Biochemical and immunological characterizations of rat pepsinogens and pepsins

Adsorption of proteins on oral Zn2+ doped iron oxide nanoparticles in mouse stomach and in vitro: triggering nanoparticle aggregation

Oral route is one of the most important portals of nanoparticle entry to the body. However, in vivo protein corona formed in the gastrointestinal tract has not been studied owing to the difficulty for the recovery of nanoparticles from the in vivo environment. In this study, by using the magnetic property of iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs) and Zn2+ doped iron oxide nanoparticles (Zn0.4Fe2.6O4 NPs), the nanoparticles were separated from the gastric fluid after oral administration in mice. The effects of Zn2+ doping and static magnetic field (SMF) treatment on the protein adsorption on the nanoparticles were investigated in vitro and in vivo. Zn2+ doping decreases the adsorption of pepsin on the nanoparticles in vitro and affects the composition of the protein corona in vivo and enhances protein adsorption-induced aggregation of the nanoparticles in vitro and in vivo. SMF treatment affects the composition of the protein corona of Fe3O4 NPs and Zn0.4Fe2.6O4 NPs, and enhances the aggregation of Fe3O4 NPs and Zn0.4Fe2.6O4 NPs in vivo. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that electrostatic attraction is the crucial force to drive adsorption of proteins on Fe3O4 NPs and Zn0.4Fe2.6O4 NPs and protein adsorption-induced change in the surface charge of nanoparticles plays an important role in the pH-dependent aggregation of the nanoparticles. In addition, the work provides the evidence that the protein adsorption-induced aggregation of Fe3O4 NPs and Zn0.4Fe2.6O4 NPs has no effect on their magnetic susceptibility. The results highlight that Zn0.4Fe2.6O4 NPs may be used as a potential oral magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent in diagnosis of gastrointestinal disease.

Pharmacological isolation and characterization of NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic potential in the dentate gyrus of rat hippocampal slices

We attempted to observe the dentate gyrus field potential evoked by low-frequency stimulation of the perforant path in Mg(2+)-free medium and identify the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated synaptic potential using rat hippocampal slices. When perfusing solution was changed from normal medium (1.3 mM Mg2+) to Mg(2+)-free medium, the evoked potential was greatly increased and secondary population spikes appeared following a primary population spike. The evoked potential recorded in Mg(2+)-free medium was only partly blocked by 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX), a non-NMDA receptor antagonist. The CNQX-resistant component of the evoked potential in Mg(2+)-free medium was completely abolished by 30 microM DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate, a NMDA receptor antagonist, indicating that the NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic response can be isolated by masking the non-NMDA receptor-mediated component of the evoked potential under the Mg(2+)-free condition. The isolated NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic potential was also blocked by 7-chlorokynurenate, an antagonist at the glycine site of the NMDA receptor, and restored by the concomitant presence of glycine. Observation of pharmacologically isolated NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic potential is a simple and good method for studying the direct effects of drugs on NMDA receptor-mediated responses.

Immunohistochemical studies on the development of cells containing progastricsin (minor pepsinogen) in comparison to prochymosin and pepsinogen in bovine abomasal mucosa

The localization of progastricsin was studied in cells of abomasal mucosa from cattle of different ages and feeding regimes and compared to the localization of prochymosin and pepsinogen in the same material by use of an immunofluorescence technique with specific rabbit antibodies. Immunoreactivity for progastricsin was first found in calves at the age of about 45 days in surface mucous cells in the pit of the fundic gland. In older calves and adults, mucous neck cells also produced progastricsin. In the pyloric mucosa, on the other hand, traces of progastricsin immunoreactivity were found in the lower base of the pyloric gland even in newborn calves. When the calves grew older, progastricsin-immunoreactive cells also developed in the pit and later in the neck of the pyloric gland; and the number of these cells in this region increased with age. The development of progastricsin-producing cells seemed to be influenced only by age and not by the feeding of milk to the calves. The ontogeny of progastricsin, prochymosin, and pepsinogen exhibited an interesting pattern in cattle, as they started to be produced at three different ages and gave three different patterns of development in the cells of abomasal mucosa. The number of cells producing prochymosin was closely correlated with milk-feeding, while the development of progastricsin was most related to the age of the calf. The most stable factor during the development of the cells in the abomasum was the number of cells producing pepsinogen.

