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Query: UNIPROT:P06889 (Mol)
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Previous studies have demonstrated the appearance of phosphorylated neurofilament (NF) subunits within perikaryal cytoskeletons following aluminum exposure. In order to examine the mechanisms leading to this altered distribution of NF subunits, we carried out biochemical analyses of NF subunits in Triton-insoluble and -soluble fractions derived from aluminum-treated NB2a/d1 cells. In addition to increases in the Triton-insoluble cytoskeleton, increases in all three NF subunits were also detected within the Triton-soluble fraction of aluminum-treated cells. To address the nature of this increase in Triton-soluble subunits, aluminum-treated and untreated cultures were harvested in the absence of Triton and fractionated by established procedures to yield fractions greatly enriched for perikarya and neurites, respectively. Each of these subcellular fractions was then subjected to further homogenization in the presence of 1% Triton and centrifugation to yield Triton-insoluble cytoskeletons and Triton-soluble material derived from perikarya and axonal neurites, respectively. Resulting Triton-soluble fractions were "clarified" by high-speed centrifugation to eliminate oligomeric assemblies or soluble neurofilaments. Immunoblot analysis demonstrated quantitative recovery of the aluminum-induced increase in Triton-soluble NF subunits in the perikaryal fraction. Additional aluminum-treated and untreated cultures were pulse-chase radiolabeled with [35S]methionine and fractionated into Triton-insoluble and soluble fractions from isolated perikarya and axonal neurites. Autoradiographic analysis of immunoprecipitated NF subunits revealed that aluminum treatment delayed the translocation of newly synthesized subunits into neurites and resulted in the accumulation of radiolabeled subunits within the Triton-soluble fraction of perikarya. These findings suggest that aluminum may exert a relatively greater effect on NF subunits that have not yet undergone axonal transport and/or incorporation into Triton-insoluble structures vs those that have already deposited into axons. This possibility was supported by the observation that a higher concentration of aluminum was required to alter the electrophoretic migration of in vitro reassembled neurofilaments vs that required for unassembled NF subunits. These findings provide possible mechanisms for the accumulation of NF subunits in perikarya during aluminum intoxication.
Mol Chem Neuropathol
PMID:Relative susceptibility of cytoskeleton-associated and soluble neurofilament subunits to aluminum exposure in intact cells. A possible mechanism for reduction of neurofilament axonal transport during aluminum neurotoxicity. 754 68

1. Aluminum (Al) has been implicated in neurotoxic syndromes in several conditions, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). The developmental stage of the mammalian brain most susceptible to Al was determined in rabbits systematically exposed to Al during the prenatal, postnatal, or second month or for 1 month as adults or as aged subjects. Eyeblink reflex classical conditioning showed an Al-induced learning deficit only in the adult and aged rabbits. 2. 4-Aminopyridine, which was reported to improve learning in AD subjects, attenuated the Al-induced learning deficit. 3. Conditioned eyeblink acquisition is slower in AD subjects than controls, supporting the Al-loaded rabbit as a model of some AD effects. 4. To determine if the Al-loaded rabbit modeled the AD cholinergic deficit, acetylcholine (Ach) overflow was measured in rabbit hippocampus using microdialysis. Aluminum pretreatment reduced basal and potassium-stimulated Ach overflow compared to controls. 5. Acetylcholine overflow increased as control rabbits acquired the conditioned eyeblink reflex, then subsequently decreased, although conditioned eyeblink performance continued. In contrast, Al-loaded rabbits showed a delay in conditioned eyeblink acquisition and greatly attenuated Ach overflow. The Al-induced attenuation of Ach overflow may contribute to the Al-induced learning deficit. 6. Brain Al entry was studied using microdialysis of blood, brain, and lateral ventricle. Aluminum rapidly entered the brain and lateral ventricle. Frontal cortical Al was greater than lateral ventricular Al, suggesting that Al primarily enters the brain through the cerebral microvasculature. 7. The brain/blood Al ratio was always significantly less than 1. This ratio was influenced by the Al form administered, brain site and animal species. Thus, there appears to be an active process moving Al out of brain extracellular fluid (ECF). 8. Brain and blood dialysate Ach concentrations were not different after cyanide addition to the dialysate, supporting the conclusion that an active process moves Al out of brain ECF.
Cell Mol Neurobiol 1994 Dec
PMID:Studies of aluminum neurobehavioral toxicity in the intact mammal. 764 Dec 37

