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F L Huang

Publications and source records attributed to F L Huang.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Regulation of gene expression in the olfactory neuroepithelium: a neurogenetic matrix.

The olfactory neuroepithelium exhibits neurogenesis throughout adult life, and in response to lesions, a phenomenon that distinguishes this neural tissue from the rest of the mammalian brain. The newly formed primary olfactory neurons elaborate axons into the olfactory bulb. Thus, denervation and subsequent reinnervation of olfactory bulb neurons may occur throughout life. This unique ability of the olfactory neuroepithelium to generate new neurons from a population of precursor cells present in the basal cell layer of this tissue makes it a valuable model in the study of neural development and regeneration. The molecular processes underlying the neurogenic properties of the olfactory neuroepithelium are poorly understood. Here we have reviewed our studies on the expression of B50/GAP43 during ontogeny of the olfactory system and following lesioning. This analysis includes the characterization of the expression of OMP, a protein expressed in mature olfactory neurons, as well as PKC and calmodulin. The latter two molecules are of particular interest to the function of B50/GAP43 since the degree of phosphorylation of B50/GAP43 appears to determine B50/GAP43's ability to bind calmodulin (see also Storm, chapter 4, this volume). In the mature olfactory epithelium B50/GAP43 expression is restricted to a subset of cells located in the basal region. Since the expression of B50/GAP43 is high in developing and regenerating nerve cells we are confident that the B50/GAP43 positive cells are new neurons derived from the stem cells in the basal region of the epithelium. B50/GAP43 is absent from the stem cells themselves and also from the mature OMP-expressing neurons. On the basis of the patterns of B50/GAP43 and OMP expression two stages could be discriminated in the regeneration of the olfactory epithelium. First, as an immediate response to lesioning a large population of B50/GAP43 positive, OMP negative neurons are formed. Subsequently, during the second stage, these newly formed differentiating neurons mature as evidenced by a decrease in B50/GAP43 and an increase in OMP expression. The second stage in the regeneration process is only manifested if the regenerating neurons can reach their target cells in the olfactory bulb. Hence, bulbectomy results in the arrest of the reconstituted olfactory epithelium in an immature state. The differential patterns of B50/GAP43 expression following peripheral lesioning and bulbectomy suggest the existence of a target derived signal molecule involved in the down-regulation of B50/GAP43 expression in olfactory neurons that have established synaptic contacts in the olfactory bulb (see also Willard, chapter 2, this volume, "the suppressor hypothesis").(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

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Possible neuroendocrine actions of endothelin-3.

The presence of endothelin (ET) immunoreactivity and binding sites in hypothalamus and pituitary gland suggests potential neuroendocrine actions of this family of vasoactive peptides. ET-3, the predominant member of the ET family in brain, exerted significant dose-related (1, 10, and 100 nM) inhibitory effects on PRL release from dispersed anterior pituitary cells in static incubations. The effect was not dependent on voltage-sensitive calcium channels, since the dihydropyridine calcium channel antagonist nifedipine failed to block this action. Nifedipine did, however, significantly reduce the transient acute stimulatory effect of ET-3 on PRL release in cultured cells incubated in dynamic perifusion. The longer lasting inhibitory effect on PRL release that followed the brief stimulatory action was not affected by nifedipine. ET-3 also stimulated a transient but significant release of LH from cells harvested from random cycle female rats, an effect that was not antagonized by a LHRH antagonist, but was blocked by nifedipine, suggesting the mobilization of extracellular calcium as a mechanism of action of ET-3. Nifedipine also reversed the acute stimulatory effect of ET-3 on GH secretion from these cells. Cerebroventricular injections of ET-3 (6 or 60 ng) failed to significantly alter PRL or LH secretion in conscious rats, suggesting that brain-derived ET does not act within the hypothalamus to alter the release of these two hormones. Similarly, iv infusion of even pressor doses of ET-3 (10, 30, or 300 ng) failed to significantly alter PRL, LH, or GH release; thus, it is unlikely that ET of peripheral origin acts within the gland. Our results suggest that locally produced ET may act as a neuroendocrine or paracrine factor controlling pituitary function in the rat.

