Biomedical subjects

L Foia

Publications and source records attributed to L Foia.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Contractile effects of angiotensin peptides in rat aorta are differentially dependent on tyrosine kinase activity.

It has been suggested that tyrosine kinase activity participates in the regulation of signal transduction associated with angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced pharmaco-mechanical coupling in rat aortic smooth muscle. We further tested the effects of genistein, a tyrosine-kinase inhibitor, and its inactive analogue, daidzein, on angiotensin I (Ang I), angiotensin III (Ang III) and angiotensin IV (Ang IV) contractions, as compared with those on Ang II. Genistein partially inhibited Ang II- and Ang I-induced contractions. The genistein-induced inhibition was more evident on Ang III and especially important on Ang IV contractile effects. Thus, Ang IV- and Ang III-induced contractions seem to be more dependent on tyrosine kinase activity than those evoked by Ang II or Ang I. Daidzein did not significantly affect the contractile effects of any of angiotensin peptides tested. These results clearly suggest that the inhibition of the action of angiotensin peptides actions by genistein is mediated by inhibition of endogenous tyrosine kinase activity. Furthermore, our data show that the type and/or intensity of tyrosine kinase activity is differentially associated with the contractile effects of different angiotensin peptides in rat aorta. Nifedipine, a blocker of membrane L-type Ca2+ channels, strongly inhibited Ang IV-induced contractions. At the same time, it significantly inhibited Ang III contractile effects as compared with Ang II and Ang I contractions. Meanwhile, we observed a close relationship between calcium influx and tyrosine kinase phosphorylation activity under the stimulatory effects of angiotensin peptides. Furthermore, genistein did not significantly influence the phasic contractions induced by angiotensin peptides in Ca2+-free Krebs-Henseleit solution. Thus, it appears that Ca2+ influx, rather than the release of Ca2+ from IP3-sensitive stores, may play a major role in the contractile effects of angiotensin peptides in rat aorta via tyrosine kinase activation. One argument against a direct action of genistein on the Ca2+ channel itself is that it did not markedly affect the K+-induced contraction (depolarisation) in rat aorta. At the same time, a potential role for tyrosine kinase activity in the process of calcium entry is suggested. An elevation of intracellular calcium via tyrosine kinase-mediated processes may mediate the actions of G-protein coupled receptor agonists in smooth muscle, including angiotensin peptides.

Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The biological effects of liposome interactions with the endoplasmic reticulum].

Liposome research is a thriving field at the confluence of biophysics, cell biology and medicine. The principal medical application of liposomes is based on their potential to act as carriers for a broad spectrum of drugs and other agents, including antigens with or without immunomodulators in vaccination. Treatment of peritoneal macrophages of rats with small unilamellar vesicles of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC SUV) potentiated their activation for tumor cell lysis by endotoxins. The measurement of the fluorescence anisotropy of diphenylhexatriene showed a phase transition. No phase transition was observed in the rough endoplasmic reticulum membranes of macrophages either treated or not treated with cholesterol/DPPC SUV. The synergistic effect of DPPC SUV on the tumoricidal activity of macrophages induced by endotoxins appears to be correlated with the changes in the properties of the rough endoplasmic reticulum membranes. Both effects were transient; they had the same kinetics of induction and reversion.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The causes of gingival overgrowth].

Gingival overgrowth includes a series of diseases with many clinical appearances. The pathological mechanisms being obscure there were used many terms for defining it. Thus, "gingival hyperplasia" and "gingival hypertrophy" were the definitions used to define this pathology. Therefore, the term of "gingival overgrowth" replaced in last decades the above two terms. This article have the goal of trying a classification of the entities forming the large family of gingival overgrowth.

Dentures↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Glucose metabolic changes in stress].

