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

Protein degradation was measured as tyrosine release rate from proteins of extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles and as urinary excretion of 3-methylhistidine in freely fed adult nongrowing C57BL/6J mice with sarcomas, to study protein degradation in cancer-induced wasting of skeletal muscles. Whole muscle protein breakdown rate was unchanged, whereas protein synthesis was depressed, leading to an increased net degradation of skeletal muscles with loss of soluble, myofibrillar, and collagen proteins. Starvation for 24 hours elevated whole muscle protein breakdown in mice with and without sarcomas. Subsequent refeeding for 24 hours normalized the degradation. Adaptation to anorexia in pair-fed controls was achieved by a decrease in muscle protein turnover evaluated by urinary excretion of 3-methylhistidine over 5 days. The measurement of "catabolic decrease" of muscle protein breakdown protected the muscle mass in mice without tumors, but it was ineffective in tumor-bearing animals. The unchanged rate of breakdown of proteins in whole EDL muscles from tumor-bearing mice was accompanied by increased maximum cathepsin D activity and by elevated autolytic activity at acid pH in some muscles. Therefore, cathepsin D activity and net protease activities did not reflect whole muscle protein degradation in tumor-induced malnutrition. The results demonstrate that wasting of skeletal muscles in experimental cancer was not dependent on increased degradation but was dependent on depressed protein synthesis.
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PMID:Lack of evidence for elevated breakdown rate of skeletal muscles in weight-losing, tumor-bearing mice. 657 91

In vivo proteolytic modification of liver aldolase on administration of leupeptin, a thiol proteinase inhibitor of microbial origin, is reported. When leupeptin was injected into rats, the activity of aldolase in the liver decreased to 40% of that in control rats. Molecular properties of aldolase isolated from the livers of control rats and leupeptin-treated rats indicated that a decrease of aldolase activity is attributable to hydrolysis of a peptide linkage(s) near the carboxyterminal of the enzyme. Injection of leupeptin also caused marked increase in the activities of free lysosomal proteinases, such as cathepsin A and cathepsin D and moderate increase of cathepsin B and cathepsin L. Increase in free activity of cathepsin A returned to the level of control rats by 12 hr after injection of leupeptin, whereas 36 hr was required for recovery of decreased aldolase activity. When insulin was coinjected with leupeptin, increase in the activity of free cathepsin A and decrease of activity of aldolase produced by the injection of leupeptin was prevented. These findings indicate that modification of aldolase may be due to action of a lysosomal protease(s). Incubation of the purified aldolase with the lysosomal fraction produced the same changes in properties of aldolase as those observed in vivo on injection of leupeptin. The aldolase inactivating proteinase in the lysosomal fraction was inhibited by PMSF and leupeptin and not by pepstatin. Purified cathepsin A (a serine proteinase), cathepsin B and cathepsin L (thiol proteinase) are potent inactivators of aldolase but cathepsin H and cathepsin D are not. Cathepsin A, B and L are involved in inactivation of aldolase in lysosomes. Endogenous thiol proteinase inhibitor which inhibits lysosomal thiol proteinases (cathepsin B, L and H) is found in the cytosol fraction of liver. The level of thiol proteinase inhibitor actually decreased to 60% of that in control rats in leupeptin-treated rats, suggesting that non-thiol proteinase cathepsin A is a major factor in inactivation of aldolase in lysosomes. Not only leupeptin but also other proteinase inhibitors (antipain, E-64-D, chloroquine) caused increase of labilization of the lysosomes and decrease in aldolase activity. Physiological stimuli which are known to induce the labilization of the lysosomal membrane, such as starvation and glucagon, caused slight or no significant increase of activities of free cathepsin A and D and resulted in no apparent change in aldolase activity.
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PMID:Modification of rat liver fructose biphosphate aldolase by lysosomal proteinases. 705 71

