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Wheat amylase/trypsin inhibitors (ATIs) have gained significant relevance as inducers of intestinal and extra-intestinal inflammation. In this study, we present a novel hybrid data-independent acquisition (DIA) liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) approach, combining QconCAT technology with short microflow LC gradients and DIA and apply the method toward the quantitative proteome analysis of ATI extracts. The presented method is fast, robust, and reproducible and provides precise QconCAT-based absolute quantification of major ATI proteins while simultaneously quantifying the proteome by label-free quantification (LFQ). We analyzed extracts of 60 varieties of common wheat grown in replication and evaluated the reproducibility and precision of the workflow for the quantification of ATIs. Applying the method to analyze different wheat species (i.e., common wheat, spelt, durum wheat, emmer, and einkorn) and comparing the results to published data, we validated inter-laboratory and cross-methodology reproducibility of ATI quantification, which is essential in the context of large-scale breeding projects. Additionally, we applied our workflow to assess environmental effects on ATI expression, analyzing ATI content and proteome of same varieties grown at different locations. Finally, we explored the potential of combining QconCAT-based absolute quantification with DIA-based LFQ proteome analysis for the generation of new hypotheses or assay development.

The enzymatic activity of tyrosine hydroxylase (EC 1.14.16.2) increases in rat pheochromocytoma PC18 cells exposed to either elevated levels of cyclic AMP or glucocorticoids. The cyclic AMP-mediated increase in activity is elicited by cyclic AMP analogs or by compounds which activate adenylate cyclase or inhibit phosphodiesterase. The glucocorticoid-mediated increase is elicited only by glucocorticoid steroid hormones; nonglucocorticoid steroid hormones have no effect on tyrosine hydroxylase. In PC18 cells exposed simultaneously to both cyclic AMP-elevating agents and glucocorticoids, the increase in tyrosine hydroxylase activity is greater than that observed in cells treated with optimal concentrations of either inducing agent alone. Immunochemical titration experiments demonstrate that the increases in tyrosine hydroxylase activity observed in cells treated with the cyclic AMP analog, 8-bromocyclic AMP, and/or the synthetic glucocorticoid, dexamethasone, are due to increases in enzyme protein. Time course studies show that in cells treated with either 8-bromocyclic AMP or dexamethasone, the enzyme level increases slowly to a level 5-7-fold greater than that observed in untreated cells after 4 days of treatment. In cells treated with both of these inducing agents simultaneously, the enzyme level increases to a level 10-12-fold greater than that observed in control cells after 4 days of treatment. This additive increase in activity in cells treated with both inducing agents is observed at all time points. The rates of synthesis and degradation of tyrosine hydroxylase have also been measured in PC18 cells, using an antiserum to tyrosine hydroxylase to rapidly isolate radiolabeled enzyme from cells that have been incubated in the presence of [3H]leucine. The apparent half-life of tyrosine hydroxylase in the PC18 cells is approximately 30 hr. In PC18 cells incubated in the presence of radiolabeled leucine for 60 min, 0.2-0.3% of the total soluble protein synthesized is identified as tyrosine hydroxylase. In cells treated with either 8-bromocyclic AMP or dexamethasone for 24 hr, there is a 6-8-fold increase in the rate of synthesis of the enzyme. In cells treated with both inducing agents simultaneously, there is a 10-12-fold increase in the rate of synthesis; thus, the additive increase in enzyme level observed in cells treated with both inducing agents is paralleled by an additive increase in the rate of synthesis of the enzyme in these cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

