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Biomedical subjects

K Kirk

Publications and source records attributed to K Kirk.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Transport of organic substrates via a volume-activated channel.

We have investigated the volume-activated transport of organic solutes in flounder erythrocytes. Osmotic swelling of cells suspended in a Na(+)-free medium led to increased membrane transport of taurine, glucose, and uridine. For each compound there was a significant lag period (1-2 min at 10 degrees C) between cell swelling and activation of the flux. The volume-activated fluxes of each of the substrates increased in parallel with increasing cell volume, and those of taurine and uridine increased linearly with concentration (up to 19 mM). The volume-activated fluxes of each of the three compounds showed similar sensitivities to a number of anion-selective channel blockers (5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)benzoic acid > 4,4'-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid approximately MK-196 > niflumic acid > furosemide); the IC50 for the inhibition of the volume-activated fluxes by NPPB was around 12 microM. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the volume-activated transport of organic osmolytes is via a pathway with the characteristics of a volume-activated "chloride channel." This raises the question of whether the transport of organic substrates might represent a physiological role for such channels in other cell types.

4,4'-Diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-Disulfonic Acid↗
PubMed1992

The increased K+ leak of malaria-infected erythrocytes is not via a Ca(2+)-activated K+ channel.

Charybdotoxin and nitrendipine both inhibited K+(86Rb+) influx via the Ca(2+)-activated channel of uninfected erythrocytes but had no effect on K+(86Rb+) transport in malaria-infected cells. Activation of the channel in uninfected cells in which the cytoplasmic [Na+]/[K+] ratio was adjusted to be comparable with that of late-stage malaria-infected erythrocytes resulted in a large (nitrendipine-sensitive) increase in K+(86Rb+) influx. These results suggest that the endogenous Ca(2+)-activated K+ channel remains inactive in human red cells infected with late-stage parasites. The identity of the pathway which mediates the increased K(+)-leak in infected erythrocytes remains to be established.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Nitrendipine is a potent inhibitor of the Ca(2+)-activated K+ channel of human erythrocytes.

Nitrendipine, a classical blocker of L-type Ca2+ channels, is shown to be a potent inhibitor of the Ca(2+)-activated K+ channel of human erythrocytes. In erythrocytes suspended in a solution with physiological Na+ and K+ concentrations and in which the channel was activated using the Ca2+ ionophore ionomycin, nitrendipine inhibited K+(86Rb+) influx with an I50 of around 130 nM. Similar results were obtained for K+(86Rb+) efflux, and for K+(86Rb+) influx into cells suspended in a high-K+ medium.

Calcium↗
PubMed1992

Confidence as a factor in chronic illness care.

Confidence is generally regarded as a positive quality which enhances personal coping and success. For those who are chronically ill and face a life of uncertainty, confidence becomes especially important. In a recent qualitative study examining chronically ill patients' perceptions of nursing care, confidence was found to be the grand essence which tied together all the informants' experiences with good nursing care. The informants entered the hospital with the expectation that the nurses would and could look after them. Observing and receiving good nursing care reinforced this confidence. In addition to this, the informants referred to confidence that was developed by the interest and value the nurses placed on the patient as an individual. Showing an interest in the patient as an individual gave the patient confidence in self-worth and in personal coping ability. These two sources of confidence combined to give the informants confidence in their futures. In the nursing literature the exploration of the concept of confidence is minimal. This paper discusses confidence as a factor in the care of the chronically ill using data from the study for illustration.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

Characterisation of the activity and stability of single-chain cathepsin L and of proteolytically active cathepsin L/cystatin complexes.

The activity of single-chain cathepsin L was found to be markedly dependent on cysteine concentration, while a covalent, proteolytically active cathepsin L/cystatin complex was less cysteine-dependent. Cysteine levels and ionic strength did not affect the stability of either enzyme form and both enzyme forms were found to be stable for significant periods of time at or near physiological pH.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Enhanced choline and Rb+ transport in human erythrocytes infected with the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.

Human erythrocytes infected in vitro with the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum showed a markedly increased rate of choline influx compared with normal cells. Choline transport into uninfected cells (cultured in parallel with infected cells) obeyed Michaelis-Menten kinetics (Km approximately 11 microM). In malaria-parasite-infected cells there was an additional choline-transport component which failed to saturate at extracellular concentrations of up to 500 microM. This component was less sensitive than the endogenous transporter to inhibition by the Cinchona bark alkaloids quinine, quinidine, cinchonine and cinchonidine, but showed a much greater sensitivity than the native system to inhibition by piperine. The sensitivity of the induced choline transport to these reagents was similar to that of the malaria-induced (ouabain- and bumetanide-resistant) Rb(+)-transport pathway; however, the relative magnitudes of the piperine-sensitive choline and Rb+ fluxes in malaria-parasite-infected cells varied between cultures. This suggests either that the enhanced transport of the two cations was via functionally distinct (albeit pharmacologically similar) pathways, or that the transport was mediated by a pathway with variable substrate selectivity.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Characteristics of 86Rb+ transport in human erythrocytes infected with Plasmodium falciparum.

