Pregnant biglycan knockout mice have altered cardiorenal adaptations and a shorter gestational length, but do not develop a pre-eclamptic phenotype.

INTRODUCTION: Pre-eclampsia complicates 4.6% of pregnancies and is linked to impaired placentation; likely due to dysregulated vasculogenesis/angiogenesis. Proteoglycans, such as biglycan, are located on the endothelial surface of fetal capillaries. Biglycan is reduced in the placenta of pregnancies complicated by fetal growth restriction and pre-eclampsia. Importantly, biglycan stimulates angiogenesis in numerous tissues. Therefore, this study investigated whether biglycan knockdown in mice results in a pre-eclamptic phenotype. METHODS: Wild-type (WT) and Bgn-/- mice underwent cardiorenal measurements prior to and during pregnancy. One cohort of mice underwent post-mortem on gestational day 18 (E18) and another cohort underwent post-mortem on postnatal day 1 (PN1), with maternal and offspring tissues of relevance collected. RESULTS: Bgn-/- dams had increased heart rate (+9%, p < 0.037) and reduced systolic (-11%, p < 0.001), diastolic (-15%, p < 0.001), and mean arterial (-12%, p < 0.001) pressures at all ages investigated compared to WT. Additionally, Bgn-/- dams had reduced urine flow rate (-64%, p < 0.001) as well as reduced urinary excretions (-49%, p < 0.004) during late gestation compared to WT. Bgn-/- pups had higher body weight (+8%, p = 0.004; E18 only) and a higher liver-to-brain weight ratio (+43%, p < 0.001). Placental weight was unaltered with only minor changes in vasculogenic and angiogenic gene abundances detected, which did not correlate to changes in protein expression. DISCUSSION: This study demonstrated that total knockdown of biglycan is not associated with features of pre-eclampsia.

5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine-induced genome rearrangements are mediated by DNMT1.

Observations that genome-wide DNA hypomethylation induces genome instability and tumors in animals caution against the indiscriminate use of demethylating agents, such as 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-dC). Using primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts harboring a lacZ mutational reporter construct that allows the quantification and characterization of a wide range of mutational events, we found that, in addition to demethylation, treatment with 5-Aza-dC induces γ-H2AX expression, a marker for DNA breaks, and both point mutations and genome rearrangements. To gain insight into the source of these mutations, we first tested the hypothesis that the mutagenic effect of 5-Aza-dC may be directly mediated through the DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) covalently trapped in 5-Aza-dC-substituted DNA. Knockdown of DNMT1 resulted in increased resistance to the cytostatic effects of 5-Aza-dC, delayed onset of γ-H2AX expression and a significant reduction in the frequency of genome rearrangements. There was no effect on the 5-Aza-dC-induced point mutations. An alternative mechanism for 5-Aza-dC-induced demethylation and genome rearrangements via activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) followed by base excision repair (BER) was found not to be involved. That is, 5-Aza-dC treatment did not significantly induce AID expression and inhibition of BER did not reduce the frequency of genome rearrangements. Thus, our results indicate that the formation of DNMT1 adducts is the prevalent mechanism of 5-Aza-dC-induced genome rearrangements, although hypomethylation per se may still contribute. As the therapeutic effects of 5-Aza-dC greatly depend on the presence of DNMT1, the expression level of DNA methyltransferases in tumors may serve as a prognostic factor for the efficacy of 5-Aza-dC treatment.

Reconstitution of the vertebrate visual cascade using recombinant heterotrimeric transducin purified from Sf9 cells.

