Esterase-30 (ES-30) of the house mouse: Biochemical characterization and genetics of a new carboxylesterase isozyme linked to cluster-2 loci on chromosome 8

Steroid hormones mediate sex difference in brain levels of tacrine and its hypothermic effect in the rat

Tacrine, a reversible cholinesterase (ChE) inhibitor, lowers body temperature by increasing cholinergic activity in the hypothalamus. Its hypothermic effect was significantly greater in female than in male rats at doses of 2.5-12.5 mg/kg. Gonadectomy increased the maximum fall in temperature after tacrine (5 mg/kg) from 1.92+/-0.16 to 2.59+/-0.13 degrees C in males and from 2.96+/-0.25 to 3.63+/-0.27 degrees C in females. Testosterone (10 mg/rat) rats significantly reduced the hypothermia in gonadectomised males and females and abolished the gender difference. Adrenalectomy increased the fall in temperature after tacrine (5 mg/kg) to 2.92+/-0.15 degrees C in males and 4.18+/-0.24 degrees C in females. The sex difference that remained was abolished by four daily injections of corticosterone (5 mg/kg). Plasma ChE can bind tacrine thereby lowering the amount available to the brain. Ovariectomy decreased plasma ChE activity from 2.27+/-0.24 to 1.66+/-0.14, while adrenalectomy reduced it to 1.30+/-0.10 (micromoles acetylthiocholine hydrolysed/ml/h). This enzyme activity was unaffected by gonadectomy and adrenalectomy in males. Brain levels of tacrine, (5 mg/kg), 1 h after injection were 2.41+/-0.35 microg/gm in males and 4.97+/-0.57 microg/gm in females. Gonadectomy increased brain levels in males to 4.05+/-0.51 microg/gm and testosterone restored them to 2.64+/-0.3 microg/gm. The hypothermic effect of tacrine was highly correlated to its brain concentration after the hormonal manipulations. It is concluded that steroids can reduce the pharmacological effects of tacrine by interfering with its entry into the brain.

Purification and cloning of a broad substrate specificity human liver carboxylesterase that catalyzes the hydrolysis of cocaine and heroin

A human liver carboxylesterase (hCE-2) that catalyzes the hydrolysis of the benzoyl group of cocaine and the acetyl groups of 4-methylumbelliferyl acetate, heroin, and 6-monoacetylmorphine was purified from human liver. The purified enzyme exhibited a single band on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with a subunit mass of approximately 60 kDa. The native enzyme was monomeric. The isoelectric point of hCE-2 was approximately 4.9. Treatment with endoglycosidase H caused an increase in electrophoretic mobility indicating that the liver carboxylesterase was a glycoprotein of the high mannose type. The complete cDNA nucleotide sequence was determined. The authenticity of the cDNA was confirmed by a perfect sequence match of 78 amino acids derived from the hCE-2 purified from human liver. The mature 533-amino acid enzyme encoded by this cDNA shared highest sequence identity with the rabbit liver carboxylesterase form 2 (73%) and the hamster liver carboxylesterase AT51p (67%). Carboxylesterases with high sequence identity to hCE-2 have not been reported in mouse and rat liver. hCE-2 exhibited different drug ester substrate specificity from the human liver carboxylesterase called hCE-1, which hydrolyzes the methyl ester of cocaine. hCE-2 had higher catalytic efficiencies for hydrolysis of 4-methylumbelliferyl acetate, heroin, and 6-monoacetylmorphine and greater inhibition by eserine than hCE-1. hCE-2 may play an important role in the degradation of cocaine and heroin in human tissues.

High-resolution mapping of a linkage group on mouse chromosome 8 conserved on human chromosome 16Q

We have performed a high-resolution linkage analysis for the conserved segment on distal mouse Chromosome (Chr) 8 that is homologous to human Chr 16q. The interspecific backcross used involved M. m. molossinus and an M. m. domesticus line congenic for an M. spretus segment from Chr 8 flanked by phenotypic markers Os (oligosyndactyly) and e, a coat colormarker. From a total of 682 N2 progeny, the 191 animals revealing a recombination event between these phenotypic markers were typed for 23 internal loci. The following locus order with distances in cM was obtained: (centromere)-Os-4.1-Mmp2-0.2-Ces1,Es1, Es22-1.2-Mt1,D8Mit15-2.2-Got2, D8Mit11-3.7-Es30-0.3-Es2, Es7-0.9-Ctra1,Lcat-0.3-Cdh1, Cadp, Nmor1, D8Mit12-0.2-Mov34-2.5-Hp,Tat-0.2-Zfp4-1.6-Zfp1,+ ++Ctrb-10.9-e. In a separate interspecific cross involving 62 meioses, Dpep1 was mapped together with Aprt and Cdh3 at 12.9 cM distal to Hp, Tat, to the vicinity of e. Our data give locus order for markers not previously resolved, add Mmp2 and Dpep1 as new markers on mouse Chr 8, and indicate that Ctra1 is the mouse homolog for human CTRL. Comparison of the order of 17 mouse loci with that of their human homologs reveals that locus order is well conserved and that the conserved segment in the human apparently spans the whole long arm of Chr 16.