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Lacprodan® OPN-10 is a proprietary whey-based protein product that contains bovine-derived osteopontin (OPN), found in human milk and other bodily tissues. In vitro genotoxicity tests conducted according to accepted guidelines at up to 5000μg/plate OPN failed to induce genetic mutations in Salmonella typhimurium strains and Escherichia coli strain and did not induce chromosomal aberrations or cytotoxicity in human lymphocytes. Administration of an acute dose of Lacprodan® OPN-10 (2300mg/kg body weight) to male and female mice did not induce chromosomal damage or mitotic apparatus damage to erythroblasts from bone marrow. Lacprodan® OPN-10 was evaluated in a 13-week oral toxicity study in which rats were fed diets containing 0.5%, 1.0% and 2.0% Lacprodan® OPN-10. No test-article-related clinical observations or toxicological effects on body or organ weights, food consumption, ophthalmic effects, locomotor activity, hematology, clinical chemistry, urinalysis, or pathology were identified. In a teratogenicity study, administration of Lacprodan® OPN-10 up to 2500mg/kgbw/day via gavage to pregnant rats had no effect on dams or pups. The No Observed Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) for Lacprodan® OPN-10 in the 13-week toxicity study was 2.0% of the diet (equivalent to 1208mg/kgbw/day in male rats and 1272mg/kgbw/day in female rats)., (Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

This study addressed the hypothesis that dietary supplementation with either gangliosides or choline during the brain growth spurt would enhance short-term spatial memory. Male Long-Evans rats were reared artificially from postnatal days (PD) 5-18 and were fed diets containing either (i) choline chloride 1250 mg/l (CHL), (ii) choline chloride 250 mg/l and GD3 24 mg/l (GNG) or (iii) choline chloride 250 mg/l (STD). A fourth group (SCK) was reared normally. Rats were weaned onto AIN 93G diet and on PD 35 were trained on a cued delayed- matching-to-place version of the Morris water maze. All groups learned to swim to the beacon that indicated the platform position on the first trial; similarly, on the second un-cued trial, the distance swam to reach the platform decreased to the same extent in all groups over the five days of training. The groups also responded in the same way to an increase in delay between the first and second trial from 1 min to 1 h, showing an increase in the distance swam, accompanied by a decrease in the number of direct swims to the platform. Thus, all rats were equally proficient at using spatial short-term memory, regardless of the choline or ganglioside content of the preweaning diet.

This study was conducted to determine whether dietary ganglioside (GG) increases the content of ether phospholipids (EPL) in intestinal mucosa. Weanling Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a semipurified diet consisting of 20% fat as a control diet. Two experimental diets were formulated by adding either 0.1% (w/w fat) GGs (GG diet) or 1.0% (w/w fat) sphingomyelin (SM diet) to the control diet. Fatty acid methyl esters from the alkenylacyl, alkylacyl and diacyl subclasses of phospholipids were measured to determine total and molecular percentage of EPL comprising the choline phosphoglyceride (CPG) and ethanolamine phosphoglyceride (EPG) fraction. Animals fed the GG diet significantly increased total EPL content both in CPG (by 36%) and in EPG (by 66%), and the molecular percentage of EPL in CPG (by 76%) and in EPG (by 59%) compared to animals fed the control diet. Dietary GG-induced increase in EPL resulted in a higher level of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) specifically in 20:4n-6 and 22:6n-3 compared to control animals, leading to a decrease in the ratio of saturated fatty acids (SFA) to PUFA both in CPG and in EPG. Feeding animals the SM diet showed a higher level of EPL than control animals with a concomitant increase in 22:6n-3 in EPL. The present data demonstrate that dietary GG increases the content and composition of EPL containing PUFA in the weanling rat intestine.

