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Biomedical subjects

W Halangk

Publications and source records attributed to W Halangk.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Adaptation of protein carbonyl detection to the requirements of proteome analysis demonstrated for hypoxia/reoxygenation in isolated rat liver mitochondria.

The key technique in proteome analysis is high-resolution two-dimensional (2D) electrophoretic separation of proteins from biological samples. This method combines isoelectric focusing (IEF) and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Derivatization of protein carbonyls with 2, 4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) and subsequent anti-dinitrophenyl (DNP) immunoblotting is widely used for the detection of oxidatively modified proteins. In previous studies on adapting this method to 2D electrophoresis the derivatization step was carried out before and after the 2D procedure, resulting in an altered spot pattern and high background staining, respectively. The aim of the present experiments was to develop a method for protein derivatization with DNPH between the IEF and the SDS-PAGE steps. Mitochondria were exposed to 10 min hypoxia and 5 min reoxygenation. After IEF using immobilized pH gradients the gel strips were incubated in DNPH/trifluoroacetic acid/SDS for 20 min and neutralized, and SDS-PAGE was performed. Proteins were either stained with Coomassie dye or subjected to Western blotting using anti-DNP IgG. Gels and blots were scanned and matched to a master gel, and the relative carbonyl content of each spot was calculated and compared for five experiments. Importantly, the spot patterns in DNPH-treated and untreated gels were not different. Protein carbonyls could be detected in 59 of the 125 matched spots. Although there was no significant increase in the total protein carbonyl content after hypoxia/reoxygenation, eighteen 2D spots exhibited an increase in carbonyl content. However, most protein spots did not show a change or even a decline (4 spots) in protein carbonyls.

Animals↗

The role of cysteine proteases in intracellular pancreatic serine protease activation.

Autodigestion by proteolytic enzymes is thought to represent the critical mechanism by which acute pancreatitis is initiated. Where and why pancreatic proteases, which are physiologically stored and secreted as inactive precursor zymogens, are activated within the pancreas has remained controversial. Here we present data which indicate that: the lysosomal protease cathepsin B can activate trypsinogen in vitro in a manner that is similar to trypsinogen activation by enterokinase; that cathepsin B colocalizes with trypsinogen in the secretory compartment of the rat pancreas and of the human pancreas; that trypsinogen activation begins in a secretory compartment that is distinct from mature zymogen granules; and that the inhibition of cathepsin B can either increase or decrease premature trypsinogen activation depending on the concentration of the inhibitor, its specificity and its site of action in the pancreatic acinar cell. These observations elucidate some of the complex relations between cysteine and serine proteases in the pancreas with respect to their mechanisms of activation, their subcellular sites of action, and their possible role in the onset of pancreatitis.

Acute Disease↗

Oxidative stress in lung tissue induced by CO(2) pneumoperitoneum in the rat.

BACKGROUND: Clinical trials have found that the pneumoperitoneum has potentially hazardous side effects. The biochemical basis of organ injury induced by pneumoperitoneum is, however, not well defined. Since oxidative stress is believed to play an important role in many pathological conditions, we set out to examine oxidative stress markers in the lung, liver, kidney, and pancreas by using a rat model of laparoscopy with CO(2) pneumoperitoneum and comparing it to a group with gasless laparoscopy. METHODS: Malondialdehyde (for lipid peroxidation), protein-bound carbonyls (for protein oxidation), reduced and oxidized glutathione, and the neutrophil marker myeloperoxidase were evaluated in tissue homogenates at 2 h, 6 h, and 18 h after laparoscopy. Immunoblotting was used to analyze the modification of lung proteins by 4-hydroxynonenal at 6 h. RESULTS: Significant lipid peroxidation was found selectively in lungs at 2 h and 6 h after CO(2) pneumoperitoneum. This was accompanied by a loss of glutathione but only minor protein oxidation. Further, lung proteins were clearly modified by the aldehydic product of lipid peroxidation 4-hydroxynonenal. Myeloperoxidase in lungs increased continuously up to 18 h in both experimental groups, but there were higher levels in the group with pneumoperitoneum. CONCLUSION: Oxidative stress is likely to contribute to the impairment of pulmonary function after laparoscopic operations using a CO(2) pneumoperitoneum.

Analysis of Variance↗

Role of cathepsin B in intracellular trypsinogen activation and the onset of acute pancreatitis.