Production of active lysosomal enzymes may involve limited proteolysis of inactive high molecular weight precursors. Precursor processing potentially regulates lysosomal enzyme activity. To test whether rabbit cardiac cathepsin D is first synthesized as a precursor and whether prolonged fasting (a condition affecting both cathepsin D and total cardiac protein turnover) influences precursor processing, rates of cathepsin D synthesis and processing were compared in left ventricular slices of control and 3-d-fasted rabbits incubated in vitro with [(35)S]methionine. (35)S-labeled cathepsin D was isolated by butanol-Triton X-100 extraction, immunoprecipitation, and dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Total cardiac protein synthesis was measured by tracer incorporation and normalized for differences in precursor pool size by direct measurement of [(35)S]aminoacyl-tRNA-specific radioactivity. Relative cathepsin D synthetic rates were obtained by comparing (35)S incorporation into cathepsin D with (35)S incorporation into all cardiac proteins. Enzyme processing was assessed in pulse-chase experiments and assayed by autoradiography. The results indicate that (a) rabbit cardiac cathepsin D is synthesized as a precursor (53,000 mol wt) that is processed to a 48,000-mol wt form, (b) rates of both cathepsin D and total cardiac protein synthesis are similar in control and fasted rabbits, suggesting that decreased enzyme degradation rather than increased synthesis is responsible for the elevated levels of cardiac cathepsin D in starvation, and (c) cathepsin D processing in hearts of fasted animals is incomplete, with accumulation of the precursor during pulse-chase experiments of 6 h duration. Based upon these results, a three-stage model for the regulation of cathepsin D activity in rabbit heart is proposed.
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PMID:Regulation of cathepsin D metabolism in rabbit heart: evidence for a role for precursor processing in the control of enzyme activity. 707 56

Prolonged starvation produces dramatic changes both in the lysosomal properties of the heart and in its energy stores and, therefore, might be expected to alter some of the characteristic cardiac responses to ischemia. To test this possibility we ligated the circumflex coronary artery of rabbits that had been fed normally or starved for 6 days. Ultrastructural evidence of myocytic damage following 30 to 120 minutes of ischemia was much less severe in the starved animals than in the normally fed group. The development of signs of irreversible injury (e.g., osmiophilic densities in mitochondria) was delayed for 1 hour or more by starvation. A similar delay occurred in the biochemical redistribution of cathepsin D activity and in the cytoplasmic release of acid hydrolases from lysosomes and sarcoplasmic reticulum. These results indicate a marked protective effect of starvation against myocardial ischemia. In addition, both in starved and in fed animals, ischemically induced release of lysosomal enzymes was closely linked temporally to the development of subcellular damage.
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PMID:Resistance to ischemic damage in hearts of starved rabbits: Correlation with lysosomal alterations and delayed release of cathepsin D. 740 33

To determine whether the increased activity of cathepsin D observed during starvation-induced cardiac atrophy results from activation of preexisting enzyme or synthesis of new enzyme, a solid phase double-antibody radioimmunoassay was developed for measurement of immunoreactive cathepsin D in extracts of rabbit myocardium. Cathepsin D activity was significantly increased in the hearts of animals starved for 3, 7, and 14 days (82.6 +/- 0.8, 87.2 +/- 3.8, and 95.3 +/- 3.5 U/g wet wt, respectively) compared to controls (65.5 +/- 1.4 U/g wet wt; P less than 0.001). Immunoreactive cathepsin D was increased to a greater extent (168 +/- 7, 179 +/- 16, 200 +/- 17, and 104 +/- 5 micrograms/g wet wt for 3-, 7-, and 14-day starvation and controls, respectively; P less than 0.001) than that expected on the basis of the observed increase in enzyme activity. Sephadex G100 gel filtration of cardiac lysosomal extracts from starved and control animals revealed no evidence of high or low molecular weight forms of cathepsin D. The results suggest the observed increase in cathepsin D activity during starvation-induced cardiac atrophy is accompanied by an increased synthesis and/or decreased degradation of cathepsin D protein, rather than activation of preexisting enzyme. The lower activity levels observed during starvation possibly result from alterations in the concentrations of endogenous inhibitors or activators of cathepsin D.
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PMID:Rabbit cardiac immunoreactive cathepsin D content during starvation-induced atrophy. 746 18

