Acetaldehyde-mediated hepatic lipid peroxidation: role of superoxide and ferritin

Evidence in alcoholics as well as in experimental models support the role of hepatic lipid peroxidation in the pathogenesis of alcohol-induced liver injury, but the mechanism of this injury is not fully delineated. Previous studies of the metabolism of ethanol by alcohol dehydrogenase revealed iron mobilization from ferritin that was markedly stimulated by superoxide radical generation by xanthine oxidase. Peroxidation of hepatic lipid membranes (assessed as malondialdehyde production) was studied during in vitro alcohol metabolism by alcohol dehydrogenase. Peroxidation was initiated by acetaldehyde-xanthine oxidase, stimulated by ferritin, and inhibited by superoxide dismutase or chelation or iron with desferrioxamine. In conclusion, lipid peroxidation may be initiated during the metabolism of ethanol by alcohol dehydrogenase by an iron-dependent acetaldehyde-xanthine oxidase mechanism.     

Catabolism of neurotensin in the epithelial layer of porcine small intestine

The mammalian small intestine is both a source and a site of degradation of neurotensin. Metabolites produced by incubation of the peptide with dispersed enterocytes from porcine small intestine were isolated by high-performance liquid chromatography and identified by amino-acid analysis. The principal sites of cleavage were at the Tyr-11-Ile-12 bond, generating neurotensin-(1-11), and at the Pro-10-Tyr-11 bond, generating neurotensin-(1-10). The corresponding COOH-terminal fragments, neurotensin-(11-13) and -(12-13) were metabolized further. Formation of neurotensin-(1-11) and -(1-10) was completely inhibited by phosphoramidon (Ki = 6 nM), an inhibitor of endopeptidase 24.11, but not by captopril, an inhibitor of peptidyl dipeptidase A. Incubation of neurotensin with purified endopeptidase 24.11 from pig stomach also resulted in cleavage of the Tyr-11-Ile-12 and Pro-10-Tyr-11 bonds. A minor pathway of cell-surface-mediated degradation was the phosphoramidon-insensitive cleavage of the Tyr-3-Glu-4 bond, generating neurotensin-(1-3) and neurotensin-(4-13). No evidence for specific binding sites (putative receptors) for neurotensin was found either on the intact enterocyte or on vesicles prepared from the basolateral membranes of the cells. Neurotensin-(1-8), the major circulating metabolite, was not formed when neurotensin(1-13) was incubated with cells, but represented a major metabolite (together with neurotensin-(1-10] when neurotensin-(1-11) was used as substrate. The study has shown that degradation of neurotensin in the epithelial layer of the small intestine is mediated principally through the action of endopeptidase 24.11, but this enzyme is probably not responsible for the production of the neurotensin fragments detected in the circulation.     

氟碳乳剂与右旋糖酐对犬缺血心肌侧支循环供氧的影响

本实验在14只麻醉开胸狗心脏上观察了氟碳乳剂与右旋糖酐稀释血液对心肌耗氧量与供应缺血心肌氧量关系的影响。以左室压力-时间指数(SPTI)作为心肌耗氧量的指标,根据冠脉有效侧支血流量(ECF)、PaO_2和 Hb 浓度计算供应缺血心肌的氧量。实验结果表明,低分子右旋糖酐稀释血液后,SPTI 暂时性轻度增加(稀释后30min 时较对照增加7.1±2.7%,P<0.05,稀释后60min 时增加2.8±1.2%,P>0.05),ECF 明显增多(稀释后30min 时较对照增加58.5±6.1%,P<0.01),缺血区边缘心肌氧供需关系未发生明显变化。氟碳乳剂稀释血液后,SPTI 的变化规律与右旋糖酐稀释后相同(稀释后30min 和60min 时分别较对照增加2.5±0.7%和1.9±0.8%)ECF 和 PaO_2升高(稀释后30min 时分别较对照增加53.9±6.7%和93±8.9%),供应缺血心肌的氧量显著增加,缺血区边缘心肌氧供需矛盾明显改善。     

