bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Oestriol-stimulated synthesis of ribonucleic acid in the uterus of the immature rat
Authors: Knowler J T
Published: August 2015

Oestradiol-17beta and oestriol both sequentially stimulate the synthesis of heterogeneous nuclear RNA and rRNA in vivo. However, the stimulation by oestradiol-17beta, particularly of rRNA synthesis, is very much greater than that elicited by oestriol.
Induction of cadmium-thionein in isolated rat liver cells
Authors: Hidalgo H A , Koppa V , Bryan S E
Published: August 2015

The uptake of cadmium by isolated liver cells was linearly related to the cadmium concentration to which the cells were exposed in the medium. Cadmium-treated cells synthesized proteins de novo with the characteristics of cadmium-thionein induced in the liver of cadmium-treated animals. Thionein from liver cells incorporated cadmium and [35S]cysteine, had a Ve/Vo (Sephadex G-50) of 1.8-1.9, and was separated into two subfractions by DEAE-cellulose ion-exchange chromatography. Cycloheximide and actinomycin D when added after a cadmium exposure prevented the synthesis of thionein. However, addition of actinomycin D after synthesis had started only decreased the total amount of thionein synthesized. The concentration of cadmium to which the cells were exposed affected the amount of cadmium-thionein synthesized in 6h. The maximum response occurred when cells were exposed to 0.5 microgram of cadmium/ml; at higher metal concentrations the total amount of cadmium-thionein synthesized declined. The system described in the present paper can be used to study the mode of metal toxicity and the mechanism of cadmium-thionein synthesis.
Uptake and metabolism of adenosine by pig aortic endothelial and smooth-muscle cells in culture
Authors: Pearson J D , Carleton J S , Hutchings A , Gordon J L
Published: August 2015

1. Adenosine, a potent vasodilator, is transported very efficiently by pig aortic endothelium in monolayer culture (approx. 50pmol/min per 10(6) cells at 2 micrometer). Uptake proceeds by diffusion at high (millimolar) substrate concentrations, and by two discrete transport processes (Km approx. 3 micrometer and 250 micrometer) at lower concentrations. Over 90% of the adenosine taken up at 10 micrometer or 100 micrometer is rapidly converted into adenine nucleotides (mainly ATP). 2. The high-affinity process is selectively inhibited by dipyridamole and by nitrobenzylthioinosine. Adenine preferentially inhibits the lower-affinity process, papapaverine inhibits both transport processes, and inosine has no significant effect. 3. Pig aortic smooth-muscle cells in culture show no high-affinity transport system for adenosine; uptake is much slower at low concentrations than that by endothelium (approx. 5pmol/min per 10(6) cells at 2 micrometer). Over 80% of the incorporated adenosine at 10 micrometer or 100 micrometer is rapidly converted into adenine nucleotides. 4. The uptake of adenosine by smooth-muscle cells is powerfully inhibited by adenine, but dipyridamole is much less potent than in endothelium. 5. We conclude that endothelial cells are mainly responsible for the removal of circulating adenosine.
Poly(adenosine diphosphate ribose) metabolism and regulation of myocardial cell growth by oxygen
Authors: Ghani Q. Perveen , Hollenberg Milton
Published: August 2015

Control of the rate of cardiac cell division by oxygen occurs most probably by altering the redox state of a control substance, e.g. NAD+⇌NADH. NAD+(and not NADH) forms poly(ADP-ribose), an inhibitor of DNA synthesis, in a reaction catalysed by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Lower partial pressure of oxygen, which increases the rate of division, would shift NAD+→NADH, decrease poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis, and increase DNA synthesis. Chick-embryo heart cells grown in culture in 20% O2 (in which they divide more slowly than in 5% O2) did exhibit greater poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase activity (+83%, P<0.001) than when grown in 5% O2. Reaction product was identified as poly(ADP-ribose) by its insensitivity to deoxyribonuclease, ribonuclease, NAD glycohydrolase, Pronase, trypsin and micrococcal nuclease, and by its complete digestion with snake-venom phosphodiesterase to phosphoribosyl-AMP and AMP. Isolation of these digestion products by Dowex 1 (formate form) column chromatography and paper chromatography allowed calculation of average poly(ADP-ribose) chain length, which was 15–26% greater in 20% than in 5% O2. Thus in 20% O2 the increase in poly(ADP-ribose) formation results from chain elongation. Formation of new chains also occurs, probably to an even greater degree than chain elongation. Additionally, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase has very different Km and Vmax. values and pH optima in 20% and 5% O2. These data suggest that poly(ADP-ribose) metabolism participates in the regulation of heart-cell division by O2, probably by several different mechanisms.
Effects of aliphatic diamines on rat liver ornithine decarboxylase activity
Authors: Pegg A E , Conover C , Wrona A
Published: August 2015

Rat liver ornithine decarboxylase activity was decreased by administration of putrescine (1,4-diaminobutane) or other diamines, including 1,3-diaminopropane, 1,5-diaminopentane and 1,6-diaminohexane. This effect was seen in control rats and in rats in which hepatic ornithine decarboxylase activity had been increased by administration of growth hormone (somatotropin) or thioacetamide. Loss of activity was not dependent on the conversion of putrescine into polyamines and was short-lived. Within 6h after intraperitoneal administration of 0.8 mmol/kg body wt., ornithine decarboxylase activity had returned to normal values. This return correlated with the rapid loss of the diamines from the liver, and the decrease in activity could be slightly prolonged by treatment with aminoguanidine, a diamine oxidase inhibitor. A decrease in ornithine decarboxylase activity by these diamines was accompanied by the accumulation in the liver of a nondiffusible inhibitor that decreased the activity of a purified ornithine decarboxylase preparation. The possibility that administration of non-physiological diamines that are not converted into polyamines might be useful for the inhibition of polyamine synthesis is discussed.
The identification of glycoproteins associated with elastic-tissue microfibrils
Authors: Sear C H J , Kewley M A , Jones C J P , Grant M E , Jackson D S
Published: August 2015

