Commercially available antisera against five subtypes of muscarinic receptors and nine subtypes of adrenoceptors showed highly distinct immunohistochemical staining patterns in rat ureter and stomach. However, using the M(1-4) muscarinic receptor subtypes and alpha(2B)-, beta(2)-, and beta(3)-adrenoceptors as examples, Western blots with membranes prepared from cell lines stably expressing various subtypes of muscarinic receptors or adrenoceptors revealed that each of the antisera recognized a set of proteins that differed between the cell lines used but lacked specificity for the claimed target receptor. We propose that receptor antibodies need better validation before they can reliably be used.

The ideal antiserum for immunohistochemical (IHC) applications contains mono-specific high-affinity antibodies with little nonspecific adherence to sections. Many commercially available antibodies are “affinity” purified, but it is unknown if they meet “hard” specificity criteria, such as absence of staining in tissues genetically deficient for the antigen or a staining pattern that is identical to that of an antibody raised against a different epitope on the same protein. Reviewers, therefore, often require additional characterization. Although the affinity-purified antibodies used in our study on the distribution of muscarinic receptors produced selective staining patterns on sections, few passed the preabsorption test, and none produced bands of the anticipated size on Western blots. More importantly, none showed a difference in staining pattern on sections or Western blots between wild-type and knockout mice. Because these antibodies were used in most studies published thus far, our findings cast doubts on the validity of the extant body of morphological knowledge of the whole family of muscarinic receptors. We formulate requirements that antibody-specification data sheets should meet and propose that journals for which IHC is a core technique facilitate consumer rating of antibodies. “Certified” antibodies could avoid fruitless and costly validation assays and should become the standard of commercial suppliers.

Glutamine synthetase (GS) is a key enzyme in the "glutamine-glutamate cycle" between astrocytes and neurons, but its function in vivo was thus far tested only pharmacologically. Crossing GS(fl/lacZ) or GS(fl/fl) mice with hGFAP-Cre mice resulted in prenatal excision of the GS(fl) allele in astrocytes. "GS-KO/A" mice were born without malformations, did not suffer from seizures, had a suckling reflex, and did drink immediately after birth, but then gradually failed to feed and died on postnatal day 3. Artificial feeding relieved hypoglycemia and prolonged life, identifying starvation as the immediate cause of death. Neuronal morphology and brain energy levels did not differ from controls. Within control brains, amino acid concentrations varied in a coordinate way by postnatal day 2, implying an integrated metabolic network had developed. GS deficiency caused a 14-fold decline in cortical glutamine and a sevenfold decline in cortical alanine concentration, but the rising glutamate levels were unaffected and glycine was twofold increased. Only these amino acids were uncoupled from the metabolic network. Cortical ammonia levels increased only 1.6-fold, probably reflecting reduced glutaminolysis in neurons and detoxification of ammonia to glycine. These findings identify the dramatic decrease in (cortical) glutamine concentration as the primary cause of brain dysfunction in GS-KO/A mice. The temporal dissociation between GS(fl) elimination and death, and the reciprocal changes in the cortical concentration of glutamine and alanine in GS-deficient and control neonates indicate that the phenotype of GS deficiency in the brain emerges coincidentally with the neonatal activation of the glutamine-glutamate and the associated alanine-lactate cycles.

