HOMOCYSTINURIA: ABSENCE OF CYSTATHIONINE IN THE BRAIN

Cystathionine was absent in the cerebrum of a patient with homocystinuria. This supports the theory that the enzymatic defect in homocystinuria is deficiency of cystathionine synthetase.

AUTOSOMALLY DETERMINED POLYMORPHISM OF GLUCOSE-6-PHOSPHATE DEHYDROGENASE IN PEROMYSCUS

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase commonly occurs in at least two forms in most tissues of the deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus, as demonstrated by starch-gel electrophoresis. An autosomally determined genetic polymorphism in one of the enzymes was discovered. A hybrid molecule occurs in the heterozygote; this suggests a dimeric structure of this enzyme.

LYSOSOMAL ACID HYDROLASES AND HYPERREACTIVITY TO ENDOTOXIN IN MICE INFECTED WITH BCG

Experiments are reported dealing with the correlation between activities of lysosomal acid hydrolases and hyperreactivity to endotoxin induced by BCG infection. Acid hydrolases were determined quantitatively in peritoneal MP, liver homogenate, and plasma of normal and hyperreactive mice. Mice infected with BCG not only exhibited a hyperreactive state to lethal effect of endotoxin, but also responded to endotoxin by rapid increase of acid hydrolases, especially of β-glucuronidase, in the plasma; whereas control mice responded to endotoxin by almost no change in plasma acid hydrolases. The extent of increase of β-glucuronidase in plasma of hyperreactive mice was shown to correlate fairly well with the degree of hyperreactivity to the lethal effect of endotoxin. Desensitization of such animals with endotoxin was found to cause a decreased response of plasma β-glucuronidase parallel with decreased mortality. A large amount of PPD exerted the similar effect to that of endotoxin in hyperreactive mice. Furthermore, the effect of PPD was decreased by desensitization of such animals with endotoxin, a fact which suggests contamination of PPD with endotoxin.

INDUCED PROTECTION OF ADRENAL CORTEX AGAINST 7,12-DIMETHYLBENZ(ALPHA)ANTHRACENE. INFLUENCE OF ETHIONINE. INDUCTION OF MENADIONE REDUCTASE. INCORPORATION OF THYMIDINE-H3

7,12-Dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (7,12-DMBA) exerts adrenocorticolytic effects which set it apart from all other polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and aromatic amines which have been investigated. Adrenal damage by this compound appears to be due to its steric and electronic properties together with its unusually high solubility in lipides. Many compounds given prior to 7,12-DMBA induced protection of adrenal. The most efficient inducers of protection are flat condensed aromatics possessing 4 or 5 rings; very small doses of these compounds were required to induce protection. Other compounds devoid of these properties induced protection but large or repeated doses were necessary. All inducers of protection had to be given prior to 7,12-DMBA to prevent adrenal necrosis; when given simultaneously with, or later than, this compound adrenal apoplexy resulted. Protective aromatics and 7,12-DMBA as well induced synthesis of menadione reductase in liver. 3-Methylcholanthrene (3-MC) induced this enzyme in many normal organs including liver, lung, adrenal, and in mammary cancer as well. dl-Ethionine under appropriate conditions of time and dosage eliminated the adrenal protection induced by aromatics and also delayed the induction of menadione reductase while depressing the amount of this enzyme which was synthesized. 7,12-DMBA caused a greatly reduced incorporation of tritium from thymidine-H³ into washed acid-insoluble residue of adrenal. 3-MC given in advance mitigated the drastic effect of 7,12-DMBA on DNA synthesis and increased considerably the amount of tritium which was incorporated. The specific damage to adrenal by 7,12-DMBA is a direct effect on cells. Protection of adrenal is a secondary effect which requires induction of protein synthesis and it results in improvement in synthesis of DNA.

