Biomedical subjects

P N Strong

Publications and source records attributed to P N Strong.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1992

Characterisation of dystrophin in fetuses at risk for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Dystrophin, the product of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene, was studied in muscle from 16 human fetuses at risk for the disease. Eleven high risk (greater than 95% probability) and 5 low-risk (less than 25% probability) fetuses were studied with antibodies raised to different regions of the protein. All low-risk fetuses showed a similar pattern to that of normal fetuses of a comparable age: using Western blot analysis, a protein was detected of similar size and abundance to that of normal fetuses (i.e. smaller molecular weight than that of adult muscle); immunocytochemistry showed uniform sarcolemmal staining in fetuses older than 18 weeks gestation and differential staining of myotubes at different stages of development (distinguished by size) in younger fetuses (less than 15 weeks gestation). In contrast, Western blot analysis of high-risk fetuses detected low levels of dystrophin in 4 cases; 7 fetuses had no detectable protein. Immunocytochemistry with some dystrophin antibodies showed weak staining of the sarcolemma and around central nuclei in younger fetuses; in older fetuses there was little sarcolemmal staining with any antibody other than occasional positive fibres. These results indicate that careful study of dystrophin in fetuses at risk for DMD can be used to establish the clinical phenotype and provide additional information for future family counselling.

Blotting, Western↗

PubMed1992

Characterisation of dystrophin during development of human skeletal muscle.

Dystrophin, the 427 x 10(3) Mr product of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene, was studied in human foetal skeletal muscle from 9 to 26 weeks of gestation. Dystrophin could be detected from at least 9 weeks of gestation at the sarcolemmal membrane of most myotubes, though there was differential staining with antibodies raised to various regions of the protein. Dystrophin immunostaining increased and became more uniform with age and by 26 weeks of gestation there was intense sarcolemmal staining of all myotubes. On a Western blot, a doublet of smaller relative molecular mass than that seen in adult tissue was detected in all foetuses studied. There was a gradual increase in abundance of the upper band from 9 to 26 weeks, and the lower band, although present in low amounts in young foetuses, increased significantly between 20 and 26 weeks of gestation. These data indicate that there are several specific isoforms of dystrophin present in developing skeletal muscle, though the role of these is unknown.

Blotting, Western↗

PubMed1992

Dystrophin in frameshift deletion patients with Becker muscular dystrophy.

In a previous study we identified 14 cases with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) or its milder variant, Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD), with a deletion of exons 3-7, a deletion that would be expected to shift the translational reading frame of the mRNA and give a severe phenotype. We have examined dystrophin and its mRNA from muscle biopsies of seven cases with either mild or intermediate phenotypes. In all cases we detected slightly lower-molecular-weight dystrophin in 12%-15% abudance relative to the normal. By sequencing amplified mRNA we have found that exon 2 is spliced to exon 8, a splice that produces a frameshifted mRNA, and have found no evidence for alternative splicing that might be involved in restoration of dystrophin mRNA reading frame in the patients with a mild phenotype. Other transcriptional and posttranscriptional mechanisms such as cryptic promoter, ribosomal frameshifting, and reinitiation are suggested that might play some role in restoring the reading frame.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Characterisation of dystrophin in carriers of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Dystrophin, the protein product of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene, was studied in needle biopsy samples taken from the quadriceps muscle of 15 asymptomatic carriers of DMD (13 adults and 2 young girls) and one symptomatic adult carrier. Antibodies to N- and C-terminal regions of dystrophin were used for both Western blot analysis and immunocytochemistry and a monoclonal antibody to beta-spectrin used to assess membrane integrity. All asymptomatic adult carriers showed some abnormality in dystrophin immunostaining but very few negative fibres were present. A clear mosaic of dystrophin positive and negative fibres was seen only in the adult symptomatic carrier and the two young girls. On a Western blot, all carriers studied had dystrophin of normal molecular weight, but most had reduced abundance. In adult carriers, the amount of dystrophin relative to normal controls varied, but it was unrelated to age, serum creatine kinase (CK) levels or to the degree of pathology. Carriers with normal CK showed abnormalities in dystrophin expression. The dystrophin immunoblotting profile of the 2 young girls was very similar to that of their mothers, but the mosaic pattern of immunostaining was not apparent in the older carriers. In conclusion, dystrophin immunostaining and Western blot analysis of biopsy samples from asymptomatic carriers is often abnormal and they may be useful additional aids for establishing carrier status, particularly in younger girls.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Dystrophin abnormalities in polymyositis and dermatomyositis.