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Hypothalamic endothelin: presence and effects related to fluid and electrolyte homeostasis.

Endothelin-3-like immunoreactivity (ET-3-ir) was detected in extracts of rat hypothalamic median eminence, and in the anterior and neurointermediate lobes of the pituitary at levels (ng ET-3/mg protein) exceeding those present in extracts of abdominal aorta. This ET-3-ir appeared authentic because radioimmunoassay (RIA) dose-response curves parallel to those of synthetic ET-3 could be constructed and this ET-3-ir comigrated on C-8 high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) with synthetic ET-3. Endothelin-1-like immunoreactivity, on the other hand, was abundant in extracts of abdominal aorta and cerebral cortex and only minimally present in hypothalamus and anterior pituitary gland. Central administration of 11 and 23 pmol ET-3 resulted in significant (4.2- and 5.7-fold, respectively) elevations of plasma levels of vasopressin. Oxytocin levels were transiently, yet significantly, elevated (1.8-fold) by the higher dose of ET-3. These results, and our findings that central administration of ET-3 inhibits stimulated water drinking, suggest a physiologically important role for endogenously produced endothelin in the central mechanisms regulating fluid and electrolyte homeostasis.

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Protein kinase C immunoreactivity in kitten visual cortex is developmentally regulated and input-dependent.

Immunocytochemistry with polyclonal antibodies directed against protein kinase C (PKC) was utilized to investigate the development of the kinase in kitten visual cortex neurons. The immunoreaction product was found at postsynaptic sites at all ages studied. However, PKC was localized in presynaptic terminals only during the first few weeks of postnatal life, during the period when the cortex is most susceptible to visual experience. The overall level of PKC immunoreactivity was high at early postnatal ages (up to 6 weeks) and declined afterwards till adulthood. This decline in reactivity was not equal across the cortex and was particularly marked in the middle cortical layers, especially layer IV. The reduction of PKC immunoreactivity in all cortical layers but layer IV was abolished by isolating a portion of cortex from its neuronal inputs early in life. Indirect evidence points to the lateral geniculate nucleus as the source of input that is required for input-dependent maturational changes in the kinase level. The results reported here suggest that the expression of PKC in kitten visual cortex in not only developmentally regulated but is also use-dependent.

Aging↗

Pituitary site of action of endothelin: selective inhibition of prolactin release in vitro.

Endothelin-3 (ET-3) inhibited in a dose-dependent, significant fashion prolactin release from cultured anterior pituitary cells (ovariectomized female and intact male rat donors, ED50 = 5 X 10(-9) M). ET-3 in log doses ranging from 10(-11) to 10(-6) M did not alter significantly the release of luteinizing hormone, growth hormone or thyroid stimulating hormone. The inhibitory effect of ET-3 (rat, human) was specific for that molecule since ET-1 (porcine, human) was ineffective and was not due to an action on the dopamine receptor since the inhibitory action was still expressed in the presence of 100 nM domperidone. These data further suggest a role for neuropeptides of the posterior lobe in the control of lactotroph function.

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Rat liver nuclei protein kinase C is the isozyme type II.

Rat liver nuclei protein kinase C is identified as type II isozyme employing monospecific antibodies obtained against each three types of rat brain protein kinase C isozymes. (Yoshida, Y., Huang, F. L., Nakabayashi, H., and Huang, K-P. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 9868-9873). A major immunoreactive protein band at 80 kDa was revealed by type II isozyme antibodies at each step of purification, nuclear extract included. The nuclear protein kinase C has been purified to apparent homogeneity as revealed by silver nitrate staining on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showing a single 80 kDa protein band. It does seem that 66 kDa protein (Masmoudi, A., Labourdette, G., Mersel, M., Huang, F. L., Huang, K.-P., Vincendon, G., and Malviya, A. N. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 1172-1179) is a major contaminant devoid of any protein kinase activity. The ratio obtained between protein kinase C enzymatic activity over phorbol dibutyrate bound, at various purification steps, indicates that the nuclear enzyme is a phorbol ester receptor. When isolated nuclei were incubated with 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate, endogenous protein kinase C activity was elevated about 8-10-fold suggesting the existence of phorbol ester signaling pathway at the level of nucleus. The role of nuclear protein kinase C is delineated in the regulation of inducible gene transcription

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Developmental expression of protein kinase C isozymes in rat cerebellum.

