bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Non-enzymic hydrolysis of bilirubin mono- and diglucuronide to unconjugated bilirubin in model and native bile systems. Potential role in the formation of gallstones
Authors: Spivak W , DiVenuto D , Yuey W
Published: August 2015

Pigment gallstones contain considerable amounts of unconjugated bilirubin (UCB) in the form of calcium bilirubinate and/or bilirubin polymers. Since more than 98% of bile pigments are excreted as conjugates of bilirubin, the source of this UCB needs to be identified. By using a rapid h.p.l.c. method, we compared the non-enzymic hydrolysis of bilirubin monoglucuronide (BMG) and bilirubin diglucuronide (BDG) to UCB in model bile and in native guinea-pig bile. Model biles containing 50 microM solutions of pure BMG and BDG were individually incubated in 25 mM-sodium taurocholate (NaTC) and 0.4 M-imidazole/5 mM-ascorbate buffer (TC-BUF) at 37 degrees C. Over an 8 h period, BMG hydrolysis produced 4-6 times more UCB than BDG hydrolysis. At pH 7.4, 25% of the BMG was converted into UCB, whereas only 4.5% of BDG was converted into UCB. Hydrolysis rates for both BMG and BDG followed the pH order 7.8 greater than 7.6 approximately equal to 7.4 greater than 7.1 Incubation with Ca2+ (6.2 mM) at pH 7.4 in TC-BUF resulted in precipitated bile pigment which, at 100 X magnification, appeared similar to precipitates seen in the bile of patients with pigment gallstones. At pH 7.4, lecithin (crude phosphatidylcholine) (4.2 mM) was a potent inhibitor of hydrolysis of BMG and BDG. The addition of a concentration of cholesterol equimolar with that of lecithin eliminated this inhibitory effect. Guinea-pig gallbladder bile incubated with glucaro-1,4-lactone (an inhibitor of beta-glucuronidase) underwent hydrolysis similar to the model bile systems. The non-enzymic hydrolysis of bile pigments, especially BMG, may be an important mechanism of bile-pigment precipitation and, ultimately, of gallstone formation.
Intracellular mechanisms in the activation of human platelets by low-density lipoproteins
Authors: Andrews H E , Aitken J W , Hassall D G , Skinner V O , Bruckdorfer K R
Published: August 2015

Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) have been shown to cause aggregation of human blood platelets at concentrations above 2 g of protein/l. The secretion of the contents of platelet dense granules was detected, but not that of the lysosomes. LDL gave rise to a mobilization of [3H]arachidonic acid from phospholipids and the appearance of products of the cyclo-oxygenase pathway after only 10 s. LDL-promoted aggregation was inhibited by both aspirin and indomethacin. There was an increase in 3H-labelled diacylglycerols and the phosphorylation of 47 kDa proteins. LDL therefore shares at least some of the mechanisms of stimulus/response coupling with those of other agonists.
Escherichia coli endonuclease III is not an endonuclease but a β-elimination catalyst
Authors: Bailly V , Verly W G
Published: August 2015

The oligonucleotide [5′-32P]pdT8d(-)dTn, containing an apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) site [d(-)], yields three radioactive products when incubated at alkaline pH: two of them, forming a doublet approximately at the level of pdT8dA when analysed by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, are the result of the beta-elimination reaction, whereas the third is pdT8p resulting from beta delta-elimination. The incubation of [5′-32P]pdT8d(-)dTn, hybridized with poly(dA), with E. coli endonuclease III yields two radioactive products which have the same electrophoretic behaviour as the doublet obtained by alkaline beta-elimination. The oligonucleotide pdT8d(-) is degraded by the 3′-5′ exonuclease activity of T4 DNA polymerase as well as pdT8dA, showing that a base-free deoxyribose at the 3′ end is not an obstacle for this activity. The radioactive products from [5′-32P]pdT8d(-)dTn cleaved by alkaline beta-elimination or by E. coli endonuclease III are not degraded by the 3‘-5’ exonuclease activity of T4 DNA polymerase. When DNA containing AP sites labelled with 32P 5′ to the base-free deoxyribose labelled with 3H in the 1′ and 2′ positions is degraded by E. coli endonuclease VI (exonuclease III) and snake venom phosphodiesterase, the two radionuclides are found exclusively in deoxyribose 5-phosphate and the 3H/32P ratio in this sugar phosphate is the same as in the substrate DNA. When DNA containing these doubly-labelled AP sites is degraded by alkaline treatment or with Lys-Trp-Lys, followed by E. coli endonuclease VI (exonuclease III), some 3H is found in a volatile compound (probably 3H2O) whereas the 3H/32P ratio is decreased in the resulting sugar phosphate which has a chromatographic behaviour different from that of deoxyribose 5-phosphate. Treatment of the DNA containing doubly-labelled AP sites with E. coli endonuclease III, then with E. coli endonuclease VI (exonuclease III), also results in the loss of 3H and the formation of a sugar phosphate with a lower 3H/32P ratio that behaves chromatographically as the beta-elimination product digested with E. coli endonuclease VI (exonuclease III). From these data, we conclude that E. coli endonuclease III cleaves the phosphodiester bond 3′ to the AP site, but that the cleavage is not a hydrolysis leaving a base-free deoxyribose at the 3′ end as it has been so far assumed. The cleavage might be the result of a beta-elimination analogous to the one produced by an alkaline pH or Lys-Trp-Lys. Thus it would seem that E. coli ‘endonuclease III’ is, after all, not an endonuclease.
Studies on the biotin-binding site of avidin. Lysine residues involved in the active site
Authors: Gitlin G , Bayer E A , Wilchek M
Published: August 2015

