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Sample records for high-affinity sodium-dependent l-glutamate

  1. Inhibitors of glutamate dehydrogenase block sodium-dependent glutamate uptake in rat brain membranes

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    Brendan S Whitelaw

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available We recently found evidence for anatomic and physical linkages between the astroglial Na+-dependent glutamate transporters (GLT-1/EAAT2 and GLAST/EAAT1 and mitochondria. In these same studies, we found that the glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH inhibitor, epigallocatechin-monogallate (EGCG, inhibits both glutamate oxidation and Na+-dependent glutamate uptake in astrocytes. In the present study, we extend this finding by exploring the effects of EGCG on Na+-dependent L-[3H]-glutamate (Glu uptake in crude membranes (P2 prepared from rat brain cortex. In this preparation, uptake is almost exclusively mediated by GLT-1. EGCG inhibited L-[3H]-Glu uptake in cortical membranes with an IC50 value of 230 µM. We also studied the effects of two additional inhibitors of GDH, hexachlorophene (HCP and bithionol (BTH. Both of these compounds also caused concentration-dependent inhibition of glutamate uptake in cortical membranes. Pre-incubating with HCP for up to 15 min had no greater effect than that observed with no pre-incubation, showing that the effects occur rapidly. HCP decreased the Vmax for glutamate uptake without changing the Km, consistent with a non-competitive mechanism of action. EGCG, HCP, and BTH also inhibited Na+-dependent transport of D-[3H]-aspartate (Asp, a non-metabolizable substrate, and [3H]-γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA. In contrast to the forebrain, glutamate uptake in crude cerebellar membranes (P2 is likely mediated by GLAST (EAAT1. Therefore, the effects of these compounds were examined in cerebellar membranes. In this region, none of these compounds had any effect on uptake of either L-[3H]-Glu or D-[3H]-Asp, but they all inhibited [3H]-GABA uptake. Together these studies suggest that GDH is preferentially required for glutamate uptake in forebrain as compared to cerebellum, and GDH may be required for GABA uptake as well. They also provide further evidence for a functional linkage between glutamate transport and mitochondria.

  2. Na+-Dependent High-Affinity Nitrate, Phosphate and Amino Acids Transport in Leaf Cells of the Seagrass Posidonia oceanica (L. Delile

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    Lourdes Rubio

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Posidonia oceanica (L. Delile is a seagrass, the only group of vascular plants to colonize the marine environment. Seawater is an extreme yet stable environment characterized by high salinity, alkaline pH and low availability of essential nutrients, such as nitrate and phosphate. Classical depletion experiments, membrane potential and cytosolic sodium measurements were used to characterize the high-affinity NO3−, Pi and amino acids uptake mechanisms in this species. Net uptake rates of both NO3− and Pi were reduced by more than 70% in the absence of Na+. Micromolar concentrations of NO3− depolarized mesophyll leaf cells plasma membrane. Depolarizations showed saturation kinetics (Km = 8.7 ± 1 μM NO3−, which were not observed in the absence of Na+. NO3− induced depolarizations at increasing Na+ also showed saturation kinetics (Km = 7.2 ± 2 mM Na+. Cytosolic Na+ measured in P. oceanica leaf cells (17 ± 2 mM Na+ increased by 0.4 ± 0.2 mM Na+ upon the addition of 100 μM NO3−. Na+-dependence was also observed for high-affinity l-ala and l-cys uptake and high-affinity Pi transport. All together, these results strongly suggest that NO3−, amino acids and Pi uptake in P. oceanica leaf cells are mediated by high-affinity Na+-dependent transport systems. This mechanism seems to be a key step in the process of adaptation of seagrasses to the marine environment.

  3. Circadian Regulation of Glutamate Transporters

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    Donají Chi-Castañeda

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available L-glutamate is the major excitatory amino acid in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS. This neurotransmitter is essential for higher brain functions such as learning, cognition and memory. A tight regulation of extra-synaptic glutamate levels is needed to prevent a neurotoxic insult. Glutamate removal from the synaptic cleft is carried out by a family of sodium-dependent high-affinity transporters, collectively known as excitatory amino acid transporters. Dysfunction of glutamate transporters is generally involved in acute neuronal injury and neurodegenerative diseases, so characterizing and understanding the mechanisms that lead to the development of these disorders is an important goal in the design of novel treatments for the neurodegenerative diseases. Increasing evidence indicates glutamate transporters are controlled by the circadian system in direct and indirect manners, so in this contribution we focus on the mechanisms of circadian regulation (transcriptional, translational, post-translational and post-transcriptional regulation of glutamate transport in neuronal and glial cells, and their consequence in brain function.

  4. The 'glial' glutamate transporter, EAAT2 (Glt-1) accounts for high affinity glutamate uptake into adult rodent nerve endings.

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    Suchak, Sachin K; Baloyianni, Nicoletta V; Perkinton, Michael S; Williams, Robert J; Meldrum, Brian S; Rattray, Marcus

    2003-02-01

    The excitatory amino acid transporters (EAAT) removes neurotransmitters glutamate and aspartate from the synaptic cleft. Most CNS glutamate uptake is mediated by EAAT2 into glia, though nerve terminals show evidence for uptake, through an unknown transporter. Reverse-transcriptase PCR identified the expression of EAAT1, EAAT2, EAAT3 and EAAT4 mRNAs in primary cultures of mouse cortical or striatal neurones. We have used synaptosomes and glial plasmalemmal vesicles (GPV) from adult mouse and rat CNS to identify the nerve terminal transporter. Western blotting showed detectable levels of the transporters EAAT1 (GLAST) and EAAT2 (Glt-1) in both synaptosomes and GPVs. Uptake of [3H]D-aspartate or [3H]L-glutamate into these preparations revealed sodium-dependent uptake in GPV and synaptosomes which was inhibited by a range of EAAT blockers: dihydrokainate, serine-o-sulfate, l-trans-2,4-pyrrolidine dicarboxylate (PDC) (+/-)-threo-3-methylglutamate and (2S,4R )-4-methylglutamate. The IC50 values found for these compounds suggested functional expression of the 'glial, transporter, EAAT2 in nerve terminals. Additionally blockade of the majority EAAT2 uptake sites with 100 micro m dihydrokainate, failed to unmask any functional non-EAAT2 uptake sites. The data presented in this study indicate that EAAT2 is the predominant nerve terminal glutamate transporter in the adult rodent CNS.

  5. Mutual diffusion coefficients of L-glutamic acid and monosodium L-glutamate in aqueous solutions at T = 298.15 K

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ribeiro, Ana C.F.; Rodrigo, M.M.; Barros, Marisa C.F.; Verissimo, Luis M.P.; Romero, Carmen; Valente, Artur J.M.; Esteso, Miguel A.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Interdiffusion coefficients of L-glutamic acid and sodium L-glutamate were measured. • The L-glutamic acid behaves as a monoprotic weak acid. • The sodium L-glutamate shows a symmetrical 1:1 non-associated behaviour. • Limiting diffusion coefficients and ionic conductivities were estimated. • Diffusion coefficients were discussed on the basis of the Onsager–Fuoss equations. - Abstract: Mutual diffusion coefficient values for binary aqueous solutions of both L-glutamic acid (H 2 Glu) and sodium L-glutamate (NaHGlu) were measured with the Taylor dispersion technique, at T = 298.15 K, and concentrations ranging from (0.001 to 0.100) mol · dm −3 . The results were discussed on the basis of the Onsager–Fuoss and the Nernst theoretical equations, by considering the H 2 Glu as a weak acid (monoprotic acid, with K 2 = 5.62 · 10 −5 ). The smaller values found for the acid with respect to those of the salt, confirm this association hypothesis. From the diffusion coefficient values at infinitesimal concentration, limiting ionic conductivities as well as the hydrodynamic radius of the hydrogen glutamate ion (HGlu − ) were derived and analyzed in terms of the chain methylene groups. The effect of different phenomena, such as association or complexation, were also taken into consideration and discussed. Values for the dissociation degree for H 2 Glu were also estimated

  6. Hyperosmolar sodium chloride is toxic to cultured neurons and causes reduction of glucose metabolism and ATP levels, an increase in glutamate uptake, and a reduction in cytosolic calcium.

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    Morland, Cecilie; Pettersen, Mi Nguyen; Hassel, Bjørnar

    2016-05-01

    Elevation of serum sodium, hypernatremia, which may occur during dehydration or treatment with sodium chloride, may cause brain dysfunction and damage, but toxic mechanisms are poorly understood. We found that exposure to excess NaCl, 10-100mmol/L, for 20h caused cell death in cultured cerebellar granule cells (neurons). Toxicity was due to Na(+), since substituting excess Na(+) with choline reduced cell death to control levels, whereas gluconate instead of excess Cl(-) did not. Prior to cell death from hyperosmolar NaCl, glucose consumption and lactate formation were reduced, and intracellular aspartate levels were elevated, consistent with reduced glycolysis or glucose uptake. Concomitantly, the level of ATP became reduced. Pyruvate, 10mmol/L, reduced NaCl-induced cell death. The extracellular levels of glutamate, taurine, and GABA were concentration-dependently reduced by excess NaCl; high-affinity glutamate uptake increased. High extracellular [Na(+)] caused reduction in intracellular free [Ca(2+)], but a similar effect was seen with mannitol, which was not neurotoxic. We suggest that inhibition of glucose metabolism with ensuing loss of ATP is a neurotoxic mechanism of hyperosmolar sodium, whereas increased uptake of extracellular neuroactive amino acids and reduced intracellular [Ca(2+)] may, if they occur in vivo, contribute to the cerebral dysfunction and delirium described in hypernatremia. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  7. A high dietary intake of sodium glutamate as flavoring (ajinomoto) causes gross changes in retinal morphology and function.

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    Ohguro, Hiroshi; Katsushima, Harumi; Maruyama, Ikuyo; Maeda, Tadao; Yanagihashi, Satsuki; Metoki, Tomomi; Nakazawa, Mitsuru

    2002-09-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of glutamate accumulation in vitreous on retinal structure and function, due to a diet high in sodium glutamate. Three different diet groups were created, consisting of rats fed on a regular diet (diet A), a moderate excess of sodium glutamate diet (diet B) and a large excess of sodium glutamate diet (diet C). After 1, 3 and 6 months of the administration of these diets, amino acids concentrations in vitreous were analyzed. In addition, retinal morphology and function by electroretinogram (ERG) of three different diet groups were studied. Significant accumulation of glutamate in vitreous was observed in rats following addition of sodium glutamate to the diet as compared to levels with a regular diet. In the retinal morphology, thickness of retinal neuronal layers was remarkably thinner in rats fed on sodium glutamate diets than in those on a regular diet. TdT-dUTP terminal nick-end labelling (TUNEL) staining revealed significant accumulation of the positive staining cells within the retinal ganglion cell layers in retinas from diets B and C as compared with that from diet A. Similar to this, immunohistochemistry demonstrated increased expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) within the retinal inner layers from diets B and C as compared with diet A. Functionally, ERG responses were reduced in rats fed on a sodium glutamate diets as compared with those on a regular diet. The present study suggests that a diet with excess sodium glutamate over a period of several years may increase glutamate concentrations in vitreous and may cause retinal cell destruction.

  8. Role of H2O2 on the kinetics of low-affinity high-capacity Na+-dependent alanine transport in SHR proximal tubular epithelial cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pinto, Vanda; Pinho, Maria Joao; Jose, Pedro A.; Soares-da-Silva, Patricio

    2010-01-01

    Research highlights: → H 2 O 2 in excess is required for the presence of a low-affinity high-capacity component for the Na + -dependent [ 14 C]-L-alanine uptake in SHR PTE cells only. → It is suggested that Na + binding in renal ASCT2 may be regulated by ROS in SHR PTE cells. -- Abstract: The presence of high and low sodium affinity states for the Na + -dependent [ 14 C]-L-alanine uptake in immortalized renal proximal tubular epithelial (PTE) cells was previously reported (Am. J. Physiol. 293 (2007) R538-R547). This study evaluated the role of H 2 O 2 on the Na + -dependent [ 14 C]-L-alanine uptake of ASCT2 in immortalized renal PTE cells from Wistar Kyoto rat (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). Na + dependence of [ 14 C]-L-alanine uptake was investigated replacing NaCl with an equimolar concentration of choline chloride in vehicle- and apocynin-treated cells. Na + removal from the uptake solution abolished transport activity in both WKY and SHR PTE cells. Decreases in H 2 O 2 levels in the extracellular medium significantly reduced Na + -K m and V max values of the low-affinity high-capacity component in SHR PTE cells, with no effect on the high-affinity low-capacity state of the Na + -dependent [ 14 C]-L-alanine uptake. After removal of apocynin from the culture medium, H 2 O 2 levels returned to basal values within 1 to 3 h in both WKY and SHR PTE cells and these were found stable for the next 24 h. Under these experimental conditions, the Na + -K m and V max of the high-affinity low-capacity state were unaffected and the low-affinity high-capacity component remained significantly decreased 1 day but not 4 days after apocynin removal. In conclusion, H 2 O 2 in excess is required for the presence of a low-affinity high-capacity component for the Na + -dependent [ 14 C]-L-alanine uptake in SHR PTE cells only. It is suggested that Na + binding in renal ASCT2 may be regulated by ROS in SHR PTE cells.

  9. Sodium and potassium ions and accumulation of labelled D-aspartate and GABA in crude synaptosomal fraction from rat cerebral cortex

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takagaki, G.

    1978-01-01

    The accumulation of labelled D-aspartate into crude synaptosomal fraction (P 2 ) prepared from the rat cerebral cortex proceeded by a 'high affinity' system (Ksub(m) = 15.1 μM). The maximal velocity of D-aspartate uptake was higher than that of the 'high affinity' component of L-aspartate uptake and almost equal to that of L-glutamate under the same incubation conditions. Negligible metabolism of labelled D-aspartate was observed in the P 2 fraction. These findings are in accord with those which have been reported for rat cerebral cortical slices. The following observations were made on D-aspartate uptake into rat cerebral P 2 fraction. The requirement of sodium were almost absolute and obligatory. The affinity of the carrier for the substrate was increased by increasing sodium concentration in the medium, but the maximal velocity was not altered. It is suggested that sodium ion is co-transported mole for mole with the substrate molecule. Omission of potassium from the medium inhibited the uptake competitively. Ouabain was a competitive inhibitor on the uptake. Whereas thallium, rubidium and ammonium were efficient substitutes for potassium in exhibiting Na-K ATPase activity of the P 2 fraction, the uptake was activated only by rubidium in the absence of potassium. These observations were in common with the uptake of L-aspartate as well as of L- and D-glutamate, but not with GABA uptake. The requirement of sodium for the uptake of D-glutamate was indicated to be higher than that in the uptake of the other amino acids. Mutual inhibitions of the uptake among L- and D-isomers of glutamate and aspartate suggested that a common carrier is involved in the transport. Mechanisms of the transport of these amino acids in the crude synaptosomal fraction were discussed. (author)

  10. Biochemical characterization of an autoradiographic method for studying excitatory amino acid receptors using L-[3H]glutamate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cincotta, M.; Summers, R.J.; Beart, P.M.

    1989-01-01

    A method was developed for radiolabeling excitatory amino acid receptors of rat brain with L-[ 3 H]glutamate. Effective labeling of glutamate receptors in slide-mounted 10-microns sections was obtained using a low incubation volume (0.15 ml) and rapid washing: a procedure where high ligand concentrations were achieved with minimal waste. Saturation experiments using [ 3 H]glutamate revealed a single binding site of micromolar affinity. The Bmax was trebled in the presence of Ca2+ (2.5 mM) and Cl- (20 mM) with no change in the Kd. Binding was rapid, saturable, stereospecific, and sensitive to glutamate receptor agonists. The proportions of [ 3 H]glutamate binding sensitive to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), kainate, and alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) were 34, 54, and 51%, respectively. NMDA inhibited binding at a distinct subset of L-[ 3 H]glutamate sites, whereas AMPA and kainate competed for some common sites. Labeling of sections with L-[ 3 H]glutamate in the presence of the selective agonists allowed autoradiographic visualization of glutamate receptor subtypes in brain tissue

  11. Real-time monitoring of extracellular l-glutamate levels released by high-frequency stimulation at region CA1 of hippocampal slices with a glass capillary-based l-glutamate sensor

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    Yuki Ikegami

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Real-time monitoring of l-glutamate released by high-frequency stimulation in region CA1 of mouse hippocampal slices was performed with a glass capillary-based sensor, in combination with the recoding of excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs. A method for extracting l-glutamate currents from the recorded ones was described and applied for determining the level of extracellular l-glutamate released by 100 Hz stimulation. Recording of an l-glutamate current with a current sampling interval of 1 Hz was found to be useful for acquiring a Faradaic current that reflects l-glutamate level released by the high-frequency stimulation of 7 trains, each 20 stimuli at 100 Hz and inter-train interval of 3 s. The l-glutamate level was obtained as 15 ± 6 μM (n = 8 for the persistent enhancement of fEPSPs, i.e., the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP, and 3 ± 1 μM (n = 5 for the case of no LTP induction. Based on these observations, the level of the extracellular l-glutamate was shown to play a crucial role in the induction of LTP.

  12. Glutamate Efflux at the Blood-Brain Barrier

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    Cederberg-Helms, Hans Christian; Uhd-Nielsen, Carsten; Brodin, Birger

    2014-01-01

    is well known, however endothelial cells may also play an important role through mediating brain-to-blood L-glutamate efflux. Expression of excitatory amino acid transporters has been demonstrated in brain endothelial cells of bovine, human, murine, rat and porcine origin. These can account for high...... affinity concentrative uptake of L-glutamate from the brain interstitial fluid into the capillary endothelial cells. The mechanisms in between L-glutamate uptake in the endothelial cells and L-glutamate appearing in the blood are still unclear and may involve a luminal transporter for L......-glutamate, metabolism of L-glutamate and transport of metabolites or a combination of the two. However, both in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated blood-to-brain transport of L-glutamate, at least during pathological events. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the brain-to-blood L-glutamate efflux...

  13. Synthesis and Characterization of Chromium (III) Complexes with L-Glutamic Acid, Glycine and LCysteine

    OpenAIRE

    Kun Sri Budiasih; Chairil Anwar; Sri Juari Santosa; Hilda Ismail

    2013-01-01

    Some Chromium (III) complexes were synthesized with three amino acids: L Glutamic Acid, Glycine, and L-cysteine as the ligands, in order to provide a new supplement containing Cr(III) for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The complexes have been prepared by refluxing a mixture of Chromium(III) chloride in aqueous solution with L-glutamic acid, Glycine, and L-cysteine after pH adjustment by sodium hydroxide. These complexes were characterized by Infrared and Uv-Vis s...

  14. Production of L-glutamic Acid with Corynebacterium glutamicum (NCIM 2168) and Pseudomonas reptilivora (NCIM 2598): A Study on Immobilization and Reusability.

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    Shyamkumar, Rajaram; Moorthy, Innasi Muthu Ganesh; Ponmurugan, Karuppiah; Baskar, Rajoo

    2014-07-01

    L-glutamic acid is one of the major amino acids that is present in a wide variety of foods. It is mainly used as a food additive and flavor enhancer in the form of sodium salt. Corynebacterium glutamicum (C. glutamicum) is one of the major organisms widely used for glutamic acid production. The study was dealing with immobilization of C. glutamicum and mixed culture of C. glutamicum and Pseudomonas reptilivora (P. reptilivora) for L-glutamic acid production using submerged fermentation. 2, 3 and 5% sodium alginate concentrations were used for production and reusability of immobilized cells for 5 more trials. The results revealed that 2% sodium alginate concentration produced the highest yield (13.026±0.247 g/l by C. glutamicum and 16.026±0.475 g/l by mixed immobilized culture). Moreover, reusability of immobilized cells was evaluated in 2% concentration with 5 more trials. However, when the number of cycles increased, the production of L-glutamic acid decreased. Production of glutamic acid using optimized medium minimizes the time needed for designing the medium composition. It also minimizes external contamination. Glutamic acid production gradually decreased due to multiple uses of beads and consequently it reduces the shelf life.

  15. Enzymatic production of α-ketoglutaric acid from l-glutamic acid via l-glutamate oxidase.

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    Niu, Panqing; Dong, Xiaoxiang; Wang, Yuancai; Liu, Liming

    2014-06-10

    In this study, a novel strategy for α-ketoglutaric acid (α-KG) production from l-glutamic acid using recombinant l-glutamate oxidase (LGOX) was developed. First, by analyzing the molecular structure characteristics of l-glutamic acid and α-KG, LGOX was found to be the best catalyst for oxidizing the amino group of l-glutamic acid to a ketonic group without the need for exogenous cofactor. Then the LGOX gene was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) in a soluble and active form, and the recombinant LGOX activity reached to a maximum value of 0.59U/mL at pH 6.5, 30°C. Finally, the maximum α-KG concentration reached 104.7g/L from 110g/L l-glutamic acid in 24h, under the following optimum conditions: 1.5U/mL LGOX, 250U/mL catalase, 3mM MnCl2, 30°C, and pH 6.5. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  16. Amperometric L-glutamate biosensor based on bacterial cell-surface displayed glutamate dehydrogenase

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    Liang, Bo [Laboratory for Biosensing, Key Laboratory of Biofuels, and Shandong Provinicial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy & Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 189 Songling Road, Qingdao 266101 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049 (China); Zhang, Shu [Laboratory for Biosensing, Key Laboratory of Biofuels, and Shandong Provinicial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy & Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 189 Songling Road, Qingdao 266101 (China); Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology of Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Qingdao 266100 (China); Lang, Qiaolin [Laboratory for Biosensing, Key Laboratory of Biofuels, and Shandong Provinicial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy & Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 189 Songling Road, Qingdao 266101 (China); Song, Jianxia; Han, Lihui [Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology of Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Qingdao 266100 (China); Liu, Aihua, E-mail: liuah@qibebt.ac.cn [Laboratory for Biosensing, Key Laboratory of Biofuels, and Shandong Provinicial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy & Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 189 Songling Road, Qingdao 266101 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049 (China)

    2015-07-16

    Highlights: • E. coli surface-dispalyed Gldh exhibiting excellent enzyme activity and stability. • Sensitive amperometric biosensor for glutamate using Gldh-bacteria and MWNTs. • The glutamate biosensor exhibited high specificity and stability. - Abstract: A novel L-glutamate biosensor was fabricated using bacteria surface-displayed glutamate dehydrogenase (Gldh-bacteria). Here the cofactor NADP{sup +}-specific dependent Gldh was expressed on the surface of Escherichia coli using N-terminal region of ice nucleation protein (INP) as the anchoring motif. The cell fractionation assay and SDS-PAGE analysis indicated that the majority of INP-Gldh fusion proteins were located on the surface of cells. The biosensor was fabricated by successively casting polyethyleneimine (PEI)-dispersed multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), Gldh-bacteria and Nafion onto the glassy carbon electrode (Nafion/Gldh-bacteria/PEI-MWNTs/GCE). The MWNTs could not only significantly lower the oxidation overpotential towards NAPDH, which was the product of NADP{sup +} involving in the oxidation of glutamate by Gldh, but also enhanced the current response. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the current–time curve of the Nafion/Gldh-bacteria/PEI-MWNTs/GCE was performed at +0.52 V (vs. SCE) by amperometry varying glutamate concentration. The current response was linear with glutamate concentration in two ranges (10 μM–1 mM and 2–10 mM). The low limit of detection was estimated to be 2 μM glutamate (S/N = 3). Moreover, the proposed biosensor is stable, specific, reproducible and simple, which can be applied to real samples detection.

  17. L-Asp is a useful tool in the purification of the ionotropic glutamate receptor A2 ligand-binding domain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krintel, Christian; Frydenvang, Karla; Ceravalls de Rabassa, Anna

    2014-01-01

    In purification of the ionotropic glutamate receptor A2 (GluA2) ligand-binding domain (LBD), L-Glu supplemented buffers have previously been used for protein stabilization during the procedure. This sometimes hampers structural studies of low affinity ligands because L-Glu is difficult to displace...... crystallized as a mixed dimer with L-Glu present in one subunit while neither L-Asp nor L-Glu were found in the other subunit. Thus, residual L-Glu is still present from the expression. On the other hand, only L-Asp was found at the binding site when using 50 mM or 250 mM L-Asp for crystallization. The binding...... mode observed for L-Asp at the GluA2 LBD is very similar to that described for L-Glu. Taken together, we have shown that L-Asp can be used instead of L-Glu for ligand-dependent stabilization of the GluA2 LBD during purification. This will enable structural studies of low affinity ligands for lead...

  18. Electrogenic glutamate uptake is a major current carrier in the membrane of axolotl retinal glial cells

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    Brew, Helen; Attwell, David

    1987-06-01

    Glutamate is taken up avidly by glial cells in the central nervous system1. Glutamate uptake may terminate the transmitter action of glutamate released from neurons1, and keep extracellular glutamate at concentrations below those which are neurotoxic. We report here that glutamate evokes a large inward current in retinal glial cells which have their membrane potential and intracellular ion concentrations controlled by the whole-cell patch-clamp technique2. This current seems to be due to an electrogenic glutamate uptake carrier, which transports at least two sodium ions with every glutamate anion carried into the cell. Glutamate uptake is strongly voltage-dependent, decreasing at depolarized potentials: when fully activated, it contributes almost half of the conductance in the part of the glial cell membrane facing the retinal neurons. The spatial localization, glutamate affinity and magnitude of the uptake are appropriate for terminating the synaptic action of glutamate released from photoreceptors and bipolar cells. These data challenge present explanations of how the b-wave of the electroretinogram is generated, and suggest a mechanism for non-vesicular voltage-dependent release of glutamate from neurons.

  19. High specific activity N-Acetyl-3H-α-Aspartyl- L-Glutamic at micro mole scale

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suarez, C.

    1984-01-01

    High specific activity N-Acetyl-3 H - α -Aspartyl-I-Glutamic acid at micro mole scale in prepared acetylating L- α -Aspartyl-L-glutamic with 3 H -acetic anhydride in re distilled toluene. The product le purified through cationic and anionic columns. The radiochemical purity as determined by thin-layer chromatography is greater then 99% at the time preparation. (Author) 5 refs

  20. Synaptosomal transport of radiolabel from N-acetyl-aspartyl-(/sup 3/H)glutamate suggests a mechanism of inactivation of an excitatory neuropeptide

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    Blakely, R D; Ory-Lavollee, L; Thompson, R C; Coyle, J T

    1986-10-01

    This study was undertaken to explore in synaptosomal preparations the disposition of N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate (NAAG), an endogenous acidic dipeptide neurotransmitter candidate. Radiolabel from N-acetyl-aspartyl(/sup 3/H)glutamate was taken up rapidly into an osmotically sensitive compartment by rat brain synaptosomal preparations in a sodium-, temperature-, and time-dependent manner. HPLC analysis of the accumulated radiolabel indicated that the bulk of the tritium cochromatographed with glutamic acid and not with NAAG. In contrast, (/sup 14/C)NAAG, labeled on the N-terminal acetate, was not taken up by the synaptosomal preparation. All effective inhibitors of synaptosomal, Na+-dependent (/sup 3/H)glutamate uptake were found to exhibit similar potency in inhibiting uptake of tritium derived from (/sup 3/H)NAAG. However, certain alpha-linked acidic dipeptides, structurally similar to NAAG, as well as the potent convulsant quisqualic acid inhibited synaptosomal transport of (/sup 3/H)NAAG but were ineffective as inhibitors of (/sup 3/H)glutamate transport. Together with a demonstration of disparities between the regional accumulation of radiolabel from (/sup 3/H)NAAG and high-affinity (/sup 3/H)glutamate uptake, these data suggest the presence in brain of a specific peptidase targeting carboxy-terminal glutamate-containing dipeptides that may be coupled to the Na+-dependent glutamate transporter. These findings provide a possible mechanism for NAAG inactivation subsequent to its release from nerve endings.

  1. The ketamine analogue methoxetamine and 3- and 4-methoxy analogues of phencyclidine are high affinity and selective ligands for the glutamate NMDA receptor.

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    Bryan L Roth

    Full Text Available In this paper we determined the pharmacological profiles of novel ketamine and phencyclidine analogues currently used as 'designer drugs' and compared them to the parent substances via the resources of the National Institute of Mental Health Psychoactive Drug Screening Program. The ketamine analogues methoxetamine ((RS-2-(ethylamino-2-(3-methoxyphenylcyclohexanone and 3-MeO-PCE (N-ethyl-1-(3-methoxyphenylcyclohexanamine and the 3- and 4-methoxy analogues of phencyclidine, (1-[1-(3-methoxyphenylcyclohexyl]piperidine and 1-[1-(4-methoxyphenylcyclohexyl]piperidine, were all high affinity ligands for the PCP-site on the glutamate NMDA receptor. In addition methoxetamine and PCP and its analogues displayed appreciable affinities for the serotonin transporter, whilst the PCP analogues exhibited high affinities for sigma receptors. Antagonism of the NMDA receptor is thought to be the key pharmacological feature underlying the actions of dissociative anaesthetics. The novel ketamine and PCP analogues had significant affinities for the NMDA receptor in radioligand binding assays, which may explain their psychotomimetic effects in human users. Additional actions on other targets could be important for delineating side-effects.

  2. Anhydrous thallium hydrogen L-glutamate: polymer networks formed by sandwich layers of oxygen-coordinated thallium ions cores shielded by hydrogen L-glutamate counterions.

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    Bodner, Thomas; Wirnsberger, Bianca; Albering, Jörg; Wiesbrock, Frank

    2011-11-07

    Anhydrous thallium hydrogen L-glutamate [Tl(L-GluH)] crystallizes from water (space group P2(1)) with a layer structure in which the thallium ions are penta- and hexacoordinated exclusively by the oxygen atoms of the γ-carboxylate group of the hydrogen L-glutamate anions to form a two-dimensional coordination polymer. The thallium-oxygen layer is composed of Tl(2)O(2) and TlCO(2) quadrangles and is only 3 Å high. Only one hemisphere of the thallium ions participates in coordination, indicative of the presence of the 6s(2) lone pair of electrons. The thallium-oxygen assemblies are shielded by the hydrogen l-glutamate anions. Only the carbon atom of the α-carboxylate group deviates from the plane spanned by the thallium ions, the γ-carboxylate groups and the proton bearing carbon atoms, which are in trans conformation. Given the abundance of L-glutamic and L-aspartic acid in biological systems on the one hand and the high toxicity of thallium on the other hand, it is worth mentioning that the dominant structural motifs in the crystal structure of [Tl(L-GluH)] strongly resemble their corresponding analogues in the crystalline phase of [K(L-AspH)(H(2)O)(2)].

  3. Amperometric L-glutamate biosensor based on bacterial cell-surface displayed glutamate dehydrogenase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Bo; Zhang, Shu; Lang, Qiaolin; Song, Jianxia; Han, Lihui; Liu, Aihua

    2015-07-16

    A novel L-glutamate biosensor was fabricated using bacteria surface-displayed glutamate dehydrogenase (Gldh-bacteria). Here the cofactor NADP(+)-specific dependent Gldh was expressed on the surface of Escherichia coli using N-terminal region of ice nucleation protein (INP) as the anchoring motif. The cell fractionation assay and SDS-PAGE analysis indicated that the majority of INP-Gldh fusion proteins were located on the surface of cells. The biosensor was fabricated by successively casting polyethyleneimine (PEI)-dispersed multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), Gldh-bacteria and Nafion onto the glassy carbon electrode (Nafion/Gldh-bacteria/PEI-MWNTs/GCE). The MWNTs could not only significantly lower the oxidation overpotential towards NAPDH, which was the product of NADP(+) involving in the oxidation of glutamate by Gldh, but also enhanced the current response. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the current-time curve of the Nafion/Gldh-bacteria/PEI-MWNTs/GCE was performed at +0.52 V (vs. SCE) by amperometry varying glutamate concentration. The current response was linear with glutamate concentration in two ranges (10 μM-1 mM and 2-10 mM). The low limit of detection was estimated to be 2 μM glutamate (S/N=3). Moreover, the proposed biosensor is stable, specific, reproducible and simple, which can be applied to real samples detection. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Direct visualization of glutamate transporter elevator mechanism by high-speed AFM.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruan, Yi; Miyagi, Atsushi; Wang, Xiaoyu; Chami, Mohamed; Boudker, Olga; Scheuring, Simon

    2017-02-14

    Glutamate transporters are essential for recovery of the neurotransmitter glutamate from the synaptic cleft. Crystal structures in the outward- and inward-facing conformations of a glutamate transporter homolog from archaebacterium Pyrococcus horikoshii , sodium/aspartate symporter Glt Ph , suggested the molecular basis of the transporter cycle. However, dynamic studies of the transport mechanism have been sparse and indirect. Here we present high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) observations of membrane-reconstituted Glt Ph at work. HS-AFM movies provide unprecedented real-space and real-time visualization of the transport dynamics. Our results show transport mediated by large amplitude 1.85-nm "elevator" movements of the transport domains consistent with previous crystallographic and spectroscopic studies. Elevator dynamics occur in the absence and presence of sodium ions and aspartate, but stall in sodium alone, providing a direct visualization of the ion and substrate symport mechanism. We show unambiguously that individual protomers within the trimeric transporter function fully independently.

  5. A Novel Corynebacterium glutamicum l-Glutamate Exporter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yu; Cao, Guoqiang; Xu, Deyu; Fan, Liwen; Wu, Xinyang; Ni, Xiaomeng; Zhao, Shuxin; Zheng, Ping; Sun, Jibin; Ma, Yanhe

    2018-03-15

    Besides metabolic pathways and regulatory networks, transport systems are also pivotal for cellular metabolism and hyperproduction of biochemicals using microbial cell factories. The identification and characterization of transporters are therefore of great significance for the understanding and engineering of transport reactions. Herein, a novel l-glutamate exporter, MscCG2, which exists extensively in Corynebacterium glutamicum strains but is distinct from the only known l-glutamate exporter, MscCG, was discovered in an industrial l-glutamate-producing C. glutamicum strain. MscCG2 was predicted to possess three transmembrane helices in the N-terminal region and located in the cytoplasmic membrane, which are typical structural characteristics of the mechanosensitive channel of small conductance. MscCG2 has a low amino acid sequence identity (23%) to MscCG and evolved separately from MscCG with four transmembrane helices. Despite the considerable differences between MscCG2 and MscCG in sequence and structure, gene deletion and complementation confirmed that MscCG2 also functioned as an l-glutamate exporter and an osmotic safety valve in C. glutamicum Besides, transcriptional analysis showed that MscCG2 and MscCG genes were transcribed in similar patterns and not induced by l-glutamate-producing conditions. It was also demonstrated that MscCG2-mediated l-glutamate excretion was activated by biotin limitation or penicillin treatment and that constitutive l-glutamate excretion was triggered by a gain-of-function mutation of MscCG2 (A151V). Discovery of MscCG2 will enrich the understanding of bacterial amino acid transport and provide additional targets for exporter engineering. IMPORTANCE The exchange of matter, energy, and information with surroundings is fundamental for cellular metabolism. Therefore, studying transport systems that are essential for these processes is of great significance. Besides, transport systems of bacterial cells are usually related to

  6. Effect of parenteral glutamate treatment on the localization of neurotransmitters in the mediobasal hypothalamus

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walaas, I; Fonnum, F

    1978-01-01

    The localization of cholinergic, aminergic and amino acid-ergic neurones in the mediobasal hypothalamus has been studied in normal rat brain and in brains where neurones in nucleus arcuatus were destroyed by repeated administration of 2 mg/g body weight monosodium glutamate to newborn animals. In normal animals acetylcholinesterase staining, choline acetyltransferase and aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase were concentrated in the median eminence and the arcuate nucleus. Glutamate decarboxylase was concentrated at the boundary between the ventromedial and the arcuate nuclei, with lower activity in the arcuate nucleus and very low activity in the median eminence. Nucleus arcuatus contained an intermediate level of high affinity glutamate uptake. In the lesioned animals, there were significant decreases in choline acetyltransferase, acetylcholinesterase staining and glutamate decarboxylase in the median eminence, whereas choline acetyltransferase activity and acetylcholinesterase staining, but not glutamate decarboxylase activity, were decreased in nucleus arcuatus. Aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase was unchanged in all regions studied. The high affinity uptakes of glutamate, dopamine and noradrenaline, and the endogenous amino acid levels were also unchanged in the treated animals. The results indicate the existence of acetylcholine- and GABA-containing elements in the tuberoinfundibular tract. They further indicate that the dopamine cells in the arcuate nucleus are less sensitive to the toxic effect of glutamate than other cell types, possibly because they contain less glutamate receptors.

  7. Conformational Studies on γ - Benzyl- L- Glutamate and L- Valine Containing Block Copolypeptides

    OpenAIRE

    Kumar, Ajay

    2010-01-01

    Conformational studies on γ - benzyl-L- glutamate and L- valine containing block copolypeptides are reported using IR and CD spectra. The block copolypeptides contain valine block in the center and on both sides of the valine are γ - benzyl- L- glutamate blocks. The changes in conformation with increase in chain length of γ - benzyl- L- glutamate blocks are observed. When the chain length of γ - benzyl-L- glutamate block is 13, the block copolypeptide crystallized into beta conformation. With...

  8. Astrocyte Sodium Signalling and Panglial Spread of Sodium Signals in Brain White Matter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moshrefi-Ravasdjani, Behrouz; Hammel, Evelyn L; Kafitz, Karl W; Rose, Christine R

    2017-09-01

    In brain grey matter, excitatory synaptic transmission activates glutamate uptake into astrocytes, inducing sodium signals which propagate into neighboring astrocytes through gap junctions. These sodium signals have been suggested to serve an important role in neuro-metabolic coupling. So far, it is unknown if astrocytes in white matter-that is in brain regions devoid of synapses-are also able to undergo such intra- and intercellular sodium signalling. In the present study, we have addressed this question by performing quantitative sodium imaging in acute tissue slices of mouse corpus callosum. Focal application of glutamate induced sodium transients in SR101-positive astrocytes. These were largely unaltered in the presence of ionotropic glutamate receptors blockers, but strongly dampened upon pharmacological inhibition of glutamate uptake. Sodium signals induced in individual astrocytes readily spread into neighboring SR101-positive cells with peak amplitudes decaying monoexponentially with distance from the stimulated cell. In addition, spread of sodium was largely unaltered during pharmacological inhibition of purinergic and glutamate receptors, indicating gap junction-mediated, passive diffusion of sodium between astrocytes. Using cell-type-specific, transgenic reporter mice, we found that sodium signals also propagated, albeit less effectively, from astrocytes to neighboring oligodendrocytes and NG2 cells. Again, panglial spread was unaltered with purinergic and glutamate receptors blocked. Taken together, our results demonstrate that activation of sodium-dependent glutamate transporters induces sodium signals in white matter astrocytes, which spread within the astrocyte syncytium. In addition, we found a panglial passage of sodium signals from astrocytes to NG2 cells and oligodendrocytes, indicating functional coupling between these macroglial cells in white matter.

  9. Glutamate dehydrogenase (RocG) in Bacillus licheniformis WX-02: Enzymatic properties and specific functions in glutamic acid synthesis for poly-γ-glutamic acid production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Guangming; Wang, Qin; Wei, Xuetuan; Ma, Xin; Chen, Shouwen

    2017-04-01

    Poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA), a natural biopolymer, is widely used in cosmetics, medicine, food, water treatment, and agriculture owing to its features of moisture sequestration, cation chelation, non-toxicity and biodegradability. Intracellular glutamic acid, the substrate of γ-PGA, is a limiting factor for high yield in γ-PGA production. Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis are both important γ-PGA producing strains, and B. subtilis synthesizes glutamic acid in vivo using the unique GOGAT/GS pathway. However, little is known about the glutamate synthesis pathway in B. licheniformis. The aim of this work was to characterize the glutamate dehydrogenase (RocG) in glutamic acid synthesis from B. licheniformis with both in vivo and in vitro experiments. By re-directing the carbon flux distribution, the rocG gene deletion mutant WX-02ΔrocG produced intracellular glutamic acid with a concentration of 90ng/log(CFU), which was only 23.7% that of the wild-type WX-02 (380ng/log(CFU)). Furthermore, the γ-PGA yield of mutant WX-02ΔrocG was 5.37g/L, a decrease of 45.3% compared to the wild type (9.82g/L). In vitro enzymatic assays of RocG showed that RocG has higher affinity for 2-oxoglutarate than glutamate, and the glutamate synthesis rate was far above degradation. This is probably the first study to reveal the glutamic acid synthesis pathway and the specific functions of RocG in B. licheniformis. The results indicate that γ-PGA production can be enhanced through improving intracellular glutamic acid synthesis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Cardiovascular responses to microinjection of L-glutamate into the NTS in AV3V-lesioned rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vieira, Alexandre Antonio; Colombari, Eduardo; De Luca, Laurival A; de Almeida Colombari, Débora Simões; Menani, José V

    2004-10-29

    The excitatory amino acid L-glutamate injected into the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) in unanesthetized rats similar to peripheral chemoreceptor activation increases mean arterial pressure (MAP) and reduces heart rate. In this study, we investigated the effects of acute (1 day) and chronic (15 days) electrolytic lesions of the preoptic-periventricular tissue surrounding the anteroventral third ventricle (AV3V region) on the pressor and bradycardic responses induced by injections of L-glutamate into the NTS or peripheral chemoreceptor activation in unanesthetized rats. Male Holtzman rats with sham or electrolytic AV3V lesions and a stainless steel cannula implanted into the NTS were used. Differently from the pressor responses (28+/-3 mm Hg) produced by injections into the NTS of sham-lesioned rats, L-glutamate (5 nmol/100 nl) injected into the NTS reduced MAP (-26+/-8 mm Hg) or produced no effect (2+/-7 mm Hg) in acute and chronic AV3V-lesioned rats, respectively. The bradycardia to l-glutamate into the NTS and the cardiovascular responses to chemoreflex activation with intravenous potassium cyanide or to baroreflex activation with intravenous phenylephrine or sodium nitroprusside were not modified by AV3V lesions. The results show that the integrity of the AV3V region is essential for the pressor responses to L-glutamate into the NTS but not for the pressor responses to chemoreflex activation, suggesting dissociation between the central mechanisms involved in these responses.

  11. Synthesis of new isoxazoline-based acidic amino acids and investigation of their affinity and selectivity profile at ionotropic glutamate receptors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pinto, Andrea; Conti, Paola; Grazioso, Giovanni

    2011-01-01

    The synthesis of four new isoxazoline-based amino acids being analogues of previously described glutamate receptor ligands is reported and their affinity for ionotropic glutamate receptors is analyzed in comparison with that of selected model compounds. Molecular modelling investigations have been...

  12. Characterization of the venom from the spider, Araneus gemma: search for a glutamate antagonist

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Early, S.L.

    1985-01-01

    Venom from three spiders, Argiope aurantia, Neoscona arabesca, and Araneus gemma have been shown to inhibit the binding of L-[ 3 H]glutamate to both GBP and synaptic membranes. The venom from Araneus gemma was shown to be the most potent of the three venoms in inhibiting the binding of L-[ 3 H]glutamate to GBP. Therefore, Araneus gemma venom was selected for further characterization. Venom from Araneus gemma appeared to contain two factors which inhibit the binding of L-[ 3 H]glutamate to GBP and at least one factor that inhibits L-glutamate-stimulated 35 SCN flux. Factor I is thought to be L-glutamic acid, based on: (1) its similar mobility to glutamic acid in thin-layer chromatography and amino acid analysis, (2) the presence of fingerprint molecular ion peaks for glutamate in the mass spectrum for the methanol:water (17:1) extract and for the fraction from the HPLC-purification of the crude venom, and (3) its L-glutamate-like interaction with the sodium-dependent uptake system. Factor II appears to be a polypeptide, possibly 21 amino acids in length, and does not appear to contain any free amino groups or tryptophan. While the venom does not appear to contain any indoleamines, three catecholamines (epinephrine, epinine, dopamine) and one catecholamine metabolite (DOPAC) were detected

  13. On $L_p$ Affine Surface Area and Curvature Measures

    OpenAIRE

    Zhao, Yiming

    2015-01-01

    The relationship between $L_p$ affine surface area and curvature measures is investigated. As a result, a new representation of the existing notion of $L_p$ affine surface area depending only on curvature measures is derived. Direct proofs of the equivalence between this new representation and those previously known are provided. The proofs show that the new representation is, in a sense, "polar" to that of Lutwak's and "dual" to that of Sch\\"utt & Werner's.

  14. Evidence that L-glutamate can act as an exogenous signal to modulate root growth and branching in Arabidopsis thaliana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walch-Liu, Pia; Liu, Lai-Hua; Remans, Tony; Tester, Mark; Forde, Brian G

    2006-08-01

    The roots of many plant species are known to use inorganic nitrogen, in the form of , as a cue to initiate localized root proliferation within nutrient-rich patches of soil. We report here that, at micromolar concentrations and in a genotype-dependent manner, exogenous l-glutamate is also able to elicit complex changes in Arabidopsis root development. l-Glutamate is perceived specifically at the primary root tip and inhibits mitotic activity in the root apical meristem, but does not interfere with lateral root initiation or outgrowth. Only some time after emergence do lateral roots acquire l-glutamate sensitivity, indicating that their ability to respond to l-glutamate is developmentally regulated. Comparisons between different Arabidopsis ecotypes revealed a remarkable degree of natural variation in l-glutamate sensitivity, with C24 being the most sensitive. The aux1-7 auxin transport mutant had reduced l-glutamate sensitivity, suggesting a possible interaction between l-glutamate and auxin signaling. Surprisingly, two loss-of-function mutants at the AXR1 locus (axr1-3 and axr1-12) were hypersensitive to l-glutamate. A pharmacological approach, using agonists and antagonists of mammalian ionotropic glutamate receptors, was unable to provide evidence of a role for their plant homologs in sensing exogenous glutamate. We discuss the mechanism of l-glutamate sensing and the possible ecological significance of the observed l-glutamate-elicited changes in root architecture.

  15. Label Free Detection of L-Glutamate Using Microfluidic Based Thermal Biosensor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Varun Lingaiah Kopparthy

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A thermoelectric biosensor for the detection of L-glutamate concentration was developed. The thermoelectric sensor is integrated into a micro-calorimeter which measures the heat produced by biochemical reactions. The device contains a single flow channel that is 120 µm high and 10 mm wide with two fluid inlets and one fluid outlet. An antimony-bismuth (Sb-Bi thermopile with high common mode rejection ratio is attached to the lower channel wall and measures the dynamic changes in the temperature when L-glutamate undergoes oxidative deamination in the presence of glutamate oxidase (GLOD. The thermopile has a Seebeck coefficient of ~7 µV·(m·K−1. The device geometry, together with hydrodynamic focusing, eliminates the need of extensive temperature control. Layer-by-layer assembly is used to immobilize GLOD on the surface of glass coverslips by alternate electrostatic adsorption of polyelectrolyte and GLOD. The impulse injection mode using a 6-port injection valve minimizes sample volume to 5 µL. The sensitivity of the sensor for glutamate is 17.9 nVs·mM−1 in the linear range of 0–54 mM with an R2 value of 0.9873. The lowest detection limit of the sensor for glutamate is 5.3 mM.

  16. Complex formation between glutamic acid and molybdenum (VI)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gharib, Farrokh; Khorrami, S.A.; Sharifi, Sasan

    1997-01-01

    Equilibria of the reaction of molybdenum (VI) with L-glutamic acid have been studied in aqueous solution in the pH range 2.5 to 9.5, using spectrophotometric and optical rotation methods at constant ionic strength (0.15 mol dm -3 sodium perchlorate) and temperature 25 ± 0.1 degC. Our studies have shown that glutamic acid forms a mononuclear complex with Mo(VI) of the type MoO 3 L 2- at pH 5.5. The stability constant of this complexation and the dissociation constants of L-glutamic acid have been determined. (author). 17 refs., 2 figs., 4 tabs

  17. AV3V lesions reduce the pressor response to L-glutamate into the RVLM.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vieira, Alexandre Antonio; Colombari, Eduardo; De Luca, Laurival A; Colombari, Débora Simões de Almeida; Menani, José V

    2006-05-01

    Neurons from the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) directly activate sympathetic pre-ganglionic neurons in the spinal cord. Hypertensive responses and sympathetic activation produced by different stimuli are strongly affected by lesions of the preoptic periventricular tissue surrounding the anteroventral third ventricle (AV3V region). Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the effects of acute (1 day) and chronic (15 days) electrolytic lesions of the AV3V region on the pressor responses produced by injections of the excitatory amino acid L-glutamate into the RVLM of unanesthetized rats. Male Holtzman rats with sham or electrolytic AV3V lesions and a stainless steel cannula implanted into the RVLM were used. The pressor responses produced by injections of L-glutamate (1, 5 and 10 nmol/100 nl) into the RVLM were reduced 1 day (9 +/- 4, 39 +/- 6 and 37 +/- 4 mm Hg, respectively) and 15 days after AV3V lesions (13 +/- 6, 39 +/- 4 and 43 +/- 4 mm Hg, respectively, vs. sham lesions: 29 +/- 3, 50 +/- 2 and 58 +/- 3 mm Hg, respectively). Injections of L-glutamate into the RVLM in sham or AV3V-lesioned rats produced no significant change in the heart rate (HR). Baroreflex bradycardia and tachycardia produced by iv phenylephrine or sodium nitroprusside, respectively, and the pressor and bradycardic responses to chemoreflex activation with iv potassium cyanide were not modified by AV3V lesions. The results suggest that signals from the AV3V region are important for sympathetic activation induced by L-glutamate into the RVLM.

  18. The Degradation of 14C-Glutamic Acid by L-Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dougherty, Charles M; Dayan, Jean

    1982-01-01

    Describes procedures and semi-micro reaction apparatus (carbon dioxide trap) to demonstrate how a particular enzyme (L-Glutamic acid decarboxylase) may be used to determine the site or sites of labeling in its substrate (carbon-14 labeled glutamic acid). Includes calculations, solutions, and reagents used. (Author/SK)

  19. 40 CFR 721.3821 - L-Glutamic acid, N-(1-oxododecyl)-.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 30 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false L-Glutamic acid, N-(1-oxododecyl... Substances § 721.3821 L-Glutamic acid, N-(1-oxododecyl)-. (a) Chemical substance and significant new uses subject to reporting. (1) The chemical substance identified as L-Glutamic acid, N-(1-oxododecyl)- (PMN P...

  20. Selective affinity labeling of a 27-kDa integral membrane protein in rat liver and kidney with N-bromoacetyl derivatives of L-thyroxine and 3,5,3'-triiodo-L-thyronine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koehrle, J.R.; Rasmussen, U.B.; Rokos, H.; Leonard, J.L.; Hesch, R.D.

    1990-01-01

    125I-Labeled N-bromoacetyl derivatives of L-thyroxine and L-triiodothyronine were used as alkylating affinity labels to identify rat liver and kidney microsomal membrane proteins which specifically bind thyroid hormones. Affinity label incorporation was analyzed by ethanol precipitation and individual affinity labeled proteins were identified by autoradiography after separation by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under reducing conditions. Six to eight membrane proteins ranging in size from 17 to 84 kDa were affinity labeled by both bromoacetyl-L-thyroxine (BrAcT4) and bromoacetyl-L-triiodothyronine (BrAcT3). Affinity labeling was time- and temperature-dependent, and both reduced dithiols and detergents increased affinity labeling, predominantly in a 27-kDa protein(s). Up to 80% of the affinity label was associated with a 27-kDa protein (p27) under optimal conditions. Affinity labeling of p27 by 0.4 nM BrAc[125I]L-T4 was blocked by 0.1 microM of the alkylating ligands BrAcT4, BrAcT3, or 100 microM iodoacetate, by 10 microM concentrations of the non-alkylating, reversible ligands N-acetyl-L-thyroxine, 3,3',5'-triiodothyronine, 3,5-diiodosalicylate, and EMD 21388, a T4-antagonistic flavonoid. Neither 10 microM L-T4, nor 10 microM N-acetyltriiodothyronine or 10 microM L-triiodothyronine blocked affinity labeling of p27 or other affinity labeled bands. Affinity labeling of a 17-kDa band was partially inhibited by excess of the alkylating ligands BrAcT4, BrAcT3, and iodoacetate, but labeling of other minor bands was not blocked by excess of the competitors. BrAc[125I]T4 yielded higher affinity label incorporation than BrAc[125I]T3, although similar banding patterns were observed, except that BrAcT3 affinity labeled more intensely a 58,000-Da band in liver and a 53,000-55,000-Da band in kidney

  1. The glutamate aspartate transporter (GLAST) mediates L-glutamate-stimulated ascorbate-release via swelling-activated anion channels in cultured neonatal rodent astrocytes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lane, Darius J R; Lawen, Alfons

    2013-03-01

    Vitamin C (ascorbate) plays important neuroprotective and neuromodulatory roles in the mammalian brain. Astrocytes are crucially involved in brain ascorbate homeostasis and may assist in regenerating extracellular ascorbate from its oxidised forms. Ascorbate accumulated by astrocytes can be released rapidly by a process that is stimulated by the excitatory amino acid, L-glutamate. This process is thought to be neuroprotective against excitotoxicity. Although of potential clinical interest, the mechanism of this stimulated ascorbate-release remains unknown. Here, we report that primary cultures of mouse and rat astrocytes release ascorbate following initial uptake of dehydroascorbate and accumulation of intracellular ascorbate. Ascorbate-release was not due to cellular lysis, as assessed by cellular release of the cytosolic enzyme lactate dehydrogenase, and was stimulated by L-glutamate and L-aspartate, but not the non-excitatory amino acid L-glutamine. This stimulation was due to glutamate-induced cellular swelling, as it was both attenuated by hypertonic and emulated by hypotonic media. Glutamate-stimulated ascorbate-release was also sensitive to inhibitors of volume-sensitive anion channels, suggesting that the latter may provide the conduit for ascorbate efflux. Glutamate-stimulated ascorbate-release was not recapitulated by selective agonists of either ionotropic or group I metabotropic glutamate receptors, but was completely blocked by either of two compounds, TFB-TBOA and UCPH-101, which non-selectively and selectively inhibit the glial Na(+)-dependent excitatory amino acid transporter, GLAST, respectively. These results suggest that an impairment of astrocytic ascorbate-release may exacerbate neuronal dysfunction in neurodegenerative disorders and acute brain injury in which excitotoxicity and/or GLAST deregulation have been implicated.

  2. Computational modeling and molecular imprinting for the development of acrylic polymers with high affinity for bile salts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yañez, Fernando; Chianella, Iva; Piletsky, Sergey A; Concheiro, Angel; Alvarez-Lorenzo, Carmen

    2010-02-05

    This work has focused on the rational development of polymers capable of acting as traps of bile salts. Computational modeling was combined with molecular imprinting technology to obtain networks with high affinity for cholate salts in aqueous medium. The screening of a virtual library of 18 monomers, which are commonly used for imprinted networks, identified N-(3-aminopropyl)-methacrylate hydrochloride (APMA.HCl), N,N-diethylamino ethyl methacrylate (DEAEM) and ethyleneglycol methacrylate phosphate (EGMP) as suitable functional monomers with medium-to-high affinity for cholic acid. The polymers were prepared with a fix cholic acid:functional monomer mole ratio of 1:4, but with various cross-linking densities. Compared to polymers prepared without functional monomer, both imprinted and non-imprinted microparticles showed a high capability to remove sodium cholate from aqueous medium. High affinity APMA-based particles even resembled the performance of commercially available cholesterol-lowering granules. The imprinting effect was evident in most of the networks prepared, showing that computational modeling and molecular imprinting can act synergistically to improve the performance of certain polymers. Nevertheless, both the imprinted and non-imprinted networks prepared with the best monomer (APMA.HCl) identified by the modeling demonstrated such high affinity for the template that the imprinting effect was less important. The fitting of adsorption isotherms to the Freundlich model indicated that, in general, imprinting increases the population of high affinity binding sites, except when the affinity of the functional monomer for the target molecule is already very high. The cross-linking density was confirmed as a key parameter that determines the accessibility of the binding points to sodium cholate. Materials prepared with 9% mol APMA and 91% mol cross-linker showed enough affinity to achieve binding levels of up to 0.4 mmol g(-1) (i.e., 170 mg g(-1)) under flow

  3. Biosynthetic preparation of L-[13C]- and [15N]glutamate by Brevibacterium flavum

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Walker, T.E.; London, R.E.

    1987-01-01

    The biosynthesis of isotopically labeled L-glutamic acid by the microorganism Brevibacterium flavum was studied with a variety of carbon-13-enriched precursors. The purpose of this study was twofold: (i) to develop techniques for the efficient preparation of labeled L-glutamate with a variety of useful labeling patterns which can be used for other metabolic studies, and (ii) to better understand the metabolic events leading to label scrambling in these strains. B. flavum, which is used commercially for the production of monosodium glutamate, has the capability of utilizing glucose or acetate as a sole carbon source, and important criterion from the standpoint of developing labeling strategies. Unfortunately, singly labeled glucose precursors lead to excessive isotopic dilution which reduces their usefulness. Studies with [3- 13 C]pyruvate indicate that this problem can in principle be overcome by using labeled three-carbon precursors; however, conditions could not be found which would lead to an acceptable yield of isotopically labeled L-glutamate. In contrast, [1- 13 C]- or [2- 13 C]acetate provides relatively inexpensive, readily available precursors for the production of selectively labeled, high enriched L-glutamate. The preparation of L-[ 15 N]glutamate from [ 15 N]ammonium sulfate was carried out and is a very effective labeling strategy. Analysis of the isotopic distribution in labeled glutamate provides details about the metabolic pathways in these interesting organisms

  4. Changes in medium radioactivity and composition accompany high-affinity uptake of glutamate and aspartate by mouse brain slices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Latzkovits, L.; Neidle, A.; Lajtha, A.

    1984-01-01

    In measurements of high affinity transport in tissue slices, the incubation medium is often treated as an ''infinitely large pool''. External substrate concentrations, even at the micromolar level, are assumed to be constant and metabolic interactions between tissue and medium are neglected. In the present report we describe experiments in which glutamic and aspartic acid uptake by mouse brain slices were studied using techniques that could test these assumptions. Cerebral hemispheres were cut into 0.1 mm sections and about 90 mg of tissue incubated in 10 ml of oxygenated medium. After 45 minutes of equilibration, radioactive substrates were added and the concentrations and specific activities of the amino acids and their metabolites in the medium were determined. During the first 10 min following substrate addition, rapid decreases in glutamic and aspartic acid concentrations in the medium were accompanied by large decreases in specific activity caused by the continuous release of these amino acids from the tissue. In addition, extensive conversion of both substrates to glutamine and the preferential accumulation of this metabolite, in the medium, was found. These results demonstrate that metabolism and release occur simultaneously with uptake during transport experiments in vitro and that these processes can take place in specific tissue compartments. It is therefore necessary to measure the tissue and medium concentration levels of amino acids along with their radioactivity in such experiments, since all three processes (transport, metabolism, and compartmentation) are interrelated in the clearance of amino acids from the incubation medium and probably from the extracellular spaces in vivo as well

  5. Surface grafting of poly(L-glutamates). 3. Block copolymerization

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wieringa, RH; Siesling, EA; Werkman, PJ; Vorenkamp, EJ; Schouten, AJ

    2001-01-01

    This paper describes for the first time the synthesis of surface-grafted AB-block copolypeptides, consisting of poly(gamma -benzyl L-glutamate) (PBLG) as the A-block and poly(gamma -methyl L-glutamate) (PMLG) as the B-block. Immobilized primary amine groups of (,gamma -aminopropyl)triethoxysilane

  6. Paraventricular Stimulation with Glutamate Elicits Bradycardia and Pituitary Responses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darlington, Daniel N.; Miyamoto, Michael; Keil, Lanny C.; Dallman, Mary F.

    1989-01-01

    The excitatory neurotransmitter, L-glutamate (0.5 M, pH 7.4), or the organic acid, acetate (0.5 M, pH 7.4), was microinjected (50 nl over 2 min) directly into the paraventricular nuclei (PVN) of pentobarbital sodium-anesthetized rats while arterial blood pressure and heart rate and plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), vasopressin, and oxytocin were measured. Activation of PVN neurons with L-glutamate led to increases in plasma ACTH, vasopressin, and oxytocin and a profound bradycardia (-80 beats/min) with little change in arterial blood pressure. Microinjection of acetate had no effect on the above variables. The decrease in heart rate was shown to be dependent on the concentration of glutamate injected and the volume of injectate. The bradycardia was mediated through the autonomic nervous system because ganglionic blockade (pentolinium tartrate) eliminated the response; atropine and propranolol severely attenuated the bradycardia. The bradycardia was greatest when L-glutamate was microinjected into the caudal PVN. Injections into the rostral PVN or into nuclei surrounding the PVN led to small or nonsignificant decreases in heart rate. Focal electric stimulation (2-50 pA) of the PVN also led to decreases in heart rate and arterial blood pressure. These data suggest that activation of PVN neurons leads to the release of ACTH, vasopressin, and oxytocin from the pituitary and a bradycardia that is mediated by the autonomic nervous system.

  7. Identification of high-affinity calmodulin-binding proteins in rat liver

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanley, R.M.; Dedman, J.R.; Shenolikar, S.

    1987-01-01

    The Ca 2+ -dependent binding of [ 125 I] calmodulin (CaM) to hepatic proteins separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was utilized to identify CaM binding or acceptor proteins or CAPs. Two proteins of apparent molecular weight of 60,000 (CAP-60) and 45,000 (CAP-45) comprised > 80% of the Ca 2+ -dependent CaM binding in rat liver cytosol. CAP-60 and CAP-45 were partially purified by a variety of chromatographic steps, including affinity chromatography on CaM Sepharose. CAP-60 possessed a native molecular size of 400,000, indicating it to be the CaM-binding subunit of a larger oligomeric complex. In contrast, CAP-45 was monomeric as judged by gel filtration. Neither CAP-60 nor CAP-45 possessed chromatographic properties consistent with known CaM-dependent enzymes reported in the literature. Two-dimensional peptide mapping provided convincing evidence that CAP-60 and CAP-45 were unrelated to other well-characterized CAPs, namely Ca 2+ (CaM)-dependent protein kinase II, calcineurin, or the CaM-dependent cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase. The relative abundance and high affinity for CaM could suggest that these novel target proteins, CAP-60 and CAP-45, represent a dominant pathway for CaM action in the mammalian liver

  8. Biochemical evidence for glutamate as a transmitter in hippocampal efferents to the basal forebrain and hypothalamus in the rat brain

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walaas, I; Fonnum, F

    1980-01-01

    The effects of bilateral transection of the fornix bundle on the high affinity uptake of glutamate and on the amino acid content in several nuclei of rat forebrain and hypothalamus were studied in order to investigate the possible role of glutamate as a transmitter of these fibres. This lesion decreased the high affinity uptake of L-glutamate by 60 to 70% in the mammillary body and lateral septum, and by 40 to 50% in the anterior diagonal band nucleus, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, the mediobasal hypothalamus and the nucleus accumbens. The content of endogenous glutamate in samples dissected from freeze-dried tissue also decreased significantly in these regions. Endogenous aspartate was slightly decreased in the anterior diagonal band nucleus and the mammillary body, but unchanged in the other regions. No significant changes were seen in the levels of serine, ..gamma..-aminobutyric acid, glutamine and taurine, except for an increase in glutamine and taurine in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. The high affinity uptake of ..gamma..-aminobutyric acid, tested in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, the mediobasal hypothalamus and the mammillary body, was unchanged after the lesion. The results indicate that allocortical efferents innervating subcortial nuclei through the fornix might use glutamate as a transmitter. The study further supports the concept that glutamate plays an important role as transmitter of several different corticofugal fibre systems in mammalian brain.

  9. 40 CFR 721.3820 - L-Glutamic acid, N-(1-oxododecyl)-, disodium salt.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 30 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false L-Glutamic acid, N-(1-oxododecyl... Specific Chemical Substances § 721.3820 L-Glutamic acid, N-(1-oxododecyl)-, disodium salt. (a) Chemical substance and significant new uses subject to reporting. (1) The chemical substance identified as L-Glutamic...

  10. Sequential enzymatic synthesis and separation of 13N-L-glutamic acid and 13N-L-alanine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cohen, M.B.; Spolter, L.; MacDonald, M.; Chang, C.C.; Takahashi, J.

    1975-01-01

    The sequential enzymatic synthesis and separation of 13 N-L-glutamic acid and 13 N-L-alanine are described. Basically, that involves the synthesis of 13 N-L-glutamic acid by one enzyme, the transamination of the labeled glutamic acid to form 13 N-L-alanine by a second enzyme, and the separation of the two amino acids by rapid column chromatography. The 13 N-L-alanine was evaluated in animals by imaging and tissue distribution studies and showed good potential as a pancreatic imaging agent

  11. Binding of L-glutamic acid to non-receptor materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Periyasamy, S.; Ito, M.; Chiu, T.H.

    1986-01-01

    [ 3 H]L-glutamic acid ([ 3 H]Glu) binding to microfuge tubes, glass fiber filters, and glass tubes was studied in 4 buffers (50 mM, pH 7.4 at 4 0 C). Binding assays were done at 0-4 0 C. Binding to these materials was negligible in the absence of external force, but was increased by suction or centrifugation in Tris-HCl or Tris-citrate buffer. The force-induced binding was much less or was eliminated in Tris-acetate or HEPES-KOH buffer. [ 3 H]Glu binding to microfuge tubes was inhibited by L- but not D- isomers of glutamate and aspartate. DL-2-amino-7-phosphonoheptanoic acid was without effect. Other compounds that showed low to moderate inhibitory activity were N-methyl-D-aspartate, quisqualate, L-glutamic acid diethyl ester. N-methyl-L-aspartate, kainate, and 2-amino-4-phosphonobutyrate. Binding was inhibited by denatured P 2 membrane preparation in Tris-acetate buffer was used. It is suggested that Tris-acetate or HEPES-KOH buffer should be used in the glutamate binding assay

  12. Preparation and affinity identification of glutamic acid-urea small molecule analogs in prostate cancer

    OpenAIRE

    Zhang, Zhiwei; Zhu, Zheng; Yang, Deyong; Fan, Weiwei; Wang, Jianbo; Li, Xiancheng; Chen, Xiaochi; Wang, Qifeng; Song, Xishuang

    2016-01-01

    In recent years, study concerning activity inhibitors of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) has been concentrated on the glutamic urea (Glu-urea-R) small molecule and its analogs. The present study aimed to synthesize 4 analogs of Glu-urea-R and identify the affinities of these compounds to PSMA. The compounds were synthesized from raw materials, and the experimental procedures of the present study were in accordance with standard techniques under anhydrous and anaerobic conditions. Gl...

  13. Improved Reactive Dye-fixation in Pad-Steam Process of Dyeing Cotton Fabric Using Tetrasodium N, NBiscarboxylatomethyl- L-Glutamate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Awais Khatri

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Pad steam process of dyeing cotton with reactive dyes is known to give lower levels of dye-fixation on the fiber because of excessive dye-hydrolysis. This research presents improved reactive dye-fixation in padsteam process of dyeing cotton found in an effort of using biodegradable organic salts to improve the effluent quality. The CI Reactive Blue 250, a bissulphatoethylsulphone dye and the Tetrasodium N, Nbiscarboxylatomethyl- L-Glutamate, a biodegradable organic salt, were used. The new dye-bath formulation using the organic salt gave more than 90% dye-fixation. Traditional pad-steam process of dyeing cotton with reactive dyes requires the use of inorganic electrolyte, sodium-chloride, and alkali, sodium-carbonate, to ensure effective dye consumption and fixation. These inorganic chemicals when drained generate heavy contents of dissolved solids and oxygen demand in the effluent leading to environmental pollution. Thus, Tetrasodium N, N-biscarboxylatomethyl-L-Glutamate was used in place of inorganic electrolyte and alkali to improve effluent quality. A significant increase in dye-fixation and ultimate color-yield was obtained with same colorfastness properties of the dyed fabric comparing to the traditional pad-steam dye-bath formulation.

  14. Synthesis and distribution of L-glutamic acid with three different labels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cohen, M.B.; Spolter, Leonard; Chia Chin Chang; MacDonald, N.S.

    1982-01-01

    A study was performed to compare the distribution of C-11 L-glutamic acid, labeled on the carboxyl group of either the alpha or gamma carbon with that of N-13 L-glutamic acid in order to determine if the position of the label is of importance in the study of the distribution of glutamic acid

  15. Reconstitution of high-affinity opioid agonist binding in brain membranes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Remmers, A.E.; Medzihradsky, F. (Univ. of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor (United States))

    1991-03-15

    In synaptosomal membranes from rat brain cortex, the {mu} selective agonist ({sup 3}H)dihydromorphine in the absence of sodium, and the nonselective antagonist ({sup 3}H)naltrexone in the presence of sodium, bound to two populations of opioid receptor sites with K{sub d} values of 0.69 and 8.7 nM for dihydromorphine, and 0.34 and 5.5 nM for naltrexone. The addition of 5 {mu}M guanosine 5{prime}-({gamma}-thio)triphosphate (GTP({gamma}S)) strongly reduced high-affinity agonist but not antagonist binding. Exposure of the membranes to high pH reduced the number of GTP({gamma}-{sup 35}S) binding sites by 90% and low K{sub m}, opioid-sensitive GTPase activity by 95%. In these membranes, high-affinity agonist binding was abolished and modulation of residual binding by GTP({gamma}S) was diminished. Alkali treatment of the glioma cell membranes prior to fusion inhibited most of the low K{sub m} GTPase activity and prevented the reconstitution of agonist binding. The results show that high-affinity opioid agonist binding reflects the ligand-occupied receptor - guanine nucleotide binding protein complex.

  16. Effect of L-glutamic acid on the positive electrolyte for all-vanadium redox flow battery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liang, Xinxing; Peng, Sui; Lei, Ying; Gao, Chao; Wang, Nanfang; Liu, Suqin; Fang, Dong

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Amino acid is used as additive for all-vanadium redox flow battery. ► The additive can significantly improve performance of positive electrolyte. ► Mechanism for the improvement is investigated. -- Abstract: L-Glutamic acid is used as an additive for the positive electrolyte of all-vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB), and its effect on the thermal stability and electrochemical activity is investigated. It is found that the addition of L-glutamic can significantly alleviate the precipitation of V 2 O 5 from positive electrolyte. The conservation rate of V(V) ion can be as high as 58% after 2 M V(V) solution being kept in 40 °C for 89 h. Besides, L-glutamic can also improve the mass transport and electrochemical performance of anolyte. A high coulombic efficiency of over 95% and energy efficiency of 74% are obtained. XPS spectra illustrate that L-glutamic can react with the surface of carbon felt electrode and introduce more oxygen-containing and nitrogen-containing groups, which should be responsible for the improvement of electrochemical performance

  17. pH-jump induced α-helix folding of poly-L-glutamic acid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Donten, Mateusz L.; Hamm, Peter

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► pH-jump as truly biomimetic tool to initiate non-equilibrium dynamics of biomolecules. ► Design criteria to widen the applicability of pH-jumps are developed. ► Folding of poly-L-Glu in dependence of starting pH, pH jump size and helix length. ► Length dependence provides strong evidence for a nucleation–propagation scenario. - Abstract: pH jumps are a truly biomimetic technique to initiate non-equilibrium dynamics of biomolecules. In this work, the pH jump induced α-helix folding of poly-L-glutamic acid is investigated upon proton release from o-nitrobenzaldehyde. The aim of this work is twofold: On the one hand, design criteria of pH jump experiments are discussed, on the other hand, the folding mechanism of poly-L-glutamic acid is clarified by probing the IR response of the amide I band. Its folding kinetics is studied in dependence of the starting pD, the size of the pD jump and the length of the helix. While no dependence on the first two parameters could be detected, the folding time varies from 0.6 μs to 1.8 μs for helix lengths of 20 residue to 440 residue, respectively. It converges to a long-length limit at about 50 residue, a result which is attributed to a nucleation–propagation mechanism

  18. Characterization of the L-glutamate clearance pathways across the blood-brain barrier and the effect of astrocytes in an in vitro blood-brain barrier model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Helms, Hans CC; Aldana, Blanca I; Groth, Simon

    2017-01-01

    The aim was to characterize the clearance pathways for L-glutamate from the brain interstitial fluid across the blood-brain barrier using a primary in vitro bovine endothelial/rat astrocyte co-culture. Transporter profiling was performed using uptake studies of radiolabeled L-glutamate with co...... brain to blood via the concerted action of abluminal and luminal transport proteins, but the total brain clearance is highly dependent on metabolism in astrocytes and endothelial cells followed by transport of metabolites....

  19. Supraspinal and spinal effects of L-trans-PDC, an inhibitor of glutamate transporter, on the micturition reflex in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Honda, Masashi; Yoshimura, Naoki; Hikita, Katsuya; Hinata, Nobuyuki; Muraoka, Kuniyasu; Saito, Motoaki; Chancellor, Michael B; Takenaka, Atsushi

    2013-09-01

    Glutamate is a major excitatory transmitter in the central nervous system, controlling lower urinary tract function. Five types of glutamate transporters such as GLAST (EAAT1), GLT-1 (EAAT2), EAAC-1 (EAAT3), EAAT4, and EAAT5 have been cloned so far. In the current study we tested whether L-trans-pyrrolidine-2,4-dicarboxylic acid (L-trans-PDC), a non-selective inhibitor of glutamate transporters that increases endogenous glutamate concentration, can affect the micturition reflex in urethane anesthetized rats. Continuous cystometrograms (CMG, 0.04 ml/min infusion rate) were performed in two groups of urethane-anesthetized rats. A group of 18 rats was used for intrathecal administration of 1-10 µg of L-trans-PDC via an intrathecal catheter. In the second group of 18 rats, 1-10 µg of L-trans-PDC were administered intracerebroventricularly via a catheter inserted into the lateral ventricle. Micturition parameters were recorded and compared before and after drug administration. Intrathecal administration of L-trans-PDC at 1, 3, and 10 µg (n = 6 per dose) increased intercontraction intervals in dose dependent fashion, but did not affect postvoid residual or basal pressure at any doses tested. Intracerebroventricular administration of L-trans-PDC at 1, 3, and 10 µg (n = 6 per dose) also increased intercontraction intervals in dose dependent fashion, but did not affect postvoid residual or basal pressure at any doses tested. The current results show that, in urethane-anesthetized rats, suppression of glutamate transporters by L-trans-PDC has an inhibitory effect on the micturition reflex at supraspinal and spinal sites, possibly via activation of glutamate-mediated inhibitory pathways. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. L-Aspartic and l-glutamic acid ester-based ProTides of anticancer nucleosides: Synthesis and antitumoral evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Ling-Jie; De Jonghe, Steven; Daelemans, Dirk; Herdewijn, Piet

    2016-05-01

    A series of novel aryloxyphosphoramidate nucleoside prodrugs based on l-aspartic acid and l-glutamic acid as amino acid motif has been synthesized and evaluated for antitumoral activity. Depending on the cancer cell line studied and on the nature of the parent nucleoside compound (gemcitabine, 5-iodo-2'-deoxy-uridine, floxuridine or brivudin), the corresponding ProTides are endowed with an improved or decreased cytotoxic activity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. APPLICATION OF IMMUNOGLOBULIN-BINDING PROTEINS A, G, L IN THE AFFINITY CHROMATOGRAPHY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    О. V. Sviatenko

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Proteins A, G and L are native or recombinant proteins of microbial origin that bind to mammalian immunoglobulins. Preferably recombinant variants of proteins A, G, L are used in biotechnology for affinity sorbents production. Сomparative characteristics of proteins A, G, L and affinity sorbents on the basis of them, advantages and disadvantages of these proteins application as ligands in the affinity chromatography are done. Analysis of proteins A, G, L properties is presented. Binding specificities and affinities of these proteins differ between species and antibody subclass. Protein А has high affinity to human IgG1, IgG2, IgG4, mouse IgG2a, IgG2b, IgG3, goat and sheep IgG2, dog, cat, guinea pig, rabbit IgG. Protein G binds strongly to human, mouse, cow, goat, sheep and rabbit IgG. Protein L has ability of strong binding to immunoglobulin kappa-chains of human, mouse, rat and pig. Expediency of application of affinity chromatography with usage of sorbents on the basis of immobilized proteins A, G, L are shown for isolation and purification of antibodies different classes. Previously mentioned method is used as an alternative to conventional methods of protein purification, such as ion-exchange, hydrophobic interactions, metal affinity chromatography, ethanol precipitation due to simplicity in usage, possibility of one-step purification process, obtaining of proteins high level purity, multiuse at maintenance of proper storage and usage conditions. Affinity sorbents on the basis of immobilized proteins A, G, L are used not only for antibodies purification, but also for extraction of different antibodies fractions from blood serum.

  2. Inhibitory mechanism of l-glutamic acid on spawning of the starfish Patiria (Asterina) pectinifera.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mita, Masatoshi

    2017-03-01

    l-Glutamic acid was previously identified as an inhibitor of spawning in the starfish Patiria (Asterina) pectinifera; this study examined how l-glutamic acid works. Oocyte release from ovaries of P. pectinifera occurred after germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) and follicular envelope breakdown (FEBD) when gonads were incubated ex vivo with either relaxin-like gonad-stimulating peptide (RGP) or 1-methyladenine (1-MeAde). l-Glutamic acid blocked this spawning phenotype, causing the mature oocytes to remain within the ovaries. Neither RGP-induced 1-MeAde production in ovarian follicle cells nor 1-MeAde-induced GVBD and FEBD was affected by l-glutamic acid. l-Glutamic acid may act through metabotropic receptors in the ovaries to inhibit spawning, as l-(+)-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid, an agonist for metabotropic glutamate receptors, also inhibited spawning induced by 1-MeAde. Application of acetylcholine (ACH) to ovaries under inhibitory conditions with l-glutamic acid, however, brought about spawning, possibly by inducing contraction of the ovarian wall to discharge mature oocytes from the ovaries concurrently with GVBD and FEBD. Thus, l-glutamic acid may inhibit ACH secretion from gonadal nerve cells in the ovary. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 84: 246-256, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Energy-dependent dissociation of ATP from high affinity catalytic sites of beef heart mitochondrial adenosine triphosphatase

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Penefsky, H.S.

    1985-01-01

    Incubation of [gamma- 32 P]ATP with a molar excess of the membrane-bound form of mitochondrial ATPase (F1) results in binding of the bulk of the radioactive nucleotide in high affinity catalytic sites (Ka = 10(12) M-1). Subsequent initiation of respiration by addition of succinate or NADH is accompanied by a profound decrease in the affinity for ATP. About one-third of the bound radioactive ATP appears to dissociate, that is, the [gamma- 32 P]ATP becomes accessible to hexokinase. The NADH-stimulated dissociation of [gamma- 32 P]ATP is energy-dependent since the stimulation is inhibited by uncouplers of oxidative phosphorylation and is prevented by respiratory chain inhibitors. The rate of the energy-dependent dissociation of ATP that occurs in the presence of NADH, ADP, and Pi is commensurate with the measured initial rate of ATP synthesis in NADH-supported oxidative phosphorylation catalyzed by the same submitochondrial particles. Thus, the rate of dissociation of ATP from the high affinity catalytic site of submitochondrial particles meets the criterion of kinetic competency under the conditions of oxidative phosphorylation. These experiments provide evidence in support of the argument that energy conserved during the oxidation of substrates by the respiratory chain can be utilized to reduce the very tight binding of product ATP in high affinity catalytic sites and to promote dissociation of the nucleotide

  4. L-aspartic acid transport by cat erythrocytes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, C.W.; Preston, R.L.