Cell cultures derived from foetal bovine ligamentum nuchae accumulate extracellular fibrils morphologically identical with elastic-tissue microfibrils. Two glycoproteins synthesized by the ligament cells are closely related to the matrix microfibrils as assessed by immunological and chemical extraction techniques.
The purification and properties of the second component of human complement
Authors: Kerr M A , Porter R R
Published: August 2015

The second component of human complement (C2) was purified by a combination of euglobulin precipitation, ion-exchange chromatography, (NH4)2SO4 precipitation and affinity chromatography. The final product was homogeneous by the criterion of polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and represents a purification of about 4000-fold from serum with 15-20% yield. Component C2 comprises a single carbohydrate-containing polypeptide chain, with an apparent mol.wt. of 102000; alanine is the N-terminal amino acid. The molecule is rapidly cleaved by activated subcomponent C1s with the loss of haemolytic activity to yield two fragments with apparent mol.wts. of 74000 and 34000. These fragments are not linked by disulphide bonds and can be easily separated. A second protein isolated during the purification of component C2 was identified by its haemolytic and antigenic properties as complement Factor B, the protein serving an analogous function to component C2 in the alternative pathway. The protein, which is also a single carbohydrate-containing polypeptide chain, has an apparent mol.wt. of 95000 and threonine as N-terminal amino acid. The amino acid analyses of component C2 and Factor B are compared.
Troponin I from human skeletal and cardiac muscles
Authors: Cummins P , Perry S V
Published: August 2015

1. Myofibrils from human skeletal muscle contained regulatory proteins exhibiting similar electrophoretic behaviour to those present in rabbit skeletal muscle. 2. All human skeletal muscles examined contained two forms of troponin I corresponding to the forms already characterized in fast and slow rabbit muscle. 3. The ratios of the amounts of the two forms of troponin I in different human skeletal muscles were not identical with the ratios for the type 1 to type 2 fibres published in the literature. The ratios could, however, be arranged in the same rank order. 4. Primate heart contained a single form of troponin I different in molecular weight and amino acid composition from the skeletal forms. 5. A monospecific antiserum to human cardiac troponin I was prepared in the sheep and shown not to react with the fast or slow skeletal-muscle forms of troponin I from human and other species. 6. The anti-(human cardiac-muscle troponin I) reacted with the cardiac troponin I from the human, baboon, rabbit and rhesus monkey. Positive reactions were also obtained with urea extracts of whole cardiac tissue.
Troponin-like proteins from muscles of the scallop, Aequipecten irradians
Authors: Goldberg A , Lehman W
Published: August 2015

Ca2+ regulation of molluscan actomyosin adenosine triphosphatase is known to be associated with the myosin molecule. Sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, however, also suggests the possible presence of troponin, a thin-filament-linked Ca2+-regulatory complex. In the present study, scallop troponin and tropomyosin were prepared and complexed with rabbit actin; the resulting synthetic thin filaments form a Ca2+-dependent actomyosin adenosine triphosphatase with Ca2+-insensitive rabbit myosin, indicating that the troponin in scallops is potentially functional. Scallop troponin I was isolated and mixed with chicken troponin C and troponin T, forming a functional hybrid troponin complex, indicating that scallop and vertebrate troponins may act by a common mechanism. Densitometry of sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide gels reveals that in synthetic thin filaments there are larger amounts of troponin than are present in native thin filaments. Amounts present in the intact muscle were not determined.
Purification of plasminogen activators from human seminal plasma
Authors: Propping D , Zaneveld L J D , Tauber P F , Schumacher G F B
Published: August 2015

Two plasminogen activators (1 and 2) were isolated from human seminal plasma by hiigh-speed centrifugation, Sephadex-gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography. The activators were shown to be homogeneous by polyacrylamide-disc -gel electrophoresis at pH 8.3 and 4.5, and by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. The molecular weights of activators 1 and 2 were estimated as 69 000 and 74 000. Their amino acid compositions are very similar, both being high in aspartic acid, glutamic acid, serine, glycine and leucine, and low in methionine, tryptophan, tyrosine, isoleucine and histidine. Activators 1 and 2 each possess 16 cysteine residues. Both activators have isoelectric points of approx. 7.0, are stable over a wide pH range at temperatures up to 60 degrees C, but lose activity at higher temperatures, particularly under very basic or acidic conditions. They are not inhibited by EDTA, Mg2+ and Ca2+ at 10 mM concentrations, but their activity decreases on addition of 10 mM-cysteine or Fe2+ and 6-aminohexanoate or sera from pregnant women. The precipitin band formed between urokinase and its antiserum is continuous with the precipitin bands formed between the seminal plasminogen activators and the urokinase antiserum. Antisera to urokinase inhibit both the activity of urokinase and the seminal plasminogen activators.
Comparison of the kinetic properties of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase in chloroplast extracts of spinach, sunflower and four other reductive pentose phosphate-pathway species
Authors: Delaney M E , Walker D A
Published: August 2015

