Effect of Proteolytic Enzymes on the Binding of Cobalamin to R Protein and Intrinsic Factor: IN VITRO EVIDENCE THAT A FAILURE TO PARTIALLY DEGRADER PROTEIN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR COBALAMIN MALABSORPTION IN PANCREATIC INSUFFICIENCY

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Abstract

Cobalamin (Cbl; vitamin B12) malabsorption in pancreatic insufficiency can be partially corrected by bicarbonate and completely corrected by pancreatic proteases but the mechanisms involved are unknown. Because saliva contains enough R-type Cbl-binding protein (R protein) to bind all of the dietary and biliary Cbl, it is possible that R protein acts as an inhibitor of Cbl absorption and that pancreatic proteases are required to alter R protein and prevent such inhibition. To test this hypothesis we studied the ability of R protein and intrinsic factor (IF) to compete for Cbl binding and ability of pancreatic proteases to alter this competition.

Authors

Robert H. Allen, Bellur Seetharam, Elaine Podell, David H. Alpers

Permselectivity of the Glomerular Capillary Wall: FACILITATED FILTRATION OF CIRCULATING POLYCATIONS

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Abstract

To examine the electrostatic effects of fixed negative charges on the glomerular capillary wall, polydisperse [3H]DEAE dextran, a polycationic form of dextran, was infused into 10 Munich-Wistar rats. Fractional clearances of DEAE ranging in radius from 18 to 44Å were determined in these rats, together with direct measurements of the forces and flows governing the glomerular filtration rate of water. These results were compared with data previously obtained in Munich-Wistar rats receiving tritiated neutral dextran (D) and polyanionic dextran sulfate (DS). Measured values for the determinants of the glomerular filtration rate of water in rats given DEAE were found to be essentially identical to those in rats given either D or DS. In addition, DEAE was shown to be neither secreted nor reabsorbed. Fractional clearances of polycationic DEAE were increased relative to both D and DS, the increase relative to D being significant for effective molecular radii ranging from 24 to 44Å.

Authors

Michael P. Bohrer, Christine Baylis, H. David Humes, Richard J. Glassock, Channing R. Robertson, Barry M. Brenner

Bence Jones Proteins and Light Chains of Immunoglobulins: XV. EFFECT OF CORTICOSTEROIDS ON SYNTHESIS AND EXCRETION OF BENCE JONES PROTEIN

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Abstract

The effect of corticosteroids and cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents on the excretion of Bence Jones protein was determined for periods of 1 - 62 mo in 29 patients with multiple myeloma and Bence Jones proteinuria. The amount of protein present in 24-h urine specimens collected before treatment and at frequent intervals during monthly treatment cycles was determined. Striking variations occurred in the amount of Bence Jones protein excretion; these changes were especially evident when 75 mg of prednisone were given daily for 7 days as part of a monthly chemotherapeutic regimen. Within the 7-day period seven patients showed essentially no decrease (<25%), whereas 13 and 9 patients had a moderate decrease (25-75%) or a marked decrease (>75%), respectively, in Bence Jones proteinuria as compared to pre-treatment values. The decrease in excretion of Bence Jones protein during this period was attributed mainly to corticosteroid therapy because of the transient nature of the response in most patients and the lack of such response in three patients when the hormone was omitted. Biosynthetic studies were performed to determine in vitro the effect of corticosteroids on Bence Jones protein synthesis. Plasma cells obtained from the bone marrow of 13 patients were incubated in a growth medium containing 14C-labeled lysine and isoleucine and prednisone in concentrations up to 240 μg/ml, and the amount of Bence Jones protein synthesized was determined immunochemically. No differences in viability were apparent between untreated and prednisone-treated cells. The type of response exhibited by an individual patient in the percent decrease of Bence Jones protein excreted after 7 days of prednisone treatment was comparable to the percent decrease in newly-synthesized Bence Jones protein secreted by tumor cells when cultured in the presence of prednisone at a concentration of 120 μg/ml. The marked differences in the capacity of corticosteroids to affect Bence Jones protein synthesis appear to reflect a biochemical heterogeneity among plasma cell neoplasms.

Authors

Alan Solomon

H₂O₂ Release from Human Granulocytes during Phagocytosis: RELATIONSHIP TO SUPEROXIDE ANION FORMATION AND CELLULAR CATABOLISM OF H₂O₂: STUDIES WITH NORMAL AND CYTOCHALASIN B-TREATED CELLS

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Abstract

Normal and cytochalasin B-treated human granulocytes have been studied to determine some of the interrelationships between phagocytosis-induced respiration and superoxide and hydrogen peroxide formation and release into the extracellular medium by intact cells. By using the scopoletin fluorescent assay to continuously monitor extracellular hydrogen peroxide concentrations during contact of cells with opsonized staphylococci, it was demonstrated that the superoxide scavengers ferricytochrome c and nitroblue tetrazolium significantly reduced the amount of H2O2 released with time from normal cells but did not abolish it. This inhibitory effect was reversed by the simultaneous addition of superoxide dismutase (SOD), whereas the addition of SOD alone increased the amount of detectable H2O2 in the medium. The addition of sodium azide markedly inhibited myeloperoxidase-H2O2-dependent protein iodination and more than doubled H2O2 release, including the residual amount remaining after exposure of the cells to ferricytochrome c, suggesting its origin from an intracellular pool shared by several pathways for H2O2 catabolism.

