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Changes in concentrations of coenzyme F420 analogs during batch growth of Methanosarcina barkeri and Methanosarcina mazei.

Coenzyme F420 has been assayed by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorimetric detection; this permits quantification of individual coenzyme F420 analogs whilst avoiding the inclusion of interfering material. The total intracellular coenzyme F420 content of Methanosarcina barkeri MS cultivated on methanol and on H2-CO2 and of Methanosarcina mazei S-6 cultured on methanol remained relatively constant during batch growth. The most abundant analogs in M. barkeri were coenzymes F420-2 and F420-4, whilst in M. mazei coenzymes F420-2 and F420-3 predominated. Significant changes in the relative proportions of the coenzyme F420 analogs were noted during batch growth, with coenzymes F420-2 and F420-4 showing opposite responses to each other and the same being also true for coenzymes F420-3 and F420-5. This suggests that an enzyme responsible for transferring pairs of glutamic acid residues may be active. The degradation fragment FO was also detected in cells in late exponential and stationary phase. Coenzyme F420 analogs were present in the culture supernatant of both methanogens, in similar proportions to that in the cells, except for FO which was principally located in the supernatant.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid

Heart Na,K-ATPase activity in cardiomyopathic hamsters as estimated from K-dependent 3-O-MFPase activity in crude homogenates.

The hamster hereditary cardiomyopathy provides a unique model for the study of membrane abnormalities during chronic congestive heart failure. It is associated with intracellular calcium accumulation, mitochondrial calcification and cell necrosis. Previous studies have shown a decrease in Na,K-ATPase activity purified from ventricle sarcolemma. The present study demonstrates a decrease in K-dependent 3-O-methylfluorescein phosphatase (3-O-MFPase) activity from 1.93 to 1.30 mumol/g wet wt. or 33% in crude homogenates from the left ventricle of 7-months-old cardiomyopathic hamsters as compared to control animals. This represents an equivalent decrease in Na, K-ATPase activity. The values are several times higher than previously published for membrane fractions of myocardium from the hamster. Concomitantly, there was an increase in intracellular Na-concentration of the myocardium of 42% whereas the K-concentration was unchanged. The decrease in Na,K-pump concentration may be of importance for the increase in intracellular sodium and ensuing calcifying necrosis observed in the myocardium of cardiomyopathic hamsters. It is emphasized that quantification of the Na,K-ATPase or Na,K-pump should preferably be performed using crude homogenates.

Animals

Immunolocalization of matricial components during the early stages of chick embryonic liver development.

In the chick embryo, the first liver primordium is observed at the end of the second day of incubation. At 3 and 4 days, ultrastructural analysis of the primitive vascular spaces showed that the endothelial limiting plate was constituted by one or several cell layers. At the vascular pole of the hepatoblasts, mesenchymal cells and connective matrix, present as fibrillar and non fibrillar components, were closely associated. At 5 days, some vascular spaces were limited by a simple endothelial layer. The limiting plate was fenestrated and the connective matrix was reduced to rare collagen fibrils and fibers. Collagen types I, III, IV, procollagen type III, fibronectin and laminin were visualized in the perivascular spaces using immunoperoxidase labeling methods. These components were also detected in the endoplasmic reticulum of hepatoblastic, endothelial and mesenchymal cells. All these appeared to be involved in connective matrix synthesis. Comparing 4 and 5 days, we demonstrated that the number of cells showing intracellular labelling of matricial components dropped dramatically at 5 days, indicating a possible decrease of connective matrix synthesis. Quantification of parenchymal and vascular surfaces was carried out using a semi-automatic image analyzer on consecutive parasagittal sections chosen in the axial part of the embryonic liver. These measurements were performed in order to quantitate the vascular distribution pattern during early development of the liver. These combined immunomorphological studies and morphometrical analyses suggest that during embryogenesis of the liver the synthesis of connective matrix precedes and possibly initiates the vascular differentiation.

Animals

Spin-lattice relaxation times for 13C in isotope-enriched glycine accumulated in frog muscle.