CONJUGATIONS WITH GLUTATHIONE. THE ENZYMIC CONJUGATION OF SOME CHLOROCYCLOHEXENES

1. alpha-3,4,5,6-Tetrachlorocyclohex-1-ene and gamma-2,3,4,5,6-pentachlorocyclohex-1-ene are conjugated with glutathione in vitro by a rat-liver enzyme that is probably glutathione S-aryltransferase. 2. Chlorocyclohexane and the alpha-, beta-, gamma- and delta-isomers of hexachlorocyclohexane were not substrates for rat-liver glutathione S-aryltransferase. 3. Glutathione-S-aryltransferase activity was present in tissue preparations of houseflies of insecticide-resistant and -susceptible strains. More activity was found in a dieldrin-resistant strain of houseflies fed on dieldrin than in either a dieldrin-resistant strain not fed on dieldrin or a control strain of dieldrin-susceptible houseflies. 4. Housefly soluble supernatant preparations converted S-(2-chloro-4-nitrophenyl)glutathione into the corresponding cysteine and mercapturic acid derivatives.

SOME PROPERTIES OF FRUCTOSE 1,6-DIPHOSPHATASE OF RAT LIVER AND THEIR RELATION TO THE CONTROL OF GLUCONEOGENESIS

1. Fructose 1,6-diphosphatase has been purified tenfold from rat liver. The final preparation was not contaminated by either glucose 6-phosphatase or phosphofructokinase. The properties of the enzyme have been investigated in an attempt to define factors that could be of revelance to metabolic control of fructose 1,6-diphosphatase activity. 2. The metal ions Fe(2+), Fe(3+) and Zn(2+) inhibited the activity of fructose 1,6-diphosphatase even in the presence of an excess of mercaptoethanol; other metal ions tested had no effect. The inhibition produced by Zn(2+) was reversed by EDTA, but that produced by either Fe(2+) or Fe(3+) was not reversible. 4. The enzyme has a very low K(m) for fructose 1,6-diphosphate (2.0mum). Concentrations of fructose 1,6-diphosphate above 75mum inhibited the activity; however, even at very high fructose 1,6-diphosphate concentrations only 70% inhibition was obtained. 5. The activity was also inhibited by low concentrations of AMP, which lowered V(max.) and increased K(m) for fructose 1,6-diphosphate. Evidence is presented that suggests that AMP can be defined as an allosteric inhibitor of fructose 1,6-diphosphatase. 6. The inhibitions by both fructose 1,6-diphosphate and AMP were extremely specific. Also, the degree of inhibition was not affected by the presence of intermediates of glycolysis, of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, of amino acid metabolism or of fatty acid metabolism. 7. It is suggested that the intracellular concentrations of AMP and fructose 1,6-diphosphate could be of significance in controlling the activity of fructose 1,6-diphosphatase in the liver cell. The possible relationship between these intermediates and the control of gluconeogenesis is discussed.

PROPERTIES OF PHOSPHOFRUCTOKINASE FROM RAT LIVER AND THEIR RELATION TO THE CONTROL OF GLYCOLYSIS AND GLUCONEOGENESIS

1. Phosphofructokinase from rat liver has been partially purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation so as to remove enzymes that interfere in one assay for phosphofructokinase. The properties of this enzyme were found to be similar to those of the same enzyme from other tissues (e.g. cardiac muscle, skeletal muscle and brain) that were previously investigated by other workers. 2. Low concentrations of ATP inhibited phosphofructokinase activity by decreasing the affinity of the enzyme for the other substrate, fructose 6-phosphate. Citrate, and other intermediates of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, also inhibited the activity of phosphofructokinase. 3. This inhibition was relieved by either AMP or fructose 1,6-diphosphate; however, higher concentrations of ATP decreased and finally removed the effect of these activators. 4. Ammonium sulphate protected the enzyme from inactivation, and increased the activity by relieving the inhibition due to ATP. The latter effect was similar to that of AMP. 5. Phosphofructokinase was found in the same cellular compartment as fructose 1,6-diphosphatase, namely the soluble cytoplasm. 6. The properties of phosphofructokinase and fructose 1,6-diphosphatase are compared and a theory is proposed that affords dual control of both enzymes in the liver. The relation of this to the control of glycolysis and gluconeogenesis is discussed.