1. Extracellular and intracellular effects of aluminum (Al) on voltage-activated calcium channel currents (VACCCs) of cultured rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons were investigated. Al (0.54 to 5.4 micrograms/ml = 20-200 microM) applied extracellularly reduces VACCCs in a concentration-dependent manner. The IC50 was calculated to be 2.3 micrograms/ml (83 microM). All types of VACCCs were similarly reduced by Al treatment. A slight shift of the current-voltage relation to depolarized potentials was observed for higher Al concentrations (> 2 micrograms/ml). The action of Al was found to be use dependent, with little recovery (max. 20%) after wash. 2. The effect of Al was highly pH dependent in the investigated range (pH 6.4 to 7.8). We observed a rightward shift of the concentration-response curve at pH 7.7 (IC50:3.1 micrograms/ml) and a leftward shift at pH 6.4 (IC50:0.56 microgram/ml) compared to the concentration-response curve at pH 7.3. 3. The VACCC declined when 2.7 micrograms/ml Al was added to the internal solution. A steady state was reached within a few minutes. Additional extracellular application of the same concentration lead to an additional decrease of the current. These observations strongly suggest the existence of both intracellular and extracellular accessible binding sites for Al on voltage-activated calcium channels (VACCs). 4. The special characteristics of the action of Al on VACCCs, i.e., the irreversibility, use dependence, and pH dependence, as well as the additional internal binding site may contribute to its neurotoxicity.
Cell Mol Neurobiol 1994 Dec
PMID:Actions of aluminum on voltage-activated calcium channel currents. 764 Dec 39

Eight syngeneic rat monoclonal antibodies that recognize structurally overlapping epitopes on the chondroitin proteoglycan NG2, a tumour-specific antigen on the chemically induced rat chondrosarcoma HSN, have been analysed for the sequence of their immunoglobulin heavy (H) and light (L) chain variable (V) regions. This analysis defined five groups of antibodies which are very similar for both the H and L chains and revealed that a wide range of different V regions are capable of binding to the same antigenic determinant. However, three mAbs, 11/160, ALN/12/17 and ALN/9/94, which recognize a sequential epitope, were found to use almost identical heavy (V-D-J) and light (V-J) chains in regions demonstrating an exclusivity in specific protein-protein interaction for this particular epitope. Two other mAbs, ALN/11/53 and AL/3/12, used similar V and J segments but totally different D regions. With the exception of the pair ALN/11/53 and AL/3/12, this grouping of antibodies matches that derived from the idiotypic specificity study we have reported previously. The reactivity pattern of Ab1 11/160, ALN/12/17 and ALN/9/94 with six anti-idiotopic mAbs raised against 11/160 demonstrated that the idiotope recognized by Ab2 HIM/3/41 was defined by a single amino acid, Asn, at position 52 within the CDR2 loop of the VH region; whereas the D region of Ab1 ALN/11/53 was implicated as the structural correlate of idiotypy. The substitution of AsnH52 influenced the Id recognition but Ag binding was not affected suggesting that Ab2 HIM/3/41 did not mimic the NG2 Ag.
Mol Immunol 1995 Jul
PMID:Primary structure of the variable regions encoding antibody to NG2, a tumour-specific antigen on the rat chondrosarcoma HSN. Correlation of idiotypic specificities with amino acid sequences. 765 96

In the insulin-secreting beta cell line RINm5F, sodium fluoride stimulated exocytosis in a concentration (5-15 mM)- and temperature-dependent manner. Depletion of aluminum with the chelator deferoxamine or addition of aluminum to the buffer failed to affect the NaF-stimulated insulin release. This suggests that stimulation of heterotrimeric G proteins or inhibition of phosphatases or other enzymes by fluoroaluminate, an analog of the phosphate moiety, is not involved in the insulinotropic action of NaF. Removal of extracellular Ca2+ suppressed the NaF-stimulated insulin release. However, nitrendipine, a blocker of L-type voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels, did not inhibit the NaF-stimulated insulin release and NaF did not cause any changes in the cytosolic free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i). Decreasing [Ca2+]i with thapsigargin or increasing [Ca2+]i with ionomycin or a depolarizing concentration of KCl resulted in suppression or enhancement of NaF-stimulated insulin release, respectively. Furthermore, NaF enhanced Ca(2+)-induced insulin release in electrically permeabilized RINm5F cells. These findings indicate that the effect of NaF on exocytosis is dependent on [Ca2+]i, although NaF itself does not change [Ca2+]i. Inhibitors of protein kinase C, such as staurosporine and bisindolylmaleimide, in concentrations sufficient to block the effects of phorbol esters, did not attenuate the NaF-stimulated insulin release. Neither cellular cAMP content nor [3H]arachidonic acid release was increased by NaF. NaF-stimulated insulin release was synergistically enhanced by the activation of protein kinases A and C. Finally, trifluoperazine, an inhibitor of calmodulin and other Ca(2+)-binding proteins, inhibited the insulinotropic action of NaF in a concentration-dependent manner. Trifluoperazine (50 microM) and W-7 (100 microM) nullified the 10 mM NaF-stimulated insulin release. It is concluded that NaF evokes exocytosis by a novel mechanism of sensitization to Ca2+, possibly on a Ca(2+)-responsive protein that is sensitive to trifluoperazine and W-7, leading to exocytosis. Protein kinases A and C also act at this site or at a more distal point.
Mol Pharmacol 1995 Mar
PMID:Sodium fluoride stimulates exocytosis at a late site of calcium interaction in stimulus-secretion coupling: studies with the RINm5F beta cell line. 770 Feb 48

