Proteins are essential macromolecules that play diverse roles in the physiology and health of horses. They are composed of amino acids and are involved in various biological processes, including tissue growth, repair, and the synthesis of enzymes and hormones. Dietary proteins are a key component of equine nutrition, influencing muscle development, immune function, and overall performance. Horses require a balanced intake of essential amino acids, which must be obtained through their diet, as they cannot be synthesized endogenously. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the types, functions, and dietary requirements of proteins in horses, as well as their impact on equine health and performance.
Méndez A, Martín de las Mulas J, Bautista MJ, Chacón F, Millán Y, Fondevila D, Pumarola M.The presence and distribution of S100 protein (alpha and beta subunits), cytokeratin polypeptides, glial fibrillary acidic protein, neurofilaments, vimentin, neuron specific enolase, synaptophysin, HLA class II DR antigen, and pituitary hormones (prolactin, adrenocorticotropic hormone and human chorionic gonadotrophin) in stellate cells were studied immunohistochemically in four normal canine pituitary glands, five canine pituitary adenomas, two canine pituitary carcinomas and two equine pituitary adenomas (with surrounding normal glandular tissue). Stellate cells of the pars distalis and pars...
Koepf EK, Hewitt J, Vo H, Macgillivray RT, Burtnick LD.We have generated and characterized the cDNA from equine smooth muscle that encodes gelsolin, an actin-modulating protein. Overlapping cDNA clones synthesized by the reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction and clones isolated from a horse genomic library provided the complete primary structure for the intracellular isoform of gelsolin, while cDNA complemented with protein sequence data produced the full-length primary transcript of the gelsolin isoform found circulating in equine plasma. The deduced amino acid sequences of the intracellular and secreted versions of equine gelsolin infe...
Levanti B, Hannestad J, Esteban I, Ciriaco E, Germanà G, Vega JA.The neurotrophins are a family of growth factors that act on responsive cells through specific high-affinity signal-transducing receptors called Trk (A, B, and C) proteins. The neurotrophin receptor proteins are widely distributed in both nervous and nonnervous tissues, including the lymphoid organs. The expression of these receptor proteins by a cell population is an indication of responsiveness to the respective binding neurotrophin. The present study investigated the presence and cellular localization of high-affinity neurotrophin receptor proteins in equine and bovine Peyer's patches. Peye...
Magdaleno L, Gasset M, Varea J, Schambony AM, Urbanke C, Raida M, Töpfer-Petersen E, Calvete JJ.HSP-3 is a member of the cysteine-rich secretory protein (CRISP) family from stallion seminal plasma. We report a large-scale purification protocol for native HSP-3. This protein is a non-glycosylated polypeptide chain with a pI of 8-9 and an isotope-averaged molecular mass of 24987 +/- 3 Da. The molecular mass of HSP-3, determined by equilibrium sedimentation, is 26 kDa, showing that the protein exists in solution as a monomer. The concentration of HSP-3 in the seminal plasma of different stallions ranged from 0.3 to 1.3 mg/ml. On average, 0.9-9 million HSP-3 molecules/cell coat the postacros...
Mizuguchi M, Nara M, Ke Y, Kawano K, Hiraoki T, Nitta K.Interactions between Ca2+ and the Asp side chains in the Ca2+-binding site of equine lysozyme were investigated by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. In the spectrum of equine lysozyme, the intensities of the bands at about 1595 cm-1 and 1578 cm-1 in the region of the COO antisymmetric stretches increased upon Ca2+ binding. In the region of the COO- symmetric stretches, the loss of intensity at about 1388 cm-1 and gains of intensities at about 1423 cm-1 and 1403 cm-1 were observed due to Ca2+ binding to equine lysozyme. The spectral changes for equine lysozyme indicate that the C...
Moore RM, Muir WW, Rush BR.The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of low-flow ischemia and reperfusion (I-R) of the large colon on 16 systemic venous (SV) and colonic venous (CV) plasma biochemical variables in horses. Horses (n = 24) were randomly allocated to 3 groups: sham-operated (n = 6), 6 h ischemia (n = 9), and 3 h ischemia followed by 3 h reperfusion (n = 9). SV and CV heparinized blood was collected at 0, 1, 3, 3.25, 4, and 6 h. The SV-CV difference was calculated for each variable. The SV, CV, and SV-CV difference for albumin, total protein, and calcium decreased significantly (P < 0.05) ac...
