scholarly journals Effects of the hepatotoxic agents retrorsine and aflatoxin B1 on hepatic protein synthesis in the rat

1968 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Villa-Treviño ◽  
D. D. Leaver

1. Aflatoxin and the pyrrolizidine alkaloid retrorsine inhibited the incorporation of labelled amino acids into rat liver and plasma proteins in vivo. Inhibition was greater and detected earlier with retrorsine (1hr.) than with aflatoxin (3hr.). 2. Both toxins affected the liver ribosomal aggregates, causing increases in the proportion of monomers plus dimers. The effect of retrorsine was greater than that of aflatoxin. 3. Incorporation of labelled amino acids into proteins of cell-free preparations of liver from rats treated with aflatoxin was lower than in control preparations. The main site of inhibition appeared to be the ribosomes. 4. Both toxins inhibited the incorporation of orotate into liver nuclear RNA 1hr. after administration.

1987 ◽  
Vol 241 (2) ◽  
pp. 491-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Pérez-Sala ◽  
R Parrilla ◽  
M S Ayuso

We investigated the effects of administration of single amino acids to starved rats on the regulation of protein synthesis in the liver. Of all the amino acids tested, only alanine, ornithine and proline promoted statistically significant increases in the extent of hepatic polyribosome aggregation. The most effective of these was alanine, whose effect of promoting polyribosomal aggregation was accompanied by a decrease in the polypeptide-chain elongation time. The following observations indicate that alanine plays an important physiological role in the regulation of hepatic protein synthesis. Alanine was the amino acid showing the largest decrease in hepatic content in the transition from high (fed) to low (starved) rates of protein synthesis. The administration of glucose or pyruvate is also effective in increasing liver protein synthesis in starved rats, and their effects were accompanied by an increased hepatic alanine content. An increase in hepatic ornithine content does not lead to an increased protein synthesis, unless it is accompanied by an increase of alanine. The effect of alanine is observed either in vivo, in rats pretreated with cycloserine to prevent its transamination, or in isolated liver cells under conditions in which its metabolic transformation is fully impeded.


1975 ◽  
Vol 146 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
K N Jeejeebhoy ◽  
J Ho ◽  
G R Greenberg ◽  
M J Phillips ◽  
A Bruce-Robertson ◽  
...  

A system using hepatocyte suspensions in vitro was developed for studying the synthesis of albumin, fibrinogen and transferrin. Conditions for optimum survival of the hepatocyte and for synthesis of these plasma proteins were defined for this system. These conditions included the use of horse serum (17.5 percent, v/v, heat-inactivated), an enriched medium (Waymouth's MB 752/1), an O2 tension of between 18.7 times 10(3) and 26.7 times 10(3) Pa and constant stirring. Albumin, fibrinogen and transferrin synthesis rates were obtained of 0.32 p 0.094(10), 0.12 p 0.030(11) and 0.097 p 0.017(10) [mean p S.D. (n)]mg/h per g of hepatocytes respectively. These rates were maintained for the first 12h of study and synthesis continued at a diminished rate up to 48h. The synthesis of albumin was decreased in a medium containing less amino acids and glucose, but that of fibrinogen was substantially unaffected. ATP concentrations up to 12h and RNA/DNA ratios up to 24h were comparable with values in vivo. The ability to study cells up to 48h permitted us to find that the addition of a mixture of hormones consisting of glucagon, cortisol, tri-iodothyronine and growth hormone enhanced fibrinogen synthesis. Addition of insulin to the above mixture resulted in increased synthesis for albumin and transferrin but not for fibrinogen.


1979 ◽  
Vol 178 (3) ◽  
pp. 725-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
R D Conde

The effect of hypophysectomy on the protein metabolism of the liver in vivo was studied. Fractional rates of protein synthesis and degradation were determined in the livers of normal and hypophysectomized rats. Synthesis was measured after the injection of massive amounts of radioactive leucine. Degradation was estimated either as the balance between synthesis and accumulation of stable liver proteins or from the disappearance of radioactivity from the proteins previously labelled by the injection of NaH14CO3. The results indicate that: (1) hypophysectomy diminishes the capacity of the liver to synthesize proteins in vivo, mainly of those that are exported as plasma proteins; (2) livers of both normal and hypophysectomized rats show identical protein-degradation rates, whereas plasma proteins are degraded slowly after hypophysectomy.