Spin-lattice relaxation times (T1's) of 13C-enriched glycine accumulated in frog muscles were determined at 1 degrees C by the inversion-recovery (180 degrees -tau-90 degree pulse sequence) method and compared with the values obtained in free solution. The value of T1 for the alpha-13C nucleus of glycine in the tissue was 50% of that obtained in free solution. The observed value for T1 in the tissue was not concentration-dependent, and no difference in chemical shift was observed between tissue and free solution. Quantification of the area under the glycine peak suggested that the observed signal represents at least 80% of the intracellular glycine. An average nuclear Overhauser enhancement of 2.83 for intracellular glycine indicates that the relaxation mechanism within the cell is predominantly dipolar, as in free solution. The value of T1 for the 13C' nucleus of glycine in the tissue was 67% of that in a solution of similar concentration. A quantitative analysis of the findings suggests that the observed difference in the value of T1 between tissue and free solution results from a difference in viscosity. The data provide no evidence either for special organization of intracellular water or for glycine binding. It is proposed that intracellular diffusion coefficients may be determined from measurements of 13C T1's of 13C-enriched intracellular solutes.

Animals

Phosphorus-31 NMR spectra by the linear prediction z-transform method.

The linear prediction z-transform method (LPZAR) was applied to estimate 31P NMR spectra of perfused rat hearts. The spectra obtained by the LPZAR method showed sharper peaks with less noise for phosphate concentrations than those obtained by conventional fast Fourier transform. The LPZAR method provided a better estimation of intracellular phosphate concentrations in short acquisition time experiments in which condition Fourier transform spectra are not suitable for the quantification due to the poor resolution of FFT spectra. Utilizing the LPZAR method, rapid changes in phosphoric metabolites of the heart can be monitored during ischemia followed by reperfusion.

Animals

Real-time quantitative elemental analysis and mapping: microchemical imaging in cell physiology.

Recent advances in widely available microcomputers have made the acquisition and processing of digital quantitative X-ray maps of one to several cells readily feasible. Here we describe a system which uses a graphics-based microcomputer to acquire spectrally filtered X-ray elemental image maps that are fitted to standards, to display the image in real time, and to correct the post-acquisition image map with regard to specimen drift. Both high-resolution quantitative energy-dispersive X-ray images of freeze-dried cyrosections and low-dose quantitative bright-field images of frozen-hydrated sections can be acquired to obtain element and water content from the same intracellular regions. The software programs developed, together with the associated hardware, also allow static probe acquisition of data from selected cell regions with spectral processing and quantification performed on-line in real time. In addition, the unified design of the software program provides for off-line processing and analysing by several investigators at microcomputers remote from the microscope. The overall experimental strategy employs computer-aided imaging, combined with static probes, as an essential interactive tool of investigation for biological analysis. This type of microchemical microscopy facilitates studies in cell physiology and pathophysiology which focus on mechanisms of ionic (elemental) compartmentation, i.e. structure-function correlation at cellular and subcellular levels; it allows investigation of intracellular concentration gradients, of the heterogeneity of cell responses to stimuli, of certain fast physiological events in vivo at ultrastructural resolution, and of events occurring with low incidence or involving cell-to-cell interactions.

Animals

Intracellular type A retrovirus movement associated with an intact microtubule system.

Intracytoplasmic type A particles known to be precursors to type B retroviruses in murine, hamster and marsupial cells are closely associated with microtubules and microtubule organizing centres. In this publication, the active participation of microtubules in the intracellular transport of the particles to the cell surface has been examined in NIH 3T3 cells infected with M432 virus using vincristine sulphate (VCR) as inhibitor of microtubule polymerization. The release of virus at different times after exposure to VCR was quantified by reverse transcriptase determinations of cell supernatants and by electron microscopic quantification of the number of virions at the cell surface using freeze-dried whole cell replicas. These studies indicate that VCR inhibits both microtubule polymerization and virus release, and thus suggest that intact cytoplasmic microtubules are necessary for intracellular transport and release of virus.

Animals

Fibrinogen Manchester. Detection of a heterozygous phenotype in the intraplatelet pool.

