The parametric pump mechanism in separation of components in heterogeneous systems. I. Macroscopic distributed systems.

A dynamic method is proposed for the separation of the electrolyte components using a parametric pump with an ion exchange column. It was studied experimentally and described mathematically. The parametric separation of mixtures is based on interactions of two oscillating fields with a heterogeneous system containing two phases, a liquid and a solid one, the components of the mixture being able to redistribute between the phases. The field of mechanical force is responsible for cyclic relative displacement of the phases, and synchronously changing temperature causes redistribution of the components between them. This results in sodium and potassium fluxes opposite in direction which in turn leads to accumulation of sodium and potassium in opposite end cells.

[Rotenone-sensitive oxidation of NADH and F0F1-ATPase activity in a homogenate of rat skeletal muscles during thermal adaptation]. / Rotenon-chuvstvitel'noe okislenie NADH i aktivnost' F0F1-ATPazy v gomogenate skeletnykh myshts krysy pri termoadaptatsii.

A method has been developed for measuring the rates of rotenone-sensitive oxidation of NADH and oligomycin-sensitive hydrolysis of ATP in rat skeletal muscle homogenates. The method is based on the use of alamethicin which increases the permeability of the inner mitochondrial membrane for NADH and ATP. It has been shown that prolonged cold adaptation of rats (4 weeks, 4 degrees) does not change the activity of rotenone-sensitive NADH-oxidase in rat skeletal muscle homogenates which is equal to 12.4 +/- 4.4 nmol NADH/min/mg protein, but increases threefold that of F0F1-ATPase--from 31.8 +/- 7.4 up to 93.1 +/- 14.3 nmol P(i)/min/mg protein. It is suggested that prolonged cold adaptation induces structural-and-functional changes in the H(+)-ATP-synthetase complex of skeletal muscle mitochondria.

Alamethicin as a permeabilizing agent for measurements of Ca(2+)-dependent ATPase activity in proteoliposomes, sealed membrane vesicles, and whole cells.

The channel-forming antibiotic peptide alamethicin was used in measurements of Ca-ATPase activity in sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) vesicles, proteoliposomes containing Ca(2+)-ATPase from SR, and native human platelets. Alamethicin was used as a permeabilizing agent providing for a free access of the whole cells or sealed vesicles interiors for ions, ATP, and other reactants. The experiments were carried out with the use of alamethicin preparations obtained in our laboratory and that purchased from the Upjohn Company (antibiotic U-22,324). A comparative study of the effects of Ca(2+)-ionophore A23187 and alamethicin was performed on native SR vesicles containing Ca(2+)-ATPase molecules with right orientation and SR vesicles treated with cholate in order to randomize Ca(2+)-ATPase molecules orientation in the membrane. It was found out that alamethicin, like A-23187, prevents the ATP-dependent Ca2+ accumulation by the vesicles and therefore activates the Ca(2+)-ATPase. Maximal specific activities of the Ca(2+)-ATPase in native SR vesicles in the presence of either alamethicin, or A23187, or both of them, are equal in all cases to 20 activity units (mumol Pi per min per mg protein). The operative range of alamethicin concentrations is 5-25 micrograms/ml and is a little wider than that for A23187. The ATPase activity of the SR vesicles treated with cholate reached 20 units in the presence of alamethicin while in the presence of A23187 it was only 10 units. These data suggest that alamethicin unlike A23187 allows ATP to reach the ATPase's active centers from the inside of the SR vesicles with 'randomized' membranes, the ATP transport through the membrane not being the rate-limiting stage of ATP hydrolysis. It was shown that diffusion flux of ATP through a BLM in the presence of alamethicin may reach 10% of the flux through the hole without the BLM. With the use of alamethicin it was found out that the quality of randomization of the ATPase molecules orientation in the membrane depends on the proteoliposome preparation technique. The ATP transport through the alamethicin pores makes possible the use of alamethicin in accurate measurements of Ca(2+)-ATPase activity in whole cells. A method was developed for determination of the activity of human platelets was found to be 90-100 nmol Pi per min per mg protein.

Alamethicin-induced pore formation in biological membranes.

