Thermostability of soluble and immobilized alpha-amylase from Bacillus licheniformis

In view of a possible application of the alpha-amylase from Bacillus licheniformis as a time-temperature integrator for evaluation of heat processes,(11) thermal inactivation kinetics of the dissolved and covalently immobilized enzyme were studied in the temperature range 90-108 degrees C. The D-values (95 degrees C) for inactivation of alpha-amylase, dissolved in tris-HCl buffer, ranged from 6 to 157 min, depending on pH, ionic strength, and Ca(2+) and enzyme concentration. The z-value fluctuated between 6.2 and 7.6 degrees C. On immobilization of the alpha-amylase by covalent coupling with glutaraldehyde to porous glass beads, the thermoinactivation kinetics became biphasic under certain circumstances. For immobilized enzyme, the D-values (95 degrees C) ranged between 17 and 620 min, depending largely on certain environmental conditions. The z-value fluctuated between 8.1 and 12.9 degrees C. In each case of biphasic inactivation, the z-value of the stable fraction (with the higher D-values) was lower than the z-value of the labile fraction. (c) 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Effect of serum concentration on hybridoma viable cell density and production of monoclonal antibodies in CSTRs and on shear sensitivity in air-lift loop reactors

The death rate of hybridoma cells, grown in a continuous culture, has been studied in a small air-lift loop reactor as a function of reactor height and injected gas flow rate. The first-order death-rate constant was found to be proportional to the reciprocal height and to the gas flow rate, in accordance with the hypothetical killing volume model for insect cells in bubble columns. Furthermore, the effect of the serum concentration on viable cell concentration and cell productivity has been investigated in a continuous culture. A serum component became growth limiting when the serum concentration was decreased from 2% to 1%. No effect of the serum concentration on specific cell productivity could be measured. Samples from this culture were also studied in the air-lift loop reactor to determine the effect of serum concentration on the shear sensitivity. The cells' shear sensitivity increased with decreasing serum concentration. The protective effect of serum was found to be physical as well as physiological.     

The carboxy-terminal lysine of alpha B-crystallin is an amine-donor substrate for tissue transglutaminase.

A hexapeptide, corresponding to the sequence around the glutamine in beta A3-crystallin that functions as amine-acceptor for transglutaminase, was synthesized. This peptide was biotinylated and used as a probe to identify amine-donor substrates for transglutaminase among lens proteins. It was found that Ca(2+)-activated transglutaminase linked this peptide not only to several beta-crystallins but, unexpectedly, also to alpha B-crystallin. The C-terminal lysine residue of alpha B-crystalline could be identified as the site of linkage. This strengthens the notion that, at least in crystallins, all transglutaminase substrate residues are located in terminal extensions of the polypeptides. It was shown that in lens homogenate, alpha B-crystallin can be covalently crosslinked to beta-crystallins by transglutaminase. The transglutaminase-mediated crosslinking of alpha B-crystallin may have implications for its involvement in normal and pathological processes in lens and other tissues.     

Tissue distribution of constitutive and induced soluble peroxidase in rat. Purification and characterization from lacrimal gland.

A thorough search for a soluble peroxidase in 31 different tissues of rat indicated the presence of a constitutive activity only in lacrimal, preputial and submaxillary gland. An induced soluble peroxidase activity was also detected in the lactating mammary gland and in the estrogen-induced uterine secretory fluid. The lacrimal gland was the richest source of the enzyme. No peroxidase activity was detected in the lactating mammary gland of mouse and hamster nor in the preputial gland of mouse and uterine fluid of hamster. The three constitutive and two induced soluble peroxidases of rat had a native molecular mass of 73 kDa by gel filtration and they showed a similar mobility in native PAGE. Lactoperoxidase of cow's milk and solubilized rat membrane-bound peroxidases of uterus, intestine and bone marrow showed in native PAGE a mobility which was distinctly different from that of rat soluble peroxidases. As the lacrimal gland of rat was the richest source of soluble peroxidase, the enzyme was purified from this gland to apparent homogeneity; SDS/PAGE then showed a single band of molecular mass 75 kDa which was similar to that obtained by gel filtration. Peroxidase also purified from preputial and submaxillary gland, as well as commercial lactoperoxidase, had a similar molecular mass on SDS/PAGE to purified lacrimal peroxidase. The visible spectrum of lacrimal peroxidase was similar to that of lactoperoxidase but different from membrane-bound peroxidase of rat neutrophils. On isoelectric focussing, purified lacrimal peroxidase resolved into about 14 multiple forms spanning a pI range of 6.5-3.5 while lactoperoxidase focussed at the cathode. Evidence presented suggests that the multiple forms are possibly due to differences in glycosylation. Immunodiffusion, immunoprecipitation and Western blot using antilacrimal peroxidase serum showed a similar interacting species for all five soluble peroxidases of rat while membrane-bound peroxidases showed no interaction. Although in immunodiffusion, the antiserum failed to cross-react with lactoperoxidase it did interact with lactoperoxidase on Western blot. The results indicate that the various constitutive and induced soluble peroxidases of rat tissues are similar to lacrimal peroxidase but are distinctly different from the known membrane-bound peroxidases of rat. However the lacrimal peroxidase shows both similarities as well as dissimilarities with bovine lactoperoxidase. This soluble peroxidase system of rat could be useful to study tissue-specific regulation of gene expression at the molecular level.     

