PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

L E Hokin

Publications and source records attributed to L E Hokin.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

The partial chemical synthesis of inositol 1,2-cyclic 4,5-trisphosphate.

Appreciable amounts of inositol 1,2-cyclic 4,5-trisphosphate (cIP3) are formed on agonist stimulation of secretory cells, e.g., pancreas (1,2) and parotid (3,4). However, the physiological role of this compound is unknown. To obtain sufficient amounts of cIP3, we have developed a synthetic method to produce cIP3 from inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (I(1,4,5)P3). The method is an adaptation of the dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD) method of Khorana et al. (5), which was originally developed to synthesize 2',3'-cyclic ribonucleotides. The method involves treatment of the pyridinium salt of I(1,4,5)P3 with DCCD in pyridine water, which cyclizes part of the 1-phosphate on the inositol ring to the 1,2-cyclic phosphate. The compound identified as cIP3 cochromatographed with authentic cIP3 in two HPLC systems and on ionophoresis. It was converted to I(1,4,5)P3 on mild acid treatment--a characteristic of cyclic inositol phosphates. Inositol 1,2-cyclic 4,5-trisphosphate is then purified by HPLC. Sufficient amounts of cIP3 can be prepared by this method to carry out numerous experiments on its possible cellular role.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Molecular cloning of the Na,K-ATPase alpha-subunit in developing brine shrimp and sequence comparison with higher organisms.

We report here the molecular cloning, nucleotide sequence, and predicted amino acid sequence of an alpha-subunit of the developmentally useful model, Artemia. The amino acid sequence shows divergence from that of mammals, birds, Torpedo, and Drosophila. However, regions in the putative ATP binding and transmembrane domains show absolute or high levels of conservation. Major differences occur in the amino-terminal domain and several other hypervariable regions. These differences are consistent with the suggestion that the brine shrimp is a 'fast clock' organism which diverged from the precursors of vertebrates 0.5-1 billion years ago.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Kinetic analysis of the formation of inositol 1:2-cyclic phosphate in carbachol-stimulated pancreatic minilobules. Half is formed by direct phosphodiesteratic cleavage of phosphatidylinositol.

The issue as to whether there is direct phosphodiesteratic cleavage of phosphatidylinositol (PI), in addition to that of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2), on agonist stimulation of cells has been controversial. In an attempt to resolve this issue, we have studied the kinetics of the formation and breakdown of the cyclic inositol phosphates. This approach is fairly straightforward, since the turnover of the cyclic inositol phosphates is very slow as compared to that of the noncyclic inositol phosphates and proceeds from inositol 1:2-cyclic 4,5-trisphosphate to inositol 1:2-cyclic phosphate (I(c1:2)P) directly by dephosphorylation without any branching pathways, in contrast to the multiple branchpoints of the noncyclic inositol phosphate pathway. Mouse pancreatic minilobules were prelabeled with [3H]inositol for 30 min, followed by washing to remove free inositol. They were then stimulated with carbachol for 30 min. The inositol cyclic polyphosphates reached steady state at 10-15 min, and I(c1:2)P reached steady state at 25 min. We blocked the action of carbachol by addition of an excess of atropine at 30 min, and the rate of disappearance of the three cyclic inositol phosphates was measured. From these data, the contribution of the inositol cyclic polyphosphate pathway to I(c1:2)P was calculated, which was 40-50% of total I(c1:2)P formation. Thus, 40-50% of the I(c1:2)P formed must have been derived from direct phosphodiesteratic cleavage of PI. This approach should prove useful in measuring the relative contributions of PI hydrolysis and PI phosphorylation (phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate hydrolysis) in the overall PI cascade.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Inositol 1,2-cyclic 4,5-trisphosphate is an order of magnitude less potent than inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate in mobilizing intracellular stores of calcium in mouse pancreatic acinar cells.

Semi-synthetic inositol 1,2-cyclic 4,5-trisphosphate is 1/16th as potent as inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate in releasing Ca2+ from intracellular stores in permeabilized mouse pancreatic acinar cells. Competitive displacement studies in mouse pancreatic microsomes show that the affinity of inositol 1,2-cyclic 4,5-trisphosphate is 1/20th of that of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate at the latter's receptor, indicating that the lower potency of inositol 1,2-cyclic 4,5-trisphosphate in releasing Ca2+ can be accounted for by a weaker affinity at the receptor. These results suggest that inositol 1,2-cyclic 4,5-trisphosphate is unlikely to play any significant role in Ca2+ mobilization, at least in mouse pancreatic acinar cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Volume 203, 1953: Enzyme secretion and the incorporation of P32 into phospholipides of pancreas slices.

