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When the force applied to a muscle exceeds the force produced by the muscle it will lengthen, absorbing mechanical energy. These eccentric contractions, which result in both braking and storing elastic recoil energy in normal locomotion, require very little metabolic energy, yet they are characterized by high force production.

cis-3,4-Methylene hexanedioic acid has been discovered in human urine. It has been isolated and identified by mass spectrometry and synthesis. The daily excretion in nine subjects on a free diet was 88 mumol/day (range, 32 to 144 mumol/day). cis-3,4-Methylene hexanedioic acid was given orally to a rat. About 90% of the dose was recovered unchanged in the urine within 24 h. Intragastric administration of cis-9,10-methylene [9,10-3H2]octadecanoic acid to rats gave four labeled urinary metabolites. The major one was cis-3,4-methylene hexanedioic acid, the others were 2,3-methylene pentanedioic acid and isomers of methylene heptanedioic acid and methylene octanedioic acid. Within 72 h, about 40% of the administered radioactivity could be recovered from the urine and another 40% from the carcass. About 20% of the recovered radioactivity was found to be water. Of the radioactivity administered to rats orally as cis-9,10-methylene [9,10-3H2]octadecanoic acid methyl ester, about 50% could be recovered from the lymph of the thoracic duct within 9 h. Intraperitoneal administration of cis-9,10-methylene octodecanoic acid methyl ester to rats gave the same metabolites. Of the given amount, 50 mol % could be recovered from the urine as cis-3,4-methylene hexanedioic acid and 19 mol % as homologues within 38 days.

Muscles allow animals to interact mechanically with their environment. The basic processes concerned with motion as well as the structure of the sliding filaments in muscle cells are found with little modification throughout the animal kingdom (Huxley, 1973). However, the energetic demand imposed on a muscle by the organism may vary greatly depending on the specific function of that muscle. Thus, both the heart and the diaphragm have to deliver high rates of mechanical energy continuously during the whole life-span of an animal, whereas other muscles, such as the gastrocnemius, are only briefly activated every once in a while. The present review analyses the malleability of the structural components of the energetic machinery of skeletal muscle cells with regard to the energetic demand placed upon them by the organism.

Three aliphatic tricarboxylic acids have been found in rat urine. They have been identified as 6-carboxy-5-undecenedioic acid, 6-carboxy-5-dodecenedoic acid, and 6-carboxy-5-tridecenedioic acid. The carbon skeleton structure was determined by mass spectra of the hydrogenated methyl esters. The double bond position was determined after osmium tetroxide oxidation followed by trifluoroacetylation and mass spectrometry and by infrared spectrometry. The compounds were present in the urine when the rats were fed on pellets but disappeared when they received sucrose and water. The acids were not present in the pellets, and a metabolic relation to compounds of longer chain length, possibly mycolic acids, is likely.

gamma-Butyrobetaine hydroxylase [4-trimethylaminobutyrate, 2-oxoglutarate:oxygen oxidoreductase (3-hydroxylating), EC 1.14.11.1] from human kidney was resolved into three forms by chromatofocusing. After further chromatography on an anion-exchanger, each form appeared as a single band on electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel containing sodium dodecyl sulphate. The isoelectric points of isoenzymes 1, 2 and 3 were 5.6, 5.7 and 5.8 respectively, as estimated by isoelectric focusing. Their specific activities were 17-29 mu kat/g of protein. The concentrations of the three isoenzymes were about equal, possibly slightly lower for isoenzyme 1. The requirement for Fe2+ and the Km values for gamma-butyrobetaine and 2-oxoglutarate were about the same for the different enzyme forms. L- and D-Carnitine caused decarboxylation of 2-oxoglutarate to the same extent (8 and 29%) with the three forms. The enzyme forms had the same mass, 64 kDa, as determined by gel filtration in nondenaturing media. The same subunit mass, 42 kDa, was obtained for the multiple forms by electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels containing sodium dodecyl sulphate. Isoenzyme 2 was resolved into two protein bands by isoelectric focusing in polyacrylamide gels containing urea. Isoenzyme 1 contained only one of these bands and isoenzyme 3 the other. The three enzyme forms of gamma-butyrobetaine hydroxylase thus appear to be dimeric combinations of two subunits differing in charge but not in size. gamma-Butyrobetaine hydroxylase from crude extracts of human, rat and calf liver was also separated into multiple forms by a chromatofocusing technique. The isoenzyme pattern was the same in human liver and kidney. The technique used to resolve the mammalian enzymes gave no evidence for the presence of multiple forms of the bacterial enzyme from Pseudomonas sp. AK 1.