Egg-white avidin was treated with 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene. Modification of an average of one lysine residue per avidin subunit caused the complete loss of biotin binding. Tryptic peptides obtained from the 2,4-dinitrophenylated avidin were fractionated by reversed-phase h.p.l.c. Three peptides contained the 2,4-dinitrophenyl group. Amino acid analysis revealed that lysine residues 45, 94 and 111 are modified and probably comprise part of the biotin-binding site.
A residence-time analysis of enzyme kinetics
Authors: Sines J J , Hackney D D
Published: August 2015

A ‘first-passage-time’ analysis is applied to enzyme kinetics. It is shown that the residence times determined in this way are directly related to the steady-state parameters and are particularly useful in analysis of isotopic exchange. A simple linear means is used for the calculation of these residence times that makes this method easily applicable to the numerical evaluation of complex models. This stochastic type of approach provides an alternative that avoids the classical steady-state approximation that the concentrations of enzyme intermediates are constant. Instead, steady state is defined as the randomization of the states of the enzyme following initial mixing due to completion of the turnovers of individual enzyme molecules at different times.
Conformational equilibria of α-L-iduronate residues in disaccharides derived from heparin
Authors: Sanderson P N , Huckerby T N , Nieduszynski I A
Published: August 2015

The disaccharides IdoA(2SO3)-anManOH(6SO3) and IdoA-anManOH (where IdoA represents alpha-L-iduronate, anManOH represents 2,5-anhydro-D-mannitol and SO3 represents sulphate ester) were prepared from bovine lung heparin using HNO2 depolymerization, borohydride reduction and desulphation, and were examined by 400 MHz 1H-n.m.r. spectroscopy. Three-bond proton-proton coupling constants around the IdoA ring were determined under a range of experimental conditions. For unsulphated IdoA all four proton-proton coupling constants varied markedly as a function of temperature, pH and solvent, providing clear evidence for a rapid conformational equilibrium. These data were analysed in terms of the three most energetically stable IdoA conformers: 1C4, 4C1, and 2S0. Predicted coupling constants for these conformers were determined using a modified Karplus-type relationship. For unsulphated IdoA in dimethyl sulphoxide the equilibrium was provoked strongly in favour of a slightly distorted 4C1 ‘chair’ IdoA conformer for which coupling constants have not previously been reported. For sulphated IdoA in aqueous conditions and at low pH the equilibrium is strongly in favour of the alternative 1C4 chair conformer. Under many conditions, however, significant contributions from all three conformers occur for the non-reducing terminal IdoA in these disaccharides.
Effects of streptozotocin-diabetes and insulin administration in vivo or in vitro on the activities of five enzymes in the adipose-tissue triacylglycerol-synthesis pathway
Authors: Saggerson E D , Carpenter C A
Published: August 2015

At 2 days after administration of streptozotocin (100 mg/kg), activities in rat epididymal fat-pads of the following enzymes were significantly decreased: fatty acyl-CoA synthetase (FAS), mitochondrial and microsomal forms of glycerolphosphate acyltransferase (GPAT), monoacylglycerolphosphate acyltransferase (MGPAT) and Mg2+-dependent phosphatidate phosphohydrolase (PPH). There were no significant changes in diacylglycerol acyltransferase or Mg2+-independent PPH. Insulin administration to diabetic rats over 2 days restored activities of FAS, both forms of GPAT, MGPAT and Mg2+-dependent PPH. Significant restoration of all five activities was also seen 2 h after a single administration of insulin, but was not observed 45 min after insulin treatment. Insulin significantly increased all five enzyme activities when adipocytes from diabetic rats were incubated for 2 h with a mixture of glucose, lactate, pyruvate and amino acids.
Plasmid-mediated trimethoprim-resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. Characterization of the first gram-positive plasmid dihydrofolate reductase (type S1)
Authors: Young H K , Skurray R A , Amyes S G B
Published: August 2015

The trimethoprim-resistance gene located on plasmid pSK1, originally identified in a multi-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from Australia, encodes the production of a dihydrofolate reductase (type S1), which confers a high degree of resistance to its host and is quite unlike any plasmid-encoded dihydrofolate reductase hitherto described. It has a low Mr (19,700) and has a higher specific activity than the constitutive Gram-negative plasmid dihydrofolate reductases. The type S1 enzyme is heat-stable and has a relatively low affinity for the substrate, dihydrofolate (Km 10.8 microM). It is moderately resistant to trimethoprim, and is competitively inhibited by this drug with an inhibitor-binding constant of 11.6 microM. This is the first identification and characterization of a plasmid-encoded trimethoprim-resistant dihydrofolate reductase derived from a Gram-positive species.
How far does phospholipase C activity depend on the cell calcium concentration? A study in intact cells
Authors: Renard D , Poggioli J , Berthon B , Claret M
Published: August 2015

