Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P17174 (aspartate aminotransferase)
 14,872 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

It has been reported that the mitochondrial cytochromes and citrate cycle enzymes occur in constant proportions to each other and increase or decrease roughly in parallel in response to various stimuli. The purpose of this study was to determine whether this proportionality is an obligatory consequence of the way in which mitochondria are assembled. Severe iron deficiency was used to bring about decreases of the iron-containing constituents of the mitochondrial respiratory chain in skeletal muscle. Cytochrome c concentration and cytochrome oxidase activity were decreased approximately 50%, while succinate dehydrogenase and NADH dehydrogenase activities were decreased by 78% in iron-deficient muscle. On electron microscopic examination, mitochondria in iron-deficient muscles had relatively sparse numbers of cristae. The iron deficiency had little or no effect on the levels of a range of mitochondrial matrix enzymes, including citrate synthase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, fumarase, aspartate aminotransferase, 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, 3-ketoacid-CoA transferase, and acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase. These results show that the usual constant proportions between the constituents of the mitochondrial respiratory chain and matrix enzymes are not obligatory; they provide evidence that mitochondrial matrix enzymes and respiratory chain constituents can be incorporated into mitochondria independently and that the ratios between them can vary within wide limits.
 ...
PMID:Perturbation of mitochondrial composition in muscle by iron deficiency. Implications regarding regulation of mitochondrial assembly. 302 53

Young rats maintained on an iron-deficient diet developed severe anemia and had large decreases in the levels of the iron-containing flavoproteins and cytochromes of the mitochondrial respiratory chain in skeletal muscle. In contrast, the levels of a number of mitochondrial matrix marker enzymes, including citrate synthase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, 3-ketoacid-CoA transferase, and aspartate aminotransferase, increased in red skeletal muscle but not in white muscle. Phosphocreatine concentration was decreased and inorganic phosphate concentration was increased in soleus muscle frozen in situ. We hypothesize that the increase in mitochondrial matrix enzymes reflects a stimulus to mitochondrial biogenesis in posture-maintaining and weight-bearing red muscle fibers in severely iron-deficient rats. It is our working hypothesis that this stimulus to mitochondrial biogenesis arises from mild activity of the red fibers and is due to the same perturbation in cellular homeostasis that is normally caused by vigorous exercise or hypoxia. In iron deficiency, the stimulus to mitochondrial biogenesis can induce an increase in only those enzymes not prevented from increasing by iron deficiency, resulting in formation of mitochondria of grossly abnormal composition.
 ...
PMID:Induction of an increase in mitochondrial matrix enzymes in muscle of iron-deficient rats. 347 8

With the advent of new techniques of human in vitro fertilization (IVF), identifying parameters of oocyte quality to allow selection of those most likely to fertilize becomes crucial. Morphology of oocytes, which correlates positively with biological performance, is the currently utilized classification criterion. However, biological links between form and function are tenuous, and underlying mechanisms remain elusive. We investigated whether biochemical activation is quantitatively associated with the stages of maturation in ova obtained from patients undergoing gynecologic surgery during unstimulated cycles and women undergoing IVF after exogenous gonadotropin stimulation. Changes in selected enzymes from protein, lipid, and carbohydrate metabolism (hexokinase, phosphoglucomutase, glycogen synthetase, uridine diphosphoglucose pyrophosphorylase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, cytosolic thiolase, beta-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase) were determined simultaneously, in individual oocytes, utilizing a highly sensitive biochemical methodology. Several enzyme activities paralleled maturation grade and were higher in stimulated oocytes after correction for grade. These biochemical findings quantify metabolic and functional changes that increase as ova mature, possibly contributing to their reproductive performance.
 ...
PMID:Enzyme activities and maturation in unstimulated and exogenous gonadotropin-stimulated human oocytes. 809 73

Chronic electrical stimulation of skeletal muscle at 10 Hz induces fast-to-slow fiber type transformation. Does a lower aggregate amount of activity lead to a less complete transformation, or does it produce the same transformation over a longer time course? We examined this question by subjecting adult rabbit tibialis anterior and extensor digitorum longus muscles to continuous stimulation at 2.5 Hz for 2-12 wk. Most of the fibers acquired the histochemical and immunocytochemical characteristics of type 2A, not type 1, fibers. There was a corresponding rise in oxidative activity, but this was accompanied by a marked decline in anaerobic glycolysis. The activities of hexokinase and 3-oxoacid CoA-transferase stopped increasing after 2 wk, glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase after 4 wk, and beta-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase after 6 wk of stimulation. Succinate dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, lactate dehydrogenase, and creatine phosphokinase continued to change up to 12 wk of stimulation. Changes in enzyme activity were not as rapid or as marked as those observed for stimulation at 10 Hz, and none showed the typical two-phase response of oxidative enzyme activities to stimulation at 10 Hz. The latter may therefore be dependent on induction of type 1 myosin isoforms.
 ...
PMID:Induction of a fast-oxidative phenotype by chronic muscle stimulation: histochemical and metabolic studies. 877 59