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[Studies on the 14C-15N-acetamide turnover in sheep. 2. Studies on 15N turnover and comparative studies on the 14C turnover].

Three fistula sheep with average weights of 52.2 kgs were given 37.9 g of 15N and 14C labelled acetamide (= 1.09 mg 15N' and 0,95 mCi14C) which were administered directly through the fistula. The half-life period of 15N retention in the ruminal fluid (TCE soluble portion) was found to be 4 hrs. 18 hrs after 15N administration increasing amounts of 15N were carried back to the rumen by way of the rumino-hepatic circulation. The 15N concentration in the blood (TCE soluble portion) rapidly increased up to a peak value and, from 3 hrs after isotope administration, the 15N concentration was found to decline continuously, with a slight discontinuation at about the 10th hr of experiment. The rate of 15N incorporation into the protein fraction (TEC soluble portion) of the blood was delayed by 4 hrs, relative to the rate of 15N incorporation into ruminal proteins. An average of 43.1% of the administered amount of 15N was excreted in the urine within 7 days. Up to the 4th day of experiment the half-life period of urinary 15N excretion was 19 hrs. An average of 15% of the administered total amount of 15N was excreted in the faeces. In this process, the peak values in both TCE fractions were observed to occur on the 2nd day of experiment. The proportion of isotope in the TCE soluble fraction was found to increase continuously compared with the total amount of the isotope excreted in the faeces. Isotope concentrations between 0.03 and 0.13 atom% of surplus 15N were found in organ and muscle tissues of a sheep that had been slaughtered 7 days after administration of the isotope. The results obtained are discussed on the basis of comparisons made with the analogous behaviour of 14C activity.

Acetamides

Studies on the turnover of plasma membranes in cultured mammalian cells. II. Demonstration of heterogeneous rates of turnover for plasma membrane proteins and glycoproteins.

The relative rate of turnover of individual membrane proteins and glycoproteins in exponentially growing and contact-inhibited MK2 cells was investigated. Plasma membranes were isolated from cells that had been sequentially labelled with 14-C and 3-H isotopes of leucine and glucosamine. The membranes were then solubilized in sodium dodecylsulfate and their polypeptides separated by acrylamide gel electrophoresis. The 3-H/14-C ratios of the individual polypeptides reflected their relative rates of turnover. The proteins and glycoproteins of the exponentially growing cells exhibited markedly heterogeneous rates of turnover. In contrast, polypeptides in membranes of contact-inhibited cells exhibited a lesser degree of heterogeneity of turnover. In both exponential and contacted cell membranes a glycoprotein with a high apparent molecular weight exhibited the fastest rate of turnover.

Animals

Turnover rates of muscle protein in cardiac and skeletal muscles of dog, fowl, rat and mouse: turnover rate related to muscle function.

Turnover rates of muscle protein in cardiac and skeletal muscle have been measured in dogs using a continuous infusion of 14C-tyrosine, and in fowls, rats and mice after a pulse label of either 3H-leucine or 3H-aspartate. In all species the total mixed protein from ventricle turned over the most rapidly. Tonic muscles predominantly comprised of red fibres were intermediate in rate and twitch muscles comprised of predominantly white fibres had the slowest rates of turnover. This same progression of turnover rates was also seen in myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic protein fractions and with myosin. The RNA concentrations of the muscle tissue were highly correlated with the turnover rates. It is suggested that the turnover rate of muscle protein is related to the function of the muscle.

Animals

A microcomputer program for determining turnover rates during non-steady state conditions: application to monoamine turnover.

A program to calculate the turnover rate of monoaminergic neurotransmitters was written for use on microcomputers. The program is based on non-steady state models, i.e., measuring the rate of change of levels of neurotransmitters or their metabolites after pharmacological inhibition of synthetic or degradative enzymes. Methods have been developed to estimate monoamine turnover by measuring the rate of decrease of catecholamine levels after treatment with alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine (AMPT), a tyrosine hydroxylase inhibitor, or the increase in serotonin levels after pargyline, an inhibitor of monoamine oxidase. This program is suitable for examining either linear increases or exponential decreases in monoamine levels. The program has been tested in our laboratory for the determination of serotonin, dopamine or norepinephrine turnover after hormonal or pharmacological manipulations. The program is readily adaptable for calculation of the turnover rate of other biological molecules under non-steady state conditions.

