bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Identification of flavanone metabolites in rat urine by combined gas–liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry
Authors: Das N. P. , Scott K. N. , Duncan J. H.
Published: August 2015

1. The metabolism of flavanone in the rat was studied after oral or intraperitoneal administration of the compound. Flavone and flav-3-ene together with five other unidentified minor metabolites were excreted in the urine. 2. The formation of flavanone metabolites was not suppressed by the administration of high doses of the antibacterial compounds aureomycin and phthaloylsulphathiazole. 3. No aromatic acids that could be attributed to ring cleavage of flavanone were detected. 4. Administration of 100 or 200mg of flavanone daily per rat caused some deaths during the 7–14-day period. 5. The application of combined gas–liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry and proton nuclear-magnetic-resonance spectroscopy to the separation and identification of the flavanone metabolites is described. 6. Measurement of the two major flavanone metabolites was carried out by gas–liquid chromatography.
The effects of iron-limited growth on the reduced nicotinamide–adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase activity and the membrane proteins of Candida utilis mitochondria
Authors: Clegg Roger A. , Skyrme Jean E.
Published: August 2015

1. The mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase (EC 1.6.99.3) of Candida utilis exhibited altered properties when the organism was grown under iron-limited conditions. No suitable acceptor was found for assay of this enzyme from iron-limited cells. 2. Mitochondrial membrane proteins from C. utilis were analysed by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. Compared with glycerol-limited cells, iron limitation resulted in the loss of at least two polypeptides from the mitochondrial membrane. 3. Neither of the polypeptides affected by iron limitation was part of a cytochrome, although one of them was part of the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase. 4. Non-haem iron of mitochondrial membranes was released in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate, and electrophoresis in solutions of this detergent cannot be used directly to identify iron–sulphur proteins. Non-ionic detergents do not release non-haem iron but nor do they provide a satisfactory system for electrophoretic separation.
Progesterone and the metabolic control of the lactose biosynthetic pathway during lactogenesis in the rat
Authors: Murphy Gillian , Ariyanayagam Ari D. , Kuhn N. J.
Published: August 2015

1. Lactogenesis was initiated in pregnant rats by ovariectomy, thereby causing progesterone withdrawal, after which the mammary tissue was analysed for contents of enzymes and metabolites concerned with the biosynthesis of lactose. 2. Lactose synthesis increased about 126-fold with little or no accompanying change in the contents of most metabolic intermediates or in the adenine nucleotide energy charge. 3. Comparison of mass-action ratios with equilibrium constants showed that phosphoglucomutase (EC 2.7.5.1), UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (EC 2.7.7.9) and UDP-glucose epimerase (EC 5.1.3.2.) catalysed reactions close to equilibrium. Nucleoside diphosphokinase (EC 2.7.4.6.) activity was very high and probably equilibrates the UTP–UDP and ATP–ADP couples. Lactose synthetase and hexokinase (EC 2.7.1.1) appeared to catalyse rate-limiting reactions. 4. Large increases were seen of UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (5-fold), lactose synthetase A protein (3.8-fold) and α-lactalbumin (28-fold), but not of hexokinase, phosphoglucomutase, UDP-glucose epimerase, nucleoside diphosphokinase or glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.49) activities. 5. It appeared that the increased lactose synthesis was largely accounted for by the increased lactose synthetase A protein activity and α-lactalbumin.
Stimulation of ornithine decarboxylase activity and inhibition of S-adenosyl-l-methionine decarboxylase activity in leukaemic mice by methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone)
Authors: Heby Olle , Sauter Sharon , Russell Diane H.
Published: August 2015

Administration of methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) to leukaemic mice results in an early depression followed by a marked elevation of S-adenosyl-l-methionine decarboxylase activity. Further, there is an early prolonged increase in the activity of ornithine decarboxylase, the initial enzyme in the polyamine biosynthetic pathway. Because of the profound effects of methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) in vivo on the polyamine biosynthetic pathway, the drug can no longer be considered a specific inhibitor of spermidine synthesis.
The molecular form of acetylcholinesterase as determined by irradiation inactivation (Short Communication)
Authors: Levinson S. R. , Ellory J. C.
Published: August 2015

The molecular size of acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.7) from the electric organ of Electrophorus electricus and erythrocyte ‘ghosts’ was estimated in both membrane-bound and purified preparations by irradiation inactivation. Results suggest that the form of the enzyme in the membrane is a monomer of molecular weight approx. 75000 and that multiple forms of the enzyme observed in solubilized preparations are aggregates of this monomer.
Triose phosphate isomerase from the coelacanth. An approach to the rapid determination of an amino acid sequence with small amounts of material
Authors: Kolb Edith , Harris J. Ieuan , Bridgen John
Published: August 2015

The preparation and purification of cyanogen bromide fragments from [14C]carboxymethylated coelacanth triose phosphate isomerase is presented. The automated sequencing of these fragments, the lysine-blocked tryptic peptides derived from them, and also of the intact protein, is described. Combination with results from manual sequence analysis has given the 247-residue amino acid sequence of coelacanth triose phosphate isomerase in 4 months, by using 100mg of enzyme. (Two small adjacent peptides were placed by homology with the rabbit enzyme.) Comparison of this sequence with that of the rabbit muscle enzyme shows that 207 (84%) of the residues are identical. This slow rate of evolutionary change (corresponding to two amino acid substitutions per 100 residues per 100 million years) is similar to that found for glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase. The reliability of sequence information obtained by automated methods is discussed.
An amino acid sequence in the active site of lipoamide dehydrogenase from pig heart
Authors: Brown Joseph P. , Perham Richard N.
Published: August 2015