Membrane microdomains rich in cholesterol and sphingolipids, including gangliosides (GGs), are known to be important regions for cell signaling and binding sites for various pathogens. Cholesterol depletion inhibits the cellular entry of pathogens and also reduces inflammatory signals by disrupting microdomain structure. Our previous study showed that dietary gangliosides increased total ganglioside incorporation while decreasing cholesterol in the intestinal mucosa. We hypothesized that diet-induced reduction in cholesterol content in the intestinal mucosa disrupts microdomain structure resulting in reduced pro-inflammatory signals. Male weanling Sprague-Dawley rats were fed semipurified diets for 2 weeks. Experimental diets were formulated to include either ganglioside-enriched lipid (GG diet, 0.02% gangliosides [w/w of diet] ) or polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA diet, 1% arachidonic acid and 0.5% docosahexaenoic acid, w/w of total fat), in a control diet containing 20% fat. Levels of cholesterol, GG, caveolin, platelet activating factor (PAF), and diglyceride (DG) were measured in the microdomain isolated from the intestinal brush border. The GG diet increased total gangliosides by 50% with a relative increase in GD3 and a relative decrease in GM3. Cholesterol content was also reduced by 23% in the intestinal microdomain. These changes resulted in a significant decrease in the ratio of cholesterol to ganglioside. The GG diet and the PUFA diet were both associated with reduction in caveolin, PAF, and DG content in microdomains, whereas no change occurred in the ganglioside profile of animals fed the PUFA diet. Dietary gangliosides decrease the cholesterol/ganglioside ratio, caveolin, PAF and DG content in microdomains thus exerting a potential anti-inflammatory effect during gut development.

Helicobacter pylori infection causes a Th1-driven mucosal immune response. Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 is up-regulated in lamina propria mononuclear cells in H. pylori gastritis. Because COX-2 can modulate Th1/Th2 balance, we determined whether H. pylori activates COX-2 in human PBMCs, and the effect on cytokine and proliferative responses. There was significant up-regulation of COX-2 mRNA and PGE(2) release in response to H. pylori preparations. Addition of COX-2 inhibitors or an anti-PGE(2) Ab resulted in a marked increase in H. pylori-stimulated IL-12 and IFN-gamma production, and a decrease in IL-10 levels. Addition of PGE(2) or cAMP, the second messenger activated by PGE(2), had the opposite effect. Similarly, stimulated cell proliferation was increased by COX-2 inhibitors or anti-PGE(2) Ab, and was decreased by PGE(2). Our findings indicate that COX-2 has an immunosuppressive role in H. pylori gastritis, which may protect the mucosa from severe injury, but may also contribute to the persistence of the infection.

Microvascular endothelial cells play a key role in inflammation by undergoing activation and recruiting circulating immune cells into tissues and foci of inflammation, an early and rate-limiting step in the inflammatory process. We have previously [Binion et al., Gastroenterology112:1898-1907, 1997] shown that human intestinal microvascular endothelial cells (HIMEC) isolated from surgically resected inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patient tissue demonstrate significantly increased leukocyte binding in vitro compared to normal HIMEC. Our studies [Binion et al., Am. J. Physiol.275 (Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 38):G592-G603, 1998] have also demonstrated that nitric oxide (NO) production by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) normally plays a key role in downregulating HIMEC activation and leukocyte adhesion. Using primary cultures of HIMEC derived from normal and IBD patient tissues, we sought to determine whether alterations in iNOS-derived NO production underlies leukocyte hyperadhesion in IBD. Both nonselective (N(G)-monomethyl-L-arginine) and specific (N-Iminoethyl-L-lysine) inhibitors of iNOS significantly increased leukocyte binding by normal HIMEC activated with cytokines and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), but had no effect on leukocyte adhesion by similarly activated IBD HIMEC. When compared to normal HIMEC, IBD endothelial cells had significantly decreased levels of iNOS mRNA, protein, and NO production following activation. Addition of exogenous NO by co-culture with normal HIMEC or by pharmacologic delivery with the long-acting NO donor detaNONOate restored a normal leukocyte binding pattern in the IBD HIMEC. These data suggest that loss of iNOS expression is a feature of chronically inflamed microvascular endothelial cells, which leads to enhanced leukocyte binding, potentially contributing to chronic, destructive inflammation in IBD.

