A novel actin label: a fluorescent probe at glutamine-41 and its consequences

By peptide isolation and analysis, it has been shown that the dansyl fluorophore of dansylcadaverine [N-(5-aminopentyl)-5-(dimethylamino)naphthalene-1-sulfonamide] transfers to Gln-41 of actin from rabbit skeletal muscle when the reaction is catalyzed by guinea pig liver transglutaminase. As a function of time, the degree of labeling asymptotically approaches 1 mol of dansyl/l mol of actin. About 80-85% of the attached dansyl fluorophore was found at Gln-41. Such labeled G-actin polymerizes to the same extent as control actin, but the polymerization rate is greater and the critical concentration is less than for control actin. Complete polymerization is accompanied by a 1.5-2.0-fold increase in the emission intensity of the attached fluorophore. Labeled F-actin thus obtained activates myosin subfragment 1 (S-1) Mg2+-ATPase activity with the same Kapp, and to the same Vmax, as control actin; moreover, when such labeled F-actin is cross-linked to S-1 by 1-ethyl-3-[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]carbodiimide, the resulting superactivation of Mg2+-ATPase is the same as that attained with control actin. The attributes of this label thus make it an ideal reporter of events in the N-terminal 10-kilodalton region of actin, and a new topological point for proximity mapping.     

Identity of soluble thiamin-binding protein with thiamin-repressible acid phosphatase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Two secretory glycoproteins of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a soluble thiamin-binding protein and a thiamin-repressible acid phosphatase, were shown to be repressed to a similar extent by excess thiamin in the growth medium. Thiamin-repressible acid phosphatase was co-purified throughout the purification of the soluble thiamin-binding protein. Purified and deglycosylated soluble thiamin-binding proteins exhibited both thiamin-binding and acid phosphatase activity on non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Heat treatment of the purified soluble thiamin-binding protein caused a decrease in both activities with a similar inactivation profile. Furthermore, two thiamin-repressible acid phosphatase-defective mutants isolated had no and decreased soluble thiamin-binding activity, respectively. From the results, it was concluded that the soluble thiamin-binding protein is identical to the thiamin-repressible acid phosphatase in S. cerevisiae.     

Native-like intermediate on the folding pathway of Escherichia coli succinyl-CoA synthetase

The transition between the native and denatured states of the tetrameric succinyl-CoA synthetase from Escherichia coli has been investigated by circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy, cross-linking by glutaraldehyde and activity measurements. At pH 7.4 and 25 degrees C, both denaturation of succinyl-CoA synthetase by guanidine hydrochloride and refolding of the denatured enzyme have been characterized as reversible reactions. In the presence of its substrate ATP, the denatured enzyme could be successfully reconstituted into the active enzyme with a yield of 71-100%. Kinetically, reacquisition of secondary structure by the denatured enzyme was rapid and occurred within 1 min after refolding was initiated. On the other hand, its reactivation was a slow process which continued up to 25 min before 90% of the native activity could be restored. Both secondary and quaternary structures of the enzyme, reconstituted in the absence of ATP, were indistinguishable from those of the native enzyme but the renatured protein was catalytically inactive. This observation indicates the presence of catalytically inactive tetramer as an intermediate in the reconstitution process. The reconstituted protein could be reactivated by ATP even 10 min after the reacquisition of the native secondary structure by the refolding protein. However, reactivation of the protein by ATP 60 min after the regain of secondary structure was significantly less, suggesting that rapid refolding and reassociation of the monomers into a native-like tetramer and reactivation of the tetramer are sequential events; the latter involving slow and small conformational rearrangements in the refolded enzyme that are likely to be associated with phosphorylation.     

Fractionation and Estimation of Particle-Attached and Unattached Bradyrhizobium japonicum Strains in Soils

Rhizobial cells attached or unattached to soil particles were estimated. Nonsterile soils into which antibiotic-resistant mutants of Bradyrhizobium japonicum had been introduced were fractionated by a centrifugation technique into two fractions: A, which contained mainly rhizobial cells attached to soil particles, and F, which contained mainly rhizobial cells unattached to them. Rhizobial counts decreased in both fractions during incubation of the soil at 30°C, with a concomitant decrease in the proportion of the count of fraction F to that of fraction A. Sonication of fraction A of the soil incubated for more than 3 weeks caused an increase in the rhizobial count. The ratio of the count of fraction A estimated by the plant infection method to that estimated by the dilution plate method increased after 5 days of soil incubation. More than 90% of the indigenous rhizobia in an agricultural field existed in fraction A. These results suggest that the majority of rhizobial cells are attached to soil particles.     