To study whether heterogeneous myocardial blood flow relates to the local oxidative capacity of cardiac muscle, local blood flow at resting cardiac workloads and the activity of the mitochondrial enzyme succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) were determined in small regions of the left ventricle of seven anaesthetized, mechanically ventilated, open-chest pigs (25-35 kg). Following injection of radioactive microspheres (15 microns phi) into the left atrium, the heart was rapidly excised and cut into five transverse slices, which were simultaneously freeze-clamped between two aluminum blocks precooled at -80 degrees C. The left ventricle was then subdivided into 84 samples of about 0.9 g. Myocardial blood flow was 0.88 +/- 0.34 ml/min/g wet weight (ww), and SDH activity 1.46 +/- 0.33 mumol/min/g ww (mean +/- S.D., n = 7). Local data were normalized to their respective mean values in each pig, and then pooled. Local blood flow ranged from 0.32 to 1.63 of the mean, and blood flow heterogeneity characterized by the coefficient of variation (CV = S.D./mean) was 18.4%. Normalized local SDH activity ranged from 0.16 to 1.94, with a CV of 21.8%, significantly exceeding measurement error (CV = 4.5%). Local blood flows and SDH activities did not vary among transmural sublayers of the left ventricle, but variation within each sublayer was considerable. In six of the seven pigs, local blood flow correlated (P < 0.05) with SDH activity, with correlation coefficients (r) ranging from 0.26 to 0.54 (for pooled data: r = 0.27, P < 0.0001). When expressed per gram dry weight, heterogeneity of SDH activity increased (P < 0.05), and here also local blood flow correlated with SDH activity in all pigs (for pooled data: r = 0.45, P < 0.0001). Hence, heterogeneity of mitochondrial capacity within cardiac muscle partly explains the heterogeneity of myocardial blood flow, even though myocardial perfusion at rest was studied in relation with a maximal enzyme rate. The low correlation coefficient clearly indicates that at resting workloads other factors also play a role.
J Mol Cell Cardiol 1994 Aug
PMID:Local mitochondrial enzyme activity correlates with myocardial blood flow at basal workloads. 779 42

We inoculated 5- to 6-week old New Zealand white rabbits intracisternally with either 100, 250, 500, 750, or 1000 micrograms of AlCl3 or 0.9% NaCl and correlated the extent of cervical motor neuron neurofilamentous inclusion formation at 48 h postinoculation with alterations in neurofilament (NF) mRNA levels. RNA was isolated from cervical spinal cord by the guanidine isothiocyanate method and individual RNA samples were normalized for poly(A+) content. Northern blot analysis was performed with cDNA probes for light (NFL), medium (NFM), and heavy (NFH) neurofilament subunit protein or with oligonucleotide probes for alpha-tubulin or actin. No significant alteration in the levels of alpha-tubulin, actin, or NFH mRNA were observed, regardless of the aluminum dose. In contrast, dose-dependent reductions in NFL and NFM mRNA levels occurred in direct proportion to the extent of neurofilamentous inclusion formation. While inoculums of NaCl or 100 or 250 micrograms AlCl3 induced neither inclusion formation or alterations in mRNA levels, both inclusion formation and reductions in the levels of NFL and NFM mRNA occurred thereafter, becoming maximal with inoculums of 1000 micrograms AlCl3. These experiments indicate that intracisternally administered AlCl3 acutely suppresses NFL and NFM mRNA levels without affecting those of NFH. This pattern is in distinct contrast to the uniform reductions of all NF mRNA transcript levels during neurogenesis or following axotomy, indicating a specific effect of aluminum upon steady-state levels of NF mRNA that correlates with the induction of neurofilamentous aggregates.
Mol Cell Neurosci 1994 Aug
PMID:Dose-dependent selective suppression of light (NFL) and medium (NFM) but not heavy (NFH) molecular weight neurofilament mRNA levels in acute aluminum neurotoxicity. 780 1