Biogenic Monoamines

Turnover rates of muscle proteins in cardiac, skeletal, and smooth muscle: turnover rate related to muscle function.

The turnover rate of muscle proteins was related to the physiological function of the muscle in dogs, fowl, rats, and mice. The turnover rates of mixed muscle proteins were most rapid in cardiac muscle, intermediate in red tonic and mixed fiber-type muscles, and slowest in white twitch skeletal muscle. This same progression in turnover rates also was shown in the subcellular fractions of muscle-sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar proteins-as well as in purified proteins, myosin, and tropomyosin. The RNA concentration of muscle was highly correlated with the protein turnover rate, and the RNA activity, i.e., the translational efficiency of the RNA, was similar in the different muscle types.

Animals

Turnover of the cell wall peptidoglycan of Lactobacillus acidophilus. The presence of a fraction immune to turnover.

Exponentially growing cultures of Lactobacillus acidophilus strain 60AM Gasser were previously shown to lose about one-third of their cell wall peptidoglycan per generation via turnover (Boothby, D., Daneo-Moore, L., Higgins, M. L., Coyette, J., and Shockman, G. D. (1973) J. Biol. Chem. 248, 2161-2169). We now show that 20 to 30% of the [3H]lysine initially present in insoluble peptidoglycan fractions was retained after 4 or more generations of continued exponential growth of cultures in the absence of label. Treatment of peptidoglycan fractions, before and after 6 or 8 generations of chase with lysozyme (EC 3.2.1.17), released soluble products containing [3H]lysine which had electrophoretic mobilities identical with the disaccharide-peptide derivatives obtained from the wall peptidoglycan of this species. Because protein is known to contaminate peptidoglycan residues, the double labeled technique was used to show that one-half or less of the label lysine present after 6 or 8 generations of chase could be attributed to protein contamination. This then left a minimum fraction of 10 to 20% of the peptidoglycan that was immune to turnover. The absence of turnover of peptidoglycan labeled during short pulses has now been quantitated to show that pulses shorter than 12% of a generation (6 to 7 min) did not turn over. This turnover-immune fraction is in reasonably good agreement with the immune fraction of 10 to 20% observed after long periods of chase of extensively labeled peptidoglycan.

Amino Acids

The actions of parathyroid hormone on bone: relation to bone remodeling and turnover, calcium homeostasis, and metabolic bone disease. Part I of IV parts: mechanisms of calcium transfer between blood and bone and their cellular basis: morphological and kinetic approaches to bone turnover.

