Neurotensin and substance P and dumping syndrome

To investigate the pathophysiological relation between releases of gut hormones and dumping syndrome, plasma radioimmunoassayable neurotensin, substance P, glucagon-like immunoreactivity (GLI), insulin and blood sugar were measured in both gastrectomized patients and control subjects after 50 g oral glucose tolerance tests. Remarkable rises of radioimmunoassayable neurotensin and GLI were found in all gastrectomized patients, but not in control subjects. In contrast, plasma radioimmunoassayable substance P responses were not detected in either gastrectomized patients or control subjects. There were three patients with symptoms of dumping syndrome in the early stage of the test. Plasma radioimmunoassayable neurotensin responses in two out of these three were higher than those in other patients, though the other patient with symptoms had the same degree of neurotensin elevation as patients with no symptoms. In view of the pharmacological effects of neurotensin, it could not be ruled out that a part of the early symptoms of dumping syndrome may result from the remarkably enhanced plasma neurotensin release in some patients, although the enhanced neurotensin responses did not always accompany symptoms of dumping syndrome.

Enzymatic modification of tryptophan residues by tryptophan side chain oxidase I and II from Pseudomonas

The enzymatic modification of tryptophan residues in Trp-Leu, Leu-Trp, Leu-Trp-Leu, and yeast mating hormone (alpha-factor), a tridecapeptide containing Trp-1 and Trp-3, has been investigated with tryptophan side chain oxidase I crystallized previously from Pseudomonas and tryptophan side chain oxidase II recently isolated from the same organism. With Trp-Leu as substrate, threo- and erythro-beta-hydroxytryptophan residues were identified as primary products and the former perferentially underwent second step dehydrogenation to give beta-ketotryptophan. Free threo- and erythro-beta-hydroxytryptophan, hitherto undescribed tryptophan derivatives, were isolated after enzymatic hydrolysis, identified, and characterized. Leu-alpha, beta-dehydrotryptamine, a new biochemical entity, was a sole main product of Leu-Trp. With Leu-Trp-Leu, diastereoisomeric Leu-beta-hydroxyl-Trp-Leu and Leu-alpha, beta-dehydro-Trp-Leu were formed simultaneously, the pH and ionic strength being determinants of the ratio of these products. Leu-threo-beta-hydroxy-Trp-Leu was also converted to Leu-beta-keto-Trp-Leu, but, distinct from NH2-terminal beta-hydroxytryptophan, both diastereoisomers underwent acid-catalyzed dehydration to give Leu-alpha, beta-dehydro-Trp-Leu. Thus, the mode of modification was shown to be prescribed by the site of tryptophan in peptides and the results were the same with either tryptophan side chain oxidase I or II, except that the latter was almost inactive on Trp-Leu. With any substrate, 3-indolecarboxaldehyde was a sole detectable by-product.

Isolation and reconstitution of two electron transfer components of tryptophan side chain oxidase

The isolation and reconstitution of two electron transfer components of tryptophan side chain oxidase from Pseudomonas (ATCC 29574) are described. The dehydrogenase component abstracts electrons from the substrate and transfers them to oxidation-reduction dyes such as potassium ferricyanide and 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol but not to molecular oxygen. It is composed of a single polypeptide chain with a molecular weight of 72,000 and exhibits the absorption spectrum of a reduced b-type cytochrome with maxima at 563, 532, 433, 323, and 278 nm. The oxidase component transfers electrons, derived from the former component, to oxygen, and has a molecular weight of 48,000. The absorption spectrum exhibits broad peaks at 680, 438, and 358 nm, and a peak at 280 nm. On sucrose gradient centrifugation and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, these two components are shown to form a molecular complex, which has the reconstituted oxidase activity. The turnover number of the reconstituted enzyme is comparable to that of the native enzyme.

[A radioimmunoassay for plasma parathyroid hormone (PTH) using N-terminal PTH antiserum (author's transl)]

In order to investigate plasma bioactive PTH, we tried to assay the N-terminal portion of PTH by RIA. The antiserum to PTH was prepared by immunizing rabbits with a bovine 1-34 PTH conjugate BSA. A preparation of labeled PTH was radioiodinated by the chloramine-T or lactoperoxidase method. Labeled PTH was purified by means of adsorption by Quso G-32 powder or a sephadex G-50. The separation of the free and bound labeled hormone was performed by the dextran-coated charcoal method. The assay was carried out as follows: 0.2 ml diluted buffer (0.05 M, pH 8.6, veronal buffer), 0.1 ml standard PTH or sample to be tested, and 0.1 ml anti-PTH serum were mixed. After the first incubation at 4 degrees C for 4 days, 0.1 ml labeled PTH were added. After a second incubation at 4 degrees C for 12 hours, the assay tubes were centrifuged at 2,000 rpm for 30 min and the precipitates were counted. Various hypothalamic, pituitary and thyroid hormones did not interfere with the RIA for PTH. A dose response curve was obtained in a range from 100 pg to 5,000 pg per ml of standard PTH in this assay system. The serum immunoreactive PTH in healthy subjects values less than 290 pg per ml.