Hydrolysis of N3-methyl-2'-deoxycytidine: model compound for reactivity of protonated cytosine residues in DNA

Protonation of cytosine residues at physiological pH may occur in DNA as a consequence of both alkylation and aberrant base-pair formation. When cytosine derivatives are protonated, they undergo hydrolysis reactions at elevated rates and can either deaminate to form the corresponding uracil derivatives or depyrimidinate generating abasic sites. The kinetic parameters for reaction of protonated cytosine are derived by studying the hydrolysis of N3-methyl-2'-deoxycytidine (m3dC), a cytosine analogue which is predominantly protonated at physiological pH. Both deamination and depyrimidimation reaction rates are shown to be linearly dependent upon the fraction of protonated molecules. We present here thermodynamic parameters which allow determination of hydrolysis rates of m3dC as functions of pH and temperature. Protonation of cytosine residues in DNA, as induced by aberrant base-pair formation or base modification, may accelerate the rate of both deamination and depyrimidation up to several thousand-fold under physiological conditions.     

Zeatin Glycosylation Enzymes in Phaseolus: Isolation of O-Glucosyltransferase from P. lunatus and Comparison to O-Xylosyltransferase from P. vulgaris

An enzyme catalyzing the formation of O-glucosylzeatin in immature embryos of Phaseolus lunatus was purified 2500-fold using ammonium sulfate precipitation followed by affinity and anion exchange chromatography. The enzyme uses trans-zeatin as substrate (K_m 28 micromolar) but not cis-zeatin, ribosylzeatin, or dihydrozeatin. Both UDP-glucose and UDP-xylose can serve as glycosyl donors, with K_ms of 0.2 and 2.7 millimolar, respectively, for the formation of O-glucosylzeatin and O-xylosylzeatin. In comparison, the UDPxylose-zeatin:O-xylosyltransferase (JE Turner, DWS Mok, MC Mok, G Shaw [1987] Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 84: 3714-3717) isolated by the same procedures from P. vulgaris embryos uses only UDP-xylose as donor substrate and the K_ms for both zeatin and UDP-xylose are much lower (2 and 3 micromolar, respectively). The chromatographic behavior on affinity columns and molecular weights (approximate M_r 44,000 daltons) of the two enzymes are similar. Results from substrate competition experiments and enzyme separation by anion exchange HPLC indicate a single, distinct, zeatin O-glycosylation enzyme occurs in embryos of each of these Phaseolus species.     

Effect of osmotic stress on protein turnover in Lemna minor fronds

Evidence is presented that although many proteins from the fronds of Lemna minor L. undergo enhanced degradation during osmotic stress, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBPCase) is not degraded. Instead RuBPCase is converted in a series of steps to a very high-molecular-weight form. The first step involves the induction of an oxidase system which after 24 h of stress converts RuBPCase to an acidic and catalytically inactive form. Subsequently, the oxidised RuBPCase protein is gradually polymerized to a number of very large aggregates (molecular weight of several million).The conversion of RuBPCase to a high-molecular-weight form appears to be correlated with (i) a reduction in the number of-SH residues and (ii) the susceptibility to in-vitro proteolysis. Indeed, the number of-SH groups per RuBPCase molecule decreases from 89 in the native enzyme to 54 and 22 in the oxidised and polymerized forms, respectively. On the other hand, the oxidised enzyme is more susceptible to in-vitro proteolysis than the native form. However, it is the polymerized form of RuBPCase which is particularly susceptible to in-vitro proteolysis.Western-blotting experiments and anti-ubiquitin antibodies were used to detect the presence of ubiquitin conjugates in extracts from osmotically stressed Lemna fronds. The possible involvement of ubiquitin in the formation of the aggregates is discussed.Abbreviations DTT dithiothreitol - EDTA ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid - FPLC fast protein liquid chromatography - kDa kilodaltons - PAGE polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis - PMSF phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride - RuBPCase ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase - SDS sodium dodecyl sulphate - Tris 2-amino-2-(hydroxymethyl)-1,3-propanediol     

Tilted view reconstruction in optical microscopy. Three-dimensional reconstruction of Drosophila melanogaster embryo nuclei.