The dependence of phospholipase C activity on the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) was studied in intact liver cells treated with the Ca2+-mobilizing hormone vasopressin, or not so treated. Phospholipase C (PLC) activity was estimated from the formation of [3H]inositol trisphosphate (InsP3) and the degradation of [3H]phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PtdInsP2). The [Ca2+]i of the cells was clamped from 29 to 1130 nM by quin2 loading. This wide concentration range was obtained by loading the hepatocytes with a high concentration of the Ca2+ indicator in low-Ca2+ medium or by using the Ca2+ ionophore ionomycin in medium containing Ca2+. In resting cells, in which [Ca2+]i was 193 nM, treatment with 0.1 microM-vasopressin which stimulates liver PLC maximally, tripled InsP3 content and raised [Ca2+]i to 2 microM within 15 s. Lowering [Ca2+]i partially decreased cell InsP3 content as well as the ability of vasopressin to stimulate InsP3 formation maximally. At 29 nM, the lowest Ca2+ concentration obtained in isolated liver cells, basal InsP3 content was 64% of that measured in control cells. Addition of vasopressin no longer affected [Ca2+]i, but significantly increased InsP3 by 200%, although less than in the controls (300%). The maintenance of the greater part of the PLC response at constant [Ca2+]i indicated that, in the liver, InsP3 formation does not result from an increase in [Ca2+]i. The effects of lowering [Ca2+]i were reversible. When low cell [Ca2+]i was restored to a normal value, resting InsP3 content and the ability of vasopressin to stimulate InsP3 formation maximally by 300% were also restored. Raising [Ca2+]i from 193 to 1130 nM had little effect on the InsP3 content or the vasopressin-mediated increase in InsP3. In agreement with the stimulation of PLC activity by vasopressin, cell [3H]PtdInsP2 and total PtdInsP2 were degraded by application of this hormone for 15 s. In contrast, when [Ca2+]i was lowered to 29 nM, basal [3H]PtdInsP2 and total PtdInsP2 were increased by about 30%, [3H]PtdInsP2 was further increased by vasopressin, but total PtdInsP2 was not changed. These results show that, in intact hepatocytes, PLC is little affected by [Ca2+]i concentrations above 193 nM, but is partially dependent on Ca2+ below that value. They suggest that, in addition to activating PLC activity, vasopressin might stimulate PtdInsP2 synthesis, presumably via phosphatidylinositol-phosphate kinase, and that this pathway might predominate in cells with low [Ca2+]i.
Measurement of allantoin and uric acid in human body fluids. A potential index of free-radical reactions in vivo?
Authors: Grootveld M , Halliwell B
Published: August 2015

Free-radical attack upon uric acid generates allantoin [Ames, Cathcart, Schwiers & Hochstein (1981) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 78, 6858-6862]. Methods are described for the accurate measurement of uric acid and allantoin in human body fluids. The concentrations of uric acid and allantoin in human serum and synovial fluid are reported. It is suggested that measurement of changes in allantoin concentration may be a useful index of free-radical reactions taking place in vivo.
The regulation of the oxidation of fatty acids and other substrates in rat heart mitochondria by changes in the matrix volume induced by osmotic strength, valinomycin and Ca2+
Authors: Halestrap A P
Published: August 2015

1. The rate of ADP-stimulated respiration with various substrates and the matrix volume of rat heart mitochondria were measured over a range of osmolarities of the medium. 2. The rate of oxidation of palmitoylcarnitine (in the presence of malate) was stimulated 7-fold by increasing the matrix volume from 0.6 to 1.0 microliter/mg of protein. Oxidation of octanoate showed a similar sensitivity to the matrix volume, whereas oxidation of other substrates showed little sensitivity until the volume fell below 0.7 microliter/mg of protein. 3. The matrix volume of heart mitochondria incubated under physiological conditions was about 0.8 microliter/mg of protein. 4. Low concentrations of valinomycin added to mitochondria incubated under such physiological conditions could activate the rate of ADP-stimulated palmitoylcarnitine oxidation by at least 100%. 5. Decreasing the matrix volume increased the reduction of the electron-transferring flavoprotein (ETF), suggesting an effect on electron flow between ETF and ubiquinone, as has been observed for liver mitochondria [Halestrap & Dunlop (1986) Biochem. J. 239, 559-565]. 6. A rapid decrease in light-scattering by heart mitochondria incubated in State 4 was induced by addition of Ca2+, reaching 50% of the maximal effect after about 30 s at 30 degrees C and with K0.5 for Ca2+ of 0.3 microM. This was not associated with a change in matrix volume, and is discussed in terms of a conformational change whose identity remains to be determined. 7. However, incubation of heart mitochondria at 37 degrees C in the presence of 0.65 microM-Ca2+ for 4 min did increase the matrix volume significantly, by 0.181 +/- 0.029 microliter/mg of protein (n = 7, P less than 0.001), similar to the Ca2+-induced changes observed with liver mitochondria [Halestrap, Quinlan, Whipps & Armston (1986) Biochem. J. 236, 779-787]. 8. The possible significance of these results in the co-ordinate regulation of fatty acid oxidation and the citric acid cycle in the heart responding to increased work load or hormonal stimulation is discussed.
Purification and properties of the soluble carnitine palmitoyltransferase from bovine liver mitochondria
Authors: Ramsay R R , Derrick J P , Friend A S , Tubbs P K
Published: August 2015

A new carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) was purified to homogeneity from bovine liver mitochondria which were 96% free of peroxisomal contamination, as judged by catalase and glutamate dehydrogenase activities. The enzyme is easily removed from mitochondria, without the use of detergent. It is monomeric (Mr 63,500), unlike other preparations of CPT from mitochondria, and is most active with myristoyl-CoA and palmitoyl-CoA. The Km values are between 0.8 and 4 microM for a range of substrates from hexanoyl-CoA to stearoyl-CoA; these are much lower than values reported for other purified CPT preparations. The Km for L-carnitine is 185 microM measured with palmitoyl-CoA, and does not vary greatly with the chain length. This is also lower than the values reported for other CPT preparations, but higher than those cited for the medium-chain transferases. Kinetic and inhibitor studies were consistent with a rapid-equilibrium random-order mechanism. 2-Bromopalmitoyl-CoA, which is an inhibitor of the outer CPT, inhibited the enzyme competitively with palmitoyl-CoA as the variable substrate, when added without preincubation. If the enzyme was preincubated with 2-bromopalmitoyl-CoA and carnitine, the activity did not reappear after gel filtration of the protein. The inhibitor was bound in a 1:1 stoichiometry per subunit of enzyme.
Peroxisomal localization of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and pyrophosphate-stimulated dihydroxyacetone-phosphate acyltransferase in mouse kidney
Authors: Patel B N , Mackness M I , Connock M J
Published: August 2015