Provision of a better understanding of the pathogenic pathways underlying injured sugar metabolism during stress should ideally translate into a more rational approach to the provision of nutritional support. Patients with burns, trauma, severe injuries or infections commonly develop a hypermetabolic state that is associated with several changes in carbohydrate metabolism. The hypermetabolic state is induced either by the area of injury and by organs involved in the immunologic response to stress; further it determines a glycemic milieu which will be directed toward satisfaction of the requirements for glucose as an energy support.

Gluconeogenesis↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Interactions between liposomes and synaptosomes].

In continuing experiments to determine the basis of presynaptic modulation, rat cortical synaptosomes were employed and transmembrane calcium fluxes were determined with a metalocromophoric dye, Arsenazo III. The intracellular free Ca2+ concentrations show complex fluctuations in time and space in response to a variety of stimuli, acting as a pluripotent signal for many neuronal functions. Depolarisation of synaptosomes by K+ 20 mM determined calcium influx in cortical synaptosomes, mainly mediated by the Q type Ca2+ channels, with a minor participation of the N type channels. The administration protocol for the polyamines, revealed that agmatine, spermine, spermidine, putresceine and cadaverine reduce, in variable proportions, the K(+)-induced Ca2+ influx, in synaptosomal preparations. The results plead for the ability of agmatine and spermine to modulate Ca2+ fluxes in synaptosomes, both from the interior and exterior side. Moreover, rigidization of the synaptosomal membrane (by cholesterol-enriched liposomes administration) do not significantly influences K(+)-induced Ca2+ influx in synaptosomal preparations.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Contractile effects of intracellularly administered angiotensin II are partially dependent on membrane receptors internalization in isolated rat aorta.

In the present study we used the isolated rat aorta as a model to characterize the modulation of contractile effects of extra- and intracellularly administered angiotensin II by dithiothreitol (DTT) and hyperosmotic sucrose. DTT inactivation of AT1 receptor as well as disruption of the clathrin-coated pits by hyperosmotic sucrose significantly inhibited the contraction induced by intracellularly administered AII. We suggest that these intracellular effects of angiotensin peptides are associated with AT1 receptor activation/internalization and may thus be part of the mechanism of angiotensin peptides direct contractile effects in the vascular smooth muscle.

Angiotensin II↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The role of the mitochondria in the clearance of cytosolic calcium].

The magnitude and space-temporal profile of the intracellular Ca2+ transients are determined both by the mechanism that decrease and increase calcium levels in the cytoplasm. By the use of cocktails with different content of specific inhibitors of the extrusion and sequester mechanisms, the ability of mitochondrial Ca2+ transport to limit the elevation in free cytosolic Ca2+ concentration, following an imposed Ca2+ load was reexamined, indicating variable data with respect to various cells. In chromaffin cells, inhibition of mitochondrial Ca2+ accumulation with protonophore, dramatically modifies the shape of the [Ca2+]c response, indicating that mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake is an important mechanism for clearance of large Ca2+ loads. By contrast, using digital imaging in the presence of specific mitochondria inhibitors to investigate the [Ca2+]c responses of cerebellar granule cells in which ATP generation has been totally separated from mitochondrial Ca2+ transport, indicates surprising results: it was confirmed that mitochondria in these cells accumulate Ca2+ entering the cell in response to plasma membrane depolarization, but specific abolition of mitochondrial Ca2+ accumulation without ATP depletion significantly decreases the bulk cytoplasmic Ca2+ transients generated by elevated KCl levels, whereas the response in greatly increased when protonophore are present and ATP/ADP ratios are allowed to collapse. The results suggest that nonmitochondrial ATP-dependent transport pathways are primarily responsible for removing excess Ca2+ from the cytoplasm. Far from restricting the elevation in [Ca2+]c in response to a Ca2+ load, functional mitochondria may enhance the elevation in the bulk cytoplasm. The existent conflict of data, suggests the need for a new reevaluation of the role of mitochondria in Ca2+ clearance, and the possibility that mitochondria contribute to, rather than protect against, excitoxicity has to be investigated.

Animals↗