Galactose and glucose metabolism in galactokinase deficient, galactose-1-P-uridyl transferase deficient and normal human fibroblasts.

Despite the genetic interruption of the Leloir pathway both galactosemic patients and galactosemic fibroblasts can convert galactose to CO2 and TCA precipitable products, although at less than the normal rate. These observations stimulated investigations into the identity of the alternative metabolic routes which allows for galactose metabolism in the absence of in vitro galactose-1-P-uridyl transferase. Four lines of galactosemic cells, each without detectable gal-transferase, produced 14CO2 from [1-14C]-galactose (0.094 mumoles in 20 cc of medium) at approximately 39% +/- 16% the rate of transferase positive cells over a 48-hour period. However, galactokinase deficient fibroblasts produced 14CO2 and TCA precipitable products from [1-14C]-galactose or [U-14C]-galactose at only 3% to 9% the rate of normal fibroblasts. Therefore it seems likely that gal-transferase deficient fibroblasts must first synthesize galactose-1-P for further metabolism of galactose.     

rasH mutants deficient in GTP binding.

Single amino acid substitutions were introduced into a region of the rasH protein (residues 116, 117, and 119) homologous to a variety of diverse GTP-binding proteins. Each of the mutant p21 proteins displayed a significant reduction (10- to 5,000-fold) in GTP binding affinity. Activated rasH proteins deficient in GTP binding were unaltered in their ability to morphologically transform NIH 3T3 cells.     

Glucose tolerance, plasma and pancreatic insulin levels in zinc deficient rats.

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effect of zinc deficiency on glucose tolerance, and on blood and pancreatic insulin concentrations. In the first study, no significant differences in blood glucose or plasma insulin levels were noted between pair-weighted zinc deficient and zinc sufficient rats after an oral glucose load. In the second experiment, the concentration of pancreatic insulin in pair-fed zinc sufficient rats did not differ significantly from that of zinc deficient rats. However, a zinc deficient group fed ad libitum had significantly lower pancreatic insulin levels, suggesting that food restriction may cause increased pancreatic insulin. Thus, zinc deficiency per se had no apparent effect on oral glucose tolerance or pancreatic insulin concentrations.     

Escherichia coli mutants deficient in exonuclease VII.

Mutants of Escherichia coli having reduced levels of exonuclease VII activity have been isolated by a mass screening procedure. Nine mutants, five of which are known to be of independent origin, were obtained and designated xse. The defects in these strains lie at two or more loci. One of these loci, xseA, lies in the interval between purG and purC; it is 93 to 97% co-transducible with guaA. The order of the genes in this region is purG-xseA guaA,B-purC. The available data do not allow xseA to be ordered with respect to guaA,B. Exonuclease VII purified from E. coli KLC3 xseA3 is more heat labile than exonuclease VII purified from the parent, E. coli PA610 xse+. Therefore, xseA is the structural gene for exonuclease VII. Mutants with defects in the xseA gene show increased sensitivity to nalidixic acid and have an abnormally high frequency of recombination (hyper-Rec phenotype) as measured by the procedure of Konrad and Lehlman (1974). The hyper-Rec character of xseA strains is approximately one-half that of the polAex1 mutant defective in the 5' leads to 3' hydrolytic activity of deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase I. The double mutant, polAex1 xseA7, is twice as hyper-Rec as the polAex1 mutant alone. The xseA- strains are slightly more sensitive to ultraviolet irradiation than the parent strain. Bacteriophages T7, fd, and lambdared grow normally in xseA- strains.     

Dorsal pancreas agenesis in N-cadherin- deficient mice.

Members of the cadherin family of cell adhesion molecules are thought to be crucial regulators of tissue patterning and organogenesis. During pancreatic ontogeny N-cadherin is initially expressed in the pancreatic mesenchyme and later in pancreatic endoderm. Analysis of N-cadherin-deficient mice revealed that these mice suffer from selective agenesis of the dorsal pancreas. Further analysis demonstrated that the mechanism for the lack of a dorsal pancreas involves an essential function of N-cadherin as a survival factor in the dorsal pancreatic mesenchyme.     

Clostridium thermosaccharolyticum strain deficient in acetate production.

A mutant of Clostridium thermosaccharolyticum that is blocked in acetate production was isolated after treatment with nitrosoguanidine and selection for fluoroacetate resistance. The mutant produced more ethanol than the parent strain did.     

Escherichia coli mutants deficient in guanine-xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase.

We studied the purine phosphoribosyltransferases (PRTases) of Escherichia coli and were able to isolate a mutant that is defective in its ability to convert guanine and xanthine to their respective ribonucleotides. The affected gene (gpt) lies between metD and proA and is 78.6% co-transducible with proA. Both this point mutant and a strain with a pro-lac deletion contain less than 2% of wild-type xanthine PRTase activity, yet still contain about 30% of wild-type guanine PRTase activity. Thus, the gpt gene is only one of at least two genes responsible for guanine PRTase activity in E. coli.     

Escherichia coli mutants deficient in deoxyuridine triphosphatase.