    1986-01-01

    Cat and dog red cells are unusual in that they have no Na/K ATPase and contain low K and high Na intracellularly. They also show significant Na dependent L-aspartate (L-asp) transport. The authors have characterized this system in cat RBCs. The influx of 3 H-L-asp (typically 2μM) was measured in washed RBCs incubated for 60 s at 37 0 C in medium containing 140 mM NaCl, 5 mM Kcl, 2 mM CaCl 2 , 15 mM MOPS pH 7.4, 5 mM glucose, and 14 C-PEG as a space marker. The cells were washed 3 times in the medium immediately before incubation which was terminated by centrifuging the RBCs through a layer of dibutylphthalate. Over an L-asp concentration range of 0.5-1000μM, influx obeyed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with a small added linear diffusion component. The Kt and Jmax of the saturable component were 5.40 +/- 0.34 μM and 148.8 +/- 7.2 μmol 1. cell -1 h -1 respectively. Replacement of Na with Li, K, Rb, Cs or choline reduce influx to diffusion. With the addition of asp analogues (4 + M L-asp, 40 + M inhibitor), the following sequence of inhibition was observed (range 80% to 40% inhib.): L-glutamate > L-cysteine sulfonate > D-asp > L-cysteic acid > D-glutamate. Other amino acids such as L-alanine, L-proline, L-lysine, L-cysteine, and taurine showed no inhibition (<5%). These data suggest that cat red cells contain a high-affinity Na dependent transport system for L-asp, glutamate, and closely related analogues which resembles that found in the RBCs of other carnivores and in neural tissues

  5. Supplementation of diets for weaned piglets withL-Valine and L-Glutamine+ L-Glutamic acid

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naiara Diedrich Rodrigues

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of supplementation of diets for weaned piglets with L-valine and L-glutamine + L-glutamic acid on performance, frequency of diarrhea, organ weight, digesta pH, intestinal morphology, and economic viability. Seventy-two piglets with a live weight of 7.53 ± 0.84 kg and 24 days of age were used. The animals were submitted to the following four treatments from 24 to 46 days of age: diet not supplemented with amino acids (control diet, CD; diet supplemented with glutamine + glutamic acid (GD; diet supplemented with glutamine + glutamic acid + valine (GVD, and diet supplemented with valine (VD. Two sequential phases (pre-initial I and pre-initial II with a duration of 12 and 11 days, respectively, were established. A completely randomized design, consisting of six repetitions and three pigs per experimental unit, was used. Nine days after weaning, at 32 days of age, a piglet per pen was slaughtered for the evaluation of organ weight, digesta pH and intestinal morphology. All animals received a single diet from days 47 to 65. No effects on performance were observed during the pre-initial phases I and II; however, when the whole study period was considered (24 to 65 days of age, piglets fed GVD consumed less feed and exhibited better feed conversion than animals of the VD group. With respect to morphometric parameters, GD provided a greater ileal crypt depth than CD and VD. There was an economic advantage of diets supplemented with L-valine and L-glutamine + L-glutamic acid, validating their use in diets for weaned piglets until 46 days of age.

  6. Synthesis and in vitro pharmacology at AMPA and kainate preferring glutamate receptors of 4-heteroarylmethylidene glutamate analogues

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Valgeirsson, Jon; Christensen, Jeppe K; Kristensen, Anders S

    2003-01-01

    affinity for the GluR2 subtype of AMPA receptors. As an attempt to develop new pharmacological tools for studies of GluR5 receptors, (S)-E-4-(2-thiazolylmethylene)glutamic acid (4a) was designed as a structural hybrid between 1 and 3. 4a was shown to be a potent GluR5 agonist and a high affinity ligand...

  7. Modulation of gene expression of adenosine and metabotropic glutamate receptors in rat's neuronal cells exposed to L-glutamate and [60]fullerene.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giust, Davide; Da Ros, Tatiana; Martín, Mairena; Albasanz, José Luis

    2014-08-01

    L-Glutamate (L-Glu) has been often associated not only to fundamental physiological roles, as learning and memory, but also to neuronal cell death and the genesis and development of important neurodegenerative diseases. Herein we studied the variation in the adenosine and metabotropic glutamate receptors expression induced by L-Glu treatment in rat's cortical neurons. The possibility to have structural alteration of the cells induced by L-Glu (100 nM, 1 and 10 microM) has been addressed, studying the modulation of microtubule associated protein-2 (MAP-2) and neurofilament heavy polypeptide (NEFH), natively associated proteins to the dendritic shape maintenance. Results showed that the proposed treatments were not destabilizing the cells, so the L-Glu concentrations were acceptable to investigate fluctuation in receptors expression, which were studied by RT-PCR. Interestingly, C60 fullerene derivative t3ss elicited a protective effect against glutamate toxicity, as demonstrated by MTT assay. In addition, t3ss compound exerted a different effect on the adenosine and metabotropic glutamate receptors analyzed. Interestingly, A(2A) and mGlu1 mRNAs were significantly decreased in conditions were t3ss neuroprotected cortical neurons from L-Glu toxicity. In summary, t3ss protects neurons from glutamate toxicity in a process that appears to be associated with the modulation of the gene expression of adenosine and metabotropic glutamate receptors.

  8. Affinity purification of the voltage-sensitive sodium channel from electroplax with resins selective for sialic acid

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    James, W.M.; Emerick, M.C.; Agnew, W.S. (Yale Univ. School of medicine, New Haven, CT (USA))

    1989-07-11

    The voltage-sensitive sodium channel present in the eel (Electrophorus electricus) has an unusually high content of sialic acid, including {alpha}-(2{yields}8)-linked polysialic acid, not found in other electroplax membrane glycopeptides. Lectins from Limax flavus (LFA) and wheat germ (WGA) proved the most effective of 11 lectin resins tried. The most selective resin was prepared from IgM antibodies against Neisseria meningitidis {alpha}-(2{yields}8)-polysialic acid which were affinity purified and coupled to Sepharose 4B. The sodium channel was found to bind to WGA, LFA, and IgM resins and was readily eluted with the appropriate soluble carbohydrates. Experiments with LFA and IgM resins demonstrated binding and unbinding rates and displacement kinetics, which suggest highly specific binding at multiple sites on the sodium channel protein. In preparative-scale purification of protein previously fractionated by anion-exchange chromatography, without stabilizing TTX, high yields were reproducibly obtained. Further, when detergent extracts were prepared from electroplax membranes fractionated by low-speed sedimentation, a single step over the IgM resin provided a 70-fold purification, yielding specific activities of 3,200 pmol of ({sup 3}H)TTX-binding sites/mg of protein and a single polypeptide of {approximately}285,000 Da on SDS-acrylamide gels. No small peptides were observed after this 5-h isolation. The authors describe a cation-dependent stabilization with millimolar levels of monovalent and micromolar levels of divalent species.

  9. Microbial production of poly-γ-glutamic acid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sirisansaneeyakul, Sarote; Cao, Mingfeng; Kongklom, Nuttawut; Chuensangjun, Chaniga; Shi, Zhongping; Chisti, Yusuf

    2017-09-05

    Poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) is a natural, biodegradable and water-soluble biopolymer of glutamic acid. This review is focused on nonrecombinant microbial production of γ-PGA via fermentation processes. In view of its commercial importance, the emphasis is on L-glutamic acid independent producers (i.e. microorganisms that do not require feeding with the relatively expensive amino acid L-glutamic acid to produce γ-PGA), but glutamic acid dependent production is discussed for comparison. Strategies for improving production, reducing costs and using renewable feedstocks are discussed.

  10. 40 CFR 180.1187 - L-glutamic acid; exemption from the requirement of a tolerance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false L-glutamic acid; exemption from the... Exemptions From Tolerances § 180.1187 L-glutamic acid; exemption from the requirement of a tolerance. L-glutamic acid is exempt from the requirement of a tolerance on all food commodities when used in accordance...

  11. Fermentation and recovery of L-glutamic acid from cassava starch hydrolysate by ion-exchange resin column

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nampoothiri K. Madhavan

    1999-01-01

    Full Text Available Investigations were carried out with the aim of producing L-glutamic acid from Brevibacterium sp. by utilizing a locally available starchy substrate, cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz. Initial studies were carried out in shake flasks, which showed that even though the yield was high with 85-90 DE (Dextrose Equivalent value, the maximum conversion yield (~34% was obtained by using only partially digested starch hydrolysate, i.e. 45-50 DE. Fermentations were carried out in batch mode in a 5 L fermenter, using suitably diluted cassava starch hydrolysate, using a 85-90 DE value hydrolysate. Media supplemented with nutrients resulted in an accumulation of 21 g/L glutamic acid with a fairly high (66.3% conversation yield of glucose to glutamic acid (based on glucose consumed and on 81.74% theoretical conversion rate. The bioreactor conditions most conducive for maximum production were pH 7.5, temperature 30°C and an agitation of 180 rpm. When fermentation was conducted in fed-batch mode by keeping the residual reducing sugar concentration at 5% w/v, 25.0 g/L of glutamate was obtained after 40 h fermentation (16% more the batch mode. Chromatographic separation by ion-exchange resin was used for the recovery and purification of glutamic acid. It was further crystallized and separated by making use of its low solubility at the isoelectric point (pH 3.2.

  12. Opioid receptor subtypes mediating the noise-induced decreases in high-affinity choline uptake in the rat brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lai, H; Carino, M A

    1992-07-01

    Acute (20 min) exposure to 100-dB white noise elicits a naltrexone-sensitive decrease in sodium-dependent high-affinity choline uptake in the frontal cortex and hippocampus of the rat. In the present study, the subtypes of opioid receptors involved were investigated by pretreating rats with microinjection of specific opioid-receptor antagonists into the lateral cerebroventricle before noise exposure. We found that the noise-induced decrease in high-affinity choline uptake in the hippocampus was blocked by pretreatment with either mu-, delta-, or kappa-opioid-receptor antagonists, whereas the effect of noise on frontal cortical high-affinity choline uptake was blocked by a mu- and delta- but not by a kappa-antagonist. These data further confirm the role of endogenous opioids in mediating the effects of noise on central cholinergic activity and indicate that different neural mechanisms are involved in the effects of noise on the frontal cortical and hippocampal cholinergic systems.

  13. Cardioprotective effect of L-glutamate in obese type 2 diabetic Zucker fatty rats

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Povlsen, Jonas Agerlund; Løfgren, Bo; Rasmussen, Lars Ege

    2009-01-01

    (Wistar-Kyoto) and diabetic (Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF)) rats, studied at 16 weeks of age. The infarct size (IS)/area-at-risk (AAR) ratio was the primary end-point. Expression of L-glutamate excitatory amino acid transporter (EAAT) 1 (mitochondrial) and EAAT3 (sarcolemmal) was determined by quantitative......1. Because diabetic hearts have an increased threshold for cardioprotection by ischaemic preconditioning (IPC), we hypothesized that protection by L-glutamate during reperfusion is restricted in Type 2 diabetic hearts. Previously, we found that L-glutamate-mediated postischaemic cardioprotection...... mimics IPC. 2. Rat hearts were studied in a Langendorff preparation perfused with Krebs'-Henseleit solution and subjected to 40 min global no-flow ischaemia, followed by 120 min reperfusion. L-Glutamate (0, 15 and 30 mmol/L) was added to the perfusate during reperfusion of hearts from non-diabetic...

  14. Polyglutamate copolymers as a tissue-engineering platform: polymer scaffold modification through aminolysis of poly(.gamma.-benzyl-L-glutamate-co-2,2,2-.gamma.-trichlorethyl-L-glutamate)

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Svobodová, Jana; Rypáček, František

    2012-01-01

    Roč. 48, č. 1 (2012), s. 183-190 ISSN 0014-3057 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR KJB400500904; GA ČR GAP108/11/1857; GA MŠk 1M0538 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40500505 Keywords : poly(.gamma.-benzyl-L-glutamate) * 2,2,2-.gamma.-trichlorethyl-L-glutamate * fibres Subject RIV: CD - Macromolecular Chemistry Impact factor: 2.562, year: 2012

  15. Manipulation of isolated brain nerve terminals by an external magnetic field using D-mannose-coated γ-Fe2O3 nano-sized particles and assessment of their effects on glutamate transport.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borisova, Tatiana; Krisanova, Natalia; Borуsov, Arsenii; Sivko, Roman; Ostapchenko, Ludmila; Babic, Michal; Horak, Daniel

    2014-01-01

    The manipulation of brain nerve terminals by an external magnetic field promises breakthroughs in nano-neurotechnology. D-Mannose-coated superparamagnetic nanoparticles were synthesized by coprecipitation of Fe(II) and Fe(III) salts followed by oxidation with sodium hypochlorite and addition of D-mannose. Effects of D-mannose-coated superparamagnetic maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) nanoparticles on key characteristics of the glutamatergic neurotransmission were analysed. Using radiolabeled L-[(14)C]glutamate, it was shown that D-mannose-coated γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles did not affect high-affinity Na(+)-dependent uptake, tonic release and the extracellular level of L-[(14)C]glutamate in isolated rat brain nerve terminals (synaptosomes). Also, the membrane potential of synaptosomes and acidification of synaptic vesicles was not changed as a result of the application of D-mannose-coated γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles. This was demonstrated with the potential-sensitive fluorescent dye rhodamine 6G and the pH-sensitive dye acridine orange. The study also focused on the analysis of the potential use of these nanoparticles for manipulation of nerve terminals by an external magnetic field. It was shown that more than 84.3 ± 5.0% of L-[(14)C]glutamate-loaded synaptosomes (1 mg of protein/mL) incubated for 5 min with D-mannose-coated γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles (250 µg/mL) moved to an area, in which the magnet (250 mT, gradient 5.5 Т/m) was applied compared to 33.5 ± 3.0% of the control and 48.6 ± 3.0% of samples that were treated with uncoated nanoparticles. Therefore, isolated brain nerve terminals can be easily manipulated by an external magnetic field using D-mannose-coated γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles, while the key characteristics of glutamatergic neurotransmission are not affected. In other words, functionally active synaptosomes labeled with D-mannose-coated γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles were obtained.

  16. Intracellular synthesis of glutamic acid in Bacillus methylotrophicus SK19.001, a glutamate-independent poly(γ-glutamic acid)-producing strain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Yingyun; Zhang, Tao; Mu, Wanmeng; Miao, Ming; Jiang, Bo

    2016-01-15

    Bacillus methylotrophicus SK19.001 is a glutamate-independent strain that produces poly(γ-glutamic acid) (γ-PGA), a polymer of D- and L-glutamic acids that possesses applications in food, the environment, agriculture, etc. This study was undertaken to explore the synthetic pathway of intracellular L- and D-glutamic acid in SK19.001 by investigating the effects of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates and different amino acids as metabolic precursors on the production of γ-PGA and analyzing the activities of the enzymes involved in the synthesis of L- and D-glutamate. Tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates and amino acids could participate in the synthesis of γ-PGA via independent pathways in SK19.001. L-Aspartate aminotransferase, L-glutaminase and L-glutamate synthase were the enzymatic sources of L-glutamate. Glutamate racemase was responsible for the formation of D-glutamate for the synthesis of γ-PGA, and the synthetase had stereoselectivity for glutamate substrate. The enzymatic sources of L-glutamate were investigated for the first time in the glutamate-independent γ-PGA-producing strain, and multiple enzymatic sources of L-glutamate were verified in SK19.001, which will benefit efforts to improve production of γ-PGA with metabolic engineering strategies. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

  17. Characterization of high-affinity (/sup 3/H)ouabain binding in the rat central nervous system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hauger, R.; Luu, H.M.; Meyer, D.K.; Goodwin, F.K.; Paul, S.M.

    1985-06-01

    The characteristics of (/sup 3/H)ouabain binding were examined in various areas of rat brain. In the striatum, Scatchard analysis revealed a single class of high-affinity binding sites with an apparent binding affinity (KD) of 10.4 +/- 0.9 nM and an estimated binding capacity (Bmax) of 7.6 +/- 1.9 pmol/mg protein. Similar monophasic Scatchard plots were found in the brainstem, cerebellum, hypothalamus, and frontal cerebral cortex. (/sup 3/H)Ouabain binding to rat brain was sodium- and ATP-dependent and strongly inhibited by potassium. Proscillariden A was the most potent cardiac glycoside tested in inhibiting specific (/sup 3/H)ouabain binding to brain membranes, and the rank order of inhibitory potencies for a series of cardiac glycosides was similar to that previously reported for inhibition of heart Na,K-ATPase. To assess whether the high-affinity binding sites for (/sup 3/H)ouabain were localized to neuronal or nonneuronal membranes, the effect of discrete kainic acid lesions on striatal (/sup 3/H)ouabain binding was examined. Kainic acid lesions of the striatum reduced (/sup 3/H)ouabain binding to striatal homogenates by 79.6 +/- 1.6%. This suggests that the high-affinity (/sup 3/H)ouabain binding sites measured in our experiments are localized to neuronal elements. Thus, the high-affinity binding of (/sup 3/H)ouabain to brain membranes may selectively label a neuronal form or conformation of Na,K-ATPase.

  18. Influence of additive L-phenylalanine on stabilization of metastable α-form of L-glutamic acid in cooling crystallization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quang, Khuu Chau; Nhan, Le Thi Hong; Huyen, Trinh Thi Thanh; Tuan, Nguyen Anh

    2017-09-01

    The influence of additive amino acid L-phenylalanine on stabilization of metastable α-form of L-glutamic acid was investigated in cooling crystallization. The present study found that the additive L-phenylalanine could be used to stabilize the pure metastable α-form in L-glutamic acid crystallization, where the additive concentration of 0.05-0.1 (g/L) was sufficient to stabilize the 100% wt metastable α-form in solid product at L-glutamic acid concentration of 30-45 (g/L). Additionally, the present results indicated that the adsorption of additive L-phenylalanine on the (001) surface of α-form was more favorable than that of the β-form molecular, so the nucleation sites of stable β-form was occupied by additive molecular, which resulted in inhibition of nucleation and growth of β-form, allowing stabilization of metastable α-form.

  19. Gender-specific desensitization of group I metabotropic glutamate receptors after maternal l-glutamate intake during lactation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    López-Zapata, Antonio; León-Navarro, David Agustín; Crespo, María; Martín, Mairena

    2018-04-22

    In the present work we have studied the effect of maternal intake of l-Glutamate (l-Glu) (1 g/L) during lactation on group I mGluR transduction pathway in brain plasma membrane from 15 days-old neonates. Results obtained have shown that maternal l-glutamate intake did not significantly affect neither weights of pups nor negative geotaxis reflex, an index of neurobehavioral development, but increased l-Glu plasma level in both male and female neonates. In male neonates, maternal l-Glu intake evoked a loss of mGluR 1 whereas no variation on mGluR 5 was observed as revealed by Western-blotting assay. The loss of mGlu 1 R was accompanied by a decrease on l-Glu-stimulated phospholipase C activity suggesting, therefore, a loss of group I mGluR functionality. Concerning female neonates, no variations were detected neither mGluR 1 nor mGluR 5 and group I mGluR functionality was also preserved. Copyright © 2018 ISDN. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Reduced expression of glutamate transporter EAAT2 and impaired glutamate transport in human primary astrocytes exposed to HIV-1 or gp120

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Zhuying; Pekarskaya, Olga; Bencheikh, Meryem; Chao Wei; Gelbard, Harris A.; Ghorpade, Anuja; Rothstein, Jeffrey D.; Volsky, David J.

    2003-01-01

    L-Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain. Astrocytes maintain low levels of synaptic glutamate by high-affinity uptake and defects in this function may lead to neuronal cell death by excitotoxicity. We tested the effects of HIV-1 and its envelope glycoprotein gp120 upon glutamate uptake and expression of glutamate transporters EAAT1 and EAAT2 in fetal human astrocytes in vitro. Astrocytes isolated from fetal tissues between 16 and 19 weeks of gestation expressed EAAT1 and EAAT2 RNA and proteins as detected by Northern blot analysis and immunoblotting, respectively, and the cells were capable of specific glutamate uptake. Exposure of astrocytes to HIV-1 or gp120 significantly impaired glutamate uptake by the cells, with maximum inhibition within 6 h, followed by gradual decline during 3 days of observation. HIV-1-infected cells showed a 59% reduction in V max for glutamate transport, indicating a reduction in the number of active transporter sites on the cell surface. Impaired glutamate transport after HIV-1 infection or gp120 exposure correlated with a 40-70% decline in steady-state levels of EAAT2 RNA and protein. EAAT1 RNA and protein levels were less affected. Treatment of astrocytes with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) decreased the expression of both EAAT1 and EAAT2, but neither HIV-1 nor gp120 were found to induce TNF-α production by astrocytes. These findings demonstrate that HIV-1 and gp120 induce transcriptional downmodulation of the EAAT2 transporter gene in human astrocytes and coordinately attenuate glutamate transport by the cells. Reduction of the ability of HIV-1-infected astrocytes to take up glutamate may contribute to the development of neurological disease

  1. Proadifen-sensitive high affinity binding of 3H-alaproclate to liver membranes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ross, S.B.

    1987-01-01

    3 H-alaproclate, a selective 5 h ydroxytryptamine uptake inhibitor, was found to bind to microsomal membranes from the rat liver with high affinity (K D -=3 nM) and large capacity (B max about 2 nmol/g liver). This binding was stereoselective since S-( - )-alaproclate was 30 times more potent than the R-( + )-enantiomer to displace the 3 H-labelled racemate. Proadifen (SKF 525A), an inhibitor of cytochrome P-450, displaced the 3 H-alaproclate binding with the same, high affinity (K i =3 nM) as alaproclate itself. Repeated treatment with phenobarbital sodium (5x75 mg/kg intraperitoneally) increased the number of alaproclate binding sites 7-8 times without changing the affinity. However, most of the phenobarbital induced 3 H-alaproclate binding was not displaceable by proadifen, showing the presence of at least two different high affinity binding sites. The possible involvement of cytochrome P-450 in the alaproclate binding is discussed. (author)

  2. Low dose of L-glutamic acid attenuated the neurological dysfunctions and excitotoxicity in bilateral common carotid artery occluded mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramanathan, Muthiah; Abdul, Khadar K; Justin, Antony

    2016-10-01

    Glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, produces excitotoxicity through its agonistic action on postsynaptic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, resulting in neurodegeneration. We hypothesized that the administration of low doses of glutamate in cerebral ischemia could attenuate the excitotoxicity in neurons through its autoreceptor regulatory mechanism, and thereby control neurodegeneration. To test the hypothesis, the effect of L-glutamic acid (L-GA) 400 μmol/l/kg was evaluated in a bilateral common carotid artery occlusion-induced global ischemic mouse model. Memantine was used as a positive control. Global ischemia in mice was induced by occlusion of both the common carotid artery (bilateral common carotid artery occlusion) for 20 min, followed by reperfusion injury. L-GA was infused slowly through the tail vein 30 min before the surgery and every 24 h thereafter until the end of the experiment. The time-dependent change in cerebral blood flow was monitored using a laser Doppler image analyzer. The neurotransmitters glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and the neurobiochemicals ATP, glutathione, and nitric oxide were measured in the different regions of brain at 0, 24, 48, and 72 h after reperfusion injury. L-GA increased locomotor activity, muscle coordination, and cerebral blood flow in ischemic mice at 72 h after ischemic insult. L-GA reduced glutamate levels in the cortex, striatum, and hippocampus at 72 h, whereas GABA levels were elevated in all three brain regions studied. Further, L-GA elevated glutathione levels and attenuated nitric oxide levels, but failed to restore ATP levels 72 h after ischemia-reperfusion. We conclude that the gradual reduction of glutamate along with elevation of GABA in different brain regions could have contributed toward the neuroprotective effect of L-GA. Hence, a slow infusion of a low dose of L-GA could be beneficial in controlling excitotoxicity-induced neurodegeneration following ischemia.

  3. Cardioprotective effect of L-glutamate in obese type 2 diabetic Zucker fatty rats

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Povlsen, Jonas Agerlund; Løfgren, Bo; Rasmussen, Lars Ege

    2009-01-01

    (Wistar-Kyoto) and diabetic (Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF)) rats, studied at 16 weeks of age. The infarct size (IS)/area-at-risk (AAR) ratio was the primary end-point. Expression of L-glutamate excitatory amino acid transporter (EAAT) 1 (mitochondrial) and EAAT3 (sarcolemmal) was determined by quantitative...... was downregulated in hearts from ZDF rats at both the mRNA and protein levels (P diabetic hearts (P obese diabetic rats have......1. Because diabetic hearts have an increased threshold for cardioprotection by ischaemic preconditioning (IPC), we hypothesized that protection by L-glutamate during reperfusion is restricted in Type 2 diabetic hearts. Previously, we found that L-glutamate-mediated postischaemic cardioprotection...

  4. NADPH-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase in Penicillium chrysogenum is involved in regulation of beta-lactam production

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thykær, Jette; Kildegaard, Kanchana Rueksomtawin; Noorman, H.

    2008-01-01

    was detected in either of the Delta gdhA strains. Supplementation with glutamate restored growth but no beta-lactam production was detected for the constructed strains. Cultures with high ammonium concentrations (repressing conditions) and with proline as nitrogen source (de-repressed conditions) showed......The interactions between the ammonium assimilatory pathways and beta-lactam production were investigated by disruption of the NADPH-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase gene (gdhA) in two industrial beta-lactam-producing strains of Penicillium chrysogenum. The strains used were an adipoyl-7-ADCA...... continued beta-lactam production for the reference strains whereas the Delta gdhA strains remained non-productive under all conditions. By overexpressing the NAD-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase, the specific growth rate could be restored, but still no beta-lactam production was detected. The results...

  5. Primary afferent depolarization and changes in extracellular potassium concentration induced by L-glutamate and L-proline in the isolated spinal cord of the frog.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vyklický, L; Vyskocil, F; Kolaj, M; Jastreboff, P

    1982-10-08

    To test the hypothesis that L-proline acts as an antagonist on glutamate receptors [17, 18], the interaction between L-glutamate and L-proline was studied in the isolated spinal cord of the frog. Glutamate at concentrations of 10(-6) -5 x 10(-3) mol/l depolarized the primary afferent fibres and increased extracellular potassium concentration, [K+]e, by 0.3-4 mmol/l. Repeated applications lead to inactivation of the response. L-Proline at 5 x 10(-3) -10(-2) mol/l, also depolarized the primary afferents and increased [K+]e by 0.5-2 mmol/l, but there was only a slight decrease of the effects after repeated application. The effects were additive when the amino acids were applied simultaneously. The effect of L-proline was still present when it was applied during inactivation of the glutamate receptors. This suggests that L-glutamate and L-proline act on different receptors.

  6. High specific activity N-Acetyl-3{sup H}-{alpha}-Aspartyl- L-Glutamic at micro mole scale; Sintesis de N-Acetil-3{sup H}- {alpha} -Aspartil-Glutamico a escala de Micromoles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Suarez, C

    1984-07-01

    High specific activity N-Acetyl-3{sup H}- {alpha} -Aspartyl-I-Glutamic acid at micro mole scale in prepared acetylating L- {alpha} -Aspartyl-L-glutamic with 3{sup H}-acetic anhydride in re distilled toluene. The product le purified through cationic and anionic columns. The radiochemical purity as determined by thin-layer chromatography is greater then 99% at the time preparation. (Author) 5 refs.

  7. 3-Nitropropionic acid neurotoxicity in organotypic striatal and corticostriatal slice cultures is dependent on glucose and glutamate

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Storgaard, J; Kornblit, B T; Zimmer, J

    2000-01-01

    of lactate dehydrogenase in the medium and glutamic acid decarboxylase in tissue homogenates. 3-NPA toxicity (25-100 microM in 5 mM glucose, 24-48 h) appeared to be highly dependent on culture medium glucose levels. 3-NPA treatment caused also a dose-dependent lactate increase, reaching a maximum......Mitochondrial inhibition by 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NPA) causes striatal degeneration reminiscent of Huntington's disease. We studied 3-NPA neurotoxicity and possible indirect excitotoxicity in organotypic striatal and corticostriatal slice cultures. Neurotoxicity was quantified by assay...... of threefold increase above control at 100 microM. Both a high dose of glutamate (5 mM) and glutamate uptake blockade by dl-threo-beta-hydroxyaspartate potentiated 3-NPA neurotoxicity in corticostriatal slice cultures. Furthermore, striatum from corticostriatal cocultures was more sensitive to 3-NPA than...

  8. Mutations of the Corynebacterium glutamicum NCgl1221 Gene, Encoding a Mechanosensitive Channel Homolog, Induce l-Glutamic Acid Production▿

    OpenAIRE

    Nakamura, Jun; Hirano, Seiko; Ito, Hisao; Wachi, Masaaki

    2007-01-01

    Corynebacterium glutamicum is a biotin auxotroph that secretes l-glutamic acid in response to biotin limitation; this process is employed in industrial l-glutamic acid production. Fatty acid ester surfactants and penicillin also induce l-glutamic acid secretion, even in the presence of biotin. However, the mechanism of l-glutamic acid secretion remains unclear. It was recently reported that disruption of odhA, encoding a subunit of the 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex, resulted in l-gluta...

  9. GDH-Dependent Glutamate Oxidation in the Brain Dictates Peripheral Energy Substrate Distribution

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karaca, Melis; Frigerio, Francesca; Migrenne, Stephanie

    2015-01-01

    in a central energy-deprivation state with increased ADP/ATP ratios and phospho-AMPK in the hypothalamus. This induced changes in the autonomous nervous system balance, with increased sympathetic activity promoting hepatic glucose production and mobilization of substrates reshaping peripheral energy stores...... glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) activity. Here, we investigated the significance of glutamate as energy substrate for the brain. Upon glutamate exposure, astrocytes generated ATP in a GDH-dependent way. The observed lack of glutamate oxidation in brain-specific GDH null CnsGlud1(-/-) mice resulted...

  10. Imaging of the human heart after administration of l-(N-13)glutamate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gelbard, A.S.; Benua, R.S.; Reiman, R.E.; McDonald, J.M.; Vomero, J.J.; Laughlin, J.S.

    1980-01-01

    In normal volunteers and cancer patients, studies using L-(N-13)glutamate as an imaging agent showed localization of N-13 activity in the heart. Other organs that were well visualized include the liver, pancreas, and salivary glands. The concentration of N-13 activity in the human heart could not be predicted from previous studies involving myocardial uptake in dogs and rodents after administration of L-(N-13)glutamate

  11. Solid-state conformation of copolymers of ß-benzyl-L-aspartate with L-alanine, L-leucine, L-valine, γ-benzyl-L-glutamate, or ε-carbobenzoxy-L-lysine

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sederel, Willem L.; Bantjes, Adriaan; Feijen, Jan; Anderson, James M.

    1980-01-01

    The solid-state conformation of copolymers of ß-benzyl-L-aspartate [L-Asp(OBzl)] with L-leucine (L-Leu), L-alanine (L-Ala), L-valine (L-Val), γ-benzyl-L-glutamate [L-Glu(OBzl)], or ε-carbobenzoxy-L-lysine (Cbz-L-Lys) has been studied by ir spectroscopy and circular dichroism (CD). The ir spectra in

  12. Proadifen-sensitive high affinity binding of /sup 3/H-alaproclate to liver membranes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ross, S.B.

    1987-01-01

    /sup 3/H-alaproclate, a selective 5/sub h/ydroxytryptamine uptake inhibitor, was found to bind to microsomal membranes from the rat liver with high affinity (K/sub D/-=3 nM) and large capacity (B/sub max/ about 2 nmol/g liver). This binding was stereoselective since S-( - )-alaproclate was 30 times more potent than the R-( + )-enantiomer to displace the /sup 3/H-labelled racemate. Proadifen (SKF 525A), an inhibitor of cytochrome P-450, displaced the /sup 3/H-alaproclate binding with the same, high affinity (K/sub i/=3 nM) as alaproclate itself. Repeated treatment with phenobarbital sodium (5x75 mg/kg intraperitoneally) increased the number of alaproclate binding sites 7-8 times without changing the affinity. However, most of the phenobarbital induced /sup 3/H-alaproclate binding was not displaceable by proadifen, showing the presence of at least two different high affinity binding sites. The possible involvement of cytochrome P-450 in the alaproclate binding is discussed.

  13. Prolonged continuous intravenous infusion of the dipeptide L-alanine- L-glutamine significantly increases plasma glutamine and alanine without elevating brain glutamate in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nägeli, Mirjam; Fasshauer, Mario; Sommerfeld, Jutta; Fendel, Angela; Brandi, Giovanna; Stover, John F

    2014-07-02

    Low plasma glutamine levels are associated with worse clinical outcome. Intravenous glutamine infusion dose- dependently increases plasma glutamine levels, thereby correcting hypoglutaminemia. Glutamine may be transformed to glutamate which might limit its application at a higher dose in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). To date, the optimal glutamine dose required to normalize plasma glutamine levels without increasing plasma and cerebral glutamate has not yet been defined. Changes in plasma and cerebral glutamine, alanine, and glutamate as well as indirect signs of metabolic impairment reflected by increased intracranial pressure (ICP), lactate, lactate-to-pyruvate ratio, electroencephalogram (EEG) activity were determined before, during, and after continuous intravenous infusion of 0.75 g L-alanine-L-glutamine which was given either for 24 hours (group 1, n = 6) or 5 days (group 2, n = 6) in addition to regular enteral nutrition. Lab values including nitrogen balance, urea and ammonia were determined daily. Continuous L-alanine-L-glutamine infusion significantly increased plasma and cerebral glutamine as well as alanine levels, being mostly sustained during the 5 day infusion phase (plasma glutamine: from 295 ± 62 to 500 ± 145 μmol/ l; brain glutamine: from 183 ± 188 to 549 ± 120 μmol/ l; plasma alanine: from 327 ± 91 to 622 ± 182 μmol/ l; brain alanine: from 48 ± 55 to 89 ± 129 μmol/ l; p alanine-L-glutamine infusion (0.75 g/ kg/ d up to 5 days) increased plasma and brain glutamine and alanine levels. This was not associated with elevated glutamate or signs of potential glutamate-mediated cerebral injury. The increased nitrogen load should be considered in patients with renal and hepatic dysfunction. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02130674. Registered 5 April 2014.

  14. Influence of glutamic acid enantiomers on C-mineralization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Formánek, Pavel; Vranová, Valerie; Lojková, Lea

    2015-02-01

    Seasonal dynamics in the mineralization of glutamic acid enantiomers in soils from selected ecosystems was determined and subjected to a range of treatments: ambient x elevated CO2 level and meadow x dense x thinned forest environment. Mineralization of glutamic acid was determined by incubation of the soil with 2 mg L- or D-glutamic acid g(-1) of dry soil to induce the maximum respiration rate. Mineralization of glutamic acid enantiomers in soils fluctuates over the course of a vegetation season, following a similar trend across a range of ecosystems. Mineralization is affected by environmental changes and management practices, including elevated CO2 level and thinning intensity. L-glutamic acid metabolism is more dependent on soil type as compared to metabolism of its D-enantiomer. The results support the hypothesis that the slower rate of D- compared to L- amino acid mineralization is due to different roles in anabolism and catabolism of the soil microbial community. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  15. Distribution of radiolabeled L-glutamate and D-aspartate from blood into peripheral tissues in naive rats: Significance for brain neuroprotection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klin, Yael; Zlotnik, Alexander; Boyko, Matthew; Ohayon, Sharon; Shapira, Yoram; Teichberg, Vivian I.

    2010-01-01

    Research highlights: → Blood glutamate has a half-life time of 2-3 min. → Blood glutamate is submitted to rapid decarboxylation. → Blood glutamate and its metabolites are mainly absorbed in skeletal muscle and liver. → The skeletal muscle and liver are now targets for potential drugs affording brain neuroprotection. -- Abstract: Excess L-glutamate (glutamate) levels in brain interstitial and cerebrospinal fluids (ISF and CSF, respectively) are the hallmark of several neurodegenerative conditions such as stroke, traumatic brain injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Its removal could prevent the glutamate excitotoxicity that causes long-lasting neurological deficits. As in previous studies, we have established the role of blood glutamate levels in brain neuroprotection, we have now investigated the contribution of the peripheral organs to the homeostasis of glutamate in blood. We have administered naive rats with intravenous injections of either L-[1- 14 C] Glutamic acid (L-[1- 14 C] Glu), L-[G- 3 H] Glutamic acid (L-[G- 3 H] Glu) or D-[2,3- 3 H] Aspartic acid (D-[2,3- 3 H] Asp), a non-metabolized analog of glutamate, and have followed their distribution into peripheral organs. We have observed that the decay of the radioactivity associated with L-[1- 14 C] Glu and L-[G- 3 H] Glu was faster than that associated with glutamate non-metabolized analog, D-[2,3- 3 H] Asp. L-[1- 14 C] Glu was subjected in blood to a rapid decarboxylation with the loss of 14 CO 2 . The three major sequestrating organs, serving as depots for the eliminated glutamate and/or its metabolites were skeletal muscle, liver and gut, contributing together 92% or 87% of total L-[U- 14 C] Glu or D-[2,3- 3 H] Asp radioactivity capture. L-[U- 14 C] Glu and D-[2,3- 3 H] Asp showed a different organ sequestration pattern. We conclude that glutamate is rapidly eliminated from the blood into peripheral tissues, mainly in non-metabolized form. The liver plays a central role in glutamate metabolism

  16. Distribution of radiolabeled L-glutamate and D-aspartate from blood into peripheral tissues in naive rats: Significance for brain neuroprotection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Klin, Yael [Department of Neurobiology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100 (Israel); Zlotnik, Alexander; Boyko, Matthew; Ohayon, Sharon; Shapira, Yoram [The Division of Anesthesiology, Soroka Medical Center and Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva (Israel); Teichberg, Vivian I., E-mail: Vivian.teichberg@weizmann.ac.il [Department of Neurobiology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100 (Israel)

    2010-09-03

    Research highlights: {yields} Blood glutamate has a half-life time of 2-3 min. {yields} Blood glutamate is submitted to rapid decarboxylation. {yields} Blood glutamate and its metabolites are mainly absorbed in skeletal muscle and liver. {yields} The skeletal muscle and liver are now targets for potential drugs affording brain neuroprotection. -- Abstract: Excess L-glutamate (glutamate) levels in brain interstitial and cerebrospinal fluids (ISF and CSF, respectively) are the hallmark of several neurodegenerative conditions such as stroke, traumatic brain injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Its removal could prevent the glutamate excitotoxicity that causes long-lasting neurological deficits. As in previous studies, we have established the role of blood glutamate levels in brain neuroprotection, we have now investigated the contribution of the peripheral organs to the homeostasis of glutamate in blood. We have administered naive rats with intravenous injections of either L-[1-{sup 14}C] Glutamic acid (L-[1-{sup 14}C] Glu), L-[G-{sup 3}H] Glutamic acid (L-[G-{sup 3}H] Glu) or D-[2,3-{sup 3}H] Aspartic acid (D-[2,3-{sup 3}H] Asp), a non-metabolized analog of glutamate, and have followed their distribution into peripheral organs. We have observed that the decay of the radioactivity associated with L-[1-{sup 14}C] Glu and L-[G-{sup 3}H] Glu was faster than that associated with glutamate non-metabolized analog, D-[2,3-{sup 3}H] Asp. L-[1-{sup 14}C] Glu was subjected in blood to a rapid decarboxylation with the loss of {sup 14}CO{sub 2}. The three major sequestrating organs, serving as depots for the eliminated glutamate and/or its metabolites were skeletal muscle, liver and gut, contributing together 92% or 87% of total L-[U-{sup 14}C] Glu or D-[2,3-{sup 3}H] Asp radioactivity capture. L-[U-{sup 14}C] Glu and D-[2,3-{sup 3}H] Asp showed a different organ sequestration pattern. We conclude that glutamate is rapidly eliminated from the blood into peripheral tissues

  17. Quantitative autoradiographic distribution of L-[3H]glutamate-binding sites in rat central nervous system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Greenamyre, J.T.; Young, A.B.; Penney, J.B.

    1984-01-01

    Quantitative autoradiography was used to determine the distribution of L-[3H]glutamate-binding sites in the rat central nervous system. Autoradiography was carried out in the presence of Cl- and Ca2+ ions. Scatchard plots and Hill coefficients of glutamate binding suggested that glutamate was interacting with a single population of sites having a K-D of about 300 nM and a capacity of 14.5 pmol/mg of protein. In displacement studies, ibotenate also appeared to bind to a single class of non-interacting sites with a KI of 28 microM. However, quisqualate displacement of [3H]glutamate binding revealed two well-resolved sites with KIS of 12 nM and 114 microM in striatum. These sites were unevenly distributed, representing different proportions of specific glutamate binding in different brain regions. The distribution of glutamate-binding sites correlated very well with the projection areas of putative glutamatergic pathways. This technique provides an extremely sensitive assay which can be used to gather detailed pharmacological and anatomical information about L-[3H]glutamate binding in the central nervous system

  18. A magnetic resonance study of the segmental motion and local conformations of poly-(L-glutamic acid) in aqueous solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsutsumi, Akihiro; Perly, Bruno; Forchioni, Alain; Chachaty, Claude.

    1978-01-01

    A study was made on: ESR of spin labeled poly (L-glutamic acid) (PLGA); proton chemical shifts and vicinal coupling constants; pH dependences of proton and deuteron relaxations; proton relaxation enhancement in spin labeled PLGA; proton and carbon 13 relaxations in neutral solutions

  19. Uptake and metabolism of L-[3H]glutamate and L-[3H]glutamine in adult rat cerebellar slices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    de Barry, J.; Vincendon, G.; Gombos, G.

    1983-01-01

    Using very low concentrations (1 mumol range) of L-2-3-[ 3 H]glutamate, ( 3 H-Glu) or L-2-3-[ 3 H]glutamine ( 3 H-Gln), the authors have previously shown by autoradiography that these amino acids were preferentially taken up in the molecular layer of the cerebellar cortex. Furthermore, the accumulation of 3 H-Glu was essentially glial in these conditions. Uptake and metabolism of either ( 3 H-Glu) or ( 3 H-Gln) were studied in adult rat cerebellar slices. Both amino acids were rapidly converted into other metabolic compounds: after seven minutes of incubation in the presence of exogenous 3 H-Glu, 70% of the tissue accumulated radioactivity was found to be in compounds other than glutamate. The main metabolites were Gln (42%), alpha-ketoglutarate (25%) and GABA (1,4%). In the presence of exogenous 3 H-Gln the rate of metabolism was slightly slower (50% after seven minutes of incubation) and the metabolites were also Glu (29%), alpha-ketoglutarate (15%) and GABA (5%). Using depolarizing conditions (56 mM KCl) with either exogenous 3 H-Glu or 3 H-Gln, the radioactivity was preferentially accumulated in glutamate compared to control. From these results we conclude: i) there are two cellular compartments for the neurotransmission-glutamate-glutamine cycle; one is glial, the other neuronal; ii) these two cellular compartments contain both Gln and Glu; iii) transmitter glutamate is always in equilibrium with the so-called ''metabolic'' pool of glutamate; iv) the regulation of the glutamate-glutamine cycle occurs at least at two different levels: the uptake of glutamate and the enzymatic activity of the neuronal glutaminase

  20. Insulin affects the sodium affinity of the rat adipocyte (Na+,K+)-ATPase

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lytton, J.

    1985-01-01

    The K0.5 for intracellular sodium of the two forms of (Na + ,K + )-ATPase which exist in rat adipocytes has been determined by incubating the cells in the absence of potassium in buffers of varying sodium concentration; these conditions shut off the Na + pump and allow sodium to equilibrate into the cell. The activity of (Na + ,K + )-ATPase was then monitored with 86 Rb + /K + pumping which was initiated by adding isotope and KCl to 5 mM, followed by a 3-min uptake period. Atomic absorption and 22 Na + tracer equilibration were used to determine the actual intracellular [Na + ] under the different conditions. The K0.5 values thus obtained were 17 mM for alpha and 52 mM for alpha(+). Insulin treatment of rat adipocytes had no effect on the intracellular [Na+] nor on the Vmax of 86 Rb + /K + pumping, but did produce a shift in the sodium ion K0.5 values to 14 mM for alpha and 33 mM for alpha(+). This change in affinity can explain the selective stimulation of alpha(+) by insulin under normal incubation conditions

  1. A pharmacological profile of the high-affinity GluK5 kainate receptor

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møllerud, Stine; Kastrup, Jette Sandholm Jensen; Pickering, Darryl S

    2016-01-01

    -hydroxyisoxazol-4-yl)propionate (ATPA), dihydrokainate and (2 S,4 R)−4-methyl-glutamate (SYM2081) have higher affinity at GluK3 compared to GluK5. Since some studies have indicated that GluK5 is associated with various diseases in the central nervous system (e.g. schizophrenia, temporal lobe epilepsy, bipolar...

  2. Evidence for a specific glutamate/H+ cotransport in isolated mesophyll cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McCutcheon, S.L.; Bown, A.W.

    1987-01-01

    Mechanically isolated Asparagus sprengeri Regel mesophyll cells were suspended in 1 millimolar CaSO 4 . Immediate alkalinization of the medium occurred on the addition of 1 millimolar concentrations of L-glutamate (Glu) and its analog L-methionine-D,L-sulfoximine (L-MSO). D-Glu and the L isomers of the protein amino acids did not elicit alkalinization. L-Glu dependent alkalinization was transient and acidification resumed after approximately 30 to 45 minutes. At pH 6.0, 5 millimolar L-Glu stimulated initial rates of alkalinization that varied between 1.3 to 4.1 nmol H + /10 6 cells minute. L-Glu dependent alkalinization was saturable, increased with decreasing pH, was inhibited by carbonyl cyanide-p-trichloromethoxyphenyl hydrazone (CCCP), and was not stimulated by light. Uptake of L-[U- 14 C]glutamate increased as the pH decreased from 6.5 to 5.5, and was inhibited by L-MSO. L-Glu had no influence on K + efflux. Although evidence for multiple amino acid/proton cotransport systems has been found in other tissues, the present report indicates that a highly specific L-Glu/proton uptake process is present in Asparagus mesophyll cells

  3. L-lactic acid and sodium p-toluenesulfonate co-doped polypyrrole for high performance cathode in sodium ion battery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Qishu; Hou, Hongying; Liu, Xianxi; Yao, Yuan; Dai, Zhipeng; Yu, Chengyi; Li, Dongdong

    2018-04-01

    In this work, polypyrrole (PPy) was co-doped with L-lactic acid (LA) and sodium p-toluenesulfonate (TsONa) for high performance cathode in sodium ion battery (SIB) via facile one-step electropolymerization on Fe foil. The as-synthesized LA/TsONa co-doped PPy cathode was investigated in terms of scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), galvanostatic charge/discharge and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The results suggested that some oval-bud-like LA/TsONa co-doped PPy particles did form and tightly combine with the surface of Fe foil; furthermore, LA/TsONa co-doped PPy cathode also delivered higher electrochemical performances than TsONa mono-doped PPy cathode. For example, the initial specific discharge capacity was as high as about 124 mAh/g, and the reversible specific capacity still maintained at about 110 mAh/g even after 50 cycles, higher than those of TsONa mono-doped PPy cathode. The synergy effect of multi components of LA/TsONa co-doped PPy cathode should be responsible for high electrochemical performances.

  4. The effects of reactants ratios, reaction temperatures and times on Maillard reaction products of the L-ascorbic acid/L-glutamic acid system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yong-Yan ZHOU

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The transformation law of the Maillard reaction products with three different reactants ratios - equimolar reactants, excess L-glutamic acid and excess L-ascorbic acid reaction respectively, five different temperatures, and different time conditions for the L-ascorbic acid / L-glutamic acid system were investigated. Results showed that, the increase of the reaction time and temperature led to the increase of the browning products, uncoloured intermediate products, as well as aroma compounds. Compared with the equimolar reaction system, the excess L-ascorbic acid reaction system produced more browning products and uncoloured intermediate products, while the aroma compounds production remained the same. In the excess L-glutamic acid system, the uncoloured intermediate products increased slightly, the browning products remained the same, while the aroma compounds increased.

  5. Control of sodium fires and sodium-water reactions in breeder reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Foerster, K.; Ruloff, G.; Voss, J.

    1985-01-01

    The excellent neutronic and thermodynamic properties of sodium as a fast-reactor coolant are somewhat counterbalanced by its high oxygen affinity. Because incidents like sodium fires and sodium-water reactions cannot be absolutely excluded, their effects and preventive measures have to be investigated. Characteristics and counter-measures are discussed. (orig.) [de

  6. Structural implications of hERG K+ channel block by a high-affinity minimally structured blocker

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helliwell, Matthew V.; Zhang, Yihong; El Harchi, Aziza; Du, Chunyun; Hancox, Jules C.; Dempsey, Christopher E.

    2018-01-01

    Cardiac potassium channels encoded by human ether-à-go-go–related gene (hERG) are major targets for structurally diverse drugs associated with acquired long QT syndrome. This study characterized hERG channel inhibition by a minimally structured high-affinity hERG inhibitor, Cavalli-2, composed of three phenyl groups linked by polymethylene spacers around a central amino group, chosen to probe the spatial arrangement of side chain groups in the high-affinity drug-binding site of the hERG pore. hERG current (IhERG) recorded at physiological temperature from HEK293 cells was inhibited with an IC50 of 35.6 nm with time and voltage dependence characteristic of blockade contingent upon channel gating. Potency of Cavalli-2 action was markedly reduced for attenuated inactivation mutants located near (S620T; 54-fold) and remote from (N588K; 15-fold) the channel pore. The S6 Y652A and F656A mutations decreased inhibitory potency 17- and 75-fold, respectively, whereas T623A and S624A at the base of the selectivity filter also decreased potency (16- and 7-fold, respectively). The S5 helix F557L mutation decreased potency 10-fold, and both F557L and Y652A mutations eliminated voltage dependence of inhibition. Computational docking using the recent cryo-EM structure of an open channel hERG construct could only partially recapitulate experimental data, and the high dependence of Cavalli-2 block on Phe-656 is not readily explainable in that structure. A small clockwise rotation of the inner (S6) helix of the hERG pore from its configuration in the cryo-EM structure may be required to optimize Phe-656 side chain orientations compatible with high-affinity block. PMID:29545312

  7. Involvement of direct inhibition of NMDA receptors in the effects of sigma-receptor ligands on glutamate neurotoxicity in vitro.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishikawa, H; Hashino, A; Kume, T; Katsuki, H; Kaneko, S; Akaike, A

    2000-09-15

    This study was performed to examine the roles of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor/phencyclidine (PCP) channel complex in the protective effects of sigma-receptor ligands against glutamate neurotoxicity in cultured cortical neurons derived from fetal rats. A 1-h exposure of cultures to glutamate caused a marked loss of viability, as determined by Trypan blue exclusion. This acute neurotoxicity of glutamate was prevented by NMDA receptor antagonists. Expression of sigma(1) receptor mRNA in cortical cultures was confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). sigma Receptor ligands with affinity for NMDA receptor channels including the PCP site, such as (+)-N-allylnormetazocine ((+)-SKF10,047), haloperidol, and R(-)-N-(3-phenyl-1-propyl)-1-phenyl-2-aminopropane ((-)-PPAP), prevented glutamate neurotoxicity in a concentration-dependent manner. In contrast, other sigma-receptor ligands without affinity for NMDA receptors, such as carbetapentane and R(+)-3-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-N-propylpiperidine ((+)-3-PPP), did not show neuroprotective effects. Putative endogenous sigma receptor ligands such as pregnenolone, progesterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone did not affect glutamate neurotoxicity. The protective effects of (+)-SKF10,047, haloperidol, and (-)-PPAP were not affected by the sigma(1) receptor antagonist rimcazole. These results suggested that a direct interaction with NMDA receptors but not with sigma receptors plays a crucial role in the neuroprotective effects of sigma receptor ligands with affinity for NMDA receptors.

  8. Dual and Direction-Selective Mechanisms of Phosphate Transport by the Vesicular Glutamate Transporter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julia Preobraschenski

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Summary: Vesicular glutamate transporters (VGLUTs fill synaptic vesicles with glutamate and are thus essential for glutamatergic neurotransmission. However, VGLUTs were originally discovered as members of a transporter subfamily specific for inorganic phosphate (Pi. It is still unclear how VGLUTs accommodate glutamate transport coupled to an electrochemical proton gradient ΔμH+ with inversely directed Pi transport coupled to the Na+ gradient and the membrane potential. Using both functional reconstitution and heterologous expression, we show that VGLUT transports glutamate and Pi using a single substrate binding site but different coupling to cation gradients. When facing the cytoplasm, both ions are transported into synaptic vesicles in a ΔμH+-dependent fashion, with glutamate preferred over Pi. When facing the extracellular space, Pi is transported in a Na+-coupled manner, with glutamate competing for binding but at lower affinity. We conclude that VGLUTs have dual functions in both vesicle transmitter loading and Pi homeostasis within glutamatergic neurons. : Preobraschenski et al. show that the vesicular glutamate transporter functions as a bi-directional phosphate transporter that is coupled with different cations in each direction and hence may play a key role in neuronal phosphate homeostasis. Keywords: VGLUT, SLC17 family, type I Na+-dependent inorganic phosphate transporter, ATPase, proteoliposomes, hybrid vesicles, anti-VGLUT1 nanobody

  9. Analysis of L-glutamic acid fermentation by using a dynamic metabolic simulation model of Escherichia coli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishio, Yousuke; Ogishima, Soichi; Ichikawa, Masao; Yamada, Yohei; Usuda, Yoshihiro; Masuda, Tadashi; Tanaka, Hiroshi

    2013-09-22

    Understanding the process of amino acid fermentation as a comprehensive system is a challenging task. Previously, we developed a literature-based dynamic simulation model, which included transcriptional regulation, transcription, translation, and enzymatic reactions related to glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and the anaplerotic pathway of Escherichia coli. During simulation, cell growth was defined such as to reproduce the experimental cell growth profile of fed-batch cultivation in jar fermenters. However, to confirm the biological appropriateness of our model, sensitivity analysis and experimental validation were required. We constructed an L-glutamic acid fermentation simulation model by removing sucAB, a gene encoding α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase. We then performed systematic sensitivity analysis for L-glutamic acid production; the results of this process corresponded with previous experimental data regarding L-glutamic acid fermentation. Furthermore, it allowed us to predicted the possibility that accumulation of 3-phosphoglycerate in the cell would regulate the carbon flux into the TCA cycle and lead to an increase in the yield of L-glutamic acid via fermentation. We validated this hypothesis through a fermentation experiment involving a model L-glutamic acid-production strain, E. coli MG1655 ΔsucA in which the phosphoglycerate kinase gene had been amplified to cause accumulation of 3-phosphoglycerate. The observed increase in L-glutamic acid production verified the biologically meaningful predictive power of our dynamic metabolic simulation model. In this study, dynamic simulation using a literature-based model was shown to be useful for elucidating the precise mechanisms involved in fermentation processes inside the cell. Further exhaustive sensitivity analysis will facilitate identification of novel factors involved in the metabolic regulation of amino acid fermentation.

  10. Thermal, Dielectric Studies on Pure and Amino Acid L-Glutamic Acid, L-Histidine L-Valine Doped Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate Single Crystals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumaresan, P.; Babu, S. Moorthy; Anbarasan, P. M.

    Amino acids (L-Glutamic acid, L-Histidine, L-Valine) doped potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystals were grown by the solution growth technique. Slow cooling as well as slow evaporation methods were employed to grow these crystals. The concentration of dopants in the mother solution was varied from 0.1 mole % to 10 mole %. The solubility data for all dopant concentrations were determined. The variation in pH and the corresponding habit modification of the grown crystals were characterized with UV - VIS, FT-IR and SHG trace elements, and dielectric studies reveal slight distortion of lattice parameter for the heavily doped KDP crystals. TGA-DTA studies reveal good thermal stability. The dopants increase the hardness value of the material, which also depends on the concentration of the dopants. Amino acids doping improved the NLO properties. The detailed results on the spectral parameters, habit modifications and constant values will be presented.

  11. Cell proliferation on PVA/sodium alginate and PVA/poly(γ-glutamic acid) electrospun fiber

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Jen Ming; Yang, Jhe Hao; Tsou, Shu Chun; Ding, Chian Hua; Hsu, Chih Chin; Yang, Kai Chiang; Yang, Chun Chen; Chen, Ko Shao; Chen, Szi Wen; Wang, Jong Shyan

    2016-01-01

    To overcome the obstacles of easy dissolution of PVA nanofibers without crosslinking treatment and the poor electrospinnability of the PVA cross-linked nanofibers via electrospinning process, the PVA based electrospun hydrogel nanofibers are prepared with post-crosslinking method. To expect the electrospun hydrogel fibers might be a promising scaffold for cell culture and tissue engineering applications, the evaluation of cell proliferation on the post-crosslinking electrospun fibers is conducted in this study. At beginning, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), PVA/sodium alginate (PVASA) and PVA/poly(γ-glutamic acid) (PVAPGA) electrospun fibers were prepared by electrospinning method. The electrospun PVA, PVASA and PVAPGA nanofibers were treated with post-cross-linking method with glutaraldehyde (Glu) as crosslinking agent. These electrospun fibers were characterized with thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) and their morphologies were observed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). To support the evaluation and explanation of cell growth on the fiber, the study of 3T3 mouse fibroblast cell growth on the surface of pure PVA, SA, and PGA thin films is conducted. The proliferation of 3T3 on the electrospun fiber surface of PVA, PVASA, and PVAPGA was evaluated by seeding 3T3 fibroblast cells on these crosslinked electrospun fibers. The cell viability on electrospun fibers was conducted with water-soluble tetrazolium salt-1 assay (Cell Proliferation Reagent WST-1). The morphology of the cells on the fibers was also observed with SEM. The results of WST-1 assay revealed that 3T3 cells cultured on different electrospun fibers had similar viability, and the cell viability increased with time for all electrospun fibers. From the morphology of the cells on electrospun fibers, it is found that 3T3 cells attached on all electrospun fiber after 1 day seeded. Cell–cell communication was noticed on day 3 for all electrospun fibers. Extracellular matrix (ECM) productions were found and

  12. Cell proliferation on PVA/sodium alginate and PVA/poly(γ-glutamic acid) electrospun fiber

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Jen Ming, E-mail: jmyang@mail.cgu.edu.tw [Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan, ROC (China); Yang, Jhe Hao [Department of Electronic Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC (China); Tsou, Shu Chun; Ding, Chian Hua [Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan, ROC (China); Hsu, Chih Chin [Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Keelung, Keelung, Taiwan, ROC (China); School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC (China); Yang, Kai Chiang [School of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan, ROC (China); Yang, Chun Chen [Department of Chemical Engineering, Ming-Chi University of Science and Technology, New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC (China); Chen, Ko Shao [Department of Materials Engineering, Tatung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC (China); Chen, Szi Wen [Department of Electronic Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC (China); Wang, Jong Shyan [Department of Physical Therapy and the Graduate Institute of Rehabilitation Science, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC (China)

    2016-09-01

    To overcome the obstacles of easy dissolution of PVA nanofibers without crosslinking treatment and the poor electrospinnability of the PVA cross-linked nanofibers via electrospinning process, the PVA based electrospun hydrogel nanofibers are prepared with post-crosslinking method. To expect the electrospun hydrogel fibers might be a promising scaffold for cell culture and tissue engineering applications, the evaluation of cell proliferation on the post-crosslinking electrospun fibers is conducted in this study. At beginning, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), PVA/sodium alginate (PVASA) and PVA/poly(γ-glutamic acid) (PVAPGA) electrospun fibers were prepared by electrospinning method. The electrospun PVA, PVASA and PVAPGA nanofibers were treated with post-cross-linking method with glutaraldehyde (Glu) as crosslinking agent. These electrospun fibers were characterized with thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) and their morphologies were observed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). To support the evaluation and explanation of cell growth on the fiber, the study of 3T3 mouse fibroblast cell growth on the surface of pure PVA, SA, and PGA thin films is conducted. The proliferation of 3T3 on the electrospun fiber surface of PVA, PVASA, and PVAPGA was evaluated by seeding 3T3 fibroblast cells on these crosslinked electrospun fibers. The cell viability on electrospun fibers was conducted with water-soluble tetrazolium salt-1 assay (Cell Proliferation Reagent WST-1). The morphology of the cells on the fibers was also observed with SEM. The results of WST-1 assay revealed that 3T3 cells cultured on different electrospun fibers had similar viability, and the cell viability increased with time for all electrospun fibers. From the morphology of the cells on electrospun fibers, it is found that 3T3 cells attached on all electrospun fiber after 1 day seeded. Cell–cell communication was noticed on day 3 for all electrospun fibers. Extracellular matrix (ECM) productions were found and

  13. Hyperoxia-induced developmental plasticity of the hypoxic ventilatory response in neonatal rats: contributions of glutamate-dependent and PDGF-dependent mechanisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bavis, Ryan W; DeAngelis, Kathryn J; Horowitz, Terry C; Reedich, Lisa M; March, Ryan J

    2014-01-15

    Rats reared in hyperoxia exhibit a sustained (vs. biphasic) hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR) at an earlier age than untreated, Control rats. Given the similarity between the sustained HVR obtained after chronic exposure to developmental hyperoxia and the mature HVR, it was hypothesized that hyperoxia-induced plasticity and normal maturation share common mechanisms such as enhanced glutamate and nitric oxide signaling and diminished platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) signaling. Rats reared in 21% O2 (Control) or 60% O2 (Hyperoxia) from birth until 4-5 days of age were studied after intraperitoneal injection of drugs targeting these pathways. Hyperoxia rats receiving saline showed a sustained HVR to 12% O2, but blockade of NMDA glutamate receptors (MK-801) restored the biphasic HVR typical of newborn rats. Blockade of PDGF-β receptors (imatinib) had no effect on the pattern of the HVR in Hyperoxia rats, although it attenuated ventilatory depression during the late phase of the HVR in Control rats. Neither nitric oxide synthase inhibitor used in this study (nNOS inhibitor I and l-NAME) altered the pattern of the HVR in Control or Hyperoxia rats. Drug-induced changes in the biphasic HVR were not correlated with changes in metabolic rate. Collectively, these results suggest that developmental hyperoxia hastens the transition from a biphasic to sustained HVR by upregulating glutamate-dependent mechanisms and downregulating PDGF-dependent mechanisms, similar to the changes underlying normal postnatal maturation of the biphasic HVR. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Synthesis and Properties of Shape Memory Poly(γ-Benzyl-l-Glutamate-b-Poly(Propylene Glycol-b-Poly(γ-Benzyl-l-Glutamate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin Gu

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Shape memory polymers (SMPs have attracted much attention as an important class of stimuli-responsive materials for biomedical applications. For SMP-based biomaterials, in addition to suitable shape recovery performances, their mechanical properties, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and sterilizability needs to be considered. Polypeptides can satisfy the requirements outlined above. However, there are few reports on shape memory polypeptides. In this paper, shape memory poly(γ-benzyl-l-glutamate (PBLG-PPG-PBLG was synthesized by ring-opening polymerization of γ-benzyl-l-glutamate-N-carboxyanhydrides (BLG-NCA with poly(propylene glycol bis(2-aminopropyl ether as the macroinitiator. 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR were used to characterize the structure of the obtained PBLG-PPG-PBLG. The FTIR analysis showed that PBLG-PPG-PBLG has α-helical and β-sheet structures. PBLG-PPG-PBLG has good shape memory properties, its shape recovery time is less than 120 s, and its shape recovery rate is 100%. In this study, we reported a simple synthetic method to obtain intelligent polypeptide materials, which will be used in many biomedical applications.

  15. Analysis of l-glutamic acid fermentation by using a dynamic metabolic simulation model of Escherichia coli

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background Understanding the process of amino acid fermentation as a comprehensive system is a challenging task. Previously, we developed a literature-based dynamic simulation model, which included transcriptional regulation, transcription, translation, and enzymatic reactions related to glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and the anaplerotic pathway of Escherichia coli. During simulation, cell growth was defined such as to reproduce the experimental cell growth profile of fed-batch cultivation in jar fermenters. However, to confirm the biological appropriateness of our model, sensitivity analysis and experimental validation were required. Results We constructed an l-glutamic acid fermentation simulation model by removing sucAB, a gene encoding α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase. We then performed systematic sensitivity analysis for l-glutamic acid production; the results of this process corresponded with previous experimental data regarding l-glutamic acid fermentation. Furthermore, it allowed us to predicted the possibility that accumulation of 3-phosphoglycerate in the cell would regulate the carbon flux into the TCA cycle and lead to an increase in the yield of l-glutamic acid via fermentation. We validated this hypothesis through a fermentation experiment involving a model l-glutamic acid-production strain, E. coli MG1655 ΔsucA in which the phosphoglycerate kinase gene had been amplified to cause accumulation of 3-phosphoglycerate. The observed increase in l-glutamic acid production verified the biologically meaningful predictive power of our dynamic metabolic simulation model. Conclusions In this study, dynamic simulation using a literature-based model was shown to be useful for elucidating the precise mechanisms involved in fermentation processes inside the cell. Further exhaustive sensitivity analysis will facilitate identification of novel factors involved in the metabolic regulation of amino acid fermentation. PMID

  16. Mammalian folylpoly-γ-glutamate synthetase. 2. Substrate specificity and kinetic properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cichowicz, D.J.; Shane, B.

    1987-01-01

    The specificity of hog liver folylpolyglutamate synthetase for folate substrates and for nucleotide and L-[ 14 C]glutamate substrates and analogues has been investigated. The kinetic mechanism, determined by using aminopterin as the folate substrate, is ordered Ter-Ter with MgATP binding first, folate second, and glutamate last. This mechanism precludes the sequential addition of glutamate moieties to enzyme-bound folate. Folate, dihydrofolate, and tetrahydrofolate possess the optimal configurations for catalysis while 5- and 10-position substitutions of the folate molecule impair catalysis. k/sub cat/ values decrease with increasing glutamate chain length, and the rate of decrease varies depending on the state of reduction and substitution of the folate molecule. Folate binding, as assessed by on rates, is slow. Dihydrofolate exhibits the fastest rate, and the rates are slightly reduced for tetrahydrofolate and 10-formyltetrahydrofolate and greatly reduced for 5-methyltetrahydrofolate and folic acid. Tetrahydrofolate polyglutamates are the only long glutamate chain length folates with detectable substrate activity. The specificity of the L-glutamate binding site is very narrow. L-Homocysteate and 4-threo-fluoroglutamate are alternate substrates and act as chain termination inhibitors in that their addition to the folate molecule prevents or severely retards the further addition of glutamate moieties. The K/sub m/ for glutamate is dependent on the folate substrate used. MgATP is the preferred nucleotide substrate, and β,γ-methylene-ATP, β,γ-imido-ATP, adenosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate), P 1 ,P 5 -di(adenosine-5') pentaphosphate, and free ATP 4- are potent inhibitors of the reaction

  17. Glufosinate aerogenic exposure induces glutamate and IL-1 receptor dependent lung inflammation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maillet, Isabelle; Perche, Olivier; Pâris, Arnaud; Richard, Olivier; Gombault, Aurélie; Herzine, Ameziane; Pichon, Jacques; Huaux, Francois; Mortaud, Stéphane; Ryffel, Bernhard; Quesniaux, Valérie F J; Montécot-Dubourg, Céline

    2016-11-01

    Glufosinate-ammonium (GLA), the active component of an herbicide, is known to cause neurotoxicity. GLA shares structural analogy with glutamate. It is a powerful inhibitor of glutamine synthetase (GS) and may bind to glutamate receptors. Since these potentials targets of GLA are present in lung and immune cells, we asked whether airway exposure to GLA may cause lung inflammation in mice. A single GLA exposure (1 mg/kg) induced seizures and inflammatory cell recruitment in the broncho-alveolar space, and increased myeloperoxidase (MPO), inducible NO synthase (iNOS), interstitial inflammation and disruption of alveolar septae within 6-24 h. Interleukin 1β (IL-1β) was increased and lung inflammation depended on IL-1 receptor 1 (IL-1R1). We demonstrate that glutamate receptor pathway is central, since the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor inhibitor MK-801 prevented GLA-induced lung inflammation. Chronic exposure (0.2 mg/kg 3× per week for 4 weeks) caused moderate lung inflammation and enhanced airway hyperreactivity with significant increased airway resistance. In conclusion, GLA aerosol exposure causes glutamate signalling and IL-1R-dependent pulmonary inflammation with airway hyperreactivity in mice. © 2016 The Author(s). published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

  18. Glutamate Transporters in the Blood-Brain Barrier

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Helms, Hans Christian Cederberg; Nielsen, Carsten Uhd; Waagepetersen, Helle S

    2017-01-01

    concentration of L-glutamate causes excitotoxicity. A tight control of the brain interstitial fluid L-glutamate levels is therefore imperative, in order to maintain optimal neurotransmission and to avoid such excitotoxicity. The blood-brain barrier, i.e., the endothelial lining of the brain capillaries...... cells. The mechanisms underlying transendothelial L-glutamate transport are however still not well understood. The present chapter summarizes the current knowledge on blood-brain barrier L-glutamate transporters and the suggested pathways for the brain-to-blood L-glutamate efflux......., regulates the exchange of nutrients, gases, and metabolic waste products between plasma and brain interstitial fluid. It has been suggested that brain capillary endothelial cells could play an important role in L-glutamate homeostasis by mediating brain-to-blood L-glutamate efflux. Both in vitro and in vivo...

  19. Effects of glutamic acid analogues on identifiable giant neurones, sensitive to beta-hydroxy-L-glutamic acid, of an African giant snail (Achatina fulica Férussac).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakajima, T.; Nomoto, K.; Ohfune, Y.; Shiratori, Y.; Takemoto, T.; Takeuchi, H.; Watanabe, K.

    1985-01-01

    The effects of the seven glutamic acid analogues, alpha-kainic acid, alpha-allo-kainic acid, domoic acid, erythro-L-tricholomic acid, DL-ibotenic acid, L-quisqualic acid and allo-gamma-hydroxy-L-glutamic acid were examined on six identifiable giant neurones of an African giant snail (Achatina fulica Férussac). The neurones studied were: PON (periodically oscillating neurone), d-RPLN (dorsal-right parietal large neurone), VIN (visceral intermittently firing neurone), RAPN (right anterior pallial neurone), FAN (frequently autoactive neurone) and v-RCDN (ventral-right cerebral distinct neurone). Of these, d-RPLN and RAPN were excited by the two isomers (erythro- and threo-) of beta-hydroxy-L-glutamic acid (L-BHGA), whereas PON, VIN, FAN and v-RCDN were inhibited. L-Glutamic acid (L-Glu) had virtually no effect on these neurones. alpha-Kainic acid and domoic acid showed marked excitatory effects, similar to those of L-BHGA, on d-RPLN and RAPN. Their effective potency quotients (EPQs), relative to the more effective isomer of L-BHGA were: 0.3 for both substances on d-RPLN, and 1 for alpha-kainic acid and 3-1 for domoic acid on RAPN. alpha-Kainic acid also had excitatory effects on FAN and v-RCDN (EPQ for both: 0.3), which were inhibited by L-BHGA but excited by gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Erythro-L-tricholomic acid showed marked effects, similar to those of L-BHGA, on VIN (EPQ: 0.3) and RAPN (EPQ: 3-1), but produced weaker effects on PON and d-RPLN (EPQ: 0.1). DL-Ibotenic acid produced marked effects, similar to those of L-BHGA, on PON, VIN (EPQ for both: 1) and RAPN (EPQ: 1-0.3), but had weak effects on d-RPLN (EPQ: less than 0.1) and FAN (EPQ: 0.1). It had excitatory effects on v-RCDN (EPQ: 0.1). This neurone was inhibited by L-BHGA but excited by GABA. L-Quisqualic acid showed the same effects as L-BHGA on all of the neurones examined (EPQ range 30-0.1). It was the most potent of the compounds tested on RAPN (EPQ: 30-10), FAN (EPQ: 30) and v-RCDN (EPQ: 3). alpha

  20. Radiometric microassay for glutamic acid decarboxylase

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maderdrut, J L [North Carolina Dept. of Mental Health, Raleigh (USA); North Carolina Univ., Chapel Hill (USA). School of Medicine)

    1979-01-01

    A simple method for purifying L-(/sup 3/H) glutamic acid and incubation conditions suitable for estimating L-glutamic acid decarboxylase activity are described. Routine and recycled cation-exchange procedure for separating ..gamma..-aminobutyric acid from L-glutamate are outlined and compared. Recycling increases the sensitivity of the cation-exchange method by 6-7 fold. L-Glutamate decarboxylase activity can be measured reliably in samples of embryonic neural tissue having wet-weights of approximately 1 ..mu..g. The cation-exchange method is compared with the anion-exchange and CO/sub 2/-trapping methods. L-Glutamate decarboxylase activity has been detected in the lumbar spinal cord of the chick embryo at Day 21/4 (stage 14) using the cation-exchange method. This is 5-6 days earlier than L-glutamate decarboxylase activity has been detected in embryonic neural tissue by previous investigators. L-Glutamate decarboxylase is present in the lumbar spinal cord at least as early as the birth of the first lumbar spinal cord neurons and at least 1-2 days before the initiation of synaptogenesis.

  1. Direct determination of sorbitol and sodium glutamate by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) in the thermostabilizer employed in the production of yellow-fever vaccine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Castro, Eduardo da S G; Cassella, Ricardo J

    2016-05-15

    Reference methods for quality control of vaccines usually require treatment of the samples before analysis. These procedures are expensive, time-consuming, unhealthy and require careful manipulation of the sample, making them a potential source of analytical errors. This work proposes a novel method for the quality control of thermostabilizer samples of the yellow fever vaccine employing attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (ATR-FTIR). The main advantage of the proposed method is the possibility of direct determination of the analytes (sodium glutamate and sorbitol) without any pretreatment of the samples. Operational parameters of the FTIR technique, such as the number of accumulated scans and nominal resolution, were evaluated. The best conditions for sodium glutamate were achieved when 64 scans were accumulated using a nominal resolution of 4 cm(-1). The measurements for sodium glutamate were performed at 1347 cm(-1) (baseline correction between 1322 and 1369 cm(-1)). In the case of sorbitol, the measurements were done at 890cm(-1) (baseline correction between 825 and 910 cm(-1)) using a nominal resolution of 2 cm(-1) with 32 accumulated scans. In both cases, the quantitative variable was the band height. Recovery tests were performed in order to evaluate the accuracy of the method and recovery percentages in the range 93-106% were obtained. Also, the methods were compared with reference methods and no statistical differences were observed. The limits of detection and quantification for sodium glutamate were 0.20 and 0.62% (m/v), respectively, whereas for sorbitol they were 1 and 3.3% (m/v), respectively. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Glutamate transporter activity promotes enhanced Na+/K+-ATPase -mediated extracellular K+ management during neuronal activity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Brian R; Holm, Rikke; Vilsen, Bente

    2016-01-01

    , in addition, Na+ /K+ -ATPase-mediated K+ clearance could be governed by astrocytic [Na+ ]i . During most neuronal activity, glutamate is released in the synaptic cleft and is re-absorbed by astrocytic Na+ -coupled glutamate transporters, thereby elevating [Na+ ]i . It thus remains unresolved whether...... the different Na+ /K+ -ATPase isoforms are controlled by [K+ ]o or [Na+ ]i during neuronal activity. Hippocampal slice recordings of stimulus-induced [K+ ]o transients with ion-sensitive microelectrodes revealed reduced Na+ /K+ -ATPase-mediated K+ management upon parallel inhibition of the glutamate transporter......+ affinity to the α1 and α2 isoforms than the β2 isoform. In summary, enhanced astrocytic Na+ /K+ -ATPase-dependent K+ clearance was obtained with parallel glutamate transport activity. The astrocytic Na+ /K+ -ATPase isoform constellation α2β1 appeared to be specifically geared to respond to the [Na+ ]i...

  3. ATP secretion from nerve trunks and Schwann cells mediated by glutamate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Guo Jun; Bennett, Max R

    2003-11-14

    ATP release from rat sciatic nerves and from cultured Schwann cells isolated from the nerves was investigated using an online bioluminescence technique. ATP was released in relatively large amounts from rat sciatic nerve trunks during electrical stimulation. This release was blocked by the sodium channel inhibitor tetrodotoxin and the non-NMDA glutamate receptor blocker 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX). Schwann cells isolated from the nerve trunks did not release ATP when electrically stimulated but did in response to glutamate in a concentration-dependent manner. Glutamate-stimulated ATP release was inhibited by specific non-competitive AMPA receptor antagonist GYKI 52466 and competitive non-NMDA receptor antagonist CNQX. Glutamate-stimulated ATP release was decreased by inhibition of anion transporter inhibitors by furosemide, cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator by glibenclamide and exocytosis by botulinum toxin A, indicating that anion transporters and exocytosis provide the main secretion mechanisms for ATP release from the Schwann cells.

  4. L-Glutamic acid production by Bacillus spp. isolated from vegetable ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Administrator

    2011-06-15

    Jun 15, 2011 ... 2Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria. ... monosodium salt as a flavor enhancer in foods (Kikunae, ...... Madhavan KN, Ashok P (1996). Solid state fermentation for Lglutamic acid production using Brevibacterium sp. DSM 20411. J. Food. Sci. Technol.

  5. Selective induction of high-ouabain-affinity isoform of Na+-K+-ATPase by thyroid hormone

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haber, R.S.; Loeb, J.N.

    1988-01-01

    The administration of thyroid hormone is known to result in an induction of the Na + -K + -adenosinetriphosphatase (Na + -K + -ATPase) in rat skeletal muscle and other thyroid hormone-responsive tissues. Since the Na + -K + -ATPase in a variety of mammalian tissues has recently been reported to exist in at least two forms distinguishable by differing affinities for the inhibitory cardiac glycoside ouabain. The authors have studied the effects of 3,3',5-triiodo-L-thyronine (T 3 ) treatment on these two forms of the enzyme in rat diaphragm. The inhibition of Na + -K + -ATPase activity in a crude membrane fraction by varying concentrations of ouabain conformed to a biphasic pattern consistent with the presence of two distinct isoforms with inhibition constants (K I s) for ouabain of ∼10 -7 and 10 -4 M, respectively. Measurement of the specific binding of [ 3 H]ouabain to these membranes confirmed the presence of a class of high-affinity ouabain binding sites with a dissociation constant (K d ) of slightly less than 10 -7 M, whose maximal binding capacity was increased by T 3 treatment by 185%. Binding studies in unfractionated homogenates of diaphragm similarly demonstrated the presence of high-affinity sites whose maximal binding capacity was increased by T 3 treatment. Quantitation of both the high- and low-ouabain-affinity forms of the Na + -K + -ATPase by ouabain-dependent phosphorylation from [ 32 P]orthophosphate confirmed that T 3 treatment markedly increased the number of high-affinity sites while having little effect on the number of low-affinity sites. These observations provide, to our knowledge, the first demonstration that these two forms of the Na + -K + -ATPase are subject to selective hormonal induction

  6. On-chip microfluidic systems for determination of L-glutamate based on enzymatic recycling of substrate

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Laiwattanapaisal, W.; Yakovleva, J.; Bengtsson, Martin

    2009-01-01

    Two microfluidic systems have been developed for specific analysis of L-glutamate in food based on substrate recycling fluorescence detection. L-glutamate dehydrogenase and a novel enzyme, D-phenylglycine aminotransferase, were covalently immobilized on (i) the surface of silicon microchips....... The reaction was accompanied by reduction of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(+)) to NADH, which was monitored by fluorescence detection (epsilon(ex)=340 nm, epsilon(em)=460 nm). First, the microchip-based system, L-glutamate was detected within a range of 3.1-50.0 mM. Second, to be automatically......). In the case of SIA, the beads were introduced and removed from the microchip automatically. The immobilized beads could be stored in a 20% glycerol and 0.5 mM ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid solution maintained at a pH of 7.0 using a phosphate buffer for at least 15 days with 72% of the activity remaining...

