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Biomedical subjects

M Cohn

Publications and source records attributed to M Cohn.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Generation of lipid neutrophil chemoattractant by irradiated bovine aortic endothelial cells.

Radiation injury to blood vessels is associated with an acute inflammatory process. We investigated the capacity of cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC) to produce chemotactic factors after radiation injury. BAEC in serum-free media were irradiated with a cobalt-60 Gammacell 220 and the cell supernatants were assayed for chemotactic activity for human neutrophils in a Boyden chamber. There was a rapid release of chemotactic activity into the BAEC supernatants which was dependent both on the dose of radiation (5 to 40 Gy) and the time between irradiation and sample collection. In contrast, isolation of BAEC lysates by freeze-thawing was not associated with the presence of similar chemotactic activity. The chemotactic activity released from the irradiated BAEC was not destroyed by boiling nor by treatment with trypsin. The release of the chemotactic activity was, however, inhibited by the addition of a lipoxygenase inhibitor but not by the addition of a cyclooxygenase inhibitor before the irradiation. The chemotactic activity was recovered from the cell supernatants in the lipid phase after extraction with chloroform/methanol. Furthermore, the chloroform/methanol extracts co-eluted with authentic leukotriene B4 when the BAEC were prelabeled with [14C] arachidonic acid. However, we were unable to detect endogenous leukotriene B4 with RIA. Instead, the only detectable endogenous lipid present in the supernatants was 13-hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid which is derived from linoleic acid via the lipoxygenase pathway. 13-Hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid, however, had no chemotactic activity. These findings suggest that endothelial cells rapidly release a chemotactic agent after irradiation, the release of which is associated with a lipoxygenase pathway. The release of this chemotactic activity may account in part for the acute inflammatory response that is observed after ionizing irradiation.

Animals

Energy metabolism of the untrained muscle of elite runners as observed by 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy: evidence suggesting a genetic endowment for endurance exercise.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether genetically determined properties of muscle metabolism contribute to the exceptional physical endurance of world-class distance runners. ATP, phosphocreatine, inorganic phosphate, and pH were quantitatively determined by 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the wrist flexor muscles of elite long-distance runners and sedentary control subjects. These muscles had not been exposed to any specific program of exercise training in either group of subjects. The "untrained" muscles were examined at rest, during two cycles of three grades of exercise, and in recovery. The flexor muscles of the athletes had higher concentrations of phosphocreatine and ATP than did those of the control subjects at rest and during exercise. The athletes' muscles possessed a higher capacity for generation of ATP by oxidative metabolism than did control subjects' muscles according to the following criteria: (i) high force output, 60% of maximum voluntary contraction, was more easily reached and better maintained in both exercise cycles; (ii) the ratio of inorganic phosphate to phosphocreatine rose less during exercise and recovered faster in the postexercise period; (iii) there was no loss of adenine nucleotides or total phosphate from the athletes' muscles but significant losses from the control subjects' muscles; and (iv) the pH decreased no more than 0.1 unit in the athletes' muscles during exercise, attesting to a relatively slow glycolysis and/or a rapid oxidation of lactate. In the muscles of the control subjects, on the other hand, the pH decreased nearly 0.4 unit early in the first exercise cycle, indicating a relatively fast glycolysis and/or slower oxidation of lactate. In the second exercise cycle, the pH returned to near normal in the control subjects' muscles, reflecting diminished lactate formation because of glycogen depletion and lactate washout by the high blood flow induced by exercise. By the end of the exercise program, the maximum voluntary contractile force for the control subjects had declined to less than 60% of the initial value. This decline could be explained best by exhaustion of the glycolytic contribution to muscle contraction. Therefore, the residual maximum strength provided a measure of the oxidative capacity to support contraction, as is discussed. In conclusion, we suggest that a greater oxidative capacity relative to glycolytic capacity for support of contraction in untrained muscle of world-class runners reflects a genetic endowment for physical endurance. Additional systemic effects of training cannot be completely excluded. 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy provides a noninvasive method for assessing this endowment.

Adenine Nucleotides

The renotrophic factor, a persistent stimulus that crosses the placenta in mice.