1. The subcellular localization of dihydroxyacetone-phosphate acyltransferase (DHAPAT) (assayed in the presence of pyrophosphate) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (NADP+-dependent) activity in mouse kidney was investigated by density-gradient centrifugation. 2. DHAPAT has a predominantly peroxisomal distribution, and the activity in purified peroxisomes is stimulated by various organic and inorganic phosphate-containing compounds. The pH optimum is acid. 3. Approx. 10% of the cellular NADP+-dependent glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity is associated with peroxisomal fractions and may provide a source of NADPH for the peroxisomal reduction of acyl-dihydroxyacetone phosphate formed by DHAPAT activity.
Analysis of enzyme kinetics by using integrated rate equations. Arginine decarboxylase
Authors: Cox T T , Boeker E A
Published: August 2015

We have used an integrated rate equation to analyse the reaction catalysed by the inducible arginine decarboxylase from Escherichia coli B. The stoichiometry Arginine—agmatine + CO2 is the simplest of the multiple-substrate/multiple-product cases. Twenty-one time courses were carried out at various initial concentrations of arginine and agmatine, and were then fitted to the integrated equation by using appropriate analytical procedures. Values were obtained for six of the seven possible kinetic constants, corresponding to kcat, KArg, the terms for competitive inhibition by agmatine, by CO2 and by agmatine and CO2 together, and the term for uncompetitive inhibition by agmatine. The uncompetitive constant for CO2 was indeterminate. Our results indicate that it is both practical and experimentally economical to obtain kinetic constants from full time courses.
Purification and renaturation of recombinant human interleukin-2
Authors: Weir M P , Sparks J
Published: August 2015

Recombinant human interleukin-2 (IL-2) expressed as Escherichia coli was isolated as insoluble aggregates of protein (inclusion bodies) after cell breakage. IL-2 and contaminants were dissolved in 6 M-guanidinium chloride/10 mM-dithiothreitol, pH 8.5, and further purified in reduced and denatured form by gel-permeation chromatography in the same solvent. Renaturation was effected by dilution and autoxidation; IL-2 of native specific activity was isolated at over 95% purity by reversed-phase h.p.l.c.; an additional peak of reduced protein was also observed. Most losses of native IL-2 occurred on refolding, probably because of an aggregation process; concentrations around 1 microgram/ml were necessary to achieve 30% recovery. It was essential to maintain the denatured protein in reduced form before renaturation and autoxidation, which was most efficient at pH 8.5 with 1.5 microM-CuSO4. A procedure based on these observations has been used to prepare IL-2 on the 50 micrograms scale.
Extraction of peripheral proteins is accompanied by selective depletion of certain glycerophospholipid classes and changes in the phosphorylation pattern of acetylcholine-receptor-rich-membrane proteins
Authors: Bonini de Romanelli I C , Roccamo de Fernández A M , Barrantes F J
Published: August 2015

The widely used alkaline treatment of acetylcholine-receptor (AChR)-rich membranes from Torpedo marmorata (electric fish) and Discopyge tschudii (a marine ray) results not only in the extraction of non-receptor peripheral proteins but also in that of glycerophospholipids (approximately 13%). Minor acidic phospholipids, notably phosphatidic acid and polyphosphoinositides, are particularly enriched in the NaOH extracts. When electrocytes or receptor-rich membranes are incubated with [32P]Pi or [gamma-32P]ATP, polyphosphoinositides accumulate most of the label (approximately 45% in D. tschudii; 96% in T. marmorata) and exhibit the highest specific radioactivity. Furthermore, more than 50% of these phosphorylated lipids are extracted by NaOH together with the peripheral membrane proteins. NaOH treatment also results in modification of the phosphorylation pattern of AChR membrane proteins. Phosphorylation decreases in the Mr-43,000 group of peripheral proteins and in the gamma-subunit of the receptor. The results indicate that polyphosphoinositides constitute a metabolically very active lipid pool in the postsynaptic membrane, and that a substantial proportion of these phospholipids are preferentially released from the membrane together with other acidic phospholipids upon peripheral-protein extraction. The conclusion is drawn that membranes submitted to the above treatments can no longer be considered equivalent to native ones in terms of their phospholipid composition and phosphorylation characteristics.
Output of lysosomal contents and cholesterol into bile can be stimulated by taurodehydrocholate
Authors: Rahman K , Coleman R
Published: August 2015

Although biliary secretion of phospholipids and cholesterol is principally dependent on bile-salt secretion, at low bile-salt output secretion of some lipids continues; also the amount of cholesterol secretion is more than that of phospholipid under these conditions, but the origin of this cholesterol is not known. Taurodehydrocholate was continuously infused in isolated perfused rat livers under recycling perfusion conditions and the biliary lysosomal output and lipid output measured. The rate of acid phosphatase and beta-glucuronidase output increased 30-60 and 60-90 min respectively after liver isolation under these conditions. The rate of output of cholesterol and phospholipid increased in all the samples collected from taurodehydrocholate-infused livers. The increase in cholesterol output was approximately twice that of phospholipid output, leading to an increase in the cholesterol/phospholipid ratio in the bile.
Siderosomal ferritin. The missing link between ferritin and haemosiderin?
Authors: Andrews S C , Treffry A , Harrison P M
Published: August 2015

