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Amino Acids: The Forum for Amino Acid, Peptide and Protein Research (v.17, #3)

Glutamine and the immune system by Dr. P. C. Calder; P. Yaqoob (pp. 227-241).

Glutamine is utilised at a high rate by cells of the immune system in culture and is required to support optimal lymphocyte proliferation and production of cytokines by lymphocytes and macrophages. Macrophage-mediated phagocytosis is influenced by glutamine availability. Hydrolysable glutamine dipeptides can substitute for glutamine to support in vitro lymphocyte and macrophage functions. In man plasma and skeletal muscle glutamine levels are lowered by sepsis, injury, burns, surgery and endurance exercise and in the overtrained athlete. The lowered plasma glutamine concentrations are most likely the result of demand for glutaminne (by the liver, kidney, gut and immune system) exceeding the supply (from the diet and from muscle). It has been suggested that the lowered plasma glutamine concentration contributes, at least in part, to the immunosuppression which accompanies such situations. Animal studies have shown that inclusion of glutamine in the diet increases survival to a bacterial challenge. Glutamine or its precursors has been provided, usually by the parenteral route, to patients following surgery, radiation treatment or bone marrow transplantation or suffering from injury. In most cases the intention was not to stimulate the immune system but rather to maintain nitrogen balance, muscle mass and/or gut integrity. Nevertheless, the maintenance of plasma glutamine concentrations in such a group of patients very much at risk of immunosuppression has the added benefit of maintaining immune function. Indeed, the provision of glutamine to patients following bone marrow transplantation resulted in a lower level of infection and a shorter stay in hospital than for patients receiving glutamine-free parenteral nutrition.

Keywords: Amino acids; Glutamine; Lymphocyte; Macrophage; Mononuclear cell; Cytokine; Infection

Ion permeation properties of a cloned human 5-HT₃ receptor transiently expressed in HEK 293 cells by Shinobu Mochizuki; A. Miyake; K. Furuichi (pp. 243-255).

Human 5-HT₃ receptors expressed in HEK 293 cells were studied using patch-clamp techniques. The permeability ratios of cations to Na⁺ were Li⁺, 1.16; K⁺, 1.04; Rb⁺, 1.11; Cs⁺ 1.11; NMDG⁺, 0.04; Ca²⁺, 0.49, and Mg²⁺, 0.37. The permeability sequence of the alkali metal cations was Lⁱ⁺ > Rb⁺ = Cs⁺ > K⁺ > Na⁺. Increased external concentrations of Ca²⁺ or Mg²⁺ decreased 5-HT-induced currents at all potentials tested in a voltage-independent manner. The single-channel conductance of human 5-HT₃ receptors measured by fluctuation analysis of whole-cell currents was 790 ± 100fS. Differences in the basic properties of 5-HT₃ receptors between species may explain interspecies differences in pharmacological properties.

Keywords: Amino acids; Serotonin receptor; Serotonin-3 receptor; Ion channel; Ion permeability

Novel glutathione analogues containing the dithiol and disulfide form of the Cys-Cys dyad by A. Calcagni; Prof. G. Lucente; G. Luisi; F. Pinnen; D. Rossi (pp. 257-265).

The glutathione analogue γ-(H-Glu-OH)- -OH (5), containing the 8-membered disulfide ring- replacing the native -Cys-Gly fragment, has been synthesized and characterized together with its reduced dithiol form γ-(H-Glu-OH)-Cys-Cys-OH (6).

Keywords: Amino acids; Conformational constraint; Cyclic disulfides; -Cys-Cys-peptides; Dipeptide mimetics; Dithiols; Glutathione analogues

Developmental aspects of polyamine-oxidizing enzyme activities in the mouse kidney. Effects of testosterone by I. Jotova; V. Pavlov; O. Dimitrov; U. Bachrach (pp. 267-276).

