SEARCH · PubMed Health
Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
The formation of phosphoenolpyruvate from pyruvate and adenosine 5'-triphosphate by enzymes from photosynthetic bacteria required inorganic phosphate, thus indicating that these organisms utilize pyruvate, orthophosphate dikinase rather than phosphoenolpyruvate synthase in photosynthesis.
The effects of diabetes on hepatic carbohydrate metabolism were investigated in spontaneously diabetic Bio-Breeding Worcester (BB/W) rats. The juvenile-onset-type syndrome displayed by these animals is characterized by beta-cell destruction with subsequent ketosis-prone insulinopenia. Livers from diabetic animals demonstrated increased adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate levels but subnormal total protein and glycogen content. Isolated perfused livers of diabetic BB/W rats demonstrated an increased rate of glucose production from [14C]lactate and an impaired rate of glycogen synthesis. These data were consonant with hepatic enzyme studies demonstrating markedly increased activities of component gluconeogenic (glucose-6-phosphatase, fructose-1,6-diphosphatase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase) and glycogenolytic (glycogen phosphorylase) enzymes with decreased activities of glycolytic (hexokinase, pyruvate kinase) and glycogenic (glycogen synthase) enzymes. These findings agree with previous studies using alloxan- and streptozotocin-induced diabetic animals and suggest that accelerated hepatic gluconeogenesis and impaired glucose utilization are pathognomonic of all insulin-deficient diabetic syndromes.
Two groups of Amphibolurus nuchalis, an Australian agamid lizard, were maintained in captivity for 8 wk. The "trained" group was given submaximal exercise at 1 km/h on a motorized treadmill, 30 min/day, 5 days/wk; the treadmill was inclined 10% for the last 5 wk. The "sedentary" group was not exercised. Endurance capacity did not change significantly in either group, but sprint speed decreased in trained lizards. The sedentary group exhibited significant decreases in maximal O2 consumption, standard metabolic rate, and heart mass, but an increase in liver mass. Trained lizards exhibited significant decreases in heart and thigh muscle masses, but significant increases in liver mass, hematocrit, liver pyruvate kinase, and heart citrate synthase activities. It is concluded that the adaptive response to endurance training, typical of mammals, does not generally occur in lizards. Moreover, levels of chronic activity that would elicit adaptive responses in mammals may be excessive for lizards and may induce pathological effects in joints and skeletal muscle. The ecological and evolutionary significance of these conclusions is discussed.
Paclitaxel, one of the most commonly prescribed chemotherapeutic agents, is active against a wide spectrum of human cancer. The mechanism of its cytotoxicity, however, remains controversial. Our results indicate that paclitaxel treatment increases levels of superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide (NO), oxidative DNA adducts, G2-M arrest, and cells with fragmented nuclei. Antioxidants pyruvate and selenium, the NO synthase inhibitor N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, and the NO scavenger manganese (III) 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-imidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide all decreased paclitaxel-mediated DNA damage and sub-G1 cells. In contrast, the glutamylcysteine synthase inhibitor buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) and the superoxide dismutase (SOD) inhibitor 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME) increased the sub-G1 fraction in paclitaxel-treated cells. These results suggest that reactive oxygen and nitrogen species are involved in paclitaxel cytotoxicity. This notion is further supported with the observation that concentrations of paclitaxel required to inhibit cell growth by 50% correlate with total antioxidant capacity. Moreover, agents such as arsenic trioxide (As2O3), BSO, 2-ME, PD98059, U0126 [mitogen-activated protein/extracellular signal-regulated kinase inhibitors], and LY294002 (phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt inhibitor), all of which decrease clonogenic survival, also decrease the total antioxidant capacity of paclitaxel-treated cells, regardless whether they are paclitaxel sensitive or paclitaxel resistant. These results suggest that paclitaxel chemosensitivity may be predicted by taking total antioxidant capacity measurements from clinical tumor samples. This, in turn, may then improve treatment outcomes by selecting out potentially responsive patients.