Autodigestion of the pancreas by its own prematurely activated digestive proteases is thought to be an important event in the onset of acute pancreatitis. The mechanism responsible for the intrapancreatic activation of digestive zymogens is unknown, but a recent hypothesis predicts that a redistribution of lysosomal cathepsin B (CTSB) into a zymogen-containing subcellular compartment triggers this event. To test this hypothesis, we used CTSB-deficient mice in which the ctsb gene had been deleted by targeted disruption. After induction of experimental secretagogue-induced pancreatitis, the trypsin activity in the pancreas of ctsb(-/-) animals was more than 80% lower than in ctsb(+/+) animals. Pancreatic damage as indicated by serum activities of amylase and lipase, or by the extent of acinar tissue necrosis, was 50% lower in ctsb(-/-) animals. These experiments provide the first conclusive evidence to our knowledge that cathepsin B plays a role in intrapancreatic trypsinogen activation and the onset of acute pancreatitis.

Acute Disease↗

Induction of permeability transition in pancreatic mitochondria by cerulein in rats.

Hyperstimulation with cholecystokinin analogue cerulein induces a mild edematous pancreatitis in rats. There is evidence for a diminished energy metabolism of acinar cells in this experimental model. The aim of this study was to demonstrate permeability transition of the mitochondrial inner membrane as an early change in mitochondrial function and morphology. As functional parameters, the respiration and membrane potential of mitochondria isolated from control and cerulein-treated animals were measured, and changes in volume and morphology were investigated by swelling experiments and electron microscopy. Five hours after the first injection of cerulein, the leak respiration was nearly doubled and the resting membrane potential was decreased by about 17 mV. These alterations were reversed by extramitochondrial ADP or did not occur when cyclosporin A was added to the mitochondrial incubation. A considerable portion of the mitochondria isolated from cerulein-treated animals was swollen and showed dramatic changes in morphology such as a wrinkled outer membrane and the loss of a distinct cristae structure. These data provide evidence for the opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore at an early stage of cerulein induced pancreatitis. This suggests that the permeability transition is an initiating event for lysis of individual mitochondria and the initiation of apoptosis and/or necrosis, as had been shown to occur in this experimental model.

Animals↗

Evaluation of UVA-mediated oxidative damage to proteins and lipids in extracorporeal photoimmunotherapy.

The combination of UVA and 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) is known for the ability to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) that react subsequently with DNA, lipids and proteins. In most studies concerned with UVA effects mediated by free radicals, UVA doses higher than those exhibiting beneficial clinical results in extracorporeal photoimmunotherapy (ECPI) were used. The present study was undertaken to determine markers of oxidative stress in plasma and cells from the buffy coat using conditions relevant for ECPI (cumulative UVA dose at the sample level < or = 2 J/cm2). Plasma exposed to UVA of 20 J/cm2 resulted in protein oxidation as well in crosslinking and fragmentation revealed by electrophoresis. Exposure of the buffy coat and plasma to considerably lower doses of UVA (up to 2 J/cm2) combined with various 8-MOP concentrations resulted neither in an increase of malondialdehyde as a marker of lipid peroxidation nor in a changed electrophoretic protein pattern. In these same experiments the total antioxidative capacity decreased to 65% of the initial value, suggesting that the antioxidative defense of plasma is able to cope with oxidative stress under ECPI conditions. These results were confirmed by data from 10 patients with scleroderma or cutaneous T-cell lymphoma during ECPI treatment. The present results suggest that, although ROS are formed during ECPI, gross oxidative damage does not occur. It is, however, possible, that specific effects mediated by oxygen radicals may co-trigger the photoimmunomodulatory effects of ECPI.

Blood Proteins↗

[Peritonitis models in the rat with special reference to laparoscopic therapy options].

With ongoing development of minimally invasive surgery the laparoscopic techniques are increasingly used also in patients with intra-abdominal inflammatory diseases. The systemic sequelae of laparoscopy are not yet clear. In this study, we investigated three experimental models of peritonitis in rats (cecal ligation and puncture n = 14, cecal stent peritonitis n = 14, implantation of a standardized fecal inoculum n = 18) concerning the therapeutic potential of laparoscopy, reproducibility of the results and clinical relevance (elimination of the inflammatory focus, intraperitoneal modulation of inflammation). The peritonitis model of implantation of a standardized fecal inoculum was shown to be the experimental model with the closest clinical relevance. In this technically simple, reproducible model, the primary inflammatory focus can be eliminated by laparoscopic lavage. A significant difference (p < 0.002) of survival between the groups with and without laparoscopic lavage was found. In addition, the intraperitoneal application of drugs is possible in order to modulate peritoneal and systemic inflammation.

Animals↗

Energy metabolism in rat pancreatic acinar cells during anoxia and reoxygenation.