1. The two cysteine residues forming the disulphide bridge that comprises part of the active site of lipoamide dehydrogenase from pig heart were specifically labelled with iodo[2-14C]acetic acid. 2. A tryptic peptide containing these carboxymethylcysteine residues was isolated from digests of reduced and S-carboxymethylated lipoamide dehydrogenase and its amino acid sequence of 23 residues was determined. 3. The sequence is highly homologous with a similar sequence containing the active-site disulphide bridge of lipoamide dehydrogenase derived from the 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex of Escherichia coli (Crookes strain) and it is probable that, as in the bacterial enzyme, the disulphide bridge forms an intrachain loop containing six residues. The results indicate that the bacterial and mammalian proteins have a common genetic origin. 4. Amino acid sequences containing six other unique carboxymethylcysteine residues were also partly determined. 5. The analysis of the primary structure thus far is consistent with the view that the enzyme (mol.wt. approx. 110000) is composed of two identical polypeptide chains.
Catalysis of pentose phosphate pathway reactions by cytoplasmic fractions from muscle, uterus and liver of the rat, and the presence of a reduced nicotinamide–adenine dinucleotide phosphate–triose phosphate oxidoreductase in rat muscle
Authors: Wood Terry
Published: August 2015

1. The enzymes of the pentose phosphate pathway were assayed in supernatant fractions from rat muscle, liver and uterus. 2. On incubation of ribose 5-phosphate with uterus and liver supernatants, triose phosphate, sedoheptulose 7-phosphate and hexose monophosphate accumulated. 3. When a muscle supernatant was used, glycerol 3-phosphate instead of triose phosphate appeared and there was a negligible accumulation of hexose monophosphate. 4. Hexose monophosphate production from ribose 5-phosphate was also followed by measuring NADP+ reduction in the presence of an excess of phosphoglucose isomerase, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase. 5. With a muscle supernatant, NADPH was reoxidized as rapidly as it was formed owing to the presence of a NADPH–triose phosphate oxidoreductase. 6. A modification of the pentose phosphate pathway in skeletal muscle incorporating this enzyme is proposed.
The involvement of endogenous dolichol in the formation of lipid-linked precursors of glycoprotein in rat liver
Authors: Martin H. G. , Thorne Kareen J. I.
Published: August 2015

Endogenous dolichol was shown to function as a natural acceptor of mannose residues by using regenerating rat liver containing [3H]dolichol. When subcellular fractions from this liver were incubated with GDP-[14C]mannose a double-labelled lipid, which represented 30% of the total [14C]mannolipid, could be isolated. This lipid was shown to be identical with the dolichol phosphate mannose formed from exogenous dolichol phosphate, by chromatography, stability to alkali and by chemical cleavage to mannose and dolichol derivatives. It was formed by the rough endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. If it is concerned in glycoprotein synthesis this would suggest that it functions in the formation of both secreted and mitochondrial glycoproteins. When both the dolichol and retinol of rat tissue were radioactive they made similar contributions to the synthesis of the lipid by liver microsomal fractions and intestinal epithelial cells.
Contamination of free-ribosome fractions by detached previously membrane-bound ribosomes (Short Communication)
Authors: O'Toole K.
Published: August 2015

A rough-membrane fraction isolated from rat liver by a procedure designed to prevent membrane denaturation was subjected to the gradient treatment normally used to isolate free ribosomes. Under these conditions, at most 20% of the ribosomes were detached from membrane with less than 5% sedimenting into the free-polyribosome pellet.
The action of trialkyltin compounds on mitochondrial respiration. The effect of pH
Authors: Dawson Alan P. , Selwyn Michael J.
Published: August 2015

1. Inhibition of 2,4-dinitrophenol-stimulated respiration by trialkyltins is dependent on the presence of Cl− in the assay medium and is only apparent at acid pH values. It appears to be a result of the Cl−–OH− exchange mediated by trialkyltins. 2. In a KCl medium at alkaline pH values, the maximum rate of respiration produced by uncouplers is further increased by the presence of trialkyltins. 3. The inhibition of uncoupled succinate oxidation at acid pH values is not reversed by increasing the external substrate concentration, suggesting that depletion of intramitochondrial succinate is not an important factor in the inhibition. 4. It is suggested that the probable explanation for these observations is that in the presence of Cl− trialkyltins alter the internal pH to a more acid value and this directly affects the activity of one or more steps in succinate oxidation. 5. The oligomycin-like action of trialkyltins in a Cl−-free medium shows considerable pH-dependence over the pH range 6.6–7.6 in the presence of 10mm-phosphate, but very much less pH-dependence in the presence of 1mm-phosphate. 6. The binding of triethyltin to mitochondria shows a pK at pH6.3 and does not change greatly over the pH range 6.6–7.6. 7. It is suggested that the pH-dependence of the oligomycin-like action described by Coleman & Palmer (1971) is the result of the pH-dependence of the formation of a hydrophilic complex between trialkyltins and Pi.
The distribution of blood-group antigens on butanol extraction of human erythrocyte ‘ghosts’
Authors: Anstee D. J. , Tanner M. J. A.
Published: August 2015

