Serine ethanolamine phosphate in avian muscular dystrophy: mechanism of accumulation in dystrophic muscle and relationship to phospholipid synthesis

The enduring relationship between myosin enzymatic activity and the speed of muscle contraction

Moss and Solaro recall Bárány’s landmark study that identified myosin ATPase as the fundamental driver of contraction speed.

Denervation of the rabbit hind limb studied by 31-phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy

An animal model of muscle denervation was examined by 31P. magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The experiments demonstrated that there is a significant alteration in high and low energy phosphate metabolites in rabbit muscle after nerve section. The data show that there is an early change in the metabolites which appears to plateau at about six weeks. High resolution spectra of muscle cell extracts demonstrate qualitative alterations in the phosphate resonances found in the phosphodiester and phosphomonoester regions of the spectra. There would seem to be a time-related alteration in these components.

31P surface-coil NMR analysis of metabolic status in KHJJ tumors

Noninvasive monitoring of the effects of treatment on cancer tissue is fundamental to the development of rational radioimmunotherapy (RIT) schemes employing radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies or antibody fragments specific for human cancer. Recent advances in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy make it an attractive candidate for sequential, topical monitoring by 31P NMR of metabolic events during RIT. Preliminary to this effort, we examined the metabolic competence of the well-characterized, murine KHJJ tumor in situ in BALB/c mice using 31P surface-coil NMR. The ATP/Pi ratio in tumor volumes ranging from 100 to 800 mm3 showed that tumors over this range of sizes were able to maintain high levels of ATP relative to Pi. As the tumor volume increased above 1 cm3, ATP/Pi levels indicated poor metabolic competence. This lack of metabolic competence was correlated with histological evidence of tissue necrosis and vascular disintegration. The T1 values of assigned phosphorus metabolites were established. Intracellular pH, as determined from the chemical shift of Pi, was found to vary in these tumors from 7.1 in rapidly metabolizing tissue to 6.6 in necrotic tumors.

31P-NMR studies of metabolite compartmentation in Fasciola hepatica

Fasciola hepatica, the common liver fluke, is an anaerobic parasitic worm. Possible compartmentation of metabolites between different cell types, metabolic compartments, and free and macromolecule-bound species was investigated using 31P-NMR. A spectrum of the intact worm shows unusual metabolic features, among which are large amounts of glycerolphosphorylcholine, phospholipids mobile on the NMR time-scale, and free cytosolic ADP. Spectra from cells as different as those in oral sucker tissue and eggs showed similar features. Acidosis after serotonin administration was associated with parallel changes in chemical shifts of intracellular Pi and glucose 6-phosphate, suggesting that they are in the same metabolic compartment. Although 13.4 +/- 1.1 mumol/g wet wt. (n = 3) Mg2+ is present in fluke tissue, a considerable fraction is sequestered out of the cytosol. The intracellular free [Mg2+] was independently estimated from the chemical shifts of ATP and ADP as 1.6 +/- 0.5 mM and 2.9 +/- 0.7 mM, respectively. Quantitation of observable phosphate-containing metabolites in whole tissue and in perchlorate extracts demonstrated that 60% of the total ADP and 50% of the total Pi are 'NMR-invisible' in the intact fluke and therefore probably bound to macromolecules in the cells. The apparent ATP/ADP X Pi free concentration ratio is much lower in this anaerobic tissue than in mammalian oxidative tissues.

Phospholipid composition of dystrophic chicken erythrocyte plasmalemmae. II. Characterization of a unique lipid from dystrophic erythrocyte membranes as ethanolamine plasmalogen

The phospholipid content of normal (line 412) and dystrophic (line 413) chicken erythrocyte plasmalemmae has been quantified on a developmental basis using sex matched controls. A specific minor phospholipid component, ethanolamine plasmalogen, is identified from dystrophic erythrocyte membrane preparations. To arrive at this identification, data from studies utilizing gas-liquid chromatography, thin-layer chromatography, [14C]ethanolamine incorporation, and biochemical assay for specific organic moieties were correlated. This phospholipid has the potential to alter and regulate membrane fluidity and thus membrane function. The possible presence of significant concentrations of plasmalogen in human dystrophic tissues may serve as a marker for dystrophy and thus be of clinical importance.

Phospholipid composition of dystrophic chicken erythrocyte plasmalemmae. I. Isolation of a unique lipid in dystrophic erythrocyte membranes

Several structural and functional properties are characterized in nucleated erythrocyte plasmalemmae of age- and sex-matched dystrophic (line 413) and normal (line 412) chickens obtained from the University of California at Davis. Plasmalemma purity is assessed through marker enzymes. Significant differences are observed in the phospholipid content between dystrophic and normal chickens. The dystrophic chicken erythrocyte plasmalemma has an increased concentration of phosphatidylserine and a decreased concentration of phosphatidylethanolamine compared with control birds. Also, a measurable and distinct polar lipid, observed only on thin-layer chromatography (TLC) plates spotted with dystrophic preparations, is visualized adjacent to phosphatidylethanolamine. These abnormalities in the dystrophic chicken erythrocyte may signal a general defect in membrane structure for chicken dystrophy.

Plasmalogenase activity in normal and dystrophic chicken erythrocytes

The enzyme kinetics for plasmalogenase have been analyzed on a developmental basis and correlated with the presence of ethanolamine plasmalogen (1-alkyl,1'-enyl,2-acyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphoryl-ethanolamine) in dystrophic chicken erythrocyte membranes. At day 15 ex ovo, both dystrophic (Line 413) and normal (Line 412) chicken erythrocyte enriched microsomal preparations manifest high Km forms of plasmalogenase. However, with time, the Km of this enzyme from normal erythrocyte preparations drops significantly whereas the Km of the enzyme from dystrophic preparations remains high. This observation may account for elevated concentrations of plasmalogen observed in dystrophic chicken tissues.

[Study of in vivo cellular metabolism by phosphorus 31 nuclear magnetic resonance]

Phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy has been recently increasingly used to study cellular metabolism in a manner respecting the cell integrity. Intrinsic advantages of the phosphorus nucleus for in vivo NMR studies are discussed in this review together with some selected applications. A particular emphasis is layed on metabolite identification and quantitation (relative and absolute concentrations), the measurement of intracellular pH and the problem of cellular compartmentation. The determination of metabolite fluxes under normal and abnormal biological and physiological conditions, and the in vivo direct measurement by saturation transfer techniques of kinetic parameters for enzymatic reactions at equilibrium, are illustrated by several examples taken from the available literature and work carried out in this laboratory. Whenever possible, and appropriate, the NMR approach has been compared with other more classical techniques of investigation. The future and the potentialities of phosphorus-31 NMR study of intact biological systems, the clinical applications and the foreseeable interfacing with imaging techniques are evaluated. The concept of "functional imaging" versus "anatomic imaging" is proposed to illustrate the impact of this new technology in the understanding of cellular mechanisms, not only in the intact cell but also in whole tissues or organs after excision or in living animals and human.