Background & Aims: Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 are important regulators of mucosal inflammation and epithelial cell growth. To determine the role of iNOS and COX-2 in Helicobacter pylori-induced tissue injury, we compared their gene expression in H. pylori-induced gastritis with that in normal gastric mucosa and in non-H. pylori gastritis., Methods: In 43 patients, we assessed H. pylori infection status, histopathology, messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expression, and cellular localization of iNOS and COX-2., Results: By reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), antral iNOS and COX-2 mRNA expression was absent to low in normal mucosa (n = 10), significantly increased in H. pylori-negative gastritis (n = 13), and even more markedly increased in H. pylori-positive gastritis (n = 20). Increased iNOS and COX-2 levels were confirmed by Northern and Western blot analysis and were both greater in the gastric antrum than in the gastric body of infected patients. Immunohistochemistry also showed increased expression of both genes in H. pylori gastritis: iNOS protein was detected in epithelium, endothelium, and lamina propria inflammatory cells, and COX-2 protein localized to mononuclear and fibroblast cells in the lamina propria., Conclusions: iNOS and COX-2 are induced in H. pylori-positive gastritis and thus may modulate the inflammation and alterations in epithelial cell growth that occur in this disease. Higher levels of iNOS and COX-2 in H. pylori-positive vs. -negative gastritis and in gastric antrum, where bacterial density is greatest, suggest that expression of these genes is a direct response to H. pylori infection.

Increased nitric oxide (NO) production by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) has been associated with intestinal inflammation, including human inflammatory bowel disease. However, NO can downregulate endothelial activation and leukocyte adhesion, critical steps in the inflammatory response. Using primary cultures of human intestinal microvascular endothelial cells (HIMEC), we determined the role of NO in the regulation of HIMEC activation and interaction with leukocytes. Both nonselective (NG-monomethyl-L-arginine) and specific (N-iminoethyl-L-lysine) competitive inhibitors of iNOS significantly increased binding of leukocytes by HIMEC activated with cytokines and lipopolysaccharide. Increased adhesion was reversible with the NOS substrate L-arginine and was not observed in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). Activation of HIMEC significantly upregulated HIMEC iNOS expression and NO production. NOS inhibitors did not augment cell adhesion molecule levels in activated HIMEC but did result in sustained increases in intracellular reactive oxygen species. In addition, antioxidant compounds reversed the effect of NOS inhibitors on HIMEC-leukocyte interaction. Taken together, these data suggest that after HIMEC activation, iNOS-derived NO is an endogenous antioxidant, downregulating leukocyte binding and potentially downregulating intestinal inflammation.

Barrett's esophagus is a premalignant condition arising in response to chronic reflux esophagitis. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS; NOS-2) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) are mediators of inflammation and regulators of epithelial cell growth. Expression levels of iNOS and COX-2 are high in colorectal adenomas and carcinomas, and COX-2 expression is elevated in gastric cancers. To determine the involvement of iNOS and COX-2 in Barrett's-associated neoplasia, we measured expression of these genes in metaplastic Barrett's and esophageal adenocarcinomas. We detected elevated iNOS and COX-2 mRNA levels in Barrett's mucosa compared with paired gastric control tissues in 16 of 21 (76%) and 17 of 21 (80%) patients, respectively (P < 0.001 for both genes). In esophageal adenocarcinomas, iNOS and COX-2 mRNA levels were increased in four of five and five of five cases, respectively. Furthermore, in 10 of 10 Barrett's patients, immunohistochemical staining for iNOS and COX-2 expression was strongly positive and higher than in matched gastric controls. Increased COX-2 expression was confirmed by Western blotting. These findings support the hypothesis that iNOS and COX-2 are involved early and often in Barrett's-associated neoplastic progression.