Baskurt OK, Farley RA, Meiselman HJ.Horse blood has a higher tendency to form red blood cell (RBC) aggregates compared with human blood, with this enhanced aggregation previously attributed to differences in plasma factors. Our results confirm this observation and further indicate that washed horse RBC also have a significantly higher aggregation tendency in dextran 70 solutions (i.e., horse RBC have a higher "aggregability"). In contrast, the aggregation tendency of rat RBC, both in autologous plasma and in dextran 70, is significantly less compared with human and horse RBC. Other rheological findings for horse and rat RBC incl...
Martín E, Molleda JM, Ginel PJ, Novales M, Lucena R, López R.Lacrimal fluid represents a major ocular surface defensive mechanism providing different concentrations of all immunoglobulin classes. In this report, four classes of immunoglobulins (IgA, IgM, IgG and IgGT) have been measured in horse tears. As in others species, IgA is the main immunoglobulin responsible for local protection and constitutes quantitatively, 50% of all lacrimal proteins. The rest of immunoglobulins studied are normally present in equine tear fluid (though in lower concentration) and contribute to ocular surface immune protection. Female and adult horses showed significant high...
Hyyppä S, Karvonen U, Räsänen LA, Persson SG, Pösö AR.To study the effects of nandrolone laureate (19-nortestosterone) on muscle hypertrophy and concentration of androgen receptors (AR), biopsy specimens were taken from the middle gluteal muscle of 6 Finnhorse trotters (geldings and mares) undergoing training before, immediately after, and 13 weeks after a 14-week treatment with nandrolone. Another 6 similarly trained horses served as controls. An additional 10 mares and 10 geldings were used to study annual variation in muscle concentration of AR. AR was immunohistochemically localized in the nuclei. AR concentration remained constant during the...
Moslemi S, Vibet A, Papadopoulos V, Camoin L, Silberzahn P, Gaillard JL.Cytochrome P-450 aromatase was purified by five chromatographic steps from adult stallion testis. It was first separated from NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase (reductase) on omega-aminohexyl-Sepharose 4B then purified to homogeneity on concanavalin A-Sepharose 4B, hydroxyapatite-Sepharose 4B, DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B and on a second hydroxyapatite-Sepharose 4B. On the other hand, purifications of the equine testicular and rat liver reductases, which allowed the reconstitution of aromatase activity in vitro, were achieved for each species in one chromatographic step on an adenosine 2',5'-diphosphat...
Rivero JL, Talmadge RJ, Edgerton VR.In adult horses, three myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isoforms can be identified by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and immunohistochemistry using specific anti-MyHC monoclonal antibodies. This report studies the suitability of a consistent SDS-PAGE technique for quantifying MyHC profiles in homogenized cryostate sections of equine gluteus medius muscle biopsies (n = 18). The method used (previously described by R. J. Talmadge and R. R. Roy; J. Appl. Physiol. 1993, 75, 2337-2340) resolved MyHCs in three bands: I, IIB or IIX, and IIA from the fastest to the slowe...
van Niekerk FE, van Niekerk CH.Four rations that differed in their crude protein and essential amino-acid content were compiled. Digestibility of the crude protein and essential amino-acid contents were determined biologically in a feeding trial using 4 Anglo-Arab stallions. Their respective daily diets were: Diet 1:2 kg cubes, 5 kg tef hay (Eragrostis tef); Diet 2:2 kg cubes, 5 kg lucerne hay (Medicago sativa); Diet 3:2 kg cubes, 5 kg tef hay, 200 g fishmeal; Diet 4:2 kg cubes, 5 kg lucerne hay, 200 g fishmeal. The concentrations of the amino-acids threonine, iso-leucine, leucine and arginine were increased in the total ra...
van Niekerk FE, van Niekerk CH.The effect of 4 different diets, in terms of protein quantity and quality, on total serum protein (TSP), albumin and globulin was investigated. Non-pregnant mares that were not lactating (n = 36), pregnant mares that had foaled (n = 24) and their foals (n = 24) were used in this study. Daily total protein intake had no effect on blood protein concentrations in the mares. Total protein intake and quality (available essential amino-acids) did affect the body mass of mares during lactation. When mares were fed the minimum recommended (National Research Council 1989) total daily protein, foal mass...
van Niekerk FE, van Niekerk CH.In the main experiment the total daily protein intake and quality (essential amino-acids) was varied in 4 groups of mares. The incidence of oestrus in mares during the transitional period was unaffected by protein nutrition. Ovarian activity, as evaluated by follicular development and size of the ovaries, was affected. Mares that received low-quality protein (Groups 1 and 2) had a higher number of smaller follicles (< 10 mm) that developed during the transitional period compared to mares on a high-quality protein intake (Groups 3 and 4). The mares that received the high quality protein ovulate...
