Purification and characterization of a third glucosyltransferase from Streptococcus mutans serotype g

Streptococcus mutans strain AHT (serotype g) secretes at least two glucosyltransferases with different pI values. A novel glucosyltransferase with a pI of 5.8 was purified 244-fold from the ammonium sulphate fraction by DEAE-cellulose chromatography, FPLC (Mono Q column, Pharmacia) and hydrophobic chromatography. The enzyme preparation gave a single protein band on analysis by both PAGE and SDS-PAGE, and did not form multiple protein bands detectable by IEF. The Mr was estimated to be about 130,000 by SDS-PAGE and about 135,000 by ultracentrifugal analysis. The apparent Km value and pH optimum of the enzyme were 3.9 +/- 0.2 mM (mean +/- SD) and about 4.7, respectively. The enzyme synthesized water-soluble glucan from sucrose, and the glucan consisted of over 90 mol% 1,6-alpha-D-glucosidic linkages. The enzyme activity was not stimulated by primer dextran. Anti-enzyme serum produced a single precipitin band with the purified enzyme preparation, whereas it did not react with either of the other two known glucosyltransferases.     

The different effects of recombinant human tumor necrosis factor on rat fibrosarcoma sublines

Summary The antitumor effect of recombinant human tumor necrosis factor (rH-TNF) on two clones of rat fibrosarcoma with different metastatic potential to lymph nodes was examined. The colony formation of clone A, which has high metastatic potential, was completely inhibited by continuous exposure to rH-TNF at 50 U/ml. In contrast, colony formation of clone G, which has low metastatic potential, was not inhibited by high concentrations of rH-TNF (10,000 U/ml). The inhibitory effect of rH-TNF on colony formation by clone A was also observed with a 1-h exposure to rH-TNF. This effect was time and concentration dependent, as determined by the colony assay, ³H-thymidine uptake assay, and ⁵¹Cr-release assay. ³H-thymidine and ³H-uridine uptake per cell of clone A exposed to rH-TNF was not decreased. This suggests that the mechanisms of the antitumor effect of rH-TNF were not due to inhibition of DNA and RNA synthesis of tumor cells. In vivo growth and lymph node metastases of clone A inoculated i.p. to Donryu strain rats were completely suppressed by 14 consecutive i.p. injections of 10⁵ or 10⁶ U/kg per day of rH-TNF. On the other hand the growth of clone G was not influenced by rH-TNF administration.     

Natural killer (NK) activity of cultured S100β-positive T-leukemia cells

In order to clarify the function of human S100β- positive T-cells, S100β-positive T-leukemia cells (S100β TLC) were examined in vitro. S100β TLC were obtained from the peripheral blood of a patient with S100β-positive T-cell leukemia and enriched by an E-rosetting method. Two dimensional flow cytometric analysis indicated that the vast majority of the E-positive fraction were S100β TLC expressing CD3 and CD8 antigens. Although S100β TLC expressed CD3 antigen, they were negative for the α/β and γ/δ T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) defined by monoclonal antibodies (mabs) WT-31 and δ TCS-1, respectively. It was speculated that S100β TLC initially expressed α/β TCR but lost it during malignant transformation. When S100β TLC were cultured for 24 h, they acquired cytotoxic activity towards various NK-sensitive cell lines including K-562, Molt-3 and CEM-CCLF, but did not exhibit lysing activity towards NK-resistant cell lines including Raji, Daudi and MT-1. Despite the NK-activity of cultured S100β TLC, they lacked the morphological features of large granular lymphocytes (LGL). S100β TLC did not exhibit lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) activity. When S100β TLC were cocultivated with NK-sensitive cells or NK-resistant cells, they selectively bound to NK-sensitive cells, indicating that they lysed target cells by cell-to-cell contact. The finding that S100 β TLC lacked TCR molecules and their NK activity was not inhibited by mabs reactive with the CD3-TCR complex indicated that the CD3-TCR complex was not involved in their target recognition. These findings suggest that S100 β-positive T-cells are functionally similar to NK cells. We discuss the roles of S100 β-positive T-cells in the human immune system.     

Ion Effects on the H+-Translocating Adenosine Triphosphatase and Pyrophosphatase Associated with the Tonoplast of Chora corallina

H⁺-translocating ATPase and pyrophosphatase (PPase) associatedwith the tonoplast of Chara corallina were isolated with theaid of a perfusion technique, and the effects of ions on theiractivities were studied. All the alkali metal cations testedstimulated the ATPase and ATPdependent H⁺ pumping activitiesonly by 10 to 40%. Anions, on the other hand, strongly affectedthe activities. Potassium salts of Cl^- and Br^- stimulated them,while F^- and NO₃^- inhibited them. By contrast, the H⁺-translocatingPPase was insensitive to anions but sensitive to cations. Theorder of cation stimulation was Rb⁺=K⁺>Cs⁺>Na⁺=Li⁺>choline⁺.NO₃^- (50 mil), thought to be a specific inhibitor of the tonoplast-typeH⁺-ATPase, inhibited the ATPdependent H⁺ pumping almost completelybut the ATPase activity by only about 50%. Na⁺ inhibited thePP₁-dependent H⁺ pumping (I_5O=5OmM) in the presence of 50 mMKCl but not the ATP-dependent one. The PPase was more sensitiveto F^- (I₅₀=400µM) than the ATPase. Both the H⁺-ATPaseand the H⁺-PPase required Mg²⁺ for their activities, althoughan excess was inhibitory to both. The different sensitivitiesof the PP₁-dependent and the ATP-dependent H⁺- pumping enzymesto ions correspond to the tonoplast enzymes of higher plantsand may be used as "markers" to distinguish between these enzymesin characean cells (Received October 2, 1987; Accepted May 18, 1988)     