The main objectives of the current study were to investigate the effect of tunicamycin and other posttranslational processing inhibitors on the apical brush border expression of intrinsic factor-cobalamin receptor (IFCR) and the apical to basolateral transcytosis of cobalamin (Cbl). Because of the high and selective expression of IFCR in the apical brush border membrane of opossum kidney (OK) cells (K. S. Ramanujam, S. Seetharam, N. Dahms, and B. Seetharam, (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 13135-13140), we have used cultured OK cells to address these issues. When polarized OK cells grown on culture inserts were incubated with tunicamycin, deoxynojirimycin, swainsonine, or cerulenin, the surface binding of the ligand, intrinsic factor-[56Co]Cbl was inhibited by tunicamycin but not by the other inhibitors. However, Cbl transcytosis was inhibited by both tunicamycin and cerulenin but not with deoxynojirimycin or swainsonine. Incubation of cells with tunicamycin decreased the half-life of IFCR from 48 to 24 h, thus causing faster degradation and depletion of the surface receptor. Incubation of cells with cerulenin resulted in the intralysosomal retention of internalized Cbl. Mature receptor labeled with either [35S]methionine or [3H]mannose was sensitive to digestion with both endoglycosidase H and peptide N-glycosidase F and revealed the presence of two or three N-linked oligosaccharides of the high mannose or hybrid type. Metabolic labeling of OK cells with [3H]palmitic acid revealed that IFCR was palmitoylated and the label was sensitive to treatment with hydroxylamine. Based on these results we suggest that IFCR expression in the apical membrane and Cbl transcytosis in polarized OK cells are regulated by core N-glycosylation but not by further processing of the terminal sugars. In addition, we also suggest that the inhibition of Cbl transcytosis by cerulenin is due to inhibition of postinternalization events.

Bovine, human, and rat cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptors (CI-MPRs) are capable of binding both mannose 6-phosphate and insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II). However, the receptor isolated from either chicken or frog lacks the high affinity IGF-II-binding site. To determine whether CI-MPRs isolated from a species that is closely related to placental mammals can bind IGF-II, the MPRs were purified from a marsupial, the American opossum (Didelphis virginiana), by phosphomannan-Sepharose affinity chromatography and then tested for their ability to bind IGF-II. Opossum liver expressed both the CI-MPR and the cation-dependent MPR (CD-MPR). Both receptors contained Asn-linked oligosaccharides. In contrast to CD-MPRs isolated from other species, the opossum CD-MPR displayed heterogeneity with respect to the number of Asn-linked oligosaccharide chains it contains. The CI-MPR isolated from opossum liver, like the CI-MPR from bovine liver, bound iodinated human recombinant IGF-II. However, Scatchard analysis revealed that the opossum CI-MPR bound IGF-II with a lower affinity (Kd = 14.5 nM) than the bovine receptor (Kd = 0.2 nM). The addition of excess IGF-II, but not IGF-I or insulin, inhibited binding to [125I]IGF-II, indicating that the opossum CI-MPR exhibits specificity for IGF-II. These results suggest that the emergence of a high affinity IGF-II-binding site in the CI-MPR occurred in evolution before the divergence of marsupials and placental mammals from their last common ancestor.

1. Significant and specific binding of intrinsic factor-cobalamin occurred in proximal but not in the distal half of the intestine in an adult marsupial, the American opossum. 2. The purified opossum kidney receptor, like rat and canine kidney receptors, revealed a single band of M(r) approximately 230 on SDS-PAGE. However, unlike the rat and canine receptors, the opossum receptor was sensitive to both Endoglycosidase H and peptide-N-glycosidase F. 3. The opossum intrinsic factor-cobalamin receptor demonstrated a ten-fold higher affinity for intrinsic factor-cobalamin complex when the source of IF was from the opossum pancreas, rather than rat stomach. 4. The opossum kidney receptor had low immune-crossreactivity with anti-serum raised to rat and canine kidney receptor. 5. These studies suggest that intrinsic factor-cobalamin receptor expressed in the American opossum, though conserved, appears to be structurally different from the rat and canine receptors.

Intrinsic factor-cobalamin receptor (IFCR) activity in visceral yolk sac and placental membranes is regulated during pregnancy in rats. While the IFCR activity declined in the visceral yolk sac membranes by 15-fold, it rose nearly 20-fold in the placental membranes from fourteen to nineteen days of gestation. The visceral yolk sac membranes revealed a 230 kDa protein that co-migrated with pure rat renal IFCR. This 230 kDa band was also identified as IFCR in both the membranes by immunoblotting with anti-serum to rat renal IFCR. Immunoprecipitation of 35S labeled proteins obtained from in vitro translation using visceral yolk sac mRNA from 14-day pregnant rats, yielded on SDS-PAGE a single band of 220 kDa, while those obtained from 19-day pregnant rats did not. The binding of intrinsic factor-cyano[57Co]cobalamin complex to the visceral yolk sac membranes was inhibited by preincubation of these membranes with anti-serum to rat IFCR but not with anti-serum to rat asialoglycoprotein receptor or mannose or mannan or N-acetylglucosamine. Based on these results, we suggest that the IFCR activity, protein expression and mRNA levels in fetal membranes are regulated during pregnancy and may play an important role in the maternal-fetal transfer of cobalamin.

