Evidence for movement of the alpha-amylase gene into two phylogenetically distant Bacillus stearothermophilus strains.

The gene for an alpha-amylase cloned from strain DY-5 of Bacillus stearothermophilus was used to examine to what extent the corresponding genes are structurally similar in other B. stearothermophilus strains. The structure of the gene itself was almost identical in DY-5 and a group of strains represented by strain 799. The gene was not detected at all in strain DSM2334, which was phenotypically amylase deficient. Comparison of the structure of 5S rRNA and electrophoretic pattern of the ribosomal proteins indicates that strains DY-5 and DSM2334 are closely related to each other, whereas strain 799 is phylogenetically very distant from the two. We estimate that strain 799 separated from DY-5 and DSM2334 some 420 million years ago. Nucleotide sequencing of the region containing the amylase gene from strains DY-5 and 799 revealed the presence of a 3.4-kilobase stretch that was highly similar in the two strains. Furthermore, comparison of the restriction map surrounding the amylase gene of DY-5 with that of a corresponding region in DSM2334 indicated that the former strain contained an extra segment 5.5 kilobases in length, which included the 3.4-kilobase stretch mentioned above. This segment was missing in DSM2334. It thus appears that the alpha-amylase gene was brought into strains DY-5 and 799 from outside despite a large phylogenetic distance.     

Hepatic accumulation of pyrophosphate during acetate metabolism

Accumulation of pyrophosphate induced by acetate administration was investigated in rat liver in situ and in perfused rat liver. Intraperitoneal injection of acetate into rats increased the pyrophosphate concentration in the liver to about 2 mumol/g liver, which was 200 times that in control liver. Perfusion of liver with acetate alone did not result in accumulation of pyrophosphate. However, the further addition of a Ca2+-mobilizing hormone, such as noradrenaline or angiotensin II, together with glucagon to the perfusion medium containing 1 mM acetate caused accumulation of pyrophosphate to a similar level to that observed in vivo. Acetate, glucagon and a Ca2+-mobilizing hormone were all required for accumulation of pyrophosphate in perfused liver. Omission of Ca2+ from the perfusion medium or addition of a Ca2+-antagonist reduced the accumulation significantly. The two kinds of hormones, glucagon and an alpha-agonist, either singly or in combination, did not affect the rate of acetate utilization. These results show that liver cells accumulate a large amount of pyrophosphate during acetate metabolism at high intracellular levels of Ca2+ that can be realized by the synergistic actions of the two kinds of hormones.     

Provocation of a paradoxical growth hormone response to corticotropin-releasing hormone by pretreatment with metoclopramide in patients with acromegaly and normal subjects

Two of 7 patients with acromegaly and one of 7 normal subjects exhibited a paradoxical rise in growth hormone (GH) to human corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) when pretreated with metoclopramide, although CRH alone did not induce an increase in GH. In one of these two patients with acromegaly, the GH increase to metoclopramide alone also reached the criteria of a paradoxical response. These two acromegalic patients showed a GH increase to metoclopramide pretreatment before and up to two months after surgery. In another acromegalic patient, whose GH level remained high 5 months after surgery, metoclopramide induced an increase in GH level, while in a patient who had an above-normal GH level 18 months after surgery, the resumption of physiological GH secretion after surgery was evidenced by a postoperative absence of a GH response to metoclopramide. It is suggested from these results that the GH response to metoclopramide and the metoclopramide-provoked GH response to CRH in patients with acromegaly result from the secretion of GH from nonadenomatous cells of the pituitary.     

Purified protein kinase C phosphorylates microtubule-associated protein 2

We have investigated actions of purified protein kinase C on microtubule- and microfilament-related proteins. Among the cytoskeletal proteins examined, microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) was found to serve as a good substrate. Other cytoskeletal proteins, tubulin, fodrin, cofilin, tropomyosin, and 53,000-Da protein, were very poorly phosphorylated. The amino acid residues of MAP2 that were phosphorylated by the protein kinase C were almost exclusively serine. The peptide mapping analysis indicated that protein kinase C and cAMP-dependent protein kinase phosphorylate MAP2 differently. The ability of MAP2 to interact with actin was markedly reduced by this protein kinase C-mediated phosphorylation. These data raise the possibility that phosphorylation of MAP2 by activated protein kinase C may be involved in cell-surface signal transduction.     

Insulin and C-peptide secretion from B cells in human subjects stimulated with glucose

Two groups of immunoreactive insulin in human sera were reported by Kakita et al. (4), using gel chromatography after acid-alcohol extraction. These analogs were noted not only in circulating human sera but also in incubation medium and incubated human pancreas. The release of these insulin analogs was discussed in a previous report (5). The circulating C-peptide immunoreactivity was separated into two groups on a Bio-Gel column, and the early peak should not be proinsulin but an associated C peptide (6). These analogs of insulin were separated by the methods of ion-exchange chromatography, isoelectric focusing, gel electrophoresis, and gel chromatography. Immunoreactive insulin was also separated into two major bands by standard polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The fast migrating band corresponds to the rat insulin II position, and the slower corresponds to rat insulin I, which has one more basic amino acid residue in comparison with rat insulin II. Further studies have been performed in five healthy adults in order to elucidate the physiological relationship between analogs of insulin and C-peptide peak substances in human serum; the results are reported in this paper with a consideration of the mechanism of insulin secretion.     

