Pathochemistry, pathogenesis and enzyme replacement in multiple-sulfatase deficiency

Multiple-sulfatase deficiency (MSD) is now considered to be heterogeneous and could be classified into three or four clinical phenotypes according to the onset of the disease: neonatal, late infantile, juvenile and possibly adult type. Neonatal-type MSD shows severe clinical involvement and practically no arylsulfatase A, B and C activities in cultured skin fibroblasts. Furthermore, arylsulfatase A activity in neonatal-type MSD was not enhanced by the addition of thiosulfate. Therefore, it is distinct from late infantile-type MSD. The degradation of 14C-sulfatide can occur in MSD-cultured skin fibroblasts and was much higher than in late infantile-type MLD. The addition of thiol protease such as leupeptin to cultured MSD skin fibroblasts enhanced arylsulfatase A activity as well as the degradation of 14C-sulfatide. This suggests that the decreased activities of arylsulfatase A is due to an acceleration of the enzyme degradation. Enzyme replacement by the addition of arylsulfatases of different sources (human liver, brain, fungus) was carried out in cultured MSD skin fibroblasts. Human enzymes of arylsulfatase A and B were mostly taken up by MSD cells rather than those of fungus origin. By the exposure to leukocytes to cultured skin fibroblasts, MSD cells corrected arylsulfatase A and B activities.     

Macrophage-mediated N-nitrosation of thioproline and proline

Thioproline (Thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid) and proline were nitrosated by stimulated mouse macrophages in vitro. A macrophage cell line (J774.1, 1.0 x 10(6)/well, 1 ml) was incubated with Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide, interferon-gamma and thioproline (5 mM) or proline (5 mM). After 72 hr incubation at 37 degrees C, 4 microM N-nitrosothioproline was produced. The amount of N-nitrosoproline was much lower than that of N-nitrosothioproline. Thioproline and proline inhibited the formation of carcinogenic N-nitrosomorpholine. N-nitrosothioproline and N-nitrosoproline are found as major N-nitroso compounds in human urine. Macrophage mediated N-nitrosation may contribute to the formation of these N-nitrosamino acids in the human body.     

Regeneration of bovine and octopus opsins in situ with natural and artificial retinals

We consider the problem of color regulation in visual pigments for both bovine rhodopsin (lambda max = 500 nm) and octopus rhodopsin (lambda max = 475 nm). Both pigments have 11-cis-retinal (lambda max = 379 nm, in ethanol) as their chromophore. These rhodopsins were bleached in their native membranes, and the opsins were regenerated with natural and artificial chromophores. Both bovine and octopus opsins were regenerated with the 9-cis- and 11-cis-retinal isomers, but the octopus opsin was additionally regenerated with the 13-cis and all-trans isomers. Titration of the octopus opsin with 11-cis-retinal gave an extinction coefficient for octopus rhodopsin of 27,000 +/- 3000 M-1 cm-1 at 475 nm. The absorption maxima of bovine artificial pigments formed by regenerating opsin with the 11-cis dihydro series of chromophores support a color regulation model for bovine rhodopsin in which the chromophore-binding site of the protein has two negative charges: one directly hydrogen bonded to the Schiff base nitrogen and another near carbon-13. Formation of octopus artificial pigments with both all-trans and 11-cis dihydro chromophores leads to a similar model for octopus rhodopsin and metarhodopsin: there are two negative charges in the chromophore-binding site, one directly hydrogen bonded to the Schiff base nitrogen and a second near carbon-13. The interaction of this second charge with the chromophore in octopus rhodopsin is weaker than in bovine, while in metarhodopsin it is as strong as in bovine.     

Phosphorylation in the carboxyl-terminal domain of the capsid protein of hepatitis B virus: evaluation with a monoclonal antibody.

The capsid protein of hepatitis B virus (p21c) is made of 183 amino acids coded for by the C gene. By using p21c isolated from Dane particles (hepatitis B virus) as an immunogen, a monoclonal antibody (no. 2212) which recognized an epitope dependent on the phosphorylation of p21c was raised. The binding of no. 2212 antibody to authentic p21c was completely inhibited by a synthetic undecapeptide with a sequence of RRRSQSPRRRR, representing amino acids 165 to 175 of p21c, only when the peptide was phosphorylated. Either or both of Ser-168 and Ser-170 were phosphorylated in p21c in vivo, therefore, and contributed to the manifestation of the epitope. No. 2212 antibody bound to p21c from core particles derived from Dane particles or hepatocellular carcinoma tissues (PLC/342) propagated in nude mice but did not bind to p21c from core particles expressed in Escherichia coli or yeast cells, indicating different states of phosphorylation in them. Nonphosphorylated p21c showed a higher affinity for the viral DNA than did phosphorylated p21c. Since the serum from an asymptomatic carrier, with a high titer for antibody to hepatitis B core antigen, specifically bound to phosphorylated undecapeptide (amino acids 165 to 175), the epitope would stimulate humoral antibody responses in the human host.     