The distribution of protein and blood-group-antigen activity obtained after butanol extraction of erythrocyte `ghosts' under various conditions is described. Butanol extraction under low-ionic strength conditions results in the recovery of membrane protein in high yield in the aqueous phase. Blood-group-A activity is found in both the aqueous and butanol phases, whereas blood-group-P activity is confined to the butanol phase and blood-group-I and blood-group-MN activity are restricted to the aqueous phase. Much lower yields of protein are obtained in the aqueous phase when high-ionic-strength conditions are used. An appreciable amount of material is precipitated at the interface. Under these conditions blood-group-P activity is found only in the butanol phase, blood group-A activity in the butanol phase and interface material and only blood-group-MN activity in the aqueous phase. In contrast with previous reports no correlation could be demonstrated between the secretor status of the donors and the presence of blood-group-A activity in the aqueous phase after butanol extraction under any of the extraction conditions used. By using butanol extraction under high-ionic-strength conditions it is possible to isolate the blood-group-MN-active sialoglycoprotein in high yield from erythrocyte `ghosts' by a simple procedure.
Mechanisms for the formation of alanine and aspartate on rat liver in vivo after administration of ammonium chloride
Authors: Brosnan John T. , Williamson Dermot H.
Published: August 2015

1. The time-course of the changes in the concentrations of hepatic metabolites in response to a non-toxic load of NH4Cl were measured in fed and starved rats. 2. There was a rapid increase (after 2min) in [alanine] and [aspartate] which remained high for 10–15min; the absolute increase in [alanine] was smaller in starved rats. 3. These changes were accompanied by a decrease in [oxoglutarate] and in the [3-hydroxybutyrate]/[acetoacetate] ratio. 4. Prior administration of l-arginine to fed rats resulted in smaller increases in [alanine] and [aspartate] after the ammonia load. This is presumably due to stimulation of the urea cycle. 5. Increased formation of alanine in starved rats occurred after prior administration of dihydroxyacetone to increase the availability of pyruvate. 6. Administration of l-cycloserine, an inhibitor of glutamate–alanine aminotransferase, completely prevented the increase in [alanine] after the ammonia load; in this case the absolute increase in [aspartate] was higher. 7. [Oxoglutarate], [citrate] and [isocitrate] at 25min after the ammonia load were higher than the initial concentrations, but returned to normal by 50min. It is suggested that this `overshoot' may be due to temporary compartmentation of oxoglutarate. 8. The mechanisms and physiological significance of alanine and aspartate formation in these experiments are discussed.
Teichoic acid synthesis in Bacillus stearothermophilus
Authors: Kennedy L. D.
Published: August 2015

1. Particulate enzyme preparations obtained from Bacillus stearothermophilus B65 by digestion with lysozyme were shown to catalyse teichoic acid synthesis. With CDP-glycerol as sole substrate the preparations synthesized 1,3-poly(glycerol phosphate). It was characterized by alkaline hydrolysis, by glucosylation to the alkali-stable 2-glucosyl-1,3-poly(glycerol phosphate) with excess of UDP-glucose and a Bacillus subtilis Marburg enzyme system, by degradation of this latter product with 60%HF and periodate oxidation of the resulting glucosylglycerol. The specificity of the B. subtilis system previously reported (Glaser & Burger, 1964), was confirmed in the present work. 2. Pulse-labelling experiments, followed by periodate oxidation of the product and isolation of formaldehyde from the glycerol terminus of the polymer, showed that the B. stearothermophilus enzyme system transferred glycerol phosphate units to the glycerol end of the chain. The transfer reaction was irreversible. It was not determined if these poly(glycerol phosphate) chains were synthesized de novo, but it was shown that the newly synthesized oligomers were bound to much larger molecules. 3. When the B. stearothermophilus enzyme system was supplied with both CDP-glycerol and UDP-glucose, 1-glucosyl-2,3-poly(glycerol phosphate) was synthesized in addition to the 1,3-isomer. The former polymer was characterized by acid and alkaline hydrolysis, degradation with HF and periodate oxidation of the resulting glucosylglycerol, and periodate oxidation of the intact polymer followed by mild acid hydrolysis. This latter procedure removed the glucose substituents without disrupting the poly(glycerol phosphate) chain. 4. The poly(glycerol phosphate) isomers were distinguished by glucosylation with the B. subtilis enzymes and alkaline hydrolysis, the 2,3-isomer remaining alkali-labile. The proportion of 2,3-poly(glycerol phosphate) in the product increased with increasing amounts of UDP-glucose in the incubation mixture, but the total glycerol phosphate incorporated into products remained constant. It is suggested that the synthetic pathways of the two poly(glycerol phosphate) species may share a rate-limiting step.
Non-histone chromosomal proteins. Evidence for their role in mediating the binding of histones to deoxyribonucleic acid during the cell cycle
Authors: Stein Gary S. , Hunter Gale , Lavie Lena
Published: August 2015

By selective dissociation of histones with the ionic detergent sodium deoxycholate, we have demonstrated that these basic chromosomal polypeptides, which are effective inhibitors of transcription, are more tenaciously bound to DNA in mitotic than in S-phase chromatin. Evidence is presented which suggests that cell-cycle-stage-specific non-histone chromosomal proteins can account for such variations in the association of histones with DNA. When chromatin is reconstituted with DNA and histones are pooled from S-phase and mitotic cells and either S-phase or mitotic non-histone chromosomal proteins, a preferential extraction of histones with sodium deoxycholate from chromatin reconstituted with S-phase rather than mitotic non-histone chromosomal proteins is observed. In contrast, the extractability of histones with sodium deoxycholate from nucleohistone complexes reconstituted with DNA pooled from S-phase and mitotic cells and either S-phase or mitotic histones is identical. Since non-histone chromosomal proteins rather than histones are responsible for the differences in chromatin template activity during S-phase and mitosis, we propose that non-histone chromosomal proteins may modify gene expression during the cell cycle by mediating the binding of histones to DNA.
Hexose phosphate synthetase from Methylococcus capsulatus makes d–arabino-3-hexulose phosphate
Authors: Kemp M. B.
Published: August 2015

