1,720,965 research outputs found
Enzymatic activities affecting exogenous nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide in human skin fibroblasts
No full textThe fate of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), AMP, and ADP-ribose supplied to intact human skin fibroblasts was monitored, and the concentrations of intra- and extracellular pyridine and purine compounds were determined by HPLC analysis. Two enzymatic activities affecting extracellular NAD were detected on the plasma membrane, one hydrolyzing the pyrophosphoric bond and yielding nicotinamide mononucleotide (nucleotide pyrophosphatase) and the other cleaving the glycoside link and releasing nicotinamide (NAD-glycohydrolase). No AMP or ADP-ribose was found in the extracellular medium of cells incubated with NAD, the former being completely catabolized to hypoxanthine and the latter degraded to adenine and hypoxanthine
Estrogen receptors in the liver of intact and gonadectomized rats: determination by hydroxylapatite assay
No full text
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase activity in systemic lupus erythematosus and systemic sclerosis.
No full textThe aim of this study is to investigate the role of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), involved in DNA repair and in autoimmune pathologic conditions such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and both limited systemic sclerosis (lSSc) and diffuse systemic sclerosis (dSSc), to assess its possible implication in the pathogenetic processes. The relationship between PARP activity and the intracellular concentration of its substrate nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is also investigated. Peripheral mononuclear cells (PMC) from controls and patients with SLE, lSSc, and dSSc were irradiated with ultraviolet light (UV) and PARP activity was assayed by a radiochemical method. Pyridine nucleotide concentrations were assayed by a high-performance liquid chromatography-linked method. PARP activity was detectable in nonirradiated cells and showed similar values in all groups. The activity significantly increased after UV irradiation in control, SLE, and lSSc cells, but not in dSSc cells. Irradiated PMC from both SLE and dSSc showed lower enzyme activity with respect to irradiated controls. Higher intracellular NAD content was found in all of the pathologic conditions in comparison to values in the control; this difference was statistically significant in dSSc. Our data demonstrate a lower PARP activity in response to UV damage in PMC from patients affected by the above pathologic conditions compared with controls. An inverse relationship between PARP activity and NAD content was also observed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Thiopurine methyltransferase activity in the erythrocytes of adults and children: and HPLC-linked assay
No full textA non-radioactive method that uses reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography is described for the determination of thiopurine methyltransferase (E.C. 2.1.1.67) activity in human erythrocytes. The method is based on the direct quantitation of 6-methyl-mercaptopurine produced from 6-mercaptopurine by crude erythrocyte lysates. The method is accurate and reliable and suitable for diagnostic use. Activity values in control adults ranged from 5 to 32 pmol/h/mg haemoglobin. The activity in the erythrocytes of adult males was significantly higher compared to females (21±5 and 15±8 pmol/h/mg haemoglobin, respectively). The activity measured in the erythrocytes of children (22±5 pmol/h/mg haemoglobin) did not show any significant difference compared to adults. Thiopurine methyltransferase activity was measured in a female patient with systemic sclerosis who developed severe bone marrow depression after treatment with azathioprine and allopurinol. Activity (6.3 ± 0.5 pmol/h/mg haemoglobin) was found in the lowest range of controls thus supporting the hypothesis that it could be responsible for increased azathioprine cytotoxicity
Metabolic fate of extracellular NAD in human skin fibroblasts
No full textExtracellular NAD is degraded to pyridine and purine metabolites by different types of surface-located enzymes which are expressed differently on the plasmamembrane of various human cells and tissues. In a previous report, we demonstrated that NAD-glycohydrolase, nucleotide pyrophosphatase and 5'-nucleotidase are located on the outer surface of human skin fibroblasts. Nucleotide pyrophosphatase cleaves NAD to nicotinamide mononucleotide and AMP, and 5'-nucleotidase hydrolyses AMP to adenosine. Cells incubated with NAD, produce nicotinamide, nicotinamide mononucleotide, hypoxanthine and adenine. The absence of ADPribose and adenosine in the extracellular compartment could be due to further catabolism and/or uptake of these products. To clarify the fate of the purine moiety of exogenous NAD, we investigated uptake of the products of NAD hydrolysis using U-[(14)C]-adenine-NAD. ATP was found to be the main labeled intracellular product of exogenous NAD catabolism; ADP, AMP, inosine and adenosine were also detected but in small quantities. Addition of ADPribose or adenosine to the incubation medium decreased uptake of radioactive purine, which, on the contrary, was unaffected by addition of inosine. ADPribose strongly inhibited the activity of ecto-NAD-hydrolyzing enzymes, whereas adenosine did not. Radioactive uptake by purine drastically dropped in fibroblasts incubated with (14)C-NAD and dipyridamole, an inhibitor of adenosine transport. Partial inhibition of [(14)C]-NAD uptake observed in fibroblasts depleted of ATP showed that the transport system requires ATP to some extent. All these findings suggest that adenosine is the purine form taken up by cells, and this hypothesis was confirmed incubating cultured fibroblasts with (14)C-adenosine and analyzing nucleoside uptake and intracellular metabolism under different experimental conditions. Fibroblasts incubated with [(14)C]-adenosine yield the same radioactive products as with [(14)C]-NAD; the absence of inhibition of [(14)C]-adenosine uptake by ADPribose in the presence of alpha-beta methyleneADP, an inhibitor of 5' nucleotidase, demonstrates that ADPribose coming from NAD via NAD-glycohydrolase is finally catabolised to adenosine. These results confirm that adenosine is the NAD hydrolysis product incorporated by cells and further metabolized to ATP, and that adenosine transport is partially ATP dependent
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