The supracellular organization of living bone enables the study of isolated cellular and subcellular systems to be related to the study of the whole organism. Bone is formed by osteoblasts in successive stages, separated in both time and space, of matrix formation and primary mineralization. Osteoblasts are joined by tight junctions and largely cover the osteoid seam which separates them from mineralized bone. Secondary mineralization is not completed for several months and is not regulated by the osteoblast. Bone is resorbed by osteoclasts which simultaneously accomplish mineral dissolution and matrix digestion. Active osteoblasts occupy about 5% of the free bone surface, osteoid seams with less active osteoblasts about 10%, active osteoclasts about 0.5%, and Howship's lacunae at which bone remodeling is either quiescent or arrested about 5%. The remaining 80% of the free bone surface is covered by a leaky envelope of thin flattened cells, termed surface osteocytes. Some osteoblasts become permanently buried in the bone as deep osteocytes, around which a specialized and metabolically active perilacunar bone is formed. This bone is less highly mineralized and can temporarily lose or gain calcium in accordance with homeostatic needs. Deep osteocytes maintain contact with each other and with the surface osteocytes, their cell processes within canaliculi being joined by gap junctions. Remodeling of cortical bone proceeds with the excavation by osteoclasts of a longitudinal tunnel which is refilled by osteoblasts to form a new osteon. The anatomically discrete longitudinally oriented structure consisting of a cutting cone of osteoclasts in front and a closing cone of osteoblasts behind is termed a cortical remodeling unit. The events of centrifugal resorption and centripetal formation which occur in a single cross section is termed a cortical remodeling cycle. Normally each new cycle is slightly out of phase with its predecessor. The quantities which characterize cortical remodeling are the birth rate of new remodeling cycles or activation frequency (mu), and the durations of the resorptive period (sigma r), the quiescent interval (sigma q) and the formation period (sigma f). The average distances traveled by the osteoclast and osteoblast are indicated respectively by the mean cement line diameter and mean wall thickness of completed osteons. These quantities show little interindividual variation. Because of this constancy the magnitude of bone turnover (the bone formation rate) is almost entirely a function of mu, the activation frequency of new remodeling cycles. Variations in the velocity of advance of osteoclasts (the linear resorption rate) or of osteoblasts (the appositional rate) alter inversely both the extent of surface engaged in resorption or formation and the time taken to replace a particular moiety of bone, but in a steady state do not influence the rate of turnover of the skeleton as a whole...

Animals

A new approach to assessing collagen turnover by using a micro-assay. A highly efficient and rapid turnover of collagen in rat periodontal tissues.

Measurement of [3H]proline incorporation into newly synthesized and mature collagen in connective tissues was used to compare rates and efficiency of collagen turnover. The approach minimizes label-recycling problems. By using a micro-assay to determine hydroxyproline specific radioactivities, a highly efficient and rapid collagen turnover in rat periodontal tissues was demonstrated.

Animals

The actions of parathyroid hormone on bone: relation to bone remodeling and turnover, calcium homeostasis, and metabolic bone diseases. II. PTH and bone cells: bone turnover and plasma calcium regulation.

Kinetic and morphologic studies in patients with parathyroid disease, and a wide variety of studies in experimental animals indicate that one major effect of PTH is to increase the proliferation of osteoprogenitor cells into osteoclasts and so to increase bone turnover. PTH stimulates bone cells by increasing cell membrane permeability to calcium and consequently increasing calcium influx and by activating membrane-bound adenyl-cyclase. It is likely that the former event precedes the latter and that calcium is the second messenger and cyclic AMP the third messenger. PTH increases the production by bone cells of lactate, citric and carbonic acids, lysosomal enzymes, collagenase, and hyaluronic acid, some or all of which are concerned in the mechanism of bone resorption. With the exception of lactate which probably comes mainly from osteocytes, the increase in metabolic activity is largely due to the increase in the number of osteoclasts. There is also ultrastructural, biochemical, and biophysical evidence that PTH stimulates existing osteoclasts, but this most likely represents the transformation of inactive cells into an active state, and is a transient and nonsustainable effect. As yet, there is no evidence that either increased osteoprogenitor cell proliferation or increased osteoclast activity is mediated by adenyl-cyclase activation. PTH also acts on the deep osteocyte to cause rapid mobilization of calcium from the zone of hypomineralized metabolically active perilacunar bone. This effect is mediated by adenyl-cyclase activation and is preceded by a slight fall in plasma calcium probably due to the movement of calcium into bone cells. The function of this rapid hypercalcemic response to PTH is correct errors in the prevailing steady-state level of plasma calcium...

Animals

Regulation of enzyme turnover during tissue differention. Studies on the effects of hormones on the turnover of fatty acid synthetase in rabbit mammary gland in organ culture.