For reconstitution studies with rhodopsin and cGMP phosphodiesterase (PDE), all three subunits of heterotrimeric transducin (T alpha beta gamma) were simultaneously expressed in Sf9 cells at high levels using a baculovirus expression system and purified to homogeneity. Light-activated rhodopsin catalyzed the loading of purified recombinant T alpha with GTP gamma S. In vitro reconstitution of rhodopsin, recombinant transducin, and PDE in detergent solution resulted in cGMP hydrolysis upon illumination, demonstrating that recombinant transducin was able to activate PDE. The rate of cGMP hydrolysis by PDE as a function of GTP gamma S-loaded recombinant transducin (T(*)) concentration gave a Hill coefficient of approximately 2, suggesting that the activation of PDE by T(*) was cooperatively regulated. Furthermore, the kinetic rate constants for the activation of PDE by T(*) suggested that only the complex of PDE with two T(*) molecules, PDE. T(2)(*), was significantly catalytically active under the conditions of the assay. We conclude that the model of essential coactivation best describes the activation of PDE by T(*) in a reconstituted vertebrate visual cascade using recombinant heterotrimeric transducin.

Hodgkin's disease presenting below the diaphragm. The experience of the Gruppo Italiano Studio Linfomi (GISL).

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Infradiaphragmatic Hodgkin's disease is rare, making up 5-12% of cases in clinical stages I and II; consequently, several questions concerning prognosis and treatment strategy remain to be answered. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical and prognostic characteristics and outcome of this condition. METHODS: A series of 282 patients with CS I-II Hodgkin's disease (HD) was investigated. In 31 patients the disease was confined below the diaphragm (BDHD), and in the remaining above the diaphragm (ADHD). The presenting features and outcomes were compared in the two groups. RESULTS: The BDHD group was older (p < 0.0002), had a higher frequency of males (p < 0.08) and a different histological subtype group distribution (p < 0.0001). Stage II BDHD patients had a worse overall survival rate (OS) than stage II ADHD patients (68.8% vs 86.6% at 8 years, p < 0.01) if age is not considered; patients with more than 40 years of age, in fact, had the same survival rates as those with ADHD. BDHD patients with intra-abdominal disease alone had worse prognostic factors and OS (p = 0.12) than patients with inguinal-femoral nodes. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: Although BDHD patients present distinct features, they have the same OS and relapse-free survival rate as age-adjusted ADHD patients. According to our experience patients with stage I peripheral BDHD respond well to radiotherapy-based regimens. Those with stage II and or intra-abdominal disease are more challenging; chemotherapy or a combined therapy seem to be more suitable approaches for these patients.

Amyloid beta protein (A beta) in Alzheimer's disease brain. Biochemical and immunocytochemical analysis with antibodies specific for forms ending at A beta 40 or A beta 42(43).

Biochemical and immunocytochemical analyses were performed to evaluate the composition of the amyloid beta protein (A beta) deposited in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). To quantitate all A beta s present, cerebral cortex was homogenized in 70% formic acid, and the supernatant was analyzed by sandwich enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assays specific for various forms of A beta. In 9 of 27 AD brains examined, there was minimal congophilic angiopathy and virtually all A beta (96%) ended at A beta 42(43). The other 18 AD brains contained increasing amounts of A beta ending at A beta 40. From this set, 6 brains with substantial congophilic angiopathy were separately analyzed. In these brains, the amount of A beta ending at A beta 42(43) was much the same as in brains with minimal congophilic angiopathy, but a large amount of A beta ending at A beta 40 (76% of total A beta) was also present. Immunocytochemical analysis with monoclonal antibodies selective for A beta s ending at A beta 42(43) or A beta 40 confirmed that, in brains with minimal congophilic angiopathy, virtually all A beta is A beta ending at A beta 42(43) and showed that this A beta is deposited in senile plaques of all types. In the remaining AD brains, A beta 42(43) was deposited in a similar fashion in plaques, but, in addition, widely varying amounts of A beta ending at A beta 40 were deposited, primarily in blood vessel walls, where some A beta ending at A beta 42(43) was also present. These observations indicate that A beta s ending at A beta 42(43), which are a minor component of the A beta in human cerebrospinal fluid and plasma, are critically important in AD where they deposit selectively in plaques of all kinds.

The primary structure and properties of thioltransferase (glutaredoxin) from human red blood cells.

