Effect of taurine on responses to noradrenaline, acetylcholine and ouabain in isolated auricles from digitalized guinea pigs

Responses of the isolated heart from the guinea pig treated chronically with digitoxin until the T wave had disappeared were studied. The development of the abnormal ECG pattern was abolished by a simultaneous injection of taurine and digitoxin. Taurine also inhibited the change by digitoxin of the responses to acetylcholine and ouabain but not to noradrenaline. The causal relationship between the inhibitory effect of taurine and prevention of the development of arrhythmias remains obscure.

Effects of various drugs on serum free and total tryptophan levels and brain tryptophan metabolism in rats

Various drugs known to bind to serum albumin were examined to determine whether or not they influenced the level of free tryptophan in serum in vitro and in vivo. Possible relationships between the serum free tryptophan level and serotonin (5-HT) synthesis in the brain and the hypothermic effects of these drugs were investigated. Of the drugs examined, sodium salicylate, sodium benzoate and indomethacin caused a significant increase in the concentration of serum free tryptophan and stimulated the synthesis of 5-HT in the brain. Hypothermia induced by salicylate and indomethacin was potentiated by pretreatment with pargyline, a monoamine oxidase inhibitor. Administration of benzoate did not cause any change in body temperature, but after pargyline a hypothermia did occur. However, pretreatment with parachlorophenylalanine, an inhibitor of 5-HT synthesis, did not influence the hypothermia induced by salicylate and indomethacin. Relationship between the hypothermic effect and the increase of 5-HT synthesis in the brain after a large dose of salicylate and indomethacin is discussed.

Effects of reducing and oxidizing agents on the action of bleomycin

The effects of reducing agents, such as 2-mercaptoethanol, dithiothreitol, L-ascorbic acid, or sodium borohydride, and oxidizing agents, such as hydrogen peroxide or dehydroascorbic acid, on the in vitro action of bleomycin were investigated. After the incubation of DNA with a low concentration of bleomycin and a reducing or oxidizing agent, single strand breaks were mainly caused in the DNA molecules. The degradation of DNA was largely prevented by the removal of oxygen, or by the addition of divalent cations or of S-(2-aminoethyl)isothiuronium bromide hydrobromide, a radical scavenger, to the incubation mixture. Preincubation of bleomycin with these reducing or oxidizing agents reduced the DNA-degrading activity of the antibiotic. However, this reduction in activity was observed even in the absence of oxygen, or in preincubation mixture supplemented with radical scavenger.

Effects of extracts of rat tissues on the action of bleomycin

The cell sap (105 000 times g supernatant) of various tissues of rats caused DNA degradation in the presence of bleomycin. The activity was fractionated into two peaks by column chromatography on Sephadex G-25. The activity in Peak A (excluded fraction) appeared to be due to some proteinaceous entity, while that recovered in Peak B (retarded fraction), constituting about 90% of the total activity, seemed to be due to ascorbic acid, judging by results of further gel filtration and the effect of treatment with ascorbate oxidase. Incubation of bleomycin with Peak A or B caused loss of the ability of the antibiotic to degrade DNA. It is proposed that the action of bleomycin on DNA, and its inactivation by tissue extracts, depend, at least in part, on the presence of ascorbic acid.

Effect of various nucleotides and drugs on microsomal thiamine diphosphatase activity in rat brain

The basic properties of microsomal thiamine diphosphatase (TDPase) in rat brain were examined. It was mainly localized in the microsomal fraction. Microsomal TDPase showed an absolute requirement for divalent cation which was best satisfied by Ca++. Theophylline (1 mM), NADP (0.1 mM) and NADPH (0.1 mM) significantly inhibited its activity. However, caffeine, theobromine, NAD and various putative neurotransmitters did not affect the enzyme activity. UDP was inhibitory and IDP was a competitive inhibitor, but ATP had no effect on the enzyme activity.

[Inhibitory effect of taurine on ouabain-induced arrythmia]

Myocardial taurine level was found to be greater in the rat than in the guinea-pig. Taurine inhibited the development of arrhythmias caused by the i.v. infusion of ouabain in the rat. When ouabain induced arrhythmias, the myocardial taurine level decreased. Both effects were blocked by pretreatment of propranolol. The uptake of taurine into the heart did not necessarily result in the reversal of the PR interval prolonged by ouabain. The protecting effect of taurine against ouabain toxicity was not dependent upon the change in myocardial total ATPase activity.