1. Explants of mammary gland from mid-pregnant rabbits were cultured with insulin, prolactin and cortisol. 2. Antibodies raised to fatty acid synthetase were used to measure the amount as well as the rate of synthesis and the rate of degradation of the enzyme in the explants over defined periods in organ culture. These measurements were also made after the hormones had been removed from the culture medium. The changes which occur in the activity of fatty acid synthetase are due to changes in the amount of the enzyme present. They are not due to activation or inactivation of the enzyme. 3. The rate of lipogenesis (measured from [1-14C]acetate) in the explants during culture varies independently of the amount of fatty acid synthetase both in the presence and after removal of the hormones. Hence the amount of fatty acid synthetase does not limit lipogenesis. The proportion of medium-chain fatty acids C8:0 and C10:0 (which are characteristic of rabbit milk) synthesized by the explants in the presence of hormones increases at about the same rate as the amount of fatty acid synthetase present. However, when hormones are removed from the medium the proportion of these acids synthesized declines as rapidly as the rate of lipogenesis and not as the amount of fatty acid synthetase presen. 4. The rates of synthesis of fatty acid synthetase and of the total particulate-free supernatant protein in the explants were compared by measuring the incorporation of L-[U-14C]leucine into the protein of the explants. These rates increase by 5-fold and 3.6-fold respectively when explants are cultured with hormones, and they then reach approximately constant rates. When the hormones are removed there is a rapid fall in the rate of synthesis of fatty acid synthetase and of the total particulate-free supernatant protein to values which are similar to those obtained with freshly prepared explanted tissue. 5. In unstimulated explants fatty acid synthetase appears to be degraded with a half-life of 15-21h. During the hormonally stimulated differentiation of the tissue the rate of degradation of the enzyme is considerably decreased or is switched off completely. After the amount of fatty acid synthetase has increased to a maximum the enzyme complex is again degraded with a half-life of 23-29h. The removal of hormones after the explants have been hormonally stimulated for different times results in an increase in the rate of degradation of fatty acid synthetase. However, this increase only occurs if degradation was previously proceeding at a considerably decreased rate. The degradation of the total particulate-free supernatant protein continues throughout the period of differentiation of the explant tissue in culture. It appears to be somewhat decreased during the period of rapid maturation of the tissue during culture.

Acetates

Regulation of enzyme turnover during tissue differentiation. Interactions of insulin, prolactin and cortisol in controlling the turnover of fatty acid synthetase in rabbit mammary gland in organ culture.

1. Explants of mammary gland from mid-pregnant rabbits were cultured in Medium 199 containing combinations of insulin, prolactin and cortisol. With hormone combinations which included prolactin, a sustained increase in the apparent rate of synthesis and in the amount of fatty acid synthetase was measurable immunologically. Maximum increase was produced with insulin, prolactin and cortisol present together. 2. With prolactin present alone, synthetase activity in the explants decreased to undetectable values after 1 day in culture, whereas the incorporation of l-[U-(14)C]leucine into immunodetectable material increased. Prolactin may therefore direct the synthesis of immunologically cross-reactive precursors of fatty acid synthetase which are enzymically inactive. 3. Culture with dibutyryl cyclic AMP plus theophylline in the presence of insulin, prolactin and cortisol delayed the increase in the rate of synthesis and accumulation of the synthetase. These compounds may also prevent the apparent decrease in the rate of degradation of the synthetase which occurs on day 2 of culture. 4. A large decrease in the apparent rate of degradation of the synthetase on day 2 of culture occurs during culture with hormone combinations which include prolactin. The protein obtained by centrifugation of explant homogenates for 6min at 14000g(av.) is degraded continuously throughout the culture period. 5. This decrease in the apparent rate of degradation of the synthetase was measured by radio-immunological precipitation. It is probably part of a regulated programme of enzyme degradation and not a reflexion of the reutilization of radioactive amino acids for the following reasons. (a) The calculated increase in the amount of the synthetase in explants on day 2 of culture with insulin, prolactin and cortisol was approximately equal to the measured increase of the enzyme complex which accumulates in the explants. This suggests little or no enzyme degradation has occurred. (b) Explants were cultured for 24h with insulin, prolactin and cortisol. They were then incubated with l-[U-(14)C]leucine, washed and incubated again for up to 4(1/2)h. l-[U-(14)C]Leucine rapidly equilibrated with the intracellular amino acid pool. Within 10min of incubation after washing explants to remove endogenous l-[U-(14)C]leucine the previously linear incorporation of l-[U-(14)C]-leucine into total explant protein ceased. This suggests that protein is synthesized from an amino acid pool which rapidly equilibrates with amino acids in the culture medium. (c) Explants were cultured for 24h as described in (b) but after washing they were cultured with insulin, prolactin and cortisol for 24h. Approx. 90% of the radioactivity lost from the ;free' intracellular amino acid pool and from amino acids derived from the degradation of explant protein in this period was detected in the culture medium. This suggests that the ;free' intracellular amino acids and amino acids derived from protein degradation can equilibrate with amino acids in the medium. A residual ;free' radioactive amino acid pool was present in the tissue. (d) Casein represents approx. 20% of the protein synthesized after 1 day in culture with insulin, prolactin and cortisol. Histological evidence suggests that on day 2 of culture, casein is unlikely to be degraded in the tissue. No increase in the radioactivity incorporated into casein can be measured in the 23h after incubation of explants with l-[U-(14)C]leucine as described in (b). This suggests that the incorporation of radioactivity into proteins during culture after incubation with l-[U-(14)C]leucine is minimal. (e) Inhibition of protein synthesis in explants by cycloheximide after incubation with l-[U-(14)C]leucine does not reveal a latent continuous degradation of fatty acid synthetase on day 2 of culture which might have been masked by the high rates of protein synthesis and therefore the accumulation of the enzyme. 6. The conclusion is discussed that there is a real decrease (or even cessation) in the rate of degradation of fatty acid synthetase during the period when the enzyme accumulates in explants cultured with hormone combinations which contain prolactin.

