No abstract

Uptake and efflux of 64Cu were examined to determine whether hepatic parenchymal cells exhibit the kinetic criteria of a specific transport system for copper and related trace metals. Saturation kinetics were clearly indicated by both v versus [Cu] and 1/v versus 1/[Cu] plots (Km = 11 +/- 0.6 microM and Vmax = 2.7 nmol Cu X min-1 X mg prot-1). Identical results were obtained by cold-copper analyses, and contributions from simple diffusion or nonspecific binding were not detected. Virtually all of the accumulated 64Cu was intracellular by 0.5 min (the initial velocity period), with approximately 40% in the cytosolic fraction. Several related trace metals inhibited 64Cu uptake, but Ni(II) at a 10:1 molar excess did not. Zn(II) acted as a simple competitive inhibitor of 64Cu uptake (Ki = 16 microM). Efflux from preloaded cells was biphasic, with an initial rapid phase of approximately 5 min. Approximately 35% of preloaded 64Cu was transported out of the cells by 40 min, and little efflux occurred thereafter. Thus, hepatocytes exhibit saturation kinetics, competition by related substrates, and countertransport criteria of specific facilitated transport. A wide variety of metabolic inhibitors have no effect on 64Cu uptake under the same conditions that inhibit the active transport of bile acids. Specific inhibitor tests for electrogenic coupling were also negative. Because the identical kinetic parameters were obtained for free 64Cu and the 1:1 64Cu-histidine complex, it is inferred that copper is probably transported as the free ion. Cells incubated with greater than or equal to 10 microM 64Cu showed a net loss of copper after 40- to 60-min incubation, which may involve specific hepatic mechanisms in copper homeostasis.

Durch Kondensation von (I) mit (II) im hochverdünnten Medium werden (III) und (IV) erhalten, die mit Diboranen zu (V) bzw. (VI) reduziert werden.

The effects of plasma Cu(II) ligands on the kinetics of Cu(II) transport by rat liver parenchymal cells were determined to examine how Cu(II) is mobilized from plasma and transported into liver cells. Albumin markedly inhibited Cu(II) uptake at Cu(II)-to-albumin molar ratios of 3:1 or less. Kinetic analyses showed that albumin inhibits Cu(II) uptake by reducing the concentration of free Cu(II) in solution. Under conditions of excess albumin to Cu(II), histidine facilitated albumin-inhibited uptake of Cu(II). Threonine, glutamine, and most other amino acids were without effect. Moreover, the facilitation effect of a low-molecular-weight plasma fraction (less than or equal to 5,000) was largely accounted for by its histidine concentration. The tripeptide Gly-His-Lys also inhibited Cu(II) uptake into hepatocytes by the same mechanism as albumin. The inhibitory effects of albumin and Gly-His-Lys were additive with or without histidine. The active species in the Cu(II), albumin, and histamine mixtures was shown to be the His2Cu(II) complex. Vmax for this complex was identical to the Vmax for free Cu(II), but the Km was slightly higher [15 microM vs. 11 microM for free Cu(II)]. Concurrent determinations of [3H]-histidine and 64Cu(II) uptake showed that histidine was not transported with Cu(II) from His X Cu(II) or His2Cu(II) complexes. The data are consistent with histidine mobilizing Cu(II) from albumin by competing for Cu(II), interaction of the His2Cu(II) complex with the putative hepatic copper transport protein, and transport of copper as free ionic copper.

The independent subsite model is widely used for the design of peptide inhibitors of enzymes with extended active sites. This model assumes that the subsites are independent of each other and that the free energies of binding contributed by the several subsites are additive. We questioned the strict application of this model for structure-activity studies, since one can, a priori, conceive of likely deviations from this model. Accordingly, we tested the independent subsite model by measuring the thermodynamic binding parameters of a series of peptide inhibitors of human renin. This enzyme-inhibitor system was chosen as a model by virtue of the high degree of specificity of renin for its natural substrate, angiotensinogen, and the availability of a large number of structurally similar peptide inhibitors. Although we found the general mode of binding of these renin inhibitors to be primarily hydrophobic, serious deviations from additivity and independent subsite model constraints were observed. We conclude that an important determinant of binding is most probably the conformation assumed by the peptide inhibitor in solution. Thus, we suggest that caution be exercised in using affinity constants to assess the interactions of peptide inhibitors with human renin and possibly with other enzymes having extended binding sites. Furthermore, the thermodynamic parameters of a class of compounds provide more information as to the mode of binding of ligands to their respective receptors than do dissociation constants.