Previously we showed that protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes (types I, II, and III) have distinctive neuronal localizations in cerebellum. In the present study, we followed the different appearances of these isozymes during the postnatal development of cerebellum. By immunoblot analysis, type I PKC was found to be low within 2 weeks after birth; an abrupt increase was observed between 2 and 3 weeks and leveled off afterwards. By immunofluorescent staining, the type I PKC-specific antibody recognized the cell bodies and dendrites of Purkinje cells. The increase of this isozyme between 2 and 3 weeks of age correlates with the spreading of Purkinje cell arborization, at which time bulk of synaptogenesis between dendritic spines and axons of granule cells occurs. Both type II and III PKCs were present in granule cells. At birth, the level of type II PKC was relatively high compared to that of type III PKC, and the type II PKC-specific antibody stained the granule cell precursors in the external layer more heavily than did the type III PKC-specific antibody. The level of type II PKC declined slightly after birth and increased again at one week and plateaued after three weeks, whereas that of type III PKC increased gradually until leveling off after three weeks. Throughout the development, the type III PKC-specific antibody also stained the cell bodies of Purkinje cells but not their dendrites. These results demonstrate that the developmental expression of PKC isozymes is under separate control, and their distinct cellular and subcellular localizations suggest their unique functions in the cerebellum.

Aging↗

Differential sensitivity of protein kinase C isozymes to phospholipid-induced inactivation.

Interactions of types I, II, and III protein kinase C (PKC) with phospholipids were investigated by following the changes in protein kinase activity and phorbol ester binding. The acidic phospholipids such as phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidic acid, phosphatidyl-glycerol, and cardiolipin, which are activators of PKC in the assay of protein phosphorylation, could differentially inactivate PKC I, II, and III during preincubation in the absence of divalent cation. The phospholipid-induced inactivation of PKC was concentration and time dependent and only affected the kinase activity without influencing phorbol ester binding. PKC I was the most susceptible to the phospholipid-induced inactivation, and PKC III was the least. The IC50 values of PS for PKC I, II, and III were 5, 45, and greater than 120 microM, respectively. Addition of divalent cation such as Ca2+ or Mg2+ suppressed the phospholipid-induced inactivation of PKC. In the absence of divalent cation, PKC I, II, and III all formed complexes with PS vesicles, although to a slightly different degree, as analyzed by molecule sieve chromatography. [3H]Phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate binding for PKC I, II, and III was recovered after chromatography; however, the kinase activities of all these enzymes were greatly reduced. In the presence of Ca2+, all three PKCs formed complexes with PS vesicles, and both the kinase and phorbol ester-binding activities of PKC II and III were recovered following chromatography. Under the same conditions, the phorbol ester-binding activity of PKC I was also recovered, but the kinase activity was not. The phospholipid-induced inactivation of PKC apparently results from a direct interaction of phospholipid with the catalytic domain of PKC; this interaction can be suppressed by divalent cations. In the presence of divalent cations, PS interacted preferentially with the regulatory domain of PKC and resulted in the activation of the kinase.

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Purification, characterization, and molecular cloning of gonadotropin subunits of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix).