Animals

Turnover of muscle protein in the fowl. Collagen content and turnover in cardiac and skeletal muscles of the adult fowl and the changes during stretch-induced growth.

The collagen content and the rate of collagen synthesis were measured in the anterior and posterior latissimus dorsi muscles and in heart from fully grown fowl. This was done by measuring the proline/hydroxyproline ratios in the muscle and by a constant infusion of [(14)C]proline. These measurements were also made during the hypertrophy of the anterior muscle in response to the attachment of a weight to one wing of the fowl. In the non-growing muscles the collagen content was higher in the anterior muscle (22.8% of total protein) than in the posterior muscle (9.5% of total protein) and lowest in the heart (3.8% of total protein). In the two skeletal muscles a little over half of the collagen was accounted for by internal collagen (i.e. perimysium and endomysium). Collagen synthesis in these non-growing muscles occurred at 0.59%/day in each of the two skeletal muscles and at 0.88%/day in the cardiac muscle. During hypertrophy the collagen content of the anterior muscle increased, but not as fast as intracellular protein, so that after 58 days the concentration had fallen from 22.8 to 14.4% of total protein. This may have resulted from an incomplete production of the epimysial sheath, since the concentration of internal collagen did not fall and as a result accounted for over 80% of the total in the enlarged muscle. Collagen synthesis increased 8-fold during the first week of the hypertrophy, but never amounted to more than 4% of the total muscle protein synthesis. When the net accumulation of collagen is compared with the increased rate of synthesis it is concluded that between 30 and 70% of the newly synthesized collagen may have been degraded.

Animals

[Studies on the 14C-15N-acetamide turnover in sheep. 1. Studies on the 14C turnover].