The effects of alamethicin on the membrane barrier function of rabbit erythrocytes, human platelets and sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles, as well as on that of brain microsomes and liver mitochondria of the rat were compared. An upset of the barrier function was observed for plasma membranes of brain microsomes as well as for erythrocyte and platelet membranes at alamethicin concentrations ranging between 25-80 micrograms/ml. The membrane barrier functions of sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles, of endoplasmic reticulum vesicles of rat brain microsomes, and of liver mitochondria were disturbed at 3-7 micrograms/ml alamethicin. The different sensitivities of plasma and intracellular membranes to alamethicin were supposed to be due to the presence of considerable quantities of cholesterol in plasma membranes as well as to peculiarities of their protein compositions.

[Ca2+- and inositol-1,4,5-triphosphate induced release of Ca2+ in the microsomal fraction of the rat brain]. / Ca2+- i inozitol-1,4,5-trifosfat-indutsirovannoe osvobozhdenie Ca2+ v mikrosomnoi fraktsii mozga krys.

Using the fluorescent probes, Quin 2 and chlortetracycline, a comparative study of the Ca2+ and inositol-1.4.5-triphosphate (IP3)-induced Ca2+ release from rabbit skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) terminal cisterns and rat brain microsomal vesicles was carried out. It was shown that Ca2+ release from rat brain microsomal vesicles is induced both by IP3 and Ca2+, whereas that in SR terminal cisterns is induced only by Ca2+. Data from chlorotetracycline fluorescence analysis revealed that CaCl2 (50 microM) causes the release of 15-20% and 40-50% of the total Ca2+ pool accumulated in rat brain microsomal vesicles and rabbit SR terminal cisterns, respectively. Using Quin 2, it was found that IP3 used at the optimal concentration (1.5 mM) caused the release of 0.4-0.6 nmol of Ca2+ per mg microsomal protein, which makes up to 10-15% of the total Ca2+ pool. IP3 does not induce Ca2+ release in SR. Preliminary release of Ca2+ from brain microsomes induced by IP3 diminishes the liberation of this cation induced by Ca2+. It is suggested that brain microsomes contain a Ca2+ pool which is exhausted under the action of the both effectors, Ca2+ and IP3.

[Transport Ca-ATPase activity of brain synaptic membranes in rats with korazol-induced epileptic activity]. / Sostoianie aktivnosti transportnoi Ca-ATFazy sinapticheskikh membran mozga krys pri indutsirovannoi korazolom épilepticheskoi aktivnosti.

Changes in the activity of transport Ca-ATPase in osmotically disrupted synaptosomes were studied in corazol-induced generalized epileptic activity (EA) monitored by electrocorticogram. The enzyme activity was found to be unchanged at the beginning of the latent period, but significantly diminished towards the end of the latent period and further reduced at the peak of EA. After ET was no longer observed the enzyme activity returned to normal. The activity of transport Ca-ATPase in synaptic junction fraction was found to be 3 times higher than in osmotically disrupted synaptosomes. A possible role of the inactivation of membrane Ca pump in synaptic brain structures is discussed in relation to pathological hyperactivity of neurons.

[Lipid peroxidation as a major factor in the modification of the catalytic function of Ca-ATPase of the sarcoplasmic reticulum in hypercholesterolemia]. / Perekisnoe okislenie lipidov kak osnovnaia prichina modifikatsii kataliticheskoi funktsii Ca-ATFazy sarkoplazmaticheskogo retikuluma pri giperkholesterinemii.

A comparative study of the effect of an experimental hypercholesterolemia and in vitro induced lipid peroxidation (LPO) on the temperature dependence of the activity of sarcoplasmic reticular Ca-ATPase from rabbit skeletal muscle (SR) has been performed. A control Arrhenius plot of ATPase activity determined in the presence of alamethicin was characterized by discontinuity in the 20 degrees C area. Both in vitro induced LPO and hypercholesterolemia resulted in a shift of discontinuity to 30 degrees C area. The replacement of lipid Ca-ATPase membrane environment by egg yolk lecithin did not affect the temperature dependence of the activity in control SR and failed to restore the original nature of the Arrhenius plot for Ca-ATPase modified by hypercholesterolemia or the in vitro induced LPO.