Effect of high pH on the spectral and catalytic properties of beef heart cytochrome oxidase

Incubation of cytochrome oxidase at high pH induces changes in several spectral properties. The optical Soret maximum shifts to longer wavelength, and there is an apparent loss in intensity of the 655-nm band, effects that are normally assigned either to a spin-state transition in cytochrome a3 or to a reduction of heme a. However, magnetic circular dichroism spectra show that cytochrome a3 remains high spin and that both cytochrome a and cytochrome a3 are oxidized. At the same time, there is the appearance of a low-spin signal indicative of hydroxide-imidazole coordination which we assign as arising from a structural transition at cytochrome a, rather than at cytochrome a3, as has been proposed previously. With longer incubation times, a new copper signal appears with electron paramagnetic resonance parameters markedly different from those obtained from copper centers which have undergone denaturation. Spin quantitation establishes that this new resonance does not arise from CuA and suggests that high pH breaks the magnetic coupling present at the cytochrome a3-CuB center. A significant proportion of cytochrome a3 may be converted to a low-spin thiolate during this process.     

The Beta Cell in Its Cluster: Stochastic Graphs of Beta Cell Connectivity in the Islets of Langerhans

Pancreatic islets of Langerhans consist of endocrine cells, primarily α, β and δ cells, which secrete glucagon, insulin, and somatostatin, respectively, to regulate plasma glucose. β cells form irregular locally connected clusters within islets that act in concert to secrete insulin upon glucose stimulation. Due to the central functional significance of this local connectivity in the placement of β cells in an islet, it is important to characterize it quantitatively. However, quantification of the seemingly stochastic cytoarchitecture of β cells in an islet requires mathematical methods that can capture topological connectivity in the entire β-cell population in an islet. Graph theory provides such a framework. Using large-scale imaging data for thousands of islets containing hundreds of thousands of cells in human organ donor pancreata, we show that quantitative graph characteristics differ between control and type 2 diabetic islets. Further insight into the processes that shape and maintain this architecture is obtained by formulating a stochastic theory of β-cell rearrangement in whole islets, just as the normal equilibrium distribution of the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process can be viewed as the result of the interplay between a random walk and a linear restoring force. Requiring that rearrangements maintain the observed quantitative topological graph characteristics strongly constrained possible processes. Our results suggest that β-cell rearrangement is dependent on its connectivity in order to maintain an optimal cluster size in both normal and T2D islets.     

Construction of first-generation lactococcal integrative cloning vectors

Using a randomly-cloned, HindIII-digested, chromosomal fragment from Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis LM0230, first-generation lactococcal integrative cloning vectors were developed. Through dideoxy DNA sequence analysis, the cloned chromosomal DNA fragment was determined to be 1026 base pairs. Southern hybridization studies demonstrated applicability of the integrative vector to other strains of L. lactis and L. lactis subsp. cremoris. Identification of a single NruI site near the middle of the chromosomal fragment allowed insertion of the erythromycin (Em)-resistance (ery ^r) gene obtained from L. lactis IL1837. Integration of the ery ^r gene into the L. lactis LM0230 chromosome was achieved by a Campbell-like recombination. The nisin (Nis)-resistance (nis ^r) gene from L. lactis IL1904 was inserted into the NruI site in a separate clone and integration into the L. lactis LM0230 chromosome was achieved via a replacement recombination event following electroporation of the linearized nis ^r fragment flanked by the cloned chromosomal DNA. Transformants grown in the absence of either Em or Nis for >200 generations and subsequently transferred to various concentrations of the selectable agent confirmed the stability of the integrated genes. Further studies involving the Nis-resistant (Nis ^r ) transformant suggested that the integrated nis ^r gene may be amplifying within the host chromosome. Correspondence to: S. K. Harlander     

Effect of glucose feeding on net transport of plasma free fatty acids

The effect of a single glucose feeding upon the net inflow and outflow transport of plasma free fatty acids (FFA) has been studied in 75 unanesthetized rats. The animals were fasted for 22 +/- 2 hr; then 50 rats were refed 2 ml of 50% glucose by gastric intubation. At 0, 10-15, and 30-35 min after glucose refeeding, the rats were injected with palmitate-1-(14)C complexed to rat serum. The tracer dose included (131)I-labeled albumin. Plasma FFA concentration, (131)I concentration, and FFA-(14)C were measured at five time intervals after injection of the tracer dose. From these data the irreversible disposal rate, or net outflow transport, and the net inflow transport of plasma FFA were calculated. Estimations were based upon a special case of a general solution for measuring net inflow and outflow transport of a circulating metabolite. The general solution is independent of the number of compartments, how they are interconnected, the number of nonradioactive inflows, and where the inflows enter the system. Net inflow = net outflow transport = 7.6 micro eq/min in the fasted state and 3.5 micro eq/min in the new steady state that is reached 30-40 min after glucose refeeding. A very slight imbalance between the rates of net inflow and outflow transport could account for the rapid fall in plasma FFA concentration that results from a single glucose feeding. Theoretical and practical problems associated with studying inflow and outflow transport by means of the technique using a single injection of racer are discussed.