Search results for "Enzyme Assay"
showing 10 items of 155 documents
Cultures with cryopreserved hepatocytes: applicability for studies of enzyme induction
2000
The use of hepatocyte cultures is well established for the study of drug-drug interactions. However, the major hindrance for the use of human hepatocyte cultures is that human hepatocytes are only occasionally available. This problem could be overcome by cryopreservation. Although cryopreserved hepatocytes have been recommended for short term applications in suspension, studies on induction of enzyme activity, requiring a more prolonged maintenance of cryopreserved hepatocytes in culture, represent a new field of research. In the present study, we established a technique that allows preparation of rat hepatocyte co-cultures, using cryopreserved hepatocytes. After incubation with phenobarbit…
N-acetyl-L-glutamate in brain: assay, levels, and regional and subcellular distribution.
1991
N-Acetyl-L-glutamate (NAG), the activator of mitochondrial carbamoyl phosphate synthetase (CPS), is demonstrated by several methods, including a new HPLC assay, in the brain of mammals and of chicken. The brain levels of NAG are 200-300 times lower than the levels of N-acetyl-L-aspartate (NAA), and are similar to the levels of NAG in rat liver. The NAG levels in chicken liver are very low. Although NAG is mitochondrial in the liver, it is cytosolic in brain. Using enzyme activity and immuno assays we did not detect CPS in brain (detection limit, 12.5 micrograms/g brain), excluding that brain NAG is involved in citrullinogenesis. The regional distribution of brain NAG differs from that of NA…
Metabolism of coumarin by precision-cut calf liver slices and calf liver microsomes.
1995
1. The metabolism of 50 microM [3-14C]coumarin has been studied in precision-cut-calf liver slices. 2. The metabolism of 50 microM coumarin to 7-hydroxycoumarin has also been examined in calf, rat, Cynomolgus monkey and human liver microsomal preparations. 3. In precision-cut calf liver slices, [3-14C]coumarin was metabolized to various polar products and to metabolite(s) that bound covalently to calf liver slice proteins. The polar products included 7-hydroxycoumarin (which was extensively conjugated with D-glucuronic acid and/or sulphate), metabolites of the 3-hydroxylation pathway (mainly o-hydroxyphenylethanol and o-hydroxyphenylacetic acid), and unknown metabolites. 4. Coumarin 7-hydro…
Modulation of the nuclear-envelope nucleoside triphosphatase by poly(A)-rich mRNA and by microtubule protein.
1982
Nuclear envelopes contain a nucleoside triphosphatase which is thought to be involved in the supply of energy for nucleo-cytoplasmic RNA transport. This enzyme is stimulated most efficiently by poly(A) and to a lesser extent by poly(G) and poly(dT). Half-maximal stimulation of the enzyme from rat liver nuclei, which was associated with the poly(A)-specific endoribonuclease IV and was free from poly(A) polymerase and endoribonuclease V activity, was determined to occur at a concentration of 1.1 × 106 poly(A) molecules/nuclear ghost. Double-reciprocal plot analyses revealed a 2.8-fold stimulation of the enzyme by poly(A). Poly(A) in the hybrid form had no influence on the activity of the nucl…
Estradiol induces endothelial cell migration and proliferation through estrogen receptor-enhanced RhoA/ROCK pathway
2010
Migration and proliferation of endothelial cells are involved in re-endothelialization and angiogenesis, two important cardiovascular processes that are increased in response to estrogens. RhoA, a small GTPase which controls multiple cellular processes, is involved in the control of cell migration and proliferation. Our aim was to study the role of RhoA on estradiol-induced migration and proliferation and its dependence on estrogen receptors activity. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells were stimulated with estradiol, in the presence or absence of ICI 182780 (estrogen receptors antagonist) and Y-27632 (Rho kinase inhibitor). Estradiol increased Rho GEF-1 gene expression and RhoA (gene an…
Metabolism of metyrapone by a soluble enzyme system in rat liver.
1970
The formation of a metabolite of metyrapone by an oxygen sensitive soluble enzyme system in rat liver 105,000×g supernatant has been demonstrated. Enzyme activity requires the intact keto function of metyrapone.
Genetic and biochemical characterization of little isoxanthopterin (lix), a gene controlling dihydropterin oxidase activity in Drosophila melanogaste…
1991
Dihydropterin oxidase catalyses the oxidation of 7,8-dihydropteridines into their fully oxidized products, and is involved in the biosynthesis of isoxanthopterin. Fifteen Drosophila melanogaster mutants, selected for their low pterin and isoxanthopterin content, were assayed for dihydropterin oxidase activity. The activity was around 100% in most mutants tested, slightly reduced in red, g and dke, and undetectable in lix. In flies carrying various doses of the lix+ allele, a correlation was found between enzyme activity and the number of lix+ copies in the genome. The results suggest that lix is the structural gene for the dihydropterin oxidase enzyme. Isoxanthopterin was quantitated in str…
Gene diagnosis and carrier detection in Hunter syndrome by the iduronate-2-sulphatase cDNA probe.
1992
Hunter disease (McKusick 309900) is an X-chromosomal mucopolysaccharidosis due to deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme iduronate-2-sulphatase (IDS; EC 3.1.6.13). Diagnosis is based on both the typical clinical features of patients and the lack/reduction of IDS activity. Female carriers show no symptoms of the disease. In the past, several different assays were elaborated for measuring enzyme activity in carriers but none of them proved to be suitable for detecting heterozygotes reliably (Zlotogora and Bach 1984)
Acute toxicity of dichlorvos to Aphanius iberus (Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1846) and its anti-cholinesterase effects on this species
2008
This study evaluates the toxic effects of the organophosphate pesticide (OP) dichlorvos to the endangered Iberian toothcarp (Aphanius iberus). To this end, the lethal toxicity of dichlorvos based on 96 h-LC50 bioassays was determined in saline water (50 g/L), and in vivo effects of dichlorvos on cholinesterase (ChE) activity were investigated in adult female and male specimens. The 96 h-LC50 value determined by probit analysis was 3.17 mg/L (95% confidence limits: 1.34-3.97). The characterisation of the ChE using different substrates and specific inhibitors was also carried out in head and muscle tissues. Acetylthiocholine was the substrate preferred by both head and muscle ChE in males and…
Day-night rhythm of acetylcholine in the rat pineal gland
1997
Abstract Using high-performance-liquid-chromatography (HPLC) measurement of acetylcholine, choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) enzyme assay and anti-ChAT immunohistochemistry, we have investigated the expression of the cholinergic system in pineal glands of male rats. Glands procured during the day period (1200 h) contained significant amounts of acetylcholine (0.5 pmol/gland). A similar content was found in pineal glands after a 48 h culture period, i.e. when the intrapineal nerve fibres have degenerated. This strongly indicates that the pinealocytes are the cells which contain acetylcholine. To confirm this conclusion we demonstrate substantial ChAT-like immunoreactivity in pinealocytes. ChA…