4 male sheep (average weight: 53.5 kgs) were fed a semisynthetic diet containing acetamide as sole source of nitrogen. At the beginning of the trial twin-labelled 15N-14C-acetamide was administered by way of a ruminal fistula. The curve pattern of 14C activity in the TCE-soluble fraction of the ruminal fluid showed a synchronous behaviour in all animals beginning at 3 hours after the beginning of the trial. A half-life of 2 1/2 hours for the rate of absorption of 14C acetamide and deaminated 14C acetate was established from the decline in 14C activity observed in the TCE-soluble fraction of the ruminal fluid. The peak level of 14C labelling in ruminal proteins was reached after 6 hrs. The specific 14CO2 activity in respiratory air reached its maximum level after 4 hrs, and was then found to decline continuously. 56% of the administered amount of 14C was excreted over a period of up to 50 hrs after beginning of the trial. The very fact that the peak level of 14C activity was observed to appear in the TCE-soluble fraction of the blood plasma as early as after 1 hr seems to indicate that acetamide is also absorbed through the ruminal wall. The half-life of decline in the 14C activity of this fraction was 5.7 hrs. Analysis by thin layer chromatography showed that 75% of this amount of activity is present in 14C acetamide. The rate of 14C incorporation into blood plasma proteins reached a plateau region after 21 hrs, which was also maintained on the 2nd day of the experiment. 6.5% of the administered amount of 14C activity was excreted in the urine until the 7th day of experiment. 76.6% of the amount of urinary 14C activity excreted within a period of 48 hrs were voided as 14C acetamide. 3.8% of the administered amount of 14C activity was excreted with the faeces within the first 6 days of experiment.

Acetamides

Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of chromatin in an in-vitro poly(ADP-ribose)-turnover system.

This paper describes the effect of an in-vitro poly(ADP-ribose) turnover system on the poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of chromatin. Both poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase and poly(ADP-ribose)glycohydrolase were highly purified and used in 4 different turnover systems: non-turnover, slow, medium and fast turnover. These turnover systems were designed to reflect possible turnover conditions in intact cells. The major protein acceptors for poly(ADP-ribose) are histones and the polymerase itself, a process referred to as automodification. The level of poly(ADP-ribose) modification of polymerase, histone H1 and core histones has been measured. The size of the polymer for each of the 3 groups of acceptor proteins has been determined by gel electrophoresis. After many turnover cycles at medium and fast turnover, the histones (H1 and core) become the main poly(ADP-ribose) acceptor proteins. The rate at which steady-state polymer levels are reached and the total accumulation of polymer in a given turnover system are both inversely proportional to the amount of glycohydrolase present. Furthermore, increasing amounts of glycohydrolase in the turnover systems reduces average polymer size. The polymer synthesized in the medium and fast turnover systems is degraded by glycohydrolase in a biphasic fashion and in these systems the half-life of polymer agreed with results found in intact cells. Our results show that the relative levels of polymerase and glycohydrolase activities can regulate the proportional poly(ADP-ribose) distribution on chromatin-associated acceptor proteins during steady-state turnover conditions. The patterns of modification of polymerase and histones under turnover conditions agree with in vivo observations.

Animals

Regulation of mitochondrial protein turnover by thyroid hormone(s).

1. The effect of thyroidectomy on turnover rates of liver, kidney and brain mitochondrial proteins was examined. 2. In the euthyroid state, liver and kidney mitochondria show a synchronous turnover with all protein components showing more or less identical half-lives compared with the whole mitochondria. The brain mitochondrial proteins show asynchronous turnover, the soluble proteins having shorter half-lives. 3. Mitochondrial DNA (m-DNA) of liver and kidney has half-lives comparable with that of whole mitochondria from these tissues. 4. Thyroidectomy results in increased half-lives of liver and kidney mitochondria, with no apparent change in the half-life of brain mitochondria. 5. A detailed investigation of the turnover rates of several protein components revealed a significant decrease in the turnover rates of mitochondrial insoluble proteins from the three tissues under study. 6. The turnover rates of m-DNA of liver and kidney show a parallel decrease. 7. Thus it is apparent that thyroid hormone(s) may have a regulatory role in maintaining the synchrony of turnover of liver and kidney mitochondria in the euthyroid state. Turnover of brain mitochondria may perhaps be regulated by some other factor(s) in addition to thyroid hormone(s). 8. It seems likely that during mitochondrial turnover m-DNA and insoluble proteins may constitute a major unit. 9. The mitochondrial protein contents of the three tissues are not affected by thyroidectomy. 10. No correlation was seen between the turnover rate of mitochondria and cathepsin activity in any of the tissues under study in normal or thyroidectomized animals. 11. On the other hand, mitochondrial proteinase activity shows good correlation with the turnover rates of mitochondria in normal animals, and a parallel decrease in activity comparable with the decreased rates of turnover is observed after thyroidectomy. 12. It is concluded that mitochondrial proteinase activity may play a significant role in their protein turnover.