The alpha and beta subunit of silver carp gonadotropin (scGTH-alpha and scGTH-beta) were isolated by high-performance liquid chromatography. Heterogeneity of N-terminal amino acid sequence was observed in scGTH-alpha but not in scGTH-beta. For determining the complete primary structures of scGTH-alpha and scGTH-beta, their cDNAs were cloned. Combining the data of N- and C-terminal sequences determined from proteins and the amino acid sequences deduced from cDNAs, we infer that scGTH-alpha consists of 95 and/or 93 residues and scGTH-beta consists of 115 residues. Both scGTH-alpha and scGTH-beta are glycoprotein. Their carbohydrate content is about 20 g per 100 g protein. The molecular weights of scGTH-alpha and scGTH-beta were calculated to be 12,700 and 15,700 Da, respectively. The amino acid sequences of scGTH-alpha and scGTH-beta are very similar to those of the corresponding subunit of carp GTH, different in only 2 and 4 residues, respectively. In addition, a high extent of homology (70%) was also observed between the alpha subunits of fish and mammalian GTHs. In the case of beta subunit, homology among various species of fish (75 to 98%) is much higher than that between fish and mammal (40%). These data suggest that the alpha subunit is conserved while the beta subunit is diversified during the molecular evolution of vertebrate GTH.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Cellular and subcellular localization of protein kinase C in cat visual cortex.

Polyclonal antibodies against 3 protein kinase C (PKC) subtypes (I, II and III) were applied to localize the kinase in cat visual cortex. These antibodies exclusively stained neuronal cells. Both pyramidal and non-pyramidal cells exhibiting PKC-like immunoreactivity were concentrated in layers, II, III, V and VI with relatively few cells in layer IV. Electron microscopic examination did not reveal any presynaptic localization of the kinase. PKC immunoreactivity remained normal in a zone of cortex surgically isolated from the rest of the brain by an undercut procedure. These results suggest that PKC is heterogenously distributed in adult cat visual cortex; the kinase recognized by the polyclonal antibodies is localized postsynaptically in intracortical neurons of the superficial and deep cortical layers and the expression of the kinase is not regulated by extracortical input.

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Pike eel (Muraenesox cinereus) gonadotropin. Amino acid sequences of both alpha and beta subunits.

The amino acid sequences of pike eel gonadotropin alpha and beta subunits have been determined by standard sequencing analytical methods. The alpha subunit is composed of 93 amino acid residues while the beta subunit comprises 113 amino acid residues. All the invariant half-cystine residues are in the same positions as those found in other gonadotropins. It is noteworthy that the first, putative glycosylation site (Asn56) found in the alpha subunit of other gonadotropins was replaced by Asp56 in the alpha subunit of pike eel gonadotropin. Similarity analyses indicate that both subunits are structurally more similar to other known fish gonadotropin subunits than to those of the mammalian gonadotropins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Studies of protein kinase C in the rat basophilic leukemia (RBL-2H3) cell reveal that antigen-induced signals are not mimicked by the actions of phorbol myristate acetate and Ca2+ ionophore.

Exogenous activators of protein kinase C such as PMA in combination with a Ca2+ ionophore (A23187), cause secretion in rat basophilic (RBL-2H3) cells,but they do so through stimulatory signals that are not the same as those generated by Ag or oligomers of IgE. On the one hand, the synergy between PMA and A23187 and the suppression of Ag-mediated signals (hydrolysis of inositol phospholipids and rise in concentration of cytosolic Ca2+) by PMA were totally dependent on protein kinase C. The loss of synergistic and inhibitory actions of PMA, for example, correlated with the loss of protein kinase C (as determined by immunoblotting techniques) when cells were continuously exposed to PMA. Furthermore, the permeabilization of RBL-2H3 cells resulted in the loss of both protein kinase C and the inhibitory action of PMA, but both were retained if cells were exposed to PMA before permeabilization Ag-induced secretion, on the other hand, was not as dependent on the presence of protein kinase C. The potent inhibitor of this enzyme, staurosporine, which blocked completely the secretory response to the combination of PMA and A23187, did not inhibit Ag-induced secretion except at concentrations (greater than 10 nM) that inhibited Ag-stimulated hydrolysis of inositol phospholipids as well. Also RBL-2H3 cells still showed some secretory-response (approximately 25% of normal) to Ag when cells were depleted (greater than 98%) of protein kinase C by prolonged treatment with PMA. Previous studies have indicated that the secretory response to PMA and A23187 is much lower than that elicited by Ag when the concentrations of stimulants were matched to give the same increase in concentrations of cytosolic Ca2+.