Mutants deficient in deoxyuridine triphosphatase (dUTPase) were identified by enzyme assays of randomly chosen heavily mutagenized clones. Five mutants of independent origin were obtained. One mutant produced a thermolabile enzyme, and it was presumed to have a mutation in the structural gene for dUTPase, designated dut. The most deficient mutant had the following associated phenotypes: less than 1% of parental dUTPase activity, prolonged generation time, increased sensitivity to 5'-fluorodeoxyuridine, increased rate of spontaneous mutation, increased rate of recombination (hyper-Rec), an inhibition of growth in the presence of 2 mM uracil, and a decreased ability to support the growth of phage P1 (but not T4 or lambda). This mutation also appeared to be incompatible with pyrE mutations. A revertant selected by its faster growth had regained dUTPase activity and lost its hyper-Rec phenotype. Many of the properties of the dut mutants are compatible with their presumed increased incorporation of uracil into DNA and the subsequent transient breakage of the DNA by excision repair.     

Renal function in the choline deficient rat.

Abnormalties in renal concentrating ability and free water reabsorption, and a diminished sodium excretion, glomerular filtration rate, and effective renal plasma flow were observed in adolescent rats which ingested a lipotrope deficient diet for 10 months.     

Enhanced vasoconstrictor responses in eNOS deficient mice.

Previous studies suggest that vasoconstriction is modulated by nitric oxide (NO). Contractions to ET-1 and/or thromboxane may be enhanced during chronic deficiency in expression or activity of NO synthase (NOS). Multiple isoforms of NOS are expressed within the vessel wall and purely pharmacological approaches cannot define the role of each. We tested the hypothesis that vasoconstriction to endothelin-1 (ET-1) and/or the thromboxane mimetic, U46619, is enhanced under conditions of chronic, selective deficiency in endothelial NOS (eNOS-/-) by examining responses in aorta from eNOS-/- mice compared to wild type (eNOS+/+). ET-1 produced dose-dependent contraction of aorta from eNOS+/+ mice that was increased twofold following acute inhibition of all NOS isoforms with N(G)-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA). In eNOS-/- mice, contractions to ET-1 were increased twofold compared to eNOS+/+. L-NNA had no effect. Although contraction of the aorta to thromboxane mimetic U46619 was increased at lower concentrations, maximal contractions to U46619 were not increased following acute inhibition of NOS or in eNOS-/- mice. These studies provide direct evidence that vasoconstriction to ET-1 and thromboxane is augmented in the face of eNOS deficiency, demonstrating that eNOS normally inhibits vascular contractile responses.     

Cadmium-sensitive, cad1 mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana are phytochelatin deficient.

An allelic series of cad1, cadmium-sensitive mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana, was isolated. These mutants were sensitive to cadmium to different extents and were deficient in their ability to form cadmium-peptide complexes as detected by gel-filtration chromatography. Each mutant was deficient in its ability to accumulate phytochelatins (PCs) as detected by high-performance liquid chromatography and the amount of PCs accumulated by each mutant correlated with its degree of sensitivity to cadmium. The mutants had wild-type levels of glutathione, the substrate for PC biosynthesis, and in vitro assays demonstrated that each of the mutants was deficient in PC synthase activity. These results demonstrate conclusively the importance of PCs for cadmium tolerance in plants.     

Pituitary ACTH responsiveness in the vasopressin deficient rat.

ACTH concentration and the responsiveness of dispersed anterior pituitary cells to hypothalamic extract and to vasopressin were studied in homozygous (DI), heterozygous (HTZ), DI-pitressin treated (DIP) Brattleboro rats, and in control Long-Evans rats.Absolute, but not relative, anterior pituitary weights of HTZ, DI, and DIP animals were significantly smaller than those of controls. The concentration of immunoreactive (I) and bioreactive (B) ACTH in dispersed anterior pituitary cells was greater in DI and DIP than in HTZ or in control animals, although the total amount of ACTH was greater in control than DI or HTZ animals. Media from incubates of pituitary cells derived from DI and DIP animals contained less I and B ACTH than those from HTZ or control animals. Pituitary cells derived from DI animals secreted markedly less ACTH following incubation with hypothalamic extract (NIH-HE-RP-1) than did cells from HTZ animals. The response in DIP animals was intermediate between that of DI and HTZ animals. In contrast, pituitary cells derived from DI and DIP animals were significantly more responsive to vasopressin than those from control or HTZ animals.     

Isolation and characterization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants deficient in S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase, spermidine, and spermine.

Four mutants were isolated from Saccharomyces cerevisiae that are deficient in S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (spe2). All four mutants are chromosomal and fall into a single complementation group tightly linked to arg1. Since one of the mutants contained a temperature-sensitive activity, this complementation group defines the structural gene. Mutants totally lacking enzymic activity did not contain spermidine or spermine and had a greatly increased doubling time when grown in the absence of these two polyamines. Addition of 10(-6) M spermidine or 10(-5) M spermine, but not putrescine or cadaverine, restored the doubling time to that of the wild type. Diploids formed from a cross of two mutants completely deficient in spermidine and spermine were unable to sporulate in the absence of added spermidine or spermine. We obtained evidence that arg1 was not located on any of the 17 known chromosomes, and therefore we postulate that arg1 and spe2 are located on a new 18th chromosome.     