Purified preparations of 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase from Pseudomonas sp. strain P. J. 874 are blue, epsilon 595-850 approximately 2.6 +/- 0.5 (n = 6) mM-1 cm-1. Iron and zinc were the only metals detected by x-ray fluorescence of an enzyme preparation and the mean content in different preparation as determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy was determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy was 0.95 +/- 0.17 (n = 6) and 0.68 +/- 0.27 (n = 7) mol/mol 150-kilodalton tetramer, respectively. It is yet unclear if zinc is a contaminant or may be given a structural role. Results with iron chelators and reductants showed that the 595-nm absorbance is linked to enzyme-bound Fe3+ and that reduction of iron, which occurs concomitantly with disappearance of the color, is required for enzyme activity. The enol tautomer of 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate appeared to form 2:1 a complex with enzyme-bound Fe3+, which may be the cause of the long known substrate inhibition of the enzyme. Iron chelation also seemed to be involved in the inhibition by other substrate analogues, i.e. substituted catechols and those with one phenolic hydroxyl group in ortho position to short carboxylic acid side chains. Together, substrate analogue, pH, and modification studies indicated that the tautomerizable keto group with a double bond in 3-4 position favors productive substrate binding to Fe2+ and a base with a pK alpha of approximately 6.4.

3-Hydroxyaspartic acid and 3-hydroxyasparagine are two rare amino acids that are present in domains homologous to the epidermal growth factor precursor in vitamin K-dependent plasma proteins as well as in proteins that do not require vitamin K for normal biosynthesis. They are formed by posttranslational hydroxylation of aspartic acid and asparagine, respectively. The first epidermal growth factor-like domain in factor IX (residues 45-87) was synthesized with aspartic acid in position 64, replacing 3-hydroxyaspartic acid. It was used as substrate in a hydroxylase assay with rat liver microsomes as the source of enzyme and reaction conditions that satisfy the requirements of 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases. The synthetic peptide stimulated the 2-oxoglutarate decarboxylation in contrast to synthetic, modified epidermal growth factor (Met-21 and His-22 deleted and Glu-24 replaced by Asp) and synthetic peptides corresponding to residues 60-71 in human factor IX. This indicates that the hydroxylase is a 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase with a selective substrate requirement.

The activity of the enzyme porphobilinogen synthase (EC 4.2.1.24) in erythrocytes from patients with hereditary tyrosinemia was less than 5% of that in a control group and the activity in liver tissue was less than 1% of the reported normal activity. Urine from patients with hereditary tyrosinemia contained an inhibitor that was isolated and identified as succinylacetone (4,6-dioxoheptanoic acid) by gas/liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Fresh urine samples contained succinylacetoacetate (3,5-dioxooctanedioic acid) as well as succinylacetone. The inhibition of porphobilinogen synthase explains the high excretion of 5-aminolevulinate observed in hereditary tyrosinemia. Succinylacetone and succinylacetoacetate presumably originate from maleylacetoacetate or fumarylacetoacetate, or both, and their accumulation indicates a block at the fumarylacetoacetase (EC 3.7.1.2) step in the degradation of tyrosine. We suggest that the severe liver and kidney damage in hereditary tyrosinemia may be due to the accumulation of these tyrosine metabolites and that the primary enzyme defect in hereditary tyrosinemia may be decreased activity of fumarylacetoacetase.

A resonance Raman investigation into the blue chromophore of 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase, a non-heme iron enzyme from Pseudomonas P. J. 874, reveals the presence of enhanced vibrations characteristic of tyrosinate coordination to the iron center. The excitation profiles for these features show that they are associated with the 595 nm absorption feature. EPR studies of this enzyme indicate the presence of a high-spin ferric center in a rhombic environment, as evidenced by a signal at g = 4.3 with the correct intensity for the measured iron content. This enzyme thus belongs to the emerging class of iron-tyrosinate proteins.

1. Taurocholic acid-24-14C was the only metabolite found in feces of germfree rats fed cholic acid-24-14C. 2. The half-life of cholic acid in germfree rats is 11.4 days as compared with 2 days in control animals. Daily excretion of cholic acid in germfree rats is 0.9 mg/100 g body weight. 3. Monoinfection of a germfree rat with Aspergillus nigerdid not change the half-life nor the composition of the bile salts in feces. Infection of the same rat with Clostridium per-fringensresulted in free cholic acid in feces but no change in turnover time. When the rat was taken out of the germfree rearing apparatus turnover time and bile acid picture changed to that of “normal” rats.

The effect of apparently physiological doses of human growth hormone was investigated in three patients with Turner's syndrome in short term metabolic balance studies. The subjects presented an abnormal sex chromosome constitution and an increased level of sulphation factor activity in serum.Two dose levels of hormone were used, and there appeared an anabolic response to both. No correlation with dose was obtained for any of the parameters used except for urinary magnesium, where the retention was greater with the higher dose. The sulphation factor activity of serum increased during hormone administration in the one case studied in this respect.The urinary excretion of hydroxyproline was within the normal range in the two patients studied in this respect, and was not altered by growth hormone.All patients had an increased urinary excretion of creatine which at present cannot be explained. The creatinuria diminished during growth hormone treatment.The mechanism behind the retarded growth is discussed. It is suggested that a major factor might be a defect in the center for linear growth, i. e.the epiphyses that would make these less responsive to all the factors normally stimulating the growth processes in the epiphyseal zones.