  7. Comparative analysis the binding affinity of mycophenolic sodium and meprednisone with human serum albumin: Insight by NMR relaxation data and docking simulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Xiaoli; He, Jiawei; Yan, Jin; Wang, Qing; Li, Hui

    2016-03-25

    Mycophenolic sodium is an immunosuppressive agent that is always combined administration with corticosteroid in clinical practice. Considering the distribution and side-effect of the drug may change when co-administrated drug exist, this paper comparatively analyzed the binding ability of mycophenolic sodium and meprednisone toward human serum albumin by nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation data and docking simulation. The nuclear magnetic resonance approach was based on the analysis of proton selective and non-selective relaxation rate enhancement of the ligand in the absence and presence of macromolecules. The contribution of the bound ligand fraction to the observed relaxation rate in relation to protein concentration allowed the calculation of the affinity index. This approach allowed the comparison of the binding affinity of mycophenolic sodium and meprednisone. Molecular modeling was operated to simulate the binding model of ligand and albumin through Autodock 4.2.5. Competitive binding of mycophenolic sodium and meprednisone was further conducted through fluorescence spectroscopy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Increase of extracellular glutamate concentration increases its oxidation and diminishes glucose oxidation in isolated mouse hippocampus: reversible by TFB-TBOA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torres, Felipe Vasconcelos; Hansen, Fernanda; Locks-Coelho, Lucas Doridio

    2013-08-01

    Glutamate concentration at the synaptic level must be kept low in order to prevent excitotoxicity. Astrocytes play a key role in brain energetics, and also astrocytic glutamate transporters are responsible for the vast majority of glutamate uptake in CNS. Experiments with primary astrocytic cultures suggest that increased influx of glutamate cotransported with sodium at astrocytes favors its flux to the tricarboxylic acid cycle instead of the glutamate-glutamine cycle. Although metabolic coupling can be considered an emergent field of research with important recent discoveries, some basic aspects of glutamate metabolism still have not been characterized in brain tissue. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether the presence of extracellular glutamate is able to modulate the use of glutamate and glucose as energetic substrates. For this purpose, isolated hippocampi of mice were incubated with radiolabeled substrates, and CO2 radioactivity and extracellular lactate were measured. Our results point to a diminished oxidation of glucose with increasing extracellular glutamate concentration, glutamate presumably being the fuel, and might suggest that oxidation of glutamate could buffer excitotoxic conditions by high glutamate concentrations. In addition, these findings were reversed when glutamate uptake by astrocytes was impaired by the presence of (3S)-3-[[3-[[4-(trifluoromethyl)benzoyl]amino]phenyl]methoxy]-L-aspartic acid (TFB-TBOA). Taken together, our findings argue against the lactate shuttle theory, because glutamate did not cause any detectable increase in extracellular lactate content (or, presumably, in glycolysis), because the glutamate is being used as fuel instead of going to glutamine and back to neurons. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. Amine-functionalized PVA-co-PE nanofibrous membrane as affinity membrane with high adsorption capacity for bilirubin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Wenwen; Zhang, Hao; Zhang, Zhifeng; Luo, Mengying; Wang, Yuedan; Liu, Qiongzhen; Chen, Yuanli; Li, Mufang; Wang, Dong

    2017-02-01

    In this study, poly(vinyl alcohol-co-ethylene) (PVA-co-PE) nanofibrous membrane was activated by sodium hydroxide and cyanuric chloride, and then the activated membranes were functionalized by 1,3-propanediamine, hexamethylenediamine and diethylenetriamine to be affinity membranes for bilirubin removal, respectively. The chemical structures and morphologies of membranes were investigated by SEM, FTIR and XPS. And the adsorption ability of different amine-functionalized nanofibrous membranes for bilirubin was characterized. Furthermore, the effects of temperature, initial concentration of bilirubin, NaCl concentration and BSA concentration on the adsorption capacity for bilirubin of diethylenetriamine-functionalized nanofibrous membrane were studied. Results indicated that the adsorption capacity for bilirubin of diethylenetriamine-functionalized nanofibrous membrane could reach 85mg/g membrane when the initial bilirubin concentration was 200mg/L while the adsorption capacity could be increased to 110mg/g membrane if the initial bilirubin concentration was more than 400mg/L. The dynamic adsorption of diethylenetriamine-functionalized nanofibrous membrane showed that the ligands of amine groups on the membrane surface could be used as far as possible by recirculating the plasma with certain flow rates. Therefore, the diethylenetriamine-functionalized PVA-co-PE nanofibrous membrane possessed high adsorption capacity for bilirubin and it can be candidate as affinity membrane for bilirubin removal. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  10. Thermal, dielectric studies on pure and amino acid ( L-glutamic acid, L-histidine, L-valine) doped KDP single crystals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumaresan, P.; Moorthy Babu, S.; Anbarasan, P. M.

    2008-05-01

    Amino acids ( L-glutamic acid, L-histidine, L-valine) doped potassium dihydrogen phospate crystals are grown by solution growth technique. Slow cooling as well as slow evaporation methods were employed to grow these crystals. The concentration of dopants in the mother solution was varied from 0.1 mol% to 10 mol%. The solubility data for all dopants concentration were determined. There is variation in pH value and hence, there is habit modification of the grown crystals were characterized with UV-VIS, FT-IR studies, SHG trace elements and dielectric studies reveal slight distortion of lattice parameter for the heavily doped KDP crystals. UV-Visible spectra confirm the improvement in the transparency of these crystals on doping metal ions. FT-IR spectra reveal strong absorption band between 1400 and 1600 cm -1 for metal ion doped crystals. TGA-DTA studies reveal good thermal stability. The dopants increase the hardness value of the material and it also depends on the concentration of the dopants. Amino acids doping improved the NLO properties. The detailed results on the spectral parameters, habit modifications and constant values will be presented.

  11. Bioconversion of l-glutamic acid to α-ketoglutaric acid by an immobilized whole-cell biocatalyst expressing l-amino acid deaminase from Proteus mirabilis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hossain, Gazi Sakir; Li, Jianghua; Shin, Hyun-dong; Chen, Rachel R; Du, Guocheng; Liu, Long; Chen, Jian

    2014-01-01

    The goal of this work was to develop an immobilized whole-cell biocatalytic process for the environment-friendly synthesis of α-ketoglutaric acid (α-KG) from l-glutamic acid. We compared the suitability of Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis strains overexpressing Proteus mirabilisl-amino acid deaminase (l-AAD) as potential biocatalysts. Although both recombinant strains were biocatalytically active, the performance of B. subtilis was superior to that of E. coli. With l-glutamic acid as the substrate, α-KG production levels by membranes isolated from B. subtilis and E. coli were 55.3±1.73 and 21.7±0.39μg/mg protein/min, respectively. The maximal conversion ratio of l-glutamic acid to α-KG was 31% (w/w) under the following optimal conditions: 15g/L l-glutamic acid, 20g/L whole-cell biocatalyst, 5mM MgCl2, 40°C, pH 8.0, and 24-h incubation. Immobilization of whole cells with alginate increased the recyclability by an average of 23.33% per cycle. This work established an efficient one-step biotransformation process for the production of α-KG using immobilized whole B. subtilis overexpressing P. mirabilisl-AAD. Compared with traditional multistep chemical synthesis, the biocatalytic process described here has the advantage of reducing environmental pollution and thus has great potential for the large-scale production of α-KG. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. NOVEL POLY-GLUTAMIC ACID FUNCTIONALIZED MICROFILTRATION MEMBRANES FOR SORPTION OF HEAVY METALS AT HIGH CAPACITY

    Science.gov (United States)

    Various sorbent/ion exchange materials have been reported in the literature for metal ion entrapment. We have developed a highly innovative and new approach to obtain high metal pick-up utilizing poly-amino acids (poly-L-glutamic acid, 14,000 MW) covalently attached to membrane p...

  13. Effect of poly-α, γ, L-glutamic acid as a capping agent on morphology and oxidative stress-dependent toxicity of silver nanoparticles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stevanović M

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Magdalena Stevanović1, Branimir Kovačević2, Jana Petković3, Metka Filipič3, Dragan Uskoković11Institute of Technical Sciences of Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2Institute of General and Physical Chemistry, Belgrade, Serbia; 3Department of Genetic Toxicology and Cancer Biology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, SloveniaAbstract: Highly stable dispersions of nanosized silver particles were synthesized using a straightforward, cost-effective, and ecofriendly method. Nontoxic glucose was utilized as a reducing agent and poly- α, γ, L-glutamic acid (PGA, a naturally occurring anionic polymer, was used as a capping agent to protect the silver nanoparticles from agglomeration and render them biocompatible. Use of ammonia during synthesis was avoided. Our study clearly demonstrates how the concentration of the capping agent plays a major role in determining the dimensions, morphology, and stability, as well as toxicity of a silver colloidal solution. Hence, proper optimization is necessary to develop silver colloids of narrow size distribution. The samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and zeta potential measurement. MTT assay results indicated good biocompatibility of the PGA-capped silver nanoparticles. Formation of intracellular reactive oxygen species was measured spectrophotometrically using 2,7-dichlorofluorescein diacetate as a fluorescent probe, and it was shown that the PGA-capped silver nanoparticles did not induce intracellular formation of reactive oxygen species.Keywords: silver nanoparticles, poly-α, γ, L-glutamic, green synthesis, morphology, cytotoxicity

  14. Effect of l-glutamic acid supplementation on performance and nitrogen balance of broilers fed low protein diets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bezerra, R M; Costa, F G P; Givisiez, P E N; Freitas, E R; Goulart, C C; Santos, R A; Souza, J G; Brandão, P A; Lima, M R; Melo, M L; Rodrigues, V P; Nogueira, E T; Vieira, D V G

    2016-06-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of protein reduction and supplementation of l-glutamic acid in male broiler diets. A total of 648 chicks of the Cobb 500 strain were distributed in a completely randomized design with six treatments and six replications with eighteen birds per experimental unit. The study comprised pre-starter (1-7 days), starter (8-21 days), growth (22-35 days) and final (36-45 days) phases. The first treatment consisted of a control diet formulated according to the requirements of essential amino acids for each rearing phase. The second and third treatments had crude protein (CP) reduced by 1.8 and 3.6 percentage points (pp) in relation to the control diet respectively. In the fourth treatment, l-glutamic acid was added to provide the same glutamate level as the control diet, and in the last two treatments, the broilers were supplemented with 1 and 2 pp of glutamate above that of the control diet respectively. The reduction in CP decreased the performance of broilers and the supplementation of l-glutamic acid did not influence performance when supplied in the diets with excess of glutamate. The lowest excreted nitrogen values were observed in the control diet, and treatments 2 and 3, respectively, in comparison with treatments with the use of l-glutamic acid (5 and 6). Retention efficiency of nitrogen was better in the control diet and in the treatment with a reduction of 1.8 pp of CP. It was verified that the serum uric acid level decreased with the CP reduction. A reduction in CP levels of up to 21.3%, 18.8%, 18.32% and 17.57% is recommended in phases from 1 to 7, 8 to 21, 22 to 35 and at 36 to 42 days, respectively, with a level of glutamate at 5.32%, 4.73%, 4.57%, 4.38%, also in these phases. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  15. Affinity labeling and resonance energy transfer studies of the reduced coenzyme regulatory site of bovine liver glutamate dehydrogenase

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lark, R.H.

    1988-01-01

    Bovine liver glutamate dehydrogenase was studied by affinity labeling and resonance energy transfer. The enzyme uses the 2', 3'-dialdehyde derivative of NADPH (oNADPH) in the reductive amination of α-ketoglutarate. A 300 min enzyme incubation with 250 μM oNADPH at pH 8.0 leads to a covalent incorporation of 1 mol oNADPH/mol enzyme subunit. Similar rate constants are measured when assaying the change in inhibition by 600 μM NADH or by 1 μM GTP, suggesting that inhibition loss at the two regulatory sites results from oNADPH reaction at one location. oNADPH-modified enzyme is still 93% inhibited by saturating GTP concentrations. The presence of 5 mM NADS(P)H plus 200 μM GTP prevents the kinetic changes and reduces the incorporation of oNADPH. oNADPH is concluded to modify the reduced coenzyme regulatory site, and GTP affects the binding of ligands to this site. The linkage between glutamate dehydrogenase and [ 14 C]oNADPH proved too labile to allow isolation of a radioactive modified peptide. Three corrections in the amino acid sequence were made after sequencing peptides. Resonance energy transfer was used to measure the distance between sites on the enzyme

  16. A radiometric microassay for glutamic acid decarboxylase

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maderdrut, J.L.; North Carolina Univ., Chapel Hill

    1979-01-01

    A simple method for purifying L-[ 3 H] glutamic acid and incubation conditions suitable for estimating L-glutamic acid decarboxylase activity are described. Routine and recycled cation-exchange procedure for separating γ-aminobutyric acid from L-glutamate are outlined and compared. Recycling increases the sensitivity of the cation-exchange method by 6-7 fold. L-Glutamate decarboxylase activity can be measured reliably in samples of embryonic neural tissue having wet-weights of approximately 1 μg. The cation-exchange method is compared with the anion-exchange and CO 2 -trapping methods. L-Glutamate decarboxylase activity has been detected in the lumbar spinal cord of the chick embryo at Day 21/4 (stage 14) using the cation-exchange method. This is 5-6 days earlier than L-glutamate decarboxylase activity has been detected in embryonic neural tissue by previous investigators. L-Glutamate decarboxylase is present in the lumbar spinal cord at least as early as the birth of the first lumbar spinal cord neurons and at least 1-2 days before the initiation of synaptogenesis. (author)

  17. Evidence that glutamate mediates axon-to-Schwann cell signaling in the squid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lieberman, E M; Abbott, N J; Hassan, S

    1989-01-01

    High-frequency stimulation (100 Hz) of isolated giant axons of the small squid Alloteuthis subulata and the large squid Loligo forbesi caused the periaxonal Schwann cell resting potential (Em = -40 mV) to hyperpolarize up to 11 mV in direct proportion to train duration and action potential amplitude. In both species, the Schwann cell also hyperpolarized up to 17 mV with the application of L-glutamate (10(-9) to 10(-6) M), in a dose-dependent manner. By contrast, in the presence of 10(-8) M d-tubocurarine (d-TC) to block the cholinergic component of the Schwann cell response, Schwann cells depolarized 8-9 mV during electrical stimulation of the axon or application of L-glutamate. In the presence of 10(-5) M 2-amino-4-phosphonobutyrate (2-APB), the hyperpolarization to glutamate and to axon stimulation was blocked, whereas the cholinergic (carbachol-induced) hyperpolarization was unaffected. In experiments with Alloteuthis, L-aspartate (10(-7) M) also caused a Schwann cell hyperpolarization, but this was not blocked by 2-APB. In tests with glutamate receptor agonists and antagonists, quisqualate (10(-5) M) produced a hyperpolarization blocked by 10(-4) M L-glutamic acid diethylester (GDEE), which also blocked the response to axonal stimulation. Kainic acid (10(-4) M) also caused a hyperpolarization, but n-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA; 10(-4) M), ibotenate (10(-5) M), alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-isoxazole proprionate (AMPA; (10(-4) M), and isethionate (10(-5) M) had no effect.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

  18. High affinity calmodulin target sequence in the signalling molecule PI 3-kinase

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fischer, R; Julsgart, J; Berchtold, M W

    1998-01-01

    M-binding peptide derived from the p110gamma isoform interacts with CaM in a calcium-dependent way. Using gel shift analysis and fluorescence spectrophotometry we discovered that the peptide forms a high affinity complex with CaM. Titration experiments using dansylated CaM gave an affinity constant of 5 n...

  19. Development and Validation of a HPTLC Method for Simultaneous Estimation of L-Glutamic Acid and γ-Aminobutyric Acid in Mice Brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sancheti, J S; Shaikh, M F; Khatwani, P F; Kulkarni, Savita R; Sathaye, Sadhana

    2013-11-01

    A new robust, simple and economic high performance thin layer chromatographic method was developed for simultaneous estimation of L-glutamic acid and γ-amino butyric acid in brain homogenate. The high performance thin layer chromatographic separation of these amino acid was achieved using n-butanol:glacial acetic acid:water (22:3:5 v/v/v) as mobile phase and ninhydrin as a derivatising agent. Quantitation of the method was achieved by densitometric method at 550 nm over the concentration range of 10-100 ng/spot. This method showed good separation of amino acids in the brain homogenate with Rf value of L-glutamic acid and γ-amino butyric acid as 21.67±0.58 and 33.67±0.58, respectively. The limit of detection and limit of quantification for L-glutamic acid was found to be 10 and 20 ng and for γ-amino butyric acid it was 4 and 10 ng, respectively. The method was also validated in terms of accuracy, precision and repeatability. The developed method was found to be precise and accurate with good reproducibility and shows promising applicability for studying pathological status of disease and therapeutic significance of drug treatment.

  20. Crystal structure of salt-tolerant glutaminase from Micrococcus luteus K-3 in the presence and absence of its product L-glutamate and its activator Tris.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshimune, Kazuaki; Shirakihara, Yasuo; Wakayama, Mamoru; Yumoto, Isao

    2010-02-01

    Glutaminase from Micrococcus luteus K-3 [Micrococcus glutaminase (Mglu); 456 amino acid residues (aa); 48 kDa] is a salt-tolerant enzyme. Our previous study determined the structure of its major 42-kDa fragment. Here, using new crystallization conditions, we determined the structures of the intact enzyme in the presence and absence of its product L-glutamate and its activator Tris, which activates the enzyme by sixfold. With the exception of a 'lid' part (26-29 aa) and a few other short stretches, the structures were all very similar over the entire polypeptide chain. However, the presence of the ligands significantly reduced the length of the disordered regions: 41 aa in the unliganded structure (N), 21 aa for L-glutamate (G), 8 aa for Tris (T) and 6 aa for both L-glutamate and Tris (TG). L-glutamate was identified in both the G and TG structures, whereas Tris was only identified in the TG structure. Comparison of the glutamate-binding site between Mglu and salt-labile glutaminase (YbgJ) from Bacillus subtilis showed significantly smaller structural changes of the protein part in Mglu. A comparison of the substrate-binding pocket of Mglu, which is highly specific for L-glutamine, with that of Erwinia carotovora asparaginase, which has substrates other than L-glutamine, shows that Mglu has a larger substrate-binding pocket that prevents the binding of L-asparagine with proper interactions.

  1. Effects of anticonvulsants in vivo on high affinity choline uptake in vitro in mouse hippocampal synaptosomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, J. A.; Richter, J. A.

    1985-01-01

    The effects of several anticonvulsant drugs on sodium-dependent high affinity choline uptake (HACU) in mouse hippocampal synaptosomes was investigated. HACU was measured in vitro after in vivo administration of the drug to mice. HACU was inhibited by drugs which have in common the ability to facilitate gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transmission, pentobarbitone, phenobarbitone, barbitone, diazepam, chloridiazepoxide, and valproic acid. Dose-response relationships were determined for these drugs and the drugs' potencies at inhibiting HACU correlated well with their anticonvulsant potencies. Clonazepam, ethosuximide, carbamazepine, and barbituric acid had no effect on HACU in the doses used while phenytoin and trimethadione stimulated HACU. These results suggest that certain anticonvulsants may elicit a part of their anticonvulsant activity by modulating cholinergic neurones. This effect may be mediated through a GABA mechanism. PMID:3978310

  2. Rescue of Na+ affinity in aspartate 928 mutants of Na+,K+-ATPase by secondary mutation of glutamate 314.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holm, Rikke; Einholm, Anja P; Andersen, Jens P; Vilsen, Bente

    2015-04-10

    The Na(+),K(+)-ATPase binds Na(+) at three transport sites denoted I, II, and III, of which site III is Na(+)-specific and suggested to be the first occupied in the cooperative binding process activating phosphorylation from ATP. Here we demonstrate that the asparagine substitution of the aspartate associated with site III found in patients with rapid-onset dystonia parkinsonism or alternating hemiplegia of childhood causes a dramatic reduction of Na(+) affinity in the α1-, α2-, and α3-isoforms of Na(+),K(+)-ATPase, whereas other substitutions of this aspartate are much less disruptive. This is likely due to interference by the amide function of the asparagine side chain with Na(+)-coordinating residues in site III. Remarkably, the Na(+) affinity of site III aspartate to asparagine and alanine mutants is rescued by second-site mutation of a glutamate in the extracellular part of the fourth transmembrane helix, distant to site III. This gain-of-function mutation works without recovery of the lost cooperativity and selectivity of Na(+) binding and does not affect the E1-E2 conformational equilibrium or the maximum phosphorylation rate. Hence, the rescue of Na(+) affinity is likely intrinsic to the Na(+) binding pocket, and the underlying mechanism could be a tightening of Na(+) binding at Na(+) site II, possibly via movement of transmembrane helix four. The second-site mutation also improves Na(+),K(+) pump function in intact cells. Rescue of Na(+) affinity and Na(+) and K(+) transport by second-site mutation is unique in the history of Na(+),K(+)-ATPase and points to new possibilities for treatment of neurological patients carrying Na(+),K(+)-ATPase mutations. © 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  3. Strontium D-Glutamate Hexahydrate and Strontium Di(hydrogen L-glutamate) Pentahydrate

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christgau, Stephan; Odderhede, Jette; Stahl, Kenny

    2005-01-01

    Sr(C5H7NO4)] center dot 6H(2)O, ( I), and [Sr(C5H8NO4)(2)] center dot 5H(2)O, (II), both crystallize with similar strontium - glutamate - water layers. In ( I), the neutral layers are connected through hydrogen bonds by water molecules, while in ( II), the positively charged layers are connected...... through hydrogen bonds and electrostatic interactions by interleaving layers of hydrogen glutamate anions and water molecules....

  4. Food Application of Newly Developed Handy-type Glutamate Sensor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukai, Yuuka; Oikawa, Tsutomu

    2016-01-01

    Tests on physiological functions of umami have been actively conducted and a need recognized for a high-performance quantification device that is simple and cost-effective, and whose use is not limited to a particular location or user. To address this need, Ajinomoto Co. and Tanita Corp. have jointly been researching and developing a simple device for glutamate measurement. The device uses L-glutamate oxidase immobilized on a hydrogen peroxide electrode. L-glutamate in the sample is converted to α-ketoglutaric acid, which produces hydrogen peroxide. Subsequently, the electrical current from the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen peroxide is measured to determine the L-glutamate concentration. In order to evaluate its basic performance, we used this device to measure the concentration of L-glutamate standard solutions. In a concentration range of 0-1.0%, the difference from the theoretical value was minimal. The coefficient of variation (CV) value of 3 measurements was 4% or less. This shows that the device has a reasonable level of precision and accuracy. The device was also used in trial measurements of L-glutamate concentrations in food. There was a good correlation between the results obtained using the developed device and those obtained with an amino acid analyzer; the correlation coefficient was R=0.997 (n=24). In this review, we demonstrate the use of our device to measure the glutamate concentration in miso soup served daily at a home for elderly people, and other foods and ingredients.

  5. Photoaffinity labeling of mammalian α1-adrenergic receptors: identification of the ligand binding subunit with a high affinity radioiodinated probe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leeb-Lundberg, L.M.F.; Dickinson, K.E.J.; Heald, S.L.

    1984-01-01

    A description is given of the synthesised and characterization of a novel high affinity radioiodinated α 1 -adrenergic receptor photoaffinity probe, 4-amino-6,7-dimethoxy-2-[4-[5-(4-azido-3-[ 125 I]iodophenyl)pentanoyl]-1-piperazinyl] quinazoline. In the absence of light, this ligand binds with high affinity (K/sub d/ = 130 pm) in a reverisble and saturable manner to sites in rat hepatic plasma membranes. The binding is stereoselective and competitively inhibited by adrenergic agonists and antagonists with an α 1 -adrenergic specificity. Upon photolysis, this ligand incorporates irreversibly into plasma membranes prepared from several mammalian tissues including rat liver, rat, guinea pig, and rabbit spleen, rabbit lung, and rabbit aorta vascular smooth muscle cells, also with typical α 1 -adrenergic specificity. Autoradiograms of such membrane samples subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis reveal a major specifically labeled polypeptide at M/sub 4/ = 78,000-85,000, depending on the tissue used, in addition to some lower molecular weight peptides. Protease inhibitors, in particular EDTA, a metalloprotease inhibitor, dramatically increases the predominance of the M/sub r/ = 78,000-85,000 polypeptide while attenuating the labeling of the lower molecular weight bands. This new high affinity radioiodinated photoaffinity probe should be of great value for the molecular characterization of the α 1 -adrenergic receptor

  6. Expression and distributeion of 'high affinity' glutamate transporters GLT1, GLAST, EAAC and of GCPII in the rat peripheral nervous system

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Carozzi, V. A.; Canta, A.; Oggioni, N.; Ceresa, C.; Marmiroli, P.; Konvalinka, Jan; Zoia, Ch.; Bossi, M.; Ferrarese, C.; Tredici, G.; Cavaletti, G.

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 213, č. 4 (2008), s. 539-546 ISSN 0021-8782 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40550506 Keywords : glutamate * glutamate transporters * immunoblotting * immunohistochemistry * peripheral nervous system Subject RIV: CE - Biochemistry Impact factor: 2.063, year: 2008

  7. Biochemical evidence for overlapping neocortical and allocortical glutamate projections to the nucleus accumbens and rostral caudatoputamen in the rat brain

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walaas, I

    1981-01-01

    The high affinity uptake of L-glutamate has been used to investigate the origin and distribution of putative glutamate fibers in restricted parts of the rostral caudatoputamen and the nucleus accumbens of the rat brain. Ablation of the frontal cortex reduced the glutamate uptake heavily (-77%) in the dorsal part of the ipsilateral caudatoputamen, but also led to significant decreases in the ventral parts of the ipsilateral caudatoputamen (-62% and -53%) in the ipsilateral nucleus accumbens (-25% and -18%) and in the contralateral dorsal part of the caudatoputamen (-21%). Lesion of the caudal neocortex reduced the glutamate uptake in the dorsal part of the ipsilateral caudatoputamen only (-23%). Lesions of the fimbria/fornix reduced the glutamate uptake in both parts of the ipsilateral nucleus accumbens (-46% and -34%) and by approximately 20% in the whole dorsoventral extent of the anterior caudatoputamen. The results indicate that the frontal neocortex distributes fibers which may use glutamate as neurotransmitter both to the whole ipsilateral caudatoputamen and to the nucleus accumbens, and also to the dorsal parts of the contralateral caudatoputamen. The caudal neocortex probably sends such fibers to the dorsal ipsilateral caudatoputamen and the caudal allocortex sends such fibers through the fimbria/fornix to the nucleus accumbens and the ventral part of the ipsilateral caudatoputamen. The results thus corroborate previous suggestions of close similarities between the nucleus accumbens and the ventral caudatoputamen.

  8. Effects of low sodium diet versus high sodium diet on blood pressure, renin, aldosterone, catecholamines, cholesterol, and triglyceride.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graudal, Niels Albert; Hubeck-Graudal, Thorbjorn; Jurgens, Gesche

    2017-04-09

    .08; P =0.06); three studies, 393 participants. Moderate-quality evidence.White people with hypertension: SBP: MD -5.51 mmHg (95% CI: -6.45 to -4.57; P sodium intake as compared with high sodium intake. All effects were stable in 125 study populations with a sodium intake below 250 mmol/day and a sodium reduction intervention of at least one week. Sodium reduction from an average high usual sodium intake level (201 mmol/day) to an average level of 66 mmol/day, which is below the recommended upper level of 100 mmol/day (5.8 g salt), resulted in a decrease in SBP/DBP of 1/0 mmHg in white participants with normotension and a decrease in SBP/DBP of 5.5/2.9 mmHg in white participants with hypertension. A few studies showed that these effects in black and Asian populations were greater. The effects on hormones and lipids were similar in people with normotension and hypertension. Renin increased 1.60 ng/mL/hour (55%); aldosterone increased 97.81 pg/mL (127%); adrenalin increased 7.55 pg/mL (14%); noradrenalin increased 63.56 pg/mL: (27%); cholesterol increased 5.59 mg/dL (2.9%); triglyceride increased 7.04 mg/dL (6.3%).

  9. Characteristics of high affinity and low affinity adenosine binding sites in human cerebral cortex

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    John, D.; Fox, I.V.

    1986-01-01

    The binding characteristics of human brain cortical membrane fractions were evaluated to test the hypothesis that there are A 1 and A 2 adenosine binding sites. The ligands used were 2-chloro(8- 3 H) adenosine and N 6 -(adenine-2, 8- 3 H) cyclohexayladenosine. Binding of chloroadenosine to human brain cortical membranes was time dependent, reversible and concentration dependent. The kinetic constant determinations from binding studies of the adenosine receptor are presented. Utilizing tritium-cyclohexyladenosine as ligand the authors observed evidence for a high affinity binding site in human brain cortical membranes with a kd of 5 nM

  10. Mutation-induced quisqualic acid and ibotenic acid affinity at the metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 4: ligand selectivity results from a synergy of several amino acid residues

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hermit, Mette B; Greenwood, Jeremy R; Bräuner-Osborne, Hans

    2004-01-01

    The metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) are key modulators of excitatory neurotransmission in the central nervous system. The eight mGluR subtypes are seven trans-membrane-spanning proteins that possess a large extracellular amino-terminal domain in which the endogenous ligand binding pocket...... resides. In this study, we have identified four non-conserved amino acid residues that are essential for differentiating mGluR1 from mGluR4. Our approach has been to increase the affinity of the classic mGluR1 agonists, quisqualic acid and ibotenic acid, at mGluR4 by making various point mutations......, the mutations K74Y and K317R induced dramatic triple-order-of-magnitude increases in the affinity of ibotenic acid at mGluR4, making the affinity equivalent to that of mGluR1. Furthermore, the affinity of quisqualic acid at mGluR4 was increased to the same level as mGluR1 by the two double mutations, K74Y/K317R...

  11. Size and shape dependent deprotonation potential and proton affinity of nanodiamond

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barnard, Amanda S; Per, Manolo C

    2014-01-01

    Many important reactions in biology and medicine involve proton abstraction and transfer, and it is integral to applications such as drug delivery. Unlike electrons, which are quantum mechanically delocalized, protons are instantaneously localized on specific residues in these reactions, which can be a distinct advantage. However, the introduction of nanoparticles, such as non-toxic nanodiamonds, to this field complicates matters, as the number of possible sites increases as the inverse radius of the particle. In this paper we present >10 4 simulations that map the size- and shape-dependence of the deprotonation potential and proton affinity of nanodiamonds in the range 1.8–2.7 nm in average diameter. We find that while the average deprotonation potential and proton affinities decrease with size, the site-specific values are inhomogeneous over the surface of the particles, exhibiting strong shape-dependence. The proton affinity is strongly facet-dependent, whereas the deprotonation potential is edge/corner-dependent, which creates a type of spatial hysteresis in the transfer of protons to and from the nanodiamond, and provides new opportunities for selective functionalization. (paper)

  12. Size and shape dependent deprotonation potential and proton affinity of nanodiamond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnard, Amanda S.; Per, Manolo C.

    2014-11-01

    Many important reactions in biology and medicine involve proton abstraction and transfer, and it is integral to applications such as drug delivery. Unlike electrons, which are quantum mechanically delocalized, protons are instantaneously localized on specific residues in these reactions, which can be a distinct advantage. However, the introduction of nanoparticles, such as non-toxic nanodiamonds, to this field complicates matters, as the number of possible sites increases as the inverse radius of the particle. In this paper we present \\gt {{10}4} simulations that map the size- and shape-dependence of the deprotonation potential and proton affinity of nanodiamonds in the range 1.8-2.7 nm in average diameter. We find that while the average deprotonation potential and proton affinities decrease with size, the site-specific values are inhomogeneous over the surface of the particles, exhibiting strong shape-dependence. The proton affinity is strongly facet-dependent, whereas the deprotonation potential is edge/corner-dependent, which creates a type of spatial hysteresis in the transfer of protons to and from the nanodiamond, and provides new opportunities for selective functionalization.

  13. Action of neuro-hypophysis hormones on sodium exchanges of Carassius auratus L; Action des hormones neurohypophysaires sur les echanges de sodium de Carassius auratus L.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Julien, Monique

    1960-06-25

    This academic work reports the use of radio-sodium as indicator of sodium exchanges to simultaneously measure the gill input flow and the output gill and urinary flows. This technique has been applied in the case of a common soft water fish (Carassius auratus L.) to study the possible action of neuro-hypophysis extracts on these flows, and the action of these hormones on urinary excretion [French] Nous avons mesure les echanges de sodium de Carassius auratus a l'aide de radiosodium 24. L'action d'extraits neuro-hypophysaires d'origine diverse a ete comparee a celle d'injection temoin de chlorure de sodium isotonique, aussi bien sur les flux d'entree et de sortie de sodium que sur l'excretion urinaire. De ces experiences faites in vivo, nous pouvons tirer les conclusions suivantes: 1 - L'extrait neurohypophysaire de Carassius auratus provoque une augmentation du flux d'entree de sodium au niveau de la branchie de cet animal alors que le flux de sortie reste inchange. Cet extrait semble plus actif qu'une dose d'ocytocine egale a son activite ocytocique propre. Parmi les hormones neurohypophysaires de mammiferes, seule l'ocytocine (a forte dose) produit une action analogue a celle decrite ci-dessus. L'extrait de Rana esculenta reste sans action. Nous en avons conclu a l'existence dans la neurohypophyse de Carassius auratus d'un facteur hormonal agissant au niveau de la branchie pour controler l'osmoregulation de ce poisson. 2 - Les extraits neurohypophysaires de Carassius auratus entrainent chez l'animal une augmentation de la diurese et de la concentration de sodium de l'urine. Cependant cette action reste discrete et fugace. Les hormones de mammiferes, et les extraits neurohypophysaires d'amphibiens restent sans action. 3 - D'autres auteurs ont montre que chez les amphibiens, l'action des hormones neurohypophysaires se traduit a la fois par une augmentation du transport actif de sodium a travers la peau et par un desequilibre de la balance hydrique (augmentation du

  14. Role of Na,K-ATPase α1 and α2 isoforms in the support of astrocyte glutamate uptake.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nina B Illarionova

    Full Text Available Glutamate released during neuronal activity is cleared from the synaptic space via the astrocytic glutamate/Na(+ co-transporters. This transport is driven by the transmembrane Na(+ gradient mediated by Na,K-ATPase. Astrocytes express two isoforms of the catalytic Na,K-ATPase α subunits; the ubiquitously expressed α1 subunit and the α2 subunit that has a more specific expression profile. In the brain α2 is predominantly expressed in astrocytes. The isoforms differ with regard to Na+ affinity, which is lower for α2. The relative roles of the α1 and α2 isoforms in astrocytes are not well understood. Here we present evidence that the presence of the α2 isoform may contribute to a more efficient restoration of glutamate triggered increases in intracellular sodium concentration [Na(+]i. Studies were performed on primary astrocytes derived from E17 rat striatum expressing Na,K-ATPase α1 and α2 and the glutamate/Na(+ co-transporter GLAST. Selective inhibition of α2 resulted in a modest increase of [Na(+]i accompanied by a disproportionately large decrease in uptake of aspartate, an indicator of glutamate uptake. To compare the capacity of α1 and α2 to handle increases in [Na(+]i triggered by glutamate, primary astrocytes overexpressing either α1 or α2 were used. Exposure to glutamate 200 µM caused a significantly larger increase in [Na(+]i in α1 than in α2 overexpressing cells, and as a consequence restoration of [Na(+]i, after glutamate exposure was discontinued, took longer time in α1 than in α2 overexpressing cells. Both α1 and α2 interacted with astrocyte glutamate/Na(+ co-transporters via the 1st intracellular loop.

  15. Selective induction of high-ouabain-affinity isoform of Na sup + -K sup + -ATPase by thyroid hormone

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haber, R.S.; Loeb, J.N. (Columbia Univ., New York, NY (USA))

    1988-12-01

    The administration of thyroid hormone is known to result in an induction of the Na{sup +}-K{sup +}-adenosinetriphosphatase (Na{sup +}-K{sup +}-ATPase) in rat skeletal muscle and other thyroid hormone-responsive tissues. Since the Na{sup +}-K{sup +}-ATPase in a variety of mammalian tissues has recently been reported to exist in at least two forms distinguishable by differing affinities for the inhibitory cardiac glycoside ouabain. The authors have studied the effects of 3,3{prime},5-triiodo-L-thyronine (T{sub 3}) treatment on these two forms of the enzyme in rat diaphragm. The inhibition of Na{sup +}-K{sup +}-ATPase activity in a crude membrane fraction by varying concentrations of ouabain conformed to a biphasic pattern consistent with the presence of two distinct isoforms with inhibition constants (K{sub I}s) for ouabain of {approximately}10{sup {minus}7} and 10{sup {minus}4} M, respectively. Measurement of the specific binding of ({sup 3}H)ouabain to these membranes confirmed the presence of a class of high-affinity ouabain binding sites with a dissociation constant (K{sub d}) of slightly less than 10{sup {minus}7}M, whose maximal binding capacity was increased by T{sub 3} treatment by 185%. Binding studies in unfractionated homogenates of diaphragm similarly demonstrated the presence of high-affinity sites whose maximal binding capacity was increased by T{sub 3} treatment. Quantitation of both the high- and low-ouabain-affinity forms of the Na{sup +}-K{sup +}-ATPase by ouabain-dependent phosphorylation from ({sup 32}P)orthophosphate confirmed that T{sub 3} treatment markedly increased the number of high-affinity sites while having little effect on the number of low-affinity sites. These observations provide, to our knowledge, the first demonstration that these two forms of the Na{sup +}-K{sup +}-ATPase are subject to selective hormonal induction.

  16. Redox hydrogel based bienzyme electrode for L-glutamate monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belay, A; Collins, A; Ruzgas, T; Kissinger, P T; Gorton, L; Csöregi, E

    1999-02-01

    Amperometric bienzyme electrodes based on coupled L-glutamate oxidase (GlOx) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were constructed for the direct monitoring of L-glutamate in a flow injection (FI)-system. The bienzyme electrodes were constructed by coating solid graphite rods with a premixed solution containing GlOx and HRP crosslinked with a redox polymer formed of poly(1-vinylimidazole) complexed with (osmium (4-4'-dimethylbpy)2 Cl)II/III. Poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEGDGE) was used as the crosslinker and the modified electrodes were inserted as the working electrode in a conventional three electrode flow through amperometric cell operated at -0.05 V versus Ag¿AgCl (0.1 M KCl). The bienzyme electrode was optimized with regard to wire composition, Os-loading of the wires, enzyme ratios, coating procedure, flow rate, effect of poly(ethyleneimine) addition, etc. The optimized electrodes were characterized by a sensitivity of 88.36 +/- 0.14 microA mM(-1) cm(-2), a detection limit of 0.3 microM (calculated as three times the signal-to-noise ratio), a response time of less than 10 s and responded linearly between 0.3 and 250 microM (linear regression coefficient = 0.999) with an operational stability of only 3% sensitivity loss during 8 h of continuous FI operation at a sample throughput of 30 injections h(-1).

  17. GLT-1 Transport Stoichiometry Is Constant at Low and High Glutamate Concentrations when Chloride Is Substituted by Gluconate.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anatoli Y Kabakov

    Full Text Available Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter, but prolonged exposure even at micromolar concentrations causes neuronal death. Extracellular glutamate is maintained at nanomolar level by glutamate transporters, which, however, may reverse transport and release glutamate. If and when the reverse occurs depends on glutamate transport stoichiometry (GTS. Previously we found that in the presence of chloride, the coupled GLT-1 glutamate transporter current and its relationship to radiolabeled glutamate flux significantly decreased when extracellular glutamate concentration increased above 0.2 mM, which implies a change in GTS. Such high concentrations are feasible near GLT-1 expressed close to synaptic release site during excitatory neurotransmission. The aim of this study was to determine GLT-1 GTS at both low (19-75 μM and high (300-1200 μM glutamate concentration ranges. GTS experiments were conducted in the absence of chloride to avoid contributions by the GLT-1 uncoupled chloride conductance. Mathematical analysis of the transporter thermodynamic equilibrium allowed us to derive equations revealing the number of a particular type of ion transported per elementary charge based on the measurements of the transporter reversal potential. We found that GLT-1a expressed in COS-7 cells co-transports 1.5 Na+, 0.5 Glu-, 0.5 H+ and counter-transports 0.6 K+ per elementary charge in both glutamate concentration ranges, and at both 37°C and 26°C temperatures. The thermodynamic parameter Q10 = 2.4 for GLT-1 turnover rate of 19 s-1 (37°C, -50 mV remained constant in the 10 μM-10 mM glutamate concentration range. Importantly, the previously reported decrease in the current/flux ratio at high glutamate concentration was not seen in the absence of chloride in both COS-7 cells and cultured rat neurons. Therefore, only in the absence of chloride, GLT-1 GTS remains constant at all glutamate concentrations. Possible explanations for why apparent GTS might

  18. Anions mediate ligand binding in Adineta vaga glutamate receptor ion channels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lomash, Suvendu; Chittori, Sagar; Brown, Patrick; Mayer, Mark L

    2013-03-05

    AvGluR1, a glutamate receptor ion channel from the primitive eukaryote Adineta vaga, is activated by alanine, cysteine, methionine, and phenylalanine, which produce lectin-sensitive desensitizing responses like those to glutamate, aspartate, and serine. AvGluR1 LBD crystal structures reveal an unusual scheme for binding dissimilar ligands that may be utilized by distantly related odorant/chemosensory receptors. Arginine residues in domain 2 coordinate the γ-carboxyl group of glutamate, whereas in the alanine, methionine, and serine complexes a chloride ion acts as a surrogate ligand, replacing the γ-carboxyl group. Removal of Cl(-) lowers affinity for these ligands but not for glutamate or aspartate nor for phenylalanine, which occludes the anion binding site and binds with low affinity. AvGluR1 LBD crystal structures and sedimentation analysis also provide insights into the evolutionary link between prokaryotic and eukaryotic iGluRs and reveal features unique to both classes, emphasizing the need for additional structure-based studies on iGluR-ligand interactions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Dietary consumption of monosodium L-glutamate induces adaptive response and reduction in the life span of Drosophila melanogaster.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abolaji, Amos O; Olaiya, Charles O; Oluwadahunsi, Oluwagbenga J; Farombi, Ebenezer O

    2017-04-01

    Adaptive response is the ability of an organism to better counterattack stress-induced damage in response to a number of different cytotoxic agents. Monosodium L-glutamate (MSG), the sodium salt of amino acid glutamate, is commonly used as a food additive. We investigated the effects of MSG on the life span and antioxidant response in Drosophila melanogaster (D. melanogaster). Both genders (1 to 3 days old) of flies were fed with diet containing MSG (0.1, 0.5, and 2.5-g/kg diet) for 5 days to assess selected antioxidant and oxidative stress markers, while flies for longevity were fed for lifetime. Thereafter, the longevity assay, hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), and reactive oxygen and nitrogen species levels were determined. Also, catalase, glutathione S-transferase and acetylcholinesterase activities, and total thiol content were evaluated in the flies. We found that MSG reduced the life span of the flies by up to 23% after continuous exposure. Also, MSG increased reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and H 2 O 2 generations and total thiol content as well as the activities of catalase and glutathione S-transferase in D. melanogaster (P reduced life span of flies. This study may therefore have public health significance in humans, and thus, moderate consumption of MSG is advocated by the authors. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  20. Protective effect of poly ({alpha}-L-glutamate) against UV and {gamma}-irradiation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Furuta, Masakazu E-mail: mfuruta@riast.osakafu-u.ac.jp; Huy, Nguyen Quang; Tsuchiya, Akihito; Nakatsuka, Hiroshige; Hayashi, Toshio

    2004-10-01

    We occasionally found that poly ({alpha}-L-glutamate) showed a superior protective effect on enzymes against UV and {sup 60}Co-{gamma} irradiation. We selected papain and {alpha}-amylase as a model enzyme and irradiated the aqueous solution (10 mg/ml) of each enzyme with UV and {sup 60}Co-{gamma} rays in the presence of poly ({alpha}-L-glutamate) ({alpha}-PGA), poly (glucosyl oxyethyl methacrylate (GEMA)), and glucose (1.25% w/v each). The mixture of the three compounds has a significant protective effect on the activity of papain solution showing 40% of remaining activity twice as much as the control containing no additive at the dose of 15 kGy. Among them, {alpha}-PGA showed the highest protecting effect on the both papain and {alpha}-amylase even after 10-kGy irradiation at which 50% of the activity was retained. {alpha}-PGA also showed significant protective activity on {alpha}-amylase against UV both in solution and under dried state.

  1. Protective effect of poly (α-L-glutamate) against UV and γ-irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Furuta, Masakazu; Huy, Nguyen Quang; Tsuchiya, Akihito; Nakatsuka, Hiroshige; Hayashi, Toshio

    2004-01-01

    We occasionally found that poly (α-L-glutamate) showed a superior protective effect on enzymes against UV and 60 Co-γ irradiation. We selected papain and α-amylase as a model enzyme and irradiated the aqueous solution (10 mg/ml) of each enzyme with UV and 60 Co-γ rays in the presence of poly (α-L-glutamate) (α-PGA), poly (glucosyl oxyethyl methacrylate (GEMA)), and glucose (1.25% w/v each). The mixture of the three compounds has a significant protective effect on the activity of papain solution showing 40% of remaining activity twice as much as the control containing no additive at the dose of 15 kGy. Among them, α-PGA showed the highest protecting effect on the both papain and α-amylase even after 10-kGy irradiation at which 50% of the activity was retained. α-PGA also showed significant protective activity on α-amylase against UV both in solution and under dried state

  2. Dysfunctional TCA-Cycle Metabolism in Glutamate Dehydrogenase Deficient Astrocytes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nissen, Jakob D; Pajęcka, Kamilla; Stridh, Malin H; Skytt, Dorte M; Waagepetersen, Helle S

    2015-12-01

    Astrocytes take up glutamate in the synaptic area subsequent to glutamatergic transmission by the aid of high affinity glutamate transporters. Glutamate is converted to glutamine or metabolized to support intermediary metabolism and energy production. Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) and aspartate aminotransferase (AAT) catalyze the reversible reaction between glutamate and α-ketoglutarate, which is the initial step for glutamate to enter TCA cycle metabolism. In contrast to GDH, AAT requires a concomitant interconversion of oxaloacetate and aspartate. We have investigated the role of GDH in astrocyte glutamate and glucose metabolism employing siRNA mediated knock down (KD) of GDH in cultured astrocytes using stable and radioactive isotopes for metabolic mapping. An increased level of aspartate was observed upon exposure to [U-(13) C]glutamate in astrocytes exhibiting reduced GDH activity. (13) C Labeling of aspartate and TCA cycle intermediates confirmed that the increased amount of aspartate is associated with elevated TCA cycle flux from α-ketoglutarate to oxaloacetate, i.e. truncated TCA cycle. (13) C Glucose metabolism was elevated in GDH deficient astrocytes as observed by increased de novo synthesis of aspartate via pyruvate carboxylation. In the absence of glucose, lactate production from glutamate via malic enzyme was lower in GDH deficient astrocytes. In conclusions, our studies reveal that metabolism via GDH serves an important anaplerotic role by adding net carbon to the TCA cycle. A reduction in GDH activity seems to cause the astrocytes to up-regulate activity in pathways involved in maintaining the amount of TCA cycle intermediates such as pyruvate carboxylation as well as utilization of alternate substrates such as branched chain amino acids. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Biphasic regulation of development of the high-affinity saxitoxin receptor by innervation in rat skeletal muscle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sherman, S.J.; Catterall, W.A.

    1982-01-01

    Specific binding of 3 H-saxitoxin (STX) was used to quantitate the density of voltage-sensitive sodium channels in developing rat skeletal muscle. In adult triceps surae, a single class of sites with a KD . 2.9 nM and a density of 21 fmol/mg wet wt was detected. The density of these high-affinity sites increased from 2.0 fmol/mg wet wt to the adult value in linear fashion during days 2-25 after birth. Denervation of the triceps surae at day 11 or 17 reduced final saxitoxin receptor site density to 10.4 or 9.2 fmol/mg wet wt, respectively, without changing KD. Denervation of the triceps surae at day 5 did not alter the subsequent development of saxitoxin receptor sites during days 5-9 and accelerated the increase of saxitoxin receptor sites during days 9-13. After day 13, saxitoxin receptor development abruptly ceased and the density of saxitoxin receptor sites declined to 11 fmol/wg wet wt. These results show that the regulation of high-affinity saxitoxin receptor site density by innervation is biphasic. During the first phase, which is independent of continuing innervation, the saxitoxin receptor density increases to 47-57% of the adult level. After day 11, the second phase of development, which is dependent on continuing innervation, gives rise to the adult density of saxitoxin receptors

  4. Solubilities of magnesium-L-ascorbate, calcium-L-ascorbate, magnesium-L-glutamate, magnesium-D-gluconate, calcium-D-gluconate, calcium-D-heptagluconate, L-aspartic acid, and 3-nitrobenzoic acid in water

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mishelevich, Alexander [Department of Chemical Engineering, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105 (Israel); Apelblat, Alexander [Department of Chemical Engineering, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105 (Israel)], E-mail: apelblat@bgu.ac.il

    2008-05-15

    The solubility in water of magnesium-L-ascorbate, calcium-L-ascorbate, magnesium-L-glutamate, magnesium-D-gluconate, calcium-D-gluconate, calcium-D-heptagluconate, L-aspartic acid, and 3-nitrobenzoic acid was determined in the 278.15 K to 343.15 K temperature range. The solubility of these compounds served to permit the evaluation of the apparent molar enthalpies of solution.

  5. Solubilities of magnesium-L-ascorbate, calcium-L-ascorbate, magnesium-L-glutamate, magnesium-D-gluconate, calcium-D-gluconate, calcium-D-heptagluconate, L-aspartic acid, and 3-nitrobenzoic acid in water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mishelevich, Alexander; Apelblat, Alexander

    2008-01-01

    The solubility in water of magnesium-L-ascorbate, calcium-L-ascorbate, magnesium-L-glutamate, magnesium-D-gluconate, calcium-D-gluconate, calcium-D-heptagluconate, L-aspartic acid, and 3-nitrobenzoic acid was determined in the 278.15 K to 343.15 K temperature range. The solubility of these compounds served to permit the evaluation of the apparent molar enthalpies of solution

  6. Production and Identification of High Affinity Monoclonal Antibodies Against Pesticide Carbofuran

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2007-01-01

    To produce high-affinity monoclonal antibodies against pesticide carbofuran, and the develop immunochemical assays for people's health and environmental protection, the hapten 4-[[(2,3-dihydro-2,2-dimethyl-7-benzofuranyloxy) carbonyl]-amino]-butanoic acid (BFNB) of carbofuran was synthesized and Balb/c mice were immunized by the hapten-carrier (BFNB-bovine serum albumin, BFNB-BSA) conjugates. The splenocytes of immunized mice were fused with Sp2/0 cells and the cultural supernatants of hybridoma cells were screened by the indirect enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA), based on BFNB-ovoalbumin conjugates (BFNB-OVA). Purified monoclonal antibody (McAb) was obtained from fluids of ascites, deposited by octanoic acid and ammonium sulfate. The affinity and the specificity of McAb were characterized by ELISA or indirect competitive ELISA. A hybridoma cell line (5D3) secreting anti-carbofuran McAb had been established. The titer of culture medium and ascites was up to 1:2.048 × 103 and 1:1.024 × 106, respectively, and the subtype of the McAb was IgG1. The affinity constant of the McAb was about 2.54 × 109 L mol-1, with an IC50 value of 1.18 ng mL-1 and a detection limit of 0.01 ng mL-1. Cross-reactivity studies showed that the McAb was quiet specific for carbofuran, as among the four analogous compounds, they were all hardly recognized (4.59 × 10-4% for 2,3-dihydro-2,2-dimethyl-7-benzofuranol and less than 3.0 × 10-4% for others). The prepared McAb had a very high affinity and specificity,and it could be used to develop ELISA for rapid determination of carbofuran.

  7. Immune labeling and purification of a 71-kDa glutamate-binding protein from brain synaptic membranes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, J.W.; Cunningham, M.D.; Galton, N.; Michaelis, E.K.

    1988-01-01

    Immunoblot studies of synaptic membranes isolated from rat brain using antibodies raised against a previously purified glutamate-binding protein (GBP) indicated labeling of an ∼ 70-kDa protein band. Since the antibodies used were raised against a 14-kDa GBP, the present studies were undertaken to explore the possibility that the 14-kDa protein may have been a proteolytic fragment of a larger M/sub r/ protein in synaptic membranes. The major protein enriched in the most highly purified fractions was a 71-kDa glycoprotein, but a 63-kDa protein was co-purified during most steps of the isolation procedure. The glutamate-binding characteristics of these isolated protein fractions were very similar to those previously described for the 14-kDa GBP, including estimated dissociation constants for L-glutamate binding of 0.25 and 1 + M, inhibition of glutamate binding by azide and cyanide, and a selectivity of the ligand binding site for L-glutamate and L-aspartate. The neuroexcitatory analogs of L-glutamate and L-aspartate, ibotenate, quisqualate, and D-glutamate, inhibited L[ 3 H]glutamate binding to the isolated proteins, as did the antagonist of L-glutamate-induced neuronal excitation, L-glutamate diethylester. On the basis of the lack of any detectable glutamate-related enzyme activity associated with the isolated proteins and the presence of distinguishing sensitivities to analogs that inhibit glutamate transport carriers in synaptic membranes, it is proposed that the 71-kDa protein may be a component of a physiologic glutamate receptor complex in neuronal membranes

  8. Mammalian folylpoly-γ-glutamate synthetase. 1. Purification and general properties of the hog liver enzyme

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cichowicz, D.J.; Shane, B.

    1987-01-01

    Folylpolyglutamate synthetase was purified 30,000-150,000-fold from hog liver. Purification required the use of protease inhibitors, and the protein was purified to homogeneity in two forms. Both forms of the enzyme were monomers of M/sub r/ 62,000 and had similar specific activities. The specific activity of the homogeneous protein was over 2000-fold higher than reported for partially purified folylpolyglutamate synthetases from other mammalian sources. Enzyme activity was absolutely dependent on the presence of a reducing agent and a monovalent cation, of which K + was most effective. The purified enzyme catalyzed a MgATP-dependent addition of glutamate to tetrahydrofolate with the concomitant stoichiometric formation of MgADP and phosphate. Under conditions that resembled the expected substrate and enzyme concentrations in hog liver, tetrahydrofolate was metabolized to long glutamate chain length derivatives with the hexaglutamate, the major in vivo folate derivative, predominating. Enzyme activity was maximal at about pH 9.5. The high-pH optimum was primarily due to an increase in the K/sub m/ value for the L-glutamate substrate at lower pH values, and the reaction proceeded effectively at physiological pH provided high levels of glutamate were supplied

  9. Tau passive immunotherapy in mutant P301L mice: antibody affinity versus specificity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina d'Abramo

    Full Text Available The use of antibodies to treat neurodegenerative diseases has undergone rapid development in the past decade. To date, immunotherapeutic approaches to Alzheimer's disease have mostly targeted amyloid beta as it is a secreted protein that can be found in plasma and CSF and is consequently accessible to circulating antibodies. Few recent publications have suggested the utility of treatment of tau pathology with monoclonal antibodies to tau. Our laboratory has begun a systematic study of different classes of tau monoclonal antibodies using mutant P301L mice. Three or seven months old mutant tau mice were inoculated weekly with tau monoclonal antibodies at a dose of 10 mg/Kg, until seven or ten months of age were reached respectively. Our data strongly support the notion that in P301L animals treated with MC1, a conformational monoclonal antibody specific for PHF-tau, the rate of development of tau pathology is effectively reduced, while injecting DA31, a high affinity tau sequence antibody, does not exert such benefit. MC1 appears superior to DA31 in overall effects, suggesting that specificity is more important than affinity in therapeutic applications. Unfortunately the survival rate of the P301L treated mice was not improved when immunizing either with MC1 or PHF1, a high affinity phospho-tau antibody previously reported to be efficacious in reducing pathological tau. These data demonstrate that passive immunotherapy in mutant tau models may be efficacious in reducing the development of tau pathology, but a great deal of work remains to be done to carefully select the tau epitopes to target.

  10. Immobilization of Ni–Pd/core–shell nanoparticles through thermal polymerization of acrylamide on glassy carbon electrode for highly stable and sensitive glutamate detection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu, Huicheng; Ma, Zhenzhen; Wu, Zhaoyang

    2015-01-01

    The preparation of a persistently stable and sensitive biosensor is highly important for practical applications. To improve the stability and sensitivity of glutamate sensors, an electrode modified with glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH)/Ni–Pd/core–shell nanoparticles was developed using the thermal polymerization of acrylamide (AM) to immobilize the synthesized Ni–Pd/core–shell nanoparticles onto a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The modified electrode was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Electrochemical data showed that the prepared biosensor had remarkably enhanced electrocatalytic activity toward glutamate. Moreover, superior reproducibility and excellent stability were observed (relative average deviation was 2.96% after continuous use of the same sensor for 60 times, and current responses remained at 94.85% of the initial value after 60 d). The sensor also demonstrated highly sensitive amperometric detection of glutamate with a low limit of detection (0.052 μM, S/N = 3), high sensitivity (4.768 μA μM"−"1 cm"−"2), and a wide, useful linear range (0.1–500 μM). No interference from potential interfering species such as L-cysteine, ascorbic acid, and L-aspartate were noted. The determination of glutamate levels in actual samples achieved good recovery percentages. - Highlights: • Ni–Pd/core–shell nanoparticles were synthesized. • Nanoparticles were immobilized onto electrodes through thermal polymerization. • The modified sensor exhibited excellent stability and sensitivity for glutamate detection. • The biosensor exhibited remarkable electrocatalytic activity toward glutamate. • The sensor successfully detected glutamate in tomato soup samples.

  11. Immobilization of Ni–Pd/core–shell nanoparticles through thermal polymerization of acrylamide on glassy carbon electrode for highly stable and sensitive glutamate detection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yu, Huicheng, E-mail: doyhc@126.com [State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082 (China); School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangxi University for Nationalities, Nanning, 530008 (China); School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangxi University for Nationalities, Nanning, 530008 (China); Key Laboratory of Chemistry and Engineering of Forest Products, Guangxi University for Nationalities, Nanning, 530008 (China); Key Laboratory of Guangxi Colleges and Universities for Food Safety and Pharmaceutical Analytical Chemistry, Guangxi University for Nationalities, Nanning, 530008 (China); Ma, Zhenzhen [State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082 (China); Wu, Zhaoyang, E-mail: zywu@hnu.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082 (China)

    2015-10-08

    The preparation of a persistently stable and sensitive biosensor is highly important for practical applications. To improve the stability and sensitivity of glutamate sensors, an electrode modified with glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH)/Ni–Pd/core–shell nanoparticles was developed using the thermal polymerization of acrylamide (AM) to immobilize the synthesized Ni–Pd/core–shell nanoparticles onto a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The modified electrode was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Electrochemical data showed that the prepared biosensor had remarkably enhanced electrocatalytic activity toward glutamate. Moreover, superior reproducibility and excellent stability were observed (relative average deviation was 2.96% after continuous use of the same sensor for 60 times, and current responses remained at 94.85% of the initial value after 60 d). The sensor also demonstrated highly sensitive amperometric detection of glutamate with a low limit of detection (0.052 μM, S/N = 3), high sensitivity (4.768 μA μM{sup −1} cm{sup −2}), and a wide, useful linear range (0.1–500 μM). No interference from potential interfering species such as L-cysteine, ascorbic acid, and L-aspartate were noted. The determination of glutamate levels in actual samples achieved good recovery percentages. - Highlights: • Ni–Pd/core–shell nanoparticles were synthesized. • Nanoparticles were immobilized onto electrodes through thermal polymerization. • The modified sensor exhibited excellent stability and sensitivity for glutamate detection. • The biosensor exhibited remarkable electrocatalytic activity toward glutamate. • The sensor successfully detected glutamate in tomato soup samples.

  12. Efficient Production of γ-GABA Using Recombinant E. coli Expressing Glutamate Decarboxylase (GAD) Derived from Eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiong, Qiang; Xu, Zheng; Xu, Lu; Yao, Zhong; Li, Sha; Xu, Hong

    2017-12-01

    γ-Aminobutyric acid (γ-GABA) is a non-proteinogenic amino acid, which acts as a major regulator in the central nervous system. Glutamate decarboxylase (namely GAD, EC 4.1.1.15) is known to be an ideal enzyme for γ-GABA production using L-glutamic acid as substrate. In this study, we cloned and expressed GAD gene from eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ScGAD) in E. coli BL21(DE3). This enzyme was further purified and its optimal reaction temperature and pH were 37 °C and pH 4.2, respectively. The cofactor of ScGAD was verified to be either pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) or pyridoxal hydrochloride. The optimal concentration of either cofactor was 50 mg/L. The optimal medium for E. coli-ScGAD cultivation and expression were 10 g/L lactose, 5 g/L glycerol, 20 g/L yeast extract, and 10 g/L sodium chloride, resulting in an activity of 55 U/mL medium, three times higher than that of using Luria-Bertani (LB) medium. The maximal concentration of γ-GABA was 245 g/L whereas L-glutamic acid was near completely converted. These findings provided us a good example for bio-production of γ-GABA using recombinant E. coli expressing a GAD enzyme derived from eukaryote.

  13. Elevated baseline serum glutamate as a pharmacometabolomic biomarker for acamprosate treatment outcome in alcohol-dependent subjects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nam, H W; Karpyak, V M; Hinton, D J; Geske, J R; Ho, A M C; Prieto, M L; Biernacka, J M; Frye, M A; Weinshilboum, R M; Choi, D-S

    2015-01-01

    Acamprosate has been widely used since the Food and Drug Administration approved the medication for treatment of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) in 2004. Although the detailed molecular mechanism of acamprosate remains unclear, it has been largely known that acamprosate inhibits glutamate action in the brain. However, AUD is a complex and heterogeneous disorder. Thus, biomarkers are required to prescribe this medication to patients who will have the highest likelihood of responding positively. To identify pharmacometabolomic biomarkers of acamprosate response, we utilized serum samples from 120 alcohol-dependent subjects, including 71 responders (maintained continuous abstinence) and 49 non-responders (any alcohol use) during 12 weeks of acamprosate treatment. Notably, baseline serum glutamate levels were significantly higher in responders compared with non-responders. Importantly, serum glutamate levels of responders are normalized after acamprosate treatment, whereas there was no significant glutamate change in non-responders. Subsequent functional studies in animal models revealed that, in the absence of alcohol, acamprosate activates glutamine synthetase, which synthesizes glutamine from glutamate and ammonia. These results suggest that acamprosate reduces serum glutamate levels for those who have elevated baseline serum glutamate levels among responders. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that elevated baseline serum glutamate levels are a potential biomarker associated with positive acamprosate response, which is an important step towards development of a personalized approach to treatment for AUD. PMID:26285131

  14. Cephalopod vision involves dicarboxylic amino acids: D-aspartate, L-aspartate and L-glutamate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Aniello, Salvatore; Spinelli, Patrizia; Ferrandino, Gabriele; Peterson, Kevin; Tsesarskia, Mara; Fisher, George; D'Aniello, Antimo

    2005-03-01

    In the present study, we report the finding of high concentrations of D-Asp (D-aspartate) in the retina of the cephalopods Sepia officinalis, Loligo vulgaris and Octopus vulgaris. D-Asp increases in concentration in the retina and optic lobes as the animal develops. In neonatal S. officinalis, the concentration of D-Asp in the retina is 1.8+/-0.2 micromol/g of tissue, and in the optic lobes it is 5.5+/-0.4 micromol/g of tissue. In adult animals, D-Asp is found at a concentration of 3.5+/-0.4 micromol/g in retina and 16.2+/-1.5 micromol/g in optic lobes (1.9-fold increased in the retina, and 2.9-fold increased in the optic lobes). In the retina and optic lobes of S. officinalis, the concentration of D-Asp, L-Asp (L-aspartate) and L-Glu (L-glutamate) is significantly influenced by the light/dark environment. In adult animals left in the dark, these three amino acids fall significantly in concentration in both retina (approx. 25% less) and optic lobes (approx. 20% less) compared with the control animals (animals left in a diurnal/nocturnal physiological cycle). The reduction in concentration is in all cases statistically significant (P=0.01-0.05). Experiments conducted in S. officinalis by using D-[2,3-3H]Asp have shown that D-Asp is synthesized in the optic lobes and is then transported actively into the retina. D-aspartate racemase, an enzyme which converts L-Asp into D-Asp, is also present in these tissues, and it is significantly decreased in concentration in animals left for 5 days in the dark compared with control animals. Our hypothesis is that the dicarboxylic amino acids, D-Asp, L-Asp and L-Glu, play important roles in vision.

  15. An Examination of the Role of L-Glutamate and Inosine 5'-Monophosphate in Hedonic Taste-Guided Behavior by Mice Lacking the T1R1 + T1R3 Receptor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blonde, Ginger D; Spector, Alan C

    2017-06-01

    The heterodimeric T1R1 + T1R3 receptor is considered critical for normal signaling of L-glutamate and 5'-ribonucleotides in the oral cavity. However, some taste-guided responsiveness remains in mice lacking one subunit of the receptor, suggesting that other receptors are sufficient to support some behaviors. Here, mice lacking both receptor subunits (KO) and wild-type (WT, both n = 13) mice were tested in a battery of behavioral tests. Mice were trained and tested in gustometers with a concentration series of Maltrin-580, a maltodextrin, in a brief-access test (10-s trials) as a positive control. Similar tests followed with monosodium glutamate (MSG) with and without the ribonucleotide inosine 5'-monophosphate (IMP), but always in the presence of the epithelial sodium channel blocker amiloride (A). Brief-access tests were repeated following short-term (30-min) and long-term (48-h) exposures to MSG + A + IMP and were also conducted with sodium gluconate replacing MSG. Finally, progressive ratio tests were conducted with Maltrin-580 or MSG + A + IMP, to assess appetitive behavior while minimizing satiation. Overall, MSG generated little concentration-dependent responding in either food-restricted WT or KO mice, even in combination with IMP. However, KO mice licked less to the amino acid stimuli, a measure of consummatory behavior in the brief-access tests. In contrast, both groups initiated a similar number of trials and had a similar breakpoint in the progressive ratio task, both measures of appetitive (approach) behavior. Collectively, these results suggest that while the T1R1 + T1R3 receptor is necessary for consummatory responding to MSG (+IMP), other receptors are sufficient to maintain appetitive responding to this "umami" stimulus complex in food-restricted mice. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  16. Glutamate co-transmission from developing medial nucleus of the trapezoid body - Lateral superior olive synapses is cochlear dependent in kanamycin-treated rats

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Jae Ho [Institute of Tissue Regeneration Engineering (ITREN), Dankook University, San 29, Anseo-dong, Cheonan-si, Chungnam 330-714 (Korea, Republic of); Pradhan, Jonu [Department of Nanobio Medical Science, Dankook University, San 29, Anseo-dong, Cheonan-si, Chungnam 330-714 (Korea, Republic of); Maskey, Dhiraj; Park, Ki Sup [Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Dankook University, San 29, Anseo-dong, Cheonan-si, Chungnam 330-714 (Korea, Republic of); Hong, Sung Hwa [Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, 50, Irwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710 (Korea, Republic of); Suh, Myung-Whan [Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, Dankook University, San 29, Anseo-dong, Cheonan-si, Chungnam 330-714 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Myeung Ju, E-mail: mjukim99@dankook.ac.kr [Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Dankook University, San 29, Anseo-dong, Cheonan-si, Chungnam 330-714 (Korea, Republic of); Ahn, Seung Cheol, E-mail: ansil67@hanmail.net [Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Dankook University, San 29, Anseo-dong, Cheonan-si, Chungnam 330-714 (Korea, Republic of)

    2011-02-11

    Research highlights: {yields} Glutamate co-transmission is enhanced in kanamycin-treated rats. {yields} VGLUT3 expression is increased in kanamycin-treated rats. {yields} GlyR expression is decreased in kanamycin-treated rats. {yields} GlyR, VGLUT3 expression patterns are asymmetric in unilaterally cochlear ablated rat. -- Abstract: Cochlear dependency of glutamate co-transmission at the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB) - the lateral superior olive (LSO) synapses was investigated using developing rats treated with high dose kanamycin. Rats were treated with kanamycin from postnatal day (P) 3 to P8. A scanning electron microscopic study on P9 demonstrated partial cochlear hair cell damage. A whole cell voltage clamp experiment demonstrated the increased glutamatergic portion of postsynaptic currents (PSCs) elicited by MNTB stimulation in P9-P11 kanamycin-treated rats. The enhanced VGLUT3 immunoreactivities (IRs) in kanamycin-treated rats and asymmetric VGLUT3 IRs in the LSO of unilaterally cochlear ablated rats supported the electrophysiologic data. Taken together, it is concluded that glutamate co-transmission is cochlear-dependent and enhanced glutamate co-transmission in kanamycin-treated rats is induced by partial cochlear damage.

  17. Creatine affords protection against glutamate-induced nitrosative and oxidative stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cunha, Mauricio P; Lieberknecht, Vicente; Ramos-Hryb, Ana Belén; Olescowicz, Gislaine; Ludka, Fabiana K; Tasca, Carla I; Gabilan, Nelson H; Rodrigues, Ana Lúcia S

    2016-05-01

    Creatine has been reported to exert beneficial effects in several neurodegenerative diseases in which glutamatergic excitotoxicity and oxidative stress play an etiological role. The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effects of creatine, as compared to the N-Methyl-d-Aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist dizocilpine (MK-801), against glutamate or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced injury in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. Exposure of cells to glutamate (60-80 mM) or H2O2 (200-300 μM) for 24 h decreased cellular viability and increased dichlorofluorescein (DCF) fluorescence (indicative of increased reactive oxygen species, ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) production (assessed by mono-nitrogen oxides, NOx, levels). Creatine (1-10 mM) or MK-801 (0.1-10 μM) reduced glutamate- and H2O2-induced toxicity. The protective effect of creatine against glutamate-induced toxicity involves its antioxidant effect, since creatine, similar to MK-801, prevented the increase on DCF fluorescence induced by glutamate or H2O2. Furthermore, creatine or MK-801 blocked glutamate- and H2O2-induced increases in NOx levels. In another set of experiments, the repeated, but not acute, administration of creatine (300 mg/kg, po) in mice prevented the decreases on cellular viability and mitochondrial membrane potential (assessed by tetramethylrhodamine ethyl ester, TMRE, probe) of hippocampal slices incubated with glutamate (10 mM). Creatine concentration-dependent decreased the amount of nitrite formed in the reaction of oxygen with NO produced from sodium nitroprusside solution, suggesting that its protective effect against glutamate or H2O2-induced toxicity might be due to its scavenger activity. Overall, the results suggest that creatine may be useful as adjuvant therapy for neurodegenerative disease treatments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. High-level exogenous glutamic acid-independent production of poly-(γ-glutamic acid) with organic acid addition in a new isolated Bacillus subtilis C10.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Huili; Zhu, Jianzhong; Zhu, Xiangcheng; Cai, Jin; Zhang, Anyi; Hong, Yizhi; Huang, Jin; Huang, Lei; Xu, Zhinan

    2012-07-01

    A new exogenous glutamic acid-independent γ-PGA producing strain was isolated and characterized as Bacillus subtilis C10. The factors influencing the endogenous glutamic acid supply and the biosynthesis of γ-PGA in this strain were investigated. The results indicated that citric acid and oxalic acid showed the significant capability to support the overproduction of γ-PGA. This stimulated increase of γ-PGA biosynthesis by citric acid or oxalic acid was further proved in the 10 L fermentor. To understand the possible mechanism contributing to the improved γ-PGA production, the activities of four key intracellular enzymes were measured, and the possible carbon fluxes were proposed. The result indicated that the enhanced level of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) activity caused by oxalic acid was important for glutamic acid synthesized de novo from glucose. Moreover, isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICDH) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) were the positive regulators of glutamic acid biosynthesis, while 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (ODHC) was the negative one. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. A potential therapy for chordoma via antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity employing NK or high-affinity NK cells in combination with cetuximab.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujii, Rika; Schlom, Jeffrey; Hodge, James W

    2018-05-01

    OBJECTIVE Chordoma is a rare bone tumor derived from the notochord and is resistant to conventional therapies such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeting therapeutics. Expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in a large proportion of chordoma specimens indicates a potential target for therapeutic intervention. In this study the authors investigated the potential role of the anti-EGFR antibody cetuximab in immunotherapy for chordoma. METHODS Since cetuximab is a monoclonal antibody of the IgG1 isotype, it has the potential to mediate antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) employing natural killer (NK) cells as effectors. Polymorphisms in the CD16 allele expressed on NK cells have been shown to influence the degree of ADCC of tumor cells, with the high-affinity valine (V)/V allele being responsible for more lysis than the V/phenylalanine (F) or FF allele. Unfortunately, however, only approximately 10% of the population expresses the VV allele on NK cells. An NK cell line, NK-92, has now been engineered to endogenously express IL-2 and the high-affinity CD16 allele. These irradiated high-affinity (ha)NK cells were analyzed for lysis of chordoma cells with and without cetuximab, and the levels of lysis observed in ADCC were compared with those of NK cells from donors expressing the VV, VF, and FF alleles. RESULTS Here the authors demonstrate for the first time 1) that cetuximab in combination with NK cells can mediate ADCC of chordoma cells; 2) the influence of the NK CD16 polymorphism in cetuximab-mediated ADCC for chordoma cell lysis; 3) that engineered haNK cells-that is, cells transduced to express the CD16 V158 FcγRIIIa receptor-bind cetuximab with similar affinity to normal NK cells expressing the high-affinity VV allele; and 4) that irradiated haNK cells induce ADCC with cetuximab in chordoma cells. CONCLUSIONS These studies provide rationale for the use of cetuximab in combination with irradiated haNK cells for therapy for

  20. Elaboration of garlic and salt spice with reduced sodium intake.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodrigues, Jéssica F; Junqueira, Gabriela; Gonçalves, Carla S; Carneiro, João D S; Pinheiro, Ana Carla M; Nunes, Cleiton A

    2014-12-01

    Garlic and salt spice is widely used in Brazilian cookery, but it has a high sodium content; as high sodium intake has been strongly correlated to the incidence of chronic diseases. This study aimed to develop a garlic and salt spice with reduced sodium intake. Sensory evaluation was conducted by applying the spices to cooked rice. First, the optimal concentration of spice added during rice preparation was determined. Subsequently, seasonings (3:1) were prepared containing 0%, 50% and 25% less NaCl using a mixture of salts consisting of KCl and monosodium glutamate; a seasoning with a 0% NaCl reduction was established as a control. Three formulations of rice with different spices were assessed according to sensory testing acceptance, time-intensity and temporal domain of sensations. The proportions of salts used in the garlic and salt spice did not generate a strange or bad taste in the products; instead, the mixtures were less salty. However, the seasonings with lower sodium levels (F2 and F3) were better accepted in comparison to the traditional seasoning (F1). Therefore, a mixture of NaCl, KCl and monosodium glutamate is a viable alternative to develop a garlic and salt spice with reduced sodium intake.

  1. Immobilization of Ni-Pd/core-shell nanoparticles through thermal polymerization of acrylamide on glassy carbon electrode for highly stable and sensitive glutamate detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Huicheng; Ma, Zhenzhen; Wu, Zhaoyang

    2015-10-08

    The preparation of a persistently stable and sensitive biosensor is highly important for practical applications. To improve the stability and sensitivity of glutamate sensors, an electrode modified with glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH)/Ni-Pd/core-shell nanoparticles was developed using the thermal polymerization of acrylamide (AM) to immobilize the synthesized Ni-Pd/core-shell nanoparticles onto a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The modified electrode was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Electrochemical data showed that the prepared biosensor had remarkably enhanced electrocatalytic activity toward glutamate. Moreover, superior reproducibility and excellent stability were observed (relative average deviation was 2.96% after continuous use of the same sensor for 60 times, and current responses remained at 94.85% of the initial value after 60 d). The sensor also demonstrated highly sensitive amperometric detection of glutamate with a low limit of detection (0.052 μM, S/N = 3), high sensitivity (4.768 μA μM(-1) cm(-2)), and a wide, useful linear range (0.1-500 μM). No interference from potential interfering species such as l-cysteine, ascorbic acid, and l-aspartate were noted. The determination of glutamate levels in actual samples achieved good recovery percentages. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Measurement of carbon activity in sodium by Fe-Mn 20% alloy, and by strainless austenitic steel 304L and 316L

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oberlin, C.; Saint Paul, P.; Baque, P.; Champeix, L.

    1980-01-01

    Precise knowledge of carbon activity in sodium used as coolant in fast breeder reactors, is essential for continuous survey of carburization-decarburization processes. Carbon activity can be periodically surveyed by measuring the carbon concentration or by hot trap like metal alloy strip placed in sodium loop. In fact, in equilibrium, activity of carbon in sodium is equal to the activity in metal alloy. Thus if the relation between concentration of carbon and it activity in the alloy is known, it is possible to estimate the activity of carbon in sodium. Materials to be used should have high solubility in carbon at the needed temperature. They should quickly attain equilibrium with sodium and they should not contain impurities that can affect the results. Materials chosen according to these criteria were Fe-Mn 20%, stainless austenitic steel AISI 304L and 316L

  3. Mitogen activated protein kinase 6 and MAP kinase phosphatase 1 are involved in the response of Arabidopsis roots to L-glutamate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    López-Bucio, Jesús Salvador; Raya-González, Javier; Ravelo-Ortega, Gustavo; Ruiz-Herrera, León Francisco; Ramos-Vega, Maricela; León, Patricia; López-Bucio, José; Guevara-García, Ángel Arturo

    2018-03-01

    The function and components of L-glutamate signaling pathways in plants have just begun to be elucidated. Here, using a combination of genetic and biochemical strategies, we demonstrated that a MAPK module is involved in the control of root developmental responses to this amino acid. Root system architecture plays an essential role in plant adaptation to biotic and abiotic factors via adjusting signal transduction and gene expression. L-Glutamate (L-Glu), an amino acid with neurotransmitter functions in animals, inhibits root growth, but the underlying genetic mechanisms are poorly understood. Through a combination of genetic analysis, in-gel kinase assays, detailed cell elongation and division measurements and confocal analysis of expression of auxin, quiescent center and stem cell niche related genes, the critical roles of L-Glu in primary root growth acting through the mitogen-activated protein kinase 6 (MPK6) and the dual specificity serine-threonine-tyrosine phosphatase MKP1 could be revealed. In-gel phosphorylation assays revealed a rapid and dose-dependent induction of MPK6 and MPK3 activities in wild-type Arabidopsis seedlings in response to L-Glu. Mutations in MPK6 or MKP1 reduced or increased root cell division and elongation in response to L-Glu, possibly modulating auxin transport and/or response, but in a PLETHORA1 and 2 independent manner. Our data highlight MPK6 and MKP1 as components of an L-Glu pathway linking the auxin response, and cell division for primary root growth.