1. When enzyme secretion was stimulated by carbamylcholine or acetylcholine (with eserine) in slices of pigeon pancreas, the incorporation of P32 into the phospholipide fraction of the stimulated slices was, after 2 hours, 4.8 to 8.7 (average, 7.0) times greater than the incorporation of P32 into the phospholipides of control slices. Neither respiration nor the incorporation of P32 into acid-soluble phosphate esters was increased. 2. Pilocarpine, which on a weight for weight basis was much less effective than carbamylcholine or acetylcholine in stimulating enzyme secretion in pancreas slices, was also much less effective in stimulating the uptake of P32 into phospholipides. 3. The stimulatory effects of carbamylcholine on both enzyme secretion and the incorporation of P32 into phospholipides were abolished by atropine. 4. The specific activity of the phospholipides from slices incubated anaerobically was less than 5 per cent of that observed aerobically. Anaerobically, carbamylcholine did not stimulate the incorporation of P32 into phospholipides to any significant extent. The specific activity of the acid-soluble phosphate esters after anaerobic incubation was 34 per cent of that found aerobically. 5. Cholinergic drugs had little or no effect on the incorporation of P32 into the phospholipides of the following tissue slices: pigeon and guinea pig liver, guinea pig heart ventricle, pigeon gizzard (smooth muscle), and guinea pig kidney cortex. A relatively slight stimulation of P32 uptake into phospholipides was observed in slices of pigeon brain (65 per cent) and guinea pig brain cortex (40 per cent). 6. Stimulation of amylase synthesis in slices of pigeon pancreas by the addition of a mixture of amino acids had no effect on the incorporation of P32 into phospholipides.

Biochemistry↗
PubMed1988

In vitro biosynthesis of the beta-subunit of the Na+/K+-ATPase in developing brine shrimp: glycosylation and membrane insertion.

We demonstrate here translation, glycosylation, and membrane insertion of the beta-subunit of the Na+/K+-ATPase of the developing brine shrimp, Artemia, in a reticulocyte lysate translation system. The apparent molecular weight of the primary translation product as determined by SDS-PAGE is 33,000 +/- 1000 (n = 7). When microsomal membranes are present during the entire translation period, a new band with an apparent molecular weight of 37,000 +/- 1000 (n = 7) appears. This change in apparent molecular weight is due to the addition of about two N-linked oligosaccharides. The temporal relationship between protein synthesis and glycosylation have also been examined. Glycosylation and membrane insertion could be achieved if membranes were added after completion of about 70% of the peptide chain. However, glycosylation did not occur if membranes were added after the completion of translation of the beta-subunit. The beta-subunit was synthesized on membrane-bound polysomes, where about two N-linked oligosaccharides were added to the growing polypeptide chain. These studies demonstrate that in vitro translation systems will be useful for studying the biosynthesis of the beta-subunit of the brine shrimp, which is a good model system to examine the developmental regulation of the Na+/K+-ATPase.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol increases arachidonic acid levels in guinea pig cerebral cortex slices.

Several studies have shown that the major psychoactive component in marihuana, (-)-(trans)-delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), increases the level of unesterified arachidonic acid (AA) in non-neural cells in culture. Little is known, however, about the effects of THC on AA metabolism in the mammalian brain. In the present study, slices from guinea pig brain cortex were prelabeled with [14C]AA, and the effects of THC and other cannabinoids on the disposition of esterified and unesterified [14C]AA were measured. Incubation of prelabeled cortical slices with THC rapidly increased free [14C]AA levels in a dose-dependent and saturable manner. A maximal increase of over 4-fold was elicited by 32 microM THC, with the half-maximal response occurring at 8.0 microM. Comparison of the potencies of several other cannabinoids revealed that the inactive stereoisomer of THC [(+)-THC] was equipotent with the naturally occurring isomer in increasing unesterified [14C]AA levels. The relative rank-order of potencies in the cannabinoid series we examined were (-)-THC = (+)-THC greater than cannabinol greater than delta 8-THC greater than cannabidiol. We also measured cannabinoid-induced changes in the disposition of esterified [14C]AA in the neutral lipids and phospholipids of brain cortex slices. After incubation with 8 microM THC for 1 hr, the radioactivity in triacylglycerols was reduced by over one third. The loss of esterified [14C] AA from triacylglycerols accounted for less than 20% of the THC-induced rise in free [14C]AA; the remainder was accounted for by losses in the radioactivity contained in the phospholipid fraction, particularly from phosphatidylinositol. The loss in radioactivity from phosphatidylinositol alone accounted for over one half of the THC-induced rise in unesterified [14C]AA. The results of the present study indicate that in brain, as in extra-neural cells in culture, cannabinoids increase unesterified AA levels; however, the relative potencies of the cannabinoids we examined in increasing AA levels do not correlate well with their in vivo psychoactive potencies.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Inositol 1,2-cyclic 4,5-trisphosphate is formed in the rat parotid gland on muscarinic stimulation.