A minor electrophoretically fast component was found in ferritin from iron-loaded rat liver in addition to a major electrophoretically slow ferritin similar to that observed in control rats. The electrophoretically fast ferritin showed immunological identity with the slow component, but on electrophoresis in SDS it gave a peptide of 17.3 kDa, in contrast with the electrophoretically slow ferritin, which gave a major band corresponding to the L-subunit (20.7 kDa). Thus the electrophoretically fast ferritin resembles that reported by Massover [(1985) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 829, 377-386] in livers of mice with short-term parenteral iron overload. The electrophoretically fast ferritin had a lower iron content (2000 Fe atoms/molecule) than the electrophoretically slow ferritin (3000 Fe atoms/molecule). Removal and re-incorporation of iron was possible without effect on the electrophoretic mobility of either ferritin species. On subcellular fractionation the electrophoretically fast ferritin was enriched in pellet fractions and was the sole soluble ferritin isolated from iron-laden secondary lysosomes (siderosomes). The amount and relative proportion of the electrophoretically fast species increased with iron loading. Haemosiderin isolated from siderosomes was found to contain a peptide reactive to anti-ferritin serum and corresponding to the 17.3 kDa peptide of the electrophoretically fast ferritin species. Unlike the electrophoretically slow ferritin, the electrophoretically fast ferritin did not become significantly radioactive in a 1 h biosynthetic labelling experiment. We conclude that the minor ferritin is not, as has been suggested for mouse liver ferritin, ‘a completely new species of smaller holoferritin that represents a shift in the ferritin phenotype’ in response to siderosis, but a precursor of haemosiderin, in agreement with the proposal by Richter [(1984) Lab. Invest. 50, 26-35] concerning siderosomal ferritin.
Kinetics of hexokinase D (‘glucokinase’) with inosine triphosphate as phosphate donor. Loss of kinetic co-operativity with respect to glucose
Authors: Pollard-Knight D , Cornish-Bowden A
Published: August 2015

When ATP, the normal phosphate donor for hexokinase D (‘glucokinase’), is replaced by ITP, the positive co-operativity with respect to glucose disappears. This may be rationalized in relation to kinetic models for hexokinase D co-operativity, which assume that with the normal substrates the chemical reaction and subsequent release of products occur so rapidly that binding of substrates cannot approach equilibrium and is therefore not constrained by the thermodynamic requirement that the Hill coefficient for substrate binding cannot exceed the number of binding sites. ITP is a much poorer substrate than ATP, however: its Km value at high glucose concentrations is 24 times the value for ATP, whereas the value of the limiting rate V is decreased about 8-fold. Consequently it is no longer possible for the ternary complex to be converted into products rapidly enough to generate kinetic co-operativity. The negative co-operativity with respect to glucose observed in 2H2O with ATP as phosphate donor also disappears when ITP is used instead of ATP.
A kinetic model for Ca2+ efflux mediated by the Ca2+ + Mg2+-activated ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum
Authors: McWhirter J M , Gould G W , East J M , Lee A G
Published: August 2015

We present a model for Ca2+ efflux from vesicles of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). It is proposed that efflux is mediated by the Ca2+ + Mg2+-activated ATPase that is responsible for Ca2+ uptake in this system. In the normal ATPase cycle of the ATPase, phosphorylation of the ATPase is followed by a conformational change in which the Ca2+-binding sites change from being outward-facing and of high affinity to being inward-facing and of low affinity. To mediate Ca2+ efflux, it is proposed that the ATPase can adopt a conformation in which the Ca2+-binding sites are of low affinity but still outward-facing. It is shown that experimental data on the rates of Ca2+ efflux can be simulated in terms of this model, with Ca2+-binding-site affinities previously proposed to explain ATPase activity [Gould, East, Froud, McWhirter, Stefanova & Lee (1986) Biochem. J. 237, 217-227]. Effects of Mg2+ and adenine nucleotides on efflux rates are explained. It is suggested that Ca2+ efflux from SR mediated by the ATPase could be important in excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal muscle.
Studies on membrane proteins involved in ribosome binding on the rough endoplasmic reticulum. Ribophorins have no ribosome-binding activity
Authors: Yoshida H , Tondokoro N , Asano Y , Mizusawa K , Yamagishi R , Horigome T , Sugano H
Published: August 2015

A membrane protein fraction showing affinity for ribosomes was isolated from rat liver microsomes (microsomal fractions) in association with ribosomes by treatment of the microsomes with Emulgen 913 and then solubilized from the ribosomes with sodium deoxycholate. This protein fraction was separated into two fractions, glycoproteins, including ribophorins I and II, and non-glycoproteins, virtually free from ribophorins I and II, on concanavalin A-Sepharose columns. The two fractions were each reconstituted into liposomes to determine their ribosome-binding activities. The specific binding activity of the non-glycoprotein fraction was approx. 2.3-fold higher than that of the glycoprotein fraction. The recovery of ribosome-binding capacity of the two fractions was about 85% of the total binding capacity of the material applied to a concanavalin A-Sepharose column, and about 90% of it was found in the non-glycoprotein fraction. The affinity constants of the ribosomes for the reconstituted liposomes were somewhat higher than those for stripped rough microsomes. The mode of ribosome binding to the reconstituted liposomes was very similar to that to the stripped rough microsomes, in its sensitivity to proteolytic enzymes and its strong inhibition by increasing KCl concentration. These results support the idea that ribosome binding to rat liver microsomes is not directly mediated by ribophorins I and II, but that another unidentified membrane protein(s) plays a role in ribosome binding.
Hydrolysis of retinyl esters by non-specific carboxylesterases from rat liver endoplasmic reticulum
Authors: Mentlein R , Heymann E
Published: August 2015

