Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0038187 (starvation)
 24,951 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Vegetatively growing cells of the coenocytic freshwater mould Achlya developed asexual sporangia and sporulated within 6 h of postransfer to a nutrient-free (starvation) medium. Sporangial development was arrested by the addition of L-glutamine to starving cells. During starvation (minus glutamine), three polyphosphate substances accumulated intracellularly, ATP was rapidly depleted, and a protein of molecular weight 42 000 (presumed to be actin) was actively synthesized, whereas synthesis of the most abundant detergent-soluble protein of molecular weight 83 000 (p83) ceased. In the presence of glutamine, starving cells used up the polyphosphates faster than they were formed. ATP depletion was delayed, cell calcium (Ca) exited rapidly, and synthesis of actin diminished while p83 synthesis continued unabated. Several pyrimidine analogues, including 5-diazouracil (which inhibited pyridimide nucleotide biosynthesis), and inorganic phosphate prevented Ca exit from glutamine-supplemented starving cells. The pyrimidine analogues delayed but did not inhibit sporangial development; however, they did not overcome glutamine suppression of sporangial development. Vegetatively growing and starving cells displayed significantly different protein synthesis patterns (monitored by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) but, when glutamine was added, it changed the protein synthesis pattern of starving cells to a form typical of vegetatively growing cells. Glutamine withdrawal reversed the effect and the cells differentiated. Pyrimidine analogues and inorganic phosphate did not alter the protein synthesis patterns of starving cells in the presence and absence of glutamine. The conclusion is that glutamine inhibition of sporangial development may be linked to its ability to subvert starving cell metabolism by making it vegetative like.
 ...
PMID:L-glutamine alteration of gene expression, not of polyphosphate and calcium metabolism, is a key event in arresting fungal sporulation. 688 62

A purE::lac fusion strain was isolated by using a special Mu phage developed by M. Casadaban. In the presence of adenine (100 micrograms/ml), beta-galactosidase synthesis was repressed by greater than 90%. beta-Galactosidase activity could be detected 6 to 8 min after the removal of adenine and increased linearly for at least 20 min. purR- mutants were isolated and synthesized 1.7- to 1.8-fold-higher levels of beta-galactosidase compared with purR+ cells. Azaserine derepressed purE transcription approximately 1.7-fold by lowering purine nucleotide pools. Glutamine and pyrimidine supplementation or starvation had no effect on purE transcription. A comparison of the rate of de novo purine biosynthesis and purE transcription indicated that the in vivo rate of de novo purine biosynthesis was more sensitive to the inhibitory effects of adenine than was transcription at the purE locus.
 ...
PMID:Regulation of purE transcription in a purE::lac fusion strain of Escherichia coli. 703 38

At physiological concentrations, alanine transport in hepatocytes from starved rats is faster than in hepatocytes from fed rats. The degree of increase is much less than previously reported for 2-aminoisobutyrate in the same concentration range. Glutamine transport is not stimulated on starvation. This provides evidence that the transport systems for alanine and glutamine in isolated hepatocytes are controlled separately.
 ...
PMID:Differential effects of starvation on alanine and glutamine transport in isolated rat hepatocytes. 711 27

A full-length cDNA clone for rat asparagine synthetase (AS) was isolated from a cDNA library enriched for amino acid-regulated sequences. The AS cDNA was used to investigate the amino acid-dependent repression of AS mRNA content in rat Fao hepatoma cells. In response to complete amino acid starvation, there was an approximately 10-fold increase in the level of AS mRNA. Three species of mRNA, of approx. sizes 2.0, 2.5 and 4.0 kb, were detected and each was simultaneously regulated to the same degree. The expression of AS mRNA increased by 6 h after removal of amino acids, reached a plateau after 9 h, and was blocked by either actinomycin D or cycloheximide. Partial repression of the AS mRNA content was maintained by the presence of a single amino acid in the culture medium, but the degree of effectiveness for each one varied widely. Glutamine showed the greatest ability to repress the AS mRNA content, even at an extracellular concentration 10 times below its plasma level. Other effective repressors included the amino acids asparagine, histidine and leucine, as well as ammonia. Depletion of selected single amino acids from an otherwise complete culture medium also caused up-regulation. In particular, removal of histidine, threonine or tryptophan from the medium, or the addition of histidinol to inhibit histidinyl-tRNA synthetase, resulted in a significant increase in AS mRNA content. The data indicate that nutrient regulation of AS mRNA occurs by a general control mechanism that is responsive to a spectrum of amino acids.
 ...
PMID:Cloning of rat asparagine synthetase and specificity of the amino acid-dependent control of its mRNA content. 781 76