The resolution along the optical axis (z) is much less than the in-plane resolution in any current optical microscope, conventional or otherwise. We have used mutually tilted, through-focal section views of the same object to provide a solution to this problem. A tilting specimen stage was constructed for an optical microscope, which with the use of a coverslip-free water immersion lens, allowed the collection of data sets from intact Drosophila melanogaster embryos at viewing directions up to 90 degrees apart. We have devised an image processing scheme to determine the relative tilt, translation, and sampling parameters of the different data sets. This involves the use of a modified phase cross-correlation function, which produces a very sharp maximum. Finally the data sets are merged using figure-of-merit and local area scaling techniques borrowed from x-ray protein crystallography. We demonstrate the application of this technique to data sets from a metaphase plate in an embryo of Drosophila melanogaster. As expected, the merged reconstruction combined the highest resolution available in the individual data sets. As estimated from the Fourier transform, the final resolution is 0.25 microns in x and y and 0.4 microns in z. In the final reconstruction all ten chromosome arms can be easily delineated; this was not possible in the individual data sets. Within many of the arms the two individual chromatids can be seen. In some cases the chromatids are wrapped around each other helically, in others they lie alongside each other in a parallel arrangement.     

Transport of CMP-N-glycoloylneuraminic acid into mouse liver Golgi vesicles

CMP-Neu5Gc has been shown to be transported into mouse liver Golgi vesicles by a specific carrier the characteristics of which were investigated in detail. In the system employed, CMP-Neu5Gc enters the Golgi vesicles within 2 min; transport was saturable with high concentrations of the sugar-nucleotide and was dependent on temperature. A kinetic analysis gave an apparent K_m of 1.3 μM and a maximal transport velocity of 335 pmol/mg protein per min. Almost identical values were obtained with CMP-Neu5Ac, under the same incubation conditions. Furthermore, the uptake of CMP-Neu5Gc was inhibited by CMP-Neu5Ac, a substrate analogue. Conversely, the uptake of CMP-Neu5Ac was inhibited by CMP-Neu5Gc to the same extent, leading to the conclusion that the transport of CMP-Neu5Ac and CMP-Neu5Gc is mediated by the same carrier molecule. This transport system for CMP-Neu5Gc involves both CMP and CMP-Neu5Gc since intravesicular CMP induced the entry of external CMP-Neu5Gc.     

Characterization of a protein fraction containing cytochromes b and c1 from mitochondria of Leishmania tarentolae

A soluble red band fraction was obtained from Leishmania tarentolae cells by sucrose gradient sedimentation of a Triton X-100 lysate. Spectral analysis indicated that cytochrome b was present in the red band: the reduced minus oxidized difference spectra revealed absorption maxima at 562,527, and 431 nm at room temperature and 562, 530, and 422 nm at 77K. In addition, a 28-kDa protein was identified in this fraction which retained heme-associated peroxidase activity even after denaturation on SDS-polyacrylamide gels. The amino acid composition of this protein showed a strong similarity to cytochrome c1 of both bovine and yeast.     

Identification of thiol groups and a disulfide crosslink site in bovine myelin proteolipid protein

The existence of disulfide crosslinks limits the number of possible folded structures a protein can assume. Thus localization of disulfide and thiol groups is a key to understanding the conformation and orientation of myelin proteolipid protein (PLP) in the myelin membrane. [¹⁴C]Carboxamidomethylated PLP was fragmented with chymotrypsin, and the resulting mixture was partially separated by reversed-phase HPLC. Purified ¹⁴C-labeled peptides and a disulfide containing peptide were characterized by amino acid analysis. These experiments showed that Cys-32 and Cys-34 are free thiols, and are presumably on the interior of the cell or within the membrane bilayer, and that Cys-200 and Cys-219 are joined by a disulfide bond, and are probably located on the extracellular face of the membrane. Sequence analysis experiments indicate that Cys-5, Cys-6 and Cys-9 are linked by disulfides, probably to other parts of the protein on the extracellular face of the membrane.