Components of human complement system. Testing and isolation of C3 and C5

Modified reagents for testing the hemolytic activity of human complement components, C3 and C5, have been obtained. These reagents were obtained by treatment of human blood serum pools with a saturated solution of KBr (reagent R3) or 2 M KSCN and denaturated yeasts (reagent R5). These reagents were found to be rich in the serum factor obtained through the use of DEAE-cellulose DE-52 and containing the active component of the complement (C4). To test the sensitivity and specificity of the above reagents, components C3 and C5 were purified. After this procedure these components emerged as hemolytically active, electrophoretically and immunophoretically homogeneous components, C3 and C5. DEAE-cellulose DE-52, DEAE-Sephacel, Hydroxylapatite and Ultra-gel AcA-34 were used consecutively as purification agents. The activity yields of components C3 and C5 with regard to the initial serum levels were 31% and 18%, respectively.     

Preservation of C3, C5, and C5a functional activities by a new radiolabeling method; demonstration of C5 products in complement-activated serum.

A new method is described for the radiolabeling of C3, C5, and C5a. Using a methylation procedure we have labeled C3, C5, and C5a with 14CH20, achieving high specific activity, without loss of hemolytic activity in the case of C3 and C5, and in the case of C5a, full retention of chemotactic and enzyme releasing activities. The distribution of radiolabel in the alpha and beta chains of C5 was 75 and 25%, respectively. Using intact labeled C5 the fragmentation pattern in zymosan-activated human serum, assessed by gel filtration and electrophoresis, is complex, yielding multiple fragmentation products. The labeling method described in this paper yield materials that have many advantages over the currently used labeling procedures.     

Simultaneous assay for aspartate aminotransferase and guanase in human serum by high-performance liquid chromatography

A simple high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay for the simultaneous determination of guanase and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities in a single serum sample is described. The method is based on direct detection of enzymatically formed products xanthine and glutamate, respectively. The procedure is sensitive, precise (C.V. below 2% for guanase and 3% for AST), suitable for routine purposes and requires only 100 μl of sample. Kinetic measurements have shown the guanase activity to have an apparent Michaelis constant of 24.5 μM and the AST activity of 11.1 and 0.18 mM for aspartate and oxoglutarate, respectively, at 37°C in Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.5).     

Selective Extraction of Alkaline Phosphatase and 51 -Nucleotidase from Milk Fat Globule Membranes by a Single Phase n-Butanol Procedure

ABSTRACT

A single phase extraction procedure employing 8% (v/v) n-butanol at room temperature extracted over 90% of alkaline phosphatase activity and over 60% of 5'-nucleotidase activity from bovine milk fat globule membranes (MFGM). For 5'-nucleotidase, higher n-butanol concentrations lead to loss of activity, while lower concentrations were ineffective in extracting the enzyme. When extractions were performed at 0°C, similar yields were obtained for alkaline phosphatase extraction with 8% (v/v) n-butanol, but 5¹- nucleotidase extraction required 10% (v/v) n-butanol for similar yields. However, 5'-nucleotidase was less susceptible to denaturation during extraction at 0°C. The Km values and substrate specificities for both alkaline phosphatase and 5'-nucleotidase were unchanged by extraction with 8% (v/v) n-butanol. The 8% (v/v) n-butanol extraction procedure provides a 3-fold purification step, and an enzyme preparation suitable for further purification.     

Glycation improves the thermostability of trypsin and chymotrypsin

A novel glycation procedure, in vacuo glycation, was used to attach glucose covalently to the lysine residues of trypsin and chymotrypsin. Glycated trypsin and glycated chymotrypsin have greatly increased thermostability compared to the native enzymes. For example, glycated bovine trypsin, incubated at 50 degrees C and pH 8.0 for 3 h, retained more than 50% of its original activity whereas the native enzyme was inactivated under the same conditions. Similarly, after incubation at 50 degrees C and pH 8.0, glycated bovine chymotrypsin retained 45% of its original activity and the native enzyme was inactivated. Glycated porcine trypsin is exceptionally thermostable and could be used to digest native ribonuclease at 70 degrees C without the need for prior denaturation. The apparent increase in the thermal stability of the glycated proteins observed in activity measurements is also reflected by an increase in the T(m) values determined with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and circular dichroism (CD). The glycation does not alter the activity or specificity of these enzymes.     