Most of the increased protein degradation in muscle atrophy caused by starvation and denervation is due to activation of a non-lysosomal ATP-dependent proteolytic process. To determine whether expression of the ubiquitin-proteasome-dependent pathway is activated in atrophying muscles, we measured the levels of mRNA for ubiquitin (Ub) and proteasome subunits, and Ub content. After rats had been deprived of food for 1 or 2 days, the concentration of the two polyubiquitin (polyUb) transcripts increased 2-4-fold in the pale extensor digitorum longus muscle and 1-2.5-fold in the red soleus, whereas total muscle RNA and total mRNA content fell by 50%. After denervation of the soleus, there was a progressive 2-3-fold increase in polyUb mRNA for 1-3 days, whereas total RNA content fell. On starvation or denervation, Ub concentration in the muscles also rose by 60-90%. During starvation, polyUb mRNA levels also increased in heart, but not in liver, kidney, spleen, fat, brain or testes. Although the polyUb gene is a heat-shock gene that is induced in muscles under certain stressful conditions, the muscles of starving rats or after denervation did not express other heat-shock genes. On starvation or denervation, mRNA for several proteasome subunits (C-1, C-3, C-5, C-8 and C-9) also increased 2-4-fold in the atrophying muscles. When the food-deprived animals were re-fed, levels of Ub and proteasome mRNA in their muscles returned to control values within 1 day. In contrast, no change occurred in the levels of muscle mRNAs encoding cathepsin L, cathepsin D and calpain 1 on denervation or food deprivation. Thus polyUb and proteasome mRNAs increased in atrophying muscles in co-ordination with activation of the ATP-dependent proteolytic process.
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PMID:Increase in levels of polyubiquitin and proteasome mRNA in skeletal muscle during starvation and denervation atrophy. 774 90

We have previously isolated 32 mutants of Legionella pneumophila that are defective in the infection of mammalian cells but not protozoa. The mutated loci have been designated macrophage-specific infectivity (mil) loci. In this study we characterized the mil mutant GK11. This mutant was incapable of growth within U937 macrophage-like cells and WI-26 alveolar epithelial cells. This defect in intracellular replication correlated with a defect in cytopathogenicity to these cells. Sequence analysis of the GK11 locus revealed it to be highly similar to rep helicase genes of other bacteria. Since helicase mutants of Escherichia coli are hypersensitive to thymine starvation, we examined the sensitivity of GK11 to thymineless death (TLD). In the absence of thymine and thymidine, mutant GK11 did not undergo TLD but was defective for in vitro growth, and the defect was partially restored when these compounds were added to the growth medium. In addition, supplementation with thymidine or thymine partially restored the ability of GK11 to grow within and kill U937 macrophage-like cells. The data suggested that the low levels of thymine or thymidine in the L. pneumophila phagosome contributed to the defect of GK11 within macrophages. Using confocal laser scanning microscopy, we determined the effect of the mutation in the Rep helicase homologue on the intracellular trafficking of GK11 within macrophages. In contrast to the wild-type strain, phagosomes harboring GK11 colocalized with several late endosomal/lysosomal markers, including LAMP-1, LAMP-2, and cathepsin D. In addition, only 50% of the GK11 phagosomes colocalized with the endoplasmic reticulum marker BiP 4 h postinfection. Colocalization of BiP with GK11 phagosomes was absent 6 h postinfection, while 90% of the wild-type phagosomes colocalized with this marker at both time points. We propose that the low level of thymine within the L. pneumophila phagosome in combination with simultaneous exposure to multiple stress stimuli results in deleterious mutations that cannot be repaired in the rep helicase homologue mutant, rendering it defective in intracellular replication.
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PMID:Essential role for the Legionella pneumophila rep helicase homologue in intracellular infection of mammalian cells. 1108 21