The main objective of the current study was to investigate the factors that affect brush border membrane expression of intrinsic factor-cobalamin receptor (IFCR). Because of high levels of IFCR expression (Seetharam, B., Levine, J. S., Ramasamy, M., and Alpers, D. H. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 4443-4449) in the rat kidney, we have studied the synthesis and expression of IFCR using rat cortical slices in culture. The IFCR activity in the renal apical brush border was maximum from rats between the age of 20-24 days and about 75% of the activity was lost from the isolated apical surface membranes following culture of cortical slices with nonradioactive intrinsic factor-cobalamin. However, the membrane IFCR activity recovered to 100 or 75%, respectively, when the slices were cultured with intrinsic factor-cobalamin mixed with either leupeptin or chloroquine. When these lysosomotropic agents were added during the metabolic labeling of the cortical slices with trans-35S-label neither the synthesis nor the amount of [35S]IFCR transported to the apical membrane was inhibited. However, with the addition of colchicine, the apical membrane expression of [35S]IFCR was inhibited by 75-80%. Metabolic labeling of cortical slices with trans-35S-label and immunoprecipitation of the Triton X-100 extract from the total, internal, and apical membranes revealed the presence of a 230-kDa band following sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. With either continuous or pulse-chase labeling of the cortical slices, the amount of 230-kDa [35S]IFCR recovered in the apical membrane did not exceed 10-15% of the total labeled receptor synthesized. Based on these and our recent studies (Seetharam, S., Dahms, N., Li, N., Ramanujam, K.S., and Seetharam, B. (1991) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 177, 751-756), we propose that rat renal IFCR is synthesized as a single polypeptide chain of 220 kDa and is transported slowly to the apical membrane during which four or five N-linked oligosaccharides are processed to the complex type. Moreover, the brush border expression of IFCR is regulated by the biosynthetic and not by the endocytic pathway.

The intrinsic factor (IF)-cobalamin (Cbl) receptor activity in the mucosal homogenates progressively decreased after bile duct ligation in the rat, and 80% of the receptor activity was decreased in 96 h after ligation. The activity was restored to normal values of 5.5-6 pmol of IF-[57Co]Cbl bound/g mucosa when the assays were performed with both conjugated and unconjugated bile acids. When [57Co]Cbl bound to intrinsic factor was orally administered, the tissue levels of [57Co]Cbl were decreased by 75-80% in bile duct-ligated rats. The apical membrane receptor activity was also decreased after bile duct ligation; however, the activity was stimulated twofold by the addition of ileal cytosol and threefold with the addition of both ileal cytosol and taurocholate (1 mM). Enhanced binding of IF-[57Co]Cbl to the apical ileal brush-border membrane occurred with the use of dialyzed ileal cytosol but not with cytosol isolated from duodenal or proximal jejunal mucosa. The enhanced binding obtained with ileal cytosol was abolished after its treatment with trypsin. These results suggest that luminal bile acids optimize the binding of IF-Cbl by the ileal membrane receptor via interactions with a cytosolic factor and thus influence the gastrointestinal absorption of cobalamin.

The [125I] intrinsic factor (IF) mediated transcytosis of [57Co]Cyanocobalamin (Cbl) by polarized opossum kidney cells was inhibited (greater than 80%) by preincubation of the cells with lysosomotropic agents leupeptin or ammonium chloride. Inhibition of Cbl transcytosis resulted in the intracellular accumulation of both [125I]IF (48 kDa) and [57Co]Cbl. Intracellular degradation of [125I]IF occurred during normal cellular transcytosis of [57Co]Cbl and in one h following internalization the major intracellular degradation products of IF were two polypeptides of Mr 29 kDa and 19 kDa. The size of the major degradation product of IF in the basolateral media was 10 kDa. Based on these results, we suggest that IF is internalized by the renal epithelial cells and is degraded by leupeptin-sensitive acid proteases during Cbl transcytosis.