  4. Blockade and enhancement of glutamate receptor responses in Xenopus oocytes by methylated arsenicals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Krueger, Katharina; Gruner, Janina; Madeja, Michael; Musshoff, Ulrich [Universitaetsklinikum Muenster, Institut fuer Physiologie I, Muenster (Germany); Hartmann, Louise M.; Hirner, Alfred V. [Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Institut fuer Umweltanalytik, Essen (Germany); Binding, Norbert [Universitaetsklinikum Muenster, Institut fuer Arbeitsmedizin, Muenster (Germany)

    2006-08-15

    Pentavalent and trivalent organoarsenic compounds belong to the major metabolites of inorganic arsenicals detected in humans. Recently, the question was raised whether the organic arsenicals represent metabolites of a detoxification process or methylated species with deleterious biological effects. In this study, the effects of trivalent arsenite (AsO{sub 3} {sup 3-}; iA{sup III}), the pentavalent organoarsenic compounds monomethylarsonic acid (CH{sub 3}AsO(OH){sub 2}; MMA{sup V}) and dimethylarsinic acid ((CH{sub 3}){sub 2}AsO(OH); DMA{sup V}) and the trivalent compounds monomethylarsonous acid (CH{sub 3}As(OH){sub 2}, MMA{sup III}) and dimethylarsinous acid ((CH{sub 3}){sub 2}As(OH); DMA{sup III}) were tested on glutamate receptors and on voltage-operated potassium and sodium channels heterologously expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Membrane currents of ion channels were measured by conventional two-electrode voltage-clamp techniques. The effects of arsenite were tested in concentrations of 1-1,000 {mu}mol/l and the organic arsenical compounds were tested in concentrations of 0.1-100 {mu}mol/l. We found no significant effects on voltage-operated ion channels; however, the arsenicals exert different effects on glutamate receptors. While MMA{sup V} and MMA{sup III} significantly enhanced ion currents through N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor ion channels with threshold concentrations <10 {mu}mol/l, DMA{sup V} and DMA{sup III} significantly reduced NMDA-receptor mediated responses with threshold concentrations <0.1 {mu}mol/l; iA{sup III} had no effects on glutamate receptors of the NMDA type. MMA{sup III} and DMA{sup V} significantly reduced ion currents through {alpha}-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid (AMPA)-receptor ion channels with threshold concentrations <10 {mu}mol/l (MMA{sup III}) and <1 {mu}mol/l (DMA{sup V}). MMA{sup V} and iA{sup III} had no significant effects on glutamate receptors of the AMPA type. The effects of MMA{sup V}, MMA

  5. Amino acid transamination is crucial for ischaemic cardioprotection in normal and preconditioned isolated rat hearts--focus on L-glutamate

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Løfgren, Bo; Povlsen, Jonas Agerlund; Rasmussen, Lars Ege

    2010-01-01

    We have found that cardioprotection by l-glutamate mimics protection by classical ischaemic preconditioning (IPC). We investigated whether the effect of IPC involves amino acid transamination and whether IPC modulates myocardial glutamate metabolism. In a glucose-perfused, isolated rat heart model...... subjected to 40 min global no-flow ischaemia and 120 min reperfusion, the effects of IPC (2 cycles of 5 min ischaemia and 5 min reperfusion) and continuous glutamate (20 mm) administration during reperfusion on infarct size and haemodynamic recovery were studied. The effect of inhibiting amino acid...... transamination was evaluated by adding the amino acid transaminase inhibitor amino-oxyacetate (AOA; 0.025 mm) during reperfusion. Changes in coronary effluent, interstitial (microdialysis) and intracellular glutamate ([GLUT](i)) concentrations were measured. Ischaemic preconditioning and postischaemic glutamate...

  6. L-glutamate Receptor In Paramecium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernal-Martínez, Juan; Ortega-Soto, Arturo

    2004-09-01

    Behavioral, electrophysiological and biochemical experiments were performed in order to establish the presence of a glutamate receptor in the ciliate Paramecium. It was found that an AMPA/KA receptor is functionally expressed in Paramecium and that this receptor is immunologically and fillogenetically related to the AMPA/KA receptor present in vertebrates.

  7. Conformational Plasticity in the Transsynaptic Neurexin-Cerebellin-Glutamate Receptor Adhesion Complex

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cheng, Shouqiang; Seven, Alpay B.; Wang, Jing; Skiniotis, Georgios; Özkan, Engin (UC); (Michigan)

    2016-12-01

    Synaptic specificity is a defining property of neural networks. In the cerebellum, synapses between parallel fiber neurons and Purkinje cells are specified by the simultaneous interactions of secreted protein cerebellin with pre-synaptic neurexin and post-synaptic delta-type glutamate receptors (GluD). Here, we determined the crystal structures of the trimeric C1q-like domain of rat cerebellin-1, and the first complete ectodomain of a GluD, rat GluD2. Cerebellin binds to the LNS6 domain of α- and β-neurexin-1 through a high-affinity interaction that involves its highly flexible N-terminal domain. In contrast, we show that the interaction of cerebellin with isolated GluD2 ectodomain is low affinity, which is not simply an outcome of lost avidity when compared with binding with a tetrameric full-length receptor. Rather, high-affinity capture of cerebellin by post-synaptic terminals is likely controlled by long-distance regulation within this transsynaptic complex. Altogether, our results suggest unusual conformational flexibility within all components of the complex.

  8. N-Acetylcysteine Normalizes Glutamate Levels in Cocaine-Dependent Patients: A Randomized Crossover Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schmaal, Lianne; Veltman, Dick J.; Nederveen, Aart; van den Brink, Wim; Goudriaan, Anna E.

    2012-01-01

    Treatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) normalizes glutamate (Glu) homeostasis and prevents relapse in drug-dependent animals. However, the effect of NAC on brain Glu levels in substance-dependent humans has not yet been investigated. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-1 MRS) was used to

  9. N-Acetylcysteine Normalizes Glutamate Levels in Cocaine-Dependent Patients: A Randomized Crossover Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schmaal, L.; Veltman, D.J.; Nederveen, A.; van den Brink, W.; Goudriaan, A.E.

    2012-01-01

    Treatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) normalizes glutamate (Glu) homeostasis and prevents relapse in drug-dependent animals. However, the effect of NAC on brain Glu levels in substance-dependent humans has not yet been investigated. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1 H MRS) was used to

  10. Calmodulin and calcium differentially regulate the neuronal Nav1.1 voltage-dependent sodium channel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gaudioso, Christelle; Carlier, Edmond; Youssouf, Fahamoe [INSERM U641, Institut Jean Roche, Marseille F-13344 (France); Universite de la Mediterranee, Faculte de Medecine Secteur Nord, IFR 11, Marseille F-13344 (France); Clare, Jeffrey J. [Eaton Pharma Consulting, Eaton Socon, Cambridgeshire PE19 8EF (United Kingdom); Debanne, Dominique [INSERM U641, Institut Jean Roche, Marseille F-13344 (France); Universite de la Mediterranee, Faculte de Medecine Secteur Nord, IFR 11, Marseille F-13344 (France); Alcaraz, Gisele, E-mail: gisele.alcaraz@univmed.fr [INSERM U641, Institut Jean Roche, Marseille F-13344 (France); Universite de la Mediterranee, Faculte de Medecine Secteur Nord, IFR 11, Marseille F-13344 (France)

    2011-07-29

    Highlights: {yields} Both Ca{sup ++}-Calmodulin (CaM) and Ca{sup ++}-free CaM bind to the C-terminal region of Nav1.1. {yields} Ca{sup ++} and CaM have both opposite and convergent effects on I{sub Nav1.1}. {yields} Ca{sup ++}-CaM modulates I{sub Nav1.1} amplitude. {yields} CaM hyperpolarizes the voltage-dependence of activation, and increases the inactivation rate. {yields} Ca{sup ++} alone antagonizes CaM for both effects, and depolarizes the voltage-dependence of inactivation. -- Abstract: Mutations in the neuronal Nav1.1 voltage-gated sodium channel are responsible for mild to severe epileptic syndromes. The ubiquitous calcium sensor calmodulin (CaM) bound to rat brain Nav1.1 and to the human Nav1.1 channel expressed by a stably transfected HEK-293 cell line. The C-terminal region of the channel, as a fusion protein or in the yeast two-hybrid system, interacted with CaM via a consensus C-terminal motif, the IQ domain. Patch clamp experiments on HEK1.1 cells showed that CaM overexpression increased peak current in a calcium-dependent way. CaM had no effect on the voltage-dependence of fast inactivation, and accelerated the inactivation kinetics. Elevating Ca{sup ++} depolarized the voltage-dependence of fast inactivation and slowed down the fast inactivation kinetics, and for high concentrations this effect competed with the acceleration induced by CaM alone. Similarly, the depolarizing action of calcium antagonized the hyperpolarizing shift of the voltage-dependence of activation due to CaM overexpression. Fluorescence spectroscopy measurements suggested that Ca{sup ++} could bind the Nav1.1 C-terminal region with micromolar affinity.

  11. Fatigue and creep-fatigue in sodium of 316 L stainless-steel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ardellier, A.

    1981-03-01

    The present paper describes test-facility developed to perform low-cycle fatigue and creep-fatigue interaction in sodium on stainless steel - 316 L . Fatigue life in sodium and in air are compared. A beneficial effect in sodium is noted

  12. The application of glutamic acid alpha-decarboxylase for the valorization of glutamic acid

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lammens, T.M.; Biase, De Daniela; Franssen, M.C.R.; Scott, E.L.; Sanders, J.P.M.

    2009-01-01

    Glutamic acid is an important constituent of waste streams from biofuels production. It is an interesting starting material for the synthesis of nitrogen containing bulk chemicals, thereby decreasing the dependency on fossil fuels. On the pathway from glutamic acid to a range of molecules, the

  13. Cavitation erosion in sodium flow, sodium cavitation tunnel testing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Courbiere, Pierre.

    1981-04-01

    The high-volume sodium flows present in fast neutron reactors are liable to induce cavitation phenomena in various portion of the sodium lines and pumps. The absence of sufficient data in this area led the C.E.A. to undertake an erosion research program in cavitating sodium flow. This paper discusses the considerations leading to the definition and execution of sodium cavitation erosion tests, and reviews the tests run with 400 0 C sodium on various steel grades: 316, 316 L, 316 Ti (Z8CNDT17-12), Poral (Z3CND18-12), 304 L and LN2 - clad 316 L (Ni coating-clad 316 L). Acoustic detection and signal processing methods were used with an instrument package designed and implemented at the Cadarache Nuclear Research Center

  14. Neuroprotective Properties of Compounds Extracted from Dianthus superbus L. against Glutamate-induced Cell Death in HT22 Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yun, Bo-Ra; Yang, Hye Jin; Weon, Jin Bae; Lee, Jiwoo; Eom, Min Rye; Ma, Choong Je

    2016-01-01

    Dianthus superbus L. has been used in Chinese herbal medicine as a diuretic and anti-inflammatory agent. In this study, we isolated ten bioactive compounds from D. superbus and evaluated their neuroprotective activity against glutamate-induced cell death in the hippocampal neuronal HT22 cells. New compound, (E)-methyl-4-hydroxy-4-(8a-methyl-3-oxodecahydronaphthalen-4a-yl) (1) and, nine known compounds, diosmetin-7-O (2'',6''-di-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-pentyl ester benzenepropanoic acid (3), vanillic acid (4), 4-hydroxy-benzeneacetic acid (5), 4-methoxybenzeneacetic acid (6), (E)-4-methoxycinnamic acid (7), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethanol (8), hydroferulic acid (9), and methyl hydroferulate (10), were isolated by bioactivity-guided separation. Structures of the isolated compounds were identified on the basis of (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), (13)C NMR, and two-dimensional NMR spectra, while their neuroprotective properties were evaluated by performing the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. D. superbus extract had a neuroprotective effect and isolated 10 compounds. Among the compounds, compounds 5 and 6 effectively protected HT22 cells against glutamate toxicity. In conclusion, the extract of D. superbus and compounds isolated from it exhibited neuroprotective properties, suggesting therapeutic potential for applications in neurotoxic diseases. D. superbus extract significantly protected on glutamate-induced cell death in HT22 cellsNew compound, (E)-methyl-4-hydroxy-4-(8a-methyl-3-oxodecahydronaphthalen-4a-yl) (1) and, nine known compounds, diosmetin-7-O(2'',6''-di-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-pentyl ester benzenepropanoic acid (3), vanillic acid (4), 4-hydroxy-benzeneacetic acid (5), 4-methoxybenzeneacetic acid (6), (E)-4-methoxycinnamic acid (7), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethanol (8), hydroferulic acid (9), and methyl hydroferulate (10

  15. Purification and characterization of gamma poly glutamic acid from newly Bacillus licheniformis NRC20.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tork, Sanaa E; Aly, Magda M; Alakilli, Saleha Y; Al-Seeni, Madeha N

    2015-03-01

    γ-poly glutamic acid (γ-PGA) has received considerable attention for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. γ-PGA from the newly isolate Bacillus licheniformis NRC20 was purified and characterized using diffusion distance agar plate, mass spectrometry and thin layer chromatography. All analysis indicated that γ-PGA is a homopolymer composed of glutamic acid. Its molecular weight was determined to be 1266 kDa. It was composed of L- and D-glutamic acid residues. An amplicon of 3050 represents the γ-PGA-coding genes was obtained, sequenced and submitted in genbank database. Its amino acid sequence showed high similarity with that obtained from B. licheniformis strains. The bacterium NRC 20 was independent of L-glutamic acid but the polymer production enhanced when cultivated in medium containing L-glutamic acid as the sole nitrogen source. Finally we can conclude that γ-PGA production from B. licheniformis NRC20 has many promised applications in medicine, industry and nanotechnology. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Inhibition of several enzymes by gold compounds. II. beta-Glucuronidase, acid phosphatase and L-malate dehydrogenase by sodium thiomalatoraurate (I), sodium thiosulfatoaurate (I) and thioglucosoaurate (I).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, M T; Ahmed, T; Haddad, R; Friedman, M E

    1989-01-01

    Bovine liver beta-D-glucuronide glucuronohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.32), wheat germ acid phosphatase (orthophosphoric monoesterphosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.3.2) and bovine liver L-malate dehydrogenase (L-malate: NAD oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.37) were inhibited by a series of gold (I) complexes that have been used as anti-inflammatory drugs. Both sodium thiosulfatoaurate (I) (Na AuTs) and sodium thiomalatoraurate (NaAuTM) effectively inhibited all three enzymes, while thioglucosoaurate (I) (AuTG) only inhibited L-malate dehydrogenase. The equilibrium constants (K1) ranged from nearly 4000 microM for the NaAuTM-beta-glucuronidase interaction to 24 microM for the NaAuTS-beta-glucuronidase interaction. The rate of covalent bond formation (kp) ranged from 0.00032 min-1 for NaAuTM-beta-glucuronidase formation to 1.7 min-1 for AuTG-L-malate dehydrogenase formation. The equilibrium data shows that the gold (I) drugs bind by several orders lower than the gold (III) compounds, suggesting a significantly stronger interaction between the more highly charged gold ion and the enzyme. Yet the rate of covalent bond formation depends as much on the structure of the active site as upon the lability of the gold-ligand bond. It was also observed that the more effective the gold inhibition the more toxic the compound.

  17. In vitro evidence for the brain glutamate efflux hypothesis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Helms, Hans Christian; Madelung, Rasmus; Waagepetersen, Helle Sønderby

    2012-01-01

    resistance values of 1014 ± 70 O cm(2) , and (14) C-D-mannitol permeability values of 0.88 ± 0.13 × 10(-6) cm s(-1) . Unidirectional flux studies showed that L-aspartate and L-glutamate, but not D-aspartate, displayed polarized transport in the brain-to-blood direction, however, all three amino acids......The concentration of the excitotoxic amino acid, L-glutamate, in brain interstitial fluid is tightly regulated by uptake transporters and metabolism in astrocytes and neurons. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible role of the blood-brain barrier endothelium in brain L......-glutamate homeostasis. Transendothelial transport- and accumulation studies of (3) H-L-glutamate, (3) H-L-aspartate, and (3) H-D-aspartate in an electrically tight bovine endothelial/rat astrocyte blood-brain barrier coculture model were performed. After 6 days in culture, the endothelium displayed transendothelial...

  18. In vitro evidence for the brain glutamate efflux hypothesis: brain endothelial cells cocultured with astrocytes display a polarized brain-to-blood transport of glutamate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helms, Hans Christian; Madelung, Rasmus; Waagepetersen, Helle Sønderby; Nielsen, Carsten Uhd; Brodin, Birger

    2012-05-01

    The concentration of the excitotoxic amino acid, L-glutamate, in brain interstitial fluid is tightly regulated by uptake transporters and metabolism in astrocytes and neurons. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible role of the blood-brain barrier endothelium in brain L-glutamate homeostasis. Transendothelial transport- and accumulation studies of (3) H-L-glutamate, (3) H-L-aspartate, and (3) H-D-aspartate in an electrically tight bovine endothelial/rat astrocyte blood-brain barrier coculture model were performed. After 6 days in culture, the endothelium displayed transendothelial resistance values of 1014 ± 70 Ω cm(2) , and (14) C-D-mannitol permeability values of 0.88 ± 0.13 × 10(-6) cm s(-1) . Unidirectional flux studies showed that L-aspartate and L-glutamate, but not D-aspartate, displayed polarized transport in the brain-to-blood direction, however, all three amino acids accumulated in the cocultures when applied from the abluminal side. The transcellular transport kinetics were characterized with a K(m) of 69 ± 15 μM and a J(max) of 44 ± 3.1 pmol min(-1) cm(-2) for L-aspartate and a K(m) of 138 ± 49 μM and J(max) of 28 ± 3.1 pmol min(-1) cm(-2) for L-glutamate. The EAAT inhibitor, DL-threo-ß-Benzyloxyaspartate, inhibited transendothelial brain-to-blood fluxes of L-glutamate and L-aspartate. Expression of EAAT-1 (Slc1a3), -2 (Slc1a2), and -3 (Slc1a1) mRNA in the endothelial cells was confirmed by conventional PCR and localization of EAAT-1 and -3 in endothelial cells was shown with immunofluorescence. Overall, the findings suggest that the blood-brain barrier itself may participate in regulating brain L-glutamate concentrations. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  19. The effect of pH and ADP on ammonia affinity for human glutamate dehydrogenases

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zaganas, Ioannis; Pajecka, Kamilla; Nielsen, Camilla Wendel

    2013-01-01

    Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) uses ammonia to reversibly convert α-ketoglutarate to glutamate using NADP(H) and NAD(H) as cofactors. While GDH in most mammals is encoded by a single GLUD1 gene, humans and other primates have acquired a GLUD2 gene with distinct tissue expression profile. The two...... human isoenzymes (hGDH1 and hGDH2), though highly homologous, differ markedly in their regulatory properties. Here we obtained hGDH1 and hGDH2 in recombinant form and studied their Km for ammonia in the presence of 1.0 mM ADP. The analyses showed that lowering the pH of the buffer (from 8.0 to 7.......0) increased the Km for ammonia substantially (hGDH1: from 12.8 ± 1.4 mM to 57.5 ± 1.6 mM; hGDH2: from 14.7 ± 1.6 mM to 62.2 ± 1.7 mM), thus essentially precluding reductive amination. Moreover, lowering the ADP concentration to 0.1 mM not only increased the K0.5 [NH4 (+)] of hGDH2, but also introduced...

  20. Use of Nonspecific, Glutamic Acid-Free, Media and High Glycerol or High Amylase as Inducing Parameters for Screening Bacillus Isolates Having High Yield of Polyglutamic Acid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baxi, Nandita N

    2014-01-01

    Out of fifty-five Bacillus isolates obtained from ten different regional locations and sources, seven showed the ability to consistently produce specific extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) on rich as well as synthetic but nonspecific media which did not contain glutamic acid. The isolates were identified as either Bacillus licheniformis or Bacillus subtilis. The EPS from all isolates was resistant to alpha protease, proteinase K, and was thus of high molecular weight. Further it was detected after SDS-PAGE by methylene blue but not by coomassie blue R staining as in case of proteins with high proportion of acidic amino acids. Cell-free EPS, after acid hydrolysis, showed absence of carbohydrates and presence of only glutamic acid. Thus the native the EPS from all seven isolates was confirmed to be gamma polyglutamic acid (PGA) and not exopolysaccharide. The Bacillus isolate T which produced maximum polymer on all media tested had higher amylase: protease activity as compared to other strains. If inoculum was developed in rich medium as compared to synthetic medium, the PGA produced increased by twofold in the subsequent synthetic production medium. Similarly, use of inoculum consisting of young and vegetative cells also increased the PGA production by twofold though amount of inoculum did not affect yield of PGA. Though PGA was produced in even in the absence of glutamic acid supplementation in the production medium by all isolates, the yield of PGA increased by fourfold in the presence glutamic acid and the maximum yield was 30 g/l for isolate K. The supplementation of glutamine instead of glutamic acid into the medium caused an increase in the viscosity of the non-Newtonian solution of PGA.

  1. ADCC employing an NK cell line (haNK) expressing the high affinity CD16 allele with avelumab, an anti-PD-L1 antibody.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jochems, Caroline; Hodge, James W; Fantini, Massimo; Tsang, Kwong Y; Vandeveer, Amanda J; Gulley, James L; Schlom, Jeffrey

    2017-08-01

    NK-92 cells, and their derivative, designated aNK, were obtained from a patient with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Prior clinical studies employing adoptively transferred irradiated aNK cells have provided evidence of clinical benefit and an acceptable safety profile. aNK cells have now been engineered to express IL-2 and the high affinity (ha) CD16 allele (designated haNK). Avelumab is a human IgG1 anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody, which has shown evidence of clinical activity in a range of human tumors. Prior in vitro studies have shown that avelumab has the ability to mediate antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) of human tumor cells when combined with NK cells. In the studies reported here, the ability of avelumab to enhance the lysis of a range of human carcinoma cells by irradiated haNK cells via the ADCC mechanism is demonstrated; this ADCC is shown to be inhibited by anti-CD16 blocking antibody and by concanamycin A, indicating the use of the granzyme/perforin pathway in tumor cell lysis. Studies also show that while NK cells have the ability to lyse aNK or haNK cells, the addition of NK cells to irradiated haNK cells does not inhibit haNK-mediated lysis of human tumor cells, with or without the addition of avelumab. Avelumab-mediated lysis of tumor cells by irradiated haNK cells is also shown to be similar to that of NK cells bearing the V/V Fc receptor high affinity allele. These studies thus provide the rationale for the clinical evaluation of the combined use of avelumab with that of irradiated adoptively transferred haNK cells. © 2017 UICC.

  2. The Role of Primary Motor Cortex (M1) Glutamate and GABA Signaling in l-DOPA-Induced Dyskinesia in Parkinsonian Rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindenbach, David; Conti, Melissa M; Ostock, Corinne Y; George, Jessica A; Goldenberg, Adam A; Melikhov-Sosin, Mitchell; Nuss, Emily E; Bishop, Christopher

    2016-09-21

    Long-term treatment of Parkinson's disease with l-DOPA almost always leads to the development of involuntary movements termed l-DOPA-induced dyskinesia. Whereas hyperdopaminergic signaling in the basal ganglia is thought to cause dyskinesia, alterations in primary motor cortex (M1) activity are also prominent during dyskinesia, suggesting that the cortex may represent a therapeutic target. The present study used the rat unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesion model of Parkinson's disease to characterize in vivo changes in GABA and glutamate neurotransmission within M1 and determine their contribution to behavioral output. 6-Hydroxydopamine lesion led to parkinsonian motor impairment that was partially reversed by l-DOPA. Among sham-lesioned rats, l-DOPA did not change glutamate or GABA efflux. Likewise, 6-hydroxydopamine lesion did not impact GABA or glutamate among rats chronically treated with saline. However, we observed an interaction of lesion and treatment whereby, among lesioned rats, l-DOPA given acutely (1 d) or chronically (14-16 d) reduced glutamate efflux and enhanced GABA efflux. Site-specific microinjections into M1 demonstrated that l-DOPA-induced dyskinesia was reduced by M1 infusion of a D1 antagonist, an AMPA antagonist, or a GABAA agonist. Overall, the present study demonstrates that l-DOPA-induced dyskinesia is associated with increased M1 inhibition and that exogenously enhancing M1 inhibition may attenuate dyskinesia, findings that are in agreement with functional imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation studies in human Parkinson's disease patients. Together, our study suggests that increasing M1 inhibitory tone is an endogenous compensatory response designed to limit dyskinesia severity and that potentiating this response is a viable therapeutic strategy. Most Parkinson's disease patients will receive l-DOPA and eventually develop hyperkinetic involuntary movements termed dyskinesia. Such symptoms can be as debilitating as the disease

  3. Relative binding affinity of carboxylate-, phosphonate-, and bisphosphonate-functionalized gold nanoparticles targeted to damaged bone tissue

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ross, Ryan D. [Rush University Medical Center, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology (United States); Cole, Lisa E.; Roeder, Ryan K., E-mail: rroeder@nd.edu [University of Notre Dame, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Bioengineering Graduate Program (United States)

    2012-10-15

    Functionalized Au NPs have received considerable recent interest for targeting and labeling cells and tissues. Damaged bone tissue can be targeted by functionalizing Au NPs with molecules exhibiting affinity for calcium. Therefore, the relative binding affinity of Au NPs surface functionalized with either carboxylate (l-glutamic acid), phosphonate (2-aminoethylphosphonic acid), or bisphosphonate (alendronate) was investigated for targeted labeling of damaged bone tissue in vitro. Targeted labeling of damaged bone tissue was qualitatively verified by visual observation and backscattered electron microscopy, and quantitatively measured by the surface density of Au NPs using field-emission scanning electron microscopy. The surface density of functionalized Au NPs was significantly greater within damaged tissue compared to undamaged tissue for each functional group. Bisphosphonate-functionalized Au NPs exhibited a greater surface density labeling damaged tissue compared to glutamic acid- and phosphonic acid-functionalized Au NPs, which was consistent with the results of previous work comparing the binding affinity of the same functionalized Au NPs to synthetic hydroxyapatite crystals. Targeted labeling was enabled not only by the functional groups but also by the colloidal stability in solution. Functionalized Au NPs were stabilized by the presence of the functional groups, and were shown to remain well dispersed in ionic (phosphate buffered saline) and serum (fetal bovine serum) solutions for up to 1 week. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that bisphosphonate-functionalized Au NPs have potential for targeted delivery to damaged bone tissue in vitro and provide motivation for in vivo investigation.

  4. The neuropharmacology of L-theanine(N-ethyl-L-glutamine): a possible neuroprotective and cognitive enhancing agent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nathan, Pradeep J; Lu, Kristy; Gray, M; Oliver, C

    2006-01-01

    L-theanine (N-ethyl-L-glutamine) or theanine is a major amino acid uniquely found in green tea. L-theanine has been historically reported as a relaxing agent, prompting scientific research on its pharmacology. Animal neurochemistry studies suggest that L-theanine increases brain serotonin, dopamine, GABA levels and has micromolar affinities for AMPA, Kainate and NMDA receptors. In addition has been shown to exert neuroprotective effects in animal models possibly through its antagonistic effects on group 1 metabotrophic glutamate receptors. Behavioural studies in animals suggest improvement in learning and memory. Overall, L-theanine displays a neuropharmacology suggestive of a possible neuroprotective and cognitive enhancing agent and warrants further investigation in animals and humans.

  5. The sea anemone Bunodosoma caissarum toxin BcIII modulates the sodium current kinetics of rat dorsal root ganglia neurons and is displaced in a voltage-dependent manner.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salceda, Emilio; López, Omar; Zaharenko, André J; Garateix, Anoland; Soto, Enrique

    2010-03-01

    Sea anemone toxins bind to site 3 of the sodium channels, which is partially formed by the extracellular linker connecting S3 and S4 segments of domain IV, slowing down the inactivation process. In this work we have characterized the actions of BcIII, a sea anemone polypeptide toxin isolated from Bunodosoma caissarum, on neuronal sodium currents using the patch clamp technique. Neurons of the dorsal root ganglia of Wistar rats (P5-9) in primary culture were used for this study (n=65). The main effects of BcIII were a concentration-dependent increase in the sodium current inactivation time course (IC(50)=2.8 microM) as well as an increase in the current peak amplitude. BcIII did not modify the voltage at which 50% of the channels are activated or inactivated, nor the reversal potential of sodium current. BcIII shows a voltage-dependent action. A progressive acceleration of sodium current fast inactivation with longer conditioning pulses was observed, which was steeper as more depolarizing were the prepulses. The same was observed for other two anemone toxins (CgNa, from Condylactis gigantea and ATX-II, from Anemonia viridis). These results suggest that the binding affinity of sea anemone toxins may be reduced in a voltage-dependent manner, as has been described for alpha-scorpion toxins. (c) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Contribution to the study of hydrogenated and oxygenated impurities in liquid sodium; Contribution a l'etude des impuretees hydrogenees et oxygenees dans le sodium liquide

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Naud, G [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1964-07-15

    This study is made up essentially of two parts. The first is devoted to the development of dosage methods for selectively determining the oxygenated and hydrogenated impurities present in sodium, that is the oxide, the hydride and the hydroxide. The second makes use of these methods for a study of the Na-H{sub 2}-O{sub 2} system, as well as of the related problem of the attack of pyrex glass by molten sodium. The conventional method for dosing oxygen by amalgamation was first adapted to the simultaneous measurement of the hydride. We then developed a method for dosing the total hydrogen by measuring successively the concentrations of gas present in the hydride and hydroxide form. This method is based on the thermal decomposition of the hydride and the reaction between sodium and the hydroxide. Our contribution to the study of the Na-H{sub 2}-O{sub 2} System consists first of all in the study of the reaction between hydrogen and sodium in the temperature range from 150 to 250 deg C and at a pressure of about 150 mm of mercury. The study of the thermal decomposition of the hydride in sodium was then studied. It was possible to make some qualitative observations concerning the reaction between sodium and sodium hydroxide. Finally some complementary tests made it possible to define the nature of the phenomena occurring during the attack of pyrex glass by sodium. (author) [French] Cette etude comporte essentiellement deux parties. La premiere est consacree a la mise au point de methodes de dosages permettant de determiner selectivement les impuretes oxygenees et hydrogenees presentes dans le sodium, a savoir l'oxyde, l'hydrure et l'hydroxyde. La seconde met a profit ces methodes en vue de l'etude du systeme Na-H{sub 2}-O{sub 2}. ainsi que du phenomene connexe d'attaque du verre pyrex par le sodium fondu. La methode classique de dosage de l'oxygene par amalgamation a d'abord ete adaptee au dosage simultane de l'hydrure. Nous avons ensuite mis au point le dosage de l

  7. Structure-guided development of a high-affinity human Programmed Cell Death-1: Implications for tumor immunotherapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lázár-Molnár, Eszter; Scandiuzzi, Lisa; Basu, Indranil; Quinn, Thomas; Sylvestre, Eliezer; Palmieri, Edith; Ramagopal, Udupi A.; Nathenson, Stanley G.; Guha, Chandan; Almo, Steven C.

    2017-03-01

    Programmed Cell Death-1 (PD-1) is an inhibitory immune receptor, which plays critical roles in T cell co-inhibition and exhaustion upon binding to its ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2. We report the crystal structure of the human PD-1 ectodomain and the mapping of the PD-1 binding interface. Mutagenesis studies confirmed the crystallographic interface, and resulted in mutant PD-1 receptors with altered affinity and ligand-specificity. In particular, a high-affinity mutant PD-1 (HA PD-1) exhibited 45 and 30-fold increase in binding to PD-L1 and PD-L2, respectively, due to slower dissociation rates. This mutant (A132L) was used to engineer a soluble chimeric Ig fusion protein for cell-based and in vivo studies. HA PD-1 Ig showed enhanced binding to human dendritic cells, and increased T cell proliferation and cytokine production in a mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) assay. Moreover, in an experimental model of murine Lewis lung carcinoma, HA PD-1 Ig treatment synergized with radiation therapy to decrease local and metastatic tumor burden, as well as in the establishment of immunological memory responses. Our studies highlight the value of structural considerations in guiding the design of a high-affinity chimeric PD-1 Ig fusion protein with robust immune modulatory properties, and underscore the power of combination therapies to selectively manipulate the PD-1 pathway for tumor immunotherapy.

  8. Structure-guided development of a high-affinity human Programmed Cell Death-1: Implications for tumor immunotherapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eszter Lázár-Molnár

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Programmed Cell Death-1 (PD-1 is an inhibitory immune receptor, which plays critical roles in T cell co-inhibition and exhaustion upon binding to its ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2. We report the crystal structure of the human PD-1 ectodomain and the mapping of the PD-1 binding interface. Mutagenesis studies confirmed the crystallographic interface, and resulted in mutant PD-1 receptors with altered affinity and ligand-specificity. In particular, a high-affinity mutant PD-1 (HA PD-1 exhibited 45 and 30-fold increase in binding to PD-L1 and PD-L2, respectively, due to slower dissociation rates. This mutant (A132L was used to engineer a soluble chimeric Ig fusion protein for cell-based and in vivo studies. HA PD-1 Ig showed enhanced binding to human dendritic cells, and increased T cell proliferation and cytokine production in a mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR assay. Moreover, in an experimental model of murine Lewis lung carcinoma, HA PD-1 Ig treatment synergized with radiation therapy to decrease local and metastatic tumor burden, as well as in the establishment of immunological memory responses. Our studies highlight the value of structural considerations in guiding the design of a high-affinity chimeric PD-1 Ig fusion protein with robust immune modulatory properties, and underscore the power of combination therapies to selectively manipulate the PD-1 pathway for tumor immunotherapy.

  9. Effect of poly-α, γ, L-glutamic acid as a capping agent on morphology and oxidative stress-dependent toxicity of silver nanoparticles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevanović, Magdalena; Kovačević, Branimir; Petković, Jana; Filipič, Metka; Uskoković, Dragan

    2011-01-01

    Highly stable dispersions of nanosized silver particles were synthesized using a straightforward, cost-effective, and ecofriendly method. Nontoxic glucose was utilized as a reducing agent and poly-α, γ, L-glutamic acid (PGA), a naturally occurring anionic polymer, was used as a capping agent to protect the silver nanoparticles from agglomeration and render them biocompatible. Use of ammonia during synthesis was avoided. Our study clearly demonstrates how the concentration of the capping agent plays a major role in determining the dimensions, morphology, and stability, as well as toxicity of a silver colloidal solution. Hence, proper optimization is necessary to develop silver colloids of narrow size distribution. The samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and zeta potential measurement. MTT assay results indicated good biocompatibility of the PGA-capped silver nanoparticles. Formation of intracellular reactive oxygen species was measured spectrophotometrically using 2,7-dichlorofluorescein diacetate as a fluorescent probe, and it was shown that the PGA-capped silver nanoparticles did not induce intracellular formation of reactive oxygen species. PMID:22131829

  10. Combretastatin A4/poly(L-glutamic acid-graft-PEG conjugates self-assembled to nanoparticles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yang Ou

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Combretastatin A4 (CA4 possesses varying ability to cause vascular disruption in tumors, while the short half-life, low water solubility and deactivation of many CA4 analogs during storage limited its antitumor efficacy and drug stability. A novel macromolecular conjugate of CA4 (CA4-PL was synthesized by covalent bonding of CA4 onto poly(L-glutamic acid-graft-polyethylene glycol (PLG-g-PEG via Yamaguchi reaction. The obtained CA4-PL was characterized by 1H NMR, GPC, and UV methods, and the properties of the nanoparticles composed of CA4-PL, including critical aggregation concentration, size and size distribution, and morphology, were investigated. CA4-PL can self-assemble to form micelle-like nanoparticles of 80~120 nm in diameter, which may have potential to improve the blood circulation period as well as the targetability of CA4, and find applications to treat various tumors when combined with traditional chemotherapy or radio therapy. Keywords: Combretastatin A4, Macromolecular conjugate, Poly(L-glutamic acid-graft-polyethylene glycol, Self-assemble, Nanoparticles

  11. Influence of the glutamic acid content of the diet on the catabolic rate of labelled glutamic acid in rats. 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilke, A.; Simon, O.; Bergner, H.

    1984-01-01

    40 rats with a body weight of 100 g received 7 semisynthetic diets with different contents of glutamic acid and one diet contained whole-egg. A L-amino acid mixture corresponding to the pattern of egg protein was the protein source of the semisynthetic diets. Glutamic acid was supplemented succesively from 0 to 58 mol-% of the total amino acid content. On the 8th day of the experimental feeding the animals were labelled by subcutaneous injection of 14 C-glutamic acid. Subsequently the CO 2 and the 14 CO 2 excretion were measured for 24 hours. In this period 64 to 68 % of the injected radioactivity were recovered as 14 CO 2 . The curve pattern of 14 CO 2 excretion indicates two different processes of 14 CO 2 formation. One characterizing the direct degradation of glutamic acid to CO 2 with a high rate constant and a second one with a lower rate constant characterizing the 14 CO 2 formation via metabolites of glutamic acid. 77 % of the total 14 CO 2 excretion in 24 hours resulted from the direct oxidation of glutamic acid and 23 % from the oxidation of intermediates. When 14 CO 2 formation was measured 10 to 24 hours after injection of 14 C-glutamic acid a positive correlation to the content of glutamic acid in the diet was observed. The intestinal tissue contributes considerably to the catabolization of glutamic acid, however, there seems to exist an upper limit for this capacity. (author)

  12. Effect of biotin on transcription levels of key enzymes and glutamate efflux in glutamate fermentation by Corynebacterium glutamicum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Yan; Duan, Zuoying; Shi, Zhongping

    2014-02-01

    Biotin is an important factor affecting the performance of glutamate fermentation by biotin auxotrophic Corynebacterium glutamicum and glutamate is over-produced only when initial biotin content is controlled at suitable levels or initial biotin is excessive but with Tween 40 addition during fermentation. The transcription levels of key enzymes at pyruvate, isocitrate and α-ketoglutarate metabolic nodes, as well as transport protein (TP) of glutamate were investigated under the conditions of varied biotin contents and Tween 40 supplementation. When biotin was insufficient, the genes encoding key enzymes and TP were down-regulated in the early production phase, in particular, the transcription level of isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICDH) which was only 2% of that of control. Although the cells' morphology transformation and TP level were not affected, low transcription level of ICDH led to lower final glutamate concentration (64 g/L). When biotin was excessive, the transcription levels of key enzymes were at comparable levels as those of control with ICDH as an exception, which was only 3-22% of control level throughout production phase. In this case, little intracellular glutamate accumulation (1.5 mg/g DCW) and impermeable membrane resulted in non glutamate secretion into broth, even though the quantity of TP was more than 10-folds of control level. Addition of Tween 40 when biotin was excessive stimulated the expression of all key enzymes and TP, intracellular glutamate content was much higher (10-12 mg/g DCW), and final glutamate concentration reached control level (75-80 g/L). Hence, the membrane alteration and TP were indispensable in glutamate secretion. Biotin and Tween 40 influenced the expression level of ICDH and glutamate efflux, thereby influencing glutamate production.

  13. Effects of metabotropic glutamate receptor block on the synaptic transmission and plasticity in the rat medial vestibular nuclei.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grassi, S; Malfagia, C; Pettorossi, V E

    1998-11-01

    In rat brainstem slices, we investigated the possible role of metabotropic glutamate receptors in modulating the synaptic transmission within the medial vestibular nuclei, under basal and plasticity inducing conditions. We analysed the effect of the metabotropic glutamate receptor antagonist (R,S)-alpha-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine on the amplitude of the field potentials and latency of unitary potentials evoked in the ventral portion of the medial vestibular nuclei by primary vestibular afferent stimulation, and on the induction and maintenance of long-term potentiation, after high-frequency stimulation. Two effects were observed, consisting of a slight increase of the field potentials and reduction of unit latency during the drug infusion, and a further long-lasting development of these modifications after the drug wash-out. The long-term effect depended on N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor activation, as D,L-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid prevented its development. We suggest that (R,S)-alpha-methyl-4carboxyphenylglycine enhances the vestibular responses and induces N-methyl-D-aspartate-dependent long-term potentiation by increasing glutamate release, through the block of presynaptic metabotropic glutamate receptors which actively inhibit it. The block of these receptors was indirectly supported by the fact that the agonist (1S,3R)-1-aminocyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylic acid reduced the vestibular responses and blocked the induction of long-term potentiation by high-frequency stimulation. The simultaneous block of metabotropic glutamate receptors facilitating synaptic plasticity, impedes the full expression of the long-term effect throughout the (R,S)-alpha-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine infusion. The involvement of such a facilitatory mechanism in the potentiation is supported by its reversible reduction following a second (R,S)-alpha-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine infusion. The drug also reduced the expression of potentiation induced by high-frequency stimulation

  14. Structures of the N-acetyltransferase domain of Xylella fastidiosa N-acetyl-L-glutamate synthase/kinase with and without a His tag bound to N-acetyl-L-glutamate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Gengxiang; Jin, Zhongmin; Allewell, Norma M; Tuchman, Mendel; Shi, Dashuang

    2015-01-01

    Structures of the catalytic N-acetyltransferase (NAT) domain of the bifunctional N-acetyl-L-glutamate synthase/kinase (NAGS/K) from Xylella fastidiosa bound to N-acetyl-L-glutamate (NAG) with and without an N-terminal His tag have been solved and refined at 1.7 and 1.4 Å resolution, respectively. The NAT domain with an N-terminal His tag crystallized in space group P4(1)2(1)2, with unit-cell parameters a=b=51.72, c=242.31 Å. Two subunits form a molecular dimer in the asymmetric unit, which contains ∼41% solvent. The NAT domain without an N-terminal His tag crystallized in space group P21, with unit-cell parameters a=63.48, b=122.34, c=75.88 Å, β=107.6°. Eight subunits, which form four molecular dimers, were identified in the asymmetric unit, which contains ∼38% solvent. The structures with and without the N-terminal His tag provide an opportunity to evaluate how the His tag affects structure and function. Furthermore, multiple subunits in different packing environments allow an assessment of the plasticity of the NAG binding site, which might be relevant to substrate binding and product release. The dimeric structure of the X. fastidiosa N-acetytransferase (xfNAT) domain is very similar to that of human N-acetyltransferase (hNAT), reinforcing the notion that mammalian NAGS is evolutionally derived from bifunctional bacterial NAGS/K.

  15. Deletion of genes involved in glutamate metabolism to improve poly-gamma-glutamic acid production in B. amyloliquefaciens LL3.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Wei; He, Yulian; Gao, Weixia; Feng, Jun; Cao, Mingfeng; Yang, Chao; Song, Cunjiang; Wang, Shufang

    2015-02-01

    Here, we attempted to elevate poly-gamma-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) production by modifying genes involved in glutamate metabolism in Bacillus amyloliquefaciens LL3. Products of rocR, rocG and gudB facilitate the conversion from glutamate to 2-oxoglutarate in Bacillus subtillis. The gene odhA is responsible for the synthesis of a component of the 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex that catalyzes the oxidative decarboxylation of 2-oxoglutarate to succinyl coenzyme A. In-frame deletions of these four genes were performed. In shake flask experiments the gudB/rocG double mutant presented enhanced production of γ-PGA, a 38 % increase compared with wild type. When fermented in a 5-L fermenter with pH control, the γ-PGA yield of the rocR mutant was increased to 5.83 g/L from 4.55 g/L for shake flask experiments. The gudB/rocG double mutant produced 5.68 g/L γ-PGA compared with that of 4.03 g/L for the wild type, a 40 % increase. Those results indicated the possibility of improving γ-PGA production by modifying glutamate metabolism, and identified potential genetic targets to improve γ-PGA production.

  16. An L319F mutation in transmembrane region 3 (TM3) selectively reduces sensitivity to okaramine B of the Bombyx mori l-glutamate-gated chloride channel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Furutani, Shogo; Okuhara, Daiki; Hashimoto, Anju; Ihara, Makoto; Kai, Kenji; Hayashi, Hideo; Sattelle, David B; Matsuda, Kazuhiko

    2017-10-01

    Okaramines produced by Penicillium simplicissimum AK-40 activate l-glutamate-gated chloride channels (GluCls) and thus paralyze insects. However, the okaramine binding site on insect GluCls is poorly understood. Sequence alignment shows that the equivalent of residue Leucine319 of the okaramine B sensitive Bombyx mori (B. mori) GluCl is a phenylalanine in the okaramine B insensitive B. mori γ-aminobutyric acid-gated chloride channel of the same species. This residue is located in the third transmembrane (TM3) region, a location which in a nematode GluCl is close to the ivermectin binding site. The B. mori GluCl containing the L319F mutation retained its sensitivity to l-glutamate, but responses to ivermectin were reduced and those to okaramine B were completely blocked.

  17. A conserved motif in the linker domain of STAT1 transcription factor is required for both recognition and release from high-affinity DNA-binding sites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hüntelmann, Bettina; Staab, Julia; Herrmann-Lingen, Christoph; Meyer, Thomas

    2014-01-01

    Binding to specific palindromic sequences termed gamma-activated sites (GAS) is a hallmark of gene activation by members of the STAT (signal transducer and activator of transcription) family of cytokine-inducible transcription factors. However, the precise molecular mechanisms involved in the signal-dependent finding of target genes by STAT dimers have not yet been very well studied. In this study, we have characterized a sequence motif in the STAT1 linker domain which is highly conserved among the seven human STAT proteins and includes surface-exposed residues in close proximity to the bound DNA. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we have demonstrated that a lysine residue in position 567 of the full-length molecule is required for GAS recognition. The substitution of alanine for this residue completely abolished both binding to high-affinity GAS elements and transcriptional activation of endogenous target genes in cells stimulated with interferon-γ (IFNγ), while the time course of transient nuclear accumulation and tyrosine phosphorylation were virtually unchanged. In contrast, two glutamic acid residues (E559 and E563) on each monomer are important for the dissociation of dimeric STAT1 from DNA and, when mutated to alanine, result in elevated levels of tyrosine-phosphorylated STAT1 as well as prolonged IFNγ-stimulated nuclear accumulation. In conclusion, our data indicate that the kinetics of signal-dependent GAS binding is determined by an array of glutamic acid residues located at the interior surface of the STAT1 dimer. These negatively charged residues appear to align the long axis of the STAT1 dimer in a position perpendicular to the DNA, thereby facilitating the interaction between lysine 567 and the phosphodiester backbone of a bound GAS element, which is a prerequisite for transient gene induction.

  18. Maximizing in vivo target clearance by design of pH-dependent target binding antibodies with altered affinity to FcRn.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Danlin; Giragossian, Craig; Castellano, Steven; Lasaro, Marcio; Xiao, Haiguang; Saraf, Himanshu; Hess Kenny, Cynthia; Rybina, Irina; Huang, Zhong-Fu; Ahlberg, Jennifer; Bigwarfe, Tammy; Myzithras, Maria; Waltz, Erica; Roberts, Simon; Kroe-Barrett, Rachel; Singh, Sanjaya

    2017-10-01

    Antibodies with pH-dependent binding to both target antigens and neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) provide an alternative tool to conventional neutralizing antibodies, particularly for therapies where reduction in antigen level is challenging due to high target burden. However, the requirements for optimal binding kinetic framework and extent of pH dependence for these antibodies to maximize target clearance from circulation are not well understood. We have identified a series of naturally-occurring high affinity antibodies with pH-dependent target binding properties. By in vivo studies in cynomolgus monkeys, we show that pH-dependent binding to the target alone is not sufficient for effective target removal from circulation, but requires Fc mutations that increase antibody binding to FcRn. Affinity-enhanced pH-dependent FcRn binding that is double-digit nM at pH 7.4 and single-digit nM at pH 6 achieved maximal target reduction when combined with similar target binding affinities in reverse pH directions. Sustained target clearance below the baseline level was achieved 3 weeks after single-dose administration at 1.5 mg/kg. Using the experimentally derived mechanistic model, we demonstrate the essential kinetic interplay between target turnover and antibody pH-dependent binding during the FcRn recycling, and identify the key components for achieving maximal target clearance. These results bridge the demand for improved patient dosing convenience with the "know-how" of therapeutic modality by design.

  19. Effect of L-glutamate on the metabolic recovery of the myocardium after K sup (+)- induced cardioplegic arrest. Die effek van L-glutamaat op die metaboliese herstel van die miokard na K sup (+)-geinduseerde kardioplegiese arres

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Neethling, W M.L.

    1984-01-01

    A study was undertaken to determine the effect of L-glutamate on the metabolic recovery of the myocardium after K sup (+)-induced cardioplegic arrest. Isolated rat hearts and intact dog hearts were subjected to a K sup (+)-induced cardioplegic period of 60 minutes. Preservation temperature was kept constant at 26 degrees Celsius during the entire cardioplegic period. Different concentrations of L-glutamate were added to a dose of secondary cardioplegia. Several parameters, such as isotonic contraction, left ventricular function, enzymatic changes, coronary vascular resistance (coronary flow), oedema, re-animation time-interval and lactate-release were used to determine the above mentioned effect. Radioactive L-glutamate was used to determine the quantitative uptake and distribution of L-glutamate in the myocardium. Basic spectrophotometric methods were used to determine the concentrations of creatine phosphokinase, lactic dehydrogenase and lactate. Standard differential separation methods were used to divide myocardial samples into the different tissue and cytologic fractions. Biophysical methods were used to measure radioactivity in the respective tissue and cytologic fractions. Experimental results were statistically analyzed according to analysis of variance and at-test (Tukey's Test). Preliminary findings stress the important role of L-glutamate in the metabolic recovery of the myocardium after K sup (+)-induced arrest and consequently the positive contribution in the search for the best method of myocardial preservation during cardiac surgery.

  20. Characterization of little skate (Leucoraja erinacea) recombinant transthyretin: Zinc-dependent 3,3',5-triiodo-l-thyronine binding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Shunsuke; Kasai, Kentaro; Yamauchi, Kiyoshi

    2015-01-01

    Transthyretin (TTR) diverged from an ancestral 5-hydroxyisourate hydrolase (HIUHase) by gene duplication at some early stage of chordate evolution. To clarify how TTR had participated in the thyroid system as an extracellular thyroid hormone (TH) binding protein, TH binding properties of recombinant little skate Leucoraja erinacea TTR was investigated. At the amino acid level, skate TTR showed 37-46% identities with the other vertebrate TTRs. Because the skate TTR had a unique histidine-rich segment in the N-terminal region, it could be purified by Ni-affinity chromatography. The skate TTR was a 46-kDa homotetramer of 14.5kDa subunits, and had one order of magnitude higher affinity for 3,3',5-triiodo-l-thyronine (T3) and some halogenated phenols than for l-thyroxine. However, the skate TTR had no HIUHase activity. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) treatment inhibited [(125)I]T3 binding activity whereas the addition of Zn(2+) to the EDTA-treated TTR recovered [(125)I]T3 binding activity in a Zn(2+) concentration-dependent manner. Scatchard analysis revealed the presence of two classes of binding site for T3, with dissociation constants of 0.24 and 17nM. However, the high-affinity sites were completely abolished with 1mM EDTA, whereas the remaining low-affinity sites decreased binding capacity. The number of zinc per TTR was quantified to be 4.5-6.3. Our results suggest that skate TTR has tight Zn(2+)-binding sites, which are essential for T3 binding to at least the high-affinity sites. Zn(2+) binding to the N-terminal histidine-rich segment may play an important role in acquisition or reinforcement of TH binding ability during early evolution of TTR. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Characterization of glutamate decarboxylase from Lactobacillus plantarum and its C-terminal function for the pH dependence of activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Sun-Mi; Kim, Hana; Joo, Yunhye; Lee, Sang-Jae; Lee, Yong-Jik; Lee, Sang Jun; Lee, Dong-Woo

    2014-12-17

    The gadB gene encoding glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) from Lactobacillus plantarum was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant enzyme exhibited maximal activity at 40 °C and pH 5.0. The 3D model structure of L. plantarum GAD proposed that its C-terminal region (Ile454-Thr468) may play an important role in the pH dependence of catalysis. Accordingly, C-terminally truncated (Δ3 and Δ11 residues) mutants were generated and their enzyme activities compared with that of the wild-type enzyme at different pH values. Unlike the wild-type GAD, the mutants showed pronounced catalytic activity in a broad pH range of 4.0-8.0, suggesting that the C-terminal region is involved in the pH dependence of GAD activity. Therefore, this study may provide effective target regions for engineering pH dependence of GAD activity, thereby meeting industrial demands for the production of γ-aminobutyrate in a broad range of pH values.

  2. Size-Dependent Affinity of Glycine and Its Short Oligomers to Pyrite Surface: A Model for Prebiotic Accumulation of Amino Acid Oligomers on a Mineral Surface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Afrin, Rehana; Ganbaatar, Narangerel; Aono, Masashi; Cleaves, H. James; Yano, Taka-aki; Hara, Masahiko

    2018-01-01

    The interaction strength of progressively longer oligomers of glycine, (Gly), di-Gly, tri-Gly, and penta-Gly, with a natural pyrite surface was directly measured using the force mode of an atomic force microscope (AFM). In recent years, selective activation of abiotically formed amino acids on mineral surfaces, especially that of pyrite, has been proposed as an important step in many origins of life scenarios. To investigate such notions, we used AFM-based force measurements to probe possible non-covalent interactions between pyrite and amino acids, starting from the simplest amino acid, Gly. Although Gly itself interacted with the pyrite surface only weakly, progressively larger unbinding forces and binding frequencies were obtained using oligomers from di-Gly to penta-Gly. In addition to an expected increase of the configurational entropy and size-dependent van der Waals force, the increasing number of polar peptide bonds, among others, may be responsible for this observation. The effect of chain length was also investigated by performing similar experiments using l-lysine vs. poly-l-lysine (PLL), and l-glutamic acid vs. poly-l-glutamic acid. The results suggest that longer oligomers/polymers of amino acids can be preferentially adsorbed on pyrite surfaces. PMID:29370126

  3. Comparative cation dependency of sugar transport by crustacean hepatopancreas and intestine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ada Duka

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Glucose is transported in crustacean hepatopancreas and intestine by Na+-dependent co-transport, while Na+-dependent D-fructose influx has only been described for the hepatopancreas. It is still unclear if the two sugars are independently transported by two distinct cation-dependent co-transporter carrier systems. In this study, lobster (Homarus americanus hepatopancreas brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV were used to characterize, in detail, the cation-dependency of both D-[3H]-glucose and D-[3H]-fructose influxes, while in vitro perfused intestines were employed to determine the nature of cation-dependent sugar transport across this organ. Over the sodium concentration range of 0–100 mM, both [3H]-glucose and [3H]-fructose influxes (0.1 mM; 1 min uptakes by hepatopancreatic BBMV were hyperbolic functions of [Na+]. [3H]-glucose and [3H]-fructose influxes by hepatopancreatic BBMV over a potassium concentration range of 15–100 mM were hyperbolic functions of [K+]. Both sugars displayed significant (p<0.01 Na+/K+-dependent and cation-independent uptake processes. Transepithelial 25 µM [3H]-glucose and [3H]-fructose fluxes across lobster intestine over luminal sodium and potassium concentration ranges of 0–50 mM and 5–100 mM, respectively, were hyperbolic functions of luminal [Na+] and [K+]. As with hepatopancreatic sugar transport, transepithelial intestinal sugar transport exhibited both significant (p<0.01 Na+/K+-dependent and cation-independent processes. Results suggest that both D-glucose and D-fructose are transported by a single SGLT-type carrier in each organ with sodium being the “preferred”, high affinity, cation for both sugars in the hepatopancreas, and potassium being the “preferred”, high affinity, cation for both sugars in the intestine.

  4. Functional Comparison of the Two Bacillus anthracis Glutamate Racemases▿

    OpenAIRE

    Dodd, Dylan; Reese, Joseph G.; Louer, Craig R.; Ballard, Jimmy D.; Spies, M. Ashley; Blanke, Steven R.

    2007-01-01

    Glutamate racemase activity in Bacillus anthracis is of significant interest with respect to chemotherapeutic drug design, because l-glutamate stereoisomerization to d-glutamate is predicted to be closely associated with peptidoglycan and capsule biosynthesis, which are important for growth and virulence, respectively. In contrast to most bacteria, which harbor a single glutamate racemase gene, the genomic sequence of B. anthracis predicts two genes encoding glutamate racemases, racE1 and rac...

  5. Synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of conformationally constrained glutamic acid higher homologues

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tamborini, Lucia; Cullia, Gregorio; Nielsen, Birgitte

    2016-01-01

    Homologation of glutamic acid chain together with conformational constraint is a commonly used strategy to achieve selectivity towards different types of glutamate receptors. In the present work, starting from two potent and selective unnatural amino acids previously developed by us, we...... investigated the effects on the activity/selectivity profile produced by a further increase in the distance between the amino acidic moiety and the distal carboxylate group. Interestingly, the insertion of an aromatic ring as a spacer produced a low micromolar affinity NMDA ligand that might represent a lead...

  6. Affinity Crystallography: A New Approach to Extracting High-Affinity Enzyme Inhibitors from Natural Extracts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguda, Adeleke H; Lavallee, Vincent; Cheng, Ping; Bott, Tina M; Meimetis, Labros G; Law, Simon; Nguyen, Nham T; Williams, David E; Kaleta, Jadwiga; Villanueva, Ivan; Davies, Julian; Andersen, Raymond J; Brayer, Gary D; Brömme, Dieter

    2016-08-26

    Natural products are an important source of novel drug scaffolds. The highly variable and unpredictable timelines associated with isolating novel compounds and elucidating their structures have led to the demise of exploring natural product extract libraries in drug discovery programs. Here we introduce affinity crystallography as a new methodology that significantly shortens the time of the hit to active structure cycle in bioactive natural product discovery research. This affinity crystallography approach is illustrated by using semipure fractions of an actinomycetes culture extract to isolate and identify a cathepsin K inhibitor and to compare the outcome with the traditional assay-guided purification/structural analysis approach. The traditional approach resulted in the identification of the known inhibitor antipain (1) and its new but lower potency dehydration product 2, while the affinity crystallography approach led to the identification of a new high-affinity inhibitor named lichostatinal (3). The structure and potency of lichostatinal (3) was verified by total synthesis and kinetic characterization. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of isolating and characterizing a potent enzyme inhibitor from a partially purified crude natural product extract using a protein crystallographic approach.

  7. A novel stereospecific synthesis of 14C labeled 1-glutamic acid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wurz, R.E.; Kepner, R.E.; Webb, A.D.

    1989-01-01

    A stereospecific synthesis of 4- 14 C-1-glutamic acid was completed in five steps from sodium 2- 14 C-acetate. The morpholine derived enamine of ethyl pyruvate was reacted with ethyl 2- 14 C-bromoacetate to give after hydrolysis diethyl 4- 14 C-2-oxoglutarate. The 2-oxoglutarate was reacted with hydroxylamine hydrochloride to give diethyl 4-14C-2-hydroxyiminoglutarate which was then reduced with a LiAlH4, (-)-N-methylephedrine and 3,5-dimethylphenol mixture to give 4- 14 C-1-glutamic acid. The 4- 14 C-1-glutamic acid was used in investigations into the biosynthesis of gamma-lactones in sherries

  8. A novel method for the functionalization of aminoacids L-glycine, L-glutamic acid and L-arginine on maghemite/magnetite nanoparticles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruno, A. J.; Correa, J. R.; Peláez-Abellán, E.; Urones-Garrote, E.

    2018-06-01

    Nanoparticles of maghemite/magnetite functionalized with L-glycine, L-glutamic acid and L-arginine were synthesized by a novel method. The novel procedure consists in an alternative of that reported by Massart for the precipitation of magnetite in which the aminoacid is added in the carboxylate form. The amounts of aminoacid in the initial molar concentrations were 35%, 45% and 65% with respect to the ferrophase. The obtained nanoparticles were characterized by several techniques: X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform IR spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and magnetometry. The IR spectroscopy confirmed that the selected aminoacids were functionalized on the surface of iron oxide. XRD and EELS confirm that iron oxide consists of a maghemite-magnetite intermediate phase with an average particle size about 6 nm, which was measured by transmission electron microscopy. The superparamagnetic character of the nanoparticles was evaluated by magnetometry.

  9. Effects of x-irradiation induced loss of cerebellar granule cells on the synaptosomal levels and the high affinity uptake of amino acids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rohde, B.H.; Rea, M.A.; Simon, J.R.; McBride, W.J.

    1979-01-01

    Crude synaptosomal (P 2 ) preparations were obtained from the cerebella of rats in which the granule cell population had been selectively reduced by X-irradiation treatment and from the cerebella of control animals. In the P 2 fraction form control cerebella, the level of glutamate was greater than any other of the 5 amino acids measured and was 2-fold higher than taurine. The content of taurine, GABA, glycine, and alanine were not changed by the X-irradiation treatment. The uptake of 1.0 micrometers-L-[ 3 H]glutamate and L-[ 3 H]aspartate was reduced approx 20% by X-irradiation treatment, whereas the uptake of 1.0 micrometers-[ 3 H]GABA and [ 3 H]taurine was unchanged. In a second study, the uptake of L-[ 3 H]glutamate, L-[ 3 H]aspartate and [ 3 H]GABA was measured using P 2 fractions obtained from the cerebella of rats in which the population of granule, stellate and basket cells had been reduced by X-irradiation treatment. The uptake of 1.0 micrometers-L-[ 3 H]glutamate, L-[ 3 H]aspartate and [ 3 H]GABA was significantly (P < 0.05) reduced to 57.68 and 59% respectively, of control values. The data are discussed in terms of glutamate being the excitatory neurotransmitter released from granule cells and GABA being the inhibitory neurotransmitter released from basket cells. (author)

  10. Effect of supersaturation on L-glutamic acid polymorphs under droplet-based microchannels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Nan; Wang, Zhanzhong; Dang, Leping; Wei, Hongyuan

    2016-07-01

    Supersaturation is an important controlling factor for crystallization process and polymorphism. Droplet-based microchannels and conventional crystallization were used to investigate polymorphs of L-gluatamic acid in this work. The results illustrate that it is easy to realize the accurate and rapid control of the crystallization temperature in the droplets, which is especially beneficial to heat and mass transfer during crystallization. It is also noted that higher degree of supersaturation favors the nucleation of α crystal form, while lower degree of supersaturation favors the nucleation of β crystal form under droplet-based microchannels for L-gluatamic acid. In addition, there is a different nucleation behavior to be found under droplet-based microchannels both for the β form and α form of L-glutamic acid. This new finding can provide important insight into the development and design of investigation meanings for drug polymorph.

  11. Aluminium fluoride and magnesium, activators of heterotrimeric GTP-binding proteins, affect high-affinity binding of the fungal toxin fusicoccin to the fusicoccin-binding protein in oat root plasma membranes.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Boer, A.H.; Van der Molen, G.W.; Prins, H.B.A.; Korthout, H.A.A.J.; van der Hoeven, P.C.J.

    1994-01-01

    The fusicoccin-binding protein was solubilised from purified oat root plasma membranes. The solubilised protein retained full binding activity, provided that protease inhibitors were included. Sodium fluoride reduced the high-affinity [H-3]fusicoccin binding to almost zero in a

  12. A study of the uptake of chloroquine in malaria-infected erythrocytes. High and low affinity uptake and the influence of glucose and its analogues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diribe, C O; Warhurst, D C

    1985-09-01

    A study of concentration- and substrate-dependence of chloroquine uptake has been carried out on mouse erythrocytes infected with the chloroquine-sensitive NK65 and the chloroquine-resistant RC strains of Plasmodium berghei. The presence of drug binding sites of high and low affinity in such strains of P. berghei was confirmed. High affinity uptake sites in cells parasitized with chloroquine-sensitive and chloroquine-resistant parasites have similar characteristics, but in the sensitive strain the major component of chloroquine-uptake is at high affinity and dependent on the availability of ATP whilst in the resistant strain the major component of uptake is at low affinity and independent of energy. An absolute increase in the quantity of the low affinity site in erythrocytes parasitized with chloroquine-resistant P. berghei was noted, which may be related to an increase in quantity of parasite membrane.

  13. Dog rose (Rosa canina L.) as a functional ingredient in porcine frankfurters without added sodium ascorbate and sodium nitrite.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vossen, Els; Utrera, Mariana; De Smet, Stefaan; Morcuende, David; Estévez, Mario

    2012-12-01

    The effect of dog rose (Rosa canina L.; RC), rich in polyphenols and ascorbic acid, on lipid and protein oxidation, colour stability and texture of frankfurters was investigated. Four treatments were prepared: with 5 or 30 g/kg RC extract and without sodium ascorbate and sodium nitrite (5RC and 30RC, respectively), a positive control (with sodium ascorbate and sodium nitrite; PC) and a negative control (without sodium ascorbate, sodium nitrite or RC extract; NC). Hexanal values were much higher throughout storage in NC compared to RC and PC frankfurters (Prose can act as a natural antioxidant in frankfurters, but not as full replacer for sodium nitrite. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Interactions of NH4+ and L-glutamate with NO3- transport processes of non-mycorrhizal Fagus sylvatica roots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kreuzwieser, J; Herschbach, C; Stulen, [No Value; Wiersema, P; Vaalburg, W; Rennenberg, H

    The processes of NO3- uptake and transport and the effects of NH4+ or L-glutamate on these processes were investigated with excised non-mycorrhizal beech (Fagus sylvatica L,) roots, NO3- net uptake followed uniphasic Michaelis-Menten kinetics in a concentration range of 10 mu M to 1 mM with an

  15. Immunochemical characterization of the brain glutamate binding protein

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roy, S.

    1986-01-01

    A glutamate binding protein (GBP) was purified from bovine and rat brain to near homogeneity. Polyclonal antibodies were raised against this protein. An enzyme-linked-immunosorbent-assay was used to quantify and determine the specificity of the antibody response. The antibodies were shown to strongly react with bovine brain GBP and the analogous protein from rat brain. The antibodies did not show any crossreactivity with the glutamate metabolizing enzymes, glutamate dehydrogenase, glutamine synthetase and glutamyl transpeptidase, however it crossreacted moderately with glutamate decarboxylase. The antibodies were also used to define the possible physiologic activity of GBP in synaptic membranes. The antibodies were shown: (i) to inhibit the excitatory amino-acid stimulation of thiocyanate (SCN)flux, (ii) had no effect on transport of L-Glutamic acid across the synaptic membrane, and (iii) had no effect on the depolarization-induced release of L-glutamate. When the anti-GBP antibodies were used to localize and quantify the GBP distribution in various subcellular fractions and in brain tissue samples, it was found that the hippocampus had the highest immunoreactivity followed by the cerebral cortex, cerebellar cortex and caudate-putamen. The distribution of immunoreactivity in the subcellular fraction were as follows: synaptic membranes > crude mitochondrial fraction > homogenate > myelin. In conclusion these studies suggest that: (a) the rat brain GBP and the bovine brain GBP are immunologically homologous protein, (b) there are no structural similarities between the GBP and the glutamate metabolizing enzymes with the exception of glutamate decarboxylase and (c) the subcellular and regional distribution of the GBP immunoreactivity followed a similar pattern as observed for L-[ 3 H]-binding

  16. PdeH, a high-affinity cAMP phosphodiesterase, is a key regulator of asexual and pathogenic differentiation in Magnaporthe oryzae.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ravikrishna Ramanujam

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Cyclic AMP-dependent pathways mediate the communication between external stimuli and the intracellular signaling machinery, thereby influencing important aspects of cellular growth, morphogenesis and differentiation. Crucial to proper function and robustness of these signaling cascades is the strict regulation and maintenance of intracellular levels of cAMP through a fine balance between biosynthesis (by adenylate cyclases and hydrolysis (by cAMP phosphodiesterases. We functionally characterized gene-deletion mutants of a high-affinity (PdeH and a low-affinity (PdeL cAMP phosphodiesterase in order to gain insights into the spatial and temporal regulation of cAMP signaling in the rice-blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. In contrast to the expendable PdeL function, the PdeH activity was found to be a key regulator of asexual and pathogenic development in M. oryzae. Loss of PdeH led to increased accumulation of intracellular cAMP during vegetative and infectious growth. Furthermore, the pdeHDelta showed enhanced conidiation (2-3 fold, precocious appressorial development, loss of surface dependency during pathogenesis, and highly reduced in planta growth and host colonization. A pdeHDelta pdeLDelta mutant showed reduced conidiation, exhibited dramatically increased (approximately 10 fold cAMP levels relative to the wild type, and was completely defective in virulence. Exogenous addition of 8-Br-cAMP to the wild type simulated the pdeHDelta defects in conidiation as well as in planta growth and development. While a fully functional GFP-PdeH was cytosolic but associated dynamically with the plasma membrane and vesicular compartments, the GFP-PdeL localized predominantly to the nucleus. Based on data from cAMP measurements and Real-Time RTPCR, we uncover a PdeH-dependent biphasic regulation of cAMP levels during early and late stages of appressorial development in M. oryzae. We propose that PdeH-mediated sustenance and dynamic regulation of cAMP signaling

  17. Synthesis, structure and stability of a chiral imine-based Schiff-based ligand derived from L-glutamic acid and its [Cu4] complex

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muche, Simon; Levacheva, Irina; Samsonova, Olga; Biernasiuk, Anna; Malm, Anna; Lonsdale, Richard; Popiołek, Łukasz; Bakowsky, Udo; Hołyńska, Małgorzata

    2017-01-01

    Studies of the stability of a ligand derived from L-glutamic acid and ortho-vanillin and its new [Cu4] complex are presented. The [Cu4] complex contains a heterocubane [CuII4O4] core and pendant carboxylic groups increasing its solubility in water, also under basic conditions. The stability of the complex in different solvents is confirmed with ESI-MS studies and such experiments as successful recrystallization. The complex is stable also under physiological conditions whereas the ligand is partly decomposed to L-glutamic acid and ortho-vanillin.

  18. Glucose replaces glutamate as energy substrate to fuel glutamate uptake in glutamate dehydrogenase-deficient astrocytes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pajęcka, Kamilla; Nissen, Jakob D; Stridh, Malin H

    2015-01-01

    -500 µM) in the presence or in the absence of glucose, the metabolism of these substrates was studied by using tritiated glutamate or 2-deoxyglucose as tracers. In addition, the cellular contents of glutamate and ATP were determined. The astrocytes were able to maintain physiological levels of ATP...... regardless of the expression level of GDH and the incubation condition, indicating a high degree of flexibility with regard to regulatory mechanisms involved in maintaining an adequate energy level in the cells. Glutamate uptake was found to be increased in these cells when exposed to increasing levels...

  19. Exposure to high glutamate concentration activates aerobic glycolysis but inhibits ATP-linked respiration in cultured cortical astrocytes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Yao; Tian, Yueyang; Shi, Xiaojie; Yang, Jianbo; Ouyang, Li; Gao, Jieqiong; Lu, Jianxin

    2014-08-01

    Astrocytes play a key role in removing the synaptically released glutamate from the extracellular space and maintaining the glutamate below neurotoxic level in the brain. However, high concentration of glutamate leads to toxicity in astrocytes, and the underlying mechanisms are unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether energy metabolism disorder, especially impairment of mitochondrial respiration, is involved in the glutamate-induced gliotoxicity. Exposure to 10-mM glutamate for 48 h stimulated glycolysis and respiration in astrocytes. However, the increased oxygen consumption was used for proton leak and non-mitochondrial respiration, but not for oxidative phosphorylation and ATP generation. When the exposure time extended to 72 h, glycolysis was still activated for ATP generation, but the mitochondrial ATP-linked respiration of astrocytes was reduced. The glutamate-induced astrocyte damage can be mimicked by the non-metabolized substrate d-aspartate but reversed by the non-selective glutamate transporter inhibitor TBOA. In addition, the glutamate toxicity can be partially reversed by vitamin E. These findings demonstrate that changes of bioenergetic profile occur in cultured cortical astrocytes exposed to high concentration of glutamate and highlight the role of mitochondria respiration in glutamate-induced gliotoxicity in cortical astrocytes. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  20. Contribution of glutamate decarboxylase in Lactobacillus reuteri to acid resistance and persistence in sourdough fermentation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Marcia S; Schlicht, Sabine; Gänzle, Michael G

    2011-08-30

    Acid stress impacts the persistence of lactobacilli in industrial sourdough fermentations, and in intestinal ecosystems. However, the contribution of glutamate to acid resistance in lactobacilli has not been demonstrated experimentally, and evidence for the contribution of acid resistance to the competitiveness of lactobacilli in sourdough is lacking. It was therefore the aim of this study to investigate the ecological role of glutamate decarboxylase in L. reuteri. A gene coding for a putative glutamate decarboxylase, gadB, was identified in the genome of L. reuteri 100-23. Different from the organization of genetic loci coding for glutamate decarboxylase in other lactic acid bacteria, gadB was located adjacent to a putative glutaminase gene, gls3. An isogenic deletion mutant, L. reuteri ∆gadB, was generated by a double crossover method. L. reuteri 100-23 but not L. reuteri ∆gadB converted glutamate to γ-aminobutyrate (GABA) in phosphate butter (pH 2.5). In sourdough, both strains converted glutamine to glutamate but only L. reuteri 100-23 accumulated GABA. Glutamate addition to phosphate buffer, pH 2.5, improved survival of L. reuteri 100-23 100-fold. However, survival of L. reuteri ∆gadB remained essentially unchanged. The disruption of gadB did not affect growth of L. reuteri in mMRS or in sourdough. However, the wild type strain L. reuteri 100-23 displaced L. reuteri ∆gadB after 5 cycles of fermentation in back-slopped sourdough fermentations. The conversion of glutamate to GABA by L. reuteri 100-23 contributes to acid resistance and to competitiveness in industrial sourdough fermentations. The organization of the gene cluster for glutamate conversion, and the availability of amino acids in cereals imply that glutamine rather than glutamate functions as the substrate for GABA formation. The exceptional coupling of glutamine deamidation to glutamate decarboxylation in L. reuteri likely reflects adaptation to cereal substrates.

  1. New polymer-supported ion-complexing agents: Design, preparation and metal ion affinities of immobilized ligands

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alexandratos, Spiro D.

    2007-01-01

    Polymer-supported reagents are comprised of crosslinked polymer networks that have been modified with ligands capable of selective metal ion complexation. Applications of these polymers are in environmental remediation, ion chromatography, sensor technology, and hydrometallurgy. Bifunctional polymers with diphosphonate/sulfonate ligands have a high selectivity for actinide ions. The distribution coefficient for the uranyl ion from 1 M nitric acid is 70,000, compared to 900 for the monophosphonate/sulfonate polymer and 200 for the sulfonic acid ion-exchange resin. A bifunctional trihexyl/triethylammonium polymer has a high affinity and selectivity for pertechnetate and perchlorate anions from groundwater. In one example, its distribution coefficient for perchlorate ions in the presence of competing anions is 3,300,000, compared to 203,180 for a commercially available anion-exchange resin. Polystyrene modified with N-methyl-D-glucamine ligands is capable of selectively complexing arsenate from groundwater. It complexes 99% of the arsenate present in a solution of 100 mg/L arsenate with 560 mg/L sulfate ions. Its selectivity is retained even in the presence of 400 mg/L phosphate. There is no affinity for arsenate above pH 9, allowing for the polymer to be regenerated with moderate alkali solution. In studies aimed at developing a Hg(II)-selective resin, simple amine resins were found to have a high Hg(II) affinity and that affinity is dependent upon the solution pH and the counterion

  2. Exogenous glutamate induces short and long-term potentiation in the rat medial vestibular nuclei.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grassi, S; Frondaroli, A; Pessia, M; Pettorossi, V E

    2001-08-08

    In rat brain stem slices, high concentrations of exogenous glutamate induce long-term potentiation (LTP) of the field potentials evoked in the medial vestibular nuclei (MVN) by vestibular afferent stimulation. At low concentrations, glutamate can also induce short-term potentiation (STP), indicating that LTP and STP are separate events depending on the level of glutamatergic synapse activation. LTP and STP are prevented by blocking NMDA receptors and nitric oxide (NO) synthesis. Conversely, blocking platelet-activating factor (PAF) and group I metabotropic glutamate receptors only prevents the full development of LTP. Moreover, in the presence of blocking agents, glutamate causes transient inhibition, suggesting that when potentiation is impeded, exogenous glutamate can activate presynaptic mechanisms that reduce glutamate release.

  3. Protection by imidazol(ine) drugs and agmatine of glutamate-induced neurotoxicity in cultured cerebellar granule cells through blockade of NMDA receptor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olmos, G; DeGregorio-Rocasolano, N; Paz Regalado, M; Gasull, T; Assumpció Boronat, M; Trullas, R; Villarroel, A; Lerma, J; García-Sevilla, J A

    1999-07-01

    This study was designed to assess the potential neuroprotective effect of several imidazol(ine) drugs and agmatine on glutamate-induced necrosis and on apoptosis induced by low extracellular K+ in cultured cerebellar granule cells. Exposure (30 min) of energy deprived cells to L-glutamate (1-100 microM) caused a concentration-dependent neurotoxicity, as determined 24 h later by a decrease in the ability of the cells to metabolize 3-(4,5-dimethythiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromide (MTT) into a reduced formazan product. L-glutamate-induced neurotoxicity (EC50=5 microM) was blocked by the specific NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801 (dizocilpine). Imidazol(ine) drugs and agmatine fully prevented neurotoxicity induced by 20 microM (EC100) L-glutamate with the rank order (EC50 in microM): antazoline (13)>cirazoline (44)>LSL 61122 [2-styryl-2-imidazoline] (54)>LSL 60101 [2-(2-benzofuranyl) imidazole] (75)>idazoxan (90)>LSL 60129 [2-(1,4-benzodioxan-6-yl)-4,5-dihydroimidazole](101)>RX82 1002 (2-methoxy idazoxan) (106)>agmatine (196). No neuroprotective effect of these drugs was observed in a model of apoptotic neuronal cell death (reduction of extracellular K+) which does not involve stimulation of NMDA receptors. Imidazol(ine) drugs and agmatine fully inhibited [3H]-(+)-MK-801 binding to the phencyclidine site of NMDA receptors in rat brain. The profile of drug potency protecting against L-glutamate neurotoxicity correlated well (r=0.90) with the potency of the same compounds competing against [3H]-(+)-MK-801 binding. In HEK-293 cells transfected to express the NR1-1a and NR2C subunits of the NMDA receptor, antazoline and agmatine produced a voltage- and concentration-dependent block of glutamate-induced currents. Analysis of the voltage dependence of the block was consistent with the presence of a binding site for antazoline located within the NMDA channel pore with an IC50 of 10-12 microM at 0 mV. It is concluded that imidazol(ine) drugs and agmatine are

  4. Structure and affinity of two bicyclic glutamate analogues at AMPA and kainate receptors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møllerud, Stine; Pinto, Andrea; Marconi, Laura

    2017-01-01

    Ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) are involved in most of the fast excitatory synaptic transmission in the central nervous system. These receptors are important for learning and memory formation, but are also involved in the development of diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy...

  5. Plasma L-cystine/L-glutamate imbalance increases tumor necrosis factor-alpha from CD14+ circulating monocytes in patients with advanced cirrhosis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eiji Kakazu

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The innate immune cells can not normally respond to the pathogen in patients with decompensated cirrhosis. Previous studies reported that antigen-presenting cells take up L-Cystine (L-Cys and secrete substantial amounts of L-Glutamate (L-Glu via the transport system Xc- (4F2hc+xCT, and that this exchange influences the immune responses. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of the plasma L-Cys/L-Glu imbalance observed in patients with advanced cirrhosis on the function of circulating monocytes. METHODS: We used a serum-free culture medium consistent with the average concentrations of plasma amino acids from patients with advanced cirrhosis (ACM, and examined the function of CD14+ monocytes or THP-1 under ACM that contained 0-300 nmol/mL L-Cys with LPS. In patients with advanced cirrhosis, we actually determined the TNF-alpha and xCT mRNA of monocytes, and evaluated the correlation between the plasma L-Cys/L-Glu ratio and TNF-alpha. RESULTS: The addition of L-Cys significantly increased the production of TNF alpha from monocytes under ACM. Monocytes with LPS and THP-1 expressed xCT and a high level of extracellular L-Cys enhanced L-Cys/L-Glu antiport, and the intracellular GSH/GSSG ratio was decreased. The L-Cys transport was inhibited by excess L-Glu. In patients with advanced cirrhosis (n = 19, the TNF-alpha and xCT mRNA of monocytes were increased according to the Child-Pugh grade. The TNF-alpha mRNA of monocytes was significantly higher in the high L-Cys/L-Glu ratio group than in the low ratio group, and the plasma TNF-alpha was significantly correlated with the L-Cys/L-Glu ratio. CONCLUSIONS: A plasma L-Cys/L-Glu imbalance, which appears in patients with advanced cirrhosis, increased the TNF-alpha from circulating monocytes via increasing the intracellular oxidative stress. These results may reflect the immune abnormality that appears in patients with decompensated cirrhosis.