Gram-positive bacteria have been explored to convert lignocellulosic biomass to biofuel and bioproducts. Our long-term goal is to create genetically engineered lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains that convert agricultural biomass into ethanol and other value-added products. The immediate approaches toward this goal involve genetic manipulations by either introducing ethanol production pathway genes or inactivating pathways genes that lead to production of undesired byproducts. The widely studied species Lactobacillus plantarum is now considered a model for genetic manipulations of LAB. In this study, L. plantarum TF103 strain, in which two of the chromosomal L-ldh and D-ldh genes are inactivated, was used to introduce additional mutations on the chromosome to eliminate undesired fermentation products. We targeted the acetolactate synthase gene (als) that converts pyruvate to acetolactate, to eliminate the production of acetoin and 2,3-butanodial. A pBluescript derivative containing sections of the als coding region and an erythromycin resistance gene was directly introduced into L. plantarum TF103 cells to create mutations under selection pressure. The resulting erythromycin resistant (Emr) TF103 strain appears to have chromosomal mutations of both the als and the adjacent lysP genes as revealed by polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot analyses. Mutations were thus generated via targeted homologous recombination using a Gram-negative cloning vector, eliminating the use of a shuttle vector. This method should facilitate research in targeted inactivation of other genes in LAB.
A mathematical model is proposed to describe the interaction between glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and 3-oxidation (beta OX). The model incorporates the activations of phosphofructokinase by AMP and of isocitrate dehydrogenase by ADP as well as the inhibitions of citrate synthase by citrate, of acyl CoA synthase by excess CoAsAcyl, of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) and the beta OX helix by the products CoAsAc and NADH. These regulations have been shown to provide consecutive triggering of the fatty acid and glucose oxidation systems with an increase in the ATPase load, the beta OX of fatty acids being a major source of energy at small loads. The steady state rates of glycolysis and PDH-reaction begin to increase at larger loads when the rate of beta OX is close to its maximum value. At maximum ATPase loads, the glucose oxidation accounts for more than 80% of the total energy production. Under limited fatty acid supply, the transfer to glucose oxidation gives rise to a region of the ATPase loads, where in the steady state levels of NADH and CoAsAc increase with load.
Experiments were performed on eight subjects affected by peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) of the lower limbs. Each patient was submitted to Ecodoppler, angiography and the "Treadmill test". Two bioptic muscle of these patients. A sample was used for the spectrophotometric and spectrophotofluorimetric determinations of: glycogen, pyruvate, lactate, citrate, alpha-ketoglutarate, malate, aspartate, glutamate, AMP, ADP, ATP and creatine phosphate (CP). The other bioptic sample was used to determine the following enzyme activities: hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, succinate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase, total NADH cytochrome c reductase, cytochrome oxidase, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase. Patients showed an increase in lactate dehydrogenase, total NADH cytochrome c reductase and succinate dehydrogenase activities, a decrease in glycogen, ATP and CP concentrations. Telethermographic data showed patient muscle thermic emission quantitatively different from control group. The telethermographic test can be used as an additional diagnostic tool to determine and monitor the efficiency of a muscle undergoing metabolic failure.
