Prenatal exposure to ethanol alters the synthesis and glycosylation of proteins in fetal hepatocytes.

In the present work we have studied the effect of prenatal exposure to alcohol on the synthesis, glycosylation, and transport of proteins in fetal hepatocytes isolated from 21-day-old fetuses derived from control and chronic alcoholic rats. Protein synthesis was evaluated both in a cell-free system and in hepatocytes after (35S)methionine and (3H)leucine incorporation, respectively. Glycosylation was assessed using (3H)mannose and (3H)galactose as precursors.

Effects of prolonged ethanol exposure on the glial fibrillary acidic protein-containing intermediate filaments of astrocytes in primary culture: a quantitative immunofluorescence and immunogold electron microscopic study.

We investigated the effects of ethanol exposure on the shape of the cell and the morphology of intermediate filaments (IF) of cortical astrocytes in primary culture. The content and distribution of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), the major component of glial IF, was assessed using an anti-GFAP monoclonal antibody and fluorescence scanning densitometry together with quantitative pre- and post-embedding immunogold electron microscopy. The astrocytes were from 21-day-old fetuses obtained from both control and chronic alcoholic rats and were cultured for 28 days in the absence or presence of ethanol (25 mM).

Long-term high-protein diet induces biochemical and ultrastructural changes in rat liver mitochondria.

We have shown in previous work that long-term high-protein diet treatment (420 days) induces important biochemical and stereological changes in rat liver mitochondria. In this paper we have studied the time course for these changes in rats fed a high-protein diet for 30, 90, 180, and 420 days. The liver carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase I (ammonia), which represents 15-20% of the mitochondrial protein, increased ca.

Chronic ethanol consumption affects filipin-cholesterol complexes and intramembranous particles of synaptosomes of rat brain cortex.

To assess the effect of ethanol on the planar distribution of cholesterol as well as on the surface architecture of presynaptic terminals of rats, synaptosomes isolated from cerebral cortex of rats chronically exposed to alcohol were incubated with filipin, a cytochemical marker for beta-hydroxycholesterol, and analyzed using both conventional (qualitative and quantitative) and freeze-fracture electron microscopy. Synaptosomes incubated in the absence of filipin were used as cytochemical controls. Biochemical determination indicates a 12% increase of cholesterol in synaptosomal membranes from alcohol treated rats.