Mechanism of the binding of 2-(4'-hydroxyphenylazo)benzoic acid to bovine serum albumin

The mechanism of the binding of 2-(4'-hydroxyphenylazo)benzoic acid (HABA) to bovine serum albumin was studied by relaxation methods as well as the binding isotherm using gel chromatography. A single relaxation was observed over a wide range of HABA concentration except at the extremes of high concentration where another slow process was observed. The concentration dependence of the reciprocal relaxation time of the fast process decreased monotonically with increase in concentration of HABA at constant polymer concentration. The data were analyzed on the basis of Brown's domain structure model and were found to be consistent with a sequential binding mechanism. The azohydrazon tautomerism of HABA was identified with the intramolecular step of the complex. The activation parameters of the step, determined from the temperature dependence of the relaxation time of the fast process, showed that this step is rate limited by an enthalpy barrier in both forward and backward directions. Comparison of the activation parameters with those of other serum albumin-ligand systems suggests that there is an enthalpy-entropy compensation in the activation process of the intramolecular step with the compensation temperature at about 270 K; the enthalpy-entropy compensation is thought to be related to the hydrophobic nature of the ligand.     

Requirement for specific protein kinase activities during the rapid redistribution of F-actin that precedes the outgrowth of neurites in PC12D cells.

Rapid changes in morphology of PC12D cells, a subline of PC12 cells, in response to various agents were studied in relation to the subsequent outgrowth of neurites. A few minutes after addition of NGF or of dbcAMP, staining of F-actin with rhodamine phalloidin revealed the formation of ruffles around the periphery of cells. Simultaneous relocalization of F-actin to the area of ruffles occurred in response to NGF. A moderate relocalization of F-actin occurred in dbcAMP-treated cells. Other neurite-promoting agents on PC12D cells, such as bFGF, EGF and PMA, also caused ruffling and an identical redistribution of F-actin. The actin bundles then condensed into several dot-like aggregates that subsequently became the growth cones of neurites. When an inhibitor of protein kinase, K-252a, was added, only the NGF-induced morphological change was selectively decreased. By contrast, an inhibitor of protein kinase A, H-89, selectively blocked the dbcAMP-induced change. These are analogous to the effects of those inhibitors on the outgrowth of neurites. These observations indicate that the formation of ruffles with the redistribution of F-actin might be one of the earliest steps in the neurite outgrowth and that the morphological changes might be triggered by the activation of specific protein kinases. Neither cytochalasin B nor colchicine prevented the series of morphological changes. However, processes formed in the presence of cytochalasin B had no filopodium and protrusions formed in the presence of colchicine were shaped like large filopodia. It appears that microtubules and microfilaments may not be absolutely required for the initiation of the rapid morphological changes, but that complete neurites might be formed with contribution by microtubules and by microfilaments.     

Comparison of the expression of cell surface poly-N-acetyllactosamine-type oligosaccharides in PC12 cells with those in its variant PC12D.

To explore the biological role of carbohydrate chains in the process of nerve cell differentiation, we carried out a characterization of the carbohydrate structure of glycoproteins by comparing conventional PC12 cells with variant cells (PC12D). In vitro metabolic labeling of cells with either [(3)H] glucosamine or [(3)H] threonine, together with tomato lectin staining, revealed that nerve growth factor (NGF) stimulation caused a decrease in the poly-N-acetyllactosamine synthesis of high-molecular-weight glycopeptides from PC12 cells. By comparison, the amount of glycopeptides with poly-N-acetyllactosamine from PC12D cells was already significantly low and it was not changed by NGF stimulation. By assaying the glycosyltransferases that participate in poly-N-acetyllactosamine synthesis, the decrease in the amount of the poly-N-acetyllactosamine in PC12D cells as well as NGF-stimulated PC12 cells could be accounted for by a reduction in the activity of poly-N-acetyllactosamine extension enzyme (GnT-i), because the amount of poly-N-acetyllactosamine in both cells precisely correlated with changes in GnT-i activity, whereas the activities of N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V (GnT-V) and beta 1-4 galactosyltransferase remained unchanged. These results demonstrate that the decrease in poly-N-acetyllactosamine synthesis in PC12 cells occurred prior to neurite formation, whereas PC12D cells were insensitive to this effect. Next, we showed that GnT-i but not GnT-V catalyzed a rate-limiting reaction in the expression of poly-N-acetyllactosamine chains, especially in pheochromocytoma.     

Aggregation of tobacco mosaic virus by sodium chondroitin sulfate

The precipitation of tobacco mosaic virus by sodium chondroitin sulfate in an aqueous solution was investigated kinetically by means of turbidimetry. The virus solution became turbid after the addition of chondroitin sulfate. A threshold concentration of chondroitin, 1.33 mg/ml, was required for virus precipitation, irrespective of the virus concentration. The precipitation resulted from a mutual spatial exclusion phenomenon, leading to the separation of the virus as a crystalline phase. The dimension of chondroitin sulfate calculated at the threshold concentration agreed well with that obtained by other methods. The initial slopes and the aggregation half-times of the virus aggregates depended on both chondroitin and virus concentrations and the former increased with the increase in concentration of each. Above the threshold concentration of chondroitin sulfate, tobacco mosaic virus aggregation was a rapid-aggregation process and ended within 100 sec.     

A fluorescence temperature-jump study on Ca2(+)-induced conformational changes in calmodulin

Calmodulin has been shown to alter its conformation so as to interact with a number of target proteins upon Ca2+ binding. A Ca2(+)-binding study of calmodulin was performed by monitoring the fluorescence of intrinsic tyrosine residues and the probe 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate (ANS). ANS fluorescence was shown to reflect Ca2+ binding to both high- and low-affinity sites. On the one hand, tyrosine fluorescence was sensitive only to the high-affinity Ca2+ binding. Temperature-jump investigation of the ternary complex of Ca2(+)-calmodulin-ANS in combination with monitoring of ANS fluorescence demonstrated the kinetic characteristics of the conformational change. The relaxation process was attributed to Ca2(+)-induced conformational change and the rate constants of this process were evaluated. On the basis of the rate constants of the conformational change, a rapid response of calmodulin in Ca2+ signaling is suggested.     

Dynamic mechanism of the self-assembly process of tobacco mosaic virus protein studied by rapid temperature-jump small-angle X-ray scattering using synchrotron radiation

The self-assembly process of tobacco mosaic virus protein (TMVP) was observed by rapid temperature-jump time-resolved solution X-ray small-angle scattering using synchrotron radiation. The temperature-jump device used for the X-ray measurements is rapid enough to cope with even the fastest-assembling process of TMVP, and accumulates data of reasonable signal-to-noise ratios with a minimum total counting time of 7.5 seconds. The measurements suggested that the 20 S disk of TMVP polymerized to stacked disks (short rods). The time to complete stacking varied from approximately 25 seconds to approximately 1200 seconds, depending on the solution condition and magnitude of the temperature gap. Higher protein concentration, ionic strength and temperature favoured faster association. The results were analysed in terms of a set of kinetic equations that describe the two-stage aggregation of TMVP with an equilibrium constant K1, and two rate constants k+2 and k-2 for association and dissociation of disks, respectively. The consistency of the analysis suggests that the TMVP assembly proceeds in two steps of: (1) the aggregation of A-proteins into double-layered disks; and (2) the stacking of double-layered disks. The kinetic analysis indicated that the stacking belongs to the lowest range of protein-protein interaction system.