Extracts from chloroplasts of spinach, sunflower and four other reductive pentose phosphate (C3)-pathway species were measured spectrophotometrically with or without a modified preactivation procedure. In all six species this modification yielded Km (CO2) values in the range of 7-15 micron and maximum velocities, at 20 degrees C, of 129-431 mumol of CO2 carboxylated/h per mg of chlorophyll. In general, both the carboxylation and electron-transport capacities of sunflower were somewhat greater than that of the other species, and this is discussed in relation to the superior rates of photosynthesis believed to be displayed by the parent tissue.
The influence of the type of sulphate bond and degree of sulphation of glycosaminoglycans on their interaction with lysosomal enzymes
Authors: Avila J L
Published: August 2015

Significant differences occur between the interaction of several sulphated glycosaminoglycans with a particular lysosomal protein, leading to inhibition in the case of lysosomal enzymes. The order of strength of inhibition at pH4 was: heparin greater than chondroitin 4-sulphate = chondroitin 6-sulphate greater than dermatan sulphate.
Isolation and structural characterization of alkali-labile oligosaccharides from bovine milk-fat-globule membrane
Authors: Farrar G H , Harrison R
Published: August 2015

Treatment of sialoglycopeptides derived from bovine milk-fat-globule membrane with alkaline borohydride released a reduced oligosaccharide fraction from which a tetrasaccharide and two trisaccharides were isolated. Periodate-oxidation studies coupled with methylation analysis and g.l.c.-mass spectrometry established their structures as: N-acetylneuraminyl-(2 leads to 3)-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-(1 leads to 3)-[N-acetylneuraminyl-(2 leads to 6)]-N-acetyl-D-galactosaminitol, N-acetylneuraminyl-(2 leads to 3)-D-glactopyranosyl-(1 leads to 3)-N-acetyl-D-galactosaminitol and beta-D-galactopyranosyl-(1 leads to 3)-[N-acteylneuraminyl-(2 leads to 6)]-N-acetyl-D-galactosaminitol respectively.
Electron-paramagnetic-resonance spectroscopy of complexes of xanthine oxidase with xanthine and uric acid
Authors: Bray R C , Barber M J , Lowe D J
Published: August 2015

Molybdenum(V) e.p.r. signals from reduced functional milk xanthine oxidase molecules (the Rapid signals), obtained in the presence of purine substrates and products, were further investigated [cf. Bray & Vänngård, (1969) Biochem. J. 114, 725-734; Pick & Bray (1969) Biochem. J. 114, 735-742]. Xanthine forms two complexes with the enzyme that are believed to correspond to different orientations of the substrate molecule in the active site. Only one complex appears to undergo the catalytic reaction. Non-productive complexes, analogous to theone with xanthine, are not formed by 1-methylxanthine or purine. Uric acid forms more than one e.p.r.-detectable complex, one of which is analogous to the non-productive xanthine complex. The computer program used for handing the e.p.r. data is described briefly.
The effects of pyruvate concentration, dichloroacetate and α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate on gluconeogenesis, ketogenesis and [3-hydroxybutyrate]/[3-oxobutyrate] ratios in isolated rat hepatocytes
Authors: Demaugre F , Leroux J P , Cartier P
Published: August 2015

1. In isolated rat hepatocytes incubated with pyruvate, ketogenesis increased with increasing pyruvate concentrations and decreased under the influence of 1 mM-alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate, a known inhibitor of pyruvate transport. Ketogenesis from pyruvate was higher by 30% in hepatocytes prepared from starved than from fed rats. 2. With pyruvate as substrate, 2 mM-dichloroacetate had no effect on ketogenesis of starved-rat hepatocytes, but increased ketogenesis of fed-rat hepatocytes to the ‘starved’ value. Gluconeogenesis from pyruvate, lactate and alanine, but not from glycerol, was inhibited by dichloroacetate. Both increased ketogenesis and decreased gluconeogenesis may result from an inhibition of pyruvate carboxylase by dichloroacetate. 3. Mitochondria were rapidly isolated from incubated hepatocytes, and [3-hydroxybutyrate]/[3-oxobutyrate] ratios were measured in the mitochondrial pellet (‘mitochondrial’ ratios) and in whole-cell suspensions (‘total’ ratios). Increasing pyruvate concentrations increased mitochondrial and decreased total ratios. In the presence of pyruvate (2 to 10 mM), dichloroacetate decreased mitochondrial and increased total ratios.
Absence of parallelism between polyamine and nucleic acid contents during induced growth of cucumber cotyledons
Authors: Suresh M R , Adiga P R
Published: August 2015

The cytokinins (benzyladenine or benzyladenosine) decreased spermidine and spermine contents despite increasing putrescine content, when administered to isolated cotyledons of Cucumis sativus L. var. Guntur in organ culture. KCl decreased putrescine contents, although marginally increasing polyamine contents. The cytokinins and/or KCl augmented nucleic acid biosynthesis and accumulation, resulting in enhanced growth and differentiation of the isolated cotyledons. These observations show that polyamine accumulation and growth are not always coupled.
The contribution of serum triacylglycerol to hepatic triacylglycerol turnover in the starved rat
Authors: Lipkin E W , Cooper C , Shipley R A
Published: August 2015