Induction of interdigitating reticulum cell-like differentiation in human monocytic leukemia cells by conditioned medium from IL-2-stimulated helper T-cells

Monocytic leukemia (MoL) cells were obtained from the peripheral blood of a patient in whom the leukemic cells infiltrating various lymphoreticular organs exhibited features intermediate between interdigitating reticulum cells (IDC) and ordinary phagocytic macrophages, whereas the leukemic cells in the peripheral blood were essentially monocytic and lacked such features. Peripheral blood CD4+ T-cells were established as an interleukin-2-dependent T-cell line. When the MoL cells were exposed for a few days to conditioned medium from the T-cell line, they extended several dendritic cytoplasmic projections and became intensely positive for HLA-DR antigen, cytoplasmic S-100β protein, and CD1 antigen. Functionally, the conditioned medium significantly down-regulated Fc-mediated and Fc-independent phagocytic activities, and the levels of lysosomal enzymes such as lysozyme and nonspecific esterase in the MoL cells. Moreover, the conditioned medium significantly up-regulated the accessory cell function of the MoL cells as measured by the primary allogenic mixed leukocyte reaction (MLR). Furthermore, the conditioned medium significantly down-regulated the expression of CD14 antigen. Biochemical analysis indicated that the factor responsible for these changes is a protein which is distinct from known human cytokines and whose molecular weight is approximately 31 kDa. These findings suggest that IDC are closely related the monocytic lineage and that helper T-cells play an important role in constructing the microenvironment of T-lymphoid tissues which is necessary for the differentiation and maturation of IDC.     

Rhizome induction and plantlet regeneration of Cymbidium goeringii from flower bud cultures in vitro

Apical flower buds of Cymbidium goeringli Reichenbach fil. (ca 2 mm long) exeised from infloreseences (ca 5 cm long) were explanted on modified Murashige & Skoog medium (=MS medium) supplemented with N⁶-benzyladenine (BA) and -naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Within 107 days of culture, swelling growth, chlorophyll synthesis, and subsequent rhizome differentiation were observed. MS medium containing 0.1 mg l^-1 BA and 10 mg l^-1 NAA was found to be optimal for initiating rhizome development and subsequent plantlet regeneration.Explants cultured on MS medium supplemented with 1 mg l^-1 NAA alone formed a mass of rhizome branches. Multiple shoots of rhizome branches were induced from apical segments when rhizomes were transferred to MS medium containing 0.1 mg l^-1 BA and 10 mg l^-1 NAA.Abbreviations NAA -naphthaleneacetic acid - BA N⁶-benzyladenine     

Isolation and Identification of α-(γ-Aminobutyryl)-Hypusine

A new dipeptide, alpha-(gamma-aminobutyryl)-hypusine, was identified in bovine brain. This compound was isolated from trichloroacetic acid-soluble fraction of bovine brain with five steps of ion-exchange chromatography. Its structure was postulated by routine chemical analyses and determined by synthesis. The amount of the compound isolated from 1.2 kg of bovine brain was 870 nmol.     

An oxygen-evolving complex with a simple subunit structure - ‘a water-plastoquinone oxidoreductase” - from the thermophilic cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp.

An oxygen-evolving complex has been highly purified from the thermophilic cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. The complex, which reproducibly showed 5 major polypeptide bands of 47, 40, 35, 30 and 9 kDa on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and contained 3.2 Mn per Q_A, had an oxygen-evolving activity of 300–400 μmol/mg chl per h in the presence of 5 mM MnCl₂; or CaCl₂. The complex most likely represents a minimum functional unit of the photosynthetic oxygen evolution.     

Effects of proteinase inhibitors on preimplantation embryos in the rat

Proteinase inhibitors of microbial origin were injected into the uterine horns of mated rats at 14:00 h on Day 5 of pregnancy (spermatozoa in vaginal smear = Day 1), and 5 or 6 h later the embryos were flushed from the horns and examined. Chymostatin and alpha-MAPI, inhibitors of chymotrypsin-like serine proteinase and thiol proteinases, as well as thiolstatin, an inhibitor of thiol proteinases, significantly inhibited embryo growth. The inhibitory activity of alpha-MAPI on embryonic growth was distinctly greater than that of thiolstatin, although the ID50 values of the two inhibitors to papain are similar. Antipain and leupeptin which are inhibitors of trypsin-like and thiol proteinases, and talopeptin, an inhibitor of metal proteinases, significantly interrupted the removal of the zona pellucida from expanding blastocysts. These results suggest that (1) a chymotrypsin-like proteinase seems to be important to the growth of the embryo, (2) a thiol proteinase may participate in embryonic growth, and (3) a trypsin-like proteinase and a metal proteinase are likely to participate in zonalysis.     

A serum factor stimulating cathepsin D-release from erythrocytes or ghosts

A serum factor preparation extensively purified from bovine serum stimulated cathepsin D-release from the rat blood cells in a concentration-dependent fashion within a range of physiological concentrations of the factor. Among the blood cells only the erythrocytes (or ghosts) were responsive to the factor, and the leucocytes and lymphocytes were unresponsive. The effects of Ca2+-concentrations, SH- blocking reagents, protease-inhibitors, calmodulin-inhibitors, calmodulin or EGTA-pretreatment of the ghosts on cathepsin D-release from the erythrocytes of ghosts in the presence or the absence of serum factor were investigated. The results suggested that the serum factor may first activate the Ca2+-calmodulin system via the mobilization of "Ca2+-pool" and then the calmodulin-dependent SH-protease in the erythrocyte plasma membranes. The activated protease in turn may break the linkage between cathepsin D and the plasma membranes, liberating cathepsin D activity into the incubation medium. The name of "calciferin" was proposed for the serum factor.