Mitochondrial energy metabolism was studied in isolated pancreatic acinar cells during anoxia up to 90 min and reoxygenation for 60 min. To identify critical alterations leading to the known postanoxic impairments in structure and function of acinar cells, adenine nucleotide levels and the rates of phosphorylating and non-phosphorylating respiration were determined. ATP levels and the total amount of adenine nucleotides strongly decreased as early as after 30 min of anoxia. The cells partially restored ATP and the total adenine nucleotides within 60 min of reoxygenation. Long-term anoxia caused an increase in the oligomycin-insensitive part of oxygen consumption. The respiratory capacity measured as uncoupled respiration progressively declined to 40% of controls after 90 min of anoxia. Fluorescence measurements showed that flavoproteins and mitochondrial pyridine nucleotides in reoxygenated cells after short-term anoxia were in a more reduced state than in aerobic controls, and were not fully oxidizable by uncoupling. It is concluded that long-term anoxia produces an irreversible loss of respiratory capacity leading to a limited ATP production. This functional impairment and the progressive damage to acinar cells may be relevant for pancreatic injuries such as acute pancreatitis or post-transplantation pancreatitis.

Adenine Nucleotides↗

Occurrence of oxidatively modified proteins: an early event in experimental acute pancreatitis.

Free radical-mediated injury is believed to play a key role in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis (AP). Therefore, oxidative damage of proteins may be an important event in the development of AP. The present study was performed to investigate oxidative protein modification, quantified as 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine-reactive protein-carbonyls, during the time course of taurocholate-induced pancreatitis of the rat and to analyze oxidatively modified proteins by Western blotting. Protein modification in pancreatic homogenates was found as early as 30 min after induction of severe AP with 3% taurocholate preceding the elevation of serum amylase activity and the increase of malondialdehyde in the tissue. A correlation of protein-carbonyl contents to a score of pancreatic macroscopic alterations (r = .69) and to the wet weight/dry weight ratio (r = .65) was found. Infusion of 5% taurocholate resulted in fulminant AP with high lethality during the 24 h of the experiment. However, rats surviving showed significantly lower level of protein-carbonyls than animals that died between 20-24 h after AP induction. The quantitative data were confirmed by the intensity of immunostained protein-carbonyls. The present data show a rather uniform increase in the staining pattern not revealing single, selectively damaged proteins. The aldehydic product of lipid peroxidation 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE) is known for its reactivity towards proteins. Interestingly, an antibody raised against protein-bound HNE did not indicate an increased protein modification by this aldehyde. In conclusion, experimental AP is characterized by an early oxidative protein modification, possibly contributing to functional impairment of the pancreas. This protein alteration may not be mediated by HNE.

Acute Disease↗

Effect of supramaximal cerulein stimulation on mitochondrial energy metabolism in rat pancreas.

Hyperstimulation with the cholecystokinin analogue cerulein induces mild edematous pancreatitis in rats. It is believed that an impaired energy metabolism diminishes the cellular defense capacity in the inflamed pancreatic tissue and, therefore, contributes to the injuries in acinar cells. In the present study, changes in the capacity of oxidative phosphorylation were quantified within the first 24 h after subcutaneous cerulein injections. Serum amylase level and pancreatic water content were maximally elevated 5 h after the first injection. The capacity of mitochondrial respiration was reduced in isolated acinar cells to 69 and 44% at 5 and 24 h, respectively, compared to that in saline controls. Simultaneously, glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) activity dropped to 70 and 46%. The respiration rates of acinar cells and of isolated mitochondria related to GLDH activities were not different from controls. This suggests that the major portion of the mitochondrial population within the acinar cell is inactivated in the course of cerulein treatment. After 24 h, the reduced population of functionally intact mitochondria restricted the rate of phosphorylating respiration in acinar cells (52%), which resulted in a diminution of cellular ATP to 57%. It is concluded that cerulein hyperstimulation induces a drastic and long-lasting reduction of the capacity for mitochondrial ATP production which may adversely affect energy-requiring reactions of the gland during regeneration.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Trypsinogen activation in rat pancreatic acinar cells hyperstimulated by caerulein.