Thioltransferase (glutaredoxin) was purified from human red blood cells essentially as described previously (Mieyal JJ et al., 1991a, Biochemistry 30:6088-6097). The primary sequence of the HPLC-pure enzyme was determined by tandem mass spectrometry and found to represent a 105-amino acid protein of molecular weight 11,688 Da. The physicochemical and catalytic properties of this enzyme are common to the group of proteins called glutaredoxins among the family of thiol:disulfide oxidoreductases that also includes thioredoxin and protein disulfide isomerase. Although this human red blood cell glutaredoxin (hRBC Grx) is highly homologous to the 3 other mammalian Grx proteins whose sequences are known (calf thymus, rabbit bone marrow, and pig liver), there are a number of significant differences. Most notably an additional cysteine residue (Cys-7) occurs near the N-terminus of the human enzyme in place of a serine residue in the other proteins. In addition, residue 51 of hRBC Grx displayed a mixture of Asp and Asn. This result is consistent with isoelectric focusing analysis, which revealed 2 distinct bands for either the oxidized or reduced forms of the protein. Because the enzyme was prepared from blood combined from a number of individual donors, it is not clear whether this Asp/Asn ambiguity represents inter-individual variation, gene duplication, or a deamidation artifact of purification.

Thioltransferase is a specific glutathionyl mixed disulfide oxidoreductase.

To study the substrate specificity and mechanism of thioltransferase (TTase) catalysis, we have used 14C- and 35S-radiolabeled mixed disulfides of cysteine and glutathione (GSH) with various cysteine-containing proteins. These protein mixed disulfide substrates were incubated with glutathione, glutathione disulfide (GSSG) reductase, and NADPH in the presence or absence of thioltransferase. Glutathione-dependent reduction of protein mixed disulfides was monitored both by release of trichloroacetic acid soluble radiolabel and by formation of GSSG in an NADPH-linked spectrophotometric assay. GSH-dependent dethiolation of [35S]glutathione-papain mixed disulfide (papain-SSG) and the corresponding bovine serum albumin mixed disulfide (BSA-SSG) were catalyzed by thioltransferase (from human red blood cells) as shown by the radiolabel assay, and equivalent rates were measured by the spectrophotometric assay. Dethiolation of [35S]hemoglobin-glutathione mixed disulfide (Hb-SSG) was also catalyzed by TTase. In contrast, TTase did not catalyze GSH-dependent dethiolation of [14C]papain-SScysteine or [14C]BSA-SScysteine as measured by the radiolabel assay. [14C]Hb-SScysteine and Hb-SScysteamine also did not serve as substrates. In separate experiments, TTase from rat liver displayed analogous selectivity. Thus, thioltransferase (glutaredoxin) appears to be specific for glutathione-containing mixed disulfides. Apparent TTase catalysis of GSSG formation from the papain- and BSA-SScysteine mixed disulfides was observed by the spectrophotometric assay, but a lag phase occurred consistent with preenzymatic formation of GSScysteine which could serve as the actual TTase substrate. Two-substrate kinetic studies of TTase with GSH and GSScysteine gave patterns of parallel lines on double-reciprocal plots (1/V vs 1/[S]), consistent with a simple ping-pong mechanism involving a TTase-SSG intermediate.

Thioltransferase in human red blood cells: kinetics and equilibrium.

