Intracellular localization of the arginine deiminase pathway inStreptococcus mitis

A subcellular fractionation study was carried out onStreptococcus mitis ATCC 9811 to determine the location of the arginine deiminase pathway. Arginine deiminase activity was detected in the cell wall fraction, ornithine carbamoyltransferase activity was recovered in both the cell wall and cytoplasmic fractions, and carbamate kinase activity was detected in the cytoplasmic fraction.     

Inhibition by pertussis toxin of fibroblast growth factor-stimulated hexose transport in Swiss 3T3 cells

Addition of fibroblast growth factor to quiescent cultures of Swiss 3T3 cells stimulated the membrane transport of 2-deoxyglucose. Treatment of the cells with pertussis toxin (islet-activating protein) inhibited fibroblast growth factor-stimulated hexose transport. 5'-Guanylyl imidodiphosphate (p[NH]ppG), a non hydrolyzable analogue of GTP, increased the number of hexose carriers in the plasma membrane of saponin-permeabilized cells. These results suggest that guanine nucleotide binding protein may be involved in the regulation of hexose transport system by fibroblast growth factor in Swiss 3T3 cells.     

Mechanism of O2- (-) and H2O2-induced stimulation of sugar transport in mouse fibroblast BALB/3T3 cells

Xanthine/xanthine oxidase and H2O2 stimulated sugar transport. Application of superoxide dismutase and catalase to the cells showed an inhibitory effect on these agent-stimulated sugar transports. Addition of amiloride and 4-acetamide-4'-isothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (SITS), which abolish the cytoplasmic alkalinization, inhibited the stimulation of sugar transport by xanthine/xanthine oxidase in the presence of catalase. The calmodulin antagonists, N-(6-aminohexyl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalenesulfonamide (W-7) and trifluoperazine inhibited H2O2-stimulated sugar transport. These results suggest that O2- stimulates sugar transport in an intracellular pH-dependent manner and that H2O2 stimulates sugar transport in a calcium-calmodulin-dependent manner. These mechanisms may be involved in sugar-transport stimulation in mouse fibroblast BALB/3T3 cells by the tumor-promoting phorbol ester phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate and insulin, since the stimulatory effects of these agents were inhibited by scavengers of oxygen radicals.     

New orally bioavailable 2-aminobenzamide-type histone deacetylase inhibitor possessing a (2-hydroxyethyl)(4-(thiophen-2-yl)benzyl)amino group

New 2-aminobenzamide-type histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors were synthesized. They feature a sulfur-containing bicyclic arylmethyl moiety—a surface recognition domain introduced to increase in cellular uptake—and a substituted tert-amino group which affects physicochemical properties such as aqueous solubility. Compound 22 with a (2-hydroxyethyl)(4-(thiophen-2-yl)benzyl)amino group reduced the volume of human colon cancer HCT116 xenografts in nude mice to T/C 67% by oral administration at 45 mg/kg, which was comparable to the rate (T/C 62%) for a positive control, MS-275. Western blot analyses as well as cell cycle and TUNEL assays by flow cytometry suggested that the two compounds inhibited the growth of cancer cells via similar mechanisms.     

Contraction and intracellular calcium-ion elevation of cultured human aortic smooth muscle cells by endothelin-1, vasoactive intestinal contractor (VIC) and the derivatives

Summary Effects of endothelin (ET) family peptides and their derivatives on cellular contraction and calcium-ion level were examined by using cultured human vascular smooth muscle cells (VSM). Contraction of cultured human VSM, isolated from human fetal aortic segments, was induced within 1 min after the treatment with ET-1 (100 nM) as seen in the changes of cytosolic calcium-ion localization. In parallel with the cell contraction, cytosolic calcium-ion level in the human VSM increased very rapidly and then dropped with some oscillation as determined by Anchorage Cell Analyzing System. It was noted that transient calcium-ion mobilization rather than sustained calcium-ion influx was significant in the contraction of cultured human VSM. Vasoactive intestinal contractor (VIC), three amino acids different from ET-1, had less activity in increase of intracellular calcium-ion level and in percent of response cells than ET-1, ET-2, and VIC-S4L6 (one amino acid different from ET-1). EC₅₀ of ET-1, VIC-S4L6, ET-2, and VIC were 0.5 nM, 0.6 nM, 2.0 nM, and 20 nM, respectively. VIC-like peptide (VIC-LP), 16 amino acids fragment of VIC precursor protein, had no effect with a single administration of up to 10 μM. However, the increase in calcium-ion level by VIC was suppressed with a prior treatment of cells with high concentration (10 μM) of VIC-LP. The establishment of cultured human VSM for the simultaneous examination of the contraction and calcium-ion level will provide a new system to study signal transduction of vasocontractor peptides.     

