The enzymatic preparation of [alpha-(32)P]nucleoside triphosphates, cyclic [32P] AMP, and cyclic [32P] GMP.

A method has been developed for the enzymatic preparation of alpha-(32)P-labeled ribo- and deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates, cyclic [(32)P]AMP, and cyclic [(32)P]GMP of high specific radioactivity and in high yield from (32)Pi. The method also enables the preparation of [gamma-(32)P]ATP, [gamma-(32)P]GTP, [gamma-(32)P]ITP, and [gamma-(32)P]-dATP of very high specific activity and in high yield. The preparation of the various [alpha-(32)P]nucleoside triphosphates relies on the phosphorylation of the respective 3'-nucleoside monophosphates with [gamma-(32)P]ATP by polynucleotide kinase and a subsequent nuclease reaction to form [5'-(32)P]nucleoside monophosphates. The [5'-(32)P]nucleoside monophosphates are then converted enzymatically to the respective triphosphates. All of the reactions leading to the formation of [alpha-(32)P]nucleoside triphosphates are carried out in the same reaction vessel, without intermediate purification steps, by the use of sequential reactions with the respective enzymes. Cyclic [(32)P]AMP and cyclic [(32)P]GMP are also prepared enzymatically from [alpha-(32)P]ATP or [alpha-(32)P]GTP by partially purified preparations of adenylate or guanylate cyclases. With the exception of the cyclases, all enzymes used are commerically available. The specific activity of (32)P-labeled ATP made by this method ranged from 200 to 1000 Ci/mmol for [alpha-(32)P]ATP and from 5800 to 6500 Ci/mmol for [gamma-(32)P]ATP. Minor modifications of the method should permit higher specific activities, especially for the [alpha-(32)P]nucleoside triphosphates. Methods for the use of the [alpha-(32)P]nucleoside phosphates are described for the study of adenylate and guanylate cyclases, cyclic AMP- and cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase, cyclic nucleotide binding proteins, and as precursors for the synthesis of other (32)P-labeled compounds of biological interest. Moreover, the [alpha-(32)P]nucleoside triphosphates prepared by this method should be very useful in studies on nucleic acid structure and metabolism and the [gamma-(32)P]nucleoside triphosphates should be useful in the study of phosphate transfer systems.     

Amino acid sequence of a (32P) phosphopeptide from pig liver pyruvate kinase phosphorylated by cyclic 3',5'-AMP-stimulated protein kinase and gamma-(32P)ATP

Pig liver pyruvate kinase (type L) was ³²P-labelled by incubation with (³²P)ATP and cyclic 3′,5′-AMP-stimulated protein kinase from the same source. One major (³²P)phosphopeptide was isolated from a peptic hydrolysate of the enzyme. Its amino acid sequence was Leu-Arg-Arg-Ala-(³²P)SerP-Leu.     

Granulocyte kinetics with radioactive diisopropylfluorophosphate (DF32P) and radiochrome (51Cr)]

Determining granulocyte kinetics with DF32P allows various parameters to be gained during the in-vitro marking, such as the total blood granulocyte pool, circulating granulocyte pool, marginal granulocyte pool, daily granulocyte exchange rate and half decay period of granulocytes. The half decay period of granulocytes, bone-marrow reserve in myelocytes, metamyelocytes and band cells as well as polymorphonuclear neutrophils can be determined by in-vitro marking, with DF32P being intravenously injected. The combination of both procedures with DF32P will reveal the half decay period, pool sizes and exchange rates of the proliferating myelocyte compartiment in bone-marrow and mature blood granulocytes. If 51Cr is used for determining granulocyte kinetics the surface activities of various organs, such as heart, liver, spleen, and lungs, can mainly be determined in addition to the half-life of leucocytes, indicating the degradation or storage of cells in certain areas of the body. In addition to normal values those findings are principally presented which were obtained with in-vitro marking by DF32P and 51Cr in chronic myeloid leukaemia, osteomyelofibrosis or osteomyelosclerosis respectively and in hypersplenism.     

Suppressors of gene 32 am mutants that specifically overproduce P32 (unwinding protein) in bacteriophage T4.

A gene 32 amber (am) mutant, amNG364, fails to grow on Escherichia coli Su3+ high temperatures, suggesting that the tyrosine residue inserted at the am codon by Su3+ leads to a temperature-sensitive gene 32 protein (P32). By plating amNG364 on E. coli Su3+ 45 degrees C, several pseudorevertants were found that proved to contain a suppressor (su) mutant in addition to the original am mutation. Crosses of two of these amNG364su strains to am+ phage indicated that the suppressors themselves are in or close to gene 32. Phage strains carrying either of the two su mutations, without amNG364, grew normally. When cells were infected by these su mutants and the proteins produced were examined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophroesis, specific overproduction of P32 was found. Maximum overproduction compared to am+ phage was 6.6-fold for one su mutant and 2.4-fold for the other. Other proteins were produced in normal amounts and in normal time sequence. When amNG364su phage were allowed to infect E. coli S/6/5(Su-), the gene 32 am fragments produced were present at the same derepressed levels as in an infection by amNG364 without a suppressor. The suppressor mutations are interpreted as causing derepression of P32 by altering sites in this autogenously regulated protein involved in template recognition. Previously, specific derepression of gene 32 had only been shown using gene 32 conditional lethal mutants grown under restrictive conditions. We have shown that P32 can also be derepressed under permissive conditions, indicating that loss of P32 function is not necessary for specific derepression.     

In vivo preparation of (32P) adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate

A simple method for the preparation of [³²P]adenosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate (cyclic AMP) is described. A culture of Escherichia coli mutant deficient in cyclic AMP receptor protein is incubated with [³²P]orthophosphate of known specific activities (up to 4000 Ci/mole) for several cell doublings. 10¹² cells of this mutant excrete approximately 1.4 μmoles of cyclic AMP/hr. The extracellular cyclic AMP can be purified by adsorption to charcoal, chromatography on an alumina plate, and paper chromatography.