Application of commercial enzymes to measure the activity of the arginine pathway-urea cycle in intact cells

The activity of the complete arginine pathway-urea cycle was assessed in intact plant cells by employing the commercial enzymes arginase (EC 3.5.3.1) and urease (EC 3.5.1.5) to determine the amount of NaH14CO3 incorporated into [guanido-14C]arginine and/or into [14C]urea during a 3-h labeling period. Recovery of [guanido-14C]arginine was linear from 5 to 1000 nmol/g tissue and averaged 80 +/- 5% (mean +/- SE, N = 3). The procedure is reliable, inexpensive, well suited to the simultaneous analysis of numerous samples, and significantly more sensitive than existing methods. The method is ideally suited for assessing the activity of the complete arginine biosynthetic pathway in intact cells. In addition, the method has the distinct advantage of providing simultaneous measurement of the amount of NaH14CO3 accumulating in arginine relative to the amount accumulating as urea. Evidence is presented demonstrating that both the activity of the arginine pathway and the relative amounts of [guanido-14C]arginine and [14C]urea synthesized from NaH14CO3 were influenced by changes in the level of ornithine, NH+4, or phosphorus available to plant tissues.     

Regulation of polyribosome formation and protein synthesis in the uterus. Isolation of cytoplasmic ribonucleoprotein particles and the principal properties of the cell-free protein-synthesizing system

1. Three procedures for isolating ribonucleoprotein particles from the cytoplasmic fraction of rat-uterus homogenates are described. By procedure 1, ribonucleoprotein particles were isolated in the presence of 5mm-Mg(2+) and 25mm-K(+), and the postmitochondrial supernatant fraction was made to 1.3% (w/v) in potassium deoxycholate. About 50% of the RNA and protein of the microsomal fraction was recovered in the monomeric ribosomes isolated. By procedure 2, ribonucleoprotein particles were isolated in the presence of 10mm-Mg(2+) and 0.1m-K(+), and in the absence of detergent. The ribosomes obtained were primarily polymeric, but recovery of microsomal RNA and protein was only 32%. By procedure 3, ribonucleoprotein particles were isolated according to procedure 1 but without the use of detergent. A mixture of polymeric and monomeric ribosomes was obtained, and the recovery of microsomal RNA and protein was about 60%. 2. Uterine polymeric and monomeric ribosomes, isolated by procedure 3 and designated ;polyribosomal preparation', were examined for protein-synthesizing capabilities. The principal properties of the cell-free protein-synthesizing system containing the polyribosomal preparation are described. The efficiency of amino acid incorporation in the complete system incubated for 30min. and containing the polyribosomal preparation was found to be either 2.5 molecules of [(14)C]leucine or 2.2 molecules of [(14)C]-valine incorporated/ribosome. Assay of the preparation in the complete cell-free system containing 10mm-sodium fluoride indicated that 40% of the incorporation activity is a result of initiation of new polypeptide chains and 60% is due to completion of previously existing chains. Monomeric ribosomes obtained by various treatments of the polyribosomal preparation with sodium fluoride, ribonuclease and potassium deoxycholate had decreased incorporation activity in the cell-free system. However, monomeric ribosomes obtained by treatment with sodium fluoride only had an incorporation activity 50% greater than that of monomers obtained by treatment with ribonuclease only. 3. The results indicate that uterine polymeric and monomeric ribosomes are sites of amino acid incorporation in vivo and in vitro. It is concluded that most polymeric and monomeric ribosomes occurring in the cytoplasmic fraction of the uterus are free and unattached to membranes, and that the polyribosomes are relatively unstable.     

