Search results for "phosphodiester"
showing 10 items of 176 documents
Expression and distribution of key enzymes of the cyclic GMP signaling in the human clitoris: relation to phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5)
2011
The clitoris contributes to the normal female sexual response cycle. A significance of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (GMP) has been assumed in the control of clitoral vascular smooth muscle. As only a few investigations on the physiology of the vascular and non-vascular clitoral tissue have been carried out, knowledge on the mechanisms controlling this particular female genital organ is still vague. It has been suggested that human clitoral corpus cavernosum smooth muscle is regulated by nitric oxide (NO)/cyclic GMP and related key enzymes, such as NO synthases (NOSs) and the phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5). The present study evaluated in the human clitoris, by means of immunohistochemistr…
A53T-Alpha-Synuclein Overexpression Impairs Dopamine Signaling and Striatal Synaptic Plasticity in Old Mice
2010
BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most frequent neurodegenerative disorder at old age, can be caused by elevated expression or the A53T missense mutation of the presynaptic protein alpha-synuclein (SNCA). PD is characterized pathologically by the preferential vulnerability of the dopaminergic nigrostriatal projection neurons. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, we used two mouse lines overexpressing human A53T-SNCA and studied striatal dysfunction in the absence of neurodegeneration to understand early disease mechanisms. To characterize the progression, we employed young adult as well as old mice. Analysis of striatal neurotransmitter content demonstrated that dopamine (DA…
Vascular Activity of (-)-Anonaine, (-)-Roemerine and (-)-Pukateine, Three Natural 6a(R)-1,2-Methylenedioxyaporphines with Different Affinities for α1…
2004
We have studied the mechanism of action of three 6a( R)-1,2-methylenedioxyaporphines as vasorelaxant compounds. The alkaloids assayed showed different affinities for the three human cloned alpha (1)-adrenoceptor (AR) subtypes stably expressed in rat-1 fibroblasts, showing lower affinity for alpha(1B)-AR with regard to the alpha(1A)- or alpha(1D)-subtypes. These three natural compounds are more potent inhibitors of [ (3)H]-prazosin binding than of [ (3)H]-diltiazem binding to rat cerebral cortical membranes. As all these alkaloids inhibited noradrenaline (NA)-induced [ (3)H]-inositol phosphate formation in cerebral cortex and rat tail artery, they may be safely viewed as alpha (1)-AR antagon…
The interaction of organotins with native DNA
1992
The compounds R2SnCl2 and R3SnCl (RMe, Et, nBu, nOct, Ph, in ethanol solution) as well as the aqueous species [Me2Sn(OH2)n]2+ and [Me3Sn(OH2)2]+, react with aqueous native DNA, yielding solid phases. According to the pointcharge model treatment of the 119Sn Mossbauer parameter nuclear quadrupole splitting, trans-octahedral R2Sn(O2PXY)2, and trigonalbipyramidal R3Sn(O2PXY), (RMe, Et, nBu), would occur in the pellets, the tin atoms being coordinated by phosphodiester groups of the nucleic acid. The precipitates from Ph2SnIV would consist of the DNA complex as well as of the Ph2SnIV distannoxane obtained by hydrolysis of the reactant, whilst nOct2SnCl2, nOct3SnCl and Ph3SnCl would mainly yield…
Antimuscarinic action of quinidine on the heart? A study in myocardial preparations from cat hearts
1984
Quinidine exerts anticholinergic effects which have been ascribed to atropine-like properties of the drug. We have examined the effects of acetylcholine on the force of contraction in isolated heart muscle preparations from cats and compared the inhibitory effects of atropine with those of quinidine. The effects of acetylcholine were antagonized competitively in the presence of atropine. The Schild-plot yielded a straight line; the slope was not significantly different from unity. In the presence of quinidine, the concentration-response curve of acetylcholine was shifted to the right as with atropine, however, the Schild-plot yielded a regression line which was not linear; the slope was sta…
Differential roles of cAMP and cGMP in megakaryocyte maturation and platelet biogenesis
2012
The cyclic nucleotides cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) regulate the activity of protein kinase A (PKA) and protein kinase G (PKG), respectively. This process helps maintain circulating platelets in a resting state. Here we studied the role of cAMP and cGMP in the regulation of megakaryocyte (MK) differentiation and platelet formation. Cultured, platelet-producing MKs were differentiated from fetal livers harvested from 13.5 days postcoital mouse embryos. MK development was accompanied by a dramatic increase in cAMP production and expression of soluble guanylate cyclase, PKG, and PKA as well as their downstream targets vasodilator-stimulated ph…
PHOSPHODIESTERASE INHIBITORS PIROXIMONE AND ENOXIMONE INHIBIT PLATELET AGGREGATION IN VIVO AND IN VITRO
1997
The phosphodiesterase type III inhibitors piroximone (PIR) and enoximone (ENO) exert positive inotropic and vasodilating effects in patients with severe heart failure. PIR and ENO raise cyclic AMP levels in cardiac and vascular smooth muscle cells. Platelet activity is also regulated by intracellular levels of cyclic AMP. In this study we have investigated the effects of PIR and ENO on platelet activity in vivo and in vitro. PIR and ENO inhibited ADP induced platelet aggregation in a time- and concentration-dependent manner with IC50-values of 67 +/- 14 mumol/l and 129 +/- 6 mumol/l, respectively. Coincubation of PIR with the adenylate cyclase activator iloprost resulted in a synergistic po…
Synergistic interaction of adenylate cyclase activators and nitric oxide donor SIN-1 on platelet cyclic AMP
1995
Abstract The molecular mechanism of the synergistic platelet inhibition by activators of adenylate cyclase and guanylate cyclase in human platelets was investigated. The adenylate cyclase activators iloprost and prostaglandin E 1 and the guanylate cyclase activator 3-morpholino-synonimine (SIN-1) dose-dependently inhibited thrombin-induced aggregation of washed human platelets. Furthermore, SIN-1 at a concentration inhibiting platelet aggregation by only 10% shifted the IC 50 values of iloprost and prostaglandin E 1 by one order of magnitude to the left, indicating a synergistic action of adenylate cyclase and guanylate cyclase activators. Iloprost and prostaglandin E 1 dose-dependently ele…
Effects of thrombin and of the phospholipase C inhibitor, D609, on the vascularity of the chick chorioallantoic membrane.
2000
Abstract Microvascular corrosion casting was used to assess the effects of thrombin and D609, a phospholipase C inhibitor, on the vascularity of the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). Discs containing vehicle, thrombin or D609 were placed on the CAM of fertilized white Leghorn eggs on Day 9 of gestation and vascularity was assessed on Day 11. Thrombin caused significant increases in the numbers (43%), diameters (5%) and lengths (17%), of both pre- and postcapillaries (first-order vessels by centripetal ordering). Conversely, D609 caused a decrease in the numbers (27%), lengths (12%) and diameters (8%) of first-order vessels. D609 decreased the total vascular volume of first- to th…
Ester Hydrolases, ATPases and Carboanhydrases
1994
Many biomolecules are esterified with carbonic acid, phosphoric acid or sulphuric acid. The enzymes responsible for the hydrolytic cleavage of the esters are the carboxylester hydrolases, phosphoesterases and sulphatases. In addition to the phosphomonoesterases, we will also consider the phosphodiesterases and nucleases that are specific for cAMP and cGMP, as well as the ATPases that cleave phosphoric acid anhydride bonds. The ion-transporting ATPases will be discussed together with comparative biochemical data on ion channels. The chapter ends with a discussion of carboanhydrases.