Alkaloids↗

Differential down-regulation of protein kinase C isozymes.

Types I, II, and III protein kinase C have been shown to be products of, respectively, gamma, beta, and alpha genes of this enzyme family (Huang, F. L., Yoshida, Y., Nakabayashi, H., Knopf, J. L., Young, W. S., III, and Huang, K.-P. (1987) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 149, 946-952). Incubation of the highly purified rat brain protein kinase C isozymes with trypsin (kinase/trypsin (w/w) = 100) under identical conditions results in a preferential degradation of types I and II enzymes, whereas the type III enzyme was relatively resistant to tryptic proteolysis. Degradation of the type III enzyme by trypsin could be facilitated with the addition of Ca2+, phosphatidylserine, and dioleoylglycerol; none of these components alone was effective. Limited proteolysis of the three protein kinase C isozymes generated distinctive fragments for each isozyme, indicating that each isozyme has different trypsin-sensitive sites. Tryptic digestion of the type III protein kinase C was used as a model to determine the effects of various modulators on protein kinase C degradation. While Ca2+ and phosphatidylserine together were sufficient to convert the type III protein kinase C from a trypsin-insensitive to a -sensitive form, addition of dioleoylglycerol greatly reduced the Ca2+ requirement for such a conversion. Among the various phospholipids tested, in the presence of either dioleoylglycerol or phorbol ester, phosphatidylserine, cardiolipin, and phosphatidic acid were the most effective, and phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine were the least effective in supporting the digestion of type III protein kinase. Other acidic phospholipids, such as lysophosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositol, were also effective in supporting the degradation in the presence of phorbol ester but not in the presence of dioleoylglycerol. The relevance of these proteolytic reactions to physiological responses was assessed with phorbol ester on rat basophilic leukemia RBL-2H3 cells, which contained both types II and III protein kinase C. Immunoblot analysis with the isozyme-specific antibodies revealed that phorbol ester induced a faster degradation of type II than that of type III isozyme in these cells. The results demonstrate that the various protein kinase C isozymes have different susceptibilities to proteolysis in vitro, when tested with trypsin, as well as to endogenous proteases in intact cells.

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Protein kinase C located in rat liver nuclei. Partial purification and biochemical and immunochemical characterization.

In the rat liver homogenate, maximal protein kinase C activity was found at two calcium concentrations (1.75 and 3.5 mM). Subcellular fractionation of the liver homogenate revealed that the protein kinase C activity requiring 1.75 mM calcium was present only in the cytosolic and particulate subcellular fractions. The protein kinase C activity requiring 3.5 mM calcium concentration was mainly located in the rat liver nuclei preparation. About 19% of the liver homogenate protein kinase C activity requiring 3.5 mM calcium was present in the nuclei. Goat anti-rat brain protein kinase C antibodies revealed a single immunoreactive band at 80-82 kDa in the rat liver nuclear, particulate, or cytosolic fractions. Based on the ratio of plasma membrane marker enzyme activity determined in the nuclear preparation, the purity of the isolated nuclei was ascertained. Rat liver nuclear protein kinase C activity has been partially purified. The purification steps sequentially employed were Triton X-100 extraction of isolated nuclei, DEAE-cellulose chromatography, Phenyl-Superose, and Mono Q (fast protein liquid) chromatography. The final purification step revealed, by silver nitrate staining on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, two protein bands at 80 and 66 kDa, respectively. These findings provide definitive data regarding the nuclear location of protein kinase C. The nuclear location of protein kinase C may lead to an understanding of the molecular pathway involved in signal transduction from the plasma membrane to the nucleus.

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