The four most important non-specific carboxylesterases from rat liver were assayed for their ability to hydrolyse retinyl esters. Only the esterases with pI 6.2 and 6.4 (= esterase ES-4) are able to hydrolyse retinyl palmitate. Their specific activities strongly depend on the emulsifier used (maximum rate: 440 nmol of retinol liberated/h per mg of esterase). Beside retinyl palmitate, these esterases cleave palmitoyl-CoA and monoacylglycerols with much higher rates, as well as certain drugs (e.g. aspirin and propanidid). However, no transacylation between palmitoyl-CoA and retinol occurs. Retinyl acetate also is a substrate for the above esterases and for another one with pI 5.6 (= esterase ES-3). Again the emulsifier influences the hydrolysis by these esterases (maximum rates: 475 nmol/h per mg for ES-4 and 200 nmol/h per mg for ES-3). Differential centrifugation of rat liver homogenate reveals that retinyl palmitate hydrolase activity is highly enriched in the plasma membranes, but only moderately so in the endoplasmic reticulum, where the investigated esterases are located. Since the latter activity can be largely inhibited with the selective esterase inhibitor bis-(4-nitrophenyl) phosphate, it is concluded that the esterases with pI 6.2 and 6.4 (ES-4) represent the main retinyl palmitate hydrolase of rat liver endoplasmic reticulum. In view of this cellular localization, the enzyme could possibly be involved in the mobilization of retinol from the vitamin A esters stored in the liver. However, preliminary experiments in vivo have failed to demonstrate such a biological function.
Carcass glycogen repletion on carbohydrate re-feeding after starvation
Authors: Cox D J , Palmer T N
Published: August 2015

In mice, the response of carcass glycogen to glucose re-feeding after starvation is biphasic. The initial repletive phase is followed by partial (greater than 50%) glycogen mobilization. This turnover of carcass glycogen in response to carbohydrate re-feeding may play an important role in the provision of C3 precursors for hepatic glycogen synthesis.
The crystal structure of the β-lactamase of Streptomyces albus G at 0.3 nm resolution
Authors: Dideberg O , Charlier P , Wéry J P , Dehottay P , Dusart J , Erpicum T , Frère J M , Ghuysen J M
Published: August 2015

The crystal structure of the beta-lactamase of Streptomyces albus G has been solved at 0.3 nm resolution by X-ray-diffraction methods. The enzyme is a typical two-domain protein. One domain consists of five alpha-helices, and the other is five-stranded beta-sheet with alpha-helices on both sides of the sheet. The active-site serine residue (Ser-48) is within a cleft located between the two domains.
Interaction of Zn2+ and Eu3+ with bovine liver glutamate dehydrogenase
Authors: Bell E T , Stilwell A M , Bell J E
Published: August 2015

Bovine liver glutamate dehydrogenase is potently inhibited by Zn2+ ions. At pH 7.0 a kinetic dissociation constant for Zn2+ of 18 microM is obtained. The fluorescent lanthanide Eu3+ competes for the Zn2+-binding site and relieves the Zn2+-induced inhibition, but does not cause inhibition. Studies on the effects of Zn2+ or Eu3+ on the tertiary and quaternary structure of the enzyme by the use of protein fluorescence, heat-stability and re-activation after guanidinium chloride denaturation indicate that, whereas Zn2+ affects both tertiary and quaternary structure, Eu3+ does not affect either, consistent with its lack of effect on enzymic properties. Eu3+ fluorescence had a strong excitation peak at 395 nm with emission at 456 nm. In the presence of glutamate dehydrogenase the fluorescence emission is shifted to 501 nm. Eu3+, with high-affinity binding site and distinctive fluorescence properties after binding, would appear to be an ideal fluorophore for use in conformational studies or resonance-energy-transfer studies.
Proteolytic conversion of proinsulin into insulin. Identification of a Ca2+-dependent acidic endopeptidase in isolated insulin-secretory granules
Authors: Davidson H W , Peshavaria M , Hutton J C
Published: August 2015

The nature of the endoproteolytic activity involved in the post-translational processing of proinsulin has been investigated in rat insulinoma tissue. 125I-proinsulin was converted by lysed insulin-secretory granules into insulin via an intermediate form identified as des-dibasic-proinsulin. This activity co-localized with immunoreactive (endogenous) insulin and carboxypeptidase H upon subcellular fractionation of the tissue, indicating a secretory-granular location. Under optimized conditions, conversion was quantitative. Inhibitor studies demonstrated that processing occurred by a reaction sequence involving cleavage on the C-terminal side of the pairs of basic amino acids, with subsequent removal of the newly exposed basic residues by carboxypeptidase H. Endoproteolytic activity was abolished by EDTA and CDTA (1,2-cyclohexanediaminetetra-acetic acid), but not by 1,10-phenanthroline or by group-specific inhibitors of serine, thiol or acidic proteinases. Inhibition by EDTA and CDTA could be reversed by both Ca2+ and Zn2+, although the former appeared to be the ion of physiological importance. Addition of Ca2+ in the absence of chelators stimulated endoproteinase activity, with a maximal effect at 5 mM, a concentration consistent with the intragranular environment. Similarly the pH optimum of 5.5 coincides with the prevailing intragranular pH. Together these properties suggest that the Ca2+-dependent endopeptidase described here is involved in vivo in the proteolytic processing of proinsulin.
Degradation of heparin proteoglycan in cultured mouse mastocytoma cells
Authors: Jacobsson K G , Lindahl U
Published: August 2015