Inappropriate trypsinogen activation is discussed as an early intracellular event in the secretagogue-induced model of acute pancreatitis. However, the mechanisms by which trypsinogen is activated are not well characterized. In the present work, trypsinogen activation was studied in intact acinar cells using bis-(CBZ-arginyl)-Rhodamine 110 [(CBZ-Arg)2-Rho 110] as a cell-permeant substrate for trypsin and also independently via the formation of trypsinogen activation peptide (TAP). Preincubation with 10 nM caerulein increased the Rho 110-substrate cleavage more than threefold. This proteolytic activity was fully sensitive to a benzamidine (BA)-type serine protease inhibitor. The appearance of enzymatic activity was paralleled by the formation of TAP. The lack of effect of the high-molecular soybean trypsin inhibitor indicates an intracellular substrate cleavage. The cathepsin B inhibitor CA-074 prevented neither the caerulein-induced formation of TAP nor the (CBZ-Arg)2-Rho 110-cleaving activity. BA inhibited the Rho 110-substrate cleavage and significantly reduced the TAP formation. These results show that trypsinogen activation in caerulein-hyperstimulated acinar cells may occur independently of the activity of cathepsin B. On the contrary, the effect of BA suggests the role of a serine protease in trypsinogen activation.

Animals↗

[Modification of energy supply by pancreatic mitochondria in acute experimental pancreatitis].

A disturbed energy metabolism in pancreatic acinar cells is discussed as factor contributing to the development of acute pancreatitis (AP). In this study, we investigated to what extent the mitochondrial ATP producing capacity is impaired in the pancreatic tissue of rats with experimental AP. For preparation of mitochondria from rat pancreas, routine isolation procedures (tissue homogenization and differential centrifugation) were applied. Mitochondria were isolated from rats with edematous pancreatitis produced by hyperstimulation with caerulein, and from rats with mild necrotizing acute pancreatitis. The latter form of AP was induced by a temporary occlusion of the biliary pancreatic duct accompanied by a simultaneous intravenous injection of caerulein plus secretin and an intraabdominal administration of ethanol. As functional parameters of oxidative phosphorylation, the respiration rate, the mitochondrial membrane potential, and the activity of the complex I of the respiratory chain were determined. Mitochondria from rats with caerulein AP showed an enhanced respiration (61% vs. saline control) and a diminished membrane potential (-17 mV) if respiring with succinate in the non-phosphorylating state. This indicates an increased proton leak across the mitochondrial inner membrane. In the mild necrotizing AP, mitochondria were characterized by a decreased respiration with NAD(+)-linked substrates (-33% vs. sham-operated animals). This inhibition of respiration was confirmed by the reduced activity measured for the NADH-cytochrome c reductase (-32%). In both models of experimental AP the potency of mitochondria to produce ATP was significantly diminished. The stronger impairment of mitochondrial functions were found in the necrotizing form of AP. Reactive oxygen species may lead to the observed alterations--to the enhanced permeability of the mitochondrial inner membrane as well as to the inhibition of the complex I of the respiratory chain.

Acute Disease↗

Interrelation between mitochondrial respiration, substrate supply and redox ratio in perifused permeabilized rat hepatocytes.

A one-step perifusion technique is described for studying the regulation of energy metabolism in intact hepatocytes and in mitochondria of the same cells after their permeabilization by digitonin. Cell count and activities of glutamate dehydrogenase, the latter being used as an indicator of mitochondrial integrity, were found to be nearly unchanged after permeabilization and perifusion for at least 40 min at 37 degrees C. The residual activity of lactate dehydrogenase after permeabilized indicated that permeabilized cells were almost depleted of soluble cytosolic components. The composition of the perifusion medium was chosen so that various metabolic states could be adjusted of both intact and permeabilized hepatocytes without the need to change the perfusion medium. Oxidative phosphorylation of mitochondria within permeabilized hepatocytes remained intact throughout the perifusion as indicated by the response of respiration to the addition of ADP, carboxyatractyloside and uncoupler. The application of the perifusion technique allows us to sample indicator metabolites in the effluent medium like acetoacetate (AcAc) and 3-hydroxybutyrate (HB) for calculating the mitochondrial redox ratios and rates of ketogenesis. In the presence of octanoate and ADP, an improvement of substrate supply by glutamate and malate led to increases in the intramitochondrial HB/AcAc ratio and the respiration rate. Glutamate/malate concentrations of 1 mM resulted in maximal respiration rates, whereas concentrations of 5 mM further enhanced the HB/AcAc ratio. Mitochondria responded to increasing ATP/ADP ratios in the perifusion medium by decreased respiration rates at higher HB/AcAc ratios. By comparing respiration rates and redox ratios of mitochondria in permeabilized cells with those before permeabilization (gluconeogenic conditions of hepatocytes), it is concluded that in the intact cell oxidative phosphorylation is limited with respect to substrate supply as well as by the ATP demand.

3-Hydroxybutyric Acid↗

Cytochrome-c oxidase in developing rat heart. Enzymic properties and amino-terminal sequences suggest identity of the fetal heart and the adult liver isoform.