The production of anorexigenic substances by intestinal flora

The role of intestinal flora in the production of anorexigenic substance was investigated. Proteus mirabilis (P. mirabilis) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) were found to produce an anorexigenic substance, while Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis, type 1 and 2) and Staphylococcus intermedius (S. intermedius) did not. The anorexigenic substance was purified and was detected as, a single though broad band by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The specific activity of the final form of the purified substance was 120 units/mg carbohydrate. The substance contained no protein residue and appeared to be a lipopolysaccharide. The evidence that intestinal flora produces an anorexigenic substance leads to an interesting assumption that the intestinal flora may be responsible for regulating food intake.     

Primary structure of non-histone protein HMG1 revealed by the nucleotide sequence

The isolation and sequencing of a cDNA clone coding for the entire sequence of pig thymus non-histone protein HMG1 are described. The sequence analysis reveals a complete 2192-nucleotide sequence with a 5'-terminal untranslated region of 11 nucleotides, 642 nucleotides of an open reading frame that encoded 214 amino acids, and a 3'-terminal untranslated region of 1539 nucleotides. The HMG1 protein, deduced from the nucleotide sequence, has a molecular weight of 24,785 and a C-terminal of a continuous run of 30 acidic amino acids, encoded by a simple repeating sequence of (GAN)30. The predicted amino acid sequence is homologous to HMG1, HMG2, and HMG-T sequences from several sources, suggesting that the protein conformation is under evolutionary constraints. Northern blot analysis reveals that another hybridizable RNA species of smaller size is present. Southern blot analyses suggest that pig genome contains several HMG1 gene equivalents.     

Branching Photocycle of Sensory Rhodopsin in Halobacterium Halobium

Temperature effect of the photocyle of sensory rhodopsin (sR) was studied by nanosecond spectroscopy. Though the formation yield of sR_M (sR₃₇₀) was sharply decreased with temperature, those of sR_K (sR₆₈₀) and sR_L were insensitive to temperature changes. These results show the existence of the branching process back to sR from sR_L. The absorption maxima for sR_K and sR_L were 595 ± 5 and 555 ± 15 nm, respectively.     

Polypeptides coded for by the region pre-S and gene S of hepatitis B virus DNA with the receptor for polymerized human serum albumin: expression on hepatitis B particles produced in the HBeAg or anti-HBe phase of hepatitis B virus infection

There are four polypeptides coded for by the region Pre-S and gene S on DNA of hepatitis B virus that carry the receptor for polymerized human serum albumin (poly-HSA), i.e., P31 and P39, as well as their glycosylated counterparts P35 and P43. With the use of monoclonal antibodies directed to Pre-S(1) sequence and Pre-S(2) sequence (bearing the receptor for poly-HSA), the content of these polypeptides, as well as their expression on the surface, was determined for hepatitis B particles of various categories. P39 and P43, carrying both Pre-S(1) and Pre-S(2) sequences, were contained abundantly in Dane and tubular particles, and to a much lesser extent in small spherical particles, all of which were purified from plasma containing hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg). P31 and P35, carrying Pre-S(2) but not Pre-S(1) sequence, were contained comparably in these three categories of hepatitis B particles. In remarkable contrast, small spherical particles derived from plasma containing antibody to HBeAg were very low in the content of any Pre-S polypeptides. P31 and P39 showed higher activities for poly-HSA receptor than their glycosylated versions. When Dane particles were digested with trypsin, the poly-HSA receptor was deprived in parallel with the loss of antigenicity for Pre-S(2) sequence. The antigenicity for Pre-S(1) sequence was much less affected, and that for the product of gene S was virtually unchanged by the digestion.     

Epidermal growth factor increases c-myc mRNA without eliciting phosphoinositide turnover, protein kinase C activation, or calcium ion mobilization in Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts

Incubation of quiescent cultures of Swiss 3T3 cells with epidermal growth factor (EGF) caused an increase in c-myc mRNA. Under these conditions, EGF did not induce phosphoinositide turnover, formation of diacylglycerol, formation of inositol tris-, bis-, and monophosphates, protein kinase C activation, or Ca2+ mobilization. Although it has been reported that both protein kinase C and Ca2+ may be responsible for the platelet-derived growth factor- and fibroblast growth factor-induced increases in c-myc mRNA in Swiss 3T3 cells (Kaibuchi, K., Tsuda, T., Kikuchi, A., Tanimoto, T., Yamashita, T., & Takai, Y. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 1187-1192), these results indicate that neither protein kinase C nor Ca2+ is involved in the EGF-induced increase in c-myc mRNA, and that an unidentified system may be involved in this reaction.