The 70-kilodalton heat-shock proteins of the SSA subfamily negatively modulate heat-shock-induced accumulation of trehalose and promote recovery from heat stress in the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the disaccharide trehalose is a stress-related metabolite that accumulates upon exposure of cells to heat shock or a variety of non-heat inducers of the stress response. Here, we describe the influence of mutations in individual heat-shock-protein genes on trehalose metabolism. A strain mutated in three proteins of the SSA subfamily of 70-kDa heat-shock proteins (hsp70) overproduced trehalose during heat shock at 37 degrees C or 40 degrees C and showed abnormally slow degradation of trehalose upon temperature decrease from 40 degrees C to 27 degrees C. The mutant cells were unimpaired in the induction of thermotolerance; however, the decay of thermotolerance during recovery at 27 degrees C was abnormally slow. Since both a high content of trehalose and induced thermotolerance are associated with the heat-stressed state of cells, the abnormally slow decline of trehalose levels and thermotolerance in the mutant cells indicated a defect in recovery from the heat-stressed state. A similar albeit minor defect, as judged from measurements of trehalose degradation during recovery, was detected in a delta hsp104 mutant, but not in a strain deleted in the polyubiquitin gene, UB14. In all our experiments, trehalose levels were closely correlated with thermotolerance, suggesting a thermoprotective function of trehalose. In contrast, heat-shock proteins, in particular hsp70, appear to be involved in recovery from the heat-stressed state rather than in the acquisition of thermotolerance. Cells partially depleted of hsp70 displayed an abnormally low activity of neutral trehalase when shifted to 27 degrees C after heat shock at 40 degrees C. Trehalase activity is known to be under positive control by cAMP-dependent protein kinases, suggesting that hsp70 directly or indirectly stimulate these protein-kinase activities. Alternatively, hsp70 may physically interact with neutral trehalase, thereby protecting the enzyme from thermal denaturation.     

Time-resolved fluorescence study of human recombinant interferon alpha 2. Association state of the protein, spatial proximity of the two tryptophan residues.

Human recombinant interferon alpha 2 belongs a to family of proteins active against a wide range of viruses. It contains two tryptophan residues located at positions 77 and 141 in the peptide sequence. The fluorescence emission spectrum of these tryptophan residues displays a maximum at 335 nm. The fluorescence intensity decay is described by one broad excited-state-lifetime population centered around a value of 1.7 ns (full width at half maximum, 1.5 ns). These observations suggest that in the native protein, both tryptophan residues emit from similar environments, not directly exposed to the surrounding solvent. The anisotropy decay is essentially biexponential. The correlation-time value characterizing the Brownian rotation of the protein varies linearly with the viscosity/temperature ratio. The calculated hydrodynamic volumes are compatible with the existence of a dimer and a tetramer, at pH 5.5 and 9.4, respectively. Addition of urea at pH 5.5 disrupts the dimer and modifies to some extent the excited-state-lifetime distribution which becomes more heterogeneous. Disulfide-bond reduction also dissociates the dimer and leads to a highly heterogeneous fluorescence-intensity decay with four excited-state-lifetime populations. An opening of the local structure in the Trp region of the protein is likely to occur in these conditions. The fast-anisotropy-decay components can be due to either fast rotation or energy transfer between the indoles. Close proximity of the two Trp residues (less than 1 nm) is suggested from steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence-anisotropy measurements in vitrified medium [95% (by mass) glycerol at -38 degrees C]. This suggestion is in agreement with the recently published three-dimensional structure of the homologous protein murine interferon beta [Senda, T., Shimazu, T., Matsuda, S. Kawano, G., Shimizu, H., Nakamura, K. T. & Mitsui, Y. (1992) EMBO J. 11, 3193-3201].     