Plasmepsin II is a key enzyme in the life cycle of the Plasmodium parasites responsible for malaria, a disease that afflicts more than 300 million individuals annually. Since plasmepsin II inhibition leads to starvation of the parasite, it has been acknowledged as an important target for the development of new antimalarials. In this paper, we identify and characterize high-affinity inhibitors of plasmepsin II based upon the allophenylnorstatine scaffold. The best compound, KNI-727, inhibits plasmepsin II with a K(i) of 70 nM and a 22-fold selectivity with respect to the highly homologous human enzyme cathepsin D. KNI-727 binds to plasmepsin II in a process favored both enthalpically and entropically. At 25 degrees C, the binding enthalpy (DeltaH) is -4.4 kcal/mol and the entropic contribution (-TDeltaS) to the Gibbs energy is -5.56 kcal/mol. Structural stability measurements of plasmepsin II were also utilized to characterize inhibitor binding. High-sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry experiments performed in the absence of inhibitors indicate that, at pH 4.0, plasmepsin II undergoes thermal denaturation at 63.3 degrees C. The structural stability of the enzyme increases with inhibitor concentration in a manner for which the binding energetics of the inhibitor can quantitatively account. The effectiveness of the best compounds in killing the malaria parasite was validated by performing cytotoxicity assays in red blood cells infected with Plasmodium falciparum. EC50s ranging between 6 and 10 microM (3-6 microg/mL) were obtained. These experiments demonstrate the viability of the allophenylnorstatine scaffold in the design of powerful and selective plasmepsin inhibitors.
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PMID:Identification and characterization of allophenylnorstatine-based inhibitors of plasmepsin II, an antimalarial target. 1184 Dec 19

Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, respond to starvation first by mobilising hepatic lipids, then muscle and hepatic glycogen and finally muscle proteins. The dual role of proteins as functional elements and energetic reserves should lead to a temporal hierarchy of mobilisation where the nature of a function dictates its conservation during starvation. We examined (1) whether lysosomal and anti-oxidant enzymes in liver and white muscle are spared during prolonged starvation, (2) whether the responses of these enzymes in muscle vary longitudinally. Hepatic contents of lysosomal proteases decreased with starvation, whereas those of catalase (CAT) increased and lysosomal enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism and glutathione S-transferase (GST) did not change. In white muscle, starvation decreased the specific activity of lysosomal enzymes of carbohydrate degradation and doubled that of cathepsin D (CaD). The activity of anti-oxidant enzymes and acid phosphatase in muscle was unchanged with starvation. In white muscle neither lysosomal enzymes nor anti-oxidant enzymes varied significantly with sampling position. In cod muscle, antioxidant enzymes, CaD and acid phosphatase are spared during a period of starvation that decreases lysosomal enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism and decreases glycolytic enzyme activities. In cod liver, the anti-oxidant enzymes, CAT and GST, were also spared during starvation.
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PMID:Metabolic priorities during starvation: enzyme sparing in liver and white muscle of Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua L. 1278 35

Mice double deficient in LAMP-1 and -2 were generated. The embryos died between embryonic days 14.5 and 16.5. An accumulation of autophagic vacuoles was detected in many tissues including endothelial cells and Schwann cells. Fibroblast cell lines derived from the double-deficient embryos accumulated autophagic vacuoles and the autophagy protein LC3II after amino acid starvation. Lysosomal vesicles were larger and more peripherally distributed and showed a lower specific density in Percoll gradients in double deficient when compared with control cells. Lysosomal enzyme activities, cathepsin D processing and mannose-6-phosphate receptor expression levels were not affected by the deficiency of both LAMPs. Surprisingly, LAMP-1 and -2 deficiencies did not affect long-lived protein degradation rates, including proteolysis due to chaperone-mediated autophagy. The LAMP-1/2 double-deficient cells and, to a lesser extent, LAMP-2 single-deficient cells showed an accumulation of unesterified cholesterol in endo/lysosomal, rab7, and NPC1 positive compartments as well as reduced amounts of lipid droplets. The cholesterol accumulation in LAMP-1/2 double-deficient cells could be rescued by overexpression of murine LAMP-2a, but not by LAMP-1, highlighting the more prominent role of LAMP-2. Taken together these findings indicate partially overlapping functions for LAMP-1 and -2 in lysosome biogenesis, autophagy, and cholesterol homeostasis.
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PMID:Disturbed cholesterol traffic but normal proteolytic function in LAMP-1/LAMP-2 double-deficient fibroblasts. 1512 81


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