Saetang T, Treamwattana N, Suttijitpaisal P, Ratanabanangkoon K.A quantitative comparison was made on the fractionation of pepsin-digested horse antivenoms by ammonium sulfate (AS) fractional precipitation and ion-exchange chromatography on Q-Sepharose. In the precipitation process, pepsin digested horse anti-Naja kaouthia serum was precipitated by 30% saturated AS followed by 50% saturated AS. The recovery of antibody activity [as measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) against the cobra postsynaptic neurotoxin 3] from the 30-50% saturated AS precipitate was 53% with a 1.93-fold purification. For the chromatographic process, the behavior ...
Clegg PD, Burke RM, Coughlan AR, Riggs CM, Carter SD.The cellular production by resident articular cells and infiltrating inflammatory cells of the gelatinase matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) was investigated by tissue culture methods and analysis of cell supernatants by gelatin zymography. Peripheral blood neutrophils in short term culture produced MMP-9, as did peripheral blood monocytes in culture. Isolated articular chondrocytes in monolayer culture produced both MMP-2 and MMP-9, although articular cartilage maintained as explant culture produced MMP-2 alone. Synovial fibroblasts grown in monolayer culture produced MMP-2 alone, although synov...
Dobrinski I, Ignotz GG, Fagnan MS, Yudin SI, Ball BA.The periacrosomal plasma membrane of spermatozoa is involved in sperm binding to oviductal epithelial cells and to the zona pellucida. A protein of 68-70 kD molecular mass was purified biochemically from the isolated periacrosomal plasma membrane of equine spermatozoa as a possible receptor for adhesion of spermatozoa to oviductal epithelial cells. A polyclonal antibody raised in rabbits against the purified equine sperm membrane protein recognized the 70 kD and an antigenically related to 32 kD protein in preparations of isolated periacrosomal sperm plasma membrane and in detergent extracted ...
Lipscomb DL, Boudreaux MK, Paxton R, Spano J, Welles EG, Schumacher J.To establish the existence of platelet-derived proteins in equine plasma, with the future goal of developing an assay for the detection of in vivo platelet activation. Methods: 5 mature healthy horses. Methods: Platelet-rich plasma and platelet-poor plasma were prepared from anticoagulated blood. Platelets were separated from plasma proteins by gel filtration, then activated with 0.5 microM platelet-activating factor. Protease inhibitors were added, and the released platelet proteins were harvested. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was performed on the released platele...
Furr M, Chickering WR, Robertson J.To determine normal CSF electrophoresis patterns in horses, and to determine whether the electrophoretic scans from horses with cervical compression differ from those of neurologically normal horses. Methods: 32 horses assigned to 1 of 2 groups: neurologically normal (n = 18) or cervical compression (n = 14). Methods: CSF was collected from 18 neurologically normal horses referred to the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center, and protein electrophoresis was performed to describe the normal equine CSF electrophoretogram. Results of CSF electrophoresis from 14 horses with cervical compressio...
Puffer BA, Parent LJ, Wills JW, Montelaro RC.We have previously demonstrated that the Gag p9 protein of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is functionally homologous with Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) p2b and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) p6 in providing a critical late assembly function in RSV Gag-mediated budding from transfected COS-1 cells (L. J. Parent et al., J. Virol. 69:5455-5460, 1995). In light of the absence of amino acid sequence homology between EIAV p9 and the functional homologs of RSV and HIV-1, we have now designed an EIAV Gag-mediated budding assay to define the late assembly (L) domain peptide sequences con...