1. Twenty 7-week female mice underwent right nephrectomy and twenty others were sham operated. A week later all animals were made pregnant. Pregnancy was repeated five more times consecutively and various renal parameters were assessed in the pups. 2. Fractional fresh kidney weight (relative to body weight) was significantly increased in the pups of nephrectomized mothers while percentage renal water and protein content expressed as mg/g kidney weight were not statistically different in the two groups of pups. Thus dry kidney weight and amount of protein per kidney were increased in the experimental group. This was true for the newborns of all six pregnancies. 3. Renal morphometric studies performed in newborns of first pregnancies showed that the mean number of glomeruli per microscopic field, mean fractional cumulative glomerular area (relative to microscopic field area) and the mean number of cells per glomerulus were significantly greater in the experimental group. Mean glomerular radius was not statistically different in the two groups. 4. The results indicate that: (1) the renotrophic factor(s) crosses the placenta in mice; (2) its activity in maternal circulation following uninephrectomy is sustained for a relatively long period; and (3) fetal response to enhanced maternal renotrophin stimulation consists of increased renal dry weight and renal protein, formation of super-physiological numbers of glomeruli and cellular hyperplasia of the glomeruli.

Alanine Transaminase

Piroxicam and doxepin--an alternative to narcotic analgesics in managing advanced cancer pain.

To provide an effective continuum of the relief of severe carcinomatous pain with minimal side reactions, we initiated treatment with piroxicam (60 to 120 mg per day) and doxepin hydrochloride (25 to 225 mg per day). Of 30 patients presenting with severe pain of cancer of various origins, 7 continued to death with piroxicam and doxepin therapy. An additional 17 were successfully treated for 6 to 66 weeks with therapy reported here but, as disease progressed, required supplemental narcotics. The remaining six abandoned the use of piroxicam due to complications of therapy, which ranged from diarrhea to gastric perforation; serious complications were associated with patients' failure to adhere to a prescribed regimen of sucralfate. Therapy with piroxicam and doxepin proved to be safe and efficacious.

Adult

Functional pools of oxidative and glycolytic fibers in human muscle observed by 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy during exercise.

Quantitative probing of heterogeneous regions in muscle is feasible with phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy because of the differentiation of metabolic patterns of glycolytic and oxidative fibers. A differential recruitment of oxidative and glycolytic fibers during exercise was demonstrated in 4 of 10 untrained young men by following changes in phosphate metabolites. Concentrations of inorganic phosphate (Pi), phosphocreatine, and ATP were estimated in the wrist flexor muscles of the forearm at rest, during two cycles of three grades of exercise, and in recovery. At high work levels (40% of maximum strength), two distinct Pi peaks were observed and identified with Pi pools at pH 6.9 and pH 5.9-6.4, respectively. These could be accounted for as follows. At the lowest level of work (using 20% of maximum strength), early recruitment primarily of oxidative (type I) and possibly some intermediate (type IIA) muscle fibers occurs with relatively little net lactate production and consequently little decrease in pH. At higher work loads, however, primarily glycolytic (type IIB) muscle fibers are recruited, which have relatively high net lactate production and therefore generate a second pool of Pi at low pH. ATP depletion (35-54%) and Pi losses accompanied the reduction in ability to perform during the first exercise cycle. When the cycle of graded exercise was repeated immediately, the total Pi remained high but gave rise to only one peak at pH 6.8-7.0. These observations indicated exhaustion of glycolytic type IIB fibers, removal of lactate by high local blood flow, and sustained contractions largely by oxidative type I and IIA fibers. A functional differentiation of fiber types could also be demonstrated during recovery if exercise was stopped while two pools of Pi were still apparent. In the first 3 min of recovery, the Pi peak at pH 6.8-6.9 disappeared almost entirely, whereas the Pi peak at pH 6.0 remained unaltered, reflecting the faster recovery of oxidative type I fibers. The potential of magnetic resonance spectroscopy to characterize oxidative and glycolytic fibers, predict capacity for aerobic performance, and signal the presence of muscle pathology is discussed.

Adenine Nucleotides

Fluorine-19 nuclear magnetic resonance studies of the structure of 5-fluorouracil-substituted Escherichia coli transfer RNA.