Opossum kidney epithelial cells synthesize and secrete two Cobalamin (Cbl) binding proteins of Mr 66,000 and 43,000. When grown on culture inserts, the apical medium contained both these proteins while the basolateral medium contained only the 43 kDa Cbl binder. Colchicine, a microtubule disruptive drug, increased two fold the apical but not the basolateral secretion of the Cbl binding proteins. Although the opossum Cbl binders did not cross react with anti-serum raised to Cbl binders from other species, the identity based on Cbl binding and size suggest that the 66 kDa and 43 kDa proteins are haptocorrin and transcobalamin II.

Previous studies from our laboratory (Seetharam, B., Levine, J. S., Ramasamy, M., and Alpers, D. H. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 4443-4449; Fyfe, J. C., Ramanujam, K. S., Ramaswamy, K., Patterson, D. F., and Seetharam, B. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 4489-4494) have identified and isolated a 230-kDa receptor from rat and canine kidney which binds with high affinity [57Co]cyanocobalamin (Cbl) complexed to gastric intrinsic factor (IF). Although these studies have identified a renal receptor which binds intrinsic factor-cobalamin (IFCR), it is not known whether the binding is specific for IF-Cbl and whether renal cells internalize [57Co]Cbl bound to IF and transport [57Co]Cbl across the cell. Using a variety of renal cells, our results show that IF-[57Co]Cbl binding activity is detected in proximal tubular-derived epithelial cells from opossum (OK) and porcine kidney (LLC-PK1) but not in distal tubular-derived cells from canine kidney cells (MDCK). Metabolic labeling studies with Tran 35S-label confirmed the presence of a 230-kDa IFCR in OK and LLC-PK1 cells. Cell surface labeling and binding studies demonstrated that IFCR is targeted to the apical membrane. This apical expression of IFCR in OK cells is inhibited by the microtubule-disruptive drugs, colchicine and nocodazole. Opossum kidney cells when grown on culture inserts are polarized and transport [57Co]Cbl only when bound to IF and not to other Cbl binders. Furthermore, the transport of [57Co]Cbl occurred unidirectionally from the apical to the basolateral surface. Treatment of cells with colchicine or nocodazole inhibited the surface binding of IF-[57Co]Cbl as well as the transcytosis of [57Co]Cbl by 70-75%. IFCR retained intracellualarly by incubation of cells with colchicine or nocodazole is degraded by leupeptin-sensitive proteases. Based on these results, we suggest that proximal tubular-derived epithelial cells transport [57Co]Cbl bound to IF in a saturable way via receptor-mediated endocytosis.

The primary translation product of intrinsic factor (IF)-cobalamin receptor (IFCR) mRNA from rat kidney is a single polypeptide chain of Mr = 215,000. When expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes the IFCR binding activity is expressed with mRNA of a size between 5 to 7 kb. These results suggest that IFCR mRNA transcripts are present in the renal tissue and encode a single chain, large molecular weight precursor. Furthermore, Xenopus oocytes can be used as a screening system in the expression cloning of the renal IFCR.

Ligand binding activity of intrinsic factor-cobalamin receptor (IFCR) was determined in homogenates and isolated brush-border membranes (BBM) of ileum and kidney from dogs exhibiting simple autosomal recessive inheritance of selective cobalamin malabsorption (Fyfe, J. C., Giger, U., Hall, C. A., Jezyk, P. F., Klumpp, S. A., Levine, J. S., and Patterson, D. F. (1991) Pediatr. Res. 29, 24-31). IFCR activity of affected dog ileal homogenates was 3-4-fold higher than normal whereas IFCR activity in affected dog kidney homogenates was one-tenth of normal. The recovery of IFCR activity in the BBM of ileum and renal cortex of affected dogs was 30- and 20-fold less than normal, respectively. The dissociation constant (Kd) for intrinsic factor-cobalamin was similar in BBM of both tissues and was the same in affected and normal dogs. In the affected dog ileal BBM, activities of alkaline phosphatase and sucrase-isomaltase and vesicular transport of glucose and Na(+)-taurocholate were normal. Immunoblots showed no IFCR cross-reactive material in the ileal or renal BBM of affected dogs. IFCR purified by affinity chromatography from kidney of both normal and affected dogs had an Mr = 230,000. However, amino acid analysis revealed that the affected dog IFCR had more lysine than the normal, and protease cleavage of the purified IFCRs revealed different peptide maps. Asparagine-linked oligosaccharides of both proteins were sensitive to peptide N-glycosidase F cleavage, but only the affected dog IFCR was endoglycosidase H sensitive. These results suggest that cobalamin malabsorption in this canine family is caused by inefficient BBM expression of IFCR due to a mutation of IFCR and its retention in an early biosynthetic compartment.

