Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0432222 (SEM)
 47,337 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Benzene and some of its substitution products become environmental toxicants due to improper disposal procedures. Benzene has been found to alter heme and globin synthesis in anucleate rabbit reticulocytes (Forte et al., 1976; Wildman et al., 1976) and based on these findings we felt it would be useful to determine what, if any, effect these derivatives would have on heme synthesis in vitro by studying their influence on delta-aminolevulinic acid synthetase (ALAS) and ferrochelatase (FC) activities in rat liver homogenates. ALAS was measured according to Ebert et al. (1970). FC was measured after Williams et al. (1980). Final concentrations of each added compound to the reaction mixture were 10(-3) to 10(-6) M. Normal values for rat liver ALAS were 250-350 nmol ALA/g protein/30 min, mean 290 +/- 40, and for FC were 12-40 mumol heme/g protein/45 min, mean 20 +/- 7. At 10(-3) M and lower concentrations these compounds inhibited ALAS and stimulated FC activities. Their effect on ALAS activity expressed as percentage of control of three analyses performed in triplicate +/- SEM was: o- and p-dinitrobenzenes-46 +/- 2; trinitrotoluenes-55 +/- 2; dinitrotoluenes-70 +/- 2; and amino-dinitrotoluenes-171 +/- 4. The stimulatory effect of these compounds expressed as percentage of control +/- SEM on FC was: dinitrotoluenes-171 +/- 3; dinitrobenzenes-152 +/- 3; trinitrotoluenes-142 +/- 4; and amino-dinitrotoluenes-130 +/- 4. Other classes of compounds tested did not significantly affect these enzymes at the same concentrations. These in vitro techniques may prove useful for predicting in vivo toxicologic effects of pollutants on species of interest.
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PMID:The in vitro effects of selected environmental toxicants on two heme synthesis enzymes. 407 89

Protoporphyria is an autosomal dominant disease in man in which protoporphyrin accumulated because of a defect in heme synthase (ferrochelatase) activity. A disease has been described in cattle that has the same manifestations as does the human disease. We measured heme synthase activity in sonicates of cultured skin fibroblasts and whole liver homogenates from animals with protoporphyria, their unaffected parents, and normal cattle in order to examine the mode of inheritance and compare it with human protoporphyria. The mean activity (+/- SEM) in fibroblasts from the three groups was 2.0 +/- 0.4, 47 +/- 12, and 149 +/- 10 pmol heme formed/mg protein per hr, respectively, consistent with autosomal recessive inheritance. Similarly, the levels of heme synthase activity in livers of the parents were intermediate to those of normal animals and of animals with protoporphyria. When compared with normal human fibroblasts and liver, the specific activity of heme synthase in normal bovine tissue was significantly higher. These studies indicate that manifestations of protoporphyria do not occur in cattle unless the animal is homozygous for the gene defect, whereas in humans, the heterozygous condition is sufficient. This is probably because the specific activity of heme synthase in cells of heterozygous animals is not reduced to a level that significantly alters heme metabolism.
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PMID:Bovine protoporphyria: documentation of autosomal recessive inheritance and comparison with the human disease through measurement of heme synthase activity. 707 20

Heme synthase (ferrochelatase) activity, as determined by the chelation of ferrous iron to protoporphyrin or deuteroporphyrin, is reduced to 10-25% of normal in tissues of patients with protoporphyria. With cultured skin fibroblasts from seven patients with protoporphyria and six normal individuals, the present studies examined the enzymatic defect.Heme synthase activity in normal and protoporphyria fibroblasts had the same pH optimum, showed similar inhibition by divalent metals, and had the highest specific activity in the mitochondrial-enriched fraction. The ultrastructural features and other biochemical parameters of mitochondria were normal in protoporphyria cells, excluding a general mitochondrial defect. Measurement of the rate of deuteroheme formation at different concentrations of substrate demonstrated a significant reduction in the apparent K(m) for deuteroporphyrin in detergent-treated sonicates of protoporphyria fibroblasts compared to normal (7.5 +/- 0.9 muM, mean +/- SEM, vs. 17.4 +/- 1.8), as well as a decrease in the velocity of reaction (mean level was 21% of normal). Studies with intact cells, in which heme synthase activity was estimated indirectly, also indicated that the apparent K(m) for porphyrin substrate was significantly lower in protoporphyria lines. These data show that heme synthase in protoporphyria fibroblasts has markedly reduced catalytic activity despite an increased affinity for porphyrin substrate. This could be caused by either a change in the enzyme protein, or an alteration of its micro-environment.
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PMID:Characterization of deficient heme synthase activity in protoporphyria with cultured skin fibroblasts. 735 82