An actin-depolymerizing protein (destrin) from porcine kidney. Its action on F-actin containing or lacking tropomyosin

An Mr 19 000 protein (destrin) that has the ability to rapidly depolymerize F-actin in a stoichiometric manner was purified from porcine kidney by sequential chromatography on DNase I-agarose, hydroxyapatite, and Sephadex G-75. Its actin-depolymerizing activity is reversibly controlled by changes in KCl concentration but is insensitive to Ca2+ concentration. The rate of depolymerization of F-actin by destrin is much faster than that of spontaneous depolymerization induced by dilution and is not markedly decreased by the addition of end-blocking reagents such as cytochalasin B. These results suggest that destrin depolymerizes F-actin by interacting directly with F-actin protomers. Binding of muscle tropomyosin to F-actin slows down the rate of destrin-induced depolymerization of F-actin by about 30-fold. The data suggest that the destrin-induced depolymerization occurs from the ends of F-actin when F-actin is complexed with tropomyosin, but it takes place from the entire length of F-actin in the absence of tropomyosin.     

Opposite effects of cofilin and profilin from porcine brain on rate of exchange of actin-bound adenosine 5'-triphosphate

Cofilin, an actin-binding protein isolated from porcine brain that reacts with actin in a 1:1 molar ratio [Nishida, E., Maekawa, S., & Sakai, H. (1984) Biochemistry 23, 5307-5313], decreases the rate of exchange of ATP bound to G-actin with 1,N6-ethenoadenosine 5'-triphosphate in solution. From analyses of the dependence of the exchange rate on the cofilin concentration under different KCl concentrations, dissociation constants (KD) for the cofilin-actin binding at 0, 50, and 140 mM KCl were determined to be 0.12, 0.15, and 0.25 microM, respectively. In contrast to cofilin, profilin isolated from porcine brain increases the rate of exchange of G-actin-bound ATP, like Acanthamoeba profilin. The kinetic analyses gave KD values for the profilin-actin binding of 1.1 and 1.5 microM, respectively, at 50 and 200 mM KCl.     

Responses to a stranger mother-son pair in the wild chimpanzee: A case report

A stranger mother-son pair of the chimpanzee was observed twice interacting with conspecifics of a neighbouring unit-group: first, when the mother and son accidentally encountered them within the core area of the former; second, when the mother and son temporarily immigrated for about one week. On both occasions, the mother and son were severely attacked by adult males of the neighbouring unit-group, and would have been killed had it not been for human intervention. The main target of the aggression was not the infant, but the mother. Some adult males intervened and prevented other males and females from attacking the mother-son pair. Moreover, most adult males displayed an ambivalent attitude since they showed aggression towards them on one occasion, but groomed, reassured and played on another. The reasons for the variable responses of adult males to a stranger female are discussed in terms of possible differences in their mating strategies.     

Molecular cloning of cDNA coding for human preprourokinase

A cDNA library was constructed in pBR322 from 18S to 20S mRNA that was extracted from human kidney cells, fractionated on oligo(dT)-cellulose column and sucrose-density gradient, and confirmed for urokinase production in Xenopus laevis oocytes. The Escherichia coli RR1 transformants were hybridized to synthetic oligonucleotide probe prepared according to the known amino acid sequence, Glu 73 to Glu 77 of human urinary urokinase chain B. The entire cloned cDNA covers a 2250-bp region, wherein the 1293-bp sequence codes for preprourokinase consisting of 431 amino acids, with the first 20 residues being a signal peptide. The 5'-untranslated region is at least 80 bp long and the 3'-untranslated region is longer than 850 bp.     

An 18K protein from ascites hepatoma cell depolymerizes actin filaments rapidly

Several actin binding proteins were isolated from ascites hepatoma cells AH7974 by DNase I affinity chromatography. Among them, a protein having a molecular weight of 18,000 was further purified by DEAE cellulose and hydroxyapatite column chromatographies and gel filtration on a Sephadex G-75 column. The 18K protein not only inhibits actin polymerization but also depolymerizes actin filaments. This conclusion was supported by viscosity and fluorescence intensity measurements and the DNase I inhibition assay. A chemical cross-linking experiment suggested that the 18K protein binds to monomeric actin and forms and 18K-actin 1:1 complex. The net depolymerization rate by the 18K protein measured by the DNase I inhibition assay was slower than the rapid reduction of the fluorescence intensity of pyrene-labeled F-actin upon addition of the 18K protein. This result suggests that the 18K protein not only binds to monomeric actin but also binds to actin filaments directly. The sedimentation assay showed that a part of the 18K protein was cosedimented with actin filaments. Electron microscopic observations demonstrated that the 18K protein decreased the amount of actin filaments and the remaining filaments appeared to be decorated and distorted by the 18K protein. The 18K protein had no Ca2+ ion sensitivity and exhibited the same effect on both this tumor actin and muscle actin.