Crystalline hemoprotein from Pseudomonas that catalyzes oxidation of side chain of tryptophan and other indole derivatives

A new enzyme which catalyzes the oxidation of the side chain of tryptophan and other indole derivatives, has been purified to apparent homogeneity from Pseudomonas and crystallized. The overall purification was about 25-fold with a yield of 4.5%. The purified enzyme was apparently homogeneous as judged by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The molecular weight estimated by gel filtration was approximately 280,000 and sedimentation coefficient (S20,w) was 11 by sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation. The absorption spectra indicated that the enzyme was a hemoprotein. The purified enzyme was shown to catalyze the reaction in which 1 mol each of NH3 and CO2 was formed at the expense of 1 mol each of L-tryptophan and molecular oxygen. Neither peroxidase nor catalase activity was detected in the purified enzyme and no formation of H2O2 was observed during the enzyme reaction. The product(s) of the reaction was unstable but was converted to and was identified as its stable quinoxaline derivative, 2-(3-indolyl)quinoxaline, in the presence of o-phenylenediamine. These results indicate that the product of the reaction was 3-indolylglycoaldehyde or 3-indolylglyoxal. A variety of other indole derivatives such as D-tryptophan, 5-hydroxyl-L-tryptophan, tryptamine, serotonin, melatonin, N-acetyl-L-tryptophan, N-acetyl-L-tryptophanamide, 3-indoleacetamide, 3-indolelactic acid, 3-indolepropionic acid, 3-indoleethanol, and skatole were also substrates.

Oligonucleotide sequences of pancreatic and T1 ribonuclease digests of 5S ribosomal RNA from mouse cells

Oligonucleotides produced by complete pancreatic and T1 RNase digestion of 5S ribosomal RNA from a mouse hepatoma, MH 134, have been separated with two-dimensional electrophoresis and their nucleotide sequences determined. Except for the presence of a 5'-terminal diphosphate, these nucleotide sequences were identical with those of KB cells, confirming the identity of the primary structure of 5S RNA between these animals. Both oligonucleotide patterns produced with these enzymes from 5S RNA of the liver were also identical with those of the hepatoma. All these agree with the strong conservation of 5S RNA genes in animal species. However, when 5S ribosomal RNA was extracted from ribosomes which were prepared from microsomal pellet, pancreatic RNase digest contained two trinucleotides (A-G-Cp and G-A-Cp) that were not found in 5S RNA prepared with a one-step procedure. It was concluded that different isolation procedure might indeed cause artifactual fragments on enzymatic digestion due to internal nicks produced during isolation. The significance of 5'-terminal diphosphate in relation to the biosynthesis of 5S ribosomal RNA is also discussed.

Adenylate cyclase from Brevibacterium liquefaciens. III. In situ regulation of adenylate cyclase by pyruvate

In the presence of DL-alanine intracellular cyclic AMP in nonproliferating cells of Brevibacterium liquefaciens increased rapidly to the maximum level of approximately 180 muM, and extracellular cyclic AMP increased to 100 muM within 4 hr at 25 degrees . Adenylate cyclase (EC 4.6.1.1) induction was not observed during this incubation. The concentration of pyruvate in the total culture increased concomitantly with that of cyclic AMP and reached approximately 20 mM after 4 hr of incubation. Since the activity of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase is extremely low in this bacterium, the accumulation of cyclic AMP with DL-alanine appeared to be due to the activation of adenylate cyclase by pyruvate. D-alanine was more effective than L-alanine in producing pyruvate, and a high activity of D-alanine oxidation was detected in the cell lysate of B. liquefaciens.Thus, adenylate cyclase in this bacterium appeared to be regulated in vivo by pyruvate which was formed, in this case, predominantly from D-alanine through the action of D-aminoacid oxidase (EC 1.4.3.3). Pyruvate, added extracellularly, also caused a rapid accumulation of intracellular cyclic AMP. Glucose did not change the level of cyclic AMP significantly. It also did not affect the intracellular accumulation of cyclic AMP with DL-alanine.