Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.1.27.1 (RNase)
 16,360 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Sterol carrier protein-2 (SCP2) is a 13.2-kilodalton protein that has been implicated in intracellular cholesterol transport, whereas a related sterol carrier protein, sterol carrier protein-X (SCPx; 58 kilodaltons) has been suggested to function also in the beta-oxidation of fatty acids. Although diabetes-related hyperlipidemia and altered cholesterol metabolism have been extensively studied, the intracellular cholesterol transport capacity during hyperglycemic states has not been examined. The fact that beta-oxidation is increased in diabetes whereas hepatic cholesterol metabolism is reduced suggests that differential expression of these sterol carrier proteins may accompany diabetic dyslipidemia. In this study, SCP2 protein levels were reduced by 60% in mildly hypercholesterolemic (cholesterol, > 130 and < 150 mg/dl; P < 0.01) diabetic rats and by 90% in severely hypercholesterolemic (cholesterol, > 150 mg/dl; P < 0.002) diabetic animals. In contrast, hepatic SCPx protein expression increased (3.5-fold) after diabetes induction with streptozotocin (STZ). The decline in SCP2 was inversely related to serum cholesterol levels. Hepatic SCP messenger RNA levels examined by ribonuclease protection assay demonstrated that hepatic SCP messenger RNA was increased 2-fold in diabetic animals. Northern blot analysis indicated that both the 0.8-kilobase SCP2-specific and the 2.1-kilobase SCPx-specific transcripts increased after STZ injection. SCPx protein induction preceded the decline in SCP2 by 4-5 days. Insulin treatment reversed the increase in SCPx and prevented the decline in SCP2. We conclude that SCP2 and SCPx are differentially expressed in the STZ-diabetic rat and suggest that this change in SCP expression should be considered a potential contributing mechanism through which cholesterol metabolism may be altered in diabetes.
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PMID:Differential expression of hepatic sterol carrier proteins in the streptozotocin-treated diabetic rat. 762 71

Fatty-acid-binding protein (FABP) expressed in rat aorta has been shown to be homologous to heart FABP (H-FABP) but its precise primary structure, cellular localization and function are not known. To establish the nucleotide identity between heart and aorta FABP, we performed an RNase protection assay with antisense RNA of rat H-FABP. The results demonstrate that the primary nucleotide sequence of aortic FABP is identical to that of rat H-FABP. In situ hybridization analysis revealed that aortic H-FABP mRNA is present in both smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells. In order to explore the function of aortic H-FABP, we examined whether a quantitative change in aortic H-FABP occurred in diabetes mellitus, since this pathological state has been shown to cause abnormalities in fatty acid metabolism. Northern blot analysis revealed that the level of aortic H-FABP mRNA was markedly decreased in rats made diabetic by streptozotocin treatment. The suppression of the mRNA level paralleled that of the protein level, as assessed by Western blot analysis. In distinct contrast, no major changes in the H-FABP mRNA level were observed in any other tissues examined, including heart, kidney and skeletal muscle, suggesting that this decrease is highly tissue-specific. The suppression of the aortic H-FABP in streptozotocin-diabetic rats was abolished by insulin supplementation. Taken together, these results suggest that the expression of the H-FABP gene in aorta may be specifically and dramatically suppressed in streptozotocin-diabetic rats, and that this suppression appears to be regulated by insulin.
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PMID:Tissue-specific suppression of aortic fatty-acid-binding protein in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. 774 30

Complement component C4 is encoded by two nearly identical genes, C4A and C4B, that encode a C4 precursor that is proteolytically cleaved into the alpha, beta and gamma subunits of the mature protein. C4 is expressed primarily in liver and to a much lesser extent in immune cells. We have identified a unique 1 kb RNA transcript, termed Z, that arises from a cryptic promoter lying in the intron between exons 35 and 36 of the C4 gene. Primer extension, RNase protection, and 5' RACE experiments locate the cap site in intron 35, 55 bases upstream from exon 36. Northern blotting and RNase protection assays show that expression of this 1 kb Z RNA transcript is confined to the adrenal gland. Z RNA contains the same open reading frame as C4 which predicts a protein of 131 amino acids, but antisera to C4 do not interact with epitopes on this protein when it is synthesized by cell-free translation, hence the presence or absence of a Z protein in vivo could not be determined. Transfection of Z promoter/reporter constructs into human adrenal NCI-H295 cells shows that most if not all of the sequences required for high-level adrenal expression lie within 235 bases upstream from the cap site, but that this region is inactive when transfected into COS-1, JEG-3 and Hep-G2 cells, suggesting it contains an adrenal-specific element. The 222 bases upstream from the cap site are 75% identical in the human C4A and mouse Slp genes, and contain a potential binding site for steroidogenic factor 1 (SF-1), an orphan zinc-finger nuclear receptor. We propose that this region, like a nearby region in the mouse genome, functions as an upstream element of the P450c21 promoter, and may be a component of an adrenal-specific locus-control region.
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PMID:A promoter within intron 35 of the human C4A gene initiates abundant adrenal-specific transcription of a 1 kb RNA: location of a cryptic CYP21 promoter element? 858 88

