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Biomedical subjects

P S Ebert

Publications and source records attributed to P S Ebert.

33 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1976

Erythroid differentiation in cultured Friend leukemia cells treated with metabolic inhibitors.

The induction of erythroid differentiation in the T3-C12 clone of Friend leukemia cells by dimethyl sulfoxide is accompanied by reduction in viral RNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity with increased cellular delta-aminolevulinic acid synthetase activity and hemoglobin synthesis. These cells were treated with a variety of compounds to determine whether other durgs are capable on inducing erythroid differentiation. While several hormones, inhibitors of RNA synthesis, organic solvents, inhibitors of DNA polymerase, sulfhydryl inhibitors, and inducers of delta-aminolevulinic acid synthetase administered singly did not stimulate hemoglobin synthesis like dimethyl sulfoxide, inhibitors of DNA and RNA synthesis such as adriamycin, mitomycin C, and hydroxyurea:mithramycin were synergistic in stimulating erythroid differentiation.

5-Aminolevulinate Synthetase↗
PubMed1975

Heme synthetase deficiency in human protoporphyria. Demonstration of the defect in liver and cultured skin fibroblasts.

The final step in heme biosynthesis is chelation of porphyrin with Fe++ catalyzed by the mitochondrial enzyme heme synthetase. We have employed a sensitive radiochemical assay for this enzyme, using 59Fe and deuteroporphyrin or protoporphyrin as substrates. In this method iron is maintained in the ferrous state, oxygen is excluded from the incubation system, and labeled heme product is extracted into ethyl acetate. This assay has been used to measure the activity of heme synthetase in homogenates of liver, obtained by needle biopsy, and in sonicates of human skin fibroblasts, cultured in vitro. In addition, activity of the first enzyme of the heme synthetic pathway, delta-aminolevulinic acid synthetase, has been measured in fibroblast lysates. Lysates of fibroblasts from eight patients with protoporphyria had activities of delta-aminolevulinic acid synthetase which did not differ significantly from those of eight normal fibroblast lines, whereas activity of heme synthetase, with either deuteroporphyrin or protoporphyrin as substrate, was markedly decreased in sonicates of skin fibroblasts from these patients, the mean being 8% of control with deuteroporphyrin and 14% with protoporphyrin as substrate. In homogenates of liver from five patients with protoporphyria, activity of heme synthetase was also significantly less than that found in six patients without prophyria, the mean being 13% of control with protoporphyrin as substrate. These results provide evidence that decreased activity of heme synthetase is the basic defect in the heme synthetic pathway in protoporphyria. This deficiency is probably responsible for protoporphyrin accumulation and hence the biochemical and clinical features observed in protoporphyria.

5-Aminolevulinate Synthetase↗
PubMed1975

Porphyrin synthesis and mitochondrial respiration in acute intermittent porphyria: studies using cultured human fibroblasts.

The formation of variation of delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and of porphyrins, as well as respiratory metabolism, have been studied in skin fibroblasts from six normal control subjects and seven patients with acute intermittent porphyria. The mean activity of ALA synthetase was the same in both groups, whereas the mean activity of uroporphyrinogen I synthetase (as measured by the conversion of porphobilinogen [PBG] to porphyrins) was significantly decreased in fibroblasts from porphyric subjects, the mean value being 52 per cent that of control subjects (p less than or equal to 0.001). The findings of decreased uroporphyrinogen synthesis without an increase in ALA synthetase in mitochondria-containing cells from subjects with acute intermittent porphyria are compatible with the concept that defective PBG ultilization is the fundamental defect in heme biosynthesis in this disease and the possibility that ALA synthetase is "irreversibly" repressed in nonhepatic tissues. Respiration of the cells was studied polarographically. The two types of cells showed similar overall rates of respiration and in general responded to substrates and inhibitors as expected. Of the inhibitors tested (rotenone, amytal, antimycin, and cyanide), only rotenone showed a differential effect: respiration of fibroblasts from porphyric patients was not as sensitive to the inhibitor as was that of the control subjects. These results are interpreted as suggesting a possible defect in mitochondrial NADH oxidation in acute intermittent porphyria.

5-Aminolevulinate Synthetase↗
PubMed1973

DNA polymerase activities of human milk.

DNA polymerases have been partially purified from human milk. A DNA polymerase detected by phosphocellulose chromatography is similar to the enzymes of RNA tumor viruses in that a hybrid of polyriboadenylate and oligodeoxythymidylate is a better template than is DNA. However, this polymerase differed from that of the RNA tumor viruses in its chromatographic behavior. Three different methods of detecting "reverse transcriptase" activity failed to correlate with the donor's family history of cancer.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1969

Effectiveness of therapy with a multistranded synthetic polynucleotide complex against a murine sarcoma virus.

A known interferon stimulator, polyriboinosinic acid:polyribocytidylic acid (rI:rC), was shown to have a protective effect against a highly tumorigenic variant of the murine sarcoma virus (Moloney) designated as (MSV-PV). Mice treated intraperitoneally with different regimens of rI:rC survived significantly longer than untreated controls. The treatment was effective whether the infection with MSV-PV was intraperitoneal or intracerebral. The antiviral effectiveness of rI:rC was demonstrated by marked reduction of viral replication. The kinetic study of interferon induction by rI:rC showed a peak titer of interferon occurring at 18 hr after injection, followed by a rapid decrease in titer by 24 hr.

Animals↗