Family members heterozygous for the congenitally abnormal fibrinogen designated fibrinogen Manchester, A alpha 16Arg----His, have previously been shown by h.p.l.c. and amino acid analysis to release a variant fibrinopeptide, [His16]fibrinopeptide A, from plasma fibrinogen after the addition of thrombin. The present study was designed to determine if the same abnormal phenotype was also present in the intraplatelet fibrinogen pool. Fresh platelets were washed in buffers containing EDTA until it could be shown that all washable plasma fibrinogen was removed. Normal platelets were then lysed by freezing and thawing to release their intracellular proteins, which were then treated with thrombin. The fibrinopeptides, cleaved from the intraplatelet fibrinogen, could be detected by an optimized h.p.l.c. technique. Quantification of the intraplatelet fibrinogen gave a result (means +/- S.D., n = 5) of 110 +/- 30 and 90 +/- 30 micrograms/10(9) platelets, when determined by h.p.l.c. quantification of fibrinopeptide B content and fibrinogen fragment E radioimmunoassay respectively. Examination of fibrinopeptides released from the platelet fibrinogen from the family with fibrinogen Manchester with the same techniques showed elution peaks in the same positions as both [His16]fibrinopeptide A and normal fibrinopeptide A. The identity of these peaks was further substantiated by analysis of the h.p.l.c. peaks by using specific radioimmunoassay to fibrinopeptide A. Our results therefore demonstrate that platelet fibrinogen expresses the heterozygous A alpha 16His phenotype. This supports the view that the A alpha chains of platelet and plasma fibrinogen are produced from a single genetic locus.

Blood Platelets

Glucose regulates its transport in L8 myocytes by modulating cellular trafficking of the transporter GLUT-1.

The effect of culture conditions simulating hypo- and hyper-glycaemia on glucose transport and on the subcellular localization of the glucose transporter GLUT-1 was studied in L8 myocytes. Incubation of the cells with 20 mM-glucose for 25 h decreased the rate of 2-deoxy-D-[3H]glucose (dGlc) uptake to 0.106 +/- 0.016 nmol/min per 10(6) cells compared with 0.212 +/- 0.025 in cells maintained at 2 mM-glucose (final glucose concentrations at the end of the incubation period were 16-17 mM and 0.7-1.0 mM respectively). An additional 5 h incubation of these cells with medium containing the opposite glucose concentration (i.e. change from 17 mM to 1 mM and from 1 mM to 17 mM) increased the transport rate to 0.172 +/- 0.033 nmol/min per 10(6) cells in cultures initially conditioned at high glucose, and decreased the transport to 0.125 +/- 0.029 in those conditioned at low glucose. Plasma-membrane- and microsomal-membrane-enriched fractions were prepared from these cells for [3H]cytochalasin B (CB) binding and Western-blot analysis with antibodies against GLUT-1 and GLUT-4. A decrease in glucose concentration increased the number of D-glucose-displaceable CB-binding sites and GLUT-1 protein in the plasma-membrane fraction to the same extent as the increase in dGlc transport. Under downregulatory conditions, the lower dGlc-transport capacity could be accounted for by a decreased number of transporters in the plasma membrane of the cells. No apparent modification of the intrinsic activity of the glucose transporters was observed in up- or down-regulated cells. Under downregulatory conditions, the CB-binding data indicated a large increase in the number of transporters in the intracellular membranes of the myocytes. Western blots of the same membranes also indicated an increase in GLUT-1 content. However, the interaction of the intracellular GLUT-1 protein with the polyclonal antibodies was much weaker than that of the plasma-membrane-associated GLUT-1. The GLUT-4 concentration was too low to permit quantification in membrane fractions. Our findings suggest that autoregulation of glucose transport in L8 myocytes is accompanied by parallel changes in the number of GLUT-1 transporters in the plasma membrane, and that the rate of transporter degradation may be augmented in the upregulated myocytes. These glucose-induced changes are fully reversible.

Animals

Analysis of myocardial function in orthotopic cardiac allografts after prolonged storage in UW solution.