Thioltransferase from human red blood cells (HRBC TTase), coupled to GSSG reductase, catalyzed glutathione (GSH)-dependent reduction of prototype substrates hydroxyethyl disulfide (HEDS) and sodium S-sulfocysteine as well as of other homo- and heterodisulfides, including the protein mixed disulfide albumin-S-S-cysteine. Whereas apparent KM values for the substrates varied over more than a 20-fold range, the Vmax values agreed quite closely, usually within less than a factor of 2, suggesting that initial interaction of oxidized substrate with enzyme is not rate determining. HRBC TTase was inactivated by iodoacetamide (IAA), and this was prevented by pretreatment with disulfides. The pH dependence of IAA inactivation gave a remarkably low apparent pKa of 3.5, which was independent of ionic strength (0.05-2 M). At pH 6, one radiolabeled carboxyamidomethyl moiety was bound to the enzyme after treatment with [14C]IAA. This unusual thiol reactivity suggests that the active-site cysteine moiety of the TTase may be involved in a hydrogen bond with a carboxylate moiety. In contrast, the pH dependence for GSH-dependent TTase catalysis of disulfide reduction displayed an inflection point near pH 8.0, also suggesting that the initial reaction of oxidized substrate with the active-site thiol is not involved in rate determination. Two substrate kinetic studies of HRBC TTase and rat liver TTase (e.g., [GSH] and [HEDS] varied independently) gave patterns of intersecting lines on double-reciprocal plots (1/v vs 1/S), indicating a sequential mechanism for the TTase reactions, rather than a ping-pong mechanism.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Thioltransferase in human red blood cells: purification and properties.

Thioltransferase activity was identified and the enzyme purified to apparent homogeneity from human red blood cells. Activity was measured as glutathione-dependent reduction of the prototype substrate hydroxyethyl disulfide; formation of oxidized glutathione (GSSG) was coupled to NADPH oxidation by GSSG reductase (1 unit of activity = 1 mumol/min of NADPH oxidized). The thioltransferase-GSH-GSSG reductase system was shown also to catalyze the regeneration of hemoglobin from the mixed disulfide hemoglobin-S-S-glutathione (HbSSG) and to reactivate the metabolic control enzyme phosphofructokinase (PFK) after oxidation of its sulfhydryl groups. On a relative concentration basis, thioltransferase was about 1200 times more efficient than dithiothreitol in reactivation of phosphofructokinase; e.g., 500 microM DTT was required to effect the same extent of reactivation as that of 0.4 microM TTase. The GSH plus GSSG reductase system without thioltransferase was ineffective for reduction of HbSSG or reactivation of PFK. The average amount of thioltransferase in intact erythrocytes was calculated to be 4.6 units/g of Hb at 25 degrees C. This level of activity is about the same as those of other enzymes that participate in sulfhydryl maintenance in red blood cells, such as GSSG reductase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. These results suggest a physiological role for the thioltransferase in erythrocyte sulfhydryl homeostasis. Certain properties of the human erythrocyte thioltransferase resemble those of other mammalian thioltransferase and glutaredoxin enzymes. Thus, the human erythrocyte enzyme, purified about 28,000-fold to apparent homogeneity, is a single polypeptide with a molecular weight of 11,300. Its N-terminus is blocked, it is heat stable, and it contains four cysteine residues per protein molecule. However, the human erythrocyte thioltransferase is a distinct protein based on its amino acid composition. For example, it contains no methionine residues; whereas the related mammalian enzymes described to date have at least one internal methionine residue in their largely homologous sequences.

Magnesium transport in Salmonella typhimurium. Regulation of mgtA and mgtB expression.

