Enhancement of Butanol Formation by Clostridium acetobutylicum in the Presence of Decanol-Oleyl Alcohol Mixed Extractants

Extractive fermentation has been proposed to enhance the productivity of fermentations that are end product inhibited. Unfortunately, good extractants for butanol, such as decanol, are toxic to Clostridium acetobutylicum. The use of mixed extractants, namely, mixtures of toxic and nontoxic coextractants, was proposed to circumvent this toxicity. Decanol appeared to inhibit butanol formation by C. acetobutylicum when present in a mixed extractant that also contained oleyl alcohol. However, maintenance of the pH at 4.5 alleviated the inhibition of butanol production and the consumption of butyrate during solventogenesis. A mixed extractant that contained 20% decanol in oleyl alcohol enhanced butanol formation by 72% under pH-controlled conditions. The production of acetone and acetoin was also increased, even though these two products were not extractable. The enhancement of butanol formation was not limited by the toxicity of decanol. Supplementation of glucose and butyrate in the extractive fermentation yielded a 47% increase in butanol. The enhancement of butanol formation appeared to be dependent on the presence of dissolved decanol in the broth but was not observed unless an organic phase was present to extract butanol. A mechanism for the effects of decanol on product formation is proposed.     

Characterization of mutant TMK368K pig citrate synthase expressed in and isolated from Escherichia coli

A cDNA that encodes pig citrate synthase (PCS) was inserted into a plasmid T7 vector and was expressed in an E. coli gltA mutant. Up to 10 mg of purified PCS was obtained from 2 liters of E. coli. The mammalian protein produced in E. coli comigrated with the enzyme purified from pig heart on a SDS-polyacrylamide gel (SDS-PAGE) with an Mr of 50,000, and reacted with a polyclonal antibody directed against pig heart citrate synthase. The Vmax and Km of the expressed PCS were indistinguishable from those of the pig heart enzyme. The PCS produced in E. coli did not contain the trimethylation modification of Lys 368, characteristic of the pig heart enzyme. These data suggest that the PCS protein produced in E. coli is catalytically similar to the enzyme purified from pig heart and methylation of Lys 368 is not essential for catalysis.     

Enucleation of protoplasts derived from suspension cultures of winged bean and from a crown gall cell line ofParthenocissus tricuspidata

Protoplasts derived from suspension cultures of the winged bean and a crown gall lineof Parthenocissus tricuspidata were enucleated by centrifugation on iso-osmotic discontinuous Percoli gradients and on discontinuous sucrose-mannitol density gradients. Enucleation was achieved according to the buoyant density of the protoplasts and preparations of both cytoplasts and miniprotoplasts were recovered. The Percoll gradients gave more satisfactory results than the sucrose-mannitol gradients. Enucleation was increased by raising the centrifugal force from 20 kg to 60 kg. The presence of nuclei was determined by the DNA specific probe 4′6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). Membrane integrity, as measured by staining with fluorescein diacetate, showed that some 85 % of the cytoplasts were bounded by an intact plasma membrane.     

Clinical pharmacodynamics of anticancer drugs: a basis for extending the concept of dose-intensity

The studies reviewed herein support the precept that "systemic dose-intensity" (i.e., systemic exposure) may be more informative than "administered dose-intensity" for certain anticancer drugs. This does not mean that the administered dose-intensity should be ignored; in fact these data indicate the importance of documenting and assessing administered dose-intensity as an initial step toward identifying those situations where systemic dose-intensity may be most important. The studies described in this review were selected as representative examples of successful clinical pharmacodynamic studies; other published examples include vincristine AUC versus severity of neurotoxicity, etoposide systemic exposure versus leukopenia, red cell concentration of mercaptopurine metabolites versus neutropenia in children with ALL, and ARA-CTP retention in leukemic blasts versus clinical response in acute non-lymphocytic leukemia. As is the case with other types of clinical trials in cancer patients, there are also examples of negative pharmacodynamic studies (i.e., no relationship found between concentration and effects). There are several possible reasons for such negative findings, including the lack of such a relationship for some drugs, measuring the inappropriate drug moiety (e.g., failure to measure all active metabolites), measuring drug concentrations in the wrong biological fluid, evaluating systemic exposure over too narrow a range (i.e., all patients have either sub- or supra-therapeutic systemic exposure), selecting inappropriate sampling times or pharmacokinetic parameters, inadequately assessing drug toxicity or response, or simply studying an inadequate number of patients or patients with drug-resistant cancers. Therefore, negative findings in some pharmacodynamic studies should not deter the investigation of other drugs and/or other malignant diseases, just as negative therapeutic trials do not preclude subsequent clinical trials in oncology. Also, finding a relation between systemic exposure and drug toxicity, in the absence of a clear relation to antitumor effects, is potentially of great clinical utility. Such data should allow more objective escalation of drug dosages in individual patients, to ensure maximum dose-intensity while avoiding host toxicity. Obviously, if such dose escalation could be guided by more easily measured patient characteristics (e.g., age, weight, CrCl, shoe size, etc.), then using drug concentrations in individual patients might be obviated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Characterization of a monoclonal antibody to a conserved epitope on human seminal vesicle-specific peptides: a novel probe/marker system for semen identification