1967 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 625-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Villa-Treviño

1. The incorporation of [14C]leucine into liver proteins of rats was measured in vivo at various times after treatment of the animals with dimethylnitrosamine and was correlated with the state of the liver ribosomal aggregates. Inhibition of incorporation ran parallel with breakdown of the aggregates. 2. Inhibition of leucine incorporation into protein and breakdown of ribosomal aggregates were not preceded by inhibition of incorporation of [14C]orotate into nuclear RNA of the liver. 3. Evidence was obtained of methylation of nuclear RNA in the livers of rats treated with [14C]dimethylnitrosamine. 4. Zonal centrifugation analysis of radioactive, nuclear, ribosomal and transfer RNA from livers of rats treated with [14C]dimethylnitrosamine revealed labelling of all centrifugal fractions to about the same extent. 5. It is suggested that methylation of messenger RNA might occur in the livers of dimethylnitrosamine-treated rats and the possible relation of this to inhibition of hepatic protein synthesis is discussed.


FEBS Letters ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Sarasin ◽  
Y. Moulé ◽  
N. Darracq

1989 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 596-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald A. Young ◽  
C. Chem ◽  
Michael R. Zeiderman ◽  
Mandy Thompson ◽  
Michael J. Mcmahon

1972 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Shephard ◽  
Wendy B. Levin

The ability of chloroplasts isolated from Acetabulana mediterranea to synthesize the protein amino acids has been investigated. When this chloroplast isolate was presented with 14CO2 for periods of 6–8 hr, tracer was found in essentially all amino acid species of their hydrolyzed protein Phenylalanine labeling was not detected, probably due to technical problems, and hydroxyproline labeling was not tested for The incorporation of 14CO2 into the amino acids is driven by light and, as indicated by the amount of radioactivity lost during ninhydrin decarboxylation on the chromatograms, the amino acids appear to be uniformly labeled. The amino acid labeling pattern of the isolate is similar to that found in plastids labeled with 14CO2 in vivo. The chloroplast isolate did not utilize detectable amounts of externally supplied amino acids in light or, with added adenosine triphosphate (ATP), in darkness. It is concluded that these chloroplasts are a tight cytoplasmic compartment that is independent in supplying the amino acids used for its own protein synthesis. These results are discussed in terms of the role of contaminants in the observed synthesis, the "normalcy" of Acetabularia chloroplasts, the synthetic pathways for amino acids in plastids, and the implications of these observations for cell compartmentation and chloroplast autonomy.


1970 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. 959-963 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. Detroy ◽  
C. W. Hesseltine

The effect of two inhibitors on the formation of aflatoxin B1 synthetase activity in strain NRRL 2999 Aspergillus parasiticus has been studied. Aflatoxin B1 synthesizing activity was measured in vivo by incorporation of the 14C-methionine methyl group into aflatoxin B1. Cycloheximide at a concentration of 150 μg/ml blocks protein synthesis completely. If addition of cycloheximide is made before B1 synthetase appears, no activity accumulates; if added during accumulation, activity is frozen at the level reached at the time of addition. The cycloheximide effect is reversible since morphogenesis, total protein synthesis, and aflatoxin B1 synthetase activity all resume after removal of the inhibitor.DL-p-Fluorophenylalanine partially inhibits aflatoxin B1 synthesis in vivo; however, its effect upon macromolecular synthesis is incomplete even at high concentration levels. Once formed, the aflatoxin synthetase appears to maintain B1 synthesis when further protein synthesis is blocked; i.e., it is not rapidly degraded.


1973 ◽  
Vol 51 (12) ◽  
pp. 933-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Njanoor Narayanan ◽  
Jacob Eapen

The effect of cycloheximide in vitro and in vivo on the incorporation of labelled amino acids into protein by muscles, liver, kidneys, and brain of rats and pigeons was studied. In vitro incorporation of amino acids into protein by muscle microsomes, myofibrils, and myofibrillar ribosomes was not affected by cycloheximide. In contrast, administration of the antibiotic into intact animals at a concentration of 1 mg/kg body weight resulted in considerable inhibition of amino acid incorporation into protein by muscles, liver, kidneys, and brain. This inhibition was observed in all the subcellular fractions of these tissues during a period of 10–40 min after the administration of the precursor. Tissue homogenates derived from in vivo cycloheximide-treated animals did not show significant alteration in in vitro amino acid incorporation with the exception of brain, which showed a small but significant enhancement.


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