Authors

Richard K. Root, Julia A. Metcalf

Pathogenesis of Mucosal Injury in the Blind Loop Syndrome: BRUSH BORDER ENZYME ACTIVITY AND GLYCOPROTEIN DEGRADATION

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Abstract

The effect of intestinal bacterial over-growth on brush border hydrolases and brush border glycoproteins was studied in nonoperated control rats, control rats with surgically introduced jejunal self-emptying blind loops, and rats with surgically introduced jejunal self-filling blind loops. Data were analyzed from blind loop segments, segments above and below the blind loops, and three corresponding segments in the nonoperated controls. Rats with self-filling blind loops had significantly greater fat excretion than controls and exhibited significantly lower conjugated:free bile salt ratios in all three segments. Maltase, sucrase, and lactase activities were significantly reduced in homogenates and isolated brush borders from the self-filling blind loop, but alkaline phosphatase was not affected. The relative degradation rate of homogenate and brush border glycoproteins was assessed by a double-isotope technique involving the injection of d-[6-3H]glucosamine 3 h and d-[U-14C]glucosamine 19 h before sacrifice, and recorded as a 3H:14C ratio. The relative degradation rate in both homogenate and brush border fractions was significantly greater in most segments from rats with self-filling blind loops. In the upper and blind loop segments from rats with self-filling blind loops, the 3H:14C ratios were higher in the brush border membrane than in the corresponding homogenates, indicating that the increased rates of degradation primarily involve membrane glycoproteins. Incorporation of d-[6-3H]glucosamine by brush border glycoproteins was not reduced in rats with self-filling blind loops, suggesting that glycoprotein synthesis was not affected. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of brush border glycoproteins from the contaminated segments indicated that the large molecular weight glycoproteins, which include many of the surface hydrolases, were degraded most rapidly. Brush border maltase, isolated by immunoprecipitation, had 3H:14C ratios characteristic of the most rapidly degraded glycoproteins. The results indicate that bacteria enhance the destruction of intestinal surface glycoproteins including disaccharidases. Since alkaline phosphatase, a glycoprotein, is not affected, the destruction is selective and presumably involves only the most exposed membrane components.

Authors

Anita Jonas, Peter R. Flanagan, Gordon G. Forstner

Absorption, Plasma Transport, and Cellular Retention of Cobalamin Analogues in the Rabbit: EVIDENCE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF MULTIPLE MECHANISMS THAT PREVENT THE ABSORPTION AND TISSUE DISSEMINATION OF NATURALLY OCCURRING COBALAMIN ANALOGUES

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Abstract

Analogues of cobalamin (Cbl; vitamin B12) are prevalent in nature as a result of bacterial synthesis, and are of additional interest because of their potential use as antimetabolites and chemotherapeutic agents. We have synthesized 14 Cbl analogues containing 57Co and have compared their gastrointestinal absorption, plasma transport, and cellular retention to that of [58Co]Cbl in rabbits.

Authors

J. Fred Kolhouse, Robert H. Allen

Synthesis and Secretion of Alpha-2-Macroglobulin by Cultured Adherent Lung Cells: COMPARISON WITH CELL STRAINS DERIVED FROM OTHER TISSUES

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Abstract

We studied the synthesis and secretion of alpha-2-macroglobulin by cultures of human adherent cells. Much more alpha-2-macroglobulin (measured by radioimmunoassay) accumulated in media of established strains of adherent cells derived from embryonic lung than in media of established strains derived from adult skin or rheumatoid synovium. Alpha-2-macroglobulin accumulated in media of primary cultures of adherent cells from a variety of embryonic tissues. However, the amount of alpha-2-macroglobulin accumulating in media of subsequent passage of these cells declined for all strains except those derived from lung. Immunodiffusion and double-antibody immunoprecipitation studies of cell extracts and media after incubation of cells with l-[35S]methionine supported the radioimmunoassay finding that adherent cells from lung synthesized and secreted more alpha-2-macroglobulin than adherent cells from skin. Intracellular alpha-2-macroglobulin could not be detected by radio-immunoassay or visualized by immunofluorescent microscopy, suggesting that synthesized alpha-2-macroglobulin is rapidly secreted. Plasminogen-rich fibrin clots were lysed in culture media of adherent cells from embryonic lung and, to a lesser extent, heart. Adherent cells from other tissues, which produced less alpha-2-macroglobulin, did not lyse fibrin clots. However, all cultures of adherent cells contained pericellular fibronectin, a large, external, transformation-sensitive glycoprotein known to be cleaved by plasmin. We speculate that production of alpha-2-macroglobulin may be a means for protease-secreting normal cells to preserve cell surface integrity and that alpha-2-macroglobulin synthesized locally in lung may protect lung tissues from a variety of proteases.