The present study was undertaken to evaluate quantitatively the turnover of serum triacylglycerol (triglyceride) in the starved rat and to determine whether serum triacylglycerol recycled to liver contributes a significant fraction of the total hepatic triacylglycerol turnover. Serum was labelled in vitro with [3H]trioleoylglycerol (glycerol [3H]trioleate) to provide uniform labelling of all lipoprotein species. By using the curves describing disappearance of isotope from serum and its appearance in liver, rate constants for movement of triacylglycerol out of serum (0.29 min-1) and the uptake of serum triacylglycerol by liver (0.22 min-1) were calculated. The total rate of movement (flux) of triacylglycerol in these processes, the product of rate constant and serum pool size, was calculated to be 0.39 and 0.29 mg/min per 100 g body wt. respectively. A model is postulated for whole-body triacylglycerol metabolism consistent with the present data as well as most observations in the literature. From the model it can be predicted that: (1) the entire turnover of liver triacylglycerol in the starved rat can be accounted for on the basis of contributions from serum non-esterified fatty acid and serum triacylglycerol; (2) the entire turnover of the serum triacylglycerol pool can be accounted for quantitatively on the basis of contributions from intestine and liver; (3) the release rate for triacylglycerol from liver should be 0.34 to 0.35 mg/min per 100 g body wt.; (4) triacylglycerol synthesized by liver from non-esterified fatty acid of serum and by intestine can account quantitatively for the irreversible disposal rate of triacylglycerol from serum.
Adenosine 3′:5′-cyclic monophosphate-dependent protein kinase(s) of rat ovarian cells. Gonadotropin regulation of adenosine 3′:5′-cyclic monophosphate-receptor activity
Authors: Menon K. M. Jairam , Azhar Salman
Published: August 2015

Regulation of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase, cyclic AMP-receptor activity and intracellular cyclic AMP concentrations by choriogonadotropin was studied in ovarian cells prepared from 26-day-old rats. A close correlation was observed between phospho-transferase activity and cyclic AMP-receptor activity in 12000g supernatant fractions from rat ovarian homogenate. The apparent activation constant (Ka) and I50 (concentration required to produce 50% inhibition) of different cyclic nucleotides for phosphotransferase and cyclic AMP receptor activities respectively were also determined. Cyclic AMP and 8-bromo cyclic AMP were most effective, giving Ka values of 0.08 and 0.09μm and I50 of 0.12 and 0.16μm respectively. Other nucleotides were also effective, but required higher concentrations to give a comparable effect. An increased concentration of cyclic AMP produced by choriogonadotropin (1μg/ml) treatment was accompanied by decreased cyclic AMP binding as early as 5min after hormone addition. Choriogonadotropin also stimulated the protein kinase activity ratio (−cyclic AMP/+cyclic AMP) under identical experimental conditions. The phosphodiesterase inhibitor 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine potentiated the action of choriogonadotropin on the three parameters measured in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The maximal cyclic AMP-binding capacity, as determined by cyclic AMP-exchange assay, remained unchanged before and after hormone addition. The endogenously bound cyclic AMP was determined from the difference between the maximal binding capacity and the exogenously bound cyclic AMP. With different choriogonadotropin concentrations, a quantitative correlation was established between maximal binding capacity, exogenous binding and endogenous binding activities. Approx. 60% of total binding sites were endogenously occupied in untreated cells, and choriogonadotropin (1μg/ml) treatment fully saturated available binding sites with a parallel 10-fold increase in cellular cyclic AMP. The present results provide evidence for a probable intracellular compartmentalization of cyclic AMP in the ovarian cell, and suggest that in the unstimulated state all cyclic AMP present in the ovarian cell may not be available for protein kinase activation.
Composition and distribution of glycosaminoglycans in cultures of human normal and malignant glial cells
Authors: Glimelius B , Norling B , Westermark B , Wasteson Å
Published: August 2015

The glycosaminoglycans of human cultured normal glial and malignant glioma cells were studied. [35S]Sulphate or [3H]glucosamine added to the culture medium was incorporated into glycosaminoglycans; labelled glycosaminoglycans were isolated by DEAE-cellulose chromatography or gel chromatography. A simple procedure was developed for measurement of individual sulphated glycosaminoglycans in cell-culture fluids. In normal cultures the glycosaminoglycans of the pericellular pool (trypsin-susceptible material), the membrane fraction (trypsin-susceptible material of EDTA-detached cells) and the substrate-attached material consisted mainly of heparan sulphate. The intra- and extra-cellular pools showed a predominance of dermatan sulphate. The net production of hyaluronic acid was low. The accumulation of 35S-labelled glycosaminoglycans in the extracellular pool was essentially linear with time up to 72h. The malignant glioma cells differed in most aspects tested. The total production of glycosaminoglycans was much greater owing to a high production of hyaluronic acid and hyaluronic acid was the major cell-surface-associated glycosaminoglycan in these cultures. Among the sulphated glycosaminoglycans chondroitin sulphate, rather than heparan sulphate, was the predominant species of the pericellular pool. This was also true for the membrane fraction and substrate-attached material. Furthermore, the accumulation of extracellular 35S-labelled glycosaminoglycans was initially delayed for several hours and did not become linear with time until after 24 h of incubation. The glioma cells produced little dermatan sulphate and the dermatan sulphate chains differed from those of normal cultures with respect to the distribution of iduronic acid residues. The observed differences between normal glial and malignant glioma cells were not dependent on cell density; rather they were due to the malignant transformation itself.
The similarity of the two high-molecular-weight polypeptides of erythrocyte spectrin
Authors: Dunn M J , Kemp R B , Maddy A H
Published: August 2015

1. The two major polypeptides (P1 and P2) of erythrocyte-membrane spectrin were isolated by preparative polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. 2. The two polypeptides were shown to possess similar amino acid compositions, both with the characteristically high glutamate and leucine contents of the parent spectrin. 3. The tryptic-peptide ‘maps’ of the two polypeptides were prepared by a combination of t.l.c. and electrophoresis. 4. Radioactive peptides were prepared by [14C]carboxymethylation and chloramine-T-catalysed [125I]iodination. 5. ‘Maps’ of both sets of peptides demonstrate a marked similarity between the two polypeptides. 6. These new data confirm earlier evidence for the similarity of the two chains. 7. The number of peptides in the ‘maps’ of carboxymethylated peptides suggest that polypeptides P1 and P2 are not aggregates.
The inactivation of native enzymes by a neutral proteinase from rat intestinal muscle
Authors: Beynon R J , Kay J
Published: August 2015