The product of the reaction catalysed by hexose phosphate synthase prepared from Methylococcus capsulatus was dephosphorylated and the sugar moiety purified. The sugar and derivatives were compared by various chromatographic and other methods with authentic samples of allulose (psicose), d-erythro-l-glycero-3-hexulose and d-erythro-d-glycero-3-hexulose. The sugar is not allulose, as was previously thought on the basis of less extensive evidence (Kemp & Quayle, 1966), but is in fact d-erythro-l-glycero-3-hexulose (d-arabino-3-hexulose). This identification is consistent with recent studies which have shown that hexose phosphate synthase catalyses the condensation of formaldehyde with d-ribulose 5-phosphate rather than with d-ribose 5-phosphate (Kemp, 1972).
Characterization of ribonucleic acids from the venom glands of Crotalus durissus terrificus (Ophidia, Reptilia) after manual extraction of the venom. Studies on template activity and base composition
Authors: De Lucca F. L. , Imaizumi M. T. , Haddad A.
Published: August 2015

RNA synthesis in the venom glands of Crotalus durissus terrificus was stimulated by the manual extraction of the venom (milking). RNA was extracted from venom glands activated by milking and fractionated by centrifugation through sucrose density gradients. Template activity for protein synthesis and base composition of the RNA fractions were studied. RNA fractions that sediment between 18S and 4S had the highest template activity. The base composition analysis indicated that the 28S and 18S rRNA have a C+G content of 65.4 and 58% respectively. The `melting' temperature (Tm) of DNA in 0.15m-NaCl–0.015m-trisodium citrate, pH7.0, was 85°C, corresponding to a C+G content of 38%. The base ratio of the RNA fractions that showed a high template activity was intermediate between that of rRNA and homologous DNA. The possible role of these fractions in the synthesis of the two main toxins (crotoxin and crotamine) of the South American rattlesnake's venom is discussed.
Fractionation of nucleic acids from Penicillium chrysogenum and associated ribonucleic acid viruses by selective exclusion and retention in agarose gels
Authors: Petrović S. L. , Šumonja B. D. , Vasiljević R. B.
Published: August 2015

Double-stranded nucleic acids from a strain of Penicillium chrysogenum containing RNA viruses were isolated by agarose-gel filtration, and separated into DNA and double-stranded RNA fractions by agarose-gel chromatography in 2.5m-NaCl. The DNA fraction contained less than 1% alkali-labile polynucleotides, and sedimented homogeneously at 8–10S in alkaline sucrose gradients. In CsCl gradients it tended to band in the density region of 1.66–1.72g/ml. It had a `melting' temperature (Tm) of 75°C in 0.015m-NaCl–0.0015m-trisodium citrate, corresponding to 51.5mol% of G+C. The double-stranded RNA fraction did not contain detectable DNA. It could not band in CsCl up to a density of 1.78g/ml, and mainly consisted of a 14–15S RNA species with a Tm of 88.5°C in the above solvent, and a G+C content of 49.3 mol%.
Nitrogenase of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Inhibition of acetylene reduction by magnesium ion explained by the formation of an inactive dimagnesium–adenosine triphosphate complex
Authors: Thorneley Roger N. F. , Willison Keith R.
Published: August 2015

Acetylene-reducing activity of purified nitrogenase from Klebsiella pneumoniae was studied over a range of ATP and Mg2+ concentrations at 15°C, pH7.8. Inhibition at Mg2+ concentrations of 2.5–30mm was due to the formation of the inactive complex, Mg2ATP. At higher Mg2+ concentrations an additional inhibitory effect was observed. The results were consistent with a MgATP complex being the active substrate with an apparent Km(MgATP)=0.4mm.
Effect of pH on thermal stability of collagen in the dispersed and aggregated states (Short Communication)
Authors: Russell Allan E.
Published: August 2015

Thermal stabilities of mature insoluble collagen, salt-precipitated fibrils of acid-soluble collagen and acid-soluble collagen in solution were compared as a function of acid pH. Both insoluble and precipitated collagens showed large parallel destabilization with decrease in pH, whereas the intrinsic stability of individual collagen molecules in dilute solution was comparatively unaffected.
Identification of N-acetyl-4–O-acetylneuraminyl-lactose in echidna milk
Authors: Messer Michael
Published: August 2015

The identity of a novel form of sialyl-lactose found in milk of the echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) was investigated. The sialyl-lactose yielded equimolar amounts of N-acetylneuraminic acid and lactose during mild acid hydrolysis but was resistant to the action of a bacterial neuraminidase. A viral neuraminidase hydrolysed it to lactose plus a form of sialic acid that reacted positively with thiobarbituric acid reagent but whose chromatographic mobility was greater than that of N-acetylneuraminic acid. Treatment with alkali converted the sialyl-lactose into a substance with the same chromatographic mobility as N-acetylneuraminyl-(2→3)-lactose and made it susceptible to the action of bacterial neuraminidase. The sialyl-lactose contained one mol of ester (identified as acetyl), and released one mol of formaldehyde during periodate oxidation, per mol of sialic acid. It did not contain N-glycollylneuraminic acid. These results indicate that the sialyl-lactose is N-acetyl-4-O-acetylneuraminyl-(2→3)-lactose. Echidna milk contained, in addition, a small amount of N-acetylneuraminyl-(2→3)-lactose.
Biospecific affinity chromatography of an adenosine 3′:5′-cyclic monophosphate-stimulated protein kinase (protamine kinase from trout testis) by using immobilized adenine nucleotides
Authors: Jergil Bengt , Guilford Hugh , Mosbach Klaus
Published: August 2015