In the present study developmental patterns of renal polyamineoxidizing enzymes polyamine oxidase (PAO) and diamine oxidase (DAO) in male and female ICR mice were demonstrated. The effects of testosterone (10μg/100g body weight) on renal PAO and DAO activities were also studied. The differences between sexes in both PAO and DAO activities were most clearly expressed in the immature kidney. At the age of 20 days PAO and DAO activities were 1.52 fold (p < 0.01) and 1.75 (p < 0.02) respectively higher in male mouse kidney than in female. Maturational processes reflected in significant increases in polyamine- oxidizing enzyme activities mainly in female mouse kidney, comparable with the gain in the kidney wet weight. Our data show that testosterone is able to influence renal PAO and DAO activities in addition to the well-known stimulation of polyamine biosynthesis. The hormonal effects were sex and age dependent. The influence of testosterone on renal PAO activity was mainly age dependent. The slight stimulation of renal PAO activity observed in 20- and 50-day old mice, 24h after testosterone administration, change with a decrease in the enzyme activity at the age of 70 days. The effects of testosterone on renal DAO activity were mainly sex dependent. Testosterone caused stimulation of DAO activity with a very close magnitude (nearly twice) in female mouse kidney, independently of the age of mice. In contrast, in male mice the hormone treatment resulted in a statistically significant increase in renal DAO activity at the age of 70 days (.1.3 fold, p < 0.05) only. It could be suggested that our data indicate the different contribution of renal PAO and DAO in androgen regulation of polyamine levels, depending on sex and the stage of the postnatal development.

Keywords: Amino acids; Polyamine catabolism; Polyamine oxidase; Diamine oxidase; Testosterone; Mouse kidney

Alteration in the D-amino acid content of the rat pineal gland under anesthesia by K. Hamase; H. Homma; Y. Takigawa; K. Imai (pp. 277-283).

In a previous report (Hamase, K. et al., Biochim Biophys Acta 1134: 214–222 (1997)), we showed that the rat pineal gland contains D-leucine (D-Leu) as well as D-aspartic acid (D-Asp). In this communication we report alterations in the content of these D-amino acids during anesthesia. The D-Asp content was significantly increased from 2.8 to 5.0, 4.8 and 5.8 nmol/pineal gland by administration of ether, urethane and pentobarbital, respectively. In contrast, the D-Leu content was decreased by administration of urethane or pentobarbital. The D-Leu content decreased from 4.2 to 2.2 pmol/pineal gland 4 hours after administration of urethane, although the content remained unchanged until 1.5 hours after administration. The content of the L-enantiomers of these amino acids were not affected by anesthesia. The urethane-induced decrease in D-leucine content was almost completely suppressed by aβ-agonist, (-)-isoproterenol, whereas the agonist itself had no effect.

Keywords: Amino acids; D-Aspartic acid; D-Leucine; Pineal gland; Sympathetic nervous system; Anesthesia

Trypsin-catalyzed peptide synthesis withm-guanidinophenyl andm-(guanidinomethyl)phenyl esters as acyl donor component by H. Sekizaki; K. Itoh; E. Toyota; .Prof. K. Tanizawa (pp. 285-291).

Two series of inverse substrates,m-guanidinophenyl andm-(guanidinomethyl)phenyl esters derived fromN-(tert-butyloxycarbonyl)amino acid, were prepared as an acyl donor component for trypsin-catalyzed peptide synthesis. The kinetic behavior of these esters toward tryptic hydrolysis was analyzed. They were found to couple with an acyl acceptor such asl-alaninep-nitroanilide to produce dipeptide in the presence of trypsin.Streptomyces griseus trypsin was a more efficient catalyst than the bovine trypsin. Within the enzymatic peptide coupling methods, this approach was shown to be advantageous, since the resulting peptides are resistant to the enzymatic hydrolysis.

Keywords: Amino acid esters; Inverse substrate; Kinetics of tryptic hydrolysis; Protease catalysis; Peptide synthesis

Determination of the optical purity of threonine and hydroxyproline by capillary gas chromatography on a chiral stationary phase by B. Franssou; Dr. U. Ragnarsson (pp. 293-300).