Animals

Ontogeny of catecholamine turnover rates in limbic and hypothalamic structures in relation to serum prolactin and gonadotropin levels.

Norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA) concentrations and turnover rates have been studied in the n. accumbens, medial preoptic area (MPO) and anterior and posterior parts of the mediobasal hypothalamus of developing rats. Turnover rates are determined by injection of alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine 30 and 90 min prior to decapitation. NE concentrations and turnover in the n. accumbens were low in all age groups with slightly increased values between days 20 and 35 after birth whereas DA concentrations and turnover rates were low at day 15 and 20 and at high adult values by day 25 after birth. Medial preoptic and anterior mediobasal hypothalamic catecholamines exhibited a rather unique pattern. Concentrations and turnover rates were low in 15-day-old animals and increased between days 20 and 30 to very high values. Such high values were never observed in adult diestrous animals. The same pattern was also observed in the posterior mediobasal hypothalamus for NE concentrations and turnover rates whereas the respective values for DA showed relatively large fluctuations. On the basis of catecholamine measurements 30 and 90 min after blockade of tyrosine hydroxylase an attempt was also made to differentiate turnover rates of the functional and of the storage pool. Serum LH levels in the 15-day-old animals showed large fluctuations. FSH levels were high and prolactin levels were low. At the time of increased preoptic and hypothalamic NE and DA turnover rates, serum prolactin levels were also high whereas serum LH levels were lowest between days 20 and 30 and then slightly increased. Serum FSH levels were uniformly low. The possibility is discussed that high NE turnover may stimulate pituitary LH and prolactin release by hypothalamic mechanisms. Hihgh serum prolactin levels may stimulate DA turnover which is inhibitory to pituitary LH release, thus counteracting the stimulatory effect of NE on LH-RH release. The dopaminergic inhibition of LH may be relieved at the time of puberty partially because the DA receptors become desensitized to the action of DA.

Age Factors

Phosphoinositide turnover associated with synaptic transmission.

Although pharmacological stimulation of a wide variety of transmitter receptors triggers phosphoinositide (PI) turnover, little is known about the type of synaptic activity required to activate this system. To investigate this question, we have used primary cultures of embryonic cortical neurons, which develop functional glutamate and GABA synapses during maturation in vitro. Mature cultures display spontaneous synaptic activity that is totally suppressed by tetrodotoxin (TTX). PI turnover, assayed by the lithium-sensitive accumulation of [3H]CDP-diacylglycerol, was readily detected under basal conditions and was abolished by TTX. Increased excitatory synaptic activity induced by picrotoxin, an antagonist of GABAA receptor-mediated inhibition, further stimulated PI turnover. Similar results were obtained when PI turnover was assayed using [3H]inositol labeling. With either assay, the magnitude of synaptically induced PI turnover was comparable to maximal responses produced by muscarinic receptor stimulation. Although a component of the spontaneous synaptic currents is sensitive to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-preferring glutamate receptor antagonists, blockade of NMDA receptors did not affect PI turnover associated with synaptic transmission. To assess the time course of synaptically mediated PI turnover, the amplitude and duration of spontaneous synaptic currents were reduced by lowering the extracellular Ca2+ concentration from 2.25 to 0.5 mM, a maneuver that suppresses basal PI turnover. Increases in PI turnover were detected as early as 5 min following restoration of the extracellular Ca2+ concentration to 2.25 mM. Taken together, these findings indicate that activation of the PI system is associated with physiological levels of glutamatergic synaptic transmission.

Animals