Purification and structural studies on the complement-system control protein beta 1H (Factor H).

An efficient procedure for the isolation of the complement-system control protein beta 1H (Factor H) from human plasma was developed. The chemical composition and physical characteristics of the protein were studied, and a sequence of 17 amino acid residues at the N-terminus was determined. Factor H is a single-polypeptide-chain glycoprotein of mol.wt. 155 000 containing 9.3% carbohydrate. Factor H is cleaved by plasma proteinases to a two-chain form. This cleavage can be mimicked by trypsin, and the two-chain form retains fully the C3b-inactivator cofactor activity of Factor H. The proteolytic fragments of Factor H are compared with those of other proteins (C4b-binding protein and erythrocyte C3b-receptor) that act as cofactors for C3b-inactivator.     

Dihydroxyacetone kinase of methanol-assimilating yeasts. II. Partial purification and some properties of dihydroxyacetone kinase from Candida methylica

Dihydroxyacetone kinase (DHAK) from the cell-free extract of methanol-grown Candida methylica was partially purified about 100-fold by a procedure employing streptomycin sulfate fractionation, ammonium sulfate fractionation, negative absorption on Cibacron blue F3G-A sephadex G 200 and DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. The enzyme was stable in 50 mM Tris-HCl buffer pH 7.5 containing 60% glycerol at -18 degrees C. The pH optimum for the activity of DHAK from C. methylica was 7.5. The purified enzyme phosphorylated dihydroxyacetone four times faster than D,L-glyceraldehyde. The apparent MICHAELIS-MENTEN constants for dihydroxyacetone and D,L-glyceraldehyde were 0.011 mM and 0.024 mM. Other C3 compounds including glycerol were not phosphorylated. ITP and UTP were used as phosphate donors with a reaction rate of 11% and 3.1%, respectively, in relation to ATP, whereas the reaction rates of DHAK from C. methylica with CTP or GTP were much lower than 1%. The reaction of DHAK depends upon the presence of divalent cations in the assay. The highest activity was found with Mg2+ ions. The reaction rates with Co2+ or Ca2+ ions were only 57.3% and 30.3%, respectively, in relation to the assay with magnesium ions. Manganese chloride in the assay led to a complete loss of activity.     

Simultaneous determination of the individual concentration gradients of two solute species in a centrifuged mixture: application to analytical ultracentrifugation

A procedure for determining the absolute activity of 14C-labeled and 3H-labeled solutes in a mixture from the measured counts per minute in two scintillation energy windows is described. It is shown that the method described here provides a substantially more accurate determination of 3H activity in the presence of a larger 14C activity, and a more accurate determination of 14C activity in the presence of a larger 3H activity, than does the standard dual label analysis implemented in a Beckman LS 3801 scintillation counter. The new dual label procedure is combined with the automated fractionation procedure of Attri and Minton [(1986) Anal. Biochem. 152, 319-328] to permit the gradients of each of two differently radiolabeled solute species in a mixture to be individually determined following centrifugation. It is shown that the sedimentation coefficients of each of two differently labeled noninteracting proteins in a mixture may be readily determined in a sedimentation velocity experiment, and that the molecular weights of each of two such proteins in a mixture may be readily determined in a sedimentation equilibrium experiment.     

Determination of DNA methylase activity in animal tissue extracts

An express method for measuring the level of in vitro DNA methylation in homogenates and nuclei from animal tissues as well as during initial steps of DNA methylase isolation and purification when methylase activity is low and hardly testable by other methods has been suggested. The method is based on the measuring the radioactivity incorporated in filter adsorbed DNA (acid-insoluble material) 3H-label from S-adenosile-L-methionine as a result of in vitro DNA methylation. The advantage of the method consists in the replacement of a long-duration repeated deproteinization procedure traditionally used by a relatively simple procedure (15 min incubation of the mixture at 80 degrees C with 10 volumes of the 8M urea, 5 mM EDTA, 5% n-butanol, 2% sodium dodecilsulfate, 1 M sodium chloride solution) and the absence of any loss of DNA. The method is fit for the fast serial assay of DNA methylase activity taking into consideration that about one third of the total acid-insoluble radioactivity is due to the radioactivity in 5-methylcytosine residues in DNA.     

