L6 muscle cells survive long-term (18 h) disruption of oxidative phosphorylation by the mitochondrial uncoupler 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) because, in response to this metabolic stress, they increase their rate of glucose transport. This response is associated with an elevation of the protein content of glucose transporter isoforms GLUT3 and GLUT1, but not GLUT4. Previously we have reported that t...

This study utilized neuronal c-fos expression to examine the spinal pathways involved in processing nociceptive and non-nociceptive afferent input from the lower urinary tract (LUT) of the urethane-anesthetized rat. C-fos protein was detected immunocytochemically in only a small number of cells (< 2 cells/L6 section) in control animals. However, chemical irritation with 1% acetic acid or mechan...

Mitochondrial toxicity is increasingly being implicated as a contributing factor to many xenobiotic-induced organ toxicities, including skeletal muscle toxicity. This has necessitated the need for predictive in vitro models that are able to sensitively detect mitochondrial toxicity of chemical entities early in the research and development process. One such cell model involves substituting gala...

A number of studies have demonstrated that insulin resistance in the skeletal muscle plays a pivotal role in the insulin resistance associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes. A decrease in GLUT4 translocation from the intracellular pool to the plasma membranes in skeletal muscles has been implicated as a possible cause of insulin resistance. Herein, we examined the effects of an insulin-sensi...

Calsequestrin (CSQ) is the low affinity, high capacity Ca(2+)-binding protein concentrated within specialized areas of the muscle fiber sarcoplasmic reticulum (a part of the ER) where it is believed to buffer large amounts of Ca2+. Upon activation of intracellular channels this Ca2+ pool is released, giving rise to the [Ca2+]i increases that sustain contraction. In order to investigate the ER r...

Microtubules (MTs) have been implicated to function in the change of cell shape and intracellular organization that occurs during myogenesis. However, the mechanism by which MTs are involved in these morphogenetic events is unclear. As a first step in elucidating the role of MTs in myogenesis, we have examined the accumulation and subcellular distribution of posttranslationally modified forms o...

ec61 forms the pore through which proteins enter the ER. On page 67, Cheng et al. show that its cytoplasmic face makes at least two contributions to translocation before the protein passage event. The predicted structure of yeast Sec61 suggests that several conserved charged residues, which are in cytoplasmic loops that link adjacent membrane-spanning domains, may interact with the ribosome dur...

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Thirteen alleles (L, L1 to L11, and LH) from the flax L locus, which encode Toll/interleukin-1 receptor homology-nucleotide binding site-leucine-rich repeat (TIR-NBS-LRR) rust resistance proteins, were sequenced and compared to provide insight into their evolution and into the determinants of gene-for-gene resistance specificity. The predicted L6 and L11 proteins differ solely in the LRR region...

Obesity is a major risk factor for the development of insulin resistance, characterized by impaired stimulation of glucose disposal into muscle. The mechanisms underlying insulin resistance are unknown. Here we examine the direct effect of leptin, the product of the obesity gene, on insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in cultured rat skeletal muscle cells. Preincubation of L6 myotubes with leptin...