The expression of dystrophin in muscle biopsies from nine cases of polymyositis, ten cases of juvenile dermatomyositis and three adults with dermatomyositis was studied by Western blot analysis and immunocytochemistry. Five antibodies corresponding to different N- and C-terminal regions of the dystrophin gene were used. Sixteen of the 22 cases (73%) showed an abnormality in the expression of dystrophin on Western blot analysis, either with a reduced molecular weight protein or a reduced amount. Immunostaining was abnormal in 11 out of 19 cases (58%) and showed varying degrees of discontinuity or loss of sarcolemmal staining. Immunolabelling of these areas with antibodies to beta-spectrin was normal implying that the changes were not caused by a loss of the sarcolemma. These results show that secondary changes in the expression of dystrophin can occur in the absence of an abnormality in the corresponding gene and that dystrophin cannot be used in isolation as a diagnostic marker for muscular dystrophy.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

Activation of a K+ conductance by bradykinin and by inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate in rat glioma cells: involvement of intracellular and extracellular Ca2+.

Extracellular application of bradykinin and injection of inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (Ins-P3) induced a hyperpolarization in polyploid rat glioma cells. Ins-1,4,5-P3 and Ins-2,4,5-P3 were effective but not Ins-4,5-P2, Ins-1,3,4,5-P4 and Ins-1,3,4,5,6-P5. The reversal potential of the hyperpolarizing response induced by bradykinin or by Ins-P3 increased to a comparable degree with increasing the extracellular K+ concentration. Certain blockers of K+ channels, for example charybdotoxin (5-50 nM), Ba2+ (5-20 mM), 4-aminopyridine (5-10 mM) and quinidine (0.1-0.5 mM) reversibly suppressed the membrane potential response to bradykinin or to Ins-P3; however, apamin (1 microM) and D-tubocurarine (0.5 mM) had no effect. Intracellular injection of EGTA made the glioma cells unresponsive to bradykinin. Superfusion of the cells with Ca2(+)-free medium gradually and reversibly abolished the response to bradykinin, but only slightly reduced the effect of Ins-P3. The Ca2+ channel blockers Co2+ (1-5 mM), Mn2+ (2-6 mM) and nifedipine (1-20 microM), but not desmethoxyverapamil (100 microM) inhibited the hyperpolarizing effect of bradykinin. The hyperpolarization induced by Ins-P3, however, was not influenced by Mn2+ (1-5 mM) or by Co2+ (7 mM). Injection of Ca2+ into the glioma cells induced a hyperpolarization susceptible to Ba2+ and quinidine. Treatment of glioma cells with an activator or with inhibitors of protein kinase C or with pertussis toxin did not affect the response to bradykinin. Incubation of the cells with the Ca2+ ionophore A23187 (0.1-1 microM) made the cells unresponsive to bradykinin and, somewhat less, to Ins-P3. At these concentrations the Ca2+ ionophore primarily depletes intracellular Ca2+ stores. In summary, bradykinin, via B2-receptors (blocked by [Thi5,8, D-Phe7]-bradykinin) activates a K+ conductance in glioma cells following a rise of cytosolic Ca2+ activity most likely due to Ins-P3-mediated release of Ca2+ from internal stores. Entry of extracellular Ca2+ appears also to be involved in this process.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Potassium channel toxins.

Many venom toxins interfere with ion channel function. Toxins, as specific, high affinity ligands, have played an important part in purifying and characterizing many ion channel proteins. Our knowledge of potassium ion channel structure is meager because until recently, no specific potassium channel toxins were known, or identified as such. This review summarizes the sudden explosion of research on potassium channel toxins that has occurred in recent years. Toxins are discussed in terms of their structure, physiological and pharmacological properties, and the characterization of toxin binding sites on different subtypes of potassium ion channels.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

Interactions between dendrotoxin, a blocker of voltage-dependent potassium channels, and charybdotoxin, a blocker of calcium-activated potassium channels, at binding sites on neuronal membranes.