Human red cells infected in vitro with Plasmodium falciparum showed a significant increase in the rate of both ouabain-sensitive and ouabain-insensitive 86Rb+ influx. The increase in ouabain-insensitive 86Rb+ influx was due, in part, to increased transport via a bumetanide-sensitive system and, in part to transport via a pathway that was absent (or at least inactive) in uninfected cells. The parasite-induced pathway was inhibited by piperine and had a dose response very similar to that of the Gardos channel of uninfected cells but was less sensitive than the Gardos channel to inhibition by quinine.

Alkaloids↗
PubMed1991

K+ transport across the lamprey erythrocyte membrane: characteristics of a Ba(2+)- and amiloride-sensitive pathway.

The characteristics of K+ transport in erythrocytes from the river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis) were investigated using standard radioisotope flux techniques. The cells were shown to have a ouabain-sensitive transport pathway that carried 43K+ and 86Rb+ into the cell at similar rates. Most of the ouabain-resistant 43K+ and 86Rb+ influx was via a pathway that was insensitive to cotransport inhibitors and to the replacement of extracellular Cl- or Na+. This pathway showed a strong selectivity for 43K+ over 86Rb+. It was inhibited fully by Ba2+ (I50 approximately 2.8 mumol l-1), amiloride (I50 approximately 150 mumol l-1) and ethylisopropylamiloride (I50 approximately 3.3 mumol l-1) and less effectively by quinine and by the tetraethylammonium ion. Inhibition by Ba2+ took full effect within a few minutes whereas the full inhibitory effect of amiloride took more than 1 h to develop. Experiments with the membrane potential probe [14C]tetraphenylphosphonium ion gave results consistent with the lamprey erythrocyte membrane having a Ba(2+)-sensitive K+ conductance that was significantly greater than the membrane Na+ conductance and which gave rise to a marked dependence of the membrane potential on the extracellular K+ concentration. The rate constants for Ba(2+)-sensitive 43K+ and 86Rb+ influx decreased (proportionally) with increasing extracellular K+ concentration in a manner that was consistent with the transport being via a conductive pathway. The decrease was attributed to a depolarisation of the membrane (in response to the increasing extracellular K+ concentration) and a consequent decrease in the driving force for the conductive movement of 43K+ and 86Rb+ into the cells. Ba(2+)-sensitive 86Rb+ influx increased significantly with decreasing cell volume and with increasing intracellular pH (at a constant extracellular pH) but increased only slightly with increasing extracellular pH. The pathway operated normally in the complete absence of extracellular Ca2+ but its activity decreased in cells pretreated with ionomycin and EGTA; this suggests a role for intracellular Ca2+ in the operation of the pathway.

Amiloride↗
PubMed1991

The effect of N-ethylmaleimide on K+ and Cl- transport pathways in the lamprey erythrocyte membrane: activation of K+/Cl- cotransport.

The effect of the sulphydryl reagent N-ethylmaleimide on the K+ and Cl- transport pathways of the lamprey erythrocyte membrane was found to be quite complex. N-Ethylmaleimide inhibited the Ba(2+)-sensitive pathway that mediates most of the ouabain-resistant influx of K+ into the cell under physiological conditions but stimulated a Cl(-)-dependent, B(2+)-resistant K+ transport pathway that was inhibited by compounds that inhibit Cl(-)-dependent K+ transport in the human erythrocyte. N-Ethylmaleimide (in most cases) reduced the total influx of Cl- into the lamprey erythrocyte but (in all cases) introduced a K(+)-dependent component into the measured Cl- uptake; this was explained in terms of N-ethylmaleimide having inhibited the pathway primarily responsible for Cl- influx under physiological conditions but having stimulated a second, K(+)-dependent Cl- transport pathway. Although the magnitude of the K+ and Cl- fluxes stimulated by N-ethylmaleimide varied widely between cells from different lampreys, there was, in each individual case, a close similarity between the magnitude of the Cl(-)-dependent K+ influx (calculated from the 86Rb+ uptake) and the K(+)-dependent Cl- influx; the mean value for the ratio of the former to the latter was 1.01 +/- 0.03 (N = 5). The results are therefore consistent with the sulphydryl reagent having activated a K+/Cl- cotransport system similar to that present in erythrocytes from many mammalian species. This raises the possibility that the lamprey red cell may be a uniquely suitable system in which to study the characteristics of Cl- transport by this pathway.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Rural areas losing appeal for young doctors.

Since fewer and fewer medical students are choosing to practice in rural communities, these areas are scrambling to recruit physicians. So far, however, such lures as interest-free loans and other incentives are not enticing enough for young physicians. What are the rural areas to do? One Ohio county thinks a foreign medical graduate may be the answer, and it's working overtime to bring her onboard.

Female↗
PubMed1990

NMR methods for measuring membrane transport rates.

NMR methods for measuring membrane transport rates rely in most cases upon there being a significant transmembrane difference in either the resonance frequency or the NMR relaxation times of the transported species. The first part of this review examines the various factors that can give rise to such differences in cell and vesicle suspensions. The second part provides an introduction to the theory of membrane transport measurements and describes the different ways in which transmembrane differences in NMR parameters have been exploited in monitoring both slow and fast membrane transport processes.

Biological Transport↗