ATP-sensitive potassium (K(ATP)) channels play important roles in regulating insulin secretion, controlling vascular tone, and protecting cells against metabolic stresses. K(ATP) channels are heterooctamers of four pore-forming inwardly rectifying (Kir6.2) subunits and four sulfonylurea receptor (SUR) subunits. K(ATP) channels containing SUR1 (e.g. pancreatic) and SUR2A (e.g. cardiac) display d...

A final concentration of 3 x 10(-5)M spermine or spermidine inhibited the growth of mammalian tubercle bacilli in a modified Dubos liquid medium. Various related amino compounds, including isolated portions of the spermine molecule and the products of its chemical degradation, did not manifest similar antimycobacterial activity.

To establish an effective and concise procedure for determining the concentrations of spermidine and spermine, several functional molecules based on phenolphthalein and two crown loops were constructed. Host 5 with a dimethylamino group showed excellent selectivity for spermidine and spermine among other biogenic amines and high sensitivity compared with basic host 1.

For bone tissue engineering, it is important that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) differentiate into osteoblasts. To develop a method for differentiation of adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs) along the osteogenic lineage, we studied the effect of polyamines, which are organic cations implicated in bone growth and development, on differentiation of AT-MSCs. Treatment of goat-d...

Studies are presented on the influence of polyamines on prostatic chromatin- and non-histone-protein-associated protein kinase reactions involving both exogenous and endogenous substrates. The activities toward the model acidic protein substrate, dephosphophosvitin, were maximal at 160--200mM-NaCl (or -KCl or -NH4Cl). Under these conditions, spermidine and spermine added in concentrations up to...

In the present study, quadruplicate groups of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) were fed plant protein-based diets with increasing arginine inclusions (range 28·8-37·4 g/kg DM) to investigate whether arginine supplementation affects growth and lipid accumulation through an elevated polyamine turnover. Dietary lysine was held at a constant concentration, just below the requirement. All othe...

Putrescine was first isolated from putrifying meat and was thought of as a decomposition product; spermine was named from its occurrence in semen. These polyamines, however, are now known to have important roles in cell growth and differentiation. Their physiological significance can be studied by analyzing the consequences of depletion of the cellular polyamine content. The results include arr...

A vast number of studies have linked polyamines to numerous cellular functions but less is known about the possible physiological functions of the individual polyamines. The specific gene targeting technique has provided a new potential way to resolve this mystery. We generated two separate embryonic stem (ES) cell lines where either spermine synthase gene (SPMSy) or spermidine/spermine N-acety...