pH Regulation (ph + regulation)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Expression of Na+/HCO3, co-transporter proteins (NBCs) in rat and human skeletal muscle

ACTA PHYSIOLOGICA, Issue 1 2004
J. M. Kristensen
Abstract Aim:, Sodium/bicarbonate co-transport (NBC) has been suggested to have a role in muscle pH regulation. We investigated the presence of NBC proteins in rat and human muscle samples and the fibre type distribution of the identified NBCs. Methods and results:, Western blotting of muscle homogenates and sarcolemmal membranes (sarcolemmal giant vesicles) were used to screen for the presence of NBCs. Immunohistochemistry was used for the subcellular localization. The functional test revealed that approximately half of the pH recovery in sarcolemmal vesicles produced from rat muscle is mediated by bicarbonate-dependent transport. This indicates that the NBCs are preserved in the vesicles. The western blotting experiments demonstrated the existence of at least two NBC proteins in skeletal muscle. One NBC protein (approximately 150 kDa) seems to be related to the kidney/pancreas/heart isoform NBC1, whereas the other protein (approximately 200 kDa) is related to the NBC4 isoform. The two NBC proteins represent the electrogenic isoforms named NBCe1 and NBCe2. Membrane fractionation and immunofluorescence techniques confirmed that the two NBCs are located in the sarcolemmal membrane as well as in some internal membranes, probably the T-tubules. The two NBCs localized in muscle have distinct fibre type distributions. Conclusions:, Skeletal muscle possesses two variants of the sodium/bicarbonate co-transporter (NBC) isoforms, which have been called NBCe1 and NBCe2. [source]


Isolation and characterization of a Lactobacillus amylovorus mutant depleted in conjugated bile salt hydrolase activity: relation between activity and bile salt resistance

JOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2000
J.P. Grill
Growth experiments were conducted on Lactobacillus amylovorus DN-112 053 in batch culture, with or without pH regulation. Conjugated bile salt hydrolase (CBSH) activity was examined as a function of culture growth. The CBSH activity increased during growth but its course depended on bile salts type and culture conditions. A Lact. amylovorus mutant was isolated from the wild-type strain of Lact. amylovorus DN-112 053 after mutagenesis with N-methyl-N,-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. An agar plate assay was used to detect mutants without CBSH activity. In resting cell experiments, the strain showed reduced activity. Differences between growth parameters determined for wild-type and mutant strains were not detected. Comparative native gel electrophoresis followed by CBSH activity staining demonstrated the loss of proteins harbouring this activity in the mutant. Four protein bands corresponding to CBSH were observed in the wild-type strain but only one was detected in the mutant. The specific growth rate of the mutant strain was affected more by bile salts than the wild-type strain. Nevertheless, bile was more toxic for the wild-type strain. In viability studies in the presence of nutrients, it was demonstrated that glycodeoxycholic acid exerted a higher toxicity than taurodeoxycholic acid in a pH-dependent manner. No difference was apparent between the two strains. In the absence of nutrients, the wild-type strain died after 2 h whereas no effect was observed for the mutant. The de-energization experiments performed using the ionophores nigericin and valinomycin suggested that the chemical potential of protons (Z,pH) was involved in Lactobacillus bile salt resistance. [source]


pH regulation in an acidophilic green alga , a quantitative analysis

NEW PHYTOLOGIST, Issue 2 2009
Birgit Bethmann
Summary ,,Short-term cytosolic pH regulation has three components: H+ binding by buffering groups; H+ transport out of the cytosol; and H+ transport into the vacuole. To understand the large differences plants show in their tolerance to acidic environments, these three components were quantified in the acidophilic unicellular green alga Eremosphaera viridis. ,,Intracellular pH was recorded using ion-selective microelectrodes, whereas constant doses of weak acid were applied over different time intervals. A mathematical model was developed that describes the recorded cytosolic pH changes. Recordings of cytosolic K+ and Na+ activities, and application of anion channel inhibitors, revealed which ion fluxes electrically compensate H+ transport. ,,The cytosolic buffer capacity was , = 30 mM. Acidification resulted in a substantial and constant H+ efflux that was probably driven by the plasmalemma H+ -ATPase, and a proportional pH regulation caused by H+ pumped into the vacuole. Under severe cytosolic acidification (, 1 pH) more than 50% of the ATP synthesized was used for H+ pumping. While H+ influx into the vacuole was compensated by cation release, H+ efflux out of the cell was compensated by anion efflux. ,,The data presented here give a complete and quantitative picture of the ion fluxes during acid loading in an acidophilic green plant cell. [source]


Reciprocal diurnal changes of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase expression and cytosolic pyruvate kinase, citrate synthase and NADP-isocitrate dehydrogenase expression regulate organic acid metabolism during nitrate assimilation in tobacco leaves

PLANT CELL & ENVIRONMENT, Issue 11 2000
W.-R. Scheible
ABSTRACT Diurnal changes of transcript levels for key enzymes in nitrate and organic acid metabolism and the accompanying changes of enzyme activities and metabolite levels were investigated in nitrogen-sufficient wild-type tobacco, in transfomants with decreased expression of nitrate reductase, and in nitrate-deficient wild-type tobacco. (i) In nitrogen-sufficient wild-type plants, transcript levels for nitrate reductase (NR, EC 1.6.6.1), nitrite reductase (NIR, EC 1.7.7.1) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC, EC 4.1.1.31) were high at the end of the night and decreased markedly during the light period. The levels of these three transcripts were increased and the diurnal changes were damped in genotypes with decreased expression of nitrate reductase. The levels of these transcripts were very low in nitrate-limited wild-type plants, except for a small rise after irrigation with 0·2 mM nitrate. (ii) The levels of the transcripts for cytosolic pyruvate kinase (PK, EC 2.7.1.40), mitochondrial citrate synthase (CS, EC 4.1.3.7) and NADP-isocitrate dehydrogenase (NADP-ICDH, EC 1.1.1.42) were highest at the end of the light period and beginning of the night. These three transcripts increase and the diurnal changes were damped in genotypes with decreased expression of NR. (iii) The diurnal changes of transcript levels were accompanied by changes in the activities of the encoded enzymes. The activities of NR and PEPC were highest in the early part of the light period, whereas the activities of PK and NADP-ICDH were highest later in the light period and during the first part of the night and CS activity was highest at the end of the night. Activity of PEPC, PK, CS and NADP-ICDH increased and the diurnal changes were damped in genotypes with low expression of NR. Activity of all four enzymes decreased in nitrate-limited wild-type plants. (iv) In the light, malate accumulated, citrate decreased, and about 30% of the assimilated nitrate accumulated temporarily as glutamine, ammonium, glycine and serine. These changes were reversed during the night. (v) It is proposed that the diurnal changes of expression facilitate preferential synthesis of malate to act as a counter-anion for pH regulation during the first part of the light period when NR activity is high, and preferential synthesis of 2-oxoglutarate to act as a nitrogen acceptor later in the day when large amounts of nitrogen have accumulated in ammonium, glutamine and other amino acids including glycine in the photorespiration pathway, and NR activity has been decreased. [source]