Altered plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase from the Dio-9-resistant pma1-2 mutant of Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

The pma1-2 mutation affecting the plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase of Schizosaccharomyces pombe has been selected for resistance to the antibiotic Dio-9. In membrane fractions purified from glucose-starved cells, the mutant ATPase activity is reduced by 96%, is insensitive to inhibition by vanadate and has a pH profile displaced in the acidic pH range when compared to the wild type. The maximum velocity of the H(+)-ATPase activity of plasma membranes from glucose-activated pma1-2 cells is activated 20-fold. This is in striking contrast with the wild-type ATPase activity, the maximal velocity of which is not affected by glucose. However, similar to the wild-type enzyme, glucose activation of the pma1-2 mutant H(+)-ATPase reduces the Km for MgATP 9-2 mM and shifts the optimal pH from 4.8 to 6.0-6.5. The pma1-2 mutation modifies Lys250 to a threonine, which is highly conserved in fungal and plant H(+)-ATPases. These results, compared to those reported for mutations of neighbour residues in yeast or mammalian P-type ATPases, suggest that Lys250 could play a significant role, not only in phosphate binding and/or in the E1P-E2P conformational isomerisation, but also in glucose activation of the H(+)-ATPase.     

Rapid stimulation of Ser/Thr protein kinases following treatment of Swiss 3T3 cells with bombesin. Involvement of casein kinase-2 in the signaling pathway of bombesin.

Treatment of quiescent Swiss 3T3 mouse fibroblasts with bombesin resulted in a rapid 6-8-fold stimulation of cytosolic Ser/Thr kinase activities toward the S6 peptide (RRLSSLR), myelin basic protein (MBP), and the G peptide (SPQPSRRGSESSEE). Anion exchange Mono Q chromatography resolved multiple S6 peptide- and G peptide kinase activities and two MBP kinase peaks. Both MBP- and several S6 peptide kinase peaks could be inactivated by PCSL (PP2A2) phosphatase action. This indicates that the bombesin-induced activation of these enzymes is mediated by a Ser/Thr phosphorylation event. The S6 peptide kinases as well as the two MBP kinases stimulated in response to bombesin are similar to those activated by epidermal growth factor in Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts which suggests that the early events of the signal transduction pathway mediated by these growth factors in Swiss 3T3 cells may converge in the activation of common Ser/Thr kinases. Bombesin, which acts as a sole mitogen for Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts, also produced a several-fold increase in the kinase activity toward the RRREEESEEE peptide, a specific substrate for CK-2. This kinase activity was heparin-sensitive and also measurable with the G peptide (SPQPSRRGSESSEE) and GS-1 peptide (YRRAAVPPSPSPSLSRHSSPHQSEDEE), which contain consensus sequences for phosphorylation by CK-2. The bombesin-stimulated CK-2 activity could not be measured in whole cytosols but was revealed by the anion exchange chromatography step. The activation of CK-2 was not reversed by PCSL phosphatase action. The implication of CK-2 in the signal transduction pathway of bombesin is discussed.     

Luminal Ca2+ controls the activation of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor by cytosolic Ca2+.

Luminal Ca2+ controls the sensitivity of the intracellular Ca2+ stores to inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (Ins(1,4,5)P3). Ins(1,4,5)P3-induced Ca2+ release is also controlled by cytosolic Ca2+; low concentrations of Ca2+ stimulate the release. The aim of this work was to investigate whether luminal Ca2+ would affect the stimulation of the Ins(1,4,5)P3 receptor by cytosolic Ca2+ in permeabilized A7r5 smooth muscle cells. We also report that the Ins(1,4,5)P3 receptor in A7r5 cells is activated by low concentrations of cytosolic Ca2+. Cytoplasmic Ca2+ increases the Ins(1,4,5)P3 sensitivity without affecting the cooperativity. The increase in Ins(1,4,5)P3 sensitivity becomes relatively more pronounced when the Ca2+ content of the stores decreases. This modulatory effect of luminal Ca2+ on the responsiveness to cytosolic Ca2+ is an intrinsic property of the Ins(1,4,5)P3 receptor.