Hyperglycemia inhibits insulin activation of Akt/protein kinase B but not phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase in rat skeletal muscle.
(9/3146)
Sustained hyperglycemia impairs insulin-stimulated glucose utilization in the skeletal muscle of both humans and experimental animals--a phenomenon referred to clinically as glucose toxicity. To study how this occurs, a model was developed in which hyperglycemia produces insulin resistance in vitro. Rat extensor digitorum longus muscles were preincubated for 4 h in Krebs-Henseleit solution containing glucose or glucose + insulin at various concentrations, after which insulin action was studied. Preincubation with 25 mmol/l glucose + insulin (10 mU/ml) led to a 70% decrease in the ability of insulin (10 mU/ml) to stimulate glucose incorporation into glycogen and a 30% decrease in 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) uptake, compared with muscles incubated with 0 mmol/l glucose. Glucose incorporation into lipid and its oxidation to CO2 were marginally diminished, if at all. The alterations of glycogen synthesis and 2-DG uptake were first evident after 1 h and were maximal after 2 h of preincubation; they were not observed in muscles preincubated with 25 mmol/l glucose + insulin for 5 min. Preincubation for 4 h with 25 mmol/l glucose in the absence of insulin produced a similar although somewhat smaller decrease in insulin-stimulated glycogen synthesis; however, it did not alter 2-DG uptake, glucose oxidation to CO2, or incorporation into lipids. Studies of insulin signaling in the latter muscles revealed that activation of Akt/protein kinase B (PKB) was diminished by 60%, compared with that of muscles preincubated in a glucose-free medium; whereas activation of phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase, an upstream regulator of Akt/PKB in the insulin-signaling cascade, and of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, a parallel signal, was unaffected. Immunoblots demonstrated that this was not due to a change in Akt/PKB abundance. The results indicate that hyperglycemia-induced insulin resistance can be studied in rat skeletal muscle in vitro. They suggest that impairment of insulin action in these muscles is related to inhibition of Akt/PKB by events that do not affect PI 3-kinase. (+info)
Manganese sulfate-dependent glycosylation of endogenous glycoproteins in human skeletal muscle is catalyzed by a nonglucose 6-P-dependent glycogen synthase and not glycogenin.
(10/3146)
Glycogenin, a Mn2+-dependent, self-glucosylating protein, is considered to catalyze the initial glucosyl transfer steps in glycogen biogenesis. To study the physiologic significance of this enzyme, measurements of glycogenin mediated glucose transfer to endogenous trichloroacetic acid precipitable material (protein-bound glycogen, i.e., glycoproteins) in human skeletal muscle were attempted. Although glycogenin protein was detected in muscle extracts, activity was not, even after exercise that resulted in marked glycogen depletion. Instead, a MnSO4-dependent glucose transfer to glycoproteins, inhibited by glycogen and UDP-pyridoxal (which do not affect glycogenin), and unaffected by CDP (a potent inhibitor of glycogenin), was consistently detected. MnSO4-dependent activity increased in concert with glycogen synthase fractional activity after prolonged exercise, and the MnSO4-dependent enzyme stimulated glucosylation of glycoproteins with molecular masses lower than those glucosylated by glucose 6-P-dependent glycogen synthase. Addition of purified glucose 6-P-dependent glycogen synthase to the muscle extract did not affect MnSO4-dependent glucose transfer, whereas glycogen synthase antibody completely abolished MnSO4-dependent activity. It is concluded that: (1) MnSO4-dependent glucose transfer to glycoproteins is catalyzed by a nonglucose 6-P-dependent form of glycogen synthase; (2) MnSO4-dependent glycogen synthase has a greater affinity for low molecular mass glycoproteins and may thus play a more important role than glucose 6-P-dependent glycogen synthase in the initial stages of glycogen biogenesis; and (3) glycogenin is generally inactive in human muscle in vivo. (+info)
Kinetic study on the dimer-tetramer interconversion of glycogen phosphorylase a.
(11/3146)
Kinetic theory of dissociating enzyme systems has been applied to a study of the dimer-tetramer interconversion of glycogen phosphorylase a. All kinetic constants for the dissociating-associating reaction of phosphorylase a have been determined. The results indicate that (a) the presence of glucose-1-phosphate has no influence on either the rate of dissociation or the rate of association, and hence does not shift the dimer-tetramer equilibrium of phosphorylase a; (b) the binding og glycogen to the enzyme decreases the association rate of the dimer to form the tetramer, but has no effect on the dissociation rate of the tetramer; (c) both the dimeric and tetrameric form of phosphorylase a can bind glycogen, but the tetrameric form has a lower affinity for glycogen and is catalytically inactive. (+info)
Ultrasensitive glycogen synthesis in Cyanobacteria.