The main endogenous source of glutamine is de novo synthesis in striated muscle via the enzyme glutamine synthetase (GS). The mice in which GS is selectively but completely eliminated from striated muscle with the Cre-loxP strategy (GS-KO/M mice) are, nevertheless, healthy and fertile. Compared with controls, the circulating concentration and net production of glutamine across the hindquarter were not different in fed GS-KO/M mice. Only a ϳ3-fold higher escape of ammonia revealed the absence of GS in muscle. However, after 20 h of fasting, GS-KO/M mice were not able to mount the ϳ4-fold increase in glutamine production across the hindquarter that was observed in control mice. Instead, muscle ammonia production was ϳ5-fold higher than in control mice. The fasting-induced metabolic changes were transient and had returned to fed levels at 36 h of fasting. Glucose consumption and lactate and ketone-body production were similar in GS-KO/M and control mice. Challenging GS-KO/M and control mice with intravenous ammonia in stepwise increments revealed that normal muscle can detoxify ϳ2.5 mol ammonia/g muscle⅐h in a muscle GS-dependent manner, with simultaneous accumulation of urea, whereas GS-KO/M mice responded with accumulation of glutamine and other amino acids but not urea. These findings demonstrate that GS in muscle is dispensable in fed mice but plays a key role in mounting the adaptive response to fasting by transiently facilitating the production of glutamine. Furthermore, muscle GS contributes to ammonia detoxification and urea synthesis. These functions are apparently not vital as long as other organs function normally.Glutamine is among the most abundant free amino acids in mammals. Almost 90% of the daily glutamine production originates from endogenous sources, because 30 -35% of all nitrogen derived from protein catabolism is transported in the form of glutamine (1, 2). This glutamine can serve, after transport via the vasculature, as an oxidative fuel for enterocytes and immune cells, a precursor for purine and pyrimidine synthesis, a modulator of protein turnover, or an intermediate for gluconeogenesis and acid-base balance. The only enzyme capable of glutamine synthesis is glutamine synthetase (L-glutamate: ammonia ligase (ADP); EC 6.3.1.2). Because of the prominent role of glutamine in the interorgan transport of carbon and nitrogen, the plasma glutamine pool is turning over very rapidly (3). Glutamine tracer kinetic studies in humans have shown that ϳ50% of plasma glutamine is oxidized and that of the remainder, 10 -20% is used for gluconeogenesis, and most of the rest is used for protein synthesis and incorporation into macromolecules (2).Thus far, the irreversible GS 5 inhibitor methionine sulfoximine (MSO) was the tool of choice to interfere with cellular glutamine synthesis. Administration of MSO for 4 -6 days results in a 40 -50% decrease in plasma glutamine levels, a 55-65% decrease in intracellular muscle glutamine, and a 50% increase in muscle ammonia levels (4 -6). An inherent drawback of the...

Hepatic glutamine synthetase (GS) shows a unique expression pattern limited to a few hepatocytes surrounding the terminal hepatic veins. Starting from the genomic clone of the rat GS gene, λ GS1 [Van de Zande, L. P. G. W., Labruyère, W. T., Arnberg, A. C., Wilson, R. H., Van den Bogaert, A. J. W., Das, A. T., Frijters, C., Charles, R., Moorman, A. F. M. & Lamers, W. H. (1990) Gene (Amst.) 87, 225–232] additional genomic clones containing up to 9 kb of 5′flanking region were isolated in order to characterize cis‐acting elements involved in the regulation of GS expression. Sequence analysis of the 5′flanking region up to −2520 bp revealed a putative AP2‐binding site at −223 bp and a second GC box at −2343 bp in addition to the canonical TATA, CCAAT and GC boxes found proximal to the transcription‐start site. A possible negative glucocorticoid‐responsive element (GRE) and regions with very weak similarity to a GRE and to a known silencer element were noted at −506 bp, −406 bp and at −798 bp, respectively. Within the sequenced part of the 5′flanking region no known regulatory elements associated with liver‐specific gene expression were found except for a putative HNF3‐binding site at −896 bp. Functional analysis by transient transfection assays using constructs with the pSSCAT or the pXP1 vector revealed that the elements present within the first 153 bp and particularly the first 368 bp of upstream sequence consititute an active promoter the activity of which is decreased by additional sequences up to −2148 bp. The presence of dexamethasone led to a 2–4‐fold increase in the promoter activity of all these constructs. Using the heterologous truncated thymidine‐kinase‐gene promoter of the plasmid pT81‐luc a strong enhancer element was located between −2520 bp and −2148 bp. Its activity was not affected by dexamethasone but was negatively influenced by flanking sequences in both directions. This enhancer was also effective with the homologous GS promoter (−153 to +59 bp) and the heterologous full thymidine‐kinase‐gene promoter (pT109luc). No further enhancers were found up to −6200 bp. Using the same approach, a second enhancer was found between +259 bp and +950 bp within the first intron. Deoxyribonuclease‐I hypersensitivity studies confirmed the presence of a hypersensitive site between +350 bp and +550 bp and suggested a second site between +850 bp and + 1200 bp. The ultimate GS promoter (−153 to +59 bp) as well as the two strong enhancer regions identified drove luciferase expression most efficiently or almost exclusively in HepG2 cells but not mouse embryo fibroblasts indicating that these regions might be involved in the cell‐type specificity of GS expression. In accord with known data on GS activity and localization these findings suggest that the regulation of the GS gene in the liver is different from that of liver‐specific enzymes and proteins. Although our results do not yet indicate whether the regulatory regions identified play a role in the positional regulation of GS gene expression, they provide a good ba...