Subcellular distribution of acid and neutral alpha-glucosidases in normal, acid maltase deficient, and myophosphorylase deficient human skeletal muscle

The subcellular distribution of acid (pH 4.0) and neutral (pH 6.5) α-glucosidases was investigated in biopsy specimens of human skeletal muscle obtained from six normal subjects, four adult cases of acid maltase deficiency, and a case of myophosphorylase deficiency. The highest relative specific activity of acid glucosidase, as well as of other acid hydrolases, was observed in the light mitochondrial fraction. Relatively high acid phosphatase activity was also found in the microsomal fraction. In all muscles the highest relative specific activity of neutral glucosidase was in the microsomal fraction. In acid glucosidase deficient muscle no neutral glucosidase could be detected in the light and heavy mitochondrial fractions but in normal and myophosphorylase deficient muscle neutral glucosidase activity was also detectable in these fractions. The final supernatant of all muscles contained neutral glucoamylase activity. The relevance of these data to the pathogenesis of the different forms of type II glycogenosis is considered.     

Neonatal endocrine abnormalities in myelin deficient Jimpy-tabby mice.

The Jimpy mouse is a sex-linked recessive mutant characterized by a paucity of myelin in the Central Nervous System. These mice are bred with another sex-linked gene bearing a fur mutation known as Tabby. The endocrine system of these animals was examined for histologic abnormalites because growth hormone and thyroxine play important roles in controlling myelinogenesis. The results of the present study show that the pituitary and thyroid are abnormal in appearance by two days after birth. The number of somatotrophs in the Jimpy-Tabby pituitary is reduced about 30% but the number of granules in these cells is increased 25%. The endoplasmic reticulum of the thyroid follicular cells in the mutants is dilated and occupies most of the cytoplasm. The results of this study demonstrate for the first time that Jimpy-Tabby mice exhibit abnormalities outside the Central Nervous System. The neonatal changes observed in the endocrine system are the basis for continued studies to determine if they are responsible for the myelin deficit.     

Mutants of Salmonella typhimurium deficient in an endoprotease.

Three bands of hydrolytic activity toward the chromogenic protease substrate N-acetyl-DL-phenylalanine beta-naphthyl ester (NAPNE) can be observed after gel electrophoresis of crude extracts of Salmonella typhimurium or Escherichia coli. Mutants deficient in one of these three activities have been isolated using a staining procedure that identifies colonies that show reduced ability to hydrolyze NAPNE. These mutants lack the strongest of the three bands of activity. The Salmonella mutations (designated apeA) are all co-transducible with purE, and the order (pro)-apeA-Hfr K17 origin-purE has been established. Strains carrying apeA mutations have wild-type doubling times. None of the apeA mutants isolated gains an auxotrophic requirement as a result of loss of the apeA gene product. The rates and extents of protein degradation during starvation for a carbon source or during growth after exposure to the amino acid analogue canavanine do not seem to be affected by apeA mutations. Revertants of apeA mutations (selected by screening for clones that have regained the ability to hydrolyze NAPNE) frequently contain a new enzymatic activity not found in wild-type cells.     

Subcellular distribution of selenium in deficient mouse liver.

Selenium (Se)-deficient mice were labelled in vivo with single pulses of [75Se]selenite, and the intrahepatic distribution of the trace element was studied by subcellular fractionation. At 1 h after intraperitoneal injection of 3.3 or 10 micrograms of Se/kg body weight, 15% of the respective doses were found in the liver. Accumulation in the subcellular fractions followed the order: Golgi vesicular much greater than lysosomal greater than cytosolic = microsomal greater than mitochondrial, peroxisomal, nuclear and plasma-membrane fraction. At a dose of 3.3 micrograms/kg, more than 90% of the hepatic Se was protein-bound. When cross-contamination was accounted for, the following specific Se contents of the subcellular compartments were extrapolated: Golgi apparatus, 7.50 pmol/mg; cytosol, 0.90 pmol/mg; endoplasmic reticulum, 0.80 pmol/mg; mitochondria, 0.49 pmol/mg; nuclei, lysosomes, peroxisomes and plasma membrane, less than 0.4 pmol/mg. At 10 micrograms/kg, a roughly 2-3-fold increase in Se content of all fractions was found without major changes in the intrahepatic distribution pattern. An extraordinary rise in the cytosolic fraction was due to an apparently non-protein-bound Se pool. At 24 h after dosing, total hepatic Se had decreased to 6% of the initial dose and had become predominantly protein-bound. The 60% decrease in hepatic Se was reflected in a similar fall in the subcellular levels of the trace element. The Golgi apparatus still had the highest specific Se content, although accumulation was 5 times less than that after 1 h. The cytosolic pool accounted for 50% of the hepatic Se at both labelling times. After 1 h the Golgi apparatus was, with 19%, the second largest intrahepatic pool, followed by the endoplasmic reticulum with 16%. The high affinity and fast response of the Golgi apparatus to Se supplementation of deficient mice is interpreted in terms of a predominant function of this cell compartment in the processing and the export of Se-proteins from the liver.