Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to O Bello.
Hypokalemia that leads to paralysis is extremely rare in children. We report a case of a young child with genetically inherited periodic hypokalemic paralysis. Hypokalemia should be considered in a child with acute onset of muscle weakness.
Human platelets have been shown to contain the enzyme glycoprotein:galactosyltransferase that catalyzes the transfer of galactose to an endogenous protein acceptor present in the platelet. Galactosylation of added ovalbumin also occurs. The activity was extracted with 30 mM Tris buffer (pH 7.5). The endogenous activity was enriched 1.4-fold (compared with the crude homogenate) in the fraction, 105,000 g pellet, and the exogenous enzyme was retained in the respective supernatant. The two galactosyltransferase activities showed proportionality to time, protein, and substrate concentration, and were identical in pH dependence and Mn+2 requirement. The effect of Triton X-100 (range 0-1.5%) in the assay system appeared to be different for both activities: with the optimum concentration of detergent (0.15%) the endogenous activity increased by 50% whereas the exogenous activity was augmented 5-fold. From a number of sugar nucleotides tested as glycosyl donor into the endogenous proteins, the optimum substrate was UDP-Glc (100%), followed by UDP-Gal (80%), GDP-Man (24%), UDP-Glc-NAc (21%), UDP-Xyl (19%), and ADP-Glc (5%). An appropriate exogenous acceptor for UDP-Glc as donor was not found. The different solubilization of galactosyl- and glucosyltransferase activities by Triton X-100 suggests that they are distinct enzymes. In addition, the exogenous galactosyltransferase activity achieved after the treatment was much higher (940%) than the endogenous (26%). It is suggested that these differences on both galactosyltransferases could reflect changes in the accessibility of the exogenous substrate to the enzyme.
Incorporation of radioactive Man, Gal, Fuc, Glc-N, and NANA into washed human normal platelets and endogenous glycoproteins has been found. Both parameters were time dependent. Analysis of hydrolyzed labeled glycoproteins by paper chromatography revealed that the radioactive monosaccharide incubated with the platelets had not been converted into other sugars. Acid hydrolysis demonstrates the presence of a glycosidic linkage. All the effort directed to the demonstration of the existence of a lipid-sugar intermediate in intact human platelets yielded negative results for Man and Glc-N used as precursors. The incorporation of these sugars into glycoproteins is insensitive to bacitracin, suggesting no involvement of lipid-linked saccharides in the synthesis of glycoproteins in human blood platelets. The absence of inhibition of the glycosylation process in the presence of cycloheximide suggests that the sugars are added to proteins present in the intact platelets. These results support the contention that glycoprotein biosynthesis in human blood platelets observed under our experimental conditions is effected through direct sugar nucleotide glycosylation.
Rat liver has been shown to contain an enzyme that catalyzes the dephosphorylation of retinyl monophosphate. This activity was extracted with 0.1 M Tris buffer (pH 7.5). Maximum reaction rate was observed at a pH range of 7.0-7.5. It did not require metal ions for activity and was sensitive to fluoride ion. The retinyl monophosphate phosphatase activity was proportional to time and protein and substrate concentration. Triton X-100 (range of 0.05-0.10%) increased the activity 100%, whereas other detergents (Tween 80, cholate, and deoxycholate) did not activate the enzyme. A number of phosphorylated compounds tested as inhibitors of retinyl monophosphatase activity, such as glucose 6-phosphate (20 mM), glycerophosphate (20 mM), phosphatidic acid (8 mM), and dolichyl phosphate (3 mM), did not compete with retinyl monophosphate as substrate. However, at 20 mM concentration, ATP, ADP, 5'-AMP, and pyrophosphate were inhibitors of the enzyme. It is not possible at present to give further details about the specificity of the phosphatase activity. The enzyme described could play a regulatory role in retinol-mediated glycosylations, by altering the endogenous level of retinyl monophosphate.
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