Influence of amino acid and peptide counterions on the conformation of DNA

We describe fibre diffraction studies on the interaction of DNA with different amino acids and peptides. The B form of DNA, with ten base-pairs per turn, is always found at high levels of humidity. We suggest that this pitch is observed because the DNA molecules are maintained in a straight position. In solution, the DNA molecules are bent and may have a larger pitch. The A form of DNA is never found upon dehydration. Instead, the B form may be either stabilized by the counterions or altered so that the number of base-pairs per helical turn decreases upon dehydration. Alteration is favoured either by small counterions that have a single charge or by large basic polypeptides and proteins. Stabilization is favoured by small counterions that have several charged groups. A third type of behaviour is found with some amino acids that contain hydrophobic groups, which destabilize the secondary structure of DNA, probably due to a modification of its intramolecular interactions. We have not detected any specific effect of amino acid side-chains, although the amino acid sequence has a clear influence on the interaction. We think that these observations are of interest in the pursuit of more detailed crystallographic studies on protein-DNA interactions.     

Activity coefficients of counterions and conformation in kappa-carrageenan systems

The optical rotation and the conductivity of kappa-carrageenans in aqueous solution have been investigated as functions of temperature in the presence of various electrolytes. The activity coefficients of sodium and potassium have been determined and correlated with the conformation. The potassium activity coefficient under ordered conformation is in agreement with a mechanism of dimerization.     

Studies on the structure of hyaluronic acid. Characterization of the product formed when hyaluronic acid is treated with ascorbic acid

Physical and chemical methods were used to characterize hyaluronic acid before (fraction HAIIBI) and after (fraction HA-AA) treatment with ascorbic acid. Fraction HA-AA was recovered with an almost quantitative yield and was shown to be chemically identical with fraction HAIIBI by all the methods used. These two materials, however, differed markedly in their molecular sizes and degree of polydispersity. By using sedimentation, diffusion and sedimentation-equilibrium analyses, weight-average molecular weights of about 1.2x10(6) and 6.5x10(4) respectively were obtained for fractions HAIIBI and HA-AA. It is concluded from these results that hyaluronic acid has a molecular weight of about 65000 and that the polysaccharide chain of this molecule is not depolymerized by ascorbic acid. It is further proposed that hyaluronic acid molecules in the matrix of connective tissues are present either in an aggregated form or as subunits of heterogeneous macromolecules, and that it is the linkages responsible for the organization of these structures which are broken by ascorbic acid.     

Interaction of cartilage proteoglycans with hyaluronic acid. The role of the hyaluronic acid carboxyl groups.

Hyaluronic acid-derived oligomers of five to fifteen repeat dissaccharides effectively bind to bovine nasal-cartilage proteoglycan and inhibit the interaction between proteoglycans and high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid. If, however, the hyaluronic acid oligosaccharides are modified by reaction with diazomethane to form the carboxyl methyl esters of the glucuronic acid residues, their inhibitory activity is abolished. The binding capacity can be fully restored by saponification. The amide derivative, which is formed by condensation of the oligosaccharide carboxyl groups with glycine methyl ester, is also ineffective in blocking the proteoglycan-hyaluronic acid interaction. In this case, binding activity is not restored when the amidated oligomers are subjected to saponification to yield the free carboxylate groups on the glycine residues. Thus the displacement of the carboxylate groups on the polysaccharide chain by the interposition of a glycine residue blocks the interaction between the proteoglycans and the hyaluronic acid oligomers. When the oligosaccharide methyl ester is reduced with NaBH4, the resultant glucose-containing oligomers exhibit decreased binding to proteoglycans. Thus it appears that the hyaluronic acid carboxylate anion in a specific spatial orientation is required for hyaluronic acid-proteoglycan interaction.     

Effect of hyaluronic acid molecular weight on the morphology of quantum dot-hyaluronic acid conjugates

The morphological analysis of novel quantum dot-hyaluronic acid (QDot-HA) conjugates was carried out with a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Adipic acid dihydrazide-modified HA (HA-ADH) was synthesized and conjugated to quantum dots (QDots) having carboxyl terminal ligands which were activated with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) and N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide (sulfo-NHS). HA molecules with a molecular weight (MW) of 20K, 234 K and 3000 K were used to investigate the effect of MW on the morphology of QDot-HA conjugates. The TEM micrographs of QDot-HA conjugates showed branched and multi-layered chain type morphology formed by inter- and intra-molecular conjugation of QDots to HA molecules. The size of QDot-HA conjugate increased with the MW of HA. QDot-HA conjugate could be successfully used for real-time bio-imaging of HA derivatives in nude mice. The novel QDot-HA conjugate will be further used to investigate the biological roles of HA with a different MW in the body.     

Effect of counterions on complex coacervation

In a recent paper, we developed a thermodynamic theory on the complex coacervation in the absence of low molecular ions, under the assumption that the coacervation is a condensation phenomenon of aggregates of polyanion and polycation in the aqueous solution, by obtaining the interaction potential U_S between these aggregates on the basis of Flory's method. In this paper, we have extended the theory to a more complicated phenomenon of the counterion-containing solutions. This treatment has led the interaction potential having an additional contribution to U_S resulting from an entropy increase by the counterion distribution. The phase diagram between solution (sol) and separated phase has been obtained as a function of the difference of charges between polyanion and polycation. It has been found that the presence of counterions sensitively suppresses the coacervation.     