Some properties of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant resistant to 2-amino-4-methyl-5-beta-hydroxyethylthiazole

A mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae highly resistant to 2-amino-4-methyl-5-beta-hydroxyethylthiazole (2-aminohydroxyethylthiazole), an antimetabolite of 4-methyl-5-beta-hydroxyethylthiazole (hydroxyethylthiazole), has been isolated. Its resistance to 2-aminohydroxyethylthiazole was about 10(4) times that of the sensitive parent strain. The amount of thiamin synthesized in the cells of the resistant strain grown in minimal medium was less than half of that of the sensitive strain. The ability to synthesize thiamin from 2-methyl-4-amino-5-hydroxymethylpyrimidine (hydroxymethylpyrimidine) and hydroxyethylthiazole in the resistant strain was low compared with that of the sensitive strain. These results were found to be due to a deficiency of hydroxyethylthiazole kinase in the resistant strain: in sonic extracts of cells the enzyme activity was only 0.67% of that of the sensitive strain. Although the cells of the sensitive strain could accumulate exogenous hydroxyethylthiazole in the form of hydroxyethylthiazole monophosphate, no significant uptake of hydroxyethylthiazole by the cells of the resistant strain was observed. The possibilities that 2-aminohydroxyethylthiazole monophosphate may be the actual inhibitor of the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and that hydroxyethylthiazole may not be involved in the pathway of de novo synthesis of thiamin via hydroxyethylthiazole monophosphate, are discussed.     

Quantitation of the Myelin-Associated Glycoprotein in Human Nervous Tissue from Controls and Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) was measured by radioimmunoassay in the human CNS and peripheral nervous system (PNS). The level of MAG, expressed as ng/microgram of total protein, was approximately 20-fold higher in whole homogenates of cerebral white matter (4.7 +/- 0.60) than of peripheral nerve (0.12-0.28). MAG concentrations were only slightly higher in the isolated myelin fractions from these tissues: CNS myelin, 5.6 ng/microgram; PNS myelin, 0.37 ng/microgram. The levels of MAG were measured in nine plaques, periplaque regions, and areas of macroscopically normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) from six separate multiple sclerosis brains and compared with the levels of other myelin proteins in the same samples. MAG and other myelin proteins were reduced to very low levels in plaques. The levels of MAG and basic protein (BP) and the activity of 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNP) in periplaque areas were significantly lower than those in control white matter, and MAG and BP levels were also significantly reduced in NAWM. In a periplaque region and NAWM from the most rapidly progressing case of multiple sclerosis examined, the MAG content was between 30 and 35% of the control level, whereas BP and PLP levels and CNP activity were between 50 and 85% of control values. The reduction of MAG content in periplaque regions from all nine multiple sclerosis plaques examined was significantly greater than the reductions of BP level and CNP activity. In NAWM samples, the mean reduction of MAG content was also greater than the reductions of BP level and CNP activity, but the difference was only statistically significant in comparison to CNP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Growth and Aspartate Kinase Activity in Wheat Cell Suspension Culture: Effects of Lysine Analogs and Aspartate-Derived Amino Acids

The effects of lysine analogs and aspartate-derived amino acidson the growth of wheat cell suspension culture were studied.S-(2-Aminoethyl)-L-cysteine (AEC), -hydroxylysine (DHL) andtrans-lysene caused complete growth inhibition at 1.0 mM. Thegrowth inhibition of lysine analogs were, in the order of decreasingeffectiveness; AECDHL, trans-lysene>oxalysine, homolysineand lysyne. cis-Lysene and methyllysine were not inhibitoryeven at concentrations of 10 mM. Lysine effectively relievedgrowth inhibition induced by the lysine analogs. Lysine plusthreonine showed concerted inhibition, which was relieved bythe addition of methionine. Activity of aspartate kinase extracted from wheat cell suspensionculture was strongly inhibited by L-lysine; 0.75 to 1 mM oflysine was required for half-maximal inhibition. Threonine andmethionine, individually or in combination with lysine, showedno inhibitory effect on the enzyme activity. S-Adenosylmethionine,when added with lysine in equimolar concentrations, enhancedthe feedback inhibition by lysine, lowering the concentrationof lysine for half-maximal inhibition to 0.13 mM. The aspartatekinase isolated from the cells cultured in the presence of 5mM lysine did not differ in regulatory properties from the enzymefrom the cells cultured without lysine. AEC at 5 mM inhibitedthe enzyme activity by 50%. Other lysine analogs were not inhibitoryto the enzyme activity even at 10 mM. Growth inhibition of wheat suspension culture by aspartate-derivedamino acids and lysine analogs were discussed in relation totheir inhibitory effects on aspartate kinase activity. (Received October 25, 1985; Accepted February 26, 1986)     