Maurus R, Overall CM, Bogumil R, Luo Y, Mauk AG, Smith M, Brayer GD.Well-ordered internal amino acids can contribute significantly to the stability of proteins. To investigate the importance of the hydrophobic packing interface between helices G and H in the proximal heme pocket of horse heart myoglobin, the highly conserved amino acid, Leu104, was substituted with asparagine, a polar amino acid of similar size. The Leu104Asn mutant protein and its recombinant wild-type horse heart myoglobin counterpart were expressed from synthetic genes in Escherichia coli. Thermal denaturation of these two recombinant myoglobins, as studied by measurement of circular dichro...
Westhoff D, Kamp G.Evidence is provided that the glycolytic enzyme glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase is covalently linked to the fibrous sheath. The fibrous sheath is a typical structure of mammalian spermatozoa surrounding the axoneme in the principal piece of the flagellum. More than 90% of boar sperm glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity is sedimented after cell disintegration by centrifugation. Detergents, different salt concentrations or short term incubation with chymotrypsin do not solubilize the enzyme, whereas digestion with trypsin or elastase does. Short term incubation with trypsin...
Liang FT, Granstrom DE, Timoney JF, Shi YF.We report a simple, economical, and efficient protocol for protein purification from cells. First, proteins of cell lysates were separated by standard sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and electroblotted to protein-blotting membrane. The blots were stained with Coomassie blue or developed by immunoblotting to visualize specific proteins. The bands corresponding to those visible by immunoblotting were excised from the dye-stained blots and subjected to isoelectric focusing. The focused gel was stained with Coomassie blue. Finally, the stained bands were excise...
Hultén C, Sletten K, Foyn Bruun C, Marhaug G.Serum amyloid A (SAA) from acute phase horse serum was isolated using hydrophobic interaction chromatography, gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography. Three SAA isoforms with different isoelectric points, i.e. SAA pI 8.0, SAA pI 9.0 and SAA pI 9.7, were identified by two-dimensional electrophoresis and further characterized with amino acid sequence analysis. These isoforms were found in similar concentrations in all animals investigated, with SAA pI 9.7 constituting about half of the total SAA content. Partial amino acid sequence analysis verified the previously published heterogeneous ...
Mills PC, Ng JC, Auer DE.The effect of the acute-phase response (APR) on the activity of the hepatic drug-metabolizing system (DMS) and on the binding of phenylbutazone to plasma proteins was investigated in the horse. An APR was induced by intramuscular injections of Freund's complete adjuvant in five horses and, five days later, these horses together with five clinically normal horses were shot and the right ventral lobe of each liver removed. The hepatic microsomal fractions from the liver samples were isolated and significantly lower (p < 0.01) concentrations of cytochromes P450 and b5 and activities of aniline...
Reinert M, Calvete JJ, Sanz L, Töpfer-Petersen E.SSP-7 is a protein originally isolated from stallion seminal plasma. It has extensive amino acid sequence homology with boar spermadhesin AWN, and, like its porcine counterpart, SSP-7 displays zona pellucida-binding activity. Strikingly, however, immunohistochemical studies presented here show that the stallion and the boar spermadhesin homologues are secreted at different places of the male genital tract. Furthermore, indirect immunofluorescence shows that the topography of SSP-7 on the surface of stallion spermatozoa is restricted to the equatorial segment, whereas boar AWN epitopes cover th...
Olsen CW, McGregor MW, Dybdahl-Sissoko N, Schram BR, Nelson KM, Lunn DP, Macklin MD, Swain WF, Hinshaw VS.Two fundamentally different approaches to vaccination of BALB/c mice with the hemagglutinin (HA) of A/Equine/Kentucky/1/81 (H3N8) (Eq/KY) were evaluated, that is, administration of HA protein vs administration of HA-encoding DNA. Each vaccine was tested for its immunogenicity and ability to provide protection from homologous virus challenge. HA protein was synthesized in vitro by infection of Sf21 insect cells with a recombinant baculovirus. Intranasal administration of this vaccine induced virus-specific antibodies, as measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), but did not induce ...
Bowles DE, Holden VR, Zhao Y, O'Callaghan DJ.To assess the role of the equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) ICP0 protein (EICP0) in gene regulation, a variety of molecular studies on the EICP0 gene and gene products of both the attenuated cell culture-adapted Kentucky A (KyA) strain and the Ab4p strain were conducted. These investigations revealed that (i) the ICP0 open reading frame (ORF) of the KyA virus strain is 1,257 bp in size and would encode a protein of 419 amino acids, and in comparison to the ICP0 gene (ORF63) of the Ab4p strain of 1,596 bp (E. A. Telford, M. S. Watson, K. McBride, and A. J. Davison, Virology 189:304-316, 1992), ...
