The properties of peptidyl diazoethanes and chloroethanes as protease inactivators

Earlier work has demonstrated the irreversible inactivation of serine and cysteine proteinases by peptides with a C-terminal chloromethyl ketone group. With a C-terminal diazomethyl ketone, on the other hand, peptides become reagents specific for cysteine proteinases. We have now synthesized and examined the properties of reagents with an additional methyl side chain near the reactive grouping with the goal of diminishing side reactions in a cellular environment. Derivatives of neutral amino acids as well as of lysine and arginine have been prepared. The chloroethyl ketones are about 60% less reactive to chemical nucleophiles than the chloromethyl ketones. However, the susceptibilities of the proteases examined varied remarkably. Cathepsins B and L of the papain family of cysteine proteinases were much less susceptible (about 2 orders of magnitude less) to both peptidyl diazoethyl and chloroethyl ketones. In marked contrast, clostripain, a cysteine proteinase of a separate family was decisively more susceptible to chloroethyl ketones. The serine proteinases showed a drop in susceptibility to the chloroethyl ketones generally, and this was similar to the drop in chemical reactivity in proceeding from the chloromethyl to the chloroethyl ketone.     

Prosthetic group content and ligand binding properties of a spinach catalase

A recently discovered form of spinach catalase that contains both a novel heme and protoheme as prosthetic groups has been characterized using immunological and spectroscopic techniques. The enzyme appears to be a dimer of identical Mr 60,000 monomers. Extraction of the non-covalently bound prosthetic groups, followed by thin-layer chromatography of the extract, suggested that the novel heme contains four carboxylic acid side-chain groups. The resonance Raman spectrum of the resting enzyme indicates that the protoheme prosthetic group is five-coordinate and high-spin. The enzyme was shown to bind formate, azide and cyanide. Cyanide and azide binding to catalase are biphasic, suggesting the existence of two different binding sites for cyanide and azide in the enzyme. Results obtained from EPR and resonance Raman spectroscopies also support the hypothesis that two different ligand-binding sites are present in the enzyme. Western blots suggest that the Mr 60,000 peptide of the novel heme-containing catalase is similar or identical to that of a previously characterized, exclusively protoheme-containing, tetrameric catalase.     

Echinococcus granulosus: ultrastructure of epithelial changes during the first 8 days of metacestode development in vitro

The epithelium of artificially hatched and activated oncospheres of E. granulosus was studied ultrastructurally over the first 8 days of metacestode development in vitro. Within 4 h of activation, the epithelium was transformed from a thin cytoplasmic layer into a much wider layer packed with penetration gland granules and containing mitochondria and Golgi apparatus. Microvilli were extended from the outer plasma membrane and the basal lamina on the inner epithelial surface virtually disappeared. Microvilli increased in number and length over the first 24 h of development while granules in both the epithelium and penetration gland decreased in number. The granules appear to be involved in microvilli formation. After 3 days of development, the first lamination resolved ultrastructurally as shortened microvilli and some microtriches extending from the epithelium surrounded by an electron-dense microfibrillate material containing sloughed microvilli. By 6 days post-activation, no microvilli remained and only double-walled truncated microtriches extended from the epithelium. The microfibrillate material had become more electron-dense and was closer to the epithelium than at day 1. Within 8 days of metacestode development, a second lamination had developed. Both microfibrillate and particulate material of a greater electron density than the first lamination was added to the microthrix side of the first lamination.     

Regional localisation of the Friedreich ataxia locus to human chromosome 9q13----q21.1

We have previously assigned the Friedreich ataxia locus (FRDA) to chromosome 9; the current maximal lod score between FRDA and MCT112 (D9S15) is greater than 50 at a recombination fraction of theta = 0. The physical assignment of the locus defined by MCT112, and hence FRDA, has not been determined, although linkage analysis of MCT112 with other chromosome 9 markers inferred a location close to the centromere. We have used in situ hybridisation with MCT112, a corresponding cosmid MJ1, and DR47 (D9S5), coupled with mapping studies on hybrid cell panels, to define more precisely the location of the disease locus. The in situ location of all three probes is 9q13----q21.1, distal to the variable heterochromatin region. Physical assignment of FRDA will allow us to identify hybrid cell lines containing the mutated gene.     

Immunoreactivity to the pancreatic polypeptide family in the nervous system of the adult human blood fluke,Schistosoma mansoni

Summary The presence and distribution of neuropeptides belonging to the pancreatic polypeptide family have been demonstrated by an indirect immunofluorescence technique in the nervous systems of adult male and female Schistosoma mansoni. Seven antisera of differing regional specificity to pancreatic polypeptide (PP), peptide YY (PYY) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) were employed on both whole-mount and cryostat-sectioned material. Positive immunoreactivity (IR) was obtained with all antisera except an N-terminally-directed antiserum to NPY. In the CNS, immunoreactivity was restricted to cell bodies and nerve fibres in the anterior ganglia, central commissure and dorsal and ventral nerve cords of both sexes, whereas, in the PNS, positive-IR was present in the plexuses innervating the subtegumental musculature and the oral and ventral suckers. Intense immunoreactivity was observed in a plexus of nerve fibres and cell bodies in the lining of the gynaecophoric canal and in fine nerve fibres innervating the dorsal tubercles of the male. In contrast, in the female, strong immunoreactivity was evident in nerve plexuses innervating the lining of the ovovitelline duct and in the wall of the ootype, but most notably in a cluster of cells in the region of Mehlis' gland. Results suggest that molecules with C-terminal homology to the PP-family are present in S. mansoni. These peptides would appear to be important regulatory molecules in the parasite's nervous system and may play a role in the control of egg production.