Glutamine synthetase (GS) is the only enzyme that can synthesize glutamine, but it also functions to detoxify glutamate and ammonia. Organs with high cellular concentrations of GS appear to function primarily to remove glutamate or ammonia, whereas those with a low cellular concentration appear to primarily produce glutamine. To validate this apparent dichotomy and to clarify its regulation, we determined the GS concentrations in 18 organs of the mouse. There was a >100-fold difference in GS mRNA, protein, and enzyme-activity levels among organs, whereas there was only a 20-fold difference in the GS protein:mRNA ratio, suggesting extensive transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation. In contrast, only small differences in the GS enzyme activity : protein ratio were found, indicating that posttranslational regulation is of minor importance. The cellular concentration of GS was determined by relating the relative differences in cellular GS concentration, detected using image analysis of immunohistochemically stained tissue sections, to the biochemical data. There was a >1000-fold difference in cellular concentrations of GS between GS-positive cells in different organs, and cellular concentrations were up to 20x higher in subpopulations of cells within organs than in whole organs. GS activity was highest in pericentral hepatocytes (approximately 485 micromol.g(-1).min-(1), followed in descending order by epithelial cells in the epididymal head, Leydig cells in the testicular interstitium, epithelial cells of the uterine tube, acid-producing parietal cells in the stomach, epithelial cells of the S3 segment of the proximal convoluted tubule of the kidney, astrocytes of the central nervous tissue, and adipose tissue. GS activity in muscle amounted to only 0.4 micromol.g(-1).min(-1). Our findings confirmed the postulated dichotomy between cellular concentration and GS function.

Starvation elicits a complex adaptive response in an organism.No information on transcriptional regulation of metabolic adaptations is available. We, therefore, studied the gene expression profiles of brain, small intestine, kidney, liver, and skeletal muscle in mice that were subjected to 0 -72 h of fasting. Functional-category enrichment, text mining, and network analyses were employed to scrutinize the overall adaptation, aiming to identify responsive pathways, processes, and networks, and their regulation. The observed transcriptomics response did not follow the accepted "carbohydrate-lipid-protein" succession of expenditure of energy substrates. Instead, these processes were activated simultaneously in different organs during the entire period. The most prominent changes occurred in lipid and steroid metabolism, especially in the liver and kidney. They were accompanied by suppression of the immune response and cell turnover, particularly in the small intestine, and by increased proteolysis in the muscle. The brain was extremely well protected from the sequels of starvation. 60% of the identified overconnected transcription factors were organ-specific, 6% were common for 4 organs, with nuclear receptors as protagonists, accounting for almost 40% of all transcriptional regulators during fasting. The common transcription factors were PPAR␣, HNF4␣, GCR␣, AR (androgen receptor), SREBP1 and -2, FOXOs, EGR1, c-JUN, c-MYC, SP1, YY1, and ETS1. Our data strongly suggest that the control of metabolism in four metabolically active organs is exerted by transcription factors that are activated by nutrient signals and serves, at least partly, to prevent irreversible brain damage.Adapting to starvation requires an interorgan integration of the activity of metabolic pathways to protect the body from an irreversible loss of resources (1, 2), but how the organism integrates these reactions remains largely unknown. Numerous studies on humans, who fasted for 3-6 weeks, have shown that glycogen stores are depleted within a day (3). The decline in circulating glucose and insulin during the next few days (4) induces a transient increase in plasma (essential) amino acids and a concomitant decline in plasma alanine levels due to an increased hepatic extraction for gluconeogenesis (5, 6). Muscle catabolism is a major source of amino acids in this phase. When fasting is continued, muscle protein catabolism declines, and hepatic uptake of amino acids decreases, which is reflected in a decline of endogenous glucose production (6) and urinary nitrogen excretion (4, 7). Lipid catabolism and the (hepatic) production of ketone bodies also increases rapidly and is quantitatively similar after 3 days and 5-6 weeks of starvation (8), but plasma levels increase only gradually to plateau after 4 weeks (4, 9). The associated increase in urinary ketone body (organic-acid) excretion requires a compensatory increase in ammonia production and urinary excretion (4, 7, 10), which is met by an increased renal amino acid uptake and gluconeogenesis (5, 6)...

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