1. Two adenine nucleotides, 8-(6-aminohexyl)aminoadenosine 3′:5′-cyclic monophosphate and 8-(6-aminohexyl)amino-AMP, were synthesized. Their structures were established in particular by using mass spectroscopy. 2. Free cyclic AMP and 8-(6-aminohexyl)amino cyclic AMP both stimulate protamine kinase activity at low concentrations, but are inhibitory at concentrations above 0.1mm. AMP is an inhibitor of enzymic activity, whereas neither 8-(6-aminohexyl)amino-AMP nor the earlier synthesized N6-(6-aminohexyl)-AMP is inhibitory. 3. The nucleotides were coupled to Sepharose 4B and used for biospecific chromatography of partially purified protamine kinase. Enzyme applied at high buffer concentrations to the cyclic AMP–Sepharose material was retarded and thereby purified tenfold. At low buffer concentrations the enzyme was adsorbed to the affinity material, and was subsequently released by a pulse of the inhibitor AMP, yielding a 50–100-fold purification. Enzyme applied to immobilized 8-(6-aminohexyl)amino-AMP or N6-(6-aminohexyl)-AMP was eluted together with the main protein peak in the void volume. 4. Protamine kinase eluted from 8-(6-aminohexyl)amino cyclic AMP–Sepharose was no longer activated by cyclic AMP. Results from sucrose gradient centrifugation suggest that a dissociation of the enzyme took place on the immobilized nucleotide. 5. Further information on the mass spectroscopy has been deposited as Supplementary Publication SUP 50026 at the British Library (Lending Division) (formerly the National Lending Library for Science and Technology), Boston Spa, Yorks. LS23 7BQ, U.K., from whom copies may be obtained on the terms given in Biochem. J. (1973) 131, 5.
Age-related variations in hydroxylation of lysine and proline in collagen
Authors: Barnes M. J. , Constable B. J. , Morton L. F. , Royce P. M.
Published: August 2015

The effect of age on the extent of hydroxylation of lysine and proline both generally and at certain specific sites in collagens from bone, skin and tendon was examined in the chick from the 14-day embryo to the 18-month-old adult. For all collagens there was a marked fall in the overall extent of hydroxylation of lysine with increasing age in both α1 and α2 chains, this fall occurring mostly in a relatively short period immediately after hatching. Hydroxylation of lysine declined to a constant value which, as expected, differed appreciably for each collagen and was considered to be characteristic of the collagen according to its tissue of origin. Hydroxylation of lysine in the N-terminal, non-helical telopeptide region of both α1 and α2 chains, which is important with regard to cross-linking, was relatively high in embryonic collagens. There was, however, a rapid loss of hydroxylation at these sites in skin collagen, occurring both during development of the embryo and in the period immediately after hatching. In contrast some hydroxylation at these sites persisted in bone and tendon collagens and, as judged by examination of peptide α1–CB1, appeared to reach a constant value in time of about 33% in bone and about 15% in tendon collagen. The actual extent of hydroxylation of lysine in the N-terminal telopeptides and the size of the changes in these values with age appeared to be unrelated to the corresponding whole-chain values, and it is suggested therefore that hydroxylation of telopeptidyl lysine may be under separate enzymic control. The increased hydroxylation of lysine in the embryo was accompanied by only minimal changes in proline hydroxylation, which was very slightly increased in embryonic bone and tendon collagens. Increased hydroxylation of proline in the embryo was, however, readily observed in peptide α1–CB2 from the helical region of tendon collagen. This hydroxylation was close to the theoretical maximum, in contrast with that observed in post-embryonic tendon, where hydroxylation was incomplete, as in rat tendon (Bornstein, 1967), only four on average, of the six susceptible proline residues being hydroxylated.
Structural membrane proteins and loosely associated proteins of the sarcoplasmic reticulum
Authors: Margreth A. , Carraro U. , Salviati G.
Published: August 2015

The protein composition of sarcoplasmic-reticulum vesicles, either unpurified or after fractionation on sucrose gradients, and with or without previous osmotic shock and sonication, was investigated by electrophoresis in acid polyacrylamide gels. The pattern of release of loosely bound proteins is discussed with respect to their localization in the interior of the vesicles.
Preparation of adenosine nucleotide derivatives suitable for affinity chromatography
Authors: Trayer Ian P. , Trayer Hylary R. , Small David A. P. , Bottomley Robin C.
Published: August 2015

Methods of synthesizing a series of chemically-defined AMP, ADP, ATP, adenylyl imidodiphosphate and pyrophosphate derivatives suitable for affinity chromatography are extensively described. Each derivative has a single primary amino group at the end of a hexamethylene ‘spacer’ chain for attachment to CNBr-activated agarose. The synthesis of the derivative where the ‘spacer’ arm is attached directly to the 8 position of the adenine ring to produce 8-(6-aminohexyl)amino-AMP involves the direct bromination of AMP in the 8 position followed by displacement of the halogen by 1,6-diaminohexane. This monophosphate derivative can then be converted into the corresponding di- or triphosphate forms by direct phosphate condensation with carbonyl di-imidazole. A second series of adenosine phosphate derivatives with the phosphate moieties unsubstituted has been similarly prepared from N6-(6-aminohexyl)-AMP (Guilford et al., 1972). A third type of ligand has been synthesized by condensing the phosphoryl imidazolide of AMP with 6-aminohex-1-yl phosphate. This compound, P1-(6-aminohex-1-yl) P2-(5′-adenosyl) pyrophosphate, has an unsubstituted adenine ring. The synthesis of a fourth type of ligand, 6-aminohex-1-yl pyrophosphate, was done by heating 6-aminohexan-1-ol with crystalline pyrophosphoric acid under reduced pressure. The structures of the synthesized compounds were confirmed by chemical, electrophoretic and chromatographic methods and by u.v. spectrometry. The general applicability of the synthetic methods used is discussed in relation to the preparation of other affinity adsorbents. Examples are given where these derivatives have been successful in reversibly binding dehydrogenases, kinases and myosin and its proteolytic subfragments. The partial purification of rat liver glucokinase on an ADP derivative is shown.
Purification and subunit analysis of wheat-germ ribonucleic acid polymerase II
Authors: Jendrisak Jerome J. , Becker Wayne M.
Published: August 2015