Glucose utilization indices (GUI) were measured in vivo in conjunction with active pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDH(a) and glycogen synthase (GS) activities in fast-twitch skeletal muscles [extensor digitorum longus (EDL), tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius] of late-pregnant rats and age-matched virgin control rats in the fed state, after 24 h starvation and at 2 h after re-feeding with standard laboratory chow ad libitum after 24 h starvation. As demonstrated previously [Holness and Sugden (1990) Biochem. J 277, 429-433], GUI values of fast-twitch skeletal muscles of virgin rats were low in the fed ad libitum and the 24 h-starved states, but dramatically increased after subsequent chow re-feeding. GUI values of fast-twitch skeletal muscles of late-pregnant rats were also low in the fed and starved states and were increased by re-feeding, but the increase in GUI values elicited by re-feeding was greatly attenuated. PDHa activities in EDL, tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius in the fed state were unaffected by late pregnancy, and skeletal-muscle PDHa activities were decreased after 24 h of starvation in both groups. Whereas re-feeding of virgin rats with standard diet for 2 h restored PDHa activities in fast-twitch skeletal muscles to values for rats continuously fed ad libitum, PDHa activities in fast-twitch skeletal muscles of late-pregnant rats, although increased in response to re-feeding, remained considerably less than the corresponding fed ad libitum values after 2 h of re-feeding. In contrast, neither skeletal-muscle GS re-activation nor rates of skeletal-muscle glycogen deposition after re-feeding were markedly affected by late pregnancy. The results are discussed in relation to the specific targeting of individual pathways of glucose disposal in fast-twitch skeletal muscles during re-feeding in late pregnancy.
The novel enzyme benzylsuccinate synthase initiates anaerobic toluene metabolism by catalyzing the addition of toluene to fumarate, forming benzylsuccinate. Based primarily on its sequence similarity to the glycyl radical enzymes, pyruvate formate-lyase and anaerobic ribonucleotide reductase, benzylsuccinate synthase was speculated to be a glycyl radical enzyme. In this report we use EPR spectroscopy to demonstrate for the first time that active benzylsuccinate synthase from the denitrifying bacterium Azoarcus sp. strain T harbors an oxygen-sensitive stable organic free radical. The EPR signal of the radical was centered at g = 2.0021 and was characterized by a major 2-fold splitting of about 1.5 millitesla. The strong similarities between the EPR signal of the benzylsuccinate synthase radical and that of the glycyl radicals of pyruvate formate-lyase and anaerobic ribonucleotide reductase provide evidence that the benzylsuccinate synthase radical is located on a glycine residue, presumably glycine 828 in Azoarcus sp. strain T benzylsuccinate synthase.
Four enzyme activities related to glucose metabolism, i.e. those of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH; EC 1.1.1.49), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH; EC 1.1.1.27), pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) and citrate synthase (CS; EC 4.1.3.7) were estimated in posterior root ganglion cells (PRGCs) of the spinal cord in patients suffering from olivopontocerebellar atrophy (OPCA), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) by means of the NAD, NADP and CoA cycling methods. In ALS and DMD, the enzyme activities examined were within normal ranges. In OPCA, PDC activity was significantly reduced and LDH activity tended to be lower than that in controls.
Psychophilic microorganisms, able to grow at 0-1 degrees C, were isolated from water obtained from the Paraná River at Rosario. One of the strains, R-12, was identified as Pseudomonas fluorescens according to the description in Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology (8th Ed., 1974). The microorganism was able to grow in liquid minimal medium with glucose, acetate, glutamate or casein hydrolysate as sole carbon source, at 20 degrees C. The enzymes of the Entner-Doudoroff pathway were induced in cells grown on glucose. The Krebs cycle was apparently operative in all cases; the lower levels of citrate synthase and isocitrate dehydrogenase were found in glucose-grown cells. Isocitrate lyase was present at a high concentration, and malate synthase considerably increased, in acetate-grown cells, thus suggesting the operation of the glyoxylate cycle. When cells were grown on glucose the anaplerotic function was probably fulfilled by pyruvate carboxylase, although phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase was also present. The gluconeogenic enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase was repressed by glucose; malic enzyme was repressed by acetate. The regulatory patterns shown by citrate synthase and pyruvate carboxylase were similar to those described for the enzymes from other Pseudomonas. Whole cells of the R-12 strain were able to decarboxylate the aminoacids serine, aspartate and glutamate. Aspartate aminotransferase was present at high levels in aminoacid-grown cells, thus suggesting a catabolic role, whereas glutamate dehydrogenase had increased levels in glucose - or acetate-grown cells, suggesting that it fulfilled a mainly biosynthetic role.