Amit T, Dibner C, Barkey RJ.The present study was undertaken to identify and characterize the diversity and species distribution of soluble prolactin binding-protein (PRL-BP) and growth hormone-binding protein (PRL-BP) in mammalian milk. We previously divided mammalian serum GH-BP into four main groups and identified a GH-BP with shared lactogenic/somatogenic properties in rabbit, horse, dog, pig and cat (Type III species). Here we describe PRL-BP in milk of Type III species and show it is relatively conserved within the group, having similar characteristics in terms of binding affinity for hGH (0.74-5.5 x 10(10) M(-1)),...
Lin YL, Moolenaar H, van Weeren PR, van de Lest CH.To determine effects of microcurrent electrical tissue stimulation (METS) on equine tenocytes cultured from the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT). Methods: SDFTs were collected from 20 horses at slaughter. Methods: Tenocytes were isolated following outgrowth from explants and grown in 48-well plates. Four methods of delivering current to the tenocytes with a METS device were tested. Once the optimal method was selected, current consisting of 0 (negative control), 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, or 1.5 mA was applied to cells (8 wells/current intensity) once daily for 8 minutes. Cells were treated ...
Dixon S, Haswell M, Harrington D, Sutcliffe IC.We have investigated the surface localisation of the phosphotransferase system protein HPr in the equine pathogen Streptococcus equi subsp. equi using immunogold localisation and transmission electron microscopy. Like the LppC acid phosphatase lipoprotein, a reference surface antigen, the S. equi HPR could be clearly detected on the surfaces of intact cells. This study is consistent with previous reports that some streptococcal HPr is cell surface associated and suggests that the extracytoplasmic mobilisation and transfer of phosphate groups by streptococci warrant further investigation.
Papkoff H.The objectives of this paper are to review the chemical and biological properties of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG, PMSG) isolated from the serum. Comparisons are made with eCG isolated from endometrial cups, trophoblast cell culture medium, and low titer serum. The results show that eCG can vary, depending on the source, in both chemical and biological (LH and FSH activity) properties.
Martin RG, McMeniman NP, Dowsett KF.Six lactating mares were fed either a low protein diet or the same diet with added urea ad libitum over 71 days. The quantity consumed by the mares, milk intakes of their foals, milk composition, plasma urea nitrogen (PUN), mare liveweight changes and foal growth rates were measured. The mares were unable to consume sufficient quantities of either diet to meet their nitrogen requirements and all lost weight. Adding urea to the diet significantly increased PUN in mares and foals, raised urea concentrations in the milk, decreased the mares' feed intake and significantly increased their weight lo...
Kumar CS, Swamy MJ.The major protein of equine seminal plasma, HSP-1/2 exhibits chaperone-like activity and protects a variety of target proteins against thermal and chemical stress conditions. Here, we show that HSP-1/2 is able to protect enzymes such as alcohol dehydrogenase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase against H2O2 induced stress, clearly demonstrating that HSP-1/2 acts as a chaperone against oxidative stress. Further, the present studies show that HSP-1/2 also inhibits lipid (linoleic acid) peroxidation by hydroxyl radicals in vitro. These results are of great significance considering that so far l...
Steward KF, Robinson C, Maskell DJ, Nenci C, Waller AS.The Gram-positive bacterium subspecies () is the causative agent of strangles, among the most frequently diagnosed infectious diseases of horses worldwide. Genome analysis of strain 4047 (4047) identified a putative operon, Fim1, with similarity to the pilus loci of other Gram-positive bacteria. The Fim1 locus was present in all strains of and its close relative subspecies () that have been studied to date. In this study we provide evidence that the putative structural pilus proteins, SEQ_0936 and CNE, are produced on the cell surface during growth and infection. Although the proteins ...