A procedure is described for the purification of the α-amanitin-sensitive DNA-dependent RNA polymerase [EC 2.7.7.6] from wheat germ. Solubilization of the enzyme activity was achieved by sonication of a crude extract in a high-salt buffer. Purification involved precipitation with protamine sulphate and (NH4)2SO4, chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and phosphocellulose, and sucrose gradient centrifugation. Under denaturing conditions the enzyme dissociated into five polypeptides with molecular weights and molar ratios of 220000 (0.9), 170000 (0.1), 140000 (1.0), 45000 (0.2), and 40000 (0.4). Approx. 1mg of purified RNA polymerase was obtained as a routine from 100g of starting material.
Interaction of aldolase with the troponin–tropomyosin complex of bovine muscle
Authors: Clarke F. M. , Masters C. J. , Winzor D. J.
Published: August 2015

Ultracentrifugal studies of mixtures of aldolase and the troponin–tropomyosin complex from bovine muscle showed the existence of a labile interaction between these two myofibrillar constituents in imidazole buffers, pH6.8, I 0.02–0.10 (mol/l), and the suppression of the reaction by fructose 1,6-diphosphate. Analysis of the sedimentation-velocity patterns suggests the binding of more than 2 molecules of troponin–tropomyosin/molecule of aldolase. The results illustrate the necessity of considering additional or alternative sites to F-actin to account for the observed binding of aldolase to the thin filaments of skeletal muscle.
Microbial degradation of alkylbenzenesulphonates. Metabolism of homologues of short alkyl-chain length by an Alcaligenes sp
Authors: Bird J. Anthony , Cain Ronald B.
Published: August 2015

1. An organism isolated from sewage and identified as an Alcaligenes sp. utilized benzenesulphonate, toluene-p-sulphonate or phenylethane-p-sulphonate as sole source of carbon and energy for growth. Higher alkylbenzenesulphonate homologues and the hydrocarbons, benzene, toluene, phenylethane and 1-phenyldodecane were not utilized. 2. 2-Phenylpropanesulphonate was metabolized to 4-isopropylcatechol. 3. 1-Phenylpropanesulphonate was metabolized to an ortho-diol, which was tentatively identified, in the absence of an authentic specimen, as 4-n-propylcatechol. 4. In the presence of 4-isopropylcatechol, which inhibited catechol 2,3-dioxygenase, 4-ethylcatechol accumulated in cultures growing on phenylethane-p-sulphonate. 5. Authentic samples of catechol, 3-methylcatechol, 4-methylcatechol, 4-ethylcatechol and 3-isopropylcatechol were oxidized by heat-treated extracts to the corresponding 2-hydroxyalkylmuconic semialdehydes. Ring cleavage occurred between C-2 and C-3. 6. The catechol derived from 1-phenylpropanesulphonate was oxygenated by catechol 2,3-dioxygenase to a compound with all the properties of a 2-hydroxyalkylmuconic semialdehyde, but it was not rigorously identified. 7. The catechol 2,3-dioxygenase induced by growth on benzenesulphonate, toluene-p-sulphonate or phenylethane-p-sulphonate showed a constant ratio of specific activities with catechol, 3-methylcatechol, 4-methylcatechol and 4-ethylcatechol that was independent of the growth substrate. At 60°C, activity towards these substrates declined at an identical first-order rate. 8. Enzymes of the ‘ortho’ pathway of catechol metabolism were present in small amounts in cells grown on benzenesulphonate, toluene-p-sulphonate or phenylethane-p-sulphonate. 9. The catechol 1,2-dioxygenase oxidized the alkylcatechols, but the rates and the total extents of oxidation were less than for catechol itself. The oxidation products of these alkylcatechols were not further metabolized.
Aging effects on the liver aldolase of rabbits (Short Communication)
Authors: Anderson Peter J.
Published: August 2015

A chemical method is used to determine the amount of aldolase sequence in rabbit livers. It is demonstrated that the aldolase sequences of the livers of young rabbits are more efficient catalytically than are those from the livers of old rabbits. The presence of altered residues in the aldolase sequences of old animals may account for these observations.
Effects of bicarbonate on intercompartmental reducing-equivalent translocation in isolated parenchymal cells from rat liver
Authors: Berry Michael N. , Werner Harold V. , Kun Ernest
Published: August 2015