Glucose and gluconeogenic substrates promote the activation of hepatic glycogen synthase in vivo and in vitro; activation occurs as inactive glycogen synthase D is dephosphorylated to active glycogen synthase I by glycogen synthase phosphatase. Impairments of glycogen accumulation and glycogen synthase activation in diabetes have been attributed to decreased glycogen synthase phosphatase activity. To determine the role of glycogen synthase phosphatases associated with cytosol and smooth endoplasmic reticulum in the impairment of glycogen synthase activation, livers of normal and streptozotocin-diabetic fed rats were sampled by freeze-clamping before and after perfusion with a mixture of 25 mM glucose, 10 mM glutamine, 4 mM lactate, and 1 mM pyruvate. Perfusion induced activation of glycogen synthase in normal rats, but activation was reduced in the diabetic rats in proportion to the severity of insulin deficiency (r = 0.72, P less than 0.0001). There was also a close correlation between insulin levels and glycogen synthase phosphatase activities of both cytosol (r = 0.76, P less than 0.0001) and SER (r = 0.71, P less than 0.0001) fractions. In contrast, glycogen phosphorylase phosphatase activity and inactivation of glycogen phosphorylase during perfusion were normal in the diabetic livers. This is the first demonstration that glycogen synthase phosphatase activities in both soluble and SER fractions of liver cells are closely related to circulating insulin levels, and that the impairment of glycogen synthesis in diabetes may result from deficient glycogen synthase phosphatase activity in both cell compartments.
Human muscle cell cultures were examined for capacities to oxidize several substrates, and for activities of some enzymes related to intermediate metabolism. The results indicate that mitochondrial activities attained appreciable degrees of maturity. The specific activity of creatine kinase increased during myoblast fusion. In contrast, parameters of oxidative metabolism (palmitate and pyruvate oxidation, and cytochrome c oxidase and citrate synthase) did not significantly change throughout myogenesis and thereafter. In differentiated cells (myotubes) the oxidation capacities were pyruvate greater than 2-oxoglutarate greater than malate (+ acetylcarnitine) greater than malate (+ pyruvate), as in muscle biopsies. With regard to protein the cultured human muscle cells showed higher activities than the original biopsies (= 100%) with respect to citrate synthase (179%), but lower values for cytochrome c oxidase (50%) and creatine kinase (7%). Palmitate oxidation capacities were the same in both systems. The presence of antimycin and rotenon inhibited to a comparable extent the palmitate oxidation in cultured muscle and biopsies.
The content of free sugars and the activities of enzymes involved in carbon metabolism-sucrose synthase, acid and alkaline invertase, phosphoenol pyruvate carboxylase, malic enzyme and isocitrate dehydrogenase were determined during seed development in mungbean pods. A decrease in carbohydrate content of pod wall from 10 to 25 days after flowering (DAF) and a concomitant increase in the seed till 20 DAF was observed. Sucrose remained the dominant soluble sugar in the pod wall and seed. In the branch of inflorescence and pod wall, the activities of sucrose metabolizing enzymes, viz. acid and alkaline invertase, sucrose synthase (synthesis and cleavage) and sucrose phosphate synthase were higher at 5-10 DAF, whereas in seed the maximum activities of these enzymes were observed at the time of maximum seed filling stage (10-20 DAF). High activities of sucrose synthase at the time of rapid seed filling can be correlated to its sink strength. Higher activities of phosphoenol pyruvate carboxylase in the branch of inflorescence and pod wall than in seed may indicate the involvement of the fruiting structure for recapturing respired CO2. High activities of isocitrate dehydrogenase and malic enzyme in the seed at the time of rapid seed filling could provide NADPH and carbon skeletons required for the synthesis of various seed reserves.
