretion of AG, which in turn reflected the degree of urinary glucose excretion, irrespective of the kind of agent causing the glucosuria. Under conditions of continuous glucose infusion, AG concentration decreased not only in plasma but also in various tissues and organs. The amount of AG lost was estimated to be almost equal to that excreted into urine during the period of infusion. These observations suggest that the degree of reduction of plasma AG depends simply on the urinary excretion of glucose, and it was assumed that the urinary excretion of 0.5 mg AG corresponds to the urinary excretion of 100 mg glucose during a short period after the onset of glucosuria.

Alloxan↗

Defect in tyrosine kinase activity of the insulin receptor from a patient with insulin resistance and acanthosis nigricans.

We report here a defect in tyrosine kinase activity of the insulin receptor from an insulin-resistant patient with acanthosis nigricans using cultured Ebstein-Barr virus (EBV)-transformed B-lymphocytes. As judged by affinity labeling and immunoblotting, the alpha- and beta-subunits of insulin receptors from the patient's lymphocytes exhibited the same mol wt as those from control subjects. Lectin-purified extracts from lymphocytes of the patient and the control subjects containing the same insulin-binding capacity were assayed for autophosphorylation and the ability to phosphorylate histone H2B. The degree of insulin-dependent autophosphorylation and the tyrosine kinase activity of the insulin receptor from the patient's lymphocytes were decreased to 15% and 13%, respectively, in a cell-free system. The insulin-dependent autophosphorylation of the insulin receptor was also impaired in intact EBV lymphocytes from the patient. Consistent with these results, we found that one of this patient's alleles had a mutation in which valine is substituted for Gly996, the third glycine in the conserved Gly-X-Gly-X-X-Gly motif in the kinase domain. Thus, it seems likely that the defect in tyrosine kinase activity of the insulin receptor cause the insulin resistance in this patient. The EBV lymphocyte can be a good system to detect genetically determined abnormalities in the insulin receptor.

Acanthosis Nigricans↗

The release of hepatic triglyceride lipase from rat monolayered hepatocytes in primary culture.

The release of hepatic triglyceride lipase from cultured rat hepatocytes and its hormonal regulation were studied. The activity of lipase released into the medium in the presence of heparin was increasing for 24 hours on the 2nd day of culture. The activity in the absence of heparin was only 10% of that in the presence of heparin. When hepatocytes were cultured with anti-hepatic triglyceride lipase IgG, the lipase activity was suppressed by 92%. The results suggest that the enzyme released into the culture medium is identical to hepatic triglyceride lipase which can be released only in the presence of heparin, the mode of release being similar to that of lipoprotein lipase from adipocytes. The addition of colchicine and monensin to the medium resulted in the inhibition of lipase secretion by 20% and 61%, respectively. Insulin enhanced lipase activity only 20%, whereas dexamethasone suppressed the activity by 44%. These data indicated that hepatic triglyceride lipase is secreted and released from hepatocytes in the presence of heparin and its secretion is regulated by hormones.

Animals↗

Increased liver glucose-transporter protein and mRNA in streptozocin-induced diabetic rats.

The effect of insulin-deficient diabetic states on the rat liver glucose-transporter (L-transporter isoform) protein and mRNA levels were studied. Rats were injected with 65 mg/kg streptozocin to induce diabetes and were maintained for 10 days and then treated with or without insulin for the next 5 days. The L-transporter isoform with apparent Mr of 55,000 was observed to be increased approximately twofold in the membranes from liver homogenates of diabetic rats compared with control rats when assessed by Western blot analysis with an anti-peptide antibody directed against rat L-transporter isoform. Insulin treatment of diabetic rats decreased the amount of L-transporter isoform protein toward levels observed in nondiabetic rats. Northern blot analysis demonstrated similar alterations in the rat L-transporter isoform mRNA that paralleled the changes observed in the L-transporter isoform protein. The increased levels of the L-transporter isoform protein and mRNA in diabetic rats are in marked contrast to the effects of insulin deficiency in rat adipocytes, which specifically decrease the amount of the adipocyte glucose-transporter isoform protein and mRNA. These results suggest that glucose-transporter isoforms in rat liver and adipocytes are regulated by different mechanisms and that an increased synthesis of the L-transporter isoform may contribute to the increased glucose output that occurs from the liver during insulin deficiency.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Immunological detection of phosphotyrosine-containing proteins in rat livers after insulin injection.

Tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins in Triton X-100-solubilized fractions of rat livers were examined by immunoblotting with anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies. After 2 min of insulin injection via the portal vein into livers, three major bands of 170,000, 140,000, and 95,000 Mr were stimulated. Because the incubation of nitrocellulose membrane with anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies in the presence of 40 mM phosphotyrosine completely abolished these bands, the anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies appear to recognize the phosphotyrosine residues of these proteins. Insulin injection (2-2000 micrograms) very quickly stimulated the tyrosine phosphorylation of these proteins in a dose-dependent fashion. In contrast, insulinlike growth factor I or epidermal growth factor injection had little effect in stimulating the tyrosine phosphorylation of these proteins. Because anti-insulin-receptor antibodies immunoprecipitated a tyrosine-phosphorylated 95,000-Mr protein, this protein must be the beta-subunit of the insulin receptor; i.e., the beta-subunit of the insulin receptor and two other proteins were phosphorylated at tyrosine residues in vivo by insulin injection. These data suggest that the tyrosine phosphorylation and tyrosine kinase activity of the insulin receptor may have important roles in in vivo insulin action.

Animals↗