Theoretical basis for differential scanning calorimetric analysis of multimeric proteins

A new general equation simulating irreversible DSC transitions of multimeric proteins was developed. The equation put forward here is the result of an improved mathematical re-elaboration of the classical Lumry-Eyring models, where no restrictive a priori assumptions are made on the kinetic constraints of the denaturation process, or on the enthalpy of the final denatured state. In order to test the wide applicability of this new effective theoretical tool, a series of DSC transitions were simulated with the aim of determining the effects of all relevant thermodynamic, kinetic or experimental parameters on the shape of DSC profiles. Moreover, the classical equations used widely in DSC investigations for the calculus in both kinetic parameters and changes of molecularity, were studied in the light of the model developed here, highlighting, in each case, their rather limited applicability. The new approach proposed in this article was applied to study the thermal denaturation of an hexameric protein (Glucosamine-6-phosphate deaminase), putting in evidence the practical applicability of the theoretical equations developed.     

Increase in heart glutathione redox ratio and total antioxidant capacity and decrease in lipid peroxidation after vitamin e dietary supplementation in guinea pigs

Dietary treatment with three diets differing in vitamin E, Low E (15 mg of vitamin E/kg diet), Medium E (150 mg/kg), or High E (1,500 mg/kg), resulted in guinea pigs with low (but nondeficient), intermediate, or high heart a-tocopherol concentration. Neither the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and reductase, nor the nonenzymatic antioxidants, GSH, ascorbate, and uric acid were homeostatically depressed by increases in heart a-tocopherol. Protection from both enzymatic (NADPH dependent) and nonenzymatic (ascorbate-Fe²⁺) lipid peroxidation was strongly increased by vitamin E supplementation from Low to Medium E Whereas no additional gain was obtained from the Medium E to the High E group. The GSH/GSSG and GSH/total glutathione ratios increased as a function of the vitamin E dietary concentration closely resembling the shape of the dependence of heart a-tocopherol on dietary vitamin E. The results show the capacity of dietary vitamin E to increase the global antioxidant capacity of the heart and to improve the heart redox status in both the lipid and water-soluble compartments. This capacity occurred at levels six times higher than the minimum daily requirement of vitamin E, even in the presence of optimum dietary vitamin C concentrations and basal unstressed conditions. The need for vitamin E dietary supplementation seems specially important in this tissue due to the low constitutive levels of endogenous enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants present of the mammalian heart in comparison with those of other internal organs.     

The vegetation of the Puna Belt at laguna de Pozuelos Biosphere Reserve in northwest Argentina

The presence of species and their cover values together with soil and topographic characteristics were recorded at 40 sites along an altitudinal gradient of the Puna Belt at Pozuelos, in the High Andes in northwest Argentina. Classification and ordination of plant assemblages showed that soil and topography were the best predictors of the variation in species distribution. The different plant assemblages which occur along the topographic gradient follow the geographic variation in rainfall in this Andean region. Perennial bushes and grasses colonize the plains and slopes with fine textured soils which retain their water content. In contrast, deciduous bushes and cactuses grow on steep, rocky, dry slopes. Open woods also occur on east-facing steep, rocky slopes which are sheltered from winds.     

Molecular cytogenetic analysis of a duplication Xp in a male: further delineation of a possible sex influencing region on the X chromosome

We describe a male infant with severe mental retardation and autism with a duplication of the short arm of the X chromosome. Chromosome painting confirmed the origin of this X duplication. Molecular cytogenetic analysis with fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) identified one copy of the zinc finger protein on the X chromosome (ZFX) and two copies of the steroid sulfatase gene (STS), further delineating the breakpoints. Based on cytogenetic and molecular comparisons of cases from the literature of sex-reversal in dup(X),Y patients and our patient, we suggest that a possible secondary sexinfluencing gene involved in the regulation of sex determination or testis morphogenesis is present at the distal Xp21.1 to p21.2 region.     