Experimental conditions for the derivatization and resolution by GLC of all stereoisomers of threonine and 4-hydroxyproline are reported. Threonine was in two steps converted toN,O-bisisobutoxycarbonyl 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl ester derivatives, the second of which was performed under anhydrous conditions. As such the enantiomers could pairwise be separated by capillary gas chromatography on a Chirasil-Val column. SinceL- andD-threonine eluted much earlier than the corresponding allo forms, quantitative determination of the allothreonine content inD- orL-threonine down to the one percent level could be simply accomplished but also enantiomeric impurities could be determined. Unlike for threonine, the corresponding 4-hydroxyproline isomers could not all be resolved asN,O-bisisobutoxycarbonyl 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl esters on this column. Although diastereomers could still be separated, the allo pair cochromatographed and the resolution for theL- andD-isomers was low. Complete separation of the 4-hydroxyproline isomers could be accomplished asN,O-bisprotected isobutyl amides, the formation of which required three derivatization steps. These were used for the determination of allohydroxyproline.

Keywords: Amino acids; Allohydroxyproline; Allothreonine; Chiral separation; Chirasil-Val; Hydroxyproline; Threonine

Taurine modulates expression of transporters in rat brain and heart by O. Labudova; C. Yeghiazarjan; H. Höger; Prof. Dr. G. Lubec (pp. 301-313).

In pro- and eucaryotic life, cellular and subcellular compartments are separated by membranes and the regulated and selective passage of specific molecules across these membranes is a basic and highly conserved principle.We were interested whether taurine, a naturally occuring amino acid, would be able to induce or suppress expression of transporters with the Rationale that taurine was shown to detoxify a series of endogenous toxins and xenobiotics of various chemically non-related structures.For this purpose we used a gene hunting technique, subtractive hybridization, subtracting mRNAs of taurine-treated rat brain and heart from untreated controls. Subtracted mRNAs were then converted to cDNAs, amplified, sequenced and identified by gene bank data.We found five transporter transcripts, the phosphonate transport ATPase PHNC, multidrug transporter homolog MTH104, protein-exportmembrane protein SECD, oligopeptide transporters oppA and oppD, in the brain and two: ABC-transporter BRAF-2 and cation-transport ATPase PACS, in the heart. Homologies of the sequences found were in any case >50% thus permitting the identification of transporters with high probability.The biological meaning could be that a naturally occuring amino acid, taurine, modulates complex transport systems. The most prominent finding is the upregulation of a multidrug transporter transcript, explaining a mechanism for the nonselective detoxifying action of taurine.

Keywords: Amino acids; Taurine; Transporter; Rat; Brain; Heart

Urine glycyl-L-proline increase and skin trophicity by J. Le; C. Perier; S. Peyroche; F. Rascle; M. A. Blanchon; R. Gonthier; Pr J. Frey; A. Chamson (pp. 315-322).

Glycyl-L-proline (gly-pro) is an end product of collagen metabolism that is further cleaved by prolidase (EC 3.4.13.9); the resulting proline molecules are recycled into collagen or other proteins. We postulated a relationship between defective gly-pro hydrolysis, increased collagen degradation and skin destruction. This relationship was tested using HPLC to measure the gly-pro in urine. 24 hour urine samples were collected from 27 old people (86 ± 6 years old), of whom 15 were suffering from skin pressure sores of the sacrum or calcaneus. The urine from patients with pressure sores contained significantly more gly-pro than the urine from the control. A cut-off at 7μmol/ mmol creatinine gave the test a positive predictive value of 70%. Collagen breakdown was also increased as indicated by the increase of hydroxyproline (hyp) in the urine. But this breakdown seemed to stop at the gly-pro step.

Keywords: Amino acids; Glycyl-L-proline; Urine; Trophicity; Collagen

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Amino Acids: The Forum for Amino Acid, Peptide and Protein Research (v.17, #3)