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Biomedical subjects

W Ferdinand

Publications and source records attributed to W Ferdinand.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Amino acid composition of rat and human liver microsomes in normal and pathological conditions.

The amino acid composition of proteins from liver microsomes has been studied in rats and in human subjects with normal liver, with obstructive jaundice or liver cirrhosis. The pattern of the amino acid composition of microsomes appeared to be species-specific. Phenylalanine, threonine, serine, proline, histidine and [aspartic acid plus asparagine] were increased, while alanine, tyrosine, glycine and arginine were decreased in the human compared to the rat microsomes. In patients with obstructive jaundice of short duration (less than two months) only a slight decrease in leucine and phenylalanine could be noticed, while in the case of liver cirrhosis amino acid composition was markedly changed.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1992

Ultrastructural aspects and amino acid composition of the purified inner and outer membranes of human liver mitochondria as compared to rat liver mitochondria.

1. The mitochondria isolated from human or rat liver were fractionated into submitochondrial particles and purified inner and outer membrane. According to different marker enzymes the inner membranes were enriched about 5-6-fold and the outer membranes about 12-14-fold. The electron microscopical appearance of the membranes was that expected on the basis of enzymic characterization. 2. A comparison of the average amino acid composition of the membrane proteins from the two types of mitochondria has been made. In the case of submitochondrial particles there were statistically significant differences between the human and rat hydrolysates for only five amino acids. Analysing the purified mitochondrial membranes there were significant differences between the two species for nine amino acids in the case of outer membranes and for 12 amino acids in the case of inner membranes. 3. With one exception all amino acids that were increased or decreased in the outer membrane exhibited a similar trend in the inner membrane of human compared with rat liver mitochondria. It appears that liver mitochondrial membranes have a species-dependent pattern of amino acid composition of their proteins.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1991

Amino acid composition of human liver mitochondrial membranes in normal and pathological conditions.

The amino acid composition of proteins from liver mitochondrial membranes has been studied in patients with normal liver, with biliary diseases and fatty liver, with obstructive jaundice or liver cirrhosis. A characteristic pattern of the amino acid composition in patients with normal liver has been found. In the mitochondrial membranes of patients with fatty liver tryptophan and lysine were decreased while [aspartic acid plus asparagine] and [glutamic acid plus glutamine] were increased compared to their counterpart in the normal liver. In patients with obstructive jaundice of short duration (less than two months) only a slight decrease in methionine content was found, while in the case of liver cirrhosis amino acid composition was markedly changed.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1989

Kinetics of oral and intravenous mexiletine: lack of effect of cimetidine and ranitidine.

The pharmacokinetics of mexiletine, a Class I antiarrhythmic drug, was investigated in 6 healthy volunteers after single oral doses and 15 min intravenous infusions of 3 mg/kg. Cimetidine and ranitidine are commonly used H2-receptor antagonists, which interact adversely with many drugs, e.g. inhibition of the metabolism of Class I antiarrhythmics such as lidocaine and quinidine by cimetidine. To investigate the effects of the two drugs on the kinetics of mexiletine, cimetidine 800 mg.day-1 or ranitidine 600 mg.day-1 were administered orally for one week. Neither H2-receptor antagonist altered the distribution and elimination of mexiletine, nor did they affect its overall kinetics, or excretion of the metabolites para- and 4-OH-methylmexiletine after oral and intravenous administration of mexiletine.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1976

The concerted inactivation of Escherichia coli uridine diphosphate galactose 4-epimerase by sugar nucleotide together with a free sugar.

1. The combined effect of the sugar nucleotides UDP-D-fucose or UDP-D-glucuronic acid together with the free sugars D-fucose or L-arabinose is the inactivation of the Escherichia coli enzyme UDP-galactose 4-epimerase (EC 5.1.3.2). The sugar nucleotide or the free sugar alone or the sugar nucleotide plus 5'-Ump do not inactivate the enzyme. 2. The inactivation of the enzyme by its substrate UDP-D-glucose was not affected by the presence of free sugar. 3. In all cases the inactivation observed follows pseudo-first-order kinetics. 4. A comparison of various sugar nucleotides indicates that the hydroxymethyl group at position 6 of the sugar moiety of the natural substrates is important for substrate binding.

Arabinose↗
PubMed1975

The first enzyme of the gal operon in inducible and operator-constitutive strains of Escherichia coli. A comparison of the porperties and amino-terminal sequences of UDP galactose 4-epimerase.