Bone reportsJanuary 5, 2023
Volume 18 101653 doi: 10.1016/j.bonr.2023.101653
Grissom SK, Semevolos SA, Duesterdieck-Zellmer K.The objective of this study is to better understand the pathogenesis of early equine osteochondrosis (OC) by identifying differences in gene and protein expression of extracellular matrix components and regulators in normal and diseased cartilage and bone, focusing on the osteochondral junction and cells surrounding the cartilage canals. We expected to find an upregulation of matrix metalloproteinases and a decrease in extracellular matrix constituent expression along the osteochondral junction and cells surrounding the cartilage canals in OC samples. Paraffin-embedded osteochondral samples (6...
Carracedo A, Concheiro L, Requena I.An isoelectric focusing method followed by silver staining has been developed for the study of keratins which is as effective as two-dimensional electrophoresis and fluorography for hair species identification. Hair from dogs, rabbits, horses, cows, guinea-pigs, donkeys, sheep and cats were successfully identified. Narrow pH ranges were used to observe heterogeneity in human hair. Although this heterogeneity may be affected by environmental conditions, it may be of use in criminalistics.
Puigdemont A, Arboix M, Gaspari F, Bortolotti A, Bonati M.The protein binding of propafenone in vitro was assessed in plasma of mouse, rat, rabbit, dog, sheep, man, cow, and horse at two concentration levels. In all species and at both concentrations propafenone was found highly bound (86-99%) to plasma proteins. No significant relationship was found between free propafenone and the plasma protein fractions. A concentration-dependency was seen in plasma of mouse, sheep, man, and horse, in which the free fraction of propafenone became larger on raising the concentration. Qualitative and quantitative differences were observed in the protein plasma prof...
Mastellar SL, Moffet A, Harris PA, Urschel KL.Current equine threonine requirement estimates do not account for probable use of threonine to maintain gut health and mucin synthesis. The objective of this study was to determine if threonine supplementation (+Thr) would increase whole-body protein synthesis (WBPS) in weanling colts (Study 1) and adult mares (Study 2). Both studies used a crossover design, where each of six animals was studied twice while receiving the isonitrogenous diets. The basal diets contained lower threonine levels (Basal) than the threonine (+Thr) supplemented diets. Threonine intakes in mg/kg BW/day were as follows:...
Sprekeler N, Müller T, Kowalewski MP, Liesegang A, Boos A.In many species, the small intestine is the major site of calcium (Ca(2+)) absorption. The horse differs considerably from most other species with regard to the physiology of its Ca(2+) metabolism and digestion. Thus, this study was performed to get more information about the transcellular Ca(2+) absorption in the horse.Two mechanisms of intestinal Ca(2+) absorption are described: the passive paracellular pathway and the active, vitamin D-dependent transcellular pathway. The latter involves the following elements: vitamin D receptors (VDR), transient receptor potential vanilloid channel member...
Peterman BF, Morton RA.The research explores how different binding ions affect the oxidation speed of horse heart ferrocytochrome c, a protein, by potassium ferricyanide at a constant ionic strength. Studying the Ion Effect […]
Eizema K, van den Burg MM, de Jonge HW, Dingboom EG, Weijs WA, Everts ME.The major structural protein in skeletal muscle, myosin heavy chain (MyHC), is primarily transcriptionally controlled. We compared the expression of MyHC isoforms on the mRNA and protein level in biopsies from the m. gluteus medius from adult untrained horses. In transverse sections, the majority of fibers showed qualitatively identical mRNA and protein expression patterns. However, coexpression of 2a and 2d/x MyHCs was substantially more common at the protein than at the mRNA level, suggesting a fine-tuning of these two genes in normal muscle not subjected to any training protocol. Because tr...
Corda M, Era B, Fais A, Casu M.The potentiality of xenon's sensitivity to its local magnetic environment is thoroughly investigated to probe internal structural differences between pig and horse metmyoglobin (MMb). These MMb's differ by 14 amino acids. One of these, Ile142 in horse MMb, is located in the proximal cavity, which is the xenon-binding site in horse MMb, and is replaced by Met142 in pig MMb. Specific and non-specific xenon-protein interactions are investigated here by 129Xe NMR chemical shifts and relaxation rate in aqueous solutions of pig MMb as a function of the xenon and protein concentrations. The results a...