1. The solubilization and partial purification of a proteinase from the intestinal smooth muscle of rats fed on protein-free diets are described. 2. It has a mol.wt. of about 33000 and it is stable over a narrow pH range. 3. From its susceptibility to known modifers of proteolytic enzymes, it appears to be a serine proteinase of a trypsin-like nature. Active-site titration with soya-bean trypsin inhibitor shows that the concentration of proteinase was about 3 microgram/g wet wt. of intestinal smooth muscle. However, the muscle proteinase demonstrates a marked ability for inactivating enzymes in their native conformation at neutral pH. It is about 100 times more efficient than pancreatic trypsin when the inactivating activities are compared on an approximately equimolar basis. 4. Inactivation of the substrate enzymes is accompanied by limited proteolysis, as demonstrated by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. 5. An endogenous inhibitor was separated from the proteinase by fractionation with (NH4)2SO4. 6. Contamination of the muscle tissue by lumen, mucosal or blood proteinases and inhibitors is shown to be unlikely. 7. A role for the neutral trypsin-like proteinase in initiating the degradation of intracellular enzymes is considered.
Gel filtration of sialoglycoproteins
Authors: Alhadeff J A
Published: August 2015

The role of sialic acid in the gel-filtration behaviour of sialoglycoproteins was investigated by using the separated isoenzymes of purified human liver alpha-L-fucosidase and several other well-known sialic acid-containing glycoproteins (fetuin, alpha1-acid glycoprotein, thyroglobulin and bovine submaxillary mucin). For each glycoprotein studied, gel filtration of its desialylated derivative gave an apparent molecular weights much less than that expected just from removal of sialic acid. For the lower-molecular-weight glycoproteins (fetuin and alpha1-acid glyocprotein), gel filtration of the sialylated molecules led to apparent molecular weights much larger than the known values. The data indicate that gel filtration cannot be used for accurately determining the molecular weights of at least some sialoglycoproteins.
Velocity sedimentation of organelles at low centrifugal force in an isokinetic gradient
Authors: Pretlow T G , Kreisberg J I , Fine W D , Zieman G A , Brattain M G , Pretlow T P
Published: August 2015

Mast-cell granules and polystyrene microspheres (0.600 and 1.011 micrometer in diameter) were sedimented in a previously described [Pretlow (1971) Anal. Biochem. 41, 248–255] isokinetic gradient in a low-speed centrifuge. For the analytical velocity sedimentation of organelles, this gradient offers several advantages over gradients that are commonly used for the sedimentation of organelles: (a) the density gradient (0.0008 g.ml-1.cm-1) is small, and the effective densities of organelles will change relatively little during sedimentation; (b) the densities at all points in the gradient (1.017–1.027 g/ml) are less than those in gradients commonly used for the sedimentation of organelles, the effective densities of sedimenting organelles are consequently relatively large, and the effect of density as a determinant of velocity of sedimentation is less limiting than in conventional gradients; (c) the small slope of the gradient is associated with a relatively slow increase in the viscosity encountered by the sedimenting organelle; (d) the iso-osmotic gradient is not significantly affected by the gradient medium (Ficoll), and the osmolarity can be adjusted to the desired value by the selection of an appropriate salt solution as the solvent for the Ficoll; (e) the gradient will be isokinetic for particles of densities similar to most organelles. An ultracentrifuge is not required for work with this gradient.
Turnover of metallothioneins in rat liver
Authors: Andersen R D , Winter W P , Maher J J , Bernstein I A
Published: August 2015

Two electrophoretically distinguishable metallothioneins were isolated from the livers of Cd2+-treated rats and had thiol group/metal ratios of 3:1, a total metal content, in each of these proteins, of 3.6 atoms of Cd2+ + 2.4 atoms of Zn2+/molecule and 4.2 atoms of Cd2+ + 2.8 atoms of Zn2+/molecule and respective apoprotein mol.wts. of 5844 and 6251. Studies with 1 h pulse labels of [3H]cysteine, given after a single injection of ZnCl2 or CdCl2, showed that these metals stimulated radioactive isotope incorporation into the metallothioneins over the control value by 10- and 15-fold respectively. This stimulation was maximal at 4 h after a single CdCl2 injection and decreased to control values by 16 h, suggesting that either a translational event is responding to free intracellular Cd2+ or a short-lived mRNA is being produced or stabilized in response to the metal treatment. In rats chronically exposed to CdCl2, the metallothioneins increased to 0.2% of the liver wet weight from a control value of 2–4 mumol/kg of liver, with a maximum rate of accumulation of 2–3 mumol/h per kg of liver. The turnover of these proteins in control animals was 0.3–0.6 mumoles/h per kg of liver, measured by the rate of disappearance of 203Hg2+, which binds irreversibly to the metallothioneins. Pretreatment with CdCl2 completely stopped the rapid 203Hg turnover observed in untreated animals. Unlike CdCl2, treatment with ZnCl2 increased the concentration of metallothioneins to a new steady-state pool, 11 mumole/kg of liver, after 10 h. The increase in the zinc-thionein pool by exposure to ZnCl2 in vivo was determined to be primarily due to a stimulation of metallothionein biosynthesis.
Evidence for the involvement of superoxide in vitamin K-dependent carboxylation of glutamic acid residues of prothrombin
Authors: Esnouf M P , Green M R , Hill H A , Irvine G B , Walter S J
Published: August 2015