Dendrotoxin I (DpI) from black mamba venom (Dendroaspis polylepis) has high affinity binding sites on rat brain synaptic membranes. Native DpI displaced [125I]-DpI binding with a Ki of 1 x 10(-10) M, and over 90% of specific binding was displaceable. Charybdotoxin isolated from the Israeli scorpion venom (Leiurus quinquestriatus hebraeus), also displaced [125I]-DpI binding, with a Ki of approximately 3 x 10(-9) M, although the displacement curve was shallower than with native DpI. Both toxins are thought to be high affinity blockers of specific K+ currents. Charybdotoxin selectively blocks some types of Ca2+-activated K+ channels, whereas dendrotoxins only block certain voltage-dependent K+ channels. The interaction between the two types of toxin at the DpI binding site is unexpected and may suggest the presence of related binding sites on different K+ channel proteins.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

Transcription of the dystrophin gene in Duchenne muscular dystrophy muscle.

Dystrophin is the recently discovered defective gene product in Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD and BMD). Dystrophin transcripts have been amplified and identified in diagnostic needle muscle biopsy samples using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure. Using 5'- and 3'-primers, dystrophin transcripts can be detected in both DMD and BMD muscle biopsies, on either side of defined deletions within the dystrophin gene.

Base Sequence↗

PubMed1989

Distribution of dystrophin, nebulin and Ricinus communis I (RCA-I)-binding glycoprotein in tissues of normal and mdx mice.

Dystrophin, the protein product of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene locus, appeared as an immunoreactive triplet of polypeptides in striated muscle tissues from normal mice on Western blot analysis. In smooth muscle tissues, an immunoreactive doublet of corresponding molecular weight was detected. No dystrophin was found in normal mouse brain, not even after enrichment for the Triton X-100 insoluble fraction. Dystrophin was absent from all corresponding tissues from the mdx mutant mouse strain which is known to lack dystrophin. The possibility that these immunoreactive bands represent isoforms is discussed. We have also investigated two other high molecular weight proteins which show secondary abnormalities in DMD muscle, namely nebulin and the 370 kDa Ricinus communis I lectin (RCA I)-binding glycoprotein. Nebulin levels were reduced in skeletal muscle from 6-week-old mdx mice but not in oesophagus from the same animals. By contrast, the RCA I-binding 370 kDa glycoprotein which is greatly reduced in DMD skeletal muscle was present in normal amounts in mdx skeletal muscle. These findings show, for the first time, that mdx myopathy differs from DMD myopathy not only morphologically, but also in its secondary biochemical abnormalities.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

Effects of potassium channel toxins from Leiurus quinquestriatus hebraeus venom on responses to cromakalim in rabbit blood vessels.

1. The effects of fractionated Leiurus quinquestriatus hebraeus venom on cromakalim-induced 86Rb+ efflux in rabbit aortic smooth muscle were examined. 2. Crude venom (0.1-30 micrograms ml-1) produced a concentration-dependent decrease of 1 microM cromakalim-induced 86Rb+ response. The maximum blocking activity attainable was approximately 60%. 3. Fractionation of crude venom by gel permeation chromatography and subsequent chromatography on a cation ion-exchange column, produced two fractions (X and XI), active in the 86Rb+ blocking assay. 4. Fraction XII contained charybdotoxin (approximately 85% pure). After a final high performance liquid chromatography (h.p.l.c.) purification step, the purified toxin failed to inhibit the cromakalim-stimulated 86Rb+ efflux although it was a potent inhibitor of A23187-induced K+ flux in human erythrocytes and the large conductance calcium-activated potassium channel in rabbit portal vein smooth muscle. 5. Subsequent purification of fraction X by h.p.l.c. yielded a minor peak which contained 86Rb+ blocking activity. This subfraction was also capable of inhibiting apamin-sensitive, angiotensin II-stimulated K+ flux in guinea-pig hepatocytes. 6. It is concluded that the potassium channel opened by cromakalim in rabbit aortic smooth muscle is not blocked by charybdotoxin but by another distinct toxin in the venom of Leiurus quinquestriatus hebraeus.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1989

[Membrane changes in Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy: lectin binding and localization of dystrophin].