Biophysical Properties of Australia Antigen

Biophysical studies with Australia complement-fixing (CF) antigen showed it to be a particle with a buoyant density of 1.20 g/cm(3) in CsCl, a sedimentation coefficient of 110, and an average diameter of 25 nm. The CF antigen was not inactivated by ether, 1% deoxycholate, 1% Tween 80 or overnight heating at 56 C. The antigen was unstable when treated with 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate. A procedure is described for the isolation and partial purification of Australia antigen from serum by using isopycnic banding and rate separation techniques. Treatment of the 1.20 g/cm(3) Australia antigen with 1% Tween 80 yielded a minor peak of CF activity with a buoyant density of 1.39 g/cm(3) in CsCl.     

Identification of a human non-interferon lymphokine activating monocyte complement biosynthesis.

A monocyte-stimulating activity produced by mitogen-induced mononuclear cells has been defined by its ability to enhance the synthesis in vitro of complement C1 subcomponents, C2 and C3. A lymphokine responsible for this activity was purified from culture supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cells activated by staphylococcal enterotoxin A. From 0.5 litre of supernatant the purification procedure [(NH4)2SO4 precipitation, phenyl-Sepharose chromatography and preparative electrofocusing] yielded about 100 pmol of purified lymphokine. Its pI is 7.9 and its Mr, estimated by SDS/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, is 14,600, 27,000 and 56,000, the high-Mr species representing oligomeric forms of the Mr-14,600 molecule. Its amino acid analysis reveals a high percentage of hydrophobic amino acids (34%); the absence of histidine residues suggests that it is a novel monocyte-activating lymphokine. It enhances C1r and C1s biosynthesis at a pretranslational level. From its structure and activity this lymphokine appears different from gamma-interferon.     

Modified enrichment-serology procedure for detection of salmonellae in soy products.

A modified enrichment-serology (MES) procedure was used to reduce the time necessary for salmonella analysis. Naturally contaminated samples of soy products were preenriched in 1% proteose peptone for 6 h at 37 degrees C followed by inoculation into tetrathionate broth for 18 h at 37 degrees C. Two drops of the tetrathionate sample were inoculated into M broth. After incubation at 37 degrees C for 6 h, 0.85 ml of the mixture was formolized, and 0.1 ml of polyvalent H antiserum was added. After incubation in water bath at 50 degrees C for 1 h, the appearance of a typical floccular flagellar precipitate was observed in tubes positive for salmonellae. Over 3,000 samples were subjected to standard biochemical and serological procedures, and the results were compared with those of the MES method with a 96.7% correlation. Eleven of the samples (0.3%) were false-negative with the MES procedure, and 3% were false-negative with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Bacteriological Analytical Manual procedure. The 3% negative samples by this latter procedure were subsequently found to be positive by the MES procedure. The MES procedure reduced the time required for salmonella analysis from 4 days to 32 h.     

Purification of cardiac (Na+,K+)-activated adenosine triphosphatase from rat

A procedure is described for preparation of highly active (Na+,K+)-ATPase from rat heart which has a specific activity of 200-600 mumol Pi/mg/h. The procedure is simple and can be applied to small amounts of heart muscle (approximately 1 g). The ATPase activity was more than 90% sensitive to ouabain (at concentrations up to 1 mM). The ouabain sensitivity is biphasic with about 20% of the ATPase activity being inhibited at approximately 3 X 10(-7) M ouabain.     