Inherited cases of Alzheimer's disease (AD) comprise only a very small proportion of the total. The remainder are of unknown etiopathogenesis, but they are very probably multifactorial in origin. This article describes studies on four possible factors: aluminum; viruses--in particular, herpes simplex type I virus (HSV1); defective DNA repair; and head trauma. Specific problems associated with aluminum, such as inadvertent contamination and its insolubility, have led to some controversy over its usage. Nonetheless, the effects of aluminum on animals and neuronal cells in culture have been studied intensively. Changes in protein structure and location in the cell are described, including the finding in this laboratory of a change in tau resembling that in AD neurofibrillary tangles, and also the lack of appreciable binding of aluminum to DNA. As for HSV1, there has previously been uncertainty about whether HSV1 DNA is present in human brain. Work in this laboratory using polymerase chain reaction has shown that HSV1 DNA is present in many normal aged brains and AD brains, but is absent in brains from younger people. Studies on DNA damage and repair in AD and normal cells are described, and finally, the possible involvement of head trauma is discussed.
Mol Neurobiol
PMID:Possible factors in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease. 788 85

The (Na(+)+K+)-ATPase is responsible for maintenance of the ionic milieu of cells. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of aluminum, an ion implicated in several neurological disorders, on ATP hydrolysis catalyzed by the rat brain synaptosomal (Na(+)+K+)-ATPase and on the binding of [3H]ouabain to this enzyme. AlCl3 (25-100 microM) inhibits the phosphatase activity of the (Na(+)+K+)-ATPase in a dose-dependent manner. AlCl3 appears to act as a reversible, noncompetitive inhibitor of (Na(+)+K+)-ATPase activity by decreasing the maximum velocity of the enzyme without significantly affecting the apparent dissociation constant with respect to ATP. AlCl3 may affect Mg2+ sites on the (Na(+)+K+)-ATPase but does not appear to interact with Na+ or K+ sites on the enzyme. In contrast to this inhibitory effect on the phosphatase function of the enzyme, AlCl3 (1-100 microM) stimulates the binding of [3H]ouabain to the (Na(+)+K+)-ATPase. This effect is due to an increase in the maximum [3H]ouabain binding capacity of the enzyme with no change in the [3H]ouabain binding affinity. These data support the hypothesis that AlCl3 may stabilize the phosphorylated form of the synaptosomal (Na(+)+K+)-ATPase which increases [3H]ouabain binding while inhibiting the phosphatase activity of the enzyme.
Mol Chem Neuropathol 1994 May
PMID:Aluminum-induced alterations in [3H]ouabain binding and ATP hydrolysis catalyzed by the rat brain synaptosomal (Na(+)+K+)-ATPase. 791 67

It is now well established that GTP-binding proteins are important regulators of vesicular transport. Recent work has shown that multiple GTPases (both monomeric and heterotrimeric) are required for trafficking. In the present study we have used aluminum fluoride (AIF), a reagent that activates trimeric G proteins, as a tool to study the involvement of this family of GTPases in the regulation of endocytosis in intact cells. Our results indicate that AIF inhibits fusion of early endosomes with an intracellular proteolytic compartment. Using the mixing of sequentially internalized ligands as a measure of endocytosis, we found that AIF inhibited endocytic transport as assessed by both biochemical and morphological methods. Taken together these results suggest that AIF affects membrane fusion, a common step in vesicular transport. To further examine the effects of AIF we tested this compound in a cell-free assay that reconstitutes fusion among endosomes. AIF affected endosomal fusion in a different way than did GTP gamma S, an agent that activates both trimeric and small GTPases. Our results suggest that the coordinated activation of both classes of GTPases are required for efficient endocytic transport.
Mol Membr Biol
PMID:Inhibition of endocytic transport by aluminum fluoride implicates GTPases as regulators of endocytosis. 792 Aug 68


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