Alghamdi AS, Madill S, Foster DN, Troedsson MH.When mares are inseminated repeatedly, protein molecules from the seminal plasma (SP) prevent sperm-neutrophil binding and reduced fertility. The molecule(s) responsible for sperm-neutrophil binding is not known and the identification of beneficial SP proteins is complicated by their large numbers and abundant variation. We examined several important aspects of sperm-neutrophil binding to ultimately facilitate the identification and isolation of the molecule(s) responsible. First, we raised anti-equine P-selectin antibodies to determine the involvement of this adhesion molecule in sperm-neutro...
Sacchetto R, Sharova E, Patruno M, Maccatrozzo L, Damiani E, Mascarello F.Histidine-rich calcium binding protein (HRC) is a high capacity, low affinity Ca(2+) binding protein, specifically expressed in striated muscles of mammals. In rabbit skeletal and cardiac muscles, HRC binds to sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) membranes via triadin, a junctional SR protein. Recently, a potential role in heart failure and arrhythmogenesis has been assigned to HRC due to its activity as regulator of SR Ca(2+) uptake and Ca(2+) release. HRC might play a particularly relevant role in the equine heart, given its slower resting heart rate (20-35 beats/min) and longer action potential dura...
Byambaragchaa M, Choi SH, Joo HE, Kim SG, Kim YJ, Park GE, Kang MH, Min KS.Equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG), produced by the endometrial cups of the placenta after the first trimester, is a specific glycoprotein that displays dual luteinizing hormone (LH)-like and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)-like effects in non-equid species. However, in equidaes, eCG exhibits only LH-like activity. To identify the specific biological functions of glycosylated sites in eCG, we constructed the following site mutants of N- and O-linked glycosylation: eCGβ/αΔ56, substitution of α-subunit N-linked glycosylation site; eCGβ-D/α, deletion of the O-linked glycosylation sites ...
Giudicelli J, Boudouard M, Delqué P, Vannier C, Sudaka P.Neutral alpha-D-glucosidase (alpha-D-glucoside glucohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.20) from horse kidney brush-border membranes was solubilized using Emulphogene BC 720 and purified by an affinity chromatography technique. The enzyme preparation (390-fold purified), which was free of other known microvillus hydrolases, exhibited one precipitate line in crossed immunoelectrophoresis and migrated as a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Several criteria (charge-shift crossed immunoelectrophoresis and hydrophobic chromatography) revealed the purified detergent form of t...
Baintner K, Csapó J.Mare's colostrum was collected and examined for the presence of trypsin inhibitors. It was found to contain a low level of trypsin inhibitor which could be denatured by 2.5% trichloroacetic acid and, therefore, it clearly differs from the acid-resistant colostral inhibitor of Artiodactyla and Carnivora. This finding is exceptional for a species that concentrates IgG in the colostrum and whose newborn absorbs colostral proteins non-selectively by the gut. It appears that the presence of colostral trypsin inhibitor is not essential for the transmission of maternal immunity via the colostrum and ...
Chin WW, Maizel JV, Habener JF.The sizes of the human and subhuman alpha-subunits of the glycoprotein hormones differ by four amino acids (hCG alpha, 92 amino acids; murine, equine, bovine, and ovine alpha, 96 amino acids). The shortening of the human alpha-subunit has been attributed to posttranslational proteolysis. We have recently determined the nucleotide sequences of the mRNAs encoding the precursors of the alpha-subunit of mouse TSH and rat gonadotropins using recombinant DNA techniques. In this report, we have compared these nucleotide sequences and their deduced amino acid sequences with those of the pre- alpha-sub...
Greppi GF, Casini L, Gatta D, Orlandi M, Pasquini M.Changes in the plasma biochemistry of 12 stallions were studied over seven 24 h periods. Twelve healthy male horses of 4 different breeds (Thoroughbred [TB], Anglo-Arabo-Sardo [AAS], Avelignese [Av] and Maremmano [M]) were divided into 3 experimental groups and fed with an isoenergetic maintenance ration with different protein levels. The same amount of food was given daily at 0730 and 1930 h. After 20 days of pretrial, a series of 6 blood samples were collected daily from the jugular vein every 4 h for 7 days. The samples were analysed for packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin, plasma glucose...