Glutamine functions as a major transport form of nitrogen and carbon within the body. In the liver, glutamine is hydrolyzed by a unique liver-type, phosphate-activated glutaminase, and the end products of hepatic glutamine catabolism are glucose and urea. Other tissues possess a different, kidney-type, glutaminase isozyme. The predicted amino acid sequences for the two glutaminases show a high degree of identity, indicating that they are products of different but related genes. Hepatic glutaminase activity is increased during diabetes, starvation, and on feeding high-protein diets, and decreased on feeding low-protein diets, whereas renal glutaminase appears to be regulated only by changes in acid-base status. Changes in the rate of gene transcription are the principal mechanism responsible for the long-term regulation of hepatic glutaminase, but the renal enzyme is regulated at the level of mRNA turnover. The pattern of regulation of hepatic glutaminase parallels that seen for genes encoding key enzymes of gluconeogenesis and urea synthesis, and indicates coordinate regulation of expression in keeping with the role of hepatic glutamine catabolism in these pathways.
 ...
PMID:Hepatic glutaminase expression: relationship to kidney-type glutaminase and to the urea cycle. 826 31

Glutamine is synthesized primarily in skeletal muscle, lungs, and adipose tissue. Plasma glutamine plays an important role as a carrier of nitrogen, carbon, and energy between organs and is used for hepatic urea synthesis, for renal ammoniagenesis, for gluconeogenesis in both liver and kidney, and as a major respiratory fuel for many cells. The catabolism of glutamine is initiated by either of two isoforms of the mitochondrial glutaminase. Liver-type glutaminase is expressed only in periportal hepatocytes of the postnatal liver, where it effectively couples ammonia production with urea synthesis. Kidney-type glutaminase is abundant in kidney, brain, intestine, fetal liver, lymphocytes, and transformed cells, where the resulting ammonia is released without further metabolism. The two isoenzymes have different structural and kinetic properties that contribute to their function and short-term regulation. Although there is a high degree of identity in amino acid sequences, the two glutaminases are the products of different but related genes. The two isoenzymes are also subject to long-term regulation. Hepatic glutaminase is increased during starvation, diabetes, and feeding a high-protein diet, whereas kidney-type glutaminase is increased only in kidney in response to metabolic acidosis. The adaptations in hepatic glutaminase are mediated by changes in the rate of transcription, whereas kidney-type glutaminase is regulated at a posttranscriptional level.
 ...
PMID:Regulation of glutaminase activity and glutamine metabolism. 852 15

Gluconeogenesis from isotopically substituted (3-13C)alanine (Ala) was demonstrated in the last larval instar of an insect, Manduca sexta, when maintained on low carbohydrate diets. 13C was incorporated into all carbons of the blood sugar trehalose (Tre), but enrichments of C1 and C6, and C2 and C5 were greatest. Relative to the amount of [3-13C]Ala metabolized, larvae maintained on a low carbohydrate diet supplemented with casein displayed the greatest enrichment of Tre. Very little de novo synthesis of Tre was observed in larvae maintained on a complete-balanced diet containing calorically equivalent amounts of sucrose and casein. Starvation failed to induce gluconeogenesis and 13C was not incorporated into Tre in starved insects. Activity of the TCA cycle contributed approximately 10% of the 13C incorporated into Tre in larvae on low carbohydrate diets, while the TCA cycle contribution in larvae on the complete diet approached 70%. The pattern of 13C enrichment of glucose in larvae on the low carbohydrate diets indicated that cytoplasmic carboxylation, possibly due to 'malic enzyme'-like activity, contributed significantly to the synthesis of Tre. The pentose phosphate pathway was evidenced in insects on all diets. Glucose labelling ratios indicated a pentose cycling flux of 10 to 20% in insects on the low carbohydrate diets and 50% in larvae on the complete diet. Glutamine together with lesser amounts of glutamate and glutathione were also products of the labelled Ala. The distribution of label in these products under different dietary conditions demonstrated shifts in the relative contribution of pyruvate carboxylase and pyruvate dehydrogenase activities for providing substrate to the TCA cycle. In the expected fashion starved insects and insects on the low carbohydrate diets incorporated a greater proportion of 13C into the TCA cycle via carboxylation while incorporation by the two pathways was similar in insects on the complete diet. The significance of these findings with regard to the regulation of gluconeogenesis in M. sexta and comparison of the present results with those obtained from studies of hepatic gluconeogenesis are discussed.
 ...
PMID:Gluconeogenesis and effect of nutritional status on TCA cycle activity in the insect Manduca sexta. 854 15