19F nuclear magnetic resonance has been used to study fully active Escherichia coli tRNA1Val in which 5-fluorouracil has replaced more than 90% of all uracil and uracil-derived modified bases. The 19F spectrum of the native tRNA contains resolved resonances for all 14 incorporated 5-fluorouracils. These are spread over a 6 ppm range, from 1.8 to 7.7 ppm downfield of the standard free 5-fluorouracil. The 19F resonances serve as sensitive monitors of tRNA conformation. Removal of magnesium or addition of NaCl produces major, reversible changes in the 19F spectrum. Most affected is the lowest field resonance (peak A) in the spectrum of the native tRNA. This shifts 2-3 ppm upfield as the Mg2+ concentration is lowered or the NaCl concentration is raised. Thermal denaturation of the tRNA results in a collapse of the spectrum to a single broad peak centered at 4.7 ppm. Study of the pH dependence of the 19F spectrum shows that five incorporated fluorouracils with 19F signals in the central, 4-5.5 ppm, region of the spectrum, peaks C, D, E, F, and H, are accessible to titration in the pH 4.5-9 range. All have pKa's close to that of free 5-fluorouridine (ca. 7.5). Evidence for a conformation change in the tRNA at mildly acidic pHs, ca. 5.5, is also presented. Four of the titratable 5-fluorouracil residues, those corresponding to peaks D, E/F, and H in the 19F spectrum of fluorine-labeled tRNAVal1, are essentially completely exposed to solvent as determined by the solvent isotope shift (SIS) on transfer of the tRNA from H2O to 2H2O. These are also the 5-fluorouracils that readily form adducts with bisulfite, a reagent that reacts preferentially with pyrimidines in single-stranded regions. On the basis of these results, resonances D, E, F, and H in the middle of the 19F spectrum are attributed to 5-fluorouracils in non-base-paired (loop) regions of the tRNA. Evidence from the ionic strength dependence of the 19F spectrum and arguments based on other recent studies with fluorinated tRNAs support earlier suggestions [Horowitz, J., Ofengand, J., Daniel, W. E., & Cohn, M. (1977) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 4418-4420] that the resonances at lowest field correspond to tertiary hydrogen-bonded 5-fluorouracils. Consideration of ring-current effects and the preferential perturbation of upfield 19F resonances by the cyclophotoaddition of 4'-(hydroxymethyl)-4,5',8-trimethylpsoralen, which is known to react most readily with pyrimidines in double-stranded regions, permits initial assignment of upfield resonances to 5-fluorouracils in helical stems.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Base Sequence

Photochemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization NMR study of yeast and horse muscle phosphoglycerate kinase.

A photochemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization (photo-CIDNP) study of yeast and horse muscle phosphoglycerate kinase with flavin dyes was undertaken to identify the histidine, tryptophan, and tyrosine resonances in the aromatic region of the simplified 1H NMR spectra of these enzymes and to investigate the effect of substrates on the resonances observable by CIDNP. Identification of the CIDNP-enhanced resonances with respect to the type of amino acid residue has been achieved since only tyrosine yields emission peaks and the dye 8-aminoriboflavin enhances tryptophan but not histidine. By use of the known amino acid sequences and structures derived from X-ray crystallographic studies of the enzymes from the two species, assignment of the specific residues in the protein sequences giving rise to the CIDNP spectra was partially achieved. In addition, flavin dye accessibility was used to probe any changes in enzyme structure induced by substrate binding. The nine resonance peaks observed in the CIDNP spectrum of yeast phosphoglycerate kinase have been assigned tentatively to five residues: histidines-53 and -151, tryptophan-310, and tyrosines-48 and -195. The accessibility of a tyrosine to photoexcited flavin is reduced in the presence of MgATP. Since the tyrosine residues are located some distance from the MgATP binding site of the catalytic center, it is proposed either that this change is due to a distant conformational change or that a second metal-ATP site inferred from other studies lies close to one of the tyrosines. Horse muscle phosphoglycerate kinase exhibits seven resonances by CIDNP NMR.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

A characterization of the BALB/c lambda and kappa class antibodies to alpha (1,3) glycosidic linkages.

The avidity relationships of kappa and lambda antibodies with specificity for the glucosyl-alpha (1,3)-glucose disaccharide epitope were compared using a solid-phase hapten inhibition assay. The kappa class antibodies, induced by the T-cell-dependent antigen, nigerosyl-keyhole limpet hemocyanin (N-KLH), and the lambda class antibodies, induced by the T-cell-independent antigen, Dextran B1355, were only marginally distinguishable (approximately equal to 10-fold) on the basis of hapten inhibition using the free disaccharide, nigerose, as inhibitor. Analysis of the binding site sizes of antibodies induced by N-KLH through inhibition with oligosaccharides of different sizes showed that the disaccharide protein antigen did not select for antibodies with smaller binding site sizes. The cellular basis for these findings is discussed.

Animals

The cytotoxic T cell response to the male-specific histocompatibility antigen (H-Y) is controlled by two dominant immune response genes, one in the MHC, the other in the Tar alpha-locus.