Enzyme histochemical demonstration of NADH dehydrogenase on resin-embedded tissue

We describe a method for enzyme histochemical demonstration of NADH dehydrogenase in cold (4 degrees C)-processed resin-embedded tissue. The effects on NADH dehydrogenase activity of processing tissue through a variety of dehydrating agents and embedding in three different acrylic resins were evaluated. The optimal procedure to maintain NADH dehydrogenase activity used a short (3-hr) fixation in 1% paraformaldehyde solution, followed by dehydration in acetone and embedding in glycol methacrylate resin. Embedding of tissue in resin combined preservation and accurate localization of NADH dehydrogenase activity with good tissue morphology. Blocks of the resin-embedded tissue could be stored at room temperature for at least 6 months without loss of NADH dehydrogenase activity.     

The alternative pathway C3/C5 convertase: chemical basis of factor B activation.

The structural basis of activation of the alternative pathway C3 convertase was explored. For this purpose a modified isolation procedure of the activating enzyme, Factor D, was elaborated. The procedure affords a 70,000-fold purification of the enzyme with a 20% yield. A simple assay was designed for the quantitation of both Factor D and Factor B activity. On the basis of activity measurements and amino acid analysis, Factor D concentration in plasma was estimated to be 1 microgram/ml. Highly purified Factor D was used to activate Factor B in the presence of C3b and Mg++. The resulting fragments, Ba and Bb, were characterized with respect to their circular dichroism spectra, amino acid compositions, reactive sulfhydryl groups, and partial amino- and carboxy-terminal sequences. The results indicate that the Ba fragment constitutes the amino-terminal region and the Bb fragment the carboxy-terminal region of Factor B. The bond in Factor B that is cleaved by Factor D is proposed to be an arginyl-lysine bond.     

A microanalytical procedure for determination of the base composition of DNA

A new procedure for the determination of the percentage guanine plus cytosine (% G+C; mol/100 mol) values of microquantities of DNA is described. Its principle is a DNA-polymerase-I-directed nick translation of DNA in the presence of dGTP, dTTP, [3H]dCTP, and [alpha-32P]dATP. Kinetics experiments indicate that the plateau value is reached in about 20 min of incubation under our experimental conditions. Percentage G+C is obtained from the linear relation 1/(% G+C) = 0.01 K [32P]/[3H] + 0.01, where the ratio of trichloroacetic-acid-precipitable radioactivity is taken into account, the K value being determined for each experiment by using a few reference DNAs of known composition. This procedure has proven suitable for analysis of plasmidic, viral and cellular DNAs of different base composition (25-75% G+C), shape (linear and circular double-stranded DNA) and size (100-150 000 base pairs). Usual methods for % G+C analysis (buoyant density and melting temperature determinations) yield unreliable results in the presence of either modified or unusual bases: the double-labeling procedure is still valid under these conditions. The latter is, therefore, the method of choice for analysis or rare DNA species which are available in very small quantities (it requires amounts of DNA as low as 1 ng, i.e. several order of magnitude lower than those used for chromatographic analysis of DNA hydrolysates). Since the obtention of highly purified DNA is an essential prerequisite for the double-labeling procedure, a method for purification of bacterial DNA is detailed in the present work.     

Modified microassay for the rapid and sensitive determination of choline acetyltransferase activity using (3H)-acetyl-CoA and Fonnum's extraction.

A modified procedure for the quantitative estimation of choline acetyltransferase activity in brain tissue based upon the formation of [3H]-ACh from [3H]-acetyl-CoA is described. The labelled ACh is isolated by a modification of Fonnum's procedure using sodium tetraphenyl borate in ketonic solution. The ChAc-activity is independent on the specific activity of the [3H]-acetyl-CoA used. The substrate blank is higher than with [14C]-labelled substrate but highly stable and reproducible. The method permits the determination of ChAc activity in less than 5 mug of brain tissue. 30-40 samples may be handled by one person per hour easily.