INFLUENCE OF PANCREATIC HORMONES ON ENZYMES CONCERNED WITH UREA SYNTHESIS IN RAT LIVER

1. The activities of enzymes of the urea cycle [carbamoyl phosphate synthetase, ornithine transcarbamoylase, argininosuccinate synthetase, argininosuccinase (these last two comprising the arginine-synthetase system) and arginase] have been measured in control, alloxan-diabetic and glucagon-treated rats. In addition, measurements were made on alloxan-diabetic rats treated with protamine-zinc-insulin. 2. Treatment of rats with glucagon for 3 days results in a marked increase in the activities of three enzymes of the urea cycle (carbamoyl phosphate synthetase, argininosuccinate synthetase and argininosuccinase). The pattern of change in the alloxan-diabetic group is very similar to that of the glucagon-treated group, although the magnitude of the change was much greater. 3. Comparison was made of the actual and potential rate of urea synthesis in normal and diabetic rats. In both groups the potential rate of urea production, as measured by the activity of the rate-limiting enzyme, argininosuccinate synthetase, slightly exceeds the actual rate of synthesis by liver slices in the presence of substrates. The relative activities of the actual and potential rates were similar in the two groups of animals, this ratio being 1:0.70. 4. In the alloxan-diabetic rats treated with protamine-zinc-insulin for 2.5 or 4 days there was a marked increase in liver weight. This was associated with a rise in the total hepatic activity of the urea-cycle enzymes located in the soluble fraction of the cell (the arginine-synthetase system and arginase) after 2.5 days of treatment. After 4 days of treatment the concentration of these enzymes/g. of liver decreased, and the total hepatic content then reverted to the untreated alloxan-diabetic value. 5. No effects of glucagon or of insulin in vitro could be found on the rate of urea production by liver slices. 6. The present results are discussed in relation to how far this pattern of change is typical of conditions resulting in a high urea output, and comparison has been made with other values in the literature.

THE OXIDATION OF D- AND L-GLYCERATE BY RAT LIVER

1. The interconversion of hydroxypyruvate and l-glycerate in the presence of NAD and rat-liver l-lactate dehydrogenase has been demonstrated. Michaelis constants for these substrates together with an equilibrium constant have been determined and compared with those for pyruvate and l-lactate. 2. The presence of d-glycerate dehydrogenase in rat liver has been confirmed and the enzyme has been purified 16-20-fold from the supernatant fraction of a homogenate, when it is free of l-lactate dehydrogenase, with a 23-29% recovery. The enzyme catalyses the interconversion of hydroxypyruvate and d-glycerate in the presence of either NAD or NADP with almost equal efficiency. d-Glycerate dehydrogenase also catalyses the reduction of glyoxylate, but is distinct from l-lactate dehydrogenase in that it fails to act on pyruvate, d-lactate or l-lactate. The enzyme is strongly dependent on free thiol groups, as shown by inhibition with p-chloromercuribenzoate, and in the presence of sodium chloride the reduction of hydroxypyruvate is activated. Michaelis constants for these substrates of d-glycerate dehydrogenase and an equilibrium constant for the NAD-catalysed reaction have been calculated. 3. An explanation for the lowered V(max.) with d-glycerate as compared with dl-glycerate for the rabbit-kidney d-alpha-hydroxy acid dehydrogenase has been proposed.

NATURE OF THE ENDOTOXIN-INACTIVATING PRINCIPLE IN GUINEA-PIG LIVER

Corwin, L. M. (Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.), and W. E. Farrar, Jr. Nature of the endotoxin-inactivating principle in guinea-pig liver. J. Bacteriol. 87:832-837. 1964.-Guinea-pig liver preparations inactivate Serratia marcescens endotoxin as assayed in chick embryo. The activity is optimal at pH 6.5 to 7.0 and 8.5 to 9.0. Mitochondria and the supernatant fraction containing microsomes possess activity. Mitochondria are only active at the acid pH optimum. The activity of acetone powder extracts of mitochondria is enhanced by adenosine triphosphate and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, whereas the mitochondria themselves are also activated by malate. It was concluded that the enzymes which inactivate endotoxin involve fatty acid activation and oxidation. Such a finding suggests that the lipid moiety of endotoxin is required for toxicity.