When rat pheochromocytoma PC18 cells are exposed to the cyclic AMP analog, 8-bromocyclic AMP, and/or the synthetic glucocorticoid, dexamethasone, there is a marked increase in the level of a single RNA species that hybridizes to the recombinant plasmid pTH.4, which contains sequences complementary to the RNA coding for tyrosine hydroxylase. This RNA species is 1800-1900 nucleotides in length and is presumably identical to an RNA species of similar size, isolated from rat pheochromocytoma PC8b cells and shown to code for tyrosine hydroxylase. Using RNA dot hybridization to quantitate the relative level of this tyrosine mRNA species, time course studies show that this mRNA increases relatively rapidly in PC18 cells treated with either 8-bromocyclic AMP or dexamethasone. A new steady state level of tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA is achieved after 6 hr or 12-24 hr of treatment with either 8-bromocyclic AMP or dexamethasone, respectively. The changes in the level of the mRNA slightly precede the changes in the rate of synthesis of tyrosine hydroxylase in cells treated with these inducing agents. After 24 hr of treatment with either 8-bromocyclic AMP or dexamethasone, the increases in the level of tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA are identical to the increases in the rate of synthesis of the enzyme in the cells. In cells treated simultaneously with both 8-bromocyclic AMP and dexamethasone, the increases in the enzyme level and rate of synthesis of tyrosine hydroxylase are approximately equal to the sum of the increases in these parameters observed in cells treated with either inducing agent alone. In contrast, there is not an additive increase in the level of tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA in cells treated with both inducing agents. This lack of an additive increase in mRNA for tyrosine hydroxylase is observed in total cellular RNA samples or in cytoplasmic RNA samples. Our results suggest that in cells exposed to elevated levels of either cyclic AMP or glucocorticoids, tyrosine hydroxylase is induced by a mechanism which increases the level of its mRNA, resulting in an increased rate of synthesis of the enzyme. However, in cells exposed to elevated levels of both cyclic AMP and dexamethasone, tyrosine hydroxylase enzyme levels are regulated by multiple mechanisms, one of which regulates the rate of synthesis of the enzyme without affecting the level of its mRNA.

Potential age-related differences in cardiovascular responsiveness and receptor regulation induced by short-term administration of a selective β2-adrenergic receptor agonist were investigated. Young (age range, 23 to 31 years) and elderly (age range, 64 to 73 years) healthy subjects were treated with terbutaline (5 mg, three times daily) for 5 days. Similar plasma terbutaline concentrations were achieved in the two age groups. The elderly group had higher baseline plasma norepinephrine concentrations and mean arterial pressures, neither of which were altered by terbutaline administration. During terbutaline treatment, heart rate increased in both age groups while subjects were supine but consistently increased only in the young group while subjects were standing. In both age groups, the density of β2-adrenergic receptors on polymorphonuclear leukocyte membranes was reduced by 50% during terbutaline administration and returned to baseline values at similar rates after drug administration was stopped. Isoproterenol-stimulated cyclic adenosine monophosphate accumulation in polymorphonuclear leukocytes from elderly subjects was regulated similarly. These findings suggest that the ability of terbutaline to increase standing heart rate is selectively impaired in the elderly, whereas the ability of polymorphonuclear leukocyte β2-adrenergic receptors to down-regulate and to return to baseline values is not.

The purpose of this study was to test whether persistent changes consistent with behavioral sensitization occur in dopamine (DA) uptake, release or receptors following repeated cocaine administration. Our neurochemical experiments focused primarily on the striatum; however, quantitative autoradiography was used to measure D-1 and D-2 DA receptors in both cell body and terminal regions of the nigrostriatal and mesolimbic dopaminergic pathways. After receiving eight once-daily injections of cocaine (10 mg/kg, i.p.), rats remained behaviorally sensitized for 1 week. This repeated treatment with cocaine induced two changes consistent with increased dopaminergic transmission. Postsynaptic D-2 DA receptors were selectively increased in nucleus accumbens one day after termination of the repeated cocaine administration; however, these receptors returned to control levels one week after cocaine administration had been terminated. In contrast, amphetamine-stimulated [3H] DA release from striatal slices was increased in rats receiving repeated cocaine injections, but this increase was not apparent until 1 week after the drug administration had been terminated. While neither of these two changes is sufficient to explain cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization, both are consistent with increased dopaminergic responsiveness and may contribute to sensitization.