The formation of vitamin K epoxide and the vitamin K-dependent carboxylation of glutamic acid residues present in synthetic substrates and decarboxyprothrombin are both inhibited by superoxide dismutase. Catalase only inhibits the generation of vitamin K epoxide, suggesting that the carboxylation and epoxidation reactions are not inter-dependent.
Utilization by the isolated perfused rat liver of N-acetyl-d-[1-14C]galactosamine and N-[3H]acetyl-d-galactosamine for the biosynthesis of glycoproteins
Authors: MacNicoll A D , Wusteman F S , Powell G M , Curtis C G
Published: August 2015

The isolated perfused rat liver system has been used to monitor the utilization of N-[3H]acetyl-D-galactosamine and N-acetyl-D-[1-14C]galactosamine for the biosynthesis of radiolabelled glycoproteins, which are subsequently secreted into the plasma. Both radiolabels appear in a number of different glycoproteins, predominantly as sialic acid and N-acetylglucosamine. The ratio of labelled sialic acid to labelled N-acetylglucosamine varies for different glycoproteins, but the bulk of N-acetyl-D-galactosamine is incorporated without deacetylation.
Effect of adrenalectomy on acceleration of gluconeogenesis by calcium ions, adenosine 3′:5′-cyclic monophosphate and adrenaline in rat kidney tubules
Authors: MacDonald D W R , Saggerson E D
Published: August 2015

1. Gluconeogenesis from pyruvate was measured in renal-cortical-tubules fragments prepared from fed male rats 6-8 days after adrenalectomy or sham adrenalectomy. The response of this process to 3′:5′-cyclic AMP and adrenaline was compared in these two states at two Ca2+ concentrations. 2. Adrenalectomy decreased the percentage stimulation of gluconeogenesis by 3′:5′-cyclic AMP, but increased percentage stimulation by adrenaline. Cortisol treatment of adrenalectomized rats (50 mg/kg, twice daily for 2 days) did not reverse the change in responsiveness to 3′:5′-cyclic AMP and adrenaline. 3. Stimulation of gluconeogenesis by 1 micron-adrenaline was unaffected by 10 micron-propranolol (beta-blocker) in either state. Phentolamine (alpha-blocker; 10 micron) totally blocked stimulation of gluconeogenesis by 1 micron-adrenaline in the sham-operated condition, but was only partially effective in this respect after adrenalectomy.
Effects of glucagon and insulin on fatty acid synthesis and glycogen degradation in the perfused liver of normal and genetically obese (ob/ob) mice
Authors: Ma G Y , Gove C D , Hems D A
Published: August 2015

1. Rapid effects of hormones on glycogen metabolism and fatty acid synthesis in the perfused liver of the mouse were studied. 2. In perfusions lasting 2h, of livers from normal mice, glucagon in successive doses, each producing concentrations of 10(-10) or 10(-9)M, inhibited fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis. In perfusions lasting 40–50 min, in which medium was not recycled, inhibition of fatty acid synthesis was only observed with glucagon at concentrations greater than 10(-9)M. This concentration was about two orders of magnitude higher than that required for the stimulation of glycogen breakdown. Glucagon did not inhibit the activity of acetyl-CoA carboxylase, assayed 10 or 20 min after addition of glucagon (10(-9) or 10(-10)M). It is proposed that the action of glucagon on hepatic fatty acid biosynthesis could be secondary in time to depletion of glycogen. Insulin prevented the effect of glucagon (10(-10)M) on glycogenolysis, but not that of vasopressin. 3. Livers of genetically obese (ob/ob) mice did not show significant inhibition of lipid biosynthesis in response to glucagon, although there was normal acceleration of glycogen breakdown. This resistance to glucagon action was not reversed by food deprivation. Livers of obese mice exhibited resistance to the counteraction by insulin of glucagon-stimulated glycogenolysis, which was reversible by partial food deprivation.
Metabolic activation of acetylenic substituents to derivatives in the rat causing the loss of hepatic cytochrome P-450 and haem
Authors: White Ian N. H.
Published: August 2015

1. A number of acetylenic-substituted steroidal and non-steroidal compounds, including 2,2-dipropargylacetamide, pregna-2,4-dien-20-yno[2,3-d]isoxazol-17-ol (Danazol) and acetylene gas, when administered to rats in vivo brought about a decrease in the concentrations of hepatic microsomal cytochrome P-450 and haem. Abnormal haem-breakdown products, ‘green pigments’, and porphyrins accumulated in the livers of these animals. 2. For loss of microsomal cytochrome P-450 to occur in vitro, metabolic activation of the acetylenic substituent was necessary. The enzyme system responsible required NADPH and air, and was induced by pretreatment of rats with phenobarbitone; these are characteristics typical of the microsomal mixed-function oxidases. 3. When rats were dosed with 17α-ethynyl-17β-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3-one (ethynyltestosterone, 1mmol/kg) the pattern of green pigments extracted from the liver 4h after dosing and separated by t.l.c. was quite different from that in rats given 17β-hydroxy-17α-vinylandrost-4-en-3-one (vinyltestosterone), suggesting that reduction of the unsaturated triple bond to a double bond is not normally part of the metabolic activation pathway of the acetylenic substituent. 4. The green pigments extracted from the livers of rats 4h after the administration of the acetylenic-substituted compounds (1mmol/kg) when separated by silica-gel t.l.c. had variable RF values. The number and distribution of green pigments was characteristic for each compound examined. There was little correlation between the total loss of hepatic microsomal haem and the apparent intensity of the green pigments seen on the thin-layer chromatograms. 5. After incubation of [14C]acetylene in vitro with microsomal preparations from phenobarbitone-pretreated rats and a NADPH-generating system, no significant covalent binding to microsomal protein was detected over a 30min incubation period, although under similar conditions there was a significant loss of cytochrome P-450.
The submicrosomal localization of acyl-coenzyme A–cholesterol acyltransferase and its substrate, and of cholesteryl esters in rat liver
Authors: Balasubramaniam Santhirasegaram , Venkatesan Soundararajan , Mitropoulos Konstantinos A. , Peters Timothy J.
Published: August 2015