1. UDPgalactose 4-epimerase, the product of the first structural gene of the gal operon in Escherichia coli K-12, has been purified from strain HfrH and from its gal operator-constitutive mutant, HfrH 81-2. 2. The two enzymes are purified by the same procedure, behaving identically throughout. They are identical in sedimentation coefficient, sioelectric point, electrophoretic mobility at pH 8.8 and amino-terminal sequence for the first 30 residues. 3. Slight but reporducible differences were observed between the amino acid compositions and peptide maps of the two proteins. These differences may indicate real differences in the primary sequences of the proteins, but if so they are unlikely to be due to the operator-constitutive mutation because of the identy of the sequences for the first 30 residues. 4. No evidence was found to indicate that the gal operator might overlap with the first structural gene.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1973

The significance of abrupt transitions in Lineweaver-Burk plots with particular reference to glutamate dehydrogenase. Negative and positive co-operativity in catalytic rate constants.

1. Lineweaver-Burk plots for glutamate dehydrogenase, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase and several other enzymes show one or more abrupt transitions between apparently linear sections. These transitions correspond to abrupt increases in the apparent K(m) and V(max.) with increasing concentration of the varied substrate. 2. The generalized reciprocal initial-rate equation for a multi-site enzyme requires several restrictions to be put on it in order to generate such plots. These mathematical conditions are explored. 3. It is shown that the effective omission of a term in the denominator of the reciprocal initial-rate equation represents a minimal requirement for generation of abrupt transitions. This corresponds in physical terms to negative co-operativity followed by positive co-operativity affecting the catalytic rate constant for the reaction. 4. Previous models for glutamate dehydrogenase cannot adequately account for the results. On the other hand, the model based on both negative and positive co-operativity gives a good fit to the experimental points. 5. The conclusions are discussed in relation to current knowledge of the structure and mechanism of glutamate dehydrogenase.

Biochemical Phenomena↗
PubMed1973

Competitive inhibition and substrate activity of uridine diphosphate 6-deoxygalactose for Escherichia coli uridine diphosphate galactose 4-epimerase.

UDP-6-deoxygalactose inhibits the UDP-galactose 4-epimerase (EC 5.1.3.2) from Escherichia coli in a competitive manner with respect to the substrate UDP-galactose, giving K(i) 1.3x10(-3)m. As a substrate for the enzyme, it is transformed into UDP-6-deoxyglucose, although the reaction stops before equilibrium is attained. Possible causes of this behaviour are discussed.

Binding, Competitive↗
PubMed1973

Amino acid production in isolated rat liver mitochondria.

Amino acid analyses of mitochondrial membranes are compared with the amino acid composition of whole mitochondria (Alberti, 1964) and found to be very similar except in the cystine content. The composition of the endogenous amino acids found in freshly prepared mitochondria has been established and shown to differ considerably from the amino acid composition of membranes or whole mitochondria. The amino acids produced during anaerobic incubation of mitochondria at pH7.4, on the other hand, resemble the membrane in composition, supporting the view that neutral proteinase activity is responsible for their appearance. Aerobic incubation produces a similar pattern of amino acids except that amino acids such as proline, serine, asparagine, glutamic acid and glutamine, which can be metabolically utilized under aerobic conditions, are present to a smaller extent. The presence of large relative concentrations of endogenous taurine, cysteic acid and oxidized glutathione and the accumulation of taurine during incubation is found. The selective retention of taurine and cysteic acid within the mitochondria is established. It is proposed that the first step in the degeneration of isolated mitochondria results from lipid hydroperoxide accumulation caused by the lack of glutathione reductase in isolated mitochondria.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1970

The purification and properties of a ribonucleoenzyme, o-diphenol oxidase, from potatoes.

1. o-Diphenol oxidase was isolated from potato tubers by a new approach that avoids the browning due to autoxidation. 2. There are at least three forms of the enzyme, of different molecular weights. The major form, of highest molecular weight, was separated from the others in good yield and with high specific activity by gel filtration through Bio-Gel P-300. 3. The major form is homogeneous by disc electrophoresis but regenerates small amounts of the species of lower molecular weight, as shown by rechromatography on Bio-Gel P-300. 4. There is an equal amount of RNA and protein by weight in the fully active enzyme. The RNA cannot be removed without loss of activity, and is not attacked by ribonuclease. 5. The pH optimum of the enzyme is at pH5.0 when assayed with 4-methylcatechol as substrate. It is ten times more active with this substrate than with chlorogenic acid or catechol. The enzyme is fully active in 4m-urea. 6. A minimal molecular weight of 36000 is indicated by copper content and amino acid analysis of the protein component of the enzyme. 7. The protein contains five half-cystinyl residues per 36000 daltons, a value similar to that found in o-diphenol oxidase from mushrooms. It also contains tyrosine residues although, when pure, it does not turn brown by autoxidation.

Amino Acids↗