The genetic control of the cytotoxic T-cell response to the male histocompatibility antigen, H-Y, was analyzed in BALB/cKe(C) and SJL/J(J) which are both nonresponders. However, the (C X J)F1 hybrid is a responder. Therefore, two dominant complementing genes are involved. Analysis of a set of (C X J) recombinant inbred (RI) lines reveals that these two complementing gene products are a restricting element (R) encoded by the H-2 (MHC) locus on chromosome 17 and a subunit of the T-cell receptor (anti-R) encoded by the Tar alpha-locus on chromosome 14. The order and orientation of gene segments within the Tar alpha-locus has also been established relative to the chromosome 14 marker, Es-10. The existence of two RI strains which are recombinant at chromosome 14 has made it possible to determine that this order is Es-10--v alpha-1--v alpha-2--[C alpha--Np-2]--centromere. The implications of these data for the antigen-specific regulation of immune responsiveness are discussed in terms of the dual recognitive-single receptor model.

Animals

Position of Igl-1, md, and Bst loci on chromosome 16 of the mouse.

The experiments described here delineate the position of the chromosome 16 markers Igl-1 (immunoglobulin lambda 1, light chain), md (mahoganoid), and Bst (belly spot and tail), and suggest their location relative to the endogenous proviral locus Akv-2, which is linked within 5.9 centimorgans to Igl-1 (Epstein et al. 1984). The data from an intercross and a three-point backcross detailed herein show the order of these three genes and distances between them to be: centromere-md-10.4 +/- 1.6-Igl-1-15.6 +/- 2.6-Bst. Using a recombinant chromosome recovered in the intercross, we have constructed a stock homozygous for md and Igl-1b (KpnI-), that will aid in mapping other genes on chromosome 16.

AKR murine leukemia virus

The cloned cell line L10A2.J expresses natural cytotoxic activity.

The analysis of natural cytotoxicity (NC) has been hampered by the lack of cloned NC effectors. In studies reported here we show that the cloned cell line L10A2.J expresses properties similar to those of splenic NC effectors. L10A2.J cells lyse NC-sensitive targets, but do not lyse NC-resistant targets which are sensitive to lysis by natural killer (NK) or cytotoxic T lymphocytes. The mechanism by which L10A2.J cells lyse NC-sensitive targets is similar to the lytic mechanism of splenic NC effectors in that both result in the release of 51Cr from targets with a lag of 5-7 hr after effectors and targets are mixed. In addition, inhibition of protein synthesis during the in vitro assays of NC or L10A2.J lytic activity causes some NC-resistant targets to become sensitive to lysis by both NC and L10A2.J effectors. The only functional difference detected between L10A2.J and splenic NC effectors is in their recognition of targets. While L10A2.J and splenic NC effectors recognize many of the same targets (NC resistant and NC sensitive), L10A2.J, unlike splenic NC effectors, does not recognize the NK-sensitive cell line YAC-1.

Animals

NMR studies of a complex of deuterated calmodulin with melittin.

Completely deuterated calmodulin ([2H]CaM) has been prepared by expressing the chicken gene for CaM in Escherichia coli grown in 2H2O on a deuterated medium. The structural and dynamic properties of a 1:1 CaM/melittin (Mel) complex have been investigated by proton NMR. The spectrum of bound Mel is obtained directly from the spectrum of the [2H]CaM X Mel complex and is found to resemble strongly the spectrum of the helical species in methanol rather than that of the random coil species in water. The spectrum of bound CaM is obtained indirectly from the difference spectrum between [1H]CaM X Mel and [2H]CaM X Mel. Many changes are observed between free and bound CaM and they are distributed in both halves of the molecule, indicating that the binding of Mel affects the structure in both parts of the molecule. The rates of exchange of the amide protons of [2H]CaM with 2H2O were compared to those of [2H]CaM X Mel. The results showed that most, but not all, of the protons exchanged more slowly in the complex; after 40 hr, the residual peaks number 7 in CaM and greater than 20 in the complex. Again, changes in rates in CaM due to binding of Mel occurred in both halves of the molecule. The relative rates of amide proton exchange in CaM and its complex with Mel prove to be a sensitive criterion of differences in conformational stability and/or structure.

Animals

Epidural morphine and methylprednisolone. New therapy for recurrent low-back pain.

Twenty patients with intractable, postoperative, recurrent low-back pain were treated with a sequential, epidural injection of morphine (8 mg) and methylprednisolone acetate (80 mg). Concomitantly administered, these drugs provided 50-100% pain relief lasting 6-24 months and elicited prolongations of mood elevation and morphine-induced side effects. Evidence from computed tomography and electromyography, however, indicated no amelioration of pre-existing pathologies.

Adult