Pulse-labelling of mouse mastocytoma cell cultures, established from ascites fluid, with inorganic [35S]sulphate for 1 h yielded labelled heparin proteoglycan containing polysaccharide chains of Mr 60,000-100,000. After chase incubation for 24 h most of the 35S appeared in intracellular polysaccharide fragments similar in size to commercially available heparin, Mr 5000-25,000, as indicated by gel chromatography. Products isolated from cultures after 6 h of chase incubation consisted of partially degraded free polysaccharide chains and, in addition, residual proteoglycans that were of smaller size than the proteoglycans initially pulse-labelled. The polysaccharide chains released by alkali treatment from the residual chase-incubated proteoglycans were of the same size as the chains derived from proteoglycans after 1 h of pulse labelling. These results suggest that the intracellular degradation of heparin proteoglycan to polysaccharide fragments is initiated by release of intact polysaccharide chains, probably by action of a peptidase, and is pursued through cleavage of these chains by an endoglycosidase. An endoglucuronidase with stringent substrate specificity [Thunberg, Bäckström, Wasteson, Ogren & Lindahl (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 10278-10282] has previously been implicated in the latter step. Cultures of more purified mastocytoma cells (essentially devoid of macrophages) did not metabolize [35S]heparin proteoglycan to polysaccharide fragments, but instead accumulated free intact polysaccharide chains, i.e. the postulated intermediate of the complete degradation pathway. When such purified cells were co-cultured with adherent mouse peritoneal cells, presumably macrophages, formation of polysaccharide fragments was observed. It is tentatively proposed that the expression of endoglucuronidase activity by the mast cells depends on collaboration between these cells and macrophages.
The effect of trypsin on sugar uptake in rat thymocytes. Modulation of cellular cyclic AMP concentration and the sugar-transport system
Authors: Segal J
Published: August 2015

I have shown that cyclic AMP stimulates sugar uptake in rat thymocytes. However, trypsin treatment, which increases rat thymocyte cyclic AMP concentration, fails to increase sugar uptake. The purpose of the present study is to examine this seeming inconsistency, and to evaluate further the function of trypsin. Mild trypsin treatment of rat thymocytes produced a dose-related increase in cellular cyclic AMP concentration. Trypsin produced the same proportionate increase in cyclic AMP concentration in the presence or absence of optimal concentrations of the phosphodiesterase inhibitor 3-isobutyl-l-methylxanthine, which suggests that trypsin acts to increase thymocyte cyclic AMP concentration by stimulating adenylate cyclase activity. Trypsin at concentrations of 0.3 mg/ml and less had no effect on the uptake of the glucose analogue 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), whereas at concentrations of 1 mg/ml and higher trypsin produced a small, dose-related, decrease in basal 2-DG uptake, becoming significantly lower than control values only at 5 mg/ml (-22.7%, P less than 0.05). Thymocyte sugar transporters, characterized by means of cytochalasin B binding, consist of a single class of sites with an apparent KD of 0.15 microM and maximum binding capacity of 2.73 pmol/20 × 10(6) cells (8.4 × 10(4) sites/thymocyte). Trypsin produced a dose-related decrease in the sugar-displaceable binding of cytochalasin B, so that at 5 mg of trypsin/ml the number of sugar transporters was decreased by approx. 50%. Thus trypsin treatment of rat thymocytes on the one hand increases cellular cyclic AMP concentration, which itself potentiates 2-DG uptake, and on the other hand decreases the number of sugar transporters, which itself decreases cellular sugar uptake, indicating that the apparent effect of trypsin on thymocyte 2-DG uptake is the result of the balance of its effects on these two systems.
Conformational changes induced in lens α- and γ-crystallins by modification with glucose 6-phosphate. Implications for cataract
Authors: Beswick H T , Harding J J
Published: August 2015

There is good evidence that the non-enzymic chemical modification of proteins plays a role in the aetiology of cataract and diabetic sequelae. This paper presents new evidence that glycosylation of two major lens structural crystallins, alpha- and gamma-crystallins, by glucose 6-phosphate (G6P) induces conformational changes in the proteins. In addition the surface charge on the molecules is altered. These changes would affect protein-protein and protein-water interactions within the lens and could lead to disruption of the short-range order of the lens proteins which is essential for lens transparency. Conformational changes to lens proteins are known to occur in human cataractous lenses but their cause in vivo is not established. Cumulative chemical modification of proteins, over a period of decades, is a strong candidate as a causal agent.
The roles of magnesium ions in the reaction catalysed by phosphofructokinase from Trypanosoma brucei
Authors: Cronin C N , Tipton K F
Published: August 2015

The involvement of Mg2+ ions in the reaction catalysed by phosphofructokinase from Trypanosoma brucei was studied. The true substrate for the enzyme was shown to be the MgATP2-complex, and free Mg2+ ions are also required for enzyme activity. At concentrations of MgATP2- of 2.92 mM and greater, and a fructose 6-phosphate concentration of 1 mM and in the presence of EDTA as a Mg2+ buffer, the Km value for Mg2+ was determined to be 294 +/- 18 microM. Neither MgATP nor free ATP is an inhibitor of the enzyme, although apparent inhibition by the latter can be observed as a consequence of the decrease in free Mg2+ by chelation.
Plant glycosides in a liposomal drug-delivery system
Authors: Das N , Bachhawat B K , Mahato S B , Basu M K
Published: August 2015