Physical Mapping of Meiotic Crossover Events in a 200-Kb Region of Neurospora Crassa Linkage Group I

We propose a general restriction fragment length polymorphism-based strategy to analyze the distribution of meiotic crossover events throughout specific genetic intervals. We have isolated 64 recombinant chromosomes carrying independent meiotic crossover events in the genetic interval eth-1-un-2 on linkage group I of Neurospora crassa. Thirty-eight crossover events were physically mapped with reference to a 200-kb region cloned by chromosome walking, using N. crassa λ and cosmid libraries. Crossovers were homogeneously distributed at intervals of 5.0 +/- 2.3 kb along the entire cloned interval. The ratio of physical to genetic distance appears to be higher in the region than in the overall N. crassa genome, suggesting that recombinational activity is less in large chromosomes than in small ones. The present work provides a method for defining the centromeric-telomeric orientation of single cloned DNA fragments. Their physical distance can also be estimated with respect to linked loci, provided that crossover events are distributed homogeneously in the interval. This strategy overcomes typical difficulties in defining the position and direction of chromosome walking steps on conventional linkage maps.     

Vertical distribution of planktonic rotifers in a karstic meromictic lake

Vertical distribution of planktonic rotifers is described in relation to temperature and oxygen in Lake La Cruz, a single-doline, closed karstic lake (121 m diameter and 25 m maximum depth) which shows iron meromixis. Samples were taken by peristaltic pumping at 10 cm depth intervals in the oxycline zone from June 1987 to September 1988. A model of rotifer vertical structure in stratified lakes is proposed. Rotifers concentrate their populations at the depths with intense gradients. As stratification develops some rotifer populations show a downward migration following the thermocline and some others show an upward migration following the oxycline. The production-respiration balance in the lake, and so the position of the oxycline with respect to the thermocline and the layer of maximum production, depends on meteorological conditions. A shift in the dominance of congeneric or related species can occur in consecutive years. In Lake La Cruz, mixing conditions and subterranean inflow in spring were much more intense in 1988 than 1987, and the distance between production and decomposition depths was smaller in 1988. Anuraeopsis miraclei, an oxycline-bound species with high abundance in 1987, was displaced by A. fissa in 1988. A. fissa, which was a metalimnetic species during early summer, reached peak densities (3 × 10⁴ ind l^–1) at the oxycline, equaling the abundance of A. miraclei the preceeding year.     

Effect of beta-N-oxalylamino-l-alanine on cerebellar cGMP level in vivo

Beta-N-oxalylamino-l-alanine (BOAA), a non-protein amino acid present in the seeds of Lathyrus Sativus (LS), is one of several neuroactive glutamate analogs reported to stimulate excitatory receptors and, in high concentrations, cause neuronal degeneration. In the present study, the in vivo acute effects of synthetic BOAA and LS seed extract were investigated on rat cerebellar cyclic GMP following intraperitoneal (10–100 mg/kg) or oral (100 mg/kg) administration of subconvulsive doses of toxin. Furthermore, the BOAA content in LS seeds and in the cerebellum of injected rats was determined by high performance liquid chromatograph analysis. A dose- and time-dependent increase of cerebellar cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) level was observed after intraperitoneal administration of synthetic BOAA or LS extract. The neurotoxin evoked a maximum stimulation 90 min after injection within the dose range of 50–75 mg/kg, elevating cGMP from basal levels of 5.3±0.5 pmol/mg protein to 15±1.3 pmol/mg protein. Similarly, the oral intake of LS-extracted neurotoxin resulted in the elevation of cGMP content. Kynurenic acid (300 mg/kg i.p.), a non specific excitatory amino acid antagonist, was effective in blocking LS BOAA-elicited cGMP enhancement. The data suggest that in the cerebellum acute administration of low concentrations of BOAA exert in vivo activation of glutamate receptors involved in the regulation of cGMP level.     

The 59-kDa polypeptide constituent of 8–10-nm cytoplasmic filaments in Neurospora crassa is a pyruvate decarboxylase

The fungus Neurospora crassa harbors large amounts of cytoplasmic filaments which are homopolymers of a 59-kDa polypeptide (P59Nc). We have used molecular cloning, sequencing and enzyme activity measurement strategies to demonstrate that these filaments are made of pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC, EC 4.1.1.1), which is the key enzyme in the glycolytic-fermentative pathway of ethanol production in fungi, and in certain plants and bacteria. Immunofluorescence analyses of 8–10-nm filaments, as well as quantitative Northern blot studies of P59Nc mRNA and measurements of PDC activity, showed that the presence and abundance of PDC filaments depends on the metabolic growth conditions of the cells. These findings may be of relevance to the biology of ethanol production by fungi, and may shed light on the nature and variable presence of filament bundles described in fungal cells.