Hawkins et al. [Hawkins, P.T., Berrie, C.P., Morris, A.J., and Downes, C.P. (1987) Biochem J. 243, 211-218] were unable to find any formation of inositol 1,2-cyclic 4,5-trisphosphate on muscarinic stimulation of rat parotid slices, contrary to what has been found in mouse pancreas and in platelets. We have repeated the studies of Hawkins et al. using [3H]inositol-prelabelled rat parotid minilobules and our improved HPLC method for clearly separating the three inositol trisphosphates. Substantial amounts of inositol 1,2-cyclic 4,5-trisphosphate formed on muscarinic stimulation of rat parotid minilobules, amounting to 5% of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate at 10 sec and one third of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate at 5 min.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Inositol 1,2-cyclic 4,5-trisphosphate concentration relative to inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate in pancreatic minilobules on stimulation with carbamylcholine in the absence of lithium. Possible role as a second messenger in long- but not short-term responses.

A method for the extraction of cyclic inositol phosphates in the absence of acid after short incubation times is described. A modified high pressure liquid chromatography method is also described which separates inositol 1,2-cyclic 4,5-trisphosphate (IcP3), inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (I(1,4,5)P3), and inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate (I(1,3,4)P3). Mouse pancreatic minilobules were preincubated with [3H]inositol for 1 h in the absence of lithium, washed, and incubated without and with carbamylcholine without lithium for various times. On adding carbamylcholine, I(1,4,5)P3 peaked at 10 s, followed by a fall to a steady-state level which was two-thirds the peak value. This level was maintained for 20 min. IcP3, on the other hand, rose very slowly; at 10 s, it was only 5% of I(1,4,5)P3. It continued to rise until it equaled the steady-state level of I(1,4,5)P3 at 20 min. I(1,3,4)P3 rose gradually but at a faster rate than IcP3, peaking at 40 s at the same level as that achieved by I(1,4,5)P3 at that time and then falling in parallel with I(1,4,5)P3. Assuming equal potencies of IcP3 and I(1,4,5)P3 in mobilizing intracellular stores of Ca2+ in pancreatic minilobules, as seen in Limulus photoreceptor cells, platelets, and 3T3 cells, IcP3 would appear to play no messenger role at very early times. Thus, I(1,4,5)P3 should be responsible for almost all of Ca2+ release at very early times (10 s), while at later times (20 min) IcP3 and I(1,4,5)P3 should contribute equally to Ca2+ release. The significance of these results is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Highly sensitive muscarinic receptors in the cerebellum are coupled to prostaglandin formation.

There have been relatively few studies on the effects of neurotransmitters on the synthesis of prostaglandins in the brain. We report here that acetylcholine is very effective in stimulating prostaglandin synthesis in cerebellar cortex slices incubated in vitro, i.e., 5 microM acetylcholine increased prostaglandin levels up to 3-fold over control levels. The response was saturable and dose-dependent over the range of 0.1-5 microM acetylcholine. Atropine, at a concentration of 50 nM, abolished the response. The results indicate that high-affinity muscarinic receptors in the cerebellum are coupled to prostaglandin formation. Potassium-induced depolarization or incubation with 0.1 mM histamine also significantly increased prostaglandin formation. These findings provide support for the notion that certain neurotransmitters can modulate prostaglandin levels in the mammalian brain.

Acetylcholine↗