Plant glycosides were incorporated into the liposomal surface to study their sugar-specific uptake by various tissues. Two steroid glycosides, namely floribundasaponin D, with rhamnose as terminal sugar, and gracillin, with glucose and rhamnose as end sugars, were selected for the purpose. 125I-human IgG encapsulated liposomes composed of egg lecithin (phosphatidylcholine), cholesterol, dicetyl phosphate (optional) and either floribundasaponin D or gracillin, when injected into the tail vein of rat, showed significantly higher uptake in the rat liver than in appropriate controls. Whereas the uptake of floribundasaponin D liposomes was observed to be non-specific, the increased uptake of the gracillin liposomes, as judged from the inhibition studies with asppropriate sugars, was specific for glucose, although the receptor was unable to distinguish between the alpha and beta anomers (‘anomerically blind’). The liver-perfusion studies showed that the uptake of gracillin liposomes was mostly by non-parenchymal cells.
Pyruvate transport by thermogenic-tissue mitochondria
Authors: Proudlove M O , Beechey R B , Moore A L
Published: August 2015

1. Mitochondria isolated from the thermogenic spadices of Arum maculatum and Sauromatum guttatum plants oxidized external NADH, succinate, citrate, malate, 2-oxoglutarate and pyruvate without the need to add exogenous cofactors. 2. Oxidation of substrates was virtually all via the alternative oxidase, the cytochrome pathway constituting only 10-20% of the total activity, depending on the stage of spadix development. 3. During later stages of spadix development, pyruvate oxidation was enhanced by the addition of aspartate. This was caused by acetyl-CoA condensing with oxaloacetate, produced from pyruvate/aspartate transamination, and so decreasing feedback inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase. 4. Pyruvate oxidation was inhibited by the long-chain acid maleimides AM5-11, but not by those with shorter polymethylene side groups, AM1-4. 5. The alpha-cyanocinnamate derivatives UK5099 [alpha-cyano-beta-(1-phenylindol-3-yl)acrylate] and CHCA [alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate] inhibited pyruvate-dependent O2 consumption and the carrier-mediated uptake of pyruvate across the mitochondrial inner membrane. Characteristics of non-competitive inhibition were observed for CHCA, whereas for UK5099 the results were more complex, suggesting a very low rate of dissociation of the inhibitor-carrier complex. 6. A comparison of the values of Vmax. and Km for oxidation and transport suggested that it was the latter which controls the overall rate of pyruvate oxidation by mitochondria from both tissues.
Tyrosine phosphorylation of two cytosolic proteins of 50 kDa and 35 kDa in rat liver by insulin-receptor kinase in vitro
Authors: Kwok Y C , Yip C C
Published: August 2015

Insulin-receptor tyrosine kinase can phosphorylate a variety of artificial substrates in vitro. Its physiological substrate(s), however, remains unknown. In the present study, we show that immobilized insulin receptors phosphorylate tyrosine residues of two cytosolic proteins of 50 kDa and 35 kDa in rat liver. Phosphorylation of these two proteins required Mn2+- or Mg2+-ATP as the phosphate donor. Phosphorylation was time- and temperature-dependent. Furthermore, the rate of phosphorylation of the two proteins was related to the autophosphorylated state of the insulin receptor. The pI of the phosphorylated 50 kDa and 35 kDa proteins was 5.4 and 5.6 respectively. These proteins were present in low abundance. They were not related to each other, nor to the insulin receptor, as demonstrated by in-gel proteolytic digestion and by immunoprecipitation using antibodies produced against them. They were specific substrates for the insulin receptor kinase, since they were not phosphorylated by epidermal-growth-factor-receptor kinase. These observations suggest that the 50 kDa and 35 kDa cytosolic proteins may be endogenous substrates for the insulin-receptor kinase.
Constant and variable domains of different disaccharide structure in corneal keratan sulphate chains
Authors: Oeben M , Keller R , Stuhlsatz H W , Greiling H
Published: August 2015

Four peptidokeratan sulphate fractions of different Mr and degree of sulphation were cut from the pig corneal keratan sulphate distribution spectrum. After exhaustive digestion with keratanase, the fragments were separated on DEAE-Sephacel and Bio-Gel P-10 and analysed for their Mr, degree of sulphation and amino sugar and neutral sugar content. It was found that every glycosaminoglycan chain is constructed of a constant domain of non-sulphated and monosulphated disaccharide units and a variable domain of disulphated disaccharide units. Total neuraminic acid of the four peptidokeratan sulphates was recovered from their isolated linkage-region oligosaccharides. In kinetic studies, the four peptidokeratan sulphates were investigated for Mr distribution after various incubation times with keratanase. There was a continuous shift towards lower Mr and no appearance of a distinct intermediate-sized product at any degradation time. The linkage-region oligosaccharide was already being liberated after a very short incubation period. From the results of these kinetic investigations in connection with the results of neuraminic acid analyses it is suggested that there exists only one disaccharide chain per peptidokeratan sulphate molecule. A model of corneal keratan sulphate is postulated. One of the alpha-mannose residues in the linkage region is bound to an oligosaccharide consisting of a lactosamine and a terminal sialic acid. The other alpha-mannose residue is attached to the disaccharide chain. This chain contains one or two non-sulphated disaccharide units at the reducing end, followed by 10-12 monosulphated disaccharide units. The disulphated disaccharide moiety of variable length is positioned at the non-reducing end of the chain.