An RCA I-lectin binding glycoprotein of Mr = 370 kD is missing from or altered in the plasma membrane of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) skeletal muscle. In the present study the carbohydrate chain of this glycoprotein was localized to the external face of the plasma membrane in human skeletal muscle, and dystrophin, the protein product of the DMD gene, was localized to the inner (cytoplasmic) face. On double labelled Western blots the two proteins appeared as closely apposed but distinctly separate bands. Comparison of the plasma membrane binding of five lectins with overlapping sugar specificities in skeletal muscle from patients with DMD and the allelic milder disease form, Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) showed that the RCA I-binding glycoprotein also strongly binds to phytohaemagglutinin, thereby largely characterising the carbohydrate binding site. This glycoprotein was absent or altered in DMD and markedly reduced in clinically manifest BMD but present in preclinical clinical BMD. There was no general depletion of plasma membrane glycoproteins in DMD because consistent plasma membrane binding could be demonstrated by peanut and maclura pomifera lectin. The possible implications of these findings for the pathogenesis of DMD/BMD are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1988

Calmodulin-binding profiles for nebulin and dystrophin in human skeletal muscle.

Nebulin and dystrophin are two high-molecular-mass skeletal muscle proteins that have both been associated with the defective gene in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, although the function of neither protein is known. Other high-molecular-mass, calmodulin-binding proteins have recently been implicated in regulating calcium release from skeletal muscle. Western blots of human skeletal muscle biopsy samples were probed with biotinylated calmodulin; nebulin was identified as a prominent high-molecular-mass calmodulin-binding protein but dystrophin did not bind detectable amounts of biotinylated calmodulin. Dystrophin was absent in a Duchenne muscle biopsy.

Calmodulin↗

PubMed1988

Dystrophin and nebulin in the muscular dystrophies.

Skeletal muscle from patients with 5 different forms of muscular dystrophy and from 6 fetuses at high risk (95%) for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) were probed with specific antibodies for the presence of dystrophin and nebulin. Dystrophin was absent in all 5 patients with DMD and 4 of 6 fetuses at high risk for DMD and present in trace amounts in the remaining two. Dystrophin was also undetectable in one borderline DMD/Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) case and reduced in 2 of 4 cases of BMD. In contrast, dystrophin was present in all 16 biopsies from 4 other types of muscular dystrophy (congenital, limb girdle, Emery-Dreifuss and facioscapulohumeral). Nebulin profiles varied with the type, severity and duration of the dystrophic process. Nebulin was present in 5 of 6 DMD fetal samples but vastly reduced or absent in all samples of clinically manifest DMD.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1988

Early induction by crotoxin of biphasic frequency changes and giant miniature endplate potentials in frog muscle.

1. Following the addition of crotoxin (250 nM) at the frog neuromuscular junction, there was an initial fall in frequency of miniature endplate potentials (m.e.p.ps), followed by a secondary rise which was characterized by the appearance of large spontaneous potentials (giants, g.m.e.p.ps) and an occasional large potential of the burst type. 2. In the presence of 2-(4-phenylpiperidino)cyclohexanol (AH5183, vesicamol), an inhibitor of vesicular acetylcholine uptake, the frequency of g.m.e.p.ps induced by crotoxin was reduced. 3. The characteristic changes in m.e.p.p. frequency and amplitude distribution were absent with crotoxin in Sr-EGTA Ringer. In the presence of high concentrations of Mn (3.6 or 5.4 mM with 0.9 mM Ca), the crotoxin-induced initial fall and the onset of the secondary rise in m.e.p.p. and g.m.e.p.p. frequencies were slower. The timing of these phases was unaffected by Ca concentrations ranging from 6.3 to 0.9 mM. 4. High concentrations of Mn ions partially inhibited the phospholipase A2 activity of crotoxin on artificial phospholipid membranes. This also supports the involvement of the Ca-dependent phospholipase A2 subunit in both phases of the physiological action of the toxin. 5. G.m.e.p.ps were associated with a moderate increase in m.e.p.p. frequency (2-3 s-1) and were of a time-course similar to that of m.e.p.ps. They persisted after washing with medium lacking Ca ions and in the presence of Ca-Mn Ringer that blocked evoked responses. 6. It is concluded that crotoxin, acting through its phospholipase A2 subunit, produces specific disturbances of synaptic exocytosis and vesicle formation in the axolemma of the motor nerve terminal which lead to biphasic changes in m.e.p.p. frequency and the onset of large spontaneous potentials.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Effects of charybdotoxin, a blocker of Ca2+-activated K+ channels, on motor nerve terminals.

