scholarly journals ALTERATIONS IN BIOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND RIBONUCLEIC ACID METABOLISM INDUCED IN RAT LIVER BY CORTISONE

1956 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Upton Lowe ◽  
Royden N. Rand

An investigation of the effect of cortisone administration upon the chemical composition of intracellular particulates of rat liver has been made. Livers were homogenized in 0.25 M sucrose solutions and submitted to differential centrifugation. Five fractions were prepared: mitochondria (Mit), microsomes (Mi), ultracentrifugable (U), non-sedimentable (S), and nuclear (Nuc). Measurement was made of total and polymerized RNA, nitrogen, lipide P, and uptake of P32 by the RNA of each fraction. The following observations were made:— Cortisone administration caused a fall in concentration in all measured constituents except glycogen. On a per liver basis, however, total liver RNA was unchanged in amount; nitrogen content of Mi fell and that of S increased; the lipide P of Mit and Mi also decreased. The biochemical composition of a statistical mitochondrion was significantly altered; in contrast, the microsomal fraction decreased in amount, but the relationship between the chemical constituents was unchanged. When polymerized RNA was sought by a process involving precipitation from ethanol at 20°C., none was found in the Mit of cortisone livers and the amount in Mi was much less than found in the normal. When, however, precipitation was conducted at 4°C., yields of polymerized RNA in all fractions after cortisone were equal to or greater than those found in the normal. Furthermore, incubation of mixtures of homogenates from normal and cortisone livers resulted in loss of warm precipitable RNA. These data strongly suggest the presence of an enzyme in cortisone livers which upon incubation with normal livers made preparation of polymerized RNA virtually impossible by use of the warm method. This agent, thought to operate in vivo and in vitro, was not present in significant amounts in normal livers, since incubation in this instance had no effect upon the amount of polymerized RNA. Mit from cortisone livers obtained by the cold technique had a significantly decreased rate of incorporation of P32 even though the yield of RNA from this fraction was increased. To reconcile these observations, it was proposed that under the influence of cortisone a variant of normal RNA is synthesized or normal RNA is converted to this variant. This "new" RNA has new solubility properties, a new rate of incorporation of P32, and conceivably it cannot act as a template for normal protein synthesis.

1969 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Rubenstein ◽  
P. G. Scholefield

During starvation there is an increase in the ATPase activity of a postmitochondrial fraction of rat liver. The increase is relatively specific for ATP and there is no change in the Na+,K+-stimulated ATPase activity. A corresponding increase in ATPase activity is found on pretreatment of the rat with glucagon and in tumor-bearing animals. The increase has been correlated with increase in phosphorylase activity and decrease in glycogen content under in vivo and in vitro conditions. Treatment of fasted animals with glucose or sucrose restores the glycogen content and diminishes the ATPase activity to normal levels, but puromycin is without effect. It is proposed that a physical association of glycogen with Mg2+-stimulated ATPase activity prevents the enzyme activity from being expressed.


1970 ◽  
Vol 116 (5) ◽  
pp. 913-917 ◽  
Author(s):  
John S. Elce

Adult male rat liver and kidney preparations were incubated with (2-hydroxyoestradiol-1-yl)[35S]glutathione. The glutamic acid and glycine residues were removed by enzymes present in the kidney microsomal fraction; the liver preparations had no effect. The resulting 2-hydroxyoestradiol–cysteine conjugate was acetylated at the α-amino group by both liver and kidney homogenates fortified with acetyl-coenzyme A, but not significantly in the absence of this coenzyme, or by liver or kidney slices. These results suggest that an oestrogen–glutathione conjugate, if formed in vivo, would be converted into the corresponding mercapturic acid before excretion.