Six amino acids are metabolized in resting muscle. They are leucine, isoleucine, valine, asparagine, aspartate, and glutamate. These amino acids provide the amino groups and probably the ammonia required for synthesis of glutamine and alanine, which are released in excessive amounts in the postabsorptive state and during ingestion of a protein-containing meal. Only leucine and part of the isolecine molecule can be oxidized in muscle as they are converted to acetyl-CoA. The other carbon skeletons are used solely for de novo synthesis of TCA-cycle intermediates and glutamine. The carbon atoms of the released alanine originate primarily from glycolysis of blood glucose and from muscle glycogen (about half each in resting conditions). After consumption of a protein-containing meal, BCAA and glutamate are taken up by muscle and their carbon skeletons are used for de novo synthesis of glutamine. About half of the glutamine released from muscle originates from glutamate taken up from the blood, both after overnight starvation, after prolonged starvation, and after consumption of a mixed meal. Glutamine produced by muscle is an important fuel and regulator of DNA and RNA synthesis in mucosal cells and immune system cells, and fulfils several other important functions in human metabolism. The alanine aminotransferase reaction functions to establish and maintain high concentrations of TCA-cycle intermediates in muscle during the first 10 min of exercise. The increase in concentration of TCA-cycle intermediates probably is needed to increase the flux of the TCA-cycle and meet the increased energy demand of exercise. A gradual increase in leucine oxidation subsequently leads to a carbon drain on the TCA-cycle in glycogen-depleted muscles, and may thus reduce the maximal flux in the TCA-cycle and lead to fatigue. Deamination of amino acids and glutamine synthesis present alternative anaplerotic mechanisms in glycogen-depleted muscles, but only allow exercise at 40-50% of Wmax. One-leg exercise leads to the net breakdown of muscle protein. The liberated amino acids are used for synthesis of TCA-cycle intermediates and glutamine. Today, the importance of this process in endurance exercise in the field (running or cycling) in athletes who ingest carbohydrates is not clear. It is proposed that the maximal flux in the TCA-cycle is reduced in glycogen-depleted muscles due to insufficient TCA-cycle anaplerosis, and that this presents a limitation for the maximal rate of fatty acid oxidation. Interactions between the amino acid pool and the TCA-cycle are suggested to play a central role in the energy metabolism of the exercising muscle.
 ...
PMID:Muscle amino acid metabolism at rest and during exercise: role in human physiology and metabolism. 969 93

Three-week-old maize (Zea mays L.) plants were submitted to light/dark cycles and to prolonged darkness to investigate the occurrence of sugar-limitation effects in different parts of the whole plant. Soluble sugars fluctuated with light/dark cycles and dropped sharply during extended darkness. Significant decreases in protein level were observed after prolonged darkness in mature roots, root tips, and young leaves. Glutamine and asparagine (Asn) changed in opposite ways, with Asn increasing in the dark. After prolonged darkness the increase in Asn accounted for most of the nitrogen released by protein breakdown. Using polyclonal antibodies against a vacuolar root protease previously described (F. James, R. Brouquisse, C. Suire, A. Pradet, P. Raymond [1996] Biochem J 320: 283-292) or the 20S proteasome, we showed that the increase in proteolytic activities was related to an enrichment of roots in the vacuolar protease, with no change in the amount of 20S proteasome in either roots or leaves. Our results show that no significant net proteolysis is induced in any part of the plant during normal light/dark cycles, although changes in metabolism and growth appear soon after the beginning of the dark period, and starvation-related proteolysis probably appears in prolonged darkness earlier in sink than in mature tissues.
 ...
PMID:Induction of a carbon-starvation-related proteolysis in whole maize plants submitted to Light/Dark cycles and to extended darkness 970 83

Glutamine represents the principal metabolic substrate for all rapidly proliferating cells. Since part of the glutamine efficacy could be related to immunoregulating properties, we assessed the effects of orally administered glutamine on serum interleukin-2 (IL-2) levels and intestinal T-cell populations in 48 athymic (nude) mice. Twenty-four mice received a standard diet enriched by glutamine (added to drinking water at a 4% concentration), while the other 24 served as the control group and received the same diet without glutamine. In glutamine-fed animals, we observed a marked increase in IL-2 concentrations after 10 days of treatment in comparison with control group and a modest but significant increase in intestinal T-cell counts. These results suggest that oral glutamine is able to exert local and systemic immunostimulating activity that could be of relevance in the prevention of gut integrity and immune defense loss associated, for example, with trauma, surgery, and starvation.
 ...
PMID:Immunostimulating effect of oral glutamine. 972 64


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next >>