Perinatal development of cytochrome-c oxidase (complex IV) and ubiquinol-cytochrome-c reductase (complex III) was investigated in rat heart and liver by analysing catalytic properties, protein amounts, and subunit isoforms during the transition from the fetal to the adult state. The total amounts of complexes from milligram quantities of tissue, and the portions of isoforms of complex IV, were quantified densitometrically after isolation of the native complexes by blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and separation of the protein subunits by Tricine/SDS/PAGE [Schägger, H. & von Jagow, G. (1991) Anal. Biochem. 199, 223-231]. A parallel increase of protein amounts and catalytic activities during perinatal development was observed in heart and liver for complex III, but only in liver for complex IV. In heart, both a doubling of the turnover number of complex IV and a lowered Km for cytochrome c were observed. The altered enzymic properties correlated with the increase of heart type subunits VIa and VIII. The fetal enzymes from heart and liver seem to be identical to the adult liver isoform, as deduced from their enzymic properties and identical aminoterminal sequences of subunits VIa and VIII.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Acinar cell respiration in experimental acute pancreatitis.

The early pathogenetic steps that finally lead to acinar cell necrosis in acute pancreatitis have been characterized only scarcely as yet. Among a lot of hypotheses, one concept favors disturbances of cellular energy metabolism as a major factor that contributes to preterm cell decline. To investigate, whether an experimental acute pancreatitis alters cell respiration, the respiratory capacities of acinar cells isolated from rats with acute pancreatitis were measured. Acute pancreatitis was induced using Popper's model, i.e., a combination of duct obstruction, secretory stimulation, and mesenteric short-term ischemia with subsequent reperfusion. Acinar cells were isolated using a collagenase digestion technique. The respiratory rates of the isolated cells in suspension were measured at 37 degrees C in 100% oxygen-saturated N-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine-N'-2-ethanesulfonic acid-buffered Eagle's-minimal essential medium. Resting respiration of the acinar cells uniformly amounted to about 60 pmol of O2/s x 10(6) cells in both the control and the pancreatitis group. Cellular respiration could significantly be stimulated by stepwise uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation by means of 2,4-dinitrophenol in all cell suspensions investigated. The maximum rate of stimulated respiration was diminished in the cells isolated from rats with acute pancreatitis as compared with the controls (79.3 +/- 5.0 vs. 160.2 +/- 15.5 pmol of O2/s x 10(6) cells, p < .05), however. This reduced respiratory load capacity of the acinar cells in acute pancreatitis reflects the restricted ability of the cells to increase respiration on enhanced cellular demand. Since mitochondrial respiration is coupled to oxidative phosphorylation, an altered energy-transforming potential of the acinar cells in acute pancreatitis becomes evident.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acute Disease↗

Increase in the adenine nucleotide translocase protein contributes to the perinatal maturation of respiration in rat liver mitochondria.

An assay based on the high-affinity binding of tritium-labelled atractyloside to the adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT) was developed for estimation of its content in samples of mitochondria, cells and tissue homogenate. The assay was used to study the developmental change of the ANT protein concentration in perinatal rat liver. Within the last 3 days before birth the content of the ANT protein per mg tissue protein increased from 29 to 45% of the maximum value found 2 days after birth. A similar developmental change of the ANT protein was found in isolated mitochondria, demonstrating that the perinatal increase in the ANT protein content was due mainly to a mitochondrial differentiation process and not the result of an increase in the number of mitochondria per cell. A close proportionality between the ANT protein and the ADP-stimulated respiration of liver homogenate was found in the perinatal period from 3 days before to 2 days after birth. This finding suggests that the developmental change in the ANT protein content plays an important role in the onset of oxidative phosphorylation after birth.

Animals↗

[Morphologic characteristics and ATPase activity in permeabilized epididymal bull sperm].

The treatment of bull spermatozoa from epididymal cauda with 5 micrograms digitonin per microliters cells led to the destruction of the plasma membrane which was shown by electron microscopy. Structural changes of mitochondria and of the axoneme were not found. The functional intactness was maintained. The plasma membranes of hypotonically treated spermatozoa were permeable for succinate and the mitochondria showed a diminished functional intactness. For the total ATPase activity of digitonin-treated cells, mainly representing the dynein ATPase, a maximal activity of 20.3 nmol ATP x min-1 x microliters cells-1 (mean +/- S.D.; n = 8) and an apparent half saturation constant of 0.29 mM ATP were determined. The portions of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase and mitochondrial ATPase in the total ATP-splitting activity were found to be less than 15%. In comparison to the capacity of mitochondrial ATP production, the maximal activity of ATP consuming reactions amounted to about 70%. These results support findings that the ATP turnover of spermatozoa is more limited by the ATP consumption than by the ATP production.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