1964 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Breuer ◽  
Marlene Knuppen ◽  
D. Gross ◽  
C. Mittermayer

ABSTRACT The microsomal fraction of rat liver contains an enzyme system which, in the presence of NADPH2 and oxygen, demethylates 2-methoxyoestradiol-17β to 2-hydroxyoestradiol-17β. Under similar experimental conditions, 3-methoxyoestradiol-17β is demethylated to oestradiol-17β. The demethylation of 3-methoxyoestradiol-17β shows an optimum at pH 7.4 and is inhibited by β-diethylaminoethyl diphenylpropylacetate; the type of inhibition seems to be noncompetitive. The Michaelis-Menten constant for 3-methoxyoestradiol-17β was found to be 2.0 × 10−4 m. It appears that demethylation of 2- and 3-methoxyoestrogens is catalysed by a non-specific ether-cleaving enzyme system. After intravenous injection of 20 mg of 3-methoxyoestradiol-17β into 3 patients, the excretion of oestradiol-17β, oestrone and oestriol in the urine showed a marked increase. The average yield of the 3 urinary oestrogens derived from 3-methoxyoestradiol-17β was 2.7% of the dose administered. By using corrections for metabolic and method losses, a demethylation rate of 17.5% for 3-methoxyoestradiol-17β was calculated. The concentrations of oestradiol-17β, oestrone and oestriol in bile also increased after intravenous administration of 3-methoxyoestradiol-17β. The maximum concentrations of oestrone and oestradiol-17β were found immediately after injection, whereas the maximum in the oestriol fraction occurred 4 h later. Oestrone was predominantly excreted in the sulphate fraction, but most of the oestriol was found in the glucuronoside fraction. These results suggest that demethylation of methoxyoestrogens takes place in liver. Some of the biochemical and physiological aspects of demethylation are discussed.


Author(s):  
M.J. Murphy ◽  
R.R. Price ◽  
J.C. Sloman

The in vitro human tumor cloning assay originally described by Salmon and Hamburger has been applied recently to the investigation of differential anti-tumor drug sensitivities over a broad range of human neoplasms. A major problem in the acceptance of this technique has been the question of the relationship between the cultured cells and the original patient tumor, i.e., whether the colonies that develop derive from the neoplasm or from some other cell type within the initial cell population. A study of the ultrastructural morphology of the cultured cells vs. patient tumor has therefore been undertaken to resolve this question. Direct correlation was assured by division of a common tumor mass at surgical resection, one biopsy being fixed for TEM studies, the second being rapidly transported to the laboratory for culture.


2008 ◽  
Vol 46 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
F Moriconi ◽  
H Christiansen ◽  
H Christiansen ◽  
N Sheikh ◽  
J Dudas ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Roohi Mohi-ud-din ◽  
Reyaz Hassan Mir ◽  
Prince Ahad Mir ◽  
Saeema Farooq ◽  
Syed Naiem Raza ◽  
...  

Background: Genus Berberis (family Berberidaceae), which contains about 650 species and 17 genera worldwide, has been used in folklore and various traditional medicine systems. Berberis Linn. is the most established group among genera with around 450-500 species across the world. This comprehensive review will not only help researchers for further evaluation but also provide substantial information for future exploitation of species to develop novel herbal formulations. Objective: The present review is focussed to summarize and collect the updated review of information of Genus Berberis species reported to date regarding their ethnomedicinal information, chemical constituents, traditional/folklore use, and reported pharmacological activities on more than 40 species of Berberis. Conclusion: A comprehensive survey of the literature reveals that various species of the genus possess various phytoconstituents mainly alkaloids, flavonoid based compounds isolated from different parts of a plant with a wide range of pharmacological activities. So far, many pharmacological activities like anti-cancer, anti-hyperlipidemic, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory both in vitro & in vivo and clinical study of different extracts/isolated compounds of different species of Berberis have been reported, proving their importance as a medicinal plant and claiming their traditional use.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Xin She ◽  
Qing Yang Yu ◽  
Xiao Xiao Tang

AbstractInterleukins, a group of cytokines participating in inflammation and immune response, are proved to be involved in the formation and development of pulmonary fibrosis. In this article, we reviewed the relationship between interleukins and pulmonary fibrosis from the clinical, animal, as well as cellular levels, and discussed the underlying mechanisms in vivo and in vitro. Despite the effects of interleukin-targeted treatment on experimental pulmonary fibrosis, clinical applications are lacking and unsatisfactory. We conclude that intervening in one type of interleukins with similar functions in IPF may not be enough to stop the development of fibrosis as it involves a complex network of regulation mechanisms. Intervening interleukins combined with other existing therapy or targeting interleukins affecting multiple cells/with different functions at the same time may be one of the future directions. Furthermore, the intervention time is critical as some interleukins play different roles at different stages. Further elucidation on these aspects would provide new perspectives on both the pathogenesis mechanism, as well as the therapeutic strategy and drug development.


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