Biomedical subjects

K E Howell

Publications and source records attributed to K E Howell.

63 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

PubMed1982

Hepatic Golgi fractions resolved into membrane and content subfractions.

Golgi fractions isolated from rat liver homogenates have been resolved into membrane and content subfractions by treatment with 100 mM Na2CO3 pH 11.3. This procedure permitted extensive extraction of content proteins and lipoproteins, presumably because it caused an alteration of Golgi membranes that minimized the reformation of closed vesicles. The type and degree of contamination of the fractions was assessed by electron microscopy and biochemical assays. The membrane subfraction retained 15% of content proteins and lipids, and these could not be removed by various washing procedures. The content subfraction was contaminated by both membrane fragments and vesicles and accounted for 5 to 10% of the membrane enzyme activities of the original Golgi fraction. The lipid compositions of the subfractions was determined, and the phospholipids of both membrane and content were found to be uniformly labeled with [33P]phosphate administered in vivo.

Animals↗

PubMed1982

Heterogeneity of lipoprotein particles in hepatic Golgi fractions.

Newly synthesized phospholipids, labeled with either [14C]choline, [3H]myo-inositol, or [33P]phosphate, partioned preferentially (greater than 80% of total incorporated radioactivity) in a Golgi membrane subfraction, although the cognate content subfraction contained a relatively large amount of secretory lipoproteins. The labeling pattern was the same for all phospholipids tested in the two subfractions. An active exchange process of polar lipids between Golgi membranes and Golgi secretory lipoproteins is postulated as a plausible explanation for these findings. Less than half of all Golgi lipoprotein particles have the density of serum VLDLs and a similar, but not identical, biochemical composition. The remaining lipoprotein particles are characterized by a continuous spectrum of sizes, and (to the extent tested) by a lipid and protein composition different from that of serum VLDLs and HDLs. Results obtained in control experiments rule out the possibility that the heterogeneous population of Golgi lipoprotein particles is an artefact caused by our preparation procedures. It is assumed that these heterogeneous particles are immature precursors of both VLDLs and HDLs.

Animals↗

PubMed1982

Effects of taurocholate on the size of mixed lipid micelles and their associations with pigment and proteins in rat bile.

Mixed lipid micelles were isolated from rat bile on taurocholate-equilibrated Sephadex G100 and G200 columns (5-60 mM) to study relationships between lipids and other constituents of bile. Phospholipid, cholesterol, and a bile salt peak co-eluted as mixed micelles at all taurocholate concentrations. The micellar radius, derived from the elution profile, increased progressively from approximately 1.6 nm to approximately 3.5 nm when the column taurocholate concentration was reduced from 40-60 mM to 5 mM (the physiological range for rat bile). Biliary bile pigment and bromsulphthalein, added in vivo, eluted as self-aggregates that were smaller than the lipid micelles. In contrast, on bromsulphthalein-equilibrated columns, unconjugated bromsulphthalein associated weakly with lipid micelles but this association accounted for less than 10% of the unconjugated dye in bile. No associations were found between lipid and proteins when SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic polypeptide patterns of column fractions were compared with the lipid elution profiles at different taurocholate concentrations. Two high molecular weight protein aggregates were demonstrated in bile (greater than 222,000 Mr) by Sephadex G200 chromatography. These studies provide a reliable estimate of rat bile lipid micelle size and suggest that bile pigment, bromsulphthalein and proteins do not form strong associations with biliary mixed micelles but exist in bile predominantly as self-aggregates.

Animals↗

PubMed1978

Endoplasmic reticulum marker enzymes in Golgi fractions--what does this mean?

NADPH cytochrome c (cyt c) reductase and glucose-6-phosphatase, two enzymes thought to be restricted to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and widely used as ER markers, are present in isolated Golgi fractions assayed immediately after their isolation. Both enzymes are rapidly inactivated in fractions stored at 0 degrees C in 0.25 M sucrose, conditions which do not affect the activity of other enzymes in the same preparation. The inactivation process was shown to be dependent on time and protein concentration and could be prevented by EDTA and catalase. Morphological evidence shows that extensive membrane damage occurs parallel with the inactivation. Taken together with the immunological data in the companion paper, the findings indicate that the enzymes NADPH cyt c reductase and probably glucose-6-phosphate are indigenous components of Golgi membranes.

Catalase↗

PubMed1975

Solubilization of brush borders of hamster small intestine and fractionation of some of the components.

About 90% of the protein of hamster intestinal brush borders was solubilised in 0.25% (w/v) sodium dodecyl sulphate without total loss of biological activity. Detergent-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the solubilised proteins separated 10-15 bands and partially resolved maltase, lactase, sucrase-maltase, trehalase and alkaline phosphatase activities. The disaccharidases, which were associated with the higher molecular weight proteins, were preferentially solubilised with 0.1%. (w/v) Triton X-100, butanol or papain, whereas Tris and NaI extracted only the lower molecular weight proteins, possible derived from the core filaments. Electrophoresis of brush border proteins metabolically labelled with [14-C] glucosamine suggested that many of the membrane-bound enzymes are glycoproteins. However, chromatography of a papain digest on Sephadex G-200 showed that the sucrase-maltase complex can be separated nearly free of carbohydrate without total loss of activity. The importance of characterizing membrane proteins solubilised by a number of techniques is discussed.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

PubMed1972