Coordination structures and reactivities of compound II in iron and manganese horseradish peroxidases. A resonance Raman study

Resonance Raman investigations on compound II of native, diacetyldeuteroheme-, and manganese-substituted horseradish peroxidase (isozyme C) revealed that the metal-oxygen linkage in the compound differed from one another in its bond strength and/or structure. Fe(IV) = O stretching frequency for compound II of native enzyme was pH sensitive, giving the Raman line at 772 and 789 cm-1 at pH 7 and 10, respectively. The results confirmed the presence of a hydrogen bond between the oxo-ligand and a nearby amino acid residue (Sitter, A. J., Reczek, C. M., and Terner, J. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 7515-7522). The Fe(IV) = O stretch for compound II of diacetylheme-enzyme was located at 781 cm-1 at pH 7 which was 9 cm-1 higher than that of native enzyme compound II. At pH 10, however, the Fe(IV) = O stretch was found at 790 cm-1, essentially the same frequency as that of native enzyme compound II. The pK value for the pH transition, 8.5, was also the same as that of native compound II. Unlike in native enzyme, D2O-H2O exchange did not cause a shift of the Fe(IV) = O frequency of diacetylheme-enzyme. Thus, the metal-oxygen bond at pH 7 was stronger in diacetylheme-enzyme due to a weaker hydrogen bonding to the oxo-ligand, while the Fe(IV) = O bond strength became essentially the same between both enzymes at alkaline pH upon disruption of the hydrogen bond. A much lower reactivity of the diacetylheme-enzyme compound II was accounted to be due to the weaker hydrogen bond. Compound II of manganese-substituted enzyme exhibited Mn(IV)-oxygen stretch about 630 cm-1, which was pH insensitive but down-shifted by 18 cm-1 upon the D2O-H2O exchange. The finding indicates that its structure is in Mn(IV)-OH, where the proton is exchangeable with a water proton. These results establish that the structure of native enzyme compound II is Fe(IV) = O but not Fe(IV)-OH.     

Biochemical Characterization of α-Adrenergic Receptors in Human Brain and Changes in Alzheimer-Type Dementia

Abstract Using ligand binding techniques, we studied α-adrenergic receptors in brains obtained at autopsy from seven histologically normal controls and seven patients with histopathologically verified Alzheimer-type dementia (ATD). Binding of the α-adrenergic antagonists [³H]prazosin and [³H]yohimbine to membranes of human brains exhibited characteristics compatible with α₁- and α₂-adrenergic receptors, respectively. Binding of both ligands was saturable and reversible, with dissociation constants of 0.15 nM for [³H]prazosin and 5.5 nM for [³H]yohimbine. [³H]Prazosin binding was highest in the hippocampus and frontal cortex and lowest in the caudate and putamen in the control brains. [³H]Yohimbine binding was highest in the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NbM) and frontal cortex and lowest in the caudate and cerebellar hemisphere in the control brains. Compared with values for the controls, [³H]prazosin binding sites were significantly reduced in number in the hippocampus and cerebellar hemisphere, and [³H]yohimbine binding sites were significantly reduced in number in the NbM in the ATD brains. These results suggest that α₁ and α₂-adrenergic receptors are present in the human brain and that there are significant changes in numbers of both receptors in selected regions in patients with ATD.     

(6R)-Tetrahydrobiopterin Increases the Activity of Tryptophan Hydroxylase in Rat Raphe Slices

The effects of (6R)- and (6S)-tetrahydrobiopterin (BPH4), tetrahydroneopterin, and 6-methyltetrahydropterin on the activity of tryptophan hydroxylase were investigated in rat raphe slices. The activity of tryptophan hydroxylase was estimated by measurement of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) formation under inhibition of aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase with use of HPLC-fluorometric detection. (6R)-BPH4 (the naturally occurring form) at 42 microM, tetrahydroneopterin at 50 microM, and 6-methyltetrahydropterin at 100 microM increased tryptophan hydroxylase activity to 350, 145, and 146% of control values, respectively. (6S)-BPH4, however, had no significant effects on tryptophan hydroxylase activity. These results suggest that tryptophan hydroxylase is subsaturating in vivo for the naturally occurring cofactor, (6R)-BPH4, and that the concentration of (6R)-BPH4 may play an important role for the regulation of tryptophan hydroxylase activity in vivo.