Role of thiamine metabolism in the central nervous system. II. Effects of various agents on thiamine triphosphatase activity in rat brain

The effects of various agents on the activity of brain thiamine triphosphatase (TTPase) in vivo and in vitro were studied. Thiamine deficiency caused a significant increase in soluble TTPase activity and a decrease in membrane-associated TTPase activity. Insulin and a fasting state did not affect these enzyme activities. DL-Methamphetamine (10mg/kg i.p.) increased the activity of the soluble TTPase, whereas reserpine (2.5 mg/kg i.p.) caused no change in the enzyme activities. A single injection of chlopromazine (25 mg/kg s.c.) had no effect on the microsomal or soluble TTPase activities, but repeated injections reduced the activity of the microsomal enzyme. The effects of various neuroactive agents on microsomal TTPase activity were examined in vitro. Among the drugs tested, only chlorpromazine caused marked inhibition of the enzyme activity.

Glucose intolerance in thiamine-deficient rats

The mechanism of glucose intolerance in thiamine-deficient rats has been examined. Deficient rats showed marked glucose intolerance. However, the hypoglycaemic effect of insulin (1 i.u. kg−1, i.p.) was similar in the deficient, pair-fed and normal groups, though somewhat weaker in the normal group than in the other two groups. After injection of tolbutamide (40 mg kg−1, i.p.), the hypoglycaemic effects in the three groups were the same. Tyramine (10 mg kg−1, s.c.) restored the impaired glucose tolerance of deficient rats to normal, but not that of alloxan diabetic rats. Furthermore, tyramine did not restore the intolerance of deficient rats pretreated with alloxan. These results suggest that the main factor causing glucose intolerance in the deficient rats may be suppressed insulin secretion.

Observations implicating an extracellular enzymic mechanism of control of bone morphogenesis

Data on physicochemical conditions leading to loss of the bone morphogenetic property of bone matrix in neutral buffer solutions support the concept of an enzymic control mechanism better than a chemical blocking reaction or denaturation. The loss is associated with release of 35S-labeled constituents and not prevented by ε-amino caproic acid, an inhibitor of cathepsins. The loss is also associated with release of 35S-cysteine-labeled protein; about 60% of the yield is sustained by the addition of only 3 mmoles/liter of iodoacetic acid. A latent period of about 12 hr, decreased by extraction of bone matrix with CaCl2, is characterized by release of protein polysaccharide and other noncollagenous proteins. Release of sialic acid from the bone matrix by neuraminidase at pH 7.4 has no effect upon bone yield. At 2°C, Tris-HCl buffer or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid extracts noncollagenous proteins without loss of bone yield; at 37°C, pH 7.4, these solutions also activate endogenous enzymes and reduce bone yield. The component of bone matrix responsible for reduction in bone yield is separable from bone matrix by extraction with phosphate buffer, by catheptic digestion of bone matrix in acidic buffer solutions, by sequential chemical extraction of noncollagenous proteins with cold slightly acidic salt solutions or by extraction-denaturation with chloroform-methanol. Detergents neither extinguish nor denature the morphogenetic property but some solubilize or extract degradative enzymes; hexodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide, at pH 5.0, is positively charged and extracts hydrophobic proteins, including part of the bone morphogenetic property. A special selection of sulfhydryl chemical inhibitors remarkably different from the selection inhibiting known enzymes preserves the bone morphogenetic property of bone matrix; p-chloromercuribenzoate preservation is reversible by chemical reactions with cysteine. Reduction in bone yield in phosphate buffer is not attributable to a chemical block because chloroform-methanol extraction of the agent does not restore bone yield and is not attributable to denaturation because bone yield sustained by p-chloromercuribenzoate is lost by chemical reactions with cysteine. An hypothetical insoluble bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) firmly bound to collagen is degraded by a soluble neutral proteinase (BMPase). Digestion of the hypothetical BMP occurs without loss of the 640-A electron micrographic image of bone collagen, resembles tryptic digestion and is more selective as well as physiologic in action.

Bone morphogenesis in implants of insoluble bone gelatin

Insoluble bone gelatin with inclusions of insoluble noncollagenous protein produces new bone when implanted in muscle in allogeneic rats. The implanted residue provides the milieu for expression of bone morphogenetic potential of migratory mesenchymal cells. Neutral buffer solutions activate endogenous enzymes that degrade components essential for cell interactions and differentiation of bone. Chloroform-methanol either denatures or extracts constituents responsible for degradation. Insoluble bone gelatin produces new bone after extraction at 2 degrees with neutral salts, 0.5 M EDTA, 0.1 M Tris.HCl, 4 M urea, 0.5 M hydroxylamine, and 10 M KCNS, as well as after limited digestion with pepsin or collagenase, but not after extraction with 5 M guanidine, 7 M urea, water saturated with phenol, or after alkali hydrolysis with 0.1 N NaOH. The specific activity of cell populations interacting with insoluble bone gelatin suggests that a chemical bond between collagen and a noncollagenous protein or part of a protein, cleaved by a neutral proteinase, controls the bone morphogenetic reaction.