Authors

Deane F. Mosher, Olli Saksela, Antti Vaheri

Osteomalacia Due to 1α,25-Dihydroxycholecalciferol Deficiency: ASSOCIATION WITH A GIANT CELL TUMOR OF BONE

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Abstract

Oncogenic osteomalacia is a syndrome in which unexplained osteomalacia remits after resection of a coexisting mesenchymal tumor. We have investigated the mechanism by which a giant cell tumor of bone caused biopsy-proved osteomalacia in a 42-yr-old woman. The biochemical abnormalities were: hypophosphatemia; decreased renal tubular maximum for the reabsorption of phosphate per liter of glomerular filtrate; negative calcium and phosphorus balance; hyperaminoaciduria; and subnormal calcemic response to exogenously administered parathyroid hormone. Malabsorption, hypophosphatasia, fluorosis, and acidosis were excluded as causes of the osteomalacia. Serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol was normal (27±1 ng/ml). However, the serum concentration of 1α,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol was low (1.6±0.1 ng/100 ml). Oral administration of physiological amounts of 1α,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol resulted in resolution of the biochemical abnormalities of the syndrome and healing of the bone pathology. We suggest that tumor-induced inhibition of 1α,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol synthesis caused the osteomalacia. The causal role of the tumor was proved by demonstrating that resection was accompanied by roentgenographic evidence of bone healing and maintenance of normal serum phosphorus; renal tubular maximum for the reabsorption of phosphate; calcium and phosphorus balance; aminoaciduria; and calcemic response to exogenous parathyroid hormone.

Authors

Marc K. Drezner, Mark N. Feinglos

Inheritance of Low Immunoreactive Human Plasma Dopamine-β-Hydroxylase: RADIOIMMUNOASSAY STUDIES

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Abstract

Inheritance plays an important role in the determination of human plasma dopamine-β-hydroxylase (DBH) enzymatic activity. It has been demonstrated that an allele (d) for very low enzymatic plasma DBH is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. A radioimmunoassay for human DBH was developed to test the hypothesis that the presence of this allele results in a decrease in plasma DBH protein levels. The mean immunoreactive DBH (IDBH) in blood from a randomly selected population of adolescents was 824±38 ng/ml (mean±SEM, n = 134). The correlation coefficient of enzymatic DBH with IDBH for this group of 134 adolescents was 0.84 (P < 0.001). Of these subjects, 3.7% had values of < 100 ng/ml and appeared to compose a separate subgroup analogous to the 3-4% of the population that is homozygous for the allele for low enzymatic activity. There was a significant sibling-sibling correlation of IDBH values in the 14 sibling pairs included among the 134 subjects studied (r = 0.60, P < 0.025). IDBH was also measured in blood from 56 subjects homozygous (dd) for the allele for low enzymatic DBH (enzymatic activity < 50 U/ml) and in blood of 80 first-degree relatives of homozygous probands. All but two dd subjects had IDBH levels of <100 ng/ml. Results of family studies were compatible with the autosomal recessive inheritance of an allele for IDBH levels of less than 100 ng/ml which segregates with the allele for very low enzymatic activity. Average IDBH in blood of 37 obligate heterozygotes as determined by family studies (Dd) was 599±53 ng/ml (mean ± SEM), significantly lower than the IDBH values found in a randomly selected population (P < 0.005). These results are compatible with the conclusion that the presence of the allele for low plasma enzymatic DBH results in a decrease in the quantity of DBH protein in human plasma.

Authors

Joel Dunnette, Richard Weinshilboum

Effects of Autoantibodies to the Insulin Receptor on Isolated Adipocytes: STUDIES OF INSULIN BINDING AND INSULIN ACTION

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Abstract

Autoantibodies to the insulin receptor have been detected in the sera of several patients with the Type B syndrome of insulin resistance and acanthosis nigricans. In this study we have used three of these sera (B-1, B-2, and B-3) as probes of the insulin receptor in isolated rat adipocytes. Preincubation of adipocytes with each of the three sera resulted in an inhibition of subsequent [125I]insulin binding. 50% inhibition of binding occurred with serum dilutions of 1:5 to 1:7,500. As in our previous studies with other tissues, Scatchard analysis of the insulin-binding data was curvilinear consistent with negative cooperativity. Computer analysis suggested that in each case the inhibition of binding was due to a decrease in receptor affinity rather than a change in available receptor number.

Authors

C. Ronald Kahn, Kathleen Baird, Jeffrey S. Flier, David B. Jarrett