Amino acids and glucose acutely stimulate fetal insulin secretion. In isolated adult pancreatic islets, amino acids potentiate glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS), but whether amino acids have this same effect in the fetus is unknown. Therefore, we tested the effects of increased fetal amino acid supply on GSIS and morphology of the pancreas. We hypothesized that increasing fetal amino ...

We studied the effect of an acute 4-h period of hyperinsulinemia (H) on net utilization rates (AAUR(net)) of 21 amino acids (AA) in 17 studies performed in 13 late-gestation fetal sheep by use of a novel fetal hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic-euaminoacidemic clamp. During H [84 +/- 12 (SE) microU/ml H, 15 +/- 2 microU/ml control (C), P < 0. 00001], euglycemia was maintained by glucose clamp (19 +/- ...

Ribosomal protein (rp) S6 is the major substrate of protein kinases in eukaryotic ribosomes. To facilitate the identification of cloned cDNAs for human rpS6, we used published amino acid (aa) sequence data for rat liver rpS6 and yeast (Saccharomyces carlsbergensis) rpS10 to design mixed oligodeoxynucleotide probes. Screening of several human cDNA libraries with these probes permitted the isolat...

Prolonged inactivity associated with bed rest in a clinical setting or spaceflight is frequently associated with hypercortisolemia and inadequate caloric intake. Here, we determined the effect of 28 days of bed rest (BR); bed rest plus hypercortisolemia (BRHC); and bed rest plus essential amino acid (AA) and carbohydrate (CHO) supplement (BRAA) on the size and function of single slow- and fast-...

We have identified four novel repeats and two domains in cell surface proteins encoded by the Methanosarcina acetivorans genome and in some archaeal and bacterial genomes. The repeats correspond to a certain number of amino acid residues present in tandem in a protein sequence and each repeat is characterized by conserved sequence motifs. These correspond to: (a) a 42 amino acid (aa) residue RI...

The complete nucleotide sequences of the attachment glycoprotein (G) genes of three strains of avian metapneumovirus subgroup C (AMPV-C) were determined from the viral genomic and mRNAs. The G gene of AMPV-C was 1798 nt (1015 nt longer than previously reported) and the derived polypeptide had 585 aa. The deduced amino acid sequence of the predicted G protein of AMPV-C strain Colorado (AMPV-CO) ...

During late gestation, amino acids and insulin promote skeletal muscle protein synthesis. However, the independent effects of amino acids and insulin on the regulation of mRNA translation initiation in the fetus are relatively unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine whether acute amino acid infusion in the late-gestation ovine fetus, with and without a simultaneous increase in fetal...

RNA 77, derived by selection amplification, accelerates its own conversion to Phe-RNA (relative to randomized RNA) more than 6 x 10(7)-fold, by using amino acid adenylates as substrate. A modified assay system allows measurement of slow rates of aa-RNA formation, which for disfavored amino acid substrates can be more than 10(4)-fold slower than phenylalanine. Thus unlike previously characterize...

In renal proximal tubule epithelial cells, a membrane-associated phospholipase A2 (PLA2) is a major signaling pathway linked to angiotensin II (Ang II) type 2 receptor (AT2). The current studies were designed to test the hypothesis that membrane-associated PLA2-induced release of arachidonic acid (AA) and/or its metabolites may serve as an upstream mediator of Ang II-induced mitogen-activated p...

Computational prediction of protein localization is one common way to characterize the functions of newly sequenced proteins. Sequence features such as amino acid (AA) composition have been widely used for subcellular localization prediction due to their simplicity while suffering from low coverage and low prediction accuracy. We present a physichemical encoding method that maps protein sequenc...