Aspartic proteinases in gastric mucosa of the rat: absence of pepsinogen I, genetic polymorphism of pepsinogen II, and presence of slow-moving proteinase

We have examined relationships among the aspartic proteinases in rat and human gastric mucosa by electrophoretic analysis in polyacrylamide gel and by immunoblotting and immunohistochemical staining using rabbit antisera to human pepsinogen I (PG I), pepsinogen II (PG II), and slow-moving proteinase. By electrophoretic analysis, the major proteolytic bands in mucosal extracts from each of three strains of rats had rates of anodal migration that were similar to the fastest migrating isozymogens of human PG I. However, immunoblots revealed that these bands and several minor proteolytic bands with slower rates of anodal migration reacted with antiserum to PG II. Two proteolytic bands in rat gastric mucosa that migrated concurrently with human slow-moving proteinase reacted with antihuman slow-moving proteinase reacted with antihuman slow-moving proteinase. None of the proteolytic bands in rat gastric mucosa reacted with anti-PG I. By immunohistochemical staining, anti-PG I failed to stain any cells in rat fundic gland or antral mucosa. By contrast, anti-PG II stained mucus neck and chief cells in fundic gland mucosa and pyloric gland cells in antral mucosa, and anti-slow-moving proteinase stained surface and foveolar epithelial cells throughout the stomach. The results indicate that the gastric mucosa of the rat does not contain PG I.

The N-terminal sequence of rat pepsinogen

The amino-acid sequence of 96 residues in the N-terminal region of rat pepsinogen I was determined and the first 46 residues were found to constitute the activation peptide segment. There was high degree of homology between the activation segments of rat pepsinogen and some pepsinogens A (pig, cow, Japanese monkey and human). However, the number of residues substituted between rat and the other pepsinogens were considerably larger than those among pepsinogens A. In the N-terminal 24 residues of active pepsin, homology (88%) between rat pepsin and human gastricsin was higher than that (50%) between rat pepsin and pepsin A from human or pig. This strongly suggests that rat pepsin should be classified as pepsin C.

Purification and properties of a cathepsin D-like acid proteinase from rat gastric mucosa

A unique acid proteinase was purified from rat gastric mucosa by DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B chromatography, gel filtration and isoelectric focusing. The purified enzyme was homogeneous by polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 86000 by gel filtration on a Sephadex G-100 column. In SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the enzyme showed a single band corresponding to a molecular weight of 42000. So it was concluded that the native enzyme is composed of two identical monomeric units. The enzyme is a glycoprotein and its isoelectric point was determined to be 4.33. The enzyme hydrolyzed bovine hemoglobin with maximum activity at pH 3.0, but it showed considerably lower activity on bovine serum albumin or casein than on bovine hemoglobin. The enzyme was strongly inhibited by pepstatin, but not by urea or thiol-reactive inhibitors. These results lead us to conclude that this enzyme is a cathepsin D-like acid proteinase.

Genetic variation of pepsinogen 1 in the rat

A pepsinogen (Pg 1) polymorphism was observed in gastric mucosal samples of Wistar rats by polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis. Three phenotypes were observed: S (a slow-moving band), F (a fast-moving band), and FS (both bands). Pg 1 variation was controlled by a pair of codominant alleles at a single autosomal locus. Interstrain variation of Pg 1 was studied in five strains of laboratory rats. Genetic variation of Pg 1 was detected only in the Wistar strain.

An enzyme-linked immunoassay for pepsinogen in sheep plasma

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for pepsinogen in sheep plasma is described. The assay requires only 20 microliter of plasma. As little as 250 ng pepsinogen/ml plasma can be measured using antibody-coated polystyrene tubes and if "MicroElisa" plates are used 50 ng pepsinogen/ml plasma can be assayed. The method is more specific, more sensitive, uses less samples, has lower blank values than the present widely-used spectrophotometric method and could easily be automated.