Human colon adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) cells express both intrinsic factor-cobalamin receptor and transcobalamin II (TC II). The expression of these activities began to rise by day 6 and reached peak levels between 10 and 15 days in culture. The postconfluent Caco-2 cell membranes bound approximately 30-35 fmol of intrinsic factor (IF) [57Co]Cbl/mg protein. The size of the mature receptor expressed in the apical brush border had a relative molecular mass of 230 kDa. The intracellular form of TC II had a Mr of 43, 5 higher than the secreted form of TC II. TC II was secreted unidirectionally via the basolateral direction when Caco-2 cells were grown on culture inserts. When grown on culture inserts, the Caco-2 cells were polarized (electrical resistance greater than 200 omega/cm2) and transcytosed [57Co]Cbl bound to IF from apical-to-basal but not from basal-to-apical direction. Under these conditions, [57Co]Cbl complexed to haptocorrin was not transported. These cells also transcytosed free [57Co]Cbl, although less efficiently. The [57Co]Cbl transcytosed using either IF[57Co]Cbl or free [57Co]Cbl as ligands was bound exclusively to TC II. Intracellular [57Co]Cbl decreased during transcytosis with a slow (t1/2 = 4 h) transfer of [57Co]Cbl from IF to TC II. These results show that the transport of Cbl in Caco-2 cells is very similar to the human enterocyte system.

A highly active receptor for intrinsic factor (IF)-cobalamin (Cbl) complex has been detected and reported in mammalian kidney earlier (Seetharam, B., et al. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 4443-4449). The physiological role of this receptor in normal Cbl homeostasis is not known. In addition to binding of exogenously added IF-[57Co]Cbl, the renal apical membranes contain endogenous IF or IF-Cbl. Washing with pH 5/EDTA buffer enhanced the binding of exogenously added IF-[57Co]Cbl to renal apical but not basolateral membranes. The pH 5/EDTA extract from renal apical membranes bound [57Co]Cbl. The complex also bound to rat ileal brush border membrane and promoted ileal transport of [57Co]Cbl. On immunoblots using monospecific antiserum to IF a 62 kDa protein was identified in renal and intestinal apical membranes, serum and in tissue extracts of unperfused rat liver, kidney and heart. The 62 kDa band was eliminated from the renal apical membranes following pH 5/EDTA wash. Rat urine demonstrated unsaturated [57Co]Cbl binding (0.2 to 0.4 pmol/day) of which only 30-40% was immunoprecipitated with anti IF and could be identified on immunoblots. The identification of IF in rat renal apical membranes (160-200 ng/mg protein) and secretion of only traces of IF in urine suggest that the renal IF-Cbl receptor may play a role in sequestering IF/IF-Cbl and prevent urinary loss of Cbl.

Alcohol being easily permeable through cell membrane causes toxic damage to many tissues. Rats drinking aqueous ethanol (25% v/v) for 120 days and 240 days showed an initial rise in body weight. The reduced rate in weight gain in chronic alcoholism is associated with a fall in food intake. Ethanol ingesting animals showed slow response to stimuli and increase in blood ethanol and serum GGTP levels. Liver plasma membrane, kidney brush-border membrane and pancreatic plasma membrane from alcoholic rats showed significant alterations in cholesterol/phospholipid molar ratio and membrane ATPases. Water retention with the enlargement of liver and kidney associated with increased fluid consumption are also seen during alcoholism. SKV by breaking alcohol dependence reduces drinking, lowers blood ethanol level and fluid intake without developing withdrawal symptoms. Restriction of ethanol intake by SKV therapy resulted in the reversal of organ enlargement and membrane composition in alcoholics.