The need for a better organ preservative solution in heart transplantation is clear. At the same time, newer techniques in the assessment of cardiac function in the laboratory have made accurate load-independent quantification of myocardial preservation possible. Therefore a study was undertaken to evaluate left ventricular function in transplanted hearts after 14 hours of preservation in the intracellular lactobionate solution. Nine dogs were instrumented with ultrasonic dimension transducers, to measure left ventricular epicardial volume, and with micromanometers, to measure left ventricular pressure. Left ventricular wall volumes were determined from epicardial echocardiograms. To define the extent of organ injury resulting from the transplant procedure and cardiopulmonary bypass alone, four other animals were instrumented in a similar fashion, and left ventricular function was assessed after standard cardioplegic arrest and transplantation. The transplant procedures were performed with a warm ischemic period of 0.75 +/- 0.2 hours. In all experiments, data were collected before graft harvest and 1 hour after separation from cardiopulmonary bypass. Standard cardioplegic arrest and 2.4 +/- 0.1 hours of ischemia resulted in a decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction from 0.43 +/- 0.04 to 0.27 +/- 0.1 (37%) (p less than 0.01), a decrease in the slope of the stroke work/end-diastolic volume relationship from 15.4 +/- 7.9 to 7.9 +/- 2.0 erg X 10(4) (49%; p less than 0.01), and a decrease in the myocardial power output from 19.7 +/- 10.9 to 5.9 +/- 1.9 (70%; p less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adenosine

Quantification of alpha-fetoprotein and transferrin endocytosis by lymphoid cells using flow cytometry.

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and transferrin (Tf) are serum proteins actively internalized by many growing cells through specific cell surface receptors. The intracellular pathways of AFP and Tf are very similar: both proteins enter the cells via coated pits and receptosomes, move to tubular elements of the transreticular portion of the Golgi and are recycled back to the cell surface and extracellular medium in native form. In the present work, the capacity of human lymphoid cells to bind AFP and Tf at 4 degrees C and to endocytose them at 37 degrees C was quantified by flow cytometry analysis on a FACS 440 using fluoresceinated derivatives of these proteins. The results obtained show that binding and internalization of AFP and Tf by lymphoid cells are saturable processes at either 4 degrees C or 37 degrees C. The method developed permits direct quantitative measurement of molecules bound to the cell surface or present within the cell.

Cell Line

Long-term in-vitro treatment of human growth hormone (GH)-secreting pituitary adenoma cells with octreotide causes accumulation of intracellular GH and GH mRNA levels.

OBJECTIVE: We studied the effects of long-term in-vitro exposure of human GH secreting pituitary adenoma cells to octreotide on GH release, intracellular GH concentrations and GH messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) levels. DESIGN: Human GH-secreting pituitary adenoma cells were cultured for periods from 4 days up to 3 weeks without or with octreotide (10 nM) and/or bromocriptine (10 nM). The effects of these drugs were measured on GH release, intracellular GH concentrations and intracellular GH mRNA levels. PATIENTS: Thirteen patients with GH-secreting pituitary adenomas were studied. Twelve patients were untreated, one had been pretreated with octreotide (12 weeks, 3 x 100 micrograms daily). MEASUREMENTS: GH, PRL, alpha-subunit and IGF-I concentrations in plasma, media and cell extracts were determined by immunoradiometric or radioimmuno-assays. GH mRNA levels were determined by automatic quantification of grain numbers in individual adenoma cells. RESULTS: Incubation of the adenoma cells for 4 days with 10 nM octreotide induced a dose-dependent inhibition of GH release and a parallel increase (increase varying between 124 and 617% of control) in the intracellular GH levels was observed in six of seven adenomas. In addition, bromocriptine, when effective in inhibiting GH release by the adenomas, also induced an increase in intracellular GH levels. Even after 3 weeks of exposure to 10 nM octreotide in vitro there was a statistically significant increase in intracellular GH levels (between 191 and 923% of control). Withdrawal of octreotide after 6 days of incubation resulted in a lowering of intracellular GH levels to control values, showing that the octreotide-induced increase in intracellular GH is reversible. In a 96-hour incubation with 10 nM octreotide, GH mRNA levels were increased in two, and slightly decreased in one of the three adenomas tested. This effect was time dependent in that there was no significant effect of 10 nM octreotide on GH mRNA levels in a 24-hour incubation. CONCLUSIONS: (1) Long-term in-vitro exposure of GH-adenoma cells to octreotide causes an increase in intracellular GH levels in the majority of the adenomas, probably because of an increase in GH mRNA levels in the adenoma cells; and (2) this considerable increase in intracellular GH levels may be one of the explanations for the relatively poor effect of octreotide on tumour shrinkage in patients with GH-secreting pituitary adenomas.