(12/3146)
Cyanobacter ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase exhibits a ultrasensitive response in activity towards its allosteric effector 3-phosphoglycerate, elicited by orthophosphate and polyethyleneglycol-induced molecular crowding. The ultrasensitive response was observed either when the enzyme operates in the zero or first order region for its physiological substrates. The ultrasensitivity exhibited maximal amplification factors of 15-19-fold with respect to 1% of the maximal system velocity. Only a 2.4-3.8-fold increase in 3PGA concentration was necessary to augment the flux from 10% to 90% through AGPase as compared with 200-fold required for the control. The results are discussed in terms of finely tuned regulatory mechanisms of polysaccharide synthesis in oxygenic photosynthetic organisms. (+info)
Oxidative stress occurs in perfused rat liver at low oxygen tension by mechanisms involving peroxynitrite.
(13/3146)
Ethanol increases free radical formation; however, it was recently demonstrated that it also causes extensive hypoxia in rat liver in vivo. To address this issue, it was hypothesized that peroxynitrite formed in normoxic periportal regions of the liver lobule has its reactivity enhanced in hypoxic pericentral regions where the pH is lower. Via this pathway, peroxynitrite could lead to free radical formation in the absence of oxygen. Livers from fed rats were perfused at low flow rates for 75 min. Under these conditions, periportal regions were well oxygenated but pericentral areas became hypoxic. Low-flow perfusion caused a significant 6-fold increase in nitrotyrosine accumulation in pericentral regions. During the last 20 min of perfusion, the spin-trap alpha-(4-pyridyl-1-oxide)-N-tert-butylnitrone was infused and adducts were collected for electron-spin resonance analysis. A six-line radical adduct signal was detected in perfusate. Direct infusion of peroxynitrite produced a radical adduct with identical coupling constants, and a similar pattern of nitrotyrosine accumulation was observed. Retrograde perfusion at low rates resulted in accumulation of nitrotyrosine in periportal regions. Although the magnitude of the radical in perfusate was increased by ethanol, it was not derived directly from it. Both nitrotyrosine accumulation and radical formation were reduced by inhibition of nitric oxide synthase with N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, but not with the inactive D-isomer. Radical formation was decreased nearly completely by superoxide dismutase and N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, consistent with the hypothesis that the final prooxidant is a derivative from both NO. and superoxide (i.e., peroxynitrite). These results support the hypothesis that oxidative stress occurs in hypoxic regions of the liver lobule by mechanisms involving peroxynitrite. (+info)
Desiccation resistance in interspecific Drosophila crosses. Genetic interactions and trait correlations.
(14/3146)
We used crosses between two closely related Drosophila species, Drosophila serrata and D. birchii, to examine the genetic basis of desiccation resistance and correlations between resistance, physiological traits, and life-history traits. D. serrata is more resistant to desiccation than D. birchii, and this may help to explain the broader geographical range of the former species. A comparison of F2's from reciprocal crosses indicated higher resistance levels when F2's originated from D. birchii mothers compared to D. serrata mothers. However, backcrosses had a resistance level similar to that of the parental species, suggesting an interaction between X-linked effects in D. serrata that reduce resistance and autosomal effects that increase resistance. Reciprocal differences persisted in hybrid lines set up from the different reciprocal crosses and tested at later generations. Increased desiccation resistance was associated with an increased body size in two sets of hybrid lines and in half-sib groups set up from the F4's after crossing the two species, but size associations were inconsistent in the F2's. None of the crosses provided evidence for a positive association between desiccation resistance and glycogen levels, or evidence for a tradeoff between desiccation resistance and early fecundity. However, fecundity was positively correlated with body size at both the genetic and phenotypic levels. This study illustrates how interspecific crosses may provide information on genetic interactions between traits following adaptive divergence, as well as on the genetic basis of the traits. (+info)
The maintenance of rat palatal mucosa in organ culture.
(15/3146)
Palatal mucosa from neonatal rats was maintained under organ culture conditions in a chemically defined medium for periods up to 28 days. The histological state of the cultured palatal mucosa was compared with that of control tissue from growing animals of comparable age. The control tissues showed an increase in epithelial thickness, first noticeable at 17 days. Whilst the general structure of the tissues in organ culture was preserved for the duration of the experiment, some changes in epithelial behavior were evident. There was an increase in epithelial thickness up to 6 days, followed by a reduction in the nucleated cell layer of the epithelium to a thickness comparable with that at the start of the experiment. There was a loss of epithelial glycogen within the first day, with occasional reappearance of patchy and irregular deposits. Whereas the control of epithelial thickness appeared to be restored after 10 days in vitro, disturbances in the maturation of the keratinocytes, manifested as epithelial pearls and dyskeratotic cells, were evident at subsequent stages. Epiboly never occurred. The connective tissue component showed continued development, indicated by an increase in the thickness of collagen fibres. The overall palatal growth seen in vivo did not occur in organ culture. We suggest that the improved maintenance reported is partly the result of explanting tissues in such a way as to minimize trauma, and partly the result of incorporating serum albumin into the chemically defined medium. (+info)
Neuromyotonia: an unusual presentation of intrathoracic malignancy.
(16/3146)
A 48 year old woman is described who presented with increasing muscular rigidity and who was found to have a mediastinal tumour. Electrophysiological studies revealed that the muscular stiffness resulted from very high frequency motor unit activity which outlasted voluntary effort, and which was abolished by nerve block. The abnormal activity may have arisen at the anterior horn cell level. Marked improvement followed the administration of diphenylhydantoin. (+info)