Reproductive dysfunction in the diabetic female rat is associated with impaired folliculogenesis, reduced corpus luteum progesterone output, and spontaneous abortion. The underlying mechanism for reduced steroid production remains unresolved. In this study we examined whether or not diabetes alters levels of P450 side-chain cleavage enzyme (P450scc), 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3 beta-HSD), or the cholesterol transport proteins, steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein and sterol carrier protein-2 (SCP2), leading to lower progesterone levels and pregnancy loss. Rats (Day 3 pregnant) received an injection of streptozotocin (STZ, 60 mg/kg; i.v.) to induce a diabetic state; P450scc, 3 beta-HSD, and SCP2 were examined by Western and Northern blot analysis in ovarian tissue 12 days after injection of STZ (diabetic rats, n = 12) or vehicle (nondiabetic rats, n = 12). Serum progesterone, triglyceride, and beta-hydroxybutyrate (beta-HBA) levels were also examined. Results indicate that diabetic rats that aborted (diabetic-fetus [Ft], n = 6) had significantly lower progesterone levels (7.04 +/- 2.6 ng/ml; p < 0.004) than nondiabetic animals (108.6 +/- 5.15 ng/ml) and diabetic +Ft animals (74.3 +/- 8.9 ng/ml, n = 6). Western blot analysis of ovarian P450scc and 3 beta-HSD in the nondiabetic rats and the diabetic rats with fetuses indicated no significant difference. In contrast, ovaries from diabetic animals without fetuses had significantly lower SCP2 levels (p < 0.017) compared to controls. Concomitant with the reduction in SCP2, a 58-kDa SCP2-immunoreactive protein, referred to as sterol carrier protein-X (SCPx), increased significantly (p < 0.001). The C-terminal sequence of SCPx is identical to SCP2, while its N-terminal region is homologous with 3-oxoacyl coenzyme A thiolase, an enzyme involved in fatty acid metabolism. Increased SCPx expression coincided with increased serum triglyceride and beta-HBA levels, suggesting that the enhanced SCPx level may coincide with an ovarian shift to fatty acid metabolism. When SCPx steady-state mRNA levels were measured using an SCPx-specific riboprobe (280-bp protected fragment) in a ribonuclease protection assay, ovarian SCPx mRNA levels in the diabetic animals were increased 4.2-fold compared to control SCPx mRNA levels. Ovarian StAR mRNA levels were increased slightly in the diabetic animals, and ovarian P450scc and 3 beta-HSD mRNA levels were increased 3-fold in the diabetic animals that aborted relative to the nondiabetic animals and the +Ft diabetic animals. Results of this study confirm that SCPx mRNA levels are elevated following diabetes onset and that StAR, P450scc, and 3 beta-HSD mRNA levels do not correspond with the reduced steroid hormone profile associated with diabetes. These results are concordant with the possibility that reduced steroid levels in the diabetic animals reflect a loss of SCP2-mediated cholesterol transport capacity as SCPx/3-oxoacyl coenzyme A thiolase expression is enhanced.
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PMID:Altered ovarian sterol carrier protein expression in the pregnant streptozotocin-treated diabetic rat. 879 56

Peptide tyrosine tyrosine (PYY) is a gut hormone present in endocrine cells in the lower intestine that can be released by the presence of luminal free fatty acids (FFAs). The biological action of this peptide includes inhibition of gut motility and gastrointestinal and pancreatic secretions. Intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP) binds FFA and may be involved in their cytosolic trafficking. Quantitative in situ hybridization on heterogeneous populations of small intestinal somatic cell hybrids selected for endogenous I-FABP expression (hBRIE 380i cells) demonstrated a 5-fold increase in I-FABP transcripts in response to PYY (within 6 h) that was confined to clusters of differentiated cells, whereas ribonuclease protection assays performed on heterogeneous populations of these cells showed no significant differences. High affinity PYY receptors, with an IC50 of 5-50 pM, were identified in both differentiated and nondifferentiated cell populations, as determined by competitive binding assays and autoradiography. In situ hybridization of rat ileal tissue also revealed differing patterns of mRNA expression for liver fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) and I-FABP. Only I-FABP mRNA was detected in the villus tips. This localization correlated with the expression pattern of I-FABP mRNA in the hBRIE 380i cells where changes in transcripts were observed only in differentiated cells that did not incorporate bromodeoxyuridine. The sustained expression of I-FABP transcripts in the villar tips suggests (unlike L-FABP) that older terminally differentiated cell populations of the mucosa can still be PYY responsive. These studies demonstrate that physiological concentrations of PYY can regulate I-FABP and place this peptide in a key position as part of a feedback system that determines the processing of cytosolic FFA in the enterocyte. In addition, these studies suggest a mechanism whereby luminal agents can modulate expression of proteins in terminally differentiated cells in the gastrointestinal mucosa.
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PMID:Evidence for a role of the gut hormone PYY in the regulation of intestinal fatty acid-binding protein transcripts in differentiated subpopulations of intestinal epithelial cell hybrids. 913 12