Adenoma

Subcellular compartmentation of prolactin in rat lactotrophs.

The intracellular localization of different molecular forms of prolactin was studied in various experimental models covering a wide range of secretory states. By correlating electron microscopy, morphometry and quantification of monomeric (small) and polymeric (big) prolactin after differential extraction procedures, big prolactin was found stored in secretory granules while small prolactin was loosely associated with all organelles involved in hormone synthesis and processing. No correlation with levels of lactotrophic secretory activity was detected by either the number of secretory granules or prolactin content in lactotrophs.

Animals

[Contrast and quantitative characteristics of biological tissues in experimental neoplastic processes based on biexponential relaxation analysis of NMR tomograms].

A method of contrast enhancement and quantification of experimental tumors in vivo by estimation of tissue proton transverse magnetic relaxation nonexponentiality is proposed. Relaxation time and percentage of a rapidly descending magnetization component due to intracellular water protons are followed for tumor and uninvolved tissues in a course of subcutaneously transplanted solid mouse melanoma B16 development. The exponential approximation of a relaxation curve within the 6-90 ms time range is shown to fit melanoma B16 tissue characterization. Contrast-enhanced calculated MR-images are presented.

Animals

Oxygen limitation induces indirectly the synthesis of cytochrome P-450 mRNA in alkane-growing Candida maltosa.

Candida maltosa cells grown on hexadecane under oxygen limitation have an up to 6-fold higher cytochrome P-450 content in comparison to cells cultivated at oxygen saturation. We show by mRNA quantification using an in vitro translation system and subsequent specific immunoprecipitation that the cytochrome P-450 induction occurs mainly on the transcriptional level. The signal for induction may be the enhanced intracellular hexadecane concentration owing to a reduced hydroxylation capacity of the cytochrome P-450 at oxygen limitation.

Aerobiosis

ESTA: a bioassay system for the determination of the potencies of hormones and antibodies which mimic their action.

A bioassay system named ESTA (eluted stain assay) has been developed to measure hormones and antibodies which mimic their action. It is derived from approaches used for cytochemical bioassays. Unlike the latter which use tissue segments or sections, ESTA is based upon uniform microcultures of target cells maintained in microtitre plates. Direct elution of the cytochemical stain from these microcultures into the wells of the microtitre plates permits rapid quantification with a microtitre plate reader. We describe ESTA systems for GH, prolactin, thyroid stimulators and human chorionic gonadotrophin which utilize the reduction of a tetrazolium salt to a formazan by intracellular dehydrogenase as the cytochemical system. These provide examples of ESTA systems in which the assay signal depends solely upon an increase in cell number in response to the hormone, or in which there is additional enzymic amplification.

Animals

Quantification of effector/target conjugation involving natural killer (NK) or lymphokine activated killer (LAK) cells by two-color flow cytometry.

Precise estimates of the frequency of NK- and LAK-target conjugates were obtained by two-color flow cytometry using hydroethidine and calcein as intracellular labels for target cells and effector cells, respectively. These two dyes can easily be used with a standard single-laser flow cytometer with excellent signal separation and dye retention. Hydroethidine labeling did not alter target susceptibility, and calcein labeling did not significantly alter NK function. Excellent agreement was obtained between this flow cytometric method and visual estimation of the frequency of fresh or IL-2-activated human lymphocytes that form conjugates with K-562 target cells. The percentage of cloned NK or LAK cells that form conjugates with K-562 target cells was dependent on the E:T ratio, with extrapolated maximum conjugate frequencies (alpha max) of 40-50%. However, the frequency of lymphocytes forming conjugates with K-562 cells did not closely correlate with the cytolytic activity of a given lymphocyte population. This two color flow cytometric method employing a pair of fluorochromes that do not modify cell membranes or alter cell function in cytotoxicity assays should facilitate further studies of mechanisms involved in the initial stages of target cell recognition by NK and LAK cells.

Cell Survival