Salmonella typhimurium contains three distinct transport systems (CorA, MgtA, and MgtB) that move Mg2+ across the cytoplasmic membrane. Mutant strains containing only one of these three systems have been constructed and used to study each system in isolation. Characterization of these systems has been hampered, however, by the need to use 28Mg2+, a relatively unavailable, extremely expensive, and short lived radioisotope. This paper reports that 63Ni2+ is transported into the cell by all three of the S typhimurium Mg2+ transport systems. In a strain deficient in all three systems, uptake of 63Ni2+ was undetectable under the conditions used. Comparison of 63Ni2+ uptake kinetics and inhibition of 63Ni2+ transport by other divalent cations suggest that Ni2+ can be used as an analog of Mg2+ in the study of these three transport systems. Using 63Ni2+ to measure uptake, the effect of Mg2+ levels in the growth medium on transport by each system was tested. Transport by the CorA system was unaffected by changes in the amount of Mg2+ in the growth medium. In contrast, uptake via MgtA and MgtB was significantly increased in cells grown in 10 microM extracellular Mg2+ compared to cells grown in 10 mM Mg2+. The increases in uptake were the result of increases in Vmax without change in Km. This result suggests that, in low Mg2+ medium, cells contained higher levels of the transporters. Production of beta-galactosidase from mgtA::lacZ and mgtB::lacZ but not corA::lacZ fusions was also increased when cells were grown in low extracellular concentrations of Mg2+ indicating that the regulation occurs at the level of transcription. Expression of beta-galactosidase was also inhibited by the addition of other divalent cations including Ca2+ and Mn2+. Regulation of transcription from the mgtA and mgtB promoters was similar over the range of extracellular Mg2+ concentrations from 10 microM to 10 mM. At 1 microM, however, transcription from the mgtB promoter, as measured by beta-galactosidase levels in a mgtB::lacZ transcriptional fusion strain, was increased over 800-fold, and Ca2+ could no longer inhibit transcription effectively. In contrast, growth at 1 microM extracellular Mg2+ increased transcription from the mgtA promoter only about 30-fold and Ca2+ could still inhibit this increase. These results suggest that at least two distinct mechanisms are responsible for regulation of the mgtA and mgtB transcription in response to extracellular cation concentration.

Application of NIRS to the quantity control of pharmaceuticals ketoprofen assay in different pharmaceutical formulae.

The possibility of using reflectance NIRS to assay 2-(benzoylphenyl)-propionic acid (Ketoprofen) in solid-state and gel preparations is investigated. The number of samples and amplitude of the percentage content distribution of the samples is examined in order to define the best possible calibration system.

The glucose transporter of the human brain and blood-brain barrier.

We identified and characterized the glucose transporter in the human cerebral cortex, cerebral microvessels, and choroid plexus by specific D-glucose-displaceable [3H]cytochalasin B binding. The binding was saturable, with a dissociation constant less than 1 microM. Maximal binding capacity was approximately 7 pmol/mg protein in the cerebral cortex, approximately 42 pmol/mg protein in brain microvessels, and approximately 27 pmol/mg protein in the choroid plexus. Several hexoses displaced specific [3H]cytochalasin B binding to microvessels in a rank-order that correlated well with their known ability to cross the blood-brain barrier; the only exception was 2-deoxy-D-glucose, which had much higher affinity for the glucose transporter than the natural substrate, D-glucose. Irreversible photoaffinity labeling of the glucose transporter of microvessels with [3H]cytochalasin B, followed by solubilization and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, labeled a protein band with an average molecular weight of approximately 55,000. Monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies specific to the human erythrocyte glucose transporter immunocytochemically stained brain blood vessels and the few trapped erythrocytes in situ, with minimal staining of the neuropil. In the choroid plexus, blood vessels did not stain, but the epithelium reacted positively. We conclude that human brain microvessels are richly endowed with a glucose transport moiety similar in molecular weight and antigenic characteristics to that of human erythrocytes and brain microvessels of other mammalian species.

Glucose transporter of the blood-brain barrier and brain in chronic hyperglycemia.

The effect of chronic hyperglycemia on the glucose transporter moiety of the blood-brain barrier and cerebral cortex was studied in rats 3 weeks after the administration of a single intravenous dose of streptozotocin (60 mg/kg), using specific [3H]cytochalasin B binding methods. Streptozotocin-treated rats developed hyperglycemia, as well as polydipsia and polyuria, and failed to gain weight. The density of D-glucose-displaceable cytochalasin B binding sites in the brain microvessels of streptozotocin-treated hyperglycemic rats was increased by about 30% compared with those of control rats, without change in the affinity of binding. Chronic hyperglycemia had no effect on the density or affinity of specific binding of cytochalasin B to cerebral cortical membranes. These findings do not support the hypothesis that glucose transporters in brain microvessels comprising the blood-brain barrier are "down-regulated" in chronic hyperglycemia.