To determine the submicrosomal distribution of acyl-CoA–cholesterol acyltransferase and of cholesteryl esters, the microsomal fraction and the digitonin-treated microsomal preparation of rat liver were subjected to analytical centrifugation on sucrose density gradients. With untreated microsomal fractions the distribution profile and the median density of acyl-CoA–cholesterol acyltransferase were very similar to those of RNA. This is in contrast with hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase and cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase, which are confined to endoplasmic reticulum membranes with low ribosomal coating. In digitonin-treated microsomal preparations activity of acyl-CoA–cholesterol acyltransferase was not detectable. The labelling of untreated microsomal fractions with trace amounts of [14C]cholesterol followed by subfractionation of the labelled microsomal fraction showed that the specific radioactivity of cholesteryl esters obtained in vitro by the various subfractions was similar with all subfractions but different from the specific radioactivity of the 7α-hydroxycholesterol obtained in vitro by the same subfraction. These results demonstrate the existence of two pools of cholesterol confined to membranes from the endoplasmic reticulum, one acting as substrate for cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase and the other acting as substrate for acyl-CoA–cholesterol acyltransferase. The major part of cholesteryl esters present in both untreated and digitonin-treated microsomal fractions was distributed at densities similar to those of membranes from the smooth endoplasmic reticulum and at densities lower than those of smooth membranes from Golgi apparatus. The ratio of the concentrations of non-esterified to esterified cholesterol in the subfractions from both untreated and digitonin-treated microsomal fractions was highest at the maximum distribution of plasma membranes.
Isolation and characterization of the subunits of bovine follitropin
Authors: Cheng K W
Published: August 2015

Highly purified bovine follitropin was dissociated into its alpha- and beta-subunits after treatment with 1 M-propionic acid. The dissociated subunits were fractionated by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and further purified by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100. The isolated alpha- and beta-subunits were biologically inactive, but their recombinants regenerated 80% of the follitropin activity. The alpha-subunit of bovine follitropin recombined with the beta-subunits of bovine lutropin and thyrotropin to regenerate 70% of lutropin and 50% of thyrotropin activities respectively. The beta-subunit of bovine follitropin recombined with the alpha-subunit of either bovine lutropin or thyrotropin to regenerate about 75% of follitropin activity. Recombinations were monitored by specific radioligand-receptor assays and polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. The elution volumes of the alpha- and beta-subunits of bovine follitropin after gel filtration on Sephadex G-100 were almost identical. The amino acid composition of bovine follitropin-alpha was low in histidine, arginine, isoleucine and leucine, but relatively high in lysine, threonine and glutamic acid. The bovine follitropin-beta contained one methionine residue and low amounts of histidine and phenylalanine, but relatively high in aspartic acid, threonine and glutamic acid. The N-terminal residues of the alpha- and beta-subunits of bovine follitropin were identified to be phenylalanine and glycine respectively.
Effects of zinc ion on the conformation of antigenic determinants on insulin
Authors: Arquilla E R , Thiene P , Brugman T , Ruess W , Sugiyama R
Published: August 2015

Comparison of c.d. spectra of Zn-insulin with Zn2+-free insulin demonstrated significant differences. It has been proposed that these differences are due to either changes in the structure of insulin monomers within aggregated insulins or the results of insulin aggregation. The effect of Zn2+ on the immunological activity of insulin indicated that the antigenic determinants of insulin were also altered. The apparent loss of immunological activity of monoiodotyrosylinsulin was demonstrated to be due to the loss of Zn2+ rather than the substitution of iodine. The immunological activity of Zn-insulin and Zn2+-free insulin was compared in both the radioimmune and immune haemolysis-inhibition assays by using an identical population of antibodies and concentrations of inhibitor. Relative to Zn-insulin, Zn2+-free insulin had a markedly attenuated immunological activity in the immune haemolysis-inhibition assay, whereas in the radioimmune assay slightly greater immunological activity was observed with the Zn2+-free insulin. These observations are submitted as evidence that the removal of Zn2+ perturbs the conformation of determinants that react with antibodies operative in the immune haemolysis-inhibition assay (immune haemolysis determinants) and has a minimal effect on the conformation of determinants that react with antibodies operative in the radioimmune assay (radioimmune determinants).
Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase from the crassulacean plant Bryophyllum fedtschenkoi Hamet et Perrier. Purification, molecular and kinetic properties
Authors: Jones R , Wilkins M B , Coggins J R , Fewson C A , Malcolm A D B
Published: August 2015