  6. GLT-1-Dependent Disruption of CNS Glutamate Homeostasis and Neuronal Function by the Protozoan Parasite Toxoplasma gondii.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clément N David

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The immune privileged nature of the CNS can make it vulnerable to chronic and latent infections. Little is known about the effects of lifelong brain infections, and thus inflammation, on the neurological health of the host. Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that can infect any mammalian nucleated cell with average worldwide seroprevalence rates of 30%. Infection by Toxoplasma is characterized by the lifelong presence of parasitic cysts within neurons in the brain, requiring a competent immune system to prevent parasite reactivation and encephalitis. In the immunocompetent individual, Toxoplasma infection is largely asymptomatic, however many recent studies suggest a strong correlation with certain neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. Here, we demonstrate a significant reduction in the primary astrocytic glutamate transporter, GLT-1, following infection with Toxoplasma. Using microdialysis of the murine frontal cortex over the course of infection, a significant increase in extracellular concentrations of glutamate is observed. Consistent with glutamate dysregulation, analysis of neurons reveal changes in morphology including a reduction in dendritic spines, VGlut1 and NeuN immunoreactivity. Furthermore, behavioral testing and EEG recordings point to significant changes in neuronal output. Finally, these changes in neuronal connectivity are dependent on infection-induced downregulation of GLT-1 as treatment with the ß-lactam antibiotic ceftriaxone, rescues extracellular glutamate concentrations, neuronal pathology and function. Altogether, these data demonstrate that following an infection with T. gondii, the delicate regulation of glutamate by astrocytes is disrupted and accounts for a range of deficits observed in chronic infection.

  7. Multifunctional antitumor magnetite/chitosan-l-glutamic acid (core/shell) nanocomposites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santos, Daniela P.; Ruiz, M. Adolfina; Gallardo, Visitación; Zanoni, Maria Valnice B.; Arias, José L.

    2011-01-01

    The development of anticancer drug delivery systems based on biodegradable nanoparticles has been intended to maximize the localization of chemotherapy agents within tumor interstitium, along with negligible drug distribution into healthy tissues. Interestingly, passive and active drug targeting strategies to cancer have led to improved nanomedicines with great tumor specificity and efficient chemotherapy effect. One of the most promising areas in the formulation of such nanoplatforms is the engineering of magnetically responsive nanoparticles. In this way, we have followed a chemical modification method for the synthesis of magnetite/chitosan-l-glutamic acid (core/shell) nanostructures. These magnetic nanocomposites (average size ≈340 nm) exhibited multifunctional properties based on its capability to load the antitumor drug doxorubicin (along with an adequate sustained release) and its potential for hyperthermia applications. Compared to drug surface adsorption, doxorubicin entrapment into the nanocomposites matrix yielded a higher drug loading and a slower drug release profile. Heating characteristics of the magnetic nanocomposites were investigated in a high-frequency alternating magnetic gradient: a stable maximum temperature of 46 °C was successfully achieved within 40 min. To our knowledge, this is the first time that such kind of stimuli-sensitive nanoformulation with very important properties (i.e., magnetic targeting capabilities, hyperthermia, high drug loading, and little burst drug release) has been formulated for combined antitumor therapy against cancer.

  8. Multifunctional antitumor magnetite/chitosan- l-glutamic acid (core/shell) nanocomposites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santos, Daniela P.; Ruiz, M. Adolfina; Gallardo, Visitación; Zanoni, Maria Valnice B.; Arias, José L.

    2011-09-01

    The development of anticancer drug delivery systems based on biodegradable nanoparticles has been intended to maximize the localization of chemotherapy agents within tumor interstitium, along with negligible drug distribution into healthy tissues. Interestingly, passive and active drug targeting strategies to cancer have led to improved nanomedicines with great tumor specificity and efficient chemotherapy effect. One of the most promising areas in the formulation of such nanoplatforms is the engineering of magnetically responsive nanoparticles. In this way, we have followed a chemical modification method for the synthesis of magnetite/chitosan- l-glutamic acid (core/shell) nanostructures. These magnetic nanocomposites (average size ≈340 nm) exhibited multifunctional properties based on its capability to load the antitumor drug doxorubicin (along with an adequate sustained release) and its potential for hyperthermia applications. Compared to drug surface adsorption, doxorubicin entrapment into the nanocomposites matrix yielded a higher drug loading and a slower drug release profile. Heating characteristics of the magnetic nanocomposites were investigated in a high-frequency alternating magnetic gradient: a stable maximum temperature of 46 °C was successfully achieved within 40 min. To our knowledge, this is the first time that such kind of stimuli-sensitive nanoformulation with very important properties (i.e., magnetic targeting capabilities, hyperthermia, high drug loading, and little burst drug release) has been formulated for combined antitumor therapy against cancer.

  9. Glutamate decarboxylase immunoreactivity and gamma-[3H] aminobutyric acid accumulation within the same neurons in dissociated cell cultures of cerebral cortex

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neale, E.A.; Oertel, W.H.; Bowers, L.M.; Weise, V.K.

    1983-01-01

    In order to evaluate the reliability of high affinity [ 3 H]GABA accumulation as a marker for GABAergic neurons, murine cerebral cortical neurons were studied in dissociated cell culture. Cultures which had been incubated in [ 3 H]GABA were stained immunohistochemically for the GABA-synthesizing enzyme, glutamate decarboxylase, fixed with paraformaldehyde, and subsequently processed for radioautography. In mature cultures, there was an 84 to 94% correlation between the presence of the enzyme and [ 3 H]GABA uptake within the same cortical neurons. These data provide direct evidence that those neurons which synthesize GABA are the same neurons which are labeled by high affinity [ 3 H]GABA uptake

  10. N-13 L-glutamate uptake in malignancy: its relationship to blood flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Knapp, W.H.; Helus, F.; Sinn, H.; Ostertag, H.; Georgi, P.; Brandeis, W.E.; Braun, A.

    1984-01-01

    Studies on glutamate uptake, with special reference to perfusion, were carried out in 35 rats, each bearing one of five different tumor transplants; also in 15 rats after bone fracture, and in three rabbits. Single-pass extraction of N-13 glutamate was 85-93% in the VX2 tumor of the rabbit and in muscle. Bone fracture in rats caused a threefold increase of tracer uptake 2 days after the event. Comparing N-13 glutamate uptake with the retention of 1-121 microspheres, identical tumor-to-muscle ratios were found for three out of five tumor lines. Comparing the uptake with that of C-11 butanol (ten rats), a close correlation was observed throughout the range of tumor lines. The results suggested that glutamate uptake by malignant tumors is related to blood flow. In nine patients with malignant or benign lesions tumor-to-muscle uptake of N-13 glutamate and Tl-201 showed a linear correlation close to identity

  11. GRP1 PH Domain, Like AKT1 PH Domain, Possesses a Sentry Glutamate Residue Essential for Specific Targeting to Plasma Membrane PI(3,4,5)P3

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pilling, Carissa; Landgraf, Kyle E.; Falke, Joseph J.

    2011-01-01

    During the appearance of the signaling lipid PI(3,4,5)P3, an important subset of pleckstrin homology (PH) domains target signaling proteins to the plasma membrane. To ensure proper pathway regulation, such PI(3,4,5)P3-specific PH domains must exclude the more prevalant, constitutive plasma membrane lipid PI(4,5)P2 and bind the rare PI(3,4,5)P3 target lipid with sufficiently high affinity. Our previous study of the E17K mutant of protein kinase B (AKT1) PH domain, together with evidence from Carpten et al (1), revealed that the native AKT1 E17 residue serves as a sentry glutamate that excludes PI(4,5)P2, thereby playing an essential role in specific PI(3,4,5)P3 targeting (2). The sentry glutamate hypothesis proposes that an analogous sentry glutamate residue is a widespread feature of PI(3,4,5)P3-specific PH domains, and that charge reversal mutation at the sentry glutamate position will yield both increased PI(4,5)P2 affinity and constitutive plasma membrane targeting. To test this hypothesis the present study investigates the E345 residue, a putative sentry glutamate, of General Receptor for Phosphoinositides 1 (GRP1) PH domain. The results show that incorporation of the E345K charge reversal mutation into GRP1 PH domain enhances PI(4,5)P2 affinity 8-fold and yields constitutive plasma membrane targeting in cells, reminiscent of the effects of the E17K mutation in AKT1 PH domain. Hydrolysis of plasma membrane PI(4,5)P2 releases E345K GRP1 PH domain into the cytoplasm and the efficiency of this release increases when target Arf6 binding is disrupted. Overall, the findings provide strong support for the sentry glutamate hypothesis and suggest that the GRP1 E345K mutation will be linked to changes in cell physiology and human pathologies, as demonstrated for AKT1 E17K (1, 3). Analysis of available PH domain structures suggests that a lone glutamate residue (or, in some cases an aspartate) is a common, perhaps ubiquitous, feature of PI(3,4,5)P3-specific binding

  12. Replication of the Shrimp Virus WSSV Depends on Glutamate-Driven Anaplerosis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chun-Yuan Li

    Full Text Available Infection with the white spot syndrome virus (WSSV induces a metabolic shift in shrimp that resembles the "Warburg effect" in mammalian cells. This effect is triggered via activation of the PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway, and it is usually accompanied by the activation of other metabolic pathways that provide energy and direct the flow of carbon and nitrogen. Here we show that unlike the glutamine metabolism (glutaminolysis seen in most cancer cells to double deaminate glutamine to produce glutamate and the TCA cycle intermediate α-ketoglutarate (α-KG, at the WSSV genome replication stage (12 hpi, although glutaminase (GLS expression was upregulated, only glutamate was taken up by the hemocytes of WSSV-infected shrimp. At the same time, we observed an increase in the activity of the two enzymes that convert glutamate to α-KG, glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH and aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT. α-ketoglutarate concentration was also increased. A series of inhibition experiments suggested that the up-regulation of GDH is regulated by mTORC2, and that the PI3K-mTORC1 pathway is not involved. Suppression of GDH and ASAT by dsRNA silencing showed that both of these enzymes are important for WSSV replication. In GDH-silenced shrimp, direct replenishment of α-KG rescued both ATP production and WSSV replication. From these results, we propose a model of glutamate-driven anaplerosis that fuels the TCA cycle via α-KG and ultimately supports WSSV replication.

  13. Passive water and urea permeability of a human Na(+)-glutamate cotransporter expressed in Xenopus oocytes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Macaulay, Nanna; Gether, Ulrik; Klærke, Dan Arne

    2002-01-01

    to the K(0.5) value for glutamate activation of transport. The specific inhibitor DL-threo-beta-benzyloxyaspartate (TBOA) reduced the EAAT1-specific L(p) to 72 %. EAAT1 supported passive fluxes of [(14)C]urea and [(14)C]glycerol. The [(14)C]urea flux was increased in the presence of glutamate. The data...... suggest that the permeability depends on the conformational equilibrium of the EAAT1. At positive potentials and in the presence of Na(+) and glutamate, the pore is enlarged and water and urea penetrate more readily. The L(p) was larger when measured with urea or glycerol as osmolytes as compared...... with mannitol. Apparently, the properties of the pore are not uniform along its length. The outer section may accommodate urea and glycerol in an osmotically active form, giving rise to larger water fluxes. The physiological role of EAAT1 for water homeostasis in the central nervous system is discussed....

  14. Glutamate modulation of GABA transport in retinal horizontal cells of the skate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kreitzer, Matthew A; Andersen, Kristen A; Malchow, Robert Paul

    2003-01-01

    Transport of the amino acid GABA into neurons and glia plays a key role in regulating the effects of GABA in the vertebrate retina. We have examined the modulation of GABA-elicited transport currents of retinal horizontal cells by glutamate, the likely neurotransmitter of vertebrate photoreceptors. Enzymatically isolated external horizontal cells of skate were examined using whole-cell voltage-clamp techniques. GABA (1 mm) elicited an inward current that was completely suppressed by the GABA transport inhibitors tiagabine (10 μm) and SKF89976-A (100 μm), but was unaffected by 100 μm picrotoxin. Prior application of 100 μm glutamate significantly reduced the GABA-elicited current. Glutamate depressed the GABA dose-response curve without shifting the curve laterally or altering the voltage dependence of the current. The ionotropic glutamate receptor agonists kainate and AMPA also reduced the GABA-elicited current, and the effects of glutamate and kainate were abolished by the ionotropic glutamate receptor antagonist 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline. NMDA neither elicited a current nor modified the GABA-induced current, and metabotropic glutamate analogues were also without effect. Inhibition of the GABA-elicited current by glutamate and kainate was reduced when extracellular calcium was removed and when recording pipettes contained high concentrations of the calcium chelator BAPTA. Caffeine (5 mm) and thapsigargin (2 nm), agents known to alter intracellular calcium levels, also reduced the GABA-elicited current, but increases in calcium induced by depolarization alone did not. Our data suggest that glutamate regulates GABA transport in retinal horizontal cells through a calcium-dependent process, and imply a close physical relationship between calcium-permeable glutamate receptors and GABA transporters in these cells. PMID:12562999

  15. High-affinity DNA-binding Domains of Replication Protein A (RPA) Direct SMARCAL1-dependent Replication Fork Remodeling*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhat, Kamakoti P.; Bétous, Rémy; Cortez, David

    2015-01-01

    SMARCAL1 catalyzes replication fork remodeling to maintain genome stability. It is recruited to replication forks via an interaction with replication protein A (RPA), the major ssDNA-binding protein in eukaryotic cells. In addition to directing its localization, RPA also activates SMARCAL1 on some fork substrates but inhibits it on others, thereby conferring substrate specificity to SMARCAL1 fork-remodeling reactions. We investigated the mechanism by which RPA regulates SMARCAL1. Our results indicate that although an interaction between SMARCAL1 and RPA is essential for SMARCAL1 activation, the location of the interacting surface on RPA is not. Counterintuitively, high-affinity DNA binding of RPA DNA-binding domain (DBD) A and DBD-B near the fork junction makes it easier for SMARCAL1 to remodel the fork, which requires removing RPA. We also found that RPA DBD-C and DBD-D are not required for SMARCAL1 regulation. Thus, the orientation of the high-affinity RPA DBDs at forks dictates SMARCAL1 substrate specificity. PMID:25552480

  16. High-affinity DNA-binding domains of replication protein A (RPA) direct SMARCAL1-dependent replication fork remodeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhat, Kamakoti P; Bétous, Rémy; Cortez, David

    2015-02-13

    SMARCAL1 catalyzes replication fork remodeling to maintain genome stability. It is recruited to replication forks via an interaction with replication protein A (RPA), the major ssDNA-binding protein in eukaryotic cells. In addition to directing its localization, RPA also activates SMARCAL1 on some fork substrates but inhibits it on others, thereby conferring substrate specificity to SMARCAL1 fork-remodeling reactions. We investigated the mechanism by which RPA regulates SMARCAL1. Our results indicate that although an interaction between SMARCAL1 and RPA is essential for SMARCAL1 activation, the location of the interacting surface on RPA is not. Counterintuitively, high-affinity DNA binding of RPA DNA-binding domain (DBD) A and DBD-B near the fork junction makes it easier for SMARCAL1 to remodel the fork, which requires removing RPA. We also found that RPA DBD-C and DBD-D are not required for SMARCAL1 regulation. Thus, the orientation of the high-affinity RPA DBDs at forks dictates SMARCAL1 substrate specificity. © 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  17. Voltammetric Determination of Anti-Hypertensive Drug Hydrochlorothiazide Using Screen-Printed Electrodes Modified with L-Glutamic Acid

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Camilo González-Vargas

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This work deals with the development of screen-printed carbon electrodes modified with L-glutamic acid via two different approaches: electropolymerization (SPCE/PGA and aryl diazonium electrochemical grafting (SPCE/EGA. SPCE/PGA and SPCE/EGA were analytically compared in the determination of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ by differential pulse voltammetry. Both electrochemical characterization and analytical performance indicate that SPCE/EGA is a much better sensor for HCTZ. The detection and quantification limits were at the level of μmol L−1 with a very good linearity in the studied concentration range. In addition, the proposed SPCE/EGA was successfully applied for the determination of HCTZ in an anti-hypertensive drug with high reproducibility and good trueness.

  18. A rhodium(III) complex for high-affinity DNA base-pair mismatch recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Junicke, Henrik; Hart, Jonathan R.; Kisko, Jennifer; Glebov, Oleg; Kirsch, Ilan R.; Barton, Jacqueline K.

    2003-01-01

    A rhodium(III) complex, rac-[Rh(bpy)2phzi]3+ (bpy, 2,2′-bipyridine; phzi, benzo[a]phenazine-5,6-quinone diimine) has been designed as a sterically demanding intercalator targeted to destabilized mismatched sites in double-helical DNA. The complex is readily synthesized by condensation of the phenazine quinone with the corresponding diammine complex. Upon photoactivation, the complex promotes direct strand scission at single-base mismatch sites within the DNA duplex. As with the parent mismatch-specific reagent, [Rh(bpy)2(chrysi)]3+ [chrysene-5,6-quinone diimine (chrysi)], mismatch selectivity depends on the helix destabilization associated with mispairing. Unlike the parent chrysi complex, the phzi analogue binds and cleaves with high affinity and efficiency. The specific binding constants for CA, CC, and CT mismatches within a 31-mer oligonucleotide duplex are 0.3, 1, and 6 × 107 M−1, respectively; site-specific photocleavage is evident at nanomolar concentrations. Moreover, the specificity, defined as the ratio in binding affinities for mispaired vs. well paired sites, is maintained. The increase in affinity is attributed to greater stability in the mismatched site associated with stacking by the heterocyclic aromatic ligand. The high-affinity complex is also applied in the differential cleavage of DNA obtained from cell lines deficient in mismatch repair vs. those proficient in mismatch repair. Agreement is found between photocleavage by the mismatch-specific probes and deficiency in mismatch repair. This mismatch-specific targeting, therefore, offers a potential strategy for new chemotherapeutic design. PMID:12610209

  19. Covalent labeling of the beta-adrenergic ligand-binding site with para-(bromoacetamidyl)benzylcarazolol. A highly potent beta-adrenergic affinity label

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dickinson, K.E.; Heald, S.L.; Jeffs, P.W.; Lefkowitz, R.J.; Caron, M.G.

    1985-01-01

    Para-(Bromoacetamidyl)benzylcarazolol (pBABC) was synthesized and found to be an extremely potent affinity label for beta-adrenergic receptors. Its interaction with mammalian (rabbit and hamster lung) and nonmammalian (turkey and frog erythrocyte) beta-adrenergic receptors was similar, displaying EC 50 values of 400-900 pM for inhibiting 125 I-cyanopindolol binding to these receptors. pBABC reduced the number of beta-adrenergic receptors in frog erythrocyte membranes, without any change in the affinity of the remaining sites for [ 125 I]iodocyanopindolol. pBABC has been radioiodinated. As assessed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, this affinity probe specifically labeled the beta-adrenergic peptide of a purified preparation of hamster lung, with high efficiency (approximately 40%) and with a pharmacological specificity characteristic of an interaction at the beta 2-adrenergic receptor ligand-binding site. Comparison of the proteolyzed products derived from purified receptor labeled with [ 125 I]pBABC and with the photoaffinity agent [ 125 I]p-azidobenzylcarazolol suggested that covalent labeling of the beta-adrenergic receptor by these probes occurs at similar domains of the beta-adrenergic receptor

  20. Synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of conformationally constrained glutamic acid higher homologues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamborini, Lucia; Cullia, Gregorio; Nielsen, Birgitte; De Micheli, Carlo; Conti, Paola; Pinto, Andrea

    2016-11-15

    Homologation of glutamic acid chain together with conformational constraint is a commonly used strategy to achieve selectivity towards different types of glutamate receptors. In the present work, starting from two potent and selective unnatural amino acids previously developed by us, we investigated the effects on the activity/selectivity profile produced by a further increase in the distance between the amino acidic moiety and the distal carboxylate group. Interestingly, the insertion of an aromatic ring as a spacer produced a low micromolar affinity NMDA ligand that might represent a lead for the development of a new class of NMDA antagonists. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Defining proximity relationships in the tertiary structure of the dopamine transporter. Identification of a conserved glutamic acid as a third coordinate in the endogenous Zn(2+)-binding site

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Løland, Claus Juul; Norregaard, L; Gether, U

    1999-01-01

    , high affinity Zn(2+)-binding site. To achieve further insight into the tertiary organization of hDAT, we set out to identify additional residues involved in Zn(2+) binding and subsequently to engineer artificial Zn(2+)-binding sites. Ten aspartic acids and glutamic acids, predicted...

  2. Heparin-binding peptide as a novel affinity tag for purification of recombinant proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morris, Jacqueline; Jayanthi, Srinivas; Langston, Rebekah; Daily, Anna; Kight, Alicia; McNabb, David S; Henry, Ralph; Kumar, Thallapuranam Krishnaswamy Suresh

    2016-10-01

    Purification of recombinant proteins constitutes a significant part of the downstream processing in biopharmaceutical industries. Major costs involved in the production of bio-therapeutics mainly depend on the number of purification steps used during the downstream process. Affinity chromatography is a widely used method for the purification of recombinant proteins expressed in different expression host platforms. Recombinant protein purification is achieved by fusing appropriate affinity tags to either N- or C- terminus of the target recombinant proteins. Currently available protein/peptide affinity tags have proved quite useful in the purification of recombinant proteins. However, these affinity tags suffer from specific limitations in their use under different conditions of purification. In this study, we have designed a novel 34-amino acid heparin-binding affinity tag (HB-tag) for the purification of recombinant proteins expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli) cells. HB-tag fused recombinant proteins were overexpressed in E. coli in high yields. A one-step heparin-Sepharose-based affinity chromatography protocol was developed to purify HB-fused recombinant proteins to homogeneity using a simple sodium chloride step gradient elution. The HB-tag has also been shown to facilitate the purification of target recombinant proteins from their 8 M urea denatured state(s). The HB-tag has been demonstrated to be successfully released from the fusion protein by an appropriate protease treatment to obtain the recombinant target protein(s) in high yields. Results of the two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy experiments indicate that the purified recombinant target protein(s) exist in the native conformation. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the HB-peptide sequence, exhibited high binding specificity and sensitivity to the HB-fused recombinant proteins (∼10 ng) in different crude cell extracts obtained from diverse expression hosts. In our opinion, the HB-tag provides a

  3. Highly microporous carbons derived from a complex of glutamic acid and zinc chloride for use in supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Xiao-Ling; Lu, An-Hui; He, Bin; Li, Wen-Cui

    2016-09-01

    The selection of carbon precursor is an important factor when designing carbon materials. In this study, a complex derived from L-glutamic acid and zinc chloride was used to prepare highly microporous carbons via facile pyrolysis. L-glutamic acid, a new carbon precursor with nitrogen functionality, coordinated with zinc chloride resulted in a homogeneous distribution of Zn2+ on the molecular level. During pyrolysis, the evaporation of the in situ formed zinc species creates an abundance of micropores together with the inert gases. The obtained carbons exhibit high specific surface area (SBET: 1203 m2 g-1) and a rich nitrogen content (4.52 wt%). In excess of 89% of the pore volume consists of micropores with pore size ranging from 0.5 to 1.2 nm. These carbons have been shown to be suitable for use as supercapacitor electrodes, and have been tested in 6 M KOH where a capacitance of 217 F g-1 was achieved at a current density of 0.5 A g-1. A long cycling life of 30 000 cycles was achieved at a current density of 1 A g-1, with only a 9% loss in capacity. The leakage current through a two-electrode device was measured as 2.3 μA per mg of electrode and the self-discharge characteristics were minimal.

  4. Cation gating and selectivity in a purified, reconstituted, voltage-dependent sodium channel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barchi, R.L.; Tanaka, J.C.

    1984-01-01

    In excitable membranes, the voltage-dependent sodium channel controls the primary membrane conductance change necessary for the generation of an action potential. Over the past four decades, the time- and voltage-dependent sodium currents gated by this channel have been thoroughly documented with increasingly sophisticated voltage-clamp techniques. Recent advances in the biochemistry of membrane proteins have led to the solubilization and purification of this channel protein from nerve (6) and from muscle (4) or muscle-derived (1) membranes, and have provided an approach to the correlation of the channel's molecular structure with its functional properties. Each of these sodium channel preparations appears to contain a large glycoprotein either as its sole component (2) or in association with several small subunits (6, 3). Evidence that these purified proteins represent the excitable membrane sodium channel is presented. 8 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab

  5. Quantifying high-affinity binding of hydrophobic ligands by isothermal titration calorimetry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krainer, Georg; Broecker, Jana; Vargas, Carolyn; Fanghänel, Jörg; Keller, Sandro

    2012-12-18

    A fast and reliable quantification of the binding thermodynamics of hydrophobic high-affinity ligands employing a new calorimetric competition experiment is described. Although isothermal titration calorimetry is the method of choice for a quantitative characterization of intermolecular interactions in solution, a reliable determination of a dissociation constant (K(D)) is typically limited to the range 100 μM > K(D) > 1 nM. Interactions displaying higher or lower K(D) values can be assessed indirectly, provided that a suitable competing ligand is available whose K(D) falls within the directly accessible affinity window. This established displacement assay, however, requires the high-affinity ligand to be soluble at high concentrations in aqueous buffer and, consequently, poses serious problems in the study of protein binding involving small-molecule ligands dissolved in organic solvents--a familiar case in many drug-discovery projects relying on compound libraries. The calorimetric competition assay introduced here overcomes this limitation, thus allowing for a detailed thermodynamic description of high-affinity receptor-ligand interactions involving poorly water-soluble compounds. Based on a single titration of receptor into a dilute mixture of the two competing ligands, this competition assay provides accurate and precise values for the dissociation constants and binding enthalpies of both high- and moderate-affinity ligands. We discuss the theoretical background underlying the approach, demonstrate its practical application to metal ion chelation and high-affinity protein-inhibitor interactions, and explore its potential and limitations with the aid of simulations and statistical analyses.

  6. Clofibrate inhibits the umami-savory taste of glutamate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kochem, Matthew; Breslin, Paul A S

    2017-01-01

    In humans, umami taste can increase the palatability of foods rich in the amino acids glutamate and aspartate and the 5'-ribonucleotides IMP and GMP. Umami taste is transduced, in part, by T1R1-T1R3, a heteromeric G-protein coupled receptor. Umami perception is inhibited by sodium lactisole, which binds to the T1R3 subunit in vitro. Lactisole is structurally similar to the fibrate drugs. Clofibric acid, a lipid lowering drug, also binds the T1R3 subunit in vitro. The purpose of this study was to determine whether clofibric acid inhibits the umami taste of glutamate in human subjects. Ten participants rated the umami taste intensity elicited by 20 mM monosodium glutamate (MSG) mixed with varying concentrations of clofibric acid (0 to 16 mM). In addition, fourteen participants rated the effect of 1.4 mM clofibric acid on umami enhancement by 5' ribonucleotides. Participants were instructed to rate perceived intensity using a general Labeled Magnitude Scale (gLMS). Each participant was tested in triplicate. Clofibric acid inhibited umami taste intensity from 20 mM MSG in a dose dependent manner. Whereas MSG neat elicited "moderate" umami taste intensity, the addition of 16 mM clofibric acid elicited only "weak" umami intensity on average, and in some subjects no umami taste was elicited. We further show that 1.4 mM clofibric acid suppressed umami enhancement from GMP, but not from IMP. This study provides in vivo evidence that clofibric acid inhibits glutamate taste perception, presumably via T1R1-T1R3 inhibition, and lends further evidence that the T1R1-T1R3 receptor is the principal umami receptor in humans. T1R receptors are expressed extra-orally throughout the alimentary tract and in regulatory organs and are known to influence glucose and lipid metabolism. Whether clofibric acid as a lipid-lowering drug affects human metabolism, in part, through T1R inhibition warrants further examination.

  7. Rational Design, Synthesis and Pharmacological Evaluation of the (2R)- and (2S)-Stereoisomers of 3-(2-Carboxypyrrolidinyl)-2-methyl Acetic Acid as Ligands for the Ionotropic Glutamate Receptors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Julie; Storgaard, Morten; Pickering, Darryl S

    2011-01-01

    In this paper we describe the rational design, synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of two new stereoisomeric (S)-glutamate (Glu) analogues. The rational design was based on hybrid structures of the natural product kainic acid, a synthetic analogue CPAA and the high-affinity Glu analogue SYM...

  8. An experience with in-service fabrication and inspection of austenitic stainless steel piping in high temperature sodium system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ravi, S., E-mail: sravi@igcar.gov.in; Laha, K.; Sakthy, S.; Mathew, M.D.; Bhaduri, A.K.

    2015-04-01

    Highlights: • Procedure for changing 304L SS pipe to 316L SS in sodium loop has been established. • Hot leg made of 304L SS was isolated from existing cold leg made of 316LN SS. • Innovative welding was used in joining the new 316L SS pipe with existing 316LN SS. • The old components of 304L SS piping have been integrated with the new piping. - Abstract: A creep testing facility along with dynamic sodium loop was installed at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, India to assess the creep behavior of fast reactor structural materials in flowing sodium. Type 304L austenitic stainless steel was used in the low cross section piping of hot-leg whereas 316LN austenitic stainless steel in the high cross section cold-leg of the sodium loop. The intended service life of the sodium loop was 10 years. The loop has performed successfully in the stipulated time period. To enhance its life time, it has been decided to replace the 304L piping with 316L piping in the hot-leg. There were more than 300 welding joints involved in the integration of cold-leg with the new 316L hot-leg. Continuous argon gas flow was maintained in the loop during welding to avoid contamination of sodium residue with air. Several innovative welding procedures have been adopted for joining the new hot-leg with the existing cold-leg in the presence of sodium residue adopting TIG welding technique. The joints were inspected for 100% X-ray radiography and qualified by performing tensile tests. The components used in the discarded hot-leg were retrieved, cleaned and integrated in the renovated loop. A method of cleaning component of sodium residue has been established. This paper highlights the in-service fabrication and inspection of the renovation.

  9. Monosodium glutamate neonatal treatment induces cardiovascular autonomic function changes in rodents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Signorá Peres Konrad

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate cardiovascular autonomic function in a rodent obesity model induced by monosodium glutamate injections during the first seven days of life. METHOD: The animals were assigned to control (control, n = 10 and monosodium glutamate (monosodium glutamate, n = 13 groups. Thirty-three weeks after birth, arterial and venous catheters were implanted for arterial pressure measurements, drug administration, and blood sampling. Baroreflex sensitivity was evaluated according to the tachycardic and bradycardic responses induced by sodium nitroprusside and phenylephrine infusion, respectively. Sympathetic and vagal effects were determined by administering methylatropine and propranolol. RESULTS: Body weight, Lee index, and epididymal white adipose tissue values were higher in the monosodium glutamate group in comparison to the control group. The monosodium glutamate-treated rats displayed insulin resistance, as shown by a reduced glucose/insulin index (-62.5%, an increased area under the curve of total insulin secretion during glucose overload (39.3%, and basal hyperinsulinemia. The mean arterial pressure values were higher in the monosodium glutamate rats, whereas heart rate variability (>7 times, bradycardic responses (>4 times, and vagal (~38% and sympathetic effects (~36% were reduced as compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that obesity induced by neonatal monosodium glutamate treatment impairs cardiac autonomic function and most likely contributes to increased arterial pressure and insulin resistance.

  10. The S-Matrix coupling dependence for a, d and e affine Toda field theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Braden, H.W.; Sasaki, R.

    1990-09-01

    Affine Toda field theories are solvable 1+1 dimensional quantum field theories closely related to integrable deformations of conformal field theory. The S-Matrix elements for an affine Toda field theory are known to depend on the coupling constant β through one universal function B(β) which cannot be determined by unitarity, crossing and the bootstrap. From the requirement of nonexistence of extra poles in the physical region its form is conjectured to be B(β) = (2π) -1 ·β 2 /((1+β 2 )/4π). We show that the above conjecture is correct up to one loop order (i.e., β 4 ) of perturbation for simply laced, i.e., a, d and e affine Toda field theories using a general argument which exhibits much of the richness of these theories. (author)

  11. Effect of intrahippocampal kainic acid injections and surgical lesions on neurotransmitters in hippocampus and septum

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fonnum, F; Walaas, I

    1978-01-01

    Local injection of kainic acid (2 ..mu..g) was accompanied by destruction of intrinsic neurons in the dorsal part of hippocampus. The lesion was accompanied by a 75% reduction in glutamate decarboxylase activity, a 60% reduction in the high affinity uptake of L-glutamate, a 40 to 60% reduction in the endogeneous levels of aspartate, glutamate and GABA and no changes in the activities of choline acetyltransferase or aromatic amino acid decarboxylase in the dorsal hippocampus. Unilateral destruction of neurons in the dorsal hippocampus was followed by a 20 to 40% reduction in the high affinity uptake of glutamate in lateral, but not in medial septum, on both sides. There was no reduction in choline acetyltransferase, glutamate decarboxylase or aromatic amino acid decarboxylase activities in the lateral or medial part of the septum. Transection of fimbria and superior fornix was accompanied by a severe reduction in choline acetyltransferase and aromatic amino acid decarboxylase activity in hippocampus, in the high affinity uptake of glutamate and in the endogenous level of glutamate in the lateral septum. The results are consistent with the concept that in the hippocampus kainic acid destroys intrinsic neurons and not afferent fibres. It seems therefore that all GABAergic fibres in the hippocampus belong to intrinsic neurons whereas glutamergic and aspartergic neurons belong partly to local neurons. The connection from the hippocampus to the lateral septum probably uses glutamate as a transmitter.

  12. Comparison of the Tastes of L-Alanine and Monosodium Glutamate in C57BL/6J Wild Type and T1r3 Knockout Mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eddy, Meghan C; Eschle, Benjamin K; Delay, Eugene R

    2017-09-01

    Previous research showed that L-alanine and monosodium L-glutamate elicit similar taste sensations in rats. This study reports the results of behavioral experiments designed to compare the taste capacity of C57BL/6J wild type and T1r3- mice for these 2 amino acids. In conditioned taste aversion (CTA) experiments, wild-type mice exhibited greater sensitivity than knockout mice for both L-amino acids, although knockout mice were clearly able to detect both amino acids at 50 mM and higher concentrations. Generalization of CTA between L-alanine and L-glutamate was bidirectionally equivalent for both mouse genotypes, indicating that both substances elicited similar tastes in both genotypes. This was verified by the discrimination experiments in which both mouse genotypes performed at or near chance levels at 75 and 150 mM. Above 150 mM, discrimination performance improved, suggesting the taste qualities of the 2 L-amino acids are not identical. No differences between knockout and wild-type mice in discrimination ability were detected. These results indicate that while the T1r3 receptor is important for tasting L-alanine and L-glutamate, other receptors are also important for tasting these amino acids. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  13. Pyridoxine Supplementation Improves the Activity of Recombinant Glutamate Decarboxylase and the Enzymatic Production of Gama-Aminobutyric Acid.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yan Huang

    Full Text Available Glutamate decarboxylase (GAD catalyzes the irreversible decarboxylation of L-glutamate to the valuable food supplement γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA. In this study, GAD from Escherichia coli K12, a pyridoxal phosphate (PLP-dependent enzyme, was overexpressed in E. coli. The GAD produced in media supplemented with 0.05 mM soluble vitamin B6 analog pyridoxine hydrochloride (GAD-V activity was 154.8 U mL-1, 1.8-fold higher than that of GAD obtained without supplementation (GAD-C. Purified GAD-V exhibited increased activity (193.4 U mg-1, 1.5-fold higher than that of GAD-C, superior thermostability (2.8-fold greater than that of GAD-C, and higher kcat/Km (1.6-fold higher than that of GAD-C. Under optimal conditions in reactions mixtures lacking added PLP, crude GAD-V converted 500 g L-1 monosodium glutamate (MSG to GABA with a yield of 100%, and 750 g L-1 MSG with a yield of 88.7%. These results establish the utility of pyridoxine supplementation and lay the foundation for large-scale enzymatic production of GABA.

  14. DETERMINATION OF STRONTIUM IONS IN WATERS WITH A HIGH CONTENT OF SODIUM IONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatiana Mitina

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper reports on the influence of sodium ions on experimental determination of strontium ions concentration in waters with a high content of sodium ions by using emission flame photometry and atomic absorption spectroscopy. For the method of emission flame photometry it was shown that at a wavelength of 460.7 nm (spectral emission line of strontium the emission is linearly dependent on the concentration of sodium ions. The greatest impact of high concentrations of sodium ions on the result of determination the strontium ions concentration has been registered at low levels of strontium. The influence of nitric acid on the results is also discussed. In the case of using atomic absorption spectroscopy method no influence of sodium ions and nitric acid on the results of determination the strontium ions concentration was revealed. The metrological characteristics of both methods are evaluated.

  15. Markers of glutamate signaling in cerebrospinal fluid and serum from patients with bipolar disorder and healthy controls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pålsson, Erik; Jakobsson, Joel; Södersten, Kristoffer; Fujita, Yuko; Sellgren, Carl; Ekman, Carl-Johan; Ågren, Hans; Hashimoto, Kenji; Landén, Mikael

    2015-01-01

    Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain. Aberrations in glutamate signaling have been linked to the pathophysiology of mood disorders. Increased plasma levels of glutamate as well as higher glutamine+glutamate levels in the brain have been demonstrated in patients with bipolar disorder as compared to healthy controls. In this study, we explored the glutamate hypothesis of bipolar disorder by examining peripheral and central levels of amino acids related to glutamate signaling. A total of 215 patients with bipolar disorder and 112 healthy controls from the Swedish St. Göran bipolar project were included in this study. Glutamate, glutamine, glycine, L-serine and D-serine levels were determined in serum and in cerebrospinal fluid using high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Serum levels of glutamine, glycine and D-serine were significantly higher whereas L-serine levels were lower in patients with bipolar disorder as compared to controls. No differences between the patient and control group in amino acid levels were observed in cerebrospinal fluid. The observed differences in serum amino acid levels may be interpreted as a systemic aberration in amino acid metabolism that affects several amino acids related to glutamate signaling. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP. All rights reserved.

  16. Evidence for cysteine sulfinate as a neurotransmitter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Recasens, M.; Varga, V.; Nanopoulos, D.; Saadoun, F.; Vincendon, G.; Benavides, J.

    1982-01-01

    The Na + -independent binding of L-[ 3 H]cysteine sulfinate and L-[ 3 H]cysteine sulfinate uptake were investigated in rat brain membranes and vesicles. Specific binding of L-[ 3 H]cysteine sulfinate was saturable and occurred by a single high affinity process with a Ksub(b) of 100 nM +- 9 and a capacity (Bsub(max)) of 2.4 +- 0.22 pmol/mg protein. The regional distribution of the binding of L-[ 3 H]cysteine sulfinate in the brain was found to be heterogeneous. The rate of L-[ 3 H]cysteine sulfinate uptake shows a biphasic dependence on the concentration of L-cysteine sulfinate, corresponding to a high affinity (27.2 μM) and a low affinity (398 μM) transport system. The maximum L-[ 3 H]cysteine sulfinate uptake is reached at 2min and the uptake increases as a function of the sodium concentration. Chloride and potassium ions stimulate the uptake. (Auth.)

  17. Adiabatic flame temperature of sodium combustion and sodium-water reaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okano, Y.; Yamaguchi, A.

    2001-01-01

    In this paper, background information of sodium fire and sodium-water reaction accidents of LMFBR (liquid metal fast breeder reactor) is mentioned at first. Next, numerical analysis method of GENESYS is described in detail. Next, adiabatic flame temperature and composition of sodium combustion are analyzed, and affect of reactant composition, such oxygen and moisture, is discussed. Finally, adiabatic reaction zone temperature and composition of sodium-water reaction are calculated, and affects of reactant composition, sodium vaporization, and pressure are stated. Chemical equilibrium calculation program for generic chemical system (GENESYS) is developed in this study for the research on adiabatic flame temperature of sodium combustion and adiabatic reaction zone temperature of sodium-water reaction. The maximum flame temperature of the sodium combustion is 1,950 K at the standard atmospheric condition, and is not affected by the existence of moisture. The main reaction product is Na 2 O (l) , and in combustion in moist air, with NaOH (g) . The maximum reaction zone temperature of the sodium-water reaction is 1,600 K, and increases with the system pressure. The main products are NaOH (g) , NaOH (l) and H2 (g) . Sodium evaporation should be considered in the cases of sodium-rich and high pressure above 10 bar

  18. Sorption and desorption kinetics of diuron, fluometuron, prometryn and pyrithiobac sodium in soils.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baskaran, S; Kennedy, I R

    1999-11-01

    The sorption and desorption characteristics of four herbicides (diuron, fluometuron, prometryn and pyrithiobac-sodium) in three different cotton growing soils of Australia was investigated. Kinetics and equilibrium sorption and desorption isotherms were determined using the batch equilibrium technique. Sorption was rapid (> 80% in 2 h) and sorption equilibrium was achieved within a short period of time (ca 4 h) for all herbicides. Sorption isotherms of the four herbicides were described by Freundlich equation with an r2 value > 0.98. The herbicide sorption as measured by the distribution coefficient (Kd) values ranged from 3.24 to 5.71 L/kg for diuron, 0.44 to 1.13 L/kg for fluometuron, 1.78 to 6.04 L/kg for prometryn and 0.22 to 0.59 L/kg for pyrithiobac-sodium. Sorption of herbicides was higher in the Moree soil than in Narrabri and Wee Waa soils. When the Kd values were normalised to organic carbon content of the soils (Koc), it suggested that the affinity of the herbicides to the organic carbon increased in the order: pyrithiobac-sodium diuron. The desorption isotherms were also adequately described by the Freundlich equation. For desorption, all herbicides exhibited hysteresis and the hysteresis was stronger for highly sorbed herbicides (diuron and prometryn) than the weakly sorbed herbicides (fluometuron and pyrithiobac-sodium). Hysteresis was also quantified as the percentage of sorbed herbicides which is not released during the desorption step (omega = [nad/nde - 1] x 100). Soil type and initial concentration had significant effect on omega. The effect of sorption and desorption properties of these four herbicides on the off-site transport to contaminate surface and groundwater are also discussed in this paper.

  19. High-affinity binding of two molecules of cysteine proteinases to low-molecular-weight kininogen.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turk, B.; Stoka, V.; Björk, I.; Boudier, C.; Johansson, G.; Dolenc, I.; Colic, A.; Bieth, J. G.; Turk, V.

    1995-01-01

    Human low-molecular-weight kininogen (LK) was shown by fluorescence titration to bind two molecules of cathepsins L and S and papain with high affinity. By contrast, binding of a second molecule of cathepsin H was much weaker. The 2:1 binding stoichiometry was confirmed by titration monitored by loss of enzyme activity and by sedimentation velocity experiments. The kinetics of binding of cathepsins L and S and papain showed the two proteinase binding sites to have association rate constants kass,1 = 10.7-24.5 x 10(6) M-1 s-1 and kass,2 = 0.83-1.4 x 10(6) M-1 s-1. Comparison of these kinetic constants with previous data for intact LK and its separated domains indicate that the faster-binding site is also the tighter-binding site and is present on domain 3, whereas the slower-binding, lower-affinity site is on domain 2. These results also indicate that there is no appreciable steric hindrance for the binding of proteinases between the two binding sites or from the kininogen light chain. PMID:8528085

  20. Reduction of sodium content in spicy soups using monosodium glutamate

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jinap, Selamat; Hajeb, Parvaneh; Karim, Roslina

    2016-01-01

    reduction was investigated.Methods and Results: The trained panellists were presented with basic spicy soups (curry chicken and chili chicken) containing different amounts of sodium chloride (NaCl) (0-1.2%) and MSG (0-1.2%). They tasted the optimum concentrations of NaCl and MSG for the two spicy soups...... and the overall acceptability were 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively. There was no significant effect of spiciness level on the saltiness and umami taste of both soups. The optimum levels of combined NaCl and MSG for overall acceptance in the chili and curry soups were 0.3% and 0.7%, respectively. The results showed...... that with the addition of MSG, it is possible to reduce sodium intake without changing the overall acceptability of the spicy soup. A 32.5% reduction in sodium level is made feasible by adding 0.7% MSG to the spicy soups.Conclusions: This study suggests that low-sodium soups can be developed by the addition...

  1. Synthesis of a specific monolithic column with artificial recognition sites for L-glutamic acid via cryo-crosslinking of imprinted nanoparticles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Göktürk, Ilgım; Üzek, Recep; Uzun, Lokman; Denizli, Adil

    2016-06-01

    In this study, a new molecular imprinting (MIP)-based monolithic cryogel column was prepared using chemically crosslinked molecularly imprinted nanoparticles, to achieve a simplified chromatographic separation (SPE) for a model compound, L-glutamic acid (L-Glu). Cryogelation through crosslinking of imprinted nanoparticles forms stable monolithic cryogel columns. This technique reduces the leakage of nanoparticles and increases the surface area, while protecting the structural features of the cryogel for stable and efficient recognition of the template molecule. A non-imprinted monolithic cryogel column (NIP) was also prepared, using non-imprinted nanoparticles produced without the addition of L-Glu during polymerization. The molecularly imprinted monolithic cryogel column (MIP) indicates apparent recognition selectivity and a good adsorption capacity compared to the NIP. Also, we have achieved a significant increase in the adsorption capacity, using the advantage of high surface area of the nanoparticles.

  2. High affinity hemoglobin and Parkinson's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graham, Jeffrey; Hobson, Douglas; Ponnampalam, Arjuna

    2014-12-01

    Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN) region of the midbrain. Oxidative damage in this region has been shown to play an important role in the pathogenesis of this disease. Human neurons have been discovered to contain hemoglobin, with an increased concentration seen in the neurons of the SN. High affinity hemoglobin is a clinical entity resulting from mutations that create a functional increase in the binding of hemoglobin to oxygen and an inability to efficiently unload it to tissues. This can result in a number of metabolic compensatory changes, including an elevation in circulating hemoglobin and an increase in the molecule 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG). Population based studies have revealed that patients with PD have elevated hemoglobin as well as 2,3-DPG levels. Based on these observations, we hypothesize that the oxidative damage seen in PD is related to an underlying high affinity hemoglobin subtype. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Influence of carboxymethyl cellulose and sodium alginate on sweetness intensity of Aspartame.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Xue; Xu, Shu-Zhen; Dong, Wen-Rui; Wu, Zhai; Wang, Ren-Hai; Chen, Zhong-Xiu

    2014-12-01

    Sensory evaluation of Aspartame in the presence of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-L) and sodium alginate (SA) revealed that only CMC-L showed a suppression effect, while SA did not. By using an artificial taste receptor model, we found that the presence of SA or CMC-L resulted in a decrease in association constants. Further investigation of CMC-L solution revealed that the decrease in water mobility and diffusion also contribute to the suppression effect. In the case of SA, the decreased viscosity and comparatively higher amount of free water facilitated the diffusion of sweetener, which might compensate for the decreased binding constant between Aspartame and receptor. This may suppress the impact of SA on sweetness intensity. The results suggest that exploring the binding affinity of taste molecules with the receptor, along with water mobility and diffusion in hydrocolloidal structures, provide sufficient information for understanding the mechanism behind the effect of macromolecular hydrocolloids on taste. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. [Molecular organization of glutamate-sensitive chemoexcitatory membranes of nerve cells. Comparative analysis of glutamate-binding membrane proteins from the cerebral cortex of rats and humans].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dambinova, S A; Gorodinskiĭ, A I; Lekomtseva, T M; Koreshonkov, O N

    1987-10-01

    The kinetics of 3H-L-glutamate binding to human brain synaptic membranes revealed the existence of one type of binding sites with Kd and Vmax comparable with those for freshly isolated rat brain membranes. The fraction of glutamate-binding proteins (GBP) was shown to contain three components with Mr of 14, 60 and 280 kD whose stoichiometry is specific for human and rat brain. All fractions were found to bind the radiolabeled neurotransmitter and to dissociate into subunits with Mr of 14 kD after treatment with-potent detergents (with the exception of the 56-60 kD component). Study of association-dissociation of GBP protein subunits by high performance liquid chromatography confirmed the hypothesis on the oligomeric structure of glutamate receptors which are made up of low molecular weight glycoprotein-lipid subunits and which form ionic channels by way of repeated association. Despite the similarity of antigen determinants in the active center of glutamate receptors from human and rat brain, it was assumed that the stoichiometry of structural organization of receptor subunits isolated from different sources is different. The functional role of structural complexity of human brain glutamate receptors is discussed.

  5. Microbial methodological artifacts in [3H]glutamate receptor binding assays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoneda, Y.; Ogita, K.

    1989-01-01

    Incubation of radiolabeled L-glutamic acid, a putative central excitatory neurotransmitter, in 50 mM Tris-acetate buffer (pH 7.4) at 30 degrees C in the absence of brain synaptic membranes resulted in a significant adsorption of the radioactivity to glass fiber filters routinely employed to trap the bound ligand in receptor binding assays. The adsorption was not only eliminated by the inclusion of L-isomers of structurally related amino acids, but also inhibited by that of most presumed agonists and antagonists for the brain glutamate receptors. This displaceable adsorption was a temperature-dependent nonreversible, and saturable phenomenon. Scatchard analysis of these data revealed that the adsorption consisted of a single component with an apparent dissociation constant of 73 nM. The displaceable adsorption was significantly attenuated by a concurrent incubation with papain, pronase E, and phospholipase C. A significant amount of the radioactivity was detected in the pass-through fraction of the Dowex column following an application of the reaction mixture incubated with purified [ 3 H]glutamate at 30 degree C for 60 min in the absence of membranous proteins added. Complete abolition of the displaceable adsorption resulted from the use of incubation buffer boiled at 100 degrees C as well as filtered through a nitrocellulose membrane filter with a pore size of 0.45 micron immediately before use. These results suggest that the displaceable adsorption may be attributable to the radioactive metabolite of [ 3 H]glutamate by microorganisms contaminating the Tris-acetate buffer. This might in part contribute to some of the controversial results with regard to receptor binding studies on acidic amino acids

  6. Bioconversion of sugar cane molasses into glutamic acid by gamma irradiated corynebacterium glutamicum

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El-Batal, A.I.

    1996-01-01

    Corynebacterium glutamicum (ATCC 13058) was used for glutamic acid production from sugar cane molasses which contain sufficient. The addition of 5 units ml 4 of penicillin G was superior in glutamic acid production (11.5 g L 4 ). Tweens and their saturated fatty acids were effective on the accumulation of glutamic acid in the culture medium and the maximum yield (16.6 g L 4 ) was the addition of 5 mg ml 4 Tween 40. Gamma irradiation prior to Tween-40 treatment of bacterial cells resulted in an obvious increase in glutamic acid production and it was maximum (23.72 g L 4 ) at 0.1 k Gy exposure dose of inocula. 5 tabs

  7. Are basophil histamine release and high affinity IgE receptor expression involved in asymptomatic skin sensitization?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Bettina Margrethe; Assing, K; Jensen, Lone Hummelshøj

    2006-01-01

    Immunoglobulin (Ig)E-sensitized persons with positive skin prick test, but no allergy symptoms, are classified as being asymptomatic skin sensitized (AS). The allergic type 1 disease is dependant on IgE binding to the high affinity IgE-receptor (FcepsilonRI) expressed on basophils and mast cells....

  8. Molecular pharmacology of 4-substituted glutamic acid analogues at ionotropic and metabotropic excitatory amino acid receptors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bräuner-Osborne, Hans; Nielsen, B; Stensbøl, T B

    1997-01-01

    (subtypes 1alpha and 2), respectively, whereas (S)-4-methyleneglutamic acid showed high but rather non-selective affinity for the (RS)-2-amino-3-(3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazol-4-yl)propionic acid (AMPA), kainic acid, NMDA and mGlu receptors (subtypes 1alpha and 2). Although none of the compounds were specific......The pharmacology of (2S,4R)-4-methylglutamic acid, (2S,4S)-4-methylglutamic acid and (S)- and (R)-4-methyleneglutamic acids (obtained in high chemical and enantiomeric purity from racemic 4-methyleneglutamic acid by chiral HPLC using a Crownpak CR(+) column), was examined in binding experiments...... using rat brain ionotropic glutamate receptors, and in functional assays using cloned metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors. As a notable result of these studies, (2S,4R)-4-methylglutamic acid and (2S,4S)-4-methylglutamic acid were shown to be selective for kainic acid receptors and mGlu receptors...

  9. Calcium-dependent but calmodulin-independent protein kinase from soybean

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harmon, A.C.; Putnam-Evans, C.; Cormier, M.J.

    1987-01-01

    A calcium-dependent protein kinase activity from suspension-cultured soybean cells (Glycine max L. Wayne) was shown to be dependent on calcium but not calmodulin. The concentrations of free calcium required for half-maximal histone H1 phosphorylation and autophosphorylation were similar (≥ 2 micromolar). The protein kinase activity was stimulated 100-fold by ≥ 10 micromolar-free calcium. When exogenous soybean or bovine brain calmodulin was added in high concentration (1 micromolar) to the purified kinase, calcium-dependent and -independent activities were weakly stimulated (≤ 2-fold). Bovine serum albumin had a similar effect on both activities. The kinase was separated from a small amount of contaminating calmodulin by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. After renaturation the protein kinase autophosphorylated and phosphorylated histone H1 in a calcium-dependent manner. Following electroblotting onto nitrocellulose, the kinase bound 45 Ca 2+ in the presence of KCl and MgCl 2 , which indicated that the kinase itself is a high-affinity calcium-binding protein. Also, the mobility of one of two kinase bands in SDS gels was dependent on the presence of calcium. Autophosphorylation of the calmodulin-free kinase was inhibited by the calmodulin-binding compound N-(6-aminohexyl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalene sulfonamide (W-7), showing that the inhibition of activity by W-7 is independent of calmodulin. These results show that soybean calcium-dependent protein kinase represents a new class of protein kinase which requires calcium but not calmodulin for activity

  10. Synthesis, growth, morphology of the semiorganic nonlinear optical crystal L-glutamic acid hydrochloride and its structural, thermal and SHG characterizations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dhanasekaran, P.; Srinivasan, K. [Crystal Growth Laboratory, Department of Physics, School of Physical Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore-641 046, Tamil Nadu (India)

    2012-12-15

    One of the halide derivatives of L-glutamic acid which was identified as a semiorganic nonlinear optical material, L-glutamic acid hydrochloride [HOOC(CH{sub 2}){sub 2}CH(NH{sub 2})COOH.HCl], was grown as bulk single crystal and its significant properties were characterized. The stoichiometric title compound was synthesized and the solubility of its recrystallized form in DD water was determined in the temperature range 30-80 C by gravimetric method. Structural confirmation was carried out by powder X-ray diffraction study through lattice parameter verification. Optical quality smaller dimension single crystals were grown from aqueous solution by self nucleation through slow evaporation of solvent method and a large dimension single crystal was grown by slow cooling method with reversible seed rotation technique. Morphological importances of different growth facets of the as grown crystals were studied through optical goniometry. Unit cell structure of the grown crystal was refined by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, functional groups present in the crystal responsible for various modes of vibrations were confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy analysis, thermal stability of the grown crystal was analysed by TG/DTA and DSC and second harmonic generation (SHG) of a fundamental Nd:YAG laser beam by Kurtz technique. Results indicate that the grown crystal is in stoichiometric composition and has significant improvement in its thermal and SHG properties when compared to pure L-glutamic acid polymorphs. (Copyright copyright 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  11. Effect of sodium ascorbate and sodium nitrite on protein and lipid oxidation in dry fermented sausages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berardo, A; De Maere, H; Stavropoulou, D A; Rysman, T; Leroy, F; De Smet, S

    2016-11-01

    The effects of sodium nitrite and ascorbate on lipid and protein oxidation were studied during the ripening process of dry fermented sausages. Samples were taken at day 0, 2, 8, 14, 21 and 28 of ripening to assess lipid (malondialdehyde) and protein (carbonyls and sulfhydryl groups) oxidation. Sodium ascorbate and nitrite were separately able to reduce the formation of malondialdehyde. Their combined addition resulted in higher amounts of carbonyl compounds compared to their separate addition or the treatment without any of both compounds. Moreover, sodium nitrite limited the formation of γ-glutamic semialdehyde whereas sodium ascorbate showed a pro-oxidant effect. A loss of thiol groups was observed during ripening, which was not affected by the use of sodium ascorbate nor sodium nitrite. In conclusion, sodium nitrite and ascorbate affected protein and lipid oxidation in different manners. The possible pro-oxidant effect of their combined addition on carbonyl formation might influence the technological and sensory properties of these products. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Selectivity and evolutionary divergence of metabotropic glutamate receptors for endogenous ligands and G proteins coupled to phospholipase C or TRP channels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Hye Jin; Menlove, Kit; Ma, Jianpeng; Wilkins, Angela; Lichtarge, Olivier; Wensel, Theodore G

    2014-10-24

    To define the upstream and downstream signaling specificities of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR), we have examined the ability of representative mGluR of group I, II, and III to be activated by endogenous amino acids and catalyze activation of G proteins coupled to phospholipase C (PLC), or activation of G(i/o) proteins coupled to the ion channel TRPC4β. Fluorescence-based assays have allowed us to observe interactions not previously reported or clearly identified. We have found that the specificity for endogenous amino acids is remarkably stringent. Even at millimolar levels, structurally similar compounds do not elicit significant activation. As reported previously, the clear exception is L-serine-O-phosphate (L-SOP), which strongly activates group III mGluR, especially mGluR4,-6,-8 but not group I or II mGluR. Whereas L-SOP cannot activate mGluR1 or mGluR2, it acts as a weak antagonist for mGluR1 and a potent antagonist for mGluR2, suggesting that co-recognition of L-glutamate and L-SOP arose early in evolution, and was followed later by divergence of group I and group II mGluR versus group III in l-SOP responses. mGluR7 has low affinity and efficacy for activation by both L-glutamate and L-SOP. Molecular docking studies suggested that residue 74 corresponding to lysine in mGluR4 and asparagine in mGluR7 might play a key role, and, indeed, mutagenesis experiments demonstrated that mutating this residue to lysine in mGluR7 enhances the potency of L-SOP. Experiments with pertussis toxin and dominant-negative Gα(i/o) proteins revealed that mGluR1 couples strongly to TRPC4β through Gα(i/o), in addition to coupling to PLC through Gα(q/11). © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  13. Selectivity and Evolutionary Divergence of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors for Endogenous Ligands and G Proteins Coupled to Phospholipase C or TRP Channels*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Hye Jin; Menlove, Kit; Ma, Jianpeng; Wilkins, Angela; Lichtarge, Olivier; Wensel, Theodore G.

    2014-01-01

    To define the upstream and downstream signaling specificities of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR), we have examined the ability of representative mGluR of group I, II, and III to be activated by endogenous amino acids and catalyze activation of G proteins coupled to phospholipase C (PLC), or activation of Gi/o proteins coupled to the ion channel TRPC4β. Fluorescence-based assays have allowed us to observe interactions not previously reported or clearly identified. We have found that the specificity for endogenous amino acids is remarkably stringent. Even at millimolar levels, structurally similar compounds do not elicit significant activation. As reported previously, the clear exception is l-serine-O-phosphate (l-SOP), which strongly activates group III mGluR, especially mGluR4,-6,-8 but not group I or II mGluR. Whereas l-SOP cannot activate mGluR1 or mGluR2, it acts as a weak antagonist for mGluR1 and a potent antagonist for mGluR2, suggesting that co-recognition of l-glutamate and l-SOP arose early in evolution, and was followed later by divergence of group I and group II mGluR versus group III in l-SOP responses. mGluR7 has low affinity and efficacy for activation by both l-glutamate and l-SOP. Molecular docking studies suggested that residue 74 corresponding to lysine in mGluR4 and asparagine in mGluR7 might play a key role, and, indeed, mutagenesis experiments demonstrated that mutating this residue to lysine in mGluR7 enhances the potency of l-SOP. Experiments with pertussis toxin and dominant-negative Gαi/o proteins revealed that mGluR1 couples strongly to TRPC4β through Gαi/o, in addition to coupling to PLC through Gαq/11. PMID:25193666

  14. Engineering of bispecific affinity proteins with high affinity for ERBB2 and adaptable binding to albumin.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johan Nilvebrant

    Full Text Available The epidermal growth factor receptor 2, ERBB2, is a well-validated target for cancer diagnostics and therapy. Recent studies suggest that the over-expression of this receptor in various cancers might also be exploited for antibody-based payload delivery, e.g. antibody drug conjugates. In such strategies, the full-length antibody format is probably not required for therapeutic effect and smaller tumor-specific affinity proteins might be an alternative. However, small proteins and peptides generally suffer from fast excretion through the kidneys, and thereby require frequent administration in order to maintain a therapeutic concentration. In an attempt aimed at combining ERBB2-targeting with antibody-like pharmacokinetic properties in a small protein format, we have engineered bispecific ERBB2-binding proteins that are based on a small albumin-binding domain. Phage display selection against ERBB2 was used for identification of a lead candidate, followed by affinity maturation using second-generation libraries. Cell surface display and flow-cytometric sorting allowed stringent selection of top candidates from pools pre-enriched by phage display. Several affinity-matured molecules were shown to bind human ERBB2 with sub-nanomolar affinity while retaining the interaction with human serum albumin. Moreover, parallel selections against ERBB2 in the presence of human serum albumin identified several amino acid substitutions that dramatically modulate the albumin affinity, which could provide a convenient means to control the pharmacokinetics. The new affinity proteins competed for ERBB2-binding with the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab and recognized the native receptor on a human cancer cell line. Hence, high affinity tumor targeting and tunable albumin binding were combined in one small adaptable protein.

  15. Aminotransferase and glutamate dehydrogenase activities in lactobacilli and streptococci

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guillermo Hugo Peralta

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Aminotransferases and glutamate dehydrogenase are two main types of enzymes involved in the initial steps of amino acid catabolism, which plays a key role in the cheese flavor development. In the present work, glutamate dehydrogenase and aminotransferase activities were screened in twenty one strains of lactic acid bacteria of dairy interest, either cheese-isolated or commercial starters, including fifteen mesophilic lactobacilli, four thermophilic lactobacilli, and two streptococci. The strains of Streptococcus thermophilus showed the highest glutamate dehydrogenase activity, which was significantly elevated compared with the lactobacilli. Aspartate aminotransferase prevailed in most strains tested, while the levels and specificity of other aminotransferases were highly strain- and species-dependent. The knowledge of enzymatic profiles of these starter and cheese-isolated cultures is helpful in proposing appropriate combinations of strains for improved or increased cheese flavor.

  16. Glutamine-Elicited Secretion of Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 Is Governed by an Activated Glutamate Dehydrogenase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersson, Lotta E; Shcherbina, Liliya; Al-Majdoub, Mahmoud; Vishnu, Neelanjan; Arroyo, Claudia Balderas; Aste Carrara, Jonathan; Wollheim, Claes B; Fex, Malin; Mulder, Hindrik; Wierup, Nils; Spégel, Peter

    2018-03-01

    Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), secreted from intestinal L cells, glucose dependently stimulates insulin secretion from β-cells. This glucose dependence prevents hypoglycemia, rendering GLP-1 analogs a useful and safe treatment modality in type 2 diabetes. Although the amino acid glutamine is a potent elicitor of GLP-1 secretion, the responsible mechanism remains unclear. We investigated how GLP-1 secretion is metabolically coupled in L cells (GLUTag) and in vivo in mice using the insulin-secreting cell line INS-1 832/13 as reference. A membrane-permeable glutamate analog (dimethylglutamate [DMG]), acting downstream of electrogenic transporters, elicited similar alterations in metabolism as glutamine in both cell lines. Both DMG and glutamine alone elicited GLP-1 secretion in GLUTag cells and in vivo, whereas activation of glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) was required to stimulate insulin secretion from INS-1 832/13 cells. Pharmacological inhibition in vivo of GDH blocked secretion of GLP-1 in response to DMG. In conclusion, our results suggest that nonelectrogenic nutrient uptake and metabolism play an important role in L cell stimulus-secretion coupling. Metabolism of glutamine and related analogs by GDH in the L cell may explain why GLP-1 secretion, but not that of insulin, is activated by these secretagogues in vivo. © 2017 by the American Diabetes Association.

  17. High-throughput fragment screening by affinity LC-MS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duong-Thi, Minh-Dao; Bergström, Maria; Fex, Tomas; Isaksson, Roland; Ohlson, Sten

    2013-02-01

    Fragment screening, an emerging approach for hit finding in drug discovery, has recently been proven effective by its first approved drug, vemurafenib, for cancer treatment. Techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance, surface plasmon resonance, and isothemal titration calorimetry, with their own pros and cons, have been employed for screening fragment libraries. As an alternative approach, screening based on high-performance liquid chromatography separation has been developed. In this work, we present weak affinity LC/MS as a method to screen fragments under high-throughput conditions. Affinity-based capillary columns with immobilized thrombin were used to screen a collection of 590 compounds from a fragment library. The collection was divided into 11 mixtures (each containing 35 to 65 fragments) and screened by MS detection. The primary screening was performed in 3500 fragments per day). Thirty hits were defined, which subsequently entered a secondary screening using an active site-blocked thrombin column for confirmation of specificity. One hit showed selective binding to thrombin with an estimated dissociation constant (K (D)) in the 0.1 mM range. This study shows that affinity LC/MS is characterized by high throughput, ease of operation, and low consumption of target and fragments, and therefore it promises to be a valuable method for fragment screening.

  18. Regulation of Arterial Pressure By The Paraventricular Nucleus in Conscious Rats: Interactions Among Glutamate, GABA, and Nitric Oxide

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marli Cardoso Martins-Pinge

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The paraventricular nucleus (PVN of the hypothalamus is an important site for autonomic and neuroendocrine regulation. Experiments in anesthetized animals and in vitro indicate an interaction among gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA, nitric oxide (NO and glutamate in the PVN. The cardiovascular role of the PVN and interactions of these neurotransmitters in conscious animals have not been evaluated fully. In chronically instrumented conscious rats, mean arterial pressure (MAP and heart rate (HR responses to microinjections (100 nl in the region of the PVN were tested. Bilateral blockade of ionotropic excitatory amino acid (EAA receptors (kynurenic acid, Kyn in the PVN produced small but significant decreases in MAP and HR. GABAA receptor blockade (bicuculline, Bic, and inhibition of NO synthase (N-(G-monomethyl-L-arginine, L-NMMA each increased MAP and HR. The NO donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP produced depressor responses that were attenuated by Bic. NO synthase inhibition potentiated both pressor responses to the selective EAA agonist, N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA, and depressor responses to Kyn. Increases in MAP and HR due to Bic were blunted by prior blockade of EAA receptors. Thus, pressor responses to GABA blockade require EAA receptors and GABA neurotransmission contributes to NO inhibition. Tonic excitatory effects of glutamate in the PVN are tonically attenuated by NO. These data demonstrate that, in the PVN of conscious rats, GABA, glutamate and NO interact in a complex fashion to regulate arterial pressure and heart rate under normal conditions.

  19. Modulation of [3H]-glutamate binding by serotonin in the rat hippocampus: An autoradiographic study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mennini, T.; Miari, A.

    1991-01-01

    Serotonin (5-HT) added in vitro increased [ 3 H]-glutamate specific binding in the rat hippocampus, reaching statistical significance in layers rich in N-Methyl-D-Aspartate sensitive glutamate receptors. This effect was explained by a significant increase in the apparent affinity of [ 3 H]-glutamate when 5-HT is added in vitro. Two days after lesion of serotonergic afferents to the hippocampus with 5,7- Dihydroxytryptamine [ 3 H]-glutamate binding was significantly decreased in the CA3 region and stratum lacunosum moleculare of the hippocampus, this reduction being reversed by in vitro addition of 10 μM 5-HT. The decrease observed is due to a significant reduction of quisqualate-insensitive (radiatum CA3) and kainate receptors (strata oriens, radiatum, pyramidal of CA3). Five days after lesion [ 3 H]-glutamate binding increased significantly in the CA3 region of the hippocampus but was not different from sham animals in the other hippocampal layers. Two weeks after lesion [ 3 H]-glutamate binding to quisqualate-insensitive receptors was increased in all the hippocampal layers, while kainate and quisqualate-sensitive receptors were not affected. These data are consistent with the possibility that 5-HT is a direct positive modulator of glutamate receptor subtypes

  20. Sodium and cover gas chemistry in the high temperature sodium facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McCown, J.J.; Duncan, H.C.

    1976-01-01

    The equipment and procedures used in following sodium and cover gas chemistry changes in the High Temperature Sodium Facility are presented. The methods of analysis and results obtained are given. Impurity trends which have been measured during the facility operations are discussed

  1. A Glutamic Acid-Producing Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Malaysian Fermented Foods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zareian, Mohsen; Ebrahimpour, Afshin; Bakar, Fatimah Abu; Mohamed, Abdul Karim Sabo; Forghani, Bita; Ab-Kadir, Mohd Safuan B.; Saari, Nazamid

    2012-01-01

    l-glutamaic acid is the principal excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and an important intermediate in metabolism. In the present study, lactic acid bacteria (218) were isolated from six different fermented foods as potent sources of glutamic acid producers. The presumptive bacteria were tested for their ability to synthesize glutamic acid. Out of the 35 strains showing this capability, strain MNZ was determined as the highest glutamic-acid producer. Identification tests including 16S rRNA gene sequencing and sugar assimilation ability identified the strain MNZ as Lactobacillus plantarum. The characteristics of this microorganism related to its glutamic acid-producing ability, growth rate, glucose consumption and pH profile were studied. Results revealed that glutamic acid was formed inside the cell and excreted into the extracellular medium. Glutamic acid production was found to be growth-associated and glucose significantly enhanced glutamic acid production (1.032 mmol/L) compared to other carbon sources. A concentration of 0.7% ammonium nitrate as a nitrogen source effectively enhanced glutamic acid production. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of glutamic acid production by lactic acid bacteria. The results of this study can be further applied for developing functional foods enriched in glutamic acid and subsequently γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) as a bioactive compound. PMID:22754309

  2. Pregnanolone Glutamate, a Novel Use-Dependent NMDA Receptor Inhibitor, Exerts Antidepressant-Like Properties in Animal Models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holubova, Kristina; Nekovarova, Tereza; Pistovcakova, Jana; Sulcova, Alexandra; Stuchlík, Ales; Vales, Karel

    2014-01-01

    A number of studies demonstrated a rapid onset of an antidepressant effect of non-competitive N-methyl-d-aspartic acid receptor (NMDAR) antagonists. Nonetheless, its therapeutic potential is rather limited, due to a high coincidence of negative side-effects. Therefore, the challenge seems to be in the development of NMDAR antagonists displaying antidepressant properties, and at the same time maintaining regular physiological function of the NMDAR. Previous results demonstrated that naturally occurring neurosteroid 3α5β-pregnanolone sulfate shows pronounced inhibitory action by a use-dependent mechanism on the tonically active NMDAR. The aim of the present experiments is to find out whether the treatment with pregnanolone 3αC derivatives affects behavioral response to chronic and acute stress in an animal model of depression. Adult male mice were used throughout the study. Repeated social defeat and forced swimming tests were used as animal models of depression. The effect of the drugs on the locomotor/exploratory activity in the open-field test was also tested together with an effect on anxiety in the elevated plus maze. Results showed that pregnanolone glutamate (PG) did not induce hyperlocomotion, whereas both dizocilpine and ketamine significantly increased spontaneous locomotor activity in the open field. In the elevated plus maze, PG displayed anxiolytic-like properties. In forced swimming, PG prolonged time to the first floating. Acute treatment of PG disinhibited suppressed locomotor activity in the repeatedly defeated group-housed mice. Aggressive behavior of isolated mice was reduced after the chronic 30-day administration of PG. PG showed antidepressant-like and anxiolytic-like properties in the used tests, with minimal side-effects. Since PG combines GABAA receptor potentiation and use-dependent NMDAR inhibition, synthetic derivatives of neuroactive steroids present a promising strategy for the treatment of mood disorders. -3α5

  3. The GRP1 PH domain, like the AKT1 PH domain, possesses a sentry glutamate residue essential for specific targeting to plasma membrane PI(3,4,5)P(3).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pilling, Carissa; Landgraf, Kyle E; Falke, Joseph J

    2011-11-15

    During the appearance of the signaling lipid PI(3,4,5)P(3), an important subset of pleckstrin homology (PH) domains target signaling proteins to the plasma membrane. To ensure proper pathway regulation, such PI(3,4,5)P(3)-specific PH domains must exclude the more prevalant, constitutive plasma membrane lipid PI(4,5)P(2) and bind the rare PI(3,4,5)P(3) target lipid with sufficiently high affinity. Our previous study of the E17K mutant of the protein kinase B (AKT1) PH domain, together with evidence from Carpten et al. [Carpten, J. D., et al. (2007) Nature 448, 439-444], revealed that the native AKT1 E17 residue serves as a sentry glutamate that excludes PI(4,5)P(2), thereby playing an essential role in specific PI(3,4,5)P(3) targeting [Landgraf, K. E., et al. (2008) Biochemistry 47, 12260-12269]. The sentry glutamate hypothesis proposes that an analogous sentry glutamate residue is a widespread feature of PI(3,4,5)P(3)-specific PH domains, and that charge reversal mutation at the sentry glutamate position will yield both increased PI(4,5)P(2) affinity and constitutive plasma membrane targeting. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the E345 residue, a putative sentry glutamate, of the general receptor for phosphoinositides 1 (GRP1) PH domain. The results show that incorporation of the E345K charge reversal mutation into the GRP1 PH domain enhances PI(4,5)P(2) affinity 8-fold and yields constitutive plasma membrane targeting in cells, reminiscent of the effects of the E17K mutation in the AKT1 PH domain. Hydrolysis of plasma membrane PI(4,5)P(2) releases the E345K GRP1 PH domain into the cytoplasm, and the efficiency of this release increases when Arf6 binding is disrupted. Overall, the findings provide strong support for the sentry glutamate hypothesis and suggest that the GRP1 E345K mutation will be linked to changes in cell physiology and human pathologies, as demonstrated for AKT1 E17K [Carpten, J. D., et al. (2007) Nature 448, 439-444; Lindhurst, M. J., et al

  4. A safe, effective, and facility compatible cleaning in place procedure for affinity resin in large-scale monoclonal antibody purification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Lu; Dembecki, Jill; Jaffe, Neil E; O'Mara, Brian W; Cai, Hui; Sparks, Colleen N; Zhang, Jian; Laino, Sarah G; Russell, Reb J; Wang, Michelle

    2013-09-20

    Cleaning-in-place (CIP) for column chromatography plays an important role in therapeutic protein production. A robust and efficient CIP procedure ensures product quality, improves column life time and reduces the cost of the purification processes, particularly for those using expensive affinity resins, such as MabSelect protein A resin. Cleaning efficiency, resin compatibility, and facility compatibility are the three major aspects to consider in CIP process design. Cleaning MabSelect resin with 50mM sodium hydroxide (NaOH) along with 1M sodium chloride is one of the most popular cleaning procedures used in biopharmaceutical industries. However, high concentration sodium chloride is a leading cause of corrosion in the stainless steel containers used in large scale manufacture. Corroded containers may potentially introduce metal contaminants into purified drug products. Therefore, it is challenging to apply this cleaning procedure into commercial manufacturing due to facility compatibility and drug safety concerns. This paper reports a safe, effective and environmental and facility-friendly cleaning procedure that is suitable for large scale affinity chromatography. An alternative salt (sodium sulfate) is used to prevent the stainless steel corrosion caused by sodium chloride. Sodium hydroxide and salt concentrations were optimized using a high throughput screening approach to achieve the best combination of facility compatibility, cleaning efficiency and resin stability. Additionally, benzyl alcohol is applied to achieve more effective microbial control. Based on the findings, the recommended optimum cleaning strategy is cleaning MabSelect resin with 25 mM NaOH, 0.25 M Na2SO4 and 1% benzyl alcohol solution every cycle, followed by a more stringent cleaning using 50 mM NaOH with 0.25 M Na2SO4 and 1% benzyl alcohol at the end of each manufacturing campaign. A resin life cycle study using the MabSelect affinity resin demonstrates that the new cleaning strategy

  5. Neuroprotective effects of the novel glutamate transporter inhibitor (-)-3-hydroxy-4,5,6,6a-tetrahydro-3aH-pyrrolo[3,4-d]-isoxazole-4-carboxylic acid, which preferentially inhibits reverse transport (glutamate release) compared with glutamate reuptake

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Colleoni, Simona; Jensen, Anders Asbjørn; Landucci, Elisa

    2008-01-01

    on the three hEAAT subtypes. (-)-HIP-A maintained the remarkable property, previously reported with the racemates, of inhibiting synaptosomal glutamate-induced [3H]D-aspartate release (reverse transport) at concentrations significantly lower than those inhibiting [3H]L-glutamate uptake. New data suggest...

  6. Non-affine fields in solid-solid transformations: the structure and stability of a product droplet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, Arya; Sengupta, Surajit; Rao, Madan

    2014-01-08

    We describe the microstructure, morphology, and dynamics of growth of a droplet of martensite nucleating in a parent austenite during a solid-solid transformation, using a Landau theory written in terms of both conventional affine elastic deformations and non-affine deformations. Non-affineness, φ, serves as a source of strain incompatibility and screens long-ranged elastic interactions. It is produced wherever the local stress exceeds a threshold and anneals diffusively thereafter. Using a variational calculation, we find three types of stable solution (labeled I, II, and III) for the structure of the product droplet, depending on the stress threshold and the scaled mobilities of φ parallel and perpendicular to the parent-product interface. The profile of the non-affine field φ is different in these three solutions: I is characterized by a vanishingly small φ, II admits large values of φ localized in regions of high stress within the parent-product interface, and III is a structure in which φ completely wets the parent-product interface. The width l and size W of the twins follow the relation l is proportional to √W in solution I; this relation does not hold for II or III. We obtain a dynamical phase diagram featuring these solutions, and argue that they represent specific solid-state microstructures.

  7. Effects of low sodium diet versus high sodium diet on blood pressure, renin, aldosterone, catecholamines, cholesterol, and triglyceride

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Graudal, Niels Albert; Hubeck-Graudal, Thorbjorn; Jurgens, Gesche

    2017-01-01

    Background: In spite of more than 100 years of investigations the question of whether a reduced sodium intake improves health is still unsolved. Objectives: To estimate the effects of low sodium intake versus high sodium intake on systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP), plasma or serum...... results: A total of 185 studies were included. The average sodium intake was reduced from 201 mmol/day (corresponding to high usual level) to 66 mmol/day (corresponding to the recommended level). The effect of sodium reduction on blood pressure (BP) was as follows: white people with normotension: SBP.......0005) and triglyceride (P sodium intake as compared with high sodium intake. All effects were stable in 125 study populations with a sodium intake below 250 mmol/day and a sodium reduction intervention of at least one week. Authors' conclusions: Sodium reduction from an average high usual sodium...

  8. Acacetin inhibits glutamate release and prevents kainic acid-induced neurotoxicity in rats.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tzu-Yu Lin

    Full Text Available An excessive release of glutamate is considered to be a molecular mechanism associated with several neurological diseases that causes neuronal damage. Therefore, searching for compounds that reduce glutamate neurotoxicity is necessary. In this study, the possibility that the natural flavone acacetin derived from the traditional Chinese medicine Clerodendrum inerme (L. Gaertn is a neuroprotective agent was investigated. The effect of acacetin on endogenous glutamate release in rat hippocampal nerve terminals (synaptosomes was also investigated. The results indicated that acacetin inhibited depolarization-evoked glutamate release and cytosolic free Ca(2+ concentration ([Ca(2+]C in the hippocampal nerve terminals. However, acacetin did not alter synaptosomal membrane potential. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of acacetin on evoked glutamate release was prevented by the Cav2.2 (N-type and Cav2.1 (P/Q-type channel blocker known as ω-conotoxin MVIIC. In a kainic acid (KA rat model, an animal model used for excitotoxic neurodegeneration experiments, acacetin (10 or 50 mg/kg was administrated intraperitoneally to the rats 30 min before the KA (15 mg/kg intraperitoneal injection, and subsequently induced the attenuation of KA-induced neuronal cell death and microglia activation in the CA3 region of the hippocampus. The present study demonstrates that the natural compound, acacetin, inhibits glutamate release from hippocampal synaptosomes by attenuating voltage-dependent Ca(2+ entry and effectively prevents KA-induced in vivo excitotoxicity. Collectively, these data suggest that acacetin has the therapeutic potential for treating neurological diseases associated with excitotoxicity.