1. Incubation of isolated liver cells in a medium containing bicarbonate raises malate concentrations almost sixfold compared with values obtained in a bicarbonate-free phosphate medium. The malate concentration of about 0.3mm in bicarbonate medium is of the same order as the Km for malate dehydrogenase. 2. The utilization of ethanol, glyercol and sorbitol was increased by 20–35% in bicarbonate medium. 3. Fluoromalate, a specific inhibitor of malate dehydrogenase and the malate carrier, inhibited or ethanol oxidation by 23%, glycerol uptake by 20% and sorbitol uptake by 42% in bicarbonate medium, but had a much smaller inhibitory action in phosphate medium. In consequence fluoromalate almost abolished the stimulatory effects of bicarbonate on substrate utilization. 4. Difluoro-oxaloacetate, a specific inhibitor of aspartate aminotransferase, had about one-half the inhibitory activity of fluoromalate. The two inhibitors in combination were less effective than fluoromalate by itself. 5. It is concluded that bicarbonate stimulates the utilization of reduced substrates, which are oxidized in the cytoplasmic compartment of the liver cell, by increasing the activity of rate-limiting malate dehydrogenase-dependent intercompartmental hydrogen shuttles. Both malate–oxaloacetate and malate–aspartate systems are involved in these hydrogen-translocation processes.
Requirement for adenosine triphosphate for stimulation in vivo of ox growth-hormone release
Authors: McPherson Margaret , Schofield J. George
Published: August 2015

Rotenone, carbonyl cyanide chloromethoxyphenylhydrazone and 2,4-dinitrophenol cause parallel falls in ox pituitary ATP content and growth-hormone release in the presence of 65mm-K+. Carbonyl cyanide chloromethoxyphenylhydrazone (0.4μg/ml) prevented the rise in growth-hormone release, but not the rise in 3′:5′-cyclic AMP content after addition of prostaglandin E2 (1μg/ml). The rate of hormone release from unstimulated slices and from slices in the presence of Ba2+ at 2.3 or 6.9mm was proportional to the ATP content of the slices. Carbonyl cyanide chloromethoxyphenylhydrazone at concentrations that inhibited release in the presence of the three secretagogues did not alter the pituitary contents of Na+, K+ or Ca2+. The implications of these observations are discussed in terms of the mechanism of stimulus–secretion coupling.
Diurnal rhythms of hepatic carbohydrate metabolism during development of the rat
Authors: Walker P. Roy , Bonney Robert J. , Potter Van R.
Published: August 2015

The `8+16' feeding schedule (8h feeding and 16h without food in each 24h cycle) was applied to nursing mother rats to study enzyme development in neonatal rats in the absence of solid food. A `16+8' suckling schedule (16h with the mother and 8h while the mother is fed in a separate cage) was used to show that the increases in pyruvate kinase, glucokinase and aldolase B activities that occur in the late suckling period of liver development do not require the intake of solid food at this time. Their activities may, however, be modulated by the composition of the diet at the time of weaning. Adaptation to the composition of the diet can occur within one feeding period, and to the periodicity of food provision in one or two feeding periods. In the early neonatal period, diurnal rhythms of tyrosine aminotransferase, liver glycogen and glucokinase are either greatly suppressed or absent, but develop rapidly after weaning. Food-dependent rhythms of glycogen and tyrosine aminotransferase were included in the late suckling period (day 14).
Degradation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (guanosine triphosphate)in vivo and in vitro
Authors: Ballard F. J. , Hopgood M. F. , Reshef Lea , Hanson R. W.
Published: August 2015

1. Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (GTP) in the cytosol fraction of liver was labelled in young rats by the injection of [3H]leucine and then isolated with specific antibody. Antibody-antigen precipitates from `pulse'-labelled animals and from animals in which the content of radioactive enzyme had been decreased by a period of degradation were separated by electrophoresis on sodium dodecyl sulphate–polyacrylamide gels. No radioactive breakdown products were found. 2. 3H-labelled phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (GTP) was purified from rat liver and used to measure degradation in vitro. There was first a loss of catalytic activity, then a disappearance of immunological activity and finally a loss of solubility before any evidence of proteolytic cleavage. Proteolytic-cleavage fragments, when found, were also insoluble. 3. An analysis of the subcellular location of enzyme inactivation showed that phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (GTP) was stable when incubated with liver cytosol fraction and was inactivated most rapidly by the microsomal fraction. 4. We propose that denaturation of the enzyme is the rate-limiting step in degradation in vivo, and precedes proteolytic cleavage when the enzyme is incubated with liver preparations in vitro.
The calcium-induced dissociation of human plasma clotting Factor XIII
Authors: Cooke Rodney D. , Holbrook J. John
Published: August 2015

1. Large quantities of human Factor XIII were prepared from ethanol precipitates of outdated human plasma. 2. Material homogeneous after chromatography on DEAE-cellulose was further resolved into two proteins, A and B, after filtration on Sepharose 6B. 3. Protein A has a molecular weight of 350000 and a subunit structure a2b2 and is activated by thrombin and calcium. Protein B is inactive and probably has a subunit structure b2. 4. Calcium causes protein A, after thrombin cleavage, to fragment to give protein B and a protein, containing only a′ subunits, which is catalytically active. The latter protein slowly forms a misty precipitate which is still active and not cross-linked covalently. This confirms the suggestion of Schwartz et al. (1971) that catalytic activity is only associated with a′ subunits. 5. Iodoacetate, which inhibits the enzyme, does not inhibit dissociation and aggregation of protein A. 6. The existence of two proteins and the fragmentation are possible explanations for the wide range of molecular weights given for Factor XIII in the literature.
Action of dimeric hybrids of native and selectively alkylated ribonuclease A on double-stranded ribonucleic acid
Authors: D'Alessio Giuseppe , Doskočil Jiří , Libonati Massimo
Published: August 2015

The hypothesis that both active sites of dimeric ribonuclease A have to be simultaneously available in order to make the enzyme able to degrade double-stranded RNA is tested with purified hybrid dimers of ribonuclease A and its carboxymethylated derivative. The results obtained support the hypothesis.
Purification of rat liver S-adenosyl-l-methionine decarboxylase
Authors: Pegg Anthony E.
Published: August 2015