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase from the Crassulacean plant Bryophyllum fedtschenkoi has been purified to homogenetity by DEAE-cellulose treatment, (NH4)2SO4 fractionation,, and chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and hydroxyapatite. Poly(ethylene glycol) is required in the extraction medium to obtain maximum enzyme activity. The purified enzyme has a specific activity of about 26 units/mg of protein at 25 degrees C. It gives a single band on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, corresponding to a mol.wt. of 105,000, and gives a single band on non-denaturing gel electrophoresis at pH8.4. Cross-linking studies at pH8.0 indicate that the subunit structure is tetrameric but that the dimer may also be an important unit of polymerization. Gel filtration results at pH6.7 confirm that the native enzyme is tetrameric with a concentration-dependent dissociation to a dimer. The kinetic behaviour is characterized by (i) relatively small variations in maximum velocity between pH5.5 and 9.0 with a double optimum, (ii) a reversible temperature-dependent inactivation between 30 and 45 degrees C, (iii) inhibition by malate, which is pH-sensitive, and (iv) almost Michaelis-Menten behaviour with phosphoenolpyruvate as the varied ligand but sigmoidal behaviour under suitable conditions with malate as the varied ligand. The findings are related to other studies to the possible role phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase in controlling a circadian rhythm of CO2 fixation.
Affinity labelling with a deaminatively generated carbonium ion. Kinetics and stoicheiometry of the alkylation of methionine-500 of the lacZ
β-galactosidase of Escherichia coli by β-d-galactopyranosylmethyl-p-nitrophenyltriazene
Authors: Sinnott M L , Smith P J
Published: August 2015

1. beta-D-Galactopyranosylmethyl-p-nitrophenyltriazene is an active-site-directed irreversible inhibitor of Mg2+-bound and Mg2+-free lacZ beta-galactosidase from Escherichia coli. 2. The Mg2+-enzyme binds the inhibitor more tightly but the complex then decomposes less rapidly than is the case with Mg2+-free enzyme. 3. Loss of enzyme activity is a linear function of the fraction of enzyme protomers to which are attached beta-D-galactopranosyl[14C]methyl residues: complete inactivation of fully active enzyme results in incorporation of 0.91 equivalent of carbohydrate label per enzyme protomer. 4. When the beta-galactopyranosylmethyl cation is generated in the active site of Mg2+-enzyme, it is captured essentially completely by the protein, but in the active site of Mg2+-free enzyme it is only captured with an efficiency of 25%. 5. Labelled enzyme was carboxymethylated and digested with trypsin; acidic hydrolysis of the isolated tryptic peptide, and field-desorption mass spectrometry of the isolated radioactive derivative, showed it to be 2,5-dioxo-3[2-(beta-D-galactopyranosylmethylthio)ethyl]-1,6-trimethylenepiperazine. 6. This is considered to have arisen from labelling of the sulphur atom of a methionine residue adjacent to a proline residue. 7. The complete amino acid sequence of the molecule [Fowler & Zabin (1977) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 74, 1507-1510] enables the labelled methionine residue to be identified as either Met-421 or Met-500. 8. Sequence data [Fowler, Zabin, Sinnott & Smith (1978) J. Biol. Chem. in the press] show the site of attack to be Met-500.
Relationship between biotin-binding proteins from chicken plasma and egg yolk
Authors: Mandella R D , Meslar H W , White H B
Published: August 2015

The plasma of laying hens contains a specific biotin-binding protein that appears to be identical with an egg-yolk biotin-binding protein. Both proteins are saturated with biotin and require elevated temperatures to effect the exchange of [14C]biotin for the protein-bound vitamin. The heat-exchange curve in each case is the same and differs sharply from that of avidin, the egg-white biotin-binding protein. On Sephadex G-100 gel filtration, plasma and yolk biotin-binding proteins were each eluted slightly ahead of avidin (mol.wt. 68,000), suggesting that they are of similar molecular weight. Plasma and yolk biotin-binding proteins required the same ionic strength to be eluted from a phosphocellulose ion-exchange column. Both the plasma and yolk biotin-binding proteins had a pI of 5; avidin has a pI of 10. Plasma biotin-binding protein cross-reacted with antiserum to yolk biotin-binding protein and showed a precipitin line of identity with purified yolk biotin-binding protein. It is suggested that biotin-binding plays an important role in mediating the transport of the vitamin from the bloodstream to the developing oocyte.
Rabbit liver acetyl-CoA synthetase
Authors: Woodnutt G , Parker D S
Published: August 2015

Acetyl-CoA synthetase (EC 6.2.1.1) was assayed in subcellular fractions of rabbit liver homogenates. The activity was located almost exclusively in the cytosol. There was no decrease in activity when butyrate or propionate (each at 5–20 mM) were added to the assay medium.
Mechanism of the reaction of papain with substrate-derived diazomethyl ketones. Implications for the difference in site specificity of halomethyl ketones for serine proteinases and cysteine proteinases and for stereoelectronic requirements in the papain catalytic mechanism
Authors: Brocklehurst K , Malthouse J P G
Published: August 2015

The reactions of papain (EC 3.4.22.2) with substrate-derived diazomethyl ketones reported by Leary, Larsen, Watanabe & Shaw [Biochemistry (1977) 16, 5857–5861] are unusual in that (i) these reagents fail to react with low-molecular-weight thiols and (ii) the rate of reaction with the papain thiol group does not decrease to near-zero values across a pKa of 4 as the pH is decreased. Existing data are shown to suggest an interpretation involving neighbouring-group participation via transient thiohemiketal formation, rate-determining protonation by imidazolium ion and alkylation on sulphur via a three-membered cyclic transition state. Implications for (a) the difference in site-specificity exhibited by halomethyl ketones in their reactions with serine proteinases and cysteine proteinases and (b) stereoelectronic requirements in the mechanism of papain-catalysed hydrolysis are discussed. The possibility of two tetrahedral intermediates between adsorptive complex and acyl-enzyme is indicated.