Cold exposure: Effects on hepatic tryptophan oxygenase and tyrosine aminotransferase,plasma tryptophan and tyrosine,and brain monoamines

Résumé L'exposition des souris à une basse temp'erature a abouti à la production rapide de tryptophane oxygénase et de tyrosine aminotransférase. Malgré l'augmentation de l'activité enzymatique, les niveaux plasmatiques de tryptophane et de tyrosine furent augmentés d'une manière significative pendant le temps de l'exposition. Les niveaux de norepinéphrine et de sérotonine du cerveau n'en ont cependant pas été affectés.

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Acknowledgment. The authors would like to thank Army SP'sM. Devine, T. Nielson, andG. Johnson for expert technical assistance.

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In counducting the research described in this report, the investigators adhered to the Guide for Laboratory Animal Facilities and Care, as promulgated by the Committee on the Guide for Laboratory Animal Facilities and Care of the Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources, National Academy of Sciences — National Research Council.     

Mast cells,tryptophan and 5-hydroxytryptamine in precancerous mouse skin

Zusammenfassung Nach Formaldehydfixation und Vorbehandlung mit dem Carcinogen DMBA oder Äthylphenylpropiolat (das nicht cancerogen oder co-cancerogen wirkt) wird in der Epidermis der Maus eine Tryptophanbedingte blaue Fluoreszenz gefunden. Die gelbe Fluoreszenz in den Mastzellen beruht auf 5-HT.     

Regulation of tryptophan metabolism in the parasitic wasp,Habrobracon juglandis

Zusammenfassung Die Metabolite und 3 Enzyme des Tryptophanstoffwechsels vonHabrobracon weisen während der parasitären Phase sowie während der Puppenruhe und im Imaginalstadium signifikante Konzentrations-bzw. Aktivitätsveränderungen auf. Diese sind das Ergebnis mindestens zweier Regulationsmechanismen.

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I thank Prof.V. Schwartz and Prof.A. Egelhaaf for helpful advice.     

Amino acid accumulation by brain slices: Interactions among tryptophan,phenylalanine and histidine

Resumen La concentración de triptófano en cortes de cerebro incubados con este aminoácido durante 60 min, es disminuida por la presencia de fenilalanina pero aumentada por la histidina. El efecto de la histidina se puede explicar por intercambio a nivel de la membrana entre la histidina intracelular y el triptófano extracelular.     

Induction of tryptophan pyrrolase in rats after early injections of tryptophan or neonatal thymectomy

Riassunto La somministrazione di triptofano per via endoperitoneale nei primi giorni di vita non influenza l'induzione della triptofano pirrolasi nel fegato di ratto ad opera del triptofano o del cortisone somministrato a 20–25 giorni di età. L'induzione dell'enzima é normale in ratti di 30 giorni timectomizzati alla nascita. Questi risultati non confermano l'esistenza di un fenomeno simile alla tolleranza immunitaria nella sintesi adattativa di questo enzima.     

Plasma free and total tryptophan during the oestrus cycle,in ovariectomized and in male rats

Summary Plasma free tryptophan was higher during prooestrus and early oestrus than at metoestrus or in ovariectomized or male rats. In contrast, total tryptophan was higher in ovariectomized and male rats than at any time in cycling females.     

β-Pyrrolo-L-alanine,a new antimetabolite of phenylalanine and tyrosine inEscherichia coli

Zusammenfassung -Pyrrolo-l-alanin, dessen Synthese beschrieben ist, hemmt das Wachstum vonE. coli B auf synthetischen Nährböden. Die Hemmung wird vonl-Phenylalanin undl-Tyrosin vollständig, vonl-Tryptophan teilweise, nicht aber von Histidin aufgehoben. Stämme vonE. coli, die gegen-Pyrrolo-l-alanin bzw.p-Fluorophenyl-dl-alanin resistent sind, zeigen gekreuzte Resistenz.     

Oxidation and tyrosine phosphorylation: synergistic or antagonistic cues in protein tyrosine phosphatases

Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) have been generally recognised as key modulators of cell proliferation, differentiation, adhesion and motility. During signalling, several PTPs undergo two posttranslational modifications that greatly affect their enzymatic activity: tyrosine phosphorylation and cysteine oxidation. Although these modifications share their reversibility depending on the intracellular environment, their effects on enzymatic activity are opposite, tyrosine phosphorylation being correlated to enzyme activation and thiol oxidation to complete inactivation. Several papers have suggested that both these modifications occur in response to the same stimuli i.e. cell proliferation induced by numerous growth factors and cytokines. Conversely, the possibility that these two regulation mechanisms act simultaneously on PTPs has not been established and very few reports investigated this dual regulation of PTPs. To underline the relevance of the question, we discuss several possibilities: (i) that tyrosine phosphorylation and cysteine oxidation of PTPs may share the same target molecules but with different kinetics; (ii) that PTP phosphorylation and oxidation may take place on different subcellular pools of the same protein and (iii) that these two modifications, although having divergent effects on enzyme activity, cooperate in the integrated and coordinated function of PTPs during receptor tyrosine kinase signalling. We believe that our perspective will open new perspectives on an ancient problem – the apparent contradiction of opposing enzymatic regulation of many PTPs – thus clarifying their role as positive or negative transducers (or both) of many extracellular stimuli.Received 11 October 2004; received after revision 26 January 2005; accepted 10 February 2005 Available online 29 March 2005     

Effects of dikegulac-sodium on negative geotropic response,endogenous tryptophan and IAA-oxidase activity inGlycine max roots

Summary Dikegulac-sodium inhibited primary and lateral root growth inGlycine max. The roots, curved and showed negative geotropic response after dikegulac-sodium treatment. The tryptophan level decreased and the activity of IAA-oxidase increased with increasing concentrations of dikegulac-sodium.Acknowledgments. We are grateful to Dr R. Maag Ltd, Switzerland, for supporting this work.     

Calcium dependence of rat brain tryptophan hydroxylase

Summary The effects of various concentrations of ionized Ca were examined on the activity of rat brain tryptophan hydroxylase previously treated with EGTA. Within the range of ionized Ca-concentrations thought, to be physiologically important (10^–8 to 10^–5 M), no significant activation of the enzyme occurred, although activation was observed at higher concentrations of the metal.     

Low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatases: small,but smart

Low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatases (LMW-PTPs) are a family of 18-kDa enzymes involved in cell growth regulation. Despite very limited sequence similarity to the PTP superfamily, they display a conserved signature motif in the catalytic site. LMW-PTP associates and dephosphorylate many growth factor receptors, such as platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGF-r), insulin receptor and ephrin receptor, thus downregulating many of the tyrosine kinase receptor functions that lead to cell division. In particular, LMW-PTP acts on both growth-factor-induced mitosis, through dephosphorylation of activated PDGF-r, and on cytoskeleton rearrangement, through dephosphorylation of p190RhoGAP and the consequent regulation of the small GTPase Rho. LMW-PTP activity is modulated by tyrosine phosphorylation on two specific residues, each of them with specific characteristics. LMW-PTP activity on specific substrates depends also on its localization. Moreover, LMW-PTP is reversibly oxidized during growth factor signaling, leading to inhibition of its enzymatic activity. Recovery of phosphatase activity depends on the availability of reduced glutathione and involves the formation of an S–S bridge between the two catalytic site cysteines. Furthermore, studies on the redox state of LMW-PTP in contact-inhibited cells and in mature myoblasts suggest that LMW-PTP is a general and versatile modulator of growth inhibition. Received 17 January 2002; received after revision 22 March 2002; accepted 26 March 2002