1. The contribution of Ca2+-activated K+ currents (IK,Ca) to the control of electrical excitability of motor nerve terminals and the control of acetylcholine release was assessed by studying the effects of the specific K(Ca) channel blocking toxins charybdotoxin and apamin. Electrical activity of the terminal regions of motor nerves was assessed by extracellular recording from an electrode placed in the perineural sheaths of nerves in the mouse triangularis sterni and frog cutaneous pectoris preparations. Acetylcholine release was monitored by intracellular recording of endplate potentials (e.p.ps). 2. Charybdotoxin (20-300 nM), but not apamin (10 nM-2.5 microM), selectively reduced the amplitude of an IK,Ca unmasked by prior blockade of the delayed rectifier K+ current with 3,4-diaminopyridine (3,4-DAP). 3. In the combined presence of 3,4-DAP and charybdotoxin, large Ca2+-dependent plateau responses developed, but only moderate and transient increases in acetylcholine release occurred. 4. In the absence of 3,4-DAP, charybdotoxin did not alter the electrical activity of, or the transmitter release from motor nerve terminals. 5. A possible role of the charybdotoxin-sensitive IK,Ca in the control of transmitter release is discussed.

4-Aminopyridine↗

PubMed1987

The interaction between the presynaptic phospholipase neurotoxins beta-bungarotoxin and crotoxin and mixed detergent-phosphatidylcholine micelles. A comparison with non-neurotoxic snake venom phospholipases A2.

Certain phospholipase A2 enzymes (E.C.3.1.1.4) selectively inhibit neurotransmitter release from cholinergic nerve terminals. Both specific acceptor proteins and the physical state of nerve terminal phospholipids have been implicated in studies of the mechanism of phospholipase neurotoxin action. Here we have examined the effects of charge on a micellar phospholipid substrate by comparing the enzyme activity and binding of two neurotoxic phospholipases (beta-bungarotoxin and crotoxin) with other non-neurotoxic phospholipases. This has been achieved by altering either the phospholipid or the ionic charge of the detergent in the mixed phospholipid micelle. The neurotoxic phospholipases were only active on negatively charged micelles, whereas the non-neurotoxic enzymes were equally active in hydrolyzing neutral micelles. This distinction was also reflected in binding studies; the non-neurotoxic phospholipases bound to both types of substrate, whereas beta-bungarotoxin and crotoxin selectively bound to negatively charged micellar structures. These experiments suggest that, in addition to the existence of any specific acceptor proteins, neurotoxin binding is also governed by the charge on the lipid phase of the nerve terminal membrane.

Bungarotoxins↗

PubMed1987

Receptor-mediated endocytosis of apamin by liver cells.

The binding and uptake of the bee venom toxin apamin, by guinea-pig and rat liver were studied. Guinea-pig liver plasma membranes contain inhibitable, high-affinity binding sites for [125I]monoiodoapamin: Kd = 12.6 +/- 0.8 pM (SE); Bmax = 4.2 +/- 0.2 fmol/mg protein. No binding sites for [125I]monoiodoapamin on rat liver plasma membranes were detected in agreement with the absence of a physiological response to the toxin by rat hepatocytes. [125I]Monoiodoapamin, injected into the portal vein of guinea-pigs, was recovered in an undegraded form in a liver endosome fraction. The uptake of [125I]monoiodoapamin by rat livers was less than 4% of that taken up by guinea-pig livers and there was little evidence of radiolabelled toxin appearing in isolated rat endocytic vesicles. Inhibitable, high-affinity binding sites for [125I]monoiodoapamin were also identified on isolated guinea-pig liver endosomal membranes; Kd = 10.6 +/- 3.3 pM; Bmax = 2.5 +/- 0.6 fmol/mg protein. No inhibitable apamin binding sites were detected on rat endosomal membranes. Plasma membranes and endosomal membranes isolated from guinea-pig liver showed a similar spectrum of polypeptides to that previously reported for plasma membranes and endosomal membranes isolated from rat liver. The enzymatic composition of guinea-pig endosomes was also similar to that previously reported for rat endosomes. The results indicate that apamin was internalised by receptor-mediated endocytosis by guinea-pig liver cells in an analogous manner to that already shown for a variety of endogenous ligands.

Animals↗