The amount of S-adenosyl-l-methionine decarboxylase present in rat liver was enhanced 17-fold by administration of methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone),* a specific inhibitor of the enzyme. The enzyme was purified 1400-fold in 50% yield from such liver extracts by chromatography on columns of the inhibitor bound to Sepharose. The purified enzyme had no spermidine synthetase activity.
Studies on the 3′-terminal sequences of the large ribosomal ribonucleic acid of different eukaryotes and those associated with ‘hidden’ breaks in heat-dissociable insect 26S ribonucleic acid
Authors: Shine John , Hunt John A. , Dalgarno Lynn
Published: August 2015

The 3′-terminal sequences associated with the large rRNA complex from a range of eukaryotes were determined after pancreatic or T1-ribonuclease digestion of RNA terminally labelled with [3H]isoniazid. In all higher eukaryotes examined except Drosophila melanogaster, the 3′-terminal sequences Y-G-UOH and G-C-UOH were demonstrated for the large RNA component(s) and for 6S RNA respectively. The 3′-terminal sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae 26S RNA was Y-G-UOH and that of 6S RNA Y-A-U-U-UOH. Three 3′-terminal sequences were found in equimolar amounts in the heat-dissociable 26S rRNA characteristic of insect ribosomes. These were Y-G-U-G-UOH, Y-C-G-UOH and G-C-UOH for cultured Antheraea eucalypti cells, Y-G-UOH, Y-G-UOH and G-C-UOH for Galleria mellonella larvae and Y-C-G-AOH, Y-G-U-AOH and G-Y-U-GOH for Drosophila melanogaster flies. Thus the introduction of the central scission in insect 26S rRNA results in the generation of a unique 3′-terminus and does not arise from random cleavage of the polynucleotide chain.
A mass-spectrometric sequence study of the enzyme ribitol dehydrogenase from Klebsiella aerogenes
Authors: Morris Howard R. , Williams Dudley H. , Midwinter Graeme G. , Hartley Brian S.
Published: August 2015

The first detailed results of the application of a low-resolution mixture analysis approach to the sequence analysis of an enzyme, ribitol dehydrogenase, are given. Examples of the interpretation of the spectra of peptide mixtures derived from this protein are described. Evidence for new fragmentation patterns observed is reported, together with an explanation of the generation of ambiguous sequences by use of a low-specificity enzyme, thermolysin. The overall sequencing strategy evolved is assessed.
Phosphonomethyl analogues of phosphate ester glycolytic intermediates
Authors: Dixon Henry B. F. , Sparkes Michael J.
Published: August 2015

Analogues of dihydroxyacetone phosphate and of 3-phosphoglycerate were made in which the phosphate group, –O–PO3H2, is replaced by the phosphonomethyl group, –CH2–PO3H2. The analogue of dihydroxyacetone phosphate is a substrate for aldolase and glycerol 1-phosphate dehydrogenase (Stribling, 1974), but not for triose phosphate isomerase. The analogue of 3-phosphoglycerate oxidizes NADH under the combined action of 3-phosphoglycerate kinase and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase if ATP is added. Thus four out of the five glycolytic enzymes tested handle the phosphonomethyl compounds like the natural phosphates.
Affinity chromatography of nicotinamide nucleotide-dependent dehydrogenases on immobilized nucleotide derivatives
Authors: Trayer Ian P. , Trayer Hylary R.
Published: August 2015

A series of chemically-defined adenosine phosphate ligands attached to Sepharose 4B were used as active-site probes in studying the interaction of enzymes with their coenzymes and substrates and to test the suitability of these matrices for ‘general ligand’ affinity chromatography. Nicotinamide nucleotide-dependent dehydrogenases were used as models to test this methodology. Elution from these columns by NAD+and/or AMP gradients (in the presence or the absence of substrates and/or nicotinamide mononucleotide) was consistent with: (1) the compulsory ordered addition of substrates to lactate and malate dehydrogenase; (2) the necessity for the NMN moiety of NAD+to bind to these enzymes before the substrate; and illustrated: (3) that the binding of these two hydrogenases to these columns compared very well with the published three-dimensional models for these enzymes and (4) that separation of mixtures of dehydrogenases depended on the choice of matrix and displacing ion and whether any additions (e.g. substrates) were made to the gradients used. These techniques were used to purify UDP-glucose dehydrogenase from a crude starting material on a phosphate-linked UDP (or ADP) matrix. The binding of this enzyme to these two columns was not consistent with either an ordered or random addition of substrates and suggested a more complex mechanism.
Analysis of the code relating sequence to conformation in globular proteins. Development of a stereochemical alphabet on the basis of intra-residue information
Authors: Robson Barry , Pain Roger H.
Published: August 2015

1. The relation of primary sequence to all residue backbone conformations was explored to test out starting conformations for protein folding. 2. Information theory was used to obtain measures of information which quantitate the role of each residue in determining its own conformation; i.e. intra-residue information. 3. The information measures are plotted as a function of ϕ, ψ peptide-backbone angles and ϕ, ψ contour maps obtained for each of the 20 amino acids. These show characteristic differences between residues. 4. To find practical ways of relating sequence to ϕ, ψ angles, several types of stereochemical alphabet were investigated. The value of these was tested by using them to predict the ϕ, ψ angles of nine different proteins. 5. A difference plot was constructed to show regions of the sequence that require little or no information extra to the intra-residue information in order to predict a correct conformation. These regions are suggested to be candidates for nucleating sites in the protein.