  9. Glutamate-induced apoptosis in neuronal cells is mediated via caspase-dependent and independent mechanisms involving calpain and caspase-3 proteases as well as apoptosis inducing factor (AIF and this process is inhibited by equine estrogens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bhavnani Bhagu R

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Glutamate, a major excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter, causes apoptotic neuronal cell death at high concentrations. Our previous studies have shown that depending on the neuronal cell type, glutamate-induced apoptotic cell death was associated with regulation of genes such as Bcl-2, Bax, and/or caspase-3 and mitochondrial cytochrome c. To further delineate the intracellular mechanisms, we have investigated the role of calpain, an important calcium-dependent protease thought to be involved in apoptosis along with mitochondrial apoptosis inducing factor (AIF and caspase-3 in primary cortical cells and a mouse hippocampal cell line HT22. Results Glutamate-induced apoptotic cell death in neuronal cells was associated with characteristic DNA fragmentation, morphological changes, activation of calpain and caspase-3 as well as the upregulation and/or translocation of AIF from mitochondria into cytosol and nuclei. Our results reveal that primary cortical cells and HT22 cells display different patterns of regulation of these genes/proteins. In primary cortical cells, glutamate induces activation of calpain, caspase-3 and translocation of AIF from mitochondria to cytosol and nuclei. In contrast, in HT22 cells, only the activation of calpain and upregulation and translocation of AIF occurred. In both cell types, these processes were inhibited/reversed by 17β-estradiol and Δ8,17β-estradiol with the latter being more potent. Conclusion Depending upon the neuronal cell type, at least two mechanisms are involved in glutamate-induced apoptosis: a caspase-3-dependent pathway and a caspase-independent pathway involving calpain and AIF. Since HT22 cells lack caspase-3, glutamate-induced apoptosis is mediated via the caspase-independent pathway in this cell line. Kinetics of this apoptotic pathway further indicate that calpain rather than caspase-3, plays a critical role in the glutamate-induced apoptosis. Our studies further indicate

  10. Importance of GluA1 subunit-containing AMPA glutamate receptors for morphine state-dependency.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teemu Aitta-aho

    Full Text Available In state-dependency, information retrieval is most efficient when the animal is in the same state as it was during the information acquisition. State-dependency has been implicated in a variety of learning and memory processes, but its mechanisms remain to be resolved. Here, mice deficient in AMPA-type glutamate receptor GluA1 subunits were first conditioned to morphine (10 or 20 mg/kg s.c. during eight sessions over four days using an unbiased procedure, followed by testing for conditioned place preference at morphine states that were the same as or different from the one the mice were conditioned to. In GluA1 wildtype littermate mice the same-state morphine dose produced the greatest expression of place preference, while in the knockout mice no place preference was then detected. Both wildtype and knockout mice expressed moderate morphine-induced place preference when not at the morphine state (saline treatment at the test; in this case, place preference was weaker than that in the same-state test in wildtype mice. No correlation between place preference scores and locomotor activity during testing was found. Additionally, as compared to the controls, the knockout mice showed unchanged sensitization to morphine, morphine drug discrimination and brain regional μ-opioid receptor signal transduction at the G-protein level. However, the knockout mice failed to show increased AMPA/NMDA receptor current ratios in the ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons of midbrain slices after a single injection of morphine (10 mg/kg, s.c., sliced prepared 24 h afterwards, in contrast to the wildtype mice. The results indicate impaired drug-induced state-dependency in GluA1 knockout mice, correlating with impaired opioid-induced glutamate receptor neuroplasticity.

  11. Aroma barrier properties of sodium caseinate-based films.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fabra, Maria José; Hambleton, Alicia; Talens, Pau; Debeaufort, Fréderic; Chiralt, Amparo; Voilley, Andrée

    2008-05-01

    The mass transport of six different aroma compounds (ethyl acetate, ethyl butyrate, ethyl hexanoate, 2-hexanone, 1-hexanol, and cis-3-hexenol) through sodium caseinate-based films with different oleic acid (OA)/beeswax (BW) ratio has been studied. OA is less efficient than BW in reducing aroma permeability, which can be attributed to its greater polarity. Control film (without lipid) and films prepared with 0:100 OA/BW ratio show the lowest permeability. OA involves a decrease in aroma barrier properties of the sodium caseinate-based films due to its plasticization ability. Preferential sorption and diffusion occurs through OA instead of caseinate matrix and/or BW. The efficiency of sodium caseinate-based films to retain or limit aroma compound transfers depend on the affinity of the volatile compound to the films, which relates physicochemical interaction between volatile compound and film. Specific interactions (aroma compound-hydrocolloid and aroma compound-lipid) induce structural changes during mass transfer.

  12. High-throughput and multiplexed regeneration buffer scouting for affinity-based interactions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Geuijen, K.P.M.; Schasfoort, R.B.; Wijffels, R.H.; Eppink, M.H.M.

    2014-01-01

    Affinity-based analyses on biosensors depend partly on regeneration between measurements. Regeneration is performed with a buffer that efficiently breaks all interactions between ligand and analyte while maintaining the active binding site of the ligand. We demonstrated a regeneration buffer

  13. Action of neuro-hypophysis hormones on sodium exchanges of Carassius auratus L

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Julien, Monique

    1960-01-01

    This academic work reports the use of radio-sodium as indicator of sodium exchanges to simultaneously measure the gill input flow and the output gill and urinary flows. This technique has been applied in the case of a common soft water fish (Carassius auratus L.) to study the possible action of neuro-hypophysis extracts on these flows, and the action of these hormones on urinary excretion [fr

  14. High resolution mapping of modafinil induced changes in glutamate level in rat brain.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Haris

    Full Text Available Modafinil is marketed in the United States for the treatment of narcolepsy and daytime somnolence due to shift-work or sleep apnea. Investigations of this drug in the treatment of cocaine and nicotine dependence in addition to disorders of executive function are also underway. Modafinil has been known to increase glutamate levels in rat brain models. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1HMRS has been commonly used to detect the glutamate (Glu changes in vivo. In this study, we used a recently described glutamate chemical exchange saturation transfer (GluCEST imaging technique to measure Modafinil induced regional Glu changes in rat brain and compared the results with Glu concentration measured by single voxel 1HMRS. No increases in either GluCEST maps or 1HMRS were observed after Modafinil injection over a period of 5 hours. However, a significant increase in GluCEST (19 ± 4.4% was observed 24 hours post Modafinil administration, which is consistent with results from previous biochemical studies. This change was not consistently seen with 1HMRS. GluCEST mapping allows regional cerebral Glu changes to be measured and may provide a useful clinical biomarker of Modafinil effects for the management of patients with sleep disorders and addiction.

  15. In Vitro Functional Characterization of GET73 as Possible Negative Allosteric Modulator of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 5.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beggiato, Sarah; Borelli, Andrea C; Tomasini, Maria C; Castelli, M Paola; Pintori, Nicholas; Cacciaglia, Roberto; Loche, Antonella; Ferraro, Luca

    2018-01-01

    The present study was aimed to further characterize the pharmacological profile of N-[4-(trifluoromethyl) benzyl]-4-methoxybutyramide (GET73), a putative negative allosteric modulator (NAM) of metabotropic glutamate subtype 5 receptor (mGluR5) under development as a novel medication for the treatment of alcohol dependence. This aim has been accomplished by means of a series of in vitro functional assays. These assays include the measure of several down-stream signaling [intracellular Ca ++ levels, inositol phosphate (IP) formation and CREB phosphorylation (pCREB)] which are generally affected by mGluR5 ligands. In particular, GET73 (0.1 nM-10 μM) was explored for its ability to displace the concentration-response curve of some mGluR5 agonists/probes (glutamate, L-quisqualate, CHPG) in different native preparations. GET73 produced a rightward shift of concentration-response curves of glutamate- and CHPG-induced intracellular Ca ++ levels in primary cultures of rat cortical astrocytes. The compound also induced a rightward shift of concentration response curve of glutamate- and L-quisqualate-induced increase in IP turnover in rat hippocampus slices, along with a reduction of CHPG (10 mM)-induced increase in IP formation. Moreover, GET73 produced a rightward shift of concentration-response curve of glutamate-, CHPG- and L-quisqualate-induced pCREB levels in rat cerebral cortex neurons. Although the engagement of other targets cannot be definitively ruled out, these data support the view that GET73 acts as an mGluR5 NAM and support the significance of further investigating the possible mechanism of action of the compound.

  16. Identification and properties of very high affinity brain membrane-binding sites for a neurotoxic phospholipase from the taipan venom

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lambeau, G.; Barhanin, J.; Schweitz, H.; Qar, J.; Lazdunski, M.

    1989-01-01

    Four new monochain phospholipases were purified from the Oxyuranus scutellatus (taipan) venom. Three of them were highly toxic when injected into mice brain. One of these neurotoxic phospholipases, OS2, was iodinated and used in binding experiments to demonstrate the presence of two families of specific binding sites in rat brain synaptic membranes. The affinities were exceptionally high, Kd1 = 1.5 +/- 0.5 pM and Kd2 = 45 +/- 10 pM, and the maximal binding capacities were Bmax 1 = 1 +/- 0.4 and Bmax 2 = 3 +/- 0.5 pmol/mg of protein. Both binding sites were sensitive to proteolysis and demonstrated to be located on proteins of Mr 85,000-88,000 and 36,000-51,000 by cross-linking and photoaffinity labeling techniques. The binding of 125 I-OS2 to synaptic membranes was dependent on Ca2+ ions and enhanced by Zn2+ ions which inhibit phospholipase activity. Competition experiments have shown that, except for beta-bungarotoxin, a number of known toxic snake or bee phospholipases have very high affinities for the newly identified binding sites. A good correlation (r = 0.80) was observed between toxicity and affinity but not between phospholipase activity and affinity

  17. Effects of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase desensitization on glutamic acid production in Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wada, Masaru; Sawada, Kazunori; Ogura, Kotaro; Shimono, Yuta; Hagiwara, Takuya; Sugimoto, Masakazu; Onuki, Akiko; Yokota, Atsushi

    2016-02-01

    Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) in Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC13032, a glutamic-acid producing actinobacterium, is subject to feedback inhibition by metabolic intermediates such as aspartic acid and 2-oxoglutaric acid, which implies the importance of PEPC in replenishing oxaloacetic acid into the TCA cycle. Here, we investigated the effects of feedback-insensitive PEPC on glutamic acid production. A single amino-acid substitution in PEPC, D299N, was found to relieve the feedback control by aspartic acid, but not by 2-oxoglutaric acid. A simple mutant, strain R1, having the D299N substitution in PEPC was constructed from ATCC 13032 using the double-crossover chromosome replacement technique. Strain R1 produced glutamic acid at a concentration of 31.0 g/L from 100 g/L glucose in a jar fermentor culture under biotin-limited conditions, which was significantly higher than that of the parent, 26.0 g/L (1.19-fold), indicative of the positive effect of desensitized PEPC on glutamic acid production. Another mutant, strain DR1, having both desensitized PEPC and PYK-gene deleted mutations, was constructed in a similar manner using strain D1 with a PYK-gene deleted mutation as the parent. This mutation had been shown to enhance glutamic acid production in our previous study. Although marginal, strain D1 produced higher glutamic acid, 28.8 g/L, than ATCC13032 (1.11-fold). In contrast, glutamic acid production by strain DR-1 was elevated up to 36.9 g/L, which was 1.42-fold higher than ATCC13032 and significantly higher than the other three strains. The results showed a synergistic effect of these two mutations on glutamic acid production in C. glutamicum. Copyright © 2015 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Synthesis and sorption properties of new synthesized rare-earth-doped sodium titanate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ali, I.M.

    2010-01-01

    A series of rare-earth-doped sodium titanates with the chemical formula R x H y Na 4-(x+y) TiO 4 ·nH 2 O (where R = Ce 3+ , Nd 3+ and Sm 3+ ) were grown employing solid-state fusion reaction technique. The physico-chemical investigations indicated that the new materials were self engineered into large particles enough to be used in sorption process and having crystalline structures containing localized Na + ions. Equilibrium studies revealed that an enhancement in sorption efficiency of sodium titanate after rare-earth doping. The neodymium-rich sodium titanate exhibited a better exchange affinity for Cs + compared to the other studied series. Data on the kinetics of cesium exchange fit well to pseudo-second order and intra-particle diffusion models. In a separate experiment, it was reported that the R-HNaTi series showed responsible sorption affinity toward Ce, Nd and Sm ions in their solution mixture with insignificant selectivity trend which reflects the high stability of titanate matrices. (author)

  19. N- and C-terminally truncated forms of glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide are high-affinity competitive antagonists of the human GIP receptor

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, L S; Sparre-Ulrich, A H; Christensen, M.

    2016-01-01

    functions and pharmacological potential. GIP(1-30)NH2 is a naturally occurring truncation of GIP(1-42). Here we characterize eight N-terminal trrncations of human GIP(1-30)NH2 : GIP(2- to 9-30)NH2 . EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: COS-7 cells were transiently transfected with the human GIP receptor and assessed...... displayed lower affinities (Ki 2.3-347 nM) with highest affinities of GIP(3-30)NH2 and (5-30)NH2 . Agonism was only observed for GIP(1-30)NH2 with an Emax on 100% of GIP(1-42) and GIP(2-30)NH2 (Emax 20%). GIP(2- to 9-30)NH2 displayed antagonism (IC50 12-450 nM) and right-shifts of the GIP(1-42)-response......, but superior antagonist GIP(3-30)NH2 , that together with GIP(5-30)NH2 were high-affinity competitive antagonist and thus may be suitable tool compounds for basic GIP research and future pharmacological interventions....

  20. Kinetics and autoradiography of high affinity uptake of serotonin by primary astrocyte cultures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Katz, D.M.; Kimelberg, H.K.

    1985-01-01

    Primary astrocyte cultures prepared from the cerebral cortices of neonatal rats showed significant accumulation of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; [ 3 H]-5-HT). At concentrations in the range of 0.01 to 0.7 microM [ 3 H]-5-HT, this uptake was 50 to 85% Na+ dependent and gave a Km of 0.40 +/- 0.11 microM [ 3 H]-5-HT and a Vmax of 6.42 +/- 0.85 (+/- SEM) pmol of [ 3 H]-5-HT/mg of protein/4 min for the Na+-dependent component. In the absence of Na+ the uptake was nonsaturable. Omission of the monoamine oxidase inhibitor pargyline markedly reduced the Na+-dependent component of [ 3 H]-5-HT uptake but had a negligible effect on the Na+-independent component. This suggest significant oxidative deamination of serotonin after it has been taken up by the high affinity system, followed by release of its metabolite. The authors estimated that this system enabled the cells to concentrate [ 3 H]-5-HT up to 44-fold at an external [ 3 H]-5-HT concentration of 10(-7) M. Inhibition of [ 3 H]-5-HT uptake by a number of clinically effective antidepressants was also consistent with a specific high affinity uptake mechanism for 5-HT, the order of effectiveness of inhibition being chlorimipramine greater than fluoxetine greater than imipramine = amitriptyline greater than desmethylimipramine greater than iprindole greater than mianserin. Uptake of [ 3 H]-5-HT was dependent on the presence of Cl- as well as Na+ in the medium, and the effect of omission of both ions was nonadditive. Varying the concentration of K+ in the media from 1 to 50 mM had a limited effect on [ 3 H]-5-HT uptake

  1. The effect of intracerebroventricular injection of L-glutamate on the hypothalamic GnRH content in rat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fu Qiang; He Haoming

    2001-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the effect of intracerebroventricular injection of L-Glutamate (L-Glu) on hypothalamic gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) content in male rats. Methods: The GnRH content in the supernatant of hypothalamic homogenates was measured by RIA. Results: The mean values of hypothalamic GnRH content in rat were 1.59 +- 0.41, 0.88 +- 0.34, 0.70 +- 0.42 ng/10mg wet tissue 40 min after intracerebroventricular injection of 0.01176, 0.1176, 1.176 μg/20 μl L-Glu respectively, which were significantly lower than those in controls with saline injections (P 3 H-Glu in rat at 40 min the author found that the intake of 3 H-glu by MBH was 1069.82 +- 490.33 cpm/10 mg wet tissues, the highest value among those taken by cerebrum, cerebellum, pituitary, POA and MBH itself. Conclusion: L-Glu probably participates in the regulation of functional activity of GnRH neurons in the hypothalamus

  2. Influence of the glutamic acid content of the diet on the catabolic rate of labelled glutamic acid in rats. 3

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simon, O.; Wilke, A.; Bergner, H.

    1984-01-01

    Mal rats received during a 8 days experimental feeding period diets with different contents in glutamic acid. The daily feed intake was restricted to the energy maintenance level of 460 kJ/kg/sup 0.75/. The diet contained a mixture of L-amino acids corresponding to the pattern of egg protein except glutamic acid. Glutamic acid was added successively at 10 levels (0 to 14.8 % of dry matter) and the resulting diets were fed to groups of 4 animals each. At the end of the experimental feeding period 14 C- and 15 N-labelled glutamic acid were applied by intragastric infusion. CO 2 and 14 CO 2 excretion was measured during the following 4 hours and the urinary N and 15 N excretion during the following 24 hours. The CO 2 excretion decreased from 53 to 44 mmol CO 2 /100g body weight with increasing levels of dietary glutamic acid. This change seems to result from the increasing proportion of amino acids as an energetic fuel. While the amount of oxidized glutamic acid increased with increasing supplements of glutamic acid the relative 14 CO 2 excretion decreased from 57 to 48 % of the applied radioactivity. The urinary 15 N excretion during 24 hours was 31 % of the given amount of 15 N if no glutamic acid was included in the diet. This proportion increased successively up to 52 % in the case of the highest supply of glutamic acid. Because the total N excretion increased at the same extent as the 15 N excretion a complete mixing of the NH 2 groups resulting from glutamic acid due to desamination with the ammonia pool was assumed. No correlation between glutamic acid content of the diet and specific radioactivity of CO 2 or atom-% 15 N excess of urinary N was observed. (author)

  3. Vulnerability to glutamate toxicity of dopaminergic neurons is dependent on endogenous dopamine and MAPK activation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Izumi, Yasuhiko; Yamamoto, Noriyuki; Matsuo, Takaaki; Wakita, Seiko; Takeuchi, Hiroki; Kume, Toshiaki; Katsuki, Hiroshi; Sawada, Hideyuki; Akaike, Akinori

    2009-07-01

    Dopaminergic neurons are more vulnerable than other types of neurons in cases of Parkinson disease and ischemic brain disease. An increasing amount of evidence suggests that endogenous dopamine plays a role in the vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons. Although glutamate toxicity contributes to the pathogenesis of these disorders, the sensitivity of dopaminergic neurons to glutamate toxicity has not been clarified. In this study, we demonstrated that dopaminergic neurons were preferentially affected by glutamate toxicity in rat mesencephalic cultures. Glutamate toxicity in dopaminergic neurons was blocked by inhibiting extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), c-jun N-terminal kinase, and p38 MAPK. Furthermore, depletion of dopamine by alpha-methyl-dl-p-tyrosine methyl ester (alpha-MT), an inhibitor of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), protected dopaminergic neurons from the neurotoxicity. Exposure to glutamate facilitated phosphoryration of TH at Ser31 by ERK, which contributes to the increased TH activity. Inhibition of ERK had no additive effect on the protection offered by alpha-MT, whereas alpha-MT and c-jun N-terminal kinase or p38 MAPK inhibitors had additive effects and yielded full protection. These data suggest that endogenous dopamine is responsible for the vulnerability to glutamate toxicity of dopaminergic neurons and one of the mechanisms may be an enhancement of dopamine synthesis mediated by ERK.

  4. The vapour pressures over saturated aqueous solutions of DL-2-aminobutyric acid, 4-aminobutyric acid, sodium-D-gluconate, sodium hippurate, and potassium magnesium-L-aspartate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Apelblat, Alexander; Korin, Eli

    2008-01-01

    Vapour pressures of water over saturated solutions of DL-2-aminobutyric acid, 4-aminobutyric acid, sodium-D-gluconate, sodium hippurate, and potassium magnesium-L-aspartate were determined over the (278 to 322) K temperature range. The determined vapour pressures were used to obtain the water activities, the molar enthalpies of vaporization, and the osmotic coefficients of sodium-D-gluconate

  5. The vapour pressures over saturated aqueous solutions of DL-2-aminobutyric acid, 4-aminobutyric acid, sodium-D-gluconate, sodium hippurate, and potassium magnesium-L-aspartate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Apelblat, Alexander [Department of Chemical Engineering, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105 (Israel)], E-mail: apelblat@bgu.ac.il; Korin, Eli [Department of Chemical Engineering, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105 (Israel)

    2008-05-15

    Vapour pressures of water over saturated solutions of DL-2-aminobutyric acid, 4-aminobutyric acid, sodium-D-gluconate, sodium hippurate, and potassium magnesium-L-aspartate were determined over the (278 to 322) K temperature range. The determined vapour pressures were used to obtain the water activities, the molar enthalpies of vaporization, and the osmotic coefficients of sodium-D-gluconate.

  6. Structure of Greyhound hemoglobin: origin of high oxygen affinity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhatt, Veer S; Zaldívar-López, Sara; Harris, David R; Couto, C Guillermo; Wang, Peng G; Palmer, Andre F

    2011-05-01

    This study presents the crystal structure of Greyhound hemoglobin (GrHb) determined to 1.9 Å resolution. GrHb was found to crystallize with an α₁β₁ dimer in the asymmetric unit and belongs to the R2 state. Oxygen-affinity measurements combined with the fact that GrHb crystallizes in the R2 state despite the high-salt conditions used for crystallization strongly indicate that GrHb can serve as a model high-oxygen-affinity hemoglobin (Hb) for higher mammals, especially humans. Structural analysis of GrHb and its comparison with the R2-state of human Hb revealed several regions that can potentially contribute to the high oxygen affinity of GrHb and serve to rationalize the additional stability of the R2-state of GrHb. A previously well studied hydrophobic cluster of bar-headed goose Hb near α119 was also incorporated in the comparison between GrHb and human Hb. Finally, a structural comparison with generic dog Hb and maned wolf Hb was conducted, revealing that in contrast to GrHb these structures belong to the R state of Hb and raising the intriguing possibility of an additional allosteric factor co-purifying with GrHb that can modulate its quaternary structure.

  7. De-coupling of blood flow and metabolism in the rat brain induced by glutamate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hirose, Shinichiro; Momosaki, Sotaro; Sasaki, Kazunari; Hosoi, Rie; Abe, Kohji; Inoue, Osamu; Gee, A.

    2009-01-01

    Glutamate plays an essential role in neuronal cell death in many neurological disorders. In this study, we examined both glucose metabolism and cerebral blood flow in the same rat following infusion of glutamate or ibotenic acid using the dual-tracer technique. The effects of MK-801, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-6-nitro-2,3-dioxo-benzo[f]quinoxaline-7-sulfonamide (NBQX), an α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA)-kainate receptor antagonist, on the changes in the glucose metabolism and cerebral blood flow induced by glutamate were also examined. The rats were microinjected with glutamate (1 μmol/μl, 2 μl) or ibotenic acid (10 μg/μl, 1 μl) into the right striatum, and dual-tracer autoradiograms of [ 18 F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and [ 14 C]iofetamine (IMP) were obtained. MK-801 and NBQX were injected intravenously about 45 and 30 min, respectively, after the infusion of glutamate. De-coupling of blood flow and metabolism was noted in the glutamate-infused hemisphere (as assessed by no alteration of [ 18 F]FDG uptake and significant decrease of [ 14 C]IMP uptake). Pretreatments with MK-801, NBQX, or combined use of MK-801 and NBQX did not affect the de-coupling of the blood flow and metabolism induced by glutamate. A histochemical study revealed that about 20% neuronal cell death had occurred in the striatum at 105 min after the infusion of glutamate. In addition, a significant increase of the [ 18 F]FDG uptake and decrease of [ 14 C]IMP uptake were also seen in the rat brain infused with ibotenic acid. These results indicate that glutamate and ibotenic acid caused a significant de-coupling of blood flow and glucose metabolism in the intact rat brain during the early phase of neurodegeneration. It is necessary to evaluate the relation between metabotropic glutamate receptors and de-coupling of blood flow and metabolism. (author)

  8. Haemoglobin Pierre-Benite--a high affinity variant associated with relative polycythaemia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beard, M E; Potter, H C; Spearing, R L; Brennan, S O

    2001-12-01

    This is the second reported example of Hb Pierre--Benite (beta90 Glu-->Asp). This mutation is associated with increased oxygen affinity and polycythaemia. No instability was found and there was no charge shift detected by cellulose acetate electrophoresis at pH 8.3. The mutation was however, clearly indicated by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI MS), which showed an abnormal beta chain with a 14 Da decrease in mass. Blood volume studies documented a relative rather than a true polycythaemia and this finding has been reported in at least two other high affinity haemoglobin variants--Hb Heathrow and Hb Rahere. This finding led to delay in diagnosis because high oxygen affinity variants are conventionally considered to cause a true polycythaemia.

  9. Glutamate oxidation in astrocytes: Roles of glutamate dehydrogenase and aminotransferases

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    McKenna, Mary C; Stridh, Malin H; McNair, Laura Frendrup

    2016-01-01

    to the presynaptic neurons as the nonexcitatory amino acid glutamine. The cycle was initially thought to function with a 1:1 ratio between glutamate released and glutamine taken up by neurons. However, studies of glutamate metabolism in astrocytes have shown that a considerable proportion of glutamate undergoes...... the enzymes that mediate this conversion. Methods include pharmacological tools such as the transaminase inhibitor aminooxyacetic acid, studies using GDH knockout mice, and siRNA-mediated knockdown of GDH in astrocytes. Studies in brain slices incubated with [15N]glutamate demonstrated activity of GDH......The cellular distribution of transporters and enzymes related to glutamate metabolism led to the concept of the glutamate–glutamine cycle. Glutamate is released as a neurotransmitter and taken up primarily by astrocytes ensheathing the synapses. The glutamate carbon skeleton is transferred back...

  10. High affinity binding of [3H]cocaine to rat liver microsomes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El-Maghrabi, E.A.; Calligaro, D.O.; Eldefrawi, M.E.

    1988-01-01

    ] 3 H]cocaine bound reversible, with high affinity and stereospecificity to rat liver microsomes. Little binding was detected in the lysosomal, mitochondrial and nuclear fractions. The binding kinetics were slow and the kinetically calculated K/sub D/ was 2 nM. Induction of mixed function oxidases by phenobarbital did not produce significant change in [ 3 H]cocaine binding. On the other hand, chronic administration of cocaine reduced [ 3 H]cocaine binding drastically. Neither treatment affected the affinity of the liver binding protein for cocaine. Microsomes from mouse and human livers had less cocaine-binding protein and lower affinity for cocaine than those from rat liver. Binding of [ 3 H]cocaine to rat liver microsomes was insensitive to monovalent cations and > 10 fold less sensitive to biogenic amines than the cocaine receptor in rat striatum. However, the liver protein had higher affinity for cocaine and metabolites except for norcocaine. Amine uptake inhibitors displaced [ 3 H]cocaine binding to liver with a different rank order of potency than their displacement of [ 3 H]cocaine binding to striatum. This high affinity [ 3 H]cocaine binding protein in liver is not likely to be monooxygenase, but may have a role in cocaine-induced hepatotoxicity

  11. Enhancing poly-γ-glutamic acid production in Bacillus amyloliquefaciens by introducing the glutamate synthesis features from Corynebacterium glutamicum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Jun; Quan, Yufen; Gu, Yanyan; Liu, Fenghong; Huang, Xiaozhong; Shen, Haosheng; Dang, Yulei; Cao, Mingfeng; Gao, Weixia; Lu, Xiaoyun; Wang, Yi; Song, Cunjiang; Wang, Shufang

    2017-05-22

    Poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) is a valuable polymer with glutamate as its sole precursor. Enhancement of the intracellular glutamate synthesis is a very important strategy for the improvement of γ-PGA production, especially for those glutamate-independent γ-PGA producing strains. Corynebacterium glutamicum has long been used for industrial glutamate production and it exhibits some unique features for glutamate synthesis; therefore introduction of these metabolic characters into the γ-PGA producing strain might lead to increased intracellular glutamate availability, and thus ultimate γ-PGA production. In this study, the unique glutamate synthesis features from C. glutamicum was introduced into the glutamate-independent γ-PGA producing Bacillus amyloliquefaciens NK-1 strain. After introducing the energy-saving NADPH-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase (NADPH-GDH) pathway, the NK-1 (pHT315-gdh) strain showed slightly increase (by 9.1%) in γ-PGA production. Moreover, an optimized metabolic toggle switch for controlling the expression of ɑ-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (ODHC) was introduced into the NK-1 strain, because it was previously shown that the ODHC in C. glutamicum was completely inhibited when glutamate was actively produced. The obtained NK-PO1 (pHT01-xylR) strain showed 66.2% higher γ-PGA production than the NK-1 strain. However, the further combination of these two strategies (introducing both NADPH-GDH pathway and the metabolic toggle switch) did not lead to further increase of γ-PGA production but rather the resultant γ-PGA production was even lower than that in the NK-1 strain. We proposed new metabolic engineering strategies to improve the γ-PGA production in B. amyloliquefaciens. The NK-1 (pHT315-gdh) strain with the introduction of NADPH-GDH pathway showed 9.1% improvement in γ-PGA production. The NK-PO1 (pHT01-xylR) strain with the introduction of a metabolic toggle switch for controlling the expression of ODHC showed 66.2% higher

  12. Backpropagating Action Potentials Enable Detection of Extrasynaptic Glutamate by NMDA Receptors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Wei Wu

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Synaptic NMDA receptors (NMDARs are crucial for neural coding and plasticity. However, little is known about the adaptive function of extrasynaptic NMDARs occurring mainly on dendritic shafts. Here, we find that in CA1 pyramidal neurons, backpropagating action potentials (bAPs recruit shaft NMDARs exposed to ambient glutamate. In contrast, spine NMDARs are “protected,” under baseline conditions, from such glutamate influences by perisynaptic transporters: we detect bAP-evoked Ca2+ entry through these receptors upon local synaptic or photolytic glutamate release. During theta-burst firing, NMDAR-dependent Ca2+ entry either downregulates or upregulates an h-channel conductance (Gh of the cell depending on whether synaptic glutamate release is intact or blocked. Thus, the balance between activation of synaptic and extrasynaptic NMDARs can determine the sign of Gh plasticity. Gh plasticity in turn regulates dendritic input probed by local glutamate uncaging. These results uncover a metaplasticity mechanism potentially important for neural coding and memory formation.

  13. Displacement of DL-[3H]-2-amino-4-phosphonobutanoic acid ( [3H]APB) binding with methyl-substituted APB analogues and glutamate agonists

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robinson, M.B.; Crooks, S.L.; Johnson, R.L.; Koerner, J.F.

    1985-01-01

    The binding of the excitatory amino acid antagonist DL-2-amino-4-phosphonobutanoic acid (DL-APB) to rat brain synaptic plasma membranes was characterized. As determined by Scatchard analysis, the binding was saturable and homogeneous with a Kd = 6.0 microM and Bmax = 380 pmol/mg of protein. The binding was dependent on the presence of Ca 2+ and Cl - ions and was diminished upon freezing. The association rate constant was 6.8 X 10(-3) microM -1 min -1 , and the dissociation rate constant was 2.0 X 10(-2) min -1 . The L isomers of APB, glutamate, and aspartate were more potent as displacers of APB binding than the D isomers. With the exception of kynurenic acid, all compounds examined in both systems were more potent as displacers of APB binding than as inhibitors of synaptic transmission. This difference in potency was most pronounced for agonists at dentate granule cells. L-Glutamate, D-glutamate, and L-glutamate tetrazole were between 140- and 7500-fold more potent as displacers of DL-APB binding than as inhibitors of synaptic transmission. D-2-Amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid and alpha-methyl-APB were between 10- and 20-fold more potent as displacers of binding

  14. Tumorigenicity of sodium ascorbate in male rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, S M; Anderson, T A; de Oliveira, L M; Arnold, L L

    1998-06-15

    Sodium ascorbate, like other sodium salts such as saccharin, glutamate, and bicarbonate, produces urinary alterations when fed at high doses to rats, which results in mild superficial urothelial cytotoxicity and regeneration but not tumors in a standard 2-year bioassay. Sodium saccharin was shown to produce a low incidence of bladder tumors in rats if administered in a two-generation bioassay. In the present study, we evaluated sodium ascorbate in a two-generation bioassay that involved feeding to the male and female parental F344 rats for 4 weeks before mating, feeding the dams during gestation and lactation, and then feeding the weaned (at 28 days of age) male F1 generation rats for the remainder of their lifetime (up to 128 weeks of the experiment). Dietary levels of 1.0, 5.0, and 7.0% sodium ascorbate were tested. At 5.0 and 7.0% sodium ascorbate, there was an increase in urinary bladder urothelial papillary and nodular hyperplasia and the induction of a few papillomas and carcinomas. There was a dose-responsive increase in renal pelvic calcification and hyperplasia and inhibition of the aging nephropathy of rats even at the level of 1% sodium ascorbate. Because the short-term urothelial effects of sodium ascorbate in rats are inhibited by treatments producing urinary acidification to pH sodium ascorbate to evaluate the long-term effects. The combination of 7.0% sodium ascorbate plus 2.78% NH4Cl in the diet was toxic, and the group was terminated early during the course of the experiment. The group fed 5.0% sodium ascorbate plus 2.04% NH4Cl showed complete inhibition of the urothelial effects of sodium ascorbate and significant inhibition of its renal effects. We also demonstrated the presence of a calcium phosphate-containing urinary precipitate in rats fed sodium ascorbate at all doses, in a dose-responsive manner. The formation of the precipitate was inhibited by coadministration with NH4Cl. The proliferative effects of sodium ascorbate on the male rat

  15. Hupresin Retains Binding Capacity for Butyrylcholinesterase and Acetylcholinesterase after Sanitation with Sodium Hydroxide

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seda Onder

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Hupresin is a new affinity resin that binds butyrylcholinesterase (BChE in human plasma and acetylcholinesterase (AChE solubilized from red blood cells (RBC. Hupresin is available from the CHEMFORASE company. BChE in human plasma binds to Hupresin and is released with 0.1 M trimethylammonium bromide (TMA with full activity and 10–15% purity. BChE immunopurified from plasma by binding to immobilized monoclonal beads has fewer contaminating proteins than the one-step Hupresin-purified BChE. However, when affinity chromatography on Hupresin follows ion exchange chromatography at pH 4.5, BChE is 99% pure. The membrane bound AChE, solubilized from human RBC with 0.6% Triton X-100, binds to Hupresin and remains bound during washing with sodium chloride. Human AChE is not released in significant quantities with non-denaturing solvents, but is recovered in 1% trifluoroacetic acid. The denatured, partially purified AChE is useful for detecting exposure to nerve agents by mass spectrometry. Our goal was to determine whether Hupresin retains binding capacity for BChE and AChE after Hupresin is washed with 0.1 M NaOH. A 2 mL column of Hupresin equilibrated in 20 mM TrisCl pH 7.5 was used in seven consecutive trials to measure binding and recovery of BChE from 100 mL human plasma. Between each trial the Hupresin was washed with 10 column volumes of 0.1 M sodium hydroxide. A similar trial was conducted with red blood cell AChE in 0.6% Triton X-100. It was found that the binding capacity for BChE and AChE was unaffected by washing Hupresin with 0.1 M sodium hydroxide. Hupresin could be washed with sodium hydroxide at least seven times without losing binding capacity.

  16. Novel mutations and mutation combinations of ryanodine receptor in a chlorantraniliprole resistant population of Plutella xylostella (L.)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Lei; Liang, Pei; Zhou, Xuguo; Gao, Xiwu

    2014-01-01

    A previous study documented a glycine to glutamic acid mutation (G4946E) in ryanodine receptor (RyR) was highly correlated to diamide insecticide resistance in field populations of Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae). In this study, a field population collected in Yunnan province, China, exhibited a 2128-fold resistance to chlorantraniliprole. Sequence comparison between resistant and susceptible P. xylostella revealed three novel mutations including a glutamic acid to valine substitution (E1338D), a glutamine to leucine substitution (Q4594L) and an isoleucine to methionine substitution (I4790M) in highly conserved regions of RyR. Frequency analysis of all four mutations in this field population showed that the three new mutations showed a high frequency of 100%, while the G4946E had a frequency of 20%. Furthermore, the florescent ligand binding assay revealed that the RyR containing multiple mutations displayed a significantly lower affinity to the chlorantraniliprole. The combined results suggested that the co-existence of different combinations of the four mutations was involved in the chlorantraniliprole resistance. An allele-specific PCR based method was developed for the diagnosis of the four mutations in the field populations of P. xylostella. PMID:25377064

  17. Studies of the pH dependence of 13C shifts and carbon-carbon coupling constants of [U-13C]aspartic and -glutamic acids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    London, R.E.; Walker, T.E.; Kollman, V.H.; Matwiyoff, N.A.

    1978-01-01

    13 C NMR studies of the chemical shifts and carbon--carbon spin--spin coupling constants of 90% [U- 13 C]aspartic and -glutamic acids are reported. Effects of titration of the two carboxyl groups are separated computationally and the results compared with those for asparagine and glutamine, aspartate and glutamate containing peptides, and a series of amino-n-butyric acids. The results indicate that the carboxyl carbon shift resulting from titration of the carboxyl group is strongly dependent on its distance (number of bonds) from an amino group. Alternatively, remote methyl groups exhibit a much smaller titration induced shift than carboxyl groups in the corresponding position. Significant remote effects of pH titration on the one-bond carbon-carbon coupling are also observed, particularly for couplings involving the side-chain carboxyl carbons. These results are discussed in terms of polarization of the C--O bonds in response to titration of a remote carboxyl group. Values of 3 J/sub CC/ in asparate and glutamate indicate a strong conformational dependence. Rotamer populations predicted on the basis of the observed couplings and theoretical INDO calculations are in good agreement with values based on analysis of the 3 J/sub HH/ and 3 J/sub CH/ couplings. For a given conformation of glutamic acid, it is found that 3 J 14 is considerably smaller than 3 J 25 . This result is consistent with obsrvations on a number of other 13 C-labeled amino acids. 5 figures, 4 tables

  18. Identification and properties of very high affinity brain membrane-binding sites for a neurotoxic phospholipase from the taipan venom

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lambeau, G.; Barhanin, J.; Schweitz, H.; Qar, J.; Lazdunski, M. (Centre de Biochimie, Nice (France))

    1989-07-05

    Four new monochain phospholipases were purified from the Oxyuranus scutellatus (taipan) venom. Three of them were highly toxic when injected into mice brain. One of these neurotoxic phospholipases, OS2, was iodinated and used in binding experiments to demonstrate the presence of two families of specific binding sites in rat brain synaptic membranes. The affinities were exceptionally high, Kd1 = 1.5 +/- 0.5 pM and Kd2 = 45 +/- 10 pM, and the maximal binding capacities were Bmax 1 = 1 +/- 0.4 and Bmax 2 = 3 +/- 0.5 pmol/mg of protein. Both binding sites were sensitive to proteolysis and demonstrated to be located on proteins of Mr 85,000-88,000 and 36,000-51,000 by cross-linking and photoaffinity labeling techniques. The binding of {sup 125}I-OS2 to synaptic membranes was dependent on Ca2+ ions and enhanced by Zn2+ ions which inhibit phospholipase activity. Competition experiments have shown that, except for beta-bungarotoxin, a number of known toxic snake or bee phospholipases have very high affinities for the newly identified binding sites. A good correlation (r = 0.80) was observed between toxicity and affinity but not between phospholipase activity and affinity.

  19. [Affinity of the elements in group VI of the periodic table to tumors and organs].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ando, A; Hisada, K; Ando, I

    1976-10-01

    In order to investigate the tumor affinity radioisotopes, chromium (51Cr), molybdenum (99Mo), tungsten (181W), selenium (75Se) and tellurium (127mTe)--the elements of group VI in the periodic table--were examined, using the rats which were subcutaneously transplanted with Yoshida sarcoma. Seven preprarations, sodium chromate (Na251CrO4), chromium chloride (51CrCl3), normal ammonium molybdate ((NH4)299MoO7), sodium tungstate (Na2181WO4), sodium selenate (Na275SeO4), sodium selenite (Na275SeO3) and tellurous acid (H2127mTeO3) were injected intravenously to each group of tumor bearing rats. These rats were sacrificed at various periods after injection of each preparation: 3 hours, 24 hours and 48 hours in all preparations. The radioactivities of the tumor, blood, muscle, liver, kidney and spleen were measured by a well-type scintillation counter, and retention values (in every tissue including the tumor) were calculated in percent of administered dose per g-tissue weight. All of seven preparations did not have any affinity for malignant tumor. Na251CrO4 and H2127mTeO3 had some affinity for the kidneys, and Na275SeO3 had some affinity for the liver. Na2181WO4 and (NH4)299MoO4 disappeared very rapidly from the blood and soft tissue, and about seventy-five percent of radioactivity was excreted in urine within first 3 hours.

  20. Monosodium L-glutamate in soup reduces subsequent energy intake from high-fat savoury food in overweight and obese women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyaki, Takashi; Imada, Toshifumi; Hao, Susan Shuzhen; Kimura, Eiichiro

    2016-01-14

    The umami seasoning, monosodium L-glutamate (MSG), has been shown to increase satiety in normal body weight adults, although the results have not been consistent. The satiety effect of MSG in overweight and obese adults has not been examined yet. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of MSG in a vegetable soup on subsequent energy intakes as well as food selection in overweight and obese adult women without eating disorders. A total of sixty-eight overweight and obese women (BMI range: 25·0-39·9 kg/m²), otherwise healthy, were recruited to our study. A fixed portion (200 ml) of control vegetable soup or the same soup with added MSG (0·5 g/100 ml) was provided 10 min before an ad libitum lunch and an ad libitum snack in the mid-afternoon. The control soup had equivalent amount of Na to the soup with added MSG. Energy intakes at the ad libitum lunch and ad libitum snack time after the soup preload were assessed using a randomised, double-blind, two-way cross-over design. The soup with MSG in comparison with the control soup resulted in significantly lower consumption of energy at lunch. The addition of MSG in the soup also reduced energy intake from high-fat savoury foods. The soup with MSG showed lower but no significant difference in energy intake at mid-afternoon. The addition of umami seasoning MSG in a vegetable soup may decrease subsequent energy intake in overweight and obese women who do not have eating disorders.

  1. Dual production of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and glutamate using variable biotin concentrations in Corynebacterium glutamicum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jo, Sung-Jin; Leong, Chean Ring; Matsumoto, Ken'ichiro; Taguchi, Seiichi

    2009-04-01

    We previously synthesized poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB)] in recombinant Corynebacterium glutamicum, a prominent producer of amino acids. In this study, a two-step cultivation was established for the dual production of glutamate and P(3HB) due to the differences in the optimal concentration of biotin. Glutamate was extracellularly produced first under the biotin-limited condition of 0.3 microg/L. Production was then shifted to P(3HB) by addition of biotin to a total concentration of 9 microg/L. The final products obtained were 18 g/L glutamate and 36 wt% of P(3HB).

  2. Comparison of immobilized poly-L-aspartic acid and poly-L-glutamic acid for chelation of metal cations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malachowski, Lisa; Holcombe, James A.

    2004-01-01

    Poly-L-aspartic acid (PLAsp) and poly-L-glutamic acid (PLGlu) were individually immobilized onto controlled pore glass (CPG) and compared according to their metal-binding capabilities in a solution of pH 7.0. The metal-binding capacities were calculated through the analysis of breakthrough curves generated by monitoring the metal concentrations on a flow injection-flame atomic absorption system. Capacities for individual metals were comparable and in the order of Cu 2+ >> Pb 2+ > Ni 2+ ∼ Cd 2+ > Co 2+ > Mn 2+ >> Na + . Elemental combustion analysis yielded polymer coverage on the CPG of approximately 4 x 10 12 to 5 x 10 12 chains/cm 2 , when average chain lengths were used in the calculations. Formation constants and site capacities of both polymers for Cd 2+ were determined through equilibrium and breakthrough studies. The maximum log K values for the strong sites were determined to be ∼13 for both PLAsp and for PLGlu. Additionally, the metal selectivity of PLAsp and PLGlu was evaluated when breakthrough curves were run with several metals present in solution at one time. Both polymers showed selectivities in the order of their single metal-binding capacities, i.e., Cu 2+ > Pb 2+ > Ni 2+ ∼ Cd 2+ . Both polymers exhibited similar binding trends and binding strengths for all of the metals studied. This likely reflects the absence of a predetermined tertiary structure of the polymers on the surface and the relatively high residue-per-metal ratio (∼20:1), which places less stringent requirements on the steric hindrance between the side chains and the resultant 'wrapping' of the peptide around the metal

  3. Curcumin-Protected PC12 Cells Against Glutamate-Induced Oxidative Toxicity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chi-Huang Chang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Glutamate is a major excitatory neurotransmitter present in the central nervous system. The glutamate/cystine antiporter system xc– connects the antioxidant defense with neurotransmission and behaviour. Overactivation of ionotropic glutamate receptors induces neuronal death, a pathway called excitotoxicity. Glutamate-induced oxidative stress is a major contributor to neurodegenerative diseases including cerebral ischemia, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease. Curcuma has a wide spectrum of biological activities regarding neuroprotection and neurocognition. By reducing the oxidative damage, curcumin attenuates a spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury, seizures and hippocampal neuronal loss. The rat pheochromocytoma (PC12 cell line exhibits many characteristics useful for the study of the neuroprotection and neurocognition. This investigation was carried out to determine whether the neuroprotective effects of curcumin can be observed via the glutamate-PC12 cell model. Results indicate that glutamate (20 mM upregulated glutathione peroxidase 1, glutathione disulphide, Ca2+ influx, nitric oxide production, cytochrome c release, Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, caspase-3 activity, lactate dehydrogenase release, reactive oxygen species, H2O2, and malondialdehyde; and downregulated glutathione, glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase and catalase, resulting in enhanced cell apoptosis. Curcumin alleviates all these adverse effects. Conclusively, curcumin can effectively protect PC12 cells against the glutamate-induced oxidative toxicity. Its mode of action involves two pathways: the glutathione-dependent nitric oxide-reactive oxygen species pathway and the mitochondria-dependent nitric oxide-reactive oxygen species pathway.

  4. IA-2 autoantibody affinity in children at risk for type 1 diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krause, Stephanie; Chmiel, Ruth; Bonifacio, Ezio; Scholz, Marlon; Powell, Michael; Furmaniak, Jadwiga; Rees Smith, Bernard; Ziegler, Anette-G; Achenbach, Peter

    2012-12-01

    Autoantibodies to insulinoma-associated protein 2 (IA-2A) are associated with increased risk for type 1 diabetes. Here we examined IA-2A affinity and epitope specificity to assess heterogeneity in response intensity in relation to pathogenesis and diabetes risk in 50 children who were prospectively followed from birth. At first IA-2A appearance, affinity ranged from 10(7) to 10(11)L/mol and was high (>1.0×10(9)L/mol) in 41 (82%) children. IA-2A affinity was not associated with epitope specificity or HLA class II haplotype. On follow-up, affinity increased or remained high, and IA-2A were commonly against epitopes within the protein tyrosine phosphatase-like IA-2 domain and the homologue protein IA-2β. IA-2A were preceded or accompanied by other islet autoantibodies in 49 (98%) children, of which 34 progressed to diabetes. IA-2A affinity did not stratify diabetes risk. In conclusion, the IA-2A response in children is intense with rapid maturation against immunogenic epitopes and a strong association with diabetes development. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Influence of UV-A or UV-B light and of the nitrogen source on the induction of ferredoxin-dependent glutamate synthase in etiolated tomato cotyledons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Migge, A.; Carrayol, E.; Hirel, B.; Lohmann, M.; Meya, G.; Becker, T.W.

    1998-01-01

    The influence of ultraviolet A (UV-A) or B (UV-B) light and of the nitrogen source on the induction of ferredoxin-dependent glutamate synthase (Fd-GOGAT, EC 1.4.7.1) was examined in etiolated cotyledons of tomato (Lycopersicon escu- lentum L.). The Fd-GOGAT activity increased upon illumination of etiolated tomato cotyledons with UV-A or UV-B light. This stimulation of Fd-GOGAT activity was correlated with an increase in both the Fd-GOGAT transcript level and the Fd-GOGAT protein abundance. These results suggest that UV-A or UV-B light stimulates the de novo synthesis of Fd-GOGAT in etiolated tomato cotyledons. Both UV-A and UV-B light failed to influence the activity of NADH-GOGAT (EC 1.4.1.14) in etiolated tomato cotyledons. Taken together, our data indicate that the tomato genes encoding Fd- or NADH-dependent glutamate synthase are regulated differently by UV-A or UV-B light. No difference with respect to both the Fd-GOGAT transcript and protein abundance was found between cotyledons of tomato seedlings grown with either nitrate or ammonium as the sole N-source in the dark or in white light. In addition, the increase in the Fd-GOGAT protein pool induced by white light in etiolated nitrate-grown tomato seedling cotyledons was similar to that induced by white light in etiolated ammonium-grown tomato seedling cotyledons. These results show that the tomato Fd-GOGAT protein level does not depend strongly on the nature of the nitrogen source and that there appears to be no major stimulatory effect on the Fd-GOGAT protein pool produced by nitrate during the illumination of etiolated tomato cotyledons

  6. Crystal structure of metagenomic β-xylosidase/ α-l-arabinofuranosidase activated by calcium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsuzawa, Tomohiko; Kaneko, Satoshi; Kishine, Naomi; Fujimoto, Zui; Yaoi, Katsuro

    2017-09-01

    The crystal structure of metagenomic β-xylosidase/α-l-arabinofuranosidase CoXyl43, activated by calcium ions, was determined in its apo and complexed forms with xylotriose or l-arabinose in the presence and absence of calcium. The presence of calcium ions dramatically increases the kcat of CoXyl43 for p-nitrophenyl β-d-xylopyranoside and reduces the Michaelis constant for p-nitrophenyl α-l-arabinofuranoside. CoXyl43 consists of a single catalytic domain comprised of a five-bladed β-propeller. In the presence of calcium, a single calcium ion was observed at the centre of this catalytic domain, behind the catalytic pocket. In the absence of calcium, the calcium ion was replaced with one sodium ion and one water molecule, and the positions of these cations were shifted by 1.3 Å. The histidine-319 side chain, which coordinates to the 2-hydroxyl oxygen atom of the bound xylose molecule in the catalytic pocket, also coordinates to the calcium ion, but not to the sodium ion. The calcium-dependent increase in activity appears to be caused by the structural change in the catalytic pocket induced by the tightly bound calcium ion and coordinating water molecules, and by the protonation state of glutamic acid-268, the catalytic acid of the enzyme. Our findings further elucidate the complex relationship between metal ions and glycosidases. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Japanese Biochemical Society. All rights reserved.

  7. Characterization of the diatomite binding domain in the ribosomal protein L2 from E. coli and functions as an affinity tag.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Junhua; Zhang, Yang; Yang, Yanjun

    2013-03-01

    The ribosomal protein L2, a constituent protein of the 50S large ribosomal subunit, can be used as Si-tag using silica particles for the immobilization and purification of recombinant proteins (Ikeda et al. (Protein Expr Purif 71:91-95, 2010); Taniguchi et al. (Biotechnol Bioeng 96:1023-1029, 2007)). We applied a diatomite powder, a sedimentary rock mainly composed with diatoms silica, as an affinity solid phase and small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) technology to release a target protein from the solid phase. The L2 (203-273) was the sufficient region for the adsorption of ribosomal protein L2 on diatomite. We comparatively analyzed the different adsorption properties of the two deleted proteins of L2 (L2 (1-60, 203-273) and L2 (203-273)) on diatomite. The time required to reach adsorption equilibrium of L2 (203-273) fusion protein on diatomite was shorter than that of L2 (1-60, 203-273) fusion protein. The maximum adsorption capacity of L2 (203-273) fusion protein was larger than that of L2 (1-60, 203-273) fusion protein. In order to study whether the L2 (203-273) can function as an affinity purification tag, SUMO was introduced as one specific protease cleavage site between the target protein and the purification tags. The L2 (203-273) and SUMO fusion protein purification method was tested using enhanced green fluorescent protein as a model protein; the result shows that the purification performance of this affinity purification method was good. The strong adsorption characteristic of L2 (203-273) on diatomite also provides a potential protein fusion tag for the immobilization of enzyme.

  8. A new organic reference material, l-glutamic acid, USGS41a, for δ(13) C and δ(15) N measurements - a replacement for USGS41.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qi, Haiping; Coplen, Tyler B; Mroczkowski, Stanley J; Brand, Willi A; Brandes, Lauren; Geilmann, Heike; Schimmelmann, Arndt

    2016-04-15

    The widely used l-glutamic acid isotopic reference material USGS41, enriched in both (13) C and (15) N, is nearly exhausted. A new material, USGS41a, has been prepared as a replacement for USGS41. USGS41a was prepared by dissolving analytical grade l-glutamic acid enriched in (13) C and (15) N together with l-glutamic acid of normal isotopic composition. The δ(13) C and δ(15) N values of USGS41a were directly or indirectly normalized with the international reference materials NBS 19 calcium carbonate (δ(13) CVPDB = +1.95 mUr, where milliurey = 0.001 = 1 ‰), LSVEC lithium carbonate (δ(13) CVPDB = -46.6 mUr), and IAEA-N-1 ammonium sulfate (δ(15) NAir = +0.43 mUr) and USGS32 potassium nitrate (δ(15) N = +180 mUr exactly) by on-line combustion, continuous-flow isotope-ratio mass spectrometry, and off-line dual-inlet isotope-ratio mass spectrometry. USGS41a is isotopically homogeneous; the reproducibility of δ(13) C and δ(15) N is better than 0.07 mUr and 0.09 mUr, respectively, in 200-μg amounts. It has a δ(13) C value of +36.55 mUr relative to VPDB and a δ(15) N value of +47.55 mUr relative to N2 in air. USGS41 was found to be hydroscopic, probably due to the presence of pyroglutamic acid. Experimental results indicate that the chemical purity of USGS41a is substantially better than that of USGS41. The new isotopic reference material USGS41a can be used with USGS40 (having a δ(13) CVPDB value of -26.39 mUr and a δ(15) NAir value of -4.52 mUr) for (i) analyzing local laboratory isotopic reference materials, and (ii) quantifying drift with time, mass-dependent isotopic fractionation, and isotope-ratio-scale contraction for isotopic analysis of biological and organic materials. Published in 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Published in 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

  9. Crystal structure of the sodium-potassium pump

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Morth, J Preben; Pedersen, Bjørn Panyella; Toustrup-Jensen, Mads S

    2007-01-01

    The Na+,K+-ATPase generates electrochemical gradients for sodium and potassium that are vital to animal cells, exchanging three sodium ions for two potassium ions across the plasma membrane during each cycle of ATP hydrolysis. Here we present the X-ray crystal structure at 3.5 A resolution......-subunit is contained within a pocket between transmembrane helices and seems to be a novel regulatory element controlling sodium affinity, possibly influenced by the membrane potential. Udgivelsesdato: 2007-Dec-13...

  10. High Concentrations of Tranexamic Acid Inhibit Ionotropic Glutamate Receptors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lecker, Irene; Wang, Dian-Shi; Kaneshwaran, Kirusanthy; Mazer, C David; Orser, Beverley A

    2017-07-01

    The antifibrinolytic drug tranexamic acid is structurally similar to the amino acid glycine and may cause seizures and myoclonus by acting as a competitive antagonist of glycine receptors. Glycine is an obligatory co-agonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) subtype of glutamate receptors. Thus, it is plausible that tranexamic acid inhibits NMDA receptors by acting as a competitive antagonist at the glycine binding site. The aim of this study was to determine whether tranexamic acid inhibits NMDA receptors, as well as α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid and kainate subtypes of ionotropic glutamate receptors. Tranexamic acid modulation of NMDA, α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid, and kainate receptors was studied using whole cell voltage-clamp recordings of current from cultured mouse hippocampal neurons. Tranexamic acid rapidly and reversibly inhibited NMDA receptors (half maximal inhibitory concentration = 241 ± 45 mM, mean ± SD; 95% CI, 200 to 281; n = 5) and shifted the glycine concentration-response curve for NMDA-evoked current to the right. Tranexamic acid also inhibited α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (half maximal inhibitory concentration = 231 ± 91 mM; 95% CI, 148 to 314; n = 5 to 6) and kainate receptors (half maximal inhibitory concentration = 90 ± 24 mM; 95% CI, 68 to 112; n = 5). Tranexamic acid inhibits NMDA receptors likely by reducing the binding of the co-agonist glycine and also inhibits α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid and kainate receptors. Receptor blockade occurs at high millimolar concentrations of tranexamic acid, similar to the concentrations that occur after topical application to peripheral tissues. Glutamate receptors in tissues including bone, heart, and nerves play various physiologic roles, and tranexamic acid inhibition of these receptors may contribute to adverse drug effects.

  11. Glial and Neuronal Glutamate Transporters Differ in the Na+ Requirements for Activation of the Substrate-Independent Anion Conductance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher B. Divito

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs are secondary active transporters of L-glutamate and L- or D-aspartate. These carriers also mediate a thermodynamically uncoupled anion conductance that is gated by Na+ and substrate binding. The activation of the anion channel by binding of Na+ alone, however, has only been demonstrated for mammalian EAAC1 (EAAT3 and EAAT4. To date, no difference has been observed for the substrate dependence of anion channel gating between the glial, EAAT1 and EAAT2, and the neuronal isoforms EAAT3, EAAT4 and EAAT5. Here we describe a difference in the Na+-dependence of anion channel gating between glial and neuronal isoforms. Chloride flux through transporters without glutamate binding has previously been described as substrate-independent or “leak” channel activity. Choline or N-methyl-D-glucamine replacement of external Na+ ions significantly reduced or abolished substrate-independent EAAT channel activity in EAAT3 and EAAT4 yet has no effect on EAAT1 or EAAT2. The interaction of Na+ with the neuronal carrier isoforms was concentration dependent, consistent with previous data. The presence of substrate and Na+-independent open states in the glial EAAT isoforms is a novel finding in the field of EAAT function. Our results reveal an important divergence in anion channel function between glial and neuronal glutamate transporters and highlight new potential roles for the EAAT-associated anion channel activity based on transporter expression and localization in the central nervous system.

  12. Synthesis of edatrexate (2-13C-glutamate)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DeGraw, J.I.; Colwell, W.T.; Jue, Thomas

    1997-01-01

    The experimental antitumor drug Edatrexate, labeled with 99% 13 C at the 2-position of the glutamate acid group was required for 13 C-magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies in biological media. Coupling of 2,4-diamino-4-deoxy-10-ethyl-10-deazapteroic acid with diethyl L-2- 13 C-glutamate as promoted by BOP reagent afforded Edatrexate (2- 13 C-glu) diethyl ester in 60% yield following purification by column chromatography. Saponification by aqueous NaOH in 2-methoxyethanol gave the target molecule in 44% yield or 26% overall. (author)

  13. Allium cepa L. Response to Sodium Selenite (Se(IV)) Studied in Plant Roots by a LC-MS-Based Proteomic Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karasinski, Jakub; Wrobel, Kazimierz; Corrales Escobosa, Alma Rosa; Konopka, Anna; Bulska, Ewa; Wrobel, Katarzyna

    2017-05-17

    Liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry was used for the first time to investigate the impact of Se(IV) (10 mgSe L -1 as sodium selenite) on Allium cepa L. root proteome. Using MaxQuant platform, more than 600 proteins were found; 42 were identified based on at least 2 razor + unique peptides, score > 25, and were found to be differentially expressed in the exposed versus control roots with t-test difference > ±0.70 (p roots. Different abundances of proteins involved in transcriptional regulation, protein folding/assembly, cell cycle, energy/carbohydrate metabolism, stress response, and antioxidant defense were found in the exposed vs nonexposed roots. New evidence was obtained on the alteration of sulfur metabolism due to S-Se competition in A. cepa L. which, together with the original analytical approach, is the main scientific contribution of this study. Specifically, proteins participating in assimilation and transformation of both elements were affected; formation of volatile Se compounds seemed to be favored. Changes observed in methionine cycle suggested that Se(IV) stress might repress methylation capability in A. cepa L., potentially limiting accumulation of Se in the form of nonprotein methylated species and affecting adversely transmethylation-dependent signaling pathways.

  14. Simple and Efficient Purification of Recombinant Proteins Using the Heparin-Binding Affinity Tag.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jayanthi, Srinivas; Gundampati, Ravi Kumar; Kumar, Thallapuranam Krishnaswamy Suresh

    2017-11-01

    Heparin, a member of the glycosaminoglycan family, is known to interact with more than 400 different types of proteins. For the past few decades, significant progress has been made to understand the molecular details involved in heparin-protein interactions. Based on the structural knowledge available from the FGF1-heparin interaction studies, we have designed a novel heparin-binding peptide (HBP) affinity tag that can be used for the simple, efficient, and cost-effective purification of recombinant proteins of interest. HBP-tagged fusion proteins can be purified by heparin Sepharose affinity chromatography using a simple sodium chloride gradient to elute the bound fusion protein. In addition, owing to the high density of positive charges on the HBP tag, recombinant target proteins are preferably expressed in their soluble forms. The purification of HBP-fusion proteins can also be achieved in the presence of chemical denaturants, including urea. Additionally, polyclonal antibodies raised against the affinity tag can be used to detect HBP-fused target proteins with high sensitivity. © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

  15. Neuroprotective effects of Arctium lappa L. roots against glutamate-induced oxidative stress by inhibiting phosphorylation of p38, JNK and ERK 1/2 MAPKs in PC12 cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Xing; Sui, Shuang; Huang, Jin; Bai, Jun-Peng; Ren, Tian-Shu; Zhao, Qing-Chun

    2014-07-01

    Many studies have shown that glutamate-induced oxidative stress can lead to neuronal cell death involved in the development of neurodegenerative diseases. In this work, protective effects of ethyl acetate extract (EAE) of Arctium lappa L. roots against glutamate-induced oxidative stress in PC12 cells were evaluated. Also, the effects of EAE on antioxidant system, mitochondrial pathway, and signal transduction pathway were explored. Pretreatment with EAE significantly increased cell viability, activities of GSH-Px and SOD, mitochondrial membrane potential and reduced LDH leakage, ROS formation, and nuclear condensation in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, western blot results revealed that EAE increased the Bcl-2/Bax ratio, and inhibited the up-regulation of caspase-3, release of cytochrome c, phosphorylation of p38, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK 1/2). Therefore, our results indicate that EAE may be a promising neuroprotective agent for the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases implicated with oxidative stress. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Interactions of neurotoxins with non-NMDA glutamate receptors: an autoradiographic study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuenig, G.; Niedermeyer, B.; Krause, F.; Hartmann, J.; Deckert, J.; Heinsen, H.; Beckmann, H.; Riederer, P.; Ransmayr, G.

    1994-01-01

    Neurotoxic substances are discussed to cause neurode-generation by acting as excitotoxins on glutamate receptors. We investigated the properties of L-beta-oxalyl-amino-alanine (L-BOAA) and 3,4,6-trihydroxyphenlyalanine (6-OH-Dopa) at the alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid (AMPA) glutamate receptor and that of L-BOAA and domoic acid at the kainate glutamate receptor in human hippocampus. (3 H)AMPA binding in hippocampal subfields was inhibited by L-BOAA and 6-OH-Dopa with mean IC50-values in the low micromolar range. (3H)Kainate binding was inhibited by L-BOAA with similar potency as (3H)AMPA binding and by domoic acid with mean IC50-values in the low nanomolar range. These results support the notion that symptoms like anterograde amnesia and epileptic seizures seen in domoic acid intoxication and limbic symptoms, e.g. cognitive and mood impairment observed in neurolathyrism may be caused by excitotoxic action on non-NMDA receptors. The potent interaction of 6-OH-Dopa with the AMPA-receptor may point to a possible dopaminergic-glutamatergic interaction in the development of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Huntington's disease. (author)

  17. Glutamate mediated astrocytic filtering of neuronal activity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gilad Wallach

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Neuron-astrocyte communication is an important regulatory mechanism in various brain functions but its complexity and role are yet to be fully understood. In particular, the temporal pattern of astrocyte response to neuronal firing has not been fully characterized. Here, we used neuron-astrocyte cultures on multi-electrode arrays coupled to Ca2+ imaging and explored the range of neuronal stimulation frequencies while keeping constant the amount of stimulation. Our results reveal that astrocytes specifically respond to the frequency of neuronal stimulation by intracellular Ca2+ transients, with a clear onset of astrocytic activation at neuron firing rates around 3-5 Hz. The cell-to-cell heterogeneity of the astrocyte Ca2+ response was however large and increasing with stimulation frequency. Astrocytic activation by neurons was abolished with antagonists of type I metabotropic glutamate receptor, validating the glutamate-dependence of this neuron-to-astrocyte pathway. Using a realistic biophysical model of glutamate-based intracellular calcium signaling in astrocytes, we suggest that the stepwise response is due to the supralinear dynamics of intracellular IP3 and that the heterogeneity of the responses may be due to the heterogeneity of the astrocyte-to-astrocyte couplings via gap junction channels. Therefore our results present astrocyte intracellular Ca2+ activity as a nonlinear integrator of glutamate-dependent neuronal activity.

  18. Glutamate Mediated Astrocytic Filtering of Neuronal Activity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herzog, Nitzan; De Pittà, Maurizio; Jacob, Eshel Ben; Berry, Hugues; Hanein, Yael

    2014-01-01

    Neuron-astrocyte communication is an important regulatory mechanism in various brain functions but its complexity and role are yet to be fully understood. In particular, the temporal pattern of astrocyte response to neuronal firing has not been fully characterized. Here, we used neuron-astrocyte cultures on multi-electrode arrays coupled to Ca2+ imaging and explored the range of neuronal stimulation frequencies while keeping constant the amount of stimulation. Our results reveal that astrocytes specifically respond to the frequency of neuronal stimulation by intracellular Ca2+ transients, with a clear onset of astrocytic activation at neuron firing rates around 3-5 Hz. The cell-to-cell heterogeneity of the astrocyte Ca2+ response was however large and increasing with stimulation frequency. Astrocytic activation by neurons was abolished with antagonists of type I metabotropic glutamate receptor, validating the glutamate-dependence of this neuron-to-astrocyte pathway. Using a realistic biophysical model of glutamate-based intracellular calcium signaling in astrocytes, we suggest that the stepwise response is due to the supralinear dynamics of intracellular IP3 and that the heterogeneity of the responses may be due to the heterogeneity of the astrocyte-to-astrocyte couplings via gap junction channels. Therefore our results present astrocyte intracellular Ca2+ activity as a nonlinear integrator of glutamate-dependent neuronal activity. PMID:25521344

  19. The monoclonal S9.6 antibody exhibits highly variable binding affinities towards different R-loop sequences.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabian König

    Full Text Available The monoclonal antibody S9.6 is a widely-used tool to purify, analyse and quantify R-loop structures in cells. A previous study using the surface plasmon resonance technology and a single-chain variable fragment (scFv of S9.6 showed high affinity (0.6 nM for DNA-RNA and also a high affinity (2.7 nM for RNA-RNA hybrids. We used the microscale thermophoresis method allowing surface independent interaction studies and electromobility shift assays to evaluate additional RNA-DNA hybrid sequences and to quantify the binding affinities of the S9.6 antibody with respect to distinct sequences and their GC-content. Our results confirm high affinity binding to previously analysed sequences, but reveals that binding affinities are highly sequence specific. Our study presents R-loop sequences that independent of GC-content and in different sequence variations exhibit either no binding, binding affinities in the micromolar range and as well high affinity binding in the nanomolar range. Our study questions the usefulness of the S9.6 antibody in the quantitative analysis of R-loop sequences in vivo.

  20. AMPK Activation Affects Glutamate Metabolism in Astrocytes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Voss, Caroline Marie; Pajęcka, Kamilla; Stridh, Malin H

    2015-01-01

    acid (TCA) cycle was studied using high-performance liquid chromatography analysis supplemented with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technology. It was found that AMPK activation had profound effects on the pathways involved in glutamate metabolism since the entrance of the glutamate carbon...... on glutamate metabolism in astrocytes was studied using primary cultures of these cells from mouse cerebral cortex during incubation in media containing 2.5 mM glucose and 100 µM [U-(13)C]glutamate. The metabolism of glutamate including a detailed analysis of its metabolic pathways involving the tricarboxylic...... skeleton into the TCA cycle was reduced. On the other hand, glutamate uptake into the astrocytes as well as its conversion to glutamine catalyzed by glutamine synthetase was not affected by AMPK activation. Interestingly, synthesis and release of citrate, which are hallmarks of astrocytic function, were...

  1. Cyclic ADP ribose-dependent Ca2+ release by group I metabotropic glutamate receptors in acutely dissociated rat hippocampal neurons.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jong-Woo Sohn

    Full Text Available Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (group I mGluRs; mGluR1 and mGluR5 exert diverse effects on neuronal and synaptic functions, many of which are regulated by intracellular Ca(2+. In this study, we characterized the cellular mechanisms underlying Ca(2+ mobilization induced by (RS-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine (DHPG; a specific group I mGluR agonist in the somata of acutely dissociated rat hippocampal neurons using microfluorometry. We found that DHPG activates mGluR5 to mobilize intracellular Ca(2+ from ryanodine-sensitive stores via cyclic adenosine diphosphate ribose (cADPR, while the PLC/IP(3 signaling pathway was not involved in Ca(2+ mobilization. The application of glutamate, which depolarized the membrane potential by 28.5±4.9 mV (n = 4, led to transient Ca(2+ mobilization by mGluR5 and Ca(2+ influx through L-type Ca(2+ channels. We found no evidence that mGluR5-mediated Ca(2+ release and Ca(2+ influx through L-type Ca(2+ channels interact to generate supralinear Ca(2+ transients. Our study provides novel insights into the mechanisms of intracellular Ca(2+ mobilization by mGluR5 in the somata of hippocampal neurons.

  2. Lysine and Glutamic Acids as the End Products of Multi-response of Optimized Fermented Medium by Mucor mucedo KP736529.

    Science.gov (United States)

    El-Hersh, Mohammed S; Saber, WesamEldin I A; El-Fadaly, Husain A; Mahmoud, Mohammed K

    Amino acids are important for living organisms, they acting as crucial for metabolic activities and energy generation, wherein the deficiency in these amino acids cause various physiological defects. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of some nutritional factors on the amino acids production by Mucor mucedo KP736529 during fermentation intervals. Mucor mucedo KP736529 was selected according to proteolytic activity. Corn steep liquor and olive cake were used in the fermented medium during Placket-Burman and central composite design to maximize the production of lysine and glutamic acids. During the screening by Plackett-Burman design, olive cake and Corn Steep Liquor (CSL) had potential importance for the higher production of amino acids. The individual fractionation of total amino acids showed both lysine and glutamic as the major amino acids associated with the fermentation process. Moreover, the Central Composite Design (CCD) has been adopted to explain the interaction between olive cake and CSL on the production of lysine and glutamic acids. The model recorded significant F-value, with high values of R 2, adjusted R 2 and predicted R 2 for both lysine and glutamic, indicating the validity of the data. Solving equation for maximum production of lysine recorded theoretical levels of olive cake and CSL, being 2.58 and 1.83 g L -1, respectively, with predicting value of lysine at 1.470 μg mL -1, whereas the predicting value of glutamic acid reached 0.805 mg mL -1 at levels of 2.49 and 1.93 g L -1 from olive cake and CSL, respectively. The desirability function (D) showed the actual responses being 1.473±0.009 and 0.801±0.004 μg mL -1 for lysine and glutamic acids, respectively. The model showed adequate validity to be applied in a large-scale production of both lysine and glutamic acids.

  3. Metabolic control of vesicular glutamate transport and release.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juge, Narinobu; Gray, John A; Omote, Hiroshi; Miyaji, Takaaki; Inoue, Tsuyoshi; Hara, Chiaki; Uneyama, Hisayuki; Edwards, Robert H; Nicoll, Roger A; Moriyama, Yoshinori

    2010-10-06

    Fasting has been used to control epilepsy since antiquity, but the mechanism of coupling between metabolic state and excitatory neurotransmission remains unknown. Previous work has shown that the vesicular glutamate transporters (VGLUTs) required for exocytotic release of glutamate undergo an unusual form of regulation by Cl(-). Using functional reconstitution of the purified VGLUTs into proteoliposomes, we now show that Cl(-) acts as an allosteric activator, and the ketone bodies that increase with fasting inhibit glutamate release by competing with Cl(-) at the site of allosteric regulation. Consistent with these observations, acetoacetate reduced quantal size at hippocampal synapses and suppresses glutamate release and seizures evoked with 4-aminopyridine in the brain. The results indicate an unsuspected link between metabolic state and excitatory neurotransmission through anion-dependent regulation of VGLUT activity. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Clofibrate inhibits the umami-savory taste of glutamate

    OpenAIRE

    Kochem, Matthew; Breslin, Paul A. S.

    2017-01-01

    In humans, umami taste can increase the palatability of foods rich in the amino acids glutamate and aspartate and the 5'-ribonucleotides IMP and GMP. Umami taste is transduced, in part, by T1R1-T1R3, a heteromeric G-protein coupled receptor. Umami perception is inhibited by sodium lactisole, which binds to the T1R3 subunit in vitro. Lactisole is structurally similar to the fibrate drugs. Clofibric acid, a lipid lowering drug, also binds the T1R3 subunit in vitro. The purpose of this study was...

  5. Use of L-Glutamic Acid in a New Enrichment Broth (R-TATP Broth) for Detecting the Presence or Absence of Molds in Raw Ingredients/Personal Care Product Formulations by Using an ATP Bioluminescence Assay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Youjun; English, Donald J

    The present study reports the effects of adding L-glutamic acid to a new enrichment broth designated as R-TATP broth, to promote the growth of slow-growing mold microorganisms such as Aspergillus brasiliensis and Aspergillus oryzae , without interfering in the growth of other types of microorganisms. This L-glutamic acid containing enrichment broth would be particularly valuable in a rapid microbial detection assay such as an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence assay. By using this new enrichment broth, the amount of ATP (represented as relative light unit ratio after normalized with the negative test control) from mold growth was significantly increased by reducing the time of detection of microbial contamination in a raw ingredient or personal care product formulation from an incubation period of 48-18 h. By using L-glutamic acid in this enrichment broth, the lag phase of the mold growth cycle was shortened. In response to various concentrations of L-glutamic acid in R-TATP broth, there was an increased amount of ATP that had been produced by mold metabolism in an ATP bioluminescence assay. By using L-glutamic acid in R-TATP broth in an ATP bioluminescence assay, the presence of mold could be detected in 18 h as well as other types of microorganisms that may or may not be present in a test sample. By detecting the presence or absence of microbial contamination in 18 h, it is superior in comparison to a 48-96 h incubation period by using either a standard or rapid detection method.

  6. Development of Jerusalem artichoke resource for efficient one-step fermentation of poly-(γ-glutamic acid) using a novel strain Bacillus amyloliquefaciens NX-2S.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qiu, Yibin; Sha, Yuanyuan; Zhang, Yatao; Xu, Zongqi; Li, Sha; Lei, Peng; Xu, Zheng; Feng, Xiaohai; Xu, Hong

    2017-09-01

    This study aimed to develop non-food fermentation for the cost-effective production of poly-(γ-glutamic acid) (γ-PGA) using a novel strain of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens NX-2S. The new isolate assimilated inulin more efficiently than other carbohydrates from Jerusalem artichoke, without hydrolytic treatment. To investigate the effect of inulin on γ-PGA production, the transcript levels of γ-PGA synthetase genes (pgsB, pgsC, pgsA), regulatory genes (comA, degQ, degS), and the glutamic acid biosynthesis gene (glnA) were analyzed; inulin addition upregulated these key genes. Without exogenous glutamate, strain NX-2S could produce 6.85±0.22g/L of γ-PGA during fermentation. Exogenous glutamate greatly enhances the γ-PGA yield (39.4±0.38g/L) and productivity (0.43±0.05g/L/h) in batch fermentation. Our study revealed a potential method of non-food fermentation to produce high-value products. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  7. Salt equivalence and temporal dominance of sensations of different sodium chloride substitutes in butter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Souza, Vanessa Rios; Freire, Tassyana Vieira Marques; Saraiva, Carla Gonçalves; de Deus Souza Carneiro, João; Pinheiro, Ana Carla Marques; Nunes, Cleiton Antônio

    2013-08-01

    Studies indicate a positive association between dietary salt intake and some diseases, which has promoted the tendency to reduce the sodium in foods. The objective of this study was to determine the equivalent amount of different sodium chloride replacements required to promote the same degree of ideal saltiness in butter and to study the sensory profile of sodium chloride and the substitutes using the analysis of Temporal Dominance of Sensations (TDS). Using the magnitude estimation method, it was determined that the potencies of potassium chloride, monosodium glutamate and potassium phosphate relative to the 1% sodium chloride in butter are 83·33, 31·59 and 33·32, respectively. Regarding the sensory profile of the tested salt substitutes, a bitter taste was perceived in the butter with potassium chloride, a sour taste was perceived in the butter with potassium phosphate and sweet and umami tastes were dominant in the butter with monosodium glutamate. Of all the salt substitutes tested calcium lactate, potassium lactate, calcium chloride and magnesium chloride were impractical to use in butter.

  8. [Effect of IV hydration with sodium bicarbonate on high-dose methotrexate disposition kinetics].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsuda, N; Goto, M; Konishi, H; Yamashina, H

    1984-04-01

    Following two-compartment kinetic analysis, the effect of loading of transfusion with sodium bicarbonate on methotrexate disposition was investigated in 13 cases with malignant tumor, being treated with high-dose methotrexate. The mean values of total body clearance, when administered at doses 50 mg and 100 mg per kg body weight, were 0.369 and 0.402 (l/h) per kg, respectively. No significant relationship was observed between alpha value and total amount of transfusion, of urine or dosage of sodium bicarbonate. The other kinetic parameters on elimination, beta value, K10 and total body clearance, did not also correlate with those values described above. These results suggest that the elimination profile of methotrexate show linear kinetics, and that massive administration of transfusion with sodium bicarbonate be not necessary if pH value of urine exceeds 7.0.

  9. Potentiation of insulin release in response to amino acid methyl esters correlates to activation of islet glutamate dehydrogenase activity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kofod, Hans; Lernmark, A; Hedeskov, C J

    1986-01-01

    Column perifusion of mouse pancreatic islets was used to study the ability of amino acids and their methyl esters to influence insulin release and activate islet glutamate dehydrogenase activity. In the absence of L-glutamine, L-serine and the methyl ester of L-phenylalanine, but neither L...... glutamate dehydrogenase activity showed that only the two methyl esters of L-phenylalanine and L-serine activated the enzyme. It is concluded that the mechanism by which methyl esters of amino acids potentiate insulin release is most likely to be mediated by the activation of pancreatic beta-cell glutamate...

  10. Topography of the high-affinity lysine binding site of plasminogen as defined with a specific antibody probe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miles, L.A.; Plow, E.F.