Patterson SD, Bell K.An affinity method was developed to investigate the interaction between protease and protease inhibitor by incorporating a protease incubation step into a two-dimensional electrophoretic separation of the plasma protease inhibitory proteins. This involved the application of the isoelectric focusing gel to filter paper saturated in the protease of choice before being placed on the second-dimensional polyacrylamide electrophoresis gel. General protein staining or immunoblotting was used to detect the protein or ligand in the complex. An in situ oxidation method was developed using the reagent ch...
Kisailus EC, Kabat EA.The specificity of Bandeiraea simplicifolia lectin I (BS I) has been studied by competitive-binding assays (CBA) using tritium-labeled human B and hog A substances. Blood-group B substances isolated from horse gastric mucosae and from human ovarian-cyst fluids were much better inhibitors of binding of tritiated blood-group B substance to insoluble BS I-Sepharose 2B than were human blood-group A substances from saliva and ovarian-cyst fluid. A and B active blood-group substances showed the same range of potency in inhibiting binding of tritium-labeled hog A substance to BS I-Sepharose 2B. CBA w...
Welch RD, DeBowes RM, Liepold HW.To evaluate the effects of intra-articular injection of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) on normal equine articular structures, 7 adult horses with clinically normal carpi were allotted to 2 treatment groups (group A, n = 4; group B, n = 3). In each horse after collection of synovial fluid samples, the right antebrachial carpal and middle carpal joints were aseptically injected with 2 ml of a 40% solution of 90% medical grade DMSO in lactated Ringer solution, and the corresponding joints of the left forelimb (controls) were injected with 2 ml of lactated Ringer solution. In group-A horses, 2 ml of syn...
Oleksiewicz MB, Snijder EJ, Normann P.A putative zinc finger (ZF) domain in the Equine arteritis virus (EAV) nsp1 protein was described recently to be required for viral transcription. The nsp1 ZF (50 aa) was expressed on the surface of M13KE gIII phage, fused to the N terminus of the phage pIII protein. To evaluate the functionality of the ZF domain, a binding assay was developed, based on the use of immobilized Ni(2+) ions (Ni-NTA). Phages displaying ZF bound significantly better to Ni-NTA than did phages displaying negative-control peptides, which also contained metal-coordinating residues. Also, binding of ZF-displaying phages...
Kriegshäuser G, Wutz G, Lea S, Stuart D, Skern T, Kuechler E.Mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were employed to select neutralization escape mutants of equine rhinitis A virus (ERAV). Amino acid changes in the ERAV mutants resulting in resistance to neutralization were identified in capsid protein VP1 at Lys-114, Pro-240 and Thr-241. Although the changes were located in different parts of the polypeptide chain, these mutants exhibited cross-resistance against all four mAbs employed, indicating that these residues contribute to a single immunogenic site. To explain this result, we constructed a model of the three-dimensional structure of the ERAV capsid...
Cline LJ, Crowle AJ.Evans Blue dye binds selectively, but with different avidities, to five major antigens in human serum. The anodic mobility of the antigen-dye complexes is greater than that of the antigens alone in crossed immunoelectrophoresis, which is of practical value for identification. We used this characteristic to show that in some human sera there is a population of alpha1-lipoprotein molecules that migrates electrophoretically in the beta-lipoprotein region, where in conventional zone electrophoresis it could be mistaken for beta-lipoprotein. We also demonstrate that horses, unlike rabbits, rarely m...
Yokomori T, Ohnuma A, Tozaki T, Segawa T, Itou T.Considering the personality traits of racehorses (e.g., flightiness, anxiety, and affability) is considered essential to improve training efficiency and decrease accident frequency, especially when retraining for a second career that may involve contact with inexperienced personnel after retiring from racing. Studies on human personality-related genes are frequently conducted; however, such studies are rare in horses because a consistent methodology for personality evaluation is lacking. Using the recently published whole genome variant database of 101 Thoroughbred horses, we compared horse ge...
Piuko K, Bravo IG, Müller M.In the present study we describe the isolation and characterization of putative equine granzyme B for which we propose the designation 'eqGrzmB'. Sequence analysis revealed characteristic features of a GrzmB protease such as the presence of a signal (leader-) peptide and an activation di-peptide. The isolated eqGrzmB is functionally active when expressed in human or in insect cells. Furthermore, exchange of any of three putative active site amino acids, which are highly conserved along granzyme B enzymes, led to a complete loss of enzymatic activity in the newly identified eqGrzmB. Phylogeneti...
