Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate enhances hypothermic preservation of cardiac myocytes.

Background: Previous studies from our project found that fructose-1,6-bisphosphate (FBP) enhanced the functional recovery of animal hearts after hypothermic preservation, and that rat cardiac myocytes take up FBP at 3 degrees C. In this study we tested the effects of FBP, as well as other compounds related to glycolysis and pyruvate oxidation, on the hypothermic preservation of myocytes.

Methods: Isolated myocytes were incubated in ischemic suspensions at 3 degrees C, and aliquots examined over 72 hours for retention of rod-shaped morphology.

Essential role for the second extracellular loop in C5a receptor activation.

More than 90% of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) contain a disulfide bridge that tethers the second extracellular loop (EC2) to the third transmembrane helix. To determine the importance of EC2 and its disulfide bridge in receptor activation, we subjected this region of the complement factor 5a receptor (C5aR) to random saturation mutagenesis and screened for functional receptors in yeast. The cysteine forming the disulfide bridge was the only conserved residue in the EC2-mutated receptors.