    1986-01-01

    An antibody population that reacted with the high-affinity lysine binding site of human plasminogen was elicited by immunizing rabbits with an elastase degradation product containing kringles 1-3 (EDP I). This antibody was immunopurified by affinity chromatography on plasminogen-Sepharose and elution with 0.2 M 6-aminohexanoic acid. The eluted antibodies bound [ 125 I]EDP I, [ 125 I]Glu-plasminogen, and [ 125 I]Lys-plasminogen in radioimmunoassays, and binding of each ligand was at least 99% inhibited by 0.2 M 6-aminohexanoic acid. The concentrations for 50% inhibition of [ 125 I]EDP I binding by tranexamic acid, 6-aminohexanoic acid, and lysine were 2.6, 46, and l730 μM, respectively. Similar values were obtained with plasminogen and suggested that an unoccupied high-affinity lysine binding site was required for antibody recognition. The antiserum reacted exclusively with plasminogen derivatives containing the EDP I region and did not react with those lacking an EDP I region, or with tissue plasminogen activator or prothrombin, which also contains kringles. By immunoblotting analyses, a chymotryptic degradation product of M/sub r/ 20,000 was derived from EDP I that retained reactivity with the antibody. α 2 -Antiplasmin inhibited the binding of radiolabeled EDP I, Glu-plasminogen, or Lys-plasminogen by the antiserum, suggesting that the recognized site is involved in the noncovalent interaction of the inhibitor with plasminogen. The binding of [ 125 I]EDP I to fibrin was also inhibited by the antiserum. The observations provide independent evidence for the role of the high-affinity lysine binding site in the functional interactions of plasminogen with its primary substrate and inhibitor

  11. Temperature dependence on sodium-water chemical reaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tamura, Kenta; Deguchi, Yoshihiro; Suzuki, Koichi; Takata, Takashi; Yamaguchi, Akira; Kikuchi, Shin; Ohshima, Hiroyuki

    2012-01-01

    In a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), liquid sodium is used as a heat transfer fluid because of its excellent heat transport capability. On the other hand, it has strong chemical reactivity with water vapor. One of the design basis accidents of the SFR is the water leakage into the liquid sodium flow by a breach of heat transfer tubes. This process ends up damages on the heat transport equipment in the SFR. Therefore, the study on sodium-water chemical reactions is of paramount importance for security reasons. This study aims to clarify the sodium-water reaction mechanisms using laser diagnostics. A quasi one-dimensional flame model is also applied to a sodium-water counter-flow reaction field. Temperature, H 2 , H 2 O, OH, Na and Particulate matter were measured using laser induced fluorescence and CARS in the counter-flow reaction field. The temperature of the reaction field was also modified to reduce the condensation of Na in the reaction zone. (author)

  12. Investigation of the L-Glutamic acid polymorphism: Comparison between stirred and stagnant conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tahri, Yousra; Gagnière, Emilie; Chabanon, Elodie; Bounahmidi, Tijani; Mangin, Denis

    2016-02-01

    This work highlights the effect of the stirring, the temperature and the supersaturation on the cooling crystallization of L-Glutamic acid (LGlu) polymorphs. First, solubility measurements of the metastable polymorph α and the stable polymorph β were performed. Then, crystallization experiments were carried out in stirred vessel and in stagnant cell. All these experiments were monitored by in situ devices. The effect of the temperature on the LGlu polymorphs was found to be more relevant than the supersaturation in the stirred crystallizer. In the stagnant cell, only the stable form β crystallized regardless of the operating conditions. Moreover, an unexpected and new habit of the β form was discovered and confirmed. These results suggest that the temperature and the stirring can strongly affect the nucleation and the growth kinetics of polymorphic forms.

  13. l-Glutamic acid assisted eco-friendly one-pot synthesis of sheet-assembled platinum-palladium alloy networks for methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction reactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Ya-Cheng; Mei, Li-Ping; Wang, Ai-Jun; Yuan, Tao; Chen, Sai-Sai; Feng, Jiu-Ju

    2017-10-15

    In this work, bimetallic platinum-palladium sheet-assembled alloy networks (PtPd SAANs) were facilely synthesized by an eco-friendly one-pot aqueous approach under the guidance of l-glutamic acid at room temperature, without any additive, seed, toxic or organic solvent involved. l-Glutamic acid was served as the green shape-director and weak-stabilizing agent. A series of characterization techniques were employed to examine the morphology, structure and formation mechanism of the product. The architectures exhibited improved electrocatalytic activity and durable ability toward methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in contrast with commercial Pt black and Pd black catalysts. This is ascribed to the unique structures of the obtained PtPd SAANs and the synergistic effects of the bimetals. These results demonstrate the potential application of the prepared catalyst in fuel cells. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. The role of CH/π interactions in the high affinity binding of streptavidin and biotin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozawa, Motoyasu; Ozawa, Tomonaga; Nishio, Motohiro; Ueda, Kazuyoshi

    2017-08-01

    The streptavidin-biotin complex has an extraordinarily high affinity (Ka: 10 15 mol -1 ) and contains one of the strongest non-covalent interactions known. This strong interaction is widely used in biological tools, including for affinity tags, detection, and immobilization of proteins. Although hydrogen bond networks and hydrophobic interactions have been proposed to explain this high affinity, the reasons for it remain poorly understood. Inspired by the deceased affinity of biotin observed for point mutations of streptavidin at tryptophan residues, we hypothesized that a CH/π interaction may also contribute to the strong interaction between streptavidin and biotin. CH/π interactions were explored and analyzed at the biotin-binding site and at the interface of the subunits by the fragment molecular orbital method (FMO) and extended applications: PIEDA and FMO4. The results show that CH/π interactions are involved in the high affinity for biotin at the binding site of streptavidin. We further suggest that the involvement of CH/π interactions at the subunit interfaces and an extended CH/π network play more critical roles in determining the high affinity, rather than involvement at the binding site. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Identification of high- and low-affinity NGF receptors during development of the chicken central nervous system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Escandon, E.; Chao, M.V.

    1990-01-01

    In order to study regulation of the nerve growth factor (NGF) receptor during embryogenesis in chick brain, we have used affinity crosslinking of tissues with 125 I-NGF. NGF interacts with high- and low-affinity receptors; high-affinity receptors are required for the majority of NGF's actions. Most measurements of receptor levels do not distinguish between high- and low-affinity forms of the receptor. We have used the lipophilic crosslinking agent HSAB to identify the high-affinity, functional receptor during development of the chicken central nervous system. A peak of expression during Embryonic Days 5-10 was detected in all regions of the chicken central nervous system, but, shortly after birth, only the cerebellar region displays significant levels of NGF receptor protein. The time course of expression confirms the dramatic regulation of the NGF receptor gene during defined embryonic periods. The detection of high-affinity NGF receptors in brain and neural retina provides strong evidence that NGF is involved in essential ontogenetic events in the development of the chicken central nervous system

  16. [Determination of glutamic acid in biological material by capillary electrophoresis].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narezhnaya, E; Krukier, I; Avrutskaya, V; Degtyareva, A; Igumnova, E A

    2015-01-01

    The conditions for the identification and determination of Glutamic acid by capillary zone electrophoresis without their preliminary derivatization have been optimized. The effect of concentration of buffer electrolyte and pH on determination of Glutamic acid has been investigated. It is shown that the 5 Mm borate buffer concentration and a pH 9.15 are optimal. Quantitative determination of glutamic acid has been carried out using a linear dependence between the concentration of the analyte and the area of the peak. The accuracy and reproducibility of the determination are confirmed by the method "introduced - found". Glutamic acid has been determined in the placenta homogenate. The duration of analysis doesn't exceed 30 minutes. The results showed a decrease in the level of glutamic acid in cases of pregnancy complicated by placental insufficiency compared with the physiological, and this fact allows to consider the level of glutamic acid as a possible marker of complicated pregnancy.

  17. A new organic reference material, L-glutamic acid, USGS41a, for δ13C and δ15N measurements − a replacement for USGS41

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qi, Haiping; Coplen, Tyler B.; Mroczkowski, Stanley J.; Brand, Willi A.; Brandes, Lauren; Geilmann, Heike; Schimmelmann, Arndt

    2016-01-01

    RationaleThe widely used l-glutamic acid isotopic reference material USGS41, enriched in both 13C and 15N, is nearly exhausted. A new material, USGS41a, has been prepared as a replacement for USGS41.MethodsUSGS41a was prepared by dissolving analytical grade l-glutamic acid enriched in 13C and 15N together with l-glutamic acid of normal isotopic composition. The δ13C and δ15N values of USGS41a were directly or indirectly normalized with the international reference materials NBS 19 calcium carbonate (δ13CVPDB = +1.95 mUr, where milliurey = 0.001 = 1 ‰), LSVEC lithium carbonate (δ13CVPDB = −46.6 mUr), and IAEA-N-1 ammonium sulfate (δ15NAir = +0.43 mUr) and USGS32 potassium nitrate (δ15N = +180 mUr exactly) by on-line combustion, continuous-flow isotope-ratio mass spectrometry, and off-line dual-inlet isotope-ratio mass spectrometry.ResultsUSGS41a is isotopically homogeneous; the reproducibility of δ13C and δ15N is better than 0.07 mUr and 0.09 mUr, respectively, in 200-μg amounts. It has a δ13C value of +36.55 mUr relative to VPDB and a δ15N value of +47.55 mUr relative to N2 in air. USGS41 was found to be hydroscopic, probably due to the presence of pyroglutamic acid. Experimental results indicate that the chemical purity of USGS41a is substantially better than that of USGS41.ConclusionsThe new isotopic reference material USGS41a can be used with USGS40 (having a δ13CVPDB value of −26.39 mUr and a δ15NAir value of −4.52 mUr) for (i) analyzing local laboratory isotopic reference materials, and (ii) quantifying drift with time, mass-dependent isotopic fractionation, and isotope-ratio-scale contraction for isotopic analysis of biological and organic materials. Published in 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

  18. Toxic metals (Ni2+, Pb2+, Hg2+) binding affinity of dissolved organic matter (DOM) derived from different ages municipal landfill leachate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rikta, S. Y.; Tareq, Shafi M.; Uddin, M. Khabir

    2018-03-01

    Solid waste production is rapidly increasing in Bangladesh and landfill leachate is the consequence of the decomposition of this waste. These leachates contain heavy metals and significant amount of dissolved organic matter (DOM). DOM is known to have considerable role in heavy metals speciation. Hence, it is important to characterize DOM/leachate and evaluate toxic metals binding affinity of DOM. The objectives of this study were to characterize the DOM in landfill leachate through physico-chemical and optical analyses and to investigate the toxic metals (Ni2+, Pb2+ and Hg2+) binding affinity of three different ages (fresh sample L-1, young sample L-2 and mature sample L-3) DOM samples. Results suggested that leachate is a potential pollutant which contained very high organic pollutant load. Conditional stability constant (Log K) and percentages of fluorophores that correspond to metal binding (% f) values indicated that young DOM sample (L-2) had the highest binding affinity to all the three metals ions. In general, DOM samples showed the following order affinity to the metal ions; Ni2+ binding affinity: L-2 > L-3 > L-1, Pb2+ binding affinity: L-2 > L-3 > L-1 and Hg2+ binding affinity: L-2 > L-1 > L-3.

  19. A multiplex microplatform for the detection of multiple DNA methylation events using gold-DNA affinity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sina, Abu Ali Ibn; Foster, Matthew Thomas; Korbie, Darren; Carrascosa, Laura G; Shiddiky, Muhammad J A; Gao, Jing; Dey, Shuvashis; Trau, Matt

    2017-10-07

    We report a new multiplexed strategy for the electrochemical detection of regional DNA methylation across multiple regions. Using the sequence dependent affinity of bisulfite treated DNA towards gold surfaces, the method integrates the high sensitivity of a micro-fabricated multiplex device comprising a microarray of gold electrodes, with the powerful multiplexing capability of multiplex-PCR. The synergy of this combination enables the monitoring of the methylation changes across several genomic regions simultaneously from as low as 500 pg μl -1 of DNA with no sequencing requirement.

  20. Palmitoylethanolamide Inhibits Glutamate Release in Rat Cerebrocortical Nerve Terminals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tzu-Yu Lin

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The effect of palmitoylethanolamide (PEA, an endogenous fatty acid amide displaying neuroprotective actions, on glutamate release from rat cerebrocortical nerve terminals (synaptosomes was investigated. PEA inhibited the Ca2+-dependent release of glutamate, which was triggered by exposing synaptosomes to the potassium channel blocker 4-aminopyridine. This release inhibition was concentration dependent, associated with a reduction in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration, and not due to a change in synaptosomal membrane potential. The glutamate release-inhibiting effect of PEA was prevented by the Cav2.1 (P/Q-type channel blocker ω-agatoxin IVA or the protein kinase A inhibitor H89, not affected by the intracellular Ca2+ release inhibitors dantrolene and CGP37157, and partially antagonized by the cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist AM281. Based on these results, we suggest that PEA exerts its presynaptic inhibition, likely through a reduction in the Ca2+ influx mediated by Cav2.1 (P/Q-type channels, thereby inhibiting the release of glutamate from rat cortical nerve terminals. This release inhibition might be linked to the activation of presynaptic cannabinoid CB1 receptors and the suppression of the protein kinase A pathway.

  1. Effect of sodium bicarbonate and varying concentrations of sodium chloride in brine on the liquid retention of fish (Pollachius virens L.) muscle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Åsli, Magnus; Ofstad, Ragni; Böcker, Ulrike; Jessen, Flemming; Einen, Olai; Mørkøre, Turid

    2016-03-15

    Negative health effects associated with excessive sodium (Na) intake have increased the demand for tasty low-Na products (<2% NaCl) rather than traditional heavily salted fish products (∼20% NaCl). This study investigates the causes of improved yield and liquid retention of fish muscle brined with a combination of salt (NaCl) and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3 ). Water characteristics and microstructure of saithe (Pollachius virens L.) muscle brined in solutions of NaCl and NaHCO3 or NaCl alone were compared using low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) T2 relaxometry, microscopy, salt content, liquid retention and colorimetric measurements. Saithe muscle was brined for 92 h in 0, 30, 60, 120 or 240 g kg(-1) NaCl or the respective solutions with added 7.5 g kg(-1) NaHCO3 . NaHCO3 inclusion improved the yield in solutions ranging from 0 to 120 g kg(-1) NaCl, with the most pronounced effect being observed at 30 g kg(-1) NaCl. The changes in yield were reflected in water mobility, with significantly shorter T2 relaxation times in all corresponding brine concentrations. Salt-dependent microstructural changes were revealed by light microscopy, where NaHCO3 supplementation resulted in greater intracellular space at 30 and 60 g kg(-1) NaCl. Sodium bicarbonate addition to low-salt solutions can improve yield and flesh quality of fish muscle owing to altered water mobility and wider space between the muscle cells. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

  2. Influence of the glutamic acid content of the diet on the catabolisc rate of labelled glutamic acid in rats. 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bergner, H.; Wilke, A.; Simon, O.; Wolf, E.

    1984-01-01

    Male rats received in 8 groups of 10 animals each for a period of 7 days 7 synthetic diets and one semisynthetic diet on maintenance requirement level. A L-amino acid mixture corresponding to the pattern of egg protein without glutamic acid was the protein source of the synthetic diets. Glutamic acid was supplemented successively from 0 to 58 mol-% of the total amino acid content. The crude protein source of diet 8 was whole-egg powder. On the 8th day of experiment 5 animals per group were labelled by intragastric infusion with 14 C-glutamic acid. During the following 24 hours the excretion of CO 2 and 14 CO 2 was measured. Throughout the experimental feeding body weight was relative constant, however, when the synthetic diets were fed it was necessary to increase the daily amount of energy from 460 to 480 kJ/kg/sup 0.67/. The relative 14 CO 2 excretion within 24 hours was 68-75 % of the dose. However, the main part of the amount of radioactivity excreted during 24 hours was already found after 4 to 6 hours. Exponential functions calculated from the data of cumulative 14 CO 2 excretion suggest the existence of a fast process of 14 CO 2 formation directly from 14 C-glutamic acid, reaching a plateau within 2 hours and a slow process of oxidation of intermediates of glutamic acid metabolism, causing a continued 14 CO 2 formation even after 24 hours. The oxidation of 14 C-glutamic acid to CO 2 decreased 2 to 14 hours after labelling if the glutamic acid content of the diet increased. The same was found for the specific radioactivity of 14 CO 2 . A storage of intermediates of glutamic acid before degradation was assumed. (author)

  3. The role of glutamate and its receptors in autism and the use of glutamate receptor antagonists in treatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rojas, Donald C.

    2014-01-01

    Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and may be a key neurotransmitter involved in autism. Literature pertaining to glutamate and autism or related disorders (e.g., Fragile X syndrome) is reviewed in this article. Interest in glutamatergic dysfunction in autism is high due to increasing convergent evidence implicating the system in the disorder from peripheral biomarkers, neuroimaging, protein expression, genetics and animal models. Currently, there are no pharmaceutical interventions approved for autism that address glutamate deficits in the disorder. New treatments related to glutamatergic neurotransmission, however, are emerging. In addition, older glutamate-modulating medications with approved indications for use in other disorders are being investigated for re-tasking as treatments for autism. This review presents evidence in support of glutamate abnormalities in autism and the potential for translation into new treatments for the disorder. PMID:24752754

  4. Rich biotin content in lignocellulose biomass plays the key role in determining cellulosic glutamic acid accumulation by Corynebacterium glutamicum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wen, Jingbai; Xiao, Yanqiu; Liu, Ting; Gao, Qiuqiang; Bao, Jie

    2018-01-01

    Lignocellulose is one of the most promising alternative feedstocks for glutamic acid production as commodity building block chemical, but the efforts by the dominant industrial fermentation strain Corynebacterium glutamicum failed for accumulating glutamic acid using lignocellulose feedstock. We identified the existence of surprisingly high biotin concentration in corn stover hydrolysate as the determining factor for the failure of glutamic acid accumulation by Corynebacterium glutamicum . Under excessive biotin content, induction by penicillin resulted in 41.7 ± 0.1 g/L of glutamic acid with the yield of 0.50 g glutamic acid/g glucose. Our further investigation revealed that corn stover contained 353 ± 16 μg of biotin per kg dry solids, approximately one order of magnitude greater than the biotin in corn grain. Most of the biotin remained stable during the biorefining chain and the rich biotin content in corn stover hydrolysate almost completely blocked the glutamic acid accumulation. This rich biotin existence was found to be a common phenomenon in the wide range of lignocellulose biomass and this may be the key reason why the previous studies failed in cellulosic glutamic acid fermentation from lignocellulose biomass. The extended recording of the complete members of all eight vitamin B compounds in lignocellulose biomass further reveals that the major vitamin B members were also under the high concentration levels even after harsh pretreatment. The high content of biotin in wide range of lignocellulose biomass feedstocks and the corresponding hydrolysates was discovered and it was found to be the key factor in determining the cellulosic glutamic acid accumulation. The highly reserved biotin and the high content of their other vitamin B compounds in biorefining process might act as the potential nutrients to biorefining fermentations. This study creates a new insight that lignocellulose biorefining not only generates inhibitors, but also keeps nutrients

  5. hPEPT1 Affinity and Translocation of Selected Gln-Sar and Glu-Sar Dipeptide Derivatives

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Eriksson, A. H.; Elm, Peter L.; Begtrup, Mikael

    2005-01-01

    using 14C-labeled Gly-Sar. Translocation was measured as fluorescence ratios induced by the substrates using the fluorescent probe BCECF and an epifluorescence microscope setup. All compounds showed high affinity to hPEPT1, but only the amides l-Gln(N,N-dimethyl)-Sar and l-Gln(N-piperidinyl)-Sar were...... been suggested. However, these are not necessarily predictive of compounds that are actually translocated by hPEPT1. More information on affinity to and translocation via hPEPT1 of side-chain-modified dipeptides may be gained by conducting a study of selected dipeptide derivatives with variety in size...... translocated by hPEPT1. hPEPT1 is very susceptible to modifications of the N-terminal amino acid side chain of dipeptidomimetic substrates, in terms of achieving compounds with high affinity for the transporter. However, as affinity is not predictive of translocation, derivatization in this position must...

  6. Prostaglandin E(2) stimulates glutamate receptor-dependent astrocyte neuromodulation in cultured hippocampal cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanzgiri, R P; Araque, A; Haydon, P G

    1999-11-05

    Recent Ca(2+) imaging studies in cell culture and in situ have shown that Ca(2+) elevations in astrocytes stimulate glutamate release and increase neuronal Ca(2+) levels, and that this astrocyte-neuron signaling can be stimulated by prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)). We investigated the electrophysiological consequences of the PGE(2)-mediated astrocyte-neuron signaling using whole-cell recordings on cultured rat hippocampal cells. Focal application of PGE(2) to astrocytes evoked a Ca(2+) elevation in the stimulated cell by mobilizing internal Ca(2+) stores, which further propagated as a Ca(2+) wave to neighboring astrocytes. Whole-cell recordings from neurons revealed that PGE(2) evoked a slow inward current in neurons adjacent to astrocytes. This neuronal response required the presence of an astrocyte Ca(2+) wave and was mediated through both N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and non-NMDA glutamate receptors. Taken together with previous studies, these data demonstrate that PGE(2)-evoked Ca(2+) elevations in astrocyte cause the release of glutamate which activates neuronal ionotropic receptors. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

  7. Characterization of high affinity [3H]triazolam binding in rat brain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Earle, M.; Concas, A.; Yamamura, H.I.

    1986-01-01

    The hypnotic Triazolam (TZ), a triazolo (1,4)-benzodiazepine, displays a short physiological half life and has been used for the treatment of insomnia related to anxiety states. Specific binding properties of this recently tritiated TZ were characterized. The authors major objectives were the direct measurement of the temperature dependence and the GABA effect on [ 3 H]TZ binding. Saturation studies showed a shift to lower affinity at 37 0 C (K/sub d/ = 0.25 +/- 0.01 nM at O 0 C; K/sub d/ = 1.46 +/- 0.03 nM at 37 0 C) while the B/sub max/ values remained unchanged (1003 +/- 37 fmoles/mg prot. at 0 0 C and 1001 +/- 43 fmoles/mg prot. at 37 0 C). Inhibition studies showed that [ 3 H]TZ binding displayed no GABA shift at 0 0 C(K/sub i/ 0.37 +/- 0.03 nM/- GABA and K/sub i/ = 0.55 +/- 0.13 nM/+GABA) but a nearly two-fold shift was apparent at 37 0 C (K/sub i/ = 2.92 +/- 0.2 nM/-GABA; K/sub i/ = 1.37 +/- 0.11 mM/+GABA). These results were also confirmed by saturation studies in the presence or absence of GABA showing a shift to higher affinity in the presence of GABA only at 37 0 C. In Ro 15-1788/[ 3 H]TZ competition experiments the presence of GABA did not affect the inhibitory potency of Ro 15-1788 on [ 3 H]TZ binding at both temperatures. In conclusion [ 3 H]TZ binding showed an extremely high affinity for benzodiazepine receptors. In contrast to reported literature, the findings suggest that TZ interacts with benzodiazepine receptors similar to other benzodiazepine agonists

  8. High-pressure sodium lamp

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    1996-01-01

    A high pressure sodium lamp of the invention is provided with a discharge vessel (20) which is enclosed with intervening space (1) by an outer bulb (10), which space contains a gas-fill with at least 70 mol. % nitrogen gas. Electrodes (30a, 30b) are positioned in the discharge vessel (20) and are

  9. Removal of sodium from the component of the sodium purification loop

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Byung Ho; Jeong, Kyung Chai; Jeong, Ji Young; Kim, Jong Man; Choi, Byung Hae; Nam, Ho Yun

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of a cleaning process is to remove the residual sodium adhering to the component walls once it has been properly drained. It is necessary to clean and decontaminate a component, especially the large components of the primary coolant system; such as the intermediate heat exchangers and the primary pump. Improper and inadequate cleaning has in a number of cases resulted in problems in the storage, handling, and reuse of components. Several types of failures due to improper cleaning procedures have been defined in the past. Inadequate and incomplete removal of sodium results in residues which may contain metallic sodium and alkaline compounds such as sodium hydroxide, sodium oxide, sodium carbonate, and various types of alcoholates. Reinsertion of components containing these compounds into a high-temperature sodium system can result in either the intergranular penetration characteristic of a high-oxygen sodium or an accelerated corrosion due to oxygen. The methods used for cleaning sodium equipment depend on the condition and types of equipment to be cleaned and whether the equipment is to be reused. Cleaning methods are needed that will avoid a deleterious local overheating, material surface degradation or deposits, chemical, physical, or mechanical damage, and external effects. This paper discusses a steam-nitrogen gas cleaning method for the routine applications that permits the reuse of the cold trap in sodium

  10. Smooth Approximation l 0-Norm Constrained Affine Projection Algorithm and Its Applications in Sparse Channel Estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    We propose a smooth approximation l 0-norm constrained affine projection algorithm (SL0-APA) to improve the convergence speed and the steady-state error of affine projection algorithm (APA) for sparse channel estimation. The proposed algorithm ensures improved performance in terms of the convergence speed and the steady-state error via the combination of a smooth approximation l 0-norm (SL0) penalty on the coefficients into the standard APA cost function, which gives rise to a zero attractor that promotes the sparsity of the channel taps in the channel estimation and hence accelerates the convergence speed and reduces the steady-state error when the channel is sparse. The simulation results demonstrate that our proposed SL0-APA is superior to the standard APA and its sparsity-aware algorithms in terms of both the convergence speed and the steady-state behavior in a designated sparse channel. Furthermore, SL0-APA is shown to have smaller steady-state error than the previously proposed sparsity-aware algorithms when the number of nonzero taps in the sparse channel increases. PMID:24790588

  11. Effect of quinolinic acid in the nucleus basalis magnocellularis on cortical high-affinity choline uptake

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Metcalf, R.H.; Boegman, R.J.; Quirion, R.; Riopelle, R.J.; Ludwin, S.K.

    1987-08-01

    A transient 45% increase in cortical high-affinity choline uptake (HACU) was observed after an injection of quinolinic acid (QUIN) into the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (nbM) of the rat. This was followed by a steady decline in choline uptake, which resulted in a 46% decrease by day 7. Specific (/sup 3/H)hemicholinium-3 binding to coronal brain sections showed a similar pattern following injections of QUIN into the nbM. The increase in cortical HACU elicited by QUIN appeared to be dose dependent.

  12. Single-step affinity purification for fungal proteomics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Hui-Lin; Osmani, Aysha H; Ukil, Leena; Son, Sunghun; Markossian, Sarine; Shen, Kuo-Fang; Govindaraghavan, Meera; Varadaraj, Archana; Hashmi, Shahr B; De Souza, Colin P; Osmani, Stephen A

    2010-05-01

    A single-step protein affinity purification protocol using Aspergillus nidulans is described. Detailed protocols for cell breakage, affinity purification, and depending on the application, methods for protein release from affinity beads are provided. Examples defining the utility of the approaches, which should be widely applicable, are included.

  13. Polyphenol oxidase activity and antioxidant properties of Yomra apple (Malus communis L.) from Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Can, Zehra; Dincer, Barbaros; Sahin, Huseyin; Baltas, Nimet; Yildiz, Oktay; Kolayli, Sevgi

    2014-12-01

    In this study, firstly, antioxidant and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) properties of Yomra apple were investigated. Seventeen phenolic constituents were measured by reverse phase-high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Total phenolic compounds (TPCs), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) scavenging activities were performed to measure antioxidant capacity. Some kinetic parameters (Km, Vmax), and inhibition behaviors against five different substrates were measured in the crude extract. Catechin and chlorogenic acid were found as the major components in the methanolic extract, while ferulic acid, caffeic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, quercetin and p-coumaric acid were small quantities. Km values ranged from 0.70 to 10.10 mM in the substrates, and also 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl) propanoic acid (HPPA) and L-DOPA showed the highest affinity. The inhibition constant of Ki were ranged from 0.05 to 14.90 mM against sodium metabisulphite, ascorbic acid, sodium azide and benzoic acid, while ascorbic acid and sodium metabisulphite were the best inhibitors.

  14. Novel phosphorus-containing cyclodextrin polymers and their affinity for calcium cations and hydroxyapatite.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wintgens, Véronique; Dalmas, Florent; Sébille, Bernard; Amiel, Catherine

    2013-10-15

    Novel phosphorous-containing β-cyclodextrin (βCD) polymers (CDP) were synthesized easily under "green chemistry" conditions. A simple polycondensation between the hydroxyl groups of βCD and non-toxic sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP) under basic conditions led to soluble, non-reticulated CDPs with molecular weights (Mw) higher than 10(4) g mol(-1), the actual value depending on the NaOH:βCD and STMP:βCD weight ratios. The presence of both βCD and phosphate groups in the polymer allows for strong interactions with amphiphilic probes, such as 1-adamantyl acetic acid, or with divalent cations, such as Ca(2+), whose strengths were characterized by isothermal titration microcalorimetry. The obtained phosphated compounds also display high affinity towards hydroxyapatite (HA), leading to HA nanoparticles that could easily be recovered by CDPs, as demonstrated by transmission electron microscopy and quantitative determination of the total amount of phosphated molecules fixed on HA. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Excess Sodium Tetraphenylborate and Intermediates Decomposition Studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barnes, M.J. [Westinghouse Savannah River Company, AIKEN, SC (United States); Peterson , R.A.

    1998-04-01

    The stability of excess amounts of sodium tetraphenylborate (NaTPB) in the In-Tank Precipitation (ITP) facility depends on a number of variables. Concentration of palladium, initial benzene, and sodium ion as well as temperature provide the best opportunities for controlling the decomposition rate. This study examined the influence of these four variables on the reactivity of palladium-catalyzed sodium tetraphenylborate decomposition. Also, single effects tests investigated the reactivity of simulants with continuous stirring and nitrogen ventilation, with very high benzene concentrations, under washed sodium concentrations, with very high palladium concentrations, and with minimal quantities of excess NaTPB. These tests showed the following.The testing demonstrates that current facility configuration does not provide assured safety of operations relative to the hazards of benzene (in particular to maintain the tank headspace below 60 percent of the lower flammability limit (lfl) for benzene generation rates of greater than 7 mg/(L.h)) from possible accelerated reaction of excess NaTPB. Current maximal operating temperatures of 40 degrees C and the lack of protection against palladium entering Tank 48H provide insufficient protection against the onset of the reaction. Similarly, control of the amount of excess NaTPB, purification of the organic, or limiting the benzene content of the slurry (via stirring) and ionic strength of the waste mixture prove inadequate to assure safe operation.

  16. Excess Sodium Tetraphenylborate and Intermediates Decomposition Studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barnes, M.J.; Peterson, R.A.

    1998-04-01

    The stability of excess amounts of sodium tetraphenylborate (NaTPB) in the In-Tank Precipitation (ITP) facility depends on a number of variables. Concentration of palladium, initial benzene, and sodium ion as well as temperature provide the best opportunities for controlling the decomposition rate. This study examined the influence of these four variables on the reactivity of palladium-catalyzed sodium tetraphenylborate decomposition. Also, single effects tests investigated the reactivity of simulants with continuous stirring and nitrogen ventilation, with very high benzene concentrations, under washed sodium concentrations, with very high palladium concentrations, and with minimal quantities of excess NaTPB. These tests showed the following.The testing demonstrates that current facility configuration does not provide assured safety of operations relative to the hazards of benzene (in particular to maintain the tank headspace below 60 percent of the lower flammability limit (lfl) for benzene generation rates of greater than 7 mg/(L.h)) from possible accelerated reaction of excess NaTPB. Current maximal operating temperatures of 40 degrees C and the lack of protection against palladium entering Tank 48H provide insufficient protection against the onset of the reaction. Similarly, control of the amount of excess NaTPB, purification of the organic, or limiting the benzene content of the slurry (via stirring) and ionic strength of the waste mixture prove inadequate to assure safe operation

  17. Inhibiting Src family tyrosine kinase activity blocks glutamate signalling to ERK1/2 and Akt/PKB but not JNK in cultured striatal neurones.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crossthwaite, Andrew J; Valli, Haseeb; Williams, Robert J

    2004-03-01

    Glutamate receptor activation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase signalling cascades has been implicated in diverse neuronal functions such as synaptic plasticity, development and excitotoxicity. We have previously shown that Ca2+-influx through NMDA receptors in cultured striatal neurones mediates the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and Akt/protein kinase B (PKB) through a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase)-dependent pathway. Exposing neurones to the Src family tyrosine kinase inhibitor PP2, but not the inactive analogue PP3, inhibited NMDA receptor-induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and Akt/PKB in a concentration-dependent manner, and reduced cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation. To establish a link between Src family tyrosine kinase-mediated phosphorylation and PI 3-kinase signalling, affinity precipitation experiments were performed with the SH2 domains of the PI 3-kinase regulatory subunit p85. This revealed a Src-dependent phosphorylation of a focal adhesion kinase (FAK)-p85 complex on glutamate stimulation. Demonstrating that PI3-kinase is not ubiquitously involved in NMDA receptor signal transduction, the PI 3-kinase inhibitors wortmannin and LY294002 did not prevent NMDA receptor Ca2+-dependent phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1/2 (JNK1/2). Further, inhibiting Src family kinases increased NMDA receptor-dependent JNK1/2 phosphorylation, suggesting that Src family kinase-dependent cascades may physiologically limit signalling to JNK. These results demonstrate that Src family tyrosine kinases and PI3-kinase are pivotal regulators of NMDA receptor signalling to ERK/Akt and JNK in striatal neurones.

  18. D-aspartate and NMDA, but not L-aspartate, block AMPA receptors in rat hippocampal neurons

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gong, Xiang-Qun; Frandsen, Anne; Lu, Wei-Yang

    2005-01-01

    1 The amino acid, D-aspartate, exists in the mammalian brain and is an agonist at the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) subtype of ionotropic glutamate receptors. Here, for the first time, we studied the actions of D-aspartate on alpha-amino-3-hydroxyl-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate receptors (AMPARs......) in acutely isolated rat hippocampal neurons. 2 In the presence of the NMDA receptor channel blocker, MK801, D-aspartate inhibited kainate-induced AMPAR current in hippocampal neurons. The inhibitory action of D-aspartate on kainate-induced AMPAR current was concentration-dependent and was voltage......-independent in the tested voltage range (-80 to +60 mV). 3 The estimated EC50 of the L-glutamate-induced AMPAR current was increased in the presence of D-aspartate, while the estimated maximum L-glutamate-induced AMPAR current was not changed. D-aspartate concentration-dependently shifted the dose-response curve of kainate...

  19. Molecular basis of a high affinity murine interleukin-5 receptor.

    OpenAIRE

    Devos, R; Plaetinck, G; Van der Heyden, J; Cornelis, S; Vandekerckhove, J; Fiers, W; Tavernier, J

    1991-01-01

    The mouse interleukin-5 receptor (mIL-5R) consists of two components one of which, the mIL-5R alpha-chain, binds mIL-5 with low affinity. Recently we demonstrated that monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) recognizing the second mIL-5R beta-chain, immunoprecipitate a p130-140 protein doublet which corresponds to the mIL-3R and the mIL-3R-like protein, the latter chain for which so far no ligand has been identified. In this study we show that a high affinity mIL-5R can be reconstituted on COS1 cells by...

  20. 3 alpha 5 beta-Pregnanolone glutamate, a use-dependent NMDA antagonist, reversed spatial learning deficit in an animal model of schizophrenia

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Valeš, Karel; Rambousek, Lukáš; Holubová, Kristína; Svoboda, Jan; Bubeníková-Valešová, V.; Chodounská, Hana; Vyklický ml., Ladislav; Stuchlík, Aleš

    2012-01-01

    Roč. 235, č. 1 (2012), s. 82-88 ISSN 0166-4328 R&D Projects: GA MZd(CZ) NS10365 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50110509 Institutional support: RVO:67985823 ; RVO:61388963 Keywords : schizophrenia-like behavior * MK-801 * use-dependent * NMDA antagonist * anxiety * pregnanolone glutamate * Carousel maze Subject RIV: FH - Neurology Impact factor: 3.327, year: 2012

  1. Dendrite-Free Sodium-Metal Anodes for High-Energy Sodium-Metal Batteries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Bing; Li, Peng; Zhang, Jinqiang; Wang, Dan; Munroe, Paul; Wang, Chengyin; Notten, Peter H L; Wang, Guoxiu

    2018-05-31

    Sodium (Na) metal is one of the most promising electrode materials for next-generation low-cost rechargeable batteries. However, the challenges caused by dendrite growth on Na metal anodes restrict practical applications of rechargeable Na metal batteries. Herein, a nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbon nanotube (NSCNT) paper is used as the interlayer to control Na nucleation behavior and suppress the Na dendrite growth. The N- and S-containing functional groups on the carbon nanotubes induce the NSCNTs to be highly "sodiophilic," which can guide the initial Na nucleation and direct Na to distribute uniformly on the NSCNT paper. As a result, the Na-metal-based anode (Na/NSCNT anode) exhibits a dendrite-free morphology during repeated Na plating and striping and excellent cycling stability. As a proof of concept, it is also demonstrated that the electrochemical performance of sodium-oxygen (Na-O 2 ) batteries using the Na/NSCNT anodes show significantly improved cycling performances compared with Na-O 2 batteries with bare Na metal anodes. This work opens a new avenue for the development of next-generation high-energy-density sodium-metal batteries. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  2. Determination of glutamine and glutamic acid in mammalian cell cultures using tetrathiafulvalene modified enzyme electrodes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulchandani, A; Bassi, A S

    1996-01-01

    Tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) mediated amperometric enzyme electrodes have been developed for the monitoring of L-glutamine and L-glutamic acid in growing mammalian cell cultures. The detection of glutamine was accomplished by a coupled enzyme system comprised of glutaminase plus glutamate oxidase, while the detection of glutamic acid was carried out by a single enzyme, glutamate oxidase. The appropriate enzyme(s) were immoblized on the Triton-X treated surface of tetrathiafulvalene modified carbon paste electrodes by adsorption, in conjunction with entrapment by an electrochemically deposited copolymer film of 1,3-phenylenediamine and resorcinol. Operating conditions for the glutamine enzyme electrode were optimized with respect to the amount of enzymes immoblized, pH, temperature and mobile phase flow rate for operation in a flow injection (FIA) system. When applied to glutamine and glutamic acid measurements in mammalian cell culture in FIA, the results obtained with enzyme electrodes were in excellent agreement with those determined by enzymatic analysis.

  3. RNase-L regulates the stability of mitochondrial DNA-encoded mRNAs in mouse embryo fibroblasts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chandrasekaran, Krish; Mehrabian, Zara; Li Xiaoling; Hassel, Bret

    2004-01-01

    Accelerated decrease in the levels of mitochondrial DNA-encoded mRNA (mt-mRNA) occurs in neuronal cells exposed either to the excitatory amino acid, glutamate or to the sodium ionophore, monensin, suggesting a role of mitochondrial RNase(s) on the stability of mt-mRNAs. Here we report that in mouse embryo fibroblasts that are devoid of the interferon-regulated RNase, RNase-L, the monensin-induced decrease in the half-life of mt-mRNA was reduced. In monensin (250 nM)-treated RNase-L +/+ cells the average half-life of mt-mRNA, determined after termination of transcription with actinomycin D, was found to be 3 h, whereas in monensin-treated RNase-L -/- cells the half-life of mt-mRNA was >6 h. In contrast, the stability of nuclear DNA-encoded β-actin mRNA was unaffected. Induction of RNase-L expression in mouse 3T3 fibroblasts further decreased the monensin-induced reduction in mt-mRNA half-life to 1.5 h. The results indicate that the RNase-L-dependent decrease in mtDNA-encoded mRNA transcript levels occurs through a decrease in the half-life of mt-mRNA, and that RNase-L may play a role in the stability of mt-mRNA

  4. Bacterial cytolysin during meningitis disrupts the regulation of glutamate in the brain, leading to synaptic damage.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carolin Wippel

    Full Text Available Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcal meningitis is a common bacterial infection of the brain. The cholesterol-dependent cytolysin pneumolysin represents a key factor, determining the neuropathogenic potential of the pneumococci. Here, we demonstrate selective synaptic loss within the superficial layers of the frontal neocortex of post-mortem brain samples from individuals with pneumococcal meningitis. A similar effect was observed in mice with pneumococcal meningitis only when the bacteria expressed the pore-forming cholesterol-dependent cytolysin pneumolysin. Exposure of acute mouse brain slices to only pore-competent pneumolysin at disease-relevant, non-lytic concentrations caused permanent dendritic swelling, dendritic spine elimination and synaptic loss. The NMDA glutamate receptor antagonists MK801 and D-AP5 reduced this pathology. Pneumolysin increased glutamate levels within the mouse brain slices. In mouse astrocytes, pneumolysin initiated the release of glutamate in a calcium-dependent manner. We propose that pneumolysin plays a significant synapto- and dendritotoxic role in pneumococcal meningitis by initiating glutamate release from astrocytes, leading to subsequent glutamate-dependent synaptic damage. We outline for the first time the occurrence of synaptic pathology in pneumococcal meningitis and demonstrate that a bacterial cytolysin can dysregulate the control of glutamate in the brain, inducing excitotoxic damage.

  5. Gastrin receptor characterization: affinity cross-linking of the gastrin receptor on canine gastric parietal cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsumoto, M.; Park, J.; Yamada, T.

    1987-01-01

    The authors applied affinity cross-linking methods to label the gastrin receptor on isolated canine gastric parietal cells in order to elucidate the nature of its chemical structure. 125 I-labeled Leu 15 -gastrin and 125 I-labeled gastrin/sub 2-17/ bound to intact parietal cells and their membranes with equal affinity, and half-maximal inhibition of binding was obtained at an incubation concentration of 3.2 x 10 -10 M unlabeled gastrin. 125 I-gastrin/sub 2-17/ was cross-linked to plasma membranes or intact parietal cells by incubation in disuccinimidyl suberate. The membrane pellets were solubilized with or without dithiothreitol and applied to electrophoresis on 7.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels. Autoradiograms revealed a band of labeling at M/sub r/ 76,000 and labeling of this band was inhibited in a dose-dependent fashion by addition of unlabeled gastrin to the incubation mixture. Dithiothreitol in concentrations as high as 100 mM did not later the electrophoretic mobility of the labeled band. After taking into account the molecular weight of 125 I-gastrin/sub 2-17/, the results suggest that the gastrin receptor on parietal cells is a single protein of M/sub r/ 74,000 without disulfide-linked subunits

  6. Affine LIBOR Models with Multiple Curves

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grbac, Zorana; Papapantoleon, Antonis; Schoenmakers, John

    2015-01-01

    are specified following the methodology of the affine LIBOR models and are driven by the wide and flexible class of affine processes. The affine property is preserved under forward measures, which allows us to derive Fourier pricing formulas for caps, swaptions, and basis swaptions. A model specification...... with dependent LIBOR rates is developed that allows for an efficient and accurate calibration to a system of caplet prices....

  7. Effects of aromatic amino acids on glutamate-induced neuronal cell death

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zafar, Z.; Sumners, C.

    2005-01-01

    Glutamate accumulation is believed to lead to overstimulation of glutamate receptors which results in neuronal death. The protective effects of aromatic amino acids on glutamate induced neuronal cell death were examined using rat cerebral cortical neurons. Neuronal death is quantified by measuring lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) using a spectrophotometric microtiter plate reader (ELISA reader). Neuronal cells were incubated with varying doses of glutamate plus or minus the aromatic amino acid D-Phenylalanine (D-Phe) for different time periods to observe protection against cytotoxicity. Percent cytotoxicity was seen to follow a dose dependent rise with increasing concentrations of glutamate, reaching a plateau at around 100 -500 uM glutamate. Lower levels of cytotoxicity were achieved with cell exposed to D-Phe and Dibromo tyrosine (DBrT). 48-hour experimental runs were also carried out to further investigate the mode of action of D-Phe. It was found that the difference between cytotoxicity levels of control cells and protected cells was higher over longer time. (author)

  8. Inhibition of the Mitochondrial Glutamate Carrier SLC25A22 in Astrocytes Leads to Intracellular Glutamate Accumulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emmanuelle Goubert

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The solute carrier family 25 (SLC25 drives the import of a large diversity of metabolites into mitochondria, a key cellular structure involved in many metabolic functions. Mutations of the mitochondrial glutamate carrier SLC25A22 (also named GC1 have been identified in early epileptic encephalopathy (EEE and migrating partial seizures in infancy (MPSI but the pathophysiological mechanism of GC1 deficiency is still unknown, hampered by the absence of an in vivo model. This carrier is mainly expressed in astrocytes and is the principal gate for glutamate entry into mitochondria. A sufficient supply of energy is essential for the proper function of the brain and mitochondria have a pivotal role in maintaining energy homeostasis. In this work, we wanted to study the consequences of GC1 absence in an in vitro model in order to understand if glutamate catabolism and/or mitochondrial function could be affected. First, short hairpin RNA (shRNA designed to specifically silence GC1 were validated in rat C6 glioma cells. Silencing GC1 in C6 resulted in a reduction of the GC1 mRNA combined with a decrease of the mitochondrial glutamate carrier activity. Then, primary astrocyte cultures were prepared and transfected with shRNA-GC1 or mismatch-RNA (mmRNA constructs using the Neon® Transfection System in order to target a high number of primary astrocytes, more than 64%. Silencing GC1 in primary astrocytes resulted in a reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (Phosphate (NAD(PH formation upon glutamate stimulation. We also observed that the mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC was functional after glucose stimulation but not activated by glutamate, resulting in a lower level of cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP in silenced astrocytes compared to control cells. Moreover, GC1 inactivation resulted in an intracellular glutamate accumulation. Our results show that mitochondrial glutamate transport via GC1 is important in sustaining glutamate homeostasis in

  9. Identification of the glutaminase genes of Aspergillus sojae involved in glutamate production during soy sauce fermentation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ito, Kotaro; Koyama, Yasuji; Hanya, Yoshiki

    2013-01-01

    Glutaminase, an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of L-glutamine to L-glutamate, enhances the umami taste in soy sauce. The Aspergillus sojae genome contains 10 glutaminase genes. In this study, we estimated that approximately 60% of the glutamate in soy sauce is produced through the glutaminase reaction. To determine which glutaminase is involved in soy sauce glutamate production, we prepared soy sauces using single and multiple glutaminase gene disruptants of A. sojae. The glutamate concentration in soy sauce prepared using the ΔgahA-ΔgahB-ΔggtA-Δgls disruptant was approximately 60% lower than that in the control strain, whereas it was decreased by approximately 20-30% in the ΔgahA-ΔgahB disruptant. However, the glutamate concentration was unchanged in the soy sauces prepared using the ΔgahA-ΔggtA-Δgls and ΔgahB-ΔggtA-Δgls disruptants. These results indicate that four glutaminases are involved in glutamate production in soy sauce, and that the peptidoglutaminase activities of GahA and GahB increase the glutamate concentration in soy sauce.

  10. The effect of nucleotides and adenosine on stimulus-evoked glutamate release from rat brain cortical slices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bennett, G C; Boarder, M R

    2000-10-01

    Evidence has previously been presented that P1 receptors for adenosine, and P2 receptors for nucleotides such as ATP, regulate stimulus-evoked release of biogenic amines from nerve terminals in the brain. Here we investigated whether adenosine and nucleotides exert presynaptic control over depolarisation-elicited glutamate release. Slices of rat brain cortex were perfused and stimulated with pulses of 46 mM K(+) in the presence of the glutamate uptake inhibitor L-trans-pyrrolidine-2,4-dicarboxylic acid (0.2 mM). High K(+) substantially increased efflux of glutamate from the slices. Basal glutamate release was unchanged by the presence of nucleotides or adenosine at concentrations of 300 microM. Adenosine, ATP, ADP and adenosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphoshate) at 300 microM attenuated depolarisation-evoked release of glutamate. However UTP, 2-methylthio ATP, 2-methylthio ADP, and alpha,beta-methylene ATP at 300 microM had no effect on stimulated glutamate efflux. Adenosine deaminase blocked the effect of adenosine, but left the response to ATP unchanged. The A(1) antagonist 8-cyclopentyl-1, 3-dipropylxanthine antagonised the inhibitory effect of both adenosine and ATP. Cibacron blue 3GA inhibited stimulus-evoked glutamate release when applied alone. When cibacron blue 3GA was present with ATP, stimulus-evoked glutamate release was almost eliminated. However, this P2 antagonist had no effect on the inhibition by adenosine. These results show that the release of glutamate from depolarised nerve terminals of the rat cerebral cortex is inhibited by adenosine and ATP. ATP appears to act directly and not through conversion to adenosine.

  11. Some problems of leaks in sodium-water steam generator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kozlov, F.A.; Sergeev, G.V.; Sednev, A.R.; Makarov, V.M.

    1976-01-01

    The paper contains data on wastage of steam generator structural materials and high-nickel alloys in the zone of water leakage into sodium as well as investigation results for self-enlargement of water leaks into sodium through defects in these materials. It is shown that the rate of material damage in the zone of sodium-water reaction and in the channel with water leaking-out decreases with increasing nickel content in steels and strongly depends on sodium temperature. The paper presents experimentally obtained dependences of leakage self-enlargement rates on sodium temperature and leakage size

  12. A human stem cell-based model for identifying adverse effects of organic and inorganic chemicals on the developing nervous system

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Buzanska, Leonora; Sypecka, Joanna; Nerini-Molteni, Silvia

    2009-01-01

    (sodium tellurite, methylmercury chloride, cadmium chloride, chlorpyrifos, and L-glutamate) and non-neurotoxic (acetaminophen, theophylline, and D-glutamate) compounds. In addition, we investigated the effect of some compounds on key neurodevelopmental processes like cell proliferation, apoptotic cell...... >> chlorpyrifos >> L-glutamate. Fifty nanomolar methylmercury chloride (MeHgCl) inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in early-stage cells. At the differentiated stage, 1 muM MeHgCl induced selective loss of S100 beta-expressing astrocytic cells. One millimolar L-glutamate did not influence the early...

  13. Blood Glutamate Scavenging: Insight into Neuroprotection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander Zlotnik

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Brain insults are characterized by a multitude of complex processes, of which glutamate release plays a major role. Deleterious excess of glutamate in the brain’s extracellular fluids stimulates glutamate receptors, which in turn lead to cell swelling, apoptosis, and neuronal death. These exacerbate neurological outcome. Approaches aimed at antagonizing the astrocytic and glial glutamate receptors have failed to demonstrate clinical benefit. Alternatively, eliminating excess glutamate from brain interstitial fluids by making use of the naturally occurring brain-to-blood glutamate efflux has been shown to be effective in various animal studies. This is facilitated by gradient driven transport across brain capillary endothelial glutamate transporters. Blood glutamate scavengers enhance this naturally occurring mechanism by reducing the blood glutamate concentration, thus increasing the rate at which excess glutamate is cleared. Blood glutamate scavenging is achieved by several mechanisms including: catalyzation of the enzymatic process involved in glutamate metabolism, redistribution of glutamate into tissue, and acute stress response. Regardless of the mechanism involved, decreased blood glutamate concentration is associated with improved neurological outcome. This review focuses on the physiological, mechanistic and clinical roles of blood glutamate scavenging, particularly in the context of acute and chronic CNS injury. We discuss the details of brain-to-blood glutamate efflux, auto-regulation mechanisms of blood glutamate, natural and exogenous blood glutamate scavenging systems, and redistribution of glutamate. We then propose different applied methodologies to reduce blood and brain glutamate concentrations and discuss the neuroprotective role of blood glutamate scavenging.

  14. Glutamate decarboxylase-dependent acid resistance in Brucella spp.: distribution and contribution to fitness under extremely acidic conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damiano, Maria Alessandra; Bastianelli, Daniela; Al Dahouk, Sascha; Köhler, Stephan; Cloeckaert, Axel; De Biase, Daniela; Occhialini, Alessandra

    2015-01-01

    Brucella is an expanding genus of major zoonotic pathogens, including at least 10 genetically very close species occupying a wide range of niches from soil to wildlife, livestock, and humans. Recently, we have shown that in the new species Brucella microti, the glutamate decarboxylase (Gad)-dependent system (GAD system) contributes to survival at a pH of 2.5 and also to infection in mice by the oral route. In order to study the functionality of the GAD system in the genus Brucella, 47 isolates, representative of all known species and strains of this genus, and 16 strains of the closest neighbor genus, Ochrobactrum, were studied using microbiological, biochemical, and genetic approaches. In agreement with the genome sequences, the GAD system of classical species was not functional, unlike that of most strains of Brucella ceti, Brucella pinnipedialis, and newly described species (B. microti, Brucella inopinata BO1, B. inopinata-like BO2, and Brucella sp. isolated from bullfrogs). In the presence of glutamate, these species were more acid resistant in vitro than classical terrestrial brucellae. Expression in trans of the gad locus from representative Brucella species in the Escherichia coli MG1655 mutant strain lacking the GAD system restored the acid-resistant phenotype. The highly conserved GAD system of the newly described or atypical Brucella species may play an important role in their adaptation to acidic external and host environments. Furthermore, the GAD phenotype was shown to be a useful diagnostic tool to distinguish these latter Brucella strains from Ochrobactrum and from classical terrestrial pathogenic Brucella species, which are GAD negative. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  15. Distribution and ultrastructure of neurons in opossum piriform cortex displaying immunoreactivity to GABA and GAD and high-affinity tritiated GABA uptake

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haberly, L.B.; Hansen, D.J.; Feig, S.L.; Presto, S.

    1987-01-01

    GABAergic neurons have been identified in the piriform cortex of the opossum at light and electron microscopic levels by immunocytochemical localization of GABA and the GABA-synthesizing enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase and by autoradiographic visualization of high-affinity 3 H-GABA uptake. Four major neuron populations have been distinguished on the basis of soma size, shape, and segregation at specific depths and locations: large horizontal cells in layer Ia of the anterior piriform cortex, small globular cells with thin dendrites concentrated in layers Ib and II of the posterior piriform cortex, and multipolar and fusiform cells concentrated in the deep part of layer III in anterior and posterior parts of the piriform cortex and the subjacent endopiriform nucleus. All four populations were well visualized with both antisera, but the large layer Ia horizontal cells displayed only very light 3 H-GABA uptake, thus suggesting a lack of local axon collaterals or lack of high-affinity GABA uptake sites. The large, ultrastructurally distinctive somata of layer Ia horizontal cells receive a very small number of symmetrical synapses; the thin, axonlike dendrites of small globular cells are exclusively postsynaptic and receive large numbers of both symmetrical and asymmetrical synapses, in contrast to somata which receive a small number of both types; and the deep multipolar and fusiform cells receive a highly variable number of symmetrical and asymmetrical synapses on somata and proximal dendrites. Labeled puncta of axon terminal dimensions were found in large numbers in the neuropil surrounding pyramidal cell somata in layer II and in the endopiriform nucleus. Moderately large numbers of labeled puncta were found in layer I at the depth of pyramidal cell apical dendrites with greater numbers in layer Ia at the depth of distal apical segments than in layer Ib

  16. Single-experiment displacement assay for quantifying high-affinity binding by isothermal titration calorimetry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krainer, Georg; Keller, Sandro

    2015-04-01

    Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is the gold standard for dissecting the thermodynamics of a biomolecular binding process within a single experiment. However, reliable determination of the dissociation constant (KD) from a single titration is typically limited to the range 100 μM>KD>1 nM. Interactions characterized by a lower KD can be assessed indirectly by so-called competition or displacement assays, provided that a suitable competitive ligand is available whose KD falls within the directly accessible window. However, this protocol is limited by the fact that it necessitates at least two titrations to characterize one high-affinity inhibitor, resulting in considerable consumption of both sample material and time. Here, we introduce a fast and efficient ITC displacement assay that allows for the simultaneous characterization of both a high-affinity ligand and a moderate-affinity ligand competing for the same binding site on a receptor within a single experiment. The protocol is based on a titration of the high-affinity ligand into a solution containing the moderate-affinity ligand bound to the receptor present in excess. The resulting biphasic binding isotherm enables accurate and precise determination of KD values and binding enthalpies (ΔH) of both ligands. We discuss the theoretical background underlying the approach, demonstrate its practical application to metal ion chelation, explore its potential and limitations with the aid of simulations and statistical analyses, and elaborate on potential applications to protein-inhibitor interactions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Partitioning of L-methionine in aqueous two-phase systems containing poly(propylene glycol) and sodium phosphate salts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salabat, Alireza; Sadeghi, Rahmat; Moghadam, Somayeh Tiani; Jamehbozorg, Bahman

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → Thermodynamics parameters for partitioning of L-methionine in ATPS. → Investigation of different effects on partition coefficient of the amino acid. → Propose the best condition for L-methionine partitioning. - Abstract: The partitioning behavior of L-methionine has been studied in aqueous two-phase systems of (poly(propylene glycol) + sodium phosphate salts + H 2 O) at different temperatures. The salts used were sodium di-hydrogen phosphate (NaH 2 PO 4 ), di-sodium hydrogen phosphate (Na 2 HPO 4 ) and tri-sodium phosphate (Na 3 PO 4 ). The effects of tie line length, salt type, and temperature on the partition coefficient of this amino acid have been studied. In addition, thermodynamic parameters (ΔH o , ΔS o and ΔG o ) as a function of temperature were calculated. The results showed that increasing tie line length led to decreasing of the partition coefficient. We also showed that the partition coefficients of the amino acid in the systems containing Na 3 PO 4 are greater than the other two salts. Moreover, it is verified that increasing temperature led to decreasing the partition coefficient. The experimental partition coefficient data are correlated using a modified virial-type model.

  18. Glutamate may be an efferent transmitter that elicits inhibition in mouse taste buds.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yijen A Huang

    Full Text Available Recent studies suggest that l-glutamate may be an efferent transmitter released from axons innervating taste buds. In this report, we determined the types of ionotropic synaptic glutamate receptors present on taste cells and that underlie this postulated efferent transmission. We also studied what effect glutamate exerts on taste bud function. We isolated mouse taste buds and taste cells, conducted functional imaging using Fura 2, and used cellular biosensors to monitor taste-evoked transmitter release. The findings show that a large fraction of Presynaptic (Type III taste bud cells (∼50% respond to 100 µM glutamate, NMDA, or kainic acid (KA with an increase in intracellular Ca(2+. In contrast, Receptor (Type II taste cells rarely (4% responded to 100 µM glutamate. At this concentration and with these compounds, these agonists activate glutamatergic synaptic receptors, not glutamate taste (umami receptors. Moreover, applying glutamate, NMDA, or KA caused taste buds to secrete 5-HT, a Presynaptic taste cell transmitter, but not ATP, a Receptor cell transmitter. Indeed, glutamate-evoked 5-HT release inhibited taste-evoked ATP secretion. The findings are consistent with a role for glutamate in taste buds as an inhibitory efferent transmitter that acts via ionotropic synaptic glutamate receptors.

  19. Glutamate may be an efferent transmitter that elicits inhibition in mouse taste buds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Yijen A; Grant, Jeff; Roper, Stephen

    2012-01-01

    Recent studies suggest that l-glutamate may be an efferent transmitter released from axons innervating taste buds. In this report, we determined the types of ionotropic synaptic glutamate receptors present on taste cells and that underlie this postulated efferent transmission. We also studied what effect glutamate exerts on taste bud function. We isolated mouse taste buds and taste cells, conducted functional imaging using Fura 2, and used cellular biosensors to monitor taste-evoked transmitter release. The findings show that a large fraction of Presynaptic (Type III) taste bud cells (∼50%) respond to 100 µM glutamate, NMDA, or kainic acid (KA) with an increase in intracellular Ca(2+). In contrast, Receptor (Type II) taste cells rarely (4%) responded to 100 µM glutamate. At this concentration and with these compounds, these agonists activate glutamatergic synaptic receptors, not glutamate taste (umami) receptors. Moreover, applying glutamate, NMDA, or KA caused taste buds to secrete 5-HT, a Presynaptic taste cell transmitter, but not ATP, a Receptor cell transmitter. Indeed, glutamate-evoked 5-HT release inhibited taste-evoked ATP secretion. The findings are consistent with a role for glutamate in taste buds as an inhibitory efferent transmitter that acts via ionotropic synaptic glutamate receptors.

  20. High-level inhibition of mitochondrial complexes III and IV is required to increase glutamate release from the nerve terminal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kilbride Seán M

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The activities of mitochondrial complex III (ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase, EC 1.10.2.2 and complex IV (cytochrome c oxidase EC 1.9.3.1 are reduced by 30-70% in Huntington's disease and Alzheimer's disease, respectively, and are associated with excitotoxic cell death in these disorders. In this study, we investigated the control that complexes III and complex IV exert on glutamate release from the isolated nerve terminal. Results Inhibition of complex III activity by 60-90% was necessary for a major increase in the rate of Ca2+-independent glutamate release to occur from isolated nerve terminals (synaptosomes depolarized with 4-aminopyridine or KCl. Similarly, an 85-90% inhibition of complex IV activity was required before a major increase in the rate of Ca2+-independent glutamate release from depolarized synaptosomes was observed. Inhibition of complex III and IV activities by ~ 60% and above was required before rates of glutamate efflux from polarized synaptosomes were increased. Conclusions These results suggest that nerve terminal mitochondria possess high reserves of complex III and IV activity and that high inhibition thresholds must be reached before excess glutamate is released from the nerve terminal. The implications of the results in the context of the relationship between electron transport chain enzyme deficiencies and excitotoxicity in neurodegenerative disorders are discussed.

  1. High-level inhibition of mitochondrial complexes III and IV is required to increase glutamate release from the nerve terminal

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Kilbride, Sean M

    2011-07-26

    Abstract Background The activities of mitochondrial complex III (ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase, EC 1.10.2.2) and complex IV (cytochrome c oxidase EC 1.9.3.1) are reduced by 30-70% in Huntington\\'s disease and Alzheimer\\'s disease, respectively, and are associated with excitotoxic cell death in these disorders. In this study, we investigated the control that complexes III and complex IV exert on glutamate release from the isolated nerve terminal. Results Inhibition of complex III activity by 60-90% was necessary for a major increase in the rate of Ca2+-independent glutamate release to occur from isolated nerve terminals (synaptosomes) depolarized with 4-aminopyridine or KCl. Similarly, an 85-90% inhibition of complex IV activity was required before a major increase in the rate of Ca2+-independent glutamate release from depolarized synaptosomes was observed. Inhibition of complex III and IV activities by ~ 60% and above was required before rates of glutamate efflux from polarized synaptosomes were increased. Conclusions These results suggest that nerve terminal mitochondria possess high reserves of complex III and IV activity and that high inhibition thresholds must be reached before excess glutamate is released from the nerve terminal. The implications of the results in the context of the relationship between electron transport chain enzyme deficiencies and excitotoxicity in neurodegenerative disorders are discussed.

  2. A role of the transcriptional regulator LldR (NCgl2814) in glutamate metabolism under biotin-limited conditions in Corynebacterium glutamicum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Supkulsutra, Tanyanut; Maeda, Tomoya; Kumagai, Kosuke; Wachi, Masaaki

    2013-01-01

    Corynebacterium glutamicum is a Gram-positive, rod-shaped, aerobic bacterium used for the fermentative production of L-glutamate. LldR (NCgl2814) is known as a repressor for ldhA and lldD encoding lactate dehydrogenases. LdhA is responsible for production of L-lactate, while LldD is for its assimilation. Since L-lactate production was observed as a by-product of glutamate production under biotin-limited conditions, LldR might play a regulatory role in the glutamate metabolism. Here for the first time, we investigated effects of overproduction or deletion of LldR on the glutamate metabolism under biotin-limited conditions in C. glutamicum. It was found that glutamate production under biotin-limited conditions was decreased by overproduction of LldR. In the wild-type cells, L-lactate was produced in the first 24 h and it was re-consumed thereafter. On the other hand, in the overproduced cells, L-lactate was produced like the wild type, but it was not re-consumed. This means that L-lactate assimilation, which is catalyzed by LldD, was suppressed by the overproduction of LldR, but L-lactate production, which is catalyzed by LdhA, was not affected, indicating that LldR mainly controls the expression of lldD but not of ldhA under biotin-limited conditions. This was confirmed by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. From these results, it is suggested that L-lactate metabolism, which is controlled by LldR, has a buffering function of the pyruvate pool for glutamate production.

  3. Rheological behavior of high-concentration sodium caseinate dispersions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loveday, Simon M; Rao, M Anandha; Creamer, Lawrence K; Singh, Harjinder

    2010-03-01

    Apparent viscosity and frequency sweep (G', G'') data for sodium caseinate dispersions with concentrations of approximately 18% to 40% w/w were obtained at 20 degrees C; colloidal glass behavior was exhibited by dispersions with concentration >or=23% w/w. The high concentrations were obtained by mixing frozen powdered buffer with sodium caseinate in boiling liquid nitrogen, and allowing the mixtures to thaw and hydrate at 4 degrees C. The low-temperature G'-G'' crossover seen in temperature scans between 60 and 5 degrees C was thought to indicate gelation. Temperature scans from 5 to 90 degrees C revealed gradual decrease in G' followed by plateau values. In contrast, G'' decreased gradually and did not reach plateau values. Increase in hydrophobicity of the sodium caseinate or a decrease in the effective volume fraction of its aggregates may have contributed to these phenomena. The gelation and end of softening temperatures of the dispersions increased with the concentration of sodium caseinate. From an Eldridge-Ferry plot, the enthalpy of softening was estimated to be 29.6 kJ mol(-1). The results of this study should be useful for creating new products with high concentrations of sodium caseinate.

  4. Effects of surgical and chemical lesions on neurotransmitter candidates in the nucleus accumbens of the rat

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walaas, I; Fonnum, F

    1979-01-01

    The origin of fibers containing different neurotransmitter candidates in the nucleus accumbens of rat brain has been studied with surgical and chemical lesion techniques. Destruction of the medial forebrain bundle decreased the activity of aromatic amino acid decarboxylase by 80% in the nucleus. Cutting of the fornix or a hemitransection decreased the high affinity uptake of glutamate by 45% and the endogenous level of glutamate by 33%. The high affinity uptake of glutamate was concentrated in the synaptosomal fraction and the decrease after the lesion was most pronounced in this fraction. Restricted lesions indicated that fibers in the fimbria/fornix coming from the subiculum were responsible for this part of the glutamate uptake in the nucleus. Local injection of kainic acid into the nucleus was accompanied by a 75% decrease in choline acetyltransferase and a 35% decrease in acetylcholineserase activities, a 70% decrease in glutamate decarboxylase activity and a 60% decrease in the high affinity uptake of ..gamma..-aminobutyrate, a 45% decrease in high affinity glutamate uptake, and no change in aromatic amino acid decarboxylase activity. Performing a lesion of the fornix after kainic acid injection led to an 85% decrease in high affinity glutamate uptake, without further affecting the other neuronal markers. The results indicate that all aminergic fibers to the nucleus accumbens are ascending in the medial forebrain bundle, that the subiculum-accumbens fibers are glutamergic and the nucleus also contains intrinsic glutamergic or aspartergic cells. Cholinergic and ..gamma..-aminobutyrate-containing cells are wholly intrinsic to the nucleus.

  5. Modification of Carboxymethyl Chitosan Film by Blending with Poly(benzyl L-glutamate)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) Copolymer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, G.Z.; Gao, Q.C.; Liu, Y.Y.

    2013-01-01

    A series of water-soluble carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS)/poly(benzyl L-glutamate)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) (PBLG-b-PEG) blend films with various CMCS/PBLG-b-PEG mol ratios were prepared by pervaporation method. Morphologies of CMCS/PBLG-b-PEG blend films were researched by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Thermal, mechanical, and chemical properties of CMCS/PBLG-b-PEG blend films were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), tensile tests, and contact angle tests. It was revealed that the introduction of PBLG-b-PEG segments could greatly affect the morphology and the properties of CMCS films. (author)

  6. Serum sodium and mortality in a national peritoneal dialysis cohort.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ravel, Vanessa A; Streja, Elani; Mehrotra, Rajnish; Sim, John J; Harley, Kevin; Ayus, Juan Carlos; Amin, Alpesh N; Brunelli, Steven M; Kovesdy, Csaba P; Kalantar-Zadeh, Kamyar; Rhee, Connie M

    2017-07-01

    Sodium disarrays are common in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients, and may be associated with adverse outcomes in this population. However, few studies of limited sample size have examined the association of serum sodium with mortality in PD patients, with inconsistent results. We hypothesized that both hypo- and hypernatremia are associated with higher death risk in a nationally representative cohort of US PD patients. We sought to examine the association of serum sodium over time and mortality among 4687 adult incident PD patients from a large US dialysis organization who underwent one or more serum sodium measurements within the first 3 months of dialysis over January 2007 to December 2011. We examined the association of time-dependent and baseline sodium with all-cause mortality as a proxy of short- and long-term sodium-mortality associations, respectively. Hazard ratios were estimated using Cox models with three adjustment levels: minimally adjusted, case-mix adjusted, and case-mix + laboratory adjusted. In time-dependent analyses, sodium levels mortality remained significant for levels mortality risk across all models (ref: 140 to <142 mEq/L). In PD patients, lower time-dependent and baseline sodium levels were independently associated with higher death risk. Further studies are needed to determine whether correction of dysnatremia improves longevity in this population. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of ERA-EDTA. All rights reserved.

  7. Restricting dietary sodium reduces plasma sodium response to exercise in the heat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koenders, E E; Franken, C P G; Cotter, J D; Thornton, S N; Rehrer, N J

    2017-11-01

    Exercise-associated hyponatremia can be life-threatening. Excessive hypotonic fluid ingestion is the primary etiological factor but does not explain all variability. Possible effects of chronic sodium intake are unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether dietary sodium affects plasma sodium concentration [Na + ] during exercise in the heat, when water intake nearly matches mass loss. Endurance-trained men (n = 9) participated in this crossover experiment. Each followed a low-sodium (lowNa) or high-sodium (highNa) diet for 9 days with 24-h fluid intakes and urine outputs measured before experimental trials (day 10). The trials were ≥2 week apart. Trials comprised 3 h (or if not possible to complete, to exhaustion) cycling (55% VO 2max ; 34 °C, 65% RH) with water intake approximating mass loss. Plasma [Na + ], hematocrit, sweat and urine [Na + ], heart rate, core temperature, and subjective perceptions were monitored. Urine [Na + ] was lower on lowNa 24 h prior to (31 ± 24, 76 ± 30 mmol/L, P = 0.027) and during trials (10 ± 10, 52 ± 32 mmol/L, P = 0.004). Body mass was lower on lowNa (79.6 ± 8.5, 80.5 ± 8.9, P = 0.03). Plasma [Na + ] was lower on lowNa before (137 ± 2, 140 ± 3, P = 0.007) and throughout exercise (P = 0.001). Sweat [Na + ] was unaffected by diet (54.5 ± 40, 54.5 ± 23 mmol/L, P = 0.99). Heart rate and core temperature were higher on lowNa (P ≤ 0.001). Despite decreased urinary sodium losses, plasma sodium was lower on lowNa, with decreased mass indicating (extracellular) water may have been less, explaining greater heart rate and core temperature. General population health recommendations to lower salt intake may not be appropriate for endurance athletes, particularly those training in the heat. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  8. Mining Protein Evolution for Insights into Mechanisms of Voltage-Dependent Sodium Channel Auxiliary Subunits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molinarolo, Steven; Granata, Daniele; Carnevale, Vincenzo; Ahern, Christopher A

    2018-02-21

    Voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC) beta (β) subunits have been called the "overachieving" auxiliary ion channel subunit. Indeed, these subunits regulate the trafficking of the sodium channel complex at the plasma membrane and simultaneously tune the voltage-dependent properties of the pore-forming alpha-subunit. It is now known that VGSC β-subunits are capable of similar modulation of multiple isoforms of related voltage-gated potassium channels, suggesting that their abilities extend into the broader voltage-gated channels. The gene family for these single transmembrane immunoglobulin beta-fold proteins extends well beyond the traditional VGSC β1-β4 subunit designation, with deep roots into the cell adhesion protein family and myelin-related proteins - where inherited mutations result in a myriad of electrical signaling disorders. Yet, very little is known about how VGSC β-subunits support protein trafficking pathways, the basis for their modulation of voltage-dependent gating, and, ultimately, their role in shaping neuronal excitability. An evolutionary approach can be useful in yielding new clues to such functions as it provides an unbiased assessment of protein residues, folds, and functions. An approach is described here which indicates the greater emergence of the modern β-subunits roughly 400 million years ago in the early neurons of Bilateria and bony fish, and the unexpected presence of distant homologues in bacteriophages. Recent structural breakthroughs containing α and β eukaryotic sodium channels containing subunits suggest a novel role for a highly conserved polar contact that occurs within the transmembrane segments. Overall, a mixture of approaches will ultimately advance our understanding of the mechanism for β-subunit interactions with voltage-sensor containing ion channels and membrane proteins.

  9. Improving the cell affinity of a poly(D,L-lactide) film modified by grafting collagen via a plasma technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Jianhao; Wang Jue; Tu Mei; Luo Binghong; Zhou Changren

    2006-01-01

    Poly(D,L-lactide) films were surface-modified by grafting collagen via NH 3 plasma to improve cell affinity. The modified films were characterized by IR analysis, contact angle measurement, SEM analysis and collagen quantity determination. It was demonstrated that -NH 2 and collagen were incorporated into the surface of PDLLA films. The hydrophilicity of the PDLLA film increased after NH 3 plasma treatment, but decreased with further collagen modification. More collagen was incorporated into the PDLLA films by a grating method as compared to that with an anchorage treatment. L929 fibroblast cells were used to evaluate the cell affinity of the modified films and control. It was shown that PDLLA films surface-modified by grafting collagen via NH 3 plasma more efficiently enhanced the cells attachment and proliferation than those films modified by collagen anchorage or only NH 3 plasma treatment

  10. Constraints on the affinity term for modeling long-term glass dissolution rates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bourcier, W.L.; Carroll, S.A.; Phillips, B.L.

    1993-11-01

    Predictions of long-term glass dissolution rates are highly dependent on the form of the affinity term in the rate expression. Analysis of the quantitative effect of saturation state on glass dissolution rate for CSG glass (a simple analog of SRL-165 glass), shows that a simple (1-Q/K) affinity term does not match experimental results. Our data at 100 degree C show that the data is better fit by an affinity term having the form (1 - (Q/K) 1 /σ) where σ = 10

  11. Affine coherent states and Toeplitz operators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutníková, Mária; Hutník, Ondrej

    2012-06-01

    We study a parameterized family of Toeplitz operators in the context of affine coherent states based on the Calderón reproducing formula (= resolution of unity on L_2( {R})) and the specific admissible wavelets (= affine coherent states in L_2( {R})) related to Laguerre functions. Symbols of such Calderón-Toeplitz operators as individual coordinates of the affine group (= upper half-plane with the hyperbolic geometry) are considered. In this case, a certain class of pseudo-differential operators, their properties and their operator algebras are investigated. As a result of this study, the Fredholm symbol algebras of the Calderón-Toeplitz operator algebras for these particular cases of symbols are described. This article is part of a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical devoted to ‘Coherent states: mathematical and physical aspects’.

  12. Distinct interactions of Na+ and Ca2+ ions with the selectivity filter of the bacterial sodium channel NaVAb

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ke, Song; Zangerl, Eva-Maria; Stary-Weinzinger, Anna

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Ca 2+ translocates slowly in the filter, due to lack of “loose” knock-on mechanism. ► Identification of a high affinity binding site in Na V Ab selectivity filter. ► Changes of EEEE locus triggered by electrostatic interactions with Ca 2+ ions. -- Abstract: Rapid and selective ion transport is essential for the generation and regulation of electrical signaling pathways in living organisms. In this study, we use molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations to investigate how the bacterial sodium channel Na V Ab (Arcobacter butzleri) differentiates between Na + and Ca 2+ ions. Multiple nanosecond molecular dynamics simulations revealed distinct binding patterns for these two cations in the selectivity filter and suggested a high affinity calcium binding site formed by backbone atoms of residues Leu-176 and Thr-175 (S CEN ) in the sodium channel selectivity filter

  13. Valley dependent transport in graphene L junction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, K. S.

    2018-05-01

    We studied the valley dependent transport in graphene L junctions connecting an armchair lead and a zigzag lead. The junction can be used in valleytronic devices and circuits. Electrons injected from the armchair lead into the junction is not valley polarized, but they can become valley polarized in the zigzag lead. There are Fermi energies, where the current in the zigzag lead is highly valley polarized and the junction is an efficient generator of valley polarized current. The features of the valley polarized current depend sensitively on the widths of the two leads, as well as the number of dimers in the armchair lead, because this number has a sensitive effect on the band structure of the armchair lead. When an external potential is applied to the junction, the energy range with high valley polarization is enlarged enhancing its function as a generator of highly valley polarized current. The scaling behavior found in other graphene devices is also found in L junctions, which means that the results presented here can be extended to junctions with larger dimensions after appropriate scaling of the energy.

  14. Adsorption of Rare Earths(Ⅲ) Using an Efficient Sodium Alginate Hydrogel Cross-Linked with Poly-γ-Glutamate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Shuxia; Wang, Zhiwei; Gao, Yuqian; Zhang, Shimin; Wu, Kun

    2015-01-01

    With the exploitation of rare earth ore, more and more REEs came into groundwater. This was a waste of resources and could be harmful to the organisms. This study aimed to find an efficient adsorption material to mitigate the above issue. Through doping sodium alginate (SA) with poly-γ-glutamate (PGA), an immobilized gel particle material was produced. The composite exhibited excellent capacity for adsorbing rare earth elements (REEs). The amount of La3+ adsorbed on the SA-PGA gel particles reached approximately 163.93 mg/g compared to the 81.97 mg/g adsorbed on SA alone. The factors that potentially affected the adsorption efficiency of the SA-PGA composite, including the initial concentration of REEs, the adsorbent dosage, and the pH of the solution, were investigated. 15 types of REEs in single and mixed aqueous solutions were used to explore the selective adsorption of REEs on gel particles. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy analyses of the SA and SA-PGA gel beads suggested that the carboxyl groups in the composite might play a key role in the adsorption process and the morphology of SA-PGA changed from the compact structure of SA to a porous structure after doping PGA. The kinetics and thermodynamics of the adsorption of REEs were well fit with the pseudo-second-order equation and the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model, respectively. It appears that SA-PGA is useful for recycling REEs from wastewater. PMID:25996388

  15. Solubilization, partial purification, and reconstitution of glutamate- and N-methyl-D-aspartate-activated cation channels from brain synaptic membranes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ly, A.M.; Michaelis, E.K.

    1991-01-01

    L-Glutamate-activated cation channel proteins from rat brain synaptic membranes were solubilized, partially purified, and reconstituted into liposomes. Optimal conditions for solubilization and reconstitution included treatment of the membranes with nonionic detergents in the presence of neutral phospholipids plus glycerol. Quench-flow procedures were developed to characterize the rapid kinetics of ion flux induced by receptor agonists. [ 14 C]Methylamine, a cation that permeates through the open channel of both vertebrate and invertebrate glutamate receptors, was used to measure the activity of glutamate receptor-ion channel complexes in reconstituted liposomes. L-Glutamate caused an increase in the rate of [ 14 C]methylamine influx into liposomes reconstituted with either solubilized membrane proteins or partially purified glutamate-binding proteins. Of the major glutamate receptor agonists, only N-methyl-D-aspartate activated cation fluxes in liposomes reconstituted with glutamate-binding proteins. In liposomes reconstituted with glutamate-binding proteins, N-methyl-D-aspartate- or glutamate-induced influx of NA + led to a transient increase in the influx of the lipid-permeable anion probe S 14 CN - . These results indicate the functional reconstitution of N-methyl-D-aspartate-sensitive glutamate receptors and the role of the ∼69-kDa protein in the function of these ion channels

  16. Effect of Silver Nanoparticles and Sodium Silicate on Vase Life and Quality of Cut Chrysanthemum Dendranthema grandiflorum L. (Flower

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Kazemipour

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Dendranthema grandiflorum L. is one of the widely cultivated flowers around the world for producing of cut flowers. Nanometer-sized silver particles are used in various applications as an anti-microbial compound. This experiment was carried out to study the effects of silver nanoparticles (0, 5, 10 and 20 mg/L and sodium silicate (0, 50, 100 and 150 mg/L on longevity and quality of cut chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflorum L. flowers. A factorial experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with 16 treatments, 3 replications, 48 plots and 192 cut flowers. The cut flowers were pulsed for 24 h with pulse solutions and then transported to 300 mg L-1 8-hidroxy quinoline sulfate and 3% sucrose. The characteristics such as vase life, loss of fresh weight, number of bacterial colonies in stem, lipid peroxidation, and activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD were measured. Results showed that all treatments had positive effects on the vase life of flowers. Pulse solution with 10 mg/L silver nanoparticles and 100 mg/L sodium silicate and interaction between them, increased vase life compared to the control (3.21, 4.46 and 8.50 days, respectively. In addition, the flowers pulsed with silver nanoparticles and sodium silicate exhibited higher activity of SOD, compared to control. The present study showed that using proper concentrations of silver nanoparticles and sodium silicate can enhance the vase life of cut chrysanthemum flowers.