The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of polyunsaturated fatty acids on gene expression for fatty acid synthase, acetyl CoA-carboxylase, malic enzyme, pyruvate kinase, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase in obese mice. Eight-week-old female lean and obese mice were fed semi-purified diets containing 20% (w/w) fat of either high or low polyunsaturated to saturated (P/S) fatty acid ratio for four weeks. Total RNA was isolated from liver and was hybridized to cDNA probes for the above enzymes. Consumption of a high P/S diet decreased mRNA levels for all the lipogenic enzymes studied in both lean and obese mice. Compared to lean mice, obese mice exhibited a higher mRNA level for fatty acid synthase, acetyl CoA-carboxylase, malic enzyme, and pyruvate kinase in animals fed either a high or low P/S diet. Enzyme-specific activities followed the same profile as the mRNA levels in both lean and obese mice fed a high or low P/S diet. The decrease in liver fatty acid synthase mRNA level was more pronounced in lean mice compared to obese mice, suggesting that the obese mice may be more resistant to polyunsaturated fatty acid feedback control of gene expression.
Following the complete sequencing of the Escherichia coli genome, it has been shown that the proposed second citrate synthase of this organism, recently described by the authors, is in fact a 2-methylcitrate synthase that possesses citrate synthase activity as a minor component. Whereas the hexameric citrate synthase is constitutively produced, the 2-methylcitrate synthase is induced during growth on propionate, and the catabolism of propionate to succinate and pyruvate via 2-methylcitrate is proposed. The citrate synthases of the psychrotolerant eubacterium DS2-3R, and of the thermophilic archaea Thermoplasma acidophilum and Pyrococcus furiosus, are approximately 40% identical in sequence to the Escherichia coli 2-methylcitrate synthase and also possess 2-methylcitrate synthase activity. The data are discussed with respect to the structure, function and evolution of citrate synthase and 2-methylcitrate synthase.
Measurements of glycerate-2,3-P2 and hemoglobin in the developing erythroid cells indicated that the glycerate-2,3-P2 level rose during erythroid differentiation in a linear relationship to the hemoglobin level, suggesting the presence of regulation to accumulate both substances synchronously. The accumulation of glycerate-2,3-P2 was found to be primarily attributable to the increase in glycerate-2,3-P2 synthase activity. The activities of phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase changed so as to be favourable for glycerate-2,3-P2 accumulation. The increase in glycerate-2,3-P2 synthase activity was shown to be caused by an increase in the enzyme protein. Synthesis of glycerate-2,3-P2 synthase protein was proved in bone marrow erythroid cells and in reticulocytes.
Histochemical analysis of five muscles from the water monitor, Varanus salvator, identified three major classes of fibers based on histochemical activities of the enzymes myosin ATPase (mATPase), succinic dehydrogenase (SDH), and alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (alpha GPDH). Fast-twitch, glycolytic (FG) fibers were the most abundant fiber type and exhibited the following reaction product intensities: mATPase, dark; SDH, light; alpha GPDH, moderate to dark. Fast-twitch, oxidative, glycolytic (FOG) fibers were characteristically mATPase, dark; SDH, light; alpha GPDH, moderate to dark. The third class of fibers had the following histochemical characteristics: mATPase, light; SDH, moderate to dark; alpha GPDH, light. These fibers were considered to be either slow twitch, or tonic, and oxidative (S/O). Pyruvate kinase (PK), alpha GPDH, and citrate synthase (CS) activities were measured in homogenates of the same muscles studied histochemically. There was a positive relationship between both PK and alpha GPDH activities and the percentage of glycolytic fiber types within a muscle. Likewise, CS activities were greater in muscles high in FOG and S/O content. Based on CS activities, Varanus S/O fibers were eight-fold more oxidative than FG fibers within the same muscle. PK/CS ratios suggested that FG fibers possess high anaerobic capacity, similar to the iguanid lizard Dipsosaurus. The fiber type composition of the gastrocnemius muscle, relative to that of other lizard species, suggests that varanid lizards may possess a greater proportion of FOG and S/O fibers than other lizards.