Purification and immunochemical characterization of human adrenal tyrosine hydroxylase

Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) was purified from the soluble fraction of human adrenal glands. The enzyme in human adrenal glands that was purified to apparent homogeneity had an apparent M_r of about 280,000. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) gel electrophoresis gave a single band with a M_r of 60,000 similar to the M_r of bovine adrenal enzyme. The enzyme is considered to be composed of four identical subunits. The specific activity of the final preparation was approximately 310 nmol 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) formed/min/mg protein. The use of the “Western Blot” method showed that human adrenal TH did not aggregate as rapidly as bovine adrenal TH.     

Inhibition of Thiamine Transport by Chloroethylthiamine in Escherichia coli

Chloroethylthiamine was found to inhibit an entrapment of thiamine as thiamine monophosphate by blocking thiamine monophosphokinase in the cytoplasm after thiamine was taken up by the cells of Escherichia coli.     

A possible basis for major histocompatibility complex-restricted T-cell recognition

Four distinct T-cell antigen-receptor gene loci have now been identified and partly characterized: alpha, beta, gamma and delta. All of these loci can rearrange in an immunoglobulin-like fashion and express polypeptides that contribute to either alpha:beta or gamma:delta T-cell receptor-CD3 complexes. Surprisingly, the T-cell receptor (TCR) delta coding regions are located entirely, or almost entirely, within the TCR alpha locus and share at least some of the V region gene segments, thus at least partly linking the two different types of receptor heterodimers. Analysis of potential T-cell receptor diversity, particularly that of the delta chain, indicates a striking concentration of somatic polymorphism in the V-J junctional region of the two heterodimers, four to six orders of magnitude higher than similar calculations for immunoglobulin light- and heavy-chain combinations. In contrast, the number of possible V region combinations in T-cell receptors is one hundredth to one thousandth that of immunoglobulins. TCR alpha: beta heterodimers are known to recognize many possible fragments of antigens embedded in the peptide-binding clefts of a relatively small number of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. Thus it is attractive to speculate that the V-J junctional portions of both types of T-cell receptor contact peptide antigens, whereas the remaining diversity regions contact the MHC. This contention is supported by molecular modelling studies and has interesting implications for the evolution of antigen-receptor genes.     

Mg‐dechelatase is involved in the formation of photosystem II but not in chlorophyll degradation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

The STAY‐GREEN (SGR) gene encodes Mg‐dechelatase which catalyzes the conversion of chlorophyll (Chl) a to pheophytin (Pheo) a. This reaction is the first and most important regulatory step in the Chl degradation pathway. Conversely, Pheo a is an indispensable molecule in photosystem (PS) II, suggesting the involvement of SGR in the formation of PSII. To investigate the physiological functions of SGR, we isolated Chlamydomonas sgr mutants by screening an insertion‐mutant library. The sgr mutants had reduced maximum quantum efficiency of PSII (F_v/F_m) and reduced Pheo a levels. These phenotypes were complemented by the introduction of the Chlamydomonas SGR gene. Blue Native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting analysis showed that although PSII levels were reduced in the sgr mutants, PSI and light‐harvesting Chl a/b complex levels were unaffected. Under nitrogen starvation conditions, Chl degradation proceeded in the sgr mutants as in the wild type, indicating that ChlamydomonasSGR is not required for Chl degradation and primarily contributes to the formation of PSII. In contrast, in the Arabidopsis sgr triple mutant (sgr1 sgr2 sgrL), which completely lacks SGR activity, PSII was synthesized normally. These results suggest that the Arabidopsis SGR participates in Chl degradation while the ChlamydomonasSGR participates in PSII formation despite having the same catalytic property.