An acyl-CoA hydrolase, referred to as hBACH, was purified from human brain cytosol. The enzyme had a molecular mass of 100 kDa and 43-kDa subunits, and was highly active with long-chain acyl-CoAs, e.g. a maximal velocity of 295 micromol/min/mg and K(m) of 6.4 microM for palmitoyl-CoA. Acyl-CoAs with carbon chain lengths of C(8-18) were also good substrates. In human brain cytosol, 85% of palmitoyl-CoA hydrolase activity was titrated by an anti-BACH antibody, which accounted for over 75% of the enzyme activity found in the brain tissue. The cDNA isolated for hBACH, when expressed in Escherichia coli, directed the expression of palmitoyl-CoA hydrolase activity and a 44-kDa protein immunoreactive to the anti-BACH antibody, which in turn neutralized the hydrolase activity. The hBACH cDNA encoded a 338-amino acid sequence which was 95% identical to that of a rat homolog. The hBACH gene spanned about 130 kb and comprised 9 exons, and was mapped to 1p36.2 on the cytogenetic ideogram. These findings indicate that the long-chain acyl-CoA hydrolase present in the brain is well conserved between man and the rat, suggesting a conserved role for this enzyme in the mammalian brain, and enabling genetic studies on the functional analysis of acyl-CoA hydrolase.

Interventional radiological treatment by transcatheter embolisation has been used to treat patients with symptomatic intrahepatic portosystemic venous shunt (IPSVS). We present a case of symptomatic IPSVS treated by both retrograde and antegrade transcatheter embolisation using coils and n-butyl cyanoacrylate.

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A partial cDNA clone coding for the haem-binding domain of NADH:nitrate reductase (EC 1.6.6.1) (NR) from the unicellular green alga Chlorella vulgaris has been isolated, sequenced and expressed. A 1.2 kb cDNA (pCVNR1) was isolated from a lambda gt11 expression library produced from polyadenylated RNA extracted from nitrate-grown Chlorella cells. pCVNR1 hybridized to a 3.5 kb mRNA transcript that was nitrate-inducible and absent from ammonium-grown cells. The entire sequence of pCVNR1 was obtained and found to have a single uninterrupted reading frame. The derived amino acid sequence of 318 amino acids has a 45-50% similarity to higher-plant NRs, including Arabidopsis thaliana, spinach (Spinacia oleracea) and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). A comparison with the putative domain structure of higher-plant nitrate reductases suggested that this sequence contains the complete haem-binding domain, approximately one-third of the Mo-pterin domain and no FAD-binding domain. A 32% sequence similarity is evident when comparing the Chlorella NR haem domain with that of calf cytochrome b5. Expression of pCVNR1 in a pET vector synthesized a 35 kDa protein that was antigenic to anti-(Chlorella NR) antibody. The spectral properties of this protein (reduced and oxidized) in the 400-600 nm region are identical with those of native Chlorella NR and indicate that haem is associated with the protein.