Factors influencing the fatty acid oxidation of tumor mitochondria with special reference to changes in spontaneous mouse hepatomas

Zusammenfassung Mitochondrien aus kleinen und grossen Spontanhepatomen bei F₁(C₅₇Bl×C₃He) Mäusen weisen verschiedene Adenosintriphosphataseaktivitäten auf, was sich 1. an der Hemmung der Fettsäureoxydation normaler Lebermitochondrien nach Zugabe von Tumormitochondrien und 2. an der Fettsäureoxydation der Hepatommitochondrien selbst zeigen lässt. Die Mitochondrien gewisser Tumoren vermochten Caprylsäure nur zu oxydieren, wenn die Adenosintriphosphatase möglichst wenig aktiviert war durch Zugabe von Verseen zum Aufarbeitungsmedium.     

Enzymes of carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism in liver,brain and kidney ofMacaca mulatta

Résumé Les activités de 9 enzymes ont été définies dans le foie, le cerveau et le rein du rhésus. L'activité de la sérine déhydrase, qui ne se manifest pas dans le rein du rat, a été observée dans le rein du singe. Les activités de la tyrosine transaminase et de l'exokinase dans le foie du rhésus se montrèrent semblables à celles du foie humain, mais les activités du glucose-6-phosphate déhydrogénase et de la glucokinase furent plus élevées que dans le foie humain.     

Upregulation of rat P23 (a member of the YjgF protein family) by fasting, glucose diet and fatty acid feeding

In a previous study, we identified and purified a 99-amino-acid rat liver-kidney perchloric-acid-soluble 23-kDa protein (P23) which displays 30% identity with a highly conserved domain of heat shock proteins (HSPs), as well as an AT-rich 3 untranslated region, which has also been described to play a role in H70 mRNA life span and protein expression. An identical perchloric-acid-soluble protein inhibiting protein synthesis in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate system was also found 2 years later by another group. More recently, the novel, the YjgF, protein family has been described, comprising, 24 full-length homologues, including P23, highly conserved through evolution, and consisting of approximately 130 residues each and sharing a common ternary structure. Independent studies from different laboratories have provided various hypothetical functions for each of these proteins. The high degree of evolutionary conservation may suggest that these proteins play an important role in cellular regulation. Although the function of none of these proteins is known precisely, we present experimental evidence which, combined with the relationship to glucose-regulating protein revealed here, and the relationship to fatty-acid-binding protein revealed by others, allow us to propose a role for P23. In rat liver, P23 expression is developmentally regulated and modulated by dietary glucose, and its mRNA is induced by starvation, in the presence of fatty-acids and in 3-MeDAB-induced hepatomas. The mRNA encoding mouse liver P23 is also hormonally modulated in a mouse line AT1F8. These data indicate that P23 protein might be a key controller of intermediary metabolism during fasting.Received 7 June 2003; received after revision 8 September 2004; accepted 10 October 2004     

Free amino acid pattern in stressed leaves of two contrasting resistant and susceptible cultivars of chick pea (Cicer arietinum)

Summary Drought resistant cv. C-214 ofCicer arietinum L. showed higher accumulation of alanine, threonine, glutamine, -alanine, arginine, amino butyric acid, valine, leucine, phenylalanine than the susceptible cv. G130 under water stress.     

Effect of a growth-promoting factor on protein synthesis and amino acid transport in vitro

Zusammenfassung Es wird nachgewiesen, dass sich in der Muskulatur ein Faktor befindet, der eine Anreicherung der -Amino-isobuttersäure in den Zellen hervorruft und der auch in vitro den Einbau von Leucin und damit die Proteinsynthese fördern kann. Ob dieser Faktor als Übermittler für Wachstumshormon wirkt, ist noch nicht abgeklärt.     

N-acetylmuramic acid 6-phosphate lyases (MurNAc etherases): role in cell wall metabolism, distribution, structure, and mechanism

MurNAc etherases cleave the uniqued-lactyl ether bond of the bacterial cell wall sugar N-acetylmuramic acid (MurNAc). Members of this newly discovered family of enzymes are widely distributed among bacteria and are required to utilize peptidoglycan fragments obtained either from the environment or from the endogenous cell wall (i.e., recycling). MurNAc etherases are strictly dependent on the substrate MurNAc possessing a free reducing end and a phosphoryl group at C6. They carry a single conserved sugar phosphate isomerase/sugar phosphate- binding (SIS) domain to which MurNAc 6-phosphate is bound. Two subunits form an enzymatically active homodimer that structurally resembles the isomerase module of the double-SIS domain protein GlmS, the glucosamine 6-phosphate synthase. Structural comparison provides insights into the two-step lyase-type reaction mechanism of MurNAc etherases: β-elimination of the D-lactic acid substituent proceeds through a 2,3-unsaturated sugar intermediate to which water is subsequently added. Received 31 August 2007; received after revision 12 October 2007; accepted 1 November 2007     

Crosstalk between metabolism and epigenetic modifications in autoimmune diseases: a comprehensive overview

Little information is available regarding mechanistic links between epigenetic modifications and autoimmune diseases. It seems plausible to surmise that aberrant gene expression and energy metabolism would disrupt immune tolerance, which could ultimately result in autoimmune responses. Metaboloepigenetics is an emerging paradigm that defines the interrelationships between metabolism and epigenetics. Epigenetic modifications, such as the methylation/demethylation of DNA and histone proteins and histone acetylation/deacetylation can be dynamically produced and eliminated by a group of enzymes that consume several metabolites derived from various physiological pathways. Recent insights into cellular metabolism have demonstrated that environmental stimuli such as dietary exposure and nutritional status act through the variation in concentration of metabolites to affect epigenetic regulation and breakdown biochemical homeostasis. Metabolites, including S-adenosylmethionine, acetyl-CoA, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, α-ketoglutarate, and ATP serve as cofactors for chromatin-modifying enzymes, such as methyltransferases, deacetylases and kinases, which are responsible for chromatin remodelling. The concentration of crucial nutrients, such as glucose, glutamine, and oxygen, spatially and temporally modulate epigenetic modifications to regulate gene expression and the reaction to stressful microenvironments in disease pathology. In this review, we focus on the interaction between metabolic intermediates and epigenetic modifications, integrating environmental signals with programmes through modification of the epigenome–metabolome to speculate as to how this may influence autoimmune diseases.     

D(-)Lactic acid—a physiological isomer in the rat

Summary D(-)Lactate is produced in significant amounts together with L(+)lactate in the stomach of normal experimental rats. It is absorbed into the blood and constitutes a physiological isomer in this animal species.