  17. The glutamate receptor GluR5 agonist (S)-2-amino-3-(3-hydroxy-7,8-dihydro-6H-cyclohepta[d]isoxazol-4-yl)propionic acid and the 8-methyl analogue

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Clausen, Rasmus Prætorius; Naur, Peter; Kristensen, Anders Skov

    2009-01-01

    The design, synthesis, and pharmacological characterization of a highly potent and selective glutamate GluR5 agonist is reported. (S)-2-Amino-3-((RS)-3-hydroxy-8-methyl-7,8-dihydro-6H-cyclohepta[d]isoxazol-4-yl)propionic acid (5) is the 8-methyl analogue of (S)-2-amino-3-(3-hydroxy-7,8-dihydro-6H......-cyclohepta[d]isoxazol-4-yl)propionic acid ((S)-4-AHCP, 4). Compound 5 displays an improved selectivity profile compared to 4. A versatile stereoselective synthetic route for this class of compounds is presented along with the characterization of the binding affinity of 5 to ionotropic glutamate receptors (i......GluRs). Functional characterization of 5 at cloned iGluRs using a calcium imaging assay and voltage-clamp recordings show a different activation of GluR5 compared to (S)-glutamic acid (Glu), kainic acid (KA, 1), and (S)-2-amino-3-(3-hydroxy-5-tert-butyl-4-isoxazolyl)propionic acid ((S)-ATPA, 3) as previously...

  18. Glutamate neurotransmission is affected in prenatally stressed offspring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Adrover, Ezequiela; Pallarés, Maria Eugenia; Baier, Carlos Javier

    2015-01-01

    Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that male adult offspring of stressed mothers exhibited higher levels of ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors than control rats. These offspring also showed long-lasting astroglial hypertrophy and a reduced dendritic arborization with syn......Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that male adult offspring of stressed mothers exhibited higher levels of ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors than control rats. These offspring also showed long-lasting astroglial hypertrophy and a reduced dendritic arborization...... with synaptic loss. Since metabolism of glutamate is dependent on interactions between neurons and surrounding astroglia, our results suggest that glutamate neurotransmitter pathways might be impaired in the brain of prenatally stressed rats. To study the effect of prenatal stress on the metabolism...... was not affected it was found that prenatal stress (PS) changed the expression of the transporters, thus, producing a higher level of vesicular vGluT-1 in the frontal cortex (FCx) and elevated levels of GLT1 protein and messenger RNA in the hippocampus (HPC) of adult male PS offspring. We also observed increased...

  19. The sodium coolant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodriguez, G.

    2004-01-01

    The sodium is the best appropriate coolant for the fast neutrons reactors technology. Thus the fast neutrons reactors development is intimately bound to the sodium technology. This document presents the sodium as a coolant point of view: atomic structure and characteristics, sodium impacts on the fast neutron reactors technology, chemical properties of the sodium and the consequences, quality control in a nuclear reactor, sodium treatment. (A.L.B.)

  20. Properties of glutamate-gated ion channels in horizontal cells of the perch retina.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmidt, K F

    1997-08-01

    The effect of two different concentrations of L-glutamate and kainate on the gating kinetics of amino acid-sensitive non-NMDA channels were studied in cultured teleost retinal horizontal cells by single-channel recording and by noise analysis of whole-cell currents. When the glutamate agonist kainate was applied clearly parabolic mean-variance relations of whole-cell membrane currents (up to 3000 pA) indicated that this agonist was acting on one type of channels with a conductance of 5-10 pS. The cells were less sensitive when L-glutamate was used as the agonist and in most cases whole-cell currents amounted to less than 200 pA. The mean-variance relation of glutamate induced currents was complex, indicating that more than one type of channel opening could be involved. Power spectra of whole-cell currents were fitted with two Lorentzians with time constants of approx. 1 and 5-20 msec. Effects on amplitudes and time constants of agonist concentrations are demonstrated. Two categories of unitary events with mean open times of approx. 1 and 7 msec and conductances of approx. 7 and 12 pS, respectively, were obtained in single-channel recordings from cell-attached patches at different concentrations of glutamate in the pipette.

  1. VGLUTs and Glutamate Synthesis—Focus on DRG Neurons and Pain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariana Malet

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The amino acid glutamate is the principal excitatory transmitter in the nervous system, including in sensory neurons that convey pain sensation from the periphery to the brain. It is now well established that a family of membrane proteins, termed vesicular glutamate transporters (VGLUTs, serve a critical function in these neurons: they incorporate glutamate into synaptic vesicles. VGLUTs have a central role both under normal neurotransmission and pathological conditions, such as neuropathic or inflammatory pain. In the present short review, we will address VGLUTs in the context of primary afferent neurons. We will focus on the role of VGLUTs in pain triggered by noxious stimuli, peripheral nerve injury, and tissue inflammation, as mostly explored in transgenic mice. The possible interplay between glutamate biosynthesis and VGLUT-dependent packaging in synaptic vesicles, and its potential impact in various pain states will be presented.

  2. Characterization of a digestive carboxypeptidase from the insect pest corn earworm (Helicoverpa armigera) with novel specificity towards C-terminal glutamate residues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bown, David P; Gatehouse, John A

    2004-05-01

    Carboxypeptidases were purified from guts of larvae of corn earworm (Helicoverpa armigera), a lepidopteran crop pest, by affinity chromatography on immobilized potato carboxypeptidase inhibitor, and characterized by N-terminal sequencing. A larval gut cDNA library was screened using probes based on these protein sequences. cDNA HaCA42 encoded a carboxypeptidase with sequence similarity to enzymes of clan MC [Barrett, A. J., Rawlings, N. D. & Woessner, J. F. (1998) Handbook of Proteolytic Enzymes. Academic Press, London.], but with a novel predicted specificity towards C-terminal acidic residues. This carboxypeptidase was expressed as a recombinant proprotein in the yeast Pichia pastoris. The expressed protein could be activated by treatment with bovine trypsin; degradation of bound pro-region, rather than cleavage of pro-region from mature protein, was the rate-limiting step in activation. Activated HaCA42 carboxypeptidase hydrolysed a synthetic substrate for glutamate carboxypeptidases (FAEE, C-terminal Glu), but did not hydrolyse substrates for carboxypeptidase A or B (FAPP or FAAK, C-terminal Phe or Lys) or methotrexate, cleaved by clan MH glutamate carboxypeptidases. The enzyme was highly specific for C-terminal glutamate in peptide substrates, with slow hydrolysis of C-terminal aspartate also observed. Glutamate carboxypeptidase activity was present in larval gut extract from H. armigera. The HaCA42 protein is the first glutamate-specific metallocarboxypeptidase from clan MC to be identified and characterized. The genome of Drosophila melanogaster contains genes encoding enzymes with similar sequences and predicted specificity, and a cDNA encoding a similar enzyme has been isolated from gut tissue in tsetse fly. We suggest that digestive carboxypeptidases with sequence similarity to the classical mammalian enzymes, but with specificity towards C-terminal glutamate, are widely distributed in insects.

  3. The glutamate/GABA-glutamine cycle

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bak, Lasse K; Schousboe, Arne; Waagepetersen, Helle S

    2006-01-01

    Neurons are metabolically handicapped in the sense that they are not able to perform de novo synthesis of neurotransmitter glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) from glucose. A metabolite shuttle known as the glutamate/GABA-glutamine cycle describes the release of neurotransmitter glutamate...... or GABA from neurons and subsequent uptake into astrocytes. In return, astrocytes release glutamine to be taken up into neurons for use as neurotransmitter precursor. In this review, the basic properties of the glutamate/GABA-glutamine cycle will be discussed, including aspects of transport and metabolism...... of intercellular transfer of ammonia produced in neurons (when glutamine is deamidated to glutamate) and utilized in astrocytes (for amidation of glutamate) when the glutamate/GABA-glutamine cycle is operating. A main objective of this review is to endorse the view that the glutamate/GABA-glutamine cycle must...

  4. Cocaine modulates allosteric D2-σ1 receptor-receptor interactions on dopamine and glutamate nerve terminals from rat striatum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beggiato, Sarah; Borelli, Andrea Celeste; Borroto-Escuela, Dasiel; Corbucci, Ilaria; Tomasini, Maria Cristina; Marti, Matteo; Antonelli, Tiziana; Tanganelli, Sergio; Fuxe, Kjell; Ferraro, Luca

    2017-12-01

    The effects of nanomolar cocaine concentrations, possibly not blocking the dopamine transporter activity, on striatal D 2 -σ 1 heteroreceptor complexes and their inhibitory signaling over Gi/o, have been tested in rat striatal synaptosomes and HEK293T cells. Furthermore, the possible role of σ 1 receptors (σ 1 Rs) in the cocaine-provoked amplification of D 2 receptor (D 2 R)-induced reduction of K + -evoked [ 3 H]-DA and glutamate release from rat striatal synaptosomes, has also been investigated. The dopamine D 2 -likeR agonist quinpirole (10nM-1μM), concentration-dependently reduced K + -evoked [ 3 H]-DA and glutamate release from rat striatal synaptosomes. The σ 1 R antagonist BD1063 (100nM), amplified the effects of quinpirole (10 and 100nM) on K + -evoked [ 3 H]-DA, but not glutamate, release. Nanomolar cocaine concentrations significantly enhanced the quinpirole (100nM)-induced decrease of K + -evoked [ 3 H]-DA and glutamate release from rat striatal synaptosomes. In the presence of BD1063 (10nM), cocaine failed to amplify the quinpirole (100nM)-induced effects. In cotransfected σ 1 R and D 2L R HEK293T cells, quinpirole had a reduced potency to inhibit the CREB signal versus D 2L R singly transfected cells. In the presence of cocaine (100nM), the potency of quinpirole to inhibit the CREB signal was restored. In D 2L singly transfected cells cocaine (100nM and 10μM) exerted no modulatory effects on the inhibitory potency of quinpirole to bring down the CREB signal. These results led us to hypothesize the existence of functional D 2 -σ 1 R complexes on the rat striatal DA and glutamate nerve terminals and functional D 2 -σ 1 R-DA transporter complexes on the striatal DA terminals. Nanomolar cocaine concentrations appear to alter the allosteric receptor-receptor interactions in such complexes leading to enhancement of Gi/o mediated D 2 R signaling. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Intramuscular temperature modulates glutamate-evoked masseter muscle pain intensity in humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, Hitoshi; Castrillon, Eduardo E; Cairns, Brian E; Bendixen, Karina H; Wang, Kelun; Nakagawa, Taneaki; Wajima, Koichi; Svensson, Peter

    2015-01-01

    To determine whether glutamate-evoked jaw muscle pain is altered by the temperature of the solution injected. Sixteen healthy volunteers participated and received injections of hot (48°C), neutral (36°C), or cold (3°C) solutions (0.5 mL) of glutamate or isotonic saline into the masseter muscle. Pain intensity was assessed with an electronic visual analog scale (eVAS). Numeric rating scale (NRS) scores of unpleasantness and temperature perception, pain-drawing areas, and pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) were also measured. Participants filled out the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ). Two-way or three-way repeated measures ANOVA were used for data analyses. Injection of hot glutamate and cold glutamate solutions significantly increased and decreased, respectively, the peak pain intensity compared with injection of neutral glutamate solution. The duration of glutamate-evoked pain was significantly longer when hot glutamate was injected than when cold glutamate was injected. No significant effect of temperature on pain intensity was observed when isotonic saline was injected. No effect of solution temperature was detected on unpleasantness, heat perception, cold perception, area of pain drawings, or PPTs. There was a significantly greater use of the "numb" term in the MPQ to describe the injection of cold solutions compared to the injection of both neutral and hot solutions. Glutamate-evoked jaw muscle pain was significantly altered by the temperature of the injection solution. Although temperature perception in the jaw muscle is poor, pain intensity is increased when the muscle tissue temperature is elevated.

  6. High Performance Affinity Chromatography of Antithrombin III Based on Monodisperse Poly (glycidyl methacrylate) Beads

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2001-01-01

    A new approach for the separation of antithrombin III with high performance affinity chromatography (HPAC) was described. A novel monodisperse,non-porous,cross-linked poly (glycidyl methacrylate) beads (PGMA) were used as the affinity support. With the water-soluble carbodiimide,heparin was linked covalently to amino-PGMA-beads,which was prepared by amination of PGMA. The adsorbent obtained exhibits high binding activity to antithrombin III (ATIII),good resolution and excellent mechanical properties and can be used under high flow rate.

  7. Partitioning of L-methionine in aqueous two-phase systems containing poly(propylene glycol) and sodium phosphate salts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Salabat, Alireza, E-mail: a-salabat@araku.ac.ir [Chemistry Department, Arak University, P.O. Box 38156-879, Arak (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Sadeghi, Rahmat [Department of Chemistry, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Kurdistan 66135 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Moghadam, Somayeh Tiani [Chemistry Department, Arak University, P.O. Box 38156-879, Arak (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Jamehbozorg, Bahman [Department of Chemistry, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Kurdistan 66135 (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2011-10-15

    Highlights: > Thermodynamics parameters for partitioning of L-methionine in ATPS. > Investigation of different effects on partition coefficient of the amino acid. > Propose the best condition for L-methionine partitioning. - Abstract: The partitioning behavior of L-methionine has been studied in aqueous two-phase systems of (poly(propylene glycol) + sodium phosphate salts + H{sub 2}O) at different temperatures. The salts used were sodium di-hydrogen phosphate (NaH{sub 2}PO{sub 4}), di-sodium hydrogen phosphate (Na{sub 2}HPO{sub 4}) and tri-sodium phosphate (Na{sub 3}PO{sub 4}). The effects of tie line length, salt type, and temperature on the partition coefficient of this amino acid have been studied. In addition, thermodynamic parameters ({Delta}H{sup o}, {Delta}S{sup o} and {Delta}G{sup o}) as a function of temperature were calculated. The results showed that increasing tie line length led to decreasing of the partition coefficient. We also showed that the partition coefficients of the amino acid in the systems containing Na{sub 3}PO{sub 4} are greater than the other two salts. Moreover, it is verified that increasing temperature led to decreasing the partition coefficient. The experimental partition coefficient data are correlated using a modified virial-type model.

  8. Characterization and purification of polyphenol oxidase from artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dogan, Serap; Turan, Yusuf; Ertürk, Hatibe; Arslan, Oktay

    2005-02-09

    In this study, the polyphenol oxidase (PPO) of artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) was first purified by a combination of (NH(4))(2)SO(4) precipitation, dialysis, and a Sepharose 4B-L-tyrosine-p-aminobenzoic acid affinity column. At the end of purification, 43-fold purification was achieved. The purified enzyme migrated as a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that PPO had a 57 kDa molecular mass. Second, the contents of total phenolic and protein of artichoke head extracts were determined. The total phenolic content of artichoke head was determined spectrophotometrically according to the Folin-Ciocalteu procedure and was found to be 425 mg 100 g(-1) on a fresh weight basis. Protein content was determined according to Bradford method. Third, the effects of substrate specificity, pH, temperature, and heat inactivation were investigated on the activity of PPO purified from artichoke. The enzyme showed activity to 4-methylcatechol, pyrogallol, catechol, and L-dopa. No activity was detected toward L-tyrosine, resorsinol, and p-cresol. According to V(max)/K(m) values, 4-methylcatechol (1393 EU min(-1) mM(-1)) was the best substrate, followed by pyrogallol (1220 EU min(-1) mM(-1)), catechol (697 EU min(-1) mM(-1)), and L-dopa (102 EU min(-1) mM(-1)). The optimum pH values for PPO were 5.0, 8.0, and 7.0 using 4-methylcatechol, pyrogallol, and catechol as substrate, respectively. It was found that optimum temperatures were dependent on the substrates studied. The enzyme activity decreased due to heat denaturation of the enzyme with increasing temperature and inactivation time for 4-methylcatechol and pyrogallol substrates. However, all inactivation experiments for catechol showed that the activity of artichoke PPO increased with mild heating, reached a maximum, and then decreased with time. Finally, inhibition of artichoke PPO was investigated with inhibitors such as L-cysteine, EDTA, ascorbic

  9. Ultrasensitive direct competitive FLISA using highly luminescent quantum dot beads for tuning affinity of competing antigens to antibodies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xiong, Sicheng; Zhou, Yaofeng; Huang, Xiaolin [State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330047 (China); Yu, Ruijin [College of Science, Northwest A& F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100 (China); Lai, Weihua [State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330047 (China); Xiong, Yonghua, E-mail: yhxiongchen@163.com [State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330047 (China)

    2017-06-15

    Herein, for the first time we report a novel direct competitive fluorescence-linked immunosorbent assay (dcFLISA) for the ultrasensitive detection of ochratoxin A (OTA) by introducing a large size polymer beads loaded with quantum dots (QBs) as carrier of competing antigen for decreasing binding affinity to antibody and enhancing the fluorescent signal intensity. When using 255 nm QBs as carrier of competing antigen, the equilibrium dissociation constant of QB based competing antigen to antibodies can be tuned to 100 times higher than that of the horseradish peroxidase (HRP) based competing antigen by controlling labeled amounts of antigen on the surface of QBs. Various parameters that influenced the sensitivity of dcFLISA were investigated and optimized. Under optimum detection parameters, the dynamic linear range of developed dcFLISA for detecting OTA was established at 0.05 pg/mL to 1.56 pg/mL with a half maximal inhibitory concentration at 0.14 ± 0.04 pg/mL (n = 5), which is three orders of magnitude lower than that of conventional HRP-based dcELISA (0.24 ng/mL). The developed FLISA is also highly accurate, reliable, and shows no cross reaction to other mycotoxins. In summary, the proposed method offers a straightforward approach to improve the sensitivity of direct competitive immunoassay for trace small chemical molecule detection in food quality control, environmental monitoring, and clinical diagnosis. - Highlights: • Highly luminescent QBs were used as a carrier of competing antigen for ultrasensitive detection of OTA. • It is the first time to use a large size QBs as a carrier for tuning affinity of competing antigen to antibodies. • IC{sub 50} value of QB-based dcFLISA is three orders of magnitude lower than that of HRP-based dcELISA.

  10. Ultrasensitive direct competitive FLISA using highly luminescent quantum dot beads for tuning affinity of competing antigens to antibodies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xiong, Sicheng; Zhou, Yaofeng; Huang, Xiaolin; Yu, Ruijin; Lai, Weihua; Xiong, Yonghua

    2017-01-01

    Herein, for the first time we report a novel direct competitive fluorescence-linked immunosorbent assay (dcFLISA) for the ultrasensitive detection of ochratoxin A (OTA) by introducing a large size polymer beads loaded with quantum dots (QBs) as carrier of competing antigen for decreasing binding affinity to antibody and enhancing the fluorescent signal intensity. When using 255 nm QBs as carrier of competing antigen, the equilibrium dissociation constant of QB based competing antigen to antibodies can be tuned to 100 times higher than that of the horseradish peroxidase (HRP) based competing antigen by controlling labeled amounts of antigen on the surface of QBs. Various parameters that influenced the sensitivity of dcFLISA were investigated and optimized. Under optimum detection parameters, the dynamic linear range of developed dcFLISA for detecting OTA was established at 0.05 pg/mL to 1.56 pg/mL with a half maximal inhibitory concentration at 0.14 ± 0.04 pg/mL (n = 5), which is three orders of magnitude lower than that of conventional HRP-based dcELISA (0.24 ng/mL). The developed FLISA is also highly accurate, reliable, and shows no cross reaction to other mycotoxins. In summary, the proposed method offers a straightforward approach to improve the sensitivity of direct competitive immunoassay for trace small chemical molecule detection in food quality control, environmental monitoring, and clinical diagnosis. - Highlights: • Highly luminescent QBs were used as a carrier of competing antigen for ultrasensitive detection of OTA. • It is the first time to use a large size QBs as a carrier for tuning affinity of competing antigen to antibodies. • IC_5_0 value of QB-based dcFLISA is three orders of magnitude lower than that of HRP-based dcELISA.

  11. Robotic high-throughput purification of affinity-tagged recombinant proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiesler, Simone C; Weinzierl, Robert O J

    2015-01-01

    Affinity purification of recombinant proteins has become the method of choice to obtain good quantities and qualities of proteins for a variety of downstream biochemical applications. While manual or FPLC-assisted purification techniques are generally time-consuming and labor-intensive, the advent of high-throughput technologies and liquid handling robotics has simplified and accelerated this process significantly. Additionally, without the human factor as a potential source of error, automated purification protocols allow for the generation of large numbers of proteins simultaneously and under directly comparable conditions. The delivered material is ideal for activity comparisons of different variants of the same protein. Here, we present our strategy for the simultaneous purification of up to 24 affinity-tagged proteins for activity measurements in biochemical assays. The protocol described is suitable for the scale typically required in individual research laboratories.

  12. EPR, optical and superposition model study of Mn2+ doped L+ glutamic acid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kripal, Ram; Singh, Manju

    2015-12-01

    Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) study of Mn2+ doped L+ glutamic acid single crystal is done at room temperature. Four interstitial sites are observed and the spin Hamiltonian parameters are calculated with the help of large number of resonant lines for various angular positions of external magnetic field. The optical absorption study is also done at room temperature. The energy values for different orbital levels are calculated, and observed bands are assigned as transitions from 6A1g(s) ground state to various excited states. With the help of these assigned bands, Racah inter-electronic repulsion parameters B = 869 cm-1, C = 2080 cm-1 and cubic crystal field splitting parameter Dq = 730 cm-1 are calculated. Zero field splitting (ZFS) parameters D and E are calculated by the perturbation formulae and crystal field parameters obtained using superposition model. The calculated values of ZFS parameters are in good agreement with the experimental values obtained by EPR.

  13. Temperature and pressure dependent osmotic pressure in liquid sodium-cesium alloys

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rashid, R.I.M.A.

    1987-01-01

    The evaluation of the osmotic pressure in terms of the concentration fluctuations of mixtures and the equations of state of the pure liquids is considered. The temperature and pressure dependent experimentally measured concentration-concentration correlations in the long wavelength limit of liquid sodium-cesium alloys are used to demonstrate the appreciable dependence of the temperature and pressure on the osmotic pressure as a function of concentration. Introducing interchange energies as functions of temperature and pressure, our analysis is consistent with the Flory model. Thus, a formalism for evaluating the state dependent osmotic pressure is developed and our numerical work is considered to be an extension of the calculations of Rashid and March in the sense that a temperature and pressure dependent interchange energy parameter that more closely parameterizes the state dependent concentration fluctuations in the liquid alloys, is used. (author)

  14. Crystal structure of the sodium-potassium pump (Na+,K+-ATPase) with bound potassium and ouabain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogawa, Haruo; Shinoda, Takehiro; Cornelius, Flemming; Toyoshima, Chikashi

    2009-01-01

    The sodium-potassium pump (Na+,K+-ATPase) is responsible for establishing Na+ and K+ concentration gradients across the plasma membrane and therefore plays an essential role in, for instance, generating action potentials. Cardiac glycosides, prescribed for congestive heart failure for more than 2 centuries, are efficient inhibitors of this ATPase. Here we describe a crystal structure of Na+,K+-ATPase with bound ouabain, a representative cardiac glycoside, at 2.8 Å resolution in a state analogous to E2·2K+·Pi. Ouabain is deeply inserted into the transmembrane domain with the lactone ring very close to the bound K+, in marked contrast to previous models. Due to antagonism between ouabain and K+, the structure represents a low-affinity ouabain-bound state. Yet, most of the mutagenesis data obtained with the high-affinity state are readily explained by the present crystal structure, indicating that the binding site for ouabain is essentially the same. According to a homology model for the high affinity state, it is a closure of the binding cavity that confers a high affinity. PMID:19666591

  15. Crystal structure of the sodium-potassium pump (Na+,K+-ATPase) with bound potassium and ouabain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogawa, Haruo; Shinoda, Takehiro; Cornelius, Flemming; Toyoshima, Chikashi

    2009-08-18

    The sodium-potassium pump (Na(+),K(+)-ATPase) is responsible for establishing Na(+) and K(+) concentration gradients across the plasma membrane and therefore plays an essential role in, for instance, generating action potentials. Cardiac glycosides, prescribed for congestive heart failure for more than 2 centuries, are efficient inhibitors of this ATPase. Here we describe a crystal structure of Na(+),K(+)-ATPase with bound ouabain, a representative cardiac glycoside, at 2.8 A resolution in a state analogous to E2.2K(+).Pi. Ouabain is deeply inserted into the transmembrane domain with the lactone ring very close to the bound K(+), in marked contrast to previous models. Due to antagonism between ouabain and K(+), the structure represents a low-affinity ouabain-bound state. Yet, most of the mutagenesis data obtained with the high-affinity state are readily explained by the present crystal structure, indicating that the binding site for ouabain is essentially the same. According to a homology model for the high affinity state, it is a closure of the binding cavity that confers a high affinity.

  16. Excess Sodium Tetraphenylborate and Intermediates Decomposition Studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barnes, M.J.

    1998-12-07

    The stability of excess amounts of sodium tetraphenylborate (NaTPB) in the In-Tank Precipitation (ITP) facility depends on a number of variables. Concentration of palladium, initial benzene, and sodium ion as well as temperature provide the best opportunities for controlling the decomposition rate. This study examined the influence of these four variable on the reactivity of palladium-catalyzed sodium tetraphenylborate decomposition. Also, single effects tests investigated the reactivity of simulants with continuous stirring and nitrogen ventilation, with very high benzene concentrations, under washed sodium concentrations, with very high palladium concentrations, and with minimal quantities of excess NaTPB.

  17. Purification and characterization of a thermostable glutamate dehydrogenase from a thermophilic bacterium isolated from a sterilization drying oven

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maximiliano J. Amenábar

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Glutamate dehydrogenase from axenic bacterial cultures of anew microorganism, called GWE1, isolated from the interior ofa sterilization drying oven, was purified by anion-exchange andmolecular-exclusion liquid chromatography. The apparent molecularmass of the native enzyme was 250.5 kDa and wasshown to be an hexamer with similar subunits of molecularmass 40.5 kDa. For glutamate oxidation, the enzyme showedan optimal pH and temperature of 8.0 and 70oC, respectively.In contrast to other glutamate dehydrogenases isolated frombacteria, the enzyme isolated in this study can use both NAD+and NADP+ as electron acceptors, displaying more affinity forNADP+ than for NAD+. No activity was detected with NADHor NADPH, 2-oxoglutarate and ammonia. The enzyme was exceptionallythermostable, maintaining more than 70% of activityafter incubating at 100oC for more than five hours suggestingbeing one of the most thermoestable enzymes reported inthe family of dehydrogenases. [BMB reports 2012; 45(2: 91-95

  18. Purification of camel liver catalase by zinc chelate affinity chromatography and pH gradient elution: An enzyme with interesting properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chafik, Abdelbasset; Essamadi, Abdelkhalid; Çelik, Safinur Yildirim; Mavi, Ahmet

    2017-12-01

    Climate change and increasing temperatures are global concerns. Camel (Camelus dromedarius) lives most of its life under high environmental stress in the desert and represent ideal model for studying desert adaptation among mammals. Catalase plays a key role in protecting cells against oxidative stress. For the first time, catalase from camel liver was purified to homogeneity by zinc chelate affinity chromatography using pH gradient elution, a better separation was obtained. A purification fold of 201.81 with 1.17% yield and a high specific activity of 1132539.37U/mg were obtained. The native enzyme had a molecular weight of 268kDa and was composed of four subunits of equal size (65kDa). The enzyme showed optimal activity at a temperature of 45°C and pH 7.2. Thiol reagents, β-Mercaptoethanol and D,L-Dithiothreitol, inhibited the enzyme activity. The enzyme was inhibited by Al 3+ , Cd 2+ and Mg 2+ , whereas Ca 2+ , Co 2+ and Ni 2+ stimulated the catalase activity. Reduced glutathione has no effect on catalase activity. The K m and V max of the enzyme for hydrogen peroxide were 37.31mM and 6185157U/mg, respectively. Sodium azide inhibited the enzyme noncompetitively with K i value of 14.43μM, the IC 50 was found to be 16.71μM. The properties of camel catalase were different comparing to those of mammalian species. Relatively higher molecular weight, higher optimum temperature, protection of reduced glutathione from hydrogen peroxide oxidation and higher affinity for hydrogen peroxide and sodium azide, these could be explained by the fact that camel is able to live in the intense environmental stress in the desert. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. High Dietary Sodium Intake Assessed by Estimated 24-h Urinary Sodium Excretion Is Associated with NAFLD and Hepatic Fibrosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huh, Ji Hye; Lee, Kyong Joo; Lim, Jung Soo; Lee, Mi Young; Park, Hong Jun; Kim, Moon Young; Kim, Jae Woo; Chung, Choon Hee; Shin, Jang Yel; Kim, Hyun-Soo; Kwon, Sang Ok; Baik, Soon Koo

    2015-01-01

    Although high sodium intake is associated with obesity and hypertension, few studies have investigated the relationship between sodium intake and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We evaluated the association between sodium intake assessed by estimated 24-h urinary sodium excretion and NAFLD in healthy Koreans. We analyzed data from 27,433 participants in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2008-2010). The total amount of sodium excretion in 24-h urine was estimated using Tanaka's equations from spot urine specimens. Subjects were defined as having NAFLD when they had high scores in previously validated NAFLD prediction models such as the hepatic steatosis index (HSI) and fatty liver index (FLI). BARD scores and FIB-4 were used to define advanced fibrosis in subjects with NAFLD. The participants were classified into three groups according to estimated 24-h urinary excretion tertiles. The prevalence of NAFLD as assessed by both FLI and HSI was significantly higher in the highest estimated 24-h urinary sodium excretion tertile group. Even after adjustment for confounding factors including body fat and hypertension, the association between higher estimated 24-h urinary sodium excretion and NAFLD remained significant (Odds ratios (OR) 1.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.26-1.55, in HSI; OR 1.75, CI 1.39-2.20, in FLI, both P sodium values. High sodium intake was independently associated with an increased risk of NAFLD and advanced liver fibrosis.

  20. Impaired sodium-dependent adaptation of arterial stiffness in formerly preeclamptic women: the RETAP-vascular study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Graaf, Anne Marijn; Paauw, Nina D; Toering, Tsjitske J; Feelisch, Martin; Faas, Marijke M; Sutton, Thomas R; Minnion, Magdalena; Lefrandt, Joop D; Scherjon, Sicco A; Franx, Arie; Navis, Gerjan; Lely, A Titia

    2016-06-01

    Women with a history of preeclampsia have an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases later in life. Persistent vascular alterations in the postpartum period might contribute to this increased risk. The current study assessed arterial stiffness under low sodium (LS) and high sodium (HS) conditions in a well-characterized group of formerly early-onset preeclamptic (fPE) women and formerly pregnant (fHP) women. Eighteen fHP and 18 fPE women were studied at an average of 5 yr after pregnancy on 1 wk of LS (50 mmol Na(+)/day) and 1 wk of HS (200 mmol Na(+)/day) intake. Arterial stiffness was measured by pulse-wave analysis (aortic augmentation index, AIx) and carotid-femoral pulse-wave velocity (PWV). Circulating markers of the renin-angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS), extracellular volume (ECV), nitric oxide (NO), and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) were measured in an effort to identify potential mechanistic elements underlying adaptation of arterial stiffness. AIx was significantly lower in fHP women on LS compared with HS while no difference in AIx was apparent in fPE women. PWV remained unchanged upon different sodium loads in either group. Comparable sodium-dependent changes in RAAS, ECV, and NO/H2S were observed in fHP and fPE women. fPE women have an impaired ability to adapt their arterial stiffness in response to changes in sodium intake, independently of blood pressure, RAAS, ECV, and NO/H2S status. The pathways involved in impaired adaptation of arterial stiffness, and its possible contribution to the increased long-term risk for cardiovascular diseases in fPE women, remain to be investigated. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

  1. Salt craving: the psychobiology of pathogenic sodium intake.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morris, Michael J; Na, Elisa S; Johnson, Alan Kim

    2008-08-06

    Ionic sodium, obtained from dietary sources usually in the form of sodium chloride (NaCl, common table salt) is essential to physiological function, and in humans salt is generally regarded as highly palatable. This marriage of pleasant taste and physiological utility might appear fortunate--an appealing taste helps to ensure that such a vital substance is ingested. However, the powerful mechanisms governing sodium retention and sodium balance are unfortunately best adapted for an environment in which few humans still exist. Our physiological and behavioral means for maintaining body sodium and fluid homeostasis evolved in hot climates where sources of dietary sodium were scarce. For many reasons, contemporary diets are high in salt and daily sodium intakes are excessive. High sodium consumption can have pathological consequences. Although there are a number of obstacles to limiting salt ingestion, high sodium intake, like smoking, is a modifiable behavioral risk factor for many cardiovascular diseases. This review discusses the psychobiological mechanisms that promote and maintain excessive dietary sodium intake. Of particular importance are experience-dependent processes including the sensitization of the neural systems underlying sodium appetite and the effects of sodium balance on hedonic state and mood. Accumulating evidence suggests that plasticity within the central nervous system as a result of experience with high salt intake, sodium depletion, or a chronic unresolved sodium appetite fosters enduring changes in sodium related appetitive and consummatory behaviors.

  2. Genetic and metabolic engineering for microbial production of poly-γ-glutamic acid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Mingfeng; Feng, Jun; Sirisansaneeyakul, Sarote; Song, Cunjiang; Chisti, Yusuf

    2018-05-28

    Poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) is a natural biopolymer of glutamic acid. The repeating units of γ-PGA may be derived exclusively from d-glutamic acid, or l-glutamic acid, or both. The monomer units are linked by amide bonds between the α-amino group and the γ-carboxylic acid group. γ-PGA is biodegradable, edible and water-soluble. It has numerous existing and emerging applications in processing of foods, medicines and cosmetics. This review focuses on microbial production of γ-PGA via genetically and metabolically engineered recombinant bacteria. Strategies for improving production of γ-PGA include modification of its biosynthesis pathway, enhancing the production of its precursor (glutamic acid), and preventing loss of the precursor to competing byproducts. These and other strategies are discussed. Heterologous synthesis of γ-PGA in industrial bacterial hosts that do not naturally produce γ-PGA is discussed. Emerging trends and the challenges affecting the production of γ-PGA are reviewed. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  3. Physical Compatibility of Micafungin With Sodium Bicarbonate Hydration Fluids Commonly Used With High-Dose Methotrexate Chemotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joiner, Logan C; Tynes, Clay; Arnold, John; Miller, Rachel R; Gorman, Greg

    2018-04-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the physical compatibility of micafungin with commonly used concentrations of sodium bicarbonate hydration fluids administered via a Y-site connected to a central venous catheter (Y-site/CVC). Methods: Micafungin sodium (evaluated concentration of 1.5 mg/mL) was combined in a 3:1 (vehicle:drug) ratio with the following commonly used hydration vehicles: 40 mEq/L sodium bicarbonate in 5% dextrose in water with ¼ normal saline (40SB-D5W-1/4NS), 75 mEq/L sodium bicarbonate in D5W (75SB-D5W), and 154 mEq/L sodium bicarbonate in D5W (154SB-D5W). A 3:1 ratio was used based on the flow rates (typically 125 mL/m 2 /h for bicarbonate-containing vehicles and 50 mL/h for micafungin) of the corresponding solutions in a clinical setting. Visual observations recorded to determine physical compatibility included visual inspection against different backgrounds (unaided, black, and white). Other physical observations were as follows: odor, evolution of gas, pH, and turbidity immediately recorded after mixing and at specified time points up to 2 hours. Evaluations at each time point were compared against baseline observation values at Time 0. Results: All combinations tested were found to be compatible up to 2 hours. Time points beyond 2 hours cannot be safely verified as compatible. Conclusion: Micafungin may be administered safely using a Y-site/CVC delivery system with all the vehicles tested in this study.

  4. 50 Hz hippocampal stimulation in refractory epilepsy: Higher level of basal glutamate predicts greater release of glutamate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cavus, Idil; Widi, Gabriel A; Duckrow, Robert B; Zaveri, Hitten; Kennard, Jeremy T; Krystal, John; Spencer, Dennis D

    2016-02-01

    The effect of electrical stimulation on brain glutamate release in humans is unknown. Glutamate is elevated at baseline in the epileptogenic hippocampus of patients with refractory epilepsy, and increases during spontaneous seizures. We examined the effect of 50 Hz stimulation on glutamate release and its relationship to interictal levels in the hippocampus of patients with epilepsy. In addition, we measured basal and stimulated glutamate levels in a subset of these patients where stimulation elicited a seizure. Subjects (n = 10) were patients with medically refractory epilepsy who were undergoing intracranial electroencephalography (EEG) evaluation in an epilepsy monitoring unit. Electrical stimulation (50 Hz) was delivered through implanted hippocampal electrodes (n = 11), and microdialysate samples were collected every 2 min. Basal glutamate, changes in glutamate efflux with stimulation, and the relationships between peak stimulation-associated glutamate concentrations, basal zero-flow levels, and stimulated seizures were examined. Stimulation of epileptic hippocampi in patients with refractory epilepsy caused increases in glutamate efflux (p = 0.005, n = 10), and 4 of ten patients experienced brief stimulated seizures. Stimulation-induced increases in glutamate were not observed during the evoked seizures, but rather were related to the elevation in interictal basal glutamate (R(2) = 0.81, p = 0.001). The evoked-seizure group had lower basal glutamate levels than the no-seizure group (p = 0.04), with no stimulation-induced change in glutamate efflux (p = 0.47, n = 4). Conversely, increased glutamate was observed following stimulation in the no-seizure group (p = 0.005, n = 7). Subjects with an atrophic hippocampus had higher basal glutamate levels (p = 0.03, n = 7) and higher stimulation-induced glutamate efflux. Electrical stimulation of the epileptic hippocampus either increased extracellular glutamate efflux or induced seizures. The magnitude of stimulated

  5. Reversal of sodium pump inhibitor induced vascular smooth muscle contraction with digibind. Stoichiometry and its implications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krep, H H; Graves, S W; Price, D A; Lazarus, M; Ensign, A; Soszynski, P A; Hollenberg, N K

    1996-01-01

    The possibility that a circulating sodium pump inhibitor contributes to the pathogenesis of volume-dependent hypertension via an action on vascular smooth muscle (VSM) is supported by multiple lines of investigation, but remains controversial. We had two goals in this study. The first was to compare the pattern of contractile response of rabbit aorta induced by two candidates, ouabain and a labile sodium pump inhibitor that we have identified in the peritoneal dialysate of volume-expanded hypertensive patients with chronic renal failure. Our second goal was to examine the ability of Digibind, a Fab fragment of antisera directed against digoxin, to reverse VSM contraction induced by both agents. Ouabain induced a concentration-dependent contraction, which was delayed in onset, was gradual, and reached a stable plateau after many hours. The labile sodium pump inhibitor induced a qualitatively similar series of responses. Digibind rapidly reversed the contractile responses to both sodium pump inhibitors, with a rate of relaxation that matched that induced by physical removal of the pump inhibitor from the bath. For ouabain, the Digibind:ouabain stoichiometry was highly predictable. When Digibind was present in a molar concentration equivalent to that of ouabain, or less, it had no effect. When the Digibind concentration was twice that of ouabain, complete relaxation occurred. Although the concentration:VSM response relationship for ouabain was steep, the concentration:effect interaction with Digibind was even more steep. The molar concentration of Digibind required to reverse the effects of the labile endogenous inhibitor from peritoneal dialysate was consistently lower than that for ouabain, which is compatible with either greater potency of the labile factor in VSM or greater affinity for Digibind. These findings are compatible with a role for one or more endogenous sodium pump inhibitors as the determinant of vascular smooth muscle tone in the volume

  6. Efficiency of Mangifera indica L. (mango) Oil in Attenuating of Some Biochemical Disorders in Sodium Nitrate Treated Rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farag, M.F.S.

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this work was to evaluate the noxious actions of sodium nitrate administration on some biochemical parameters and to explore the ability of Mangifera indica L. (mango) oil, which obtained from various parts of the plant such as stem barks, leaves, flowers and peels, as a natural source of antioxidants to minimize the deleterious effects of sodium nitrate. The results showed that the level of serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein, urea and creatinine was significantly elevated with a concomitant significant decline in the level of high density lipoprotein, total protein, albumin, total thyroxine (T 4 ) and triiodo thyroxine (T 3 ) after four weeks of drinking water contaminated with sodium nitrate. Furthermore, there was a significant rise in thiobarbituric reactive substances accompanied by significant drop in reduced glutathione content in rat liver homogenates. The administration of mango oil to rats along with sodium nitrate resulted in a pronounced modulation in all previous mentioned parameters, suggesting its role as a hypolipidemic and kidney protective agent. In addition, mango oil stimulates thyroid function and inhibits oxidative damage that may be attributed to the presence of biologically active components and antioxidants such as phenolic compounds, especially mangiferin

  7. High-Resolution Spectroscopy of the Lunar Sodium Exosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mierkiewicz, E. J.; Oliversen, R. J.; Roesler, F. L.; Lupie, O. L.

    2014-01-01

    We have applied high-resolution Fabry-Perot spectroscopy to the study of the lunar sodium exosphere for the study of exospheric effective temperature and velocity variations. Observing from the National Solar Observatory McMath-Pierce Telescope, we used a dual-etalon Fabry-Perot spectrometer with a resolving power of 180,000 to measure line widths and Doppler shifts of the sodium D2 (5889.95 Å) emission line. Our field of view was 360 km, and measurements were made in equatorial and polar regions from 500 km to 3500 km off the limb. Data were obtained from full moon to 3 days following full moon (waning phase) in March 2009. Measured Doppler line widths within 1100 km of the sunlit east and south lunar limbs for observations between 5 and 40 deg lunar phase imply effective temperatures ranging between 3260 +/- 190 and 1000 +/- 135 K. Preliminary line center analysis indicates velocity displacements between different locations off the lunar limb ranging between 100 and 600 m/s from the lunar rest velocity with a precision of +/-20 to +/-50 m/s depending on brightness. Based on the success of these exploratory observations, an extensive program has been initiated that is expected to constrain lunar atmospheric and surface-process modeling and help quantify source and escape mechanisms.

  8. A glutamate/aspartate switch controls product specificity in a protein arginine methyltransferase

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Debler, Erik W.; Jain, Kanishk; Warmack, Rebeccah A.; Feng, You; Clarke, Steven G.; Blobel, Günter; Stavropoulos, Pete

    2016-02-08

    Trypanosoma brucei PRMT7 (TbPRMT7) is a protein arginine methyltransferase (PRMT) that strictly monomethylates various substrates, thus classifying it as a type III PRMT. However, the molecular basis of its unique product specificity has remained elusive. Here, we present the structure of TbPRMT7 in complex with its cofactor product S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (AdoHcy) at 2.8 Å resolution and identify a glutamate residue critical for its monomethylation behavior. TbPRMT7 comprises the conserved methyltransferase and β-barrel domains, an N-terminal extension, and a dimerization arm. The active site at the interface of the N-terminal extension, methyltransferase, and β-barrel domains is stabilized by the dimerization arm of the neighboring protomer, providing a structural basis for dimerization as a prerequisite for catalytic activity. Mutagenesis of active-site residues highlights the importance of Glu181, the second of the two invariant glutamate residues of the double E loop that coordinate the target arginine in substrate peptides/proteins and that increase its nucleophilicity. Strikingly, mutation of Glu181 to aspartate converts TbPRMT7 into a type I PRMT, producing asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA). Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) using a histone H4 peptide showed that the Glu181Asp mutant has markedly increased affinity for monomethylated peptide with respect to the WT, suggesting that the enlarged active site can favorably accommodate monomethylated peptide and provide sufficient space for ADMA formation. In conclusion, these findings yield valuable insights into the product specificity and the catalytic mechanism of protein arginine methyltransferases and have important implications for the rational (re)design of PRMTs.

  9. Densities of L-Glutamic Acid HCl Drug in Aqueous NaCl and KCl Solutions at Different Temperatures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryshetti, Suresh; Raghuram, Noothi; Rani, Emmadi Jayanthi; Tangeda, Savitha Jyostna

    2016-04-01

    Densities (ρ ) of (0.01 to 0.07) {mol}{\\cdot } {kg}^{-1} L-Glutamic acid HCl (L-HCl) drug in water, and in aqueous NaCl and KCl (0.5 and 1.0) {mol}{\\cdot } {kg}^{-1} solutions have been reported as a function of temperature at T = (298.15, 303.15, 308.15, and 313.15) K and atmospheric pressure. The accurate density (ρ ) values are used to estimate the various parameters such as the apparent molar volume (V_{2,{\\upphi }}), the partial molar volume (V2^{∞}), the isobaric thermal expansion coefficient (α 2), the partial molar expansion (E2^{∞}), and Hepler's constant (partial 2V2^{∞}/partial T2)P. The Cosphere overlap model is used to understand the solute-solvent interactions in a ternary mixture (L-HCl drug + NaCl or KCl + water). Hepler's constant (partial 2V2^{∞}/partial T2)_P is utilized to interpret the structure-making or -breaking ability of L-HCl drug in aqueous NaCl and KCl solutions, and the results are inferred that L-HCl drug acts as a structure maker, i.e., kosmotrope in aqueous NaCl solutions and performs as a structure breaker, i.e., chaotrope in aqueous KCl solutions.

  10. Ischemic damage in hippocampal CA1 is dependent on glutamate release and intact innervation from CA3

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Benveniste, H; Jørgensen, M B; Sandberg, M

    1989-01-01

    The removal of glutamatergic afferents to CA1 by destruction of the CA3 region is known to protect CA1 pyramidal cells against 10 min of transient global ischemia. To investigate further the pathogenetic significance of glutamate, we measured the release of glutamate in intact and CA3-lesioned CA...

  11. Oxygen titration in sodium. The mercury method and its use for very low values; Dosage de l'oxygene dans le sodium. La methode au mercure : son utilisation dans le cas de tres faibles teneurs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Champeix, L; Darras, R; Duflo, J [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1958-07-01

    The mercury method for the oxygen titration in sodium has now been known for ten years and is probably the more frequently used. In this text, precision are given to what extent it is valuable when used in microanalysis. Details are given on the apparatus, its manipulation and its calibration. After testing, we have decided to use flame spectroscopy to titrate the sodium hydroxide formed. Discussions are exposed on the errors due to the presence of sodium chloride and calcium. Results are examined from the point of view of their reproducibility and accuracy. If great care is taken, this method allows oxygen titration in sodium even for values below 10 ppm with satisfactory precision. (author) [French] La methode au mercure pour le dosage de l'oxygene dans le sodium est connue depuis une dizaine d'annees, elle est probablement la plus utilisee. Nous avons voulu preciser dans quelle mesure elle etait valable dans le domaine des faibles teneurs avec une precision acceptable. Nous decrivons en detail l'appareil utilise pour l'analyse, le mode operatoire et la methode d'etalonnage. Nos essais nous ont conduit a adopter la spectrographie de flamme pour le dosage de la soude formee, les erreurs introduites par la presence de chlorure de sodium et de calcium sont discutes. Les resultats obtenus sont examines du point de vue de la reproductibilite, de la justesse. Moyennant un mode operatoire tres soigne, cette methode permet le dosage de l'oxygene dans le sodium, meme a des teneurs inferieures a 10 ppm avec une precision satisfaisante. (auteur)

  12. Sodium fluxes in sweet pepper exposed to varying sodium concentrations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Blom-Zandstra, M.; Vogelzang, S.A.; Veen, B.W.

    1998-01-01

    The sodium transport and distribution of sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) under saline conditions were studied after transferring the plants to a sodium-free nutrient solution. Sodium stress up to 60 mM did not affect the growth of sweet pepper, as it appears able to counteract the unfavourable

  13. Fatty acid and drug binding to a low-affinity component of human serum albumin, purified by affinity chromatography

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vorum, H; Pedersen, A O; Honoré, B

    1992-01-01

    Binding equilibria for decanoate to a defatted, commercially available human serum albumin preparation were investigated by dialysis exchange rate determinations. The binding isotherm could not be fitted by the general binding equation. It was necessary to assume that the preparation was a mixture...... of two albumin components about 40% of the albumin having high affinity and about 60% having low affinity. By affinity chromatography we succeeded in purifying the low-affinity component from the mixture. The high-affinity component, however, could not be isolated. We further analyzed the fatty acid...... and drug binding abilities of the low-affinity component. The fatty acids decanoate, laurate, myristate and palmitate were bound with higher affinity to the mixture than to the low-affinity component. Diazepam was bound with nearly the same affinity to the low-affinity component as to the albumin mixture...

  14. Some magnetic resonance properties of solutions of sodium in liquid ammonia; Contribution a l'etude des solutions de sodium dans l'ammoniac liquide par resonance magnetique

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lambert, C [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1968-02-01

    Dilute solutions of sodium in liquid ammonia are studied by the mean of dynamic polarization techniques, and with the aid of Becker Lindquist and Alder model. Paramagnetic shifts are computed as a function of the 'average spin density', for each of the nuclear spin system. The nuclear contributions to the Overhauser shift are computed in the same way. A theoretical study of the main relaxation processes is carried out for each of the nuclear spin system and for the electronic spin system. The dynamic polarization experiments consist in classical measurement of the Overhauser enhancement for nitrogen, and in direct measurements of nitrogen Knight shift and nuclear contributions to the Overhauser shift by the mean of double irradiation techniques. The results show that, in dilute solutions, the relaxation of nitrogen arises from quadrupole interaction and from hyperfine interaction with unpaired electrons. Both interactions are of the same order of magnitude. Overhauser shift measurements show that the spin density is negative at the proton site, in agreement with Hughes results. (author) [French] Les solutions diluees de sodium dans l'ammoniac sont etudiees au moyen des techniques de la polarisation dynamique, sur la base du modele de Becker Lindquist et Aider. Les deplacements paramagnetiques des raies de resonance nucleaire des differents noyaux sont analyses en faisant appel a la notion de ''densite moyenne de spin'' introduite par l'auteur; et les differentes contributions nucleaires au deplacement d'Overhauser sont calculees en fonction de cette meme grandeur. Une etude theorique de la relaxation de chaque systeme de spin permet d'evaluer l'importance relative des differents mecanismes mis en jeu. Les experiences de polarisation dynamique effectuees au cours de ce travail consistent en mesures classiques de l'effet Overhauser sur l'azote, d'une part, et en la mise en oeuvre de techniques originales pour mesurer le deplacement de Knight de l'azote et les

  15. Excretion and intestinal absorption of tritiated glutamic acid by carp, Cyprinus Carpio

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Watabe, Terushia; Kistner, G.

    1986-01-01

    Excretion and intestinal absorption of tritiated glutamic acid by carp was investigated. Approximately 80% of orally administered tritium was excreted at a half life value of 1.4 h and an observed slower excretion of 7 days for the remainder. Tritium incorporated in glutamic acid was efficiently retained at the site of absorption, i.e. intestine, liver, gill, kidney, blood and muscle. A dual marking experiment using tritiated glutamic acid and 14 C-market glutamic acid showed higher excretion of tritium by factors 2.0 to 4.9 than that of 14 C. Tritiated glutamic acid is considered to be mainly incorporated in the citric acid cycle soon after administration and the release of tritium in tritiated water through the cycle is assumed as causing the initial rapid excretion of tritium in carp. The intestinal absorption of glutamic acid was likely to depend on its concentration in the administered solution. The maximum level of absorption is estimated to be 0.1 m mol/0.5 h for one year old carp. The results obtained here would make it possible to estimate the tritium contamination of fish due to tritiated glutamic acid entering the food chain. (orig.)

  16. Changes in the flexural strength of engineering ceramics after high temperature sodium corrosion test. Influence after sodium exposure for 1000 hours

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hayashi, Kazunori; Tachi, Yoshiaki; Kano, Shigeki; Hirakawa, Yasushi; Komine, Ryuji; Yoshida, Eiichi

    1998-02-01

    Engineering ceramics have excellent properties such as high strength, high hardness and high heat resistance compared with metallic materials. To apply the ceramic in fast reactor environment, it is necessary to evaluate the sodium compatibility and the influence of sodium on the mechanical properties of ceramics. In this study, the influence of high temperature sodium on the mechanical properties of sintered ceramics of conventional and high purity Al 2 O 3 , SiC, SiAlON, AlN and unidirectional solidified ceramics of Al 2 O 3 /YAG eutectic composite were investigated by means of flexure tests. Test specimens were exposed in liquid sodium at 823K and 923K for 3.6Ms. There were no changes in the flexural strength of the conventional and high purity Al 2 O 3 , AlN and Al 2 O 3 /YAG eutectic composite after the sodium exposure at 823K. On the contrary, the decrease in the flexural strength was observed in SiC and SiAlON. After the sodium exposure at 923K, there were also no changes in the flexural strength of AlN and Al 2 O 3 /YAG eutectic composite. In the conventional and high purity Al 2 O 3 and SiC, the flexural strength decreased and signs of grain boundary corrosion were detected by surface observation. The flexural strength of SiAlON after the sodium exposure at 923K increased instead of severe corrosion. In the specimens those showed no changes in the flexural strength, further exposure in sodium is needed to verify whether the mechanical properties degrade or not. For SiAlON, it is necessary to clarify the reason for the increased strength after the sodium exposure at 923K. (author)

  17. Gating transitions in the selectivity filter region of a sodium channel are coupled to the domain IV voltage sensor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Capes, Deborah L; Arcisio-Miranda, Manoel; Jarecki, Brian W; French, Robert J; Chanda, Baron

    2012-02-14

    Voltage-dependent ion channels are crucial for generation and propagation of electrical activity in biological systems. The primary mechanism for voltage transduction in these proteins involves the movement of a voltage-sensing domain (D), which opens a gate located on the cytoplasmic side. A distinct conformational change in the selectivity filter near the extracellular side has been implicated in slow inactivation gating, which is important for spike frequency adaptation in neural circuits. However, it remains an open question whether gating transitions in the selectivity filter region are also actuated by voltage sensors. Here, we examine conformational coupling between each of the four voltage sensors and the outer pore of a eukaryotic voltage-dependent sodium channel. The voltage sensors of these sodium channels are not structurally symmetric and exhibit functional specialization. To track the conformational rearrangements of individual voltage-sensing domains, we recorded domain-specific gating pore currents. Our data show that, of the four voltage sensors, only the domain IV voltage sensor is coupled to the conformation of the selectivity filter region of the sodium channel. Trapping the outer pore in a particular conformation with a high-affinity toxin or disulphide crossbridge impedes the return of this voltage sensor to its resting conformation. Our findings directly establish that, in addition to the canonical electromechanical coupling between voltage sensor and inner pore gates of a sodium channel, gating transitions in the selectivity filter region are also coupled to the movement of a voltage sensor. Furthermore, our results also imply that the voltage sensor of domain IV is unique in this linkage and in the ability to initiate slow inactivation in sodium channels.

  18. Neuroprotective effects of α-iso-cubebene against glutamate-induced damage in the HT22 hippocampal neuronal cell line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Sun Young; Jung, Won Jung; Kang, Jum Soon; Kim, Cheol-Min; Park, Geuntae; Choi, Young-Whan

    2015-02-01

    Since oxidative stress is critically involved in excitotoxic damage, we sought to determine whether the activation of the transcription factors, cAMP-responsive element binding protein (CREB) and nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2, also known as NFE2L2), by α-iso-cubebene is involved in its protective effects against glutamate-induced neuronal cell death. Pre-treatment with α-iso-cubebene significantly attenuated glutamate-induced cytotoxicity in mouse hippocampus-derived neuronal cells. α-iso-cubebene also reduced the glutamate-induced generation of reactive oxygen species and calcium influx, thus preventing apoptotic cell death. α-iso-cubebene inhibited glutamate-induced mitochondrial membrane depolarization and, consequently, inhibited the release of the apoptosis-inducing factor from the mitochondria. Immunoblot anlaysis revealed that the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) by glutamate was reduced in the presence of α-iso-cubebene. α-iso-cubebene activated protein kinase A (PKA), CREB and Nrf2, which mediate the expression of the antioxidant enzymes, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and NAD(P)H dehydrogenase [quinone] 1 (NQO1), involved in neuroprotection. In addition, α-iso-cubebene induced the expression of antioxidant responsive element and CRE transcriptional activity, thus conferring neuroprotection against glutamate-induced oxidative injury. α-iso-cubebene also induced the expression of Nrf2-dependent genes encoding HO-1 and NQO1. Furthermore, the knockdown of CREB and Nrf2 by small interfering RNA attenuated the neuroprotective effects of α-iso-cubebene. Taken together, our results indicate that α-iso-cubebene protects HT22 cells from glutamate-induced oxidative damage through the activation of Nrf2/HO-1/NQO-1, as well as through the PKA and CREB signaling pathways.

  19. An electrochemical sensor for sodium dodecyl sulfate detection based on anion exchange using eosin Y/polyethyleneimine modified electrode.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hao, Xia; Lei, Jing Lei; Li, Nian Bing; Luo, Hong Qun

    2014-12-10

    A simple and effective method for the detection of electrochemically inactive sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) has been designed, based on different binding affinity of polyethyleneimine (PEI) toward electrochemically active eosin Y and electrochemically inactive SDS. The stronger binding affinity of the PEI toward SDS than eosin Y results in the decrease of the redox peak current of surface confined eosin Y and provides a quantitative readout for the SDS. The difference in value of the cathodic peak current showed a linear relationship with SDS concentration in a concentration range from 1 to 40 μg mL(-1), and a detection limit of 0.9 μg mL(-1) for SDS was obtained. Furthermore, the method has been successfully applied to the detection of SDS in real samples. The developed approach provided a simple and reliable detection for SDS and might have potential applications in electrochemical methods for inactive molecules. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Glutamate receptor agonists

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vogensen, Stine Byskov; Greenwood, Jeremy R; Bunch, Lennart

    2011-01-01

    The neurotransmitter (S)-glutamate [(S)-Glu] is responsible for most of the excitatory neurotransmission in the central nervous system. The effect of (S)-Glu is mediated by both ionotropic and metabotropic receptors. Glutamate receptor agonists are generally a-amino acids with one or more...... stereogenic centers due to strict requirements in the agonist binding pocket of the activated state of the receptor. By contrast, there are many examples of achiral competitive antagonists. The present review addresses how stereochemistry affects the activity of glutamate receptor ligands. The review focuses...... mainly on agonists and discusses stereochemical and conformational considerations as well as biostructural knowledge of the agonist binding pockets, which is useful in the design of glutamate receptor agonists. Examples are chosen to demonstrate how stereochemistry not only determines how the agonist...

  1. Resolution, configurational assignment, and enantiopharmacology at glutamate receptors of 2-amino-3-(3-carboxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolyl)propionic acid (ACPA) and demethyl-ACPA

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johansen, T N; Stensbøl, T B; Nielsen, B

    2001-01-01

    We have previously described (RS)-2-amino-3-(3-carboxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolyl)propionic acid (ACPA) as a potent agonist at the (RS)-2-amino-3-(3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolyl)propionic acid (AMPA) receptor subtype of (S)-glutamic acid (Glu) receptors. We now report the chromatographic resolution...... of ACPA and (RS)-2-amino-3-(3-carboxy-4-isoxazolyl)propionic acid (demethyl-ACPA) using a Sumichiral OA-5000 column. The configuration of the enantiomers of both compounds have been assigned based on X-ray crystallographic analyses, supported by circular dichroism spectra and elution orders on chiral HPLC...... columns. Furthermore, the enantiopharmacology of ACPA and demethyl-ACPA was investigated using radioligand binding and cortical wedge electrophysiological assay systems and cloned metabotropic Glu receptors. (S)-ACPA showed high affinity in AMPA binding (IC(50) = 0.025 microM), low affinity in kainic acid...

  2. Excitatory amino acid receptor ligands: resolution, absolute stereochemistry, and enantiopharmacology of 2-amino-3-(4-butyl-3-hydroxyisoxazol-5-yl)propionic acid

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johansen, T N; Ebert, B; Bräuner-Osborne, Hans

    1998-01-01

    (RS)-2-Amino-3-(4-butyl-3-hydroxyisoxazol-5-yl)propionic acid (Bu-HIBO, 6) has previously been shown to be an agonist at (RS)-2-amino-3-(3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazol-4-yl)propionic acid (AMPA) receptors and an inhibitor of CaCl2-dependent [3H]-(S)-glutamic acid binding (J. Med. Chem. 1992, 35, 3512......-3519). To elucidate the pharmacological significance of this latter binding affinity, which is also shown by quisqualic acid (3) but not by AMPA, we have now resolved Bu-HIBO via diastereomeric salt formation using the diprotected Bu-HIBO derivative 11 and the enantiomers of 1-phenylethylamine (PEA). The absolute...... equipotent as inhibitors of CaCl2-dependent [3H]-(S)-glutamic acid binding, neither enantiomer showed significant affinity for the synaptosomal (S)-glutamic acid uptake system(s). AMPA receptor affinity (IC50 = 0.48 microM) and agonism (EC50 = 17 microM) were shown to reside exclusively in the S...

  3. Dielectric analysis of aqueous poly(l-glutamic acid and poly-l-(glutamic acid4, Tyrosine1 solutions at high frequencies from capacitance measurements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge Monreal

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available A new parallel-plate capacitor fixture has been designed and successfully used to measure dielectric loss of polyelectrolyte solutions with volumes as low as droplets of 13–26 μL. It is particularly useful when studying polypeptides that are either high-cost or can be synthesized only in limited quantities. The ease with which the fixture can be used to obtain preliminary dielectric loss data yields savings in time and cost. In this study capacitance measurements were performed in a wide range of frequencies between 1 and 800 MHz using an Agilent 4191RF Impedance Analyzer. Accuracy of measurements was carefully examined through a comparison of measured conductivity of 1M NaCl against Stogryn's equation for conductivity. A 0.3% difference between the experimentally measured and theoretically calculated results has been found, demonstrating the validity of the proposed analysis method.

  4. Role of nitric oxide in long-term potentiation of the rat medial vestibular nuclei.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grassi, S; Pettorossi, V E

    2000-01-01

    In rat brainstem slices, we investigated the role of nitric oxide in long-term potentiation induced in the ventral portion of the medial vestibular nuclei by high-frequency stimulation of the primary vestibular afferents. The nitric oxide scavenger [2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide ] and the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester were administered before and after induction of potentiation. Both drugs completely prevented long-term potentiation, whereas they did not impede the potentiation build-up, or affect the already established potentiation. These results demonstrate that the induction, but not the maintenance of vestibular long-term potentiation, depends on the synthesis and release into the extracellular medium of nitric oxide. In addition, we analysed the effect of the nitric oxide donor sodium nitroprusside on vestibular responses. Sodium nitroprusside induced long-term potentiation, as evidenced through the field potential enhancement and unit peak latency decrease. This potentiation was impeded by D, L-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid, and was reduced under blockade of synaptosomal platelet-activating factor receptors by ginkgolide B and group I metabotropic glutamate receptors by (R,S)-1-aminoindan-1, 5-dicarboxylic acid. When reduced, potentiation fully developed following the washout of antagonist, demonstrating an involvement of platelet-activating factor and group I metabotropic glutamate receptors in its full development. Potentiation induced by sodium nitroprusside was also associated with a decrease in the paired-pulse facilitation ratio, which persisted under ginkgolide B, indicating that nitric oxide increases glutamate release independently of platelet-activating factor-mediated presynaptic events. We suggest that nitric oxide, released after the activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, acts as a retrograde messenger leading to an enhancement of glutamate release to a

  5. Selective high-affinity polydentate ligands and methods of making such

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Denardo, Sally J.; Denardo, Gerald L.; Balhorn, Rodney L.

    2018-02-06

    This invention provides novel polydentate selective high affinity ligands (SHALs) that can be used in a variety of applications in a manner analogous to the use of antibodies. SHALs typically comprise a multiplicity of ligands that each bind different region son the target molecule. The ligands are joined directly or through a linker thereby forming a polydentate moiety that typically binds the target molecule with high selectivity and avidity.

  6. High-aluminum-affinity silica is a nanoparticle that seeds secondary aluminosilicate formation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ravin Jugdaohsingh

    Full Text Available Despite the importance and abundance of aluminosilicates throughout our natural surroundings, their formation at neutral pH is, surprisingly, a matter of considerable debate. From our experiments in dilute aluminum and silica containing solutions (pH ~ 7 we previously identified a silica polymer with an extraordinarily high affinity for aluminium ions (high-aluminum-affinity silica polymer, HSP. Here, further characterization shows that HSP is a colloid of approximately 2.4 nm in diameter with a mean specific surface area of about 1,000 m(2 g(-1 and it competes effectively with transferrin for Al(III binding. Aluminum binding to HSP strongly inhibited its decomposition whilst the reaction rate constant for the formation of the β-silicomolybdic acid complex indicated a diameter between 3.6 and 4.1 nm for these aluminum-containing nanoparticles. Similarly, high resolution microscopic analysis of the air dried aluminum-containing silica colloid solution revealed 3.9 ± 1.3 nm sized crystalline Al-rich silica nanoparticles (ASP with an estimated Al:Si ratio of between 2 and 3 which is close to the range of secondary aluminosilicates such as imogolite. Thus the high-aluminum-affinity silica polymer is a nanoparticle that seeds early aluminosilicate formation through highly competitive binding of Al(III ions. In niche environments, especially in vivo, this may serve as an alternative mechanism to polyhydroxy Al(III species binding monomeric silica to form early phase, non-toxic aluminosilicates.

  7. High-Aluminum-Affinity Silica Is a Nanoparticle That Seeds Secondary Aluminosilicate Formation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jugdaohsingh, Ravin; Brown, Andy; Dietzel, Martin; Powell, Jonathan J.

    2013-01-01

    Despite the importance and abundance of aluminosilicates throughout our natural surroundings, their formation at neutral pH is, surprisingly, a matter of considerable debate. From our experiments in dilute aluminum and silica containing solutions (pH ~ 7) we previously identified a silica polymer with an extraordinarily high affinity for aluminium ions (high-aluminum-affinity silica polymer, HSP). Here, further characterization shows that HSP is a colloid of approximately 2.4 nm in diameter with a mean specific surface area of about 1,000 m2 g-1 and it competes effectively with transferrin for Al(III) binding. Aluminum binding to HSP strongly inhibited its decomposition whilst the reaction rate constant for the formation of the β-silicomolybdic acid complex indicated a diameter between 3.6 and 4.1 nm for these aluminum-containing nanoparticles. Similarly, high resolution microscopic analysis of the air dried aluminum-containing silica colloid solution revealed 3.9 ± 1.3 nm sized crystalline Al-rich silica nanoparticles (ASP) with an estimated Al:Si ratio of between 2 and 3 which is close to the range of secondary aluminosilicates such as imogolite. Thus the high-aluminum-affinity silica polymer is a nanoparticle that seeds early aluminosilicate formation through highly competitive binding of Al(III) ions. In niche environments, especially in vivo, this may serve as an alternative mechanism to polyhydroxy Al(III) species binding monomeric silica to form early phase, non-toxic aluminosilicates. PMID:24349573

  8. Glutamate and Neurodegenerative Disease

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaeffer, Eric; Duplantier, Allen

    As the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system, glutamate is critically involved in most aspects of CNS function. Given this critical role, it is not surprising that glutamatergic dysfunction is associated with many CNS disorders. In this chapter, we review the literature that links aberrant glutamate neurotransmission with CNS pathology, with a focus on neurodegenerative diseases. The biology and pharmacology of the various glutamate receptor families are discussed, along with data which links these receptors with neurodegenerative conditions. In addition, we review progress that has been made in developing small molecule modulators of glutamate receptors and transporters, and describe how these compounds have helped us understand the complex pharmacology of glutamate in normal CNS function, as well as their potential for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

  9. Impact of monosodium glutamate and /or gamma irradiation on pregnant rats and their embryos

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ibrahim, M.F.; Darwish, M.M.

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to evaluate the destructive impact of the widely used nutritional flavouring agent, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and/or radiation stress on the female rats mothers and their developing embryos as judged by the maternal biochemical and embryological morphological and histopathological lesions induced. MSG is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, widely used as a food additive and flavour enhancer in modern nutrition. MSG (4 mg/rat) was daily administered subcutaneously to pregnant female rats from the 10 th to the 15 th gestational days during which they were subjected to intermittent radiation dose levels of 0.5 Gy increments delivered every other day up to a cumulative dose of 1.5 Gy whereas investigation has been carried out one day prior to parturition. MSG and radiation dual treatment resulted in increased maternal serum levels of lipid peroxides, total lipids, triglycerides, cholesterol and sodium together with decreased calcium concentrations. consequently, the developing embryos in the uteri, due to their increased sensitivity, showed various teratological and histological impairments . MSG and/or radiation induced effects were detected as growth retardation, malformations, intrauterine death and embryonic resorption. moreover, embryonic histological examination revealed ill-shaped vertebrae with degenerated osteogenic layer together with severely degenerated neurons

  10. Glutamine and glutamate: Nonessential or essential amino acids?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Malcolm Watford

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Glutamine and glutamate are not considered essential amino acids but they play important roles in maintaining growth and health in both neonates and adults. Although glutamine and glutamate are highly abundant in most feedstuffs there is increasing evidence that they may be limiting during pregnancy, lactation and neonatal growth, particularly when relatively low protein diets are fed. Supplementation of diets with glutamine, glutamate or both at 0.5 to 1.0% to both suckling and recently weaned piglets improves intestinal and immune function and results in better growth. In addition such supplementation to the sow prevents some of the loss of lean body mass during lactation, and increases milk glutamine content. However, a number of important questions related to physiological condition, species under study and the form and amount of the supplements need to be addressed before the full benefits of glutamine and glutamate supplementation in domestic animal production can be realized. Keywords: Amino acid, Glutamate, Glutamine, Lactation, Pregnancy, Growth

  11. Supplementing a commercial diet for atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) with arginine, glutamate or tetradecylthioacetic acid (TTA). impact on production efficiency, slaughter parameters and flesh quality

    OpenAIRE

    Rahnama, Behzad

    2010-01-01

    The present study was carried out to evaluate the effects of supplementing a commercial diets with 1.5% L-arginine, 1.5% L-glutamate or 0.25% tetradecylthioacetic acid (TTA) on feed intake, feed utilization and growth parameters of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) during the critical periods after sea transfer with regard to seawater adaptation and onwards, from April to September. In the case of TTA, fish were fed until they reached a weight gain of 0.2% of the initial body weight, thereafte...

  12. Single-Step Affinity Purification for Fungal Proteomics ▿ †

    OpenAIRE

    Liu, Hui-Lin; Osmani, Aysha H.; Ukil, Leena; Son, Sunghun; Markossian, Sarine; Shen, Kuo-Fang; Govindaraghavan, Meera; Varadaraj, Archana; Hashmi, Shahr B.; De Souza, Colin P.; Osmani, Stephen A.

    2010-01-01

    A single-step protein affinity purification protocol using Aspergillus nidulans is described. Detailed protocols for cell breakage, affinity purification, and depending on the application, methods for protein release from affinity beads are provided. Examples defining the utility of the approaches, which should be widely applicable, are included.

  13. Isolation and characterization of high affinity aptamers against DNA polymerase iota.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lakhin, Andrei V; Kazakov, Andrei A; Makarova, Alena V; Pavlov, Yuri I; Efremova, Anna S; Shram, Stanislav I; Tarantul, Viacheslav Z; Gening, Leonid V

    2012-02-01

    Human DNA-polymerase iota (Pol ι) is an extremely error-prone enzyme and the fidelity depends on the sequence context of the template. Using the in vitro systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) procedure, we obtained an oligoribonucleotide with a high affinity to human Pol ι, named aptamer IKL5. We determined its dissociation constant with homogenous preparation of Pol ι and predicted its putative secondary structure. The aptamer IKL5 specifically inhibits DNA-polymerase activity of the purified enzyme Pol ι, but did not inhibit the DNA-polymerase activities of human DNA polymerases beta and kappa. IKL5 suppressed the error-prone DNA-polymerase activity of Pol ι also in cellular extracts of the tumor cell line SKOV-3. The aptamer IKL5 is useful for studies of the biological role of Pol ι and as a potential drug to suppress the increase of the activity of this enzyme in malignant cells.

  14. DeVelopment of the high-intensity polarized H- source with proton charge exchange on sodium optically oriented atoms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zelenskij, A.N.; Kokhanovskij, S.A.

    1982-01-01

    The results of experimental study on the source of polarized H - ions at polarized electron capture by proton from optically oriented sodium atoms are presented. Circular-polarized dye laser radiation with lamp pumping is used for polarization of highly dense sodium vapors in the pulsed mode. A facility for polarization measurement in the ion source is described. Dependence of the counting rate of metastables for the right and left circular radiation polarization in respect to wave length is presented. The results of measuring the degree of polarization under change of sodium density are revealed. The measurements have disclosed that obtaining of high polarization degree at 20-30% charge exchange effectiveness is possible but large radiation power is required. Use of a dense charge exchange target provides high effectiveness of hte whole polarization process. Yield of polarized H - ions can approach 10 μA/1 mA of the initial proton current

  15. Affinity between information retrieval system and search topic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ebinuma, Yukio

    1979-01-01

    Ten search profiles are tested on the INIS system at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. The results are plotted on recall-precision chart ranging from 100% recall to 100% precision. The curves are not purely systems-dependent nor search-dependent, and are determined substantially by the ''affinity'' between the system and the search topic. The curves are named ''Affinity curves of search topics with information retrieval systems'', and hence retrieval affinity factors are derived. They are obtained not only for individual search topics but also for averages in the system. By such a quantitative examination, the difference of affinity among search topics in a given system, that of the same search topic among various systems, and that of systems to the same group of search topics can be compared reasonably. (author)

  16. Sodium immersible high temperature microphone design description

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gavin, A.P.; Anderson, T.T.; Janicek, J.J.

    1975-02-01

    Argonne National Laboratory has developed a rugged high-temperature (HT) microphone for use as a sodium-immersed acoustic monitor in Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors (LMFBRs). Microphones of this design have been extensively tested in room temperature water, in air up to 1200 0 F, and in sodium up to 1200 0 F. They have been successfully installed and employed as acoustic monitors in several operating liquid metal systems. The design, construction sequence, calibration, and testing of these microphones are described. 6 references. (U.S.)

  17. Effects of spinal transection on presynaptic markers for glutamatergic neurons in the rat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singer, H.S.; Coyle, J.T.; Frangia, J.; Price, D.L.

    1981-01-01

    To evaluate the hypothesis that glutamic acid may be the neurotransmitter of descending, excitatory supraspinal pathways, the uptake and release of L-[3H] glutamate and the levels of endogenous glutamate were measured in preparations from rat lumbar spinal cord following complete mid-thoracic transection. Following transection, the activity of the synaptosomal high-affinity glutamate uptake process was increased in both dorsal and ventral halves of lumbar cord between 1 and 14 days after transection and returned to control levels by 21 days posttransection. At 7 days, the increased activity of the uptake process for L-[3H]glutamate resulted in elevation of Vmax with no significant alteration in KT as compared to age-matched controls. Depolarization-induced release of L-[3H]glutamate from prelabeled slices did not differ significantly from control in the lesioned rat except at 21 days after lesion when the amount of tritium release was significantly greater in the transected preparations than in control. Amino acid analysis of the lumbar cord from control and transected rats indicated only a 10% decrease in the level of endogenous glutamate and no alterations in the concentration of GABA and glycine 7 days after lesion. These findings do not support the hypothesis that glutamate serves as a major excitatory neurotransmitter in supraspinal pathways innervating the lumbar cord of the rat

  18. Determination of residual fluoroquinolones in honey by liquid chromatography using metal chelate affinity chromatography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yatsukawa, Yoh-Ichi; Ito, Hironobu; Matsuda, Takahiro; Nakamura, Munetomo; Watai, Masatoshi; Fujita, Kazuhiro

    2011-01-01

    A new analytical method for the simultaneous determination of seven fluoroquinolones, namely, norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, danofloxacin, enrofloxacin, orbifloxacin, sarafloxacin, and difloxacin, especially in dark-colored honey, has been developed. Fluoroquinolone antibiotics were extracted from samples with MacIlvaine buffer solution (pH 4.0) containing EDTA disodium salt dihydrate. The extracts were treated with both a polymeric cartridge and a metal chelate affinity column preloaded with ferric ion (Fe3+). LC separation with fluorescence detection was performed at 40 degrees C using an Inertsil ODS-4 analytical column (150 x 4.6 mm, 3 microm). The mobile phase was composed of 20 mM/L citrate buffer solution (pH 3.1)-acetonitrile mixture (70 + 30, v/v) containing 1 mM/L sodium dodecyl sulfate. Lomefloxacin was used as an internal standard. The developed method was validated according to the criteria of European Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. Decision limits and detection capabilities were below 2.9 and 4.4 microg/kg, respectively.

  19. Affinity for a malignant tumor and organs of sup(99m)Tc-citrate complex

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ando, A; Sanada, S; Hiraki, T [Kanazawa Univ. (Japan). School of Paramedicine; Hisada, K; Nakazawa, N

    1976-12-01

    In order to investigate the tumor affinity of sup(99m)Tc-citrate complex, it was synthesized in three different ways. By (1) reducing sup(99m)TcO/sub 4//sup -/ with FeCl/sub 3//sup -/ ascorbic acid in 0.15 M sodium citrate, (2) reducing sup(99m)TcO/sub 4//sup -/ with SnCl/sub 2/ solution in 0.15 M sodium citrate, and (3) reducing sup(99m)TcO/sub 4//sup -/ with NaBH/sub 4/ in 0.45 sodium citrate. It was presumed from thinlayer chromatography that the sup(99m)Tc-citrate complexes synthesized in three ways were chemically different. These sup(99m)Tc-citrate complexes were injected intravenously into the rats subcutaneously transplanted with Yoshida sarcoma. These rats were sacrificed at one hour and three hours after injection. The radioactivity of the tumor, blood, muscle, liver, kidney, spleen and urine was measured by well-type scintillation counter. The retention values in these organs and the excretion rates in the urine were calculated. sup(99m)Tc-citrate complex synthesized by reducing sup(99m)TcO/sub 4//sup -/ with SnCl/sub 2/ solution had very strong affinity for the malignant tumor but the other two sup(99m)Tc-citrate complexes had no affinity to the malignant tumor. Excretion rates (% dose) of sup(99m)Tc-citrate complexes in one hour were from 65% to 75%.

  20. Effects of low-sodium diet vs. high-sodium diet on blood pressure, renin, aldosterone, catecholamines, cholesterol, and triglyceride (Cochrane Review)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Graudal, Niels A; Hubeck-Graudal, Thorbjørn; Jürgens, Gesche

    2012-01-01

    The question of whether reduced sodium intake is effective as a health prophylaxis initiative is unsolved. The purpose was to estimate the effects of low-sodium vs. high-sodium intake on blood pressure (BP), renin, aldosterone, catecholamines, and lipids....