Effect of ethanol on the activity and conformation of Penaeus penicillatus acid phosphatase.

The effect of ethanol on the activity of Penaeus penicillatus acid phosphatase has been studied. The results show that ethanol significantly inhibits enzyme activity as a non-competitive inhibitor, with Ki 8.75%. The conformational changes of the enzyme molecule induced by ethanol were followed using fluorescence emission, ultraviolet difference and circular dichroism (CD) spectra. Increasing the ethanol concentration caused the fluorescence emission intensity of the enzyme to increase. The ultraviolet difference spectra of the enzyme denatured with ethanol had two negative peaks at 220 and 278 nm, and a positive peak at 240 nm. Increasing the ethanol concentration produced a small shoulder peak at 287 nm in addition to the increases in the negative magnitudes of the 220 and 278 nm peaks. The changes of the fluorescence and ultraviolet difference spectra reflected the changes of the microenvironments of the tryptophan and tyrosine residues of the enzyme. The CD spectrum changes of the enzyme show that the secondary structure of the enzyme also changed. The results suggest that ethanol is a non-competitive inhibitor and the conformational integrity of the enzyme is essential for its activity.     

Fractionation of a hyaluronic acid preparation in a density gradient. Some properties of the hyaluronic acid

1. Hyaluronic acid was isolated from ox synovial fluid by sedimentation equilibrium in a caesium chloride density gradient (Silpananta, Dunstone & Ogston, 1967). The product was almost free from chondroitin sulphate and from protein. 2. Its composition did not differ significantly from that of the carbohydrate part of the protein-containing material isolated by filtration. Its physicochemical properties and molecular configuration were similar, except for its viscosity, which showed markedly reduced concentration-dependence and shear-dependence. This suggests that the associated protein tends to form links between molecules of hyaluronic acid. 3. The accurate measurement of viscosity at very low velocity gradient, by use of the damping of oscillations in a Couette viscometer, is described. 4. A method is described for measuring, approximately, the thermodynamic non-ideality of a solute from the shape of its schlieren curve at sedimentation equilibrium in a density gradient. 5. A value for the partial specific volume of hyaluronic acid in dilute salt solution was calculated from its isopycnic density in a caesium chloride gradient.     

Effect of gamma irradiated hyaluronic acid on acetaminophen induced acute hepatotoxicity

The hepatoprotective efficacy of irradiated hyaluronic acid (HA) on acetaminophen (APAP) induced acute hepatotoxicity was investigated. BALB/c mice (4-6 weeks of age) were pretreated with unirradiated HA (UIHA), 5 and 50 kGy gamma irradiated HA (GIHA) for 14 days and were dosed APAP (500 mg/kg b.wt). After 9h of APAP dosing animals were euthanized. The degree of acute hepatotoxicity was measured by aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). The expression of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) in serum and alpha-and mu-class of gluthathione-S-transferase (GSTs), CYP 2E1 class of cytochrome monooxygenase and glutathione (GSH) in liver were quantified. Histological evaluation was done by Hematoxiylin and Eiosin staining, Periodic acid schiffs staining, Manson trichrome staining and histological scorings were done. The degree of acute hepatotoxicity was markedly lower in UIHA and 5 kGy than in 50 kGy GIHA pretreated group and there was negligible difference between 5 and 50 kGy GIHA pretreated group. The expression of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) was significantly (P<0.05) suppressed in 5 and 50 kGy GIHA pretreated group. Histological scorings showed a significant protection of liver in UIHA and 5 kGy GIHA pretreated mice. Expression of alpha class GSTs was significantly increased in 5 and 50 kGy GIHA pretreated group. To conclude suppression of IFN-gamma and increase in alpha-class GSTs expression may exert a protective role in acute hepatotoxicity of APAP and 5 kGy GIHA showed comparable protective effect to that of UIHA.     

Biosynthesis of hyaluronic acid by Streptococcus.

Synthesis of hyaluronic acid was investigated in a cell-free system derived from a strain of Group A streptococci. Preparative procedures were improved so that an enzyme system 70 times more active than that previously reported was obtained. The hyaluronic acid synthesized could be separated into trichloroacetic acid-soluble and -insoluble fractions. On the basis of pulse-chase experiments, it was shown that the trichloroacetic acid-insoluble fraction is a precursor of the soluble fraction. The release of the trichloroacetic acid-insoluble hyaluronic acid is specifically blocked with p-chloromercuribenzoate, without inhibition of chain elongation. The addition of butanol to trichloroacetic acid resulted in solubilization of all of the hyaluronic acid. No detectable difference in molecular size was observed between the two hyaluronic acid fractions, both of which were estimated to be more than one million daltons in size. Testicular hyaluronidase digestion of either one of the two types of hyaluronic acid yielded no high molecular weight fragments, indicating that hyaluronic acid is not bound covalently to protein. However, following incubation of enzyme assay mixtures with UDP-[14C]GlcUA, even in the absence of UDP-GlcNAc, radioactive high molecular weight hyaluronic acid was obtained which suggests that the enzyme system elongates rather than initiates hyaluronic acid chains. Tunicamycin did not inhibit hyaluronic acid synthesis, indicating lack of participation of an intermediate of pyrophosphorylpolyisoprenol type. The results obtained are consistent with the hypothesis that chain elongation of hyaluronic acid proceeds by alternate addition of monosaccharides from UDP-sugars by a membrane-bound synthesizing system followed by release of completed hyaluronic acid chains.