A novel sperm-coating antigen from the human seminal vesicles was discovered. We identified a monoclonal antibody MHS-5, recognizing an epitope with characteristics of a forensic semen marker: conservation in all vasectomized or normal semen samples tested (421); absence in all human tissues or biological fluids other than semen; and immunolocalization on the surface of ejaculated sperm. Western blots of ejaculates allowed to liquefy for 5 min demonstrated the MHS-5 epitope to be located on peptides of a wide range of molecular masses from 69 to 8 kDa. After 15 h of semen liquefaction, immunoreaction peptides of higher molecular mass were undetectable in semen, while peptides of lower molecular mass from 8 to 21 kDa retained antigenicity. Three peptides of 10, 11.9, and 13.7 kDa were the most immunoreactive species in semen liquified for 15 h. Using the MHS-5 monoclonal, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed sensitive to 1 ng of seminal protein. This assay showed that the MHS-5 antigen was undetectable in semen of common domestic animals and monkeys but was present in chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan semen. ELISA of homogenates from human organs and reproductive tissues demonstrated the antigen only in samples of seminal vesicles. Epididymal sperm obtained at vasovasostomy lacked the MHS-5 epitope, a fact that, together with immunolocalization on ejaculated sperm, demonstrated that the MHS-5 antigen functions as a "sperm-coating antigen." The MHS-5 monoclonal detected semen in sexual-assault evidence obtained six months previously and in mixtures of semen with vaginal or cervical fluid. Assay systems employing the MHS-5 monoclonal may be useful for identification of semen in sexual-assault casework. The MHS-5 epitope resides on novel seminal vesicle-specific peptides whose functions, aside from sperm coating, are uncharacterized.     

Anti-predatory autecology in the geometrid larvae of Larentia clavaria pallidata

It was suggested by Heinrich that cryptic, palatable caterpillars would adopt foliar foraging techniques which would reduce the chance of their being detected. I wished to test this hypothesis further and to determine the post-discovery tactics. I found that caterpillars of Larentia clavaria pallidat, contrary to expectations, usually rested on upper surfaces of young Althaea setosa leaves but moved to the undersides when exposed to higher light intensities. This species may be effectively concealed by older canopy leaves. These larvae usually responded to predator-like stimuli by assuming a deimatic s form but rarely dropped. Dropping may be infrequent partly because younger caterpillars could not easily relocate the foot plant. I discuss, briefly the implications of host-plant selection.     

Botulinum neurotoxin type B. Its purification, radioiodination and interaction with rat-brain synaptosomal membranes

Neurotoxin from Clostridium botulinum type B was purified to homogeneity by by affinity and ion-exchange chromatography; specific neurotoxicity of this protein (Mr of approximately equal to 155 000) following trypsinisation attained a level of 2 X 10(8) mouse LD50 units/mg protein. 125I-iodination of the toxin to high specific radioactivities (19-63 TBq/mmol) yielded typically greater than 65% of its original toxicity; dodecyl sulphate gel electrophoresis under reducing conditions, after trypsinisation, showed that the larger polypeptide (Mr of approximately equal to 101 000) was labelled preferentially. Saturable binding of the 125I-labelled neurotoxin to rat cerebrocortical synaptosomes was observed and Scatchard analysis showed a low content of acceptors with high affinity (Kd = 0.3-0.5 nM;Bmax approximately equal to 30-60 fmol/mg protein, together with a much larger population of weak-affinity sites. No significant differences in binding affinity were seen in competition experiments using native or fully activated (trypsinized) neurotoxin, indicating that chain cleavage is not essential for acceptor-toxin interaction. Type A botulinum neurotoxin showed a limited capacity to inhibit the synaptosomal binding of labelled type B toxin, even at high concentrations (1 muM), and other neurotoxins were without effect, emphasising the acceptor selectivity. Near-complete loss of specific toxin binding was produced by preincubation of synaptosomes with neuraminidase whereas inhibition of the low-affinity sites with wheat-germ agglutinin was less pronounced; such inactivation was prevented by inclusion of selective inhibitors (2,3-dehydro-2-deoxy-N-acetylneuraminic acid and N-acetylglucosamine, respectively). These observations implicate N-acetylneuraminic acid and, possibly, other sugar moieties as constituents of the toxin acceptors. Trypsinisation of synaptosomes gave incomplete inhibition of binding when assayed with 1 nM or 10 nM 125I-iodinated toxin. Detailed analysis of the actions of neuraminidase, trypsin and heat treatment on the concentration dependence of toxin binding suggest the existence of at least two distinguishable populations of sites that contain N-acetylneuraminic acid, with a protein component being associated with the acceptors of lower affinity. These findings are discussed in relation to those previously reported for type A neurotoxin and to the possible physiological significance of such membrane acceptors.     

Biosynthesis of porphyrins and corrins. 1. 1H and 13C NMR spectra of (hydroxymethyl)bilane and uroporphyrinogens I and III

High-field NMR spectroscopic methods have been applied to study the reactions catalyzed by porphobilinogen (PBG) deaminase and uroporphyrinogen III (uro'gen III) cosynthase, which are the enzymes responsible for the formation of the porphyrin macrocycle. The action of these enzymes in the conversion of PBG, [2,11-13C]PBG, and [3,5-13C]PBG to uro'gens I and III has been followed by 1H and 13C NMR, and assignments are presented. The principal intermediate that accumulated was the correspondingly labeled (hydroxymethyl)bilane (HMB), the assignments for which are also presented.